bitch

bitch (countable and uncountable, plural bitches)

→ Dutch: bitch

→? German: Betze, Bätze, Petze

→ French: bitch

From Middle English biche, bicche, from Old English biċċe, from Proto-West Germanic *bikkjā, from Proto-Germanic *bikjǭ (compare Norwegian bikkje (“dog”), Old Danish bikke), from *bikjaną (“to thrust, attack”) (compare Old Norse bikkja (“plunge into water”), Dutch bikken (“to hack”)). More at bicker.

My bitch just had puppies; they're so cute!

All members of one breed, both dog and bitch, champion and nonchampion, are judged in a series of competitions until only one animal remains.

1953, LIFE, volume 34, number 6, page 110:

(dated or specialised, dog-breeding) A female dog or other canine, particularly a recent mother.

dated or specialised; dog-breeding; dated or specialised; dog-breeding

female

when the species is specified or implied


gnu

Borrowed from Khoekhoe ǃnu:, likely onomatopoeic of the grunt-type noise of the gnu.

A large antelope of the genus Connochaetes, native to Africa, having curved horns.


bar

en-noun

bar (countable and uncountable, plural bars)

→ Albanian: bar m

→ Arabic: بَار m (bār)

→ Armenian: բար (bar)

→ Bulgarian: бар (bar)

→ Burmese: ဘား (bha:)

→ Chichewa: bála

→ Cantonese: 吧 (baa¹)

→ Czech: bar m

→ Danish: bar c

→ Dutch: bar m

→ Esperanto: baro

→ Estonian: baar

→ French: bar m
→ Romanian: bar

→ Galician: bar m

→ Georgian: ბარი (bari)

→ German: Bar f

→ Greek: μπαρ n (bar)

→ Gulf Arabic: بار (bār)

→ Hebrew: בָּר (bar), בָּאר (bár)

→ Hungarian: bár (also via German)

→ Icelandic: bar m

→ Irish: beár m

→ Italian: bar m

→ Japanese: バー (bā)

→ Khmer: បារ (baa)

→ Korean: 바 (ba)

→ Lithuanian: bãras m

→ Macedonian: бар m (bar)

→ Malagasy: ba

→ Mandarin: 吧 (bā)

→ Norwegian:

Bokmål: bar m

Nynorsk: bar m

→ Persian: بار (bâr)

→ Polish: bar m

→ Portuguese: bar m

→ Russian: бар m (bar)

→ Serbo-Croatian: ба̑р m, bȃr m

→ Slovene: bȃr m

→ Spanish: bar m

→ Swahili: baa

→ Swedish: bar c (see there for further descendants)

→ Thai: บาร์ (baa)

→ Turkish: bar

→ Xhosa: íbhári

→ Zulu: ibha

From Middle English barre, from Old French barre (“beam, bar, gate, barrier”), from Vulgar Latin *barra, of uncertain origin. Doublet of barre.

der

(farriery) The part of the crust of a horse's hoof which is bent inwards towards the frog at the heel on each side, and extends into the centre of the sole.

(farriery, in the plural) The space between the tusks and grinders in the upper jaw of a horse, in which the bit is placed.


bar

From Middle English barren, from Old French barrer, from Medieval Latin barrare (“to bar”), from the noun. Cognate to Occitan barrar, Spanish barrar, Portuguese barrar.
Preposition properly imperative of the verb. Compare barring.

Leg At Each Corner is at 3/1, Lost My Shirt 5/1, and it's 10/1 bar.

(horse racing) Denotes the minimum odds offered on other horses not mentioned by name.


Guernsey

From Anglo-Norman, from Old Norse, compound of Grani (“Grani's”) and ey (“island”). Folk etymology points to a dialectal root for green.

An unincorporated community in California


lemur

From Latin lemurēs (“spirits of the dead”). The name was originally given to the red slender loris (then Lemur tardigradus) in 1754 by Carl Linnaeus. According to Linnaeus, the name was selected because of the nocturnal activity and slow movements of the red slender loris. In 1758, Linnaeus added, among others, the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) to the genus Lemur. All other species, including the red slender loris, were eventually moved to other genera. In time, the word became the colloquial name for all primates endemic to Madagascar.

Any of the genus Lemur, represented by the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta).


puer

A solution called the ‘pure’ or the 'pewer' (having never seen the word written.., we must spell it as pronounced) is prepared in a large vessel, and into this the skins are immersed.

[…] The bacteria of fresh dog-dung were not found to possess a satisfactory puering effect, but those from dung with had been fermented a month (as in practice) have a result nearly equal to actual puer.

1903, Henry Richardson Proctor, The principles of leather manufacture, page 174:

[…] it was about 50 years before the use of puer was discontinued, at least in Europe.

2009, Tony Covington, Tanning Chemistry: The Science of Leather, page 166:

(chiefly historical) Dung (of dogs, fowls, etc) used in tanning, after applying lime, to soften skins.


length

en-noun

length (countable and uncountable, plural lengths)

From Middle English lengthe, from Old English lengþ, lengþu, from Proto-West Germanic *langiþu, from Proto-Germanic *langiþō, equivalent to long + -th. Cognate with Scots lenth, lainth (“length”), Saterland Frisian Loangte (“length”), West Frisian lingte, langte (“length”), Dutch lengte (“length”), German Low German Längde, Längd, Längte, Längt (“length”), Danish længde (“length”), Swedish längd (“length”), Icelandic lengd (“length”).

(horse racing) The length of a horse, used to indicate the distance between horses at the end of a race.


Burmese

Of or relating to Burma (Myanmar) or its people or language.


Burmese

(zoology) A medium-sized, short-haired domestic cat breed, originating in Thailand.


volt

(archaic, equestrianism) A circular movement in which the horse goes round in a small circle.


hold one's horses

en-verb

hold one's horses (third-person singular simple present holds one's horses, present participle holding one's horses, simple past and past participle held one's horses)

holds one's horses (present singular third-person)
holding one's horses (participle present)
held one's horses (participle past)
held one's horses (past)

"I'm going to tell you, ain't I?" he said, gruffly. "Just hold your horses a minute, please."

1921, Booth Tarkington, chapter 24, in Alice Adams:

"I would ask everybody to hold their horses until we go through the process," ElBaradei said.

2007 September 17, “Force is last resort in Iranian crisis”, in forbes.com/Thomson Financial News, retrieved 2008-10-05:


hound

hound (third-person singular simple present hounds, present participle hounding, simple past and past participle hounded)

hounds (present singular third-person)
hounding (participle present)
hounded (participle past)
hounded (past)

From Middle English hounden, from the noun (see above).

We both thought we saw what had the appearance to be a fox, and hounded the dogs at it, but they would not pursue it.

1897, Andrew Lang, The Book of Dreams and Ghosts, page 162:

(transitive) To urge on against; to set (dogs) upon in hunting.


los

Inherited from Middle English lusk, from Old English lox, from Proto-West Germanic *luhs, from Proto-Germanic *luhsaz. Cognate with Scots los, Saterland Frisian Luks, Low German Luks, Dutch los, German Luchs, Luxembourgish Luuss.

The los had been brought from a northern part of the United States.

A beaſt like unto a wolfe having many ſpottes, and being exceeding quicke of ſight: a wolfe like an hart, a Los or Lynx.

1592, Thomas Thomasius, Thomae Thomasii Dictionarium tertio ... emendatum ... et longe auctius ... redditum.:

(obsolete) A medium-sized wildcat, most of them part of the genus Lynx.


egret

From Middle English, from Anglo-Norman egret, aigrette (“egret”), from Old Occitan aigreta, diminutive of aigron (“heron”), from Medieval Latin hairo, from Frankish *haigro (“heron”). Cognate with Old High German heigaro (“heron”), Old English hrāgra (“heron”). Doublet of aigrette. More at heron.

Macaca fascicularis
Macaca fascicularis#Translingual

(obsolete) The crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis)


panda

→ Malay: panda

→ Japanese: パンダ (panda)

→ Korean: 판다 (panda)

→ Tagalog: panda

→ Thai: แพนด้า (pɛn-dâa)

Borrowed from French panda, of unclear ultimate origin but probably from the second element of nigálya-pónya, a local name for the red panda recorded in Nepal and Sikkim by Brian Houghton Hodgson (1800 or 1801 – 1894), an ethnologist, naturalist and the British Resident of Nepal, possibly from Nepali निँगाले (nĩgāle, “relating to a certain species of bamboo”) (the adjectival form of निँगालो (nĩgālo), a variant of निङालो (niṅālo, “Drepanostachyum intermedium, a species of bamboo”)) + a regional Tibetan name for the animal (compare regional Tibetan ཕོ་ཉ (pho nya, “messenger”)).
Attributive uses of sense 2 (“giant panda”) generally refer to that animal’s distinctive black and white coat colour.

der

The red panda's history in zoos begins some 40 years after its discovery. The first one to be seen outside of its natural range arrived at London Zoo on 22nd May 1869, [...] On arrival at the zoo, the last surviving panda was given into the care of Abraham Bartlett, the superintendent of the zoo. [...] The feeding instructions that came with the panda said it should be given milk, a little rice and grass each day. [...] Bartlett felt that the suggested diet was not adequate and set out to find what the animal would accept; [...] Unfortunately, although it ate well, this first zoo red panda was not destined for a long life, it died suddenly during the night of 12 December 1869, a little over 6 months after its arrival.

2011, Angela R. Glatston, “Introduction”, in Angela R. Glatston, editor, Red Panda: Biology and Conservation of the First Panda, London, Burlington, Mass.: Academic Press, →ISBN, page 7:

Ailurus fulgens
Ailurus fulgens#Translingual

(now rare without a qualifying word) The red panda (Ailurus fulgens), a small raccoon-like animal of northeast Asia with reddish fur and a long, ringed tail.

Ailuropoda melanoleuca
Ailuropoda melanoleuca#Translingual

(colloquial, also attributively) Short for giant panda (“Ailuropoda melanoleuca”).

ፓንዳ

Ailuropoda melanoleuca — see also giant panda

Before the confrontation, the youth sighted a police personnel carrier, two dog patrol vans, a motorway style car, at least two pandas and one unmarked police car.

1975, Darcus Howe, editor, Race Today, London: Race Today Collective, →OCLC, page 279:

(British, law enforcement, colloquial) Short for panda car (“a black-and-white police car”).


mule

→ Hawaiian: miula

→ Irish: miúil

→ Maori: miūru

From Middle English mule, from Anglo-Norman mule and Old English mūl, both from Latin mūlus, from Proto-Indo-European *mukslós. Compare Late Latin muscellus (“young he-mule”), Old East Slavic мъшкъ (mŭškŭ, “mule”), Ancient Greek (Phocian) μυχλός (mukhlós, “he-ass”), and German Maul Maultier, Maulesel (through Latin).

Cocaine packet ingestion (these patients referred to as “mules”) may warrant surgery, Golytely or expectant passage.

2006, “Gastroenterology: Esophageal Foreign Bodies”, in Steven E. Diaz, The Little Black Book of Emergency Medicine (Jones and Bartlett's Little Black Book Series), 2nd edition, Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, →ISBN, page 101:

“Yeah, in Denver, we know about Uriarte's involvement in meth. Our Las Cruces office seized over six hundred pounds of methamphetamine from two of his mules last year.”

2007, Thomas G. Blacklock, Safe Zone: A Novel Approach to the Drug War, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 44:


hinny

en-verb

hinny (third-person singular simple present hinnies, present participle hinnying, simple past and past participle hinnied)

hinnies (present singular third-person)
hinnying (participle present)
hinnied (participle past)
hinnied (past)

Alteration of whinny, which is onomatopoeic.


antelope

→ Irish: antalóp

→ Manx: antelope

From Middle English antelope, from Old French antelop, from Medieval Latin antilops, from Byzantine Greek ἀνθόλοψ (anthólops), which is of obscure origin.

Any of several African mammals of the family Bovidae distinguished by hollow horns, which, unlike deer, they do not shed.

Rarely antelopes are seen, but wolves, rabbits, and sundry ground squirrels abound.

1895, J[ohn] W[esley] Powell, chapter I, in Canyons of the Colorado, Meadville, PA: Flood & Vincent; republished as The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, New York: Dover, 1961, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 24:

"It reminds me of when I was hunting antelope in Colorado," he said to her.

1881, John W. Forney, The New Nobility, page 80:

Antilocapra americana
Antilocapra americana#Translingual

(US) The pronghorn, Antilocapra americana.

(archaic, mythology) A fierce legendary creature said to live on the banks of the Euphrates, having long serrated horns and being hard to catch.


gazelle

Unadapted borrowing from Middle French gazelle, from Old French gazel, from Arabic غَزَال (ḡazāl).

ubor

An antelope of either of the genera Gazella (mostly native to Africa) or Procapra (native to Asia), capable of running at high speeds for long periods.


oryx

en-noun

oryx (plural oryxes or oryx or (rare) oryges)

oryxes (plural)
oryx (plural)
oryges (plural rare)

From Latin, from Ancient Greek ὄρυξ (órux, “a pickax; an oryx (the antelope)”).

der

Any of several antelopes, of the genus Oryx, native to Africa, which have long, straight horns


wildebeest

en-noun

wildebeest (plural wildebeest or wildebeests or (rare) wildebeesten)

wildebeest (plural)
wildebeests (plural)
wildebeesten (plural rare)

→ Japanese: ウィルドビースト (wirudobīsuto)

Borrowed in the early 19th century from early Afrikaans wildebeest, modern wildebees (literally “wild ox”), with influence from beast.

Coordinate term: hartebeest

Dassoud […] stepped forward with a lash composed of the caudal appendages of half a dozen wildebeests.

1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 3:

Later that morning, they wrapped Ian in a wildebeest skin and buried him near a shepherd tree.

2013, Eleanor Morse, White Dog Fell From the Sky:


cheetah

→ Portuguese: chita

→ Spanish: chita

Borrowed from Hindi चीता (cītā, “leopard, panther”), ultimately from Sanskrit चित्र (citra, “multicolored, speckled”) (akin to Old High German haitar (“bright”) > German heiter; Old Norse heiðr (“bright”)) + Sanskrit काय (kāya, “body”), thus “having a spotted body”.

der

Acinonyx jubatus
Acinonyx jubatus#Translingual

(zoology) A distinctive member (Acinonyx jubatus) of the cat family, slightly smaller than the leopard, but with proportionately longer limbs and a smaller head; native to Africa and southeast Asia (where it is nearly extinct) and also credited with being the fastest terrestrial animal.


hyena

en-noun

hyena (plural hyenas or hyena or hyenae)

hyenas (plural)
hyena (plural)
hyenae (plural)

From Middle English hiena, variant of hyene, from Old French hiene, from Medieval Latin hyēna, from Latin hyaena, from Ancient Greek ὕαινα (húaina). Displaced native Old English nihtgenġe (literally “night walker”).

noncog

I took no systematic data on the costs to cheetahs and hyenas, but some anecdotes suggest that both parties took numerical advantage and hunger into account.

1994, T. M. Caro, Cheetahs of the Serengeti Plains: Group Living in an Asocial Species, page 283:

Hyenas are scavengers, which means they eat food left behind by other animals and people.

2002, Maskew Miller Longman, Find Out about African Animals, page 28:

Hyena biologists often think of spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) as baboons with big teeth and relatively small brains.

2003, Anne Engh, Kay E. Holekamp, “Case Study 5A: Maternal Rank "Inheritance" in the Spotted Hyena”, in Frans B. M. De Waal, Peter L Tyack, editors, Animal Social Complexity: Intelligence, Culture, and Individualized Societies, page 149:

Any of the medium-sized to large feliform carnivores of the subfamily Hyaenidae, native to Africa and Asia and noted for the sound similar to laughter which they can make if excited.

see Citations:hyena

(Subsaharan Africa) A man that performs ritualized sex acts with recently widowed women and menarchal girls.


leopard

From Middle English leopard, leopart, lepard, leperd, from Old French leopard (“leopard”), from Late Latin leopardus (“leopon, lipard”) from late Ancient Greek λεόπαρδος (leópardos, “leopon, lipard”), from λέων (léōn, “lion”) + πάρδος (párdos, “pard, male leopard”), from earlier πάρδαλις (párdalis, “leopard”), probably from an unattested Old Persian [Term?] term ancestral to Middle Persian palang, Khwarezmian plyk, Sogdian [script needed] (pwrδnk), Pashto پړانګ (pṛāng). Compare Persian پلنگ (palang) and Sanskrit पृदाकु (pṛdāku, “panther”).

tier

a large wild cat with a spotted coat, Panthera pardus

Naakaii Łizhiní Bikéyahdę́ę́ʼ náshdóítsoh łikizhígíí

leopon

hybrid formed by a leopard and a lioness

lipard

hybrid formed by a lion and a leopardess

During all such cases when we were present they responded by giving repeated alarm calls, even when the leopard was already feeding on a carcass. We wanted to determine whether vervets knew enough about the behavior of leopards to recognize that, even in the absence of a leopard, a carcass in a tree signaled the same potential danger as did a leopard itself.

1990, Dorothy L. Cheney, How Monkeys See the World: Inside the Mind of Another Species, published 1992, page 284:

The leopard (Panthera pardus or Felis pardus cf tulliana) is a close relative of the lion, but biblical references mentioning it are very few, suggesting that it was not as common.

1998, Oded Borowski, Every Living Thing: Daily Use of Animals in Ancient Israel, page 201:

Leopard skins have always been desirable commodities because of their spectacular spotted patterns.

2005, Richard Ellis, Tiger Bone & Rhino Horn: The Destruction of Wildlife for Traditional Chinese Medicine, page 197:

Panthera pardus
Panthera pardus#Translingual

Panthera pardus, a large wild cat with a spotted coat native to Africa and Asia, especially the male of the species (in contrast to leopardess).

Neofelis nebulosa
Neofelis nebulosa#Translingual

(inexact) A similar-looking, large wild cat named after the leopard.

The clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), a large wild cat native to Asia.

Panthera uncia
Panthera uncia#Translingual

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia), a large wild cat native to Asia.

There are plenty of beautiful cats among the thirty-nine species in the Felidae family, but the three leopards—clouded, common, and snow—may be the most visually stunning. Cloaked in the most beautiful fur of any cat, the reclusive clouded leopard is the Greta Garbo of the lot; it lives a solitary life in the remote jungles of Asia, from Nepal to Borneo.

2005, Eric Dinerstein, Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations, page 81:

Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Phalanta, having black markings on an orange base.


lion

→ Hawaiian: liona

→ Japanese: ライオン (raion)

→ Maia: laion

→ Tokelauan: leona

From Middle English lyoun, lion, leon, borrowed from Old French lion, from Latin leō, (accusative: leōnem), from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn), of unclear origin. Doublet of Leo, leu, lev, and Lyon. Displaced Old English lēo.

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb

(by extension) Any of various extant and extinct big cats, especially the mountain lion.


mongoose

en-noun

mongoose (plural mongooses or (nonstandard) mongeese)

mongooses (plural)
mongeese (nonstandard plural)

First attested in the 1690s. Borrowed from Portuguese mangusto, from Marathi मुंगूस (muṅgūs), from Old Marathi 𑘦𑘳𑘽𑘐𑘳𑘭 (muṃgusa), from Sanskrit मद्गुश (madguśa). Ultimately a Dravidian borrowing (compare Telugu ముంగిస (muṅgisa)). Spelling altered by folk-etymological association with goose. Displaced native Old English nǣderbita (literally “snake biter”).

Bengal mongoose

Urva javanica palustris, syn. Herpestes javanicus palustris

collared mongoose

Urva semitorquata, syn. Herpestes semitorquatus

Indian gray mongoose/Indian mongoose

Urva edwardsii, syn. Herpestes edwardsii

short-tailed mongoose

Urva brachyura, syn. Herpestes brachyurus

small Indian mongoose

Urva auropunctata, syn. Herpestes javanicus auropunctatus

stripe-necked mongoose

Urva vitticollis, syn. Herpestes vitticollis

Any members of family Eupleridae of Malagasy mongooses, only distantly related to the Herpestidae, but resembling them in appearance and habits, with larger ears and ringed tails.


hippopotamus

en-noun

hippopotamus (plural hippopotami or hippopotamuses or hippopotamus)

hippopotami (plural)
hippopotamuses (plural)
hippopotamus (plural)

From Latin and New Latin hippopotamus, from Ancient Greek ἱπποπόταμος (hippopótamos), from ἵππος (híppos, “horse”) (English hippo-) + ποταμός (potamós, “river”). Displaced nicker, from Old English nicor.

der

These were the first hippopotami that we had ever seen, and, to judge by their insatiable curiosity, I should judge that we were the first white men that they had ever seen.

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

Hippopotamus amphibius
Hippopotamus amphibius#Translingual

A large, semi-aquatic, herbivorous (plant-eating) African mammal (Hippopotamus amphibius; common hippopotamus).


hyrax

From New Latin, from Ancient Greek ὕραξ (húrax, “shrewmouse”).

Any of several small, paenungulate herbivorous mammals of the order Hyracoidea, with a bulky frame and fang-like incisors, native to Africa and the Middle East.


dassie

Borrowed from Afrikaans dassie, from Dutch das (“badger”).

The dassie is the closest living relative to the elephant.

A small, herbivorous mammal in the order Hyracoidea, the rock hyrax.


warthog

(zoology) A wild pig of the genus Phacochoerus, native to Africa.


water buffalo

en-noun

water buffalo (plural water buffalos or water buffaloes or water buffalo)

water buffalos (plural)
water buffaloes (plural)
water buffalo (plural)

[ˈwɑɾɚˌbʌfəloʊ]

Bubalus bubalis
Bubalus bubalis#Translingual

A large ungulate, widely used as a domestic animal in Asia, South America. North Africa and Europe: Bubalus bubalis.

(US, colloquial) A water tank mounted on a trailer to be towed by a motor vehicle.


lioness

From Middle English leonesse, lyonesse, from Old French leonesse, lionesse; equivalent to lion + -ess.

When "lionesses" visiting Oxford for the gay doings of commemoration week spend a morning at Merton, they should look out for Antony Wood's mural tablet in the chapel, […]

1871, John Cordy Jeaffreson, Annals of Oxford, page 305:

"Now, boys, keep your eyes open, there must be plenty of lionesses about;" and thus warned, the whole load, including the cornopean player, were on the look-out for lady visitors, profanely called lionesses, all the way up the street.

1888, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, page 271:

(Oxford University slang, obsolete) A female visitor to a student at Oxford, especially during commemoration week.


hyaena

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


pronghorn

pronghorn (plural pronghorn or pronghorns)

If historical records are accurate, the current population of about 250 pronghorn in the northern range is less than 15% of that in the early 1900s (YNP 1997) (Figure 4–7).

2002, National Research Council, Ecological Dynamics on Yellowstone's Northern Range, unnumbered page:

When a pronghorn breaks into an easy, rocking canter (a 30 miles per hour pace that it can keep up indefinitely), the humerus swings back and forth over just a few inches with each stride. Only when a pronghorn stretches into a gallop does the humerus appear to be swinging freely, and then the hoof travels several yards with each stride.

2009, John A. Byers, Built for Speed: A Year in the Life of Pronghorn, page 6:

For the 10-year period 1981-90 an additional 736 pronghorns were transplanted within the state.
During 1980-90, pronghorn occupied about 13.5 million acres in the Trans-Pecos, High Plains, Rolling Plains, and Edwards Plateau ecological regions.

2011, Ted L. Clark, “13: Wildlife Management Programs, Goals, and Issues: The State Perspective, 1990”, in Raymond C. Telfair II, editor, Texas Wildlife Resources and Land Uses, page 220:

A North American mammal, Antilocapra americana, that resembles an antelope.


baboon

From Middle English babewin, baboin, from Old French babouin, from baboue (“grimace; muzzle”), of West Germanic origin, related to dialectal German Bäppe (“lips; muzzle”), Middle High German beffen (“to bark”), Middle English baffen (“to bark”). See also baff, baffle.

Mix swallowed the comment he wanted to make, that the council hall stank like a congress of baboons. But he was in no position to insult his host, nor should he. The man was only expressing the attitude of his time.

1971, Philip José Farmer, Down in the Black Gang: and others; a story collection, Nelson Doubleday, page 79:

He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record.

2012 March-April, John T. Jost, “Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)?”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 2017-06-21, page 162:

An Old World monkey of the genus Papio, having dog-like muzzles and large canine teeth, cheek pouches, a short tail, and naked callosities on the buttocks. [from 13th c.]


bushbaby

A small, nocturnal, African primate, similar to a lemur.


monkey

monkey (plural monkeys or (obsolete) monkies)

monkeys (plural)
monkies (obsolete plural)

→ Chukchi: маӈкы (maṇky)

→ Coeur d'Alene: moonki

→ Irish: moncaí

→ Navajo: mágí

→ Scottish Gaelic: muncaidh

→ Tumbuka: munkhwele

→ Welsh: mwnci

Uncertain. May be derived from monk + -ey (diminutive suffix), or borrowed from Middle Low German Moneke, the name of the son of Martin the Ape in Reynard the Fox (which may represent an unattested colloquial Middle Low German *moneke, *moneken), itself of uncertain origin. Possibly derived from a Romance term represented by Late Middle French monne (whence Modern French mone (“monkey”)) or earlier Old French monnekin (“monkey”), originally Monnekin, the name of a monkey in Li Dis d'Entendement. Compare also Old French and Middle French monin (“monkey”). The French terms may have been borrowed from Italian monna (“monkey”), from Old Spanish mona (“female monkey”), itself a shortening of mamona, variant of maimón, from Arabic مَيْمُون (maymūn, “baboon”)). However, Old French monnekin may alternatively be unrelated to the other terms, instead being a borrowing of Early Middle Dutch mannekin (a diminutive of a personal name or surname; hence, nickname, literally “miniature man”).

gl

whence Modern French <i class="Latn mention" lang="fr">mone</i> (“monkey”)

der

cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey

you can take the monkey out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the monkey

He had been visiting an area zoo when a monkey swung from its tree perch, swiped his glasses and hurled them into a hippo hole.

(strictly) A member of the clade Simiiformes other than those in the clade Hominoidea containing apes, generally (but not universally) distinguished by small size, tails, and cheek pouches.

Chimpanzees are known to form bands to hunt and kill other monkeys.

(loosely, sometimes proscribed) Any simian primate other than hominids, any monkey or ape.

A thousandth of a million squid or two monkeys
Or a whole fifty scores

2004, The Streets (lyrics and music), “It Was Supposed to Be So Easy”, in A Grand Don’t Come for Free:

(slang) Synonym of five hundred, especially (British) 500 pounds sterling or (US, dated) 500 dollars.


monkey

en-verb

monkey (third-person singular simple present monkeys, present participle monkeying, simple past and past participle monkeyed or monkied)

monkeys (present singular third-person)
monkeying (participle present)
monkeyed (participle past)
monkeyed (past)
monkied (participle past)
monkied (past)

He winked at Liza, who monkeyed him, holding her own eye shut.

2011, Elizabeth Mosier, The Playgroup, page 83:


ape

Clipping of apeshit (“ape-shit (crazy)”).

clipping

We were ape over the new look.

He went ape when he heard the bad news.


ox

→ Abenaki: aksen (via "oxen")

→ Malecite-Passamaquoddy: akson (via "oxen")

→ Unami: aksën (via "oxen")

From Middle English oxe, from Old English oxa, from Proto-West Germanic *ohsō, from Proto-Germanic *uhsô (compare West Frisian okse, Dutch os, German Ochse), from Proto-Indo-European *uksḗn.
Cognate with Welsh ych (“ox”), Tocharian A ops, Tocharian B okso (“draft-ox”), Avestan 𐬎𐬑𐬱𐬀𐬥 (uxšan, “bull”), Sanskrit उक्षन् (ukṣán).

nandwie

any bovine animal used as a beast of burden

one hair of a woman can draw more than a hundred pair of oxen

An adult castrated male of cattle (B. taurus), especially when used as a beast of burden.

Here the same four kinds are mentioned ... These are sheep, goats, camels and oxen.

1934, commentary on the Qur'an (Sura 39 verse 6) by Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Any bovine animal (genus Bos). A neat, a beef.


prep

en-noun

prep (countable and uncountable, plural preps)

(horse racing) A preparatory race or workout.


barrow

From Middle English barowe, barwe, barewe, from Old English bearwe (“basket, handbarrow”), from Proto-West Germanic *barwā, *barwijā, from Proto-Germanic *barwǭ, *barwijǭ (“stretcher, bier”) (compare Low German Berwe, Old Norse barar (plural), Middle High German radebere (“wheelbarrow”)), from *beraną (“to bear”). More at bear.

cog

The turmoil went on—no rest, no peace. […] It was nearly eleven o'clock now, and he strolled out again. In the little fair created by the costers' barrows the evening only seemed beginning; and the naphtha flares made one's eyes ache, the men's voices grated harshly, and the girls' faces saddened one.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

In contrast, the Westminster Gazette in 1912 was much more positive about railway staff, praising the "...army of porters hustling and bustling hither and thither with barrows groaning under the weight of bags and baggage and... the ever-patient and long-suffering guards, courteously giving information and advice to the querulous passengers... to the porter the Christmas season means a continuous round of heavy labour, extremely tiring to both nerves and temper, and this fact the public too often seem either to forget or ignore."

2022 December 14, David Turner, “The Edwardian Christmas getaway...”, in RAIL, number 972, page 35:

(British) A small vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand.

սայլակ

(saltworks) A wicker case in which salt is put to drain.


barrow

From Middle English *berwe, *borwe, *bergh (attested in hamberwe and berwham (“horse-collar”)), from Middle English berwen (“to protect”), from Old English beorgan (“to protect”).

A long sleeveless flannel garment for infants.


form

en-verb

form (third-person singular simple present forms, present participle forming, simple past and past participle formed)

forms (present singular third-person)
forming (participle present)
formed (participle past)
formed (past)
form (infinitive)

From Middle English forme (“shape, figure, manner, bench, frame, seat, condition, agreement, etc.”), borrowed from Old French forme, from Latin fōrma (“shape, figure, image, outline, plan, mold, frame, case, etc., manner, sort, kind, etc.”).
In sense "division grouping school students" (now dated), derived from public school nomenclature later adopted by state schools. It is sometimes said to be from the sense of "bench", where students of certain ages would sit together, though this is disputed, or alternatively from the sense of "established method of expression or practice".

der

When icicles start to form on the eaves you know the roads will be icy.

As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. The reason plaque forms isn’t entirely known, but it seems to be related to high levels of cholesterol inducing an inflammatory response, which can also attract and trap more cellular debris over time.

2013 July–August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist:


melon

en-noun

melon (countable and uncountable, plural melons)

→ Japanese: メロン

→ Korean: 멜론 (mellon)

→ Welsh: melon

From Middle English meloun, melon, from Old French melon, from Late Latin melonem, from Latin melopeponem, from Ancient Greek μηλοπέπων (mēlopépōn), from μῆλον (mêlon, “apple”) + πέπων (pépōn, “ripe”).

(countable, Australia, New Zealand, derogatory) A member of the Green Party, or similar environmental group.


heater

→ Japanese: ヒーター (hītā)

(horse racing) A dead heat; a race in which two or more competitors reach the finish line simultaneously.


jackass

jackass (countable and uncountable, plural jackasses)


jenny-ass

c. 1849, G. Herbert Rodwell, Old London Bridge, London: Henry Lea, Chapter 15, p. 158,
[…] this little donkey could not be trusted in the road, for it was always getting under the wheels, because it would not let its mother, a fine fat old jenny ass in the shafts, alone.

But a man who holds so tightly to what he calls his rights over what he calls his debts will hold tightly also to what he calls his rights over her whom he calls his wife. No sir smile neighbour shall covet his ox or his wife or his manservant or his maidservant or his jackass. / —Or his jennyass, Buck Mulligan antiphoned.

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

[…] old rope is for tethering your jennyass […]

1993, Anthony Burgess, A Dead Man in Deptford, London: Hutchinson, Part One:


jenny

Partially from generic use of the female given name Jenny (cf. Jane) and partially from informal pronunciations of engine.

A female creature of certain kinds:
(Australia) a female crab.

A female creature of certain kinds:
a female crab.


she-ass

From Middle English she asse; equivalent to she- + ass.


simian

From Latin sīmia (“ape, monkey”), from Ancient Greek σιμός (simós, “snub-nosed”).

uder

The simians would require no special orientation courses to teach them the reasons for fighting, such as, “To make the world safe for Demagocracy,” or whatnot.

1959, H. G. Coulter, Time for Rebellion: A Play and Preface, page 14:

An ape or monkey, especially an anthropoid (infraorder Simiiformes).


she-bear

From Middle English sche bere; equivalent to she- + bear.

Elisha [...] was able to call upon two she-bears to come and eat up the children who had treated him irreverently[.]

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 52:

two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys.

2001, Bible Old Testament 2 Kings 2:24 (English Standard Version)

A female bear (as opposed to a he-bear, male bear).


ursine

Mid 16th century, from Latin ursīnus, adjectival form of ursus (“bear”) + -ine.


porcine

en-adj

porcine (comparative more porcine, superlative most porcine)

more porcine (comparative)
most porcine (superlative)

From Middle English porcine, partly from Middle French porcin (from Old French [Term?]) and partly from its etymon, Latin porcīnus, from porcus (“pig”).

porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome

(derogatory) Overweight to the extent of resembling a pig; morbidly obese.


apricot

en-noun

apricot (countable and uncountable, plural apricots)

Alteration of apricock (with influence from French abricot), itself an alteration of abrecock (with influence from Latin apricum (“sunny place”)), from dialectal Catalan abrecoc, abricoc, variants of standard albercoc, from Arabic الْبَرْقُوق (al-barqūq, “plums”), from Byzantine Greek βερικοκκία (berikokkía, “apricot tree”), from Ancient Greek πραικόκιον (praikókion), from Late Latin (persica) praecocia (literally “(peaches) which ripen early”), (mālum) praecoquum (literally “(apple) which ripens early”). Doublet of precocious.

der

Prunus armeniaca
Prunus armeniaca#Translingual


tod

From Middle English tod, of unknown origin. Possibly influenced by Etymology 2, due to its bushy tail.

unk

unknown


horsepower

en-noun

horsepower (countable and uncountable, plural horsepowers or horsepower)

horsepowers (plural)
horsepower (plural)

/ˈhɔɹsˌpaʊɚ/

/ˈhɔːsˌpaʊə/

From horse + power: the unit was originally defined as the amount of power that a horse could provide.
Both non-metric and metric units of power were derived from effectively identical measurements of the power a draught horse could sustain over several hours, with the difference in watts solely due to different rounding errors to express that power in round numbers in the original non-SI units (ft·lbf/min and kgf⋅m/s respectively).

In the past, before the widespread adoption of SI units, the work that engines were capable of doing was compared with the work that horses could do – hence the term ‘horsepower’. Various people came up with various equivalencies, but the modern agreed definition is that 1 horsepower is 746 joules per second or 746 watts.

2012 March 22nd, David Blockley, Engineering: A Very Short Introduction (309), Oxford University Press, chapter 2: “The age of gravity – time for work”, page 20

mechanical horsepower
mechanical horsepower

A nonmetric unit of power (symbol hp) with various definitions, for different applications. The most common of them is probably the mechanical horsepower, approximately equal to 745.7 watts.


horseshoe

/ˈhɔːɹs.ʃuː/

From Middle English horsscho, horssho, horscho, hors schoo, equivalent to horse + shoe.

almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

close only counts in horseshoes and darts

close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

(Midland US) An open-faced sandwich originating from Springfield, Illinois, consisting of thick-sliced toasted bread, often Texas toast, a hamburger patty, French fries, and a cheese sauce.


horse race

An exciting and arduous competition (as in a political campaign).

kilpajuoksu

an exciting and arduous competition (as in a political campaign)


horse racing

A sport where horses and their jockeys compete to race around a track the fastest.

跑馬 /跑马

a sport where horses and their jockeys compete to be fastest


manatee

→ Japanese: マナティー (manatī)

→ Korean: 매너티 (maeneoti)

→ Welsh: manatî

Borrowed from Spanish manatí, from a Cariban-language term meaning ‘breast’, ultimately from Proto-Cariban *manatɨ; compare Kari'na manaty, Trió manatï, Apalaí manaty, Akawaio manatï, Pemon manatü, Macushi manatî.

The ecological importance of the manatee is clear; scientists have demonstrated the dependancy of all components of an ecosystem on one another . . .

1988, Tampa Bay Magazine (Sept–Oct 1988, page 60)

Any of several plant-eating marine mammals, of family Trichechidae, found in tropical regions.

lamantyn

any of several plant-eating marine mammals, of family Trichechidae


dugong

Australian Kriol: jugong

Torres Strait Creole: dugong

→ Finnish: dugongi

→ French: dugong

→ Indonesian: dugong

→ Italian: dugongo

→ Malay: dugong

→ Portuguese: dugongo

→ Welsh: dwgong

→ Japanese: 儒艮

→ Chinese: 儒艮 (rúgèn)

The Ceylong dugong is an extraordinary and interesting animal which is often seen on the coast. It is plentiful in and about the Gulf of Manaar, and resembles somewhat a huge, thickly-made, bluff-headed seal.

1914, Marcus W. Millett, Jungle Sport in Ceylon from Elephant to Snipe, page 84:

“What are those things that aren’t seals? Much worse than seals. Big, blubbery things. Dugongs.”

1988, Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, William Heinemann Ltd, page 37:

A plant-eating aquatic marine mammal, of the species Dugong dugon, found in tropical regions.


vixen

Alteration of earlier fixen, from Middle English fixen, from Old English fyxe, from Proto-West Germanic *fuhsini, from Proto-Germanic *fuhsinī; the voiced v- comes from the Southern dialectal forms of Middle English. Alternatively, from the Old English adjective fyxen (“of the fox”), as in the phrase fixen hȳd (“fox skin”; compare Middle English foxen fox).


mountain lion

From mountain (“the animal's habitat”), + lion (“an African cat of similar size and color”).

The mountain lion may prowl here during any month.

1915 April 30, Enos A. Mills, “The Forest Frontier”, in The Rocky Mountain Wonderland, Houghton Mifflin, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 64:

Puma concolor
Puma concolor#Translingual


coyote

→ Irish: cadhóit

Borrowed from Spanish coyote, from a Nahuan language, from Proto-Nahuan *koyootl. Compare Chinook ki-o-tī.

Near Rio Frio we shot several handsome birds, and saw a cayjotte, or wild dog, which in size nearly approached the wolf.

1824, William Bullock, Six Months' Residence and Travels in Mexico, page 119:

The MWRC animal care specialists attempted to unimprint the coyotes first by limiting their human contact and putting them with other wild coyotes. The hand-raised coyotes, however, were ostracized by the wild coyotes […]

Canis latrans
Canis latrans#Translingual

(zoology) Canis latrans, a species of canine native to North America.


fawn

From Middle English fawne, fowne, foun, from Old French faon, foon, feon, from Vulgar Latin *fētōnem, from Latin fētus (“offspring, young”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- (“to suckle, nurse”). Displaced native Old English hindċealf (literally “deer calf”). Doublet of fetus.


fawn

en-verb

fawn (third-person singular simple present fawns, present participle fawning, simple past and past participle fawned)

fawns (present singular third-person)
fawning (participle present)
fawned (participle past)
fawned (past)

From Middle English fawnen, from Old English fagnian, alternative form of fæġnian (“to celebrate”), whence Middle English fainen, English fain. Cognate with Old Norse fagna. See also fain.

You showed your teeth like apes, and fawned like hounds.

1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

Thou with trembling fear, / Or like a fawning parasite, obeyest.

1671, John Milton, Paradise Regained, book 1:

courtiers who fawn on a master while they betray him

1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XXIII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

(intransitive) To seek favour by flattery and obsequious behaviour. [with on or upon]

(intransitive, of a dog) To show devotion or submissiveness by wagging its tail, nuzzling, licking, etc.


jackrabbit

any of several large North American hares of the genus Lepus


skunk

→ Czech: skunk

→ Danish: skunk

→ German: Skunk

→ Finnish: skunkki

→ French: skunks

→ Icelandic: skunkur

→ Japanese: スカンク (sukanku)

desc

→ Kashubian: skunk (Canada, United States)

→ Norwegian: skunk

→ Polish: skunks

→ Russian: скунс (skuns)

→ Slovak: skunk

→ Swedish: skunk

From an unattested Southern New England Algonquian word, cognate with Abenaki segôgw, segonku (“he who squirts (musk) / urinates”), from Proto-Algonquian *šeka·kwa, from *šek- (“to urinate”). Doublet of Chicago.

cog

The beaſts of offence be Squunckes, Ferrets, Foxes, vvhoſe impudence ſometimes drives them to the good vvives Hen rooſt, to fill their Paunch: ſome of theſe be blacke; their furre is of much eſteeme.

1634, William Wood, “Of the Beasts that Live on the Land”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England; […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, […], →OCLC, 1st part, pages 22–23:

Any of various small mammals, of the family Mephitidae, native to North and Central America, having a glossy black with a white coat and two musk glands at the base of the tail for emitting a noxious smell as a defensive measure.

Coordinate term: shutout

(slang) A walkover victory in sports or board games, as when the opposing side is unable to score.


skunk

en-noun

skunk (countable and uncountable, plural skunks)

From skunkweed (“certain highly aromatic marijuana”).

Cannabis sativa
Cannabis sativa#Translingual

Cannabis indica
Cannabis indica#Translingual

Any of the strains of hybrids of Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica that may have THC levels exceeding those of typical hashish.


trunk

From Middle English tronke, trunke, from Old French tronc (“alms box, tree trunk, headless body”), from Latin truncus (“a stock, lopped tree trunk”), from truncus (“cut off, maimed, mutilated”). For the verb, compare French tronquer, and see truncate. Doublet of truncus and tronk.

der

the apple does not fall far from the trunk

The conspicuously extended, mobile, nose-like organ of an animal such as a sengi, a tapir or especially an elephant. The trunks of various kinds of animals might be adapted to probing and sniffing, as in the sengis, or be partly prehensile, as in the tapir, or be a versatile prehensile organ for manipulation, feeding, drinking and fighting as in the elephant.

en:long nose of an elephant or other animal

(in the plural) Short for swimming trunks.


trunk

en-verb

trunk (third-person singular simple present trunks, present participle trunking, simple past and past participle trunked)

trunks (present singular third-person)
trunking (participle present)
trunked (participle past)
trunked (past)

Large streames of bloud out of the truncked stocke / Forth gushed, like fresh water streame from riuen rocke.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 10:

(transitive, obsolete) To lop off; to curtail; to truncate.


killer

en-noun

killer (countable and uncountable, plural killers)

→ German: Killer

→ Italian: killer

→ Japanese: キラー (kirā)

→ Russian: ки́ллер (kíller)

From Middle English killer, kyller. By surface analysis, kill + -er.

Digital streaming platforms are CD killers.

(figuratively) Something that is so far ahead of its competition that it effectively kills off that competition.


alce

From Latin alcē (also alcēs). Doublet of Algiz.

Alces, brought for the nonce out of the great wooddes of Germany.

1541, Elyot, Image Gov., published 1556, page 81; quoted in “† Alce”, in James A[ugustus] H[enry] Murray [et al.], editors, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumes I (A–B), London: Clarendon Press, 1884–1928, →OCLC, page 208, column 3:

His creaſt, the beaſt Alce pꝛoper, leaning to an Oke Vert, ſet on a toꝛce de Oꝛ and Gules, mantled Sable, doubled Oꝛ, ſuppoꝛted with a Beuer argent, coloured and vnguled Sable, and an Harpie Vert, Wynged de Oꝛ. The Alce diſcribed foꝛ the creaſt of the ſaid coate Armour, is a wilde Beaſte in the woods of Germany, in faſhion and ſkinne like to a fallowe Déere, but greater, and hath no iointes in his legges: and therefoꝛe he doth neuer lye, but leans to a trée when he doth reſt him.

1572, Iohn Bossewell, Workes of Armorie Deuided into Three Bookes, Entituled, the Concordes of Armorie, the Armorie of Honor, and of Cotes and Creastes, […], London: […] Henrie Ballard, […], published 1597, folios 111, verso – 112, recto:

CAP. XXXI. of Germanie, and the wonderfull byrdes therein, and of the Bugles, Vres, and Alces. wylde Beaſtes. […] There is alſo a beaſt called Alce much reſembling a Mule, with ſuch a long vpper lippe, that he cannot féede but he muſt goe backward. […] OVer againſt Germanie is the Ilande Scandinauia, which bꝛéedeth a beaſt ∗ much reſembling an Alce, which like yͤ Oliphant boweth not the nether ioyntes of his legs, and therefoꝛe lyeth not downe when he ſléepeth, but reſteth himſelfe when he is dꝛowſie, againſt a Trée, the which is ſawne almoſt a ſunder, ready to fall, that when the beaſt leaneth to his accuſtomed ſtaie, he may fall downe: and ſo is hee caught, foꝛ otherwiſe it is a hard matter to catch hym by hand.

1587, Caius Julius Solinus, translated by Arthur Golding, The Excellent and Pleasant Worke: Collectanea Rerum Memorabilium […], Gainesville, Fla.: Scholars’ Facsimiles & Reprints, published 1955:

Moreover, a certaine beaſt, called the Alce, very like to an horſe, but that his eares are longer; and his necke likewiſe with two markes, diſtinguiſh them aſunder. Moreover, in the Iſland Scandinavia, there is a beaſt called Machlis, not much unlike to the Alce abovenamed: common he is there, and much talk we have heard of him, howbeit in theſe parts hee was never ſeene. Hee reſembleth, I ſay, the Alce, but that hee hath neither joint in the hough, nor paſternes in his hind-legs: and therefore hee never lieth downe, but ſleepeth leaning to a tree.

1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book VIII.] Of Scythian beasts, and those that are bred in the North parts.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 1st tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 200:

Maclis, Plin. A beaſt in Scandinavia like to Alce, very ſwift, leaning to a tree when it ſleepeth, and beeing once fallen, cannot lift it ſelfe vp againe.

1610, Thomae Thomasii Dictionarium Summa Fide ac Diligentia Accuratissime Emendatum, Magnaque Insuper Rerum Scitu Dignarum, et Vocabvlorum Accessione, Longè Auctiùs Locupletiúsque Redditum, 8th edition, Cambridge, Cambs: Ex Officina Iohannis Legati, […]:

The alces hide cannot be pierced with cutting.

1617, Horn & Rob., Gate Lang. Unl., § 193, page xvii; quoted in “† Alce”, in James A[ugustus] H[enry] Murray [et al.], editors, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumes I (A–B), London: Clarendon Press, 1884–1928, →OCLC, page 208, column 3:

If you will ſee the Crocodyle, you muſt goe into Egypt; if the Oſtrich, into Barbary or Ethiopia; if the Rhinoceros, you muſt goe into India; if the Alce, vnto Polonia, &c.

a. 1625, Miles Smith, Sermons of the Right Reuerend Father in God Miles Smith, Late Lord Bishop of Glocester. Transcribed out of His Originall Manuscripts, and Now Published for the Common Good., London: […] Elizabeth Allde for Robert Allot, […], published 1632, pages 255–256:

The hoof in the Falling ſickneſs is accounted nothing inferiour to the Alce’s. […] Of the brain of an Alce in like manner may an excellent Antepileptick be prepared.

1659, John Schroder, translated by T. Bateson, Ζωολογια [Zoologia]: or, The History of Animals as They Are Useful in Physick and Chirurgery. […], London: […] E. Cotes, for R. Royston […] and Rob. Clavel […], pages 5 and 61:

Alce, a wild beaſt, in faſhion and ſkin like a fallow Deer, but greater, and hath no joynts in his legs, and therefore doth never ly down but lean to trees; the horn of it is uſeful in Phyſick.

1671, Edward Phillips, compiler, The Nevv World of Words: Or a General English Dictionary, 3rd edition, London: […] Nath. Brook, […]:

But to come to their wild Beaſts; among thoſe the Alce or Elk, leads the Van in this Country, tho’ among the Laplanders the Bear is ſtyl’d the Lord of the Forreſt, and of all the other wild Beaſts.

a. 1714, J[odocus] C[rull], A Supplement to Mr. Samuel Puffendorf’s Introduction to the History of Europe: […], 2nd edition, London: […] Aaron Ward, […], published 1726, page 551:

The Alce, or Elk, is an animal ſo differently deſcribed by the antients, that it is evident they either knew very little of it, or elſe different writers have deſcribed different animals under this name.

1753, A Supplement to Mr. Chambers’s Cyclopædia: or, Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. […], volume I, London: […] W. Innys and J. Richardson, […]:


urchin

From Middle English yrchoun, irchoun (“hedgehog; sea urchin”), from Old Northern French irechon, from Vulgar Latin *ērīciōnem, from Latin ericius. Compare modern French hérisson, whence the English doublet herisson.

(historical) A neutron-generating device that triggered the nuclear detonation of the earliest plutonium atomic bombs.


sea cow

Any of several marine mammals of the order Sirenia, including the manatee and dugong.


sea lion

From sea + lion, named from its marine habitat and its lion-like barking roar and mane. Compare Middle English see hound, cee-hound, se hound (“beaver”, literally “sea-hound”).

(heraldry) A monster consisting of the upper part of a lion combined with the tail of a fish (a lion marined).


bobby

Bro I’m booky, I’ll take your food if my belly starts rumblin
They rap about bootings, they ain’t blammed nobody
Hold that properly when I bang that dotty
I put sniff in a rex, and I slang that bobby

2017, “Next Up?”, Digga D (lyrics), performed by 1011 (Digga D x Sav'O x T.Y):


unicorn

From Middle English unicorne, unikorn, from Anglo-Norman unicorne, Old French unicorne, and their source, Latin ūnicornis, from ūnus (“one”) + cornū (“horn”). Other senses from either rarity (e.g., possessing multiple skills) or by physical resemblance to having a horn (e.g., howitzer). The finance sense was coined by American investor Aileen Lee and first used in a 2013 article.

But I also think, “They’re looking for a unicorn — a magical designer who can solve all their problems.” It’s too bad unicorns don’t exist. … I have never met a designer who is an expert in all those skill areas. … Even if you find a unicorn designer with all those skills, actually doing all those things at your company is a huge amount of work.

2011 November 1, Braden Kowitz, “Hiring a designer: hunting the unicorn”, in Google Ventures:

He believes that good data scientists, “otherwise known as unicorn data scientists,” have three types of expertise.

2015 October 3, Gil Press, “These Are The Skills You Need To (Eventually) Become A $240,000+ Unicorn Data Scientist”, in Forbes:

en:someone or something rare and hard to find

en:person with so much multidisciplinary expertise as to be rare

Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.

(business) A person with multidisciplinary expertise, especially a laundry list of three or more skills in a young field such as UX design or data science (e.g., domain knowledge, statistics, and software engineering).

Coordinate term: decacorn

As the price of Web hosting plummeted and PCs and cell phones proliferated, college and grad-school dropouts like Mark Zuckerberg or Larry Page and Sergey Brin could suddenly conjure unicorns on their laptops.

2016 October 3, Tad Friend, “Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny”, in The New Yorker:

In May 2016, out of 163 global unicorns, China had 31, with a total valuation of $154 billion or about 26 percent of global unicorn valuation.

2017, Pongsak Hoontrakul, Economic Transformation and Business Opportunities in Asia, Springer, →ISBN, page 273:

(finance) A startup company whose valuation has exceeded one billion U.S. dollars, which is solely backed by venture capitalists, and which has yet to have an IPO.


unicorn

en-verb

unicorn (third-person singular simple present unicorns, present participle unicorning, simple past and past participle unicorned)

unicorns (present singular third-person)
unicorning (participle present)
unicorned (participle past)
unicorned (past)

Since Waze, Soluto and Onavo, both Israeli startups, have had great exits in consumer tech, and Wix “unicorned” through its IPO.

2014 November 3, Itay Hod, “The Airbnb of Home-Cooked Meals”, in Daily Beast:

For eager investors looking to score in a future IPO, the eight still-private martech unicorns might be tempting. That list includes Domo, Slack, Sprinklr, Shopify, and EventBrite, all of which have “unicorned,” or surpassed the billion-dollar valuation mark, in the past year or two.

2015 April 30, John Koetsier, “29 martech unicorns: There are now almost 30 $1B+ marketing technology vendors”, in Venture Beat:

For instance, at the same time as Intercom was announcing its unicorning moment, a young Dublin tech company called Let's Get Checked (letsgetchecked.com) raised €10m in a funding round.

2018 April 1, Adrian Weckler, “Admit it: Irish tech is on the up”, in The Independent:

(finance) To exceed a valuation of one billion U.S. dollars, while solely backed by venture capitalists.


frog

From frog legs, stereotypical food of the French. Compare French rosbif (“English person”), from roast beef, corresponding term for the English, likewise based on stereotypical food; and Kraut for Germans.

(Canada, offensive) A French-speaking person from Quebec.


mountain goat

A sure-footed goat antelope, Oreamnos americanus, of the North American mountains, having black curved horns and a shaggy coat.

ʔəsbe

many Witsuwit'en subdialects, but used in others for "sheep"


puppy

From earlier puppie (“a woman's pet dog”), of uncertain origin, but probably from Middle English *puppee, *poupee, from Old French poupée, popée (“a doll; puppet”). More at puppet.
Mostly displaced native Middle English whelp (“puppy”), from Old English hwelp, whence Modern English whelp and whelpie.

A young dog, especially before sexual maturity (12–18 months)


sow

From Middle English sowe, from Old English sugu, from Proto-West Germanic *sugu, from Proto-Germanic *sugō, probably from Proto-Indo-European *su(H)kéh₂, from *suH- (“pig”).
See also West Frisian sûch, Dutch zeug, Low German Söög, German Sau, Swedish sugga, Norwegian sugge; also Welsh hwch (“pig”), Sanskrit सूकर (sūkará, “swine, boar”); also Danish so, German Sau, Latin sūs, Tocharian B suwo, Ancient Greek ὗς (hûs), Albanian thi, Avestan 𐬵𐬏 (hū, “boar”). See also swine. Doublet of soor.

In England, it was generally termed a 'sow', if the weight was above 10 cwts., if below, it was termed a 'pig' from which the present term 'pig iron' is derived.

1957, H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, page 160:

(military) A kind of covered shed, formerly used by besiegers in filling up and passing the ditch of a besieged place, sapping and mining the wall, etc.


tigress

From French tigresse, corresponding to tiger + -ess.

So-al was a mighty fine-looking girl, built like a tigress as to strength and sinuosity, but withal sweet and womanly.

1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter IV, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, part II, number 12, New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, March 1927, →OCLC, page 1164, column 1:

Indestructibly seductive at 79, this greatest and wittiest of all singing tigresses has lasted even longer on the stage than the original glamorous grandmother, Marlene Dietrich.

2006 October 6, Stephen Holden, “Fabled Feline Charms, in Fine Working Order”, in The New York Times:


tom

From generic use of the proper name Tom.

The male of the domesticated cat, especially if not neutered.


wether

From Middle English wether, wethir, wedyr, from Old English weþer (“a wether, ram”), from Proto-West Germanic *weþru, from Proto-Germanic *weþruz (“wether”), from Proto-Indo-European *wet- (“year”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots weddir, woddir, wadder (“wether”), Dutch weder, weer (“wether”), German Widder (“wether, ram”), Norwegian Bokmål vær (“ram”), Norwegian Nynorsk vêr (“ram”), Swedish vädur (“wether, ram”), Icelandic veður (“wether, ram”), Latin vitulus (“calf”).


wether

wether (third-person singular simple present wethers, present participle wethering, simple past and past participle wethered)

wethers (present singular third-person)
wethering (participle present)
wethered (participle past)
wethered (past)

(transitive) To castrate a male sheep or goat.


wether

There was a great fyer in the chamber, the wether was colde, and I saw now and then a Bishop come out;

1527, George Joye, The storie of my state after the bishop had receyued the pryours letters:


elephantine

en-adj

elephantine (comparative more elephantine, superlative most elephantine)

more elephantine (comparative)
most elephantine (superlative)

From Latin elephantīnus, equivalent to elephant + -ine.

The scene around them was currently plunged into gloom. Dark mists swirled round them and elephantine shapes lurked indistinctly in the shadows.

1979, Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, →ISBN, page 132:

This last summer Hanecki had captured Lenin’s imagination with his plans to found a trading company of his own in Europe, or take a partnership in some existing firm and make guaranteed monthly remittances to the Party out of his profits. This was not a Russian pipe dream: every move had been worked out with impressive precision. Kuba hadn’t thought of it himself, it was the brainchild of the elephantine genius Parvus, who had been writing to him from Constantinople. Parvus, once as poor as any other Social Democrat, had gone to Turkey to organize strikes, and now wrote frankly that he had all the money he needed (if rumor was right, he was fabulously wealthy) and that the time had come for the Party too to get rich.

1989, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, translated by H. T. Willetts, August 1914, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 179:

Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of elephants.


doe

en-noun

doe (countable and uncountable, plural doe or does)

From Middle English do, from Old English dā (“female deer”), from Proto-West Germanic *daijā, from Proto-Germanic *dajjǭ (“female deer, mother deer”), from Proto-Germanic *dajjaną (“to suckle”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- (“to suck (milk), to suckle”).
Cognate with Scots da, dae (“female deer”), Alemannic German tē (“doe”), Danish då (“deer, doe”), Sanskrit धेनु (dhenú, “cow, milk-cow”), Old English dēon (“to suckle”), Old English delu (“teat”). Related also to female, filial, fetus.

der

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

A doe from round a spruce stood looking at them
Across the wall, as near the wall as they.
She saw them in their field, they her in hers.

1923 October, Robert Frost, “[Grace Notes.] Two Look at Two.”, in New Hampshire […], New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →OCLC, page 95:

A female deer; also used of similar animals such as antelope (less commonly a goat, as nanny is also used).


doe

(African-American Vernacular, MLE) though


poke

From Middle English poken, perhaps from Middle Dutch poken or Middle Low German poken, both from Proto-West Germanic *pukōn or similar, which is itself of uncertain origin, but may be from an imitative Proto-Germanic root *puk-. Doublet of poach.

onomatopoeic

imitative

better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick

better than a poke in the eye with a rusty nail

better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick

better than a poke in the eye with a shitty stick

Well then, I declare, I'd rather see Miss Lawton in that old poke – old as it is! –than in the finest new bonnet the Squire's lady ever wore.

1857, William Platt, Mothers and sons, page 190:


root

en-verb

root (third-person singular simple present roots, present participle rooting, simple past and past participle rooted)

roots (present singular third-person)
rooting (participle present)
rooted (participle past)
rooted (past)

From Middle English wrōten (“to dig with the snout”), from Old English wrōtan, from Proto-Germanic *wrōtaną (“to dig out, to root”). Related to Old English wrōt (“snout; trunk”). Loss of initial w- probably due to influence from the related noun (Etymology 1).

furgar

coarse slang: to have sexual intercourse

(equestrianism, of a horse) To tug or pull at the reins aggressively by driving the head downwards while wearing a bit.

搶口 /抢口

of a horse: to tug or pull at the reins aggressively by driving the head downwards


Capricornus

/ˌkæpɹɪˈkɔːnəs/

/ˌkæpɹɪˈkɔːɹnəs/

From Middle English, borrowed from Latin Capricornus, from capra (“goat”) and cornū (“horn”).


piglet

From pig + -let (diminutive suffix). Attested from 1855. Displaced Old English fearh.

Very little was this piglet,
And of course was not a big pig,

1855 December 10, “Mother Goose in Trochaics”, in Buffalo Morning Express, Buffalo, NY, page 4:


sheepfold

Inherited from Middle English shepefald, perhaps from Late Old English sċēapa falde (literally “sheep's fold”), equivalent to sheep + fold.

If civilized life had covered over the ancient verities, Dumuzi learns in his tragic death that the sheepfold is still there to reclaim him.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 180:


kitten

From Middle English kitoun, kytton, kyton, keton (“kitten”). Seemingly from, and usually explained as being from, unattested Anglo-Norman *kitoun, *ketun (compare Old French chitoun, cheton, chaton (“kitten”), diminutive of cat, chat (“cat”)); whence Modern French chaton (“kitten”). Similar words of Germanic origin may have reinforced this word; compare English kitling (“kit, kitten”), Low German Kitten (“kitten”), Icelandic kettlingur (“kitten”), Middle English chitte ("whelp, pup", see chit). The idea that kitoun, rather than being of Anglo-Norman origin, was in fact a purely Germanic derivation from one of these words is etymologically problematic, but cannot be definitively ruled out.

gloss

"whelp, pup", see <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">chit</i>

It was supposed to have happened thus: the cat had young kittens, and frequently carried them mice, and other animals its prey, and among the rest a young rat: the kittens, not being hungry, played with it, and when the cat came to give suck to the kittens, the rat likewise sucked her.

1752 January, The London Magazine, and Monthly Chronologer, page 243&244:

To the sounds, however, I paid no attention at first as I was much interested in the subject upon which I was writing; but at length my som Richard burst into my study, exclaiming that the kitten had climbed up to the top of a young ash tree, and could not get down again.

1844, The Kitten, the Religious Tract Society, page 1 & 2:

Jailing her on Wednesday, magistrate Liz Clyne told Robins: "You have shown little remorse either for the death of the kitten or the trauma to your former friend Sarah Knutton." She was also banned from keeping animals for 10 years.

2011 December 14, Steven Morris, “Devon woman jailed for 168 days for killing kitten in microwave”, in Guardian:

A young cat, especially before sexual maturity (reached at about seven months).


leveret

From Middle English leveret(te), from Old French leveret, diminutive of lievre (“hare”), from Latin leporem, of obscure origin.

[…] Shall I die like a leveret,
Without any resistance?—Help, help, help!
I am slain!

1623, John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, act V, scene 5:

Fair Hand that can on Virgin-paper write,
 Yet from the stain of Ink preserve it white,
Whose travel o’er that Silver Field does show,
Like track of Leveretts in morning Snow;

1686, Edmund Waller, “Of a Tree cut in Paper”, in Poems, &c. written upon several occasions, and to several persons by Edmond Waller, London: H. Herringman:

As when two skilful hounds the leveret wind;
Or chase through woods obscure the trembling hind;
Now lost, now seen, they intercept his way,
And from the herd still turn the flying prey:
So fast, and with such fears, the Trojan flew;
So close, so constant, the bold Greeks pursue.

1720, Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, Book 10:

They heard Marvel squeal like a caught leveret, and forthwith they were clambering over the bar to his rescue.

1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “chapter 16”, in The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC:


joey

Unknown. Older and more general sources state that joey comes from an Australian aboriginal language (cited as joè), but newer sources that focus on Australian English and aboriginal languages say the origin is unknown. The Australian National Dictionary includes a sense of “young possum” with citations predating the earliest “young kangaroo” citations.

Among the kangaroo words that yield the most joviality and joy are those that conceal multiple joeys.

1998, Richard Lederer, Dave Morice, The Word Circus, page 129:

Sometimes a kangaroo word has more than one joey.

2005, Anu Garg, Another Word a Day, page 132:


lamb

en-noun

lamb (countable and uncountable, plural lambs or (both dialectal) lamber or lambren)

lambs (plural)
lamber (dialectal plural)
lambren (dialectal plural)

From Middle English lamb, from Old English lamb, from Proto-West Germanic *lamb, from Proto-Germanic *lambaz, probably from Proto-Indo-European *h₁l̥h₁onbʰos, enlargement of *h₁elh₁én, ultimately from *h₁el-.
See also Dutch lam, German Lamm, Bavarian Lamperl, Danish lam, Swedish lamm, Finnish lammas, Scottish Gaelic lon (“elk”), Ancient Greek ἔλαφος (élaphos, “red deer”). More at elk.

cog

one may as well hang for a sheep as a lamb

Mary had a little lamb, its fleece as white as snow.

(finance, slang) One who ignorantly speculates on the stock exchange and is victimized.

Holonym: Lambily

Alternative form: Lamb

Part of me revels in the campiness of Mariah’s butterfly metaphors and puppies-and-kittens existence. […] But I also genuinely love her music, including this album. I’m one of her lambs.

Her latest album, “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel,” is her best work yet, a warmer and more subtle album that makes her more relatable to those of us who aren’t Mariah die-hards—or “lambs,” as she refers to them.

2010 February 15, Greg Kot, “Mimi cuts loose: Mariah Carey concert at Chicago Theatre shows that the diva can laugh at herself”, in Chicago Tribune, 163rd year, number 46, section 3, page 6:

This year, Ms. Carey debuted a new Las Vegas revue, and, to celebrate, a group of 36 “lambs,” mostly in their 30s and 40s, boarded a party bus and cruised the Vegas strip for about three hours.

2019 January 3, Rich Juzwiak, “In Praise of Their Diva”, in The New York Times, section D, page 1:

But when I saw Mariah in Detroit last year during the Caution World Tour, I was a proud lamb in my tour T-shirt, my very adult body suddenly transformed into my 14-year-old self when she emerged onstage.

2020 February 25, Chris Azzopardi, “I Love You (But Do You Love Mariah Carey?)”, in The New York Times:

Pride Month begins June 1, and Mariah Carey is giving her lambs plenty of new clothes to celebrate.

2022, “Mariah Carey releases her exclusive Pride merchandise”, in WRMF:

(slang) A fan of American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer Mariah Carey (born 1969).


liger

Tigons, ligers and a zeedonk have also been created by miscegenating mammals.

1985, Hartson & Dawson, The Ultimate Irrelevant Encyclopedia, page 66:

An animal born to a male lion and a tigress.


tigon

A cross between a male tiger and a lioness.


spout

From Middle English spouten, from Middle Dutch spoiten, spouten (> Dutch spuiten (“to spout”)), from Old Dutch *spūten, *spīuten, *spīwetten, from Proto-West Germanic *spīwattjan, from Proto-Germanic *spīwatjaną. Compare Swedish spruta (“squirt, syringe”). See also spit, spew.

(Australia) A hollow stump formed when a tree branch breaks off.


kid

en-noun

kid (countable and uncountable, plural kids)

From Middle English kide, from Old Norse kið (“young goat”), from Proto-Germanic *kidją, *kittīną (“goatling, kid”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gʰaydn-, *ǵʰaydn- (“goat”) or Proto-Indo-European *gidʰ- (“kid, goatling, little goat”). Compare Swedish and Danish kid, German Kitz and Kitze, Albanian kedh and kec.
Sense of child since 1590s as cant, since 1840s in informal use.

der

is that what the kids are calling it these days

I have three pairs of kid gloves. I've had kid mittens before from the Christmas tree, but never real kid gloves with five fingers.

1912, Jean Webster, Daddy-Long-Legs: Letter 3:

Only '90s kids will remember this toy.

He's been living in Los Angeles for years now, but he's a Florida kid.

(informal) A person whose childhood took place in a particular time period or area.

No, kid, you didn't do anything wrong; they did!

Here's looking at you, kid.

1942, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, Casablanca, spoken by Rick (Humphrey Bogart):

(in the vocative) Used as a form of address for a child, teenager or young adult.


she-wolf

From Middle English she wolf; equivalent to she- + wolf.


wolfling

From wolf + -ling. Compare Middle English wolfling (“a creature which is part human and part wolf”).


tomcat

From Tom + cat, popularised by The Life and Adventures of a Cat (1760), by an anonymous author, in which the male cat was called Tom.

(Southeast Asia) An insect of the order Coleoptera referring to certain species of rove beetles, particularly in the genus Paederus. Known for secreting a potent irritant, pederin, which can cause severe skin irritation and blistering when contacted.


ook

Imitative of the cry of an ape or monkey.

onomatopoeic

Imitative

He tapped the Librarian on the shoulder. "Excuse me —" "Ook?" "Those guys just called you a monkey," said Glod.

The irate ape cries, "Ook ook! Ai ai ai!" He springs off the edge of the stone basin, clawing Cantare across the face and bursting through the door.

2004, Robert Arellano, Don Dimaio of La Plata:

Fingers pinched my eyelashes and lifted one eyelid. I looked straight into a big, leathery black face surrounded by brown fur. “Ook?” asked the monkey.

2014, Victoria Wessex, Shipwrecked with the Billionaire Rock Star:

(onomatopoeia) Used to represent the sound of the cry of an ape or monkey.

ウキー

used to represent the sound of the cry of an ape or monkey — see also oo oo aa aa


imp

(video games, slang) Synonym of god (“person who owns and runs a multi-user dungeon”)


sphinx

From Middle English Spynx, from Latin Sphinx, from Ancient Greek Σφίγξ (Sphínx), perhaps either from σφίγγω (sphíngō, “to squeeze, to strangle”) (whence also sphincter), of Pre-Greek origin, or from Egyptian Szp:p-A53-anx-n:x (šzp-ꜥnḫ, “divine image”, literally “living image”).

der

<i class="Latn mention" lang="egy">šzp-ꜥnḫ</i>


meow

en-noun

meow (countable and uncountable, plural meows)

Alteration of earlier mew, from Middle English mewen, mouwen (“to mew, meow”), of onomatopoeic origin.
Compare Saterland Frisian mauje, miauje (“to meow”), West Frisian miaukje (“to meow”), Dutch miauwen (“to meow”), Middle Low German mauwen, mawen, mouwen (“to meow”) (whence modern German Low German mauen, miauen (“to meow”)), Middle High German mouen, modern German miauen (“to meow”). Some spellings were modelled on French miaou.
Meow and its spelling variants entered widespread currency in the 19th century, mostly replacing mew. Possibly because phonetic change meant that word had ceased to approximate a cat's cry. Contrast the pronunciation of Middle English mewen /ˈmɛu̯ən/ compared to modern /ˈmjuː/).

(UK, slang, uncountable) The drug mephedrone.


miaow

(chiefly dated) British spelling of meow


miaow

en-verb

miaow (third-person singular simple present miaows, present participle miaowing, simple past and past participle miaowed)

miaows (present singular third-person)
miaowing (participle present)
miaowed (participle past)
miaowed (past)


purr

purr (third-person singular simple present purrs, present participle purring, simple past and past participle purred)

purrs (present singular third-person)
purring (participle present)
purred (participle past)
purred (past)

Onomatopoeic.

recorded purring of a cat

listen/core

recorded purring of a cat

ombox/core

recorded purring of a cat

ombox

recorded purring of a cat

mbox

recorded purring of a cat

"This is Cindy," she purred again, flashing a smile of perfect white teeth surrounded by full red lips.

2008, C. E. Osborne, Black Gold Death in the Sun, page 12:

(transitive) To say (something) in a throaty, seductive manner.

He purred like a kitten when she massaged his neck.

(intransitive) To make a vibrating throaty sound, as from pleasure.

Beverly passed the city limits sign with the Porsche's motor purring contentedly after its two hundred and fifty-mile romp.

2001, E. C. Craver, Last Reunion, page 159:

(intransitive, of an engine) To make a low and consistent rumbling sound.

бръмча

of an engine: to make a low rumbling sound


purr

listen/core

recorded purring of a cat

ombox/core

recorded purring of a cat

ombox

recorded purring of a cat

mbox

recorded purring of a cat

The trill of her purr echoed inside his mouth when he kissed her again. Clutching at his shirt, her fingers traveled the muscles in his back.

2006, Brenda Williamson, Wolverton Blood, page 53:

A throaty, seductive sound of pleasure made by a person.


purr

listen/core

recorded purring of a cat

ombox/core

recorded purring of a cat

ombox

recorded purring of a cat

mbox

recorded purring of a cat


neigh

From Middle English neighen, from Old English hnǣġan, from Proto-Germanic *hnaijan, from Proto-Germanic *hnajjaną (“to neigh”). Cognate with dialectal Dutch neien, Middle Low German neigen, Swedish gnägga, Icelandic hneggja.


neigh

en-verb

neigh (third-person singular simple present neighs, present participle neighing, simple past and past participle neighed)

neighs (present singular third-person)
neighing (participle present)
neighed (participle past)
neighed (past)

"I went into the stable first to see to the horse, and found him neighing and waiting for his hay, so I went up into the hay-loft for an armful[.]"

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 33:

To make a sound similar to a horse's cry.

hirnuma

to make a sound similar to a horses' cry

Yes, yes, 'tis he. I will assure you Uncle, the very he, the he your Wisdom plaid withal, I thank you for't, neighed at his Nakedness, and made his Cold and Poverty your Pastime; […]

c. 1614, John Fletcher, “Wit Without Money, a Comedy”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i:


grunt

From Middle English grunten, from Old English grunnettan (“to grunt”), from Proto-West Germanic *grunnattjan, from Proto-Germanic *grunnatjaną (“to grunt”), frequentative of Proto-Germanic *grunnōną (“to grunt”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrun- (“to shout”).
Cognate with German grunzen (“to grunt”), Danish grynte (“to grunt”). The noun senses are all instances of zero derivation from the verb.

der

Any fish of the perciform family Haemulidae.


aid

en-noun

aid (countable and uncountable, plural aids)

From Middle English aide, eide, ayde, from Old French eide, aide, from aidier, from Latin adiūtō, adiūtāre (“to assist, help”). Cognates include Spanish ayuda, Portuguese ajuda and Italian aiuto.

aide

aide-de-camp; obsolete except in sense of

(countable, chiefly in the plural, horse racing) The rider's use of hands, legs, voice, etc. to control the horse.


wisdom

en-noun

wisdom (countable and uncountable, plural wisdoms)

From Middle English wisdom, from Old English wīsdōm (“wisdom”), from Proto-Germanic *wīsadōmaz (“wisdom”), corresponding to wise + -dom or wise + doom (“judgement”). Cognate with Scots wisdom, wysdom (“wisdom”), West Frisian wiisdom (“wisdom”), Dutch wijsdom (“wisdom”), German Weistum (“legal sentence”), Danish/Norwegian/Swedish visdom (“wisdom”), Icelandic vísdómur (“wisdom”).

ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ

ability to apply relevant knowledge in an insightful way

The ability to make a decision based on the combination of knowledge, experience, and intuitive understanding.


monk

From Middle English monk, from Old English munuc, from Proto-West Germanic *munik, from Late Latin monicus, variant of monachus, from Ancient Greek μοναχός (monakhós, “single, solitary”), from μόνος (mónos, “alone”).

der

A South American monkey (Pithecia monachus); also applied to other species, as Cebus xanthosternos.


allowance

en-noun

allowance (countable and uncountable, plural allowances)

→ Cebuano: alawans

→ Malay: élaun

From Middle English allouance, from Old French alouance.
Morphologically allow + -ance.

On the Flat, an apprentice jockey starts with an allowance of 7 lb.

(horse racing) A permitted reduction in the weight that a racehorse must carry.


meerkat

→ Japanese: ミーアキャット (mīakyatto)

→ Korean: 미어캣 (mieokaet)

→ Thai: เมียร์แคต (miia-kɛ́t)

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

From Afrikaans meerkat, transferred use of Dutch meerkat (“guenon [monkey]”), from Middle Dutch meercatte (literally “sea cat”), compare English mercat. Sometimes suggested to be influenced by or derived from an Indian source; compare Hindi मर्कट (markaṭ, “ape, monkey”) and Sanskrit मर्कट (markaṭa). Note however Old High German merikazza, so any influence from Indo-Aryan would have to be exceptionally early.

der

Suricata suricatta
Suricata suricatta#Translingual

Suricata suricatta, a small carnivorous mammal of the mongoose family, from the Kalahari Desert, known for its habit of standing on its hind legs.


pointer

From point + -er (agent noun suffix) or + -er (measurement suffix) (sense 10).

күрһәткес

anything that points or is used for pointing

Anything that points or is used for pointing.

A teacher's pointer, pointing stick, a rod with an arrow.

Most of the early wirehaired pointers represented a combination of Griffon, Stichelhaar, Pudelpointer, and German Shorthair. The Pudelpointer was a cross between a Poodle dog and an English Pointer bitch; the Griffon and the Stichelhaar were composed of Pointer, Foxhound, Pudelpointer, and a Polish water dog.

2007, American Kennel Club, The Complete Dog Book, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 30:

(hunting) A breed of hunting dog, trained to point out game.

The system notifies the user of the progress of a task by changing the appearance of the pointer. System-busy pointers usually adopt a timepiece metaphor.

1995, Aaron Marcus, Nick Smilonich, Lynne Thompson, The Cross-GUI Handbook, Addison-Wesley, →ISBN, page 231:

graphical user interface
graphical user interface

(graphical user interface) An icon that indicates the position of the pointing device, such as a mouse.


whale

From Middle English whale, from Old English hwæl (“whale”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwal, from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz (“whale”) (compare German Wal, Swedish val, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hval, Norwegian Nynorsk kval; compare also Dutch walvis, West Frisian walfisk, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷálos (“sheatfish”) (compare German Wels, Latin squalus (“big sea fish”), Old Prussian kalis, Ancient Greek ἄσπαλος (áspalos), Avestan 𐬐𐬀𐬭𐬀 (kara, “kind of fish”)).

The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania.[…]It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber.

2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:


glutton

From Middle English glotoun, from Old French gloton, gluton, from Latin gluttō, gluttōnis (“glutton”).
The use for the wolverine is a semantic loan from German Vielfraß, itself a folk etymology for Old Norse *fjallfress (literally “mountain cat”). The popular belief that the wolverine is particularly voracious only developed because of this name. See the German for more.


cattleman

A man who raises or tends cattle, as:
A cattle rancher.


boar

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

From Middle English bor, boor, from Old English bār, from Proto-West Germanic *bair.

And drivers on local roads have encountered traveling boars, which can run at up to 30 miles an hour, according to one local resident, who said a friend’s car collided with a 132-pound animal, totaling the vehicle, as well as killing the boar.

2024 August 24, Stephen Castle, “The Loch Ness Monster Has Company in the Neighborhood: Wild Boars”, in The New York Times:

A wild boar (Sus scrofa), the wild ancestor of the domesticated pig.


trace

From Middle English trace, traas, from Old French trace (“an outline, track, trace”), from the verb (see below).

An enquiry sent out for a missing article, such as a letter or an express package.

printed circuit board
printed circuit board

(electronics) A current-carrying conductive pathway on a printed circuit board.

لِوْحَة دَارَاتُ مَطَبُوعَة

(electronics) electric current-carrying conductive pathway

(geometry) The intersection of a plane of projection, or an original plane, with a coordinate plane.


Manx

en-adj

Manx (comparative more Manx, superlative most Manx)

more Manx (comparative)
most Manx (superlative)

Altered from Maniske, from assumed Old Norse *manskr, an adjectival form of Mǫn (“Isle of Man”), from Old Irish Mana; compare with Norwegian Bokmål mansk.
Also influenced by Manx Manninagh, an adjectival form of Mannin (“Isle of Man”), Isle of Man; cf Scottish Gaelic Manainneach and Irish Manannach.

Relating to the Manx language (also known as Manx Gaelic), a Gaelic language of the Goidelic family.


giddyup

en-verb

giddyup (third-person singular simple present giddyups, present participle giddyuping or giddyupping, simple past and past participle giddyuped or giddyupped)

giddyups (present singular third-person)
giddyuping (participle present)
giddyupping (participle present)
giddyuped (participle past)
giddyuped (past)
giddyupped (participle past)
giddyupped (past)

Not expecting any traffic, he giddyuped them onto the main road.

2011, Janet Dailey, Foxfire Light, →ISBN, page 30:

To cause a horse or similar mount to speed up.


kuda

(archaic) Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus)


nya

From the Japanese onomatopoeia にゃ (nya).

(anime and manga fandom) The cry of a cat; meow, miaow.


steer

Inherited from Middle English steeren, steren, stiren, sturen, steoren, from Old English stēoran, stīeran, stȳran (“to steer; guide a vessel”), from Proto-West Germanic *stiurijan (“to steer”), from Proto-Germanic *stiurijaną (“to steer”).
The noun is from Middle English steere, stere (“rudder”), steor, from Old English stēor, stȳr (“steering; guidance; direction”). Compare Dutch stuur, German Steuer, Icelandic stýri.

inh

I tried to give you the steer, but I guess I didn't get it over. Everybody knew it but you.

1939, Mark Hellinger, The Roaring Twenties:

(informal) A suggestion about a course of action.

намек

informal: suggestion about course of action


hobbit

en-noun

hobbit (plural hobbits or (humorous) hobbitses)

hobbits (plural)
hobbitses (humorous plural)

Denham Tracts
Hobbit (word)
J. R. R. Tolkien
The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings
hobbit

Coined in its current sense by J. R. R. Tolkien in the 1930s, featured in the novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Jocularly etymologized by him as from a hypothetical Old English *holbytla (literally “hole-builder”), from hol (“hole”) + bytlan (“to build”) + -a (“-er”). Tolkien was possibly influenced by similar terms for house-sprites (probably from Hob, a hypocoristic form of Robert), or an isolated mention of hobbits (with hobgoblins following immediately afterwards) in a list of sprites and bogies from the 19th-century Denham Tracts.

pseudo-loan

(US, slang, uncommon) A socially unappealing, overly academic student.


manage

From Early Modern English manage, menage, from Middle English *manage, *menage, from Old French manege (“the handling or training of a horse, horsemanship, riding, maneuvers, proceedings”), probably from Old Italian maneggiare (“to handle, manage, touch, treat”), ultimately from Latin manus (“the hand”); see manual.

der

You must draw [the horse] in his career with his manage, and turn, doing the corvetto, leaping &c..

1622, Henry Peacham (Jr.), The Compleat Gentleman:


sai

Borrowed from Hokkien 屎 (sái, “excrement; poop”).

bor+

[…]the employer of the unfortunate maid that was forced to makan sai are indonesians.

1998 February 10, Thye Hoon Lin, “SM Lee was right - Johor is notorious for muggings!”, in soc.culture.malaysia (Usenet):

It is Chek Lap Kok ho lang. You should makan sai. Are you an Orang Laut trying to speak Chinese?

1998 July 9, SimiSar, “[sangkancil] New HK airport faces barrage of criticism (fwd)”, in soc.culture.malaysia (Usenet):

go and take your morning shower and wash your arse with water and soap after pang sai

2003 April 18, Bone Toad, “Christ won”, in soc.culture.malaysia (Usenet):

(Singapore, Malaysia, colloquial, vulgar) shit


glider

From Middle English glider, glydare, equivalent to glide + -er.

Any animal with the ability to glide, such as the marsupial gliding possums of Australia.

By the way, what happens to a beehive which is under attack by one or two gliders such as pictured:

1989 December 22, Norbert Roestel, “CA-LETTER”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):

I believe it is indeed new -- I've gone back through everything I can find, as far back as the early 90's when Heisenburp devices were first invented, and there don't seem to be any reactions based on a glider suppressing a blinker.

2006 September 28, Dave Greene, “Small Heisenburp device in Conway's Life”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):

In Conway's Life interesting effects can be obtained by colliding gliders.

2008, Derek Abbott, Paul C. W. Davies, Arun Kumar Pati, Quantum Aspects Of Life, page 246:

(cellular automata) In the Game of Life, a particular configuration of five cells that recurs periodically at fixed offsets and appears to "walk" across the grid.

It is a reversible rule, and an interesting one. Shortly after I implemented it, Chris and I were watching it run from a small random configuration of vants, when we noticed a structure consisting of 2 vants propagating away from the others -- it is a glider of sorts, consisting of 2 cooperating vants moving along, erasing each others' trail.

1989 June 11, David Hiebeler, comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):

I wanted to test some totalistic automaton and the glider with the B024S1 rule, which Ilmari Karonen described.

2003 May 13, Frank Buss, “Totalistic Explorer and squirm”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):

By contrast, consider a rule like Seeds (B2/S) that has "gliders" and oscillators and so forth, so theoretically it might support universal computation somehow.

2007 May 12, Dave Greene, “Wanted: 2D CA, "as complex" but "denser" than Life”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):

(by extension) Any spaceship in a cellular automaton, especially one which exhibits glide reflection.

(entomology) Any of various species of dragonfly that glide on out-held wings while flying, such as the common glider, Tramea loewii, of Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia, and the Pacific.


redhead

Aythya americana
Aythya americana#Translingual

A North American duck (Aythya americana) highly esteemed as a game bird.


tattoo

bor

Hindi टट्टू (ṭaṭṭū)


dachshund

en-noun

dachshund (plural dachshunds or dachshunde)

From German Dachshund (“badger dog”); Dachs (“badger”) + Hund (“dog”).

Say what you will of dachshunds, their peculiar shape makes them the easiest breed of dog to trip over in existence.

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVI, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

We had decided to take a small dog for the children and we chose a tan, short-haired, six-week-old male dachshund. We named him Fritz.

2006, Ted Freeman, Doctor in Vanuatu, Suva, Fiji: Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, →ISBN, page 35:

dashhound

spelling from an alternate pronunciation

A certain breed of dog having short legs and a long trunk, including standard-sized, miniature (smooth-haired, long-haired, and short-haired) varieties.


beagle

From Middle English *begel (begles (plural)), of uncertain origin. Possibly a corruption of Middle English bedel (“beadle”) in the sense of "constable, detective" (for change of d compare Middle English bugge from Old English budda; Middle English -inge from -inde; etc.); or alternatively from Middle French beegueule (“one who keeps their mouth open”), whence modern French bégueule (“a colloquial insult said to women of low status and accused of stupidity, who always have their mouths gaped or open; a prude”); from Old French beer, bayer (“to gape, gawk”) + Old French gueule (“gullet”). The modern French bigle (“beagle”) however is a borrowing from the English.

ncog

A small short-legged smooth-coated scenthound, often tricolored and sometimes used for hunting hares. Its friendly disposition makes it suitable as a family pet.

зайчар

small short-legged smooth-coated scenthound, often tricolored and sometimes used for hunting hares or as a family pet


gopher

Perhaps an adaptation of Cajun French gaufre (literally “honeycomb, waffle”), based on the analogy of holes in the ground to the indentations in a honeycomb or a waffle (doublet of waffle). Alternatively, from Muskogean.

bor

A small burrowing rodent native to North and Central America, especially in the family Geomyidae (pocket gophers).


pace

→ Japanese: ペース (pēsu)

From Middle English pase, from Anglo-Norman pas, Old French pas, and their source, Latin passus. Doublet of pas and fathom; compare also pass. Cognate with Spanish pasear.

походка

way of stepping: rate or style of how someone moves with their feet


German shepherd

en-noun

German shepherd (plural German shepherds)

A more commonly used shortening of German Shepherd Dog.

A large-sized breed of dog often used as a guard dog or police dog.

ജർമൻ ഷെപ്പേർഡ്

jaṟmaṉ ṣeppēṟḍŭ


kit

kit (countable and uncountable, plural kits)

From Middle English kyt, kytt, kytte, from Middle Dutch kitte (“a wooden vessel made of hooped staves”). Related to Dutch kit (“tankard”) (see below). The further etymology is unknown. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *kitjō-, *kut-, which would be related to the root of Dutch kot (“ramshackle house”), itself of non-Indo-European origin.
The transfer of meaning to the contents of a soldier's knapsack dates to the late 18th century, extended use of any collection of necessaries used for travelling dates to the first half of the 19th century.
The further widening of the sense to a collection of parts sold for the buyer to assemble emerges in US English in the mid 20th century.

der

A circular wooden vessel, made of hooped staves.


kit

A short form of kitten and/or kitling. From the 16th century (spelled kytte, kitt).
From the 19th century also extended to other young animals (mink, fox, beaver, muskrat, etc.), and to a species of small fox ("kit-fox"). Later usage (for other animals) perhaps influenced by chit.


kit

A dancing master's kit.

1681, Nehemiah Grew, Musæum Regalis Societatis. Or A Catalogue & Description of the Natural and Artificial Rarities Belonging to the Royal Society and Preserved at Gresham Colledge. […], London: […] W. Rawlins, for the author, →OCLC:

Prince Turveydrop then tinkled the strings of his kit with his fingers, and the young ladies stood up to dance.

1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC:


gib

Only gib me some few shingles an’ a flo’, an’ dar yer hev jes ez good a church ez de ’postles ebber hed ter preach in.

1880, Albion W. Tourgee, “Red Wing”, in Bricks Without Straw, New York, N.Y.: Fords, Howard, & Hulbert; London: Sampson Low & Co.; Montreal, Que.: Dawson Bros., page 87:

I has gib you licker an’ I has gib you music, an’ wife, dar, is cookin’ supper fur you, an’ it ain’ no mo’ den reason dat I’d wanter know whut we gwine git fur it.[…]“Yo’ supper is done an’ ef you’ll jest gib me room I’ll fix de table,” the woman remarked, taking the bread off the griddle.

1896, Opie Read, chapter VIII, in The Jucklins, Chicago, Ill.: Laird & Lee, pages 105 and 107:

De kindest heartedest little boy in de worl’ would forget to gib his cat its dinner if he had a new toy to play wid, or a new suit o’ party dress to put on to show his poppy when he come home.

1902, John Kendrick Bangs, Bikey the Skicycle & Other Tales of Jimmieboy, New York, N.Y.: Riggs Publishing Company, page 181:

Please, Mars’ Gineral, do gib me dime fer snack.

1938, Hervey Allen, Action at Aquila, New York, N.Y.: Farrar & Rinehart, page 98:

Don’t your mommy gib you bacoln?

1988, Lynda Barry, The Good Times Are Killing Me, published 2020, →ISBN:

“My daddy doesn’t gib me guns, ’cause he doesn’t like dem. But Pop will gib me one when I gets ten.”

2002 July, Patricia Sprinkle, Who Invited the Dead Man?, Signet, →ISBN:

“Maybe you could jus’ gib me one, then,” she suggested sweetly.

2007, Victoria Pade, A Family for the Holidays, Silhouette Books, →ISBN, page 12:

Hooman you is nice, / You gib me bath so I no hab lice.

2021 March, Srashti Behure, Unconditional: Pets Over Peeps, Spectrum of Thoughts (an affiliate of FanatiXx), →ISBN:

“Gib us our toy bacc!” reads the caption accompanying this dog video [by @lifewithkleekai].

2022 February 8, Sohini Sengupta, “Dogs react to human freezing their favourite toys. Watch hilarious video”, in Hindustan Times:

“I be model for fotos, now you gib treats”

2022 February 10, Steve Rouge, “The Cutest Puppies of the Day”, in Medium:

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling


jade

en-noun

jade (usually uncountable, plural jades)

Borrowed from French le jade, rebracketing of earlier l’éjade (“jade”), from Spanish piedra de ijada (“flank stone”), via Vulgar Latin *iliata from Latin ilia (“flank”). (Jade was thought to cure pains in the side.)

Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are diamond, ruby and sapphire, emerald and other gem forms of the mineral beryl, chrysoberyl, tanzanite, tsavorite, topaz and jade.

2012 March 30, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 2012-06-14, page 128:

A semiprecious stone, either nephrite or jadeite, generally green or white in color, often used for carving figurines.