barcarole

/ˈbɑːkəɹəʊl/

/ˌbɑːkəˈɹəʊl/

/ˈbɑɹkəˌɹoʊl/

A computer synthesized version of the beginning of “Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour” or the Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann
Borrowed from French barcarolle, from Venetian barcaroƚa (“song sung by a boatman”), from barca (“bark, barge, boat”), ultimately from Egyptian bꜣjr (“transport ship; type of fish”).

der

Venice! dear beautiful Venice! scene of harmony and love! where all was gayety and mirth, revelry and pleasure, with what warm feelings do I recall thee to my memory; day and night were the gondoliers singing barcarolles, or the verses of [Torquato] Tasso and [Ludovico] Ariosto to Venetian airs; […]

1826, Michael Kelly, [Theodore Edward Hook], Reminiscences of Michael Kelly, of the King’s Theatre, and Theatre Royal Drury Lane, including a Period of Nearly Half a Century; with Original Anecdotes of Many Distinguished Persons, Political, Military, and Musical, New York, N.Y.: Printed by J. & J. Harper, 327 Pearl-Street, for E[vert Augustus] Duyckinck, Collins and Hannay, Collins & Co., W. B. Gilley, H. I. Megary, A. T. Goodrich, and G. & C. Carvill, →OCLC, page 90:

In Venice! This night is so delicious—its air / Full of moonlight and passionate snatches of song, […] / —with a song full of dole, / A forlorn barcarole, / As my gondola glides.

1867 February, “Aureolus Paracelsus”, “In a Gondola. (Suggested by Mendelssohn’s Andante in G Minor, Book I., Lied 6, of the ‘Lieder ohne Worten.’)”, in W. H. Bidwell, editor, The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, volume V, number 2 (New Series), New York, N.Y.: Published at No. 5 Beekman Street, →OCLC, stanza I, page 174:

(music) A Venetian folk song traditionally sung by gondoliers, often in ⁶⁄₈ or ¹²⁄₈ time with alternating strong and weak beats imitating a rowing motion.

A Barcarolle, with variations for the Pianoforte and flute, ad lib. by [Jean Théodore] Latour, opens with an introduction of great feeling and elegance. The Barcarolle is composed by [Jacques Féréol] Mazas, the great violinist, and has been played by him at the Philharmonic Concerts, and is original and graceful.

1822 May, “Report of Music”, in The London Magazine, volume V, number XXIX, London: Printed for Taylor and Hessey, 93, Fleet-Street, →OCLC, page 492:

But perhaps the best airs are those of Italy (particularly the Venetian) and Spain. […] The bolero, the barcarole, the canzonetta, and romance, have all the gaiety, softness, tenderness, and chivalry, which we associate with the troubadours, the gay squires, and sprightly dames, of the early ages of poetry and music.

1824, “A Collection of Admired Italian, French, German, Spanish, and English Songs, with a Progressive Accompaniment for the Spanish Guitar; by George Hervey Derwort. Nos. 1 to 13. London. Gow and Son.”, in Richard Mackenzie Bacon, editor, The Quarterly Musical Magazine and Review, volume VI, London: Sold by Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, 47, Paternoster-Row, →OCLC, pages 547–548:

[H]e was in the drawing-room before any of us; and I heard him at the piano while I was yet looking after my housekeeping, singing refrains of barcaroles and drinking songs Italian and German by the score.

1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, “Esther’s Narrative”, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, page 424:

Later in the evening Mr. [Anton] Rubinstein played his smaller pieces, such as the march from "The Ruins of Athens," his own "Barcarolle," and "Valse Caprice," and the enthusiasm and appreciation of his intelligent audience grew greater and greater.

1895 February, William Steinway, “William Steinway’s Reminiscences of Rubinstein”, in W. S. B. Mathews, editor, Music. A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Art, Science, Technic and Literature of Music, volume VII, Chicago, Ill.: Music Magazine Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 395:

(music) A piece of music composed in imitation of such a song.


alla marcia

(music) A tempo mark directing that a passage is to be played in the style of a march, usually with a 2/4 or 4/4 beat with an accent on the downbeat


alla marcia

(music) describing a passage having this mark


antiphonal

The antiphonal hymn was sung regularly at church.

(music) Characterized by antiphones or antiphony; incorporating alternate, or responsive singing by a choir split into two parts.

ainteafanúil

characterized by antiphones or antiphony


arpeggiate

en-verb

arpeggiate (third-person singular simple present arpeggiates, present participle arpeggiating, simple past and past participle arpeggiated)

arpeggiates (present singular third-person)
arpeggiating (participle present)
arpeggiated (participle past)
arpeggiated (past)

[…] Mr. Keezer arpeggiated chords a little flashily, but justifiably so; […].

2007 January 12, Ben Ratliff, “High-Toned Scats and Purrs by a Low-Profile Jazz Singer”, in New York Times:

(music, transitive) To play (a chord) as an arpeggio.

(music, of the notes of a chord) To represent separately on a score.


death ray

(science fiction) A beam of radiation that can kill.


flaring

en-noun

flaring (countable and uncountable, plural flarings)

Coordinate term: venting

Separate research suggests a switch from the flaring of methane to venting may be behind some of these vast outpourings. Flaring is used to burn unwanted gas, putting CO₂ into the atmosphere, but is easy to detect and has been increasingly frowned upon in recent years.

2023 May 9, Damian Carrington, “‘Mind-boggling’ methane emissions from Turkmenistan revealed”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(oil industry) The deliberate open-air burning of natural gas that is generated as a by-product of various petrochemical processes, especially oil extraction; gas flaring.


halftone

(music) Synonym of semitone, half the interval between two notes on a scale.


wayang

wayang (countable and uncountable, plural wayang)

Transliteration of Javanese ꦮꦪꦁ (wayang, “shadow; imagination; puppetry”), from Old Javanese wayaṅ via Malay wayang. Cognate with Dutch wajang. Sense of theatre extension from puppetry sense

translit

(Malaysia, Singapore, music) Any traditional theatrical work, combining drama, music, song and sometimes dance.

(Singapore) Traditional Chinese opera, performed outdoors. The equivalent term in Mandarin is 街戲／街戏 (jiēxì, literally “street opera”).


lowing

And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheepe in mine eares, and the lowing of the oxen which I heare?

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 15:14:

Nor is Oſiris seen
In Memphian Grove, or Green,
Trampling the unſhower'd Graſſe with lowings loud:

1629, John Milton, “On the Morning of Christs Nativity”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 11:

[…] the herd of four or five hundred cattle trotting homewards with loud lowings and bellowings […]

1918, William Henry Hudson, Far Away and Long Ago:


God Save the Queen

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


Marcha Real

/ˌmɑːtʃə ɹeɪˈɑːl/

/ˌmɑːtʃə ɹeɪˈal/

/ˌmɑɹtʃə ɹeɪˈɑl/

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


cantus

Learned borrowing from Latin cantus (literally “song, chant”).


barbershop

en-noun

barbershop (countable and uncountable, plural barbershops)

(uncountable, music) A style of a cappella vocal music, sung in four-part harmony, typically by a quartet of men.


diatonic scale

(music) A seven-note musical scale consisting of five tones and two diatonic semitones, formed by stacking six perfect fifths.


musical scale

A set of musical notes, typically ordered in pitch.

hudební stupnice

a set of musical notes, typically ordered in pitch


minor third

Coordinate term: major third

Alternative form: (abbreviation) m3

(music) A musical interval in Western music that approximates a frequency ratio of 6:5, spanning two degrees of the diatonic scale.


firelighter

A small block of a flammable substance, typically a combination of sawdust and wax, used to light fires.

подпалка

small block of a flammable substance used to light fires


major third

Alternative form: (abbreviation) M3

(music) A musical interval in Western music that is equal to or approximates a frequency ratio of 5/4. In twelve-tone equal temperament, it consists of four standard semitones, spans three degrees of the diatonic scale, and is enharmonically equivalent to a diminished fourth. Major scales are so named because of the major third interval between the tonic and mediant of a major tonic triad.


pealing

Then when the words were said, and man's form had tried to sanctify that which was already divine, we walked amid the pealings of the “Wedding March” into the vestry[…]

1895, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Stark Munro Letters:


man in the moon

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

nb...

Waterloo Place, London Oxford and Cambridge

ref

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

Cal[iban]. Ha'ſt thou not dropt from heauen ? / Ste[phano]. Out o'th Moone I doe aſſure thee. I vvas the Man ith' Moone, vvhen time vvas. / Cal. I haue ſeene thee in her: and I doe adore thee: My Miſtris [Miranda] ſhevv'd me thee, and thy Dog, and thy Buſh.

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 10, column 1:

Thy VVife is a Conſtellation of Vertues; ſhe's the Moon, and thou art the Man in the Moon: Nay, ſhe is more Illuſtrious than the Moon; for ſhe has her Chaſtity vvithout her Inconſtancy, 'S'bud I vvas but in Jeſt.

1695, [William] Congreve, Love for Love: A Comedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 24:

I knevv vvell enough at firſt, that theſe vvere mad, hare-brain'd Notions, and I thought no more of being ſerious in them, than I thought of being a Man in the Moon: […]

1723, [Daniel Defoe], The History and Remarkable Life of the Truly Honourable Col. Jacque, Commonly Call’d Col. Jack, […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] Brotherton, […], →OCLC, page 314:

I declare, quoth my uncle, I knovv no more vvhich it is, than the man in the moon;—[…]

1759, [Laurence Sterne], chapter VII, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, 2nd (1st London) edition, volume II, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], published 1760, →OCLC, pages 52–53:

[H]ow my little bit of dinner slides itself down my throat, I know no more than a man in the moon.

1859 November 26 – 1860 August 25, [William] Wilkie Collins, “The Narrative of Walter Hartright, of Clement’s Inn, London”, in The Woman in White. […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, […], published 1860, →OCLC, part I, section II, page 8, column 2:

As to all the higher questions which determine the starting-point of a diagnosis—as to the philosophy of medical evidence—any glimmering of these can only come from a scientific culture of which country practitioners have usually no more notion than the man in the moon.

1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XIII, in Middlemarch […], volume I, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book II, page 220:

An image of a man perceived in the dark maria (plains or "seas") and light highlands or other features of the Moon, originally regarded as a man with a burden on his back or accompanied by a small dog, and now more commonly as a man's face in the full moon or his profile in a crescent moon; hence, an imaginary man thought to be living on the Moon.

Mo im Mond

image of a man perceived in the dark maria and light highlands or other features of the Moon; imaginary man thought to be living on the Moon


drafting

en-noun

drafting (countable and uncountable, plural draftings)

(firefighting) The act or process of drawing water out of a source.


fire extinguisher

fire extinguisher (plural fire extinguishers)

/ˈfaɪəɹ ɪkˌstɪŋ.ɡwɪʃ.ə(ɹ)/

A device that can be used to put out a fire. Usually a portable cylinder filled with carbon dioxide, dry powder or water, in the latter two cases with some means of pressurising the cylinder to expel the contents.


sun dog

Either of two bright spots, caused by the refraction of sunlight through ice crystals, sometimes seen on the parhelic circle.


fire-resistant

Capable of withstanding fire, either permanently or for a pre-determined time.


moonbeam

Be kinde and curteous to this gentleman, / Hop in his walkes, and gambole in his eyes, / Feede him with Apricocks, and Dewberries, / With purple Grapes, greene figges, and Mulberries, / The hony bagges ſteale from the humble Bees, / And for night tapers, croppe their waxen thighes, / And light them with at the fiery Glowe-wormes eyes, / To haue my loue to bedde, and to ariſe, / And pluck the wings, from painted Butterflies, / To fanne the Moone-beames from his ſleeping eyes, / Nod to him Elues, and doe him curteſies.

c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, […], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

A moonbeam pierced the heavy cloud!

1850, Lydia Sigourney, The Brother from Poems for the Sea, page 70:

Quickly the moon sent a moonbeam down, and it shone through the window, right on the face of the sleeping child, kissed him, and gave him a pleasant dream.

1972, Ardyce DeLapp, Stories that Teach: A Collection, page 31:

The mountain flanked on the east by Devil's Peak and glancing to the right Lion's Head and Signal Hill shimmers and the residents at the foot of the mountain bask in the splendour of moonbeams.

2013, Lindsay Tonkin, Moonbeams and Shadows, page 28:


capri

Named after the colour of the sea around the Italian island of Capri, especially in the Blue Grotto.

capri:

A deep shade of sky blue between cyan and azure.


charred

en-adj

charred (comparative more charred, superlative most charred)

more charred (comparative)
most charred (superlative)


radioactive waste

en-noun

radioactive waste (countable and uncountable, plural radioactive wastes)

Dealing with all the radioactive waste left on site is a slow-motion race against time, which will last so long that even the grandchildren of those working on site will not see its end. The process will cost at least £121bn.

December 15 2022, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian:

For 75 years, it has fulfilled a wide range of roles: producing weapons-grade plutonium for early atomic weapons in the aftermath of the Second World War; the world's first commercial nuclear power station supplying electricity to the National Grid; reprocessing and storage of nuclear fuel; and the processing of lower grades of radioactive waste for off-site storage.

2023 December 27, Ben Jones, “Inside Sellafield... by rail”, in RAIL, number 999, page 20:


torbanite

torbanite (countable and uncountable, plural torbanites)

From Torbane + -ite, after Torbane Hill near Bathgate in Scotland, its main location of occurrence.

A variety of coal, derived from colonial algae, that resembles carbonaceous shale.


time constant

(physics) The time in which a physical system's response to a step-wise change in an external variable reaches approximately 63% of its final (asymptotic) value.

aikavakio

physics: characteristic of step response


radiological weapon

radiological weapon (plural radiological weapons)

A weapon, often a bomb, designed to achieve injury or contamination of a target by dispersing harmful radioisotopes.

放射性武器

bomb that injures or contaminates through radioisotopes


arc lamp

He walked. To the corner of Hamilton Place and Picadilly, and there stayed for a while, for it is a romantic station by night. The vague and careless rain looked like threads of gossamer silver passing across the light of the arc-lamps.

1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./1/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:

An electric arc arranged so as to produce useful light.

buelampe

an electric arc arranged so as to produce useful light


activation energy

activation energy (plural activation energies)

(physical chemistry, physics) The energy required to initiate a reaction. For example, the flame from the fuse of a firecracker provides a small initial amount of energy, after which the explosive reaction proceeds by itself, releasing a considerably larger quantity of energy. A small push given to a stable but top-heavy object may cause it to fall over; the potential energy released during the fall was present in the system all along but could not be realized as long as the object was upright and balanced.


foliated

(music) Having notes added above or below, as in a plain-song melody.


transuranium element

transuranium element (plural transuranium elements)

The main theme of TRL [Transuranium Research Laboratory] research with transuranium elements has been the exploration of a region of the periodic table that is relatively new and inaccessible to most scientists. […] Our research with the heavy elements has extended our knowledge considerably and tested our ideas concerning how the periodic table is constructed.

1983 spring, Richard Hahn, “Life at the End of the Periodic Table”, in Carolyn Krause, editor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Review, volume 16, number 2, Oak Ridge, Tenn.: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 25, column 1:

(chemistry) Any element having an atomic number greater than that of uranium.


trip hop

Journalistic coinage, blend of trip (“drug-induced hallucinations”, alluding to psychedelic music) + hip-hop.

blend

Trip-hop, on the other hand, takes the opposite approach. The genre can be described as a slower and dub-influenced reworking of African American hip-hop, aptly described by writer Phil Johnson as “dubbed-up hip-hop derived music...beats whose customary urgency is deconstructed into dreamy, erotic soundscapes.”

2013, Michael Veal, Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae, Wesleyan University Press, →ISBN, page 235:

(music) A genre of slow electronica combining elements of hip hop with melodic, often psychedelic, sounds and impressionistic lyrics.


catch fire

en-verb

catch fire (third-person singular simple present catches fire, present participle catching fire, simple past and past participle caught fire)

catches fire (present singular third-person)
catching fire (participle present)
caught fire (participle past)
caught fire (past)

Ships' logs noted observations of the northern lights as far south as the Caribbean, and telegraph systems across the world were disrupted as electrical currents were induced in the copper lines. Several telegraph operators received electric shocks and some telegraph stations even caught fire.

2023 November 15, Prof. Jim Wild, “This train was delayed because of bad weather in space”, in RAIL, number 996, page 30:

(idiomatic) To become engulfed in flames, to combust.


smokejumper

(US, Canada) A firefighter who parachutes into a remote area to combat wildfires and set up firebreaks.


Benedictus

From Ecclesiastical Latin benedictus (“blessed, praised”), from benedīcō (“I speak well (of)”).

bor

(music) The music that accompanies either of the above.


Fab Four

First, Mr. McCartney was often blamed for breaking up the Fab Four, and it took a long time for people to forgive him.

1976 May 16, John Rockwell, “McCartney—The Beatle With the Charm Is Back”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


symphony orchestra

en-noun

symphony orchestra (plural symphony orchestras)

(music) A large orchestra that traditionally plays Western classical orchestral music.


viola da gamba

viola da gamba (plural viola da gambas or viole da gamba)

viola da gambas (plural)
viole da gamba (plural)

Borrowed from Italian viola da gamba (“viol for the leg”).


firedamp

en-noun

firedamp (usually uncountable, plural firedamps)

From fire + damp with 'damp' not in the usual sense of 'moist' but old German, modern Dutch, Danish 'damp' as steam or vapour, hence a gas liable to catch fire.

(mining) An inflammable gas (mostly methane) found in coal mines; forms an explosive mixture with air.


segno

From Italian segno, from Latin signum. Doublet of sign.

(music) The sign 𝄋, indicating the start of a passage of music to be repeated.


sotto voce

/ˌsɒtəʊ ˈvəʊtʃeɪ/

Borrowed from Italian sottovoce (literally “under [the] voice”).


sotto voce

/ˌsɒtəʊ ˈvəʊtʃeɪ/

(music) Sung or played softly, instruments or voice.


sotto voce

/ˌsɒtəʊ ˈvəʊtʃeɪ/

(music) A direction in a score that a passage in a piece should be played softly, or sung in a low voice, when applied to vocal music.


custos

(music, historical) In older forms of musical notation, an indication, at the end of a line of music, of the first note of the next line.


presa

From Italian presa (“capture, seizure”).

(music) A symbol, such as ※ or :S:, used to indicate where a voice is to begin singing in a canon or round.


parlando

(music) A piece of music to be sung or played in the style of a recitative.


passaggio

(music) The transition area between a singer's vocal registers.


countermelody

(music) a secondary or supplemental melody played simultaneously with the primary melody.


rubato

en-noun

rubato (countable and uncountable, plural rubatos or rubati)

Borrowed from Italian rubato (“robbed, stolen”), since the time is "borrowed".

bor+

The etudes with metronome markings should be played in tempo, all others should be considered rubato.

2007, Michele Weir, Jazz Piano Handbook, Alfred Music Publishing, →ISBN, page 110:

(music) A tempo in which strict timing is relaxed, the music being played near, but not on, the beat.


lead vocals

(music) The primary words of a song, sung by the lead vocalist to the same tune as the primary melody


backup vocals

(music) The chorus and other words and sounds sung by backup vocalists to provide accompaniment to a song

(music) The people who sing these vocals


lead vocalist

(music) A singer (or one of a small group of singers) who provides lead vocals to a song


backup vocalist

en-noun

backup vocalist (plural backup vocalists)

(music) A member of a group of singers who provide backup vocals to a song

háttérénekes

a member of a group of singers who provide backup vocals to a song


vocals

(music) The words of a song together with other sounds sung by a vocalist


bagatelle

bagatelle (countable and uncountable, plural bagatelles)

Borrowed from French bagatelle, from Italian bagattella.

One afternoon in 1920. a young pianist sat down in a shuttered room in the capital of defeated Germany and played a Bagatelle by Beethoven.

2007, Norman Lebrecht, The Life And Death of Classical Music, page 7:

(literature, music) A short piece of literature or of instrumental music, typically light or playful in character.


thermonuclear weapon

thermonuclear weapon (plural thermonuclear weapons)

A weapon whose power is derived from nuclear fusion at high temperature


four-on-the-floor

A four-on-the-floor rhythm:
\drums<<{\hide\pp\repeat unfold16{hh8\\{\repeat unfold8{bd4}}>>}}

(idiomatic, music) A steady, uniformly accented beat with a 4/4 time signature in which the bass drum is hit on every beat.


extemporise

en-verb

extemporise (third-person singular simple present extemporises, present participle extemporising, simple past and past participle extemporised)

extemporises (present singular third-person)
extemporising (participle present)
extemporised (participle past)
extemporised (past)

(transitive, music) To compose extemporaneously or improvise.


nuclear power

en-noun

nuclear power (countable and uncountable, plural nuclear powers)

(uncountable) Power, especially electrical power, obtained using nuclear fission or nuclear fusion.


toe-tappingly

en-adv

toe-tappingly (comparative more toe-tappingly, superlative most toe-tappingly)

more toe-tappingly (comparative)
most toe-tappingly (superlative)

From tap one's toes. Also from toe-tapping.

I saw this at the end of last week, and it struck me how much more toe tappingly infectious and resonant NBC's score and songs were than The Lion King's.

1994 December 15, Pete Clinch, “Nightmare before Christmas”, in bit.listserv.cinema-l (Usenet):

the "goth rap" bit isn't quite as toe-tappingly catchy as it was before.

1996 April 24, Richard Stuart, “Review of Cradle Of Filth - 'Vempire'”, in alt.rock-n-roll.metal.death (Usenet):

Zoidberg: It's toe-tappingly tragic!

2001 April, Matt Groening, “Bendin' in the Wind”, in Futurama, season 3, episode 13:

In the manner of pleasing rhythmic music, as would make one tap one's toes.


alpha emission

(physics) A form of radioactivity in which alpha particles are emitted from the nucleus of an atom

alfasäteily

emission of alpha particles from the nucleus of an atom


deexcite

en-verb

deexcite (third-person singular simple present deexcites, present participle deexciting, simple past and past participle deexcited)

deexcites (present singular third-person)
deexciting (participle present)
deexcited (participle past)
deexcited (past)

(physics) To decrease the energy of something


beta decay

en-noun

beta decay (countable and uncountable, plural beta decays)

(nuclear physics) A nuclear reaction in which a beta particle (electron or positron) is emitted.


triplex

triplex (countable and uncountable, plural triplexes)

From Latin triplex. Analyzable as tri- + -plex.


harmonics

(physics, music) The science of musical sounds


(physics) A radioactive isotope of polonium, ²¹⁰₈₄Po, having a half-life of 138 days; it as used as a reference alpha emitter in the calibration of radiation counters


in the groove

Originally mid-19th century slang with (usually pejorative) reference to the difficulty of leaving a well-worn rut (see in a rut). As back in the groove, the phrase acquired a positive sense of returning to one's usual self after a period of illness, setbacks, &c. With special regard for music, originally 1920s US jazz slang, possibly with reference to the grooves of early records.

The jazz musicians gave no grandstand performances; they simply got a great burn from playing in the groove.

(colloquial) Running or performing extremely smoothly, especially (music, slang) playing perfectly, perfectly in sync with others, or with perfect focus.

The whole course of legislation... had flowed in the same groove for centuries.

1869, J.E.T. Rogers's preface to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, Vol. I, p. 27

[…] having such a wonderful time which puts me in a groove […]

There's a time in everybody's life when they know precisely what is right. And when I was doing that, when I was in the groove, I knew exactly what was right.

2005, Joe McCabe, Hanging Out With the Dream King: Conversations with Neil Gaiman, page 77:

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see in, groove.


Byzantium

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

byzantium:

A dark shade of purple, close to Tyrian purple and palatinate purple


spinto

From Italian spinto (literally “pushed”).

(music) A soprano or tenor voice of a weight between lyric and dramatic, capable of handling large musical climaxes in opera at moderate intervals.


echo chamber

But it would resound in the conservative media's echo chamber.

2007, Susan Faludi, The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America:

“What you’re going to end up doing is amplifying within an echo chamber, which is really different from what the movement wants,” said Dana Fisher, a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland whose research focuses on activism.

2020 March 19, Shola Lawal, quoting Dana Fisher, “Coronavirus Halts Street Protests, but Climate Activists Have a Plan”, in New York Times:

The videos were tailored for the “echo chamber” that is often created by social media networks like YouTube. To keep you watching, YouTube serves up videos similar to those you have watched before.

2021 April 15, Cade Metz, “Feeding Hate With Video: A Former Alt-Right YouTuber Explains His Methods”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(by extension) An environment in which a person is exposed to only those beliefs and opinions that agree with their own, so that their existing views are magnified and reinforced while alternative ideas are not expressed or considered.

信息繭房

environment which unilaterally reinforces one's own views, beliefs, or opinions

circle jerk

environment which validates a limited set of ideas and feelings


(physics) A radioactive isotope of thorium, ²²⁸₉₀Th, having a half-life of 1.9 years; it occurs naturally in small amounts, as member of the thorium-232 decay chain.


radiothorium

(physics) The radioactive isotope thorium-228


heliomagnetism

the magnetic field, and associated activity, of the sun


radiobioassay

(medicine) The analysis of radioactive material in the body or excreta


concert bass drum

concert bass drum (plural concert bass drums)

(music) A bass drum, normally suspended in a framework, used in static indoor performances


radiogold

(medicine) The radioactive isotope of gold, ¹⁹⁸₇₉Au, used in medical irradiation and in diagnosis


radiobiology

(biology) The study of the effects of ionizing radiation on living organisms


radiocolloid

Any colloid one or more of whose components is radioactive


radiodermatitis

(medicine) dermatitis caused by ionizing radiation


radiohydrology

The study of hydrology as used in the processing of radioactive materials.


radioimmunity

A reduced susceptibility to damage from radioactivity.


radioactively

en-adv

radioactively (comparative more radioactively, superlative most radioactively)

more radioactively (comparative)
most radioactively (superlative)


radiotracer

(sciences) A radioactive tracer; a radiolabel


radioimmunotherapy

en-noun

radioimmunotherapy (countable and uncountable, plural radioimmunotherapies)

immunotherapy using antibodies labelled with radioisotopes


(physics, medicine) The radioactive isotope of iodine, ¹³¹₅₃I, having a half-life of eight days; used as a medical tracer


radiolabel

en-verb

radiolabel (third-person singular simple present radiolabels, present participle radiolabeling or radiolabelling, simple past and past participle radiolabeled or radiolabelled)

radiolabels (present singular third-person)
radiolabeling (participle present)
radiolabelling (participle present)
radiolabeled (participle past)
radiolabeled (past)
radiolabelled (participle past)
radiolabelled (past)

To tag a substance (especially a biological substance) with a radioactive tracer


radiogenic

en-adj

radiogenic (comparative more radiogenic, superlative most radiogenic)

more radiogenic (comparative)
most radiogenic (superlative)

Of, pertaining to, or caused by radioactivity.


radioimmunoassay

radioimmunoassays (plural)
as RIA (abbreviation)

A procedure that uses the binding of a radioactively labeled substance to an antibody in order to analyze minute amounts of biological compounds.


Dyson sphere

Dyson sphere
Freeman Dyson
Freeman J. Dyson

After Freeman Dyson, who originally described the concept in 1960.

To the public, he’s more famous for giving science fiction the “Dyson Sphere,” a hypothetical structure a future civilization could build to harness the entire power of its sun.

2020 March 2, Katie Mack, “Freeman Dyson’s Quest for Eternal Life”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

A hypothetical system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to completely encompass a star and capture its entire energy output.


radioimmunology

The study of immunology using antigens or antibodies labelled with radioisotopes.


radioiodine

en-noun

radioiodine (countable and uncountable, plural radioiodines)

Thyroid cells, in contrast to other cells, have the capability to organify iodine, which increases the time radioiodine can deposit energy.

2008, Kevin J. Harrington, Richard G. Vile, Hardev S. Pandha, Viral Therapy of Cancer, page 336:

(physics, medicine) The radioactive isotope of iodine, ¹³¹₅₃I, having a half-life of 8 days; used as a medical tracer


radioimmunodiffusion

(biology) immunodiffusion using antigens or antibodies labelled with radioisotopes


radiolesion

Any lesion produced by ionizing radiation.


radioligand

Any molecule that has a radioactive tracer attached, especially one used for radioimmunoassay


radiomutation

(genetics) A genetic mutation due to the effects of ionizing radiation


radionucleotide

Any nucleotide labelled with a radioactive tracer.


radionecrosis

radionecrosis (countable and uncountable, plural radionecroses)

Any necrosis caused by exposure to ionizing radiation.


radiolysis

radiolysis (countable and uncountable, plural radiolyses)

(chemistry) The dissociation of a molecule as a result of radiation


radioelement

(physics) Any element whose currently known isotopes are all radioactive.


radiopharmacology

The science of the manufacture and use of radiopharmaceuticals


shouter

(music) A singer with an expressive, loud vocal style seen as reminiscent of shouting.

It certainly had merit as a punkish shouter with its machine-gun-spatter underbeat.

2013, James Arena, First Ladies of Disco, page 53:

(music) A song performed in this manner.


radiopharmaceutical

(pharmacology) Any radioactive substance used as a pharmaceutical


radiological

Of or pertaining to radiation, radioactivity or nuclear weapons.


radioresistant

en-adj

radioresistant (comparative more radioresistant, superlative most radioresistant)

more radioresistant (comparative)
most radioresistant (superlative)

Having a certain amount of radioresistance


radioprotection

Any form of protection against the harmful effects of ionizing radiation, especially caused by artificial sources.


cresset

From Middle English cresset, from Old French crasset, cresset (“sort of lamp or torch”); perhaps of Old Dutch or Old High German origin, and akin to English cruse and/or French creuset (“crucible”), the latter being from Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin *croceolus.

1805–1814, Dante Alighieri, Henry Francis Cary (translator), The Divine Comedy, "Inferno", Canto VIII
We reach'd the lofty turret's base, our eyes / its height ascended, where we mark'd uphung / two cressets and another saw from far

A metal cage, basket or cup with fire in it, used for various purposes:

(coopering) A small furnace or iron cage to hold fire for charring the inside of a cask, and making the staves flexible.


radiosensitivity

The relative sensitivity of cells or organisms to any form of radiation, but especially to the harmful effects of ionizing radiation


radioresistance

en-noun

radioresistance (countable and uncountable, plural radioresistances)

Any form of resistance that an organism has to protect itself against the harmful effects of ionizing radiation


lime

lime (countable and uncountable, plural limes)

From Middle English lyme, lym, lime, from Old English līm, from Proto-West Germanic *līm, from Proto-Germanic *līmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (“to smear”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Liem (“glue”), Dutch lijm, German Leim (“glue”), Danish lim (from Old Norse lím), Latin limus (“mud”).

der

Sellers moved on until he was actually trusted to operate the limes, the spotlights that can make or destroy an artist's act.

1980, Peter Evans, Peter Sellers: The Mask Behind the Mask, page 30:

Then out of the blue, a spotlight much like the “limes” in a theatre, lit up what seemed like a Punch and Judy tent […] He struggled even more, when from out of the shadows and into the bright light of the limes, stepped Uncle Jolly.

2018, Robert Charles Hines, Twists and Turns: 13 Tales of the Uneasy, page 121:


lime

From French lime, from Spanish lima, from Arabic لِيمَة (līma), from Persian لیمو (limu). Doublet of lemon.

lime:

web lime:

(uncountable) A brilliant, sometimes yellowish, green colour associated with the fruits of a lime tree.

WARNING: This is a lime. While it does not show explicit sex, as a lemon would, references to sexual situations abound.

1998 June 8, Gary Kleppe, “[Ranma][Fanfic] Tangled Web”, in rec.arts.anime.creative (Usenet):

Even with all the sex in Garden of EVA, I still think the main stories are better for just being the lemon-scented limes that they are.

1998 December 29, jiml...@earthlink.net, “[EVA][FanFic][Lemon] Garden of EVA 0:6x - Wet Dreams Bite!”, in rec.arts.anime.creative (Usenet):

I have no intention of writing any lemon scenes, limes are possibilities but unlikely and if they occur they will be few in number.

2001 November 27, Schemer, “[Ranma/SF][FanFic] A Learning Experience - Chapter 01”, in rec.arts.anime.creative (Usenet):

(fandom slang) A fan fiction story which contains sexual references, but stops short of full, explicit descriptions of sexual activity (coined by analogy with lemon).


radiotoxic

en-adj

radiotoxic (comparative more radiotoxic, superlative most radiotoxic)

more radiotoxic (comparative)
most radiotoxic (superlative)


radio-

e.g. radiotherapy, radioactinium, radiolucent


DI

en-noun

DI (countable and uncountable, plural DIs)

DI unit

recorded with a DI


euouae

Gloria Patri
Guinness World Records
Liber Usualis

From the vowels in the last two words of the final phrase of the Gloria Patri doxology in Latin: “[…] in saecula saeculōrum. Āmēn.” (literally “[…] into ages of ages (for ever and ever). Amen.”). In liturgical works used in Gregorian chant, instead of repeating the words, the letters were printed under musical notes to indicate how the syllables of the words should be sung in different melodies.

In the publicke ſervice of the Romiſh Maſſe there are words truly ridiculous, and which never were other then worthleſſe, as Evovae, Miſerere nobis, & Stabat mater doloroſa, and many the like, which nevertheleſſe in the Church of Rome are not ridiculous, becauſe they are authoriſed by the divine ſervice.

[1630, Peter du Moulin, “An Examination of Our Adversaries Reasons: Especially of Those of Mounsieur the Cardinal du Perron”, in Richard Baylie, transl., The Antibarbarian: Or, A Treatise Concerning an Unknowne Tongue. […], London: […] George Miller, for George Edwards, […], →OCLC, pages 211–212:

The above characters exhibit the eſſential parts of each of the tones, that is to ſay, the beginning, the meditation, and the cloſe, which is generally contained in the Euouae, […] [W]henever it [the word Euouae] occurs, as it does almoſt in every page of the antiphonary, [it] is meant as a direction for ſinging thoſe words [saeculōrum and āmēn] to the notes of the Euouae.

1776, John Hawkins, chapter IX, in A General History of the Science and Practice of Music, […], volume I, London: […] T[homas] Payne and Son, […], →OCLC, book III, page 358:

In the ancient breviaries and antiphonies, &c., the word EVOVAE frequently occurs, written under certain notes preceding the psalms appropriated to certain offices. […] Now to find the tone of the chant, we must take the first note of the Evovae, which is the dominant, or the prevailing, or reciting note of the chant (not the dominant as now technically understood by musicians): and we must take the last note of the Antiphon which follows the Psalm at length: […]

1854, William Farquhar Hook, “GREGORIAN CHANT”, in A Church Dictionary, 7th edition, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 361, column 2:

The first note of the evovae—the prevailing or reciting note of the chant—and the final note of the antiphon give the tone of the chant. This word, or rather this compages of letters, has, of course, no connexion whatever with the Bacchic shout of Io or Evoe. I should not allude here to this silly story were it not that on several occasions I have heard it repeated by persons who noticed the presence of the evovae in one or other of the books exhibited, and who evidently believed in its truth.

1886 November, W[illiam] H[enry] James Weale, “Liturgical Books. (Without Musical Notation.)”, in Historical Music Loan Exhibition, Albert Hall, London. June–October, 1885: A Descriptive Catalogue of Rare Manuscripts & Printed Books, Chiefly Liturgical, […], London: Bernard Quaritch, […], →OCLC, footnote 3, page 31:

[H]er leaves, my darling dearest, sinsinsinning since the night of time and each and all of their branches meeting and shaking twisty hands all over again in their new world through the germination of its germination from Ond's outset till Odd's end. And encircle him circuly. Evovae!

[1939 May 4, James Joyce, Finnegans Wake, London: Faber and Faber Limited, →OCLC; republished London: Faber & Faber Limited, 1960, →OCLC, part III, page 505:

The place where psalm incipits or evovae words or both should appear is particularly susceptible to confusing format. We have so far assumed the presence of a psalm, either incipit or evovae, for every antiphon; but there may be several psalms 'under' a single antiphon. […] In some sources neither psalm incipit or evovae may appear, and lacking these lesser points of reference the manuscript may employ a simpler scheme of initials.

1982, Andrew Hughes, “Office Books”, in Medieval Manuscripts for Mass and Office: A Guide to Their Organization, Toronto, Ont., Buffalo, N.Y.: University of Toronto Press, published 2004, →ISBN, page 166:

Under mode four, the incipit to the antiphon "Ex Egypto" and its EVOVAE are given as follows […]

1987, Dolores Pesce, “Hexachords: Seats of the Modes”, in The Affinities and Medieval Transposition (Music: Scholarship and Performance), Bloomington, Indianapolis, Ind.: Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 54:

[T]he notes set to euouae presented in the example are the differentiae, or termination formulas, for that particular rendering of the psalm.

2000, Hartmut Möller, “Office Compositions from St. Gall: Saints Gallus and Otmar”, in Margot E. Fassler, Rebecca A. Baltzer, editors, The Divine Office in the Latin Middle Ages: Methodology and Source Studies, Regional Developments, Hagiography […], Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, footnote 8, page 256:

In medieval music, a mnemonic for the Latin words saeculōrum and āmēn (from “ […] in saecula saeculōrum. Āmēn.” from the Gloria Patri doxology), used in liturgical works to indicate how the words should be sung with various cadences.


yellow cake

yellow cake (countable and uncountable, plural yellow cakes)

(mineralogy) Alternative form of yellowcake


A variant of the British 999, originally selected as an appropriate number for rotary-dial telephones and adapted in Australia because of the need to dial an initial 0 from remote exchanges to connect to the main trunk lines.

When you call 000, the Telstra operator usually answers the phone with "Emergency. Police, fire, or ambulance?"

The telephone number for emergency services in Australia.


fingerboard

(music, lutherie) A flat or roughly flat strip on the neck of a stringed instrument, against which the strings are pressed to shorten the vibrating length and produce notes of higher pitches.


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

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

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


rock steady

(music) Alternative spelling of rocksteady


rocksteady

“Maelcum a rude boy, Case. Garvey Maelcum boat.” His gloved hand slapped a panel and the bass-heavy rocksteady of Zion dub came pulsing from the tug's speakers.

1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 192:

(music) A genre of Jamaican music somewhat slower than ska.


filmi

(India, music) Music written especially for Bollywood films.


bandsman

(mining, historical) A labourer (loader) working with a band of men.


bandmaster

(music) The conductor of a musical ensemble, especially a brass or military band.


humbucker

From hum (“noise”) + buck (“resist, overcome”) + -er.

affix

(music) A pickup, on an electric guitar, that has a pair of coils of reverse polarity connected in series in order to reduce buzzing noise caused by mains frequency.


archtop

A style of large steel-stringed guitar having an arched belly, a neck at a slight angle to the body and a fretboard elevated above the soundboard.


crotalo

(music) A Turkish musical instrument, like the ancient cimbalom.


roundelay

From Middle French rondelet, diminutive of Old French rondel (French: rondeau). Ending -lay either from lay (“ballad or sung poem”), or from virelay.

It fell upon a holly eve,
Hey ho, hollidaye!
When holly fathers wont to shrieve,
Now gynneth this roundelay.

1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC:

When merry milkmaids click the latch
And rarely smells the new-mown hay,
And the cock hath sung beneath the thatch
Twice or thrice his roundelay,
Twice or thrice his roundelay;
Alone and warming his five wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.

1830, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poems, Chiefly Lyrical, Song - The Owl:

"Ay, fool," said Tristram, "but 'tis eating dry
To dance without a catch, a roundelay
To dance to." Then he twangled on his harp,
And while he twangled little Dagonet stood
Quiet as any water-sodden log
Stay'd in the wandering warble of a brook;[…]

1859, Alfred Tennyson, “(please specify the page)”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC:

For then the little birds do sing their sweetest song, all joining in one joyous medley, whereof one may scarce tell one note from another, so multitudinous is that pretty roundelay;[…]

1903, Howard Pyle, “Chapter First”, in The Story of King Arthur and His Knights, Part II, page 61:

(music) A poem or song having a line or phrase repeated at regular intervals.


Flying V

(music) A wooden electric guitar with a futuristic shape.


Stratocaster

A compound of strato- + caster, a clipping of broadcaster.

(music) A popular electric guitar manufactured by Fender.


uraninite

(mineralogy) Any of several brownish-black forms of uranium dioxide, UO₂, (especially pitchblende) that is the chief ore of uranium; it is isomorphous with thorianite.


music to someone's ears

From music (“any interesting or pleasing sounds”).

[…] Sweete Princesse of my life (said he) what Trophees, what Triumph, what Monuments, what Historis may ever make my fame yeeld so sweete a Musicke to my eares, […]

c. 1580 (date written), Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:

The time vvas once, vvhen thou vn-vrg'd vvouldſt vovv, / That neuer vvords vvere muſicke to thine eare, / That neuer obiect pleaſing in thine eye, / That neuer touch vvell vvelcome to thy hand, / That neuer meat ſvveet-ſauour'd in thy taſte, / Vnleſſe I ſpake, or look'd, or touch'd, or caru'd to thee.

c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 89, column 1:

[T]he hearing of ſuch conjugal faithfulneſs, vvill be Muſick to all chaſte ears […]

1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], chapter I, in The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC; reprinted as The Compleat Angler (Homo Ludens; 6), Nieuwkoop, South Holland, Netherlands: Miland Publishers, 1969, →ISBN, page 25:

[T]he earnestness and passion with which the young man uttered his feelings, made music to her ears: […]

1838, [James Fenimore Cooper], chapter IX, in Home as Found. […], volume II, Philadelphia, Pa.: [Isaac] Lea & Blanchard, successors to [Henry Charles] Carey & Co., →OCLC, page 139:

People who had an ax to grind, or people who for any reason wanted to get on the soft side of him, called him The Christian—a phrase whose delicate flattery was music to his ears, and whose capital T was such an enchanting and vivid object to him that he could see it when it fell out of a person's mouth even in the dark.

1906, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “Was It Heaven? Or Hell?. Chapter II.”, in The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 69:

And he led the way from the station, stopping once to gloat over the sunset across Trafalgar Square, and again to inhale the tarry scent of the warm wood-paving, which was perfume to his nostrils as the din of its traffic was music to his ears, before we came to one of those political palaces which permit themselves to be included in the list of ordinary clubs.

1909, E[rnest] W[illiam] Hornung, “An Inaugural Banquet”, in Mr. Justice Raffles, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 2:

"We should aim for a lower ambition," [Richard] Dannatt said. […] Not what you might call music to his boss's ears.

2006 October 15, “No Harm Meant, Honest”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Warner Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2010-11-23:

This will be music to the ears of contractors, manufacturers and suppliers, who have long argued that they cannot safeguard jobs if they have to live from year to year.

2024 May 29, Howard Johnston, “Network News: NIC criticises Government's West Coast 'do nothing' policy”, in RAIL, number 1010, page 16:

(idiomatic) A spoken expression or a sound which is pleasing; specifically, some good news, or welcome information or remarks.

佳音

spoken expression or sound which is pleasing

令人满意的消息 (lìngrén mǎnyì de xiāoxi, literally “news that makes one satisfied”)

像音乐一样悦耳 (xiàng yīnyuè yīyàng yuè'ěr, literally “as sweet-sounding as music”)

бальза́м на́ душу (balʹzám ná dušu, literally “balm on to one’s soul”)


treble staff

en-noun

treble staff (plural treble staffs or treble staves)

treble staffs (plural)
treble staves (plural)

(music) A staff that starts with a treble clef.


treble C

(music) the C note exactly one octave above middle C


low C

(music) the C note exactly two octaves below middle C


bass staff

bass staff (plural bass staffs or bass staves)

bass staffs (plural)
bass staves (plural)

(music) a staff which starts with a bass clef


grand staff

grand staff (plural grand staffs or grand staves)

grand staffs (plural)
grand staves (plural)

(music) a treble staff joined to a bass staff by means of a brace, with the treble staff on top


bass C

(music) the C note exactly one octave below middle C


carol singer

A person, often one of a group, who sings carols, especially at Christmas.


diviso

Borrowed from Italian diviso (literally “divided”).

(music) An instruction that a section of the orchestra (normally the strings) should divide itself into two, each taking separate parts normally notated on the same staff; either tutti or all'unisono cancels this instruction


reed stop

(music) An organ stop having the tone of a reed instrument.


sectional

(music) A band sectional, in which one section of a band or orchestra practices separately.

parcial

(music) rehearsal of part of an orchestra or band


middle C

middle C (plural middle Cs or middle C's)

(music) A specific musical note, particularly the note C4, at approximately 261.6 hertz, appearing at the middle of the alto staff and directly between the treble and bass staves.

(music) The key on a piano or other keyboard instrument corresponding to this note.


F clef

The F clef may be placed on the third or fourth or fifth line (from the bottom) of a five-line staff, and is then called the baritone clef, bass clef, or subbass clef, respectively.

(music) a clef which indicates the position of F below middle C in a given staff.


high C

(music) The note exactly two octaves above middle C.


hunting horn

(music) A bugle, being either simply curved (especially in heraldry), or having from one (in e.g. some Roman horns) to three (in many modern musical horns) spirals, on which signals are blown during a hunt.


bass clef

(music) A symbol showing that the second line from the top of the staff represents the F below middle C.


hammer-on

The virtuoso guitarist played a number of hammer-ons.

A stringed instrument playing technique performed (especially on guitar) by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on the fingerboard behind a fret, causing a note to sound.


caroler

It's Christmas at ground zero / There's music in the air / The sleigh bells are ringing / And the carolers are singing / While the air raid sirens blare

1986, "Weird Al" Yankovic (lyrics and music), “Christmas at Ground Zero”, in Polka Party!:


foot-tapping

en-adj

foot-tapping (comparative more foot-tapping, superlative most foot-tapping)

more foot-tapping (comparative)
most foot-tapping (superlative)

(music) Having an insistent rhythm; catchy


crotalum

/ˈkɹəʊtələm/

From Latin crotalum, from Ancient Greek κρόταλον (krótalon, “clapper, castanet, rattle”).

uder

(music) A kind of clapper or castanet used in religious dances by groups in Ancient Greece (including the Korybants) and elsewhere.

crótalo

a kind of clapper or castanet used in Ancient Greece


flashover

en-noun

flashover (countable and uncountable, plural flashovers)

The near simultaneous ignition of all combustible material in an enclosed area.

The overhead line was energised at 25,000 volts and the height of the contact wire was reduced to 11 in. above the chimney, then to 5 and finally to 2 in.; at this last, short distance the flashover occurred, but all the men were perfectly safe because the current went direct to earth through the locomotive.

1960 April, “Talking of Trains: Safety with 25kV a.c.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 203:

An unintended electric discharge or arc over or around an insulator.


castanet

From Spanish castañeta, diminutive form of castaña, from Latin castanea, from Ancient Greek καστάνεια (kastáneia, “chestnut”), possibly of Pre-Greek origin. Related to the chest in chestnut, formerly chesten.

der

percussion instrument
percussion instrument

(music, chiefly in the plural) A single handheld percussion instrument consisting of a pair of concave shells or shell-shaped parts joined on one edge by string.


tertian

From Middle English tertiān, terciān, terciāne (adjective and noun), originally often as part of the collocation fever cum terciane, after Latin febris cum tertiānā. Compare the "third" essence of tertiary.

(music) Pertaining to the mean-tone temperament, in which major thirds are perfectly in tune.


hautboy

desctree

→ Russian: гобой (goboj)
→ Armenian: հոբոյ (hoboy)
→ Azerbaijani: qoboy
→ Georgian: ჰობოი (hoboi)
→ Kazakh: гобой (goboi)

From Middle French hautbois. Doublet of oboe and hautbois.

I […] told John a Gaunt he beat his own name; for you might have thrust him and all his apparel into an eel-skin; the case of a treble hautboy was a mansion for him, a court […]

c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

[W]ee would that the voice and dialect of the propheteſſe Pythia, reſembling the ſpeech of a Chorus in a tragedie from a ſcaffold, ſhould pronounce her anſwers not in ſimple, plaine, and triviall termes, without any grace to ſet them out, but with Poeticall magnificence of high and ſtately verſes, diſguiſed as it were with metaphors and figurative phraſes, yea, and that which more is, with ſound of flute and hautboies: […]

1603, Plutarch, “Why the Prophetesse Pythia Giveth No Answers Now from the Oracle in Verse or Meeter”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, →OCLC, page 1199:

1694, uncredited translator, The Voyage into Spitzbergen and Greenland by Friderich Martens in An Account of Several Late Voyages & Discoveries to the South and North, London: Sam Smith and Benjamin Walford, Chapter 1, p. 12,
When after this manner any have lost their Ships, and cannot be seen, they discharge a Cannon from the Ship, or sound the Trumpets, or Haut-boys, according as they are provided in their Ships, that the men that are lost may find their Ship again.

[…] even in a hautboy song, or any other where a particular instrument may have an obligato accompaniment, the voice ought to be every where assisted, but no where eclipsed.

1788, Charles Dibdin, The Musical Tour of Mr. Dibdin, Sheffield, Letter 48, p. 197:

1816, William Hazlitt, “Theatrical Debuts,” The Examiner, 20 October, 1816, in A. R. Waller and Arnold Glover (eds.), The Collected Works of William Hazlitt, London: J.M. Dent, 1903, p. 341,
The notes proceed from her mouth as mechanically, as unmitigated by the sentiment, as if they came from the sharp hautboy or grating bassoon.

“Well, this is a bad night altogether for them that have done well in their time; and if I were ever such a dab at the hautboy or tenor-viol, I shouldn’t have the heart to play tunes upon ’em now.”

1878, Thomas Hardy, chapter 7, in The Return of the Native, volume 3, London: Smith, Elder, page 69:

(dated, music) An oboe or similar treble double reed instrument.

(music) A reed stop on an organ giving a similar sound.


drum stick

(usually in the plural) Alternative spelling of drumstick


chalumeau

en-noun

chalumeau (plural chalumeaus or chalumeaux)

Borrowed from French chalumeau, from Late Latin calamellus, diminutive of Latin calamus (“reed”), from Ancient Greek κάλαμος (kálamos, “reed”). Doublet of shawm and probably caramel.

(music) A woodwind instrument which was the predecessor of the clarinet.

chalumeau

woodwind instrument preceding the clarinet


concinnity

concinnity (countable and uncountable, plural concinnities)

Coined 1531 by Sir Thomas Elyot in his treatise, The Boke Named The Governor, from Latin concinnitās (“skillfully put together”).

uder

In the Terminology, or what, to avoid the barbarism of a word compounded of Latin and Greek, they would beg to call the Orismology of the science, they have endeavoured to introduce throughout a greater degree of precision and concinnity—dividing it into general and partial Orismology; […]

1815, William Kirby, William Spence, “Preface”, in An Introduction to Entomology: Or Elements of the Natural History of Insects: with Plates, 3rd edition, volume 1, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, published 1818, page xii:

(music) The harmonious reinforcement of the various parts of a work of art.


sextuple

Formed (in imitation of quadruple) from Latin sextus (“sixth”): compare French sextuple.


snow line

(astrophysics, specifically) The limit for water remaining solid instead of evaporating away under solar radiation.


stertorously

en-adv

stertorously (comparative more stertorously, superlative most stertorously)

more stertorously (comparative)
most stertorously (superlative)

The patient was now breathing stertorously and it was easy to see that he had suffered some terrible injury.

1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 28, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:

He was a plump little man and we had been walking uphill at a pace—set by him—far too rapid for his short legs. He breathed stertorously, and half the drops which glimmered on his rotund face were not rain but sweat.

1956, Delano Ames, chapter 23, in Crime out of Mind:

Captain McGarrigle, however, seemed to be in trouble. He was breathing stertorously, his throat and chest juddering like those of an asthmatic.

2000, Mark Gatiss, chapter 20, in Last of the Gaderene:

With heavy breathing, as if snoring; in a stertorous manner.


death metal

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

(music) A subgenre of heavy metal typically employing moderate to fast tempos, heavily distorted guitars, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes, often having violent or dark lyrics.


Helmholtz free energy

For Hermann von Helmholtz, German physicist.

A=U-TS where A is Helmholtz free energy, U is internal energy, T is temperature, and S is entropy.

absolute temperature
absolute temperature

(physics, thermodynamics) A measure of the useful work obtainable from a constant temperature, constant volume thermodynamic system; more precisely, the difference between internal energy (of a system) and the product of its absolute temperature and entropy.

Helmholtz free energy
Hermann von Helmholtz

亥姆霍茲自由能

measure of the useful work from a constant temperature system etc.


singer-songwriter

From Dvandva compound of singer + songwriter.

A musician who both sings and composes, especially when recording or performing his or her own compositions.


jam session

→ Portuguese: jam session

→ Spanish: jam session

→ Polish: jam session

Coordinate term: (folk music) hootenanny

There were some prerehearsals in small groups, but more often they were put together on the spot or just minutes prior to the practice jam sessions.

2016, C. Victor Fung, Lisa J. Lehmberg, Music for Life, page 170:

(music) An informal gathering of musicians to play music, especially improvised jazz or a similar genre.


schisma

Unadapted borrowing from Latin schisma, from Ancient Greek σχίσμα (skhísma, “cleft, division”), whence the orthographic borrowing skhisma. Doublet of schism.

der

(music) A very small interval equal to half a comma.


yesternight

From Middle English yesternyght, yisternight, from Old English ġiestranniht (“yesternight”), equivalent to yester- + night.

inh

What man was he talk'd with you yesternight
 Out at your window betwixt twelve and one?

c. 1598, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, act IV, scene 1:

It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

1611, King James Version of the Bible, Genesis 31:29:

[…] when the Templar crossed the hall yesternight, he spoke to his Mussulman slaves in the Saracen language, which I well understand, and charged them this morning to watch the journey of the Jew […]

1820, Walter Scott, chapter 6, in Ivanhoe:

[…] she has disturbed me, night and day, through eighteen years—incessantly—remorselessly—till yesternight; and yesternight I was tranquil.

1847, Emily Brontë, chapter 29, in Wuthering Heights:

I came here yesternight for a call of nature and to do what none can do for me[.]

1885, Richard F. Burton, chapter XXII, in The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, volume I, The Burton Club, page 228:


candlelight

en-noun

candlelight (usually uncountable, plural candlelights)

From Middle English candel lyght, candyllyght, candyll-lyȝht, candel liȝt, candle lyȝt, candeliȝt, candel-liht, from Old English candel lēoht (“candlelight”), equivalent to candle + light.


Haydn

Two years ago I rashly accepted a commission from Tring Chamber Music and Paul Barritt, leader of the Hallé orchestra, to write poems to read between movements of Haydn's quartet Opus 51, which meditates on Christ's "Seven Last Words". Haydn, commissioned in 1785 by Cádiz cathedral, wrote this music to go between words so it's hard to perform and listen to without some.

2014 April 18, Ruth Padel, “How to do justice to Christ's Last Words”, in The Guardian:

A surname from German; (music) used specifically of Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), an Austrian composer of the Classical period.


screamo

Audio (US)

(music) A genre of aggressive lo-fi guitar-driven music with predominantly screaming vocals, while preserving structural aspects of the emocore/hardcore emo genres of the early 1990's.

(music) A genre of guitar-driven music combining late 1990's emo indie rock with interludes of screaming vocals, often accompanied by hardcore or metalcore guitar riffs.

(music) Any punk rock-inspired music that involves screaming vocals, typically referring to the genres described above as well as certain subgenres of hardcore punk.


schismatic

[ʃɪzˈmæɾ.ɪk]

[ʃɪzˈmæɾ.ɪk]

From Middle English scismatik with etymological respelling, from Middle French scismatique, from Latin schismaticus, from Ancient Greek σχισματικός (skhismatikós), from σχίσμα (skhísma, “cleft, division”). The music sense is based on schisma, from the same ultimate Greek source; compare schism.


electro

en-noun

electro (countable and uncountable, plural electros)

/ɪˈlɛk.tɹəʊ/

(uncountable, music) An electronic style of hip hop; electrofunk.


unplugged

(music) Using acoustic instruments, especially instead of electric ones.


floodlight

(chiefly in the plural) Powerful artificial illumination with a broad beam, especially in a series of units on pylons used to illuminate a sports ground.

fladebelysning

powerful artificial illumination with a broad beam


snarling

When dogs fight, there are usually preliminaries to the actual combat — snarlings and bristlings and stiff-legged struttings. But White Fang learned to omit these preliminaries.

1906 May–October, Jack London, White Fang, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 3 (The Gods of the Wild), pages 144–145:


Motown

Blend of motor + town; see Motor City. The poker slang comes from jacks and fives sounding similar to Jackson 5, associated with Motown popular music.

They may be a rock band, but their retro style shows a heavy Motown influence.

(music, often attributive) A style of popular soul music strongly associated with Motown Records.


jack-o'-lantern

Originally, a night watchman who carried a lantern. (See Jack.)
Attested as a term for ignis fatuus in English folklore in the 1660s, mostly in East Anglia but also in southwestern England.
The sense of carved pumpkin in American English is attested in 1834.

A carved pumpkin whose top and stem have been cut out and interior removed, leaving a hollow shell that is then decorated to represent a face, illuminated from within by a candle. It is a symbol of Halloween.


title track

(music, film) An audio track having the same name as the album, EP or film that it is taken from.

nimiraita

music, film: audio track with same name as the album, film etc. it is taken from


prolation

prolation (countable and uncountable, plural prolations)

/pɹəʊˈleɪʃən/

From Latin prolationem, from the past participle stem of proferre (“bring forward, produce”).

(music) The relative time value of a minim to a semibreve in medieval music.


fractionation

fractionation (countable and uncountable, plural fractionations)

From fraction + -ation or fractionate + -ion.

(radiotherapy) The division of a total dose of radiation into fractions.


(physics) A doubly magic isotope of hassium - ²⁷⁰₁₀₈Hs; it is the longest-lived one known, having a half-life of several seconds.


(physics) An artificially produced radioactive isotope of potassium, ⁴³₁₉K, having a half-life of 22 hours; used in medicine as a tracer


potassium-argon dating

potassium-argon dating (usually uncountable, plural potassium-argon datings)

(geology) A method of estimating the age of igneous rocks or of archaeological objects by measuring the amount of argon that has built up through the radioactive decay of potassium.


(physics) A naturally-occurring radioactive isotope of potassium, ⁴⁰₁₉K, having nineteen protons and twenty-one neutrons, and a half-life of 1.3 billion years; it is the chief source of natural radioactivity in living tissue


(physics) An artificially produced radioactive isotope of potassium, ⁴²₁₉K, having a half-life of 12.4 hours; used in medicine as a tracer


radioactive decay

radioactive decay (countable and uncountable, plural radioactive decays)

(physics) Any of several processes by which unstable nuclei emit subatomic particles and/or ionizing radiation and disintegrate into one or more smaller nuclei.


alternative rock

It seems as if every passing year sees the mainstream embrace a longtime cult-favorite alternative rock band.

1995 June 3, David Sprague, “Buffalo Tom Reaches Crossroads: EastWest Trio At Make-Or-Break Point”, in Billboard, volume 107, number 22, page 9:

(music) A genre of rock music that is normally published on independent labels, comprising of many different subgenres, mostly distinguished by the prevalence of thick and distorted guitar music.


reload

en-verb

reload (third-person singular simple present reloads, present participle reloading, simple past and past participle reloaded)

reloads (present singular third-person)
reloading (participle present)
reloaded (participle past)
reloaded (past)

We're gonna make the stars come out tonight. So why don't you reload,reload, re reload the music?

2013 February 15, “Reload” (track 3), in The Ascent, performed by Wiley, Ms D, and Chip:

[Verse 2:Kano]:[…]Mad, reload ting. Pop, pop, pop that's a reload ting. And when I say "It's Kano in the house", everybody knows that's a reload ting.

2016 March 4, “3 Wheel-Ups” (track 4), in Made in the Manor, performed by Kano (British musician),Giggs (rapper),Wiley (musician):

To load (something) again.
(music) To replay music in a DJ set.

To load (something) again.
To replay music in a DJ set.


veloce

(music) (To be played) with great rapidity.


reveille

en-noun

reveille (countable and uncountable, plural reveilles)

From French réveillez, imperative form of réveiller (“to wake”) .

A bugler and his brisk reveille woke them most mornings.

2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 53:

(military) The sounding of a bugle or drum early in the morning to awaken soldiers.

ցայգանվագ

the sounding of a bugle or drum early in the morning to awaken soldiers


wave field synthesis

The use of mathematics and a large number of loudspeakers to accurately reproduce a given field of sound.


firelight

firelight (countable and uncountable, plural firelights)

He sat on by the cheerful firelight thrown from a bundle of green ash-sticks laid across the dogs; the sticks snapped pleasantly, and hissed out bubbles of sap from their ends.

1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter XXXI, in Tess of the d'Urbervilles:

He glanced continually at the diamond-panes of the casement, gleaming dimly in the firelight, and cocked his ear toward the door, as if half expecting to hear the pad of furtive feet in the corridor without.

1936, Robert E. Howard, chapter 8, in The Hour of the Dragon:

Dane was startled out of the contemplation of his misery to see the medic on his knees before their row of canteens, the vial of water purifier held to the firelight for a closer inspection.

1959, Andre Norton, chapter IV, in Voodoo Planet:

The light of a fire, such as from a campfire or fireplace.


activation analysis

activation analysis (plural activation analyses)

(physical chemistry) Any of several similar radiochemical techniques of analysis in which a subatomic particle or gamma ray is captured by a nuclide to form a second stable nuclide which is then measured.

analyse par activation

technique in which a subatomic particle or gamma ray is captured by a nuclide


coal seam

Alternatively, the N.C.B. agrees to pay a percentage of the cost of any repairs or preventive work that ensues from working the coal seam.

1961 November, “Talking of Trains: The subsidence problem”, in Trains Illustrated, page 651:

(geology) A stratum of coal between strata of other rocks.

煤層

a stratum of goal between strata of other rocks


Geiger counter

/ˈɡaɪɡə ˈkaʊntə/

/ˈɡaɪɡɚ ˈkaʊntɚ/

Ernest Rutherford
Geiger counter
Hans Geiger

Named after Hans Geiger who developed the first such device in 1908 together with Ernest Rutherford.

Figure 27 shows a Geiger counter, used to detect ionizing radiation. The counter consists of a thin central wire, carrying a positive charge, surrounded by a concentric circular conducting cylinder, carrying an equal negative charge.

1988, David Halliday, Robert Resnick, Fundamentals of Physics, 3rd edition, page 387:

A device designed to detect radioactivity and measure its intensity.


cutie pie

Most hospitals stock cutie pies to monitor radiation contamination levels during an emergency.

2014, Mary Alice Statkiewicz Sherer, Paula J. Visconti, E. Russell Ritenour, Workbook for Radiation Protection in Medical Radiography, page 23:

(slang) A small hand-held radiation meter.


cadenced

en-adj

cadenced (comparative more cadenced, superlative most cadenced)

more cadenced (comparative)
most cadenced (superlative)

(music) Having a regular, rhythmic cadence.


flageolet

(music) A type of small flute of the fipple family.

(music) A technique for playing stringed instrument that produces high-pitched overtones.


clop

Perhaps from German or Dutch kloppen (“to hit, knock”), from Middle Dutch cloppen (“to make a clopping sound”), of onomatopoeic origin. See also clap.

der

(slang) My Little Pony-themed pornography.


clop

en-verb

clop (third-person singular simple present clops, present participle clopping, simple past and past participle clopped)

clops (present singular third-person)
clopping (participle present)
clopped (participle past)
clopped (past)

Robert Loo sat and listened behind his counter, his heart aching, his eyes staring at nothing, while his brothers cheerfully clopped around, occasionally calling to the kitchen, as customers drifted somnambulistically in.

1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 569:

To make this sound; to walk so as to make this sound.


c-note

(banknote): From the Roman numeral C (“100”) (which was printed on it) + note. Attested from the 1920s.

(music) The first note in the C chromatic and major scales.


scat singing

(jazz, singing) The act of vocalizing, using nonsense syllables or sounds (e.g. "dool-yuh doot-n dwee-dah") to create an improvised melodic solo, often imitative of other musical instruments.


neo soul

She want neo-soul, this hip-hop is old / She don't want no Rock n' Roll

2002, “The Seed (2.0)”, in Phrenology, performed by The Roots:

(music) A subgenre of rhythm and blues that combines the elements of contemporary rhythm and blues, 1970s-style soul music, hip hop, rap, jazz, funk, and classical music.


synthpop

Coordinate term: electropop

As well as being forefathers of the synthpop that would dominate the 1980s and beyond, the title track of Trans-Europe Express was sampled in 1982 by Afrika Bambaataa & the Soul Sonic Force for one of the earliest hip-hop hits, Planet Rock, while Computer World was hugely influential on the house and techno music that emerged from Chicago and Detroit that decade.

2020 May 6, Ben Beaumont-Thomas, “Florian Schneider, Kraftwerk co-founder, dies aged 73”, in The Guardian:

Steve Bronski, a founding member of the trailblazing British synth-pop trio Bronski Beat, has died, a source close to the group has confirmed.

2021 December 9, Laura Snapes, “Steve Bronski: co-founder of Bronski Beat dies aged 61”, in The Guardian:

(music) A style of pop music in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument.


Eurodance

Coordinate term: Europop

A left field U.S. pick, this combination of big beat Eurodisco (or is that Eurodance now?) and westernized Japanese musical motifs is the unlikely work of a Scottish doctor’s wife and singer of traditional Gaelic folk songs.

1981 November 14, “Singles Review”, in Cash Box, volume XLIII, number 26, →ISSN, page 11:

Though the genre's formation took place in several countries across Europe, 20 years later Eurodance became the internationally most widespread popular music from Germany.

2020, Oliver Seibt, Martin Ringsmut, David-Emil Wickström, editors, Made in Germany: Studies in Popular Music, Routledge, →ISBN:

A type of European synthesizer-driven dance music which became popular worldwide in the early- to mid-1990s and continuing up until today.


minimalism

en-noun

minimalism (countable and uncountable, plural minimalisms)

(music) A style of music that emphasises extreme simplicity of rhythms and melodic forms to achieve a trancelike effect.


infinito

Borrowed from Italian. Doublet of infinite.

(music) infinite; perpetual, as a canon whose end leads back to the beginning


overtone

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

From over- + tone, calque of German Oberton.

(physics, music) A tone whose frequency is an integer multiple of another; a member of the harmonic series.


semplice

(music) (To be played) simply, without embellishments.


industrialist

Like a lot of second-wave industrialists, Skinny Puppy's attraction to rhythm wasn't consciously political, but based in the pleasure of making and moving to a beat; Key was, after all, a drummer.

2013, S. Alexander Reed, Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music, page 174:

(music) One who performs or enjoys industrial music.


true blue

From true (adjective) + blue (“steadfastly faithful or loyal”, adjective). The symbolism of the colour blue as representing constancy, faithfulness, loyalty, and truth may derive from the constant colour of the sky, or the tendency of certain blue dyes to resist fading, especially those made in Coventry.
Adjective senses 1.1.2 (“of or pertaining to the Tory, and now the Conservative, political party”) and 1.1.3 (“of or pertaining to the Scottish Presbyterian or Whig political party in the 17th century”) probably both allude to sense 1 (“steadfastly faithful or loyal”). Sense 1.1.2 may also allude to sense 1.1.3 which is older, and sense 1.1.3 may partly allude to the blue colour of the flag of Scotland.

истински

representing the true essence of something — see also authentic, genuine

[…] Mr. Wenham himself was a staunch old True Blue Tory, and his father a small coal-merchant in the north of England […]

1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “In which a Charade is Acted which May or May Not Puzzle the Reader”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 455:

Not that he is a violent Whig, or perhaps that he is a Whig at all. But he jeers and sneers at the old county doings; […] All this is deeply regretted, for, in the old days, there was no portion of the county more decidedly true blue than that Framley district; […]

1860 January – 1861 April, Anthony Trollope, “The Framley Set, and the Chaldicotes Set”, in Framley Parsonage. […] (Collection of British Authors; 551), copyright edition, volume I, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published April 1861, →OCLC, pages 17–18:

Steadfastly faithful or loyal; unwavering in loyalty; staunch, true.

(UK) Of or pertaining to the (historical) Tory, and now the Conservative, political party; hence, steadfastly conservative.

For his Religion it was fit / To match his Learning and his Wit: / 'Twas Presbyterian true blew, / For he was of that stubbon Crew / Of Errant Saints, whom all men grant / To be the true Church Militant: […]

1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto I.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 8:

This was a tough true-blue presbyterian, called Deans, who, though most obnoxious to the Laird on account of principles in church and state, contrived to maintain his ground upon the estate […]

1818 July 25, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 190:

And werenae the folk guid sound Whigs and true-blue Prebyterians I would hae seen them ayont Jordan and Jeroozlem or I would have set hand to it.

1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Bass”, in Catriona, London, Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson & Sons, →OCLC, page 168:

(Scotland, historical) Of or pertaining to the Scottish Presbyterian or Whig political party in the 17th century; hence, steadfastly Presbyterian.

jyrkästi presbyteerinen

of or pertaining to the Scottish Presbyterian or Whig political party in the 17th century; steadfastly Presbyterian


true blue

en-noun

true blue (countable and uncountable, plural true blues)

A mild Liberalism prevailed, a Liberalism that would be regarded as hide-bound Toryism now, but was daring enough in those days. One man who had been to work in Northampton proclaimed himself a Radical; but he was cancelled out by the landlord, who called himself a ‘true blue’.

1939, Flora Thompson, “At the ‘Wagon and Horses’”, in Lark Rise to Candleford: A Trilogy, London: Penguin Books, published 1973, →ISBN, pages 65–66:

(countable) A faithful partisan or supporter of a cause, person, political party, etc.

vankkumaton tukija

faithful partisan or supporter of a cause, etc.

(uncountable, historical) A blue dye from Coventry, England, famous for not washing out.

true blue

(color models and color spaces) A precisely defined pure blue, as for example web color #0000FF = RGB(0,0,255).


ensalada

Borrowed from Spanish ensalada. Doublet of salad.

(music) A genre of polyphonic secular music mixing languages and dialects and nonsensical quodlibets.


pean

Derived from Middle French penne (“feather”), from penna (“feather”); doublet of pen and penna.

der+

(heraldry) A heraldic fur of gold spots on a black field.


pean

(heraldry): In blazon, a heraldic fur of a black field. with gold spots

kontraguldhermelin

of black colour with gold spots on a coat of arms


ligroin

en-noun

ligroin (countable and uncountable, plural ligroins)

Uncertain, but possibly from Ancient Greek λιγυρός (ligurós, “clear”).

uder

(archaic) A petroleum fraction boiling 75°-125°C used as a solvent and fuel.


petroleum ether

A volatile petroleum fraction, usually available in a number of fractions boiling between 40°C and 140°C. Used as a solvent in the laboratory and industry.


tassa

African men in the district also excelled on the tassa drums at the Indian weddings and hosay festivals, playing alongside their Indian fellow villagers.

1999, Kenrick P. Thomas, Panriga: Tacarigua's Contribution to the Evolution of the Steelband Phenomenon in Trinidad and Tobago:

He was widely recognized as the finest tassa player in the area. Some may be skilled, but his was a gift.

2006, Hemchand Gossai, River Crossings: Memories of a Journey, →ISBN:

Together, the four tassa players produced an intoxicating rhythm that held the visitors almost entranced. A group of old Indian women in bright coloured saris were waiting for the tassa group to finish their performance so that they might start singing the traditional wedding songs.

A large Indian drum, traditionally played at weddings.


aromatization

en-noun

aromatization (countable and uncountable, plural aromatizations)

(petrochemistry) The conversion of aliphatic components of petroleum into aromatic compounds as part of the refining process.


Shepard tone

(music) A superposition of sine waves, separated by an octave, whose relative amplitude may be varied to give the illusion of a rising or falling note.


Shepard scale

(music) A series of Shepard tones constructed to give the illusion of a continuously rising (or falling) series of notes.


handbell

From Middle English handbelle, hande belle, from Old English handbelle (“handbell”). By surface analysis, hand + bell.

The bell sounded. It was a hand-bell, rung by a boy in the next class-room.

1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 58:

(music) A small bell designed to be rung by hand.


toner

toner (countable and uncountable, plural toners)

→ Catalan: tòner

→ Czech: toner

→ French: toner

→ German: Toner

→ Portuguese: toner

→ Spanish: tóner

Powder used in laser printers and photocopiers to form the text and images on the printed paper.

то́нер

powder used in laser printers and photocopiers

Cosmetic lotion designed to cleanse the skin and shrink pores, usually used on the face.

洗劑

cosmetic lotion designed to cleanse the skin and shrink pores

(archaic or dialectal) A musician, particularly one that plays a wind instrument.


sunburst

sunburst (countable and uncountable, plural sunbursts)

(countable) A strong outburst of sunlight.

The L-30 was finished all over in black, the L-37 in sunburst.

1996, Ken Achard, The History and Development of the American Guitar, page 10:

(uncountable) A style of finish for musical instruments such as guitars, having an area of lighter color (often showing the wood grain underneath) that darkens gradually towards a dark outer rim.


megamix

(music) A remix taking the form of a medley, with radical alterations and many constituent pieces of music.

mégamix

a remix taking the form of a medley, with radical alterations and many constituent pieces of music


manichord

Latin monochordon, from Ancient Greek μονόχορδον (monókhordon), influenced by Latin manus (“hand”). So called because it originally had only one string. See monochord.


ossia

(music) In a musical score, an alternative version of a passage, usually just a few measures long. The alternative is usually an easier version of a particularly difficult passage.


stertorous

en-adj

stertorous (comparative more stertorous, superlative most stertorous)

more stertorous (comparative)
most stertorous (superlative)

Baldy had not moved since lying down, and his regular and somewhat sterterous breathing […] told Monica that he was alive and resting comfortably.

1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter IX, in The Understanding Heart:


burble

From Middle English burblen (“to bubble”), imitative.

onomatopoeic

imitative

Marta's gander was a magnificent snow-white bird: the object of terror to foxes, children and dogs. She had reared him as a gosling; and whenever he approached, he would let fly a low contented burble and sidle his neck around her thighs.

1988, Bruce Chatwin, Utz, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN; republished London: Vintage Books, 2005, →ISBN, page 50:

A bubbling, gurgling sound, as of a creek.


burble

en-verb

burble (third-person singular simple present burbles, present participle burbling, simple past and past participle burbled)

burbles (present singular third-person)
burbling (participle present)
burbled (participle past)
burbled (past)

onomatopoeic

imitative

She burbled on, as if I cared to listen.

"No, Jo, it wasn't one bit crowded, there was room enought ^([sic]) for everyone," she burbled on. "And we were there, and all these other wymeen too, of all shapes, sizes, and colors..."

1980 August 16, Andrea Loewenstein, “Random Lust”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 5, page 19:

“No way this one’s going to miss us this time,” burbles one bebooted doomsdayer to another.

1995 December 21, Tony Chamberlain, “We all love snow games: Some take time to play; others seize chance to panic”, in The Boston Globe, volume 248, number 174, Boston, Mass., page 91:


gayo

From Korean 가요 (gayo), 歌謠 (gayo), meaning Korean popular music.


remix

→ French: remix

→ Japanese: リミックス (rimikkusu)

→ Portuguese: remix

→ Spanish: remix

→ Turkish: remiks, remix

(music) A rearrangement of an older piece of music, possibly including various cosmetic changes.

ريمكس

(music) A piece of music formed by combining existing pieces of music together, possibly including various other cosmetic changes


remix

en-verb

remix (third-person singular simple present remixes, present participle remixing, simple past and past participle remixed)

remixes (present singular third-person)
remixing (participle present)
remixed (participle past)
remixed (past)

(music, intransitive) To create a remix.

(music, transitive) To rearrange or radically alter (a particular piece of music).


girl band

A pop group or rock band made up solely of young women.


activated complex

en-noun

activated complex (plural activated complexes)

(physical chemistry) A transitional structure, in an energetically excited state, that forms between the reactants of a chemical reaction and breaks down to form the products

geaktiveerde kompleks

transitional structure that forms between reactants and breaks down


ottavino

(music) A miniature virginal, pitched one octave higher than the larger version.


pan

→? Irish: panna

→ Japanese: パン

From Middle English panne, from Old English panne, from Proto-West Germanic *pannā, from Proto-Germanic *pannǭ, from Late Latin panna, from Latin patina (“broad, shallow dish, pan, stewpan”), from Ancient Greek πατάνη (patánē, “kind of flat dish”), which is probably from Pre-Greek.
Cognate with West Frisian panne, Saterland Frisian Ponne, Dutch pan, German Low German Panne, Pann, German Pfanne, Danish pande, Swedish panna, Icelandic panna.

pan

flat vessel used for cooking — see also frying pan

The steel band transforms the people who play in it and dance to it, and fosters links between them. […] He learned to play the pan and filled in for absent members.

2009, Pnina Werbner, Black and Ethnic Leaderships, page 122:


autoradiograph

(photography) A photograph image produced by placing a film in contact with a specimen containing (or treated with) radioactive material; an autoradiogram


burnt orange

burnt orange:


burnt orange

en-adj

burnt orange (comparative more burnt orange, superlative most burnt orange)

more burnt orange (comparative)
most burnt orange (superlative)

As for her beauty look, the Jennifer’s Body star had dyed her long tresses a burnt-orange shade, and styled them slightly curled at the ends and down across her shoulders. She also repped a bubblegum-pink manicure with an abstract black design.

2023 May 19, Chelsey Sanchez, “Megan Fox Makes Her Red-Carpet Comeback in a Body-Sculpting Sheer Gown”, in Harper's Bazaar:


electric bass

An electric bass guitar with four strings, larger than a normal electric guitar. It has a lower pitch and is often used as a back-up beat for the lead guitar.


ticking

tick (“sheet, cover”) + -ing (“material, collection”).

suffix

Harvey saw with disgust that there were no sheets on his bed-place. He was lying on a piece of dingy ticking full of lumps and nubbles.

1897, Rudyard Kipling, “chapter 1”, in Captains Courageous:

A strong cotton or linen fabric used to cover pillows and mattresses.


ticking

Were they indeed the tickings of a hundred clocks — the fine low inward breathings of Time's children!

1842, Laman Blanchard, “The Frolics of Time”, in George Cruikshank's Omnibus:

The combination of “monotony” and “variety,” which keeps the writer in a trance-like state between sleep and wake, is then characterized by the figure of a ticking watch: “If certain sensitive persons listen persistently to the ticking of a watch [...] they fall into the hypnotic trance; and rhythm is but the ticking of a watch made softer, that one must needs listen, and various, that one may not be swept beyond memory or grow weary of listening” (1961: 159).

2018 May, Angela Leighton, Hearing Things: The Work of Sound in Literature, Harvard University Press, page 237:

An illusional style of dance where one moves his or her body to the "tic" of the music creating a strobe or animated effect.


ticking

tick (“tick mark”) + -ing (“having the property”).

A marking that occurs on some horses, involving white flecks of hair at the flank, and white hairs at the base of the tail, called a skunk tail or rabicano, sometimes referred to as birdcatcher ticks.

Ticking in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)


chordal

They play very well together, with Vogl providing the melodic and chordal framework and Shanbaum riffing over it.

1985 December 21, Nan Donald, “Flat-picking up a Storm”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 23, page 11:

(mathematics, music) Of, pertaining to, or consisting of chords.

(music) Having an accompaniment of chords rather than a countermelody.


hydrino

A supposed form of hydrogen having a lower energy than that of the normal ground state; postulated to explain the outcome of early cold fusion experiments.


affettuoso

en-adv

affettuoso (comparative more affettuoso, superlative most affettuoso)

more affettuoso (comparative)
most affettuoso (superlative)

Borrowed from Italian affettuoso. Doublet of affectuous.

(music) With feeling; in a loving, tender way.


chirrup

en-verb

chirrup (third-person singular simple present chirrups, present participle chirruping, simple past and past participle chirruped)

chirrups (present singular third-person)
chirruping (participle present)
chirruped (participle past)
chirruped (past)

When other folks' squirrels are at home and asleep, yourn keep in motion among the trees and chirrup and sing, in a way that even a Delaware gal can understand their music!

1841, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 17, in The Deerslayer: Or, the First War-path:

Face Eater Cat is a very happy, healthy animal who's found her forever home, and she chirrups along when serenaded with eighties hits. It's a match made in heaven.

2022 July 23, “A She-Cat Tamed By The Purr Of Her Humans”, in Not Always Right, archived from the original on 2022-12-11:

(intransitive) To make a series of chirps, clicks, or clucks.

naksuttaa

to make a series of chirps, clicks or clucks (of technical or other origin)

цвъркам

to make a series of chirps, clicks or clucks (birds)

цвъртя

to make a series of chirps, clicks or clucks (insects, esp. crickets)


chirrup

1845 Charles Dickens, The Cricket on the Hearth, Chirp the First,
And here, if you like, the Cricket DID chime in! with a Chirrup, Chirrup, Chirrup of such magnitude, by way of chorus […]

[…] the music flashed by in delirious chirrups and stampings.

2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 9, in The Line of Beauty […], 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

Geklicker

A series of chirps, clicks or clucks (of technical or other origin)

Zwitschern

A series of chirps, clicks or clucks (birds)

Gezirpe

A series of chirps, clicks or clucks (insects, esp. crickets)

For an hour or more that evening I listened to his monotonous chirrup about bad money driving out good, the token value of silver, the depreciation of the rupee, and the true standards of exchange.

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

“[…]Children, say ‘thank you’ to Mrs. Samuel Josephs.” Two subdued chirrups: “Thank you, Mrs. Samuel Josephs.”

1918 June, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Prelude”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 2:

(figurative, derogatory) A brief, high-pitched, insignificant statement.

Geschnatter

A brief, high-pitched, insignificant statement (metaphorical)


frontman

“Baby, I was a loser / Several years on the dole / An Englishman with a very high voice / Doing rock ’n’ roll,” sings falsetto-happy frontman Justin Hawkins at the start of “Every Inch Of You,” Hot Cakes’ opener.

2012 August 21, Jason Heller, “The Darkness: Hot Cakes (Music Review)”, in The Onion AV Club:

Alternative spelling of front man: the lead male singer in a band.


clarinetist

“Benny Goodman was the King of Swing,” he used to tell Benny. “Best jazz clarinetist in the world.”

2021, Ruth Ozeki, The Book of Form and Emptiness, Canongate Books (2022), page 56:


From U (“the chemical symbol for uranium”).


From uranium + 235 (“the atomic mass of the isotope”).

af

The Zaporizhzhia plant provided about a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity before Russia’s invasion, and has been forced to operate on backup generators a number of times. It has six Soviet-designed water-cooled and water-moderated reactors containing uranium-235.

2022 November 21, Lorenzo Tondo, Peter Beaumont, “Ukraine to start evacuations in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions as winter sets in”, in The Guardian:

(physics) A fissile isotope of uranium, used for energy generation and in atomic weapons, containing one hundred and forty-three neutrons. It has a half-life of 7·038×10⁸ years; it decays into thorium-231 and ultimately lead.


(physics) An artificial radioisotope of fluorine, ¹⁸₉F, having 9 protons and 9 neutrons, that is an important industrial source of positrons


plagal cadence

A fellow could rely on Market Street only so far, and then even that began to get discouraging, plagal cadences on parlor pianos, bright lights, and mirrors to the contrary notwithstanding.

2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 230:

(music) A falling cadence in which a subdominant chord precedes the tonic; especially used in an ending Amen.


positron emission tomography
positron emission tomography

(physics) A radioactive isotope of nitrogen, ¹³₇N, having seven protons and six neutrons, and a half-life of less than ten minutes; it is used in positron emission tomography. It also plays a role in the CNO cycle.


(physics) A radioactive isotope of sulfur, ³⁵₁₆S, having sixteen protons and nineteen neutrons, and a half-life of about 87 days; it is used as a tracer


(physics) A long-lived radioactive isotope of chlorine, ³⁶₁₇Cl, having seventeen protons and nineteen neutrons, and a half-life of 3x10⁵ years; it can be used to date samples of groundwater


(physics) A radioactive isotope of calcium, ⁴⁵₂₀Ca, having twenty protons and twenty-five neutrons, and a half-life of 162.6 days; it is used as a tracer in studying calcium metabolism. As it decays it undergoes transformation (nuclear transmutation) via electron emission, also called negative beta decay (β−-decay), into scandium.


bassoonist

From bassoon + -ist (‘a person who uses something’).

A person who plays the bassoon, a musical instrument in the woodwind family.


rock oil

en-noun

rock oil (countable and uncountable, plural rock oils)

From rock + oil, a literal rendering of Latin petroleum (literally “rock oil”).


closemouthed

en-adj

closemouthed (comparative more closemouthed, superlative most closemouthed)

more closemouthed (comparative)
most closemouthed (superlative)

As much so as possible; they have hardly a way that you would like, my dear ma'am; and are as closemouthed as if they were afraid of committing themselves.

1852, James Fenimore Cooper, Home as found:

Instructors were notoriously closemouthed about their gunnery techniques.

2001, C. R. Anderegg, Sierra Hotel: flying Air Force fighters in the decade after Vietnam:


beatdown

en-noun

beatdown (countable and uncountable, plural beatdowns)

Deverbal from beat down; influenced by earlier throwdown.

(music) A subgenre of hardcore punk influenced by heavy metal.