Blighty

Corruption of the Hindustani विलायती (vilāytī) / وِلائتی (vilā'iyatī, “foreign”), which is related to Arabic ولاية (wilāyah, “state, province”), whence also, through Turkish, vilayet.
Sir Henry Yule and Arthur C. Burnell explained in their Anglo-Indian dictionary, Hobson-Jobson, published in 1886, that the word was used in the names of several kinds of exotic foreign things, especially those that the British had brought into the country, such as the tomato, विलायती बैंगन (vilāytī baiṅgan, literally “foreign aubergine”), and especially to soda water, which was commonly called विलायती पानी (vilāytī pānī, literally “foreign water”).
Blighty was the inevitable British soldier’s corruption of it. But it only came into common use as a term for Britain at the beginning of the First World War in France about 1915. It turns up in popular songs "There’s a ship that’s bound for Blighty", "We wish we were in Blighty", and "Take me back to dear old Blighty, put me on the train for London town", and in Wilfred Owen's poems, as well as many other places.
The sense of a minor wound comes from attributive use of the noun, as in “a Blighty wound,” “a Blighty one,” 1916.
In modern Australian usage, Old has been added, as in Old Country and Old Dart, as a sentimental reference to Britain.

Before I knew it, 8 August had come around and our holiday was over. As my lovely little family headed for the airport to jump ship back to Blighty, I was on the road again with fresh legs.

2016, Chris Graham, Five Minutes of Amazing: My Journey Through Dementia, London: Sphere, →ISBN, page 129:

Living in the US, I have always seized every opportunity to insist things are better in Blighty. But now both countries look ludicrous[.]

2022 January 18, Arwa Mahdawi, “Which is more dysfunctional – the US or the UK? I’ve created a Global Embarrassment Index to figure it out”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(originally military slang) Great Britain, Britain, or England, especially as viewed from abroad.


leprechaun

→ German: Leprechaun

desc

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

→ Japanese: レプラコーン (repurakōn)

→ Korean: 레프러콘 (repeureokon)

→ Portuguese: leprechaun

→ Russian: лепреко́н (leprekón)

→ Spanish: leprechaun

/ˈlɛpɹəkɔːn/

/ˈlɛpɹəˌkɔn/

/ˈlɛpɹəˌkɑn/

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

af

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

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

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

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

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

（爱尔兰民间传说里的）短妖精

[Àiěrlán mínjiān chuánshuō lǐ de] duǎn yāojing


janissary

/ˈd͡ʒænəˌzeɹi/

]
From Italian giannizzaro, possibly via French janissaire or Spanish jenízaro, from Ottoman Turkish یڭیچری (yeniçeri), from یڭی (yeni, “new”) + چری (çeri, “soldier”). Compare Dutch janitsaar, German Janitschar. The word is attested from the early 16th century in English; the janissaries themselves date from the 14th century.

der

<i class="Latn mention" lang="tr">yeniçeri</i>

My Lord the great Commander of the worlde,
Besides fifteene contributory kings,
Hath now in armes ten thouſand Ianiſaries,
Mounted on luſty Mauritanian Steeds, […]

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:

Tom has his Eyes ſtill near a Cloſe, and was going on, when an unlucky horn'd Janizary, obſerving the Court ſomewhat uneaſy under their Indulgence, ran a Needle up to the Head in his moſt fleſhy Part, and made Tom wince, if not like a Mule, yet very much like his graver Sire that gave him his original Name.

1737, J. A. Purves, “Vision II”, in The Law and Lawyers Laid Open, in Twelve Visions. To which is Added, Plain Truth, in Three Dialogues, between Truma, Skinall, Dryboots, Three Attorneys, and Season a Bencher, London: Printed for T. Woodman; and J. Chrichley, →OCLC; republished Clark, N.J.: The Lawbook Exchange, 2006, →ISBN, page 38:

When a new Prince accedes to the Throne, it is cuſtomary to give each Janiſary 25 Dollars Gratification-money; and Six Deniers per Day Augmentation of Pay: Provided what he actually has do not exceed Six Solds. If a Janiſary marries, he muſt expect no Promotion; but after he has already reached the Rank of a Captain, he may then marry, and it will be no Obſtacle to his future Advancement. If a Janiſary is detected of any Fault, they carry him before the Aga, who chaſtiſes him, or orders him to be chaſtiſed by his Odo Bachi. Sometimes, according to the Offence, they baniſh them; but if a Janiſary’s Crime merits Death, they ſtrangle him in the Night-time, and caſt his Body into the Sea.

1743, Charles Perry, “Of the Spahees, and Their Officers”, in A View of the Levant: Particularly of Constantinople, Syria, Egypt, and Greece. In which Their Antiquities, Government, Politics, Maxims, Manners, and Customs, (with Many Other Circumstances and Contingencies) are Attempted to be Described and Treated on. In Four Parts, London: Printed for T. Woodward, between the Temple Gates in Fleet-street, and C. Davis, near Middle-Row, in Holborn, printers to the Royal Society; and J. Shuckburgh, at the Sun, near the Temple Gate, in Fleet-street, →OCLC, part I (Contains Observations and Remarks on the Advantageous Situation, Extent, Strength and Government, of the Othoman Empire; which are Preceded with a Brief Account of the Origin, Progress, and Present State of It, &c.), page 44:

[T]he writers against the constitution, seem to have taken pains to signalize their talent at misrepresentation. […] The authorities of a magistrate, in few instances greater, in some instances less, than those of a governor of New York, have been magnified into more than royal prerogatives. […] We have been taught to tremble at the terrific visages of murdering janisaries; and to blush at the unveiled mysteries of a future seraglio.

1788 March 11, Publius [pseudonym; Alexander Hamilton], The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution, as Agreed upon by the Federal Convention, September 17, 1787. In Two Volumes, New York, N.Y.: Printed and sold by J. and A. M'Lean, No. 41, Hanover-Square, →OCLC; republished as “Number LXVII. By Mr. Hamilton. Concerning the Constitution of the President; a Gross Attempt to Misrepresent this Part of the Plan Detected.”, in The Federalist, on the New Constitution; Written in 1788, new (2nd) edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: Published by Benjamin Warner, No. 147, Market Street; William Greer, printer, Harrisburg, 1817, →OCLC, page 363:

After remaining a few days at Smyrna, we set out to pay a visit to the ruins of Ephesus, which are situated on the shore of the Gulf of Skalanova, about thirty-five miles south of Smyrna. Our equipage consisted of a Greek servant, Spiridon, or, as he was usually called, Spiro; Achmet, a janissary; and an old Smyrniot, proprietor of the horses which we rode.

1829, James Emerson, “Letter IV. Ephesus.”, in Letters from the Ægean, New York, N.Y.: Printed by J. & J. Harper, 82 Cliff St.; sold by Collins and Hannay, [et al.], →OCLC, page 71:

Under the Ottomans (1517–1798), it [the Cairo Citadel] was divided into three semi-independent parts: the northern enclosure contained the barracks of the Janissaries (the main corps in the Ottoman army); the lower areas in the west became the residence of the al-‘Azab (the locally recruited troops); and the southern section of the southern enclosure was occupied by the pasha sent from Istanbul and his troops.

1995, Nasser O. Rabbat, “The Citadel Today”, in The Citadel of Cairo: A New Interpretation of Royal Mamluk Architecture (Islamic History and Civilization, Studies and Texts; 14), Leiden, New York, N.Y.: E. J. Brill, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 18:

(historical) An infantry soldier, often of European Christian background from the Balkans as well as Eastern Europe and forcibly converted to Islam, in a former elite Turkish (Ottoman) guard (disbanded in 1826).

(by extension) Any Turkish soldier, particularly one escorting a traveller.


Roman Empire

/ˈɹəʊmən ˈɛmpaɪə/

/ˈɹoʊmən ˈɛmpaɪɚ/

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

The sense "something that one frequently thinks about" is a reference to the "How Often Do You Think About the Roman Empire?" meme, popularized on Instagram and TikTok around September 2023.

(historical) The empire which succeeded the Roman Republic and existed between 27 B.C.E. and 476 C.E. in the west (and until 1453 C.E. in the east; see Byzantine Empire), encompassing territories stretching from Britain and Germany to Spain, North Africa and the Persian Gulf.

(historical, now rare) The Holy Roman Empire.


Green, White and Gold

From the 19th century, to describe an earlier flag that incorporated a golden harp. The term is still used informally even though the modern Irish flag is green, white and orange.

(informal) The flag of the Republic of Ireland.


Orange Order

Its name is a tribute to the Dutch-born Protestant king William of Orange, who defeated the army of Catholic king James VII & II in the Williamite War in Ireland (1688–1691).

A Northern Ireland religious and political organisation, loyal to the British crown and with strong anti-Catholicism policies.


plebe

From Latin plēbs (“the plebeian class”), probably via Middle French plebe (“plebeians, commoners, the rabble”) and possibly later understood as a clipping of plebeian. Cognate with Italian plebe, Spanish plebe, Portuguese plebe.

Another the like was among the Romanes of Patricij & plebes, thone ſtriuing with thother a long time, the patricij many yeares excluding the plebes from bearing rule, vntill at laſt all magiſtrates were made cõmon [common] betweene thẽ [them]: […]

1562–1565 (date written), Thomas Smyth [i.e., Thomas Smith], “The Diuision of the Parts and Persons of the Common Wealth”, in De Republica Anglorum. The Maner of Gouernement or Policie of the Realme of England, […], London: […] Henrie Midleton for Gregorie Seton, published 1583, →OCLC, pages 19–20:

(historical, usually in the plural) A plebeian, a member of the lower class of Roman citizens.


kilt

From Middle English kilten (“to tuck up, gird”), apparently from North Germanic, ultimately from Old Norse kelta, kjalta (“skirt; lap”). Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *kelt-, *kelþǭ, *kilþį̄ (“womb”), from Proto-Indo-European *gelt- (“round body; child”). Cognate with Danish kilte (“to tuck”), Swedish kilta (“to swathe”). Related to English child.

der

I was about to say that I had known the Celebrity from the time he wore kilts. But I see I will have to amend that, because he was not a celebrity then, nor, indeed, did he achieve fame until some time after I left New York for the West.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

A plaid, pleated school uniform skirt sometimes structured as a wraparound, sometimes pleated throughout the entire circumference; also worn by boys in the 19th-century United States.


9/11 attacks
911 (disambiguation)
Federal Communications Commission
National Emergency Number Association
United States

Chosen by the United States in the 1960s in place of the older British 999 number as a better way to avoid accidental calls from push-button telephones. It is officially pronounced "nine-one-one," not "nine-eleven," since "nine-eleven" refers to the 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. 9/11 is universally distinguished from 911 and usually refers to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Officially written as 9-1-1 in regulations and materials from the United States National Emergency Number Association and Federal Communications Commission, which is also advocated by some media style guides.

I don't know why they couldn't just keep it as it was! How hard is it to remember 911?
You mean 999...
I mean 999!
That's the American one!
Yeah!

2006 Feb. 3, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 2

When you call 911 in the United States, a local dispatcher usually answers the phone with "911" or "911. What's your emergency?"

The telephone number for emergency services in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Liberia, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Anguilla, Palau, and Tonga.

emergency services(Australia) 000(Mongolia) 105(China, Iran) 110(New Zealand) 111(European Union) 112(Japan, South Korea) 119(UK, Ireland) 999


Ulster

/ɔ̈ls.t̪͆əɹ/

Possibly from Old Norse Uladztir, itself from Old Irish Ulaid (“Ulstermen”). More at Ulster.

(politics, proscribed) The six counties that make up Northern Ireland.


Black and Tan

A member of the RIC British paramilitary force, operating against Irish republicans in the War of Independence 1920/21.

Dúchrónach

member of the RIC British irregular army group


Rennes

From French Rennes, from Old French Resnes, Rednes, from Latin Rēdonēs.

The capital city of the Ille-et-Vilaine department, France; capital city of the region of Brittany.


Glaswegian

en-adj

Glaswegian (comparative more Glaswegian, superlative most Glaswegian)

more Glaswegian (comparative)
most Glaswegian (superlative)

From Glasgow, modelled after Galwegian (“inhabitant of Galway”), itself modelled after Norwegian (“inhabitant of Norway”). The noun is from the adjective.


Glaswegian

The Glaswegians bore good-humouredly the mishaps which occasionally disrupted the services during the first month.

1961 February, “Talking of Trains: The Glasgow debacle”, in Trains Illustrated, page 66:


Victoria Cross

en-noun

Victoria Cross (plural Victoria Crosses)

"Padre, you should have a row of Victoria Crosses." "No, no, it was my duty."

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations

The highest military award in the honours system of the United Kingdom, and some members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Its symbol is a form of cross pattée.


St. Patrick's Day

A Roman Catholic holiday commemorating Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland on 17ᵗʰ March.


St. George's Day

The saint's day of Saint George, the patron saint of England, celebrated on April 23ʳᵈ.


quindecemvir

quindecemvir (plural quindecemvirs or quindecemviri)

quindecemvirs (plural)
quindecemviri (plural)

From Latin quindecemvir, from quindecim (“fifteen”) + vir (“man”).

(historical) Alternative form of quindecimvir.


Irishman

From Middle English Irisshman, equivalent to Irish + -man.

It is so absurd to advance into the presence of savage royalty after the fashion of an Irishman driving a pig to market, for that is what we looked like, and the idea nearly made me burst out laughing then and there.

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


John Bull

How much longer are we English to assist foreign nations in misunderstanding us, by holding up that ridiculous lay-figure of our race known by the style and title of John Bull?

1862 December 27, Charles Dickens, “One Grand Tour Deserves Another”, in All the Year Round, page 378:

In spite of these promptings to reflection, ignorance of his neighbours is the character of the typical John Bull. His is a domineering nature, steady in fight, imperious to command, but neither curious nor quick about the life of others.

1887, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Foreigner At Home”, in Memories and Portraits, New York: Charles Scribner, page 3:

Thatched cottages, manors, old mills, venerable churches and wooded lanes personify a John Bull fancy, neatly tucked into gentle hill folds.

2005, David W. Moore, The Other British Isles, →ISBN, page 183:

Next door to all that noble intention stood a bluff old John Bull of a hotel, Warners, now a pub and backpackers, and next to that, until 1993, a cinema, the last of several that had sprung up around the Square as temples of modernity.

2015, Fiona Farrell, The Villa at the Edge of the Empire, →ISBN, page 52:

(by extension) Something or someone that is stereotypically English.


Eurozone

Collectively, the European Union member states whose official currency is the euro.

Eurozona

those European Union members whose official currency is the euro


Orangeman

/ˈɒɹɪnd͡ʒmən/

/ˈɒɹənd͡ʒmən/

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

A member of the Orange Order, a Protestant society in the United Kingdom (especially Northern Ireland).


RAF

(military, aviation) Initialism of Royal Air Force, the British RAF.

The German Rote Armee Fraktion (Red Army Faction).


Durham

From Old English Dunholm, meaning "hill islet". In order to get from Dunholm to Durham, two major processes had to take place. Firstly, the n at the coda of the first syllable, dun, underwent dissimilation. Specifically, by influence of the m in the coda of the following syllable (holm), said n denasalised and lenited to the oral r, thus dur. Secondly, after a weakening of the vowel quality in the more weakly-stressed syllable holm, this ending was misanalysed as the similar-sounding toponymic suffix, -ham, meaning home or farm.
Doublet of Duresm and Dunelm.

County Durham (a county in the Northeast of England)

Androscoggin County
Androscoggin County#English

A town in Androscoggin County, Maine; named for County Durham, England.


Yugoslav

/ˈjuːɡəˌslɑːv/

From Serbo-Croatian Jugoslàvēn, influenced by Slav.

He considered himself to be a Yugoslav first and foremost, regardless of his Croat and Serb ancestry.

(historical) A native or inhabitant of Yugoslavia.


Soviet Union

desc

সোভিয়েত ইউনিয়ন

→ Bengali: সোভিয়েত ইউনিয়ন (śobhiet iuniôn)

Clipping of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Attested since October 1919 in U.S. newspapers.

clipping

Hence the famous February 9th 1946 speech at the Bolshoi Theatre, where Stalin announced that the Soviet Union was returning to its pre-war emphasis on industrialization, war-preparedness, and the inevitabibility of conflict between capitalism and Communism, and made explicit what was already obvious, that henceforth the Soviet Union would cooperate with the West only when it suited her.

2005, Tony Judt, “The Impossible Settlement”, in Postwar: A history of Europe since 1945, London: Vintage Books, published 2010, →ISBN:

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics#English

Ellipsis of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Советтә Аидгыла

USSR — see also Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic#English

(informal) The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.


Tower of London

A riverside fortress in London, used as a palace, a prison and now a museum housing the Crown Jewels.


sheading

Unclear. Perhaps from the Norse word skeid, "ship assembly", with each sheading providing men for a warship. Perhaps from a Celtic word meaning "sixth part". Perhaps from the Middle English word, scheding, for an administrative division.

Any of the six administrative districts into which the Isle of Man is divided.


fada

When I read in the RIA Dictionary that the third person singular passive perfect of the verb fo-geib or fo-gaib “has been found”, has been found in the form frith, frioth, fo frith, foríth, and whole lot more including fríth with the fada, I find that friothfully froth-provoking.

1993, John Minahane, The Christian Druids: On the Filid or Philosopher-poets of Ireland, Dublin: Sanas Press (reprinted Dublin: Howth Free Press, 2008 p. 35

The Irish acute accent mark, or fada, is included on Irish proper names and words in the Irish language where required, for example Seán MacBride and Dáil Éireann, except when the fada is not used in a direct quote.

2006, Elizabeth Keane, An Irish Statesman and Revolutionary: The Nationalist and Internationalist Politics of Seán MacBride, London: I. B. Tauris, →ISBN, page vii:

And finally, I have omitted the fadas, or accents, from all Irish words, since they are no help to a North American reader.

2007, Holly Bennett, The Warrior’s Daughter, Custer, Washington: Orca Book Publishers, →ISBN, page ix:

It’s very common in Irish to use a fada on a name, and we had to ensure that a name like Seán, for example should [be possible for] people [to] search [for] with or without the fada on “á”.

2008, Caroline Williams, “The Irish Playography: documenting the Irish Theatrical Repertoire”, in M. Auclair, K. Davis, S. François, editors, Du document à l’utilisateur : Rôles et responsabilités des centres spécialisés dans les arts du spectacle, Brussels: Peter Lang, →ISBN, pages 219–20:

The acute accent as used in Irish orthography to mark a long vowel.


Daventry

A market town in Northamptonshire, England.

West Northamptonshire
West Northamptonshire#English

A former district in Northamptonshire, formed in 1974, with its headquarters in the town of Daventry; it was abolished on 1 April 2021 and merged into West Northamptonshire.


Welshman

From Middle English Walishman, equivalent to Welsh + -man.

Coordinate term: Welshwoman

A man who is a native or inhabitant of Wales.


Constantinople

From Middle English Constantinople, ultimately from Late Latin Constantinopolis, from Ancient Greek Κωνσταντινούπολις (Kōnstantinoúpolis, “City of Constantine”), after Roman emperor Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (also known as Constantine I, St. Constantine, and/or Constantine the Great).

der

Κωνσταντινούπολις

Name of present-day Istanbul from 330–1930 C.E.. Previously known as Byzantium.

കോണ്സ്റ്റാന്റിനോപ്പിള്

kōṇsṟṟānṟinōppiḷŭ


Strait of Messina

The narrow section of water between the eastern tip of Sicily and the southern tip of mainland Italy.

مَضِيْق مِسِّينَة

narrow section of water between Sicily and mainland Italy


Istanbul

From Turkish İstanbul, from Ottoman Turkish استانبول (İstanbul), a corruption of Byzantine Greek εἰς τὴν Πόλιν (eis tḕn Pólin, “to the City”), which is how Constantinople was referred to by the local Greeks.

εἰς τὴν Πόλιν

second largest city and capital of the Republic of Turkey


punt

Borrowed from French pointe or Spanish punto (“point”). Doublet of point.


punt

Borrowed from Irish punt, from Middle English pund.

The Irish pound, used as the unit of currency of Ireland until it was replaced by the euro in 2002.


Vistula

/ˈvɪst͡ʃʊlə/

The longest river in Poland, which flows into the Baltic Sea.


lek

en-noun

lek (plural leks or lek or leku or lekë)

leks (plural)
lek (plural)
leku (plural)
lekë (plural)

From Albanian lek, named after Alexander the Great, whose name is often shortened to Leka in Albanian.

With the loss of control by the Government over foreign exchange surrender requirements and the almost complete depletion of foreign exchange reserves, in early 1992 the official rate was further devalued to leks 50 = $1.

1992, Mario I. Bléjer, Albania: From Isolation Toward Reform, page 56:

1997, Igor Artimiev, Gary J. Fine, Country Studies: Albania, Ira W. Lieberman, Stilpon S. Nestor, Raj M. Desai, Between State and Market: Mass Privatization in Transition Economies, page 178,
Enterprise shares are sold at voucher auctions in exchange for either immaterial privatization leks (through a bank transfer from the bidder's privatization lek account) or through privatization vouchers, which are submitted at the time of bidding.

Value Added Tax is another tax imposed on all enterprises with a yearly turnover of more than 2 million Leks. VAT was introduced in the Albanian tax system in 1995 replacing the old turnover tax.

2003, Iraj Hoshi, Ewa Balcerowicz, Leszek Balcerowicz, Barriers to Entry and Growth of New Firms in Early Transition, page 253:

The currency unit of Albania, divided into 100 qindarka.


stannary

From Late Latin stannaria, from Latin stannum (“tin”).

The stannary courts of Devonshire and Cornwall, for the administration of justice among the tinners therein, are also courts of record.

1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:

Of or pertaining to tin mining, especially in Cornwall.


Darlington

/ˈdɑːlɪŋtən/

-ɑː(ɹ)lɪŋtən

From Middle English Dearnington, Derlinton, from Old English Dearthingtun, supposedly “the settlement of Deornoth's people”, from an unclear root + -ing + -tun. The transistor configuration is named for its inventor, Sidney Darlington.

A large market town in County Durham, England.

A unitary authority, the Borough of Darlington, in County Durham which includes the town.

Darlington County
Darlington County#English

A number of places in the United States:

A city, the county seat of Darlington County, South Carolina.


Vatican

→ Japanese: バチカン (Bachikan)

Learned borrowing from Latin Vātī̆cānus (“Vatican Hill”), further etymology unknown. The connection to vāticinārī (“to prophesy, oracle”) is folk-etymological.

lbor

Vatican City State
Vatican City State#English

A city-state in Southern Europe, an enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. Official name: Vatican City State.


Anatolia

/ˌænəˈtəʊli.ə/

From Medieval Latin Anatolia, from Ancient Greek ἀνατολή (anatolḗ, “sunrise, place from where the sun rises, the east”), from ἀνατέλλω (anatéllō, “I rise”), from ἀνά (aná, “up”) + τέλλω (téllō, “I perform, accomplish, rise”), because Anatolia was east of Greece.

der

A peninsula in Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. Bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Armenian Highland to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west.


GLA

Greater London Authority
w:Greater London Authority


øre

Borrowed from Danish øre, Norwegian øre, from Latin aureus (“a Roman coin; golden”). Doublet of aureus, eyrir, öre, and oyra.

A currency unit worth one hundredth of a Norwegian and Danish krone.


GLC

Greater London Council
w:Greater London Council

(historical, from 1965 to 1986) Initialism of Greater London Council.


cuarto

(unit of measure): From Spanish cuarto (“quarter-sack”), from Latin quartus (“fourth, quarter”). Doublet of quart, quarter, and cuarta, etc.

(historical) A traditional Spanish unit of dry measure, equivalent to about 27.8 L.

(historical) A former Spanish coin (until 1866), worth one eighth of a real.


Augustus

From Latin Augustus, from augustus (“majestic, venerable”). Doublet of august.

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 2:1:

The Roman emperor Augustus, also called Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (63 B.C.E. – 14 C.E.); heir to Julius Caesar


Hastings

The placename in England is derived from the Old English tribal name Hæstingas (“Hæsta's people, the family/followers of Hæsta”), which was later transferred to their settlement.
The family name has two possible sources:
* from the place name
* a patronymic surname derived from the Anglo-Norman personal name Hasten(c), Hastang
The later place names in other countries are named either after people with that family name, or after the town of Hastings in England.

A town in Oswego County, New York, United States, named after Hastings Curtiss.


dominate

en-noun

dominate (countable and uncountable, plural dominates)

From Latin dominātus (“rule, command”) (genitive singular dominātūs).

During the Dominate this tendency was perfected to the point of dirigism in the modern sense, a state-directed society and state-controlled economy, obliterating, once again a prelude to modern times, the laissez-faire climate that had characterized the economic self-determination of the individual under the republic and the Principate.

1973, Karl Loewenstein, The Governance of Rome, Martinus Nijhoff, page 238:

1996, Clare Krojzl (translator), Sebastian Hensel, III: From Diocletian to Alaric [1886, lecture notes], Theodor Mommsen (editor), A History of Rome Under the Emperors, C.H.Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Republished 2005, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), eBook, page 317,
The dominate of Diocletian and Constantine differs more sharply from the principate than the latter does from the Republic.

1997, Thomas Dunlap (translator), Herwig Wolfram, The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples, [1990, Das Reich und die Germanen], University of California Press, 2005, Paperback, page 55,
Once someone had attained senatorial dignity by way of the successful tenure of some appropriate magistracy, one of the most important mechanisms of the dominate kicked in: all social rankings and professions were to a large extent heritable.

(historical) The late period of the Roman Empire, following the principate, during which the emperor's rule became more explicitly autocratic and remaining vestiges of the Roman Republic were removed from the formal workings of government; the reign of any particular emperor during this period.


ceilidh

The noun is borrowed from Scottish Gaelic cèilidh (“a pilgrimage; a social call, visit; a sojourn; a social gathering with dancing, etc., ceilidh”) and Irish célidhe (archaic), céilí (“a social call, visit; a social gathering with dancing, etc., ceilidh”), both from Old Irish célide (“social call, visit”), from céile (“companion, fellow; neighbour”) (ultimately from Proto-Celtic *kēiliyos (“companion; servant”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“to settle”)) + -ide.
The plural form ceilidhean is borrowed from Scottish Gaelic cèilidhean.
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

Looking for the Possible Dance [by Alison Louise Kennedy] sets up the 'dance', the ceilidh, as a site of personal and possibly national salvation, but one plagued by insecurities.

2009, Michael Gardiner, “Arcades – The 1980s and 1990s”, in Ian Brown, Alan Raich, editors, Edinburgh Companion to Twentieth-century Scottish Literature, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, →ISBN, page 188:

'Traditional' British dance is a rather woolly genre; its bounds drawn without much discrimination and inclusive of folk dancing, ceilidh, country dancing and pretty much anything pre-20ᵗʰ century that didn't involve a tutu.

2009, “Performing Arts”, in Andrew Whittaker, editor, Britain: Be Fluent in British Life and Culture (Speak the Culture; 3), London: Thorogood Publishing, →ISBN, page 208:

We asked guests to bring something to share: poems, songs, short stories, music, even juggling—whatever they wanted to perform. Afterwards, we all danced the ceilidh, […]

2015, Jodie Gould, quoting “Clark”, “#4: Create: Expressing and Expanding the Inner Self”, in High: Six Principles for Guilt-free Pleasure and Escape, Center City, Minn.: Hazelden Publishing, →ISBN, Part 2 (The Six Pleasure Principles), page 174:


nihilism

en-noun

nihilism (countable and uncountable, plural nihilisms)

Probably borrowed from French nihilisme, German Nihilismus, or Late Latin nihilismus; the French, German, and Latin words are derived from Latin nihil (“indefinite nothing”), from nihilum (“nothing”), from ne- (prefix negating the principal meaning) + hīlum (“a trifle; not in the least”). The English word is cognate with Italian nichilismo, Spanish nihilismo, Russian нигили́зм (nigilízm), philosophical doctrine grounded on negation of one or more meaningful aspects of life; emptiness; lack of education and cultural refinement.

Individuals with schizophrenia often cycle between nihilistic and solipsistic moods—when in the grip of nihilism they appear to have lost experiential contact with their very existence, [...]

2009, Tim Bayne, “solipsism”, in edited by Tim Bayne, Axel Cleeremans, and Patrick Wilken, The Oxford Companion to Consciousness, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 608, column 2:

Melancholia is the most typical and classical presentation of depression with several compelling features such as impoverishment of emotional life and delusions of nihilism or guilt.

2009, Arjan W. Braam, “Religion/Spirituality and Mood Disorders”, in edited by Philippe Huguelet and Harold G. Koenig, Religion and Spirituality in Psychiatry, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 97, column 2:

(uncountable, psychiatry) A delusion that oneself or the world, or parts thereof, have ceased to exist.


Westminster Cathedral

the principal Roman Catholic church in England


Westminster Abbey

Houses of Parliament
Houses of Parliament

A large Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral, next to the Houses of Parliament in London; the traditional place of coronation and burial of English monarchs.


Palace of Westminster

An extensive building on the north bank of the River Thames in London, housing the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Paleis van Westminster

building in London housing the House of Commons and House of Lords


Westminster

From the abbey of Westminster; from Middle English Westmestre; equivalent to west + minster.

City of Westminster
Westminster (disambiguation)

Grand Traverse County
Grand Traverse County#English

A ghost town in Paradise Township, Grand Traverse County, Michigan.

census-designated place
census-designated place

An unincorporated community and census-designated place, formerly a city in Collin County, Texas.


Brit

1901, either a shortening of Britisher or Briton, or a back-formation from British.

(lexicography) Abbreviation of British English.


apparatchik

apparatchik (plural apparatchiks or apparatchiki)

apparatchiks (plural)
apparatchiki (plural)

/æpəˈɹæt͡ʃɪk/

From Russian аппара́тчик (apparátčik, “operator, apparatchik”), from аппара́т (apparát, “apparat, apparatus (of state)”) + suffix -чик (-čik).

bor

Whether conservatively toeing their Marx or boldly advocating such heretical Western-style reforms as the primacy of profits, every important planner, apparatchik and economist in Russia is caught up in Communism's greatest debate since Stalin set backward Russia on its cruel-but successful-forced march into the 20th century industrial world.

1965 February 12, “Russia: Borrowing from the Capitalists”, in Time, volume 85, →ISSN, archived from the original on 2009-03-10:

In these dire conditions the ambitious Serbo-Croatian Communist Party apparatchik Slobodan Milošević played the national card in Kosovo.

2007, Elizabeth Roberts, Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro, Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, page 34:

(historical) A member of the Soviet apparat; a Communist bureaucrat or agent.


Parisian

From Middle English Parisien, perisien, from Middle French parisien, from Medieval Latin parisiānus. By surface analysis, Paris + -ian.

Coordinate term: Parisienne

A native, citizen and/or inhabitant of Paris, France


Parisian

en-adj

Parisian (comparative more Parisian, superlative most Parisian)

more Parisian (comparative)
most Parisian (superlative)

He lived in Paris for ten years, and became more Parisian than the natives.

Of, relating, or pertaining to Paris, France


Cockney

First attested in Samuel Rowland's 1600 The Letting of Humours Blood in the Head-Vaine as "a Bowe-bell Cockney", from Middle English cokenay (“a spoiled child; a milksop, an effeminate man”), used in the 16th c. by English country folk as a term of disparagement for city dwellers, of uncertain etymology. Possibly from Middle English cokeney (“a small, misshapen egg”), from coken (“cocks'”) + ey (“egg”) or from Cockney and Cocknay, variants of Cockaigne, a mythical land of luxury (first attested in 1305) eventually used as a humorous epithet of London. Compare cocker (“to spoil a child”).

der

(UK) From the East End of London, or London generally.


Marianne

The personification of France, a woman symbolizing liberty and reason and appearing on French coins, stamps, etc.


Permian

en-adj

Permian (comparative more Permian, superlative most Permian)

more Permian (comparative)
most Permian (superlative)

Pertaining to the Perm region of Russia, or its inhabitants.

permiläinen

pertaining to the Perm region and its inhabitants


Basque Country

autonomous community
autonomous community


ERA

(European Union, railways) Initialism of European Railway Agency (called today the European Union Agency for Railways)


Cambrian

Cambrian (comparative more Cambrian, superlative most Cambrian)

more Cambrian (comparative)
most Cambrian (superlative)

(geology) Of a geologic period within the Paleozoic era; comprises lower, middle and Furongian epochs from about 542 to 490 million years ago.

cambrià

of or pertaining to the Cambrian geologic period


Cambrian

Synonym of Walian: a Welsh person, a Welshman or Welshwoman.


CAP

The fact remains that if Ukraine joins, the CAP budget will either have to be increased dramatically or will evaporate, given the sheer area of agricultural land in Ukraine (it’s bigger than the whole of Italy), with the average farm taking up about 1,000 hectares compared to 16 hectares in the rest of the EU.

2023 September 30, Patrick Wintour, quoting Marija Golubeva, “‘No turning back’: how the Ukraine war has profoundly changed the EU”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Common Agricultural Policy
w:Common Agricultural Policy

(European Union) Initialism of Common Agricultural Policy.


quilate

From Spanish and Portuguese quilate, from Arabic قِيرَاط (qīrāṭ, “carat”), from Ancient Greek κεράτιον (kerátion, “hornlet, carob seed”). Doublet of carat, karat, and ceratium.

der

(historical) Synonym of carat in historical Iberian contexts.


Eurasian

en-adj

Eurasian (comparative more Eurasian, superlative most Eurasian)

more Eurasian (comparative)
most Eurasian (superlative)

From Euro- + Asian. Attested since 1844.

Of or pertaining to the continent of Eurasia, or to both Europe and Asia.


Etruria

/ɪˈtɹʊə.ɹɪ.ə/

Italian Peninsula
Italian Peninsula#English

(historical) An ancient country in Italian Peninsula, located between the Arno and Tiber rivers, corresponding to modern day Tuscany in Western Italy; the home of Etruscans.

(historical) A former kingdom in Northern Italy, lasted between 1801 and 1807.

A suburb of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England (OS grid ref SJ8646).


Sunderland

From sunder + -land (see Wikipedia article for further etymological information).

metropolitan borough
metropolitan borough

A city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear.

An unincorporated community in Calvert County, Maryland.

A town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, named after Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland.

A neighbourhood in north-east Portland, Oregon.

Bennington County
Bennington County#English

A place in the United States:
A town in Bennington County, Vermont.


Francophobe

One who dislikes France, the French, or French culture.

francophobe

one who dislikes France, the French or French culture


quintal

Late Middle English, from Anglo-Norman quintal, from Middle French quintal, from Old French and Medieval Latin quintale and quintallus (“various medieval hundredweights”), from Arabic قِنْطَار (qinṭār, “100 rottols”), from Classical Syriac ܩܰܢܛܺܝܪܳܐ (qanṭīrā) and ܩܰܢܛܺܝܢܳܪܳܐ (qanṭīnārā), from Byzantine Greek κεντηνάριον (kentēnárion), from Latin centēnārium (“100 Roman pounds”), from the neuter of centēnārius (“having 100 things”). Use for various non-English units, borrowed from French quintal, Spanish quintal, Portuguese quintal, etc. The apparent relation to quint- (“five, fivefold”) and -al (forming adjectives) is accidental, although it possibly influenced the eventual spelling of the term. Doublet of centenary and kantar.

der

In one import license alone, the merchant in question was instructed to bring in 13,000 quintals of alum, which, snapped up by industries in England and the Low Countries, would yield the king a cool £8,666 13s 4d.

2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 204:

(historical) Synonym of hundredweight, 100 or 112 English or American pounds.


Pitcairn Islands

A small archipelago and overseas territory of the United Kingdom in the southern Pacific Ocean.


babushka

Borrowed from Russian ба́бушка (bábuška, “grandmother, granny”), diminutive of ба́ба (bába, “old woman”).

bor

Yet, much as I loved to listen to it, standing there in the heat of all the lighted candles and dressed in my heavy shuba and felt boots, I invariably, halfway through the service, would begin to feel an intolerable pain across my shoulders which would spread across my back, gradually getting worse, until in the end I was forced to go to the back of the church and find a corner on a bench especially placed there for all the old babushkas and dedushkas who were also unable to bear the strain of standing throughout the whole service.

1984, Eugenie Fraser, “Before the Storm”, in The House by the Dvina: A Russian Childhood, Mainstream Publishing, →ISBN, pages 126–127:

An old woman, especially one of Eastern European descent.

(by association) A stereotypical, Eastern European peasant grandmother-type figure.

“Say hello to old Stanley,” he called as she pattered down the steps into the street, flung a babushka over her license plate and screeched away down Telegraph.

1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 5, in The Crying of Lot 49, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, published November 1976, →ISBN, page 79:

The crowd falls silent, momentarily stunned, while a heavyset woman in a babushka pushes her way through, broadcasting the news […].

1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 78:

(Northern US) A traditional floral headscarf worn by an Eastern European woman, tied under the chin.


Pitcairnese

(linguistics) A creole spoken in the Pitcairn Islands, formed from an eighteenth-century dialect of English and the Tahitian language.


North Britain

Scottish clients in London commissioned projects from Gibbs in both the metropolis and North Britain.

2012, Jerry White, London in the Eighteenth Century, Bodley Head, published 2017, page 18:

The north part of Britain, formerly specifically (now historical) Scotland.


jackeen

From Jack + -een (“little”), from Jack being a common English name.

A buckeen, a jackeen, a squireen, or any of the intermediate classes.

1840, Fraser's Magazine, volume 22, page 320:

Jackeens loitering about the Dublin theatres.

(Ireland, derogatory) An arrogant lower-class person, especially in Dublin.

To the sellers in the market, to the barmen and barmaids, to the beggars who importuned him for a lob Mr Dedalus told the same tale, that he was an old Corkonian, that he had been trying for thirty years to get rid of his Cork accent up in Dublin and that Peter Pickakafax beside him was his eldest son but that he was only a Dublin jackeen.

1916 December 29, James Joyce, chapter II, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC, page 105:

(Ireland, derogatory, ethnic slur) Synonym of Dubliner, especially (obsolete or historical) an excessively Anglophile one.


pioneer

/ˌpaɪ.əˈnɪɹ/

From Middle French pionnier (“originally, a foot soldier”), Old French peonier, from peon (“a foot soldier”) (modern French: pion). See pawn (in chess).

uder

(communism) A member of a children’s organization operated by the Communist Party, typically in the second of three stages toward becoming a member of the Party itself.

pionier

member of a child organization in the Soviet bloc


Serb

From Serbo-Croatian Srbi, from Proto-Slavic *sьrbъ (“ally, Serb, Sorb”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to protect, watch over”); akin to Latin servo (“I guard, I protect”), Old English searu (“weapons, armor”), Lithuanian sárgas (“watchman”), Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs, “hero”), Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (haraⁱti), 𐬵𐬀𐬎𐬭𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (haᵘruuaⁱti, “to guard”). Doublet of Sorb.

der

A person of Serb descent (not necessarily from Serbia). (Compare Serbian.)

Serwiër

person of Serb descent — see also Serbian


Croat

en-noun

Croat (countable and uncountable, plural Croats)

From Medieval Latin Croata, from Proto-Slavic *xъrvatъ (“Croat”), the Croatian autonym. It, in turn, is probably of non-Slavic origin: probably from an Iranian or Germanic language. Doublet of cravat.

(countable) A native or inhabitant of Croatia; a person of Croatian ethnicity.

(dated) An irregular soldier, generally from Croatia.


Melilla

Etymology tree
Tarifit mlel
Tarifit Mliltbor.
Arabic مَلِيلْيَة (malīlya)bor.
Spanish Melillabor.
English Melilla
Borrowed from Spanish Melilla.

etymon

An autonomous city of Spain and exclave at the edge of Morocco.


Monmouthshire

/ˈmɒn.məθˌʃɪəɹ/

/ˈmɒn.məθ.ʃəɹ/

A maritime traditional county of England and Wales, bordered by to the east by Gloucestershire, to the northeast by Herefordshire, to the north by Brecknockshire, to the west by Glamorganshire and to the south by the Bristol Channel. It was part of England until renamed Gwent and taken into Wales in 1974.

A county and local government principal area of Wales which replaced Gwent, bordered by the Forest of Dean, Herefordshire, Powys, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen and Newport.


Pembrokeshire

A maritime traditional county of Wales, bordered by Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire.


Carmarthenshire

/kɑː(ɹ)ˈmɑː(ɹ)ðənʃə(ɹ)/

A maritime traditional county of Wales, bordered by Glamorganshire, Brecknockshire, Cardiganshire and Pembrokeshire.


Flintshire

From Flint + -shire, also once known as the County of Flint.

A maritime traditional county of Wales, bounded to the north by the Irish Sea, to the northeast by the Dee estuary, to the east by Cheshire and to the south and southwest by Denbighshire. A detached part, Maelor Saesneg, is bounded on the northwest by Denbighshire, on the northeast by Cheshire, and on the south by Shropshire. There is a further small detached part around Marford.


Europeanize

en-verb

Europeanize (third-person singular simple present Europeanizes, present participle Europeanizing, simple past and past participle Europeanized)

Europeanizes (present singular third-person)
Europeanizing (participle present)
Europeanized (participle past)
Europeanized (past)

To make something, or someone, more European.

europartu

to make something, or someone, more European


redcoat

The series ran from 1980 until 1988, and won a BAFTA for Best Comedy Series in 1984. It was based on Perry’s experiences working as a Redcoat in Butlins.

A member of the entertainment staff at Butlin's holiday camps in the United Kingdom, who wear red blazers.


Peterborough

From Peter + borough, referring to Saint Peter the Apostle. Doublet of Petersburg.

A cathedral city and unitary authority in Cambridgeshire, England.


fleur-de-lis

en-noun

fleur-de-lis (plural fleurs-de-lis or fleur-de-lises or fleur-de-lisses)

fleurs-de-lis (plural)
fleur-de-lises (plural)
fleur-de-lisses (plural)

From earlier flower-de-luce, from Middle English flourdelis, from Anglo-Norman flour de lis (“lily flower”); later remodelled after modern French fleur de lis (“lily flower”).

der

(scouting) The main element in the logo of most Scouting organizations, representing a major theme in Scouting: the outdoors and wilderness.


lipa

lipas (plural)
lipa (plural)
lipe (plural)

(often in the plural) A subdivision of currency, equal to one hundredth of a Croatian kuna (obsolete since 2023).


Serbia

Borrowed from Medieval Latin Serbia, equivalent to modern Serb + -ia.

Balkan Peninsula
Balkan Peninsula#English

Southeast Europe
Southeast Europe#English

Republic of Serbia
Republic of Serbia#English

Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro

A country on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. Official name: Republic of Serbia. Capital and largest city: Belgrade. Part of Yugoslavia until 1992, then part of Serbia and Montenegro until 2006.


Barnet

en-proper noun

Barnet (countable and uncountable, plural Barnets)

From Old English bærnet (“place cleared by burning”).

der

A London borough in Greater London, England, United Kingdom.


Alpine

en-adj

Alpine (comparative more Alpine, superlative most Alpine)

more Alpine (comparative)
most Alpine (superlative)

Some vague emotion of delight / In gazing up an Alpine height, / Some yearning toward the lamps of night.

1833–1834 (date written), Alfred Tennyson, “The Two Voices”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 140:

Relating to the Alps, a mountain range in Western and Central Europe.


Channel

(Europe) Ellipsis of English Channel: A strait in Europe, separating Great Britain from France and connecting the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.


Montenegro

→ Japanese: モンテネグロ (Monteneguro)

/mɒn.tɪˈnɛɡ.ɹəʊ/

From Venetan Montenegro (from monte + negro, literally “black mountain”), a calque of Serbo-Croatian Cȓnā Gòra, referring to Mt Lovćen.

bor

A country on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. Capital and largest city: Podgorica. Part of Yugoslavia until 2003, then part of Serbia and Montenegro until 2006.


Bank

From Old English banc (“bank, hillock, embankment”), from Proto-Germanic *bankô.

der

Bank and Monument stations
Bank, Hampshire

Anybody familiar with the London Underground network will know that Bank Tube station is a place to be avoided - if at all possible - on a weekday morning. Located at the very heart of London's 'Square Mile' financial district, some 70,000 people detrain there during the morning peak, to pass through its gatelines and those at the adjoining station at Monument. A further 50,000 passengers squeeze into the station complex at exactly the same time of day, in order to change between the five lines that pass through it.

2019 October 23, Paul Stephen delivers a progress report on London Underground's transformative Bank Station capacity upgrade, Rail, page 68:

London Underground
London Underground#English

(rail transport) A major London Underground station in the City of London, named after the Bank of England and one of the busiest stations on the network (OS grid ref TQ3281)


Down

From Irish dún (“fortress, stronghold”).

Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland#English

One of the six traditional counties of Northern Ireland, usually known as County Down.


Cork

From Irish Corcaigh (“bog, marsh, swamp”).

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


Capitol

From Middle English Capitolie, in historical sense, from Latin Capitōlium. Other meanings from specific instances of capitol, q.v. As a French town hall, a calque of French Capitole.

Constantine the Great
Museum of Roman Civilization
Washington Mall

(historical) The citadel and temples on the Capitoline Hill in Ancient Rome.


Castello

The largest of the six sestieri of Venice; includes the Arsenale


Fife

From Scottish Gaelic Fìobha, said to date back to the eponym Fib, one of the seven sons of the legendary Pictish king Cruithne. From Scottish Gaelic fiùbhaidh (“hero, valiant warrior”) from fiù (“worth”).

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


Franco-

The Paris portion will include a first and second class sleeping car, ordinary Paris-Copenhagen coach and a second class Paris-Puttgarden couchette car, besides vehicles for Hamburg and Hanover and restaurant facilities between Paris and Jeumont, on the Franco-Belgian frontier.

1962 December, “Beyond the Channel: European timetables: Prospects for 1963”, in Modern Railways, page 413:

Relating to France or the French people, language, or culture.


Fifer

A person who hails from the county of Fife in Scotland.


Galileo

/ˌɡæl.ɪˈleɪ.əʊ/

/ˌɡæl.ɪˈlæɪ.əʉ/

principle of relativity
principle of relativity

Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), an Italian thinker and key figure in the scientific revolution who improved the telescope, made astronomical observations, and put forward the basic principle of relativity in physics.


Hart

* As an English and north/Low German surname, from the noun hart (“stag”).
* As a German surname, variant of Hardt.
* As a Jewish/Yiddish and Dutch surname, from derivatives of *hertā (“heart”), *hard(ī) (“hard”), or *herut (“stag”), or converged senses of them. These senses are also translated from other languages such as French Francoeur, Jolicoeur, Vadeboncoeur, and Native American (Cheyenne) Homa'ehesta, from homa'e (“beaver”) + hesta (“heart”).
* As an Irish surname, from Ó hairt (“descendant of Art”), from the noun art (“bear”). Compare Hartin.

A city, the county seat of Oceana County, Michigan, United States.


Euro

Named after the euro (macropod species).

Western Australia
Western Australia#English


Essen

From the German city and surname, often confused with essen (“eating”), but this is not related. The city's oldest name, Astnide, could be related to Old High German asc (“ash tree”). The surname is from the city.

North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia#English

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


Florentine

en-adj

Florentine (comparative more Florentine, superlative most Florentine)

more Florentine (comparative)
most Florentine (superlative)

From French florentin, from Latin flōrentīnus.

Of or relating to the Italian city of Florence.

florentín

of or relating to the Italian city of Florence


Florentine

The safety of Florence, which means even more than the welfare of Florentines, now demands severity, as it once demanded mercy.

1863, George Eliot, Romola, Volume III, Book III, Chapter XIII, page 137:

A native or resident of the Italian city of Florence.

ֆլորենցիացի

a native or resident of the Italian city of Florence


Met

(London, rail transport) The London Underground Metropolitan line.

(London, rail transport, historical, 1863–1933) The Metropolitan Railway.

The Metropolitan Police has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over its handling of the investigation. […] The Met said it had informed its own Directorate of Professional Standards and a "mandatory referral will be made to the IOPC in relation to the initial contact from the woman's friend".

2024 April 11, Victoria Cook, “Westminster murder inquiry: Woman, 27, named by police”, in bbc.com:

(London, law enforcement) The Metropolitan Police Service of London (MPS).

(US) The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.


Limerick

en-proper noun

Limerick (countable and uncountable, plural Limericks)


Oval

Alternative form: The Oval

(cricket) A cricket ground in South London.


Bavarian

/bəˈvɛəɹɪən/

A German dialect spoken in Bavaria (a state of southern West Germany) and Austria, which varies considerably across different regions.


Jersey

From Middle English Gersey, from Anglo-Norman Gersui, further etymology disputed. Probably from Old Norse [Term?], compound of Geirs (“Geirr's”) + ey (“island”). Also occasionally and historically connected to Latin Caesarea, a common name given to locations conquered by the Romans in honor of Caesar (compare French Césarée). The latter theory still bestows the Latin translation of the island.

unk

disputed

The resilience of Jersey’s elite is not new (Jersey is perhaps the only place in Europe that had the same government before, during and after Nazi occupation) but it had never previously been described with such forensic force.

2018, Oliver Bullough, chapter 3, in Moneyland, Profile Books, →ISBN:

A dependency of the United Kingdom; the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel between France and England.


Finn

From Old English Finnas (“the Sami”) (plural), from Old Norse finnr (“a hunter-gatherer”), from Proto-Germanic *finnaz (which see for more). Possibly originally meaning a ‘finder’ of food, referring to nomadic hunter-gatherers, particularly the Sami.

der

a <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">hunter-gatherer</i>

finländska f [note finlandssvensk m or f, finlandssvenska f Swedish Finnlander]


Poultry

Home of medieval feather dealers and stuffers.

A street in the City of London between Cheapside and Cornhill (at Bank).


Pantheon

From Latin Pantheon, from Ancient Greek Πάνθειον (Pántheion, “a temple of all gods”), neuter of πάνθειος (pántheios, “of or common to all gods”), from πᾶν (pân, “all, everything”) + θείος (theíos, “of or for the gods”), from θεός (theós, “god”).

af

The circular Roman temple dedicated to all the gods in 27 BCE in Rome, rebuilt c. 125 CE and later consecrated as a church.


Mayo

Derived from Irish Maigh Eo
* (surname): Possibly instead derived from Old French, “Maiheu” from Hebrew, “Matthew”


Parmesan

/ˈpɑːmɪˌzæn/

/ˌpɑːmɪˈzæn/

/ˈpɑːməˌzən/


Reading

From Old English Rēadingas, the name of a tribe or clan of early Anglo-Saxon England whose capital was at Reading.

A unitary authority (Reading Borough Council) in Berkshire.


Rugby

From earlier Rokeby (rook + -by), from Middle English Rokebi, an alteration (using the Middle English bi (“village, town”), from Old Norse býr (“town, settlement”)) of Old English Rocheberie, possibly from earlier Old English *Hrōceburh (literally “rook-fort, Rookbury”).

der

Las Animas County
Las Animas County#English

A number of places in the United States:

An unincorporated community in Las Animas County, Colorado.

Bartholomew County
Bartholomew County#English

An unincorporated community in Haw Creek Township, Bartholomew County, Indiana.

A city, the county seat of Pierce County, North Dakota.

An unincorporated community in Morgan County and Scott County, Tennessee.

An unincorporated community in Grayson County, Virginia.

A village in Hilltops council area, New South Wales, Australia.


Orange

Some senses from French Orange, from Latin Aurasiō, from Gaulish. Other senses from the common noun orange, ultimately from Sanskrit नारङ्ग (nāraṅga, “orange tree”).

New Haven County
New Haven County#English

A town in New Haven County, Connecticut; named for William III of England.

A town in Grafton County, New Hampshire; named for the orange ochre found in the area.

Coshocton County
Coshocton County#English

An unincorporated community in Coshocton County, Ohio.

(Ireland, informal) a Loyalist or a member of the Orange Order; someone, usually a Protestant, who advocates keeping Northern Ireland under British control.


Slough

From Middle English Slo, perhaps related to the noun slough (“marsh”) (referring to the land) or to sloe (referring to bushes).

A borough and unitary authority (Slough Borough Council) in Berkshire.


Sorb

Borrowed from German Sorbe, from Lower Sorbian Serb, the self-appointed name. Doublet of Serb.

A member of a Slavic people living in Lusatia in eastern Germany.


Taffy

From Welsh Dafydd (“David”), a common Welsh name. Doublet of David. Or else from Welsh Taf, a river-name in South Wales.

(slang, sometimes derogatory) A Welshman.


Spree

A river in Germany that flows through Lusatia and into Berlin, where it flows into the Havel.


Man

From Old Irish Mana, from Proto-Celtic *moniyos, from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to tower, stand out”).

And therefore the Bishop and clergy of Man were totally powerless to resist the alteration of doctrinal articles and rites of worship which Earls Edward and Henry, between 1521 and 1594, following the edicts of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Elizabeth, introduced into the Isle of Man.

1860, William Mackenzie, editor, Legislation by Three of the Thirteen Stanleys, Kings of Man. […], Douglas, Isle of Man: […] [T]he Manx Society, page 191:

The Isle of Man; an island and crown dependency of the United Kingdom in the Irish Sea.


Nice

From French Nice, from Latin Nīcaea, from Ancient Greek Νῑ́καια (Nī́kaia), named for a 4th-century BC victory of its colonizing Phocaean Greeks over local Ligurians, probably the Vediantii, from νῑ́κη (nī́kē, “victory”) + -ῐᾰ (-ia, “-ia: forming place names”). Doublet of Iznik and Nicaea.

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

A coastal city, the capital of the Alpes-Maritimes department, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeast France.


Underground

Although some of the stations on ' The Branch ' have not, as yet, suffered any considerable structural alterations, all are now equipped with the familiar Underground type name boards, and as a result the imposing titles of G.N. days have been ruthlessly curtailed.

1940 October, “Notes and News: The High Barnet Branch”, in Railway Magazine, page 569:

Heathrow has a 28% share of passengers arriving by rail, two-thirds of whom come by the Underground.

2019 October, John Glover, “Heathrow rail expansion”, in Modern Railways, page 71:

(UK, rail transport) The London Underground.


Estonian

Of, from, or pertaining to the country of Estonia, its people or their language.

Esties

of, from, or pertaining to the country of Estonia, its people or their language


Estonian

en-noun

Estonian (countable and uncountable, plural Estonians)

(countable) A person of the indigenous ethnic group of Estonia or someone descended from such people.

(countable, rare) Any person from Estonia or someone descended from such people.

(uncountable) The Uralic language that is the official language of Estonia.


Sound

From the common noun sound (“strait, inlet”).

The strait that separates Zealand (an island of Denmark) from Scania (part of Sweden); also sometimes called by the Danish name, Øresund.

Die Sont

strait that separates Zealand from Scania


Porto

Borrowed from Portuguese Porto.
* (wine): the name of the city whence it was exported.

A city and municipality, the district capital of Porto district, Portugal


Seine

A river in northern France that flows through Paris for about 772 km (480 mi) to the English Channel near Le Havre.

A former department of France, the capital city of which was Paris.


White

en-proper noun

White (countable and uncountable, plural Whites)

* As an English surname, from Middle English White, as a nickname for someone with white hair or pale complexion; in some cases from a personal name of the same meaning. See the modern adjective white.
* Also as an English surname, from Old English *wiht (“bend”), found only in placenames, a derivative of the verb wican (“to yield, bend”); compare Wight.
* As a Scottish Gaelic and Irish surname, used as a translation of several Gaelic names containing the element bán and geal, including Mac Giolla bháin (McElwain, Kilbane), Ó Gealagáin (Galligan), Bán (Bane), and Ó Banáin (Bannon).
* Also as a Scottish and Irish surname, an Anglicization of Irish de Faoite, itself from Anglo-Norman le White, le Whyte, from the same source as the English surname.

White (disambiguation)#Places in the United States

A minor city in Bartow County, Georgia; named for its first postmaster.

A city in South Dakota; named for its first European settler.

An unincorporated community in Washington; named for a Washington state judge.

A ghost town in Missouri; named for a local mining official.


Pole

A person from Poland or of Polish descent.

лях

now sometimes slightly derogatory or ironic


Scotch

Contraction of Scottish.
The chess opening is supposedly after its having been played in a correspondence game between Edinburgh, Scotland, and London, England.

But Rob was just saying what a shame it was that folk should be shamed nowadays to speak Scotch – or they called it Scots if they did, the split-tongued sourocks!

1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song (A Scots Quair), Polygon, published 2006, page 156:

The Scotch are a hardy bunch.


Scotch

en-noun

Scotch (countable and uncountable, plural Scotches)

Paul has drunk a lot of Scotch.

(uncountable) Whisky distilled in Scotland, especially from malted barley.


Scotch

Behind all his assumed unsocialism there lay a true warm heart; nor could anything be kindlier than the welcome which, whenever they did come to him, any of his Scotch relatives received.

1801, William Hanna, Memoirs of the life and writings of Thomas Chalmers, page 422:

our landlord informed us, with a sort of apologetic tone, that there was a Scotch gentleman to dine with us.


Swede

From Middle Low German Swêde, from a Germanic word akin to Old Norse Svíþjóð, Old English Swēoþēod (“Sweden”, literally “Swede nation”), itself from Swēo (“Swede”), from Proto-Germanic *swihô (“Swede”). Cognate with Dutch Zweed, German Schwede.

cog

(historical) A member of an ancient North Germanic tribe that inhabited central Sweden

Svear

member of the ancient North Germanic tribe


Tuscan

From Middle English Tuscan, from Late Latin Tuscānus (“belonging to the Tusci”), a people of ancient Italy, from Tuscus, earlier *Truscus, shortened form of Etruscus (“Etruscan”).

der

Of or relating to Tuscany or its inhabitants.

тоскански

of or relating to Tuscany or its inhabitants


Tuscan

en-noun

Tuscan (countable and uncountable, plural Tuscans)

A local variety of Italian spoken in Tuscany, on which Standard Italian is largely based.


Riga

From Latvian Rīga, of disputed origin:
* Possibly from Livonian ringa (“loop”), referring to the ancient natural harbor formed by the tributary loop of the Daugava river.
* Possibly a form of Riege, the German name for the Rīdzene, a tributary of the Daugava river.
* Possibly from rija (“threshing barn”), the j becoming a g in German (note that English geographer Richard Hakluyt calls the city Rie in 1589, and that German historian Dionysius Fabricius confirms in 1610 the origin of Rīga from rija).

[The city is] at least ten Rigas and Jelgavas put together! Palace upon palace, bridge upon bridge, tower upon tower.

2014, Zigmunds Skujins, Flesh-Coloured Dominoes:


York

Etymology tree
Proto-Celtic *eburos
Proto-Brythonic *eβur
Proto-Celtic *-ākos
Proto-Brythonic *-ọg
Proto-Brythonic *Eβrọgbor.
Latin Eborācumder.
Old English Eoforwīċder.
Old Norse Jórvíkbor.
Middle English Ȝork
English York
From Middle English York, Ȝork, from Old Norse Jórk, Jórvík, from Old English Eoforwīċ, from Latin Eborācum, ultimately from Proto-Brythonic *Eβrọg (compare Welsh Efrog, from Old Welsh Caer Ebrauc, from Proto-Brythonic *Eβrọg), from *eburos (“yew”) + *-ākom (positive suffix). Doublet of Évora.

suffix

A city and unitary authority in North Yorkshire, England.

Billington and Langho
Billington and Langho#English

A hamlet in Billington and Langho parish, Ribble Valley district, Lancashire, England (OS grid ref SD7033).

A royal dukedom traditionally given to the second son of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom.


Ulsterman

Any male coming from or living in the northern Irish province of Ulster.


Taurus

From Latin Taurus (from taurus (“bull”)), from Ancient Greek Ταῦρος (Taûros); compare Aramaic תּוֹר (tor), Arabic ثَوْر (ṯawr). Latin taurus (“bull”) is a doublet of steer, tur, Tavros, and Tarvos.


Norn Iron

/ˈnɔːn ˈaɪɹən/

From an exaggerated pronunciation of Northern Ireland in a broad Belfast accent.

(Ireland, endearing slang) Northern Ireland.


Udmurt

From Russian удму́рт (udmúrt), from Udmurt удмурт (udmurt).

A Finnic language spoken in Udmurtia, a republic of Russia.

乌德穆尔特语

Wūdémùěrtèyǔ


Sicilian

From Latin Sicilia + -an. By surface analysis, Sicily + -an.

Sorry, I’m Italian, and let’s say I see that Sicilian policemen arrest less people in Sicily. This could be for two reasons, one is that everybody else overarrests, or the Sicilian policemen underarrest. And can you tell those two things apart?

2020 June 12, Kate Waldock and Luigi Zingales, “Should we defund the police?”, in Capitalisn't:

Of or relating to Sicily or its inhabitants.


Sicilian

The picture of devastated Palermo which he draws fills up the measure of the dastardly oppression which has now passed away; more disgraceful excesses than those committed by the Bavarese, as the Sicilians called the royal troops, were [...]

1861, The Foreign Quarterly Review, volume 75, page 553:


Downing Street

Named for its founder, Sir George Downing.

For all his faults and grandstanding, however, Prescott genuinely cared - and his ambitious plans for tram schemes and railway extensions were stymied by lack of support from Downing Street.

2024 January 10, Christian Wolmar, “A time for change? ... just as it was back in issue 262”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 60:

(loosely) Either 10 Downing Street or 11 Downing Street.


AFU

Armed Forces of Ukraine
w:Armed Forces of Ukraine


Northern Ireland

A country in the United Kingdom, situated in the northeastern part of the island of Ireland.

Irlandë Veriore

a country in the United Kingdom, situated in the northeastern part of the island of Ireland


Roman

en-adj

Roman (comparative more Roman, superlative most Roman)

more Roman (comparative)
most Roman (superlative)

From Old French Romain, from Latin Rōmānus. In reference to the Byzantine Empire, via the Byzantine Greek endonym Ῥωμαῖος (Rhōmaîos). By surface analysis, Rome + -an. Doublet of Romano.

(historical) Of or from the Roman Empire.


Roman

(historical) A native or resident of the Roman Empire.

հռոմեացի

a native or inhabitant of the Roman Empire


pierogi

en-noun

pierogi (plural pierogi or pierogies or pierogis)

pierogi (plural)
pierogies (plural)
pierogis (plural)

Borrowed from Polish pierogi, the plural of pieróg (“dumpling”), which ultimately is derived from Proto-Slavic *pirъ (“party”). Unrelated to Turkish börek. Doublet of pirogi (from Russian), pirohy (from Czech and Slovak), and pyrohy/pedaheh (from Ukrainian).

(Canada, US) A square- or crescent-shaped dumpling of unleavened dough, stuffed with sauerkraut, cheese, mashed potatoes, cabbage, onion, meat, or any combination of these, or with a fruit filling.

波兰饺子 (Bōlán jiǎozi, literally “Polish dumpling(s)”)


Frankfurter

From German Frankfurter. Equivalent to Frankfurt + -er.

A native or inhabitant of Frankfurt, Germany.


europeanize

en-verb

europeanize (third-person singular simple present europeanizes, present participle europeanizing, simple past and past participle europeanized)

europeanizes (present singular third-person)
europeanizing (participle present)
europeanized (participle past)
europeanized (past)

Alternative letter-case form of Europeanize


Britannia

Learned borrowing from Latin Britannia. Doublet of Britain and Brittany.

1740, James Thomson (lyrics), Thomas Arne (music), Rule, Britannia!
Rule, Britannia! Britannia rule the waves / Britons never, never shall be slaves

I recall the height of comfort attained by the green-cushioned "first" with starched white antimacassars and a pretentious grey floor mat on which it seemed a sacrilege to stand, as it was embellished with the North Western conception of Britannia, complete with trident.

1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, pages 703-704:

A female personification of Britain or the United Kingdom.


Swansea

From Middle English Sweynesse (c. 1165), Sueinesea (1190), Swanesey (1322), from Old Norse Sveins ey (literally “Sveinn’s island”).


krone

From Danish krone (“crown”) and Norwegian krone. Doublet of corona, crown, korona, koruna, krona, and króna.

doublet

The currency of Iceland, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands) and Norway, divided into 100 øre, except in Iceland where 1 króna = 100 aurar.


krone

Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austro-Hungarian Empire

(historical) The currency of German-Austria and Liechtenstein after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1919) until the introduction of the Austrian schilling and, in Liechtenstein, the Swiss franc.


SSA

(European Union, space science) Initialism of Space Situational Awareness (a programme of ESA)


Ural

From Russian Ура́л (Urál), most likely from either Bashkir үр (ür, “elevation; upland”) or Mansi (Northern Mansi ур ала (ur ala, “mountain peak”)).

cog

A river that rises in the Urals and flows through Russia and Kazakhstan


FAA

Again he bats back and forth the pages of the thick clipped sheaf of close-typed pages that comprise the results of the FAA investigation into Naomi’s fatal encounter with the northwest slope of Mount Dunkelblum.

2007, Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, 4th Estate (2010), page 244:

Federal Aviation Administration
w:Federal Aviation Administration

(aviation) Initialism of Federal Aviation Administration (agency regulating U.S. aviation).

Federal Arbitration Act
w:Federal Arbitration Act

(law) Initialism of Federal Arbitration Act (9 USC 1).

(military, nautical, aviation) Initialism of Fleet Air Arm (carrier-borne air force of the U.K.'s Royal Navy).


Turkey

desc

→ Chinese: 土雞／土鸡 (tǔjī) (phono-semantic matching)

→ Hindi: तुर्की (turkī) (phono-semantic matching)

→ Korean: 터키 (Teoki)

→ Manx: Turkee

→ Urdu: تُرْکی (turkī) (phono-semantic matching)

From Middle English Turkye, from Anglo-Norman Turkye, Medieval Latin Turcia, from Turcus (“Turk”), from Byzantine Greek Τοῦρκος (Toûrkos), from Classical Persian ترک (turk), from Middle Persian [script needed] (twlk' /Turk/), from Old Turkic 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰜 (t²ür²k̥).

der

Republic of Türkiye
Republic of Türkiye#English

A country located in eastern Thrace in southeastern Europe and Anatolia in southwestern Asia. Official name: Republic of Türkiye. Capital: Ankara

Ҭырқтәыла

country at intersection of Europe and Asia


EP

European Parliament
European Parliament#English

EP

European Parliament — see also European Parliament


Jovian

en-adj

Jovian (comparative more Jovian, superlative most Jovian)

more Jovian (comparative)
most Jovian (superlative)

From Latin Iovis, genitive of Iuppiter, analysable as Jove + -ian.

Near-synonym: Zeusian

He did not admit of equals. But as a patron he was superb. With his Jovian air, his colossal condescension, his amused smile, his general suggestion of the god descending to the mortal, he could be quite overpowering in his amiability.

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

(Roman mythology) Pertaining to the Roman god Jove or Jupiter (the counterpart of the Greek god Zeus); Jove-like; befitting Jupiter.


Trafalgar Square

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Trafalgar Square.

A square in the City of Westminster; the site of Nelson's Column, National Gallery and the scene of frequent demonstrations.

Admiralty Arch
Battle of Trafalgar
Northumberland Avenue
St Martin's Lane
Trafalgar Square


Old Bailey

Originally "The Bailey", a street running outside the western wall of medieval London; from the word bailey, a Middle English term for the outermost wall or court of a fortification. The courthouse built nearby in the 16th century, alongside old Newgate Prison, took its name from the street.

The Central Criminal Court in this street; the Crown Court in the City of London.


Whitehall

en-proper noun

Whitehall (countable and uncountable, plural Whitehalls)

From Middle English whit (“white”) + halgh (“corner, nook; hall”).

A city and township in Muskegon County, Michigan, United States.

A township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States.

Trempealeau County
Trempealeau County#English

A city, the county seat of Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, United States.


Square Mile

From square mile
* (London): The City's land area is about 1.12 square miles and roughly square in shape.
* (Montreal): Ellipsis of Golden Square Mile.. From having a land area of roughly a mile square.

(London, informal) Synonym of City of London.


Sudetenland

Borrowed from German Sudetenland, named after the Sudeten mountain range, but encompassing a far greater area.

(historical) The northern, southern, and western border areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited by a German-speaking minority.


czarist

Had China been partitioned in the years immediately following 1895,* Czarist Russia would have obtained an area north of the Yellow River which constitutes nearly 40 per cent of the entire Chinese territory. But from 1900,** the United States stood opposed to the partition of China by advocating the Open Door Policy.

1957, Chung-cheng (Kai-shek) Chiang, “Beginnings”, in Soviet Russia in China: A Summing-up at Seventy, New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 12:


medio

From Spanish medio (“half, half-celemin, half-real, etc.”), from Latin medius (“half”), from Proto-Italic *meðjos, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between”). Doublet of medium, media, and mediate.

bor

(historical) Any of various former Spanish and Latin American half-pieces, particularly the half-real both as a coin and a notional unit of account.


Czechoslovakia

→ Japanese: チェコスロバキア (Chekosurobakia)

Japanese: チェコ (Cheko) (clipping)

The tragic news from Czechoslovakia shocks the conscience of the world. The Soviet Union and its allies have invaded a defenseless country to stamp out a resurgence of ordinary human freedom. It is a sad commentary on the communist mind, that a sign of liberty in Czechoslovakia is deemed a fundamental threat to the security of the Soviet system. The action of the Warsaw Pact allies is in flat violation of the United Nations charter. We are consulting urgently with others to consider what steps should be undertaken in the United Nations. Meanwhile, in the name of mankind's hope for peace, I call on the Soviet Union and its associates to withdraw their troops from Czechoslovakia.

1968, President Lyndon Johnson, 18:22 from the start, in The President: August 1968. MP899 (1280x720), via Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum:

A former country in central Europe; now the Czech Republic and Slovakia.


The Mall

From the game pall mall, once played there. The American landmark is named after the avenue in London.

A wide avenue in London leading from Trafalgar Square and Admiralty Arch to Buckingham Palace; used as a ceremonial route.


Pall Mall

From pall mall, the name of a game once played there.

An unincorporated community in Fentress County, Tennessee, United States, named after Pall Mall in London.


qintar

(plural: qindarka or qintars) An Albanian coin equal to one hundredth of a lek.


Ludgate Hill

Despite the claim by the Norman-Welsh Geoffry of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae that Ludgate was so called for having been built by the ancient British king called Lud—a manifestation of the god Nodens—the name is believed by later writers to be derived from "flood gate" or "Fleet gate", from "ludgeat", meaning "back gate" or "postern", or from the Old English term "hlid-geat", meaning "postern" or "swing gate".

Ludgate Hill
Ludgate Hill railway station

It belonged to that incredible trio, St. Paul's, Ludgate Hill and Holborn, so close together that a long train could almost be in all three stations at once. Ludgate Hill has gone into the dusty limbo of forgotten stations, but its subterranean brassy bar long survived in the arches below, [...].

1941 August, C. Hamilton Ellis, “The English Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 356:

A street in the City of London that runs from St Paul's Churchyard, joining Fleet Street at Ludgate Circus. There was once a railway station named Ludgate Hill.


tuppence

en-noun

tuppence (countable and uncountable, plural tuppences)

By surface analysis, two + pence, collective plural of penny.
Same for the definition: "Short for tuppence worth (“one’s opinion”)." however, this idiom is derived from this fact; in Britain it used to cost two pence ("tuppence") to post a letter, usually holding one's opinion.

short for

Milk has gone up to tuppence ha’penny a pint.

In less than four days twenty-three men had paid their tuppences to Henery, who ’ad been made the seckitary.

1909, W. W. Jacobs, “Prize Money,”, in Sailor's Knots:

‘Miss Brindle rich?’ said Aunt Maggie. ‘Bless you, she hasn’t tuppence to rub together.’

1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 11:

(UK, Ireland, informal, dated) Two pence (in pre- or post-decimalisation currency).

(UK, Ireland, idiomatic) Short for tuppence worth (“one’s opinion”).

"Fucksticks!" When some smart-arse bastard gives me my comeuppance / "Fucksticks!" When it’s ages since I’ve seen a lady’s tuppence

2011, Kunt and the Gang, Fucksticks (song)

The lady confided to the nurse helping her up off the examination couch, and told her “He put his hand up me funnel and made me tuppence bleed!”

2012, Richard Johns, Diagnosis of the Soul: The Long Road to the Beginning:

(UK, Ireland, slang, euphemistic, usually childish) The vulva or vagina.


Middle Englander

A white, conservative, middle class member of Middle England.


Anglo-

From New Latin Anglo-, from Late Latin Anglī, Anglus (“Anglo-Saxon(s)”), derived from Latin Anglia (“England”), ultimately from Germanic. Influenced by French anglo-. Displaced native Old English Angel-.

ইঙ্গ-

prefix: relating to England, English, or the English

Automatically generated listed of words beginning with

Anglo-Indian rule brought railroads, but also some of the worst famines in history.

Anglo-German naval rivalry was a contributing factor to the First World War.

The identification of the border between England and Scotland always has been a source of interest to railway travellers. For many years, however, the exact points north of Berwick and Carlisle at which the Anglo-Scottish main lines passed from one country to the other were not defined, but the erection of clear and unmistakable lineside signs has put the matter beyond all doubt.

1950 January, “Crossing the Border”, in Railway Magazine, page 2:

A combining form relating to England or, by extension, the United Kingdom.


Russian Federation

Calque of Russian Росси́йская Федера́ция (Rossíjskaja Federácija)

calque

Росси́йская Федера́ция

The deepening strategic partnership between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation and their mutually reinforcing attempts to undercut the rules-based international order run counter to our values and interests.

2022, NATO 2022 Strategic Concept, NATO, archived from the original on 2022-06-29, page 5:

(much less common but more accurate translation from Russian) Russländische Föderation f

റഷ്യൻ ഫെഡറേഷൻ

ṟaṣyaṉ pheḍaṟēṣaṉ

Biʼééʼ Łichííʼí Bikéyah Ałhidadiidzooígíí


glasnost

en-noun

glasnost (countable and uncountable, plural glasnosts)

Borrowed from Russian гла́сность (glásnostʹ, “openness”).

bor

Gorbachev would introduce glasnost (openness and freedom) and perestroika (economic restructuring) to Russia under his tenure, ultimately freeing thousands of political prisoners and dissidents and trying to address the shortages in food and goods that had become the hallmarks of the failing Soviet economy.

2004, Chris Wallace, Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage:

(historical) 1980s and early 1990s policy of the Soviet Union under Gorbachev to allow more government transparency; often paired with perestroika

glasnost (usually accompanied by translation)


Bohemia

Latinized translation of French Bohême, from Late Latin Boiohaemum, compound of Boio- (“the Boii”), the Celtic tribe previously inhabiting the area and Germanic *haimaz (“home”) (more at home). The endonym is from Proto-Celtic *boyos and could ultimately be from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws (“cattle”) (compare Proto-Celtic *bāus (“cattle”), genitive *bowos), a reference to cattle owners, or from *bʰeyh₂- (“to hit”), i.e. “warrior, strong hitter” (compare Proto-Celtic *binati (“to strike, hit”)).
Bohemia was abandoned by the Boii c. 60 BCE and settled by the Germanic Marcomanni shortly thereafter. Related to Bavaria.

A region in the west of the former Czechoslovakia and present-day Czech Republic.


Dover

From Old English Dofras, from Latin Dubris, from Brythonic Dubras (“the waters”), from Proto-Celtic *dubros (“water”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰubrós (“dark”), from *dʰewb- (“deep”). Compare Tauber.
The village in Nova Scotia is likely named after the town in England.

A number of places in the United States:

An unincorporated community in Screven County, Georgia.

An unincorporated community in Dearborn County, Indiana.

An unincorporated community in Shawnee County, Kansas.

Piscataquis County
Piscataquis County#English

A former town in Piscataquis County, Maine, now Dover-Foxcroft, Maine.

A minor city in Olmsted County, Minnesota.

Strafford County
Strafford County#English

A city, the county seat of Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States.

A small town in Craven County, North Carolina.

Tuscarawas County
Tuscarawas County#English

Kingfisher County
Kingfisher County#English

A small town in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma.

An unincorporated community in Loudoun County, Virginia.

An unincorporated community in Price County, Wisconsin.


perestroika

en-noun

perestroika (countable and uncountable, plural perestroikas)

Borrowed from Russian перестро́йка (perestrójka, “restructuring”).

bor+

перестро́йка

(historical, uncountable) A program of political and economic reform carried out in the Soviet Union in the 1980s and early 1990s under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev.

(historical, uncountable) The period of time in the Soviet Union during which these reforms were carried out and in effect.


IRB

Initialism of investment review board, a committee of business executives who review investment choices, comparing against strategy and opportunity costs.

investment review board

Initialism of internal review board, an internal affairs division of a police department.


IRB

Irish Republican Brotherhood
w:Irish Republican Brotherhood

(historical) Initialism of Irish Republican Brotherhood, a secret organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924.

Irish Republican Brotherhood

(rugby, historical) Initialism of International Rugby Board, the name used by World Rugby, the worldwide governing body for rugby union, from 1998 to 2014.


Corsica

Borrowed from Latin Corsica, from Ancient Greek Κορσική (Korsikḗ).

administrative region
administrative region

An island, department, and administrative region of France, in the Mediterranean to the north of Sardinia.


GDR

German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic#English

(history) Initialism of German Democratic Republic (“East Germany”).


Benelux

From the first syllables of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.

A region of Europe, consisting of the countries which constitute this union.


Eurasia

→ Japanese: ユーラシア (Yūrashia)

From Euro- + Asia or blend of Europe + Asia.

The largest and most populous landmass on Earth, consisting of Europe and Asia; sometimes also including neighboring islands.

Eurasië

the largest landmass on Earth, consisting of Europe and Asia


English Channel

From being a channel separating England (“English”) from the continent of Europe.

The arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the British Isles from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

Engelse Kanaal

The part of the Atlantic Ocean between Great Britain and France

ઇંગ્લીશ ખાડી

iṅglīś khāḍī


Cheapside

From Middle English cheap (“market”). Cheapside, Chipping, and cheap all reflect ancestry from Old English ceapian, concerning trading in markets.

A street, and surrounding district, in the City of London; links Newgate Street, Cornhill, Threadneedle Street, Poultry and Lombard Street (and others).

Haldimand County
Haldimand County#English

A community of Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada.

A ghost town in Gonzales County, Texas, United States.

Northampton County
Northampton County#English

An unincorporated community in Northampton County, Virginia, United States.


sich

Borrowed from Ukrainian Січ (Sič), from Ukrainian сікти (sikty, “to chop”), alluding to the clearing of a forest for an encampment, or the building of a fort with trees that have been cut down.

Zaporizhian Sich
Zaporozhian Cossacks
sich rada

(historical) An administrative and military centre for the Zaporozhian and Danube Cossacks.

sitch

administrative and military centre for Cossacks


Threadneedle Street

Corruption of "three needle", from the arms of the Needle-makers' Company. Influenced by threading a needle.

A street in London, running from Poultry and Lombard Street to Bishopsgate; the site of the Bank of England.


Holy Roman Empire

the Holy Roman Empire (canonical)
HRE (abbreviation)

(history) A political conglomeration of lands in Central Europe from at least 962 C.E. until 1806.

اَلْإِمْبَرَاطُورِيَّة اَلرُّومَانِيَّة اَلْمُقَدَّسَة

Saint-Empire romain de la nation germanique

Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation

Hillig Röömsch Riek vun Düütsche Natschoon

Święte Cesarstwo Rzymskie Narodu Niemieckiego


Frenchwoman

A French woman; a woman of French ancestry, descent or citizenship.


tetri

A unit of currency in Georgia, one hundredth of a lari.


Caesar

From Latin Caesar. Displaced Old English cāsere, which would have yielded *caser, *coser, and Middle English keiser, kaiser, from Old Norse and continental Germanic languages. All ultimately from the same Latin root. (See also Kaiser and tsar.)

The Caesars were an ancient and aristocratic family, which for eight generations had been prominent in the commonwealth.

1891, William Rainey Harper, Herbert Cushing Tolman, Eight Books of Caesar’s Gallic War, New York, N.Y., Cincinnati, Oh., Chicago, Ill.: American Book Company, page 2:

Habel, 63 ff., believes that up to 51 the emperors bestowed priesthoods on the Caesares, using their special power of commendation; but that these Caesares were forced to wait until a place in a college was vacant; that after 51 the Caesares were elected by the senate.

1955, Papers and Monographs of the w:American Academy in Rome, volume 16, page 100:

To the powerful, the Caesares were flattering, deferential, sincerely devoted, self-sacrificing, loyal, eagerly serving.

1965, Taylor Caldwell, A Pillar of Iron, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 128:

Five of the Caesares were killed during the years 90-85 (D. G., 3, 114).

1975, Collection Latomus, volume 142, page 39:

[…] Off. 1.133 and Att. 13.19.4 do not establish the uterine relationship of Catulus and the Caesares, merely the fact that Catulus and the Caesares were regarded as fratres.

1996, Antichthon, volumes 34–36, page 56:

Of the two plebeian candidates Silanus obviously counted on the assistance of Manlius, who was in office and to whom he was related from the grandfather, but his rival, a Minucius who had become a Marcius, counted on the patrician rival Caesar and on the other consul, L. Aurelius Cotta, because the Caesares were related by marriage both with the Marcii and the Cottae; in fact, Silanus was defeated by their coalition.

1999, Friedrich Münzer, translated by Thérèse Ridley, Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families, Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 319:

The Pulchri were a branch of the Clodius family, just as the Caesares were of the Julii.

2000, Richard W[alter] Hooper, Representative Chapters in Ancient History: From Romulus to Justinian, University Press of America, →ISBN, page 542:

He was joined on this commission by C. Caesar Strabo (RE Iulius no. 135), of another branch of the Caesares, who had stressed his heritage by adding the old Julian praenomen Vopiscus (see the cos. 473, MRR 1.29) to his name as a cognomen.

2009, Ernst Badian, “From the Iulii to Caesar”, in Miriam Griffin, editor, A Companion to Julius Caesar, Wiley Blackwell, →ISBN, page 15:

By about the middle of the 2nd cent., the Caesares were claiming descent from *Ascanius and, through him, from his grandmother Venus (see the coins Crawford, RRC 258, 129 bc, and 320, 103 bc, the latter with a symbolic reference to Apollo, the ancient god of the gens).

2012, Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, Esther Eidinow, editors, The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th edition, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 755:

An ancient Roman family name, notably that of Julius Caesar.


Caesar

en-noun

Caesar (plural Caesars or (title) Caesares)

Constantius Chlorus and Galerius became Caesares in 293; […]

1889, The Classical Review, volume III, London: David Nutt, […], page 232:

Owing to the victories gained in the wars from 295-297, the two Augusti, Diocletian and Maximian, and the two Caesares, Galerius and Constantius Chlorus, took the title of Carpicus Maximus, the last three receiving this title five times after the fighting from 302-303 (see Table 13).

1976, The Archaeology and History of the Carpi from the Second to the Fourth Century AD, →ISBN, page 171:

For within the principia the highest, and focal, point of the whole ensemble is formed by the ‘temple of the standards’, on whose lintel a Latin inscription proudly proclaimed the completion of the work: ‘The Repairers of their world and Propagators of the human race, our Lords Diocletianus and Maximianus, the most unconquered Imperatores, and Constantius and Maximianus (i.e., Galerius), the most noble Caesares, have successfully founded the camp (castra), under the care of Sossianus Hierocles, vir perfectissimus, governor (praeses) of the province, devoted to their numen and maiestas’.

1993, Fergus Millar, The Roman Near East, 31 BC – AD 337, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 182:

Caesarean section
Caesarean section#English

(medicine, colloquial) Short for Caesarean section.


Pamyat

Borrowed from Russian Па́мять (Pámjatʹ), ultimately Russian па́мять (pámjatʹ, “memory”).

A right-wing Russian political movement.


Frenchman

From Middle English Frenshman; equivalent to French + -man.

red-legged partridge
red-legged partridge


tetrarchy

From Latin tetrarchia, from Ancient Greek τετραρχία (tetrarkhía), from τετρα- (tetra-, “four”) + -αρχία (-arkhía, “-archy: rule”).

Constantius was not born to the purple and Maximianus was the only original member of the First Tetrarchy from whom Constantine could satisfactorily derive his rule.

1996, Sam Lieu, “2: Constantine's "Pagan" Vision: The anonymous panegyric on Constantine (310), Pan. Lat. VII(6)”, in Samuel N. C. Lieu, Dominic Montserrat, editors, From Constantine to Julian: Pagan and Byzantine Views: A Source History, published 2003, page 66:

The abdication of Diocletian and Maximian in 305, whether long-planned or just the product of the senior emperor's recent ill health, created a second Tetrarchy, in which the dominant figure should have been Galerius.

2010, Roger Collins, Early Medieval Europe, 300-1000, 3rd edition, page 16:

His imperial reorganization saw authority divided between four rulers, the Tetrarchy, to oversee the recovery.

2015, David M. Gwynn, chapter I, in Christianity in the Later Roman Empire: A Sourcebook, page 15:

(politics) A government where power is shared by four people, especially (historical) the Herodian tetrarchy established in Judea after the death of Herod and the Tetrarchy of Diocletian which ruled the Roman Empire in the years 293-313.


Caracalla

/ˌkærəˈkælə/

From Latin; Caracalla's agnomen was named after a Gaulish cloak he favored.

A Roman emperor who ruled from 211 to 217 C.E..


Aegean Sea

Partial calque of Latin Aegaeum mare, itself a partial calque of Ancient Greek Αἰγαῖον πέλαγος (Aigaîon pélagos).

der

Αἰγαῖον πέλαγος

A sea in the northeastern part of the Mediterranean.

Egeïese See

sea of the northeastern part of the Mediterranean Sea

ທະເລເອເຈໂອ

tha lē ʼē chē ʼō


solidus

From Middle English solidus, from classical Latin solidus (“solid”), see below. Doublet of sol, sold, soldo, solid, sou, and xu.
In numismatic and weight senses, via medieval Latin solidus (“various coins”), from Late Latin solidus (“a gold coin of the Roman Empire”). In chemical sense, via German Solidus, coined by H.W.B. Roozeboom in his 1899 Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie, Stöchiometrie, und Verwandtschaftslehre (XXX, page 387).
In typography, from the shilling mark originally being an abbreviation (a long s ⟨ſ⟩), of Medieval Latin solidus meaning shilling.

der

slash (typography)
solidus (coin)
solidus (disambiguation)

(historical) Various medieval and early modern coins or units of account, particularly:

Its successor Byzantine coins, from the eleventh century onward of progressively debased weight and purity.

(obsolete) Synonym of sol or sou: a Carolingian unit of account equivalent to a solidus of silver.

sol

(obsolete) Synonym of shilling: an English unit of account and, following the Tudor dynasty, silver coin.

shilling

(typography) Synonym of slash ⟨/⟩, originally (UK) in its use as the shilling mark and now its formal designation by the ISO and Unicode.


Stalinism

en-noun

Stalinism (usually uncountable, plural Stalinisms)

The Communist philosophies espoused by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

stalinizëm

Communist philosophies espoused by Josef Stalin


centenary

From Latin centēnārius (“containing 100; local official overseeing a hundred”) either directly or via French centenaire, from centēnī (“100 each”) + -ārius (“-ary”), from centum (“hundred”). Doublet of centenarian, centenarize, kantar, and quintal.

doublet

(historical) Synonym of hundredman: a position in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms overseeing local administration.


lari

Borrowed from Georgian ლარი (lari, “lari”).

The national currency of Georgia, divided into 100 tetri.


EMI

en-noun

EMI (countable and uncountable, plural EMIs)

Electronic Money Institution
w:Electronic Money Institution

(finance, European Union) Initialism of Electronic Money Institution.


ROC

Translingual: ROC

(sports) Abbreviation of Russia(n) Olympic Committee.

COR

Russian Olympic Committee, an organization


rappen

‘Meticulous to a fault,’ he declared respectfully – even if the fault included checking Toby's imprest down to the last Swiss Rappen, a discipline he accepted with a rueful grace.

1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society, published 2010, page 273:

There was a hole the size of a ten-rappen coin on her right shin and a run laddering after it.

2015, Jill Alexander Essbaum, Hausfrau, Random House, page 112:

A unit of currency in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, equal to one-hundredth of a Swiss franc.


Lapland

The northern parts of Scandinavia and Finland with the Kola Peninsula in Russia, traditionally inhabited by the Sami people.


Atlanta

Supposedly the feminine form of Atlantic.

As far as I know, Atlanta doesn’t have any famous buildings. You might even say that there are no skyscrapers. Sky reachers maybe, not sky scrapers. Regardless, the city is as enchanting as my mother’s face.

2018, Tayari Jones, An American Marriage, Oneworld Publications, page 232:

The capital city, the county seat of Fulton County, Georgia, United States.

Atlanta

capital and largest city of the State of Georgia