thaler

dollar

From German Thaler, an abbreviation of Joachimsthaler, after Sankt Joachimsthal, the German city in which some of the earliest thalers were minted in 1518. Doublet of tolar.

(historical, numismatics) A monetary unit used in a number of central and northern European countries, known locally as daalder (Netherlands), daler (Scandinavia), Taler, Thaler (Germany), etc.


Bordeaux

From French Bordeaux (Middle French Bordeaulx), from Occitan Bordèu, from Old Occitan Bordel, from Latin Burdigala, from a Proto-Celtic root.

The capital city of the Gironde department, France; capital city of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.


pataca

A monetary unit used during the 16th century and 17th century in Malta in the form of a large coppern coin.


aureus

From Latin aureus (“golden; gold coin equivalent to 25 denarii”), noun use of adjective, from aurum (“gold”). Doublet of eyrir, öre, øre, and oyra.

bor

A gold coin, minted in the Roman Empire from approximately 100 B.C.E. to 309 C.E., equal to 25 denarii.


follis

From Latin follis (“a bag”). Doublet of fool.

In Italy, the exarchs at Ravenna preserved the denominational structure of the currency, striking the bronze folles along with fractions and three silver denominations marked as pieces of 125, 150, and 500 nummiae (pl. 23.200). The solidus was officially exchanged at 300 folles (= 12,000 nummiae) or the rate that had obtained under Theodoric.

1996, Kenneth W. Harl, Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 b.c. to a.d. 700, Baltimore, Md., London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 199:

In the beginning, Antioch followed the weight policy of Constantinopolitan coins, but after a break in minting in 540/541–541/542 caused by the sack of the city by the Persians, the mint of Antioch continued to issue bronze folles of high weight standard, ever if the weight in Constantinople was already reduced by that period.

2016, Pavla Drápelová, “Province in Contrast to City: Irregularities and Peculiarities in the Coinage of Antioch (518–565)”, in Nicholas S. M. Matheou, Theofili Kampianaki, Lorenzo M. Bondioli, editors, From Constantinople to the Frontier: The City and the Cities, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, part 4 (The Cities), page 180:

The silver miliarensia from that era were minted exclusively for propaganda purposes, and in smaller amounts than the gold coins (nomismas) and the copper alloy coins (folles). They were practically not used in circulation, although in theory twelve miliarensia were equal in value to a gold nomisma.

2022, Vladimir Penchev, “What the coins from the Preslav treasure can tell us about the social status of its owner”, in Contributions to Bulgarian Archaeology, volume XII, →DOI, →ISSN, page 70:

(numismatics) A large bronze coin minted during the Roman Empire.


skilling

From Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish skilling. Doublet of shilling.

(historical) A Scandinavian monetary unit and coin up to the 19th century. (A subdivision of the Swedish riksdaler, the Danish and Norwegian rigsdaler and speciedaler).


mpret

From Albanian mbret. Doublet of imperate.


pysanka

Borrowed from Ukrainian пи́санка (pýsanka), from писа́ти (pysáty, “to write”), referring to writing on an egg with a stylus in a wax-resist dyeing process, from Proto-Slavic *pьsati, related to *pьstrъ (“feathered”), + feminine ending -ка (-ka).

A hand-decorated Ukrainian Easter egg with intricate designs.

пі́санка

Easter egg decorated with intricate designs


cruzado

From Portuguese cruzado. Doublet of cruciate.

An old monetary unit of Portugal in the 17th and 18th centuries.

крузадо

an old monetary unit of Portugal in the 17th and 18th centuries


denarius

/dɪˈnɑːɹɪ.əs/

/dɪˈnɛəɹɪ.əs/

General American, Mary–marry–merry merger

Borrowed from Latin dēnārius. Doublet of denar, denier, dinar, diner, dinero, and dinheiro.

doublet

"Sorry, I thought you were Aurel. He owes me a denarius. Have you seen him?"

1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 146:

2007, Philip Matyszak, Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day (title of the book)

(Ancient Rome, numismatics) A small silver coin issued both during the Roman Republic and during the Roman Empire, equal to 10 asses or 4 sesterces. Roughly one day’s wage for a skilled worker.


peseta

From Spanish peseta, from peso (“coin or weight”).

The task was more to Appleby's liking than the one he had anticipated, and it was necessary, since the smaller merchants in Cuba and also in parts of Peninsular Spain have no great confidence in bankers, and prefer a packet of golden onzas or a bag of pesetas to the best accredited cheque.

1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 31, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:

The former currency of the Spanish Empire and Andorra, divided into 100 céntimos.

The Equatorial Guinean peseta, a former currency of Equatorial Guinea

The Catalan peseta, a former currency of Catalonia.


scudo

en-noun

scudo (plural scudos or scudoes or scudi)

scudos (plural)
scudoes (plural)
scudi (plural)

Borrowed from Italian scudo (“a crown, a dollar, a shield”), from Latin scutum (“a shield”). Compare the doublets scute, escudo, scutum, and écu.

bor

Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Sovereign Military Order of Malta

A former unit of currency in Malta, now the official currency of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.


lev

Borrowed from Bulgarian лев (lev), a variant of лъв (lǎv, “lion”). Doublet of Leo, leu, lion, and Lyon.

The currency of Bulgaria, divided into 100 stotinki.


manat

Borrowed from Azerbaijani manat and Turkmen manat, both from Russian моне́та (monéta), from Polish moneta, from Latin monēta. Doublet of money and mint.

While the local currency is the manat, the Russian ruble is in circulation and prices are often confusingly quoted in manats and rubles. […] The currency is the manat with a hundred gopik […]

1995, Fielding's ‘The World's Most Dangerous Places’, page 170:

The basic unit of currency for Azerbaijan; symbol ₼; subdivided into 100 qapik.


wrecker

Near-synonyms: breaker, knacker; salvager, salvor; scrapper, scrap dealer; shipbreaker, car breaker

(Australia) A person or company that dismantles old or wrecked vehicles or other items, to reclaim useful parts.

desballestador

(Soviet Union, crime, historical) Someone accused of the formal charge of wrecking; that is, of undermining the state in intangible ways.

Soviet Union; crime; Soviet Union; crime


dvornik

Borrowed from Russian дворник (dvornik, “concierge; one who takes care of the pavement and yard in front of a house”), from двор (dvor, “courtyard”).

bor+

Go to my dvornik and help him to remove the dung. I will pay you.

1901, Maxim Gorky, The Man Who Was Afraid:

He reached the doorway of his house in a state of mental discouragement which enabled him to receive with apparent indifference an official-looking envelope from the dirty hand of the dvornik.

1911, Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes:

My mother kept a cook and a nursemaid, and a dvornik, or outdoor man, to take care of the horses, the cow, and the woodpile.

(archaic) A doorman, porter, janitor, or groundskeeper in a Russian household


Yerevan

/ˌjeɹəˈvæːn/

/ˌjeɹəˈvɑːn/

Before long Abbas Mirza suffered a succession of defeats, which culminated in the capture of Erivan, today capital of Armenia.

1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 99:

Crammed to the gills with history, it nestles in the shadow of Mount Ararat and has a medieval centre but it's Yerevan's religious heritage that is its main claim to fame.

2009 September 26, Geoff Garvey, The Guardian:

The capital and largest city of Armenia.


Lyons

From Old French Lyons (nominative of Lyon), from the Roman name, Latin Lugdūnum (“fort of Lug”), named after Lugus, a Celtic deity, from Proto-Celtic *Lugus.

bor

nominative of <i class="Latn mention" lang="fro">Lyon</i>

Alternative form of Lyon, the capital city of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France.

Lyon

A city, the county seat of Toombs County, Georgia, United States.

A city, the county seat of Rice County, Kansas, United States.


Livonia

From Latin Livonia, from Estonian liiv (“sand”).

(historical) A historical region in the Baltic, south of the Gulf of Finland, now divided and constituting southern Estonia and northern Latvia.


Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Baden-Württemberg · Bavaria · Brandenburg · Hesse · Lower Saxony · Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania · North Rhine-Westphalia · Rhineland-Palatinate · Saarland · Saxony · Saxony-Anhalt · Schleswig-Holstein · Thuringia


Pays de la Loire

administrative region
administrative region

An administrative region of France, near Brittany.


Graves

A region close to Bordeaux in south-western France.


Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Прованс — Альпы — Лазурный Берег m (Provans — Alʹpy — Lazurnyj Bereg)


Minsk

From Russian Минск (Minsk) or Belarusian Мінск (Minsk).

Мѣнскъ

forms with ѣ replaced with е also recorded in later periods


Île-de-France

An administrative region in north-central France, including Paris.


Lyon

From French Lyon (supplanting earlier Lyons, derived from the Old French nominative form), from the Roman name, Latin Lugdūnum (“fort of Lug”), named after Lugus, a Celtic deity, from Proto-Celtic *Lugus.

Lyon was not a very cheerful town at night. It was a big, heavy, solid-money town, probably fine if you had money and liked that sort of town. For years I had heard about the wonderful chicken in the restaurants there, but we had eaten mutton instead.

1964, Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 152:

The third largest city in France; capital of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.


Baltic

From Latin Balticus, from Latin Balthae (“dwellers near the Baltic sea”), equivalent to Balt + -ic. The ultimate origin is uncertain, but possibilities could include:
* From North Germanic *baltaz (“strait”), in reference to the narrow entranceway of the sea
* Related to Lithuanian baltas (“white”) and Proto-Slavic *bolto (“swamp, bog, mud”), which is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“white”)
* Related to Latin balteus (“belt”) (compare Proto-Germanic *baltijaz), referring to the Danish straits, "the Belts". This is suggested by Adam of Bremen, who in the 11th century first recorded the name (Balticus, eo quod in modum baltei longo tractu per Scithicas regiones tendatur usque in Greciam).

der

Well, you see, I was temporarily in command of the cruiser coming down the Baltic, and passing an island rock a few miles away, I thought it would be a good opportunity to test a new gun that had been put aboard when we left England.

1906, Robert Barr, A Rock in the Baltic:

A region of Northern Europe, surrounding the Baltic Sea.


the Rock

* (Gibraltar): From the Rock of Gibraltar

Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula#English

Strait of Gibraltar
Strait of Gibraltar#English

(UK) Nickname of Gibraltar. A colony of the United Kingdom, of the Iberian Peninsula, Europe, on the Strait of Gibraltar, between Mediterranean and Atlantic

San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay#English

(US) Nickname of the island of Alcatraz. An island in San Francisco Bay, Pacific, of California, United States


Canarian

Of, or relating to the Canary Islands, its inhabitants or culture.


Scotland Yard

From the address, originally at Great Scotland Yard off Whitehall, then at New Scotland Yard on the Embankment, and (currently) at New Scotland Yard in Westminster.

I, for my part, drew up as full a précis of the case as I deemed advisable, and as time permitted, which I despatched by one of the company’s police to Scotland Yard.

The headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department of the London Metropolitan Police Force.


sloboda

Borrowed from Russian слобода́ (slobodá), which is related to a common Slavic word for “freedom”, in reference to such settlements' initial freedom from taxes and forced labor duties.

A kind of settlement, village, or suburb in the history of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

слабада́

a kind of settlement in the history of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine


Augustan

From the Latin Augustānus, from Augustus, a Roman emperor who ruled a period of peace and prosperity known as the Pax Romana or Pax Augusta.

Pertaining to the times of the Roman emperor Augustus (63 B.C.E. - 14 C.E.).

(literature) Pertaining to the Roman poetic literature during this time.


palmo

From Spanish and Portuguese palmo (“handspan”), from Latin palmus. Doublet of palm, palma, and pam.

(historical, measure) A traditional Portuguese unit of length, usually equivalent to about 22 cm.


Leeds

* The large city in West Yorkshire is from Old English Loidis, from Latin *Lādenses, most likely based on an early river-name derived from Proto-Celtic *lāto (“rut, heat”) (c.f. Welsh llawd (“heat, ardour”)).
* The village in Kent is from Old English Hledes, probably from a stream-name.

City of Leeds
Leeds
Leeds (disambiguation)
Leeds, Kent

metropolitan borough
metropolitan borough

A large city and metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England.

Jefferson County
Jefferson County#English

St. Clair County
St. Clair County#English

A number of places in the United States:

A city in Jefferson County, St. Clair County and Shelby County, Alabama.

Androscoggin County
Androscoggin County#English

A minor city and township in Benson County, North Dakota.


threepence

en-noun

threepence (countable and uncountable, plural threepences)

(countable, historical) A former (pre-decimalisation) British or Irish coin worth three old pence.


Homer nods

Horace acknowledges that honeſt Homer''' nods ſometimes: He is not equally awake in every Line: […]

1677, John Dryden, “The Authors Apology for Heroique Poetry; and Poetique Licence”, in The State of Innocence, and Fall of Man: An Opera. Written in Heroique Verse, and Dedicated to Her Royal Highness, the Duchess, London: Printed by T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, at the Anchor in the Lower Walk of the New Exchange, →OCLC:

Thoſe are but Stratagems which Errors ſeem, / Nor is it Homer Nods, but We that Dream.

1709, Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism, London: Printed for W. Lewis in Russell-street, Covent-Garden; and sold by W. Taylor at the Ship in Pater-Noster-Row, T. Osborn in Grays-Inn near the Walks, and J. Graves in St. James's-Street, published 1711, →OCLC, page 12:

He [de Vigneul-Marvin] knows that Homer''' nods sometimes, and that Faults are found in the beſt writers. He is an Author himself, and conſequently may commit an Over-ſight as well as Pindar, Virgil, Horace, and all the moſt celebrated Ancient and Modern Authors.

1713, [Jean] de la Bruyere, N[icholas] Rowe, “Of M. de la Bruyere’s Book, entitul’d, The Characters: Or the Manners of the Present Age”, in The Works of Monsieur De La Bruyere. In Two Volumes. Containing, I. The Moral Characters of Theophrastus. II. The Characters, or, The Manners of the Present Age. III. M. Bruyeres Speech upon His Admission into the French Academy. IV. An Account of the Life and Writings of M. Bruyere. By Monsieur Coste. … Revis’d by the Paris Edition: With an Original Chapter, Of the Manner of Living with Great Men: Written after the Method of M. Bruyere, by N. Rowe, Esq., 6th edition, volume I, London: Printed for E[dmund] Curll, at the Dial and Bible, and J. Pemberton, at the Buck and Sun; both against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet, →OCLC, page 102:

And Homer nods: The Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles played in this year's NFC championship, not NFL championship as we said in a Friday follow-up (since corrected).

2009 April 27, James Taranto, “When Pigs Flu: But … but … Mexico has Socialized Medicine!”, in The Wall Street Journal, archived from the original on 2016-03-22:

Alternative form of even Homer nods (“not even the most vigilant and expert are immune to error”).


when in Rome

An ellipsis (anapodoton) of when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

(idiomatic, by ellipsis) One should adjust to local customs.


Piccadilly Circus

I've never seen the place so crowded – it was like Piccadilly Circus!

A traffic intersection in the West End of London, having connections with Piccadilly, Regent Street, Shaftesbury Avenue, Haymarket, Coventry Street and Glasshouse Street; proverbially visualised as being very busy with people.


Rumanian

Alternative spelling of Romanian (Sometimes used to create a more Germanic feel in text (compare the German word Rumänisch).)


Piccadilly

Audio (US)

From Pickadilly Hall, a house belonging to a tailor who specialized in a type of lace collar called a piccadill, possibly from conjectured Spanish *picadillo, from picado (“punctured, pierced”); compare 17th century Spanish picadura (“a similar lace collar”).
Piccadilly attested from 1743; previously the area was called Portugal, and the street Portugal Street (1692), after Catherine of Braganza.

Why Piccadilly? The Piccadilly Line was originally the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway (GNP&BR) which was shortened to Piccadilly in practice. Running under the main road between Piccadilly Circus and Hyde Park Corner, Piccadilly made sense and was also the most well-known location in the original company name.

2024 March 6, Stefanie Foster, “The changing face of the Piccadilly...”, in RAIL, number 1004, page 52:

(rail transport) The Piccadilly Line of the London Underground, originally known as the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway.

A suburb of Swinton, Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SK4598).

A village in Kingsbury parish, North Warwickshire district, Warwickshire, England, named after Piccadilly in London (OS grid ref SP2298).

North Warwickshire
North Warwickshire#English

A community of Central Frontenac, Frontenac County, Ontario, Canada.

Central Frontenac
Central Frontenac#English

Frontenac County
Frontenac County#English


Midlothian

A council area of Scotland, one of 32 created in 1996.


hersir

There was a powerful hersir in Sognefjord called Bjorn, who lived at Aurland; his son Brynjolf inherited everything from him.

1997, “Egil's Saga”, in Bernard Scudder, transl., The Sagas of Icelanders, Penguin, published 2001, page 52:

A local leader in early mediaeval Norway.


Confederate

Yes. Jeff Sessions, Trump’s Attorney General and the unfortunate result of Dobby the house elf’s one-night stand with the Confederate flag, got in trouble this-, (enjoy!) got in trouble this week for undisclosed meetings with Russia’s ambassadors, something which, in itself, is not against the law.

2017 March 5, Tim Carvell, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Jeff Maurer, Ben Silva, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Seena Vali, Julie Weiner, “Dalai Lama”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 4, episode 4, John Oliver (actor), Warner Bros. Television, via HBO:

Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America

(historical) Of or relating to the Confederate States of America.


Confederate

Braxton Bragg
James Longstreet
John Bell Hood
Joseph E. Johnston
P. G. T. Beauregard
Robert E. Lee
Stonewall Jackson

In fact, I heard everything in the world except that the Confederates lost the war. When I was ten years old, it was a violent shock to learn that General Lee had been defeated.

2012 March 12 [1936], Margaret Mitchell, quotee, “Interview with Margaret Mitchell from 1936”, in PBS American Masters:

(historical) A citizen of the Confederate States of America.

(historical) A supporter of Irish Catholic self-rule during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.


Powys

en-proper noun

Powys (countable and uncountable, plural Powyses)

Borrowed from Welsh Powys, from Latin pagēnsis (“provincial”). Cognate with Italian paese and French pays (“country”).

A principal area and preserved county of Wales, administrative headquarters Llandrindod Wells.


Leicester

Leicester
Leicester (disambiguation)
Leicester, Massachusetts
River Soar

From Middle English Ledecestre, from Old English Ligoraċeaster, from Old English Ligore (“the name of a people living by the River Soar”) + ċeaster (“settlement”). The river name is thought to be of Brythonic/Celtic origin and possibly from the same source as the river Loire.


Newport

en-proper noun

Newport (countable and uncountable, plural Newports)

Port-Neuf

the equivalent of Newport (new port: a new transport hub)

Porte-Neuve

the equivalent of Newport (new port: a new portal)

A city and unitary authority in south-east Wales, historically in Monmouthshire.

A city, the county seat of Jackson County, Arkansas.

A city in Kentucky, and one of the two county seats of Campbell County; named for English seaman Christopher Newport.

Washington County
Washington County#English

A placename
A locale in the United States:
A city in Washington County, Minnesota.

A city, the county seat of Lincoln County, Oregon.

A placename
A locale in the United States:
A city in Newport County, Rhode Island.

A city, the county seat of Cocke County, Tennessee.

A city, the county seat of Orleans County, Vermont.

Pend Oreille County
Pend Oreille County#English

A city, the county seat of Pend Oreille County, Washington.


Grecian

From Latin Graecia + -an. Compare Old French grecien and Middle English grecan, grecen, greken, grekin.

Olympic Games. — Besides the ordinary confederacies that join independent states together, a singular federal bond is remarkable in the Olympic games, which for many ages cemented the Grecian commonwealths by a joint tie of recreation and religious ritual.

1840, John Dunlop, The Universal Tendency to Association in Mankind. Analyzed and Illustrated, London: Houlston and Stoneman, page 103:

He was a young man with a scornful mouth and the bright blue eyes of a healthy baby set in a dark sensitive face. His hair was pitch black, damp and curly—the hair of a Grecian statue gone brunette.

1920, F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Offshore Pirate”, in Flappers and Philosophers, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 11:

(obsolete or poetic) Greek (of or from Greece or the Greek people, especially those of Ancient Greece).


NKVD

From the Russian НКВД (NKVD), through phonetic spelling of Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних де́л (Naródnyj komissariát vnútrennix dél) and the use of acronym.

On the defensive side, Stalin had made equally thorough preparations. Lenin’s personal guard consisted of two men, later increased to four after the attempt on his life by Fanny Kaplan. Stalin’s was several thousand strong, and the NKVD in addition kept other units at a state of readiness. The road to his country dacha, some twenty miles away, was guarded by over 3,000 agents, with cars, telephone connections, etc. When Stalin was actually en route, the road was virtually under martial law.

1968, Robert Conquest, The Great Terror: Stalin's Purge of the Thirties, Macmillan Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, pages 546–547:

The People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs — the Soviet interior ministry known for its secret police, forerunner of the KGB


Welshwoman

A woman who is a native or inhabitant of Wales.


Scotia

1958 - Scotia Plan Loans [...] The Bank of Nova Scotia becomes the first Canadian bank to promote lending to the average consumer.

1958, “Scotiabank Timeline”, in Scotiabank Canada, retrieved 2023-06-20, page 2:

Just listen how the flow sounds / And you gon' learn quick I represent Sco-town (Scotia) / Illville to be exact / Shout out to Uniacke / Straight up to w:North Preston and back

2009, “I'm So Scotian”performed by Hellafactz:

At Scotia Dental in Halifax, our dentists [...]

2023 June 20 (last accessed), Scotia Dental:

census-designated place
census-designated place

A census-designated place in Humboldt County, California, United States.


Lord's

(cricket) Lord's Cricket Ground, a cricket ground in London.


Montenegrin

en-adj

Montenegrin (comparative more Montenegrin, superlative most Montenegrin)

more Montenegrin (comparative)
most Montenegrin (superlative)

/ˌmɒntɪˈniːɡɹɪn/

From Italian montenegrino; equivalent to Montenegro + -ine.


Montenegrin

en-noun

Montenegrin (countable and uncountable, plural Montenegrins)

/ˌmɒntɪˈniːɡɹɪn/

(countable) a person from Montenegro (country)

(uncountable) The standardized variety of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken in Montenegro.

Montenegryns

the standardized variety of Serbo-Croatian


eyrir

From Icelandic eyrir. Doublet of aureus, öre, øre, and oyra.

A subdivision of currency, equal to one hundredth of an Icelandic króna


Alemannic

/ˌælɪˈmænɪk/

/ˌæləˈmænɪk/

From Latin Alemannicus, from Latin Alemannī (“the confederation of German tribes related to Suebi who lived near the upper reaches of the Danube”), from Proto-Germanic *Alamanniz, corresponding to *allaz + *mann-.

der

A language or dialect group, belonging to the High German dialects, spoken in certain parts of South Germany, in Alsace (France), Vorarlberg (Austria), Switzerland and Liechtenstein.


Eire

[…]; above all, from their language, which, to this day, has left its impress on the lands through which they journeyed from Aria to Ara, from Iberia to Eire.

1887, U. J. Bourke, Pre-Christian Ireland, Browne & Nolan, page 1:

Eire - now an oddity rarely used, an out-of-date reference.

1996, John Wilson, Understanding Journalism; A Guide To Issues, Routledge., →ISBN, page 269:

“No. My father and Uncle Terry agreed on most things, including a united Irish Republic that included all of Eire. […]”

2004, Douglas Clark, Belfast: A Novel of the Troubles, Virtualbookworm.com Publishing, →ISBN, page 211:

“No, I do not,” she replied. “Eire was not meant to be won by force, as the Romans intend. […] In attacking them, you avenge your kin and maintain the peaceful island of Eire. […]”

2005, Kieran Wasserman, The Battle for Eire, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 310:

The island of Ireland, consisting of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland


Scotsman

Coordinate term: Scotswoman


Ancien Régime

Borrowed from French Ancien Régime, from ancien (“former”) + régime (“rule, order”). The word first appeared in English in print in 1794.

(historical) The aristocratic social and political system established in France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties, overthrown by the French Revolution of 1789.

ancien régime

aristocratic system in France before the French Revolution


Gordian

Gordianus, name of three Roman emperors.


South Wales

An area of southern Wales bordering the Bristol Channel.


Ipswich

From the Old English personal name Gip, genitive case Gipes + Old English wīċ (“port, bay”).

A small city, the county seat of Edmunds County, South Dakota, United States.


Milton Keynes

From an earlier "Middleton Caynes" when the village was in the manor of the "de Cahaines" family.

A Milton Keynes is up against a long-term cost disadvantage.

Now a Milton Keynes resident knows a concrete cow when he sees one but . . .

1990, Nick Meers, Sue Seddon, Enigmatic England:

They are now displayed in a Milton Keynes park near the railway line.

1998, Ruth H. Finnegan, Tales of the city: a study of narrative and urban life:

Without official recognition Gatwick has become the Milton Keynes of the south side of London, and Stansted looks set to be the same for the north-east.

2005, Brian Edwards, The modern airport terminal: new approaches to airport architecture:

Nearby was the tidier town of Tychy, a faceless Milton Keynes type of place without the roundabouts.

2008, Dave Spencer, A smudge on my lens:

Originally a village in Buckinghamshire, now a purpose-built city in central England, United Kingdom, containing the towns of Bletchley, Wolverton, Stony Stratford, and many smaller villages.


Norwich

From Old English norþ (“north”) + wīċ (“hamlet”).

New London County
New London County#English

A number of places in the United States:

A city in New London County, Connecticut.

A minor city in Kingman County, Kansas, named after Norwich, Connecticut.

A city, the county seat of Chenango County, New York.

An unincorporated community in McHenry County, North Dakota, named after Norwich, England.

A town and census-designated place therein, in Windsor County, Vermont.


Dudley

Translingual: Dudleya

From Old English, literally "wood or clearing of Dudda (a personal name of unknown meaning)".

Haliburton County
Haliburton County#English

A former township in the municipality of Dysart et al, Haliburton County, Ontario, Canada.


Canterbury

/ˈkæntəbəɹɪ/

From Middle English Caunterbury, Canterburi, from Old English Cantwara burg.

A town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States.

An unincorporated community in Kent County, Delaware, United States.

Merrimack County
Merrimack County#English

A town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States.

An unincorporated community in Mingo County, West Virginia, United States.


Plymouth

From Plym + mouth, referring to the river's mouth.

A small city in Amador County, California.

A town in Litchfield County, Connecticut.

Litchfield County
Litchfield County#English

Penobscot County
Penobscot County#English

A sizable city in Hennepin County, Minnesota; suburb of Minneapolis.

A town in Grafton County, New Hampshire.

A borough of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

A small town in Windsor County, Vermont.

A number of places in the United States:


Silicon Sentier

The area of high-tech businesses in France.


Riegel

Riegel am Kaiserstuhl
Riegel am Kaiserstuhl

Riegel am Kaiserstuhl, a municipality in the district of Emmendingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.


Marseille

From French Marseille (supplanting earlier Marseilles, derived from the Old French nominative form), from Latin Massilia, Marsilia, from Ancient Greek Μασσαλία (Massalía), probably from a pre-Latin language of Italy, perhaps Ancient Ligurian mas (“spring”). The r was probably retained from Arabic مَرْسَى (marsā, “harbor”).

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur#English

The capital city of the Bouches-du-Rhône department, France; capital city of the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.


Anglophilia

/ˌæŋ.ɡləʊˈfɪ.li.ə/

Perhaps Anglophilia continues to play its part, but if I were one of the few surviving teachers of Anglo-Saxon I would rejoice at the way in which such terms as muggle and Wizengamot, and such names as Godric, Wulfric and Dumbledore, had become common currency.

2007 August 12, Christopher Hitchens, “Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lived”, in New York Times:

But now, as a company with the word "British" in its name pisses apocalyptic quantities of oil into the ocean, and CEO Tony Hayward pops up on the news to make tactless statements in a British accent, anglophilia is shrivelling.

2010 June 14, Charlie Brooker, The Guardian:

The love of the country, culture or people of England.

anglofília

the love of the country, culture or people of England


Forest of Dean

Unknown. Possibly related to Welsh din (“fort, stronghold”), or to Dane.

A local government district in Gloucestershire bordering onto Wales, formed in 1974 and with its headquarters in Coleford.


Aragon

autonomous community
autonomous community

An autonomous community in northeastern Spain. Capital: Zaragoza.


Nagorno-Karabakh

/nəˌɡɔːnəʊ kɑːɹəˈbɑːk/

Borrowed from Russian нагорно-караба́хский (nagorno-karabáxskij) (without the adjectival ending), the relational adjective of Russian Наго́рный Караба́х (Nagórnyj Karabáx), as in Russian Наго́рно-Караба́хская автоно́мная о́бласть (Nagórno-Karabáxskaja avtonómnaja óblastʹ, “Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast”).

bor

нагорно-караба́хский

Наго́рный Караба́х

m+

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic


grao

From Portuguese grão (“grain”), from Old Galician-Portuguese grão, from Latin grānum. Doublet of corn, grain, gram, and granum.

doublet

(historical) A traditional short Portuguese unit of length, equivalent to about 4.6 mm.

(historical) A traditional short Portuguese unit of mass, equivalent to about 50 mg.


Newcastle upon Tyne

Use of the city's major river to distinguish it from other British places known as Newcastle; most notably Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Similar statements were made in Britain, where the growing white lead industry in Newcastle-upon-Tyne caused waves of illness and even death among women workers: Dr Charles T. Thackrah had early on denounced the serious intoxications linked to the use of lead in industry and described the main symptoms allowing the disease to be diagnosed and patients to be distanced from the source of poisoning (1831), as had Henry Burton, who stated that a greyish coloration of the gums was an unmistakable symptom of lead poisoning, then known as the "Burtonian line" (1840).

2021, Judith Rainhorn, The Colour of Controversy..., pp. 8–9

metropolitan borough
metropolitan borough

A large city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in northeastern England.


Gateshead

Bede
Gateshead
Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead

From Middle English Gatesheved (c. 1190), from Old English *Gāteshēafod, first mentioned by Bede in Latin in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People as ad caput caprae (at the goat's head), meaning a headland or hill frequented by (wild) goats. Both Latin and English names may be calques of a Brythonic predecessor formed from Proto-Brythonic *gaβr, from Proto-Celtic *gabros, and might have been the Romano-British fort of Gabrosentum.

Of this number, 64 belonged to the above district, including Newcastle, with the addition of Gateshead, which lies on the opposite bank of the Tyne, in the county of Durham; and these afforded 2.13 cases per annum, which, as the population was 213,000, gave one case for every 100,000 inhabitants.

1830, John Yelloly, Sequel to a Paper on the Tendency to Calculous Diseases, and on the Concretions to Which Such Diseases Give Rise, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 120

A town in Tyne and Wear, in north-east England. Found upon the southern bank of the Tyne.

A metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear formed in 1974, with its headquarters in the town.


Northumbrian

An inhabitant of North East England; or specifically Northumberland.


Bedford

Bedford (disambiguation)
John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford

From Middle English Bedforde, Bedeford, from Old English Bedaford, Bedanford, equivalent to Bede's + ford.
The civil parish is named after John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford (1710 - 1771). Coined by British-Dutch surveyor Samuel Holland.

coin

Westchester County
Westchester County#English


toma

Borrowed from Italian toma. Cognate with Sicilian tuma.

A semi-hard Italian cheese from Piedmont


stade

From Latin stadium, from Ancient Greek στάδιον (stádion), a 600-foot racetrack, a distance of 600 Greek feet. Cognate with French stade. Doublet of stadium, stadion, and estadio.

doublet

(geology) in glaciation during which a secondary advance of the glaciers occurs.


stade

From Spanish estado, from Latin status (“standing”), in reference to it being roughly the height of a grown man. Doublet of estate, state, status, and estado.

(units of measure, obsolete) Synonym of estadio: a traditional Spanish unit of measure equivalent to about 1.67 m.


stade

(obsolete) Fabric or textiles from or similar to those of Stade.


Dortmund

North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia#English

A major city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany.


Bastille

Borrowed from French Bastille, from bastille (“fortress”): see further at the English entry bastille. The building was known in full as the Bastille Saint-Antoine, and was a former fortress used as a prison by the French monarchy in the 17th and 18th centuries.

A former fortress and prison in Paris, France, the storming of which in 1789 began the French Revolution.


Carlisle

From Middle English Carlele, from Old English Carleol, Carleul, from Cumbric [Term?] (compare Caer Ligualid in the Historia Brittonum, Middle Welsh Caer Liwelydd, Welsh Caerliwelydd, all suffixed with -ydd), composed of Proto-Brythonic *kaɨr (“fort”) + Proto-Brythonic [Term?] (> Latin Luguvalium), from Proto-Celtic *Luguwalos (personal name, literally “strength of Lugus”), from *Lugus + *walos (“strength”).
The absence of a suffix comparable to Welsh -ydd in the underlying Cumbric form is unexplained; see w:Cumbric/Absence of -ydd.

der

A number of places in the United States:

Schoharie County
Schoharie County#English


Middlesbrough

/ˈmɪdəlzˌbʌɹə/

From Old English middle (“middle”) + Old English burh (“fortified place”). Doublet of Middleburg and Middlebury. Cf. also Middelburg.

A town and unitary authority with borough status in North Yorkshire, England, situated on the River Tees.


Nuremberg

/ˈnjʊəɹəmbəɡ/

From German Nürnberg, from Medieval Latin Norinberga. The second element is from Berg, origins of the first element unclear.


Italianization

/ɪˌtæljənəˈzeɪʃən/

(historical) The forced cultural and ethnic assimilation of minorities in the Kingdom of Italy, with particular reference to the Fascist government (1922–1943).

італьяніза́цыя

process of forced assimilation into the Italian culture


Wolverhampton

From Old English *Wulfrūnehēantūn named after Lady Wulfruna, who founded the town.

A city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England.


Rotterdam

/ˈɹɒtə(ɹ)ˌdæm/


Cornish pasty

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

[…] after we have removed some of the dust of our journey, we sit down to a well-spread tea-table, on which a noble Cornish pasty holds the post of honour.

1854, Chambers's Journal of popular literature, science and arts, W. & R. Chambers:

A kind of meat pie, not made in a pie pan but with a large piece of folded-over pastry dough, crimped shut, then baked on a sheet. There is no one standard recipe, but it usually includes meat and vegetables in a thick hearty sauce.


Lille

From French Lille (see there for more), from Old French l'Isle (“the Island”), ultimately from Latin īnsula (“island”). Compare also isle and Lyle.

A city, the capital of the Nord department, France; regional capital of Hauts-de-France.


double eagle

When a legion pitched its camp, the eagle was placed in its centre; and if it happened that two legions encamped together, they erected upon the limits of the two camps a double eagle, with heads and wings opposed.

1865, The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, page 294:

The black imperial double eagle is better known and still features on the Albanian national flag.

2011, Peter H. Wilson, The Holy Roman Empire 1495-1806, Macmillan International Higher Education, →ISBN, page 115:

That the donors were members of the local Byzantine aristocracy is shown by the double eagle on one of the female donors' attire and demonstrates the continuation of artistic production by the Byzantine elite in Venetian Crete.

2018, Eirini Panou, The Cult of St Anna in Byzantium, Routledge, →ISBN:

A representation of an eagle with two heads, as in the heraldic arms of Russia and Austria and in iconography from Antiquity onward (especially in the Roman Empire).


Elbe

From German Elbe, from Middle High German Elbe, from Old High German Elba, from Proto-West Germanic [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *albī.

A river in central Europe that passes through the Czech Republic and Germany before flowing into the North Sea.


Marseillaise

The French national anthem, La Marseillaise, with at least seven verses plus the chorus.


carry owls to Athens

en-verb

carry owls to Athens (third-person singular simple present carries owls to Athens, present participle carrying owls to Athens, simple past and past participle carried owls to Athens)

carries owls to Athens (present singular third-person)
carrying owls to Athens (participle present)
carried owls to Athens (participle past)
carried owls to Athens (past)

bring owls to Athens
bring owls to Athens#English

Alternative form of bring owls to Athens


Sheffield

en-proper noun

Sheffield (countable and uncountable, plural Sheffields)

From the name of the River Sheaf, which is from Old English scēaþ (“boundary”), + Old English feld (“field, open land”).

A city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom.


gendarme

en-noun

gendarme (plural gendarmes or gensdarmes)

Borrowed from French gendarme, from plural gendarmes, a re-spelling of gens d’armes (“people of arms", "armed people”).

The previous attempts foundered when they tried to take this gendarme directly.

1979, Chris Jones, Climbing in North America, →ISBN, page 118:

The Arete starts easily, with several beautiful, loping pitches leading to a striking gendarme.

1998, Climbing - Issues 178-180, page 64:

Continuing to the main summit involves ascents of the gendarmes (the first being the owl-eared one referred to in the next route description) and 140-foot rappels down their south sides.

2013, Joe Kelsey, Climbing and Hiking in the Wind River Mountains, →ISBN, page 259:


Britisher

(India) The British colonial authorities; a European member of the British Raj, especially an officer from the colonial authorities.


Union Jack

20 May 2018, Hadley Freeman in The Guardian, Is Meghan Markle the American the royals have needed all along?
When the wedding started I found a spot near Windsor Castle’s entrance, where I could watch the ceremony on a big screen. People who line the roads at weddings are, by definition, the most die-hard royalists, and all the usual figures were out in force: the men bellowing and ringing bells in the hope of convincing a passing American TV crew they are an actual town crier; the men in suits made of Union Jacks.

The flag of the United Kingdom, consisting of the flags of England (St. George's Cross), Scotland (St. Andrew's Cross), and Ireland (St. Patrick's Cross, now only used in Northern Ireland) combined.


Siberian

[saɪˈbɪəɹɪən]


Siberian

[saɪˈbɪəɹɪən]


Merthyr Tydfil

/ˌmɜːθə ˈtɪdvɪl/

A county borough in Glamorgan, south Wales.


Caerphilly

From Welsh Caerffili (literally “Ffili’s fort”).

der

A county borough in Wales formed in 1996.


Milanese

—the waiter was a Milanese, and ardently patriotic—

Finally, the first maestro to have been both a Milanese and a product of the studio, Giovanni Battista Cesati, served from before 1655, publishing a motet book, until he was called to Bologna in summer 1658.

2002, Robert L. Kendrick, The Sounds of Milan, 1585-1650, Oxford University Press on Demand, →ISBN, page 66:

Indeed, in Milan, everyday conversations and practices of relating, attunement, and distancing between inhabitants also partake in wider discourses concerning who is a “Milanese” and what the Milanese share.

2015 March 27, Cristina Moretti, Milanese Encounters: Public Space and Vision in Contemporary Urban Italy, University of Toronto Press, →ISBN, page 12:


rial

Borrowed from Persian ریال (riyâl) (in the case of Iran) and a variant transliteration of Arabic رِيَال (riyāl) (in the case of Oman and Yemen), from Spanish real. Doublet of real, royal, and regal.

transliteration

(historical) An old gold coin of England.


Galwegian

en-adj

Galwegian (comparative more Galwegian, superlative most Galwegian)

more Galwegian (comparative)
most Galwegian (superlative)

/ɡɔːlˈwiːdʒən/

Of or pertaining to Galloway, Scotland, or to its historic people, language and culture.

Of or pertaining to Galway, Ireland, or to its residents.


Galwegian

/ɡɔːlˈwiːdʒən/


Crawley

From Old English crāwe (“crow”), genitive plural, crāwan + lēah (“wood, clearing”).

A large town and borough in West Sussex, England.


samovar

From Russian самова́р (samovár, “self-boiler”); from само́ (samó, “self”) + вари́ть (varítʹ, “boil, cook”).

bor

Come on now with the samovar ─ and make haste sorting the letter-bag.

1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, Duckworth, hardback edition, page 107

Eurydice pointed to the cupboard, and sat down on the low divan with folded hands, and looked at the floor.[…]Elsa made her drink a glass of vodka. Then she fetched the samovar from the kitchen, and made tea.

1932, Maurice Baring, chapter 20, in Friday's Business:

A metal urn with a spigot, for boiling water for making tea. Traditionally, the water is heated by hot coals or charcoal in a chimney-like tube which runs through the center of the urn. Today, it is more likely that the water is heated by an electric coil.


East Germany

German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic#English

(historical, 1949–1990) A former Communist country of Central Europe, existing between 1949 and 1990. Official name: German Democratic Republic. Capital: East Berlin.


Gwynedd

A county of Wales, in the north-west of the country.


Düsseldorf

Regierungsbezirk Düsseldorf

an administrative region of North Rhine-Wesphalia

The capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.


Great Yarmouth

desc

→ Japanese: グレート・ヤーマス

→ Japanese: グレート・ヤーマス

A coastal town and borough of Norfolk, England

Borough of Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth


Kingston upon Hull

Distinguishing this location from other places also known as Kingston.

East Riding of Yorkshire
East Riding of Yorkshire#English

A city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, also known as Hull.


Basildon

Basildon (disambiguation)
Borough of Basildon

A civil parish in West Berkshire, Berkshire, England, bordered by the River Thames.


Eastbourne

A coastal town and borough in East Sussex, England (OS grid ref TV6098).

An eastern suburb of Darlington, County Durham, England (OS grid ref NZ3014).

An isolated suburb of Lower Hutt and former borough in Wellington region, New Zealand.


Harrogate

/ˈ(h)æɹəɡət/

A local government district with borough status of North Yorkshire, formed in 1974, with its headquarters in the town.


Maidstone

From Old English medestan, meddestane from earlier mægdan stane (“the maidens' stone, the people's stone”). Ultimately from Old English mægden + stan or mægð + stan which are equivalent to maid(en) + stone. Compare Folkestone and Chiddingstone.

A town in and the county town of Kent, England; located on the River Medway.

A local government district with borough status of Kent, formed in 1974, with its headquarters in the county town.


Havant

A local government district with borough status of Hampshire, with its headquarters in the town of Havant.


Eastleigh

Borough of Eastleigh
Eastleigh (disambiguation)

A hamlet in Westleigh parish, North Devon district, Devon, England (OS grid ref SS4827).


Swindon

From Old English swīn (“swine, pig”) + denu (“valley”), similar to the name Swinden. The first element could instead be from the Old Norse personal name Sveinn, or its Old English equivalent swān.

A town, unitary authority, and borough in Wiltshire, England

A suburban village and civil parish in Cheltenham borough, Gloucestershire, England, also known as Swindon Village (OS grid ref SO9325).

South Staffordshire
South Staffordshire#English

A village and civil parish in South Staffordshire district, Staffordshire, England (OS grid ref SO8690).

Parry Sound District
Parry Sound District#English

A community of Perry township, Parry Sound District, Ontario, Canada.


Guildford

The root of the first part may be gold rather than guild: the only known 10th-century (Saxon) record uses Guldeford and in the 11th century Geldeford, both equivalent to gold ford. Local historians suggest that this might refer to golden-coloured flowers or sand.

A suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.


Fareham

en-proper noun

Fareham (countable and uncountable, plural Farehams)

Recorded as Ferneham in the Domesday Book, the placename derives from Old English fearn (“fern”) + hām (“homestead”).

A habitational surname from Old English.


Warrington

From Middle English Wardintone, from personal name, Wearda, from Old English weard (“guard”) + ing + tūn, meaning either "Wearda's estate" or "the lookout place".

A township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.


Chelmsford

Ultimately from Old English Ċēolmǣres (“Ceolmær's”) + ford, after an early landowner.

A city in and the county town of Essex, England, granted city status in 2012.

A local government district, the City of Chelmsford, originally formed in 1974, with its headquarters in the county town.

Middlesex County
Middlesex County#English

A town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts.


Torbay

In Devon, recorded as Torrebay in 1401, from Torre + bay "the bay near Torre", which later became Tor Bay.
The town in Newfoundland is named after the borough in Devon.


Supreme Soviet

Macaronic translation of Верхо́вный Сове́т (Verxóvnyj Sovét, “Supreme Council”)

The bicameral parliament of the former Soviet Union


Stratford-on-Avon

Stratford-on-Avon District
Stratford-upon-Avon
en:Clopton Bridge

From being the location of a river ford for a roadway. From Old Welsh avon (“river”) + Old English ford (“ford”) + Old English strǣt (“street”); from Latin strata (“road”). From being a ford for a British Roman road. The ford itself has subsequently been built over, becoming Clopton Bridge. The river itself has subsequently become named River Avon.

Nuneaton was not a Stratford on Avon, nor had it a salubrious air.

1957, The Foundry Trade Journal, page 454:

If America is not privileged enough to have a Stratford-on-Avon, it still has a Concord

1979, Steven Kagle, America: Exploration and Travel, page 82:

A town in Warwickshire, England, birthplace of William Shakespeare. Often used as a byword for a particularly idyllic or historic town.


Doncaster

Doncaster (countable and uncountable, plural Doncasters)

The Romano-British name was Latin Dānum, from the common Celtic river name Proto-Celtic *Dānu << Proto-Indo-European *dʰenh₂-, + the Old English suffix ceaster (“town”), found in many placenames.

An unincorporated community in Charles County, Maryland, United States.


Luton

From the name of the River Lea + Old English tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”). Doublet of Leyton.

der

A hamlet in Broadhembury parish, East Devon district, Devon, England (OS grid ref ST0802).


Gosport

Possibly from goose or gorse, or from God's port.

Northumberland County
Northumberland County#English

A community of the town of Brighton, Northumberland County, Ontario, Canada.

An unincorporated community in Clarke County, Alabama, United States.

A town in Wayne Township, Owen County, Indiana, United States.

Rockingham County
Rockingham County#English

A former town on Star Island, New Hampshire, United States, now part of the town of Rye, Rockingham County, New Hampshire.


Colchester

From Old English Colneċeaster, equivalent to Colne (a Celtic-named river) + Old English ceaster (“a Roman town”).

City of Colchester
Colchester
Colchester (disambiguation)

census-designated place
census-designated place

New London County
New London County#English

A town and census-designated place therein, in New London County, Connecticut.

McDonough County
McDonough County#English

A city and township in McDonough County, Illinois.

A place in the United States:
A town in Delaware County, New York.

Chittenden County
Chittenden County#English

A town in Chittenden County, Vermont, named after the Earl of Colchester.

An unincorporated community in Fairfax County, Virginia.


Louvre

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

Borrowed from French Louvre. More at Louvre Palace.

God above, this man was as chiseled as the statues she'd spied in the Louvre.

2011, Tara Kingston, Claimed by the Spymaster, page 68:

I don't care if your split, power or squat position looks like it should be in the Louvre, you won't jerk a thing.

2010, Don McCauley, Power Trip: A Guide to Weightlifting for Coaches, Athletes and Parents, page 130:

I preferred the Dutch apple pie, and my waitress for those few years had legs that belonged in the Louvre.

2006, Ted Nelson Lundrigan, Bob White, A Bird in the Hand, page 85:

IF YOU ARE a young Joe DiMaggio or Mickey Mantle with a swing that belongs in the Louvre, somebody might get the idea you could win a batting title, even if it was only your second year with the New York Yankees.

1985 February, Phil Elderkin, “Don Mattingly: A.L. Batting Champion, A Born Hitter”, in Baseball Digest, volume 44, number 2, page 49:

For purposes of illustrating a lecture on calisthenics, a stick figure is a better picture of a squatting man than something from the Louvre.

1960, Thomas Felix Staton, How to Instruct Successfully: Modern Teaching Methods in Adult Education, page 172:

They are cries which show that every one has his own place, and should stay in it, — M. de Guise in the streets, and you in the Louvre. Go to the Louvre, Sire; go to the Louvre.

1889, Alexandre Dumas, Dame de Monsoreau: Volume 1, page 319:

A famous art museum and former royal palace in Paris, France.


Brittish

en-adj

Brittish (comparative more Brittish, superlative most Brittish)

more Brittish (comparative)
most Brittish (superlative)

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren.

1776, Thomas Jefferson, others, The [United States'] Declaration of Independence:


Kemper

the Breton name for Quimper, France (see Breton language entry below).


Worcester

Inherited from Middle English Wirchestre, Wirechestre, from Old English Weogornaċeaster (“fort of the Weogoran”).

inh

Worcester County
Worcester County#English

A city, the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts.

An unincorporated community in Audrain County, Missouri.

A town and census-designated place therein, in Otsego County, New York.

Montgomery County
Montgomery County#English

A township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Washington County
Washington County#English

A town and census-designated place therein, in Washington County, Vermont.

A place in the United States:
A town in Price County, Wisconsin.


Islington

Islington (disambiguation)
London Borough of Islington

A suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.


Canaries

/kəˈnɛəɹiːz/

autonomous community
autonomous community

(informal) The Canary Islands, an archipelago and Spanish autonomous community off the coast of northwestern Africa.


Strasbourg

/ˈstɹæzbɜːɡ/

/ˈstɹæsbɜːɡ/

/ˈstɹɑːsbɝːɡ/

From French Strasbourg, from Middle High German Strāzburc. Compare modern German Straßburg, equivalent to Straße (“street, road”) + Burg (“borough, fortified town, castle”).

The capital city of the Bas-Rhin department, France; capital city of the region of Grand Est; located in the historic region of Alsace, near the border with Germany and at various historical points a part of Germany.


Canary Islands

Partial calque of Spanish Islas Canarias, itself likely a partial calque, with the plural of isla (“island”), of Latin Canāriae Īnsulae (literally “Islands of the Dogs”), from the feminine plural of canārius (“of or pertaining to dogs”) + the plural of īnsula f (“island”). Perhaps so named because monk seals or sea dogs were abundant, a name that was evidently generalized from the ancient name of one of these islands, Canaria – presumably Gran Canaria. According to the historian Pliny the Elder, the island Canaria contained “vast multitudes of dogs of very large size”. The connection to dogs is retained in the autonomous community’s coat of arms, which is also included in its flag. The canary was named after the islands, not vice versa.

der

An archipelago off the coast of northwestern Africa, near Morocco and belonging to Spain as an autonomous community.

الجُزُرُ الخَالِدَات

an archipelago off the coast of north-western Africa


Waterford

From water + ford. In the case of the city in Ireland, this is a modification through folk etymology of Old Norse Veðrafjǫrðr (literally “wether ford”).
The civil parish in New Brunswick may have been named after Waterford, Ireland.

A county of Ireland; see Wikipedia:County Waterford.


Toulouse

From French Toulouse, from Latin Tolōsa, probably of Gaulish origin. Compare Welsh twl (tumulus), Irish tulach, from Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- (“to swell”).

ncog

The capital city of the Haute-Garonne department, France; capital city of the region of Occitanie.


Millennium Dome

And while the Jubilee Line Extension was not built to serve the Millennium Dome, it was finished quickly in 1999 in order to take people to the Millennial Party that was held here; [...]

2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, pages 60–61:

A large building at Greenwich in London, the largest single roofed structure in the world; now renamed "O2".


Harley Street

After Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (1869-1741).

(by extension) The English medical profession (especially the private sector) as a group.


Barnsley

en-proper noun

Barnsley (countable and uncountable, plural Barnsleys)

From the Old English personal name Beorn + -s- + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”).

An unincorporated community in Hopkins County, Kentucky, United States.


Erasmus

From Medieval Latin Erasmus. The EU student exchange programme is named after Erasmus of Rotterdam, and also a backronym for “European [Community] Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students”.

(European Union) Ellipsis of Erasmus Programme, a student exchange programme established in 1987.


Ys

(mythology) A mythical sunken city in Brittany.


Nantes

Pays de la Loire
Pays de la Loire#English

The capital city of the department of Loire-Atlantique, France; capital city of the region of Pays de la Loire, in historical Brittany.


West Frisian Islands

A chain of islands in the North Sea, belonging to the Netherlands, part of the Frisian Islands.


Kazakh SSR

/ˈkæzæk ˌɛsɛsˈɑ(ɹ)/

/ˈkɑːzɑk ˌɛsɛsˈɑ(ɹ)/

Not far inside the USSR, to the south of the Ili on the Turkestan-Siberian Railway, sits Alma-Ata, the capital of the Kazakh SSR. Founded by the Russians a century ago, it contains over 456,000 inhabitants, mainly Russian. From its position, the city is able to command the western approach to the upper Ili.

1962, W. A. Douglas Jackson, The Russo-Chinese Borderlands: Zone of Peaceful Contact or Potential Conflict?, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., page 9:

Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, the name for the Republic of Kazakhstan while under the rule of the Soviet Union (1920–1990).


Lithuanian SSR

Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, the name for the Republic of Lithuania while under the rule of the Soviet Union (1940–1991, name changed in 1990).


Latvian SSR

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, the name of Latvia when it was a member republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1940–1941 and 1944–1991).

ლატვიის საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა

laṭviis sabč̣ota socialisṭuri resṗubliḳa

República Socialista Soviética de Letonia


Byelorussian SSR

/ˌbjɛləˈrʌʃən.ɛsɛsˈɑ(ɹ)/

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, the name for Bolshevik Belarus which became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union (1919–1991), member of the United Nations since 1945.

belorusiis sabč̣ota socialisṭuri resṗubliḳa

ბელორუსიის საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა


Estonian SSR

Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic
Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic

Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, the name for the Republic of Estonia while under the rule of the Soviet Union (1940–1991, name changed in 1990).

esṭonetis sabč̣ota socialisṭuri resṗubliḳa

ესტონეთის საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა

エストニア・ソビエト社会主義共和国

エストニア・ソビエトしゃかいしゅぎきょうわこく


Azerbaijan SSR

Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, the name for Azerbaijan while under the rule of the Soviet Union (1936–1991, name changed in 1990).

សាធារណរដ្ឋសង្គមនិយមសូវៀតអាស៊ែបៃហ្សង់

sa thea rak nak roth song kum ni yum so viet a sae bai zong


Armenian SSR

Soviet Socialist Republic
Soviet Socialist Republic

One of the 15 Soviet Socialist Republics that made up the former Soviet Union (1920-1991, name changed in 1990). Became independent as the Republic of Armenia in 1991, after the collapse of the USSR.

Հայկական ՍՍՀ

Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic — see also Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic

somxetis sabč̣ota socialisṭuri resṗubliḳa

სომხეთის საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა

アルメニア・ソビエト社会主義共和国

アルメニア・ソビエトしゃかいしゅぎきょうわこく

សាធារណរដ្ឋសង្គមនិយមសូវៀតអាមេនី

sa thea rak nak roth song kum ni yum so viet a me ni


West Berlin

(historical, Germany) The American, British and French sectors of Berlin between 1949 and 1990.


Soviet Socialist Republic

Soviet Socialist Republic (plural Soviet Socialist Republics)

(historical, government) Any of the republics belonging to the former Soviet Union.

Sosialistiese Sowjetrepubliek

any of the republics belonging to the former Soviet Union — see also SSR

խորհրդային սոցիալիստական հանրապետություն

ソビエト連邦構成共和国

ソビエトれんぽうこうせいきょうわこく

ソビエト社会主義共和国

ソビエトしゃかいしゅぎきょうわこく

ສາທາລະນະລັດສັງຄົມນິຍົມໂຊວຽດ

sā thā la na lat sang khom ni nyom sō wīat

сове́тская социалисти́ческая респу́блика


Western Europe

A sociopolitical region in the west of Europe.


West Germany

From informal use describing the British-, French-, and American-occupied zones of Germany following World War II, under influence from existing German Westdeutschland and Westdeutscher used to describe those areas of German-speaking Europe since the 17th and 18th centuries.

German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic

Federal Republic of Germany
Federal Republic of Germany#English

(historical, 1949–1990) A former country in Central Europe, distinguished from the German Democratic Republic, commonly known as East Germany. Official name: Federal Republic of Germany.


Ascension Island

/əˈsɛnʃən ˌaɪ̯lənd/

From its discovery on Ascension Day in the year 1503 CE.

British overseas territory
British overseas territory

An island, in the South Atlantic and part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.


German Democratic Republic

the German Democratic Republic (canonical)
GDR (abbreviation)

Calque of German Deutsche Demokratische Republik.

calque

The official name of East Germany from 1949 until reunification in 1990.

សាធារណរដ្ឋប្រជាធិបតេយ្យអាល្លឺម៉ង់

sa thea rak nak roath bro jea thib tai a ler morng

Герма́нская Демократи́ческая Респу́блика


Hadrian

From the Latin Hadrianus (“from the Roman harbor Hadria”), from Etruscan 𐌇𐌀𐌕𐌓𐌉𐌀 (hatria), possibly from Venetic adur (“water”), related to English water, Latin unda and Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr), all from Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥. Doublet of Adrian. See Adria.

bor

(historical) The Roman emperor Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus.


heller

Borrowed from German Heller. Doublet of halier.

(historical) A German coin equivalent to half a pfennig, later used widely as a small coin in Central Europe and the German Empire.

heller

13th-century coin equivalent to half a pfennig

A subdivision of the Czech, Slovakian and Czechoslovakian koruna. 100 hellers make up one koruna.


Extremadura

/ˌɛkstɹəməˈdʊəɹə/

Believed to derive from Latin Extrēma Dūriī, alluding to the fact that the province is located beyond the Douro river.

An autonomous province in western Spain. Capital: Mérida


duduk

A recent borrowing, from Armenian դուդուկ (duduk), itself from Ottoman Turkish دودوك (düdük).

(music) An Armenian woodwind instrument.


Chechen Autonomous Oblast

Autonomous oblast of the Soviet Union in the Russian SFSR (1922-1936).


South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast

Autonomous oblast of the Soviet Union in the Georgian SSR existing from 1922 to 1990.


Murcia

An autonomous community and province in southeast Spain.


Navarre

From French Navarre, from Spanish Navarra.

An autonomous community and province in northern Spain.


EMU

w:Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union

(European Union) Initialism of European Monetary Union.


Ulster Scots

The descendants of Scottish settlers in the Irish province of Ulster, mostly in present-day Northern Ireland.


Low Countries

The countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse (Maas) rivers.

低地國家

countries around the Rhine, Scheldt and Meuse rivers


Cappadocia

/kæpəˈdoʊʃə/

From Latin Cappadocia, from Ancient Greek Καππαδοκία (Kappadokía), from Old Persian 𐎣𐎫𐎱𐎬𐎢𐎣 (k-t-p-tu-u-k /katpatuka/).

der

An ancient region in central Asia Minor, in present-day Turkey.


Olympianism

(uncommon) Synonym of Hellenism (the modern-day revival of the polytheistic religious system of Ancient Greece).


Castile

From (possibly through a Middle French form) Spanish Castilla from Old Spanish Castiella from Medieval Latin Castella from the plural of Latin castellum (“castle, fort, citadel”), diminutive of castrum (“fortress”); supposedly derived from the many castles constructed in the region.

A vaguely defined region of central Spain generally corresponding to the regions of Old and New Castile.

A town and village therein, in Wyoming County, New York, United States, named after Castile in Spain.


Republic of Ireland

A republic in western Europe, covering most of the island of Ireland, with Dublin as its capital.


Greek fire

“There is yet spirit in him,” said Malvoisin apart to Mont–Fitchet, “were it well directed — but, like the Greek fire, it burns whatever approaches it.”

(historical) A highly flammable substance of unknown composition first used by the Greeks of Constantinople in the 7th century C.E. to set fire to enemy ships, buildings etc.


autoroute

Unadapted borrowing from French autoroute, equivalent to auto- (automobile) + route.

ubor

An expressway in any Francophone country.


British overseas territory

en-noun

British overseas territory (plural British overseas territories)

Any of about fourteen overseas territories which are not part of the United Kingdom but are subject to its sovereignty.

բրիտանական անդրծովյան տարածք

Any of about fourteen territories which are not part of the United Kingdom but are subjetc to its sovereignty


Galway hooker

A type of fishing boat in the west of Ireland with a distinctive black hull and red sails.


Sea of Japan

The body of water between Japan, Sakhalin, the Asian continent, and Jeju Island.

See van Japan

the sea between Japan and the rest of Asia

بحر الشرق m (baḥr al-šarq, literally “East Sea”)

(seldom used by Koreans) 일본해(日本海) (Ilbonhae, literally “Sea of Japan”)

조선동해(朝鮮東海) (Joseondonghae, literally “Eastern Sea of Korea”)


twopence

twopence (countable and uncountable, plural twopences)

(British, Ireland) A British or Irish coin worth two (old or new) pence.


ha'penny

ha'penny (plural ha'pennies or ha'pence)

The more a shop looks as though it trades in farthings and ha’pennies, the more tenners and twenties you can expect to hand over at the till.

2020 September 1, Tom Lamont, “The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian:

(historical, Ireland, UK) A halfpenny; a former British and Irish coin.


half-crown

From its value of half of the crown (five-shilling) coin.

[…] though we play but half-crowns, you know you may bet half guineas with him.

1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter XII, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 249:

Keeping, therefore, an eye to the main chance, stimulated by the best possible motive, Helen emptied her purse on the bed, in such a manner, as to allow a stray half sovereign to escape, when she added the shillings and half-crowns to the little heap, and said, in a tremulous voice, "Here is my money."

1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXIV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 10:

Half-a-crown is known as an alderman, half a bull, half a tusheroon, and a madza caroon; whilst a crown piece, or five shillings, may be called either a bull, or a caroon, or a cartwheel, or a coachwheel, or a thick-un, or a tusheroon.

1859, J.C. Hotten, A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words:

This is a masterly work of condensation, omitting nothing of importance and providing a most readable book that for a modest half-crown is incredibly good value.

1962 October, “New Reading on Railways: Great Western. By Cecil J. Allen, Ian Allan. 2s 6d.”, in Modern Railways, unnumbered page:

(historical) A pre-decimal coin used in Britain, Ireland and New Zealand, equivalent to 30 pence or two shillings and six pence.

Half crown (British coin)
Half crown (Irish coin)


bouzouki

From Greek μπουζούκι (bouzoúki, “bouzouki”), from Turkish bozuk (“out of order, rotten”). Doublet of buzuq.

The bouzouki itself, identified by this time almost equally with a ‘Turkish’ past and with the criminality of the underworld that cultivated it, became a symbol of subversion in the eyes of the authorities.

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation, Penguin, published 2020, page 262:

(music) A Greek long-necked plucked fretted lute with a sharp, metallic sound.


burgh

From Middle English borwe, borgh, burgh, buruh, from Old English burh, from Proto-West Germanic *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“city, stronghold”).
Cognate with Dutch burg, French bourg, German Burg, Persian برج (borj, “tower; battlement, fort”), Swedish borg. Doublet of borough, Brough, and Bury.

cog

1815, William Wordsworth, The Excursion, Book Eighth, The Parsonage, lines 95-104, http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww405.html
With fruitless pains / Might one like me 'now' visit many a tract / Which, in his youth, he trod, and trod again, / A lone pedestrian with a scanty freight, / Wished-for, or welcome, wheresoe'er he came— / Among the tenantry of thorpe and vill; / Or straggling burgh, of ancient charter proud, / And dignified by battlements and towers / Of some stern castle, mouldering on the brow / Of a green hill or bank of rugged stream.

This road leads to the burgh and castle of Harfang, where dwell the gentle giants.

1953, C. S. Lewis, chapter 6, in The Silver Chair, Collins, published 1998:

(UK) a borough or chartered town (now only used as an official subdivision in Scotland).


Westphalian

The long stagnation and despotism under the Chinese world order in East Asia before the late 19th century are thus pretentiously repackaged as China's alternative to the Western-dominated, Westphalian system of international relations.

2006 April 10, Fei-Ling Wang, “Heading off fears of a resurgent China”, in The New York Times:

(politics) Of or pertaining to the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 which established a new system of political order in Central Europe, based on the concept of co-existing sovereign states.


Tube

But 'Tube' is used as shorthand for the whole network, not least by London Underground itself, [...] It tends to be older people who hold on to the distinction. A friend of mine was visiting his mother who lives about 500 yards from Parsons Green station on the District, which is a cut-and-cover line [not a tube line]. At the end of the evening she said, "How are you getting back?" He said, "Oh, on the Tube", and she looked at him absolutely blankly. "What Tube?" she said, "There is no Tube here."

2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page unnumbered: A note on the title:

Still, it’s not just the decline of civilisation that worries me, nor the (related) effect on Tube manners (Candy Crushers are rarely very chivalrous).

2014 March 26, Richard Goodwin, “Candy Crush is the crystal meth of the commute”, in Evening Standard, page 17:


Kremlin

The Moscow Kremlin; a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia that serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation.

Politburo

also a proper noun sense from a common noun sense, and also often a metonym for the senior Soviet leadership


Byelorussian

/ˌbjɛləˈɹʌʃən/


Merton

en-prop

Merton (countable and uncountable, plural Mertons)

Any of several placenames in England from words meaning lake and settlement.

A village and civil parish in Torridge district, Devon (OS grid ref SS5212).

A district in borough of Merton, in south-west Greater London (OS grid ref TQ2670).

A village and civil parish in Cherwell district, Oxfordshire (OS grid ref SP5717).

An English habitational surname from Old English from the placenames.


Honorius

From Late Latin Honorius, derived from honōrus (“conferring honour”).

A Latin male given name from Latin, notably borne by a Roman emperor and several popes.


Stafford

en:Stafford
en:Stafford (disambiguation)
en:Stafford (surname)

A placename:
A place in the United States:
A town in Tolland County, Connecticut.

Fort Bend County
Fort Bend County#English

A city in Fort Bend County and Harris County, Texas.


Buckingham Palace

The official London residence of the British monarch.

Buckingham-paleis

the official London residence of the British monarch


Tiberius

From Latin Tiberius, literally 'Of the Tiber', from Tiberis, the river Tiber. Also note Faliscan equivalent *Tiferios. The name is mistaken by some to be of Etruscan origin but note the borrowed variants, Thefarie (from Faliscan) and Teperi (from Latin).

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee,

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 3:1:

(historical) A male given name from Latin of mostly historical use, in particular, the praenomen of the second Roman emperor Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, reigning 14-37 C.E..


Marcha Real

/ˌmɑːtʃə ɹeɪˈɑːl/

/ˌmɑːtʃə ɹeɪˈal/

/ˌmɑɹtʃə ɹeɪˈɑl/

Unadapted borrowing from Spanish Marcha Real (literally “Royal March”).


Laois

A county of Ireland, formerly known as Queens County.


effendi

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish افندی (efendi), from Greek αφέντη (afénti), vocative of αφέντης (aféntis), from Ancient Greek αὐθέντης (authéntēs, “lord, master”).

der

An educated or well-respected man in an eastern Mediterranean or Arab country; often used as a title of respect or courtesy in Turkey or a former Ottoman territory.


God Save the Queen

The national anthem of the United Kingdom when the current monarch is female.


Irish Republican Army

Any of several Irish guerrilla or terrorist organisations fighting British rule in Ireland (later Northern Ireland) since the early 20th century.


steeping

From the name of Stephen de Fulbourn, who served as bishop of Waterford, archbishop of Tuam, and treasurer and justiciar of Ireland in the 1270s and 1280s.

(historical, numismatics) A 13th-century coin circulated in Ireland as a debased sterling silver penny, outlawed under King Edward I.


Helsingfors

(obsolete) Helsinki (the capital of Finland).


Conwy

Conwy County Borough
w:Conwy County Borough

A county borough in Wales; ellipsis of Conwy County Borough.


nomenklatura

/nɒˌmɛnkləˈtjʊəɹə/

/nɒˌmɛnkləˈtʃʊəɹə/

Borrowed from Russian номенклату́ра (nomenklatúra), from Latin nōmenclātūra (“a calling by name, list of names”), from nomen (“name”) + calare (“call”). Doublet of nomenclature.

bor

номенклату́ра

der

(now historical) A list of bureaucratic posts in government and industry in the former Soviet Union (or other communist countries), filled by those appointed by the Party.


Italophile

An admirer of Italy or of its language, culture or people.


scalding

From Old French escalin, from Middle Dutch schelling (“shilling”). Doublet of shilling.

See synonyms at steeping.

(numismatics, historical) Synonym of escaline, (particularly) the form circulated by Stephen de Fulbourn in Ireland as a debased form of the sterling silver penny, outlawed under Edward I of England.


taiga

tiger (non-rhotic, using the initial-stress pronunciation)

From Russian тайга́ (tajgá), from South Siberian Turkic (Altai region, for example the Altay or Shor language, cf Khakas: тағ (tağ)), or alternatively Yakut тайга (tayga, “untraversable forest”). Doublet of Tayga.

The mountains run from the Arctic Island of Novaya Zemlya southwards, dividing the endless wastes of the Siberian taiga and the steppes from the Russian platform in the west.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 197:

Like the taiga, he was everywhere, and mysterious—a heroic being with unearthly gifts.

2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 871:

Reindeer are well suited to the taiga’s frigid winters. They can maintain a thermogradient between body core and the environment of up to 100 degrees, in part because of insulation provided by their fur, and in part because of counter-current vascular heat exchange systems in their legs and nasal passages.

2013 March 14, Nancy Langston, “Mining the Boreal North”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, archived from the original on 2016-04-13, page 98:

A subarctic zone of evergreen coniferous forests situated south of the tundras and north of the steppes in the Northern Hemisphere.

taiga
uk:Циганенко Галина Павлівна


Runnymede

An unincorporated community in Harper County, Kansas, United States.


grano

From Spanish grano (“grain, 1/9216 Spanish pound”), from Latin grānus (“grain”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm. Doublet of grain.

bor

(historical) A traditional Spanish unit of mass, equivalent to about 50 mg.


Plastic Paddy

From the sense of plastic as fake, ersatz, inauthentic, etc. and Paddy (“Patrick”) as a generic name for any Irish man.

(derogatory, ethnic slur) An Irish person considered to be inauthentically Irish, especially (UK) recent Irish arrivals to London.


Cestrian

A native or resident of any of the places called Chester (or Chester-le-Street, etc), especially Chester, England.


Cestrian

From or pertaining to any of the places called Chester (or Chester-le-Street, etc), especially Chester, England.


Byzantium

From Latin Bȳzantium, from Ancient Greek Βῡζᾰ́ντῐον (Būzántion), named after its legendary founder, Byzas.

An ancient Greek city situated on the Bosporus in modern Turkey, named Constantinople in 330 C.E.; modern Istanbul.


Ionian Island

Any of the seven Ionian Islands: Corfu, Ithaca, Kefallonia, Kythira, Lefkada, Paxoi and Zante.


Bakerloo

It was the Evening News, I know, which had a competition for naming one of the Tube lines. Hence our Bakerloo.

1945 July and August, John Gibbons, “Thirty Years of The Railway Magazine”, in Railway Magazine, page 228:

The Bakerloo Line of the London Underground, originally known as the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway.


luma

From Armenian լումա (luma). Doublet of nummus.

(numismatics) A currency unit of Armenia, worth one hundredth of an Armenian dram.


Selected by the European Union as the 3-digit number fastest to dial on cellular and rotary phones without the likelihood of accidental dialing caused by hanging up a landline telephone, sometimes interpreted by phone networks as a 1.

When you call 112 in the United Kingdom, the call is automatically rerouted to 999 operators.

The telephone number for emergency services on all GSM cell phones and in the EU, Russia, United Kingdom, Ireland, India, Indonesia, Turkey, Ukraine, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome, the Seychelles, Uganda, East Timor, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, North Macedonia, Vatican City, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, and Saint Vincent.

Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo

The telephone number for law enforcement in South Korea, Norway, Colombia, Serbia, Lebanon, Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, and Mauritius.


Balearic Islands

An autonomous community and province of Spain.


Praetorian

(historical, Ancient Rome) A member of a special bodyguard force used by Roman emperors, their symbol being the scorpion.


tam o'shanter

/tæməˈʃæntə/

After Tam O’Shanter, from the eponymous poem by Robert Burns.

A type of woolen hat developed in Scotland; a toorie bunnet.


Derry

en-proper noun

Derry (countable and uncountable, plural Derrys)

From Irish Doire, from doire (“oak grove”), from Old Irish daire (“oak forest”), from Proto-Celtic *daru.

One of the traditional counties in northwestern Northern Ireland; known as County Derry, or officially as County Londonderry.


Russian Empire

(historical) The Russian state from 1721 to 1917.


New Forest

A civil parish (served by Marske and New Forest Parish Council) in Richmondshire district, North Yorkshire, England.


Waverley

From Old English wǣfre (“restless, wavering”) + lēah (“meadow”), thus "the woodland clearing with swaying trees".

cog

Any of several placenames in several countries:

A community and civil parish with a community council in Rotherham borough, South Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SK4187).


Central Europe

/ˈsɛntɹəl ˈjʊəɹəp/

/ˈsɛntɹəl ˈjʊɹəp/

Western Christendom's centuries-long confrontation with the Oriental and Islamic empire of the Ottoman Turks also helped define Central Europe as a cultural and historical region.

1996, Lonnie R. Johnson, Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends, page 4:

A geographic region in the center of Europe, usually including Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and Germany.

Evropa e Mesme

geographical region in the center of Europe


tam-o'-shanter

Alternative form of tam o'shanter (“traditional Scottish wool hat”)


Thessalonian

/θɛsəˈləʊnɪ.ən/

Derived from Thessalonica. Appears as "Tessalonyans" in Tyndale Bible of 1525, but as "Tessalonicensis" in the older Wycliffe translation.

Someone or something from, or pertaining to, Thessaloniki


Hibernia

/hɪˈbɜː(ɹ)nɪə/

Learned borrowing from Latin Hibernia, which see.

(poetic) Ireland (an island and country in Western Europe).


meridional

/mɪˈɹɪdɪənəl/

Borrowed from Middle French meridional, from Latin merīdiōnālis, from merīdiēs (“noon; south”).

Offices that require heat […] should be meridional.

1624, Henry Wotton, The Elements of Architecture, […], London: […] Iohn Bill, →OCLC:

For much of the 19th century what we now know as South America was called Meridional America

2021, Pablo A. Baisotti, A New Struggle for Independence in Modern Latin America, Routledge:

located in the south, southern; later especially, often pertaining to the southern parts of Europe.

This, Constance recognised, may have had nothing to do with the situation – it was probably just a meridional convention – for in the Mediterranean countries nobody trusts his neighbour [...].

1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 740:

As soon as he heard the news of the trial and execution, he summed up the incident as a monument to Catholic intolerance, meridional superstition and judicial bigotry – and he decided to do something about it.

2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 270:

of or characteristic of southern areas or people, especially those in the southern parts of Europe


meridional

/mɪˈɹɪdɪənəl/

an inhabitant of a southern region, especially the south of France


Welsh yard

A calque of Welsh llath (“rod”), similarly distinguished within Welsh as the llath Gymreig (“Welsh rod”).

(historical) The llath, a former Welsh unit of length equal to about 40 inches (about 1 m).


autostrada

en-noun

autostrada (plural autostradas or autostrade)

autostradas (plural)
autostrade (plural)

Chief MacDonald also warned of another threat to free highways in the possible resurgence of the private toll road, for which the Italian autostrade were the current models.

1977, America’s Highways, 1776-1976: A History of the Federal-Aid Program, page 117, column 1:

Tolls on Italian autostrade are quite steep, ranging from $15 to $20 for a three-hour stretch, but offering the fastest and most direct way to travel between cities.

1994, Nicole Franchini, Karen Brown, Karen Brown’s Italian Country Bed and Breakfasts, Travel Press, →ISBN, page 12:

Italian autostrade are even more impressive than German autobahns because constructing a road in Italy is so much more challenging.

2001, Yvonne D’Amico, Victor D’Amico, Sharing a Lifetime Passion for Europe, Writer’s Showcase, →ISBN, page 209:

According to a 1933 AAA guide to motoring abroad, Americans were reassured that unlike US highways, the Italian autostrade were not crowded.

2018, D. Medina Lasansky, Hidden Histories: The Alternative Guide to Florence + Tuscany (Critical Tuscan Studies), didapress, →ISBN, page 116:

now, exactly one year after a honeymoon night on the Edinburgh roof, our union is being tested again, this time on the Italian autostrade leading from Rome.

2018, Mary K. Jensen, Rudy’s Rules for Travel: Life Lessons from Around the Globe, She Writes Press, →ISBN:

A motorway in Italy (and some other countries)


Stirling

Likely from Scottish Gaelic srib (“stream”) + Scottish Gaelic linn (“pool, lake”).

A council area of Scotland, one of 32 created in 1996, with its administrative centre in the city.


Scotswoman

Coordinate term: Scotsman


gorsedd

From Welsh gorsedd (“throne”), itself a compound of gor- (“super-, over-”) + sedd (“seat”).

A community of bards, usually Welsh, but sometimes Breton or Cornish.


Cambria

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin Cambria, from Middle Welsh Kymry, from Proto-Brythonic *kömrüɣ, plural of *kömroɣ. Doublet of Cumbria and Cumberland. Cognate with Welsh Cymru.

lbor

A number of places in the United States:

A town in Niagara County, New York; some of the early settlers were from Wales.


Oxonian

A student or graduate of Oxford University.


Kemalist

From Kemal + -ist, after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

From successive crises in Crete and Cyprus over enosis (‘union’) with the Greek mainland to the great clash with Kemalist Turkey over Anatolia in the aftermath of the First World War, dreams of greater Greece have wrought untold havoc in the eastern Mediterranean.

1999 March, Sean McMeekin, “The Place that Launched a Thousand Ships”, in Literary Review:

Of or pertaining to the ideology of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; following the ideals of Kemalism, including separation of the new Turkish state from its Ottoman predecessor and the embracement of Western-style democracy and secularism.


London weighting

en-noun

London weighting (countable and uncountable, plural London weightings)

(British) An allowance paid to staff of a national organization working in London to help offset the additional expense of living in the capital.


Heliogabalus

hē'lēəgăbʹələs

hē'lēōgăbʹələs

A Greek form of Elagabalus, with the first element (and the god) identified with Helios.

But yet I think nobody, could he be sure that the soul of Heliogabalus were in one of his hogs, would yet say that hog were a man or Heliogabalus.

1689, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book II, ch xxvii:

I spent five days in conversing with many others of the ancient learned. I saw most of the first Roman emperors. I prevailed on the governor to call up Heliogabalus's cooks to dress us a dinner, but they could not show us much of their skill, for want of materials.

1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part III (A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdribb, Luggnagg, and Japan):

How pleaſed therefore will the Reader be to find, that we have, in the following Work, adhered cloſely to one of the higheſt Principles of the beſt Cook which the preſent Age, or perhaps that of Heliogabalus, hath produced. This great Man, as is well known to all polite Lovers of eating, begins at firſt by ſetting plain Things before his hungry Gueſts, riſing afterwards by Degrees, as their Stomachs may be ſuppoſed to decreaſe, to the very Quinteſſence of Sauce and Spices.

1749, Henry Fielding, “The Introduction to the Work, or Bill of Fare to the Feaſt”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume I, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book I, page 5:

I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus,

1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, “I am the very pattern of a modern major-general”, in The Pirates of Penzance […], Philadelphia: J.M. Stoddart & Co., published 1880, →OCLC, page 16:

Synonym of Elagabalus (“Roman emperor, noted for decadence, eccentricity, femininity, and disregard for Roman religious traditions and sexual taboos”).


San Marco

The central, and most tourist-oriented, of the six sestieri of Venice; includes Saint Mark's Square.


San Polo

The smallest of the six sestieri of Venice; includes the Rialto market.


Cannaregio

The northernmost and most populous of the six sestieri of Venice.


Dorsoduro

One of the six sestieri of Venice; includes the Giudecca


Wakefield

A city and township in Gogebic County, Michigan.

A township in Stearns County, Minnesota.

A city in Dixon County and Wayne County, Nebraska.

A neighbourhood of Zebulon, Wake County, North Carolina.

census-designated place
census-designated place

A census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia.


militsia

Borrowed from Russian мили́ция (milícija), from Polish milicja, from Latin militia. Doublet of militia.

The police in the Soviet Union and some related or successor states (e.g. modern Belarus).

амилициа

the police in the Soviet Union and related states — see also militia, police


carabinieri

Then were heard a few scattered yells of derision and protest, a few shouts of anger and derision against the carabinieri.

1922, D.H. Lawrence, Aaron's Rod, BiblioBazaar, published 2008, →ISBN, page 196:


Carlow

/ˈkɑː(ɹ)ləʊ/


Tipperary

/ˌtɪpəˈɹɛəɹi/

From Irish Tiobraid Árann (“Well of Ara”).


Wicklow

Uncertain. Earlier spellings include Wykinglo in 1173, Wygingelow in 1185, Wykinglo in 1192, and Wykinglowe in 1355.


Monaghan

en-proper noun

Monaghan (countable and uncountable, plural Monaghans)

Borrowed from Irish Muineachán. The surname derives from an anglicization of Irish Ó Manacháin.


Louth

A county (County Louth) in the Republic of Ireland.


Sligo

From Irish Sligeach (literally “abounding in shells”).

bor

In the Workmans the other night, Connell told a girl he was from Sligo and she made a funny face and said: Yeah, you look like it.

2018, Sally Rooney, “Three Months Later (November 2011)”, in Normal People:


Wexford

From Old Norse Veisafjǫrðr (literally “inlet of the mudflats”), from veisa (“pool, pond”) and fjǫrðr (“ford”).


Longford

From Irish an Longfort (literally “the camp, the stronghold”), anglicized to be identical to Etymology 1.


Donegal

/ˌdʌnɪˈɡɔːl/

/ˌdɒnɪˈɡɔːl/

/ˌdʌniˈɡɔːl/

Anglicization of Irish Dún na nGall (literally “fort of the foreigners or strangers”).


pfennig

From German Pfennig. Doublet of penny and fening.

(historical, numismatics) One hundredth of the former German mark (Deutsche Mark).


Clarence House

The building was originally commissioned by the Duke of Clarence.


commissariat

(historical) A department of the government of the Soviet Union in the early period of its existence.

կոմիսարիատ

a department of the government of the Soviet Union


Baker Street

She was looking more like Sherlock Holmes than ever. Slap a dressing-gown on her and give her a violin, and she could have walked straight into Baker Street and no questions asked.

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

A street in the City of Westminster, London; the fictional home of Sherlock Holmes was at number 221B.


Shetlander

From, or related to, the Shetland Islands.


Shetlander

A native or inhabitant of the Shetland Islands.


Bolshevism

en-noun

Bolshevism (countable and uncountable, plural Bolshevisms)

/ˈbɑlʃəˌvɪzəm/

Borrowed from Russian большеви́зм (bolʹševízm, “Bolshevism”), from большинство (bolʹšinstvo, “majority, most”) (referring to the fact that the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party won on the majority of the important issues at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1903) + -и́зм (-ízm, “-ism”, suffix forming the names of systems, schools of thought or theories based on the names of their subjects or objects). большинство is derived from большо́й (bolʹšój, “great, large”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bel-) + -ство (-stvo, suffix forming a neuter noun, usually an abstract noun denoting a relation, social status, scientific discipline, quality or state) (from Proto-Slavic *-ьstvo (suffix forming nouns denoting a condition or state)).

der

The split between the two trends of Bolshevism issued from questions of a very practical nature. [Alexander] Bogdanov and his group condemned participation in parliamentary, "bourgeois" politics. [Vladimir] Lenin, on the other hand, set the struggle for political power as the main task of the party. He was not occupied with creating and implanting an idea of the future of socialism; he thought of this more as a development to be expected from the period following the revolution. Instead he was preparing the organizational and political-intellectual grounds for a revolution that would be capable of overthrowing tsarism.

2015, Tamás Krausz, “Organization and Revolution”, in Bálint Bethlenfalvy, Mario Fenyo, transl., Reconstructing Lenin: An Intellectual Biography, New York, N.Y.: Monthly Review Press, →ISBN, page 127:

The strategy used by the Bolsheviks in attempting to gain power in Russia.


Bosnia and Hercegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina#English

Alternative spelling of Bosnia and Herzegovina


Tiberian

en-adj

Tiberian (comparative more Tiberian, superlative most Tiberian)

more Tiberian (comparative)
most Tiberian (superlative)

From Tiberias, Tiberius, or Tiber + -ian.

Of or relating to Tiberias or the Sea of Tiberias.


England and Wales

(UK, law) The jurisdiction covering England and Wales, two constituent countries of the United Kingdom, which share a single legal system and are treated as a single country for various purposes.


Manxwoman

...the rising inflexion in her voice which made the talk of the true Manxwoman the sweetest thing in the world to listen to.


Manxman

"Potatoes and herrings, Mr. Christian; just a Manxman’s supper.”

The Manxman is never wise until the day after the fair. (Traditional Manx saying).

2005, John Ayto, Ian Crofton, Brewer's Britain and Ireland, page 587:


Notre Dame

/ˌnɒ.tɹə ˈdɑːm/

/ˌnɔ.tɹə ˈdäːm/


Eastern Europe

(historical) The communist and Soviet-aligned countries of Europe during the Cold War; the Warsaw Pact, sometimes also including Yugoslavia and Albania.


oyra

From Faroese oyra, from Old Norse eyrir, from Latin aureus. Doublet of aureus, eyrir, öre, and øre.


pesäpallo

A sport developed in Finland in the 1920s, similar to and largely based on baseball.


all roads lead to Rome

Modern wording of medieval sentiment; apparently originally a reference to Roman roads generally and the Milliarium Aureum (Golden Milestone) specifically.
Appears in the Latin form mīlle viae dūcunt hominēs per saecula Rōmam (“a thousand roads lead men forever to Rome”) in Liber Parabolarum, 591 (1175), by Alain de Lille.
The earliest English form appears to be “right as diverse pathes leden the folk the righte wey to Rome”, in A Treatise on the Astrolabe (Prologue, ll. 39–40), 1391, by Geoffrey Chaucer.

(idiomatic) Different paths can take one to the same goal.

A Treatise on the Astrolabe
Alain de Lille
Geoffrey Chaucer
Milliarium Aureum
Roman roads
all roads lead to Rome

كُلُّ الطُّرُقِ تُؤَدِّي إِلَى رُومَا

different paths can take to the same goal

လမ်းတိုင်းဟာ ရောမမြို့ဆီကို ဦးတည်နေကြတယ်

全ての道はローマに通ず

すべてのみちはローマにつうず

ada banyak pilihan bagi mencapai matlamat sama

lahat ng daan ay magdadala sa'yo sa Roma


legua

From Spanish legua (“Spanish league”) and Portuguese légua (“Portuguese league”), from Late Latin leuga and leuca (“Gaulish league, distance of one hour's walking”), from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *lougā.

(historical) Portuguese league, a traditional Portuguese unit of distance, variously reckoned as 4444.4, 5555.6, or 6172.8 m.


Parthenon

/ˈpɑːɹθənɑːn/

From Ancient Greek Παρθενών (Parthenṓn), from παρθενών (parthenṓn, “women's chamber”), from παρθένος (parthénos, “virgin; young woman”).

An ancient temple to Athena and monument in the city of Athens. It is a symbol of Greek achievement in the arts and of Athenian democracy.


Tito

Josip Broz Tito, a Yugoslav revolutionary and politician.


Ostrobothnia

From Latin Ostrobothnia, from Swedish Österbotten, from öster (“eastern”) + botten (“bottom, basin”).

A region of Finland, on the east coast of the Gulf of Bothnia.

Pohjanmaa

current region in Finland, historical Swedish and Finnish provinces


Majorcan

Majorcan (comparative more Majorcan, superlative most Majorcan)

more Majorcan (comparative)
most Majorcan (superlative)


Murcian

(countable) A native or inhabitant of Murcia.


Balearic

From Latin Balearis, from Ancient Greek Βαλλιαρεῖς (Balliareîs), from either βάλλω (bállō) or Phoenician (see Baal).

From, or pertaining to, the Balearic Islands.


Balearic

A dialect of Catalan used in the Balearic Islands.


Navarrese

en-noun

Navarrese (plural Navarreses or Navarrese)

/ˌnævəˈɹiːz/


Leonese

From, or pertaining to León (a city and a province in northwest Spain).

From, or pertaining to the Kingdom of León, a former independent kingdom in the northwest of Iberia.


Leonese

A Romance language spoken in the northwest of Spain, closely related to Asturian and Mirandese.


Near East

The region located south of Eastern Europe, comprising Anatolia, Transcaucasia, the Levant, and Mesopotamia.


Valencian

From or relating to Valencia, its people, or its language.


Valencian

One of the standard varieties of the Catalan language spoken primarily in Valencia.


Andalusian

andaluz

dialect (or varieties) of Spanish spoken in Andalusia


Andalusian

The dialect (or varieties) of Spanish spoken in Andalusia; Andalusian Spanish.


frazione

Borrowed from Italian frazione. Doublet of fraction.


Élysée

The official residence of the President of France.


favori

Borrowed from French favori. Doublet of favourite.

Into the bargain with Marie, the American girl, who is grace itself, and comes leaping and dancing simply like a wave—like nothing else, and who yesterday was Queen out of the Epiphany cake and chose Robinet (the French Painter) as her favori with the most pretty confusion possible—into the bargain with Marie, we have two little Russian girls, with the youngest of whom, a little polyglot button of a three-year old, I had the most laughable little scene at lunch to-day.

1874, Robert Louis Stevenson, Letter to Mrs. Thomas Stevenson:

With characteristic humour, Ninon divided her admirers into three classes: her martyrs, her caprices and her favoris, and into one or other of these classes fell nearly every gallant in Paris.

1908, Lilian Rea, The Life and Times of Marie Madeleine Countess of La Fayette, Methuen, page 109:

Observers of his behavior were quick to note the inner conflict as revealed by the king's inability to be separated from his favori, and his cutting remarks about "King Luynes" in the heat of the siege warfare of 1621.

1991, A. Lloyd Moote, Louis XIII, the Just, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 149:

Even more distinguished were the martyrs, enjoying her company without paying for it and maintaining the hope, however remote, of some day becoming her favori.

2010, Robert Greene, The 48 Laws Of Power, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 257: