chancellor

/ˈtʃɑːnsələ/

/ˈt͡ʃænsələ/

Angela Merkel
Frick Collection
Hans Holbein the Younger
Thomas More

From Anglo-Norman or Middle English chaunceler, chanceler, canceler (“chief administrative or executive officer of a ruler; chancellor, secretary; private secretary, scribe; Lord Chancellor of England; officer of the ruler's exchequer; a high administrative or executive officer (for example, a deputy or representative of a bishop; the head of a university)”), from Old French cancelier, chancelier (“chancellor”), from Late Latin cancellārius (“secretary; doorkeeper, porter; usher of a court of law stationed at the bars separating the public from the judges”), from Latin cancellī (plural of cancellus (“grate; bars, barrier; railings”), diminutive of cancer (“grid; barrier”), from Proto-Italic *karkros (“enclosure”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend, turn”)) + -ārius (suffix forming nouns denoting an agent of use).
The word was present as Late Old English canceler, cancheler, from Norman cancheler, but was displaced in the 13th century by the Old French and Anglo-Norman forms mentioned above.

refn

From the Frick Collection in New York City, New York, USA.

مُسْتَشَار

[page 111] […] Lord Falkland […] took an Opportunity to tell the King, that He had now a good Opportunity to prefer Mr. Hyde, by making him Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the Place of Sir John Colepepper; […] [page 112] He [Colepepper] ſurrendered his Office of Chancellor of the Exchequer: And the next Day Mr. Hyde was ſworn of the Privy-Council, and Knighted, and had his Patents ſealed for that Office.

[1760, Edward, Earl of Clarendon [i.e., Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon], “Part the Second”, in The Life of Edward, Earl of Clarendon, Lord High Chancellor of England, and Chancellor of the University of Oxford. […], volume I, Oxford, Oxfordshire: At the Clarendon Printing-house, →OCLC, pages 111 and 112:

Chancellor Philip Hammond has told the BBC he and other MPs will "find a way" of blocking a no-deal Brexit. […] Mr Hammond is expected to be replaced as chancellor whoever wins the Conservative leadership election later this month.

2019 July 5, “Philip Hammond: MPs will and should Stop No-deal Brexit”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 2019-07-08:

Liz Truss has sacked Kwasi Kwarteng as her chancellor and replaced him with Jeremy Hunt ahead of a U-turn on key sections of her disastrous mini-budget, as she launched a desperate attempt to restore her crumbling political authority.

2022 October 14, “Liz Truss sacks Kwasi Kwarteng before corporation tax U-turn”, in The Guardian:

Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer#English

A senior secretary or official with administrative or legal duties, sometimes in charge of some area of government such as finance or justice.

(UK politics) Ellipsis of Chancellor of the Exchequer.

"Have you agreed on your chancellor, gentlemen?" was the first question of the Judge. The foreman, called in Scotland the chancellor of the jury, usually the man of best rank and estimation among the assizers, stepped forward, and, with a low reverence, delivered to the Court a sealed paper, containing the verdict, […]

1818 July 25, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter XII, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, pages 285–286:

The verdict must be returned to the Court by the chancellor of the jury, in presence of the accused, and of the whole jury; and, being engrossed in the record, and read aloud, it is then sealed up, in terms of the regulations 1672, No. 9, and deposited with the clerk of Court, never to be opened again but by order of the judges. The verdict, when in writing, is authenticated by the subscriptions of the chancellor and clerk of the jury, and accompanied with a list of the names of the jurors, and a state of the vote of each individual, "whether condemning or assoilzieing;" Regulations 1672, No. 9.

1826, Robert Bell, William Bell, “CRIMINAL PROSECUTION”, in A Dictionary of the Law of Scotland, 3rd revised and enlarged edition, volume I, Edinburgh: Printed for John Anderson & Co. […], and Bell & Bradfute, →OCLC, page 333:

[T]he pursuer moved the Court "for a rule to shew cause why this case should not be ordered to be tried, in respect that the verdict as it appears on the notes of the Judge furnished to the parties, was not declared by the chancellor or foreman of the jury in open Court, and taken down by the clerk of the said Court before the jury was discharged."

1853 July 16, Geo[rge] Dingwall Fordyce (reporter), James Paterson (reporter), William Gillies Tytler (reporter), Frederick Hallard (reporter), “James Mackenzie, Pursuer, v. Dunlop, Wilson and Co., Defenders.”, in Reports of Cases Decided in the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and in the House of Lords on Appeal from Scotland, [ […] Being a Continuation of The Scottish Jurist.">…


apprise

en-verb

apprise (third-person singular simple present apprises, present participle apprising, simple past and past participle apprised)

apprises (present singular third-person)
apprising (participle present)
apprised (participle past)
apprised (past)
apprise (infinitive)

From Middle English aprisen, apprisen (“to determine or estimate the value of (something), to appraise, evaluate; to regard (something) as important, valuable, or worthy, to esteem, prize; to praise or worship (God)”), and then either:
* from Old French apriser, aprisier (“to appraise, evaluate”), from à (“to”) + prisier, preisier (“to attribute a value to, to appraise, value”) (from Latin pretiāre, the present active infinitive of pretiō (“(Late Latin) to consider valuable, hold in high regard, to esteem, prize, value; (Medieval Latin) to estimate the worth of, appraise, assess, value”), from pretium + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)); or
* from Old French à pris (“to (put a) price (on)”) (pris (“price; esteem, (positive) reputation”) is derived from Latin pretium).
Pretium (“cost, price; value, worth”) is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“before, in front; first”). The English word is a doublet of appraise, appreciate, praise, price, and prize.

doublet

Infeftments are alſo extinct, vvhen the Superior adjudgeth or appriſeth from his Vaſſal; for thereby it vvas found, that the Property vvas Conſolidat vvith the Superiority,

1681, James Dalrymple of Stair [i.e., James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair], “Extinction of Infeftments”, in The Institutions of the Law of Scotland, […], 1st part, Edinburgh: […] Heir of Andrew Anderson, […], →OCLC, page 416:

[T]he infeftment of annualrent, being jus sed ignobilius, becomes extinct, if the annualrenter thereupon do apprise the property, and be infeft: and therefore, whoever appriseth for any years of the annualrent, the infeftment thereof, unless it be taken away by satisfaction or redemption, extinguisheth the infeftment of annualrent, without distinction whether the apprising be led for any years belonging to the fiar, liferenter, or any other.

1832, James, Viscount of Stair [i.e., James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair], John S[hank] More, “Title V. Infeftments of Annualrent, where, of Poinding of the Ground, and of Pensions.”, in The Institutions of the Law of Scotland, […], new edition, volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Walker] for Bell & Bradfute, →OCLC, page 387:

(specifically, Scots law) To put a price on (something) for the purpose of sale; to appraise.


Blitz

Specific use of blitz. The Blitz was in truth not a blitzkrieg, which is a rapid ground offensive based on superior tank forces. However, the word was current at the time for the successful German campaigns in Poland and France, and was transferred to the attacks on Britain, perhaps by association of Blitz (“lightning”) with the bombings.

(historical) The series of air raids launched on various cities in Great Britain by the German air force in 1940–41 during World War II.


C

(UK politics, in election results) Abbreviation of Conservative.


Commons

Commons (disambiguation)#People
House of Commons

(UK politics, Canadian politics) The House of Commons, part of the parliament under the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy.


Con

(UK politics) Abbreviation of Conservative.


Labor

(UK politics, American spelling, Australian spelling) Misspelling of Labour. (UK political party)


Lords

(British, UK politics, plural only) Ellipsis of House of Lords.


Morgan

en-prop

Morgan (countable and uncountable, plural Morgans)

(Arthurian legend) Ellipsis of Morgan le Fay.


Tánaiste

From Irish tánaiste (“second-in-command, tanist”). Doublet of tanist.

bor

On Thursday, the tánaiste, or deputy prime minister, Micheál Martin, described the personal abuse directed at lawmakers and their staff as “absolutely vile” and said some of the behaviour was “fascist-like”, Irish media reported.

2023 September 21, Emma Graham-Harrison, “Alarm over ‘fascist-like’ protest at Ireland’s seat of government”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland


Whig

From Whiggamore, possibly from Scots whiggamore (“horse driver”), from whig (“to drive”) + mare.

whig

a member of an 18th- and 19th-century political party

(UK politics, historical) A member of an 18th- and 19th-century political party in Britain that was opposed to the Tories, and eventually became the Liberal Party.

(UK politics, rare) A member (especially a politician) of the former Liberal Party or its successor, the Liberal Democrats.


Zeppelin

Borrowed from German Zeppelin. Named after Ferdinand von Zeppelin, whose surname derives from the German town name Zepelin. Doublet of cepelinas.


interdict

From Middle English entrediten, from Old French entredire (“forbid”), from Latin interdīcō (“prohibit, forbid”), from inter- (“between”) + dīcō (“say”), from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ-.

The Fife County Council, and other objectors, were successful in July [1950] in obtaining an interim interdict against this decision, but the Court of Session withdrew the interdict in January, and it was then stated that a civil court had no jurisdiction in the matter. […] Mr. Waller adds that when the railway was authorised in 1897, one of the clauses of the Act authorising the transfer of the line to the North British Railway provided that that company should work it in perpetuity, and it was this clause that caused the interim interdict to be granted.

1951 April, “Notes and News: North Fife Line, Scotland”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 281:

In May [1995], the court issued an interdict preventing the service withdrawal, pending consultation on the closure to passenger traffic of three short stretches of railway around Glasgow and its hinterland that were only used by the Fort William Sleeper - and for which BR had failed to invoke standard closure procedures.

2021 August 25, David Clough, “The Sleeper experience”, in RAIL, number 938, page 61:


Arthurian

en-adj

Arthurian (comparative more Arthurian, superlative most Arthurian)

more Arthurian (comparative)
most Arthurian (superlative)

A reminder of the Arthurian legends comes with the next station, Camelford, where passengers alight for Boscastle and Tintagel with their fine coast scenery, and near to which is Slaughter Bridge, where King Arthur is supposed to have fought his last.

1949 September and October, B. G. Wilson, “The North Cornwall Line of the Southern Region”, in Railway Magazine, page 328:

Of or pertaining to the legend of Arthur, king of the Britons, and his court at Camelot.


defender

From Middle English defender, deffender, defendere, defendour, defendoure, partly from Anglo-Norman defendour, from Old French defendëor; partly from Middle English defenden + -ere, equivalent to defend + -er.

(Scots law) A defendant in a civil action.


King Arthur

A legendary king of Britain, said to have led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century.


masjid

Borrowed from Arabic مَسْجِد (masjid), from the root س ج د (s j d). Doublet of mosque.

Any masjid where the practices are devoted absolutely to The God ALONE.

If you assign a place in your home or office for prayer, then it can be considered as your own masjid.


COBRA

Cabinet Office Briefing Room A
w:Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms

(UK politics) Initialism of Cabinet Office Briefing Room A.

(UK politics, by extension) Acronym of Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms.


COBRA

(UK politics, by extension) A cabinet committee meeting that would use a COBR room

(UK politics, by extension) A cabinet committee that would meet using a COBR room


CPS

Last year, for example, Raab wrote a paper for the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) – since the birth of Thatcherism one of the radical right's fiercest thinktanks […]

2012 August 22, Andy Beckett, “Britannia Unchained: the rise of the new Tory right”, in The Guardian:

Centre for Policy Studies
w:Centre for Policy Studies

(UK politics) Initialism of Centre for Policy Studies.


FCO

The FCO also disputes Fernández's claim that Britain kicked out the island's original Argentinian inhabitants.

2013 January 3, Luke Harding, Uki Goni, The Guardian:

Foreign and Commonwealth Office
w:Foreign and Commonwealth Office

(British, UK politics) Initialism of Foreign and Commonwealth Office.


TD

en-noun

TD (countable and uncountable, plural TDs)

Fianna Fáil TD Jim O'Callaghan, whose Dublin constituency is home to one of Accenture's office here, said: […]

2023 August 1, “Accenture cuts 890 more job from Irish operation”, in The Irish Times, page 1:

(Irish politics) Initialism of Teachta Dála, a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower chamber of the Parliament of the Republic of Ireland.


PSI

Policy Studies Institute
w:Policy Studies Institute

(UK politics) Initialism of Policy Studies Institute, a British think tank.


Nat

(slang, informal, UK politics) A member or supporter of the Scottish National Party.


Majorism

(UK politics) The political and economic policies of the British Conservative prime minister Sir John Major.


Whitehall

en-proper noun

Whitehall (countable and uncountable, plural Whitehalls)

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

Britain's securocracy - Whitehall spymasters, backed up by government lawyers, engaged in the increasingly thankless task of preserving state secrets - are faced with an intriguing conundrum. What do they do when the bulwark they have been relying on for so long to protect their secrets crumbles before their eyes?

2000 July 27, Richard Norton-Taylor, “Analysis: The secret's out”, in the Guardian:

It notes: "The Welsh Government's view is that genuine 'levelling up' cannot simply mean a sprinkling of new, ad hoc rail projects decided in Whitehall, it has to be part of a strategic approach to promoting growth in all parts of the UK."

2020 December 2, Philip Haigh, “When will Wales's wish for rail improvements come true?”, in Rail, page 32:

(UK politics, by extension, metonymically) The British government or civil service


Blairite

The Blairites came up with young country and new this, new that, but it was cosmetic.

2001 August 27, Madeleine Bunting, “The end is nigh: pessimism rules”, in The Guardian:

(UK politics, informal) A supporter of Tony Blair, British prime minister from 1997 to 2007, or his policies.


Blairite

(UK politics) Relating to Blairites or to Tony Blair's government and policies.


TCA

Labour, which has said it will not take the UK back into the EU, the single market or customs union, has, however, already committed to using the 2025 review of the TCA to try to reduce barriers to trade.

2023 February 11, Toby Helm, “Revealed: secret cross-party summit held to confront failings of Brexit”, in The Observer, →ISSN:

Trade and Cooperation Agreement
w:EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

(European politics, UK politics) Initialism of Trade and Cooperation Agreement.


New Labour

From the slogan “New Labour, New Britain”, used by Tony Blair in his 1994 Labour Party Conference speech.

(UK politics) A movement in the 1990s and 2000s to rebrand the British Labour Party by discarding traditional goals such as nationalization and socialism.


Tailtiu

(Irish mythology) A presumed goddess who was the survivor of the invasion of Tuatha Dé Danann and was the foster mother of Lugh.


Lugh

Borrowed from Irish Lugh, from Old Irish Lug, from Primitive Irish ᚂᚒᚌ (lug), from Proto-Celtic *Lugus.

(Irish mythology) A pre-Christian Irish deity represented in mythological texts as a hero and High King of the distant past: the son of Cian and Ethniu.

Samh-ildánach ()

Summer-multi-talented; skilled in many arts


Midir

(Irish mythology) The son of the Dagda of the Tuatha Dé Danann who fell in love with Étaín, receiving Aengus's help to make her his new bride.


Étaín

(Irish mythology) The lover of Midir whose rejected first wife Fuamnach became jealous and cast three spells on her, turning her into a pool of water, then into a worm, and then into a fly.


Fuamnach

(Irish mythology) Midir's rejected first wife, who became jealous of Midir's lover Étaín, casting three spells on Étain, turning her into a pool of water, then into a worm, and then into a fly.


Eochaid Feidlech

(Irish mythology) The High King of Ireland in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, who deposed the former High King Fachtna Fáthach at the battle of Battle of Leitir Ruadh.


Fachtna Fáthach

(Irish mythology) The High King of Ireland in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology who was deposed by Eochaid Feidlech at the Battle of Leitir Ruadh.


Fráech

From Middle Irish Fráech, from Old Irish Fróech, from fróech (“heather”), from Proto-Celtic *wroikos.

(Irish mythology) The Connacht hero in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology who wooed Findabair and Treblann, but was drowned in a river in a duel with Cúchulainn.


Nera

(Irish mythology) A warrior of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology.


Rt Hon

Right Honourable
Right Honourable#English

Members of Parliament
Member of Parliament

(UK and Commonwealth politics) Abbreviation of Right Honourable. (in the titles of Members of Parliament)


Church of England

The English branch of the Christian Church; (since the 16th century) specifically the established Protestant church in England which is the mother church of the Anglican Communion.


delict

Borrowed from Latin delictum (“fault”), from neuter of delictus, past participle of delinquo (“to be lacking; to fail; to transgress”), from dē- + linquō (“to leave, quit, forsake, depart from”).

(civil law, Scots law) A wrongful act, analogous to a tort in common law.

civil law; Scots law; civil law; Scots law


IDS

(UK politics) Initialism of Iain Duncan Smith.


Fenian Cycle

(Irish mythology) A body of prose and verse focusing on the exploits of the mythological hero Fionn mac Cumhail and his warriors the Fianna Éireann.

cicle fenià

a body of prose and verse focusing on the exploits of the mythological hero Fionn mac Cumhail and his warriors


Fianna Éireann

Meaning "Soldiery of Ireland", named after the mythological Fianna


hof

Borrowed from Old Norse hof or Old English hof, reinforced in modern (post-1990, chiefly neopagan) use by Icelandic hof (“shrine, temple”).

For each ten churches burned to ashes, one heathen hof is avenged.

1996, Varg Vikernes, cited after Gardell, Gods of the Blood, published 2003, page 307:

Asatruarfelagid lacks a central religious temple, or hof in Icelandic. Constructing a hof has been high on the members' wish list for many years.

2005, Michael Strmiska, Modern Paganism In World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives, page 170:

The Candidate for membership of Hof, Garth or Hearth shall hold an Armill, or he may touch an unsheathed Sword throughout the ceremony.

2014 November 18, Stubba, The Book of Blots, page 102:

(Germanic paganism) temple, sanctuary, hall.


rosary

From Middle English rosarie, from Latin rosārium, here in its sense as a garland of roses. The coin usage referred to the laurel wreath appearing on the obverse bust, as opposed to the bare head on the pollard. Doublet of Rosario and rosarium.

psalter (150-bead rosary for use with the Psalms)

(historical numismatics) A 13th-century coin minted in Europe as a counterfeit debased form of the sterling silver penny of Edward I, at first accepted as a halfpenny and then outlawed.


mora

From Latin mora (“duration of time, delay”).

(Scots law) A delay in bringing a claim.


sceat

Learned borrowing from Old English sceatt.

lbor

1840, Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, Volume 2, Commissioners on the Public Records of the Kingdom, unnumbered page,
In the Anglo-Saxon laws there is no passage from which the value of the ‘sceat’ can be ascertained with certainty, though from some places in the laws of Ethelbirht it would appear, that, in Kent at least, 20 sceats were equal to 1 scilling.

The Obolus and the Scruple appear to have been equally familiar to the Anglo-Saxons under the names of the older sceat and penny. The Kentishmen seem to have resembled the Franks in their coinage as well as in their Wergilds, for their scilling weighed 20 sceats; and as the scilling was only a corruption of the Roman sicilicus (the shekel), or quarter-ounce weight, the Kentish ounce must have contained 80 sceats or 40 pence; in other words it was the old Salic solidus of 40 scruples, often met with in later times under the name of mancus, or heavier ounce of 30 Carlovingian (or sterling), and 40 Merovingian pence, or scruples.

1862, Eben William Robertson, Scotland Under Her Early Kings, Edmonston and Douglas, page 347:

(numismatics, historical) A small Anglo-Saxon coin, especially one made of silver; sometimes regarded as a weight (and thus a comparative measure of a coin's value).


Brigid

/ˈbɹɪ.d͡ʒɪd/

From Irish Brighid, from Old Irish Brigit, from Proto-Celtic *Brigantī (“high, exalted”).

der

The pagan Brigid was part of the Tuatha Dé Danann – a race of dieties who are said to have inhabited Ireland before the Milesians, from whom today’s Irish people are descended. Raised among druids, Brigid was the daughter of an enslaved woman and the Dagda, chief of the gods.

2024 February 5, Katy Hessel, “Move over Saint Patrick: why the world should be celebrating beer-brewing Brigid”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(Irish mythology) The goddess of the Sacred Flame of Kildare and the patron goddess of the Druids. Daughter of Dagda of the Tuatha Dé Danann.


Dagda

The Middle Irish name Dagda means “Good God” or “Shining God”, from Old Irish Dagdae, from Proto-Celtic *Dago-deiwos, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰagʰo- (“shining”) (< *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn”)) + *deywós (“divinity”).

Raised among druids, Brigid was the daughter of an enslaved woman and the Dagda, chief of the gods.

(Irish mythology) An important god in Irish mythology, portrayed as a father figure, king, and druid.


sanctuary

en-noun

sanctuary (countable and uncountable, plural sanctuaries)

/ˈsæŋkt͡ʃʊəɹi/

/ˈsæŋkt͡ʃuˌɛɹi/

From Middle English seyntuarie, from Old French saintuaire, from Late Latin sanctuarium (“a sacred place, a shrine, a private cabinet, in Medieval Latin also temple, church, churchyard, cemetery, right of asylum”), from Latin sanctus (“holy, sacred”); see saint.

der

The government granted sanctuary to the defector, protecting him from his former government.


Uathach

(Irish mythology) The daughter of Scáthach and later the lover of Cúchulainn (after a duel with Cochar Crufe).


Cethern

(Irish mythology) In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, an Ulster warrior (son of Fintan) who assists Cúchulainn in the Táin Bó Cúailnge.


Táin Bó Cúailnge

(Irish mythology) The central tale in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology.


Cú Roí

The first element is apparently cú (“hound”); the second probably means "battlefield", making the whole term "hound of the battlefield".

(Irish mythology) A king of Munster and sorcerer who was killed by Cúchulainn and avenged by his son, Lugaid mac Con Roí, who was subsequently killed by Conall the Victorious.


Flidais

(Irish mythology) A woodland goddess whose chariot is drawn by deer.


Mesgegra

Conall the Victorious
Conall the Victorious

(Irish mythology) The king of Leinster during the events of the Ulster Cycle. He was killed by Conall the Victorious.


Mórrígan

From Irish Mór-Ríoghain ("great queen"), from Middle Irish Morrígan.

(Irish mythology) An Irish mythological figure widely considered to be a goddess, and usually interpreted as a triple goddess.


Macha

(Irish mythology) The wife of Nemed. She died only twelve days after arriving in Ireland.


Donn Cuailnge

(Irish mythology) The Brown Bull of Cooley: an extremely fertile stud bull over whom the Táin Bó Cúailnge was fought.


Liberal Democrat

en-noun

Liberal Democrat (plural Liberal Democrats)

(Australian politics, UK politics) a member of the Liberal Democrats political party


Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats (UK)
Liberal Party (UK)
Social Democratic Party (UK)

From the merger of the Liberals and the Social Democrats.

(UK politics) A centrist political party


Lebor Gabála Érenn

The title translates as The Book of the Taking of Ireland.

(Irish mythology) A loose collection of poems and prose narratives recounting the mythical origins and history of an Irish race from the creation of the world down to the Middle Ages.


florin

From Middle English florin, floren, from Old French florin, from Italian fiorino (“little flower”). Doublet of fiorino.

A pre-decimal British coin, worth two shillings or ten new pence.


marae

Borrowed from Maori marae and Tahitian marae, from Proto-Oceanic *malaqe.

The path ended down by the sea at a crumbling ‘ingot’ of black coral, twenty yards in length & in height two men. ‘A marae, this is called,’ Mr Wagstaff informed me. ‘All over the South Seas you see ’em, I’m told.’

2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →ISBN:

(archaic) A Polynesian sacred altar or enclosure.

The courtyard of a Maori wharenui or meeting-house and the buildings around it.


time immemorial

time immemorial (usually uncountable, plural times immemorial)

from time immemorial

My home is in the North of Palestine on the other side of Jordan, beyond the Sea of Galilee. My family has dwelt there from time immemorial, but they always loved this city, and have a legend that they dwelt occasionally within its walls, even in the days when Titus from that hill looked down upon the temple.

1870, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter XVII, in Lothair. […], volume III, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, pages 177–178:

The tower had been consecrated to this ancient diversion from time immemorial, the western façade conveniently forming the boundary of the churchyard at that end, where the ground was trodden hard and bare as a pavement by the players.

1874, Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC:

She had worn from time immemorial an old blue satin dress, and a white crape shawl embroidered in colors; […]

1875 January–December, Henry James, Jr., Roderick Hudson, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co., published 1876, →OCLC; republished as Roderick Hudson (EBook #176), U.S.A.: Project Gutenberg, 18 September 2016:

In every Circular or Polygonal household it has been a habit from time immemorial[…]that the mothers and daughters should constantly keep their eyes and mouths towards their husband and his male friends; and for a lady in a family of distinction to turn her back upon her husband would be regarded as a kind of portent, involving loss of status.

1884, A Square [pseudonym; Edwin A. Abbott], Flatland […] , London: Seeley & Co., Part I: This World, § 4.— Concerning the Women:

The Communists have no need to introduce community of women; it has existed almost from time immemorial.

1888 [1848], Samuel Moore, transl., edited by Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto, translation of Das Kommunistische Manifest by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels:

This is a great tract of a hundred thousand acres, which from time immemorial has been a hunting preserve of the nobility.

1905 April–October, Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1906 February 26, →OCLC:

That there is and from time immemorial has been within that part of the parish called Mablethorpe St. Mary's a laudable custom that, if any outdweller take ancient pasture ground, he shall pay a modus of 4d. an acre, and so in proportion, on the 1st of August, in lieu of all manner of tithe; and that if any of the ancient pasture be once ploughed up or meadowed, it shall, when restored to pasture again, pay 4d. the acre in the hands of such outdweller.

1917, The English Reports: Exchequer, page 789:

This thing is a "pyramid" since time immemorial, shit goes downhill, money goes up: it's that simple.

2002 September 15, David Chase, “For All Debts Public and Private”, in The Sopranos, season 4, episode 1, spoken by Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini):

(countable, uncountable) Time that extends beyond memory or record.

time that extends beyond memory or record

有史以前 (yǒushǐ yǐqián, literally “before history”)

(UK law, uncountable) Time before 6 July 1189.


diligence

diligence (countable and uncountable, plural diligences)

The precepts against parties, to whose oath of verity any point is referred, do only command them to compear at the term, with certification, that if they compear not, they shall be holden as confessing the point referred to their oath; but precepts against witnesses cannot have that certification, but all that can be done against them, or against the havers of writs, is to compel them to appear, and depone; and therefore these precepts are called executorials, because they are for putting the acts to effect by execution: they are also called compulsitors for the same reason. And they are called diligences, because they excuse the users thereof from negligence, whereby posterior diligences being exacty followed, are preferable to prior diligences being neglected, vigilantibus non dormientibus jura subveniunt, which is founded upon that great interest to hasten pleas to an end. They are also called diligences, because though the effect do not follow, yet the user thereof hath endeavoured what he could, and so is held as in the same case as if he had obtained the command of the precept. These precepts are called executorials before executions be thereupon; but they are only called diligences when they are executed in due time.
... Diligences are of three sorts, being either upon precepts before decreets, upon acts, or upon decreets.
The last sort of diligences and executorials, viz. those after decreets, which serve for putting of decreets to execution, and making them effectual, are ordinarily horning, caption, poinding, charges to remove, and thereupon letters of possession, (which are granted on all decreets in petitory and possessory actions, but declaratory actions need none,) together with the executory actions upon arrestments, and of adjudications of lands and annualrents..

1832 James, Viscount of Stair and J,S, More. The institutions of the law of Scotland. Vol 2, p 705

(Scots law) The process by which persons, lands, or effects are seized for debt; process for enforcing the attendance of witnesses or the production of writings.


collegiate church

collegiate church (plural collegiate churches)

A Christian church, other than a cathedral, that has a chapter of canons and a dean or provost.


common law

(law, Scots law, Roman-Dutch law) Law of general application throughout a country, province, or state as opposed to law having only a special or local application

Scots law; Roman-Dutch law; Scots law; Roman-Dutch law


OST

Office of Science and Technology
w:Office of Science and Technology

(UK politics, historical) Initialism of Office of Science and Technology.


sacellum

(historical) In Ancient Rome, a shrine open to the sky, sometimes used for sacrificial purposes, or in honor of the divine.


adjudicate

en-verb

adjudicate (third-person singular simple present adjudicates, present participle adjudicating, simple past and past participle adjudicated)

adjudicates (present singular third-person)
adjudicating (participle present)
adjudicated (participle past)
adjudicated (past)

/əˈd͡ʒʉː.dɪ.kæɪt/

Borrowed from Latin adiūdicō, adiūdicātus, from ad + iūdicō (“to judge”). Doublet of adjudge.

bor+

(Scots law, transitive, as of a debtor's estate) to seize or convey as security.


Edwardian

en-adj

Edwardian (comparative more Edwardian, superlative most Edwardian)

more Edwardian (comparative)
most Edwardian (superlative)

If the kind of network we envisage is to be established, it would be unwise to begin any of its services hurriedly with older stock, which, however admirable in its day, now has an air of faded Edwardian splendour that is out of joint with the times.

1962 December, “A new Pullman era?”, in Modern Railways, page 362:

In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […] The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra–wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.

2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19:

This delightful four-platform station [Bognor Regis] is still controlled by semaphore signals and boasts a lovely red-brick Edwardian building with steel canopies, crowned with a clocktower which dates from 1902.

2022 November 16, Paul Bigland, “From rural branches to high-speed arteries”, in RAIL, number 970, page 55:

Of the period in British history from circa 1901 to 1910, when Edward VII ruled the British Empire.


British Empire

Violence and racism were the reality of the colonial experience and no wonder that the sun never set on the British Empire because even God couldn't trust the English in the dark.

2015, Shashi Tharoor, "Britain Does Owe Reparations", 00:05:16

Two hundred and forty years have passed since the 1781 Yorktown Campaign, a campaign that was a decisive victory for the Continental Army and forced the British Empire to reach concessions with the 13 Colonies.

2021-2022 Winter, Matthew R. Prescott, John P. Ruedisueli, “The Relevance of the 1781 Yorktown Campaign”, in SAR Magazine, volume 116, number 3, Louisville, KY: Sons of the American Revolution, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 20, column 1:

In 1920, the British Empire covered over a quarter of the Earth's surface area.

(chiefly historical) The United Kingdom and its overseas dependencies and colonies.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office


letter of relaxation

en-noun

letter of relaxation (plural letters of relaxation)

Do you think that the state of the exchanges is that which ought to guide the discretion of the Government, with reference to the issue of a similar letter of relaxation?

1858, Samuel Jones-Loyd Overstone, Overstone Tracts on Metallic and Paper Currency:

(Scots law) A letter passing the signet, whereby a debtor is relieved from personal diligence, or whereby an outlaw is reponed against sentence of outlawry.


leaver

An extraordinary cross-party summit bringing together leading leavers and remainers – including Michael Gove and senior members of Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet – has been held in high secrecy to address the failings of Brexit and how to remedy them in the national interest, the Observer can reveal.

2023 February 11, Toby Helm, “Revealed: secret cross-party summit held to confront failings of Brexit”, in The Observer, →ISSN:

(UK politics) Alternative letter-case form of Leaver


fiar

I say, since ye hae sae muckle consideration for me, I'se be blithe to accept your kindness; and my mother and me (she's a life-renter, and I am fiar, o' the lands o' Wideopen) would grant you a wadset, or an heritable bond, for the siller, and to pay the annual-rent half-yearly; and Saunders Wyliecoat to draw the bond, and you to be at nae charge wi' the writings.

1816, Walter Scott, “The Black Dwarf”, in A Complete Edition of the Waverley Novels, volume 13, published 1831, page 108:

(Scots law) One in whom the property of an estate is vested, subject to the estate of a liferenter.


chaperone

/ˈʃæ.pəˌɹoʊn/

/ˈʃæ.pəˌɹəʊn/

(UK, business) An employee sent by a British company to the European Union to work with a client there, to circumvent restrictions imposed after Brexit.


threepence

threepence (countable and uncountable, plural threepences)

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


Spanish Armada

(historical) The fleet of warships sent by Philip II of Spain against England in 1588.


shinner

An approximation of the pronunciation of Irish sinn (/ʃɪnʲ/) written using English orthography, with -er.

(Ireland, slang, derogatory) a member or supporter of Sinn Féin.


kain

kain (countable and uncountable, plural kains)

hens[…] in most leases make a part of the rent, under the name of kain, and are generally kept for conveniency or profit.

1798, Robert Douglas, General View of the Agriculture in the Counties of Roxburgh and Selkirk:

(Scots law) poultry, etc., required by the lease to be paid in kind by a tenant to the landlord.


pursuer

On his area the pursuer built a dwelling-house, of which the gable and garden-wall were mutual with his neighbour Smith […]

1809, Faculty of Advocates (Scotland), Decisions of the Court of Sessions, from 1752 to 1808, page 216:

(Scots law) The party who initiates a lawsuit; a plaintiff.


mortify

en-verb

mortify (third-person singular simple present mortifies, present participle mortifying, simple past and past participle mortified)

mortifies (present singular third-person)
mortifying (participle present)
mortified (participle past)
mortified (past)

From Anglo-Norman mortifier, Middle French mortifier, from Late Latin mortificō (“cause death”), from Latin mors (“death”) + -ficō (“-fy”).

the schoolmasters of Ayr were paid out of the mills mortified by Queen Mary

1876 James Grant, History of the Burgh and Parish Schools of Scotland, Part II, Chapter 14, p.453 (PDF 2.7 MB)

(transitive, Scots law, historical) To grant in mortmain.


sixpence

en-noun

sixpence (countable and uncountable, plural sixpences)

look as if one had lost a shilling and found sixpence

look as if one has lost a shilling and found sixpence

Finest apples, sixpence each.

When the ferry-boat with her wild freight pushed into the stream, nobody cared sixpence for the wasted time but the captain of the craft.

1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXIX, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 221:

(obsolete, British, uncountable) The value of six old pence; half of a shilling; or one-fortieth of a pound sterling.


Little Englander

Little Englander (plural Little Englanders)

(British, derogatory, modern) A bigoted, xenophobic, and nationalistic English person.

(British, derogatory, modern) Someone unaware of the world outside England.

(British, archaic) Someone who advocated an end to the British Empire.


Guinevere

From Middle English Gwenyver, from Middle Welsh Gwenhwyfar, from Proto-Brythonic *Gwɨnnohuɨβar. Doublet of Jennifer.

(Arthurian legend) In Arthurian legend, the wife of King Arthur.


scathe

scathe (countable and uncountable, plural scathes)

From Middle English scath, scathe [and other forms], from Old Norse skaði (“damage, harm; loss; death; murder”), from Proto-Germanic *skaþô (“damage, scathe; one who causes damage, injurer”, noun) (whence Old English sċeaþa, sċeaþu (“scathe, harm, injury”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keh₁t- (“damage, harm”).
Cognates
* Scots skaith
* Dutch schade
* German schaden
* Norwegian skade
* Swedish skada
* Icelandic skaði
* Polish szkoda
* Russian шко́да (škóda)
* Belarusian шко́дa (škóda)
* Ukrainian шко́да (škóda)

nb...

scade, scate, schath, schathe, schatht, sckathe, skade, skaith, skaithe, skagh, skate, skath, skathe, (Northern England, Northwest Midlands, Scotland) scaith, scaithe, schaithe, schath, schathe, skaith, skaithe, skaitht, (in names) scait, skeithe

der

(countable, Scots law, obsolete) An injury or loss for which compensation is sought in a lawsuit; damage; also, expenses incurred by a claimant; costs.


feretory

From Middle English feretory, fertre et al., from Anglo-Norman fertre, from Latin feretrum, from Ancient Greek φέρετρον (phéretron), from the verb φέρω (phérō, “I carry”).

An area of a church where relics are kept.


Camelot

en:Camelot (disambiguation)
en:Chrétien de Troyes
en:Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart

First attested in Old French as Camaalot in Chrétien de Troyes' Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart
* (US politics, Kennedy administration): From a reference to a contemporary musical of the same name

(Arthurian legend) A mythical location in England. The stronghold of King Arthur in the Arthurian legend.


Home Secretary

en-noun

Home Secretary (plural Home Secretaries)

(British) The British cabinet minister, responsible for law and order, who is head of the Home Office.


Home Office

(British, UK politics) The British government department, headed by the Home Secretary, responsible for security and law enforcement in England and Wales.

內政部 /内政部

ministry responsible for internal affairs


baptistry

From Middle English baptistery, baptisterie, from Ecclesiastical Latin baptistērium, from Ancient Greek βαπτιστήριον (baptistḗrion); equivalent to baptism + -ry.

der

βαπτιστήριον

(Christianity) A designated space within a church, or a separate room or building associated with a church, where a baptismal font is located, and consequently, where the sacrament of Christian baptism (via aspersion or affusion) is performed.


Tories

Helped by massive tax increases piled on to the electorate by the Tories in their first post-election budget, we slowly began to win the battle.

2011, Philip Gould, The Unfinished Revolution: How New Labour Changed British Politics:

(UK politics) The British Conservative Party


Merlin

From Middle English Merlyn, from Medieval Latin Merlinus and Old French Merlin, from Proto-Brythonic *Mor-ðin (literally “sea-hill”), from Proto-Celtic *mori (“sea”) + *dūnom (“stronghold, rampart”).

census-designated place
census-designated place

Josephine County
Josephine County#English

A census-designated place in Josephine County, Oregon, United States.


Lib Dem

(Australian politics, UK politics, informal) Liberal Democrat


complainer

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

(Scots law) A complainant (an alleged victim in a criminal trial).


juristic

Loan translation of obsolete Dutch juristisch.

(Scots law, South Africa) legal, juridical, pertaining to the law and jurisprudence


Sidhe

From an ellipsis of Irish aos sídhe (people of the fairy mound).

1906, Augusta, Lady Gregory, A Book of Saints and Wonders, Columcille: The Friend of the Angels of God,
Even Nera from the Sidhe could not do it; he is not made much of now; our learned one is not the light of our life now he is hidden away from us.

Mythical hills of Irish and Scottish folklore, home of the sidhe race; fairyland, faerie.


sidhe

A supernatural creature of Irish and Scottish folklore, living in Sidhe; a fairy.


NOC

en-noun

NOC (countable and uncountable, plural NOCs)

(UK politics) Initialism of no overall control.


synagog

I drove to the synagog where a swastika had been painted on the wall.

2000 September 11, Press Secretary, “Remarks by the President”, in Clinton Presidential Materials Project, archived from the original on 2016-03-03:

The musical traditions of the synagog are closely allied to the unique experiences of the Jewish people.

2009, Jonathan L. Friedmann, Music in Jewish Thought: Selected Writings, 1890-1920, McFarland, →ISBN, page 59:


the other place

[W]e all trooped from our end of the building to the House of Lords - which I'm told, for some reason, we must never refer to by name. We have to call it 'another place' or 'the other place'[.]

1999, Gyles Brandreth, chapter 3, in Breaking the Code:

(parliamentary) the other house of a bicameral legislature (used by members of one house when speaking in their own house); in the UK, the House of Lords seen from the House of Commons or vice versa; in Canada, the Senate seen from the House of Commons or vice versa.

(UK, Oxford University slang, derogatory) University of Cambridge

(UK, Cambridge University slang, derogatory) University of Oxford


precognition

precognition (countable and uncountable, plural precognitions)

/ˌpɹiːkɒɡˈnɪʃn̩/

Borrowed from Middle French precognition or its source, Latin praecognitio, from praecognōscō (“to know beforehand”). Equivalent to Germanic cognate foreknowledge and Greek-based cognate prognosis.

‘But it seems there are some strong presumptuous proofs against you, and I came to warn you this day that a precognition is in progress, and that unless you are perfectly convinced, not only of your innocence, but of your ability to prove it, it will be the safest course for you to abscond, and let the trial go on without you.’

1824, James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner:

(Scots law) The practice of taking a factual statement from a witness before a trial.


MOD

Ministry of Defence
w:Ministry of Defence

(UK politics) Initialism of Ministry of Defence; also MoD.


half-crown

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


ha'penny

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

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

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

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


man in the moon

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-man in the moon.wav

nb...

Waterloo Place, London Oxford and Cambridge

ref

See S[abine] Baring-Gould (1890) “The Man in the Moon”, in Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, London: Rivingtons […], →OCLC, pages 190–191.

Non eſt inventus: there's no ſuch man to be found; let them that have the commiſſion for the concealments looke after it, or the man in the moone put for it.

1596, Tho[mas] Nashe, “Dialogus”, in Haue with You to Saffron-Walden. Or, Gabriell Harveys Hunt is Up. […], London: […] John Danter, →OCLC; republished as J[ohn] P[ayne] C[ollier], editor, Have with You to Saffron-Walden (Miscellaneous Tracts; Temp. Eliz. and Jac. I), [London: s.n., 1870], →OCLC, page 131:

235. To whom did you say that you wanted a ticket for home?—The stranger. / 236. The Man in the Moon?—Yes. / […] / 245. And I may ask you, was it also included as one of the tickets in the amount that the Man in the Moon paid you?—[…]—Yes, it was; the last received by me.

1851 March 29, Edwin James, counsel for the petitioners, William Locke, witness, “Minutes of Evidence Taken before the Select Committee on the Aylesbury Election Petition”, in Reports from Committees: […], volume 6, [London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office], →OCLC, page 17:

There was a man named Moore, a stranger in the town, whose pedigree nobody could trace, and who was called the "Man in the Moon." He was thought to move about and dispose of money in a way which nobody could trace. He had received a sum of 500l., and out of that he had paid to Mr. Lang, innkeeper, a sum of 50l., and he did not vote at all. Next came a Thomas Stead, a shopkeeper, in Northgate, Wakefield, who had received 60l., which was paid to him by Dan Robinson, an understrapper to the "Man in the Moon." The money was thus traced to Moore, from him to Fernandes, and from him to the defendant and to Beckett's bank, where it had been placed by Mr. J[ohn] D[odgson] Charlesworth, the candidate.

1862, T[homas] Campbell Foster, W[illiam] F[rancis] Finlason, reporters, “Regina v. John Barff Charlesworth”, in Reports of Cases Decided at Nisi Prius and at the Crown Side on Circuit; with Select Decisions at Chambers, volume II (Hilary Vacation, 1860, to Hilary Vacation, 1862), London: V. & R. Stevens, Sons, & Haynes; Sweet; and Maxwell; […]; Dublin: Hodges, Smith & Co., […], →OCLC, page 330:

(obsolete, figurative) An imaginary person; also (UK politics, slang), an unidentified person who illegally pays for election expenditure and electors' expenses, as long as the latter vote as the person wishes.


Churchill

/ˈt͡ʃɜːt͡ʃɪl/

/ˈt͡ʃɜːɹt͡ʃɪl/

Any of several placenames, derived from church and hill.

An unincorporated community in Bureau County, Illinois, United States.

Liberty Township
Liberty Township#English

A census-designated place in Liberty Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, United States.

Allegheny County
Allegheny County#English

A borough of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States.


Gunpowder Plot

(British, historical) A failed conspiracy, in November 1605, to kill the Protestant king James I of England and VI of Scotland, and to blow up the House of Lords using gunpowder, annually commemorated on Guy Fawkes Day.


steeping

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

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


Percival

From Old French Perceval, name of a knight in a twelfth century Arthurian romance by the French poet Chrétien de Troyes. Shaped like Old French percier (“pierce”) + val (“valley”), but probably representing some Gaulish or Old Welsh name, possibly related to Welsh Peredur, from ber (“spear, lance”) (from Middle Welsh ber, from Proto-Brythonic *ber, from Proto-Celtic *beru (“spit”)) + dur (“hard metal, steel”) (see Latin durus).
Cognate with German Parzival and Parsifal.

An unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fremont County, Iowa, United States.


Dáil Éireann

/dɔɪ̯l ˈɛə̯ɹən/

Unadapted borrowing from Irish Dáil Éireann.

ubor

The lower house of the Parliament of Ireland.


Fab Four

Given the rumours of rancour and rift, the unexpected show of unity between the one-time “Fab Four” of William, Kate, Harry and Meghan has been a masterstroke in ensuring the focus over the coming days of national mourning remains firmly fixed on the late Queen Elizabeth II and the new King Charles III.

2022 September 11, Caroline Davies, “William, Kate, Harry and Meghan put Firm above their differences”, in The Guardian:

(informal, UK politics) William, Kate, Harry & Meghan


chedi

From Thai เจดีย์ (jee-dii), from Pali cetiya (Devanagari spelling: चेतिय (cetiya)), from Sanskrit चैत्य (caitya, “hall, temple, or place of worship”).

der

A Thai Buddhist monument similar to a stupa.

စေတီ

a Thai Buddhist monument similar to a stupa


commissary

From Late Latin commissarius, from commissus, past participle of committō (“to commit, entrust to”). Doublet of commissar.

(Scots law) The judge in a commissary court.


Whigs

(UK politics) An 18th- and 19th-century British political party that was opposed to the Tories, and became the Liberal Party.


SPGB

Socialist Party of Great Britain
w:Socialist Party of Great Britain

(UK politics) Initialism of Socialist Party of Great Britain.


reductive

en-adj

reductive (comparative more reductive, superlative most reductive)

more reductive (comparative)
most reductive (superlative)

From Middle French réductif, from Late Latin reductivus, from the participle stem of Latin reducere (“to reduce”).

(Scots law, now rare) Pertaining to the reduction of a decree etc.; rescissory.


cross-bench

(UK politics) A bench placed perpendicular to others, especially certain such benches in the House of Lords on which independent or neutral members traditionally sit.


cross-bench

cross-bench (comparative more cross-bench, superlative most cross-bench)

more cross-bench (comparative)
most cross-bench (superlative)

(UK politics) Of or pertaining to the cross-benches in the UK houses of parliament.


backwoodsman

(informal, UK politics) A Peer who is seldom present in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom Parliament, who may be encouraged to attend when a very important vote is expected.


Blairism

(UK politics) The political ideology attributed to the governments of British Prime Minister Tony Blair


Brownism

(UK politics) The political ideology of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.


Brownite

From Brown + -ite, from the surname of Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister 2007-2010.

(UK politics, informal) A supporter of Gordon Brown, or his economic or political policies


Brownite

(UK politics) Of, or relating to Brownites, or Gordon Brown's government and policies.


Mordred

Alteration of Modred, from Latin Modredus, from Proto-Brythonic *Modrọd (whence Old Breton Modrot, Old Cornish Modred, Old Welsh Medraut), perhaps from Latin Moderātus.

(Arthurian legend) The illegitimate son of King Arthur, who ultimately killed him in battle.

莫德雷德

in Arthurian legend, the son of King Arthur


duplicando

(Scots law) Alternative form of duplicand


astricted

astricted (comparative more astricted, superlative most astricted)

more astricted (comparative)
most astricted (superlative)

(Scots law, historical, of land) From which corn must be sent to a particular mill, paying multure or thirlage on it.


chantry

From Middle English chaunterie, from Old French chanterie, from chanter (“to sing”).


pollard

From poll (“head, scalp”) + -ard. The coin sense derives from the original penny's uncrowned obverse bust, as opposed to the laurel-wreathed form appearing on the rosary. The verb derives from the noun.

The enclosure was indeed little beyond that of a good-sized paddock – its boundaries were visible on every side – but swelling uplands, covered with massy foliage sloped down to its wild irregular turf soil – soil poor for pasturage, but pleasant to the eye; with dell and dingle, bosks of fantastic pollards – dotted oaks of vast growth – here and there a weird hollow thorn-tree – patches of fern and gorse.

1857, Pisistratus Caxton [pseudonym; Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter I, in What will He Do with It? (Collection of British Authors; CCCCVII), Tauchnitz edition, volume I, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, →OCLC, book II, page 140:

Only a little pollard hedge kept us from their blood-shot eyes.

1869, Richard Doddridge Blackmore, “Chapter 65”, in Lorna Doone:

Nothing was to be seen save flat meadows, cows feeding unconcernedly for the most part, and silvery pollard willows motionless in the warm sunlight.

1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 98:

And at this place there was a long, straight causeway, with two long rows of pollard willows, one upon either hand.

1903, Howard Pyle, The Story of King Arthur and His Knights, Part III, Chapter Third, page 116

(often attributive) A pruned tree; the wood of such trees.

Squalius cephalus
Squalius cephalus#Translingual

Leuciscus cephalus
Leuciscus cephalus#Translingual

(obsolete, rare) A European chub (Squalius cephalus, syn. Leuciscus cephalus), a kind of fish.

(now Australia) A fine grade of bran including some flour. The fine cell layer between bran layers and endosperm, used for animal feed.

(numismatics, historical) A 13th-century European coin minted as a debased counterfeit of the sterling silver penny of Edward I of England, at first legally accepted as a halfpenny and then outlawed.


pollard

en-verb

pollard (third-person singular simple present pollards, present participle pollarding, simple past and past participle pollarded)

pollards (present singular third-person)
pollarding (participle present)
pollarded (participle past)
pollarded (past)

I didn't know one could pollard elms. I thought one only pollarded willows.

1910, Edward Morgan Forster, chapter 11, in Howards End:

As well as coppicing, other trees were pollarded, or lopped about 6 ft up the trunk so that the resulting growth was beyond the reach of grazing animals. Pollarding lengthens the life of trees, and the frequently made estimate '1,000 years old' could well be true of some sturdy old trunks.

1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 118:

Cutting back to the same position annually is usually referred to as pollarding; cutting nearly to the ground is usually called stooling. Both are good methods of controlling height and maintaining vigor on plants that would normally grow to a large size.

2011, Edward F. Gilman, An Illustrated Guide to Pruning, 3rd edition, Clifton Park, N.Y.: Delmar, Cengage Learning, →ISBN, page 411:

I walked up the path, passing under a heavily pollarded oak.

2019, Ian McEwan, Machines Like Me, Jonathan Cape, page 287:

(horticulture) To prune a tree heavily, cutting branches back to the trunk, so that it produces dense new growth.


minster

From Middle English menstre (see mynisterie), from Old English mynster, from Latin monastērium (“monastery”), from Ancient Greek μοναστήριον (monastḗrion, “monastery; solitary dwelling”). Doublet of monastery.

derived

A cathedral church without any monastic connection.


remembrancer

In one respect at least the Corporation acts as the superior body: it imposes on the House of Commons a figure called the remembrancer: an official lobbyist who sits behind the Speaker's chair and ensures that, whatever our elected representatives might think, the City's rights and privileges are protected.

[2011 October 31, George Monbiot, “The medieval, unaccountable Corporation of London is ripe for protest”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

City of London Corporation
City of London Corporation

(UK politics) Alternative letter-case form of Remembrancer: an official of the City of London Corporation.


Remembrancer

(UK politics) Any of several former officials in the Court of Exchequer.

“Thank you. Tuesday evening, in four days’ time, Daedra West hosts a gathering, the venue yet to be announced. Possibly one of the guildhalls. Her guest list, so far, is interesting.” She looked at Lev. “The Remembrancer himself may be there. Lesser faces from the City.[…]

2014, William Gibson, The Peripheral, G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, page 222:

In particular, Harkaway told him about the unelected offices of the Lord Mayor and the City Remembrancer, who can be mistaken for figureheads but, in fact, have extensive powers.

2014 November 16, Ned Beauman, “William Gibson: ‘We always think of ourselves as the cream of creation’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(UK politics) A similar official of the City of London Corporation.


heritor

Compare Latin herator, from Latin heres (“an heir”).

The printed statement reads (abridged in parts):—
"To the Interested HERITORS in the Counties of Mid-Lothian, Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Berwick. […]

1951 February, Michael Robbins, “Sir Walter Scott and Two Early Railway Schemes”, in Railway Magazine, page 87:

(Scots law) A proprietor or landholder in a parish.


terce

en-noun

terce (countable and uncountable, plural terces)

Late Middle English, from Old French terce, from Latin tertia (“third; the third hour”).

(Scots law) A widow's right, where she has no conventional provision, to a liferent of a third of the husband's heritable property.


C of E

Lasdun’s parents were Jews who converted to the C of E, and Nasreen’s communications quickly became virulently anti-semitic […]

2013, Nick Richardson, “Internet-Enabled”, in London Review of Books, volume 35, number 8:

Church of England
Church of England#English


simpliciter

From the Latin simpliciter (“simply”, “plainly”), from simplex (“simple”).

The charge was reduced from aggravated assault to assault simpliciter.

Paragraph 68, Public Prosecutor v CJH ([2022] SGHC 303)
Leaving aside this report, I make the general observation firstly that the CA has pointed out in PP v UI [2008] 4 SLR(R) 500 […] that rape simpliciter "is already ‘an inherently odious and reprehensible act’… that exacts ‘irretrievable physical, emotional and psychological scars on [the] victim’”[…]

(philosophy, law, originally chiefly Scots law, Canadian law) Simply, absolutely; without any qualification or condition.


appraising

(Scots law, historical) Alternative form of apprising


apprising

(Scots law, historical) The appraisal of the value of goods, land, etc., often in order to pay the debts of a deceased person.


annate

(Scots law) The half-year's stipend payable for the vacant half-year after the death of a parish minister, to which his family or nearest of kin have right under an act of 1672.


Fine Gael

/ˌfɪnə ˈɡeɪl/

From Irish Fine Gael (literally “family of Gaels”).

bor

Ireland’s ruling Fine Gael party and its longtime rival Fianna Fáil have moved closer to forming an unprecedented coalition government.

2020 April 14, Rory Carroll, “Ireland’s Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil close to forming coalition government”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

An Irish political party founded in the 1930s.


Hundred Years' War

A series of conflicts between France and England, lasting 116 years from 1337 to 1453.


two-tier

two-tier policing

two-tier Keir (nickname for prime minister Keir Starmer)

(UK politics, derogatory) Giving preferential treatment to left-wingers over right-wingers.


redargue

en-verb

redargue (third-person singular simple present redargues, present participle redarguing, simple past and past participle redargued)

redargues (present singular third-person)
redarguing (participle present)
redargued (participle past)
redargued (past)

/ɹɪˈdɑːɡjuː/

From Late Middle English redarguen, redargue (“to defeat (someone) in an argument; to rebuke, reprove”), from Middle French redarguer and Old French redargüer (“to disprove, refute; to accuse, blame; to rebuke, reprove”) (modern French rédarguer), and from their etymon Latin redarguere (“to disprove, refute”) (compare Late Latin redarguere (“to rebuke, reprove”)), the present active infinitive of redarguō (“to disprove, refute; to contradict”), from red- (a variant of re- (prefix meaning ‘again’)) + arguō (“to assert, declare; to clarify, make plain; to prove, show; to accuse, charge with; to censure, rebuke, reprove; to blame; to denounce as false”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erǵ- (“argent, white; glittering”), in the sense of casting light on something to make it clear). Doublet of argue.
Cognates
* Catalan redargüir
* Italian redarguire
* Old Occitan redarguir
* Portuguese redargüir
* Spanish redargüir

der

Dia[ph Silkworm]. Sir, Ile redargue you, / By diſputation. / Com[passe]. O let's heare this! / I long to heare a man diſpute in his ſhirt / Of valour, and his ſvvord dravvne in his hand.

1632 (first performance), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “The Magnetick Lady: Or, Humors Reconcil’d. A Comedy […]”, in The Workes of Benjamin Jonson. The Second Volume. […] (Second Folio), London: […] Richard Meighen, published 1640, →OCLC, Act III, scene vi, page 39:

To disprove or refute (someone) in an argument.

Nathaniel Carpenter [i.e., Nathanael Carpenter] late Fellow of Exceter Colledge in Oxford, in the ſecond booke and ſeventh chapter of his learned Geographicall concluſions, thus fully redargues that forgerie.

1635, George Hakewill, “Touching Grammar, Rhetorique, Logicke, the Mathematiques, Philosophy, Architecture, the Arts of Painting and Navigation”, in An Apologie or Declaration of the Power and Providence of God in the Government of the World. […], 3rd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] William Turner […], →OCLC, book III, section 4 (Of the Art of Navigation, […]), page 310:

[T]he objections you mention, I humbly conceive, are ſuch as may be redargued, if not entirely removed— […]

1771, [Tobias Smollett], “To Mr. Henry Davis, Bookseller, in London”, in The Expedition of Humphry Clinker […], volume I, London: […] W. Johnston, […]; and B. Collins, […], →OCLC, pages v–vi:

To rebut or refute (an argument, a proposition, etc.).


fourpence

A former British silver coin, worth four pence.


JM

(UK politics, slang) Initialism of John Major, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1990 to 1997.


Roundhead

From round + head, from their short-cropped hairstyle.

(informal, historical) A supporter of parliament during the English Civil War.


house of worship

en-noun

house of worship (plural houses of worship)

(religion) A religious edifice; a mosque, church, synagogue, temple, or similar place where believers go to practice their faith.


Lancelot

en-proper noun

Lancelot (countable and uncountable, plural Lancelots)

From Middle English Launcelot, from Old French Lancelot, from Frankish *Lanzo, hypocoristic form of names beginning in *Land-, from Proto-Germanic *landą (“land”), and diminutive Old French endings -el and -ot.
Related to Old English Landbeorht (modern English Lambert).

(Arthurian legend) One of the Knights of the Round Table, a lover of Guinevere.


astrict

en-verb

astrict (third-person singular simple present astricts, present participle astricting, simple past and past participle astricted)

astricts (present singular third-person)
astricting (participle present)
astricted (participle past)
astricted (past)

Latin astrictus, past participle of astringere. See astringe.

to astrict lands


Number 10

There are honourable people in the government and principled advisers working in Number 10, even if their unheralded service is obscured by the crass antics of spin doctors and the demagoguery of some ministers.

2009 April 23, Bagehot, “Who's Nasty Now?”, in The Economist, page 61:

10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street#English

(UK politics) Synonym of 10 Downing Street.


eightpence

[…] I went for a night to a lodging-house in Bow, where the charge was only eightpence.

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

(historical, numismatics) A former coin worth eight pence; the monetary amount of eight pence.


advocation

en-noun

advocation (countable and uncountable, plural advocations)

From Latin advocātiō. Doublet of advowson.

(Scots law) The process of removing a cause from an inferior court to the supreme court.


CON

Conservative Party
w:Conservative Party (UK)

(UK politics) Abbreviation of Conservative Party.


Chancellor of the Exchequer

cabinet minister
cabinet minister#English

The official title held by the British cabinet minister, who is responsible for all governmental economic and financial matters, including the treasury.

財政大臣 /财政大臣

minister responsible for governmental finances and treasury


circumduction

circumduction (countable and uncountable, plural circumductions)


Avalon

From Latin Avallōnia and īnsula Avallōnis, from Proto-Brythonic *aβal (“apple”), from Proto-Celtic *abūl, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ébōl.

(Arthurian legend) An island, represented as an earthly paradise in the western seas, to which King Arthur and other heroes were carried at death.

Avalon

earthly paradise in the western seas, in the Arthurian legend


marabout

From French marabout, from Portuguese maraboto, marabuto, from Moroccan Arabic مْرَابِط (mrabeṭ) (standard Arabic مُرَابِط (murābiṭ, “soldier stationed in fortified outpost”)).

cog

one of their principal targets was the marabouts – or holy men and leaders of mystic orders – whom they accused both of corrupting the faith by their espousal of mysticism and of being the ‘domestic animals of colonialism’.

1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 38:

(Islam) A Muslim holy man or mystic, especially in parts of North Africa.


SEU

Social Exclusion Unit
w:Social Exclusion Unit

(UK politics, historical) Initialism of Social Exclusion Unit.


first minister

The Welsh first minister has defended his decision to travel to Qatar for the World Cup, saying he feels that the citizens of Wales want their country’s leader there despite concerns about human rights and working conditions.

2022 November 20, Steven Morris, “Welsh first minister defends trip to World Cup in Qatar”, in The Guardian:

Yousaf is almost certain to be confirmed as Scotland’s next first minister in a nominal vote at Holyrood on Tuesday but now has to bridge those divides by bringing the SNP’s warring wings together.

2023 March 27, Severin Carrell, Libby Brooks, “Humza Yousaf elected leader of Scottish National party”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(UK politics) A leader of a devolved government such as Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland.


surrogatum

1800s. Latin, neuter singular of surrogatus

(Scots law) A thing put in the place of another; a substitute.


adminicle

From Latin adminiculum (“support pole”).


half-noble

An ancient unit of currency of England, equivalent to half a noble.


speos

A tomb or temple carved from the solid rock


three-line whip

en-noun

three-line whip (plural three-line whips)

From the triple underlining of very important votes on “the whip” — a document detailing upcoming business distributed weekly to British MPs by party managers.

Since the metaphysical status of egg-casing is not one on which the church has yet pronounced, opposition appears based on "yuck" and nothing else. But yuck has become diktat, with Catholic MPs up to cabinet level being given a three-line whip by their bishops.

2008 April 12, Simon Jenkins, Richard Harries, “Atheist versus Bishop”, in The Guardian:

Deputy Chief Whip Craig Whittaker told them it will be a “100% hard” three-line whip, saying: “This is not a motion on fracking. This is a confidence motion in the Government.”

2022 October 19, Ashley Cowburn, quoting Craig Whittaker, “Liz Truss declares fracking vote tonight a ‘confidence motion’ in her government”, in Mirror:

(UK politics) A directive to MPs from party leaders to vote in a particular way in parliament, despite what the MP might believe or what his or her constituents might like.


spad

SPAD Special Advisor

1997 November 13, Reddy Hannah with Wimbush, Angela and Linesberry, Debbie, “Abbreviations and Acronyms”, in Dr. Russell G. Swenson, editor, Defense and Intelligence Abbreviations and Acronyms, Washington, DC: Joint Military Intelligence College, archived from the original on 2017-09-18, page 192:

A successful stint as a spad can be a crucial political apprenticeship - as many of the current crop of professional politicians including the Miliband brothers, David Cameron and George Osborne can testify - so long as they stay in the dark.

2009, Ben Wright, Hidden world of the political advisers, BBC:

The hit BBC sitcom satirising the inner workings of Whitehall and the so-called spads contains "more than a grain of truth", the head of the cross-party public administration select committee has warned.

2012, Avoid The Thick of It-style spad appointments, ministers told, The Guardian

(UK politics, informal) A government adviser, often in a political or media role.


early day motion

early day motion (plural early day motions)

(UK politics) A formal motion submitted for debate in the House of Commons.


Jacobite

From Latin Jācōbus (“James”) + -ite, equivalent to Jacob + -ite.

Syriac Orthodox Church
Syriac Orthodox Church

(Christianity, dated) A member of the Syriac Orthodox Church, or historically any miaphysite or monophysite. [from 15th c.]


Thatcherize

en-verb

Thatcherize (third-person singular simple present Thatcherizes, present participle Thatcherizing, simple past and past participle Thatcherized)

Thatcherizes (present singular third-person)
Thatcherizing (participle present)
Thatcherized (participle past)
Thatcherized (past)

From Thatcher + -ize, named after British prime minister Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013).

named-after

Throughout the 1980s, she had been Thatcherizing the Cabinet.

1991, Bruce Anderson, John Major: The Making of the Prime Minister:

This Thatcherized ethos showed how easily militant economism worked against the Left, once the postwar settlement's corporatist scaffolding was gone […]

(transitive, UK politics) To subject to Thatcherism.

(transitive) To modify (an image) by partial inversion, so that it triggers the Thatcher effect in observers.


Adullamite

From Adullam + -ite, in the political sense from a speech by John Bright in Parliament on 13 March 1866 deriding the anti-reformist faction of Edward Horsman as a “Cave of Adullam”, i.e. a group of malcontents.

(UK politics, historical) A member of the anti-reform faction of the British Liberal Party in the 19th century.


tekke

From Ottoman Turkish تكه (tekke), from Classical Persian تکیه (takya). Doublet of takya, takiyya, and takyeh.

In Turkey, a dervish or Sufi lodge or place of worship; alternative form of takya.


PCC

parochial church council
parochial church council#English

(Church of England) Initialism of parochial church council.


Labourite

(UK politics) a member or supporter of the British Labour Party, the left wing party of Great Britain


disproven

(archaic, Scots law) Not proven, in a legal case where the jury verdict has inconclusive evidence for conviction, but sufficient to suspect guilt


butsudan

From Japanese 仏壇 (ぶつだん butsudan), from Middle Chinese 佛 (bjot "Buddha") ＋ 壇 (dan "altar", "platform").

A Buddhist shrine, comprising a wooden cabinet with doors that enclose and protect a religious icon.


condescendence

en-noun

condescendence (countable and uncountable, plural condescendences)

From French condescendance, from condescendre, from Late Latin condescendere (“to let oneself down, stoop, condescend”), from Latin com- (“together”) + descendere (“to come down”). See condescend.

der

(Scots law) An articulate statement annexed to a summons, setting forth the allegations in fact upon which an action is founded.


Thatcherist

(UK politics) A proponent of Thatcherism.


mandir

Transliteration of Hindi मंदिर (mandir).

On the contrary, in the afternoon, he said, “It was good that I went to the mandir. Even physically, I feel well.”

1960, The Visva-Bharati quarterly: Volumes 26-27, Shantiniketan, West Bengal, page 58:

The word mandir derives from the Sanskrit mandira, meaning a dwelling place. A mandir is a home to God as represented by the deity singled out for honour within the building's inner sanctum.

2003 September 30, Jerome Monahan, Places of worship, week 4: a mandir:

"The stories and carvings include diverse portions of India's geography and Hindu belief systems. This would include Mahabharata and Ramayana as well as the Puranas and regional histories. In fact, this mandir will be uniquely identified by its intricate mandovar facade which will share many traditional tales from across India as well as unique designs from the Gulf," he said.

2020 November 10, 25,000 Cubic Feet Of Stone Carved In India For Abu Dhabi's First Hindu Temple:


Thatcherization

From Thatcher + -ization, named after British prime minister Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013).


martyry

From Late Latin martyrium (also 'martyrdom'), from Ancient Greek (martyrion), from (martys) 'witness'.

Major martyries are often traditional destinations of pilgrimages, hence become chapels or churches beyond the local parish needs

A shrine in honor of a (usually religious, notably Christian) martyr, possibly at his grave.

A shrine at a site which "bears witness" to a crucial religious event not related to a tomb.


SNP

(UK politics) Initialism of Scottish National Party.


Churchillian

en-adj

Churchillian (comparative more Churchillian, superlative most Churchillian)

more Churchillian (comparative)
most Churchillian (superlative)

/t͡ʃɜː(ɹ)ˈt͡ʃɪli.ən/

Barton was gorillian of build, all of it muscle, and Churchillian of jaw, all of it stubborn, but for all that amazingly good at not trampling over the authority of village elders.

1998, Dana Stabenow, Fire and Ice, page 77:

They are Churchillian theme parks of red pillar boxes, fish and chips and warm beer. But they want the smooth without the rough. When the neighbours cut up nasty, they demand that those whose taxes protect them should send soldiers, diplomats and lawyers to their aid.

2013 August 14, Simon Jenkins, “Gibraltar and the Falklands deny the logic of history”, in The Guardian:

Why, [Jacob Rees-]Mogg even offers the same shtick: Etonian accent, Latin tags, supposedly lovable Wodehousian eccentricity, sub-Churchillian evocation of the glorious past of this island race.

2017 October 4, Jonathan Freedland, “Boorish Boris: Johnson’s Libya joke is proof he cannot do his job”, in The Guardian:

Boris Johnson's speech to the nation on Sunday May 10 was rambly, incoherent, and he failed dismally in his attempt to sound Churchillian.

2020 May 20, Christian Wolmar, “Clarity is required on social distancing and the railways”, in Rail, page 50:

Of or pertaining to Winston Churchill (1874–1965), English statesman and author, or to his policies, speeches, or writings.


NuLab

New Labour rendered in Orwellian Newspeak.

We are totally opposed to the creeping privatisation of these services which NuLab has indicated it will commence once this election is safely out of the way.

2001, Patrick Harrington, Cliff Morrison, Third Way Manifesto:

(UK, informal, derogatory, UK politics) New Labour.


commixtion

en-noun

commixtion (countable and uncountable, plural commixtions)

From Middle English commixtion, from Middle French commixtion, and its source, Latin commixtiōnem, from commiscēre (“to mix”).

(Roman law, Scots law) A method of acquiring property by mixing or blending substances belonging to different proprietors.


two bob

(UK, Australia, obsolete) Two shillings; a florin.


Fianna Fáil

Unadapted borrowing from Irish Fianna Fáil. From Irish fianna, plural of fiann (“warrior”), and Fáil, genitive of Fál (a legendary name of Ireland); cf. Old Irish fál. The original meaning is thus “warriors of Fál”, but the phrase is traditionally translated as “soldiers of destiny”.

ubor

I dreamt that Ruairi Quinn was smokin' marijuana in the Dail. Barry Desmond handing Frenchies out to scuts in Fianna Fail.

1985, “Delerium Tremens” (track 2), in Ordinary Man, performed by Christy Moore:

Ireland’s largest party, Fianna Fáil, has said it will not consider going into government with Sinn Féin, a decision likely to prevent the leftwing nationalists from entering power for the first time.

2020 February 13, “Ireland: Fianna Fáil rules out coalition with Sinn Féin”, in The Guardian, sourced from Reuters, →ISSN:

A conservative Irish political party founded in the 1920s.


Excalibur

From Middle English Excalaber, from Old French Escalibor, Escaliborc, prothetic form of Calliborc, alteration of Calibourne, from Medieval Latin Caliburnus (Geoffrey of Monmouth, ca. 1136), influenced by calibs (“steel”) (for chalybs), alteration of Old Welsh Caledbulch (compare modern Caledfwlch), compound of caled (“hard”) and bwlch (“cleft, crack”). Related to the Irish legendary sword Caladbolg, literally ‘hard-belly’, i.e. ‘voracious’.

Until recently, suppression of ethnicity has perhaps been the leading characteristic of the trend of thought of these Jewish intellectuals. Some, like Noam Chomsky and I. F. Stone, have been considered by some Jews to be so suppressed—or at least so overcompensating for their being Jewish—as to be regarded as anti-Semitic on some issues. Such men flaunt their universalism like Excaliburs of truth and objectivity.

1974, Stephen D. Isaacs, Jews and American Politics, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 53:

And we would see fish swimming among the tall bulrushes that rose like Excaliburs out of the lake.

1998, Imogen Stubbs, “The Undiscovered Road: Northumberland”, in Dea Birkett, Sara Wheeler, editors, Amazonian: The Penguin Book of Women’s New Travel Writing, Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 228:

You and I, we are not alone, and our screwdrivers are our flashing Excaliburs as we sally forth to make small parts of the fragmented world whole again.

2017, James May, The Reassembler, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 19:

(Arthurian legend) The legendary sword of King Arthur, having magical properties.


CMA

Indeed, the more common complaint is that the regulator is too willing to accept an acquirer’s proposed remedies to competition concerns. Microsoft tried the remedy route with Activision but the CMA, unusually, wasn’t convinced. Tough.

2023 April 27, Nils Pratley, “Ignore Microsoft’s whines about the Activision takeover. The CMA did its job”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Competition and Markets Authority
w:Competition and Markets Authority

(UK politics) Initialism of Competition and Markets Authority.


Thatcheresque

en-adj

Thatcheresque (comparative more Thatcheresque, superlative most Thatcheresque)

more Thatcheresque (comparative)
most Thatcheresque (superlative)

Reminiscent of Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013), former British prime minister, or her policies.


IEA

"The European economic and welfare model – I think it's over," says Mark Littlewood, director of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), like the CPS a veteran British free-market thinktank reinvigorated by current possibilities.

2012 August 22, Andy Beckett, “Britannia Unchained: the rise of the new Tory right”, in The Guardian:

Institute of Economic Affairs
w:Institute of Economic Affairs

(UK politics, economics) Initialism of Institute of Economic Affairs: a British neoliberal think tank.


tenpence

(rare, British, Ireland) A coin worth ten new pence.


SPAD

(UK politics, informal) Alternative form of spad (“special advisor in government”)


Iseult

Old French, the name of the queen who fell in love with Tristan in medieval romance Tristan and Iseult, perhaps from Celtic, of uncertain meaning, possibly Proto-Brythonic *Adsiltia (“she who is gazed upon”); compare Welsh syllu and Irish súil. Otherwise from Germanic, equivalent to Old High German is (“ice”) + hiltja (“battle”) (from Proto-West Germanic *hildi).

der

Just as he finished, the daughter came in, Iseult. A name out of the past, a darkly Celtic presence: jet-black hair, the same as Minogue had had, tall.

1988, John Brady, A Stone of the Heart, St Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 9:

A female given name from the Germanic languages.


Isolde

Borrowed from the German Isolde, German form of Iseult.

A female given name from the Celtic languages or the Germanic languages


10 Downing Street

(UK politics) The address of the residence in London of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

[…] he declared from early in his life that he intended to be viceroy of India, as a natural stepping-stone on his way to 10 Downing Street.

2001, Trevor Owen Lloyd, Empire: the history of the British Empire, →ISBN, page 138:

(UK politics, by extension, metonymically) The title or office of the Prime Minister.

[…] explicitly clear, in the way that 10 Downing Street has made it clear in the case of city academies, that it is perfectly legitimate to put people in the House of Lords […]

2006, Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Public Administration Select Committee, Propriety and Honours: Interim Findings; Fourth Report of Session 2005-06, volume 29, →ISBN, page 23:

(by extension, metonymically) The government of the United Kingdom.


unlaw

en-verb

unlaw (third-person singular simple present unlaws, present participle unlawing, simple past and past participle unlawed)

unlaws (present singular third-person)
unlawing (participle present)
unlawed (participle past)
unlawed (past)

(transitive, obsolete, Scots law) To fine.


pupillarity

Borrowed from Medieval Latin pūpillāritās.

(Scots law) The period before puberty, or from birth to fourteen in males, and twelve in females


Holyrood

From Middle English Holy Rood, Holyrode, holy-rode, holy roode, hali rode, halgorode, equivalent to holy + rood (“crucifix, cross”).
The town in Newfoundland is named after a location near Crewkerne, Somerset.

But Matheson has indicated that the Scottish Government will not be responding to the consultation because transport policy in Scotland is a matter for ministers at Holyrood and not at Westminster.

2020 December 16, “Network News: Scotland set to snub Johnson's Union Connectivity Review”, in RAIL, page 21:

Yousaf is almost certain to be confirmed as Scotland’s next first minister in a nominal vote at Holyrood on Tuesday but now has to bridge those divides by bringing the SNP’s warring wings together.

2023 March 27, Severin Carrell, Libby Brooks, “Humza Yousaf elected leader of Scottish National party”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(UK politics, by extension, metonymically) The Scottish Parliament.


adminiculate

adminiculate (third-person singular simple present adminiculates, present participle adminiculating, simple past and past participle adminiculated)

adminiculates (present singular third-person)
adminiculating (participle present)
adminiculated (participle past)
adminiculated (past)

(transitive, Scots law) To prove; to corroborate.


absolvitor

Borrowed from Latin absolvitor (literally “let him be acquitted”), the third-person singular future passive imperative form of absolvō (“I absolve, acquit, or declare innocent”). Compare absolutory.

bor

Pitmedden purſues Seaton of Menzies as Repreſenting his Father, who was one of the Purſuers Brothers Tutors, for his Fathers Intromiſſion with the Pupils Means, who alleadged Abſolvitor.

1668 December 19, James Dalrymple, “Mr. Alexander Seaton contra Menzies” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 575

The Dictionary of the Scots Language
w:Dictionary of the Scots Language

Scottish Language Dictionaries
w:Scottish Language Dictionaries

(Scots law) A decision or decree made by a court in favour of the defendant in a given action; dismissal.


plagium

en-noun

plagium (usually uncountable, plural plagiums)

From Latin plagium (“kidnapping”), compare plagiarism, probably from plaga (“a net, snare, trap”).

(Scots law) abduction, especially of a child


lenocinium

Borrowed from Latin lenocinium (“pimping, prostitution”).

bor

(Scots law) A husband's connivance at his wife's adultery.


liferent

en-noun

liferent (countable and uncountable, plural liferents)

The said William Aitken, being of new solemnly sworn, &c., depones he is a Burgess of Hawick, and had the property of a house which he now liferents, the fee being disponed to his son-in-law, Bailie Robert Scot, for the use of his son William, his daughter, Bailie Scot's wife, having paid the price of the house; depones sixty years ago Gilbert Elliot was tenant in Nether Southfield, who broke Hawick Common by plowing a part of it, which the Deponent saw at the Common-Riding when the Magistrates and other persons at the Common-Riding potched the ground he had plowed, and was then sown that he might not reap the crop of this.

1898, R. S. Craig, Adam Laing, The Hawick Tradition of 1514: The Town's Common Flag and Seal, page 240:

(Scots law) The right to receive for life the benefits of a property or other asset, without the right to dispose of it.


reprobator

(Scots law, historical) An old form of action to prove a witness to be perjured or biased.


Williamite

Episode 12, The Cyclops
We fought for the royal Stuarts that reneged us against the Williamites and they betrayed us.

(historical) A follower of King William III of England who deposed King James II in the Glorious Revolution.

Clann Bhullaí ('the Williamites')

a follower of King William III of England


unstar

en-verb

unstar (third-person singular simple present unstars, present participle unstarring, simple past and past participle unstarred)

unstars (present singular third-person)
unstarring (participle present)
unstarred (participle past)
unstarred (past)

(transitive, UK politics) To demote a question from an oral one to a written one (because oral questions are conventionally marked with a star on the Order of Business in the House of Commons).


commodate

Latin commodatum (“something lent, a loan”).


tin tabernacle

(UK) A church, usually nonconformist, clad in corrugated iron.


NIO

Stormont officials spelled out linguistic pitfalls that could offend nationalists and unionists in a 164-page guidance document for Mandelson and other new NIO ministers.

2023 August 23, Rory Carroll, “Files reveal terms ministers were warned not to use in Northern Ireland”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Northern Ireland Office
w:Northern Ireland Office

(UK politics) Initialism of Northern Ireland Office.


Conservative Party

Margaret Thatcher, leader of the Conservative Party, was Britain's first female Prime Minister.

(UK politics) A centre-right political party, official full name Conservative and Unionist Party, informally known as the Tory Party or Tories.


LAB

(UK politics) Abbreviation of Labour Party.


warrandice

(Scots law) A form of warranty in which a person conveying property is held liable for any outstanding claims on the property.


inbring

inbring (third-person singular simple present inbrings, present participle inbringing, simple past and past participle inbrought)

inbrings (present singular third-person)
inbringing (participle present)
inbrought (participle past)
inbrought (past)

From Middle English inbringen, from Old English inbringan (“to bring in, bring to, present”), equivalent to in- + bring. Cognate with Scots inbring (“to inbring, import”), Dutch inbrengen (“to bring in”), German einbringen (“to introduce, bring in”), Swedish inbringa (“to bring in, fetch”).

cog

(transitive, Scots law) To bring in by legal authority; produce in court; confiscate (the goods of a condemned criminal).


Johnsonian

en-adj

Johnsonian (comparative more Johnsonian, superlative most Johnsonian)

more Johnsonian (comparative)
most Johnsonian (superlative)

/d͡ʒɒnˈsəʊnɪ.ən/

To stop no-deal, MPs must adopt some Johnsonian ruthlessness and be ready to bring down the prime minister and put someone else, probably Jeremy Corbyn, in his place.

2019 August 29, “The Guardian view on Johnson v parliament: an unelective dictatorship”, in The Guardian:

(UK politics) Of or pertaining to Boris Johnson (born 1964), English politician and prime minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022.


Number Ten

Coordinate term: Number 11

(UK politics, colloquial) Synonym of 10 Downing Street


Oireachtas

The Oireachtas, Ireland’s legislature, was put into a virtual lockdown for hours on Wednesday by a small but abusive group of about 200 people.

2023 September 21, Emma Graham-Harrison, “Alarm over ‘fascist-like’ protest at Ireland’s seat of government”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:


Seanad Éireann

(Ireland) The upper house of the Parliament of Ireland.


skaith

en-noun

skaith (countable and uncountable, plural skaiths)

[…] the Commissioners of Burghs... meet yearly at Inverkeithing “to treat of the welfare of merchandize, the good rule and statutes for the common profit of burghs, and to provide for remeid upon the skaith and injuries sustained within the burghs.”

1878, William Charles Smith, "Borough" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. IV, p. 64

There never yet was Englishman
That came to skaith by me.

1904, William Edmonstoune Aytoun, The Bon Gaultier Ballads:

(Scots law, obsolete) Alternative form of scathe (“damage”)


SLD

Scottish Liberal Democrats
w:Scottish Liberal Democrats

(UK politics) Initialism of Scottish Liberal Democrats.

Social and Liberal Democrats
w:Social and Liberal Democrats

(UK politics) Initialism of Social and Liberal Democrats the former name of the Liberal Democrats.


Cleggmania

Before the debate the Daily Telegraph, a Conservative-leaning newspaper, had tried to prick the Cleggmania bubble by running a story alleging that Clegg had received payments from party donors directly into his private bank account.

2010, John Bartle, Nicholas Allen, Britain at the Polls 2010, page 192:

Cleggmania briefly hit Orpington but we need to call our voters and tell them to stick to the blue corner[…]

2011, Rachel Johnson, A Diary of The Lady: My First Year As Editor:

(UK politics, informal) Enthusiasm for British Liberal Democrat politician Nick Clegg.


decree arbitral

decree arbitral (plural decrees arbitral)

(Scots law) An award made by an arbiter.


Morgana

(Arthurian legend) Morgaine (Morgan le Fay).


PEP

Coordinate term: PSI

Come a survey like last week’s PEP report on the extent of race prejudice, and another such wave looks like jogging the Government into introducing legislation dealing with housing and employment.

1967, “Researchers find widespread discrimination and prejudice against immigrants to Britain”, in The Observer:

Political and Economic Planning
w:Political and Economic Planning

(UK politics, historical) Initialism of Political and Economic Planning, a British policy think tank.


decreet

(Scots law) The final judgment of the Court of Session, or of an inferior court, by which the question at issue is decided.


great house

Coordinate term: country house

Near-synonyms: manor house, great hall

A large, luxurious house or mansion, with a sizeable indoor and outdoor staff; especially of properties in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United Kingdom and United States.


Banba

(Irish mythology) A patron goddess of Ireland.


onerosity

From onerous + -ity, from Latin onerositas.

It may be presumed to be a necessary ingredient in onerosity, that the obligation to be fulfilled is a legal one.

1845, John Hill Burton, The Law of Bankruptcy, Insolvency, and Mercantile Sequestration, in Scotland, W. Tait, page 145:

(Scots law) The legal state of affairs resulting from being done or given in return for receipt of something of value.


Wilsonian

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

(UK politics) Of or relating to British politician Harold Wilson or his policies.


Peelite

From Peel + -ite, after Sir Robert Peel.

(UK politics, historical) One of a breakaway faction of the British Conservative Party in the nineteenth century, characterised by a commitment to free trade and a managerial, almost technocratic, approach to government.


decern

en-verb

decern (third-person singular simple present decerns, present participle decerning, simple past and past participle decerned)

decerns (present singular third-person)
decerning (participle present)
decerned (participle past)
decerned (past)

First attested in late Middle English circa 1425; from the French décerner, from the Latin dēcernō (“I decide, pronounce a decision”), from dē (“of, from, away from”) + cernō (“I separate, distinguish”), whence the English cern. In Old French, the forms of décerner were frequently conflated with those of descerner, discerner; the two verbs were not clearly distinguished until the 16th century; hence, in English also, decern is found with the sense discern.

der

(transitive, Scots law) Decree by judicial sentence.

Decide; determine; decree.
Decree by judicial sentence.
with simple object

Decree by judicial sentence that something be done.

He purſued Andrew Houſtoun upon his promiſe, to give him the like Sallary for the next year, and in abſence obtained him to be holden as confeſt and Decerned.

1668 July 3rd, James Dalrymple, “Thomas Rue contra Andrew Houſtoun” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), pages 547–548

Decree a person etc. to be or to do something by judicial sentence.  (in the phrase “to decern in”, obsolete) To mulct in by decree of court.

Decide; determine; decree.
Decree by judicial sentence.
intransitive

transferred sense
transferred sense#English

Decide; determine; decree.
Decree by judicial sentence.
transferred sense


disgradation

(Scots law, obsolete) degradation; a stripping of titles and honours


rerefief

From French arrière-fief. See rear (“hinder”), and fief.

by these means the feodal polity was greatly extended; these inferior feudatories (who held what are called in the Scots law "rerefiefs") being under similar obligations of fealty

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

(Scots law, historical) A fief held of a superior feudatory; a fief held by an undertenant.


oversman

(Scots law) An umpire; a third arbiter, appointed when two arbiters disagree.


tailzie

From French tailler (“to cut”). See tail (“a limitation”). For the z, compare etymology of English Mackenzie.

(historical, Scots law) An entailment or deed whereby the legal course of succession is cut off, and an arbitrary one substituted.


covenstead

From coven + stead; first attested in 1969.

He began being late for meetings and, as some members travelled quite a distance to the covenstead and had to leave promptly afterwards, Alex took him to task.

1969, June Johns, King of the witches: the world of Alex Sanders, page 108:

1986, Raymond Buckland, Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, link
It used to be that one covendom could not overlap another, so one covenstead would never be closer than six miles to the next.

1993, Janet Thompson, Of Witches: Celebrating the Goddess As a Solitary Pagan, page 29,
If that is the case, then the home of the high Priestess is likely to be referred to as the covenstead.

The covenstead is the meeting place of a coven.

1999, James R. Lewis, Witchcraft today: an encyclopedia of Wiccan and neopagan traditions, page 66:

(Wicca) A permanent circle or temple used to meet for rituals and to store religious items, often a mundane location.


Cú Chulainn

From Irish cú (“hound”) + Culann. The latter name could be related to Ancient Greek κυλλός (kullós, “crooked, crippled”).

cog

(Irish mythology) The pre-eminent hero of Ulster in the Ulster Cycle, almost undefeatable due to his spear the Gae Bulg, but cursed to reach an early grave; son of Lugh and Deichtine.