portmanteau

en-noun

portmanteau (plural portmanteaus or portmanteaux)

portmanteaus (plural)
portmanteaux (plural)

Jabberwocky
Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking-Glass
portmanteau

First used by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass to describe the words he coined in “Jabberwocky”.

His long-awaited portmanteau, which premiered in Cannes on Monday, is the most Anderson of all Anderson films. It's Anderson distilled, Anderson squared, Anderson to the nth degree.

2021 July 12, Nicholas Barber, “The French Dispatch: Four stars for Wes Anderson's latest”, in BBC:


fable

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French fable, from Latin fābula, from fārī (“to speak, say”) + -bula (“instrumental suffix”). See ban, and compare fabulous, fame. Doublet of fabula.

fabulous

equivalent to fable + -ous but actually derived from Latin fābulōsus

I say it would look like a fable to report that this gentleman gives away all which is the overplus of a great fortune by secret methods to other men.

1712 January 13 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “WEDNESDAY, January 2, 1711–1712”, in The Spectator, number 264; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 316:


abduction

abduction (countable and uncountable, plural abductions)

From Latin abductiō (“robbing; abduction”), from abdūcō (“take or lead away”), from ab (“away”) + dūcō (“to lead”). Equivalent to abduct + -ion.
* (physiology): From French, from Latin abductus.
* Compare French abduction.

But fear of abduction never stopped a good ufologist.

2010, Monte Dwyer, Red in the Centre: Through a Crooked Lens, Monyer Pty Ltd, page 122:


aberration

aberration (countable and uncountable, plural aberrations)

/ˌæb.əˈɹeɪ.ʃn̩/

A learned borrowing from Latin aberrātiō(n) (“relief, diversion”), first attested in 1594, from aberrō (“wander away, go astray”), from ab (“away”) + errō (“wander”). Compare French aberration. By surface analysis, aberrat(e) + -ion.

абера́ция

astronomy: small periodical change of position of heavenly bodies

Only by submitting to the aberration could the human traders travel safely through the territory of Zularn.

(fantasy, roleplaying games) Any creature with supernatural powers not found in the organized classes of beings in a given setting.


abracadabra

/ˌæbɹəkəˈdæbɹə/

From Late Latin abracadabra, a word used in magical writings, of unknown origin. Relationships have been suggested with Abraxas (a Gnostic deity), and with various Aramaic or Hebrew terms עַבְרָא כְּדַבְרָא (avra kedavra, literally “what was said has come to pass”), עַבְדָא כְּדַבְרָא (avda kedavra, literally “what was said has been done”); אַרְבַּע-אֶחַד-אַרְבַּע (arba-eḥad-arba, literally “four-one-four”), but there is little supporting evidence.

unk

unknown

Where is the necessity of this provision in the Constitution? […] Can anyone believe that we, by any amendments of ours, by any of our scribbling on that parchment, by any amulet, any legerdemain—charm—Abrecadabra—of ours can prevent our sons from doing the same thing—that is, from doing as they please, just as we are doing as we please? It is impossible. Who can bind posterity?

1851, Hugh A. Garland, quoting John Randolph of Roanoke, “The Virginia Convention—Every Change is Not Reform”, in The Life of John Randolph of Roanoke, volume II, New York: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 329:

With a quiet bank holiday afternoon to fill, the Mill yesterday dug out the old magic kit, brushed the cobwebs off its top hat and practiced a few abracadabras.

2012 August 28, Georgina Turner, The Guardian:

A use of the mystical term ‘abracadabra’, supposed to work as part of a healing charm or a magical spell; any spell or incantation making use of the word.

I don’t know all the theoretical abracadabra about how it works, I’m only its pilot.

Astrology was not specifically banned in the statutes against witchcraft, but so long as its technicalities remained abracadabra to the lay public there was always a risk that the practitioner might find himself arrested for sorcery.

1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society 2012, page 335:

Mumbo jumbo; obscure language or technicalities; jargon.

wartaal

mumbo jumbo, obscure language or technicalities, jargon — see also mumbo jumbo, jargon


abracadabra

/ˌæbɹəkəˈdæbɹə/

unknown

Next, the conjuror filled a glass with water from a big jug and then covered the tumbler with a cloth. "Abracadabra," he cried and crumpled the cloth.

1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 49:

Used to indicate that a magic trick or other illusion has been performed.

abrakadabra

used to indicate that a magic trick or other illusion has been performed


robot

From German Robot, from a West Slavic language, ultimately related to Etymology 2, below.

“I say again, down with the robot!—he is a dog who yields it!”

1849, Littell's Living Age, volume 23, page 309:

Although the robot varied from region to region, it was rarely less than burdensome.

2007, Tim Blanning, The Pursuit of Glory, Penguin, published 2008, page 159:

(now historical) A system of serfdom used in Central Europe, under which a tenant's rent was paid in forced labour.


robot

desc

→ Arabic: رُوبُوت (rūbūt), رُوبُوط (rūbūṭ)

→ Hindi: रोबोट (roboṭ)

→ Japanese: ロボット (robotto)

→ Korean: 로봇 (robot)

→ Persian: رُبات (robât), روبات (rôbât)

→ Swahili: roboti

→ Welsh: robot

Internet Archive
Josef Čapek
Karel Čapek
R.U.R.

Etymology tree
Proto-Balto-Slavic *árbas
Proto-Slavic *orbъ
Proto-Balto-Slavic *-éiˀtei
Proto-Slavic *-iti
Proto-Slavic *orbiti
Proto-Balto-Slavic *-atā́ˀ
Proto-Slavic *-ota
Proto-Slavic *orbota
Old Czech robota
Czech robota
Czech robotbor.
English robot
Borrowed from Czech robot, from robota (“drudgery, servitude”). Coined in the 1920 science-fiction play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Karel Čapek after having been suggested to him by his brother Josef, and taken into English without change.

etymon

Young Rossum invented a worker with a minimum amount of requirements. He had to simplify him. He rejected everything that did not contribute directly to the progress of work—everything that makes man more expensive. In fact, he rejected man and made the Robot. My dear Miss Glory, the Robots are not people. Mechanically they are more perfect than we are, they have an enormously developed intelligence, but they have no soul.

c. 1921 (date written), Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama […], Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1923, →OCLC, Act I, page 17:

The robots in Dick's novel, loosely adapted by Ridley Scott into the film Blade Runner, were so similar to humans that when they went rogue, trained bounty hunters were called in to perform psychological tests to see whether suspected androids lacked human empathy.

2010 January 26, Tom Chivers, Iain McDiarmid, The Telegraph:

(chiefly science fiction) An intelligent mechanical being designed to look like a human or other creature, and usually made from metal.


true name

He saw that in this dusty and fathomless matter of learning the true name of each place, thing, and being, the power he wanted lay like a jewel at the bottom of a dry well. For magic consists in this, the true naming of a thing.

1968, Ursula Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea, page 59:

It would be back to the stone floors and getting up when it was still dark and no alcohol under any circumstances and memorising the true names of everything until the brain squeaked.

1987, Terry Pratchett, Mort, →ISBN, page 229:

They conjured a world of primitive magic in which evil spirits could not be given their true names for fear of increasing their power.

1991 April 23, Martin Cropper, “In The Native State”, in The Times:

(fantasy) The unique name of an entity, which can be used to control or manipulate that entity.


homeworld

But Woman's heart within itself lives more, / And in her Homeworld she can happy be, / Loving and lov'd: from Nature's founts her Lore / Instinctive flows, she drinks it fresh and free

1839, Henry Ellison, Madmoments, page 229:

"First the Patrons wipe-out our home world, now you blow any chance of us making any credits," Kane said in his gruff sinking voice.

2016, A.K. Brown, Jumpstart (Champagne Universe Series: Book 1), page 19:

(science fiction) The world on which someone or something originated; a home planet or moon.


alien

From Middle English alien, a borrowing from Old French alien, aliene, from Latin aliēnus (“belonging to someone else”, later “exotic, foreign”), from Latin alius (“other”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂élyos. Related to English else.

der

An animated film intended to inform travellers about the dangers that alien species present to Arctic ecosystems is being released today. The message is that it is important to ensure that nobody accidentally brings alien species with them as stowaways in their clothing, baggage or equipment.

2023 March 21 (last accessed), NOBANIS: European Network on Invasive Species:

A person, animal, plant, or other thing which is from outside the family, group, organization, or territory under consideration.

You might not have much use for me. You spend too much time with the damn aliens, pretending your time in the gangs back on Earth never happened. I know you weren't happy when I found you at the Citadel a couple years back.
But I'm glad you're on this. I hope you find whoever took my people on Freedom's Progress and kick their scaly asses. I'm glad it's a human finding these bastards.

2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Hello from the Reds:

Any life form of extraterrestrial or extradimensional origin.

[…]aliens from the common wealth of Iſrael[…]

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ephesians 2:12, column 2:

The One Who, in this marvellous utterance, brings those who were by nature aliens and enemies of God into intimate and holy relations with God the Father, is the very One Who had to come to offer that Sacrifice without which such relationship would have been forever an impossibility; without which there would have been nothing for the best of men but death and judgment and the lake of fire.

1928, Philip Mauro, “The Character of the Sermon on the Mount”, in The Gospel of the Kingdom, with an Examination of Modern Dispensationalism (Religion), Boston: Hamilton Brothers, →OCLC, page 182:

One excluded from certain privileges; one alienated or estranged.


alien

en-adj

alien (comparative more alien, superlative most alien)

more alien (comparative)
most alien (superlative)

alien subjects, enemies, property, or shores

Not belonging to the same country, land, or government, or to the citizens or subjects thereof; foreign.


het

en-noun

het (countable and uncountable, plural hets)

Mary Ellen Curtin presented a paper at the 2002 Popular Culture Association conference in which she studied fanfiction archives to discover that black characters appeared far less in both het and slash fiction than white or even Latino/a characters.

2005, Rhiannon Bury, Cyberspaces of Their Own: Female Fandoms Online, Peter Lang, published 2005, →ISBN, page 207:

The vast majority of fan fiction is het or slash, and these types are usually defined against each other as approaches to romance and porn, marginalizing gen as something outside of the dominant concerns of fan fiction.

2006, Catherine Driscoll, “One True Pairing: The Romance of Pornography and the Pornography of Romance”, in Karen Hellekson, Kristina Busse, editors, Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays, McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 84:

Other studies explore why some women write het, or fictions with heterosexual pairings of certain couples, within canons such as Star Trek Voyager that generally inspire slash fiction (Somogyi, 2002).

2010, Rebecca Ward Black, “Just Don't Call Them Cartoons: The New Literacy Spaces of Anime, Manga, and Fanfiction”, in Julie Coiro, Michele Knobel, Colin Lankshear, Donald J. Leu, editors, Handbook of Research on New Literacies, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, →ISBN, page 595:

(uncountable, fandom slang) Fan fiction involving characters in an opposite-sex romantic or sexual relationship.


Trekkie

From Trek + -ie.
From Star Trek, as in groupie. (1970).

Not all Trekkies go around speaking Klingon and making endless references to the original Star Trek series.

1992 StarTrek VI is a fast-moving, vigorous book that will not disappoint the legions of Trekkies who avidly follow the adventure of their heroes. — Review of Star Trek - The Undiscovered Country in Amiga User International, author unknown, December 1992, HHL Publishing (UK), page 90.

2002 I have a major confession to make which will probably incur the wrath of all Trekkies out there. — Trek & Treat, article in The Daily Mirror (UK), Jessica Mellor, Saturday, August 10, 2002, page 44.

(fandom slang) A (usually major) fan of the TV science fiction series Star Trek.


teleport

(science fiction) Synonym of teleporter (“science fiction device”)


Frankenstein complex

Frankenstein complex (plural Frankenstein complexes)

Coined by American science fiction author Isaac Asimov in 1947 in his novelette Little Lost Robot. From Victor Frankenstein, the title character of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein.

coin

I'll admit that this Frankenstein Complex you're exhibiting has a certain justification—hence the First Law in the first place.

1947 March, Isaac Asimov, “Little Lost Robot”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume 39, number 1, page 116:

Mr. Graf, you're still disturbed. You sure you're not harboring just a little of the old Frankenstein complex about all this? It's all right to admit it to me—in fact, I want you to talk about it.

1987 December, Lois McMaster Bujold, “Falling Free”, in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, volume 108, number 13, page 30:

The central character of Mary Shelley's novel by the same name 'Frankenstein' is used as an adjective in a variety of biomedical contexts, eg Frankenstein complex The fear that machines via artificial intelligence may replace physicians

1992, Joseph C. Segen, The Dictionary of Modern Medicine, →ISBN, page 234:

No wonder Gibson introduces the Turing Registry agents in Neuromancer, representatives of cyberpunk's own apparent Frankenstein Complex: “For thousands of years men dreamed of pacts with demons. Only now are such things possible.[…]”

2010, Graham J. Murphy, Sherryl Vint, editors, Beyond Cyberpunk: New Critical Perspectives, Routledge, →ISBN, page 197:

artificial intelligence
artificial intelligence

The fear that an artificial intelligence will turn against humans.


shapeshift

en-verb

shapeshift (third-person singular simple present shapeshifts, present participle shapeshifting, simple past and past participle shapeshifted)

shapeshifts (present singular third-person)
shapeshifting (participle present)
shapeshifted (participle past)
shapeshifted (past)

Probably a back-formation from shapeshifter.

Journey in exactly the same way as you did to shapeshift into your power animal except, this time, set your intention to shapeshift into a named ancestor.

2010, Mike Williams, Follow the Shaman's Call: An Ancient Path for Modern Lives, page 91:

I can't shapeshift Zane, I only look like this I always have.

But to embed oneself in an irregular and unpredictable food supply as mycelium does, one must be able to shapeshift.

2020, Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, page 57:

(biology, fantasy, mythology, intransitive) To change one's shape or form (into another) through often magical means, normally applied only to living beings.

While Chelsea Wolfe has often shapeshifted in terms of how she presents her music, one thing remains constant: her big mood.

2019, Adam Turner-Heffer, Chelsea Wolfe: Birth of Violence review, The Skinny, September 2019, page 57

(figuratively, intransitive) To undergo a noticeable change (in character for example), to metamorphosize.


bug-eyed monster

en-noun

bug-eyed monster (plural bug-eyed monsters)

(science fiction, derogatory) An extraterrestrial.


deep sleep

deep sleep (countable and uncountable, plural deep sleeps)

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

Donnchadh and Gwalcmai, along with the other fourteen teams selected for planetary infiltration, had been put into deep sleep shortly after liftoff from their planet.

2004, Robert Doherty, Area 51: Legend, →ISBN:

The Kironian had remained in deep sleep until alerted by a high-pitched squeaky sound. When the Kironian woke, everything seemed as though it had just left Kiron.

2005, Bob Ticer, Visiting the Strange Planet Called Earth, →ISBN, page 13:

There is also the possibility that our aliens perfected cryogenics and simply went into deep sleep until the environment improved.

2008, Cavin Wright, The Golden Prize, →ISBN, page 17:

(rare, fiction) Artificially induced hibernation in humans for the purpose of long distance space travel.


seme

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek σῆμα (sêma).

lbor

(linguistics, semiotics) Anything which serves for any purpose as a substitute for an object of which it is, in some sense, a representation, sign, or symbol.


seme

Borrowed from Japanese 攻め (seme), derived from the verb 攻める (semeru, “to attack”).

[…] BL manga readers chose intelligence, protectiveness, and beauty/handsomeness as the top three most important traits in a seme […]

2008, Dru Pagliassotti, “Better Than Romance? Japanese BL Manga and the Subgenre of Male/Male Romantic Fiction”, in Antonia Levi, Mark McHarry, Dru Pagliassotti, editors, Boys' Love Manga: Essays on the Sexual Ambiguity and Cross-Cultural Fandom of the Genre, McFarland & Company (2008), →ISBN, page 73:

Sebas has always been the seme.

2010, Pentabu, My Girlfriend's a Geek, volume 1, Yen Press (2012), →ISBN:

The seme is larger, stronger, and more traditionally masculine, while the uke is smaller, weaker, and more feminine.

2011, Robin E. Brenner, Snow Wildsmith, “Love through a DIfferent Lens: Japanese Homoerotic Manga through the Eyes of American Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Other Sexualities Readers”, in Timothy Perper, Martha Cornog, editors, Mangatopia: Essays on Manga and Anime in the Modern World, Libraries Unlimited (2011), →ISBN, page 97:

(Japanese fiction, fandom slang) An active or dominant male character in a same-sex relationship; a top.


spacer

It was the futile throwing back in the face of the Spacers their most keenly felt insult: their insistence on considering the natives of Earth as disgustingly diseased.

"How do I know I can trust you?" asked BKR.
Grakker hesitated. "Spacer's oath," he said at last.

2014 [1993], Bruce Coville, Aliens Ate My Homework, page 134:

Shepard: What are you running for?
Charles Saracino: I'm seeking one of the five spacer seats in Parliament. They have certain baroque conditions for a citizen to be able to vote for them.
Charles Saracino: You have to spend more than six months a year in space. But you can't have stayed in any one settled system for more than a month.

2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:

He was thankful that he still had his suit on when the ship had a catastrophic decompression, a spacer's worst nightmare.

2017, A.K. Brown, Humans on the Menu (Champagne Universe Series: Book 2), page 20:

(science fiction) A person who works or lives in space.


bot

I stared at the bot and recognized her for the first time. She was me.

1998, David G. Hartwell, editor, Year's best SF 3, page 130:

As he guided the bot, Andrews reminisced about his younger days in Wyoming, when he had witnessed a mishandled load of wheat puff out a dusty fog.

The bot juddered to a halt, as the whole lower segment of its power arm darkened.

2007, Peter F. Hamilton, The Dreaming Void:

(science fiction, informal) A physical robot.

The goals of IRC bots vary widely, such as automatically kicking other users off or more nefarious things like spamming other IRC users. In this paper, a free standing IRC bot is presented that monitors an IRC channel for commands from a particular user and responds accordingly.

2009, Ryan Farley, Xinyuan Wang, “Roving Bugnet: Distributed Surveillance Threat and Mitigation”, in Dimitris Gritzalis, Javier López, editors, Emerging Challenges for Security, Privacy and Trust: 24th IFIP TC 11 International Information Security Conference, page 42:

He is particularly good at creating web robots, which are also called bots. A bot is software that searches for certain kinds of websites and then automatically does something — good or bad — on each site. Google uses bots to search and index websites.

2009, Richard K. Neumann, Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing: Structure, Strategy, and Style, page 91:

Twitter bots can leverage Twitter′s text message support to allow users to accomplish tasks from their cell phones. You could consider Twitter accounts that are simply an automated import of blog′s RSS feed a Twitter bot.

2010, Dusty Reagan, Twitter Application Development For Dummies, page 59:

Overall, bots—good and bad—are responsible for 52 percent of web traffic, according to a new report by the security firm Imperva, which issues an annual assessment of bot activity online.

2017 January 31, Adrienne LaFrance, “The Internet Is Mostly Bots”, in The Atlantic, retrieved 2021-09-01:

(computing) A piece of software designed to perform a minor but repetitive task automatically or on command, especially when operating with the appearance of a (human) user profile or account.

بُوت

a piece of software for doing repetitive tasks


hell

en-verb

hell (third-person singular simple present hells, present participle helling, simple past and past participle helled)

hells (present singular third-person)
helling (participle present)
helled (participle past)
helled (past)

From Middle English helle, from Old English hell, from Proto-West Germanic *hallju, from Proto-Germanic *haljō (“concealed place, netherworld”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover, conceal, save”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hälle (“hell”), West Frisian hel (“hell”), Dutch hel (“hell”), German Low German Hell (“hell”), German Hölle (“hell”), Norwegian helvete (“hell”), Icelandic hel (“the abode of the dead, death”). Also related to the Hel of Germanic mythology. See also hele.

cog

To make hellish; to place (someone) in hell; to make (a place) into a hell.


EU

(Star Wars) Abbreviation of expanded universe.


OMC

OTOH, if an OFC or OMC is written to further the story, well, if you can make me believe it, congratulations.

1999 September 28, Sigrid H., “NEW: Wonder Of Wonders/speechification/Laura/Karmen”, in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated (Usenet):

It involves archaeology, the mysterious death of an immortal and the development of a menage a trois between Mac, Methos and a very well developed OMC.

2000 January 2, Shomeret, “My Favorite HL Fics of 1999”, in alt.tv.highlander.creative (Usenet):

However, especially in the Romeo and Juliet cases, they go all fan-wanky and the stories don't have the effectiveness because you recognize them as simply efforts to make a way to keep R & J alive if not happy together (often by the introduction of an OFC or OMC to replace the other character in another's life).

2004 August 8, Jillun, “Re: What ratings are acceptible^([sic]) here?”, in alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer.creative (Usenet):

(fandom slang) Initialism of original male character.


UFO

→ Czech: UFO

→ Dutch: ufo

→ Estonian: UFO

→ Finnish: UFO, ufo

→ German: UFO, Ufo

→ Greek: ούφο (oúfo)

→ Italian: UFO, ufo

→ Japanese: UFO (yūfō)

→ Norwegian: ufo

→ Portuguese: UFO, ufo

→ Swedish: ufo, UFO

After the case had been reported in the newspapers, Mrs. Gracindo de Souza, wife of a member of the local stock exchange, told police that she and her daughter had been driving down Alameda Sao Boaventura when they had seen an^([sic]) UFO hovering over the clearing where the bodies were later discovered.

1967, Brad Steiger, Joan Whritenour, “Someone Up There May Not Like Us”, in Flying Saucers Are Hostile, Tandem Publishing, published 1975, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 13:

To my way of thinking, there is every bit as much evidence for the existence of UFOs as there is for the existence of God. Probably far more. At least in the case of UFOs there have been countless taped and filmed—and, by the way, unexplained—sightings from all over the world, along with documented radar evidence seen by experienced military and civilian radar operators.

2004, George Carlin, “THEY CAME FROM OUT OF THE SKY”, in When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 12:

unidentified flying object
unidentified flying object#English

Initialism of unidentified flying object; (loosely) an alien spacecraft.

未確認飛行物体

みかくにんひこうぶったい


ace

→ Japanese: エース (ēsu)

→ Korean: 에이스 (eiseu)

→ Russian: эйс (ejs)

→ Swedish: ess

(?) → Finnish: ässä

Inherited from Middle English as, from Old French as, from Latin as, assis (“unity, copper coin, the unit of coinage”). Doublet of as. Likely related or deriving ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs, or otherwise taking from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”) in the sense of "singular".

der

[…] maybe two or three twenties, a dozen tens, and twenty or thirty fins. The rest is all aces and silver.

1990, David F. Friedman, Don DeNevi, A Youth in Babylon: Confessions of a Trash-film King, page 136:

If they got too many aces (dollar bills) or fives or tens, they turned them in to the vault where they became part of the reserve.

1996, Arthur M. Smith, Robert Thomas King, Let's Get Going, page 65:


general

en-noun

general (countable and uncountable, plural generals)

From Middle English general, in turn from Anglo-Norman general, generall, Middle French general, and their source, Latin generālis, from genus (“class, kind”) + -ālis (“-al”); thus morphologically parallel with, and a doublet of, generic.


phoenix

phoenix (plural phoenix or phoenixes or phoenices)

phoenix (plural)
phoenixes (plural)
phoenices (plural)

From Old English and Old French fenix, from Medieval Latin phenix, from Latin phoenīx, from Ancient Greek φοῖνιξ (phoînix), from Egyptian bnw (boinu, “grey heron”). Doublet of Bennu. The grey heron was venerated at Heliopolis and associated in Egypt with the cyclical renewal of life because the bird rises in flight at dawn and migrates back every year in the flood season to inhabit the Nile waters.

(Chinese mythology) A mythological Chinese chimerical bird whose physical body symbolizes the six celestial bodies; a fenghuang.


abominable snowman

abominable snowman (plural abominable snowmen)

First attested in 1921. Calque of Tibetan མི་སྡུག་གངས་མི (mi sdug gangs mi), from མི་སྡུག (mi sdug, “repulsive, unlovely, ugly, hideous”) and གངས་མི (gangs mi, “snowman”).

calque

མི་སྡུག་གངས་མི

(cryptozoology, often capitalized) A humanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas.


yeti

→ Portuguese: iéti

Borrowed from Tibetan གཡའ་དྲེད (g.ya' dred, “rock bear”), compound of གཡའ (g.ya', “rocky or rocky place”) and དྲེད (dred, “bear”).

bor+

There is no doubt that the Sherpas accept the fact that the Yeti really exists. But then they believe just as confidently that their gods live in comfort on the summit of Mount Everest. We found it quite impossible to divorce the Yeti from the supernatural.

1962, Edmund Hillary, Desmond Doig, “Into the Mingbo Valley”, in High in the Thin Cold Air: The Story of the Himalayan Expedition, led by Sir Edmund Hillary, sponsored by World Book Encyclopedia, Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 131:

(cryptozoology) An unidentified humanoid animal said to live in the Himalayas.


Bigfoot

August/September 1958, originally Big Foot, big + foot, relating to the large size of its supposed footprints relative to human footprints.

This imprint was made either Wednesday night or early Thursday morning by "Big Foot".

[1958 October 6, Andrew Genzoli, “Huge Foot Prints Hold Mystery Of Friendly Bluff Creek Giant”, in Humboldt Times, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2010-06-11:

Stories of “Bigfoot,” an eight-foot denizen of the forest in Northern California’s wild Trinity County, are among the main topics of conversation in that area. He is supposedly an Indian or half-breed who has reverted to an animal existence. A footprint believed to be his was measured by a Redding shoe store owner and found to be size 24!

1961 July 1, “Big deal”, in Boot and Shoe Recorder, volume 160, number 3, Philadelphia, Pa.: Chilton Company, →OCLC, The Last Word, page 68, column 3:

Some Earth people believe Bigfoot lives in underground caves; others believe Bigfoot is connected with extraterrestrials; still others believe Bigfoot is a spirit that can sometimes manifest in form.

1994, Sun Bear, Wabun Wind, Shawnodese, “A Dream Language of the Earth”, in Dreaming with the Wheel: How to Interpret and Work with your Dreams Using the Medicine Wheel, Fireside, →ISBN, page 145:

Then there are the sharp divisions of opinion about whether Bigfoot is a Gigantopithecus or a Neanderthal or some other hominid.

2016, Bryan Sykes, “The Guru”, in Bigfoot, Yeti, and the Last Neanderthal: A Geneticist’s Search for Modern Apemen, Disinformation Books, →ISBN, part II, page 173:

Many enthusiasts believe that Bigfoot is not some sort of undiscovered hominid, but rather a mystical being that moves between dimensions.

2019, Christopher D. Bader, Joseph O. Baker, “Bigfoot: Undiscovered Primate or Interdimensional Spirit?”, in Deviance Management: Insiders, Outsiders, Hiders, and Drifters, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 77:

(cryptozoology, folklore) A very large, hairy, humanoid creature, similar to the yeti, said to live in the wilderness areas of the United States and Canada, especially the Pacific Northwest.

بيغ فوت

unidentified yeti-like animal (individual creature)


sasquatch

Borrowed from Halkomelem sásq’ets (“hairy man”).

(cryptozoology) A large hairy humanoid creature of western North America.


yowie

Borrowed from Gamilaraay yuwi (“dream spirit”).

The white population claimed that an escaped panther from a travelling circus was the culprit; others thought that a Yowie was responsible.

1986, Bruce Pascoe, “The Slaughters of the Bulumwaal Butcher”, in Anita Heiss, Peter Minter, editors, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, Allen & Unwin, published 2008, page 101:

(Australia, cryptozoology) An ape-like monster or animal said to exist in parts of eastern Australia.


king

en-verb

king (third-person singular simple present kings, present participle kinging, simple past and past participle kinged)

kings (present singular third-person)
kinging (participle present)
kinged (participle past)
kinged (past)

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

Audio — the king

The seating arrangement of the temple was the Almanach de Gotha of Congregation Emanu-el. Old Ben Reitman, patriarch among the Jewish settlers of Winnebago, who had come over an immigrant youth, and who now owned hundreds of rich farm acres, besides houses, mills and banks, kinged it from the front seat of the center section.

1917, Edna Ferber, Fanny Herself, page 32:

To assume or pretend preeminence (over); to lord it over.

If the machine does this, it will lose only one point, and as it is not looking far enough ahead, it cannot see that it has not prevented its opponent from kinging but only postponed the evil day.

1957, Bertram Vivian Bowden, editor, Faster Than Thought: A Symposium on Digital Computing Machines, page 302:

I was about to make a move that would corner a piece that she was trying to get kinged, but I slid my checker back[…].

1986, Rick DeMarinis, The Burning Women of Far Cry, page 100:

To promote a piece of draughts/checkers that has traversed the board to the opposite side, that piece subsequently being permitted to move backwards as well as forwards.

Through the ex-centric diaspora, kinging in postcolonial Australia has become a site of critical hybridity where diasporic female masculinities have emerged through the contestations of "home" and "host" cultures.

2008, Audrey Yue, “King Victoria: Asian Drag Kings, Postcolonial Female Masculinity, and Hybrid Sexuality in Australia”, in Fran Martin, Peter Jackson, Audrey Yue, Mark McLelland, editors, AsiaPacifQueer: Rethinking Genders and Sexualities, page 266:


queen

Tok Pisin: kwin

desc

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

→ Burmese: ကွင်း (kwang:)

→ German: Queen

→ Japanese: クイーン (kuīn), クィーン (kwīn)

→ Korean: 퀸 (kwin)

→ Marshallese: kwiin

→ Sikaiana: kuini

→ Spanish: cuina

→ Thai: ควีน (kwiin)

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

gloss

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

cog

[…] and yet I will not ſay but amongſt duſt there is Pearle found, and in hard rockes Dyamonds of great value, and ſo amongſt many women there are ſome good, as that gracious and glorious Queene of all woman kinde the Virgin Mary the mother of al bliſſe, what wun her honour, but an humble minde and her paines and loue vnto our Sauiour Chriſt.

1620, Thomas Tell-Troth [pseudonym of Joseph Swetnam], The Araignment of Lewd, Idle, Froward, and Unconstant Women: Or the Vanitie of Them, Choose You Whether, London, published 1807, retrieved 2022-01-14:

A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen.

(Christianity) The Virgin Mary (especially in formulations such as Queen of Heaven, Queen of Glory).


morph

en-verb

morph (third-person singular simple present morphs, present participle morphing, simple past and past participle morphed)

morphs (present singular third-person)
morphing (participle present)
morphed (participle past)
morphed (past)

Meta leapt forward. In midair his lower half morphed, and suddenly he was one-half humanoid, one-half coiled spring.

"Would it reflect badly on women if I morphed my bust size up a bit for it? Sorta like wearing a padded bra?"

2015 January 30, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive - EGS:NP (webcomic), Comic for Friday, Jan 30, 2015:

(science fiction, fantasy) To shapeshift.


parallel

From Middle French parallèle, borrowed from Latin parallelus.

parallel universe

(science fiction, of realities, dimensions, timelines, etc.) Coexisting but normally not interacting with the regular reality.


adamant

From Middle English adamant, adamaunt, from Latin adamantem, accusative singular form of adamās (“hard as steel”), from Ancient Greek ἀδάμας (adámas, “invincible”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + δαμάζω (damázō, “I tame”) or of Semitic origin. Doublet of diamond.

der

This then is and alwayes hath ben the fashion of Worldlinges, & reprobate persons, to harden their hartes as an adamant stone, against anye thinge that shalbe tolde the for amendement of their lives, and for the savinge of their soules.

1582, Robert Parsons, chapter 8, in The first booke of the Christian exercise, appertayning to resolution, G. Flinton:

As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead …

1611, King James Translators, Ezekiel 3:9

But this was a finale she ever avoided: an offer, like the rock of adamant in Sinbad's voyages, finishes the attraction by destroying the vessel;...

1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XV, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 162:

An imaginary rock or mineral of impenetrable hardness; a name given to the diamond and other substances of extreme hardness.


jump

Brill Publishers
hydraulic jump
jump cut
jump discontinuity
jump instruction

From Middle English jumpen (“to walk quickly, run, jump”), probably of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gumpōną ~ *gumbōną (“to hop, skip, bounce”), an iterative verb. The OED suggests an imitative origin. Related to jumble. In the sense “to propel oneself” it displaced leap partially and spring largely.
Cognates
Cognate with German Low German jumpen (“to jump”), archaic German gumpen (“to jump, hop, bounce”), dialectal German gampen (“to hop”), Alemannic German gumpe (“to leap, jump”), Walser dialect kumpu, Old Norse gopta (“to jump; make jump”) Danish gumpe (“to jolt”), Swedish gumpa (“to jump”), Danish gimpe (“to move up and down”), Middle English jumpren, jumbren (“to mix, jumble”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

قَفْزَة

instance of propelling oneself into the air — see also leap

(science fiction) An instance of faster-than-light travel, not observable from ordinary space.


astronaut

/ˈæstɹəˌnɔːt/

/ˈæstɹəˌnɔt/

/ˈæstɹəˌnɑt/

From astro- + -naut. Coined from Ancient Greek ἄστρον (ástron, “star”) and ναύτης (naútēs, “sailor”).

astronout

member of the crew of a spaceship or other spacecraft, or someone trained for that purpose — see also cosmonaut

(Hong Kong) A person (typically man) working abroad away from their family.


gray

From Middle English gray, from Old English grǣġ, from Proto-West Germanic *grāu, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁- (“to green, to grow”).
See also Dutch grauw, German grau, Old Norse grár); also Latin rāvus (“grey”), Old Church Slavonic зьрѭ (zĭrjǫ, “to see, to glance”), Russian зреть (zretʹ, “to watch, to look at”) (archaic), Lithuanian žeriù (“to shine”).

cog

(chiefly US, ufology) Synonym of grey alien


lemon

en-noun

lemon (countable and uncountable, plural lemons)

desc

→ Kashubian: lemòna (Canada, United States)

Cream Lemon
Lemon
Lemon (color)
Lemon (geometry)

Inherited from Middle English lymon, from Old French lymon (“citrus”), from Arabic لَيْمُون (laymūn) or Persian لیمون (limon), from Persian لیمو (limu), from Sanskrit निम्बू (nimbū, “lime”), ultimately from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *limaw or Munda. Likely doublet of lime.
The fandom sense is named after the erotic anime series Cream Lemon.

I'd really like to know what people think of this and whether I should carry on writing lemons or go and hide under a rock somewhere.

1997 April 18, Neko, “[Dominion][FanFic][Lemon] A Typical Night at the Station”, in rec.arts.anime.creative (Usenet):

WARNING: This story is a lemon and must be viewed with great care. If you are either under the age of 18, think graphic sex is discussing^([sic]) or you know what my writing is like you should turn away now.

2000 May 30, Ian Blakeman, “[Eva][FanFic][Lemon] A day at Misatos appartment^([sic])”, in rec.arts.anime.creative (Usenet):

This won't be a lemon simply because I can't see myself writing anything like that.

2002 November 10, Goku Girl, “[DBZ][FanFic][Yaoi] Saiya-jin no Suto-ri Ichi (part one)”, in rec.arts.anime.creative (Usenet):

(fandom slang) A piece of fanfiction involving explicit sex.


handmaiden

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

From Middle English hande mayden, handmaiden, hand mayden, hand-mayden, handmayden, hondemaiden, hond maydyn, hoondmaydyn. By surface analysis, hand + maiden.
Sense 2 is an allusion to Canadian poet Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985), in which "handmaids" are women who serve the male commanders in a patriarchal dystopia.

senseno

feminist woman who supports transgender rights

Online and over Shabbat dinners, arguments about the election have grown bitter. Those grudgingly planning to vote for Labour have been called traitors to the community and self-hating Jews. Anti-Corbyn die-hards, on the other hand, have been branded the handmaidens of a hard Brexit.

2019 November 21, Benjamin Mueller, “At Odds With Labour, Britain’s Jews Are Feeling Politically Homeless”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-11-13:


DC

Ellipsis of DC Comics.: Initialism of Detective Comics.


RS

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
w:Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire

(fandom slang) Initialism of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.


ML

en-noun

ML (countable and uncountable, plural MLs)

(slang, manga, anime) Abbreviation of male lead.


SI

SI (countable and uncountable, plural SIs)

S.I.

statutory instrument, chiefly in citation

(fandom slang) Initialism of self-insertion. (of the author into fan fiction)


CT

(science fiction) Initialism of contraterrene.


FL

(slang, manga, anime) Abbreviation of female lead.


ME

United States of America
United States of America

Abbreviation of Maine, a state of the United States of America.


banshee

desc

→ Arabic: بَانْشِي (bānšī)

→ Arabic: بَانْشِي (bānšī)

→ Catalan: banshee

→ Dutch: banshee

→ Esperanto: banŝio

→ Finnish: banshee

→ French: banshee, banshie

→ German: Banshee

→ Japanese: バンシー (banshī)

→ Korean: 반시 (bansi)

→ Northern Kurdish: banşî

→ Portuguese: banshee

→ Russian: ба́нши (bánši), банши́ (banší), ба́ньши (bánʹši), баньши́ (banʹší)

→ Spanish: banshee

Borrowed from Irish bean sí, from Old Irish ben síde (literally “woman of the fairy mound”). The term banshee entered English in 1771.

der

Late had he heard, in prophet's dream, / The fatal Ben-Shie's boding scream […].

1810, The Lady of the Lake, Walter Scott, 3.VII:

(Scotland, Ireland, folklore) A female spirit, usually taking the form of a woman whose mournful wailing warns of an impending death.


neck

The Neck no more upon the river sings.
And no Mermaid to bleach her linen flings
Upon the waves in the mild solar ray.

1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 234:

(folklore) A shapeshifting water spirit in Germanic mythology and folklore; a nix.


angel

Jamaican Creole: ienjel

→ Chinese: 安琪兒 /安琪儿 (ānqí'ér)

→ Hawaiian: ʻānela

→ Lingala: anjelu, anzelu

→ Malagasy: anjely

Florence Baptistery
Seven churches of Asia
en:Angel (disambiguation)
en:angel

Two Baroque angels from southern Germany, from the mid-18th century
From Middle English angel, aungel, ængel, engel, from Old English anġel, ænġel, enġel, enċġel (“angel, messenger”), from Proto-West Germanic *angil, borrowed from Latin angelus, itself from Ancient Greek ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger”); and also in part from Anglo-Norman angele, angle, from the same Latin source. The religious sense of the Greek word first appeared in the Septuagint as a translation of the Hebrew word מַלְאָךְ (malʾāḵ, “messenger”) or יהוה מַלְאָךְ (malʾāḵ YHWH, “messenger of YHWH”).
Use of the term in some churches to refer to a church official derives from interpreting the "angels" of the Seven churches of Asia in Revelation as being bishops or ministers rather than angelic beings.

der

don't drive faster than your guardian angel can fly

unidentified flying object
unidentified flying object

(colloquial, dated) An unidentified flying object detected by air traffic control radar.


IMF

Since 1996 and over six installments, special IMF (The Impossible Missions Force) agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has been spectacularly ‘figuring things right in the face of danger, often without a plan.

2018, Deborah Cornelious, “‘Mission: Impossible - Fallout’ review: mission successful”, in The Hindu, archived from the original on 2022-12-07:

Impossible Mission Force
w:Impossible Mission Force

(fiction) Initialism of Impossible Mission Force, a fictional spy organization from the Mission: Impossible franchise.


force

en-noun

force (countable and uncountable, plural forces)

From Middle English force, fors, forse, from Old French force, from Late Latin fortia, a noun derived from the neuter plural of Latin fortis (“strong”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“to rise, high, hill”).

der

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

The Europeans tried, my goodness how they tried. But on the day the US proved too strong and too inspired. They were, dammit, just better. And when Leonard's putt dropped they clearly had the force with them as well.

1999 September 28, Mike Selvey, “Crenshaw vindicated by a chain reaction”, in The Guardian:

The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.

2005, George Lucas, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, spoken by Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), published 2005:

(humorous or science fiction, with the, often capitalized) A metaphysical and ubiquitous power from the fictional Star Wars universe created by George Lucas. See usage note.

voima

science fiction: binding, metaphysical, and ubiquitous power


law

en-noun

law (countable and uncountable, plural laws)

From Middle English lawe, laȝe, from Old English lagu (“law”), borrowed from Old Norse lǫg (“law”, literally “things laid down or firmly established”), originally the plural of lag (“layer, stratum, a laying in order, measure, stroke”), from Proto-Germanic *lagą (“that which is laid down”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”). Cognate with Scots law (“law”), Icelandic lög (“things laid down, law”), Faroese lóg (“law”), Norwegian lov (“law”), Swedish lag (“law”), Danish lov (“law”), Finnish laki (“law”). Replaced Old English ǣ and ġesetnes. More at lay.
Not related to legal, nor to French loi, Spanish ley, all of which ultimately derive from Latin lēx, from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to gather”).

азакуан

body of rules established in a community by its authorities

(fantasy) One of two metaphysical forces ruling the world in some fantasy settings, also called order, and opposed to chaos.


dimension

a machine that lets you travel to a parallel dimension.

"If a man should wish to be in some other place, it is entirely possible for him to imagine himself in that place and, diving back through the negative dimension, to emerge out of it in that place with instantaneous rapidity. To imagine oneself———"

1938 July, L. Ron Hubbard, “The Dangerous Dimension”, in Astounding Science-Fiction, volume XXI, number 5, Street & Smith, →OCLC, page 105:

DR. PAUL MANHEIM: I have been on the other side. I have touched another dimension. Part of me is still there.
LAURA MANHEIM: Help him.
DR. CRUSHER: Try to stay calm Dr. Manheim. I don't think it's going to help you're struggling against it.
DR. PAUL MANHEIM: My mind is floating between two places. It is difficult to know which is which. There is no way to explain it.

1988 May 2, Rod Loomis, Michelle Phillips, Gates McFadden, We'll Always Have Paris (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Paramount Domestic Television, →OCLC:

He was experimenting with matter transportation through the nth dimension.

2016, A.K. Brown, Jumpstart (Champagne Universe Series: Book 1), page 2:

(science fiction, fantasy) A universe or plane of existence.


race

en-noun

race (countable and uncountable, plural races)

1560s, via Middle French race from Italian razza (early 14th century), of uncertain origin. Partially displaced native Middle English kinde (“kind, type, sort, race, nature”), whence English kind.
theories
* Diez and some other scholars suggest derivation from Proto-Germanic *raitō (whence Old High German reiza (“line”) and Old Norse ríta (“to score, log, outline”)), perhaps via Lombardic *raiza (“line”), which Körting notes is a literal rendering of Latin linea sanguinis (“bloodline of descent”). Anatoly Liberman says "the semantic fit is good" but the chronology falters; he says the Germanic word went out of use before the Italian word arose, and he says the intermediary is not attested.
* Some scholars suggest derivation from Old Spanish raza, rasa, from earlier ras, res (“head of cattle”), from Arabic رَأْس (raʔs, “head”), but Italian razza predates the Spanish word according to Diez and Meyer-Lübke.
* Meyer-Lübke suggested Latin generatio as the root; Körting says "the disappearance of two initial syllables hardly seems credible", but Meyer-Lübke notes the Venetian form narazza and the Old Bellunesian form naraccia, positing that after the first syllable ge- was lost, the remaining (una) narazza came to be reanalysed as una razza.
* Gianfranco Contini suggests the Italian word comes from Old French haraz (“troop of horses”), whence Modern French haras (“breeding farm for horses; stud farm”), from Old Norse hárr (“grey-haired; hoary”). Liberman considers this derivation the most likely.
* Other suggested Latin etyma:
** radius (perhaps via Vulgar Latin *radia) (per Baist).
** radix (“root”) (per Ulrich); Liberman says "the semantic match is excellent", and race (“rhizome of ginger”) (which definitely derives from radix) shows that the phonology is plausible.
** *raptiare (“breed falcons”) (per Körting).
** The nominative of ratio (perhaps via an unattested intermediate form *razzo), as opposed to ragione which derives from the accusative rationem.
* Other implausible suggestions include Slavic raz and Basque arraca, supposedly meaning "stud animal" (Basque arrazza, "race", derives from Spanish).

raça

a group of sentient beings distinguished by common characteristics

عِرْق

a large group of people distinguished from others on the basis of physical characteristics

raça

a group of organisms distinguished by common characteristics

A treaty was concluded between the race of elves and the race of men.

There are two distinct races of gods known to Norse mythology[.]

1898, Herman Isidore Stern, The gods of our fathers: a study of Saxon mythology, page 15:

Imagine a race of aliens that develops on a dimly lit world perpetually shrouded in clouds so that vision would be less useful for survival than on Earth.

1999, Clifford A. Pickover, The Science of Aliens, page 47:

Tali: My father is responsible for the lives of seventeen million people—our entire race is in his hands. And I'm his only child.

2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-1:

A group of sentient beings, particularly people, distinguished by common ancestry, heritage or characteristics (see Wikipedia's article on historical definitions of race):

(fantasy, science fiction, mythology) A large group of nonhumans distinguished from others on the basis of a common heritage.


human

From Late Middle English humayne, humain, from Middle French humain, from Old French humain, umain, from Latin hūmānus m (“of or belonging to a man, human, humane”, adjective), from homo, with unclear ū. Spelling human has been predominant since the early 18th century. Not etymologically related to man.

der

чолові́к m (čolovík) (now usually means "man", "male human")

Greetings. I am Blor-Utar from Zimtok-5. I have come to subjugate the human race. Do not resist. Why humans? Because, in addition to their value as slave labor, they are also delicious and nutritious!

1994 March 29, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes:

(strictly, biology) The tallest, most abundant and most intelligent of the primates; Homo sapiens.

(fantasy, science fiction, mythology) A human as contrasted from superficially similar but typically more powerful humanoid creatures; a member of the human race.

Greetings, human! You have stumbled into the dimension of the Snow People.[…]Flesh plows clear the streets to make them safe to drive.[…]Does this shock you, human? Do the ways of our world open your eyes to the truths of your own?

2011 December 29, Alex Culang, Raynato Castro, Buttersafe (webcomic):

(fantasy, science fiction) A term of address for any human, often implying the listener's species is their only noteworthy trait.


rod

From Middle English rodde, from Old English *rodd or *rodde (attested in dative plural roddum (“rod, pole”)), of uncertain origin, but probably from Proto-Germanic *rudd- (“stick, club”), from Proto-Indo-European *rewdʰ- (“to clear land”). Compare Old Norse rudda (“club”). For the root, compare English rid. Presumably unrelated to Proto-Germanic *rōdō (“rod, pole”).

These cylindrical rods fly through the air at incredible speeds and can only be picked up by high-speed cameras.

2000, Jack Barranger, Paul Tice, Mysteries Explored: The Search for Human Origins, Ufos, and Religious Beginnings, Book Three, p.37:

During one such broadcast in 1997, the esteemed radio host bellowed, “I got a fax earlier today from MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) in Arizona and they said what you think are rods are actually insects!”

2009, Barry Conrad, An Unknown Encounter: A True Account of the San Pedro Haunting, Dorrance Publishing, pages 129–130:

He tells of a home video showing a rod flying into the open mouth of a girl singing at a wedding.

2010, Deena West Budd, The Weiser Field Guide to Cryptozoology: Werewolves, Dragons, Skyfish, Lizard Men, and Other Fascinating Creatures Real and Mysterious, Weiser Books, page 15:

(ufology) A rod-shaped object that appears in photographs or videos traveling at high speed, not seen by the person recording the event, often associated with extraterrestrial entities.


rake

en-verb

rake (third-person singular simple present rakes, present participle raking, simple past and past participle raked)

rakes (present singular third-person)
raking (participle present)
raked (participle past)
raked (past)

From Middle English rake, rakke (“pass, path, track; type of fencing thrust; pasture land (?)”), and then partly:
* probably from Old English racu (“bed of a stream; path; account, narrative; explanation; argument, reasoning; reason”) (compare Old English hrace, hraca, hracu (“gorge”)), from Proto-Germanic *rakō (“path, track; course, direction; an unfolding, unwinding; account, narrative; argument, reasoning”) [and other forms], from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to straighten, right oneself”); and
* from Old Norse rák (“strip; stripe; furrow; small mountain ravine”), further etymology uncertain but probably ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rakō, as above.
Cognates
The English word is cognate with Icelandic rák (“streak, stripe; notch in a rock; vein in stone or wood”), Norwegian råk (“channel (in ice); cow path; trail”), Norwegian Nynorsk råk (“channel (in ice); cow path; trail; furrow; stripe”), Swedish råk (“crack or channel in ice; river valley”); and probably cognate with Old Danish rag (modern Danish rag (“stiff; taut”) (regional)), Old Norse rakr (“straight”), Swedish rak (“straight”).

cog

Alternative spelling of raik (“(intransitive, Midlands, Northern England, Scotland) to walk; to roam, to wander; of animals (especially sheep): to graze; (transitive, chiefly Scotland) to roam or wander through (somewhere)”)


tractor

en-verb

tractor (third-person singular simple present tractors, present participle tractoring, simple past and past participle tractored)

tractors (present singular third-person)
tractoring (participle present)
tractored (participle past)
tractored (past)

Formed from Latin tractus, perfect passive participle of trahere (“to pull”), + agent noun suffix -or.

(transitive, science fiction) To move with a tractor beam.


criminal

From Middle English cryminal, borrowed from Anglo-Norman criminal, from Late Latin criminalis, from Latin crimen (“crime”).

‘[…] There's every Staffordshire crime-piece ever made in this cabinet, and that's unique. The Van Hoyer Museum in New York hasn't that very rare second version of Maria Marten's Red Barn over there, nor the little Frederick George Manning—he was the criminal Dickens saw hanged on the roof of the gaol in Horsemonger Lane, by the way—’

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

A person who is guilty of a crime, notably breaking the law.

kriminele

person guilty of a crime, breaking the law


spell

From Middle English spell, spel, from Old English spell (“news, story”), from Proto-Germanic *spellą (“speech, account, tale”), from Proto-Indo-European *spel- (“to tell”) or from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to speak, to sound”) with the s-mobile prefix. Cognate with dialectal German Spill, Icelandic spjall (“discussion, talk”), spjalla (“to discuss, to talk”), guðspjall (“gospel”) and Albanian fjalë (“word”).

der

hoa- (prefix with various attachments for various purposes)

under a spell

Skies are not so black / Mary took me back / Mary has broken your spell

1962, Marty Robbins (lyrics and music), “Devil Woman”:

I believe your love has placed its spell on me

2020, Deftones, The Spell of Mathematics:

A magical effect or influence induced by an incantation or formula.


spell

→ Welsh: sbel

From Middle English spelen, from Old English spelian (“to represent, take or stand in the place of another, act as a representative of another”), akin to Middle English spale (“a rest or break”), Old English spala (“representative, substitute”).

cog

Even Mrs. Harker seems to lose sight of her trouble for whole spells. [...] When he had spoken, Mina's long spell of silence made me look at her.

1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 24, in Dracula, HTML edition:

So after a short spell in the brass foundry the wisest course was to follow with a similar period in the steel foundry, where much important work was done, including the manufacture of centres for wheels.

1944 November and December, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 343:

[...] Class 37s became synonymous with the depot, and over the years more than a third of the class had a spell allocated to the shed.

2020 June 17, John Crosse, “Thornaby's traction transition”, in Rail, page 65:

(colloquial) An indefinite period of time (usually with a qualifier); by extension, a relatively short distance.


invisibly

en-adv

invisibly (comparative more invisibly, superlative most invisibly)

more invisibly (comparative)
most invisibly (superlative)

These beings have some very extraordinary and useful properties; they can, for instance, go about invisibly, or turn themselves into any shape; they can foresee future events; they can confer prosperity, or the contrary, on a family[.]

1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 96:

In a way that can not be seen; in an invisible manner.


behemoth

/ˈbiː.əˌməθ/

From Middle English behemoth, bemoth, from Late Latin behemoth, from Hebrew בְּהֵמוֹת (behemót). Most likely, the Hebrew word is an intensive plural of בְּהֵמָה (behemá, “beast”), from Proto-Semitic (compare Ge'ez ብህመ (bəhmä, “to be dumb, to be speechless”), Arabic ب ه م (b h m)).
Some have instead suggested a borrowing from a hypothetical Egyptian pA-i-H-E1-mw (*pꜣ-jḥ-mw, “hippopotamus”, literally “the ox of the water”), from pꜣ (“definite article”) + jḥ (“ox, cattle”) + mw (“water”) in a direct genitive construction (for the pronunciation, compare the later Coptic descendants ⲡ- (p-) + ⲉϩⲉ (ehe) + ⲙⲟⲟⲩ (moou)); this, however, suffers from problems such as the lack of attestation of the supposed etymon, and there seems little reason to prefer it to the intensive plural explanation.

der

<i class="Latn mention" lang="egy">*pꜣ-jḥ-mw</i>

Coordinate term: leviathan

⸿ Beholde now Behemoth which I made with thee, hee eateth graſſe as an oxe.
 Loe now, his ſtrength is in his loynes, and his force is in the nauell of his belly.
 Hee moueth his taile like a Cedar: the ſinewes of his ſtones are wrapt together.
 His bones are as ſtrong pieces of braſſe: his bones are like barres of iron.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 40:15–18, column 1:

(biblical) A great and mighty beast which God shows to Job in Job 40:15–24.


clean

en-verb

clean (third-person singular simple present cleans, present participle cleaning, simple past and past participle cleaned)

cleans (present singular third-person)
cleaning (participle present)
cleaned (participle past)
cleaned (past)

From Middle English clene, clane, from Old English clǣne (“clean, pure”), from Proto-West Germanic *klainī (“shining, fine, splendid, tender”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *glēy- (“gleaming”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to gleam”). Cognate with Scots clean (“absolute, pure, clear, empty”) and clene, clane (“clean”), North Frisian klien (“small”), West Frisian klien (“small”), klean (“clean”), Dutch klein (“small”), Low German kleen (“small”), German klein (“small”), Swedish klen (“weak, feeble, delicate”), Icelandic klénn (“poor, feeble, petty, snug, puny, cheesy, lame”).

cog

(manga fandom slang) To purge a raw of any blemishes caused by the scanning process such as brown tinting and poor color contrast.


butterfly

From Middle English buterflie, butturflye, boterflye, from Old English buterflēoge, equivalent to butter + fly. Cognate with Dutch botervlieg, German Butterfliege (“butterfly”). The name may have originally been applied to butterflies of a yellowish color, and/or reflected a belief that butterflies ate milk and butter (compare German Molkendieb (“butterfly”, literally “whey-thief”) and Low German Botterlicker (“butterfly”, literally “butter-licker”)), or that they excreted a butter-like substance (compare Dutch boterschijte (“butterfly”, literally “butter-shitter”)). Compare also German Schmetterling from Schmetten (“cream”), German Low German Bottervögel (“butterfly”, literally “butter-fowl”). More at butter, fly.
An alternate theory suggests that the first element may have originally been Old English butor- (“beater”), a mutation of bēatan (“to beat”), but this would not explain the cognates in other languages or the other names formed with milk products.
Superseded non-native Middle English papilion (“butterfly”) borrowed from Old French papillon (“butterfly”).

One potential butterfly could be JFK having another son the year after the POD instead of a daughter.

(alternate history) A random change in an aspect of the timeline seemingly unrelated to the primary point of divergence, resulting from the butterfly effect.

perhosen siivenisku

random change working through butterfly effect


butterfly

en-verb

butterfly (third-person singular simple present butterflies, present participle butterflying, simple past and past participle butterflied)

butterflies (present singular third-person)
butterflying (participle present)
butterflied (participle past)
butterflied (past)

Pearl Harbor not happening would've butterflied Taylor Swift.

(transitive, of the point of divergence of an alternate history scenario) To cause events after the point of divergence to not happen as they did in real history, and people conceived after the point of divergence to not exist in recognizable form, due to the random variations introduced by the butterfly effect.


shrew

From Middle English *schrewe, from Old English sċrēawa (“shrew”), from Proto-Germanic *skrawwaz (“thin; meagre; frail”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut; shorten; skimp”). Cognates include Old High German scrawaz (“dwarf”), Norwegian skrugg (“dwarf”).

otter shrew

subfamily Potamogalinae in family Tenrecidae in order Afrosoricida

treeshrew

families Tupaiidae and Ptilocercidae in order Scandentia

West Indies shrew

genus †Nesophontes in family Solenodontidae

The clerk had, I'm afraid, a shrew of a wife—shrill, vehement, and fluent. 'Rogue,' 'old miser,' 'old sneak,' and a great many worse names, she called him.

1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:

His wife was a shrew with warts on her face and she spoke to him sharply when others were present, but Simcha did not complain.

1959, Mordecai Richler, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz:

(derogatory) An ill-tempered, nagging woman: a scold.


plasma

en-verb

plasma (third-person singular simple present plasmas, present participle plasmaing, simple past and past participle plasmaed)

plasmas (present singular third-person)
plasmaing (participle present)
plasmaed (participle past)
plasmaed (past)

From Late Latin plasma (“mold”), from Ancient Greek πλάσμα (plásma, “something formed”).

der

(science fiction, transitive) To transform something into plasma.


space

en-verb

space (third-person singular simple present spaces, present participle spacing, simple past and past participle spaced)

spaces (present singular third-person)
spacing (participle present)
spaced (participle past)
spaced (past)

From Middle English space, from Anglo-Norman space, variant of espace, espas et al., and spaze, variant of espace, from Latin spatium, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peh₂- (“to stretch, to pull”).

der

The captain spaced the traitors.

Sound effect of blow with blunt instrument, groan, and the unmistakable cycling of an air lock—Castor: "Sorry, folks. My assistant has just spaced Mr. Rudolf. […]"

1952, Robert A. Heinlein, The Rolling Stones:

A lot of people make jokes about spacing somebody, about shoving somebody out an airlock. I don't think it's funny. Never will.

1995, J. Michael Straczynski, And Now for a Word (Babylon 5), season 2, episode 15, spoken by Dr. Stephen Franklin (Richard Biggs):

(transitive, science fiction) To kill (someone) by ejection into outer space, usually without a space suit.

He well remembered, when he was a junior officer, how the sight of a well dressed, impeccably neat commanding officer, no matter how long they had been spacing, maintained the enthusiasm, confidence and morale of the officers and men.

1947 January 13, Bernard I. Kahn, “Command”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume 38, number 5:

(intransitive, science fiction) To travel into and through outer space.


mana

en-noun

mana (usually uncountable, plural manas)

Borrowed from Maori mana, ultimately from Proto-Polynesian *mana, from Proto-Oceanic *mana.
The use of "mana" for "magical power" in video games originated from Larry Niven, when he wrote the short story, "Not Long Before the End", in 1969. It was later popularised by his "The Magic Goes Away" setting.

Battle of Chunuk Bair
New Zealand Defence Force
Royal New Zealand Navy

[page 10] I have the honor to report, for the information of the Government, the result of my visit to Maketu and the Lake District, and the preliminary arrangements made for introducing the new system of Government for the Natives. […] [page 12] They further required that a certain number of the old Chiefs should be liberally pensioned by the Government, and placed upon a footing of equality with European gentlemen of independent means, in consideration of their resigning their "mana" as Chiefs in favor of the new system; […]

1862 January 25, Thomas H. Smith, “No. 4: Second Report from T. H. Smith, Esq., R.M.”, in Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives of New Zealand. From the Seventh Day of July to the Fifteenth Day of September, 1862 both Days Inclusive. In the Twenty-sixth Day of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. Being the Second Session of the Third Parliament of New Zealand, Wellington: Printed by W. C. Wilson for the House of Representatives, at the printing office, Shortland Crescent, Auckland, →OCLC, pages 10 and 12:

The human tribe partakes of the mana or life-force of the animal, and is strengthened[].

1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., page 61:

But in popular estimation their essential virtue derived from the personal mana of the sovereign.

1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in 16th and 17th Century England, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, OCLC 71368859; republished London: Folio Society, 2012, OCLC 805007047, page 193

It can be seen, therefore, that mana is a nonvisible changing measure; it can remain static, increase, or decrease, depending on the actions or inaction of the recipient, and it can be enhanced or diminished. […] One can speak of the mana of a warrior, the mana of a woman leader, the mana of a child prodigy.

1999, Pat Hohepa, “My Musket, My Missionary and My Mana”, in Alex Calder, Jonathan Lamb, Bridget Orr, editors, Voyages and Beaches: Pacific Encounters, 1769–1840, Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, →ISBN, page 197:

Among the Maori sovereignty was the result of mana—power based on hereditary rank and personal achievement. Manas could coexist and overlap, as they did in the medieval times in Europe.

2001 September, Aldo Matteucci, “Language and Diplomacy – A Practitioner's View”, in Jovan Kurbalija, Hannah Slavik, editors, Language and Diplomacy, Malta: DiploProjects, Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies, University of Malta, →ISBN, page 61:

On a number of occasions in recent years apologies have been offered to Māori because of past offences to their mana and invasions of their rights as tangata whenua.

2012, Harold Hill, “Te Ope Whakaora, the Army that Brings Life: The Salvation Army and Māori”, in Hugh [Douglas] Morrison, Lachy Paterson, Brett Knowles, Murray Rae, editors, Mana Māori and Christianity, Wellington: Huia Publishers, →ISBN:

Power, prestige; specifically, a form of supernatural energy in Polynesian religion that inheres in things or people.

[…] Teleporting from an open room where there were a dozen black orcs firing bows […] landed me, low on mana and hitpoints, in a room full of gnome mages who instantly summoned four umber hulks and a xorn!

2003 May 20, “Bear”, “Makes Lovely Julienne Ogres …”, in rec.games.roguelike.angband (Usenet), message-ID <3EC9C629.4DF117C@sonic.net>:

Mana often grows in exponential proportion to population size, so as the population increases the player acquires vastly greater powers—a progression that god games share with spellcaster characters in role-playing games.

2010, Ernest Adams, “Artifical Life and Puzzle Games”, in Fundamentals of Game Design, 2nd edition, Berkeley, Calif.: New Riders, →ISBN, page 580:

(fantasy roleplaying games) Magical power.


prince

From Middle English prince, from Anglo-Norman prince, from Latin prīnceps (“first head”), from prīmus (“first”) + capiō (“seize, take”). Cognate with Old English fruma (“prince, ruler”). Doublet of princeps and principe.
Displaced native Middle English atheling, from Old English æþeling; Middle English kinebarn, from Old English cynebearn; Middle English alder, from Old English ealdor; and Middle English drighten, from Old English dryhten.


princess

From Middle English princesse, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman princesse, Old French princesse. By surface analysis, prince + -ess.

A Bulgarian open-faced baked sandwich prepared with ground meat.


dictator

desc

→ Pashto: ديکتاتور (diktātor), ډيکټاټور (ḍikṭaṭor)

→ Swahili: dikteta

→ Urdu: ڈِکْٹیٹَر (ḍikṭeṭar)

→ Urdu: ڈِکْٹیٹَر (ḍikṭeṭar)

From Latin dictātor (“a chief magistrate”), from dictō (“dictate, prescribe”), from dīcō (“say, speak”). By surface analysis, dictate + -or, literally “one who dictates”.

surf

(history) A magistrate without colleague in republican Ancient Rome, who held full executive authority for a term granted by the Senate, typically to conduct a war.


Klingon

[Alt: Photograph of two people in Klingon costume]
c. 1960s, from the Star Trek franchise, purportedly by Gene Roddenberry, named for Lieutenant Wilbur Clingan of the Los Angeles Police Department. In-universe, the name was a transcription of Klingon tlhIngan.

SPOCK: Captain, we've reached the designated position for scanning the coded directive tape.
KIRK: Good. We've both guessed right. Negotiations with the Klingon Empire are on the verge of breaking down. Starfleet Command anticipates a surprise attack. We are to proceed to Organia and take whatever steps are necessary to prevent the Klingons from using it as a base.

1967 March 23, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Errand of Mercy (Star Trek: The Original Series), Paramount Domestic Television, →OCLC:

(countable) Member of an alien warrior race in the Star Trek universe with distinctive forehead ridges and a culture based on strict observance of honour, loyalty, and combat.

克林貢 /克林贡

member of an alien warrior race in the Star Trek universe


Klingon

An artificial language created by Marc Okrand for the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.


broadsword

The Brythunian's arm drew back; the ancient broadsword with its strange, clawed quillons arcked spinning through the air.

1990, Robert Jordan, “Conan the Magnificent”, in The Conan Chronicles II, published 1997:

Henry carried a heavy broadsword with a cruciform hilt, and a decorated dagger on his hip known as a misericord because its blade could release souls. The English knights and men-at-arms carried broadswords, maces for smashing skulls and the murderous pole-axe, combining a spear with an axehead about five feet long.

2013, Colin Brown, “1415 Azincourt”, in Glory and B*llocks: The Truth Behind Ten Defining Events in British History, →ISBN, page 46:

(colloquial, often fantasy) Synonym of longsword


humanoid

From human + -oid from Latin hūmānus m (“of or belonging to a man, human, humane”, adjective).

der

A being having the appearance or characteristics of a human.

humanoid

a being having the appearance or characteristics of a human


unbinilium

systematic element name
systematic element name

The systematic element name for the (as yet undiscovered) chemical element with atomic number 120 (symbol Ubn).


anime

en-noun

anime (countable and uncountable, plural anime or animes)

Borrowed from Japanese アニメ (anime), an abbreviation of アニメーション (animēshon), itself borrowed from English animation, from Latin animātiō, from animāre.

Gotta get in tune with Sailor Moon / 'Cause that cartoon has got the boom anime babes / That make me think the wrong thing

1998, “One Week”, performed by Barenaked Ladies:

After three months of successful sales in manga form, it was made into an anime for television.

2005, Peter J. Katzenstein, A World of Regions, page 165:

Usually the manga comes first, though it may be an offshoot of a novel, and an anime may be inspired by a video game.

2005, Joan D. Vinge, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Eighteenth Annual Collection, page cix:

These anime prepared the way for Otaku no video, a two-part Original Video Animation (OVA).

2006, Thomas LaMarre, edited by Tomiko Yoda and Harry D. Harootunian, Japan After Japan, page 363:

(countable) An animated work that originated in Japan, regardless of the artistic style.


manga

manga (countable and uncountable, plural manga or mangas)

desc

→ Hindi: मांगा (māṅgā), माँगा (māṅgā), मैंगा (maiṅgā)

Black Cat (manga)
Hokusai
manga (disambiguation)

Borrowed from Japanese 漫画(まんが) (manga), from Middle Chinese 漫 (MC manH, “free, unrestrained”) + 畫 (MC hweaH|hweak, “drawing”). Compare Mandarin 漫畫／漫画 (mànhuà), Korean 만화 (漫畵／漫畫, manhwa). After an 1814 book by Katsushika Hokusai. Doublet of manhua and manhwa.

zh-l

漫畫／漫画 (mànhuà)

English speakers are quick to notice the at times incorrect use of English in anime and manga. Many English words are customarily used in standard Japanese speech, and sometimes they are pronounced and employed in a manner quite different from their native use.

2001, Gilles Poitras, “What makes anime unique”, in Anime Essentials: Every Thing a Fan Needs to Know, page 63:

Manga (Japanese comics) are everywhere. Even here in Auckland. One can find various titles in their original versions as well as in Chinese, Korean and English translations.

2007, Yukako Sunaoshi, “Who reads comics? Manga readership among first-generation Asian immigrants in New Zealand”, in Popular Culture, Globalization and Japan, page 94:

Manga-influenced comics by Western authors are frequently sold alongside manga, although in most bookstores the decision is primarily a matter of format and packaging (i.e., whether the book is printed in the compact manga size or the traditionally larger American comic book format).

2012, Jason Thompson, “Introduction”, in Manga: The Complete Guide, page 46:

(countable, comics) A comic originating in Japan.


doujinshi

en-noun

doujinshi (countable and uncountable, plural doujinshi or doujinshis)

Borrowed from Japanese 同(どう)人(じん)誌(し) (dōjinshi, “fan-produced manga or essay booklets”), from 同(どう)人(じん) (dōjin, “group for the same interest”) + 誌(し) (shi, “magazine or a pamphlet”).

ja-r

(manga) A fan-produced book or magazine of Japanese fiction; especially manga.


harem

en-noun

harem (countable and uncountable, plural harems)

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem) Turkish harem, from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram, “something prohibited; sanctuary, women”); and later also from حَرِيم (ḥarīm) with same meaning, both from حَرُمَ (ḥaruma, “be forbidden or unlawful”). Doublet of haram.

der

(uncountable) A genre of anime and manga in which a man is the love interest of three or more women.


Milton

The English place names are from Old English mylen (“mill”) or middel (“middle”) + tun (“settlement”).

The most vulgar man, when he prays, when he suffers, and places hope in heaven, has, at that moment, something in him, which he would express, like Milton, Homer, or Tasso, if education had taught him to clothe his thoughts with words.

1807, [Germaine] de Staël Holstein, translated by D[ennis] Lawler, “[Book X. Holy week.] Chap[ter] V.”, in Corinna; or, Italy. […], volume III, London: […] Corri, […]; and sold by Colburn, […], and Mackenzie, […], →OCLC, pages 59–60:

John Milton, an English author and poet of the seventeenth century.

John Milton's works or media adaptations of his works.

census-designated place
census-designated place

Chittenden County
Chittenden County#English

A town and census-designated place therein, in Chittenden County, Vermont, a suburb of Burlington; named for British statesman William Fitzwilliam, Viscount Milton.


teek

She stood there dumbfounded as the door swung open and banged against the inside wall, narrowly missing her.¶ I did that, she thought. I'm a... teek?

2011, Nate Kenyon, StarCraft Ghost: Spectres, →ISBN, page 140:

(science fiction) A telekinetic person; a person who has telekinetic abilities.


teek

en-verb

teek (third-person singular simple present teeks, present participle teeking, simple past and past participle teeked)

teeks (present singular third-person)
teeking (participle present)
teeked (participle past)
teeked (past)

Tears of pain came to his eyes—and he didn’t know which hurt more, the pain of the soup on his arm or the real shock he had received when he had forced himself to keep from teeking the falling soup halfway across the room.

1957 April 13, Robert Silverberg, “Hidden Talent”, in Worlds of If, page 27:

With a brief psionic push, Nova teeked them aside and into the rock, firing her rifle at the soft areas just above the creature's rib cage.

2011, Nate Kenyon, StarCraft Ghost: Spectres, →ISBN, page 44:

(science fiction, transitive) To use telekinesis on; to move (something) with the power of one's mind.


tractor beam

Possibly a shortening of attractor beam; note however the broader meaning of tractor (“machinery that pulls something”). Coined by American science fiction author E. E. Smith in 1931 in his novel Spacehounds of IPC, first serialized in Amazing Stories.

coin

Through it Stevens saw with satisfaction that the Forlorn Hope was not being abandoned; in the grip of powerful tractor beams, every fragment of the wreckage was following close behind them in their flight through space.

1931 August, E. E. “Doc” Smith, “Spacehounds of IPC”, in Amazing Stories, volume 6, number 5, page 549:

By the way they're braced, there are tractor beams and pressor beams and—there are vacuum tubes that have grids but apparently work with cold cathodes.

1945 June, Murray Leinster, “The Ethical Equations”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume 35, number 4, page 122:

We're caught in a tractor beam! It's pulling us in!

1977, George Lucas, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, spoken by Han Solo (Harrison Ford):

(science fiction) A device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance.


escape pod

(chiefly science fiction) Any small, secondary, emergency-use vehicle used to evacuate from the main vehicle during times of danger.


magician

/məˈd͡ʒɪʃən/

From Middle English magicien, from Middle French magicien.

A person who plays with or practices allegedly supernatural magic.

magjistar

practitioner of allegedly supernatural magic


astral

en-adj

astral (comparative more astral, superlative most astral)

more astral (comparative)
most astral (superlative)

From Late Latin astralis, from Latin astrum (“star”), from Ancient Greek ἄστρον (ástron, “star”).

Coordinate term: spectral

In the case of an inanimate body, […] when the physical object was broken the astral counterpart would also be divided; but it would not be possible to break an astral counterpart, and in that way to affect the physical object. In other words the act of fraction must begin on the physical plane. One could of course move a purely astral object by means of an astral hand if one wished, but not the astral counterpart of a physical object. In order to perform this latter feat it would be necessary to materialize a hand and move the physical object, when the astral counterpart would of course accompany it.

1911, Charles Webster Leadbeater, Theosophical Talks at Adyar, page 194:

"[I could] see her astral form sitting on the edge of her bed. She was waiting for me."

2005 03, Harry Highstreet, The OOBE File, Harry, →ISBN, page 123:

[He could] see her astral projection; she looked like a celestial being, holding her hand out to him. With relief rushing through his body, he called out to her, "I've got you angel, and I'm coming!" Hammering the gas the car took off[…]

2011 October 11, Kristi O'Toole, Under the Moon, PublishAmerica, →ISBN:

[Other actions], such as the moving of solid articles, either by an astral hand projected to draw them towards her, or by using an Elemental; others by reading in the Astral Light, and so on. But the proof of the reality of her mission from those whom she spoke of as Masters lay not in these[…]

2021 January 1, Annie Besant, Annie Besant, An Autobiography: Annie Besant, An Autobiography by Annie Besant: The Autobiography of Annie Besant, Prabhat Prakashan:

(parapsychology, theosophy, fantasy) Composed of ethereal material or non-physical (sometimes supersensible), and capable of sometimes separating from the physical body (as an astral body) to travel to other places or to other realms of existence (in or via the astral plane).

astraalinen

relating to a supposed supersensible substance


fighter

From Middle English fightere, fyghtor, feghtere, feghtare, fiȝtare, fiȝtere, from Old English feohtere. Equivalent to fight + -er.

Task Force 42 consisted of almost two dozen main line spinships, including the carriers Olympus Shadow and Neptune Station. Each of these can launch more than a hundred fighters or ALRs.

1990, Dan Simmons, The Fall of Hyperion, New York: Doubleday, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 32:

I toss around [37,654 tonne] dreadnoughts like they were fighters; dimly aware of the former crews being crushed to liquescence.

2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: Terminal Six (Legendary):

A class of fixed-wing aircraft whose primary purpose is to shoot down other aircraft, sometimes accompanied by a secondary purpose of attacking ground targets.

(science fiction, by extension) A starfighter


MP

en-noun

MP (countable and uncountable, plural MPs)

(fantasy, roleplaying games, board games, video games) mana points or magic points

roleplaying games; board games; roleplaying games; board games


Watson

and narrator of the Sherlock Holmes stories

Jefferson County
Jefferson County#English

A number of places in the United States:

An unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Alabama.

Livingston Parish
Livingston Parish#English

An unincorporated community and census-designated place in Livingston Parish, Louisiana.

McCurtain County
McCurtain County#English

An unincorporated community in McCurtain County, Oklahoma.

An unincorporated community in Loudoun County, Virginia.


quest

→ Macedonian: квест (kvest)

→ Russian: квест (kvest)

→ Ukrainian: квест (kvest)

From Middle English quest, queste; partly from Anglo-Norman queste, Old French queste (“acquisition, search, hunt”), and partly from their source, Latin quaesta (“tribute, tax, inquiry, search”), noun use of quaesita, the feminine past participle of quaerere (“to ask, seek”).

der

Cease your quest of love.

c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

Everything I have done pales in comparison to what I am about to achieve. I am on a quest... a quest for the most revered icon in Klingon history. An icon that predates the Klingon Empire, an icon more sacred than the Torch of G'boj -- More revered than Sabak's armor, and more coveted than the Emperor's crown!

1995, “The Sword of Kahless”, in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 4, episode 8, spoken by Kor, →OCLC:

In his first book since the 2008 essay collection Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature, David Quammen looks at the natural world from yet another angle: the search for the next human pandemic, what epidemiologists call “the next big one.” His quest leads him around the world to study a variety of suspect zoonoses—animal-hosted pathogens that infect humans.

2013 January 13, Katie L. Burke, “Ecological Dependency”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, archived from the original on 2017-02-09, page 64:

A journey or effort in pursuit of a goal (often lengthy, ambitious, or fervent); a mission.

(video games) A task that a player may complete in order to gain a reward or advance the story.

to rove in quest of game, of a lost child, of property, etc.

The act of seeking, or looking after anything; attempt to find or obtain; search; pursuit.


quest

en-verb

quest (third-person singular simple present quests, present participle questing, simple past and past participle quested)

quests (present singular third-person)
questing (participle present)
quested (participle past)
quested (past)

Next day we quested in search of our caravan, and after some pains recovered it.

1634, Thomas Herbert, Description of the Persian Monarchy now beinge the Orientall Indyes, Iles and other ports of the Greater Asia and Africk:

(transitive) To search for something; to seek.


magic

en-noun

magic (usually uncountable, plural magics)

→ Japanese: マジック (majikku)

From Middle English magik, magyk, from Old French magique (noun and adjective), from Latin magicus (adjective), magica (noun use of feminine form of magicus), from Ancient Greek μαγικός (magikós, “magical”), from μάγος (mágos, “magus”). Ultimately from Old Iranian, probably derived from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂gʰ- (“to be able to, to help; power, sorcerer”). Displaced native Old English ġealdor (survived in Middle English galder), and dwimmer.

toorkuns

use of rituals or actions exploiting the supernatural

աճպարարություն

illusion performed to give the appearance of magic or the supernatural

The application of rituals or actions, especially those based on occult knowledge, to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces in order to have some benefit from them.

The supernatural forces which are drawn on in such a ritual.

toorkuns

ritual associated with supernatural magic or mysticism

dwimmer

allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces

I learned a new magic after rescuing the tree fairy.

(gaming, countable) The ability to cast a magic spell.

(entertainment) The art or practice of performing conjuring tricks and illusions to give the appearance of supernatural phenomena or powers.

(countable) One such conjuring trick or illusion.


elf

en-noun

elf (plural elves or (now nonstandard) elfs)

elves (plural)
elfs (nonstandard plural)

A Dictionary of the English Language
Andrew Brice
Edmund Spenser
John Dryden
Laurence Eusden
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Oliver and Boyd
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Peter Heylyn
Sabine Baring-Gould
Sidney Lanier
Thomas Nashe
elf

→ Arabic: إِلْف (ʔilf)

→ Dutch: elf

→ French: elfe

→ German: Elf, Elfe

→ Japanese: エルフ (erufu)

→ Korean: 엘프 (elpeu)

→ Russian: эльф (elʹf)

→ Ukrainian: ельф (elʹf)

From Middle English elf, from Old English ielf, ælf, from Proto-West Germanic *albi, from Proto-Germanic *albiz. Ultimately probably derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elbʰós (“white”). Doublet of alf and oaf.

We may add, and our author has knowledge of the fact, that not even the Germans, those masterly delineators and imaginators of fairy-land, have shown greater or more exquisite insight into the lives and ways of elfs and fays than that which was shown by George Cruikshank.

1882 October 7, “The Life of George Cruikshank: in Two Epochs. By Blanchard Jerrold. […]”, in The Athenæum: Journal of Literature, Science, the Fine Arts, Music, and the Drama, number 2867, London: […] John C. Francis, […], page 471, column 1:

All the fairy tales of my childhood were conjured up before my startled imagination, and appeared to be realised in the forms which surrounded me; I saw the whole forest filled with trolls, elves, and sporting dwarfs.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 281:

Any from a race of mythical, supernatural beings resembling but seen as distinct from human beings. They are usually delicate-featured and skilled in magic or spellcrafting; sometimes depicted as clashing with dwarves and orcs, especially in modern fantasy literature.

(fantasy) Any of the magical, typically forest-guarding races bearing some similarities to the Norse álfar (through Tolkien's Eldar).

elf

fantasy: magical, typically forest-guarding creature


elf

en-verb

elf (third-person singular simple present elfs, present participle elfing, simple past and past participle elfed)

elfs (present singular third-person)
elfing (participle present)
elfed (participle past)
elfed (past)

My face I'll grime with filth, blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots, and with presented nakedness outface the winds and persecutions of the sky.

c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

(now rare) To twist into elflocks (of hair); to mat.


ogre

First attested in the 18th century, borrowed from French ogre, from Latin Orcus (“god of the underworld”), from Ancient Greek Ὅρκος (Hórkos), the personified demon of oaths (ὅρκος (hórkos, “oath”)) who inflicts punishment upon oath-breakers. Doublet of orc and Orcus.

And in the seventh tale of the third day of the same collection, when Corvetto had hidden himself under the Ogre's bed to steal his quilt, "he began to pull quite gently, when the Ogre awoke, and bid his wife not to pull the clothes that way, or she'd strip him, and he would get his death of cold." "Why, it's you that are stripping me," replied the Ogress, "and you have not left a stitch on me." "Where the devil is the quilt?" says the Ogre[.]

1828, Thomas Keightley, Fairy Mythology, volume II, page 237:

(mythology) A type of brutish giant from folk tales that eats human flesh.


alpha

From the Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), the first letter of the Greek alphabet, from the Phoenician 𐤀 (ʾ, “aleph”). Doublet of alif and aleph.

And thank you. Seriously. I'll call you later.
You better. I'm feeling pretty alpha now.
Yes, you are.

(of person, object or action) Exhibiting characteristics of the alpha male/female archetype.


beta

en-noun

beta (countable and uncountable, plural betas)

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta). Doublet of beth.

“I guess in your psychological language of alpha males and beta males, I would be firmly in the camp that prefers the more laid-back betas,” she took a deep breath, “like your father.”

2006, Catherine Mann, Blaze of Glory, Harlequin, published 2006, →ISBN:

“They want sexy, virile alpha males, yes? But that doesn't come with sensitive and loyal and all of that. That's a beta. A frickin' collie, Lola. […]

2010, L. A. Banks, “Dog Tired (of the Drama!)”, in Kevin J. Anderson, editor, Blood Lite II: Overbite, Gallery Books, →ISBN, page 121:

She'd always had a thing for alpha males. Not that she had any intention of being bossed around, even if one had her best interests at heart. Her fascination with alphas was that they were a challenge. Betas didn't hold much of an appeal.

2010, Terry Spear, Wolf Fever, Sourcebooks Casablanca, published 2010, →ISBN, page 24:

When they ride the cock carousel in preference to the responsible betas that they find so boring, well, we guess that they pay.

2015, Stephen Jarosek, Tyrants of Matriarchy:

News of Harper-Mercer's murder spree, which killed ten, prompted speculation on neoreactionary forums that the long-awaited “beta uprising” of virginal shut-ins had begun. Not quite. But in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, a large audience of Americans finally saw the real beta uprising in the violent Nazi rally that shut the city down

2018, Corey Pein, Live Work Work Work Die:

(slang, manosphere, masculism) Ellipsis of beta male, a man who is less competent or desirable than an alpha male.

beta male

Many A/B/O stories posit societies where biological imperatives divide people based on wolf pack hierarchies into sexual dominants (alphas), sexual submissives (omegas), and everyone else (betas).

2013, Kristina Busse, “Pon Farr, Mpreg, Bonds, and the Rise of the Omegaverse”, in Anne Jamison, editor, Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World, page 317:

In ASD, the beta also functions as a contrast, as Yuri is assumed to be a beta before his first heat reveals his omega status.

2017, Marianne Gunderson, "What is an omega? Rewriting sex and gender in omegaverse fanfiction", thesis submitted to the University of Oslo, page 99

Betas are usually second in command to the reigning alpha, and omegas belong to the lowest caste of the social hierarchy.

2018, Laura Campillo Arnaiz, “When the Omega Empath Met the Alpha Doctor: An Analysis of Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics in the Hannibal Fandom”, in Ashton Spacey, editor, The Darker Side of Slash Fan Fiction, page 119:

(fandom slang) In omegaverse fiction, a person of a secondary sex similar to normal humans, lacking the biological drives of alphas and omegas but generally capable of bonding and mating with either.


universe

From Middle English universe, from Old French univers, from Latin universum (“all things, as a whole, the universe”), neuter of universus (“all together, whole, entire, collective, general, literally turned or combined into one”), from uni-, combining form of unus (“one”) + versus (“turned”), perfect passive participle of vertō (“to turn”). Analyzable as uni- + -verse through backformation of -verse.

der

Alternative letter-case form of Universe; Our universe.


universe

God does not play dice with the universe

(mathematics) The set of all things considered.

Everything under consideration.
The set of all things considered.

Under our new World may alſo be compriſed thoſe vaſt Southern Coaſts and Streights of Magelan, firſt lighted on by Ferdinandus Magelanus in the year 1520, in his Circumnavigation of the Univerſe ; which forty five years after Sir Francis Drake, and next Sir Thomas Bendiſh, Engliſhmen, made a furhter inſpection into ; and in the Year 1600 Oliver van Noord a Hollander paſt, but of later years a Spaniard, Fedinand de Quier, out-ſhot them all by a more ample Diſcovery then all the former.

1669, John Nievhoff, translated by John Ogilby, An Embassy from the Eaſt-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham Emperour of China, London: John Macock, →OCLC, pages 3–4:

(archaic) The Earth, the sphere of the world.


mer

There are mermaids and mermen everywhere. They swim above us and linger in nooks and arched doorways. It's impossible not to stare. The mer are as diverse as humans—all ages, size, shape, and color.

2013, Missy Fleming, Into the Deep, page 65:


flight

en-noun

flight (countable and uncountable, plural flights)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *plew-
Proto-Indo-European *plewk-der.
Proto-Germanic *fleuganą
Proto-West Germanic *fleugan
Proto-West Germanic *-þi
Proto-West Germanic *fluhti
Old English flyht
Middle English flight
English flight
From Middle English flight, from Old English flyht (“flight”), from Proto-West Germanic *fluhti (“flight”), derived from *fleuganą (“to fly”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to fly”), enlargement of *plew- (“flow”). Analyzable as fly + -t (variant of -th).
Cognate with West Frisian flecht (“flight”), Dutch vlucht (“flight”), German Flucht (“flight”) (etymology 2).

etymon

The flight to Paris leaves at 7 o'clock tonight.

Where is the departure gate for flight 747? / Go straight down and to the right.

A trip made by an aircraft, particularly one between two cities or countries, which is often planned or reserved in advance.

(US, naval) A numbered subclass of a given class of warship, denoting incremental modernizations to the original design.


chaos

en-noun

chaos (usually uncountable, plural chaoses)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek χάος (kháos, “vast chasm, void”). Doublet of gas, which was borrowed through Dutch.
In Early Modern English, used in the sense of the original Greek word. In the meaning "primordial matter" from the 16th century. Figurative usage in the sense "confusion, disorder" from the 17th century. The technical sense in mathematics and science dates from the 1960s.

bor

(fantasy) One of the two metaphysical forces of the world in some fantasy settings, as opposed to law.