tick

When he had no funds he went on tick. When he could get no credit he went without, and was almost as happy.

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 2, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

Immediately he got any money he would pay his debt; if there was any over he would spend it; if there was not—and there seldom was—he would begin to go on tick again.

1903, Samuel Butler, chapter 42, in The Way of All Flesh:

He paid his mother-in-law rent and, when the baker or the butcher or the grocer wouldn't let her have any more on tick, he paid the bills.

1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York 2007, page 190:


cow

en-noun

cow (countable and uncountable, plural cows or cattle or (archaic or dialectal) kine)

cows (plural)
cattle (plural)
kine (archaic dialectal plural)

bull

antonym(s) of “female domesticated ox or other bovine”

Sranan Tongo: kaw

Tok Pisin: kau

q

from <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">cows</i>

→ Abenaki: kaoz (from cows)

→ Maori: kau

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws
Proto-Germanic *kōz
Proto-West Germanic *kō
Old English cū
Middle English cou
English cow
Inherited from Middle English cou, cu, from Old English cū (“cow”), from Proto-West Germanic *kō, from Proto-Germanic *kōz (“cow”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws (“cow”).
Cognate with Sanskrit गौ (gow), Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs), Persian گاو (gâv)), Latvian govs (“cow”), Proto-Slavic *govędo (Serbo-Croatian govedo, Russian говядина (govjadina, “beef”), Scots coo (“cow”), North Frisian ko, kø (“cow”), West Frisian ko (“cow”), Dutch koe (“cow”), Low German Koh, Koo, Kau (“cow”), German Kuh (“cow”), Swedish ko (“cow”), Norwegian ku (“cow”), Icelandic kýr (“cow”), Latin bōs (“ox, bull, cow”), Armenian կով (kov, “cow”). Doublet of beef.
The plural kine is from Middle English kyne, kyn, kuin, kiin, kien (“cows”), either a double plural of Middle English ky, kye (“cows”), equivalent to modern kye + -en, or inherited from Old English cȳna (“cows', of cows”), genitive plural of cū (“cow”).

etymon

the cow knows not the worth of its tail till it loses it

why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free

[…] the worst insult to a woman, either in London or Paris, is "cow"; a name which might even be a compliment, for cows are among the most likeable of animals.

1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XXXII, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC:

Greville Preston: You've been set up, you silly cow. Now, don't let me hear any more about this unless you have absolute stand-up-in-court proof it's kosher...
Mattie Storin: Pig.

1990, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 2:

By the time of my third, five months ago, I was a right bossy cow about what I wanted because I knew the drill. For reasons I shan’t bore you with, I got them to induce me at 39 weeks, at 10am, with the epidural going in first, and it was all a dream.

2014 December 5, Marina Hyde, “Childbirth is as awful as it is magical, thanks to our postnatal ‘care’”, in The Guardian:

(derogatory, UK, Ireland, informal) A woman considered unpleasant in some way, particularly one considered nasty, stupid, fat, lazy, or difficult.


cow

Who could live to gaze from day to day on bricks and slates, who had once felt the influence of a scene like this? Who could continue to exist, where there are no cows but the cows on the chimneypots; nothing redolent of Pan but pan-tiles; […]

1836, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers:


banana

en-noun

banana (countable and uncountable, plural bananas)

Borrowed from Portuguese banana or Spanish banana, derived from a Niger-Congo language spoken in the Guinea region. Specific derivation is unclear. Possible ancestor or cognate languages include Wolof banaana, Eastern Maninkakan banana, and Vai ꕒꘌꕯ (ɓaana) or ꕒꕌꕯ (ɓaana). However, Ay Baati Wolof (Munro & Gaye, 1997) posits that Wolof banaana is itself derived from Portuguese banana.
The racial slur derives from the notion that they are "Yellow (East-Asian) on the outside, White (Westernized) on the inside".

banánový (corresponding to English attributive use)

(corresponding to English attributive use) banánový

An elongated curved tropical fruit of a banana plant, which grows in bunches and has a creamy flesh and a smooth skin.

(Canada, US, UK, Ireland) In particular, the sweet, yellow fruit of the Cavendish banana cultivar, which may be eaten raw, as distinct from e.g. a plantain for cooking.


A

* (highest rank, grade, music): From the initial position of the letter A in the English alphabet.
* (blood type): From A antigen


coin

coin (countable and uncountable, plural coins)

desc

→ Cantonese: coins (kon¹ si²) (from the plural noun form)

→ Japanese: コイン (koin)

From Middle English coyn, from Old French coigne (“wedge, cornerstone, die for stamping”), from Latin cuneus (“wedge”). Doublet of coign and cuneus. See also quoin (“cornerstone”). Displaced Middle English mynt, from Old English mynet (whence modern English mint), which was derived from Latin monēta.

der

She spent some serious coin on that car!

It was the biggest thing in the town, and everybody I met was full of it. They were going to run an over-sea empire, and make no end of coin by trade.

1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 199:

Boy toy named Troy, used to live in Detroit, big dope dealer money he was getting some coin.

2014, Nicki Minaj, “Anaconda”, in The Pinkprint:

Of course, she [Charlie XCX] has a penchant for designer frames that cost upwards of $400. If you want to splurge on one of those exact pairs, go off. If you want to save some coin, I found similar options at more affordable brands and even some Amazon dupes. You’re welcome.

2024 September 14, Heath Owens, “What to Wear to Charli xcx & Troye Sivan's Tour If You Wanna 'SWEAT'”, in Cosmopolitan:

(uncountable, slang, UK, US, African-American Vernacular) Money in general, not limited to coins.


laugh

laugh Recorded laughter of a woman (canonical)
laughs (plural)

From Middle English laughen, laghen, from (Anglian) Old English hlæhhan, hlehhan, (West Saxon) hliehhan, from Proto-West Germanic *hlahhjan, from Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną.
cognates
Germanic: (with j-present) Scots lauch, Icelandic hlæja, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish le; (without) Low German lachen, Dutch lachen, German lachen.
Indo-European: Russian клекота́ть (klekotátʹ), клокота́ть (klokotátʹ), клохта́ть (kloxtátʹ) ‘to cluck, cackle’, Ancient Greek κλώζω (klṓzō), κλώσσω (klṓssō) ‘to cackle, clack’, Welsh cloch ‘bell’, possibly Latin glōcīre ‘to cluck’.

2010, The Times, March 14, 2010, Tamzin Outhwaite, the unlikely musical star
Outhwaite is a good laugh, yes, she knows how to smile: but deep down, she really is strong and stern.


jack

→ Brazilian Portuguese: jegue

→ European Portuguese: jaque

Transferative use of the personal name Jack.
(cricket: eleventh batsman): An allusion to the jack in playing cards, which follows the 10.

náłbiil bijaadbee dahnádidlohí

device for raising and supporting a heavy object

jekker

military: coarse medieval coat of defense

To a pound of sugar put a jack of water.

1747, Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy:

(UK, regional, now rare, historical) A measure of liquid corresponding to a quarter of a pint.


nature

en-noun

nature (countable and uncountable, plural natures)

/ˈneɪ̯.t͡ʃəɹ/

From Middle English nature, natur, from Old French nature, from Latin nātūra (“birth, origin, natural constitution or quality”), future participle from perfect passive participle (g)natus (“born”), from deponent verb (g)nasci (“to be born, originate”) + future participle suffix -urus.
Displaced native Middle English erd (“character, nature, disposition”) from Old English eard (compare German Art (“nature, character, kind, type”)); and Middle English kinde, ikinde (“character, disposition, nature”) from Old English ġecynd. More at kind.

ncog

the wolf may lose his teeth but never his nature

...One Hundred of each Nature of Case-Shot...

1828, James Morton Spearman, The British Gunner, page 130:

B.L. cartridges have lubricators choked inside the cartridges of 40-pr. and lower natures.

1879, War Office, Manual of Siege and Garrison Artillery Exercises, page 37:

The particular way someone or something is, especially

(UK military, obsolete) Synonym of caliber: the class of a gun.

Lady. ... Come you Spirits,
That tend on mortall thoughts, vnsex me here,
...make thick my blood,
Stop vp th'accesse, and passage to Remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of Nature
Shake my fell purpose...

c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:

Have we not seen (the blood of Laius shed)
The murd'ring son ascend his parent's bed,
Thro' violated Nature force his way,
And stain the sacred womb where once he lay?

1712, Alexander Pope, “The First Book of Statius's Thebais”, in Miscellaneous Poems and Translations, page 25:

She had no nature, nor indeed any passion but that of money.

1749, John Cleland, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, volume I, page 136:

...I could bear much. I'd not move nor scream
While you wrote the red stripes:
But there's no nature in you...

1937, Robinson Jeffers, “Thurso's Landing”, in Selected Poetry, page 312:

A requirement or powerful impulse of the body's physical form, especially

(now chiefly UK regional and African-American Vernacular) Spontaneous love, affection, or reverence, especially between parent and child.


skimmed milk

en-noun

skimmed milk (countable and uncountable, plural skimmed milks)

We like to drink skimmed milk instead so as to consume fewer calories.


dear

en-adj

dear (comparative dearer or more dear, superlative dearest or most dear)

dearer (comparative)
more dear (comparative)
dearest (superlative)
most dear (superlative)

From Middle English dere, from Old English dīere (“of great value or excellence, expensive, beloved”), from Proto-West Germanic *diurī, from Proto-Germanic *diurijaz (“dear, precious, expensive”). Cognate with Scots dere, deir (“of great value or worth, highly valued, precious, beloved”), Saterland Frisian djuur (“precious, dear, costly, expensive”), Dutch duur (“costly, precious”), German teuer (“costly, precious”), German Low German düür, Danish dyr (“expensive”), Swedish dyr (“expensive”), Norwegian dyr (“expensive”), Icelandic dýr (“expensive”), Yiddish טייַער (tayer, “precious,expensive”).

cog

(used in translations) 親愛なる (しんあいなる, shin'ai-naru)

tcher (often under French-borrowed "chér")

عَزِيز

an informal way of addressing the recipient in a letter's opening line

(used in translations) 親愛なる (しんあいなる, shin'ai naru)

The dearer the jewel, the greater the love expressed.

There's more depends on this than on the value.
The dearest ring in Venice will I give you,
And find it out by proclamation:
Only for this, I pray you, pardon me.

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

This water is sold for 50 cents per ton, which is not dear under the circumstances.

1902, Briquettes as Fuel in Foreign Countries (report of the United States Bureau of Foreign Commerce)

Every summer we can rent a cottage in the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear.

1966, The Beatles (lyrics and music), “When I'm Sixty-Four”:


queen

Tok Pisin: kwin

desc

⇒ American Sign Language: G@Shoulder-PalmDown G@Abdomen-PalmDown

→ Burmese: ကွင်း (kwang:)

→ German: Queen

→ Japanese: クイーン (kuīn), クィーン (kwīn)

→ Korean: 퀸 (kwin)

→ Marshallese: kwiin

→ Sikaiana: kuini

→ Spanish: cuina

→ Thai: ควีน (kwiin)

From Middle English quene, queen, cwen, from Old English cwēn (“queen”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwāni, from Proto-Germanic *kwēniz (“woman”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷénh₂s (“woman”).
Cognate with Scots queen, wheen (“queen”), Old Saxon quān ("wife"; > Middle Low German quene (“elderly woman”)), Dutch kween (“woman past child-bearing age”), Swedish kvinna (“woman”), Norwegian kvinne (“woman”), Danish kvinde (“woman”), Icelandic kvon (“wife”), Gothic 𐌵𐌴𐌽𐍃 (qēns, “wife”), Norwegian dialectal kvån (“wife”). Related to and possibly merged with and/or absorbed some senses of English quean, from Middle English quene, from Old English cwene (“woman; female serf, quean”), see quean. Generally eclipsed non-native Middle English regina (“queen”), borrowed from Latin rēgīna (“queen”) (see Modern English regina). Doublet of quean and gyne.

gloss

"wife"; > Middle Low German <i class="Latn mention" lang="gml">quene</i> (“elderly woman”)


king

Tok Pisin: king

desc

⇒ American Sign Language: K@Shoulder K@Abdomen

→ Burmese: ကင် (kang)

→ Isubu: kinge

→ Japanese: キング (kingu)

→ Korean: 킹 (king)

→ Maori: kingi

→ Marshallese: kiin̄

→ Thai: คิง (king)

From Middle English king, kyng, from Old English cyng, cyning (“king”), from Proto-West Germanic *kuning, from Proto-Germanic *kuningaz, *kunungaz (“king”), equivalent to kin + -ing. Doublet of cyning and knez. Cognate with Scots keeng (“king”), North Frisian köning (“king”), West Frisian kening (“king”), Dutch koning (“king”), Low German Koning, Köning (“king”), German König (“king”), Danish konge (“king”), Norwegian konge, Swedish konung, kung (“king”), Icelandic konungur, kóngur (“king”), Polish ksiądz (“priest”), Russian князь (knjazʹ, “prince”), Old Church Slavonic кънѧѕь (kŭnędzĭ), Romanian chinez, Finnish kuningas (“king”), Estonian kuningas, Ingrian kunigas, Karelian kuninkas, Livvi kuńingas, Ludian kuńingas, Veps kuningaz, Võro kuning and Votic kunikaz. Eclipsed non-native Middle English roy (“king”) (Early Modern English roy), borrowed from Old French roi, rei, rai (“king”).
The verb is inherited from Middle English kyngen, *kingen (“To perform the duties of a king”), itself from the noun king, kyng.

Audio — the king

акрал

a male of a royal family who is the supreme ruler of his nation

in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king

Oi mate, have you got kings?


X

(British film certificate, dated) Suitable only for those aged sixteen or (later) eighteen years and over.


former

Inherited from Middle English formere. By surface analysis, form + -er.

Fifth-former.

Sixth-former.

(chiefly British, used in combinations) Someone in, or of, a certain form (class).


it

Received Pronunciation, General American, GenAus

From Middle English it, hit ( > dialectal English hit (“it”)), from Old English hit (“it”), from Proto-West Germanic *hit, from Proto-Germanic *hit (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this, here”). Cognate with West Frisian it (“it”), Saterland Frisian et, 't (“it”), Dutch het (“it”), Low German it (“it”), German es (“it”). Compare also Gothic 𐌹𐍄𐌰 (ita, “it”), Latin cis (“on this”), hic (“this”). More at he.

Let's play it at breaktime.


cock

en-noun

cock (countable and uncountable, plural cocks)

Sranan Tongo: kaka

Tok Pisin: kok

→ Thai: ก๊อก (gɔ́k, “tap”)

From Middle English cok, from Old English coc, cocc (“cock, male bird”), from Proto-West Germanic *kokk, from Proto-Germanic *kukkaz (“cock”), probably of onomatopoeic origin.
Cognate with Middle Dutch cocke (“cock, male bird”) and Old Norse kokkr ("cock"; whence Danish kok (“cock”), dialectal Swedish kokk (“cock”)). Reinforced by Old French coc, also of imitative origin. The sense "penis" is attested since at least the 1610s, with the compound pillicock (“penis”) attested since 1325.

onomatopoeic

onomatopoeic

gloss

(UK, Commonwealth, Ireland, derogatory, slang) A stupid, obnoxious or contemptible person.

The running patterer cares less than other street-sellers for bad weather, for if he "work" on a wet and gloomy evening, and if the work be "a cock," which is a fictitious statement or even a pretended fictitious statement, there is the less chance of any one detecting the ruse.

1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor:

"You used to talk an awful lot of cock."

That Hitler's armies can't be beat is just a load of cock, / For Marshal Timoshenko's boys are pissing through von Bock […]

2013, M. J. Trow, Swearing Like A Trooper: Rude Slang of World War Two:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, derogatory, slang, uncountable) Nonsense; rubbish; a fraud.

All right, cock?

Now, in coming down here, I journeyed part of the way with a jolly old cock, who shed a tear with me every time the coach stopped […]

1848, Thomas Frost, Paul the Poacher, page 118:

(slang, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, especially as term of address) A man; a fellow.


cock

en-verb

cock (third-person singular simple present cocks, present participle cocking, simple past and past participle cocked)

cocks (present singular third-person)
cocking (participle present)
cocked (participle past)
cocked (past)

onomatopoeic

onomatopoeic

Foster's Lager TV commercial, 1980s
"Please tell me the way to Cockfosters." ... "Drink it warm, mate."

(British, Ireland, transitive, slang) To copulate with; (by extension, as with fuck) to mess up, to damage, to destroy.


cock

onomatopoeic

2006, Vamp, “oh cock i should have kept with a toyota!”, in uk.rec.cars.modifications (Usenet):

(UK, Ireland, slang) Expression of annoyance.


white

en-noun

white (countable and uncountable, plural whites)

Inherited from Middle English whit, hwit, from Old English hwīt, from Proto-West Germanic *hwīt, from Proto-Germanic *hwītaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweydós, a byform of *ḱweytós (“bright; shine”).
cognates
* West Frisian wyt
*Dutch wit
* German weiß
* German weiss
* Norwegian Bokmål hvit
* Norwegian Nynorsk kvit
* Lithuanian šviẽsti (“to gleam”), šviesa (“light”)
* Old Church Slavonic свѣтъ (světŭ, “light”), свѣтьлъ (světĭlŭ, “clear, bright”)
* Persian سفید (sefid)
* Avestan 𐬯𐬞𐬀𐬉𐬙𐬀 (spaēta, “white”)
* Sanskrit श्वेत (śvetá, “white, bright”).

bělásek

common name for butterflies in the subfamily Pierinae

I've got to hit the streets; I've got to move this white.

2004, “On The Run”, Kanye West (music), performed by Bump J ft. Rick James, Atlantic:

Ten grand a week we were clearing: base, white, meth, weed, anything. I can get you anything to get you high.

2019 January 20, Ann Cleeves, Paul Matthew Thompson, “Cuckoo” (1:26:51 from the start), in Lawrence Gough, director, Vera, season 9, episode 2 (TV series), spoken by Tyler Lennon (Louis Healy):

We was flyin' up O with white, we was buildin' lines, now it's clothing lines

2024, “Entrapreneur”, performed by Central Cee:

(countable) Any object or substance that is of the color white.


fuck

en-verb

fuck (third-person singular simple present fucks, present participle fucking, simple past and past participle fucked)

fucks (present singular third-person)
fucking (participle present)
fucked (participle past)
fucked (past)
fuck (infinitive)

Flen flyys
Slate.com
University of Minnesota Press

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ-
Proto-Germanic *fukkōną
Old English *fuccian
Middle English *fukken
English fuck
From Middle English *fukken, probably of Germanic origin: either from Old English *fuccian or Old Norse *fukka, both from Proto-Germanic *fukkōną, from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“to strike, punch, stab”). Compare windfucker and its debated etymology.
Possibly attested in a 772 C.E. charter that mentions a place called Fuccerham, which may mean "ham (“home”) of the fucker" or "hamm (“pasture”) of the fucker"; a John le Fucker in a record from 1278 may just be a variant of Fulcher; compare Fucher, Foker, etc. The earliest unambiguous use of the word in a clearly sexual context, in any stage of English, appears to be in court documents from Cheshire, England, which mention a man called Roger Fuckebythenavele (possibly tongue-in-cheek or directly suggestive of a depraved sexual act) on 8 December 1310. It was first listed in a dictionary in 1598. Scots fuk or fuck is attested slightly earlier, probably reinforcing the Northern Germanic/Scandinavian origin theory. From 1500 onward, the word has been in continual use, superseding jape and sard and largely displacing swive. See windfucker and fuckwind for more information.
A range of folk-etymological backronyms, such as "fornication under consent of the king" and "for unlawful carnal knowledge", are all demonstrably false.
Sense 10, from related sense feck.

der

He fucked the dirty cloth out the window.

She fucked her mobile at his head in anger.

(vulgar, colloquial, transitive, Ireland, UK) To throw, to lob something. (angrily)


fuck

Do I want to? Do I fuck!

They're your friends, aren't they? – Are they fuck my friends.

(UK, Ireland, vulgar, colloquial) Used after an inverted subject pronoun and auxiliary verb or copula to emphatically negate the verb.


tortoise

From Middle English tortuse, tortuce, tortuge, from Medieval Latin tortuca, of uncertain origin. May be from Late Latin tartarūcha, from tartarūchus, from Ancient Greek ταρταροῦχος (tartaroûkhos, “holder of Tartaros, Tartarus, the land of the dead in ancient stories”), because it used to be thought that tortoises and turtles came from the underworld and they were commonly paired with such infernal beasts; see Τάρταρος (Tártaros). Or, from Latin tortus (“twisted”). The French-looking Modern English spelling tortoise may be influenced by porpoise. Displaced native Old English byrdling.

Any of various land-dwelling reptiles, of the family Testudinidae (chiefly Canada, US) or the order Testudines (chiefly UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, India), whose body is enclosed in a shell (carapace plus plastron). The animal can withdraw its head and four legs partially into the shell, providing some protection from predators.


dar

Besides these peculiarities, our river abounds with the usual fresh water fish, such as the roach, dar, flounders, carp, chub, trout, &c.

1829, A Concise History and Description of the City and Cathedral of Worcester, page 100:

(UK, dialect) A fish found in the Severn River; a dart or dace.


close

en-adj

close (comparative closer, superlative closest)

closer (comparative)
closest (superlative)

open

antonym(s) of “articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate”

Borrowed from French clos, from Latin clausum, participle of claudō.

close only counts in horseshoes and darts

close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

Compressed, restricted, constrained, etc.

(Ireland, UK, weather) Hot, humid, with no wind.


close

→ Irish: clós

→ Welsh: clos

(chiefly British) A street that ends in a dead end.


hack

Abbreviation of hackney (“an ordinary horse”), probably from place name Hackney.

(UK, student politics, derogatory) A person who frequently canvasses for votes, either directly or by appearing to continuously act with the ulterior motive of furthering their political career.


snake

→ Maori: neke

→ Sranan Tongo: sneki

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

From Middle English snake, from Old English snaca (“snake, serpent, reptile”), from Proto-West Germanic *snakō (“snake”) (compare German Low German Snake, Snaak (“snake”), dialectal German Schnake (“adder”), Swedish snok (“grass snake”), Icelandic snákur (“snake”)), derived via Proto-Germanic *snakô from Proto-Germanic *snakaną (“to crawl”) (compare Old High German snahhan), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neg- (“to crawl; a creeping thing”). Cognate with Sanskrit नाग (nāgá, “snake”)). Doublet of nāga.

der

(UK, Australia) A flavoured jube (confectionary) in the shape of a snake.


thick

en-adj

thick (comparative thicker, superlative thickest)

thicker (comparative)
thickest (superlative)

From Middle English thikke, from Old English þicce (“thick, dense”), from Proto-West Germanic *þikkwī, from Proto-Germanic *þekuz (“thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *tégus (“thick”).
Cognates
Cognate with Danish tyk (“thick”), Dutch dik (“thick”), Faroese tjúkkur (“thick”), German dick (“thick”), Icelandic þykkur (“thick”), Norwegian Bokmål tykk (“thick”), Norwegian Nynorsk tjukk (“thick”), Saterland Frisian tjuk (“thick”), Swedish tjock (“thick”). Related to Old Irish tiug (“thick”) and Welsh tew (“thick”).

"Of course I was eager to put her affairs in order," George told my father, "but I found it a bit thick when expected to pay for Lord Randolph Churchill's barouche purchased in the '80s."

1969, Anita Leslie, Lady Randolph Churchill, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 288:


stem

From Middle English stem, stemme, stempne, stevin, from Old English stemn, from Proto-West Germanic *stamni, from Proto-Germanic *stamniz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand, stay”).

der

the apple does not fall far from the stem

(chiefly British) A winder on a clock, watch, or similar mechanism.


blue

en-noun

blue (countable and uncountable, plural blues)

From Middle English blewe, from Anglo-Norman blew (“blue”), from Middle French bleu, from Old French blöe, bleve, blef (“blue”), from Frankish *blāu (“blue”) (perhaps through a Late Latin blāvus, blāvius (“blue”) attested from Isidore of Seville), from Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue, dark blue”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlēw- (“yellow, blond, grey”). Cognate with dialectal English blow (“blue”), Scots blue, blew (“blue”), North Frisian bla, blö (“blue”), Saterland Frisian blau (“blue”), Dutch blauw (“blue”), German blau (“blue”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish blå (“blue”), Icelandic blár (“blue”), Latin flāvus (“yellow”), Middle Irish blá (“yellow”). Doublet of blow.
Possibly related also to English blee (“colour”), from Old English blēo (“colour”); but direct derivatives of Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue, dark blue”) in Old English include: Old English blāw and blēo (“blue”), Old English blǣwen (“bluish, light-blue”), blǣhǣwen (“blue-coloured, bluish, violet or purple colour”, literally “blue-hued”). There seems to be a parallel connection in Germanic between words for blue and colour, dually exemplified by Proto-West Germanic *blīu (“colour, blee”) and *blāu (“blue”); and Proto-Germanic *hiwją (“colour, hue”) and *hēwijaz (“blue, purple”).
The sense "obscene, pornographic" is apparently from the colour; various theories exist as to how it arose, including that it is from the colour of the envelopes used to contain missives of the censors and managers to vaudevillian performers on objectionable material from their acts that needed to be excised.

m+

Lord Lyttelton's Life by Dr Johnson […] which a whole tribe of Blues, with Mrs Montagu at their Head, have Vowed to execrate and revenge […]

1781, Frances Burney, Journals & Letters, Penguin, published 2001, page 172:


Chinese

en-noun

Chinese (countable and uncountable, plural Chinese or Chineses)

/ˌt͡ʃʌɪˈniz/

/ˈt͡ʃʌɪˌniz/

[ˈt͡ʃəɪˌniːz]

From China + -ese under influence of Portuguese chinês, replacing older Chinish. Doublet of chinois. In its orientalist sense of "generically exotic, backwards, or poorly organized", sometimes a deliberate marketing strategy to increase sales, as with the German Chinese checkers. In its sense related to the orientation of stage lighting's barn doors, a reference to a supposed resemblance to East Asian eyes.

Han

ethnic Chinese regardless of the residence

Chinaman

properly of a man only, now usually considered an offensive slur

We're going out tonight for a Chinese.

(UK, countable, colloquial) Ellipsis of Chinese meal (“meal consisting of Chinese cuisine”).

Want to go to the Chinese after work?

(UK, countable, colloquial) Ellipsis of Chinese restaurant (“restaurant serving Chinese cuisine”).


girl

girl (countable and uncountable, plural girls)

desctree

Jamaican Creole: gyal, gal
→ English: gal; gyal
→ Icelandic: gella
→ Japanese: ギャル (gyaru)
→ English: gyaru

Tok Pisin: gel

→⇒ Finnish: kiltsi

→ French: girl; gow

→ German: Girl

→ Hungarian: görl

→ Japanese: ガール (gāru)

Etymological Dictionary of the German Language

de:Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

From Middle English gerle, girle, gyrle (“young person (boy or girl)”), perhaps from Old English *gyrele, from Proto-West Germanic *gurilā, from a zero-grade diminutive of *gaurā (“young child”) + *-ilā. Ultimately of unknown origin. Doublet of gal/gyal and gyaru.

(UK, dialect, obsolete) A roebuck two years old.


fall

en-verb

fall (third-person singular simple present falls, present participle falling, simple past fell, past participle fallen)

falls (present singular third-person)
falling (participle present)
fell (past)
fallen (participle past)

get up

antonym(s) of “come to the ground deliberately”

Verb from Middle English fallen, from Old English feallan (“to fall, fail, decay, die, attack”), from Proto-West Germanic *fallan (“to fall”), from Proto-Germanic *fallaną (“to fall”).
Cognate with West Frisian falle (“to fall”), Low German fallen (“to fall”), Dutch vallen (“to fall”), German fallen (“to fall”), Danish falde (“to fall”), Norwegian Bokmål falle (“to fall”), Norwegian Nynorsk falla (“to fall”), Icelandic falla (“to fall”), Lithuanian pùlti (“to attack, rush”).
Noun from Middle English fal, fall, falle, from Old English feall, ġefeall (“a falling, fall”) and Old English fealle (“trap, snare”), from Proto-Germanic *fallą, *fallaz (“a fall, trap”). Cognate with Dutch val, German Fall (“fall”) and German Falle (“trap, snare”), Danish fald, Swedish fall, Icelandic fall.
Sense of "autumn" is attested by the 1660s in England as a shortening of fall of the leaf (1540s), from the falling of leaves during this season. Along with autumn, it mostly replaced the older name harvest as that name began to be associated strictly with the act of harvesting. Compare spring, which began as a shortening of “spring of the leaf”.

fell

to fell a tree; to fell an opponent; as in

he who digs a pit for others falls in himself

the apple does not fall far from the tree

the apple doesn't fall far from the tree

the apple does not fall far from the trunk

the bigger they are, the harder they fall

the bigger they come, the harder they fall

the rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain

to fall a tree

(UK, US, dialect, archaic) To fell; to cut down.

To move downwards.
To fell; to cut down.


crew

Between the shippon and the pig-crew, with the wind blowing over from the vegetable ground.

2004, Gillian Cross, On the Edge, →ISBN, page 7:

(British, dialectal) A pen for livestock such as chickens or pigs


red

en-noun

red (countable and uncountable, plural reds)

From Middle English red, from Old English rēad, from Proto-West Germanic *raud, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós, from the root *h₁rewdʰ-.
Cognates
See also West Frisian read, Low German root, rod, Dutch rood, German rot, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål rød, Norwegian Nynorsk raud; also Welsh rhudd, Latin ruber, rufus, Tocharian A rtär, Tocharian B ratre, Ancient Greek ἐρυθρός (eruthrós), Albanian pruth (“redhead”), Russian ру́дый (rúdyj) ("red", "redhaired"). Czech rudý, Lithuanian raúdas, Finnish rauta, Estonian raud, Serbo-Croatian riđ ("reddish", "red"), Avestan 𐬭𐬀𐬊𐬌𐬛𐬌𐬙𐬀 (raoidita), Sanskrit रुधिर (rudhirá, “red, bloody”).

sekobarbitaali

slang: secobarbital — see also secobarbital

(countable, informal, UK, birdwatching) A redshank.

(Ireland, UK, beverages, informal) Red lemonade


olive

From Middle English olyve, from Old French olive (“olive, olive tree”), from Latin olīva (“olive”), from Etruscan *𐌄𐌋𐌄𐌉𐌅𐌀 (*eleiva) or Proto-Greek *ἐλαίϝα (*elaíwa), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *loiwom (compare Old Church Slavonic лои (loi, “tallow”), Old Armenian եւղ (ewł, “oil”)). Doublet of oliva. Displaced native Old English eleberġe, literally "oil berry."

(UK, dialect) An oystercatcher, a shore bird.


uncle

Bislama: angkel

→ Burmese: အန်ကယ် (ankai)

⇒ Chinese: 安哥 (āngē)

→ Hawaiian: ʻanakala

→ Hindi: अंकल (aṅkal)

→ Irish: uncail

→ Scottish Gaelic: uncail

→ Kazakh: ағай (ağai)

Tok Pisin: ankol

Torres Strait Creole: ankel

→ Welsh: wncl

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwh₂os
Latin avunculus
Old French unclebor.
Middle English uncle
English uncle
From Middle English uncle, borrowed from Anglo-Norman uncle and Old French oncle, from Vulgar Latin *aunclum, from Latin avunculus (“maternal uncle”, literally “little grandfather”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂euh₂-n-tlo- (“little grandfather”), a dialectal diminutive of *h₂éwh₂ō (“grandfather, adult male relative other than one’s father”) (whence also Latin avus (“grandfather”)). Displaced native Middle English em (“uncle”) from Old English ēam (“maternal uncle”), containing the same Proto-Indo-European root, and Old English fædera (“paternal uncle”). Compare Saterland Frisian Unkel (“uncle”), Dutch nonkel (“uncle”), German Low German Unkel (“uncle”), German Onkel (“uncle”), Danish onkel (“uncle”). More at eam and eame.

der

December 1843, William Makepeace Thackeray, "Grant in Paris" (review), in Fraser's Magazine
A chain hangs out of the pocket of his velvet waistcoat , by which we may conclude that he has a watch , though we have known many gents whose watches were at their uncle's (as the fashionable term for the pawnbroker goes)

(British, informal, dated) A pawnbroker.

fajdexhi

UK informal: pawnbroker — see also pawnbroker

(especially in the Southern US, parts of UK and South Asia) An affectionate term for a man of an older generation than oneself, especially a friend of one's parents, by means of fictive kin.

дзя́дзька

form of address to a man by young people or children in some countries


shit

en-verb

shit (third-person singular simple present shits, present participle shitting, simple past shat or (rare) shitted or (US) shit, past participle shat or (rare) shitted or (US) shit or shitten)

shits (present singular third-person)
shitting (participle present)
shat (past)
shitted (past rare)
shit (US past)
shat (participle past)
shitted (participle past rare)
shit (US participle past)
shitten (participle past)

From Middle English schiten, shiten, from Old English sċītan, from Proto-West Germanic *skītan, from Proto-Germanic *skītaną, from Proto-Indo-European *skéydt, from *skeyd-, *skeh₁i-d (“to cut”) (compare *skey-).
Cognate with West Frisian skite, Low German schieten, Dutch schijten, German scheißen, Danish skide. More at shed.

you can't put the shit back in the horse

I saw red and smashed a plate and a bowl. […] I swept up the mess. I bawled a lot as I swept […] I also thought, I am about to get my period. It absolutely shits me that this should explain anything.

1983, Helen Garner, Yellow Notebook: Diaries Volume I, Text Publishing, published 2022, page 70:

(transitive, vulgar, colloquial, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Ireland) To annoy.


posh

en-noun

posh (countable and uncountable, plural poshes)

Unknown.
Most likely derived from Romani posh (“half”), either because posh-kooroona (“half a crown”) (originally a substantial sum of money) was used metaphorically for anything pricey or upper-class, or because posh-houri (“half-penny”) came to refer to money generally.
A period slang dictionary defines "posh" as a term used by thieves for "money : generic, but specifically, a halfpenny or other small coin". An example is given from James Payn's The Eavesdropper (1888): "They used such funny terms: 'brads,' and 'dibbs,' and 'mopusses,' and 'posh' ... at last it was borne in upon me that they were talking about money."
Evidence exists for a slang sense from the 1890s meaning dandy, which is quite possibly related.
A popular folk etymology holds that the term is an acronym for "port out, starboard home", describing the cooler, north-facing cabins taken by the most aristocratic or rich passengers travelling from Britain to India and back. However, there is no evidence for this claim.
It could also possibly be a clipping of polished.
See also the articles mentioned in the References section below for additional discussion.

(countable, UK, slang, obsolete) A halfpenny or other coin of little value.

(uncountable, UK, slang, obsolete) Money.


wing

From Middle English winge, wenge, from Old Norse vængr ("wing of a flying animal, wing of a building"; compare vængi (“ship's cabin”)), from Proto-Germanic *wēingijaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”), thus related to wind. Cognate with Danish vinge (“wing”), Swedish vinge (“wing”), Icelandic vængur (“wing”).
Replaced native Middle English fither (from Old English fiþre, from Proto-Germanic *fiþriją), which merged with Middle English fether (from Old English feþer, from Proto-Germanic *feþrō). More at feather.

gl

"wing of a flying animal, wing of a building"; compare <i class="Latn mention" lang="non">vængi</i> (“ship's cabin”)

der

An organizational grouping in a military aviation service:

(British) A unit of command consisting of two or more squadrons and itself being a sub-unit of a group or station.

(British) A panel of a car which encloses the wheel area, especially the front wheels.


for

From Middle English for, from Old English for (“for, because of”), from Proto-Germanic *furi (“for”), from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-.
Cognate with West Frisian foar (“for”), Dutch voor (“for”), German für (“for”), Danish for (“for”), Swedish för (“for”), Norwegian for (“for”), Icelandic fyrir (“for”), Latin per (“by, through, for, by means of”) and Romance language successors (e.g. Spanish para (“for”)), Ancient Greek περί (perí, “for, about, toward”), Lithuanian per (“by, through, during”), Sanskrit परि (pári, “over, around”).

cog

He totally screwed up that project. Now he's surely for the sack.

(UK) Due for or facing (a certain outcome or fate).


slate

en-verb

slate (third-person singular simple present slates, present participle slating, simple past and past participle slated)

slates (present singular third-person)
slating (participle present)
slated (participle past)
slated (past)

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

The play was slated by the critics.

(transitive, chiefly British) To criticise harshly.


DC

en-noun

DC (countable and uncountable, plural DCs)

defined contributions
defined contributions#English

(UK, pensions) Initialism of defined contributions.


sister

sister (plural sisters or (archaic in most senses) sistren)

sisters (plural)
sistren (archaic plural)

desc

→ Gulf Arabic: سِسْتَر (sistar, “female nurse”)

→ Japanese: シスター (shisutā)

→ Korean: 시스터 (siseuteo)

PIE word
 *swésōr
From Middle English sister, suster, from Old English swustor, sweoster, sweostor (“sister, nun”); from Proto-Germanic *swestēr (“sister”), from Proto-Indo-European *swésōr (“sister”).
Cognate with Scots sister, syster (“sister”), West Frisian sus, suster (“sister”), Dutch zuster (“sister”), German Schwester (“sister”), Norwegian Bokmål søster (“sister”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish syster (“sister”), Icelandic systir (“sister”), Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌰𐍂 (swistar, “sister”), Latin soror (“sister”), Russian сестра́ (sestrá, “sister”), Lithuanian sesuo (“sister”), Albanian vajzë (“girl, maiden”), Sanskrit स्वसृ (svásṛ, “sister”), Persian خواهر (xâhar, “sister”).
In standard English, the form with i is due to contamination with Old Norse systir (“sister”).
The plural sistren is from Middle English sistren, a variant plural of sister, suster (“sister”); compare brethren.

妹妹

mui⁶⁻⁴ mui⁶⁻²

(British) A senior or supervisory nurse, often in a hospital.


squid

Unknown. Perhaps a sailors' alteration of squirt.

Can you lend me five squid? I feel like a bacon sarnie.

Press the fifty squid button – "Insufficient funds".
[…]
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:

(UK, slang, humorous, rare) A quid; one pound sterling.


emerald

en-noun

emerald (countable and uncountable, plural emeralds)

→ Welsh: emrald, emrallt

From Middle English emeraude, borrowed from Old French esmeraude, from Vulgar Latin *smaralda, *smaraldus, *smaraudus, variant of Latin smaragdus, from Ancient Greek σμάραγδος (smáragdos), μάραγδος (máragdos), from a Semitic language. Compare Hebrew בָּרֶקֶת (bāréqeṯ, “emerald, flashing gem”), Akkadian 𒁀𒊏𒄣 (baraqu, literally “scintillation”), Arabic بَرْق (barq, literally “flashing”), Egyptian bwyrqꜣ (literally “to sparkle”):D58-Z7-Z4:D21-N29-Z1-G1-D6 and loanwords with Semitic etymon such as Sanskrit मरकत (marakata) and Persian زمرد (zomorrod) (whence Turkish zümrüt and Russian изумру́д (izumrúd)).

cog

(dated, printing, UK) A size of type between nonpareil and minion, standardized as 6½-point.


diesel

en-noun

diesel (countable and uncountable, plural diesels)

From German Diesel, named after inventor Rudolf Diesel, who developed a heavy-duty engine in Germany (1892–1897) and perfected it throughout his life.

snakebite and black
snakebite and black#English

(UK, slang) Synonym of snakebite and black.


RN

(UK, military, nautical) Initialism of Royal Navy.


green

green (countable and uncountable, plural greens)

Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *grōniz
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-ih₂
Proto-Germanic *-į̄
Proto-West Germanic *-ī
Proto-West Germanic *grōnī
Old English grēne
Middle English grene
English green
From Middle English grene, from Old English grēne, from Proto-West Germanic *grōnī, from Proto-Germanic *grōniz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- (“to grow”). More at grow.
See also North Frisian green, West Frisian grien, Dutch groen, Low German grön, green, greun, German grün, Danish and Norwegian Nynorsk grøn, Swedish grön, Norwegian Bokmål grønn, Icelandic grænn.
The sense "obscene, pornographic, sexual" in the Philippines is from a calque of Spanish verde.

der

(British) A public patch of land in the middle of a settlement.


silly

en-adj

silly (comparative sillier, superlative silliest)

sillier (comparative)
silliest (superlative)

From Middle English seely, sēlī, from Old English sǣliġ, ġesǣliġ (“lucky, fortunate”), from Proto-West Germanic *sālīg, from *sāli; equivalent to seel (“happiness, bliss”) + -y. Doublet of Seelie.
The semantic evolution is “lucky” to “innocent” to “naive” to “foolish”. Compare the similar evolution of daft (originally meaning “accommodating”), and almost the reverse with nice (originally meaning “ignorant”).

onnosel

foolish, showing a lack of good sense and wisdom

sølle

pejorative: simple, not intelligent, unrefined

Dauid had no more but a sylie slynge, and a few stones.

1570, John Foxe, Actes & Monumentes, Vol. II, 926/1:

(now rustic UK, rare) Simple, plain, particularly:

The silly herdman all astonnied standes.

a. 1547, the Earl of Surrey translating Publius Virgilius Maro, Certain Bokes of Virgiles Aeneis, Book II

So luvaris lair no leid suld lak,
A lord to lufe a silly lass.

1568, Alexander Scott, Poems, section 27:


MT

en-noun

MT (countable and uncountable, plural MTs)

(military, British) Initialism of mechanical transport.


ruby

ruby (countable and uncountable, plural rubies)

From Middle English ruby, rube, from Old French rubi, from Medieval Latin rubīnus.

(uncountable, printing, UK, dated) The size of type between pearl and nonpareil, standardized as 5½-point.


AC

assistant commissioner
assistant commissioner#English

(UK, law enforcement) Initialism of assistant commissioner, a police rank used in London's Metropolitan Police.


QC

QC (countable and uncountable, plural QCs)

(UK, Canada, New Zealand, occasionally Australia) Initialism of Queen's Counsel. and postnominal.


time

time (countable and uncountable, plural times)

Sranan Tongo: ten

→ Punjabi: ṭāim, ṭaim, ṭāīm

Gurmukhi script: ਟਾਇਮ, ਟੈਮ, ਟਾਈਮ

Shahmukhi script: ٹائم, ٹیم, ٹائیم

From Middle English tyme, time, from Old English tīma (“time, period, space of time, season, lifetime, fixed time, favorable time, opportunity”), from Proto-West Germanic *tīmō, from Proto-Germanic *tīmô (“time”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂imō, from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- (“to divide”). Related to tide. Not related directly to Latin tempus.
cognates
*Scots tym, tyme (“time”)
*Alemannic German Zimen, Zīmmän (“time, time of the year, opportune time, opportunity”)
*Danish time (“hour, lesson”)
*Swedish timme (“hour”)
*Norwegian time (“lesson, hour”)
*Faroese tími (“hour, lesson, time”)
*Icelandic tími (“time, season”).

عَصْر

extended period of time, defined or undefined: age, era, etc.

at church every time the doors swing open

desperate times call for desperate measures

desperate times require desperate measures

serial time-encoded amplified microscopy

there is a place and time for everything

there is a time and a place for everything

there is a time and place for everything

there's a time and a place for everything

time spent laughing is time spent with the gods

time stretch analog-to-digital converter

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 106. Time

Last call: it's almost time.

An instant of time.
(UK, in public houses) Closing time.


chestnut

en-noun

chestnut (countable and uncountable, plural chestnuts)

→ Gujarati: ચેસ્ટનટ (cesṭanaṭ)

Formerly chesten nut, from Middle English chesten, Middle English chesteyne, chasteine, from Old English ċisten and reinforced by Old French chastaigne, both from Latin castānea, from Ancient Greek καστάνεια (kastáneia). Compare castanet.

pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire


amber

amber (countable and uncountable, plural ambers)

red

antonym(s) of “intermediate light in a set of three traffic lights”

From Middle English ambre, aumbre, from Old French aumbre, ambre, from Arabic عَنْبَر (ʕanbar, “ambergris”), from Middle Persian 𐭠𐭭𐭡𐭫 (ʾnbl /ambar/, “ambergris”). Compare English lamber, ambergris. Displaced Middle English smulting (from Old English smelting (“amber”)), Old English eolhsand (“amber”), Old English glær (“amber”), and Old English sāp (“amber, resin, pomade”).
* The nucleotide sequence "UAG" is named "amber" for the first person to isolate the amber mutation, California Institute of Technology graduate student Harris Bernstein, whose last name ("Bernstein") is the German word for the resin "amber".

ambergris

obsolete: the waxy product of the sperm whale

While earlier controllers provided concurrent ambers, present practice is to indicate a minimum intergreen period of 4 s.

1974, Traffic Planning and Engineering, page 366:

Also flashing ambers are not operational at this type of crossing.

2000, Traffic Engineering & Control, volume 41, page 201:

>Problem: Red-red signals are too time consuming when traffic density is higher.
I don't find them time consuming at all. I find them identical to ambers.

2004 January 14, AZGuy, “Turn Signal Research shows amber no more effective then red”, in rec.autos.driving (Usenet):

(British, Australia) The intermediate light in a set of three traffic lights, which when illuminated indicates that drivers should stop when safe to do so. See also yellow light.


square

→ Welsh: sgwâr

From Middle English square, sqware, squyre; from Old French esquarre, esquerre, (modern French équerre), from Vulgar Latin *exquadra, from Latin ex- + quadro, from quadrus (compare English quad and quadra). Doublet of squad and squadra.
Displaced Old English fēowerecge (fēower nominative + ecg accusative, as in "four-edged").

Enter your account number followed by a square.

(British) The symbol # on a telephone; hash.


whitewash

en-noun

whitewash (countable and uncountable, plural whitewashes)

Received Pronunciation, wine–whine merger

General American, wine–whine merger, Canadian raising

The bottles, however, were port bottles, but contained mushroom ketchup; and we can only say with regard to the 15s. sherry, that it would have made an admirable "whitewash," as Sheridan's glass is still sometimes called, […]

1883, Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery, page lxxxiii:

Sercial was also used as a sort of white-wash after the Port at dinner, those were the days when people had time to drink both Port and a White wash.

(UK, slang, obsolete) A glass of sherry as a finale, after drinking port and claret.


whitewash

en-verb

whitewash (third-person singular simple present whitewashes, present participle whitewashing, simple past and past participle whitewashed)

whitewashes (present singular third-person)
whitewashing (participle present)
whitewashed (participle past)
whitewashed (past)

(US, UK, slang) In various games, to defeat (an opponent) so that they fail to score, or to reach a certain point in the game; to skunk.


GR

(British) Initialism of George Rex. (on coins, letterboxes, etc.) The royal cypher for George V and his son George VI, kings of Great Britain


finger

Sranan Tongo: finga

PIE word
 *pénkʷe
From Middle English fynger, finger, from Old English finger (“finger”), from Proto-West Germanic *fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz (“finger”), from Proto-Indo-European *penkʷrós, from *pénkʷe (“five”). Compare West Frisian finger, Low German/German Finger, Dutch vinger, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish finger; also Old Armenian հինգեր-որդ (hinger-ord, “fifth”). More at five.

sormi

something similar in function to a finger

Something similar in shape to the human finger, particularly:

(UK regional, botany, usually in the plural, obsolete) Synonym of foxglove (D. purpurea).


VC

en-noun

VC (countable and uncountable, plural VCs)

→ Bengali: ভিসি (bhiśi)

voluntary controlled
voluntary controlled school#English

(UK, education) Initialism of voluntary controlled.


turtle

Modification of Middle English tortou, tortu, from Old French tortüe (under the influence of Middle English turtel, turtur (“turtledove”), see Etymology 2 below), from Medieval Latin tortuca (compare Spanish tortuga), the same source of tortoise (see there for more). Displaced native Old English byrdling.

(zoology, Australia, British, specifically) A marine reptile of that order.


CS

chief superintendent
w:chief superintendent

(UK, law enforcement) Initialism of chief superintendent.


bap

Originally Scottish English, of unknown origin.

(British, Ireland, slang, chiefly in the plural) A woman's breast.


MD

(British, medicine) Medicinae Doctor: Symbol indicating a higher research doctorate in medicine; Doctor of Medicine


KS

(UK, education) Initialism of key stage.


MO

MO (countable and uncountable, plural MOs)

(military, UK) Initialism of medical officer.


SI

SI (countable and uncountable, plural SIs)

S.I.

statutory instrument, chiefly in citation

The scope of SIs varies greatly, from the technical (e.g. to set or vary the dates on which different provisions of an Act will come into force, to change the levels of fines or penalties for offences or to make consequential and transitional provisions) to the much wider-ranging, such as filling out the broad provisions in Acts.

2016 December 15, Richard Kelly, Statutory Instruments, House of Commons Library Briefing Paper 6509, archived from the original on 2022-01-07, page 1:

statutory instrument
statutory instrument#English

(UK, Canada, Australia, law) Initialism of statutory instrument.


CA

CA (countable and uncountable, plural CAs)


case

From Middle English case, from Old Northern French casse, (compare Old French chasse (“box, chest, case”)), from Latin capsa (“box, bookcase”), from capiō (“to take, seize, hold”). Doublet of cash, chase, and chasse. Compare Spanish caja, Asturian caxa.

The price of a case (five shillings piece bad) from the smasher is about one shilling; an alderman (two and sixpence) about sixpence; a peg (shilling) about threepence; a downer or sprat (sixpence) about twopence.

1859, Snowden's magistrates assistant, page 90:

(UK, slang, obsolete) A counterfeit crown (five-shilling coin).


earth

earth (countable and uncountable, plural earths)

From Middle English erthe, from Old English eorþe, from Proto-West Germanic *erþu, from Proto-Germanic *erþō (“dirt, ground, earth”) (compare West Frisian ierde, Low German Eerd, Dutch aarde, Dutch Low Saxon eerde, German Erde, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian jord), related to *erwô (“earth”) (compare Old High German ero, perhaps Old Norse jǫrfi), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁er- (compare Ancient Greek *ἔρα (*éra, “earth”) in ἔραζε (éraze, “to the ground, to earth”), perhaps Tocharian B yare (“gravel”).
Probably unrelated, but of unknown etymology, is Old Armenian երկիր (erkir, “earth”). Likewise, the phonologically similar Proto-Semitic *ʔarṣ́- – whence Arabic أَرْض (ʔarḍ), Hebrew אֶרֶץ (ʾereṣ) – is probably not related.

inh

earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust

(British) A connection electrically to the earth ((US) ground); on equipment: a terminal connected in that manner.


earth

en-verb

earth (third-person singular simple present earths, present participle earthing, simple past and past participle earthed)

earths (present singular third-person)
earthing (participle present)
earthed (participle past)
earthed (past)

That noise is because the amplifier is not properly earthed.

(UK, transitive) To connect electrically to the earth.


of

Etymology tree
Proto-West Germanic *ab
Old English æf
Old English of
Middle English of
English of
From Middle English of, from Old English of (“from, out of, off”), an unstressed form of æf, from Proto-West Germanic *ab, from Proto-Germanic *ab (“away; away from”). Doublet of off, which is the stressed descendant of the same Old English word. More at off.

de

connecting numeral or quantifier with quantified

de (not used with quantifiers like todo, nem todo, para todo)

subjective genitive: connecting action noun with subject

genitive construction is used - the verbal noun is followed by the subject in the genitive case

van

objective genitive: connecting action noun with object

genitive construction used - a verbal noun is modified by the object in the genitive

a verbal noun is modified by the object in the genitive case

i

(to tell the time) before, to, e.g. a quarter of three (2:45)

он минут ж.б.с.> қалды/бар

-ğa/ge <ширек, он минут ж.б.с.> qaldy/bar

туларга <(унбиш минут һ.б.ш.)>

I’ve not taken her out of a goodly long while.

(UK, dialectal, chiefly in the negative) For (a given length of time).

Expressing a point in time.
For (a given length of time).


VA

voluntary aided
voluntary aided school#English

(UK, education) Initialism of voluntary aided.


cream

en-noun

cream (countable and uncountable, plural creams)

→ Chinese: 忌廉, 淇淋 (qílín)

→ Hindi: क्रीम (krīm)

→ Indonesian: krim

→ Japanese: クリーム (kurīmu)

→ Korean: 크림 (keurim)

→ Swahili: krimu

→ Thai: ครีม (kriim)

→ Zulu: ukhilimu

From Middle English creime, creme, from Old French creme, cresme, blend of Late Latin chrisma (“ointment”) (from Ancient Greek χρῖσμα (khrîsma, “unguent”)), and Late Latin crāmum (“cream”), from Gaulish *crama (compare Welsh cramen (“scab, skin”), Breton crammen), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)krama- (compare Middle Irish screm (“surface, skin”), Dutch schram (“abrasion”), Lithuanian kramas (“scurf”)). Doublet of crema and crème. Displaced native Old English rēam (“cream”) (> modern ream).
Figurative sense of "most excellent element or part" appears from 1581. Verb meaning "to beat, thrash, wreck" is 1929, U.S. colloquial. The U.S. standard of identity is from 21 CFR 131.3(a).

der

standards of identity
standard of identity

The butterfat/milkfat part of milk which rises to the top; this part when separated from the remainder.

(standards of identity, UK) The liquid separated from milk containing at least 18 percent milkfat (48% for double cream).


mind

en-verb

mind (third-person singular simple present minds, present participle minding, simple past and past participle minded)

minds (present singular third-person)
minding (participle present)
minded (participle past)
minded (past)
mind (infinitive)

→ Chinese: mind, MIND

From Middle English minde, münde, ȝemünde, from Old English ġemynd (“memory”), from Proto-West Germanic *mundi, *gamundi, from Proto-Germanic *mundiz, *gamundiz (“memory, remembrance”), from Proto-Indo-European *méntis (“thought”) (compare also mantis, via Greek), from the root *men- (“to think”).
Cognate with Old High German gimunt (“mind, memory”), Danish minde (“memory”), Swedish minne (“memory”), Icelandic minni (“memory, recall, recollection”), Gothic 𐌼𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍃 (munds, “memory, mind”), Latin mēns (“mind, reason”), Sanskrit मनस् (mánas), Ancient Greek μένος (ménos), Albanian mënd (“mind, reason”). Doublet of mantra. Related to Old English myntan (“to mean, intend, purpose, determine, resolve”). More at mint.

cog

would you mind putting on your seat belt

I'm not very healthy. I do eat fruit sometimes, mind.

(UK, Ireland) Take note; used to point out an exception or caveat.


duck

en-noun

duck (countable and uncountable, plural ducks or duck)

desctree

Sranan Tongo: doksi (from the plural)
→ Dutch: doks

From Middle English doke, ducke, dukke, dokke, douke, duke, from Old English duce, dūce (“duck”, literally “dipper, diver, ducker”), from Old English *dūcan (“to dip, dive, duck”), from Proto-West Germanic *dūkan, from Proto-Germanic *dūkaną (“to dive, bend down”). See verb above.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots duik, duke, dook (“duck”), Danish dukand, dykand (“sea-duck”), Swedish dykfågel (“a diver, diving bird, plungeon”), Dutch duiker (“diver, dipper, plunger”), German Low German Düker (“diver”), German Taucher (“diver, plunger”).
For the meaning development compare with Russian ныро́к (nyrók, “pochard”) connected with ныря́ть (nyrjátʹ, “to dive”).

cog

could eat the arse out of a low flying duck

could eat the crotch out of a low flying duck

could eat the crutch from a low flying duck

don't teach your grandmother how to milk ducks

(UK, slang, obsolete) A faggot; a meatball made from offal.


copper

en-noun

copper (countable and uncountable, plural coppers)

Inherited from Middle English coper, from Old English coper, copor (“copper”), from Late Latin cuprum (“copper”), contraction of Latin aes Cyprium (literally “Cyprian brass”), from Ancient Greek Κύπρος (Kúpros, “Cyprus”). Cognate with Dutch koper (“copper”), German Kupfer (“copper”), Icelandic kopar (“copper”).

der

Mum would heat the water in a copper in the kitchen and transfer it to the tin bath.

I explain that socks can’t be boiled up in the copper with the sheets and towels or they shrink.

When the water in the copper boils, the arsenic and tartar, well pounded, is put into it, and kept boiling till the liquor is reduced to about half.

1797, “Dyeing”, in Colin Macfarquhar, George Gleig, editors, Encyclopædia Britannica: or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, Volume 6, Part 1 p.207:

'You had better mind you don't get up too early, and you mustn't put any fire under the copper before two o'clock.'

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 6:

He rose to his knees, for he had been sitting in the darkness near the copper.

1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 230:

'Vot game now she play?' he asked himself, as he distinguished his wife near one of the pig-scalding coppers.

1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 254:

The wet laundry's stove had a long vent in the ceiling which helped to release the steam from the coppers in which the clothes and bed linen were boiled.

2000, Christopher Christie, The British Country House in the Eighteenth Century, page 266:

(countable, dated) Any of various specialized items that are made of copper, where the use of copper is either traditional or vital to the function of the item.

(UK, Australia, dated) A large pot, often used for heating water or washing clothes over a fire. In Australasia at least, it could also be a fixed installation made of copper, with a fire underneath and its own chimney. Generally made redundant by the advent of the washing machine.


at

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd
Proto-Germanic *at
Old English æt
Middle English at
English at
From Middle English at, from Old English æt (“at, near, by, toward”), from Proto-Germanic *at (“at, near, to”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd (“near, at”). Cognate with Scots at (“at”), North Frisian äät, äit, et, it (“at”), Danish at (“to”), Swedish åt (“for, toward”), Norwegian åt (“to”), Faroese at (“at, to, toward”), Icelandic að (“to, towards”), Gothic 𐌰𐍄 (at, “at”), Latin ad (“to, near”).

em

not distinct from the senses expressed in English by in or on

a (unproductive; only used with a few words, as in à mesa: at the table)

(no preposition is used, e.g.:) 五點鐘 /五点钟 (wǔ diǎnzhōng) or 五點 /五点 (wǔ diǎn, literally “at five o'clock”)

balance as at 20th March 1999

n.d., quoted in Longmans Business Dictionary

Indicating time of occurrence, especially an instant of time, or a period of time relatively short in context or from the speaker’s perspective.

(UK, Commonwealth, Ireland, especially finance) (also as at; before dates) On (a particular date).


bird

→ Esperanto: birdo

From Middle English bird, brid, from Old English bridd (“chick, fledgling, chicken”), of uncertain origin (see Old English bridd for more). Originally from a term used of birds that could not fly (chicks, fledglings, chickens) as opposed to the general Old English term for flying birds, fugol (modern fowl). Gradually replaced fowl as the most common term starting in the 14th century.
The "booing/jeering" and "vulgar hand gesture" senses derived from the expression “to give the big bird”, as in “to hiss someone like a goose”, dated in the mid‐18th century.

inh

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest

And by my word! the bonny bird / In danger shall not tarry.

1809, Thomas Campbell, Lord Ullin's Daughter:

After tea, the bright boys wash, clean their boots, and change into their “second-best” attire, and stroll forth[…]; sometimes to saunter, in company with others, up and down that parade until they “click” with one of the “birds.”

1918 [1915], Thomas Burke, Nights in London, New York: Henry Holt and Company, page 75:

The usual visual grammar was in place – a carpet in the street, people in paddocks awaiting a brush with something glamorous, blokes with earpieces, birds in frocks of colliding colours that if sighted in nature would indicate the presence of poison.

2013 September 13, Russell Brand, The Guardian:

“All these fantastic birds, long hair, made up, false eyelashes and things, crowding round this group of scabby, spotty teenagers,” marveled Anderson.

2017, David Weigel, The Show That Never Ends: The Rise and Fall of Prog Rock, W. W. Norton & Company:

(UK, Ireland, colloquial) A girl or woman, especially one considered sexually attractive.

Mike went out with his bird last night.

But all of a sudden though, just through the smoke / It's your bird laughing and joking with a bloke / Ain't just that either, as she moves closer / In a shape what looks like they're lovers, he's tonguing her!

2002, “Geezers need excitement”, in Mike Skinner (lyrics), Original Pirate Material, performed by The Streets:

(UK, Ireland, colloquial, by extension) A girlfriend.

to give the bird

(UK, with definite article, chiefly in phrases) Booing and jeering, especially as done by an audience expressing displeasure at a performer.


what

wot (all only in British, Australian, New Zealand, New York City accents with the wine–whine merger)

From Middle English what, from Old English hwæt (“what”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Germanic *hwat (“what”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷód (“what”), neuter form of *kʷós (“who”). Cognate with Scots whit (“what”), North Frisian wat (“what”), Saterland Frisian wat (“what”), West Frisian wat (“what”), Dutch wat (“what”), Low German wat (“what”), German was (“what”), Danish hvad (“what”), Norwegian Bokmål hva (“what”), Swedish vad (“what”), Norwegian Nynorsk kva (“what”), Icelandic hvað (“what”), Latin quod (“what, which”).

“That’s riled them,” said my compaion. “Good work, what?”

1918, Denis Garstin, The Shilling Soldiers, London: Hodder and Stoughton, page 83:

Chuffy: WHAT? No, no, no, no, no. My casa is your casa, what?

1991 May 12, “Kidnapped!”, in Jeeves and Wooster, Series 2, Episode 5:

It’s a nice day, what?

(British, colloquial, dated) Clipping of what do you say? Used as a type of tag question to emphasise a statement and invite agreement, often rhetorically.


upbraid

en-verb

upbraid (third-person singular simple present upbraids, present participle upbraiding, simple past and past participle upbraided)

upbraids (present singular third-person)
upbraiding (participle present)
upbraided (participle past)
upbraided (past)

From Middle English upbreyden, from Old English upbreġdan, equivalent to up- + braid. Compare English umbraid (“to upbraid”), Icelandic bregða (“to draw, brandish, braid, deviate from, change, break off, upbraid”). See up, and braid (transitive).

cog

(UK dialectal, Northern England, archaic) To vomit; retch.


apple

en-verb

apple (third-person singular simple present apples, present participle appling, simple past and past participle appled)

apples (present singular third-person)
appling (participle present)
appled (participle past)
appled (past)

Book of Genesis
Frans Floris
Malmö Art Museum
The Fall of Man

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ébōl
Proto-Germanic *aplaz
Proto-West Germanic *applu
Old English æppel
Middle English appel
English apple
The noun is derived from Middle English appel (“Malus domestica fruit or tree, apple; any type of fruit, nut, or tuber; tree bearing fruit; (figurative) ball, sphere; (Christianity) forbidden fruit in Eden”), from Old English æppel (“apple; any type of fruit; (figurative) ball, sphere; eyeball”), from Proto-West Germanic *applu (“apple; any type of fruit”), from Proto-Germanic *aplaz (“apple; any type of fruit”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ébōl, *h₂ébl̥ (“apple”).
As regards sense 1.4 (“forbidden fruit”), the type of fruit eaten by Adam and Eve is not identified in the Book of Genesis in the Bible. It may have come to be identified with the apple because of the similarity between Latin mālum (“apple”) and malum (“evil; misery, torment; wrongdoing”).
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
Cognate with Danish æble, Dutch appel, German Apfel, Irish úll, Lithuanian óbuolỹs, Russian я́блоко (jábloko), Scots aipple, Swedish äpple, Welsh afal, West Frisian apel, possibly Ancient Greek ἄμπελος (ámpelos, “vine”).

ref

From the collection of the Malmö Art Museum in Malmö, Scania, Sweden.

inh

(UK, dialectal, rare) To collect fir-cones.

As for Scolymus [possibly type of artichoke?], it differeth from the reſt of theſe Thiſtles herein, That the root, if it be ſodden, it is good to be eaten: beſides, it hath a ſtraunge nature, for all the ſort of them during the Summer throughout, never reſt and give over, but either they floure, or they apple, or els be readie to bring foorth fruit: […]

1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XXI.] Of Carduus, and Ixine: Of Tribulus and Anchusa.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 2nd tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 98:

To Pome or Apple, is ſaid of the Heads of Artichokes vvhen they grovv round, and full ſhaped as an Apple. It is ſaid alſo of Lettuce, &c.

[1693, John Evelyn, “The Dictionary. An Explication of the Terms of Gard’ning, in an Alphabetical Order. To Pome or Apple.”, in De La Quintinye [i.e., Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie], translated by John Evelyn, The Compleat Gard’ner; or, Directions for Cultivating and Right Ordering of Fruit-gardens; […], London: […] Matthew Gillyflower, […], and James Partridge, […], →OCLC, column 1:

You may novv ſovv upon moderate hot-beds, a fevv of the ſmall ſalad ſeeds, ſuch as VVhite Muſtard, Rape, Creſſes, and Cabbage Lettuces, and you may also ſovv upon other hot-beds, not to be drawn until they are pretty large and vvell appled, Radiſhes and Turnips, obſerving to ſovv them very thin, that the plants may have room to ſvvell and grovv; […]

1759, James Justice, “November”, in The British Gardener’s Calendar, […], Edinburgh: […] R. Fleming, →OCLC, page 307:

The cabbage turnep is of tvvo kinds; one apples above ground, and the other in it.

1798, Charles Marshall, “Section XV. Of Esculents.”, in An Introduction to the Knowledge and Practice of Gardening, […], 2nd edition, London: […] John Rider, for F[rancis] and C[harles] Rivington, […], →OCLC, page 251:

Some, however, recommend that the seed collected from a few turnips thus transplanted, should be preserved and sown in drills, in order to raise plants for see for the general crop, drawing out all such as are weak and improper, leaving only those that are strong and which take the lead; and that when these have appled or formed bulbs, to again take out such as do not appear good and perfect, as by this means turnip seed may be procured, not only of a more vigorous nature, but which is capable of vegetating with less moisture and which produces stronger and more hardy plants.

1807, Thomas Potts, “TURNIPS”, in The British Farmer’s Cyclopædia; or, Complete Agricultural Dictionary; […], London: […] W. Flint, […], for Scatcherd and Letterman, […], and M. Jones, […], →OCLC, column 2:

(obsolete except UK, dialectal) Of a flower bud or vegetable (especially a root vegetable): to grow into the shape of an apple.

kasvaa omenan muotoiseksi

of a flower bud or vegetable: to grow into the shape of an apple


soak

From Middle English soken, from Old English socian (“to soak, steep”, literally “to cause to suck (up)”), from Proto-Germanic *sukōną (“to soak”), causative of Proto-Germanic *sūkaną (“to suck”). Cognate with Middle Dutch soken (“to cause to suck”). More at suck.


mill

en-verb

mill (third-person singular simple present mills, present participle milling, simple past and past participle milled)

mills (present singular third-person)
milling (participle present)
milled (participle past)
milled (past)

From Middle English mylne, mille, from Old English mylen, from Proto-West Germanic *mulīnu (“mill”), from Late Latin molīna, molīnum, molīnus (“mill”), from Latin molō (“grind, mill”, verb), closely allied to Proto-Germanic *muljaną (“to crush, grind”) (see English millstone). Perhaps cognate with Milne (a surname). Doublet of moline and moulin.

cog

l-vocalizing: UK, General Australian, New Zealand

Ben mort, shall you and I heave a bough, mill a ken, or nip a bung, and then we'll couch a hogshead under the ruffmans, and there you shall wap with me, and I'll niggle with you.

1611, Thomas Middleton, “The Roaring Girl”, in Arthur Henry Bullen, editor, The Works of Thomas Middleton, volume 4, published 1885, act 5, scene 1, pages 128–129:

And why not?—You would think little of peaching and hanging him for this Scotch affair.—Rat me, one might have milled the Bank of England, and less noise about it.

1818, Walter Scott, chapter 6, in The Heart of Midlothian:

(obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) To commit burglary.


plum

→ Cornish: ploum

→ Haida: pláms

→ Manx: plumbis

→ Japanese: プラム (puramu)

→ Scottish Gaelic: plumas

→ Thai: พลัม (plam)

From Middle English plomme, ploume, from Old English plūme, from Proto-West Germanic *plūmā, borrowed from Latin prūnum. Doublet of prune.

Indian plum

esp Flacourtia indica; Osmaronia cerasiformis

(derogatory, chiefly UK) A fool, an idiot.


rat

From Middle English ratte, rat, rotte, from Old English rætt, from Proto-West Germanic *ratt, from Proto-Germanic *rattaz, *rattō (compare West Frisian rôt, Dutch rat), of uncertain origin, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁d- (“to scrape, scratch, gnaw”). However, the rat may have been unknown in Northern Europe in antiquity, and the Proto-Germanic word may have referred to a different animal; see *rattaz for more. Attestation of this family of words begins in the 12th century.
Some of the Germanic cognates show considerable consonant variation, e.g. Middle Low German ratte, radde; Middle High German rate, ratte, ratze. The irregularity may be symptomatic of a late dispersal of the word, although Kroonen accounts for it with a Proto-Germanic stem *raþō nom., *ruttaz gen., showing both ablaut and a Kluge's law alternation, with the variation arising from varying remodellings in the descendants. Kroonen states that this requires a Proto-Indo-European etymon in final *t and is incompatible with the usual derivation from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁d- (“to scrape, scratch, gnaw”).

der

I don't need no dating app to tell me if I look like crap / To tell me if I'm thin or fat, to tell me should I shave my rat / I don't need no radio, no MTV, no BBC / I just need a bubble bath to set me on a higher path

2022, Chambers Hester Louise, Champion Michael James, Teasdale Rhian Louise (lyrics and music), “Too Late Now”, in Wet Leg, performed by Wet Leg, Domino, →OCLC:

Get your rat out.

(UK, north-west London, slang, vulgar) Vagina, vulva.


grape

en-verb

grape (third-person singular simple present grapes, present participle graping, simple past and past participle graped)

grapes (present singular third-person)
graping (participle present)
graped (participle past)
graped (past)

From Middle English grape, from Old French grape, grappe, crape (“cluster of fruit or flowers, bunch of grapes”), from graper, craper (“to pick grapes”, literally “to hook”), of Germanic origin, from Frankish *krappō (“hook”), from Proto-Indo-European *greb- (“hook”), *gremb- (“crooked, uneven”), from *ger- (“to turn, bend, twist”). Cognate with Middle Dutch krappe (“hook”), Old High German krapfo (“hook”) (whence German Krapfen (“Berliner doughnut”). Doublet of grappa. More at cramp.

der

Lang, lang I sought and graped for my pack, Till night and hunger forced me to come back.

1780, Alexander Wilson, A Pedlar's Story:

Aw graped my way out i' the dark, An' down the stairs aw scrafflel'd

1836, William Stephenson Jr, Punch and Toby:

I dinna ken,” said Steenie ; “ the book had fa'en out 0' his pocket, I fancy, for I fand it amang my feet when I was graping about to set him on his legs again, and I just pat it in my pouch to keep it safe ;

1836, Walter Scott, The antiquary, page 56:

'Till in a declamation mist, His argument he tint it; He gapéd for't, he graped for't, He fand it was awa, man;

1881, Robert Burns, The Two Lawyers, page 280:


gaffer

Likely a contraction of godfather, but with the vowels influenced by grandfather. Compare French compère, German Gevatter.

And you're here to tell me what's what. Just like your bloody gaffer promised.

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 117:

(UK, informal) The leader of a group or team, such as a boss, foreman, coach, or publican.


bucket

→ Farefare: bɔgtɛ

→ Japanese: バケツ (baketsu)

→ Maori: pākete

From Middle English buket, boket, partly from Old English bucc ("bucket, pitcher"; mod. dialectal buck), equivalent to bouk + -et; and partly from Anglo-Norman buket, buquet (“tub; pail”) (compare Norman boutchet, Norman bouquet), diminutive of Old French buc (“abdomen; object with a cavity”), from Vulgar Latin *būcus (compare Occitan and Catalan buc, Italian buco, buca (“hole, gap”)), from Frankish *būk (“belly, stomach”). Both the Old English and Frankish terms derive from Proto-Germanic *būkaz (“belly, stomach”). More at bouk.

gloss

"bucket, pitcher"; mod. dialectal <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">buck</i>

der

(UK, archaic) A unit of measure equal to four gallons.


bucket

en-verb

bucket (third-person singular simple present buckets, present participle bucketing, simple past and past participle bucketed)

buckets (present singular third-person)
bucketing (participle present)
bucketed (participle past)
bucketed (past)

(transitive, UK, US, rowing) To make, or cause to make (the recovery), with a certain hurried or unskillful forward swing of the body.


chain

From Middle English cheyne, chaine, from Old French chaine, chaene (“chain”), from Latin catēna (“chain”), from Proto-Indo-European *kat- (“to braid, twist; hut, shed”). Doublet of catena.

der

a chain is only as strong as its weakest link

(British) A sequence of linked house purchases, each of which is dependent on the preceding and succeeding purchase (said to be "broken" if a buyer or seller pulls out).


tin

en-noun

tin (countable and uncountable, plural tins)

From Middle English tin, from Old English tin, from Proto-West Germanic *tin, from Proto-Germanic *tiną.

a tin of baked beans; a tobacco tin; a tin of shoe polish

Several tins of paint were needed to paint the house.

empty tins, cans, and plastic containers are recycled in the blue bins.

When it arrived, the train was headed by a "K" class 4-6-0 wood-burning locomotive, and a water-tank wagon next to the tender was immediately besieged by women and girls, clad in their picturesque national costume, all with empty kerosene tins for water, a scene which was re-enacted at each stop down the line.

1943 November and December, G. T. Porter, “The Lines Behind the Lines in Burma”, in Railway Magazine, page 325:

(New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, British, countable) An airtight container, made of tin or another metal, used to preserve food, or hold a liquid or some other product.


car

→ French: car

→ Russian: кар (kar)

⇒ Sanskrit: कारयान (kārayāna)

→ Japanese: カー (kā)

→ Hindi: कार (kār)

→ Urdu: کار (kār)

Inherited from Middle English carre, borrowed from Anglo-Norman carre, from Old Northern French (compare Old French char), from Latin carrus (“two-wheeled baggage wagon”), from Gaulish *karros, from Proto-Celtic *karros (“wagon”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós (“vehicle”). Doublet of horse.

der

(dated) A wheeled vehicle, drawn by a horse or other animal.

(UK, Birmingham, obsolete) A four-wheeled cab, as opposed to a (two-wheeled) Hansom cab.


mongrel

From Middle English mongrel, equivalent to mong (“mixture”) + -rel (pejorative diminutive); from Old English ġemang (“mingling”) (whence Modern English among), from Proto-Germanic *mang- (“mix”).

suffix

"Yanto bloody Evans!" Jack stuttered with rage. "Yanto bloody Evans! That... that... bloody mongrel! D'you know who he is? He's the one who knocked me back for a bit of extra timber before the roof fell in on me!"

2008, Jim Brigginshaw, Over My Dead Body, page 77:

But somebody's got to tell these mums and dads why their kids died, why this mongrel thinks he can wipe them out like a dirty rag.

2019 October 27, Natalie Wolfe, “Australia's worst serial killer's affairs with sisters-in-laws”, in New Zealand Herald:

(slang, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A thuggish, obnoxious, or contemptible person; (often preceded by "poor") a pitiable person.


chair

en-verb

chair (third-person singular simple present chairs, present participle chairing, simple past and past participle chaired)

chairs (present singular third-person)
chairing (participle present)
chaired (participle past)
chaired (past)

From Middle English chayer, chaire, chaiere, chaere, chayre, chayere, from Old French chaiere, chaere, from Latin cathedra (“seat”), from Ancient Greek καθέδρα (kathédra), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἕδρα (hédra, “seat”). Displaced native stool and settle, which now have more specialised senses. Doublet of cathedra and chaise.

The poet was chaired at the national Eisteddfod.

(transitive, Wales, UK) To award a chair to (a winning poet) at a Welsh eisteddfod.


son

From Middle English sonn, sone, sun, sune, from Old English sunu (“son”), from Proto-Germanic *sunuz (“son”), from Proto-Indo-European *suHnús (“son”), from Proto-Indo-European *sewH- (“to bear; give birth”).

па

a male person in relation to his parents

(UK, New York City, colloquial) An informal address to a friend or person of equal authority.


city

→ French: City

→ German: City

→ Italian: city

→ Swedish: city

→ Russian: си́ти (síti)

From Middle English cite, from Old French cite, from Late Latin cīvitātem (“city”), in Classical Latin "citizenry", derived from cīvis (“fellow-citizen”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“lie down; settle”). Cognate with Old English hīwan pl (“members of one's household, servants”). See hewe. Doublet of civitas. Mostly displaced native Old English burg, whence Modern English borough.

cog

Manchester, incorporated in 1838, was made the centre of a bishopric in 1847 and became a city in 1853. Liverpool was transformed into a city by Royal Charter when the new diocese of Liverpool was created in 1880.

1976, Cornelius P. Darcy, The Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Lancashire, 1760-1860, Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 20:

St Davids itself is the smallest city in Great Britain, with a population of less than 2,000.

2014, Graham Rutt, Cycling Britain's Cathedrals Volume 1, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 307:

(UK) A settlement granted special status by royal charter or letters patent; traditionally, a settlement with a cathedral regardless of size.


roach

Back-formation from cockroach, as if it were a compound.
Marijuana-related meanings by similarity of appearance of the butt, attested since the 1930s.

Last toke is the yellowing fabric of the roach, containing the stuff that is less than tobacco.

2000, Zadie Smith, White Teeth, London: Penguin Books, published 2001, →ISBN, page 292:

(UK, slang, smoking) The filter of a rolled cigarette or joint, made from card or paper.


roach

Variant of roche (“rock”). Attested since the seventeenth century.

After long Working of this Coal, it was found upon the rising Grounds, that there lay another Roach of Coal, at the Depth of 14 Yards under it

1749, Rog. Mostyn, “Mineralogy”, in Philosophical Transactions and Collections to the End of the Year, volume II, London: Royal Society, →OCLC, page 379:

(UK, obsolete, mining) A bed or stratum of some mineral.

The roach, both of the top and bottom beds, is always imperceptibly incorporated with the freestone, which is invariable situated beneath it.

1841, C.H. Smith, “Lithology; or Observations on Stone for Building”, in The Surveyor, Engineer, and Architect, →OCLC, page 13:

(UK, regional) Gritty or coarse rock; especially Portland stone or similar limestone.


hello

→ Amharic: ሀሎ (halo)

desc

→ Chinese: 哈嘍 /哈喽 (hālou), 哈囉 /哈啰 (hāluó), 哈囉 /哈啰 (hāluó), 哈佬 (hālǎo)

→ Japanese: ハロー (harō)

→ Malay: helo

→ Scottish Gaelic: halò

Hello (first attested in 1826), from holla, hollo (attested 1588). This variant of hallo is often credited to Thomas Edison as a coinage for telephone use, but its appearance in print predates the invention of the telephone by several decades.
Ultimately from a variant of Old English ēalā, such as hēlā, which was used colloquially at the time similarly to how hey and (in some dialects) hi are used nowadays. Thus, equivalent to a compound of hey and lo. Used when drawing attention to yourself.
Possibly influenced by Old Saxon halo!, imperative of halōn (“to call, fetch”), used in hailing a ferryman, akin to Old High German hala, hola!, imperative forms of halōn, holōn (“to fetch”). More at hallo.
OED and Merriam-Webster also suggested that it is a variant of holla, a variant of holloo. Further beyond, the origin remains uncertain. OED and Merriam-Webster suggested that it has a connection between hallow (“to shout, to cry out loud”), which came from Old French holloer.
According to Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, Old French holloer is from Old Saxon halon.

ܫܠܵܡܵܐ ܥܲܠܵܟ݂ܝ

šlāmā ˁallāḵ

ܫܠܵܡܵܐ ܥܲܠܵܘܟ݂ܘܿܢ

šlāmā ˁallāwḵōn

sveiki

informal to more than one person or people of indeterminate gender

nsellmulek

formal more than one person to one person

nsellmulkom

formal more than one person to more than one persons

dumelang

as in dumelang, borra, "hello gentlemen"

اَلسَّلامُ عَلَیکُم وَرَحْمَۃُاللہ وَبَرَکَاتُہ (as-salāmu 'alaikum va-rahmatu-llāh, literally “Peace be upon you & May Allah bless”)

Hello! What’s going on here?

(chiefly UK) An expression of puzzlement or discovery.

マジかよ

Are you sure?, You're kidding!, more informal


slim

en-adj

slim (comparative slimmer, superlative slimmest)

slimmer (comparative)
slimmest (superlative)

Borrowing from Low German or Dutch slim (“bad, sly, clever”), from Middle Dutch slim (“bad, crooked”), from Old Dutch *slimb, from Proto-West Germanic *slimb, from Proto-Germanic *slimbaz (“oblique, crooked”). The sense development would have been "slanting, cunning" (Dutch) > "insignificant, slight" and then "thin, graceful" in English, a shift that Liberman calls an "incredible amelioration" of word meaning.
The pejorative sense found in Low German and Dutch is also found preserved in the archaic English noun slim (“worthless or lazy person”), also comparable to the South African use of the adjective as "crafty, sly."
Compare Dutch slim (“smart, clever, crafty”), Middle High German slimp (“slanting, awry”), German schlimm (“bad”), West Frisian slim (“bad, dire”).

cog

(South Africa, obsolete in UK) Sly, crafty.


graft

en-noun

graft (countable and uncountable, plural grafts)

Uncertain. Some lexicographers suggest an extended use of Etymology 2, above, expanding from “digging” to work more generally, and from there to dishonest work. Others, however, suggest an extension from Etymology 1, shifting from “a shoot or scion” to the notion of corruption through the idea of excrescence.

We had to put in a lot of hard graft to get the job done.

Liz Truss, now the Tory leadership frontrunner, launched an astonishing broadside against British workers, saying they needed “more graft” and suggesting they lacked the “skill and application” of foreign rivals, the Guardian can reveal.

2022 August 16, Pippa Crerar, quoting Liz Truss, “Leaked audio reveals Liz Truss said British workers needed ‘more graft’”, in The Guardian:

(uncountable, British, colloquial) Work; labor requiring effort.

(countable, British, colloquial) A job or trade.


expressway

(UK, New Zealand) A road built for high speed traffic, but not up to motorway standards or designated a motorway.

motortrafikvej

NZ: high speed road, not built to freeway standards


air

en-verb

air (third-person singular simple present airs, present participle airing, simple past and past participle aired)

airs (present singular third-person)
airing (participle present)
aired (participle past)
aired (past)

From Middle English aire, from Old French air, from Latin āēr, from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr). Displaced native Old English lyft. More at lift, loft.

ayr

especially when referring to the form of music

Why is this girl airing me?

(transitive, British, MLE, slang) To ignore (a person).


driveway

driveway doesn't go all the way to the road

(UK, US) A short private road that leads to a house or garage.


an

From Middle English an, from Old English ān (“a, an”, literally “one”). More at one.

inh

not used in Esperanto (but when necessary to express indefiniteness:) iu (some)

ერთ-ერთი

not an article, but used for indicating „one among others“

not used in Latin (Old, Classical, Late, New Latin, sometimes in Medieval Latin)

(nonstandard, British, West Country) Used before all consonants.

Form of a (all article senses).
Used before all consonants.


an

(nonstandard, British, West Country) one


dub

From Celtic; compare Irish dobhar (“water”), Welsh dŵr (“water”).

“Has he nae friends?” said she, in a tearful voice.
“That has he so!” cried Alan, “if we could but win to them!—friends and rich friends, beds to lie in, food to eat, doctors to see to him—and here he must tramp in the dubs and sleep in the heather like a beggarman.”

1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC:


dub

en-verb

dub (third-person singular simple present dubs, present participle dubbing, simple past and past participle dubbed)

dubs (present singular third-person)
dubbing (participle present)
dubbed (participle past)
dubbed (past)

From dup (“to open”), from do + up, from Middle English don up (“to open”).

"Crash the cull—down with him—down with him before he dubs the jigger. Tip him the degan, Fib, fake him through and through; if he pikes we shall all be scragged."

1828, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, chapter LXXXIII, in Pelham: or The Adventures of a Gentleman, page 402:

(obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) To open or close.


dub

[…]going upon the dobbin, is a woman dressed like a servant maid, no hat nor cloak on, a bunch of young dubs by her side, which are a bunch of small keys[…]

1789, George Parker, Life's Painter of Variegated Characters in Public and Private Life, page 162:

(obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) A key, especially a master key; a lock pick.


canary

en-noun

canary (countable and uncountable, plural canaries)

From French canarie, from Spanish canario, from the Latin Canariae insulae (“Canary Islands”) (Spanish Islas Canarias); from the largest island Insula Canaria (“Dog Island" or "Canine Island”), named for its dogs, from canārius (“canine”), from canis (“dog”).

der

(UK, slang, obsolete) A sovereign (coin).


right

From Middle English right, righte, from Old English rihte, rehte (“right; rightly; due; directly; straight”), from Proto-Germanic *rehta, from *rehtaz (“right; straight”).

it doesn't matter what they say about you as long as they spell your name right

I made a right stupid mistake there, didn't I?

I stubbed my toe a week ago and it still hurts right much.

a right godly treatise

1549, John Calvin, Of the life or conuersation of a Christen man, a right godly treatise:

That's long enough for any small town." Lyon leaned forward. "Do you like Lawrenceville, Mr. Hill?" The driver cocked his head. "Aeah. Why not? Born here. It's a right nice town

1966, Jacqueline Susann, Valley of the Dolls, page 214:

Well, that would be right neighborly of you, miss.

But it would be right neighborly and Christian of you to put your own wants aside for a spell.

The fog was right hard to see through so I was on Tom Pritchard before I saw him.

2011, Ann Hite, Ghost on Black Mountain:

Kids nowadays were a right thrillproof bunch. The Armoury Section had, unexpectedly, proved to be a real moodclunker.

2015, Jeff Torrington, Swing Hammer Swing!, page 255:

(British, US, dialect) Very, extremely, quite.


motorway

All the R. R.'s of America will have to be furnished with a biking way and a motor way on each side of the rails.

1895 October, “Real Estate”, in California Banker's Magazine, page 429:

Work of constructing the Texas Motorway, a stone highway which when completed will extend from Fort Worth to Del Rio, Tex., a distance of 500 miles, has been commenced and a section between 18 and 20 miles long running out from Glenrose, the county seat of Somervell County, has been completed.

1913 September 20, Good Roads, page 137:

It is presumed that in the working out of the program the motor trucks will automatically have the major use of the local low-speed highways paralleling the motorway.

1925 December, C. L. Norton, “Our Industrial Highways”, in Trade Winds, volume 4, number 10:

In 1959, Ernest Marples became the new Minister of Transport. His business career had been as a road builder and he saw the future in a network of motorways, whereas he believed there was serious overcapacity in the railway network.

2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 43:

One national agency is responsible for developing and maintaining the national motorway system, which typically is a small fraction of the entire roadway network. (page 8)

2001 June 14, Jim Brewer, John German, ..., “Geometric Design Practices for European Roads”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), Office of International Programs, U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Washington:

An alternative transit route that bypasses the metropolis’ traffic-filled streets, the 400-kilometer (248.5-mile) North Marmara Motorway starts on the western side of Istanbul and ends in the eastern Marmara province of Sakarya.

2021 May 21, “Turkey opens last section of new highway connecting Asia to Europe”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), Daily Sabah:

Charging stations for electric vehicles must be placed along the main European motorways at least every 60 kilometres from 2026, the European Parliament decided on Tuesday.

2023 July 12, “Electric vehicle charging stations to be installed every 60 km on European motorways”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), The Brussels Times:

freeway

in parts of Australia, Canada and the U.S.

(UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Queensland, New South Wales) A highway with grade-separated crossings (rather than level crossings) and designed (and only permitted) for high-speed motor-traffic (in Europe motor vehicles with a higher speed limit than 40 km/h) running in two directions on one separate carriageway each.

snelweg

highway designed for high-speed motor-traffic

αυτοκινητόδρομος υπερταχείας κυκλοφορίας


arm

en-adj

arm (comparative armer or more arm, superlative armest or most arm)

armer (comparative)
more arm (comparative)
armest (superlative)
most arm (superlative)

From Middle English arm (“poor, wretched”), from Old English earm (“poor, miserable, pitiful, wretched”), from Proto-West Germanic *arm, from Proto-Germanic *armaz (“poor”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁erm- (“poor, ill”).
cognates
Akin to Dutch arm (“poor”), German arm (“poor”), Yiddish אָרעם (orem, “poor”), Swedish arm (“poor”).

der

(UK dialectal, chiefly Scotland) Poor; lacking in riches or wealth.

(UK dialectal, chiefly Scotland) To be pitied; pitiful; wretched.


black

en-adj

black (comparative blacker or more black, superlative blackest or most black)

blacker (comparative)
more black (comparative)
blackest (superlative)
most black (superlative)

Bislama: blak

Sranan Tongo: blaka

Aukan: baaka

→ Caribbean Hindustani: blaaka

Tok Pisin: blak

Torres Strait Creole: blaik

→ Dutch: black

→ French: black

→ Greek: μπλάκης (blákis)

From Middle English blak, black, blake, from Old English blæc (“black, dark", also "ink”), from Proto-West Germanic *blak, from Proto-Germanic *blakaz (“burnt”) (compare Dutch blaken (“to burn”), Low German blak, black (“blackness, black paint, (black) ink”), Old High German blah (“black”)), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleg- (“to burn, shine”) (compare Latin flagrāre (“to burn”), Ancient Greek φλόξ (phlóx, “flame”), Sanskrit भर्ग (bharga, “radiance”)). More at bleak.
Sense 20 is a semantic loan from Cantonese 黑面 (hak1 min6, “to pull a long face, to scowl”).

sort

of coffee or tea, without milk or other whitener

(sometimes capitalized) Belonging to or descended from any of various (African, Aboriginal, etc.) ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin. (See usage notes below.)

(US, UK, South Africa) Belonging to or descended from any of various sub-Saharan African ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin.


black

en-noun

black (countable and uncountable, plural blacks)

→ Japanese: ブラック (burakku)

→ Volapük: bläg

(countable, British) A type of firecracker that is really more dark brown in colour.

(countable, informal) Short for blackcurrant.

(chiefly UK) Blackcurrant as syrup or crème de cassis used for cocktails.


black

en-verb

black (third-person singular simple present blacks, present participle blacking, simple past and past participle blacked)

blacks (present singular third-person)
blacking (participle present)
blacked (participle past)
blacked (past)

The plants were blacked by the Transport and General Workers' Union and a consumer boycott was organised; both activities contributed to what the union saw as a victory.

2003, Alun Howkins, The Death of Rural England, page 175:

(British, transitive) To boycott, usually as part of an industrial dispute.


gangway

From Middle English gangway, from Old English gangweġ (“passageway; thoroughfare”), equivalent to gang + way. Related to Dutch gang (“hallway”) and Norwegian gang (“hallway”).

jet bridge

enclosed corridor between an airport and plane


Madras

en-noun

Madras (countable and uncountable, plural Madrases)

The etymology is uncertain; it may derive from Madraspattinam. See Wikipedia for several possible etymologies.

I’ll have the chicken Madras.

(British) A style of curry dish purported to originate from the Madras region.


slang

There runneth forth into the sea a certaine shelfe or slang, like unto an out~thrust tongue.

1610, William Camden, translated by Philémon Holland, Britain, or A Chorographicall Description of the Most Flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland, […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press for] Georgii Bishop & Ioannis Norton, →OCLC:

(UK, dialect) Any long, narrow piece of land; a promontory.


slang

(UK, obsolete) A fetter worn on the leg by a convict.

(UK, obsolete, slang) A counterfeit weight or measure.

(UK, obsolete, slang) A travelling show, or one of its performances.

(UK, obsolete, slang) A hawker's license.


boke

en-verb

boke (third-person singular simple present bokes, present participle boking, simple past and past participle boked)

bokes (present singular third-person)
boking (participle present)
boked (participle past)
boked (past)

From Scots bock, attested from the 16th century.

(transitive, intransitive, UK dialectal) To thrust or push out; butt; poke.