cyberpunk

en-noun

cyberpunk (countable and uncountable, plural cyberpunks)

From cyber- + -punk, coined by American writer and software developer Bruce Bethke as the title of a 1983 short story, and later popularized by Gardner Dozois.

coin

But by 1987, cyberpunk had become a cliche. Other writers had turned the form into formula: implant wetware (biological computer chips), government by multinational corporations, street-wise, leather-jacketed, amphetamine-loving protagonists and decayed orbital colonies.

1991 January 7, Lewis Shiner, “Confessions of an Ex-Cyberpunk”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Cyberpunk stories are set in a futuristic, dystopic environment—the opposite of utopian—in which computer technology plays an important role. […] The protagonists of cyberpunk stories are technologically proficient, lonely adventurers struggling with issues of identity and forced to use computer skills to fight menacing forces of domination.

2015, Abby H. P. Werlock, Encyclopedia of the American Short Story, Infobase Learning, →ISBN:

information technology
information technology

(science fiction, uncountable) A subgenre of science fiction which focuses on computer or information technology and virtual reality juxtaposed with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order.


bad guy

Perversely, we love John Wick himself. That lethal, bereaved assassin is a good bad guy for our times, the natural extension of Tony Soprano, Walter White and all the other heroic antiheroes the culture has embraced.

2023 March 14, Caryn James, “John Wick: Chapter 4: 'Soars above most action films'”, in BBC:

(informal) a villain, particularly an antagonist in a story.


fanfiction

en-noun

fanfiction (countable and uncountable, plural fanfictions)

(fandom slang) Alternative spelling of fan fiction


catalyst

(fantasy) An object that facilitates the casting of a spell (such as a magic wand).


Uncle Tom

Referring to the character in the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.

...their master... was no ad for anybody but the most arcane Black Power, he was an old prince of a witch doctor—insult him at your peril—but the other ten musicians with their trumpets and snares and assorted brass would prove no pull for Nixon on TV with any Black votes watching, for they were old and meek, naught but elderly Black Southern musicians, a veritable Ganges of Uncle Toms. They had disappeared with Tom Swift and Little Lord Fauntleroy.

1968, Norman Mailer, “Nixon in Miami”, in Harper's, §6:

Some blacks don't want to deal with the black cop because they see him as an Uncle Tom, a person who stands by while the white cop abuses and shows disrespect toward other blacks.

1985 April 1, Steven Leinen, quoting a police officer, Black Police, White Society, NYU Press:

One of the less entertaining components of the Ali act was the way he tried to "outblack" someone like Frazier, call him an Uncle Tom, an "honorary white," when in fact Frazier had grown up dirt poor in South Carolina.

2014 April 2, David Remnick, King of the World: Muhammed Ali and the Rise of an American Hero, Knopf Doubleday:

"You are an Uncle Tom, Scott. You're for Sessions. How does a black man turn on his own," Scott said, reading criticisms of himself on social media.

2017 February 8, Burgess Everett, “Tim Scott, the lone black GOP senator, rises to Sessions' defense”, in Politico:

(derogatory, ethnic slur) A black man who is servile towards white authority and accepting of white supremacy, a black race traitor.


imagine

/ɪˈmæ.d͡ʒɪn/

From Middle English ymagynen, from Middle French imaginer, from Latin imāginor, from imāginem, the accusative singular of imāgō (“a copy, likeness, image”).

Some imagines are more sexual and creepy than others: "Imagine Stiles walking in on you giving Scott a blowjob."

2015 March 2, Laura Starling, “FFIC101: An Introduction to the Horrors of Fanfiction”, in Critic, University of Otago, page 21:

i personally like imagines and fanfics so i found a good amount of kylo ren x reader fics and started going through them.

2016 December, Jocelyn Chambers, “The Exclusion Of People Of Color In Fanfiction”, in Majesty, page 96:

If I get inspired immediately, I can bust out an imagine in 5-10 minutes.

2019, "thranduilsperkybutt", quoted in "Author Spotlight: thranduilsperkybutt", Lemon, February 2019, page 37

(fandom slang) A short fanfic or prompt placing a reader insert in a novel scenario with a character or celebrity.


maverick

Named after Texan lawyer and politician Samuel Maverick (1803–1870), who refused to brand his cattle. For probable origin and meaning, see Maverick.
The poker noun sense (“a queen and a jack as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em”) may be from the theme song of the US Western television series Maverick (1957–1962), which says of the eponymous protagonist that “[g]amblin’ is his game” and that he is “livin’ on jacks and queens”.

named-after

They had been working for and with each other for a very long period and their tolerance for “mavericks” was very high, especially if these mavericks continued to get promoted.

2013, John T. Kuehn, “The Navy, Treaties, and Innovation”, in Agents of Innovation: The General Board and the Design of the Fleet that Defeated the Japanese Navy, Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, →ISBN, page 9:

(military) A person in the military who became an officer by going to college while on active duty as an enlisted person.


bugbear

From obsolete meaning of bug (“something terrifying”) + bear. See Middle English bugge, modern bogey.

Ha, ha: alas poore wretch: a poore Chipochia, haſt not ſlept to night? would he not (a naughty man) let it ſleepe: a bug-beare take him.

c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:

“How could you lie so glaringly as to affirm I hated the ‘poor child’? and invent bugbear stories to terrify her from my door-stones?[…]”

1847 December, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], chapter XXII, in Wuthering Heights: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], →OCLC:

"My young friends," quietly replied Jason, "I do not wonder that you think the dragon very terrible. You have grown up from infancy in the fear of this monster, and therefore still regard him with the awe that children feel for the bugbears and hobgoblins which their nurses have talked to them about.[…]"

1853, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Golden Fleece”, in Tanglewood Tales:

The partisans of the Administration object to the word “imperialism,” calling it a mere bugbear having no real existence.

1900, Carl Schurz, For Truth, Justice and Liberty:

(folklore, fantasy) A generic creature, often described as a large goblin, meant to inspire fear in children.


cred

en-noun

cred (countable and uncountable, plural creds)

And you're getting well paid, of course, but that's nothing to them, is it? They could double your salary, Gertler—pay you two million creds a year —and it'd still be peanuts to these people […]

2021, Michael Carroll, Laurel Sills, Matthew Smith, Judge Dredd Year Three:

(science fiction, slang) A credit (currency unit).


erotic

en-adj

erotic (comparative more erotic, superlative most erotic)

more erotic (comparative)
most erotic (superlative)

From French érotique, from Ancient Greek ἐρωτικός (erōtikós, “related to love”), from ἔρως (érōs, “sexual love”).

der

erotic entertainment and services

I had an erotic dream last night.

There's a local cinema that only shows erotic movies.

Relating to or tending to arouse sexual desire or excitement.


erotica

en-noun

erotica (countable and uncountable, plural eroticas)

From neuter plural of Latin eroticus (“amatory”), from Ancient Greek ἐρωτικός (erōtikós). By surface analysis, erotic + -ica.

There's a fine line between erotica and pornography.

In fact, eighteenth-century British erotica has been the subject of unremitting attention for the last two decades.

2011, Patrick Spedding, James Lambert, “Fanny Hill, Lord Fanny, and the Myth of Metonymy”, in Studies in Philology, volume 108, number 1, page 114:

(uncountable) Erotic literature, art, decoration, or other such work.


tyrant

→ Welsh: teirant

From Middle English tyraunt, tiraunt, tyrant, tyrante, from Old French tyrant, from the addition of a terminal -t to tiran (cp. French tyran) via a back-formation related to the development of French present participles out of the Latin -ans form, from Latin tyrannus (“despot”), from Ancient Greek τύραννος (túrannos, “usurper, monarch, despot”), of uncertain origin.

tirà

person who uses violence to treat others unjustly

The Tyrant... The courage of this little Bird is singular.

1731, Mark Catesby, The natural history of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands, I 55:

The lesser tyrants (Tyrannulae) are spread over the whole of America, where they represent the true flycatcher... The tyrants are bold and quarrelsome birds, particularly during the season of incubation.

c. 1841, Swainson, Penny Cyclopaedia, XXI 415 2

Tyrant or Tyrant-bird, Catesby applied it solely to...the King-bird..., but apparently as much in reference to its bright crown...as to its tyrannical behaviour to other birds.

1895, Alfred Newton, A Dictionary of Birds:

The tyrant birds, members of the family Tyrannidae, which often fight or drive off other birds which approach their nests.


telekinesis

en-noun

telekinesis (countable and uncountable, plural telekineses)

Telekinetic energy, which has been variously designated as psychic force (Sir William Crookes), ectenic force (Professor Thury), and telekinesis (Professor Cowes), is demonstrably a power or faculty of the subjective mind.

1899, Thomson Jay Hudson, The Divine Pedigree of Man, page 154:

And this brings me to a consideration of how the phenomena of telekinesis may conceivably be produced — granting that the phenomena are ever genuine at all.

1920, Hereward Carrington, The Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism, page 367:

He leant tensely against the corridor wall and frowned like a man trying to unbend a corkscrew by telekinesis.

1982, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything, page 61:

'Venison' he declared, mentally lifting the animal through the air toward him without a second thought to the act, though telekinesis was a spell that hadn't been in the considerable repertoire of Morkai the Red.

1988, Robert Salvatore, The Crystal Shard, page 39:

She regards telekinesis as impossible and claims for it as generally fraudulent. For two years she worked in a university laboratory testing telekinesis,

2000, Fred M. Frohock, Lives of the Psychics: The Shared Worlds of Science and Mysticism, page 29:

Perhaps the most famous demonstrations of telekinesis came in the 1970s when a young psychic from Russia named Uri Geller came to prominence for his ability to bend spoons and other metal objects without any physical contact.

2002, Rita Berkowtiz with Deborah S. Romaine, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Communicating with Spirits, page 187:

And if voice-activated control isn't enough, we could someday use telekinesis to control lights with our thoughts.

2006, Richard Cadena, Automated Lighting, page 434:

(uncountable) The ability to move objects with the power of one's mind.

telecinesi

ability to move objects with the power of one's thoughts


satyr

From French satyre, from Latin satyrus, from Ancient Greek σάτυρος (sáturos).


dybbuk

From Yiddish דיבוק (dibek), from Hebrew דבק (dovek, “cling”).

(mythology, Judaism) A malicious possessing spirit, believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person.


hyper

hyper (countable and uncountable, plural hypers)

Shortenings, ultimately from the prefix hyper-.

(uncountable, science fiction, informal) Clipping of hyperspace.


phantasm

A learned variant of phantom; from Middle English fantosme, from Old French fantosme, fantasme, from Latin phantasma, from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma). Doublet of phantom.

But night comes in with a more genial spirit: we have done our worst and our bitterest; and we need a small space to indulge any little bit of cordiality that may be left in us. A thousand gay phantasms float in on the sunny south, which has left the far-off vineyards of its birth.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Success”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 75:

He declares that there seems to be no justification for regarding the phantasms of dreams as pure hallucinations; most dream-images are probably in fact illusions, since they arise from faint sense-impressions, which never cease during sleep.

1900, Sigmund Freud, translated by James Strachey, The Interpretation of Dreams: Avon Books, page 74:

Something seen but having no physical reality; a phantom or apparition.


phantom

From Middle English fantome, fanteme, from Old French fantosme, fantasme, from Latin phantasma (“an apparition, specter; (in Late Latin also) appearance, image”), from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma, “phantasm, an appearance, image, apparition, specter”), from φαντάζω (phantázō, “I make visible”). Doublet of phantasm.


thug

From Hindi ठग (ṭhag, “swindler, fraud, cheat”).
Thuggee was a network of gangs in India from the 17th century to the 19th century who robbed and murdered travellers, often by strangling and beating their victims to death. During British Imperial rule of India, many Indian words passed into common English, and by 1810 thug referred to a member of these Indian gangs. The sense was adopted more generally as "ruffian, cutthroat, and cruel robber" by 1839. Related to English thatch, deck.

rampokker

someone who treats others violently or roughly

(African-American Vernacular) One who, usually as a result of social disadvantage, has turned to committing crimes (e.g. selling drugs, robbery, assault, etc.) to make a living; a gangsta.


halfling

Dungeons and Dragons
J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings

From half + -ling. Sense 3 ("half-grown young person") is attested to 1794. It was then used by J.R.R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings (1954) as an alternative reference to members of his hobbit race. Hobbits were used in the original 1974 releases of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, but in later editions they were changed to "halflings" for legal reasons, as being a pre-existing word rather than one invented by Tolkien.

(fantasy) A fictional small humanoid creature featuring in fantasy fiction; a hobbit.

(fantasy) A fictional humanoid born of a human parent and a parent of another race in fantasy fiction.

Often it had been my fate to accompany the pick of the knight errantry of Whinnyliggate on such quests—for, though Nance was about my own age, she had become a reigning belle while I was but a halfling boy.

1897, Lady's Realm: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine, volume 1, page 52:

A half-grown person, between a child and an adult.


leprechaun

→ German: Leprechaun

desc

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

→ Japanese: レプラコーン (repurakōn)

→ Korean: 레프러콘 (repeureokon)

→ Portuguese: leprechaun

→ Russian: лепреко́н (leprekón)

→ Spanish: leprechaun

/ˈlɛpɹəkɔːn/

/ˈlɛpɹəˌkɔn/

/ˈlɛpɹəˌkɑn/

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

af

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

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

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

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

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

（愛爾蘭民間傳說裡的）短妖精 /（爱尔兰民间传说里的）短妖精

[Àiěrlán mínjiān chuánshuō lǐ de] duǎn yāojing


ditz

(informal) A scatterbrained person, especially a woman.


wight

From Middle English wight, wiȝt, from Old English wiht (“thing, creature”), from Proto-West Germanic *wihti, from Proto-Germanic *wihtiz (“thing, creature”, literally “being”), from Proto-Indo-European *wekti- (“cause, sake, thing”), from *wekʷ- (“to say, tell”).
Cognate with Scots wicht (“creature, being, human”), Dutch wicht (“child, baby, girl”), German Low German Wicht (“girl; wight”), German Wicht (“wretch, wight, little creature, scoundrel”), Danish vætte (“underground creature, gnome”), Norwegian Bokmål vette (“underground creature, gnome”), Swedish vätte (“underground creature, gnome”), Icelandic vættur (“imp, elf”). Doublet of whit.


spook

Borrowed from Dutch spook (“ghost”), from Middle Dutch spooc (“spook, ghost”). Cognate with Middle Low German spôk, spûk (“apparition, ghost”), Middle High German gespük (“a haunting”), German Spuk, Danish spøge (“to haunt”), Swedish spöke (“ghost”). Doublet of puck.


insectoid

Two hundred Earth years earlier, a race of Insectoids discovered them as the Squishys were sending their first probes to other planets in their own star system.

2017, A.K. Brown, Humans on the Menu (Champagne Universe Series: Book 2), page 24:

(science fiction, ufology) An insect-like creature.


peacemaker

Bleſſed are the peacemakers: foꝛ they ſhall bee called the childꝛen of God.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 5:9:

Mr. Carter has celebrated experience as a peacemaker: he mediated the 1978 peace talks between Israel and Egypt at Camp David.

1989 September 3, R. W. Apple, Jr., “Carter the Peacemaker Now Turns to Ethiopia”, in New York Times:

We're not just the law, Joe. We're the peacemakers. Like the old Colts.

2018, Derek B. Miller, American By Day, page 208:

A person who restores peace, especially by settling disputes; one who engages in peacemaking.

խաղաղարար

someone who restores peace, especially by settling disputes


disintegrate

en-verb

disintegrate (third-person singular simple present disintegrates, present participle disintegrating, simple past and past participle disintegrated)

disintegrates (present singular third-person)
disintegrating (participle present)
disintegrated (participle past)
disintegrated (past)

Recorded since 1785, from dis- + integrate.

There is a Latvian gentleman named Theodore Nemor living at White Friars Mansions, Hampstead, who claims to have invented a machine of a most extraordinary character which is capable of disintegrating any object placed within its sphere of influence.

1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Disintegration Machine:

(transitive) To undo the integrity of; to break into parts.

(science fiction, transitive) To cause to break up into infinitesimal parts through the use of a disintegrator.

dīlābor (Due to Latin treating the verb "to disintegrate" as purely intransitive, "X disintegrates Y" is expressed with (nominative of Y) + (appropriate form of dīlābor) + (ablative of X), faciō dīlābī (literally "to cause to fall apart")


super-

Learned borrowing from Latin super-. Doublet of sur-, over-, and hyper-.

superheroic


mermaid

From Middle English mermayde (“maid of the sea”), from mere (“sea, lake”) + maid, equivalent to mer- + maid. Cognate with Dutch meermeid (“mermaid”), Middle High German mermaget, mermeit (“mermaid”, > German Meermagd, Meermädchen (“mermaid”)). Compare Old English meremenn, meremennen, meremenin (“mermaid, siren”).

inh

Holonym: merfolk

Search the depth, & ſee that variety of Sea monſters & fiſhes, Mare-maids, Sea men, Horſes, &c. which it affords.

1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 2, section 2, member 3, page 210:

People that are drowned, and whose bodies are not founds are believed to have been taken into the dwellings of the Mermaids.

1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 242:

A mythological creature with a woman's head and upper body, and a tail of a fish.


termagant

en-adj

termagant (comparative more termagant, superlative most termagant)

more termagant (comparative)
most termagant (superlative)

/ˈtɜɹməɡənt/

PIE word
 *tréyes
The noun is derived from Termagant (“fictitious deity with a violent temperament represented as being worshipped by Muslims or other non-Christians”), from Middle English Termagaunt (“fictitious deity represented as being worshipped by Muslims; any pagan god”), from Anglo-Norman Tervagant, Tervagaunt, Tervagan, and Old French Tervagant, Tervagan (possibly with the addition of Anglo-Norman -aunt, Old French -ant (suffix forming past participles of verbs, some of which were used as nouns); modern French Tervagant (historical)); further etymology uncertain, one common suggestion being that it is from Latin ter (“three times, thrice”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”)) + vagāns (“rambling, wandering”) (the present active participle of vagor (“to ramble, roam, wander”), from vagus (“rambling, roaming, wandering”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Hwogos) + -or (inflected form of -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)). Medieval French chansons de geste named Termagant as one of three deities supposedly worshipped by Muslims, the others being Apollin and Mahound, and the name may allude to the wandering of the moon (the crescent moon being a common symbol of Islam) in the form of the mythological goddesses Selene in heaven, Diana on earth, and Proserpina in the underworld.
The reason for the shift in meaning from the fictitious deity to a brawling and turbulent person is unclear.
The adjective is derived from the noun.

der

[F]earing his Father ſhould knovv of it, and his VVife, vvho is a Termagant Lady: but vvhen he finds the Coaſt is clear, and his late ruffling knovvn to none but you, he vvill be drunk vvith joy.

1667 August 25 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Dryden], Sr Martin Mar-all, or The Feign’d Innocence: A Comedy. […], London: […] H[enry] Herringman, […], published 1668, →OCLC, Act I, page 4:

But this Lady is ſo Termagant an Empreſs! and he ſo ſubmiſſive, ſo tame, ſo led a Keeper, and as proud of his Slavery, as a French man: I am confident he dares not find her falſe, for fear of a quarrel vvith her; […]

1677 (date written), John Dryden, The Kind Keeper; or, Mr. Limberham: A Comedy: […], London: […] R[ichard] Bentley, and M[ary] Magnes, […], published 1680, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 6:

He answered Phillis a little abruptly at supper the same evening, upon which she threw his periwig into the fire. 'Well,' said he 'thou art a brave termagant jade: do you know, hussy, that fair wig cost forty guineas?'

1709 August 24 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [pseudonym; Richard Steele et al.], “Saturday, August 13, 1709”, in The Tatler, number 54; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume I, London: I. Walker and Co.; […], 1822, →OCLC, page 325:

The Eldeſt vvas a termagant, imperious, prodigal, levvd, profligate VVench, as ever breath'd; ſhe uſed to Rantipole about the Houſe, pinch the Children, kick the Servants, and torture the Cats and the Dogs; […]

1712, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], “How the Guardians of the Deceas’d Mrs. Bull’s Three Daughters Came to John, and what Advice they Gave Him; wherein is Briefly Treated the Characters of the Three Daughters: Also John Bull’s Answer to the Three Guardians”, in John Bull in His Senses: Being the Second Part of Law is a Bottomless-Pit. […], Edinburgh: […] James Watson, […], →OCLC, page 21:

But the eldeſt daughter vvas alvvays her darling, vvho I underſtand is pretty much of her mother's ovvn caſt; and makes a very termagant vvife to a very turbulent huſband.

1761, [Frances Sheridan], “The Journal. [May 11. 1704.]”, in Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph, […], volume I, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC, page 248:

"That's as muckle as till say, Bark, Bawtie, and be dune wi't!—I tell ye," raising her termagant voice, "I want my bairn! is na that braid Scots?"

1818 July 25, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VI, 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, page 144:

[Lamprocles] is introduced in Xen[ophon] Mem[orabilia] ii. 2, holding a conversation with his father [Socrates] touching his filial duty to his termagant mother [Xanthippe].

1860, W[illiam] S[eymour] Tyler, “Notes. Apologia Socratis.”, in Plato, Plato’s Apology and Crito; […], New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, […], →OCLC, note D, page 149:

These bishops with their termagant wives throw the book at us and say believe because I demand belief and by God I will burn or hang and quarter you if you do not.

1993 May 6, Anthony Burgess, “Part Two”, in A Dead Man in Deptford, London: Hutchinson, →ISBN, page 161:

(specifically, derogatory) Of a woman, her behaviour, etc.: censorious, nagging, and quarrelsome; scolding, shrewish.


pseudoscience

en-noun

pseudoscience (countable and uncountable, plural pseudosciences)

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

From pseudo- + science, 1796, originally typeset pſeudo-ſcience, in reference to alchemy.

It pulls together first-rate pseudo-science and high-grade detective meller of the Spillane school (but entirely clean) and the result is fine read-and-forget entertainment.

1952 November 13, Groff Conklin, Galaxy Science Fiction, page 122, column 1:

Fictitious science as portrayed in science fiction.


Shakespeare

→ Vietnamese: Sếch-xpia

A common Middle English surname meaning spearman, corresponding to shake (“to brandish a weapon”) + spear.

William Shakespeare, an English playwright and poet of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

He is reading Shakespeare.

I'm surprised that even the allusion to Hamlet flew over his head. Even someone who barely knows Shakespeare might catch that one!

en:William Shakespeare_s works or their adaptations

(metonymically) His works or media adaptations of his works.

A village in Perth East township, Ontario, Canada, named after the playwright.

en:village in Perth East township, Ontario, Canada

A ghost town in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, United States.

en:ghost town in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, USA


Shakespeare

en-verb

Shakespeare (third-person singular simple present Shakespeares, present participle Shakespearing, simple past and past participle Shakespeared)

Shakespeares (present singular third-person)
Shakespearing (participle present)
Shakespeared (participle past)
Shakespeared (past)

(intransitive) To act or perform in a play of the works of Shakespeare.


mimic

mimic (third-person singular simple present mimics, present participle mimicking, simple past and past participle mimicked)

mimics (present singular third-person)
mimicking (participle present)
mimicked (participle past)
mimicked (past)

From Latin mīmicus, from Ancient Greek μῑμικός (mīmikós, “belonging to mimes”), from μῖμος (mîmos, “imitator, actor”); see mime.

uder

(biology, transitive) To take on the appearance of another, for protection or camouflage.

мимикрирам

biology: to take on the appearance of another, for protection or camouflage


mimic

A person who practices mimicry; especially:

An entity that mimics another entity, such as a disease that resembles another disease in its signs and symptoms; see the great imitator.

(fantasy, roleplaying games) A fictional monster able to disguise itself as an inanimate object, commonly a treasure chest, often with the intent of luring adventurers into a trap.


mimic

(mineralogy) Imitative; characterized by resemblance to other forms; applied to crystals which by twinning resemble simple forms of a higher grade of symmetry.


smurf

Peyo
The Smurfs
fr:Les Schtroumpfs
nl:De Smurfen

Borrowed from Dutch smurf (via the Belgian comic De Smurfen, a translation of French Les Schtroumpfs), from French schtroumpf, a word that was created by Peyo based on German Strumpf (literally “stocking, sock”), either simply because it sounds funny to the French ear or based on a regional German use for “idiot”. Armand van Raalte was an employee for the Belgian publisher of Peyo's stories who felt that schtroumpf would not have the same effect in Dutch, so he tried to find a simple word that could be used both as a noun and a verb. The result was smurf. In other languages, the term was similarly altered; compare the translations below.

der

He occasionally used the proper noun of the restaurant as an adverb, the way a Smurf would.

2021 December 8, Geraldine DeRuiter, “Bros., Lecce: We Eat at The Worst Michelin Starred Restaurant, Ever”, in The Everywhereist:

(comics, fiction) A blue pixie with white stocking cap, from the media franchise The Smurfs.


intergalactic

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

They say he's a member of the Exchange – you know, the big intergalactic criminal organization.

2003 July 16, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic:

(proscribed, science fiction) Occurring across a single galaxy, interstellar.


open sesame

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
Antoine Galland
One Thousand and One Nights

From its use in Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, translating French Sésame, ouvre-toi in Antoine Galland's version of the Ali Baba story in the One Thousand and One Nights, possibly based on an oral Arabic source.
Not, as some have purported, a corruption of Open, says me!.


harridan

Perhaps a modification of French haridelle (“old horse, nag”).

Why is that tattling old harridan, Peggy O'Dowd, to make free with my name at her d—d supper-table, and advertise my engagement over the three kingdoms?

1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 13, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:

Well there was one old lady, and a drunken old harridan she was surely, that paid all her attention to me.

1916 December 29, James Joyce, chapter I, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC, page 37:

A vicious and scolding woman, especially an older one.


fusion

en-noun

fusion (countable and uncountable, plural fusions)

fission

antonym(s) of “nuclear reaction in which nuclei combine”

First appears c. 1555, in a translation by Richard Eden. From Middle French fusion, from Latin fūsiōnem (the accusative of fūsiō), from fusus, past participle of fundō (“I pour, I melt”) (see also found). Doublet of foison.

The act of merging separate things, or the result thereof.

(fiction) The act of two characters merging into one, typically more powerful, being; or the merged being itself.


mad scientist

The Lagadan projectors [of Jonathan Swift's 1726 satire Gulliver's Travels] were both ridiculous and destructive, but in the middle of the nineteenth century the mad scientist line splits in two, with the ridiculous branch culminating in the Jerry Lewis ‘nutty professor’ comic version, and the other leading in a more tragic direction. Even in ‘alchemist’ tales like the Faustus story, the comic potential was there — Faustus on the stage was a great practical joker — but in darker sagas like Frankenstein this vein is not exploited.

2010, Margaret Atwood, “Of the madness of mad scientists: Jonathan Swift's Grand Academy”, in Bill Bryson, editor, Seeing Further: The Story of Science and the Royal Society, Mariner Books, →ISBN, page 36:

A stock character in popular fiction; a bumbling scientist working on unlikely ways to save the world, or a villainous one bent on destroying it.


stock character

stock character (plural stock characters)

(writing, theater, film) Any fictional character drawn from some stereotype who is instantly recognizable.

ամպլուա

fictional character based on a recognizable stereotype


hamartia

hamartia (usually uncountable, plural hamartias)

/ˌhæˌmɑɹˈtiː.ə/

/ˌhɑːˌmɑɹˈtiː.ə/

From Ancient Greek ἁμαρτία (hamartía, “tragic failure, sinful nature”), from the verb ἁμαρτάνω (hamartánō, “to miss the mark”).

der

Creon's main hamartia was his excessive pride.

Understanding hamartia as “ignorance of the injurious act,” Lacan distinguishes Greek tragedy from the Renaissance version on the basis that the latter supplants hamartia with the hero's privileged knowledge.

2006, David Ratmoko, On Spectrality: Fantasies of Redemption in the Western Canon, Peter Lang, →ISBN, page 71:

The plot and the tragic figure at its center, destroyed through an act of hamartia, should be tailored to the production of pity and fear. Oedipus is not so much a person as he is a hamartia delivery system, a moving, empty center within the motions of the play, who through his vulnerability to hamartia and its disastrous consequences reveals the pitiable and the fearful to the audience.

2008, Daniel Greenspan, The Passion of Infinity: Kierkegaard, Aristotle and the Rebirth of Tragedy, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 81:

But ever since the concept of "hamartia" recurred through Aristotle's Poetics, in an attempt to describe man's ingrained iniquity, our impulse has been to identify a telling defect in those brought suddenly and dramatically low.

2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years […] ”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport):

(Greek drama) The tragic flaw of the protagonist in a literary tragedy.


Darth Vader

"Darth" is a blend of dark + death (the derivation from Dark Lord of the Sith is a later development).
"Vader" is traditionally explained as being from Dutch vader (“father”). However, the idea of Vader's fatherhood was only developed for The Empire Strikes Back (after the character was introduced), making this improbable. It is more likely a shortening of invader or from the surname Vader.

Irabu had hired Nomura, a man with whom he obviously had a great deal in common, and, who, as we have seen, was rapidly becoming the Darth Vader of Japanese baseball.

2004, Robert Whiting, The Meaning of Ichiro: The New Wave from Japan and the Transformation of Our National Pastime, page 130:

Bush's missile shield plan positions him as Darth Vader.

2003, Marleen S. Barr, Envisioning the Future: Science Fiction and the Next Millennium, page xvii:

Commonly assumed to exert massive effects on the electorate, political spots (notably negative ones) have been teasingly called the Darth Vader of modern politics...

2002, James Price Dillard, Michael Pfau, The Persuasion Handbook: the Persuasion Handbook (c): Developments in Theory and Practice, page 611:

In two different speeches the vice president called Malone, alternately “the Darth Vader of the cable industry,” and “[the man who runs] the cable Cosa Nostra.”

1998, Jon Lewis, The New American Cinema, page 108:

A powerful individual or force, particularly one that is seen as malevolent, dominating and threatening.

When the new GEX stock (Darth Vaders!!) are in service, and the inevitable happens and they break down, EWS will no doubt trundle along to rescue it

1999 September 17, gl1, “Gatwick Express New Stock Nose Cones”, in uk.transport.london (Usenet):

What was modified so that 73s could haul (or push) and heat air-con stock on Gatwick Express (pre Darth Vader) - the locos or the coaches?

2005 January 5, Peter Masson, “What future for the MK3's?”, in uk.railway (Usenet):

Is there not also a degree of commonality with the Darth Vader units of Gatwick Express, which are likely to join the Southern fleet when (if) the GatEx franchise is terminated?

2006 February 11, Tony Polson, “First Capital Connect want more 319s from Southern”, in uk.railway (Usenet):

(informal, British, rail transport) A British Rail Class 460 train.


Darth Vader

What's all this? Looks like Darth Vader's bathroom.

1982, “Knight of the Phoenix”, in Knight Rider, episode 1 (television production), spoken by Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff):

Darth Vader, a villain of the science-fantasy film series Star Wars.


conversion

en-noun

conversion (countable and uncountable, plural conversions)

From Middle English conversion, conversioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman conversion, from Latin conversiō, from convertō.

обръщане

the act of having converted something or someone

המרת דת

to replace one religious faith with another

(rugby) A free kick, after scoring a try, worth two points.

(American football) An extra point (or two) scored by kicking a field goal or carrying the ball into the end zone after scoring a touchdown.

(marketing) An online advertising performance metric representing a visitor performing whatever the intended result of an ad is defined to be.

(linguistics) The process whereby a new word is created without changing the form, often by allowing the word to function as a new part of speech.

szófajváltás

linguistics: the process whereby a new word is created without changing the form

(obsolete) The act of turning round; revolution; rotation.

(slang, board games) Changing a miniature figure into another character, usually by mixing different parts, or molding the model's parts, or doing both.


furry

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

What percentage of furries are wolves?

An animal character with human-like characteristics; most commonly refers to such characters created by members of the furry subculture.

獸 /兽

Someone who identifies with or as a furry character.

(informal, slang) Someone who is sexually attracted to anthropomorphic animal characters.


heteronym

Coined around 1900, either from hetero- (“different”) + -onym (“name”) or from Ancient Greek ἑτερώνυμος (heterṓnumos), or perhaps both.

polyphone

a letter [or combination of letters] that can be pronounced in two or more different ways, such as 長 / 长 in Chinese, pronounced [cháng] in the sense of ’long’ and [zhǎng] in the sense of ’to grow’

(literature) A fictitious character created by an author for the purpose of writing in a different style.

heteronyymi

fictitious character writing in a different style


psychic

From Ancient Greek ψυχικός (psukhikós, “relative to the soul, spirit, mind”). Earlier referred to as "psychical"; or from Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ, “soul, mind, psyche”). First appeared (as substantive) 1871 and first records 1895.

uder

A person who possesses, or appears to possess, extra-sensory abilities such as precognition, clairvoyance, and telepathy, or who appears to be susceptible to paranormal or supernatural influences.

екстрасенс

a person who possesses, or appears to possess, extra-sensory abilities

јасновидац m (rare, literally "clairvoyant")

jasnovidac m (rare, literally "clairvoyant")


boing

Onomatopoeic. The “large breasts” sense is reborrowed from Japanese ボイン, in turn from English boing.

A representation of the sound of something bouncing.

(fandom slang, chiefly in the context of anime and comics) Announcing the presence of large, pert breasts, which are bouncy.


boing

→ Japanese: ボイン

→ English: boing

(fandom slang, chiefly in the context of anime and comics) Large breasts.


Easter Bunny

From Easter + bunny, calque of German Osterhase (literally “Easter hare”).

calque

An Easter Bunny Party

1905 April 13, Mary Dawson, “An Easter Bunny Party”, in Good Housekeeping, volume 40, page 461:

One day the old Easter Bunny looked out of his winter covert and Said to his Bunny-wife, who was busy coloring Easter eggs, “It is high time we set out to look for the Easter Lily.”

1915 April 1, The Christian Advocate, volume 90, page 438:

Soon I ran into two Easter Bunnies who gave me candy. Honest! All right, it was really two women wearing pink bunny hoods.

2005, Danie Martin, Always Another Mountain: A Woman Hiking the Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain to Mount Katahdin, Virtualbookworm Publishing, →ISBN, page 35:

Yeah, remember? We’re Spies, we deal in fact, not chasing after Easter Bunnies.
Yeah, right. Wait the Easter Bunny’s missing? A-ha-ha! Just kidding, guys! I know the Easter Bunny is tucked away safe in his little toadstool house up in the fjords of British Columbia.

2006 March 16, Bryan Thompson, “I Want My Mummy”, in Totally Spies!, season 2, episode 2, spoken by Alexandra “Alex” (Jennifer Hale as Samantha “Sam” and Katie Leigh), Marathon Media, via Teletoon:

Easter Bunnies can be booked for businesses (such as Malls), for churches, for community Easter Egg Hunts or even as a preferred birthday party costume character for a birthday that falls close to Easter.

2014, Margy Johnson, Start Your Own Costume Character Business & Make Great Money Working at Home, Xlibris, →ISBN, page 73:

Some residents rotated decorations seasonally by displaying holiday wreaths in the winter and plastic Easter Bunnies and pinwheels in the spring.

2016, Kimberley Kinder, DIY Detroit: Making Do in a City without Services, University of Minnesota Press, →ISBN:

Two costumed Easter Bunnies, handing out plastic, candy-filled eggs and hugging children, hopped in our ranks.

2016, Richard J. Gonzales, “Conclusion”, in Raza Rising: Chicanos in North Texas, University of North Texas Press, →ISBN, page 287:

A symbolic rabbit sometimes depicted delivering Easter eggs to children.

Osterhaas

Symbolic rabbit sometimes depicted delivering Easter eggs to children


Min Min light

Named after the small settlement of Min Min, located between the outback towns of Boulia and Winton, where the light was observed by a stockman in 1918.

Min-min lights are usually seen during the winter, for example, when cold-air inversions abound. This, and his artificial min-min, seemed to confirm the theory.

2003, New Scientist, volume 180, numbers 2415-2428, page 71:

Then, once a man was talking about his outdoor work, he got around to speaking about the mysteries of the min-min light and who saw it where.

2006, Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, Giramondo, published 2012, page 340:

Neuroscientist, Professor Jack Pettigrew, of the University of Queensland claims the Min Min lights are an inverted mirage of light sources hundreds of miles away, caused by a temperature inversion when cold dense air is trapped near the ground to be refracted so that it travels a curved path around the globe.

2006, Marion Houldsworth, From Gulf to God Knows Where, footnote, page 127:

“You′ve heard of Min Min lights?” She grinned. “Sure.”
The strange appearance of those lights in the outback was legendary.[…]
“Min Min lights were part of Aboriginal folklore long before modern day sightings made them famous,” Jack said.

2010, Robyn Grady, Bargaining For Baby, unnumbered page:

Travellers camping out on the plains may witness a glowing light that seems to hover eerily across the vast landscape – the unexplained Min Min Lights that have been shrouded in mystery for over 100 years.

2010, Craig Lewis, Cathy Savage, The Complete 4WD Guide, unnumbered page:

(Australia) An unexplained light reportedly appearing in the sky in remote parts of Australia, especially northwest Queensland, possibly caused by reflections of distant light in the dry air conditions.


Viking

Borrowed from Old Norse víkingr (“Viking”). Already in Old English as wīċing and Old Frisian wītsing, but assumed extinct in Middle English and borrowed anew in the 19th century; any survivals in dialect through the Middle Ages are unknown.
Old Norse víkingr itself is from Old Norse vík (“inlet, cove, fjord”) + -ingr (“one belonging to, one who frequents”) (the -r is the nominative desinence). Thus, “one from or who frequents the sea’s inlets”.
The Old English and Anglo-Frisian form, existing since at least the eighth century, could also have been derived from or influenced by Old English wīc (“camp”), on account of the temporary encampments which were often a prominent feature of the Vikings’ raids.
Others proposals were made, like e.g. deriving víkingr from the root related to the verb víkja or deriving both English and Old Norse words to *wīkingaz related to víkja or wīc.

أُرْدَمَانِيّ

One of the Scandinavian seafaring warriors

(by extension, fantasy) A stock character common in the fantasy genre, namely a barbarian, generally equipped with an axe or sword and a helmet adorned with horns.

(colloquial, humorous, mildly offensive) An ethnic Swede, Norwegian, Dane, Icelander or Faroe Islander.


biorobot

(science fiction) A biological organism that has been created and designed by artificial means.


corpsicle

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

Blend of corpse + popsicle. The cryogenic sense is a coinage by author Frederik Pohl in The Age of the Pussyfoot (1969).

'Your newspapers called you people corpsicles,' said the blond man. 'I never understood what the tapes meant by that.'
'It comes from Popsicle. Frozen sherbet.' Corbell had used the word himself before he became one of them. One of the corpsicles, the frozen dead.

There are dozens of companies that will turn you into a human corpsicle and store your chilled earthly remains indefinitely.

2007, Daniel H. Wilson, Where's My Jetpack?:, page 176:

I won't turn you into a corpsicle and hope somebody knows how to fix you in a hundred years.

(science fiction) A person who has been cryonically frozen in the hope of later revival.


clairgustance

Presumably from 17th-century French clair (“clear”) + gustance

The paranormal ability to taste a substance without putting anything in one's mouth. It is claimed that those who possess this ability are able to perceive the essence of a substance from the spiritual or ethereal realms through taste.


herald

From Latin heraldus, from Middle English herald, herauld, heraud, from Anglo-Norman heraud, from Old French heraut, hiraut (modern French héraut), from Frankish *heriwald, from Proto-Germanic *harjawaldaz, a compound consisting of Proto-Indo-European *ker- (“army”) + *h₂welh₁- (“to be strong”). Doublet of Harold, Harald; compare Walter, which has these elements reversed.

Rouge Dragon is a herald at the College of Arms.

(heraldry) An official whose speciality is heraldry, especially one between the ranks of pursuivant and king-of-arms

သံတော်ဆင့်

an official whose speciality is heraldry


cliffhanger

From cliff + hanger, evoking the image of someone left hanging from a cliff, thereby having an uncertain fate.
The term "cliffhanger" is considered to have originated with the serialised version of Thomas Hardy's "A Pair of Blue Eyes", published in Tinsley's Magazine in the 1870s, in which the character Henry Knight is left hanging off of a cliff. It was inspired by a real life story from his wife Emma's childhood, when she had to rescue one of her school friends from a similar position.

Back in the early 80s, the hit series Dallas kept the nation guessing with its season-ending cliffhanger "Who Shot J.R.?"

2007 July 2, Hilary Hylton, “Filming Texas in a Good Light”, in Time, archived from the original on 2009-03-15:

(narratology) An ending or stopping point calculated to leave a story unresolved, in order to create suspense.

cliffhanger

(narratology) an ending or stopping point

This presidential election is such a cliffhanger. Will it be the rising star Dmitry "Obamovich" Medvedev? Or the veteran Gennady "McCainovich" Zyuganov?

February 28 2008, Timothy Garton Ash, “Russia has run rings round the west”, in Guardian, retrieved 2009-02-02:

(by extension) An outcome which is awaited with keen anticipation, especially one which is delayed for a period of time or which is not known until the last minute.


pally

Clipping of paladin + -y (diminutive suffix).

(slang, fantasy roleplaying games) A paladin.


observer

Most impartial observers agreed that Sampras had not served well.

One who makes observations, monitors or takes notice

observador

one who makes observations, monitors or takes notice

I shall be an observer of the local customs.

One who adheres or follows laws, guidelines, etc.

observador

one who adheres or follows laws, guidelines, etc.

The only crew-member to survive the crash was the Canadian observer.

(military) A crew member on an aircraft who makes observations of enemy positions or aircraft

We waited till dusk when the observers' vision was poorest.

(military) A sentry etc. manning an observation post


Whovian

From (Doctor) Who + -v- + -ian; compare Peruvian and Kachruvian.

But I am sorry; I'm a devout Whovian and I guess I got a little hot seeing the good Doctor ignored like that.

1985, Amazing: science fiction stories, page 23:

Typing birthday and Doctor Who into the search fireld turned up a fan-made video of a Dalek singing "Happy Birthday," which was perfect for my friend Steve, a fellow Whovian.

In his time, he's been a comic-book geek, a role-playing geek, a computer geek, and a sci- fi geek, though never a Trekkie, Trekker, or a Whovian, because he has his limits.

2009, Holly Black, Cecil Castellucci, editors, Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd:

Westin: "Oh, yeah. We found a full fledged member of a fan club that has already seen all episodes of the show[…]he was a closet Whovian, or what ever they are called.”

(fandom slang) A fan of the British science-fiction television programme Doctor Who.


omnipotence

en-noun

omnipotence (countable and uncountable, plural omnipotences)

From Late Middle English omnipotens, from Old French omnipotence, from Latin omnipotentia.

One purpose of the Freedom of Information Act is to make our society less of a police state. Until the CIA's omnipotence is seriously challenged, however, the xeroxed papers in my hand have little meaning. For now, they remind me of nothing less than the simple fact that evil forces still control our society.

1976 December 18, Allen Young, “Speaking Out”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 25, page 9:

Unlimited power; commonly attributed to a deity or deities.


omnipotent

en-adj

omnipotent (comparative more omnipotent, superlative most omnipotent)

more omnipotent (comparative)
most omnipotent (superlative)

Inherited from Middle English omnipotent(e), from Old French omnipotent, from Latin omnipotēns, omnipotentem.


omnipresence

en-noun

omnipresence (countable and uncountable, plural omnipresences)

Notwithstanding these precise statements concerning the omnipresence of the flesh of Christ, there still was no uniform and, in all its features, settled doctrinal statement concerning it […]

1899, Heinrich Friedrich Ferdinand Schmid, The Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, page 333:

So the Lord's omnipresence as well as the omnipresence of the Self of the soul is rather an internal omnipresence, a subjective omnipresence, […]

1911, Walter Winston Kenilworth, The Life of the Soul, page 153:

The ability to be, or the characteristic of being, at all places at the same time (usually only attributed to God).

omnipresencia

the ability to be at all places at the same time


omnipresent

Borrowed from Medieval Latin omnipraesēns, equivalent to omni- + present.

bor+

In 1975, China was emerging from the Cultural Revolution, its government’s effort to purify and revitalize society. Communist officials had set up indoctrination programs, broadcast propaganda over omnipresent loudspeakers, and sought to stamp out any evidence of China’s ancient history.

2010, George W. Bush, Decision Points, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, pages 22–23:

Another most notable change concerns rolling stock liveries. Back then, corporate Rail Blue was omnipresent, whereas now there is a kaleidoscope of colours and styles.

2020 June 17, David Clough, “Then and now: trains through Crewe”, in Rail, page 60:


omniscience

en-noun

omniscience (countable and uncountable, plural omnisciences)

From Medieval Latin omniscientia (“all-knowledge”), from Latin omni- (“all”), and scient from the Latin scientia (“knowledge”).

Many people believe in God's omniscience.

If, a few pages back, the present writer claimed the privilege of peeping into Miss Amelia Sedley's bedroom, and understanding with the omniscience the novelist all the gentle pains and passions which were tossing upon that innocent pillow, why should he not declare himself to be Rebecca's confidante too, master of her secrets, and seal-keeper of that young woman's conscience?

1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 15, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:


omniscient

From Medieval Latin omnisciens (“all-knowing”), from Latin omnis (“all”) + sciens (“knowing”) (further analysable via scient).

der

The story was narrated from an omniscient point of view.

The Abrahamic God is omniscient.

For me, anything is possible. I am omniscient and omnipotent, extremely vain, and, what is more, I come in a handy self-carrying package.

1992, Douglas Adams, chapter 17, in Mostly Harmless (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), page 155:


archdevil

/ɑɹt͡ʃˈdɛvəl/

/ɑɹt͡ʃˈdɛvɪl/

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

From the context and other parts of the work, we are to understand that the demons here described are the personal friends of our sovereign, and that the archdevil was the mother of our sovereign.

1802, The Anti-Jacobin Review and Magazine, Volume 12, Open Court Publishing Company, page 30:

In short, it is purely the work of the devil that they are doing, and especially that of the archdevil, who presides at Muhlhausen, and directs nothing but robbery, murder and bloodshed.

1841, George Waddington, A History of the Reformation on the Continent: In Three Volumes, Duncan and Malcolm, page 155:

A spirit of ultraism seems to pervade the whole community. The language of Milton's archdevil "Evil, be thou my good" is the creed of modern reformers, or, in other words — anything for a change. What is to come of all this, I have not wisdom even to guess. It is an age of transition and whether you and I live to see the elements of the moral and political world at rest, is, I think, extretmely doubtful.

1851, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Personal Memoirs of a Residence of Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes on the American Frontiers: With Brief Notices of Passing Events, Facts, and Opinions, A.D. 1812 to A.D. 1842, Lippincott, Grambo and Company, page 517:

The bishops in question were described as archdevils, priests of Baal, standard-bearers of the Balaamites, and children of perdition.

1896, Marvin Richardson Vincent, The Age of Hildebrand, Christian Literature Company, page 267:

They are archdevils. Partake not of anything from their hands. Now I shall sell myself and do this act if only I have thee at my back.

1940, United States Congress, The Madras Law Journal, page 813:

(theology, rare, religion, fantasy, science fiction) A chief or reigning devil.

(computing, Unix) A program, or part of a program, which is not invoked explicitly but lies dormant waiting for some event.


blink

en-verb

blink (third-person singular simple present blinks, present participle blinking, simple past and past participle blinked)

blinks (present singular third-person)
blinking (participle present)
blinked (participle past)
blinked (past)

From Middle English blynken, blenken, from Old English blincan (suggested by causative verb blenċan (“to deceive”); > English blench), from Proto-Germanic *blinkaną, a variant of *blīkaną (“to gleam, shine”).
Cognate with Dutch blinken (“to glitter, shine”), German blinken (“to flash, blink”), Danish blinke (“to flash, twinkle, wink, blink”), Swedish blinka (“to flash, blink, twinkle, wink, blink”). Related to blank, blick, blike, bleak.

blikat

to flash on and off at regular intervals

(science fiction, video games) To teleport, mostly for short distances.


gray hat

From being grey (“gray”), a mix between black and white, morally grey/gray. From white hat + black hat. From cowboy country and western fiction, where good guys wear white Stetson hats with light attire, and bad guys wear black ones with black attire. From chivalric fiction, with white knights and black knights. From the association of the color white with good and black with evil.

(idiomatic, fiction) A morally ambiguous character; an antihero.


oracle

From Middle English oracle, from Old French oracle m, from Latin ōrāculum n.

A person such as a priest through whom the deity is supposed to respond with prophecy or advice.

оракул

priest through whom deity provides prophecy or advice


bridezilla

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

(usually humorous) A woman who, in the course of planning her wedding, exercises or attempts to exercise a high degree of control over all major and minor details of the ceremony and reception, and makes unrealistic or outrageous demands.


pull a Homer

en-verb

pull a Homer (third-person singular simple present pulls a Homer, present participle pulling a Homer, simple past and past participle pulled a Homer)

pulls a Homer (present singular third-person)
pulling a Homer (participle present)
pulled a Homer (participle past)
pulled a Homer (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-pull a Homer.wav

From pull (“to copy or emulate the actions associated with”). Coined in the Simpsons episode "Homer Defined", after the regular character Homer who stops a nuclear meltdown via eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

(fandom slang, humorous) To succeed despite idiocy.


brillig

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves / Did gyre and gimble in the wabe

A nonce word in Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky, explained by Humpty Dumpty as "four o'clock in the afternoon — the time when you begin broiling things for dinner."


yuppie

Originally an acronym for young upwardly mobile professional or young urban professional, + -ie (suffix forming noun signifying person associated with suffixed noun).

suffix

(informal, sometimes derogatory) A young upwardly mobile urban professional person with an affluent lifestyle.


xenophilia

While it may appear that Sturgeon has thus become an advocate of homoeroticism, incest, xenophilia, and other exotic or decadent sexual practices, he remains committed rather to the ideals of understanding and tolerance.

1983, Frank Northen Magill, Survey of modern fantasy literature, Volume 4, Salem Press, →ISBN, page 1707:

An alien—seemingly just a tourist—lands in the middle of Washington, assumes human, male form, and is adopted by four college kids for fun and sex. The story is told in snatches of dialogue and scraps of poetry (the title is from e.e. cummings), and is all goofy juxtapositions, happy xenophilia, and affection for the enthusiastic and accepting youth.

2007, Julie Phillips, James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon, →ISBN, page 300:

Xenophilia (header) From a young age, even before I knew what sex was, I always had a thing for girls. Alien girls I mean — Alorians in particular. I broke out in a sweat every time I saw them. They were so beautiful.

2012, Mark Guinane, Horizon's Edge, →ISBN, page 303:

(science fiction) love (especially sexual love) between humans and extraterrestrials


cripple

en-noun

cripple (countable and uncountable, plural cripples)

From Middle English cripel, crepel, crüpel, from Old English crypel (“crippled; a cripple”), from Proto-Germanic *krupilaz (“tending to crawl; a cripple”), from Proto-Indo-European *grewb- (“to bend, crouch, crawl”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to bend, twist”), equivalent to creep + -le. Cognate with Dutch kreupel, Low German Kröpel, German Krüppel, Old Norse kryppill.

der

He returned from war a cripple.

I am […]a cripple in my limbs; but what decays are in my mind, the reader must determine.

1700, [John] Dryden, “Preface”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

(sometimes offensive) A person who has severely impaired physical abilities because of deformation, injury, or amputation of parts of the body.

مُقْعَد

person who has severe impairment in physical abilities


Pixar

Conceived as a faux-Spanish word meaning “to make pictures”. See pix (“pictures”) and Spanish -ar (verb-forming suffix).

Pixar Animation Studios, a computer-generated imagery (CGI) company known for its animated films.


deadhead

From dead + head. Some senses are derived from theater jargon (originally spelled dead head) for audience members admitted without paying, which probably arose in analogy to dead weight or deadwood in reference to their lack of contribution to revenue or in reference to their unenthusiastic (dead) response to performances. Perhaps even from Latin caput mortuum, alchemy term for distillation residue. As Paul Quinion writes: Similarly, the term was applied to a dull or lazy person, one who contributes nothing to an enterprise, only in the early years of the twentieth century, well after the theatrical and transport senses had become well established.

(slang) Alternative form of Deadhead (“fan of the rock band The Grateful Dead”)


Darth

From the Star Wars universe, where it is used as a title for Sith Lords. (There are Darth Vader, Darth Tyranus, Darth Maul etc.) Blend of dark + death (the derivation from Dark Lord of the Sith is a later development).

Consider the threat of an evil hacker, Darth, who can not only eavesdrop on your network connection but also alter the messages that are sent.

2000, David G. Messerschmitt, Understanding Networked Applications: A First Course (textbook), Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, page 400

[…] glaring malevolently across his desk at me in the manner that had earned him the nickname “Darth” among his elite cadre of audio penetration officers.

2000, Antonio J. Mendez, Malcolm McConnell, The Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA, HarperCollins, published 2000, →ISBN, page 186:

The evil Darth Leonard steals the formula and a young couple must get it back (real life Ward Leonard is a legendary recluse who has hiked the Appalachian Trail something like 20-30 times).

2005, John Illig, Pacific Dream: A Pacific Crest Trail Through-Hike, Elderberry Press, →ISBN, page 74:

I’m sure Darth Hoodie has some other illegal way of messing with inexperienced quarterbacks on the road.

2015 November 27, Jimmy Kempski quoted in "Patriots-Broncos prediction roundup" in Boston Globe

(humorous) Used as a title or name for an evil person.


multiverse

First appears c. 1895. Blend of multiple + universe, coined by American philosopher William James. By surface analysis, multi- + -verse.

coined

In the DC multiverse, our reality is called "Earth-33". But in the Marvel multiverse, it's "Earth-1218".

(fiction) The different canons, continuities or timelines of a fictional property, considered as a whole.


have a cow

en-verb

have a cow (third-person singular simple present has a cow, present participle having a cow, simple past and past participle had a cow)

has a cow (present singular third-person)
having a cow (participle present)
had a cow (participle past)
had a cow (past)

Unknown. Popularized by the TV show The Simpsons where it was one of the catchphrases of Bart Simpson.

My mom had a cow when I came in late.

Dad says I'm too young to go steady and seems to think I'm going to drag a girl up the aisle instead of to a school dance. He won't let me watch rock 'n' roll shows, and he'd "have a cow" if he knew I watched 77 Sunset Strip.

1959 April 1, The Des Moines Register, page 9:

"Of all the fates on heaven and earth, why did this one befall me?" "Don't have a cow, dad."

1990, “The Call of the Simpsons” (0:12:10 from the start), in The Simpsons, season 1, episode 7, spoken by Homer Simpson and Bart Simpson (Dan Castellaneta and Nancy Cartwright):

“Pregnant. Holy shit.” “Alyson!” “Oh, Mummy, don't have a cow.”

2007, Julia Spencer-Fleming, In the Bleak Midwinter: A Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mystery, St. Martin's Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 69:

“Dammit, Kayla, you're pregnant. Don't pick up a suitcase,” her husband demanded. “It's just a little one.” “Put it down now.” “Don't have a cow, Patrick. I'm pregnant, not incapacitated.”

2014, Susan Mallery, THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER, Harlequin, →ISBN, page 115:


Kermit

Variant of English and Manx Kermode, cognate with Irish Mac Diarmata (“son of Dermot”). Popularized in the US by the naming of Kermit Roosevelt (after a Manx ancestor). The computing sense is named after the Sesame Street character, but later provided with a backronym ("KL10 Error-Free Reciprocal Microprocessor Interchange over TTY").

A city, the county seat of Winkler County, Texas, named after Kermit Roosevelt.


chthonian

en-adj

chthonian (not generally comparable, comparative more chthonian, superlative most chthonian)

more chthonian (comparative)
most chthonian (superlative)

From Ancient Greek χθόνιος (khthónios, “in or under the ground”), from χθών (khthṓn, “ground”).

uder

Consus, moreover, is regarded as a god of the lower world, or Chthonian divinity—another circumstance which connects him with Poseidôn, whose character becomes more and more Chthonian the farther his cultus is traced into the East, where also his phase as lord of knowledge and wisdom appears more manifestly.

1872, Robert Brown, Poseidôn: A Link between Semite, Hamite, and Aryan, page 70:

...I intend to apply the name chthonian to all gods and spirits of the earth, whether their functions are concerned with agriculture or with the grave and the world beyond, or (as often) with both.

1950, W. K. C. Guthrie, The Greeks and Their Gods, Beacon Press, published 1955, page 219:

The Olympian religion is truly Olympian when it rests on Chthonian grounds, and the Chthonian religion is truly Chthonian when it stands in the Olympian light.

1969, Vincent Vycinas, Earth and Gods: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Martin Heidegger, page 196:

Even an “Olympian” deity such as Athena Polias at Athens may have chthonian features, such as her association with the snake, a creature symbolic of the earth.

2007, Jennifer Lynn Larson, Ancient Greek Cults: A Guide, page 12:

For example, the Oresteia, 'that treasure house of chthonian concepts' (Scullion 1994: 111), categorizes gods in ways that do not match the rigid terms of the foundational scholarship on Olympian versus chthonian deities.

2015, Susan Deacy, “Gods—Olympian or Chthonic”, in Esther Eidinow, Julia Kindt, editors, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion, page 359:

Pertaining to the underworld; being beneath the earth.

chthonien

pertaining to the underworld; being beneath the earth


timeline

graphical representation of a chronological sequence of events

SISKO: I don't quite know how to say this... but now that we know about the accident that sent the ship back in time, we should be able to avoid it.
WORF: Well if we do that, your timeline will collapse and everything here will cease to exist.

1997 May 5, Children of Time (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), season 5, number 22 (Science Fiction), Paramount Domestic Television, →OCLC:

(science fiction) An individual universe or reality, especially a parallel/alternate one in which events differ from actual history, or differ from the established canon of a fictional world.


probe

For verb: borrowed from Latin probare (“to test, examine, prove”), from probus (“good”). Doublet of prove.
For noun: borrowed from Late Latin proba (“a proof”), from probare (“to test, examine, prove”); Doublet of proof. Compare Spanish tienta (“a surgeon's probe”), from tentar (“try, test”); see tempt.

сонда

any of various medical instruments used to explore wounds, organs, etc

You know, XR178.9, we haven't done any anal probes in a while.

2004 August 2, Bayard Russell, nonemorecomic:

You listen here! We don't do anal probes like other aliens, but I'm about to make an exception!

2009 September 14, Ryan Hudson, “Can I Abduct You?”, in ChannelATE:

(surgery) Any of various medical instruments used to explore wounds, organs, etc.

(comedy, fiction) An anal probe, a fictional instrument commonly used by aliens on abducted humans.


widow

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English widwe, from Old English widuwe, from Proto-West Germanic *widuwā, from Proto-Germanic *widuwǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁widʰéwh₂, possibly from *h₁weydʰh₁-, *widʰ- (“to separate, split, cleave, divide”), whence also wood from Old English widu, wudu.
Cognates include German Witwe, Dutch weduwe, Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌳𐌿𐍅𐍉 (widuwō), Old Irish fedb, Latin vidua, Old Church Slavonic въдова (vŭdova), Sanskrit विधवा (vidhavā) and Persian بیوه (bive, bêva), Middle Persian wēwag, Avestan viðavā- "widow" .

Any venomous spider of the genus Latrodectus (called "widows" because of the practice of sexual cannibalism observed among many of these species).


cruiser

(military, nautical) A class of fast warships of medium tonnage, having a long cruising range but less armour and firepower than a battleship.

(science fiction, by extension) A starship of comparable role


hulk

From Middle English hulk, hulke, holke (“hut; shed for hogs; type of ship; husk, pod, shell; large, clumsy person; a giant”) (probably reinforced by
From Middle Dutch hulk, huelc, and Middle Low German hulk, holk, hollek (“freighter, cargo ship, barge”)), from Old English hulc (“light ship; heavy, clumsy ship; cabin, hovel, hut”), from Proto-West Germanic *huluk, *hulik, from Proto-Germanic *hulukaz, *hulikaz (“something hollowed or dug out, cavity”), equivalent to hole/hollow + -ock. Cognate with Old High German holcho (“cargo or transport ship, barge”) (whence Middle High German holche, modern German Holk), Old Norse hólkr (“metal tube, ring”), dialectal Norwegian holk, hylke (“wooden barrel”), Middle English holken (“to dig out, gouge”).
Relation to Medieval Latin hulcus (“ship”) is uncertain, as Old English may have borrowed from Latin or vice versa, but the form holcas rather points to borrowing from Ancient Greek ὁλκάς (holkás, “ship being towed; cargo ship, ship used for trading, holcad”) (compare
Ancient Greek ἕλκω (hélkō, “to drag”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *selk- (“to draw, pull”)). See more at the Old English entry hulc.
The verb is derived from the noun.

cog

(figuratively) A big (and possibly clumsy) person.

(bodybuilding) An excessively muscled person.

A big (and possibly clumsy) person.
An excessively muscled person.


nook

From Middle English noke, nok (“nook, corner, angle”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old English hnoc, hnocc (“hook, angle”), from Proto-Germanic *hnukkaz, *hnukkô (“a bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *knewg- (“to turn, press”), from Proto-Indo-European *ken- (“to pinch, press, bend”).
If so, then also related to Scots nok (“small hook”), Norwegian dialectal nok, nokke (“hook, angle, bent object”), Danish nok (“hook”), Swedish nock (“ridge”), Faroese nokki (“crook”), Icelandic hnokki (“hook”), Dutch nok (“ridge”) or Dutch hoek (“corner”), Low German Nocke (“tip”), Old Norse hnúka (“to bend, crouch”), Old English ġehnycned (“drawn, pinched, wrinkled”). Also cognate with Scots neuk, nuk (“corner, angle of a square, angular object”).

cog

You must note, that two Fardells of Land make a Nooke of Land, and two Nookes make halfe a Yard of Land.

a. 1634, W. Noye, The Complete Lawyer, section 57:

Nook, an old legal term for 12+¹⁄₂ acres of land; still in use at Alston.

1903, English Dialectical Dictionary, volume IV, page 295:

They poured their wine by the aume or the fust, and cut their cloth by the goad—not to be confused with the gawd, which was a measure of steel. Their nook was not cosy; it covered 20 acres.

(historical) An English unit of land area, originally ¹⁄₄ of a yardland but later 12+¹⁄₂ or 20 acres.

virgate

unit of area; An English unit of land area, originally ¹⁄₄ of a yardland but later 12+¹⁄₂ or 20 acres.

acre

various fractions & for further subdivisions


walker

→ Irish: válcaeir

→ Persian: واکر (vâker)

From Middle English walkere (“one who walks, traveller”), equivalent to walk + -er.

inh

I would ask for the pleasure of your company, Mr. Knightley, but I am a very slow walker, and my pace would be tedious to you; and, besides, you have another long walk before you, to Donwell Abbey.

1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter VIII, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 118:

We hired a walker for the dogs during the day.

2005, Carlo De Vito, 10 Secrets My Dog Taught Me: Life Lessons from a Man's Best Friend, page 88:

The agent noun of to walk: a person who walks or a thing which walks, especially a pedestrian or a participant in a walking race.

(often in the plural) A shoe designed for comfortable walking.

Dead people, walkers, as you call them, are somehow, and for some reason, attacking.

1980, Gary Brandner, chapter 17, in Walkers (fiction; paperback), Fawcett Publications, →ISBN:

Two of the walkers circled the pillars. Their searchlights played through the trees, then turned back to Leia and the others.

2011, Dave Wolverton, The Courtship of Princess Leia: Star Wars Legends, page 144:

It also takes a good amount of inspiration from Metal Gear Solid 4s biomechanical designs, namely the Gekko walkers' and their synthetic musculature.

2019, Joe Meno, BrickJournal #60, page 37:

(science fiction) A kind of military robot or mecha with legs for locomotion.

(cricket) A batsman or batswoman who directly walks off the field when out without waiting for the umpire's decision.

A single mother of three, Rachel is what Facebook users call as ^([sic]) “walker,” or an online sex worker. Using a dummy account, she posts her sexy photos and informs page visitors that she’s available for sex in exchange for money.

2019 June 22, Charisse Ursal, “Social media lures young people to engage in sex for money”, in Philippine Daily Inquirer:

(Philippines) A prostitute, streetwalker.


sapient

en-adj

sapient (comparative more sapient, superlative most sapient)

more sapient (comparative)
most sapient (superlative)

From Middle English sapient, from Old French sapient, or its source, Latin sapiēns. Doublet of savant.

When EXPLORATION blazed through space / The first sky-trail to far-flung stars, / And found men, sapient, on Mars, / He gained renown's most honored place.

1935 February, Bob Olsen, “Who Deserves Credit?”, in Amazing Stories, volume 9, number 10, page 81:

It was inhabited by a sapient humanoid race, and some of them were civilized enough to put it in Class V, and Colonial Office doctrine on Class V planets was rigid.

1962 January, Henry Beam Piper, “Naudsonce”, in Analog Science Fact and Science Fiction, volume 68, number 5, page 9:

Nessus had not spoken mockingly; but Speaker reacted with rage. “What sapient being would not fear such power?”

a high degree of self-awareness
self-awareness

(chiefly science fiction) Of a species or life-form, possessing intelligence or a high degree of self-awareness.


sapient

It seemed to him a possibility that the Cold War Corps of March might have contacted hitherto unknown sapients on some just discovered interstellar planet.

1960, Philip José Farmer, A Woman a Day, page 30:

(chiefly science fiction) An intelligent, self-aware being.


butler

From Middle English butler, butlere, boteler, botelere, from Old French buttiler, butiller, boteillier (“officer in charge of wine”), from Medieval Latin botellārius, equivalent to bottle + -er. Piecewise doublet of bottler.

A manservant having charge of wines and liquors.

كَبِير خَدَم

“One marble hall, with staircase complete, one butler and three flunkeys to receive a retired sojer who dares to ring the bell. D'you know, old boy, I gave my bowler to the butler, whangee to one flunkey, gloves to another, and there was the fourth poor blighter looking like an orphan at a Mothers' Meeting. …"

1929, Baldwyn Dyke Acland, chapter 2, in Filibuster:

The chief male servant of a household who has charge of other employees, receives guests, directs the serving of meals, and performs various personal services.

butler

chiefly of butlers called such in other countries


butler

en-verb

butler (third-person singular simple present butlers, present participle butlering, simple past and past participle butlered)

butlers (present singular third-person)
butlering (participle present)
butlered (participle past)
butlered (past)

To buttle, to dispense wines or liquors; to take the place of a butler.


Kong

A fictional gigantic gorilla from the story King Kong.


-mancy

From Latin -mantīa, ultimately from Ancient Greek μᾰντείᾱ (mănteíā, “divination”).

der

-mance: to carry out a specified form of magic

-mancer: a person who employs a specified form of magic

(fantasy) Variety of magic, especially that controlling or related to a specific element, substance, or theme.


Necronomicon

/ˌnɛkɹəˈnɒmɪkən/

/ˌnɛkɹəˈnɒmɪkɒn/

/ˌnɛkɹəˈnɑmɪkən/

/ˌnɛkɹəˈnɑmɪkɑn/

Pseudo-loan from Ancient Greek as if formed from a compound of νεκρός (nekrós, “dead”) + νόμος (nómos, “law”) + εἰκών (eikṓn, “image”), literally “an image of the law of the dead”. Coined by American writer H. P. Lovecraft.

coinage

So matters went till that night when Williams brought home the infamous Necronomicon of the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred ... he had always wondered why men paled when they spoke of it. The old bookseller had told him that only five copies were known to have survived the shocked edicts of the priests and lawgivers against it and that all of these were locked up with frightened care by custodians who had ventured to begin a reading of the hateful black-letter.

c. 1926, H.P. Lovecraft, The Descendant:

The container was a set of ceramic rune-stones and their accompanying manual. The book was The Necronomicon.

2002, Calpernia Sarah Addams, Mark 947: A Life Shaped by God, Gender and Force of Will, page 81:

2004, Stephen Prince, The Horror Film, page 172,
Death Scenes is introduced and narrated by the famous occultist and leader of the Church of Satan, Dr. Anton Szandor LaVey, who describes the film in his wandering introduction as "a road map featuring the many avenues by which we encounter death . . . a brutally graphic collection of horrid indiscretions, a true necronomicon." "What mysterious force draws us to such a dark, challenging subject?" inquires LaVey in his sardonic monotone.

A fictional grimoire of arcane and forbidden knowledge whose contents can drive a person mad.

Selected Letters of H. P. Lovecraft V (1934–1937)


visitor

Partly from Middle English visiter, visitere, equivalent to visit + -er; and partly from Middle English visitour, from Anglo-Norman visitour, from Old French visetëor. By surface analysis, visit + -or.

5: Of course there is always the remote (I hope) possibility that instant panic will prompt us to send a hailstorm of nuclear warheads out upon the visitor.

1979, Chris Boyce, Extraterrestrial Encounter: a Personal Perspective, Chartwell Books, page 184:

When we ask what evidence does in fact exist of extraterrestrial sojourns on our planet, we can start with what would surely be the best evidence of all: an actual visitor, or group of visitors, visible to crowds of people and ready for photo opportunities, television interviews, handshakes, polite conversation, and dancing.

2001, Donald Goldsmith, Tobias C. Owen, The Search for Life in the Universe, University Science Books, page 511:

The visitor in Man Facing South-east claims pure altruism; Rantes (Hugo Soto) wants to alleviate the suffering of the poor and helpless.

2004, Carol Schwartz Ellis, Sean Redmond (editor), With Eyes Uplifted: Space Aliens as Sky Gods in Liquid Metal: The Science Fiction Film Reader, Wallflower Press, page 145

The tower radioed the flight leader, Captain Thomas F. Mantell, Jr., and requested that he engage and attempt to identify the strange visitor.

2007, Frank G. Wilkinson, The Golden Age of Flying Saucers: Classic UFO Sightings, Saucer Crashes and Extraterrestrial Contact Encounters, Lulu.com, page 37:

(ufology, specifically) An extraterrestrial being on Earth.


potion

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

From Middle English pocioun, borrowed from Old French pocion, from Latin pōtiō (“a drinking”), pōtiōnis, from pōtāre (“to drink”). Doublet of poison.

He hoped to win the princess's heart by mixing the love potion the witch gave him into her drink.

A small portion or dose of a liquid which is medicinal, poisonous, or magical.


pettifogger

/ˈpɛtɪˌfɒɡə/

/ˈpɛtɪˌfɑːɡɚ/

/ˈpɛtɪˌfɔːɡɚ/

Hence the cunning measure of appointing as ambassador some political pettifogger skilled in delays, sophisms, and misapprehensions, and dexterous in the art of baffling argument.

1809, Washington Irving, chapter 39, in Knickerbocker's History of New York:

Someone who quibbles over trivia, and raises petty, annoying objections and sophistry.


jock

Unknown. Suggested to be a hypocoristic for John (compare Jack).

(British, Ireland, slang, derogatory) A Scotsman.


jock

The computer slang meanings are derived from jockey. The athletic slang meanings in turn date from the middle 20th century and are simple abbreviations of jockstrap, which is in turn derived from the older slang meaning of jock itself, which dates from the 17th century, and whose etymology is unknown.

compiler jock

systems jock

(US, dated computing slang, in combination) A specialist computer programmer.


jock

Thear's boan-idle nowbles, baht hahses an' lands, 'at al walk on a carpeted path, an' nivver do nowt wi' ther lily-white hands bud lift uther fowk's jock to ther maath.

1881, Ben Preston, Dialect and Other Poems, page 19:

Hah's a growing lad to thrive baht jock?

1884, William Cudworth (of Bradford), Yorkshire Dialect and Character Sketches, page 15:


hyperspace

en-noun

hyperspace (countable and uncountable, plural hyperspaces)

(mathematics) An n-dimensional Euclidian space with n > 3.

(mathematics) A Euclidian space of unspecified dimension.

We can only get to the Nimrodian Galaxy if we go through hyperspace.

I'm in command of 18 competitively selected super-perfect physical specimens with an average age of 24.6 who have been locked up in hyperspace for 378 days.

1956, Cyril Hume, Forbidden Planet, spoken by Commander Adams (Leslie Nielsen):

(science fiction) A notional space orthogonal to the usual dimensions of space-time often used for faster-than-light travel.


hyperspace

en-verb

hyperspace (third-person singular simple present hyperspaces, present participle hyperspacing, simple past and past participle hyperspaced)

hyperspaces (present singular third-person)
hyperspacing (participle present)
hyperspaced (participle past)
hyperspaced (past)

If she hyperspaced out to Tionisla or Lave the Courier would simply follow through her witchspace wormhole.

2010, Drew Wagar, Status Quo (Oolite Saga), Drew Wagar, →ISBN:

(science fiction, transitive, intransitive) To travel or transport into hyperspace.


shojo

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

From the Japanese 少女 (shōjo, “young woman”).

(anime, manga) A style of anime and manga intended for young women.


shojo

en-adj

shojo (comparative more shojo, superlative most shojo)

more shojo (comparative)
most shojo (superlative)

(anime, manga) Being in the style of shōjo manga or anime.


Anytown

Any non-specific, non-notable town in the USA.


sociopath

From socio- + -path. First use appears c. 1914.

And Keith Rabois, an early executive at PayPal and LinkedIn, who in 2016 called Trump a “sociopath”, pledged $1mn to his campaign.

2024 July 20, Tabby Kinder, George Hammond, Hannah Murphy, Alex Rogers, quoting Keith Rabois, “Has Silicon Valley gone Maga?”, in FT Weekend, Big Read, page 6:

antisocial personality disorder
antisocial personality disorder

A person with an antisocial personality disorder.

сацыяпа́т

person with antisocial personality disorder

反社会性パーソナリティ障害

はんしゃかいせいパーソナリティしょうがい


warp

en-verb

warp (third-person singular simple present warps, present participle warping, simple past and past participle warped)

warps (present singular third-person)
warping (participle present)
warped (participle past)
warped (past)

→ Japanese: ワープ (wāpu)

From Middle English werpen, weorpen, worpen, from Old English weorpan (“to throw”), from Proto-West Germanic *werpan, from Proto-Germanic *werpaną (“to throw, turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to bend, turn”).
Cognate with Scots warp (“to throw, warp”), North Frisian werpen (“to throw”), Dutch werpen (“to throw, cast”), German werfen (“to throw, cast”), Icelandic verpa (“to throw”).

der

Then we warp a ball of atmosphere right out of the sky into the domes, and some fruit trees to go with them, and we also abduct some livestock.

2004, Travis S. Taylor, Warp Speed, →ISBN:

Valerie asked why they couldn't warp to the planet.

2012, Jonathan Henry, The Revelation of Earth: First Contact, page 188:

(transitive, intransitive, science fiction) To travel or transport across a medium without passing through it normally, as by using a teleporter or time warp.


Loki

Borrowed from Old Norse Loki, where further etymology is shown.

(Norse mythology) The god of mischief and trickery; growing progressively evil, he kills Balder, and is bound until Ragnarok, the end of the world.


Terran

(chiefly science fiction) Of Earth; of terrestrial origin.


Terran

The magazines, in the nearby rack, were in English. And on their covers, laughing Terrans.

1966, Philip K. Dick, Now Wait for Last Year:

(chiefly science fiction) An inhabitant of Earth; an earthling, especially a human.


loner

I actually enjoy being a loner.

For one thing, he wanted to see if anyone was following Ricketts. The Cockney had been thrown out of SAS because he was a loner and a canteen cowboy.

1985, J. C. Winters, Berlin Fugle, page 307:

I remember reading an article that described three personality types – socializers, loners, and aloners.

2013, Margaux Joy DeNador, The Art of Living a Life You Love, page 158:

An unaspected planet bides its time and then emerges, often explosively and seemingly out of character. These potent loners are a hidden influence within the chart.

One who is alone, lacking or avoiding the company of others.


beatnik

Coined by American columnist Herb Caen in 1958. From beat (generation) + cutesy or ironic use of the Russian suffix -ник (-nik). This suffix experienced a surge in English coinages for nicknames and diminutives after the 1957 Soviet launch of the Sputnik satellite. Compare jazznik.

coin

In tight black jeans and black polo-neck sweater he reminded her of an old-fashioned beatnik.

2014, Ian McEwan, The Children Act, Penguin Random House (2018), page 185:

A person associated with the Beat Generation of the 1950s and 1960s or its style.


HP

Sense "home page" is a borrowing from Japanese HP (HP, “home page”), from English home page.

Overall, this is the first HP game to even get near to living up to the quality of JK Rowling's books and the accompanying films.

2009 July 16, Steve Boxer, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, in Guardian, Technology news & features, page 2:


wyrm

Learned borrowing from Old English wyrm. Doublet of worm, which was inherited.

(mythology, fantasy) A huge limbless and wingless dragon or dragonlike creature.


conscience

en-noun

conscience (countable and uncountable, plural consciences)

From Middle English conscience, from Old French conscience, from Latin conscientia (“knowledge within oneself”), from consciens, present participle of conscire (“to know, to be conscious (of wrong)”), from com- (“together”) + scire (“to know”).

der

Your conscience is your highest authority.

1949, Albert Einstein, as quoted by Virgil Henshaw in Albert Einstein: Philosopher Scientist,
Never do anything against conscience, even if the state demands it.

As for Grierson, he poured liquor into himself as if it were so much soothing syrup, demonstrating that a good digestion is the highest form of good conscience.

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 159:

[“]Twer is not a friend of mine testifying against me reluctantly and for conscience’ sake, as the prosecution would have you believe. He is a spy, performing his paid job.[”]

1951, Isaac Asimov, Foundation, Panther Books Ltd, published 1974, part V: The Merchant Princes, chapter 14, page 175:

‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police […]? Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 18, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

The ethical or moral sense of right and wrong, chiefly as it affects a person’s own behaviour and forms their attitude to their past actions.

(chiefly fiction, narratology) A personification of the moral sense of right and wrong, usually in the form of a person, a being or merely a voice that gives moral lessons and advices.


underworld

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

(religion or mythology) The world of the dead, located underneath the world of the living; the afterlife.

тот свет m (tot svet, literally “that world”)


Larry

No one gets named Larry anymore. It's had it as a name. Think of someone called Larry and you automatically conjure up a guy drinking beer in a sixties rec room.

1998, Carol Shields, Larry's Party, Penguin, →ISBN, page 254:

"Larry, name's Larry." I smiled, it was too ridiculous. He was worried about me calling him Lawrence instead of Larry with a rogue zombie climbing out of the dirt.

2002, Laurell K. Hamilton, Circus of the Damned, JOVE, →ISBN, page 149:

A diminutive of the male given name Laurence or Lawrence, popular as a male given name in the U.S. in the 1940s and the 1950s.


soothsayer

/ˈsuːθˌseɪə/

From Middle English sothsaier, zothziggere, by surface analysis, sooth (“truth”) + sayer.


superhero

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

From super- + hero. First attested in 1917.

Hobbes: Super heroes wear snow pants?
Stupendous Man: When there's snow out, they do!

1990 February 13, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic):

Any fictional crime-fighting character, often with supernatural powers or equipment, in popular children's and fantasy literature; a fictional hero who does great things.

супергеро́й

a fictional crime-fighting character with superpowers

The power is out but you're watching TV? You must be a superhero.

Thanks for driving out here and towing me out of the ditch. You're a superhero!

Did you know your community has many invisible superheroes? Each day they perform hundreds of amazing feats that make the community a better place in which to live.

1991, Boys' Life, volume 81, number 1, page 42:

(by extension) A particularly renowned real-world hero, or one who has seemingly impossible abilities.


alien abduction

en-noun

alien abduction (plural alien abductions)

(ufology) The abduction of a person by extraterrestrials.


toady

en-adj

toady (comparative more toady, superlative most toady)

more toady (comparative)
most toady (superlative)

The bath is of greatest advantage in these chronic cases, with an earthy complexion and toady skin, if I am allowed thus to express its appearance.

1874, Transactions, number 19, page 141:


baka

baka (comparative more baka, superlative most baka)

more baka (comparative)
most baka (superlative)

Borrowed from Japanese 馬鹿(ばか) (baka, “stupid”).

(anime manga, fandom slang, endearing) Stupid, silly.


baka

(anime manga, fandom slang, endearing) A foolish person, a dummy, a silly goose.


rocket scientist

en-noun

rocket scientist (plural rocket scientists)

Rocket scientists have calculated that a velocity of seven miles per second, or approximately 25,000 miles per hour, would be necessary for a rocket to escape the earth's gravity.

1940 August, “Seeking Power for Space Rockets”, in H[enry] H[aven] Windsor, editor, Popular Mechanics Magazine, volume 74, number 2, Chicago, Ill.: Popular Mechanics Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 119A, column 1:

These rocket scientists constitute a valuable nucleus for carrying the peacetime development programs of the Army and Navy.

1946, Joint Board on Scientific Information Policy for Office of Scientific Research and Development, War Department, Navy Department, “Specialized Uses of Rockets”, in U.S. Rocket Ordnance: Development and Use in World War II, [Washington, D.C.]: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 56:

"There was hardly a German sufficiently competent to talk about the V-2 and other big stuff," Grigory Tokady, a Russian rocket scientist sent to investigate immediately after the German defeat, later revealed.

2006, Gerard J. Degroot, “What are We Waiting for?”, in Dark Side of the Moon: The Magnificent Madness of the American Lunar Quest, New York, N.Y., London: New York University Press, →ISBN, page 29:

When a rocket scientist does a sanity test, he's pinching himself back into reality and asking if what he has done adds up. […] By writing equations and sorting the symbols by the rules of algebra, the rocket scientist can predict how high and how fast the rocket will go and when it will get to its destination, which could be as far away as Pluto—4 billion miles from the sun.

2007, James Longuski, “Do a Sanity Test”, in The Seven Secrets of How to Think Like a Rocket Scientist, New York, N.Y.: Copernicus Books, Springer Science+Business Media, →ISBN, part IV (Check), page 73:

By the 1940s, his work in this area was so advanced that German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun remarked that "[Robert Hutchings] Goddard's experiments in liquid fuel saved us years of work, and enabled us to perfect the V-2 years before it would have been possible."

2013, Steven [James] Lambakis, “In Space is Our Trust: How and Why Does Space Impact the United States?”, in On the Edge of Earth: The Future of American Space Power, Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky, →ISBN, part 1 (The Vital Force), page 9:

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that that idea won’t work.

"OK," you say, "I understand that definition and although I'm not a rocket scientist, it appears to make sense. What else is there? I just want a couple of F-16s to go along with my AEGIS Destroyers and Abrams Tanks. Push the button and send the planes."

1989 fall, Gary G. Geilenfeldt, “Initial Support or Initial Shock”, in The DISAM Journal of International Security Assistance Management, volume 12, number 1, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Oh.: Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management, →OCLC, page 100:

While visiting another province, I remarked that I thought a particular cabinet minister was not exactly a rocket scientist. The reply from a fellow cabinet minister in that province was, 'Yes, I agree. A is not a rocket scientist. But I'm sorry to say that about 25 per cent of the people in this province are decidedly not rocket scientists, and they deserve representation, too.' And that story is only half in jest.

1998, Allan Blakeney, Sandford Borins, “Choosing a Cabinet”, in Political Management in Canada: Conversations on Statecraft, 2nd edition, Toronto, Ont., Buffalo, N.Y.: University of Toronto Press, →ISBN, part 1 (The Political Dimension), pages 16–17:

[Sandra] Witelson delved into her collection and retrieved the brains of contributors who were both mentally and physically healthy, with IQs from 107 to 125. No dunces here, but no rocket scientists either.

1999 November, Jim Wilson, “Science: Unlocking Einstein’s Brain”, in Joe Oldham, editor, Popular Mechanics, volume 176, number 11, New York, N.Y.: The Hearst Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 42 and 44:

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that as a culture we are obsessed with almost every aspect of technology.

2000, Rajani Sudan, “Sexy SIMS, Racy SIMMS”, in Beth E. Kolko, Lisa Nakamura, Gilbert B. Rodman, editors, Race in Cyberspace, London: Routledge, →ISBN, page 69:

But then, in my experience, there are no rocket scientists on the NYPD.

2019 December, Cleo Coyle [pseudonym; Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini], chapter 16, in Brewed Awakening, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Prime Crime, Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 63:

(hyperbolic, idiomatic, chiefly in the negative) One qualified to handle or understand things which are very complex or confusing; a very intelligent person.

bůhvíjaký génius

one qualified to handle or understand things which are very complex or confusing

avoir fait Polytechnique (pas besoin d'avoir fait Polytechnique pour …)


legendary

From legend + -ary; from Medieval Latin legendārius. Earlier it was a noun meaning "a collection of legends" (1510s) (Medieval Latin legendārium, Old French legendier), from Latin legenda. In English, both the noun and the adjective first appeared in the 16th century.


bildungsroman

bildungsroman (plural bildungsromans or bildungsromane)

bildungsromans (plural)
bildungsromane (plural)

Borrowed from German Bildungsroman, from Bildung (“education, formation”) + -s- + Roman (“novel”).

affix

English speakers are more hospitable to fiction in translation, and yet when was the last time you heard someone mention “Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship” or “Elective Affinities,” Goethe’s long fictions? These books have a good claim to have founded two of the major genres of the modern novel—respectively, the Bildungsroman and the novel of adultery.

2016 January 25, Adam Kirsch, “What’s great about Goethe?”, in The New Yorker:

Goethe's honorific assignment to the vanguard of a uniquely German novelistic tradition of the bildungsroman simultaneously places him outside the mainstream of the development of the novel.

2020, Frederick Amrine, Goethe and the Myth of the Bildungsroman: Rethinking the Wilhelm Meister Novels, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 2:

A novel tracing the spiritual, moral, psychological, or social development and growth of the main character, usually from childhood to maturity.