dedicate

From Latin dēdicātus, past participle of dēdicō (“I dedicate, proclaim”).

Glancing at the crowd of onlookers, she said, “I know that service at the dining hall will be over soon”—instantly a few dedicates and all of the novices hurried away—“and some of us here would like to prepare our own meal.” […] Out of sight of the dedicates, she climbed over the short fence and escaped to Winding Circle's biggest library.

2011 September 1, Tamora Pierce, Circle of Magic #1: Sandry's Book, Scholastic Inc., →ISBN:

Initiation—When a dedicate is seen on all levels to be learning and doing more as they participate in the circle and aids with rituals and/or divination, an initiation is decided on with the priest or priestess and dedicate.

2015 April 8, Dracaena Paxx, The Sacred Spiral: Unlocking Ones Infinite Potential, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN:

Through this rune of compassion, feelings of pain are transferred from the dedicates to Fallion. Lord Despair then proceeds to torture the dedicates so that Fallion would feel the pain of the tortures without being physically harmed[…]

2019 November 14, Charul Palmer-Patel, The Shape of Fantasy: Investigating the Structure of American Heroic Epic Fantasy, Routledge, →ISBN:

Rowan Cortak stood with the rest of the dedicates.

2022 September 27, Chad Corrie, The Wizard King Trilogy Boxed Set, Dark Horse Books, →ISBN, page 24:

(chiefly fantasy and paganism) One who dedicates themselves, or who is dedicated, to the service of some leader, religion, etc.


dip

From Andalusian Arabic ديب (ḏíb), from Arabic ذِئْب (ḏiʔb).

(mythology) A black vampiric hellhound associated with the town of Pratdip in the Camp de Tarragona.


pixie

Uncertain; 17thC, originally in the folklore of southwest England; perhaps diminutive of Swedish pysk (“fairy”); perhaps Puck + -sy; see Wikipedia.

Then she saw pixies — dozens and dozens of pixies — dancing and singing.

2005, Dan Keding, “The Pixies’ Bed”, in Dan Keding, Amy Douglas, editors, English Folktales, page 98:

When she looked around, Mary saw four pixies flying toward her. She had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit. Then the pixies turned around and attacked again.

2005, Kathryn Reyes, Mystery Door Manor and the Dragon Realm, page 72:

The servant that had raised him, an elderly pixie called Rolog, had died. On his deathbed he had called the young Captain to his side. Seeing the pixie dying had had no effect on him.

2007, Jeremy Phillips, The Wizardon Star, page 165:

Tiffy froze as the two pixies looked directly into each other's eyes.
Then Tiffy raised her hand and said, “Hi, I'm Tiffy the Tooth Fairy.” Even though the other pixie lifted her hand too, she didn't answer.

2010, Sandra A. Filbin, The Enchanted World: A Tooth Fairy's Tale, page 49:

(mythology, fantasy literature, fairy tales) A playful sprite or elflike or fairy-like creature.


numen

la-noun

nūmen n (genitive nūminis); third declension

nūmen (canonical neuter)
nūminis (genitive)
nūmen (nominative singular)
nūmina (nominative plural)
nūminis (genitive singular)
nūminum (genitive plural)
nūminī (dative singular)
nūminibus (dative plural)
nūmen (accusative singular)
nūmina (accusative plural)
nūmine (ablative singular)
nūminibus (ablative plural)
nūmen (singular vocative)
nūmina (plural vocative)

→ English: numen, numinous

→ Italian: nume

→ Portuguese: nume, númen

→ Spanish: numen

* Could be simply an action noun of *nuō, for *nuimen, from *nuō + -men, thus meaning "a nodding with the head", "a nod", "command", "will" (as nūtus), with the particular meaning of "the divine will", "the will or power of the gods", "divine sway".
* Others suggest the Ancient Greek word νοούμενον (nooúmenon) ("an influence perceptible by mind but not by senses"), from νοέω (noéō), was borrowed into Early Latin as the word noumen, whose spelling changed to numen in Classical Latin.

divinity (Georges Dumézil argues this is a modern meaning and not one from the Classical period, where it was either attributed to particular gods or other entities, such as in numen Cereris or numen dei, or wrongly interpreted)


siren

From Middle English siren, from Old French sereine and Latin Sīrēn, Sīrēna, from Ancient Greek Σειρήν (Seirḗn). The mammalian sense was first attested in French in Dominique Bouhours, Les entretiens d'Ariste et d'Eugène, in 1671. The aquatic salamander sense was originally introduced by Linnaeus in 1766, for a genus of his reptiles. Doublet of serin.

Now give ear to what I'm about to say to you , and a god himself will bring it before your mind . First , you will come to the Sirens . These beings enthrall all men who arrive before them . Whoever draws near without knowledge and ...

2008 October 7, Homer, The Odyssey, North Atlantic Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 278:

(Greek mythology) One of a group of nymphs who lured mariners to their death on the rocks.

(music) A musical instrument, one of the few aerophones in the percussion section of the symphony orchestra (patented as Acme Siren in 1895).

An instrument for demonstrating the laws of beats and combination tones.


gul

gul (nominative singular)
gule (nominative plural)
gula (genitive singular)
gulów (genitive plural)
gulowi (dative singular)
gulom (dative plural)
gula (accusative singular)
gule (accusative plural)
gulem (instrumental singular)
gulami (instrumental plural)
gulu (locative singular)
gulach (locative plural)
gulu (singular vocative)
gule (plural vocative)


catalyst

(fantasy) An object that facilitates the casting of a spell (such as a magic wand).


bugbear

From obsolete meaning of bug (“something terrifying”) + bear. See Middle English bugge, modern bogey.

Ha, ha: alas poore wretch: a poore Chipochia, haſt not ſlept to night? would he not (a naughty man) let it ſleepe: a bug-beare take him.

c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:

“How could you lie so glaringly as to affirm I hated the ‘poor child’? and invent bugbear stories to terrify her from my door-stones?[…]”

1847 December, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], chapter XXII, in Wuthering Heights: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], →OCLC:

"My young friends," quietly replied Jason, "I do not wonder that you think the dragon very terrible. You have grown up from infancy in the fear of this monster, and therefore still regard him with the awe that children feel for the bugbears and hobgoblins which their nurses have talked to them about.[…]"

1853, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Golden Fleece”, in Tanglewood Tales:

The partisans of the Administration object to the word “imperialism,” calling it a mere bugbear having no real existence.

1900, Carl Schurz, For Truth, Justice and Liberty:

(folklore, fantasy) A generic creature, often described as a large goblin, meant to inspire fear in children.


phantasm

A learned variant of phantom; from Middle English fantosme, from Old French fantosme, fantasme, from Latin phantasma, from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma). Doublet of phantom.

But night comes in with a more genial spirit: we have done our worst and our bitterest; and we need a small space to indulge any little bit of cordiality that may be left in us. A thousand gay phantasms float in on the sunny south, which has left the far-off vineyards of its birth.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Success”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 75:

He declares that there seems to be no justification for regarding the phantasms of dreams as pure hallucinations; most dream-images are probably in fact illusions, since they arise from faint sense-impressions, which never cease during sleep.

1900, Sigmund Freud, translated by James Strachey, The Interpretation of Dreams: Avon Books, page 74:

Something seen but having no physical reality; a phantom or apparition.


satyr

From French satyre, from Latin satyrus, from Ancient Greek σάτυρος (sáturos).


satyr

satyr (nominative singular)
satyrowie (nominative plural)
satyra (genitive singular)
satyrów (genitive plural)
satyrowi (dative singular)
satyrom (dative plural)
satyra (accusative singular)
satyrów (accusative plural)
satyrem (instrumental singular)
satyrami (instrumental plural)
satyrze (locative singular)
satyrach (locative plural)
satyrze (singular vocative)
satyrowie (plural vocative)

Borrowed from French satyre, from Latin satyrus, from Ancient Greek σάτυρος (sáturos).


halfling

Dungeons and Dragons
J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings

From half + -ling. Sense 3 ("half-grown young person") is attested to 1794. It was then used by J.R.R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings (1954) as an alternative reference to members of his hobbit race. Hobbits were used in the original 1974 releases of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, but in later editions they were changed to "halflings" for legal reasons, as being a pre-existing word rather than one invented by Tolkien.

(fantasy) A fictional small humanoid creature featuring in fantasy fiction; a hobbit.

(fantasy) A fictional humanoid born of a human parent and a parent of another race in fantasy fiction.


leprechaun

→ German: Leprechaun

desc

→ Italian: leprecauno, leprechaun (unadapted), leprecano, lepricauno

→ Japanese: レプラコーン (repurakōn)

→ Korean: 레프러콘 (repeureokon)

→ Portuguese: leprechaun

→ Russian: лепреко́н (leprekón)

→ Spanish: leprechaun

/ˈlɛpɹəkɔːn/

/ˈlɛpɹəˌkɔn/

/ˈlɛpɹəˌkɑn/

From Irish leipreachán, luprachán, from Middle Irish luchrupán, from Old Irish luchorpán. See also Irish lucharachán.
The word's further etymology is disputed; it is traditionally explained as a compound containing lú (“small”, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ-) + corp (“body”, which is from Latin corpus). However, an alternative suggestion is that it is a derivative of Latin Lupercī (“priests of Lupercus”), who were misinterpreted as an antediluvian species by medieval Irish scholars.

af

from Proto-Indo-European <i class="Latn mention" lang="ine-pro">*h₁lengʷʰ-</i>

which is from Latin <i class="Latn mention" lang="la">corpus</i>

Do you not catch the tiny clamour, / Busy click of an elfin hammer, / Voice of the leprechaun singing shrill, / As he merrily plies his trade?

1888, William Allingham, “The Lepracaun; or Fairy Shoemaker”, in William Butler Yeats, editor, Irish Fairy and Folk Tales, pages 86–87:

(Irish folklore) One of a race of elves that can reveal hidden treasure to those who catch them.

（爱尔兰民间传说里的）短妖精

[Àiěrlán mínjiān chuánshuō lǐ de] duǎn yāojing


phantom

From Middle English fantome, fanteme, from Old French fantosme, fantasme, from Latin phantasma (“an apparition, specter; (in Late Latin also) appearance, image”), from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma, “phantasm, an appearance, image, apparition, specter”), from φαντάζω (phantázō, “I make visible”). Doublet of phantasm.


spook

Borrowed from Dutch spook (“ghost”), from Middle Dutch spooc (“spook, ghost”). Cognate with Middle Low German spôk, spûk (“apparition, ghost”), Middle High German gespük (“a haunting”), German Spuk, Danish spøge (“to haunt”), Swedish spöke (“ghost”). Doublet of puck.


spook

→ Northern Ndebele: isipoko

→ Xhosa: isiporho

→ Zulu: isipoki

From Dutch spook, from Middle Dutch spoke, spooc, from Proto-Germanic *spōk.


spook

nl-noun

spook n (plural spoken, diminutive spookje n)

desctree

Afrikaans: spook
→ Northern Ndebele: isipoko
→ Xhosa: isiporho
→ Zulu: isipoki

Negerhollands: spook

→ English: spook

→ Papiamentu: spoki, spooki

From Middle Dutch spoke, spooc, from spoke, spoocke, spoicke (“wizardry, witchcraft”), from Proto-Germanic *spōk. Further etymology unclear. Cognate with Middle Low German spôk, Low German spôk, Middle High German Spuch, and German Spuk.

het spook van de oorlog

an imaginary horror, conceptual nightmare


wight

From Middle English wight, wiȝt, from Old English wiht (“thing, creature”), from Proto-West Germanic *wihti, from Proto-Germanic *wihtiz (“thing, creature”, literally “being”), from Proto-Indo-European *wekti- (“cause, sake, thing”), from *wekʷ- (“to say, tell”).
Cognate with Scots wicht (“creature, being, human”), Dutch wicht (“child, baby, girl”), German Low German Wicht (“girl; wight”), German Wicht (“wretch, wight, little creature, scoundrel”), Danish vætte (“underground creature, gnome”), Norwegian Bokmål vette (“underground creature, gnome”), Swedish vätte (“underground creature, gnome”), Icelandic vættur (“imp, elf”). Doublet of whit.


mermaid

From Middle English mermayde (“maid of the sea”), from mere (“sea, lake”) + maid, equivalent to mer- + maid. Cognate with Dutch meermeid (“mermaid”), Middle High German mermaget, mermeit (“mermaid”, > German Meermagd, Meermädchen (“mermaid”)). Compare Old English meremenn, meremennen, meremenin (“mermaid, siren”).

inh

Holonym: merfolk

Search the depth, & ſee that variety of Sea monſters & fiſhes, Mare-maids, Sea men, Horſes, &c. which it affords.

1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 2, section 2, member 3, page 210:

People that are drowned, and whose bodies are not founds are believed to have been taken into the dwellings of the Mermaids.

1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 242:

A mythological creature with a woman's head and upper body, and a tail of a fish.


conversion

en-noun

conversion (countable and uncountable, plural conversions)

From Middle English conversion, conversioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman conversion, from Latin conversiō, from convertō.

обръщане

the act of having converted something or someone

המרת דת

to replace one religious faith with another

(rugby) A free kick, after scoring a try, worth two points.

(American football) An extra point (or two) scored by kicking a field goal or carrying the ball into the end zone after scoring a touchdown.

(obsolete) The act of turning round; revolution; rotation.

(slang, board games) Changing a miniature figure into another character, usually by mixing different parts, or molding the model's parts, or doing both.


Viking

Borrowed from Old Norse víkingr (“Viking”). Already in Old English as wīċing and Old Frisian wītsing, but assumed extinct in Middle English and borrowed anew in the 19th century; any survivals in dialect through the Middle Ages are unknown.
Old Norse víkingr itself is from Old Norse vík (“inlet, cove, fjord”) + -ingr (“one belonging to, one who frequents”) (the -r is the nominative desinence). Thus, “one from or who frequents the sea’s inlets”.
The Old English and Anglo-Frisian form, existing since at least the eighth century, could also have been derived from or influenced by Old English wīc (“camp”), on account of the temporary encampments which were often a prominent feature of the Vikings’ raids.
Others proposals were made, like e.g. deriving víkingr from the root related to the verb víkja or deriving both English and Old Norse words to *wīkingaz related to víkja or wīc.

أُرْدَمَانِيّ

One of the Scandinavian seafaring warriors

(by extension, fantasy) A stock character common in the fantasy genre, namely a barbarian, generally equipped with an axe or sword and a helmet adorned with horns.


bean sí

head

bean sí f (genitive singular mná sí, nominative plural mná sí)

mná sí (genitive singular)
mná sí (nominative plural)
bean sí (indefinite nominative singular)
mná sí (indefinite nominative plural)
a bhean sí (indefinite singular vocative)
a mhná sí (indefinite plural vocative)
mná sí (genitive indefinite singular)
ban sí (genitive indefinite plural)
bean sí (dative indefinite singular)
mnaoi shí (archaic dative dialectal indefinite singular)
mná sí (dative indefinite plural)
mnáibh sí (archaic dative indefinite plural)
an bhean sí (definite nominative singular)
na mná sí (definite nominative plural)
na mná sí (definite genitive singular)
na mban sí (definite genitive plural)
leis an mbean sí (dative definite singular)
don bhean sí (dative definite singular)
leis an mnaoi shí (dative definite singular)
don mhnaoi shí (archaic dative definite dialectal singular)
leis na mná sí (dative definite plural)
leis na mnáibh sí (archaic dative definite plural)
bean sí (mutation mutation-radical)
bhean sí (lenition mutation)
mbean sí (eclipsis mutation)

→ English: banshee (see there for further descendants)

→ Scots: banshee

From Old Irish ben síde (literally “woman of the fairy mound”). By surface analysis, bean + sí.


pally

Clipping of paladin + -y (diminutive suffix).

(slang, fantasy roleplaying games) A paladin.


archdevil

/ɑɹt͡ʃˈdɛvəl/

/ɑɹt͡ʃˈdɛvɪl/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-archdevil.wav

From the context and other parts of the work, we are to understand that the demons here described are the personal friends of our sovereign, and that the archdevil was the mother of our sovereign.

1802, The Anti-Jacobin Review and Magazine, Volume 12, Open Court Publishing Company, page 30:

In short, it is purely the work of the devil that they are doing, and especially that of the archdevil, who presides at Muhlhausen, and directs nothing but robbery, murder and bloodshed.

1841, George Waddington, A History of the Reformation on the Continent: In Three Volumes, Duncan and Malcolm, page 155:

A spirit of ultraism seems to pervade the whole community. The language of Milton's archdevil "Evil, be thou my good" is the creed of modern reformers, or, in other words — anything for a change. What is to come of all this, I have not wisdom even to guess. It is an age of transition and whether you and I live to see the elements of the moral and political world at rest, is, I think, extretmely doubtful.

1851, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Personal Memoirs of a Residence of Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes on the American Frontiers: With Brief Notices of Passing Events, Facts, and Opinions, A.D. 1812 to A.D. 1842, Lippincott, Grambo and Company, page 517:

The bishops in question were described as archdevils, priests of Baal, standard-bearers of the Balaamites, and children of perdition.

1896, Marvin Richardson Vincent, The Age of Hildebrand, Christian Literature Company, page 267:

They are archdevils. Partake not of anything from their hands. Now I shall sell myself and do this act if only I have thee at my back.

1940, United States Congress, The Madras Law Journal, page 813:

(theology, rare, religion, fantasy, science fiction) A chief or reigning devil.


lucharachán

head

lucharachán m (genitive singular lucharacháin, nominative plural lucharacháin)

lucharacháin (genitive singular)
lucharacháin (nominative plural)
lucharachán (indefinite nominative singular)
lucharacháin (indefinite nominative plural)
a lucharacháin (indefinite singular vocative)
a lucharachána (indefinite plural vocative)
lucharacháin (genitive indefinite singular)
lucharachán (genitive indefinite plural)
lucharachán (dative indefinite singular)
lucharacháin (dative indefinite plural)
an lucharachán (definite nominative singular)
na lucharacháin (definite nominative plural)
an lucharacháin (definite genitive singular)
na lucharachán (definite genitive plural)
leis an lucharachán (dative definite singular)
don lucharachán (dative definite singular)
leis na lucharacháin (dative definite plural)

/ˈl̪ˠʊxəɾˠəxɑːnˠ/

From Middle Irish luchrupán, from Old Irish luchorpán (from Old Irish lú (“small”, from Proto-Indo-European *legʷʰ-) + corp (“body”, which is from Latin corpus) + -án (diminutive suffix)).

af

from Proto-Indo-European <i class="Latn mention" lang="ine-pro">*legʷʰ-</i>


brillig

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves / Did gyre and gimble in the wabe

A nonce word in Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky, explained by Humpty Dumpty as "four o'clock in the afternoon — the time when you begin broiling things for dinner."


fada

From Vulgar Latin *Fāta (“goddess of fate”), from the plural of Latin fātum (“fate”).


fada

From Vulgar Latin *Fāta (“goddess of fate”), from the plural of Latin fātum (“fate, destiny told by the gods”). Compare Catalan fada, French fée, Italian fata, Portuguese fada, Spanish hada.


deadhead

From dead + head. Some senses are derived from theater jargon (originally spelled dead head) for audience members admitted without paying, which probably arose in analogy to dead weight or deadwood in reference to their lack of contribution to revenue or in reference to their unenthusiastic (dead) response to performances. Perhaps even from Latin caput mortuum, alchemy term for distillation residue. As Paul Quinion writes: Similarly, the term was applied to a dull or lazy person, one who contributes nothing to an enterprise, only in the early years of the twentieth century, well after the theatrical and transport senses had become well established.

(slang) Alternative form of Deadhead (“fan of the rock band The Grateful Dead”)


Wurm

de-noun

m:n􂀿alternatively when meaning "baby, mite"􂁀,es:s,^er:^e􂀿archaic􂁀

Wurm m or (alternatively when meaning "baby, mite") n (strong, genitive Wurmes or Wurms, plural Würmer or (archaic) Würme, diminutive Würmchen n or Würmlein n)

meaning "baby
mite"
Wurmes (genitive)
Wurms (genitive)
Würmer (plural)
Würme (archaic plural)
Würmchen (diminutive neuter)
Würmlein (diminutive neuter)
Wurm (definite nominative singular)
Würmer (definite nominative plural)
Würme (archaic definite nominative plural)
Wurmes (genitive singular)
Wurms (genitive singular)
Würmer (definite genitive plural)
Würme (archaic definite genitive plural)
Wurm (dative singular)
Wurme (dative singular)
Würmern (dative definite plural)
Würmen (archaic dative definite plural)
Wurm (accusative definite singular)
Würmer (accusative definite plural)
Würme (accusative archaic definite plural)

From Middle High German wurm, from Old High German wurm, from Proto-Germanic *wurmiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis. Cognate with Dutch worm, English worm, West Frisian wjirm, Danish orm, Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌼𐍃 (waurms).

(poetic, heraldry) dragon, lindworm, wyrm


walker

→ Irish: válcaeir

→ Persian: واکر (vâker)

From Middle English walkere (“one who walks, traveller”), equivalent to walk + -er.

inh

I would ask for the pleasure of your company, Mr. Knightley, but I am a very slow walker, and my pace would be tedious to you; and, besides, you have another long walk before you, to Donwell Abbey.

1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter VIII, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 118:

We hired a walker for the dogs during the day.

2005, Carlo De Vito, 10 Secrets My Dog Taught Me: Life Lessons from a Man's Best Friend, page 88:

The agent noun of to walk: a person who walks or a thing which walks, especially a pedestrian or a participant in a walking race.

(often in the plural) A shoe designed for comfortable walking.

(cricket) A batsman or batswoman who directly walks off the field when out without waiting for the umpire's decision.

A single mother of three, Rachel is what Facebook users call as ^([sic]) “walker,” or an online sex worker. Using a dummy account, she posts her sexy photos and informs page visitors that she’s available for sex in exchange for money.

2019 June 22, Charisse Ursal, “Social media lures young people to engage in sex for money”, in Philippine Daily Inquirer:

(Philippines) A prostitute, streetwalker.


-mancy

From Latin -mantīa, ultimately from Ancient Greek μᾰντείᾱ (manteíā, “divination”).

der

-mance: to carry out a specified form of magic

-mancer: a person who employs a specified form of magic

(fantasy) Variety of magic, especially that controlling or related to a specific element, substance, or theme.


potion

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-potion.wav

From Middle English pocioun, borrowed from Old French pocion, from Latin pōtiō (“a drinking”), pōtiōnis, from pōtāre (“to drink”). Doublet of poison.

He hoped to win the princess's heart by mixing the love potion the witch gave him into her drink.

A small portion or dose of a liquid which is medicinal, poisonous, or magical.


zombi

fr-noun

zombi m (plural zombis, feminine zombie)

Attested 1832, but the 1765 Encyclopédie (t. 11, p. 82a, s.v. nègre) already has zambys «dieux esprits des tribus africaines».
Borrowed from Haitian Creole zonbi, from a Bantu language.


zombi

(computing, fiction, voodoo) Alternative spelling of zombie


zombi

es-noun

zombi m or f by sense (plural zombis or zombies)


Loki

Borrowed from Old Norse Loki, where further etymology is shown.

(Norse mythology) The god of mischief and trickery; growing progressively evil, he kills Balder, and is bound until Ragnarok, the end of the world.


Loki

Loki (nominative singular)
Lokiego (genitive singular)
Lokiemu (dative singular)
Lokiego (accusative singular)
Lokim (instrumental singular)
Lokim (locative singular)
Loki (singular vocative)

(Norse mythology) Loki (the god of mischief and trickery)


wyrm

Learned borrowing from Old English wyrm. Doublet of worm, which was inherited.

(mythology, fantasy) A huge limbless and wingless dragon or dragonlike creature.


HP

Sense "home page" is a borrowing from Japanese HP (HP, “home page”), from English home page.

Overall, this is the first HP game to even get near to living up to the quality of JK Rowling's books and the accompanying films.

2009 July 16, Steve Boxer, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, in Guardian, Technology news & features, page 2:


оборотень

ru-noun+

о́боротень • (óborotenʹ) m anim (genitive о́боротня, nominative plural о́боротни, genitive plural о́боротней)

о́боротень (canonical)
óborotenʹ (romanization)
о́боротня (genitive)
о́боротни (nominative plural)
о́боротней (genitive plural)
о́боротень (nominative singular)
о́боротни (nominative plural)
о́боротня (genitive singular)
о́боротней (genitive plural)
о́боротню (dative singular)
о́боротням (dative plural)
о́боротня (accusative singular)
о́боротней (accusative plural)
о́боротнем (instrumental singular)
о́боротнями (instrumental plural)
о́боротне (prepositional singular)
о́боротнях (plural prepositional)

Ru-оборотень.ogg

werewolf (also werefox and any other werebeast)


alf

From Danish and Swedish alf, from Old Norse alfr; see also Dutch alf. Doublet of elf and oaf.

As the Scandinavians were at that time still worshippers of Thor and Odin, the belief in Alfs and Dwarfs accompanied them to their new abodes, and there, as elsewhere, survived the introduction of Christianity.

1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 248:

[T]he charm suggests rather that the Ases had sunk to a level where they could be counted together with witches and lesser wights, than that the alfs were seen as godly beings at the time the charm was composed.

2023, Kveldulf Gundarsson, Elves, Wights & Trolls, The Three Little Sisters, page 83:

(Norse mythology) A supernatural being similar to an elf; one of the Dǫkkálfar or Ljósalfar.


alf

Dutch: alf

From Old Dutch *alf, from Proto-Germanic *albiz.


Dungeons & Dragons

role-playing game
role-playing game#English

(games) A particular fantasy role-playing game.


quimera

Borrowed from Latin chimaera, from Ancient Greek χίμαιρα (khímaira, “she-goat, chimera”). Cognate with English chimera.


Jabberwocky

The name of a nonsense poem from the children's book Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1872) by Lewis Carroll. Apparently based on the Jabberwock, the monster described therein, with the suffix -y in imitation of classical epics such as the Odyssey.

A nonsensical poem that appears in Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll.


faerie

en-noun

faerie (countable and uncountable, plural faeries)

A deliberately archaic spelling of fairy (attested since the 1300s in spellings like fairye, fayre), based on Old French faerie, used in 1590 by Edmund Spenser in The Faerie Queene.


salamander

/ˈsæləˌmɑːndə/

From Middle English salamandre, from Anglo-Norman salamandre, from Latin salamandra, from Ancient Greek σαλαμάνδρα (salamándra), of uncertain origin (per Beekes, likely Pre-Greek); possibly of Iranian origin, see Persian سمندر (samandar) for more information.

“Not a chance, Ranger,” Bob Mason was speaking. “This little cuss is a salamander. He's been travelling through fire all day and there isn't a blister on him. …”

1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter XI, in The Understanding Heart:

"There is a vulgar error," says the author of the Brief Natural History, p. 91, "that a salamander lives in the fire. Yet both Galen and Dioscorides refute this opinion; and Mathiolus, in his Commentaries upon Dioscorides, a very famous physician, affirms of them, that by casting of many a salamander into the fire for tryal he found it false. The same experiment is likewise avouched by Joubertus."

1849, John Brand, Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain: Chiefly Illustrating the Origin of Our Vulgar and Provincial Customs, Ceremonies, and Superstitions, volume 3, page 372:

(mythology) A creature much like a lizard that is resistant to and lives in fire (in which it is often depicted in heraldry), hence the elemental being of fire.


faun

From Middle English fawn, from Latin Faunus.

(Roman mythology) A woodland creature with pointed ears, legs, and short horns of a goat and a fondness for unrestrained revelry.


faun

fauni (adjective)
faun (nominative singular)
faunowie (nominative plural)
fauny (derogatory nominative plural)
fauna (genitive singular)
faunów (genitive plural)
faunowi (dative singular)
faunom (dative plural)
fauna (accusative singular)
faunów (accusative plural)
faunem (instrumental singular)
faunami (instrumental plural)
faunie (locative singular)
faunach (locative plural)
faunie (singular vocative)
faunowie (plural vocative)
fauny (derogatory plural vocative)


sorcerer

/ˈsɔːsəɹə(ɹ)/

From Middle English sorcerere, from Old French sorcier, from Early Medieval Latin sortiārius, derived from Latin sortem (“fate, fortune”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to bind”).

Pope Joan, who once occupied the throne of the Vatican, was reputed to be the blackest sorcerer of them all.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 105:

"Well, sorcerer?" growled the Norman. "Nay, not well," replied Catweazle shivering miserably, "I have the bone-ache."

1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 7:

(mythology, folklore, fantasy) A magician or wizard. Sometimes specifically male.

yshtës

magician/wizard drawing upon natural powers


aingeal

head

aingeal m (genitive singular aingil, nominative plural aingil)

aingil (genitive singular)
aingil (nominative plural)
aingeal (indefinite nominative singular)
aingil (indefinite nominative plural)
a aingil (indefinite singular vocative)
a aingeala (indefinite plural vocative)
aingil (genitive indefinite singular)
aingeal (genitive indefinite plural)
aingeal (dative indefinite singular)
aingil (dative indefinite plural)
an t-aingeal (definite nominative singular)
na haingil (definite nominative plural)
an aingil (definite genitive singular)
na n-aingeal (definite genitive plural)
leis an aingeal (dative definite singular)
don aingeal (dative definite singular)
leis na haingil (dative definite plural)

From Old Irish aingel, from Late Latin angelus, from Ancient Greek ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger”).


Basilisk

de-noun

Basilisk m (weak, genitive Basilisken, plural Basilisken)

Basilisken (genitive)
Basilisken (plural)
Basilisk (nominative singular)
Basilisken (definite nominative plural)
Basilisken (genitive singular)
Basilisken (definite genitive plural)
Basilisken (dative singular)
Basilisken (dative definite plural)
Basilisken (accusative singular)
Basilisken (accusative definite plural)

basilisk, cockatrice (mythical creature)

basilisk, any of genus Basiliscus of lizards


Beast

Plebes spend their first summer at Cadet Basic Training — Beast Barracks — where they get soldierized.

2014, David Lipsky, Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point, page 8:

I was able to keep up with the herd and evade the Beast. Cadet Basic Training ended with a rigorous twenty four-hour exercise that included a twelve-mile, rite-of-passage road march to West Point […]

2019, Conrad Taylor, PATH to FREEDOM: My Story of Perseverance:

(US, military, slang) A cadet's basic training at West Point.


Elvish

These difficult runes are written in Elvish.


Chaos

From Latin chaos (“chaos”), from Ancient Greek χάος (kháos).

19521 Chaos
Chaos (Warhammer)
Chaos (cosmogony)

Chaos warrior, Chaos daemon

(fantasy, science fiction) In the Warhammer franchise, a demonic antagonist that sends demons, monsters, warriors, and beasts to wage war on the games' setting.


Caro

A mythological figure from the comarca of Safor in the Valencian Community said to have the head of a bearded man and the body of an owl.


Faun

Faun m (strong or mixed, genitive Fauns or Faunes, plural Faune or (rare) Faunen or Fauni)

Fauns (genitive)
Faunes (genitive)
Faune (plural)
Faunen (plural rare)
Fauni (plural)
Faun (nominative singular)
Faune (definite nominative plural)
Faunen (definite nominative plural rare)
Fauni (definite nominative plural rare)
Fauns (genitive singular)
Faunes (genitive singular)
Faune (definite genitive plural)
Faunen (definite genitive plural rare)
Fauni (definite genitive plural rare)
Faun (dative singular)
Faune (dative singular)
Faunen (dative definite plural)
Fauni (dative definite plural rare)
Faun (accusative singular)
Faune (accusative definite plural)
Faunen (accusative definite plural rare)
Fauni (accusative definite plural rare)

Der junge Faun war sehr glücklich auf seiner Sommerwiese.

1924, Thomas Mann, Der Zauberberg [The Magic Mountain], volume 2, Berlin: S. Fischer, page 514:

The young faun was very happy in his summer meadow.


Fee

Fee (genitive)
Feen (plural)
Fee (nominative singular)
Feen (definite nominative plural)
Fee (genitive singular)
Feen (definite genitive plural)
Fee (dative singular)
Feen (dative definite plural)
Fee (accusative singular)
Feen (accusative definite plural)

Middle High German fei(n)e. Borrowed from French fée, from Latin fata.


Hobbit

Hobbit m (strong, genitive Hobbits, plural Hobbits)

Hobbits (genitive)
Hobbits (plural)
Hobbit (nominative singular)
Hobbits (definite nominative plural)
Hobbits (genitive singular)
Hobbits (definite genitive plural)
Hobbit (dative singular)
Hobbits (dative definite plural)
Hobbit (accusative singular)
Hobbits (accusative definite plural)

hobbit (a member of a fictional race of small humanoids with shaggy hair and hairy feet)


Draco

Borrowed from Latin Dracō, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek Δρᾰ́κων (Drákōn). Doublet of dracone, dragon, and dragoon.

Draco
Draco (constellation)
Draco (lawgiver)
Draco Dwarf

(Greek mythology) One of Actaeon's hounds.


Kraken

Borrowed from Norwegian kraken (Bokmål entry; Nynorsk entry), definite singular of krake (“wooden drag/grapnel”) (Bokmål entry; Nynorsk entry), both from Old Norse kraki (“wooden drag/grapnel”, literally “crookie: something with crooks/hooks”), from Proto-Germanic *krankaz (“crooked”).

der

(Norse mythology) A colossal sea monster that attacks ships and sailors, often portrayed as a giant octopus or squid.


Nymphe

de-noun

Nymphe f (genitive Nymphe, plural Nymphen)

Nymphe (genitive)
Nymphen (plural)
Nymphe (nominative singular)
Nymphen (definite nominative plural)
Nymphe (genitive singular)
Nymphen (definite genitive plural)
Nymphe (dative singular)
Nymphen (dative definite plural)
Nymphe (accusative singular)
Nymphen (accusative definite plural)


Hydra

[ˈhaɪ̯d͡ʒɹə]

From Latin Hydra, the mythical serpent, originally from Ancient Greek ὕδρα (húdra), from Proto-Indo-European *údreh₂ (“aquatic”). Doublet of otter.


Hydra

Hydra (nominative singular)
Hydry (genitive singular)
Hydře (dative singular)
Hydru (accusative singular)
Hydro (singular vocative)
Hydře (locative singular)
Hydrou (instrumental singular)

From hydra, from Ancient Greek ὕδρα (húdra).

[…] místo každé uťaté hlavy vyrostly Hydře dvě nové.

1996, Antonín Rükl, “Hydra”, in Souhvězdí, Praha: Aventinum, →ISBN, page 126:

[…] instead of every cut-off head two new heads grew up to Hydra.

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) Hydra, a mythological serpent with seven heads

Alfa Hydrae – Alphard, 2,0 mag, je nejjasnější hvězda v Hydře.

Alpha Hydrae – Alphard, 2.0 mag, is the brightest star in the constellation of Hydra.

(astronomy) Hydra, a spring constellation of the northern sky

Měsíce Hydra, Nix a Styx obíhají ve vzájemné rezonanci, protože za jeden oběh Hydry oběhne Nix právě jeden a půlkrát a Styx dokonce dvakrát.

2015 June 12, Petr Lála, “Historická událost: sonda New Horizons zblízka prozkoumá záhadné Pluto”, in Technet.cz:

The moons Hydra, Nix and Styx orbit in mutual resonance, as Nix makes exactly one and half an orbit and Styx even two orbits during one orbit of Hydra.

Poloostrov Argolský, k němuž přiléhá ostrov Hydra (Hydrea), omezuje záliv Nauplijský[…]

1904, “Řecko”, in Ottův slovník naučný, volume XXI, Praha: J. Ottl, page 359:

The Argolid Penninsula, which the island of Hydra (Hydrea) closely borders with, closes the Argolic Gulf […]

Hydra, one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Aegean Sea


Hydra

From Latin hydra, from Ancient Greek ὕδρα (húdra).

(Greek mythology) Hydra (mythical serpent)


Hydra

Hydra (nominative singular)
Hydry (genitive singular)
Hydrze (dative singular)
Hydrę (accusative singular)
Hydrą (instrumental singular)
Hydrze (locative singular)
Hydro (singular vocative)

(Greek mythology) Hydra (mythological serpent with many heads, slain by Hercules as one of his twelve labours)


Muggle

From mug (“contemptible or stupid person; gullible or easily cheated person”) + -le (diminutive suffix), coined by British author J. K. Rowling in her 1997 book Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

suffix

The magical and the muggle are separated by a river, wide and deep. I could see across, but I couldn't get across, [...].

2005, Christine Wicker, Not in Kansas Anymore: A Curious Tale of How Magic is Transforming America, New York, N.Y.: HarperSanFrancisco, →ISBN, page 194:

Once again, THE magic-working Karmidee, marginalized by THE Muggle-ish Normals, are threatened by a coup in THE city's government [...]

2005 April 1, “Kirkus Reviews, review of Charlotte Haptie, Otto and the Bird Charmers”, in Dow Jones:

In her second outing as a witch — the first being Practical Magic (1998) — Nicole Kidman plays Isabel, a witch who's trying to settle down to the Muggle life of a suburban housewife.

2005 August 19, Felix Cheong, “Age-old sexism still pervades films about witches and wizards”, in Channel NewsAsia:

It could all be deadly earnest if she didn't have a sense of humor. My favorite sentence is a chapter title: "Every time you hear a bell, a Muggle has turned magical."

2005 September 30, Jeffrey Weiss, “Review of Christine Wicker, Not in Kansas Anymore”, in The Dallas Morning News:

As it was nearing Halloween, we were able to join a potions class where we could change liquids into myriad colours with the addition of substances like dragon spit (muggle’s lemon juice).

2007 November 11, Lesley Oldfield, “Family break a eureka moment”, in Sunday Sun, Newcastle upon Tyne: Reach plc, →ISSN, →OCLC:

There's another guy playing [Bob] Dylan as a formal poet facing some kind of muggle inquisition, but this is the movie's briefest and least consequential thread.

2007 November 21, Gary Thompson, “Dylan divided by six”, in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Pa.: The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, →ISSN, →OCLC:

This video game won’t appeal to muggles.

[...] I have finally worked out that the word ECNALUBMA in back-to-front writing translates as 'get out of my way, you Muggle motorist'.

2003 May 14, “There are too many flashing lights nowadays for a knight of the road …”, in Nursing Standard:

Some activists might know little of this ‘exterior’, such is their facility to move between activist spaces and places without having to encounter the ever-increasingly one-dimensional world in which the ‘muggles’ live.

2005, David Harvie, Ben Trott, Keir Milburn, editors, Shut Them Down!: The G8, Gleneagles 2005 and the Movement of Movements, Leeds, West Yorkshire: Dissent!; Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.: Autonomedia, →ISBN, page 343:

But to me, remembering what it was like to be a beginner is also an exercise in humility. I see a lot of people wanting to push ahead, faster, in all directions, and I find this to be… woefully out of step with even the Muggles who know me, […]

2021 October 31, Ace Admiral [username], “Why is no one talking about the tip of the spear?: An^([sic]) reading of the asexual academy through Skopos Theory”, in A Hand-Painted China Plate at a Barbeque, WordPress, retrieved 2021-11-02:

(by extension) A person who lacks a particular ability or skill; a non-specialist; also, a person who is not a member of a group; an outsider or cowan.

At some point when you're out geocaching, you'll run into Muggles. The trouble with Muggles is they have no idea what the sport of geocaching is all about. If they see you find a cache, they might get into the cache after you leave—to see what you were up to.

2004, Joel McNamara, Geocaching for Dummies (For Dummies), Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, →ISBN, page 125:

Try not to let the muggles see you find a Cache.

2006, Wisconsin Natural Resources, Madison, Wis.: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 89:

Use Stealth. Commonly used in a place with a high muggle-to-geocacher ratio.

2010, Paul Gillin, Dana Gillin, “Appendix A: Glossary”, in The Joy of Geocaching […], Fresno, Calif.: Quill Driver Books, →ISBN, page 235:

Each time we made a find [Teresa] Hinton would check there were no muggles, or non-geocachers, around before taking the container from its hiding place.

2016 February 16, Selina Powell, “The hidden world of geocaching in Marlborough”, in Marlborough Express (reproduced on Stuff), Blenheim, New Zealand: Stuff, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-05-16:

Caches can be hidden in a disguised container, or very small package, and one element of difficulty is hiding caches in urban locations, where the hunter will have to avoid being spotted by ‘muggles’ – the name given to those unaware of the sport. Muggles will be surprised at the scale of the secret game taking place under their noses.

2018 February 6, Joseph Smith, “The ‘dead drop’ in Stokes Croft may be more than it appears”, in Bristol Post, Bristol, Somerset: Reach plc, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2018-02-10:

(geocaching, specifically) A person not involved in the pastime of geocaching.


Snark

Coined by Lewis Carroll as a nonce word in The Hunting of the Snark (1874). According to Beatrice Hatch, Carroll created this word as a blend of snail + shark.

A fictional animal in Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark.

A ketch built by Jack London named after Lewis Carroll's poem The Hunting of the Snark


Standard

"I felt that I had to come," she said, as if she could tell from my face that I still wasn't getting it. She spoke Standard, with no real accent. She was dressed in pragmatic, sexless human clothes; if we hadn't been face-to-face, she could have passed for a human.

1996, Joan D. Vinge, Dreamfall, New York, N.Y.: Warner Books, →ISBN, page 150:

universal language
universal language#Noun

(science fiction, fantasy) Denoting the name of a universal language in various works.


Ritter

de-noun

Ritter m (strong, genitive Ritters, plural Ritter, feminine Ritterin)

Ritters (genitive)
Ritter (plural)
Ritterin (feminine)
Ritter (nominative singular)
Ritter (definite nominative plural)
Ritters (genitive singular)
Ritter (definite genitive plural)
Ritter (dative singular)
Rittern (dative definite plural)
Ritter (accusative singular)
Ritter (accusative definite plural)

From Middle High German ritter, from Middle Dutch ridder, Flemish byform of rîder, from rîden + -er (equivalent to German reiten + -er).
In Middle High German, both ritter and rīter (whence modern Reiter) were used in the sense of “horseman”, “mounted man-at-arms”, as well as for the (emerging) rank of “knight”, and, by generalisation, any member of the lower nobility. Gradually, both forms were separated semantically (a vocabulary of 1487 has two distinct entries: miles: ritter vs. equester: reitter), and in early modern German a third (similar, though unrelated) form Reuter, from Dutch, was introduced. In this period, Ritter was the term for the class of the German lower nobility, Reuter was the normal word for a cavalryman, and Reiter was rare but sometimes used for “horseman”. From the 18th century, Ritter was gradually replaced by Kavalier, especially with individual noblemen, whereas the collective Ritterschaft remained in use for the class as a whole. Accordingly, Ritter becomes increasingly limited to the historic or romantic/poetic “medieval knight”.

Endlich erschien eines Tages ein wohlgewappneter Ritter und schwor, dass er den Kampf mit dem Drachen aufnehmen wolle.

Finally one day a well-armed knight appeared, who swore that he would take up arms against the dragon.


Siren

la-noun

Sīrēn f (genitive Sīrēnis); third declension

Sīrēn (canonical feminine)
Sīrēnis (genitive)
Sīrēn (nominative singular)
Sīrēnēs (nominative plural)
Sīrēnis (genitive singular)
Sīrēnum (genitive plural)
Sīrēnī (dative singular)
Sīrēnibus (dative plural)
Sīrēnem (accusative singular)
Sīrēnēs (accusative plural)
Sīrēne (ablative singular)
Sīrēnibus (ablative plural)
Sīrēn (singular vocative)
Sīrēnēs (plural vocative)

Asturian: serena, sirena

Catalan: sirena

English: Siren, siren

desctree

French: sirène
→ Persian: سیرن (siren)
→ Portuguese: sirene
→ Turkish: siren

→ Galician: sirena

German: Sirene

Irish: Síréana

Italian: sirena, serena

Old French: sereine

Old Galician-Portuguese: serẽa
Galician: serea
Portuguese: sereia

→ Portuguese: sirena

Romanian: sirenă

Spanish: sirena, serena, serea

(Greek mythology, mythology) a siren, one of the mythical birds with faces of virgins, that dwelt on the southern coast of Italy, where, with their sweet voices, they enticed ashore those who were sailing by, and then killed them.


shuck

(European folklore) A supernatural and generally malevolent black dog in English folklore.


lamia

From Latin lamia, from Ancient Greek Λάμια (Lámia).

Apollonius […] by some probable conjectures, found her out to be a serpent, a lamia, and that all her furniture was like Tantalus' gold described by Homer, no substance, but mere illusions.

1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition III, section 2, member 1, subsection i:

(Greek mythology) A monster preying upon human beings, who sucked the blood of children, often described as having the head and breasts of a woman and the lower half of a serpent.


lamia

la-noun

lamia f (genitive lamiae); first declension

lamiae (genitive)
lamia (nominative singular)
lamiae (nominative plural)
lamiae (genitive singular)
lamiārum (genitive plural)
lamiae (dative singular)
lamiīs (dative plural)
lamiam (accusative singular)
lamiās (accusative plural)
lamiā (ablative singular)
lamiīs (ablative plural)
lamia (singular vocative)
lamiae (plural vocative)

desc

→ Translingual: lamia (used in names of fish)

→ English: lamia (learned)

→ Galician: lamia (learned)

→ Italian: lamia (learned)

From Ancient Greek λάμια (lámia), Λάμια (Lámia).


mogwai

From Cantonese 魔怪 (mo1 gwaai3), 魔鬼 (mo1 gwai2).

(Chinese mythology) A kind of demon held to be harmful to humans.


zombify

en-verb

zombify (third-person singular simple present zombifies, present participle zombifying, simple past and past participle zombified)

zombifies (present singular third-person)
zombifying (participle present)
zombified (participle past)
zombified (past)

She managed to flee the sorcerer who had attempted to zombify her and enjoyed relative prosperity in Jamaica.

1994, A History of Literature in the Caribbean: Hispanic and Francophone Regions, Arnold, et al:

(transitive, fiction) To turn into a zombie (a member of the living dead or undead).


magic realism

en-noun

magic realism (usually uncountable, plural magic realisms)

Calque of German Magischer Realismus, first referring to the anti-expressionist artistic movement New Objectivity (1925), later applied to literature, especially in Latin America where it is known as realismo mágico.

Perhaps the best news to come out of the nominations was the brightened box-office prospects for such films as Benh Zeitlin's Beasts of the Southern Wild, a dazzling piece of magic realism pieced together from just $1.8m, some rusty bathtubs and whatever Louisiana bric-a-brac its youthful collective of film-makers could lay their hands on; […]

2013 January 11, Tom Shone, “Oscar nominations pull a surprise by showing some taste – but will it last?”, in The Guardian:

A literary style or genre that combines naturalistic details and narrative with surreal or dreamlike elements.


D&D

(roleplaying games) Initialism of Dungeons & Dragons.


jinx

From jynx in the transferred sense “a charm or spell”.


дракон

be-noun

драко́н<anml>

драко́н • (drakón) m animal (genitive драко́на, nominative plural драко́ны, genitive plural драко́наў)

драко́н (canonical)
drakón (romanization)
драко́на (genitive)
драко́ны (nominative plural)
драко́наў (genitive plural)
драко́н (nominative singular)
драко́ны (nominative plural)
драко́на (genitive singular)
драко́наў (genitive plural)
драко́ну (dative singular)
драко́нам (dative plural)
драко́на (accusative singular)
драко́наў (accusative plural)
драко́нам (instrumental singular)
драко́намі (instrumental plural)
драко́не (locative singular)
драко́нах (locative plural)
драко́ны (count-form plural)

be-ndecl

драко́н<anml>


дракон

bg-noun

дра́коновски

дра́кон • (drákon) m (relational adjective дра́конов or дра́коновски)

дра́кон (canonical)
drákon (romanization)
дра́конов (adjective relational)
дра́коновски (adjective relational)
дра́кон (indefinite singular)
дра́кони (indefinite plural)
дра́конът (definite singular subjective)
дра́коните (definite plural subjective)
дра́кона (definite objective singular)
дра́коните (definite objective plural)
дра́кона (count-form plural)
дра́коне (singular vocative)
дра́кони (plural vocative)

bg-ndecl

дра́кон<(v)>

Borrowed from Ancient Greek δρᾰ́κων (drákōn).


дракон

mk-noun

дракон • (drakon) m (plural дракони, relational adjective драконски)

drakon (romanization)
дракони (plural)
драконски (adjective relational)
дракон (indefinite singular)
дракони (indefinite plural)
драконот (definite singular unspecified)
драконите (definite plural unspecified)
драконов (definite proximal singular)
дракониве (definite plural proximal)
драконон (definite distal singular)
драконине (definite distal plural)
дракону (singular vocative)
драконе (singular vocative)
дракони (plural vocative)
дракона (count-form plural)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn).


дракон

ru-noun+

драко́н • (drakón) m anim (genitive драко́на, nominative plural драко́ны, genitive plural драко́нов)

драко́н (canonical)
drakón (romanization)
драко́на (genitive)
драко́ны (nominative plural)
драко́нов (genitive plural)
драко́н (nominative singular)
драко́ны (nominative plural)
драко́на (genitive singular)
драко́нов (genitive plural)
драко́ну (dative singular)
драко́нам (dative plural)
драко́на (accusative singular)
драко́нов (accusative plural)
драко́ном (instrumental singular)
драко́нами (instrumental plural)
драко́не (prepositional singular)
драко́нах (plural prepositional)

→ Bashkir: дракон (drakon)

драко́нъ — Pre-reform orthography (1918)


дракон

uk-noun

драко́н<anml>

драко́н • (drakón) m animal (genitive драко́на, nominative plural драко́ни, genitive plural драко́нів)

драко́н (canonical)
drakón (romanization)
драко́на (genitive)
драко́ни (nominative plural)
драко́нів (genitive plural)
драко́н (nominative singular)
драко́ни (nominative plural)
драко́на (genitive singular)
драко́нів (genitive plural)
драко́нові (dative singular)
драко́ну (dative singular)
драко́нам (dative plural)
драко́на (accusative singular)
драко́ни (accusative plural)
драко́нів (accusative plural)
драко́ном (instrumental singular)
драко́нами (instrumental plural)
драко́нові (locative singular)
драко́ні (locative singular)
драко́нах (locative plural)
драко́не (singular vocative)
драко́ни (plural vocative)

uk-ndecl

драко́н<anml>


spooky

en-adj

spooky (comparative spookier, superlative spookiest)

spookier (comparative)
spookiest (superlative)

(informal) Eerie, or suggestive of ghosts or the supernatural.


Tweedle-dee

The names "Tweedledum" and "Tweedledee" first appeared in print in one of John Byrom's epigrams, which satirised the disagreements between Handel and Bononcini. They were made popular by Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass.

A fictional little fat man who is the twin brother of Tweedle-dum and appears in multiple artistic works, including certain nursery rhymes and Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass.


Tweedle-dum

A fictional little fat man who is the twin brother of Tweedle-dee and appears in multiple artistic works, including certain nursery rhymes and Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass.


alicorn

Term already associated with unicorns and reinterpreted as a blend of Latin āla (“wing”) with unicorn, popularized by Bearing an Hourglass (1984) and other fantasy novels by Piers Anthony.

The Alicorn. He be a winged unicorn, the finest equine flesh extant, the adoration of every fair and innocent maiden. For that steed I would give anything.

1984 August, Piers Anthony, Bearing an Hourglass, Del Rey Books, published 1992, →ISBN, →OL, page 171:

A silver portal opens in the sky and a^([sic]) ebony alicorn stallion gallops from it the silver tips on his black wings shine in the sun's light.

1999 May 15, Twyligtsky <twyligtsky@aol.comSKYMAGE>, “Re: RP: First appearence!^([sic])”, in alt.mythology.mythic-animals (Usenet), message-ID <19990515145319.05236.00000939@ng-fs1.aol.com>:

Rarity: Why, you've become an alicorn! I didn't even know that was possible.
Pinkie Pie: [wearing a costume horn and wings] Alicorn party!

2013 February 16, M.A. Larson, “Magical Mystery Cure” (16:32), in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, season 3, episode 13, spoken by Rarity and Pinkie Pie (Tabitha St. Germain and Andrea Libman):

(nonstandard) A mythological creature, a mixture of pegasus and unicorn: a winged horse with a single horn on its head.


griffon

Inherited from Old French grifon (grif + -on), from Latin grȳphus, gryps, from Ancient Greek γρύψ (grúps).

inh+

(mythology) griffin (legendary creature)


ghostly

en-adj

ghostly (comparative ghostlier, superlative ghostliest)

ghostlier (comparative)
ghostliest (superlative)

From Middle English gostly, gastlich, from Old English gāstlīċ (“spiritual, holy, clerical (not lay), ghastly, ghostly, spectral”), from Proto-West Germanic *gaistalīk (“spiritual”), equivalent to ghost + -ly. Cognate with Scots ghaistly, gaistly (“spiritual, ghastly, terrifying”), West Frisian geastlik (“spiritual, clerical, religious”), Dutch geestelijk (“spiritual, clerical, ecclesiastical”), German geistlich (“spiritual, sacred, religious”), Danish geistlig (“ecclesiastical, clerical”).

cog

A ghostly hush fell.

Scores of coconut-shell fires blazed with their characteristic glaring white flame, throwing grotesque shadows on the brown thatched huts, dancing in fairylike shimmerings among the domes of coconut fronds, casting ghostly reaches of light through the adjacent graveyards, and silhouetting the forms of pareu-clad natives at work cleaning their fish or laying them on the live coals to broil.

1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka, Eland, published 2019, page 35:

His lips were chapped and lined with a ghostly purple fringe.

2019, Dave Eggers, The Parade, N.Y.: Vintage Books, page 134:


triton

Learned borrowing from Latin Trītōn, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek Τρίτων (Trítōn).


Zwerg

de-noun

Zwerg m (strong, genitive Zwerges or Zwergs, plural Zwerge, diminutive Zwergchen n or Zwerglein n, feminine Zwergin)

Zwerges (genitive)
Zwergs (genitive)
Zwerge (plural)
Zwergchen (diminutive neuter)
Zwerglein (diminutive neuter)
Zwergin (feminine)
Zwerg (nominative singular)
Zwerge (definite nominative plural)
Zwerges (genitive singular)
Zwergs (genitive singular)
Zwerge (definite genitive plural)
Zwerg (dative singular)
Zwerge (dative singular)
Zwergen (dative definite plural)
Zwerg (accusative singular)
Zwerge (accusative definite plural)

From Middle High German twerc, from Old High German twerc, from Proto-West Germanic *dwerg, from Proto-Germanic *dwergaz.
The development Middle High German tw- > modern German zw- is regular. Compare Dutch dwerg, English dwarf, Low German Dwarg, Danish dværg.


gender bender

(fantasy) A person capable of changing their physical sex.

(fantasy) An instance of someone's physical sex being changed, usually via magic.


Triton

la-noun

Trītōn m (genitive Trītōnis); third declension

Trītōn (canonical masculine)
Trītōnis (genitive)
Trītōn (nominative singular)
Trītōnes (nominative plural)
Trītōnēs (nominative plural)
Trītōnis (genitive singular)
Trītōnos (genitive singular)
Trītōnum (genitive plural)
Trītōnī (dative singular)
Trītōnibus (dative plural)
Trītōna (accusative singular)
Trītōnem (accusative singular)
Trītōnas (accusative plural)
Trītōnēs (accusative plural)
Trītōne (ablative singular)
Trītōnibus (ablative plural)
Trītōn (singular vocative)
Trītōnes (plural vocative)
Trītōnēs (plural vocative)


Narnia

Named by C. S. Lewis after the Latin name of the Italian town of Narni.

(fantasy) A land in which a series of seven children's books, The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis are set.


cockatrice

First attested 1382 as Middle English cocatrice (“basilisk”), from Old French cocatriz, from Late Latin calcātrīx (“she who treads upon something”), from Latin calcō (“tread”), from calx (“heel, hoof”).

der

For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 8:17:

(fantasy, folklore) A snake or serpent that appears to be hatched from a rooster, or cock's, egg.


gigant

gīgant (canonical masculine)
gīgant (nominative singular)
gīgantas (nominative plural)
gīgant (accusative singular)
gīgantas (accusative plural)
gīgantes (genitive singular)
gīganta (genitive plural)
gīgante (dative singular)
gīgantum (dative plural)

a giant (mythical being of superhuman size)


gigant

gigant (nominative singular)
giganci (nominative plural)
giganty (derogatory nominative plural)
giganta (genitive singular)
gigantów (genitive plural)
gigantowi (dative singular)
gigantom (dative plural)
giganta (accusative singular)
gigantów (accusative plural)
gigantem (instrumental singular)
gigantami (instrumental plural)
gigancie (locative singular)
gigantach (locative plural)
gigancie (singular vocative)
giganci (plural vocative)

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) giant (Greek mythological creature)


nóg

nóg (nominative singular)
nogi (nominative plural)
nogowie (nominative plural)
noga (genitive singular)
nogów (genitive plural)
nogowi (dative singular)
nogom (dative plural)
noga (accusative singular)
nogi (accusative plural)
nogowie (accusative plural)
nogiem (instrumental singular)
nogami (instrumental plural)
nogu (locative singular)
nogach (locative plural)
nogu (singular vocative)
nogi (plural vocative)
nogowie (plural vocative)

Possibly borrowed from Czech noh, or inherited from Proto-Slavic ultimately from Proto-Slavic *jьnogъ. First attested in 1528. Displaced by gryf.

ref

Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “nog”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]


drow

en-noun

drow (countable and uncountable, plural drow)

A Shetlandic and Orcadian alteration of trow, most likely influenced by an unattested Norn *drog (“malevolent [undead] being”). Trow is derived from Norn troll, or otherwise from Old Norse trǫll. L-vocalisation occurred in the early 15th century in Middle Scots, so "trolly knolls" probably became *trowie knowes around this time. The supposed Norn *drog would have been derived from Old Norse draugr.

der

(fantasy roleplaying games, countable) A member of a fictional race of dark elves in various fantasy settings, such as Dungeons & Dragons.

constructed language
constructed language

(fantasy roleplaying games, uncountable) A fictional constructed language spoken by the Drow.

(rare, mythology, countable) A trow; a member of a race of folkloric beings from Orkney and Shetland; cognate to the Scandinavian troll.


monkfish

en-noun

monkfish (countable and uncountable, plural monkfish or monkfishes)

[The] monkfish is preceded by the “monstre Leonin” and followed by the “monstre marinen habit d'Evesque” (de Monstro Leonino and de pisce Episcopi habitu respectively). The creature represented in these works is a hybrid: his round and tonsured ...

2017, Itineraries in French Renaissance Literature: Essays (Jeff Persels, Kendall Tarte, George Hoffmann), page 382


älva

älva (indefinite nominative singular)
älvas (genitive indefinite singular)
älvan (definite nominative singular)
älvans (definite genitive singular)
älvor (indefinite nominative plural)
älvors (genitive indefinite plural)
älvorna (definite nominative plural)
älvornas (definite genitive plural)

From Old Swedish ælf, from Old Norse alfr, from Proto-Germanic *albiz (“fairy, elf”).

A human-like creature from the Swedish mythology similar to an elf or fairy. She is often a young beautiful female, and can sometimes see her dancing in the mist. Feminine form of alv.


shape-shifter

(fantasy, mythology, science fiction) Alternative form of shapeshifter


strah

strȃh (canonical inanimate masculine)
strȃh (nominative singular)
strahȏva (dual nominative)
strahȏvi (nominative plural)
strahȗ (genitive singular)
strahóv (dual genitive)
strahóv (genitive plural)
strȃhu (dative singular)
strȃhi (dative singular)
strahȏvoma (dative dual)
strahȏvama (dative dual)
strahȏvom (dative plural)
strȃhȏvam (dative plural)
strȃh (accusative singular)
strahȏva (accusative dual)
strahȏve (accusative plural)
strȃhu (locative singular)
strȃhi (locative singular)
strahȏvih (dual locative)
strahȏvih (locative plural)
strȃhom (instrumental singular)
strahȏvoma (dual instrumental)
strahȏvama (dual instrumental)
strahȏvi (instrumental plural)
strȃh (singular vocative)
strahȏva (dual vocative)
strahȏvi (plural vocative)
strȃh (nominative singular)
strahȏva (dual nominative)
strahȏvi (nominative plural)
strȃha (genitive singular)
strahóv (dual genitive)
strahóv (genitive plural)
strȃhu (dative singular)
strȃhi (dative singular)
strahȏvoma (dative dual)
strahȏvama (dative dual)
strahȏvom (dative plural)
strȃhȏvam (dative plural)
strȃh (accusative singular)
strahȏva (accusative dual)
strahȏve (accusative plural)
strȃhu (locative singular)
strȃhi (locative singular)
strahȏvih (dual locative)
strahȏvih (locative plural)
strȃhom (instrumental singular)
strahȏvoma (dual instrumental)
strahȏvama (dual instrumental)
strahȏvi (instrumental plural)
strȃh (singular vocative)
strahȏva (dual vocative)
strahȏvi (plural vocative)

From Proto-Slavic *straxъ, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *strākš-, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)treg-.

strah je sredi votel, okoli ga pa nič ni

phantom, ghost (a scary mythical creature)


elemental

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-elemental.wav

Incidentally, such beings may be said to have an existence of a sort upon the lower astral plane; they are elementals created by man's evil desires and unclean thoughts.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 115:

(mysticism, fantasy) A creature (usually a spirit) that is attuned with, or composed of, one of the classical elements: air, earth, fire and water or variations of them like ice, lightning, etc. They sometimes have unique proper names and sometimes are referred to as Air, Earth, Fire, or Water.


elemental

(alchemy, folklore, mythology) elemental


brujería

From brujo + -ería. Akin to Portuguese bruxaria.


changeling

/ˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒlɪŋ/

The noun is derived from change + -ling (suffix with the sense ‘immature; small’). Sense 6 (“idiot, simpleton”) is from the idea that foolish children had been left by magical creatures (sense 1).
The adjective is derived from the noun.

suffix

(fantasy, science fiction) An organism which can change shape to mimic others; a shape-shifter.


eoten

Learned borrowing from Old English eoten. Doublet of ettin.

lbor

The chief exploit of the hero, Beowulf the Great, is the destruction of the two monsters Grendel and his mother; both like most of the evil beings in the old times, dwellers in the fens and the waters; and both, moreover, as some Christian bard has taken care to inform us, of "Cain's kin," as were also the eotens, and the elves, and the orcs (eótenas, and ylfe, and orcneas).

1834, “The National Fairy Mythology of England”, in Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, volume 10, page 53:

In these manuscripts we are again in an atmosphere of eotens and trolls, there are traces of even older terrors, when the first Teuton settlers in Europe struggled with the aborigines who lived in caves[.]

1922, Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, The Old English Herbals, page 3:

A giant from Old English literature and mythology.


AD&D

w:Editions of Dungeons & Dragons#Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

(roleplaying games) Initialism of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.


goblin

From Middle English gobelyn, from Old Northern French gobelin (compare Norman goubelin, Walloon gobelin), possibly a blend of Old Dutch *kobeholdo (“goblin”) (compare Dutch kabouter, German Kobold) and Late Latin cobalus (“mountain sprite”), from Ancient Greek κόβαλος (kóbalos, “rogue, knave; goblin”). Displaced native Old English pūca from Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“a goblin, spook”).

inh

From yͤ hagg & hungry Goblin,
yͭ into raggs would rend yee,
& yͤ spirit yͭ stand’s by yͤ naked man,

c. 1620, anonymous, “Tom o’ Bedlam’s Song” in Giles Earle his Booke (British Museum, Additional MSS. 24, 665)

"[…]If he had struck a stroke more to the side just here," said the goblin, tapping the very stone, as it seemed to Curdie, against which his head lay, "he would have been through; but he's a couple of yards past it now, and if he follow the lode it will be a week before it leads him in.[…]"

1872, George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin, page 50:

At last the goblins had a chance to rid themselves of one of the troublesome defenders, and two goblin warriors snatched the opportunity.

2006, Charlotte Bishop, Norty: The Chosen Ones, page 187:

The goblin shifted the two younger ones closer to him. It looked like he was hiding behind them, using them as a shield.
The goblin looked pure evil. His eyes were brown.

2010, Thom L. Nichols, War: Return of the Elves, Part 1, page 37:

I shall send another entourage of goblins back here to Desput with the goblins’ new ally the Pixy! These creatures deserve the same respect as any other goblin.

2010, D. S. Macleod, The Middle Times: Rise of the Goblin King, page 229:

Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins. For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you.

2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:

(fantasy) A malevolent and grotesque diminutive humanoid, often associated with orcs or trolls.

iratxo

hostile diminutive humanoid in fantasy literature


goblin

goblin (nominative singular)
gobliny (nominative plural)
goblina (genitive singular)
goblinów (genitive plural)
goblinowi (dative singular)
goblinom (dative plural)
goblina (accusative singular)
gobliny (accusative plural)
goblinem (instrumental singular)
goblinami (instrumental plural)
goblinie (locative singular)
goblinach (locative plural)
goblinie (singular vocative)
gobliny (plural vocative)

(fantasy) goblin (hostile diminutive humanoid in fantasy literature)


simurgh

(Iranian mythology) A gigantic winged benevolent creature.


naiad

From Latin Naias, from Ancient Greek Νᾱϊάς (Nāïás, “naiad”), from νάω (náō, “to flow”).

(Greek mythology) A female deity (nymph) associated with water, especially a spring, stream, or other fresh water.


þyrs

þyrs (nominative singular)
þyrsas (nominative plural)
þyrs (accusative singular)
þyrsas (accusative plural)
þyrses (genitive singular)
þyrsa (genitive plural)
þyrse (dative singular)
þyrsum (dative plural)

desctree

Middle English: thurs, thirs, thrisse, thrusse, thurse, thursse, thyrce, þurs
English: thurse

Inherited from Proto-West Germanic *þuris, from Proto-Germanic *þurisaz. Cognate with Old High German duris (“demon”), Old Saxon thuris (“the rune þ”), Old Norse þurs (“giant”).

inh+

Exeter Book, Riddle 40, 62-63 (late 10th century)

I can gorge more greedily / and eat at least as much as an old giant

Ic mēsan mæg meahtelīcor / ond efnetan ealdum þyrse

Maxims II, 42-43 (early 11th century)

The monster must live in the fen / alone in its land.

Þyrs sceal on fenne gewunian / ana innan lande.


sirena

From Late Latin sirēna, from Latin Sīrēn, from Ancient Greek Σειρήν (Seirḗn).


sirena

From Spanish sirena, from Late Latin sirēna, from Latin Sīrēn, from Ancient Greek Σειρήν (Seirḗn).

a siren; a device that creates a loud sound as an alarm or signal; the sound it creates


sirena

From Late Latin sirēna, from Latin Sīrēn, from Ancient Greek Σειρήν (Seirḗn). Cognate with Piedmontese siren-a.


sirena

Learned borrowing from Late Latin sirēna, from Latin Sīrēn (“siren”), from Ancient Greek Σειρήν (Seirḗn).


sirena

→ Cebuano: sirena

→ Tagalog: sirena

Borrowed from Late Latin Sirēna, from Latin Sīrēn, from Ancient Greek Σειρήν (Seirḗn).


sirena

[sɪˈɾɛː.n̪ɐ]

Borrowed from Spanish sirena, from Late Latin Sirēna, from Latin Sīrēn, from Ancient Greek Σειρήν (Seirḗn). The third sense is an extension of the original, further popularized by the rap song Sirena.

Ligaya Tiamson Rubin, may mga kuwento ang mga taga- Angono tungkol sa mga sirena na siyang nakikita sa isang malaking bato na umaawit at may mahabang gintong buhok. Kapag may dumarating na tao ay agad itong nawawala.

2005, Ligaya Tiamson- Rubin, (Es) kultura ng bayan: Kakambal ng ibang mga bayan:

Diego: 'Yun pong bahagi ng dagat ditong nilalabasan ng mga sirena. Galit daw po ang mga sirena sa mga tagarito. Ayon po kasi sa kuwentu-kuwento, noong unang panahon daw e pinakialaman ng mga mangingisda dito ang mga sirena ...

1993, Ricardo Lee, Salome: a Filipino filmscript, Univ of Wisconsin Center for:

Sa kaharian nila Amelita... Sa kaharian ng mga Sirena...Nakaramdam ako ng kasiyahan. Si Lagrimas... Sana ay masaya siya saan man siya naroon.... Katapusan Si Robinson Mago ay isang Electronics and Communication Engineer na ...

2014, Robin Mago, Amelita, Robinson Mago:

Natutuklasan nila sa mga libro ni Gaying na lahat ng mga taga-Angono ay nagiging bida, walang bandido, nagiging mga diwata, higante at mga sirena sa kanilang mahal na Angono. Nagkakaroon tuloy sila ng pakiramdam na sila man ay ...

2005, Ligaya Tiamson- Rubin, Angono, Rizal: Pagtatala ng gunita, panimulang dokumentasyon ng mga bayan sa Pilipinas, →ISBN:


kobold

en-noun

kobold (plural kobolds or (rare) kobolde)

Borrowed from German Kobold. Doublet of cobalt.

a. 1867, George MacDonald, The Shadows, 2000 [1980], The Golden Key and Other Stories, page 96,
The king had seen all kinds of gnomes, goblins, and kobolds at his coronation; […] .

Among the nonhuman creatures that peopled rural Europe in the Middle Ages — the fairies, elves, dwarfs, trolls, and kobolds — there were beneficent female spirits who patronized those households that treated them well.

1977, James Buchanan Given, Society and Homicide in Thirteenth-Century England, published 2007, page 138:

In Germany also the kobolds are rather troublesome than otherwise, to the miners, taking pleasure in frustrating their objects, and rendering their toil unfruitful.

2011, William Wirt Sikes, Varla Ventura, The Occult Powers of Goats and Other Welsh Tales of Goblins, Fairies, Gnomes, and Elves, unnumbered page:

(German folklore) A mischievous elf or goblin, or one connected (and helpful) to a family or household.


kobold

koboldok (plural)
kobold (nominative singular)
koboldok (nominative plural)
koboldot (accusative singular)
koboldokat (accusative plural)
koboldnak (dative singular)
koboldoknak (dative plural)
kobolddal (instrumental singular)
koboldokkal (instrumental plural)
koboldért (causal-final singular)
koboldokért (causal-final plural)
kobolddá (singular translative)
koboldokká (plural translative)
koboldig (singular terminative)
koboldokig (plural terminative)
koboldként (essive-formal singular)
koboldokként (essive-formal plural)
koboldban (inessive singular)
koboldokban (inessive plural)
koboldon (singular superessive)
koboldokon (plural superessive)
koboldnál (adessive singular)
koboldoknál (adessive plural)
koboldba (illative singular)
koboldokba (illative plural)
koboldra (singular sublative)
koboldokra (plural sublative)
koboldhoz (allative singular)
koboldokhoz (allative plural)
koboldból (elative singular)
koboldokból (elative plural)
koboldról (delative singular)
koboldokról (delative plural)
koboldtól (ablative singular)
koboldoktól (ablative plural)
koboldé (possessed-single possessive predicative singular)
koboldoké (plural possessed-single possessive predicative)
koboldéi (possessed-single possessive predicative singular)
koboldokéi (plural possessed-single possessive predicative)
koboldom (first-person possessed-single possessive singular)
koboldjaim (first-person possessed-many possessive singular)
koboldod (possessed-single possessive second-person singular)
koboldjaid (possessed-many possessive second-person singular)
koboldja (possessed-single possessive singular third-person)
koboldjai (possessed-many possessive singular third-person)
koboldunk (first-person plural possessed-single possessive)
koboldjaink (first-person plural possessed-many possessive)
koboldotok (plural possessed-single possessive second-person)
koboldjaitok (plural possessed-many possessive second-person)
koboldjuk (plural possessed-single possessive third-person)
koboldjaik (plural possessed-many possessive third-person)


kobold

kobold (nominative singular)
koboldy (nominative plural)
kobolda (genitive singular)
koboldów (genitive plural)
koboldowi (dative singular)
koboldom (dative plural)
kobolda (accusative singular)
koboldy (accusative plural)
koboldem (instrumental singular)
koboldami (instrumental plural)
koboldzie (locative singular)
koboldach (locative plural)
koboldzie (singular vocative)
koboldy (plural vocative)

(Germanic folklore) kobold (mischievous elf or goblin, or one connected (and helpful) to a family or household)


looking-glass

/ˈlʊkɪŋ ˌɡlɑːs/

/ˈlʊkɪŋ ˌɡlæs/

* (way into a bizarre world): From the book Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871) by Lewis Carroll.

It has been quite a week in politics. […] I know that some Republicans feel as if they've fallen through the looking glass.

2016 July 29, Paul Krugman, “Who loves America?”, in The New York Times:


gorgon

From Middle English gorgon, from Latin Gorgō, from Ancient Greek Γοργώ (Gorgṓ), from γοργός (gorgós, “terrible”). Possibly from the same root as the Sanskrit word "garğ" (गर्जन), which is defined as a guttural sound, similar to the growling of a beast, thus possibly originating as an onomatopoeia.

(Greek mythology) A vicious female monster from Greek mythology with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes. One of the three sisters: Medusa, Stheno and Euryale


gorgon

English: gorgon (obsolete)

Borrowed from Latin Gorgō, from Ancient Greek Γοργώ (Gorgṓ).


grifo

eo-head

grifo (accusative singular grifon, plural grifoj, accusative plural grifojn)

grifon (accusative singular)
grifoj (plural)
grifojn (accusative plural)


grifo

From Old Galician-Portuguese grifo, from Latin grȳphus, gryps, from Ancient Greek γρύψ (grúps).


grifo

Chavacano: grifo

→ Aymara: grifo

→ Cebuano: gripo

→ Hiligaynon: gripo

→ Kapampangan: gripu

→ Maguindanao: gulipu

→ Maranao: giripo

→ Pangasinan: gripo

→ Quechua: grifu

→ Sambali: gripo

→ Tagalog: gripo

→ Tausug: giripu

Borrowed from Late Latin grȳphus, from grȳps, borrowed from Ancient Greek γρύψ (grúps).

(Peru) petrol station, garage, filling station, gas station, service station


lich

en-noun

lich (plural liches or (with Scots pronunciation) lichs)

From Middle English lich, from Old English līċ, from Proto-West Germanic *līk, from Proto-Germanic *līką, from Proto-Indo-European *leyg-.
Cognate with Dutch lijk, German Leiche, Norwegian lik, Swedish lik, Danish lig.

It was a lich’s face – desiccated flesh tight over its skull.

(fantasy, roleplaying games) A reanimated corpse or undead being; particularly an intelligent, undead spellcaster.


woodwose

The young woodwose had now closed his eyes and was stretched out supine on the pool's marble margin; his Tarzan brief had been cast aside on the turf.

'If the cub has a grievance, let him bring it to the King's judgement,' answered Saeros. 'But the drawing of swords here is not to be excused for any such cause. Outside the hall, if the woodwose draws on me, I shall kill him.'

2007, J. R. R. Tolkien edited by Christopher Tolkien, The Children of Húrin:

A wild man of the woods; a faun, a satyr or a representation of such a being in heraldry or other decoration.


merman

From Middle English mereman, from Old English *meremann (“merman”) (suggested by Old English meremenn, meremennen, meremenin (“mermaid, siren”)), equivalent to mer- + man. Cognate with Dutch meerman (“merman”), German Meermann (“merman”).

The meer man hath no feet but fins / And this hath legs you see and shins.

1653, The Loves of Hero and Leander: A Mock Poem, London, page 19:

A legendary creature, human male from the waist up, fishlike from the waist down.


oread

From Latin Orēas, Orēadis, from Ancient Greek Ὀρειάς (Oreiás), from ὄρος (óros, “mountain”).

The imprisoned ringlets are emancipated; 'fresh as the oread from the forest fountain,' you descend—you breathe the incense of the chocolate—not more I hope—and grow conversational and confidential over the green tea, which, with a fragrance beyond all the violets of April, rises to your lip, 'giving and taking odours.'

1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 92:

(Greek mythology) A mountain nymph; an anthropomorphic appearance of the spirit of a mountain.


sea serpent

Any unidentified sea monster, especially one resembling a snake or dragon.


Oompa Loompa

Apparently a fanciful formation in line with whimsical English words like fuzzy-wuzzy, Humpty Dumpty, etc. Perhaps reminiscent of "exotic" ethnonyms to Westerners; note Roald Dahl spent time in Tanganyika, East Africa, during his service in the Royal Air Force. Also compare oom-pah (“genre of German folk music”) (the Oompa Loompas dance to quirky, rhythmic songs).


DAD

Currently replaying in preparation for DAD, and the Josiemance is still as lovely as I remember.

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf
w:Dragon Age: The Veilguard

(fandom slang) Initialism of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf (early title of Dragon Age: The Veilguard).


mago

Borrowed from Latin magus, from Ancient Greek μάγος (mágos). Cf. also mego.


mago

Borrowed from Spanish mago, from Latin magus, from Ancient Greek μάγος (mágos).


hala

From Ottoman Turkish خلا (halâ), from Arabic خَلَاء (ḵalāʔ).


sylph

First attested in 1657. From New Latin sylphes, coined by Paracelsus in the 16th century. The coinage may derive from Latin sylvestris (“of the woods”) and nympha (“nymph”). Ultimately from the root silva (“woods, forest”). Related to sylvan.
More at Wikipedia.

Her heart fluttered with expectation—her step was buoyant with hope, and she sprung into the carriage with the lightness of a sylph.

Necromancy meant originally the conjuring up the souls of the dead, and later included the conjuring of all sorts of inhuman spirits such as sylphs, giants, and djinn.

1941, Rupert Gleadow, Magic and Divination, page 125:

(mythology) An invisible being of the air.

The elemental being of air, usually female.

(ornithology) Any of the mainly dark green and blue hummingbirds (genus Aglaiocercus), the male of which has a long forked tail.


silver bullet

(literally, folklore) A bullet made of silver, usually with reference to the folkloric belief that such bullets are the only weapons which can kill a werewolf, vampire, or other monster.


mimsy

en-adj

mimsy (comparative mimsier, superlative mimsiest)

mimsier (comparative)
mimsiest (superlative)

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves / Did gyre and gimble in the wade^([sic – meaning wabe]); / All mimsy were the borogoves, / And the mome raths outgrabe.

1871, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, “I. Looking-Glass House”, in Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There:

Down he sank in a chair—ran his hands through his hair— / And chanted in mimsiest tones

1876, Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark […] , London: Macmillan, Fit the Seventh. The Banker's Fate:

(nonce word) A nonce word in Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky


gremlin

Oxford English Dictionary
Roald Dahl
The Gremlins

Uncertain; the following etymologies have been suggested:
* A variant of goblin.
* From Irish gruaimín (“gloomy little person”); or from Dutch gremmelen (“to soil, stain; to spoil”), or griemelen, grimmelen (“(obsolete) to abound, teem; to swarm”), but according to the Oxford English Dictionary there is little evidence for such derivations.
The word was popularized, especially in the United States, by the children’s novel The Gremlins (1943) by the British author Roald Dahl (1916–1990), in which gremlins sabotage Royal Air Force aircraft in revenge for the destruction of their forest home to make way for an aircraft factory; the creatures later join forces with the British to fight the Nazis.

der

Like Abominable Snowmen, gremlins have never actually been seen; but nobody who works with electronic gear doubts the existence of these mischievous and elusive entities. There are too many malfunctions and failures that can have no other explanation.

1963, Arthur C Clarke, chapter 8, in Glidepath, New York: Simon and Schuster, pages 72-73:

Crucial time was saved by the fact Nexus didn't require a Transport & Works Act. Nevertheless, other gremlins kept raising their heads.

2023 November 29, Richard Foster, “Tyne & Wear Metro goes with the flow”, in RAIL, number 997, page 34:

(originally British, aviation, Royal Air Force slang)

(mythology) An imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined, for example, to damage or dismantle machinery.

гремлин

imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined to damage or dismantle machinery


frabjous

en-adj

frabjous (comparative more frabjous, superlative most frabjous)

more frabjous (comparative)
most frabjous (superlative)

/ˈfɹæbd͡ʒəs/

Audio (US)

Originally a nonce word in Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky; probably a blend of fair, fabulous, and joyous.

“[…] / O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!” / He chortled in his joy.

[Owl, deluded his candidate was elected:] My dark horse!... Oh, frabjous day!

1960 November 15, Walt Kelly, Pogo, comic strip, →ISBN, page 198:

"Tomorrow there'll be so much to do," as the Dixie Chicks remind us, "so tonight I'll drift in a dream with you." I want her life to be frabjous, not weighed down with mimsy.

2012 March 15, “To Be a Fully Developed Person (and Leader), You Need to Dream”, in Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Beginning in the final months leading up to the bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and ending in 1953, “Barefoot Gen” takes us inside war from the civilians’ view with none of the propaganda and all of the flawed and frabjous potential of humanity.

2016 January 23, Kris Kosaka, “Barefoot Gen”, in The Japan Times:

It's the sugar rush that quickens the pulse. It's the headlong chocolate-dopamine surge that excites. It's the frabjous joy of tearing into a well-wrapped bar. It's love, love, love.

2017 January 31, Jim Myers, “Nashvill'es Best Candies for Valentine's Day”, in Tennesseean:

O frabjous day! We are all bored out of our minds with Brexit when a demented looking gnome is pulled out of the Ecuadorian embassy by the secret police of the deep state. Or “the met” as normal people call them.

2019 April 12, Suzanne Moore, “Wikileaks was the future once. Then it became Julian Assange”, in NewStatesman:


haint

"Ain't you scared of haints?"

1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa., New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC, part 2, page 254:

I got a tree on my back and a haint in my house, and nothing in between but the daughter I am holding in my arms.

It didn't take long for word to spread that there was a "haint" in the graveyard. A haint is what the old-timers called a ghost.

2005, Eulie Rowan, “The Four-Legged Haint”, in The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs, Simon and Schuster, page 106:

My dead grandpa's haint floated above my bed one night when I was a young'un and scared me so bad I busted the bedroom door down tryin' to get out that room so fast.

2009, Mary Monroe, God Still Don't Like Ugly, page 211:

(US, dialectal) A ghost; a supernatural being; Alternative form of haunt.


galumphing

From Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky; perhaps a blend of galloping + triumph.

(nonce word) Galloping in a heavy and inelegant manner.


doxy

Coined by J.K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series as the name of a species of biting fairy, possibly originally from Etymology 1 or from Etymology 3 (doxycycline is used to treat various diseases caused by insect bites). Likely influenced by pixie.

"Yeah, but she doesn't usually actively sabotage you."
"No worries. I'm used to doxy fairies"

2010 July 15, Justine Larbalestier, How to Ditch Your Fairy, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, →ISBN, page 6:

The doxies were everywhere. So he just kept swinging, feeling a shudder through his arm each time the racquet made contact with a scaly body. Despite his best efforts, two or three of the nasty, screeching things got close.

2015 March 10, C.T. Adams, The Exile: Book One of the Fae, Tor Books, →ISBN, page 93:

"And I'm a doxy not a fairy, you complete and utter fuckface."

2021 May 19, Sarah Biglow, Molly Zenk, Captivity The Complete Series: A Dystopian Shifter Fantasy Collection, Biglow & Zenk Fantasy Publishing:

Trapped like this, the options are extremely pitiful and the damned doxies bite the way scorpions sting.

2022 October 11, Doug Moench, Aztec Ace: The Complete Collection, Dark Horse Comics, →ISBN, page 139:

A doxy messenger can outfly a pixie by five klicks in optimal conditions. They can span 40 klicks in a little over five hours. Though not particularly good in combat, doxies can turn invisible, kill with a kiss, and cause hallucinations if touched.

2023 December 12, Claire Wilkins, Courting the Prince of Moonlit Shadows, eGlobal Creative Publishing Inc., →ISBN:

(fantasy) An aggressive creature similar to a fairy.


hamadryad

en-noun

hamadryad (plural hamadryads or hamadryades)

hamadryads (plural)
hamadryades (plural)

From Latin Hamadryas, from Ancient Greek Ἁμαδρυάς (Hamadruás), from ἅμα (háma, “together”) + δρῦς (drûs, “tree”).

af

The hamadryades have gone, like the golden fancies of which they were engendered—morning dreams of a young world scarce awake, but full of freshness and beauty. Yet often will the thought, or rather the fancy, come across me, that this wailing but most musical noise—heard in the dim evening, when every tree has a separate sound like a separate instrument, and every leaf a differing tone like the differing notes—is the piteous lament of some nymph pent within the gray and mossy trunk whence she may never more emerge in visible loveliness.

1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 301:

The various supports, rafters, braces and plates are of pandanus logs of a rich oily brown, and make one think of a sylvan cathedral where hamadryads might very well dance, where Syrinx might be chased by Pan, Daphne by Apollo, and various other heathen rites take place in the dark hours before the dawn.

1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka, Eland, published 2019, page 106:

(Greek mythology) A wood-nymph who was physically a part of her tree; she would die if her tree were felled.

Papio hamadryas
Papio hamadryas#Translingual

A baboon of species Papio hamadryas, venerated by the ancient Egyptians.

Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genera Hamadryas and Tellervo.


balaur

balauri (plural)
balaur (accusative indefinite nominative singular)
un balaur (accusative indefinite nominative singular)
balaurul (accusative definite nominative singular)
balauri (accusative indefinite nominative plural)
niște balauri (accusative indefinite nominative plural)
balaurii (accusative definite nominative plural)
balaur (dative genitive indefinite singular)
unui balaur (dative genitive indefinite singular)
balaurului (dative definite genitive singular)
balauri (dative genitive indefinite plural)
unor balauri (dative genitive indefinite plural)
balaurilor (dative definite genitive plural)
balaurule (singular vocative)
balaurilor (plural vocative)

Uncertain. Akin to Albanian boljë, bollë, bullar. The Albanian may more likely be derived from a Latin term, alternatively, and the Romanian may be taken from it. May also have a relation to Serbo-Croatian blavor, but it is uncertain which language borrowed from which. Another theory suggests Latin belluarius, ultimately from bēlua; however the normal result in Romanian would have been *bălar. Influence from laur may have affected it, but it is uncertain why this analogy would be made.


nixie

From German Nixe, feminine of Nix, from Middle High German nickes, from Old High German nihhus (“water-elf, crocodile”), from Proto-Germanic *nikwus, *nikwis, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *neygʷ- (“to wash”).
Cognate with Old English nicor (“water-elf, hippopotamus, walrus”), English nicker.

cog

The place seems to have been fashioned as a dwelling for dryads and hamadryads, for nixies and pixies, and all the fabled spirits of forest and stream.

1916, Rex Beach, Rainbow's End, published 2008, page 1:

Bare from her garters up her flesh appears under the sapphire a nixie’s green.

1922 February, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

In medieval times, the image of the double fish tailed siren was called a nixie or evil water spirit. Yet, the nixies were more likely daughters of the primordial goddess named Nyx or mother night, who hovered over ancient waters, rather than evil spirits.

2011, Katalin Koda, Fire of the Goddess, page 83:


аждаха

ажда̀ха (canonical feminine)
aždàha (romanization)
аждаха (nominative singular)
аждахе (nominative plural)
аждахе (genitive singular)
аждаха (genitive plural)
аждахи (dative singular)
аждахама (dative plural)
аждаху (accusative singular)
аждахе (accusative plural)
аждахо (singular vocative)
аждахе (plural vocative)
аждахи (locative singular)
аждахама (locative plural)
аждахом (instrumental singular)
аждахама (instrumental plural)

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish اژدها (ejdehâ), from Persian اژدها (eždehâ).

bor+

type of mythical creature similar to dragon


aždaja

aždàja (canonical feminine)
ажда̀ја (Cyrillic)
aždaja (nominative singular)
aždaje (nominative plural)
aždaje (genitive singular)
aždaja (genitive plural)
aždaji (dative singular)
aždajama (dative plural)
aždaju (accusative singular)
aždaje (accusative plural)
aždajo (singular vocative)
aždaje (plural vocative)
aždaji (locative singular)
aždajama (locative plural)
aždajom (instrumental singular)
aždajama (instrumental plural)


змај

зма̏ј (canonical masculine)
zmȁj (romanization)
зма̏ј (nominative singular)
зма̀јеви (nominative plural)
змаја (genitive singular)
змајева (genitive plural)
змају (dative singular)
змајевима (dative plural)
змаја (accusative singular)
змај (accusative singular)
змајеве (accusative plural)
змају (singular vocative)
змајеви (plural vocative)
змају (locative singular)
змајевима (locative plural)
змајем (instrumental singular)
змајевима (instrumental plural)

sh-decl-noun

змаја / змај


aždaha

aždàha (canonical feminine)
ажда̀ха (Cyrillic)
aždaha (nominative singular)
aždahe (nominative plural)
aždahe (genitive singular)
aždaha (genitive plural)
aždahi (dative singular)
aždahama (dative plural)
aždahu (accusative singular)
aždahe (accusative plural)
aždaho (singular vocative)
aždahe (plural vocative)
aždahi (locative singular)
aždahama (locative plural)
aždahom (instrumental singular)
aždahama (instrumental plural)

(Bosnia, Serbia) type of mythical creature similar to dragon


аждаја

ажда̀ја (canonical feminine)
aždàja (romanization)
аждаја (nominative singular)
аждаје (nominative plural)
аждаје (genitive singular)
аждаја (genitive plural)
аждаји (dative singular)
аждајама (dative plural)
аждају (accusative singular)
аждаје (accusative plural)
аждајо (singular vocative)
аждаје (plural vocative)
аждаји (locative singular)
аждајама (locative plural)
аждајом (instrumental singular)
аждајама (instrumental plural)


zmaj

zmȁj (canonical masculine)
зма̏ј (Cyrillic)
zmȁj (nominative singular)
zmàjevi (nominative plural)
zmaja (genitive singular)
zmajeva (genitive plural)
zmaju (dative singular)
zmajevima (dative plural)
zmaja (accusative singular)
zmajeve (accusative plural)
zmaju (singular vocative)
zmajevi (plural vocative)
zmaju (locative singular)
zmajevima (locative plural)
zmajem (instrumental singular)
zmajevima (instrumental plural)


zmaj

zmāj (canonical)
zmȁj (animate canonical masculine)
please help by adding the tonal marks.
zmáj (nominative singular)
zmája (dual nominative)
zmáji (nominative plural)
zmája (genitive singular)
zmájev (dual genitive)
zmájev (genitive plural)
zmáju (dative singular)
zmájema (dative dual)
zmájem (dative plural)
zmája (accusative singular)
zmája (accusative dual)
zmáje (accusative plural)
zmáju (locative singular)
zmájih (dual locative)
zmájih (locative plural)
zmájem (instrumental singular)
zmájema (dual instrumental)
zmáji (instrumental plural)
please help by adding the tonal marks.
zmàj (nominative singular)
zmája (dual nominative)
zmáji (nominative plural)
zmája (genitive singular)
zmájev (dual genitive)
zmájev (genitive plural)
zmáju (dative singular)
zmájema (dative dual)
zmájem (dative plural)
zmája (accusative singular)
zmája (accusative dual)
zmáje (accusative plural)
zmáju (locative singular)
zmájih (dual locative)
zmájih (locative plural)
zmájem (instrumental singular)
zmájema (dual instrumental)
zmáji (instrumental plural)