Rachel

From Late Latin Rāchēl, from Ancient Greek Ῥαχήλ (Rhakhḗl), from Biblical Hebrew רָחֵל (rāḫēl, “ewe”). Doublet of Raquel.

Rachel is another modest, nun-like name, of the same order as Judith, and has the appropriate signification of a lamb.

1849 The Massachusetts Teacher, Massachusetts Teachers' Association, Vol. 2,page 26, January 1849

She keeps saying, You are mistaken Rachel. She says my name in that heavy earnest way. The Jewish Ra-chel. I like my name like that. I have always been pleased when people said Ra-chel. But when she says it, it is as if she was taking me over. Through my name.

1979, Doris Lessing, Shikasta, Knopf, published 1979, →ISBN, page 293:

I recognize that a name like Rachel goes against my whole "ordering a different dish from everyone else at the table" rule, but sometimes you really want a steak, and that's exactly what you should get. I love the name we gave our daughter. It's not dorky, not too whimsical, and not too stuck-up. To us it sounded sweet, sporty, smart, and beautiful. It also works well with Sachs.

2010, Rob Sachs, What Would Rob Do?, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN:


Miriam

From Hebrew מִרְיָם (Miryam), possibly from Aramaic מרים (Maryām, “bitter”), from a root מר (m-r) meaning "to be bitter". The meaning of this name which is the Old Testament equivalent of Mary has been debated for centuries. Some other explanations are mutiny / rebellion / disobedience from a root מרי (m-r-y).


yo

Yo sandwich has only bacon in it. Want some ketchup on that?

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(colloquial) Pronunciation spelling of your.


Cory

An English surname from Old Norse, a variant of Corey.

On another poster are the names of the new class — unusual names (at least to me) like Wen Qi, Elijah, Yoav, Noni, Koray, Cai Ying and Julissa, along with more common names like Cory, Betty, Tammy, Jordan, Jeffrey, and Andrew.

2005, Robert L. Fried, The Game of School, Jossey-bass, →ISBN, page 42:

A male given name transferred from the surname, variant of Corey.

A female given name transferred from the surname, variant of Cori, masculine equivalent Corey.

Corazon "Cory" Aquino, the widow of the martyred Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., emerged as the person around whom all the oppositionists could coalesce.

1991, Clark D. Neher, Southeast Asia in the New International Era, Westview Press, →ISBN, page 58:

I went to high school with a girl named Corrine, though, and everyone called her Cory —

1998, Robyn Amos, Into the Night, →ISBN, page 61:

A diminutive of the female given names Cora or Corinne and similar sounding names.


Anglo-Saxon

/ˌæŋ.ɡləʊˈsæk.sən/

From Anglo- + Saxon, from Latin Anglosaxones (Anglo-Saxones), Latin Angli Saxones (literally “the English Saxons”), as distinguished from the Continental Saxons.

der

Meronyms: Anglian, Kentish, Mercian, Northumbrian, West Saxon

(now rare) Synonym of Old English (language).


David

en-proper noun

David (countable and uncountable, plural Davids)

From Middle English David, Davyd, Davyde, from Old English Dauid, David, from Latin David, Davidus, from Koine Greek Δαυίδ (Dauíd), Δαβίδ (Dabíd), borrowed from Biblical Hebrew דּוד (Dāwîḏ, literally “beloved”).

der

David Copperfield. Dwight David Eisenhower. Michelangelo's David. None of these Davids would seem the same if their names were Dave. David, with its final "d", sounds finished and complete, whereas Dave just kind of hangs there in the air, indefinitely.

1994, Caroline Knapp, The Merry Recluse: A Life in Essays, Counterpoint Press, published 2004, →ISBN, page 169:

Well, don't think I'll settle for so little, Mr. Talbot. Or should I call you David? I think you look like a David, you know, righteous and clean living and all of that.

2000, Anne Rice, Merrick, Ballantine Books, published 2001, →ISBN, page 157:

(rare) A female given name, often combined with a feminine middle name (e.g. David Ann).

A city, the capital of Chiriquí province, Panama.

A former unincorporated community in Mitchell County, Iowa, United States.

An unincorporated community and coal town in Floyd County, Kentucky, United States.


Livonian

A Finno-Ugric language spoken in Latvia.


Ladin

From Ladin ladin, itself from Latin latīnus. Doublet of Latin and Ladino.

A Rhaeto-Romance language (or dialect continuum), spoken primarily in the Italian portion of Tyrol and the Dolomite Mountains in Northern Italy.


Karelian

A language closely related to Finnish, spoken in Karelia, Russia and Finland.


eff

Why against printers all this noise? This summoning of blackguard boys? Why so sagacious in your guesses? Your effs, and tees, and arrs, and eſſes? Take my advice; to make you safe, I know a shorter way be half.

a. 1746 (date written), Jonathan Swift, “On the Irish Club”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume VIII, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC, page 78:

‘Eff. You. En,’ said Mr Banstead. ‘Fun![…]’

1969, Michael Feld, The Sabbatical Year, London: Alan Ross Ltd, page 301:

A or an? When an indefinite article precedes an acronym or initialism, the choice between a and an follows from the pronunciation: / a FAQ file (“fack”; but “an FAQ file” with the alternate pronunciation “eff-ay-cue”) / an FTC commissioner (“eff-tee-cee”)

2019, Amy Einsohn, Marilyn Schwartz, “[Abbreviations and Symbols] Abbreviations”, in The Copyeditor’s Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications, 4th edition, University of California Press, →ISBN, part 2 (Editorial Style), page 242:

‘S-S-C…sitting on a tree…eff-you-cee-kay-i-en-ji.’

2019, Anand Ranganathan, Chitra Subramaniam, The Rat Eater, Bloomsbury India, →ISBN:

Alternative spelling of ef; the name of the Latin-script letter F/f.


Moksha

From Moksha мокша (mokša, “a Moksha person”).

A language of the Finnic branch of the Uralic language family.

мăкшă чĕлхи

măkšă čĕlh̬i


Aryan

General American, Mary–marry–merry merger

From Sanskrit आर्य (ā́rya, “noble; noble one”) + -n. The Sanskrit word is from Proto-Indo-Iranian *áryas (the original Indo-Iranian autonym). Borrowed into English in the 19th century, at first as a term for the Indo-Iranian languages, and later partly extended to the Indo-European languages and peoples following a theory by Friedrich Schlegel that connected the Indo-Iranian words arya/ā́rya with German Ehre (“honor”) and some older Germanic names, thus assuming that it was the original Indo-European autonym meaning "the honorable people". The original meaning of the Indo-Iranian autonym and its possible Indo-European origin/cognates are disputed (see the Wikipedia article for further details).
The same Proto-Indo-Iranian root is the ultimate source of the country name Iran.


nickname

→ German: Nickname

→ Japanese: ニックネーム (nikkunēmu)

From Middle English nekename, alteration (due to a rebracketing of an ekename as a nekename) of earlier ekename (“nickname”), from eke (“additional”) + name. Compare Old Norse aukanafn, auknafn, auknefni, Faroese eyknevni, Danish øgenavn, Norwegian Nynorsk aukenamn, Swedish öknamn, and German Low German Ökelname.
For other similar cases of incorrect division, see also apron, daffodil, newt, orange, umpire.

epithet

invented names used alongside the actual name

"The Big Apple" is a common nickname for New York City.

He excelled with the arbalest steel crossbow, winning the nickname the Arbalestier and joined Bahriyya regiment, the crack soldiers who defeated the Crusaders and became known as the Turkish Lions and the Islamic Templars.

2011, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography – A History of the Middle East, page 329:

A familiar, invented name for a person or thing used instead of the actual name of the person or thing, often based on some noteworthy characteristic.

My name is Jonathan, but I go by my nickname, Johnny.

A familiar, shortened or diminutive name for a person or thing.


Tim

A male given name, a shortened form of Timothy and, very rarely, of Timon.


visarga

Borrowed from Sanskrit विसर्ग (visarga).

XXV of Centamil published by the Tamil Sangam at Madura that in ancient times āytam was represented by visarga.

1934, P. S. Subrahmanya Sastri, History of Grammatical Theories in Tamil and Their Relation to the Grammatical Literature in Sanskrit:

(phonology, Sanskrit grammar) the voiceless terminal h in Sanskrit


Alexandra

en-proper noun

Alexandra (countable and uncountable, plural Alexandras)

/ˌæ.lɪɡˈzæn.dɹə/

/ˌæ.lɪɡˈzɑn.dɹə/

/ˌæ.lɪɡˈzɑːn.dɹə/

54 Alexandra
Alexandra
Alexandra, New Zealand
Queen Alexandra

From Ancient Greek Ἀλεξάνδρα (Alexándra), from ἀλέξω (aléxō, “I defend”) + ἀνδρ- (andr-, stem of ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”)). Feminine form of Alexander.
The community in Prince Edward Island is named after Queen Alexandra (1844–1925).

af

stem of <i class="Polyt mention" lang="grc">ἀνήρ</i> (anḗr, “man”)

Sea-king's daughter from over the sea, / Alexandra! / Saxon and Norman and Dane are we, / But all of us Danes in our welcome of thee, / Alexandra!

1863, Alfred Tennyson, A Welcome to Alexandra:

'I had a Christmas card from someone calling herself Alex the year before last,' Daniel said. 'I couldn't think who it was.'
'Oh, yes, she's changed again,' Alice said. 'I never got used to Alexandra, either. It never occurred to me that Sandra was short for Alexandra - anyway, she's Sandra on her birth certificate.'

2008, Philip Hensher, The Northern Clemency, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 588:


LC

en-noun

LC (countable and uncountable, plural LCs)

The lord chancellorship certainly needed reform and sadly Lord Irvine resisted taking the sensible steps of creating an independent judicial appointments commission and ending the nonsense of the LC having the right, should he choose, of sitting himself as a judge on cases.

2016 July 27, Helena Kennedy QC, “Letters: Charlie Falconer to blame for lord chancellor folly”, in The Guardian:

(UK politics) Initialism of lord chancellor.


Barry

Anglicized form of Irish Barra, short form of Fionnbharr, from fionn (“white”) + barr (“head”).


Barry

A male given name Abbreviation of Bartholomew.

A male given name Abbreviation of Barack.


Spence

Short form of the male given name Spencer.


ǃKung

The ǃ in the word ǃKung is an orthographic symbol denoting a "click" sound. The ǃKung language, aside from sharing many of the same sounds found in all languages, has four distinct clicks […]

1973, The Second Wave, volume 3, page 17:

Harpending spoke ǃKung because of his previous fieldwork in the area, […]

1994, The Aging Experience: diversity and commonality across cultures (Jennie Keith), page 24

None of the ideologues spoke ǃKung, […]

2007, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, The Old Way: A Story of the First People, page 286:

In Epembe, Oonduda and Uusilo very few people could understand and even fewer could speak ǃKung. They expressed their sorrow at this loss.

2002, New horizons for the San: participatory action research with San communities in Northern Namibia (Dhyani J. Berger, Elke Zimprich), page 22

A Khoisan language spoken in Namibia, Angola, and South Africa, famous for its click consonants.


Dana

Johnie had become a "problem" for the advisers and "baby deans" in University Hall: men with marvelously Puritan names like Dana Cotton and Christopher Wadsworth called him in and asked what the trouble was.

1971, J. Anthony Lukas, Don't Shoot — We Are Your Children, Random House, →ISBN, page 419:

Currently serving his sixth term in Congress, Dana Rohrabacher represents California's scenic 45th Congressional District.

(chiefly US) A unisex given name transferred from the surname, originally given in honor of Richard Henry Dana Jr.

A female given name from Hebrew, masculine equivalent Daniel, from Romanian, Czech, Slovak and German.

دانا دانا#Persian

A unisex given name from Persian, borrowed from Persian دانا (dânâ), meaning “wise”.

A female given name from Gulf Arabic دانة (dāna), meaning “pearl”.


Robert

From Anglo-Norman Robert, from the Old Frankish cognate of Old High German Hrodperht (normalised form: Ruodberht), from Proto-West Germanic *Hrōþiberht, from Proto-Germanic *Hrōþiberhtaz (literally “shining glory”). Doublet of Rupert.

der

My brother Robert? Old Sir Robert's son? / Colbrand the giant, that same mighty man?

I hadn't even considered names for a girl. Robby it would be. Robert Douglas. Where the Douglas came from is another story, but the Robert came from me because I liked the sound. Robert was formal, dignified, important. Robert. And that was nearly as nice as the chance I'd have to call my little brother Rob and Robby.

1984, John Edgar Wideman, Brothers and Keepers: A Memoir, Mariner Books, published 2005, →ISBN, page 93:

A male given name from the Germanic languages.


Revised Romanization of Korean

The official South Korean romanization standard for Korean.

文化观光部２０００年式

Wénhuà Guānguāngbù Èrlínglínglíng nián shì

文化観光部２０００年式

ぶんかかんこうぶにせんねんしき


Pama-Nyungan

/ˌpʌməˈnjʊŋən/

From pama (“man, person”) (in several northeast Australian Aboriginal languages) + nyungaa (“man, person”) (in several southwestern Australian Aboriginal languages) + -an. Apparently coined by American linguist Kenneth L. Hale (1934-2001), to show the vast geographical extent of the family.

(linguistics) A proposed language family encompassing most Australian Aboriginal languages, including Pitjantjatjara and Warlpiri, but excluding those spoken in the northwest.


te reo

Borrowed from Maori te reo (“Māori”, literally “the language”).

bor+

Currently, many Kiwis are learning te reo.


Sorbian

A group of Slavic languages spoken by a minority in eastern Germany.


Norman

From Middle English Norman, from Old English Norman (a variant of Norþman) and Old French Normant.
It is certain that the word is derived from the base of the Germanic words for north and the Germanic base of the words for man. However, given the frequent movement of Germanic groups especially into and out of Britain in the post-classical world, it is unclear in what tongue it came to be used first. In addition, the generally accepted meaning, a person from Normandy or one of the many French-speaking invaders to Britain, was used chiefly by Anglo-Norman and Old French, though it originally referred to any Scandinavian of the time. See also Northman.

"Let him be named Norman", said the lady; "it was the name of him who last - it was the name of the youngest son of Macalbin."

1815, Christian Isobel Johnstone, Clan-Albin, The Novelist's Magazine, C. Alexander, published 1833, page 155:

"Yes," she said, "the husband is pretty ex." And then, for no reason at all, she added: "His name is Norman."
Bill nodded solemnly. "I see why you left him."
Rosie began to giggle and clapped her hands to her mouth.

1995, Stephen King, Rose Madder, Viking, →ISBN, page 136:

A male given name from Old English used in the Middle Ages and revived in the 19th century.

A number of places in the United States:

A township in Manistee County, Michigan.

An inactive township in Dent County, Missouri


pygmy

From Latin Pygmaeī, from Ancient Greek πυγμαῖος (pugmaîos, “a member of a race of dwarves”), from πυγμή (pugmḗ, “fist (as small as a fist)”).

der

It was so high up that the people walking about in the street below looked like pygmies.

2015, Rosie Harris, Moving On: A family saga set in 1970’s Liverpool:

(figuratively, derogatory, offensive) Any dwarfish person or thing.


Ngan'gityemerri

(linguistics) An Aboriginal language spoken in the Daly River region of the Northern Territory of Australia of the Southern Daly language family.


Austro-Hungarian

From Austro- + Hungarian, after Austria-Hungary.

(historical) A person from Austria-Hungary.


Dyirbal

An ergative Australian Aboriginal language of the Dyirbalic branch of the Pama-Nyungan family, spoken in the region of Cairns and the Atherton Tableland, Queensland.


stress

en-noun

stress (countable and uncountable, plural stresses)

Hans Selye
Walter Cannon
stress
stress (mechanics)

From a shortening of Middle English destresse, borrowed from Old French destrecier, from Latin distringō (“to stretch out”). This form probably coalesced with Middle English stresse, from Old French estrece (“narrowness”), from Vulgar Latin *strictia, from Latin strictus (“narrow”).
In the sense of "mental strain" or “disruption”, used occasionally in the 1920s and 1930s by psychologists, including Walter Cannon (1934); in “biological threat”, used by endocrinologist Hans Selye, by metaphor with stress in physics (force on an object) in the 1930s, and popularized by same in the 1950s.

(Scots law) distress; the act of distraining; also, the thing distrained.


Cossack

Armeno-Kipchak
Cossack
George Turberville

From Middle French cosaque, from Middle Polish Kozak, from Old Ukrainian коза́къ (kozák), from Kipchak *qazaq (whence Armeno-Kipchak խազախ (xazax)), from Old Turkic 𐰴𐰔𐰍𐰸 (*qazǧaq, “profiteer”), from 𐰴𐰔𐰍𐰣𐰢𐰴 (qazǧanmaq, “to acquire”), from 𐰴𐰔𐰢𐰴 (qazmaq, “to dig out”), from Proto-Turkic *kaŕ-. Doublet of Kazakh. First appears c. 1587 in the writings of George Turberville.

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

A member or descendant of an originally (semi-)nomadic population of Eastern Europe and the adjacent parts of Asia, formed in part of runaways from neighbouring countries, that eventually settled in parts of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian tsarist Empire and constituted a military caste, particularly in areas now comprising southern Russia and Ukraine.


Andy

"Irina? Call me 'Andy,' please."
"I think that I would rather call you 'Andrew'."
This was flattering, somehow. For everyone I knew called me "Andy"―a name comfortable as an old sneaker. There was dignity in "Andrew," and a kind of depth, complexity. Perhaps I began to fall in love with Irina Kacinzk for seeing more in me than I saw in myself at the time.
Of course, from time to time, Irina has called me "Andy." In her most affectionate moments, when she feels comfortable in my love, she even calles me "dear"―"darling."

2015, Joyce Carol Oates, Jack of Spades, Head of Zeus, →ISBN, page 104:

A diminutive of the male given name Andrew, from Ancient Greek.

安迪

pet form of Andrew or its equivalent in the language concerned

A diminutive of the female given name Andrea, from Ancient Greek.


Andy

Andy Milonakis
Ice Poseidon
Know Your Meme
Twitch (service)

Originates from the live streams of IRL streamer Ice Poseidon on the live streaming service Twitch in early 2017; comedian and actor Andy Milonakis frequently appeared on Ice Poseidon's streams before being supplemented by one Andy Martin, who was given the byname "Mexican Andy" to distinguish him from Milonakis—himself dubbed "Sitting Andy" in June. Subsequently, Ice Poseidon and his audience began referring to people who appeared on his streams by the name Andy and the term spread to other channels on Twitch by late 2017 as a generic name for any Twitch streamer.

trump is now a react andy like myself

dream stans pulling out the "he has adhd" card to hasan fucking piker the biggest adhd andy on twitch it's so funny

Why is this video going viral? 500k views almost on my Twitch channel 😂It's not even funny Oh hello LSF andy's 👋

(Internet slang, Twitch-speak) A streamer on live streaming service Twitch.


Jimmy

Heaven only knows why a man with a strong biblical name like James wants to be a president named Jimmy.

1979 Charles Kuralt, Dateline America, Harcourt Brace Jovanocich, page 184

A diminutive of the male given names James or Jim, also used as a formal given name.


Persephone

From Ancient Greek Περσεφόνη (Persephónē).

‘My name is Persephone’ she says, ‘but in England everyone calls me Seph.’

2008, Gaynor McGrath, Lemniscate, Transit Lounge Publishing (2011) (e-book), chapter 23, 376

(rare) A female given name from Ancient Greek.


Igbo

Surprised by her switch to Igbo, he did not speak.

2019, Chigozie Obioma, An Orchestra of Minorities, Abacus (2019), page 180:

The language spoken by the Igbo people and elsewhere in southern Nigeria.


Mikey

A diminutive of the male given name Michael


Kylie

Possibly from kylie (“boomerang”). Originally popular in Australia, the name has gained popularity elsewhere in the English-speaking world due to the fame of Kylie Minogue. Unrelated to Kyle, though often seen as a feminine form of it.

Kylie and her parents had been driving through the outback for hours. They had taken a five-hour flight from Sydney, where they lived, to Perth, in Western Australia. From Perth, they had to drive another seven hours to get to Kylie′s aunt and uncle′s sheep station.

2002, Erinn Banting, Australia: The People, page 30:

Emily. Em-il-y, three syllables, like a knock on the door of destiny. Such an odd, old-fashioned name, compared to those Kylies and Traceys and Jades — names that reeked of Impulse and grease and stood out in gaudy neon colours —

2010, Joanne Harris, blueeyedboy, Doubleday,, →ISBN, page 102:

A female given name originating as a coinage.


Gavin

Medieval variant of Gawain, the name of an Arthurian knight, first recorded as Old French Gauvain. The form Gavin survived in Scotland and spread to other English-speaking countries in the 1960s. Doublet of Gawain.

A male given name from the Celtic languages


Anthony

From Latin Antōnius, name of a Roman gens (with excrescent -h- suggested by an unetymological association with Ancient Greek ἄνθος (ánthos, “flower”)). The Roman clan name is of uncertain etymology, but is not Greek or Hebrew; most likely of Etruscan origin, possibly derived from Ani, the Etruscan god of the sky. Doublet of Antoine.

"...Think you've got the best name I've heard," she was saying. - - "Anthony Patch. Only you ought to look sort of like a horse, with a long narrow face - and you ought to be in tatters." "That's the Patch part though. How should Anthony look?" "You look like Anthony," she assured him seriously - he thought she had scarcely seen him - "rather majestic," she continued, " and solemn."

1922, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, (please specify |book=1, 2, or 3):

It is doubtless true that American English lacks a tradition for the pronunciation of Anthony, a name which was not often bestowed upon American males until the comparatively recent craze for supposedly swank "British" Christian names, like Stephen, Peter, Michael, etc., in this country.

1952, Thomas Pyles, Words and Ways of American English, Random House, page 245:

She was built like a dream and wore a chain around her neck with a medal of Saint Anthony hanging down inside the most beautiful bosom I never saw. "It must be a terrible temptation for Saint Anthony," I joked - just to put her at ease, you know. "Saint Anthony?" her husband said. "Who's Saint Anthony?"

1955, Joseph Heller, chapter 5, in Catch-22:

A male given name from Latin, in regular use since the Middle Ages.


Aramaic

From Aram, the place settled by Aramaeans; from the Aramaic ארם, ܐܪܡ (ʾarām).

ܐܪܡܝܐ

ʾārāmāyā, ʾărammāyā

A subfamily of languages in the Northwest Semitic language group. It includes (but not limited to):

The language of the administration in the Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian empires from the seventh to fourth centuries BC: often called Imperial Aramaic or Official Aramaic.

Jewish Babylonian Aramaic
Jewish Babylonian Aramaic

The language of Jewish targums, Midrash and the Talmuds, Jewish Babylonian Aramaic.

The liturgical language of various Christian churches: often called Syriac.

The liturgical language of the Mandaeans: usually called Mandaic.

Any language of this family today called Neo-Aramaic, and separated by religion also Judeo-Aramaic and Syriac


Gandalf

From Old Norse mythology Gandalfr (“elf with a magic staff”).

A male given name from the Germanic languages known in history, and in the books of Tolkien, but not usually bestowed on children.


Sindarin

Developed by J. R. R. Tolkien as a language in his fantasy works, in which the word Sindarin itself is not of Sindarin origin: it is a term in Quenya (another of Tolkien's constructed languages), derived from Sindar, the Quenya name for the people who spoke it, which in turn is derived from sinda (“grey”).

constructed language
constructed language

A constructed language, partly inspired by Welsh, spoken by certain elves and others in J. R. R. Tolkien's works.


Dickie

A diminutive of the male given name Dick, a short form of the male given name Richard.


-on

* (Physics) From -on in electron, reinforced by Ancient Greek -ον (-on) ending neuter nouns and adjectives.
* (Chemistry) From -on in carbon, first applied to boron and then to silicon.

Coordinate term: -ino

(physics, mathematics and biology) Forming nouns denoting subatomic particles (proton), quanta (photon), molecular units (codon), or substances (interferon).

(biology, genetics) Forming names of things considered as basic or fundamental units, such as codon or recon.

(chemistry) Forming names of noble gases and certain nonmetal elements (such as boron or silicon).


Nepali

an Indo-Aryan language used primarily by the people of Nepal


Alex

Short form of Alexander, from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros) 'he who wards off men', i.e. protector, possibly of Hittite origin. Also from Alexius, from the same Ancient Greek first element, "helping, defending". These two origins of Alex are indistinguishable in most languages. The female name has the same root, shortened from Alexandra or the female name Alexis, in some cases also a spelling variant of Alix.

Martin was pretty dull as names went but 'Alex Blake' had a certain dash to it. His publishers hadn't considered Martin's own name to be 'punchy' enough. The pseudonym Alex Blake was chosen after much deliberation, most of which excluded Martin. 'A strong, no-nonsense sort of name', his editor said, 'to compensate'. For what, she didn't say.

2006, Kate Atkinson, One Good Turn, Black Swan, published 2007, →ISBN, page 81:

'I had a Christmas card from someone calling herself Alex the year before last,' Daniel said. 'I couldn't think who it was.'
'Oh, yes, she's changed again,' Alice said. 'I never got used to Alexandra, either. It never occurred to me that Sandra was short for Alexandra - anyway, she's Sandra on her birth certificate.'

2008, Philip Hensher, The Northern Clemency, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 588:


ǃXóõ

The ǃXóõ language is spoken by widely scattered groups of San living in southwestern Botswana and a small area of eastern Namibia.

1985, Anthony Traill, Phonetic and Phonological Studies of ǃXÓÕ Bushman, page 1

[…] which studied category formation of ǃXóõ clicks by speakers of a language that has no clicks (American English) and two other unrelated African languages that have clicks, but fewer of them […]

2008, Keith Elwin Johnson, Second Language Acquisition of the Spanish Multiple Vibrant Consonant, page 49:

However, the phonotactic patterning of 'uvular' clicks in ǃXóõ does not comply with the predicted patterns given in this analysis.

2010, “Amana L. Miller, Tongue body and tongue root shape differences in Nǀuu clicks correlate with phonotactic patterns”, in Turbulent Sounds: An Interdisciplinary Guide, page 258:

Speakers of ǃXóõ (also known as Taa), gathered together for a storytelling competition at Pos 17, Namibia […]

2011, Nicholas Evans, Dying Words: Endangered Languages and What They Have to Tell Us, page 53:

The most phonologically diverse language may be ǃXóõ, spoken by about 4,000 people in Botswana and Namibia, which has somewhere between 84 and 159 consonants.

2011, Michael C. Corballis, The Recursive Mind: The Origins of Human Language, Thought, and Civilization, page 76:

[…] and the ǃXóõ language spoken in Botswana and Namibia […]

2011, Intercultural Communication: A New Approach to International Relations and Global Challenges (Houman A. Sadri, Madelyn Flammia), page 129

A Khoisan language, known for its large phonemic inventory including complex click consonants.


Orion

From Middle English Orioun, from Latin Ōrīōn, from Ancient Greek Ὠρίων (Ōríōn), speculatively from Akkadian 𒌋𒊒𒀭𒈾 (Uru-anna, “heaven's light”), though without any firm evidence.

der

In Madge's judgment, her Uncle Orion had suffered most of his life from the name he'd been given, requiring that people ask him to repeat it and boys his own age make fun of it.

1980, Wright Morris, Plains Song, for Female Voices, Harper&Row, →ISBN, page 113:

A male given name from Ancient Greek of modern usage.

An unincorporated community in Pike County, Alabama, United States, also known as Prospect Ridge.


Aphrodite

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἀφροδίτη (Aphrodítē). Doublet of Aferdita.

bor+

Aphrodite Jones is an American author and TV producer.


ǃXũ

A Northern Khoisan language of Namibia, Angola, and Botswana. This language has about 5,000 speakers in the Kalahari Desert.


Maggie

Maggie. Never in her life had she heard her mother called Maggie. It was a name from her youth, that dead time Jerene had never been allowed to talk about [- - -]. Her mother was Margaret now.

1986, David Leavitt, The Lost Language of Cranes, Houghton Mifflin, published 1997, →ISBN, page 127:

I could tell that some of the guests were confused by the name of Maggie―no-one had called her by that clunky, unfashionable name in years―

2004, Joanne Harris, Jigs & Reels, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 81:

A diminutive of the female given name Margaret.

(informal) Margaret Thatcher, former British prime minister.


Bobbie

A diminutive of the male given name Robert.

A diminutive of the female given name Roberta.


Wally

"'Mr. Szalla' is my eighty-two-year-old father, Nikki. Please call me 'Wally'."
"Well. 'Wally'."
I felt my face burn pleasantly. "Wally" was such a comfortable old-shoe kind of name.

2005, Joyce Carol Oates, Mother, Missing, Harper Perennial, page 108:

A diminutive of the male given names of Waldo, Walter, Wallabee, and Wallace.


Walt

A diminutive of the male given name Walter.


panel

From Middle English panel (“piece of cloth, saddle pad, pane of glass, piece of ice, part, division, jury list, jury members”), from Anglo-Norman panel, panelle (“piece of cloth, saddle cushion”), from Vulgar Latin *pannellus, diminutive of Latin pannus (“cloth, rag, garment”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂n- (“fabric”). Cognate with Old English fana (“a piece of cloth, patch, banner, flag, vane”). Doublet of vane.

cog

[I]t remains only to examine the Relevancy of the two general exculpatory Defences pled for the Pannells.

1737, “Information for His Majesty’s Advocate, and Mr. Hugh Forbes, Advocate, Procurator Fiscal of the High Court of Admiralty, against Thomas McAdam, and James Long, Pannels”, in Extract of the Proceedings before James Graham of Airth, Esq; Judge of the High Court of Admiralty in Scotland, in the Action at the Instance of Duncan Forbes, Esq; His Majesty’s Advocate, and Mr. Hugh Forbes, Advocate, Procurator Fiscal of the Said High Court, against Thomas McAdams Souldier, and James Long Corporal, in the Regiment of Foot Commanded by Colonel —— Hamilton. Laid before the House Pursuant to Their Lordship’s Order April 18, 1737, London: Printed by John Baskett, […], →OCLC, page 12:

(Scots law) A prisoner arraigned for trial at the bar of a criminal court.


Novocastrian

From Latin novus (“new”) + castra (“castle, fort”).

Of or relating to Newcastle upon Tyne or Newcastle, New South Wales.


Novocastrian

A native or resident of Newcastle upon Tyne or Newcastle, New South Wales.


Kalanga

A Bantu language spoken in Botswana and Zimbabwe.


Cocoliche

Indeed, cocoliche might in some respects be seen as another example of dialectal influence upon Italian – except that in this case the ‘dialect’ is another Romance ‘language’, and not an Italo-Romance variety.

1995, Martin Maiden, A Linguistic History of Italian, Longman, published 2003, page 269:

A pidgin or language continuum formed from Italian and Spanish, spoken in parts of the River Plate region of South America in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.


Scouse

The accent and dialect of Liverpool or Merseyside.


Abe

Shortened from Abraham. In the slang sense for money, refers to the picture of Abraham Lincoln on the currency.

A diminutive of the male given name Abraham, from Hebrew.


Kashubian

/kəˈʃuːbɪən/

A Slavic language spoken in the Pomeranian region of Poland.


Syracusan

Ex. Dionysius...obliged the Syracusans to accept his tokens in place of silver coins. (William Stanley Jevons)

A native or inhabitant of Syracuse, Sicily, or of Syracuse, New York.


crave

From Middle English craven, from Old English crafian (“to crave, ask, implore, demand, summon”), from Proto-West Germanic *krafōn, from Proto-Germanic *krafjaną (“to demand”). Cognate with Danish kræve (“to demand, require”), Swedish kräva (“to crave, demand”), Icelandic krefja (“to demand”), Norwegian kreve (“to demand”).

inh

(Scots law) A formal application to a court to make a particular order.


Scot

From Old English Scottas (“people from Ireland, Irishmen”), from Late Latin Scotti (see Scōtī for more).
See Scoti.

der

A male given name transferred from the surname, of rare usage, variant of Scott.


Heidi

From Swiss German Heidi, a pet form of Adelheid, equivalent of English Adelaide and Alice. The name became internationally popular due to the children's book Heidi (1880).

"Heidi?" Kurtz echoed. "Heidi? That's a damned odd name for an English elder sister, isn't it?" "Not for Heidi, it isn't," she replied buoyantly, and scored an immediate laugh from the kids beyond the lighting. Heidi because her parents went to Switzerland for their honeymoon, she explained; and Switzerland was where Heidi was conceived. "Among the edelweiss," she added, with a sigh.

1983, John le Carré, The Little Drummer Girl, Pan Books, →ISBN, page 142:

But the purported rise in violent videos online has led some MPs to campaign for courts to have more power to remove or block material on YouTube. The Labour MP Heidi Alexander said she was appalled after a constituent was robbed at knifepoint, and the attackers could be found brandishing weapons and rapping about gang violence online.

2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in the Guardian:

A female given name from the Germanic languages.


Walter

A Germanic name, from Middle English Walter, from Old Northern French Waltier, from Frankish *Waltheri (compare Old High German Waltheri, which see for more details), from Proto-Germanic *Waldaharjaz, from *waldą (“ruler”) + *harjaz (“army, host”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“be strong”) + *ker- (“army”). Related to Old English Waldhere. Compare herald and Harold, in which these elements are reversed.

der

Whitmore. And so am I; my name is Walter Whitmore. / How now! why start'st thou? what! doth death affright?
Suffolk. Thy name affrights me, in whose sound is death. / A cunning man did calculate my birth, / And told me that by Water I should die. / Yet let not this make thee be bloody-minded; / Thy name is - Gaultier, being rightly sounded.

1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

And with some appellations, the contrary applies. Like Walter, for instance. You can't be Walter in a pram. You can't be Walter until you're about seventy-five in my view.

1991, Julian Barnes, Talking It Over, →ISBN, page 13:

Walter complained about the assault and isolation of the volunteers. Two policemen immediately grabbed him and dragged him to the punishment cells.

2003, Elinor Sisulu, Walter & Albertina Sisulu: In Our Lifetime, page 151:

A male given name from the Germanic languages.


Yoruba

In the parlour, she could hear Aunty Biola attempting to teach her father Yoruba, collapsing into helpless giggles whenever he mispronounced his vowels, giving them the flat English sound instead of lifting them upwards with the slight outward puff of breath that was required.

2005, Helen Oyeyemi, The Icarus Girl, Bloomsbury, page 48:

A sub-Saharan language. It belongs to the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family, and has nearly 40 million speakers in Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Sierra Leone, as well as communities in Brazil and Cuba.


aleph

Borrowed from Hebrew אלף (álef). Doublet of alpha and alif.

Proto-Canaanite alphabet
Proto-Canaanite alphabet

The first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, and its descendants in descended Semitic scripts, such as Phoenician 𐤀 (ʾ, ʾaleph), Aramaic 𐡀 (ʾ), Classical Syriac ܐ ('ālaph), Hebrew א (aleph) and Arabic ا (ʾalif).

أَلِف

first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script


Oriya

Odia, the language spoken in the state of Odisha, India.


Ojibwe

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

First attested in English around 1700 (and attested in early French as Outchibouec), from the Ojibwe name of an individual band of Ojibwe, of unclear origin. The most widely accepted theory connects it to Ojibwe ojibwaakide (“it shrivels, it puckers in the fire”), in reference to the puckering or tightening of moccasins at their seams or near fire. Alternatively, Helen Tanner and Edmund Danzinger connect it to the Ojibwe practice of writing on birch bark or making pictographs, respectively; compare ozhibii' (“write (someone's name) down”).
Other, less credible theories:
Other, less likely suggestions include: Henry Schoolcraft derived it from a word *bwe "pertaining to voice" ((compare bedowe (“have a soft voice”)), and like George Belcourt, believed it referred to a peculiarity of the tribe's (language's) pronunciation. Some other works connect it to the word for puckering the lips, which however is bajiishkidooneni (“she or he puckers the lips”), or assert that it refers to roasting captives until their flesh puckered, but this was not a common practice and is improbable as a self-designation.

m+

The language spoken by the native Algonquin people of central Canada, one of a closely related group of languages and dialects of the Algonquian branch of the Algic language family.


Yup'ik

Borrowed from Yup'ik Yup'ik (“real person”), from Proto-Eskimo *iŋuɣpiɣ, from *iŋuɣ (“human, person”).

(linguistics) A language of the Eskimo-Aleut family.

jupikki

(linguistics) A subbranch of the Eskimo-Aleut family of languages. This is the only language family known to straddle both North America and Asia. It is centered squarely in Alaska and is thought to have migrated across to Siberia a few hundred years ago.


Kabyle

From Arabic قَبَائِل (qabāʔil, “tribes”), plural of قَبِيلَة (qabīla, “tribe”).

A Northern Berber language of the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic language family, spoken by over 3,000,000 people in Algeria; native name Taqbaylit.


haw

en-verb

haw (third-person singular simple present haws, present participle hawing, simple past and past participle hawed)

haws (present singular third-person)
hawing (participle present)
hawed (participle past)
hawed (past)

From Middle English ha (interjection). Compare Old Norse há (interjection), Middle Low German ha, hā (interjection), Old High German aha, hei (interjection).

To stop, in speaking, with a sound like haw; to speak with interruption and hesitation.


haw

Assumed to be interjectory, but compare Old English hawian (“to observe, look”)

onomatopoeic

interjectory

Coordinate term: gee

An instruction for a horse or other animal to turn towards the driver, typically left.

嗬

an instruction for a horse or other animal to turn towards the driver


haw

en-noun

haw (countable and uncountable, plural haws)

Late Middle English (denoting a discharge from the eye), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Etymology 2 above, describing a berry.

nictitating membrane
nictitating membrane

(countable, anatomy) The third eyelid, or nictitating membrane.

(uncountable) A disease of the nictitating membrane.


Fijian

/fɪˈd͡ʒiːən/

an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family spoken on Fiji. It has 650,000 speakers, including second language users.


gee

You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee.

1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, “Act I”, in The Pirates of Penzance […], Philadelphia: J.M. Stoddart & Co., published 1880, →OCLC:


gee

From Middle English, from Old English ge, from Latin ge (the name of the letter G).

One branch of English society drops its initial aitches, and another branch ignores its terminal gees.

The word length, which contains only four sounds l e ng th, is usually spell'd thus, el ee en gee tee aitch.

1773 October, The Monthly Review Or Literary Journal Enlarged:

I have drunk en-ee-cee-tee-ay-ar from the ef-ell-oh-doubleyou-ee-ar-ess in his gee-ay-ar-dee-ee-en many a time.

2004, Will Rogers, The Stonking Steps, page 170:

The name of the Latin-script letter G/g.


Jess

A diminutive of the male given name Jesse.

‘Now then Kit,’ said Mr Parkinson, ‘look sharp! Help Jess up. Where has she got to?’ ‘Here I am!’ said Jessamy breathlessly as “helped” rather to vigorously from behind by Kit, she arrived on her knees on the floor of the dog cart.

1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 58:

‘It’s almost as if we’ve gone silly with happiness,’ said Marcus two days later. ‘Everyone in the house going round grinning like a lot of Cheshire Cats! The family I mean.’ ‘And Jess,’ said Kitto quickly. ‘Oh well, Jess is as good as family,’ said Fanny comfortably. Jessamy said nothing, but she looked up quickly and her smile would have rivalled any Cheshire Cat.

1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 127:

A diminutive of the female given names Jessica or Jessamy.


Jill

A variant of Gill, diminutive of Gillian, a medieval form of Juliana, ultimately from Latin.

"Just Jill, I'm afraid." "Would you prefer if it was Gillian?" "Oh, I think so. Gillian sounds so much fancier." "Fancy?" Terrence said. He smiled at her. "Or perhaps it sounds flashy?" "Royal," Richard said. "Flowery," Terrence added. "You could say Gillian was more flowery. That would fit. What about you, Corrie, what does it sound like to you?" "Rich," Corrie glanced at Jill. "Gillian sounds richer than Jill."

1994, Floyd Skloot, Summer Blue, Story Line Press,, →ISBN, page 98:

A female given name from Latin.
Clipping of Jillian.

Our wooing doth not end like an old play;
Jack hath not Jill; these ladies' courtesy
Might well have made our sport a comedy.

c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

Generic use for any female (as Sheila in Australian English), especially paired (since the 15th c., compare Ienken and Iulyan) with the male Jack.


ell

The name of the Latin-script letter L/l. (more commonly el)


kirk

Inherited from Northern Middle English kyrke, from either Old Norse kirkja or Old English cirice.

inh+

When she sang in the kirk, folk have told me that they had a foretaste of the musick of the New Jerusalem, and when she came in by the village of Caulds old men stottered to their doors to look at her.

1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

But long, long ago an enthusiastic reporter called it a "fairy palace," and the office building on the west side was once a church. Hence, in North British phraseology, to "gang tae the Kirk" meant to be had up on the carpet.

1941 January, C. Hamilton Ellis, “The Scottish Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 3:

(Northern England and Scotland) A church.


superior

/sʉːˈpɪə.ɹiː.ə/

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French superiour, from Latin superior (“higher, upper”).

(Scots law, historical) One who has made an original grant of heritable property to a tenant or vassal, on condition of a certain annual payment (feu duty) or of the performance of certain services.


mitre

From Middle English mytre, from Old French mitre, from Ancient Greek μίτρα (mítra, “headband, turban”). Its use in reference to a counterfeit coin derived from the bishop's mitre stamped upon it. Doublet of Mithras, Mithra, Mitra, and Mehr.

doublet

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


cue

Form of Latin qū. First attested as Middle English cu for half a farthing, as an abbreviation for Latin quadrāns (“quarter of an as”). Compare French qu.

"My name is Quinn," said Quinn. "Cue-you-eye-en-en."

2008, John Clark Pratt, Vietnam Voices: Perspectives on the War Years, 1941–1975, page 315:

The name of the Latin-script letter Q/q.


Tony

The statuettes awarded by the American Theatre Wing are formally known as “Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre”; they are named for Antoinette Perry (1888–1946), an actress, director, producer and co-founder of the American Theatre Wing, who was nicknamed Tony.

A male given name, a short form of Anthony/Antony

A surname transferred from the given name


Tory

From Irish tóraí (“pursuer”), from tóir (“pursuit”). The first recorded use in English is from a 1646 letter by James Butler ("Earl of Ormond") to a Colonel O' Brien, describing bandits and thieves on main roadways.

(UK politics) A member or supporter of the Conservative Party, which evolved from Royalist politicians; historically associated with upholding the rights of the monarchy and the privileges of the established Church.

консерватор

a member or supporter of the Conservative Party (UK, Canada)

(US, historical) A Union sympathizer in the Confederate States during the American Civil War.


Tory

(UK politics) Of or belonging to the Tory Party or the Conservative Party.


Tory

Short for Victoria when used as a female name, and for Victor or Salvatore when used as a male name.


superiority

en-noun

superiority (countable and uncountable, plural superiorities)

From Middle English superiorite, from Old French superiorite, from Medieval Latin superioritas, from Latin superior.
Morphologically superior + -ity.

(Scots law, historical) The right which the superior enjoys in the land held by the vassal.


kay

The name of the Latin-script letter K/k.


vee

Gussa-Merry-Mingo-Pip-Perry-Pingo is the name of the little old man who looks after the aitch-oh-vee-ee-ar-cee-ay-ar-pee-ee-tee-blank-ar-eye-dee-ee-ess.

RV [is spoken] as "ar-vee" instead of "I SPELL Romeo Victor".

2016 CCEB, Communications Instructions Radiotelephone Procedures: ACP125 (G), p. 3-5

The name of the Latin-script letter V/v.


Erse

From Scots Erse (“Irish”), from earlier Ersche, Ersch, a contraction of Erisch, Erische (“Irish”), from Middle English Erische, Irische, Irisch (“Irish”). Doublet of Irish. Compare also Scots Irisch.

Two points which appeal to the writer are that the stations of origin and of destination are printed (in Erse and English) once only and then are summarised at the foot, [...]. [...] Clar Chloinne Mhuiris is the Erse original of Claremorris, and Dublin appears as Baile Atha Cliath.

1940 May, G. W. J. Potter, “Tickets of the Great Southern Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 292:

Now he's just sung in his mother tongue, the ancient Irish Erse, and cleared the pub completely by the forty-second verse!

1993, “Plastic Paddy”, in Mirrors, performed by Eric Bogle:

Either of the Gaelic languages of Ireland and Scotland.


Germanization

Germanization (countable and uncountable, plural Germanizations)

The adoption of German customs or culture.

(historical) The policy, in Nazi Germany, of the expansion of the German language and culture.


Cheddarhead

From Cheddar + -head; Wisconsin is famed for its cheese production.

(US, slang, sometimes derogatory) A Wisconsinite.


AAVE

Initialism of African-American Vernacular English.


Dougie

A diminutive of the male given names Douglas or Dougal.


Doug

Come and have a drink,' he said, 'and my Christian name is Douglas on this side of the Rye, mind that. Dougal Douglas at Meadows Meade and Douglas Dougal a Willis's, mind. Only a formality for the insurance cards and such.'
'I better call you Doug, and be done with it.'

1960, Muriel Spark, The Ballad of Peckham Rye, New Directions Publishing, published 1999, page 70:

A diminutive of the male given name Douglas.


Todd

Do I want this t-shirt with Todd H- of course I do!

2019 October 24, ISP, quoting iSorrowproductions, Fallout 4 But I Randomized EVERYTHING:

A male given name transferred from the surname.


tanner

George II of Great Britain
John Sigismund Tanner
Royal Mint

Named after John Sigismund Tanner (1705–1775), who designed a sixpence for the Royal Mint during the reign of King George II.

[A]s you are so flash of your money, though you say you are poor, you may give me a tanner to buy a little baccy with; […]

1851, George Borrow, chapter III, in Lavengro; the Scholar—the Gypsy—the Priest. […], volume II, London: John Murray […], →OCLC, page 32:

They'd say hello, maybe slip you a tanner.

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 469:

(British, colloquial) A former British coin worth six old pence.


Algonquin

From Canadian French algonquin, from earlier algoumequin, from either Maliseet elakómkwik ("these are our relatives") or Mi'kmaq algoomeaking (“at the place of spearing fish and eels”).

der

The language spoken by the Algonquins, a transitional language between Ojibwe and Abenaki.

United Counties of Leeds and Grenville#English

A community of Augusta township, United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Ontario, Canada.

A village in McHenry County and Kane County, Illinois.

A place name:
A place in the United States:
A township in McHenry County, Illinois.

A neighbourhood of Louisville, Kentucky.

census-designated place
census-designated place

Dorchester County
Dorchester County#English

A census-designated place in Dorchester County, Maryland.

Ontonagon County
Ontonagon County#English

An unincorporated community in Bohemia Township, Ontonagon County, Michigan.


Ernie

A diminutive of the male given name Ernest.


Gullah

Gola people
Gullah
Gullah#Etymology
folk etymology

First attested in 1739 as a male black slave's proper name, of unclear origin. Traditionally linked by folk etymology to an apheresis of Angola (where many African slaves were carried from), or an apparent West African ethno-tribal group called the Gola people.
See more at the Wikipedia article Gullah, including other theories.

Gullah has been spoken continuously since before the Civil War.

A creole of English and various African languages spoken on a group of islands off the coast of the Carolinas and Georgia in the Southern United States.

The culture surrounding this language and geography.


Gullah

The music of George Gershwin’s Porgie and Bess was inspired in part by Gullah "shouts".

Pertaining to the Gullah language and culture.


O'odham

From O'odham o'odham (“person, man, human being”).

The indigenous Uto-Aztecan language of the O'Odham.


Oregonian

Born and raised in Salem, he was admittedly an Oregonian through and through, though he secretly hated it.

United States of America
United States of America

A native or resident of the state of Oregon in the United States of America.


Star Wars

[ˈstɑɹ ˈwɔɹz]

[ˈstɑ˞ ˈwɔɹz]

From the original name of the science fantasy motion picture Star Wars (1977).

Strategic Defense Initiative
Strategic Defense Initiative

(informal, military) The United States Strategic Defense Initiative.


Zinnia

Zinnia had already attained fifty, I guessed, and wore a professional white coat over a grey flannel skirt. In spite of her colourful name she had short grey hair hair, no lipstick, flat-heeled shoes and an air of tiredness, […]

1999, Dick Francis, Second Wind, page 199:

A female given name from English from the flower


Marshal

/ˈmɑː(ɹ)ʃəl/

A male given name transferred from the surname, of 19th century and later usage.


nom de guerre

/ˌnɒm də ˈɡɛə(ɹ)/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-nom de guerre.wav

Borrowed from French nom de guerre (literally “war name”), referring to the pseudonyms used during wars.


Arwel

From Welsh, derivation uncertain. Possibly "prominent".


Kurt

A male given name from the Germanic languages borrowed from German, a contracted form of Konrad.


Murray

en-proper noun

Murray (countable and uncountable, plural Murrays)

Scottish surname derived from the place name Moray in NE Scotland, probably from old Celtic "sea + settlement".

Murray was the sort of name he might have expected his father to pick. Murray : not a family name, not a friend's name, not some old blowhard up in New Hampshire (his father's home state) who'd sat around in the general store playing checkers and sucking his teeth. Murray was a name you couldn't do anything with. Murr — what the hell kind of nickname was that? The kids in second and third grade had certainly seen the name's possibilities. With the appropriate swishes and vocal flutings, they called him "Mary".

1992, Martha Grimes, The End of the Pier, page 151:

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Chris

A diminutive of the male given names Christopher or (less commonly) Christian.

A diminutive of the female given name (along with other variant forms) Christina.


SF

(Ireland, UK politics) Initialism of Sinn Féin; an Irish political party.


treat

en-verb

treat (third-person singular simple present treats, present participle treating, simple past and past participle treated or (Northern England, Bristol, colloquial) tret)

treats (present singular third-person)
treating (participle present)
treated (participle past)
treated (past)
tret (Northern-England colloquial participle past)
tret (Northern-England colloquial past)
treat (infinitive)

From Middle English treten, from Anglo-Norman treter, Old French tretier, traiter, from Latin tractāre (“to pull", "to manage”), from the past participle stem of trahere (“to draw", "to pull”).

(UK politics, law) To commit the offence of providing food, drink, entertainment or provision to corruptly influence a voter.


Wookiee

What's this guy tryinna [sic] disappear behind you, a Wookie? [sic]

1985, Stephen King, Peter Straub, The Talisman, page 341:

I backed it out to the dirt road, and the door to the double-wide opened and a big guy, more Wookiee than human being, filled the doorway.

2009, Janet Evanovich, Plum Spooky, page 98:

Kevin whined, his Wookiee face showing hurt somewhere beneath the dark glasses.

2009, Jaqueline Girdner, Murder, My Deer, page 115:

A member of a fictional race of tall, hairy bipeds in the universe of the Star Wars motion pictures.


cis

Clipping of cisgender or cissexual, ultimately from Latin cis.

Coordinate term: trans

We're demonized and criminalized as perverts out to trick and deceive cis hetero men; therefore anything that happens to us, we 'had coming.'

2017 November 21, Trish Bendix, quoting Ashlee Marie Preston, “Why it matters that transgender women are speaking out about Jeffrey Tambor — and that people are listening”, in Yahoo! Lifestyle:

Oh yeah, because you know who's been long overdue a challenge? The trans community. Oh, they've had their guard down for too long if you ask me. They'll all be checking their privilege on the way home now thanks to you, you brave little cis boy!

2019 January 17, James Acaster: Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999, spoken by James Acaster:

The reality is that LGBTQ+ people face challenges at disproportionally higher rates than their straight counterparts — drug use, sex work, and financial instability can be an unfortunate result. My privilege as a young cis white man whose parents weren't going to let me drown afforded me the ability to make those mistakes and live to talk about it.

2019 September 24, Johnathan Van Ness, Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love, HarperCollins, →ISBN, pages 117–118:

Cisgender (or sometimes cissexual): not trans (transgender or transsexual) nor non-binary.


BNP

British National Party
w:British National Party

(UK politics) Initialism of British National Party.


GC

General Committee
w:Constituency Labour Party

(UK politics) Initialism of General Committee: the general management committee of a constituency party of the British Labour Party.


adduce

adduce (third-person singular simple present adduces, present participle adducing, simple past and past participle adduced)

adduces (present singular third-person)
adducing (participle present)
adduced (participle past)
adduced (past)

From Middle English adducen, from Latin addūcere, adductum (“to lead or bring to”), from ad- + dūcere (“to lead”). See duke, and compare adduct.

(transitive, Scots law) To produce in proof.


qoph

The nineteenth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).


kaph

From Hebrew כָּף (kaf, “kaph”), from Proto-Semitic *kapp- (“palm, hand”) (Akkadian 𒀉 (kappu(m)), Hebrew כַּף (kaf, “hand/foot”), Arabic كَفّ (kaff), Ugaritic 𐎋𐎔 (kp)) Doublet of kappa.

The eleventh letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).


zayin

The seventh letter of many Semitic alphabets (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).


resh

From Proto-Semitic *raʾš- (“head”). Doublet of ras (“Ethiopian king”) and ras (“headland”), and related to reis.

doublet

The twentieth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others). It is homologous with Greek rho and Latin r.


heth

The eighth letter of many Semitic alphabets (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).


teth

The ninth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).


samekh

The 15th letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician. Aramaic. Hebrew. Syriac. And many others).


yodh

Borrowed from Hebrew יו״ד, ultimately from Proto-Semitic *yad- (“hand”).
 Doublet of iota and yod.

The tenth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).


tsade

The eighteenth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).


vav

The sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, ו.


Tupi

Any of the Tupian languages, especially Old Tupi or Nheengatu.


ayin

From Proto-Semitic *ʿayn- (“eye”), particularly via Hebrew עַיִן (ʿáyin).

Ayin is the most difficult of the faucals.

The sixteenth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).


Rodger

/ˈɹɒd͡ʒə(ɹ)/

A male given name from the Germanic languages; a spelling variant of Roger reinforced by the surname.


Shraddha

Borrowed from Sanskrit श्रद्धा (śraddhā, “faith”).

A female given name from Sanskrit used in India and Nepal


Katie

And "Mable"'s a name that ever sounds sweetly / And charms and enchants a mortal completely / While "Katie" suggests brown eyes and brown tresses / Created for love and lover's caresses.

1892 Walter Malone, Narcissus: and Other Poems, J.B.Lippincott Company 1892, page 133 ("Mary")

A diminutive of the female given name Catherine or any of its variant spellings.


Bajan

A shortened form of Bar-Bajan, a phonetically spelled form of Barbadian.


Bajan

A Creole language spoken on the island of Barbados.


pantheon

(mythology) All the gods of a particular people or religion, particularly the ancient Greek gods residing on Olympus, considered as a group.


Mancunian

]
From Latin Mancunium (appearing in a 4th-century manuscript of the Antonine Itinerary), an alternative name for or corruption of Mamucium (“name of the Roman fort at what is now Manchester”) + -an, probably modelled after Late Latin Mancuniensis (“related or pertaining to Mancunium”).

cog

The accent and dialect of English spoken in Manchester and some of its environs.


tav

Alternative form of taw (Semitic letter)


beth

From Middle Bronze Age picture of a house by acrophony, ultimately from Proto-Semitic *bayt- (“house”). Doublet of beta.

The second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, ב


kaf

The twenty-second letter of the Arabic alphabet. ك (k)


empirical formula

en-noun

empirical formula (plural empirical formulas or empirical formulae)

empirical formulas (plural)
empirical formulae (plural)

The molecular formula for ethane is C₂H₆, while the empirical formula is CH₃.

(chemistry) A notation indicating the ratios of the various elements present in a compound, without regard to the actual numbers.

實驗式

a notation indicating the ratios of the various elements present in a compound


molecular formula

molecular formula (plural molecular formulas or molecular formulae)

molecular formulas (plural)
molecular formulae (plural)

(chemistry) A notation indicating the number of atoms of each element present in one molecule of a substance.

分子式

a notation indicating the number of atoms of each element present in a molecule


Jason

From the Ancient Greek Ἰάσων (Iásōn), from ἰάομαι (iáomai, “I heal”). The Jason mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 17:5-9, Romans 16:21) is probably a Greek rendering of Joshua.

And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 17:6-7:

The new prince left the hospital today. My father is hoping that he will be called George, after him. My mother said that it's time the Royal Family came up to date and called the Prince Brett or Jason.

1984, Sue Townsend, The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, Methuen, published 1985, →ISBN, page 49:


Marian

A variant of Marion, a medieval derivation of Mary, often also interpreted as a contraction of Mary and Ann, or as a variant of Mariana.

There's no more faith in thee than in a steward prune, nor no more truth in thee than in a drawn fox; and for womanhood, Maid Marian may be the deputy's wife of the ward to thee.


McCune-Reischauer

Created in 1937 by George M. McCune and Edwin O. Reischauer.

Revised Romanization of Korean
Revised Romanization of Korean

One of the three main systems of Romanization used for Korean (the others being Revised Romanization of Korean and Yale romanization).


Babylonian

From Latin Babylōnius (“of Babylon, Babylonian”) (from Ancient Greek Βαβυλώνιος (Babulṓnios)) + -an; corresponding to Babylon + -ian.

der

A later form of Akkadian language spoken in Babylonia in 1950 BC – 100 AD.


waw

The twenty-seventh letter of the Arabic alphabet: و.


Ginny

A diminutive of the female given names Virginia or Ginevra.


Haskell

* The programming language is named after American logician Haskell Curry (1900–1982).
* As an English surname, from the Middle English personal name Askell, from Old Norse Áskell. Compare Axtell, Askin, Haskin, Hasty, Astin.
* As a surname in the Isle of Man, a variant of Castell, itself related to the above.
* As a Jewish surname, from Khaskl, a Yiddish form of Yeḥezqel, see Ezekiel.

named-after

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Garfield

Also Garfeld, from Old English gār (“spear”) + feld (“field”).


Earthwoman

One was what had been born in me, what had been inextricably entangled in the structure of the germ cell from which I had been created; the other remembered all the long years on Earth when I, in common with every other Earthman and Earthwoman, had been flexed and shaped by the insistent pounding of the Combine; my brain had been conditioned to believe what it was desired that I should believe, and nothing beyond that.

1934 September, Frank King Kelly, “Famine on Mars”, in Astounding Stories, volume 14, number 1, page 77:

(usually science fiction) A female inhabitant of Earth.


mem

From Phoenician 𐤌𐤌 (mm /mem/, “water”), from Proto-Semitic *maʾ- (“*maʾ-/*may-”). Doublet of mu.

The thirteenth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).


Ichabod

From Biblical Hebrew אִיכָבוֹד (ʾīḵāḇōḏ, literally “no honor”), from אִי (ʾī, “not”) + כָּבוֹד (kāḇōḏ, “honor”); alluding to 1 Samuel 4:21, where Eli’s daughter-in-law names her child Ichabod, saying ‘The glory is departed from Israel.’


kyūjitai

Transliteration from Japanese 旧(きゅう)字(じ)体(たい) (kyūjitai, literally “old character form”).

ja-r

Coordinate term: shinjitai

Although the kyūjitai kanji were not banned, the obsolete kyūjitai kanji have become unreadable to more and more readers over time, thus making texts including them difficult for modern readers, but at least there is a recognized mapping from new form to old form.

2020, Stewart Arneil, “Encoding Disappearing Characters: The Case of Twentieth-Century Japanese-Canadian Names”, in Journal of the Text Encoding Initiative, number 12, Text Encoding Initiative Consortium, →DOI, →ISSN:

The traditional form of Japanese kanji used before 1947.


Johan

An archaic variant of Joan, from Old French Johan, from Latin Johanna.

William, the youthful heir, grew up, married and died, as we have already seen, of the sweating sickness, leaving only a daughter named Johan or Jennett, who was but two months old at his death […]

1893, Frank Peel, Spen Valley, Past and Present, Senior and Co, published 1893, page 64:


Anne

From French Anne (“Ann”), from Late Latin Anna chiefly in reference to St Anne the apocryphal mother of Mary mother of Jesus but appearing in the Vulgate in reference to Anna the Prophetess, from Koine Greek Ἄννα (Ánna) in the New Testament, from Hebrew חַנָּה (Ḥanâ, “Hannah”), from חַנָּה (ḥanâ, “grace, gracious, graced with child”). Occasionally reborrowed from languages who adopted the name from English. Very infrequently from Estonian abbreviation of Anna instead. Doublet of Ann, Ana, Anna, and Hannah. Compare John.

Immortal God, that savedest Susanne / From false blame; and thou merciful maid, / Mary I mean, the daughter to Saint Anne, /Before whose child the angels sing Osanne,

1380s-1390s, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales: The Man of Law's Prologue and Tale

"What do you think they are going to name the baby? Anne; after her and her mamma. So very ugly a name!"
"I don't think so," said Mr Carlyle. "It is simple and unpretending. I like it much. Look at the long, pretentious names in our family - Archibald! Cornelia! And yours, too - Barbara! What a mouthful they all are!"

1860, Mrs Henry Wood (Ellen Wood), East Lynne, Kessinger Publishing, published 2004, →ISBN, page 29:

"But if you call me Anne please call me Anne spelled with an e."
"What difference does it make how it's spelled?" asked Marilla with another rusty smile as she picked up the teapot.
"Oh, it makes such a difference. It looks so much nicer. When you hear a name pronounced can't you always see it in your mind, just as if it was printed out? I can, and A-n-n looks dreadful, but A-n-n-e looks so much more distinguished."

1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of the Green Gables:


Anne

A shortened form of any of various Germanic masculine names which began with arn (eagle), such as Arnold.

(very rare) A male given name from the Germanic languages, of mainly French and Frisian usage, see Anne Robert Jacques Turgot


Jessica

First used by William Shakespeare in Merchant of Venice in the early 17th century, probably from Hebrew יִסְכָּה (yiská, “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe version”), a proper name meaning "he will see/behold/look for", the 3ms imperfect form of a verb ultimately from the root ס־כ־ה (s-k-h), itself an alternative form of the root שׂ־כ־ה (ś-k-h), both of which mean "to see, behold, look for".
* By folk etymology seen as an elaborate form of Jessie, from Jane.

der

Lorenzo: In such a night / Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew, / And with an unthrift love did run from Venice, / As far as Belmont.

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

She will be beautiful, of course - how could our child not be beautiful? We will name her...Jessica. Yes, that's a good name, not one of those lighter-than-air names so popular among writers of romances and fairy tales. That's a name a real little girl might have.

1996, Tad Williams, The Writer's Child, The Sandman Book of Dreams, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 154:

Jessica. It was, she later thought, a name well suited to whitehaired ladies with bright blue eyes.

2015, Sunjeev Sahota, The Year of the Runaways, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN:


Shawn

A variant of Sean, from Irish Seán, from Old French Jehan, from Latin Johannes, variant of Ioannes, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yōḥānān, literally “God is gracious”). Doublet of John, Jack, Johan, Johann, Johannes, Jean, Juan, Ian, Evan, Ivan, Sean, Shaun, Shane, and Giovanni as a male name. Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena as a female name.

doublet

Two weeks later Dot and her girl, who was finally named Shawn, like most girls born that year, came back to work at the scales.

1984, Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine, Bantam Books, published 1987, →ISBN, page 169:

Or take Sean, S-E-A-N. Been spelled like that for about five hundred years. But not them, they've gotta spell it S-H-A-W-N. Like they have a right to that name in the first place.

1996, Tobias Wolff, The Night in Question: Stories, Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, page 141:

(chiefly US) Alternative form of Shaun, a unisex given name.


Earthling

From earth + -ling (suffix indicating a resident); earth is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁er- (“earth”). Old English ierþling (“farmer, husbandman, ploughman”, literally “one of the earth”) is formed from the same roots but generally did not outlive Old English; all modern uses are historical: see earthling. Compare also human, which is derived from Latin humus (“ground, soil”).

noncog

(chiefly science fiction) An inhabitant of Earth, as opposed to one of another planet; specifically, a sentient member of any species native to Earth. [from 20th c.]

أَرْضِيّ

Mercurian · Venusian · Lunarian · Marsling

Jupiterian · Saturnian · Uranian · Neptunian · Plutonian


Shaun

A variant of Sean, from Irish Seán, from Old French Jehan, from Latin Johannes, variant of Ioannes, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yōḥānān, literally “God is gracious”).
Doublet of John, Jack, Johan, Johann, Johannes, Jean, Ian, Evan, Ivan, Sean, Shawn, Shane, and Giovanni as a male name.
Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shauna, and Sheena as a female name.


Henrietta

en-proper noun

Henrietta (countable and uncountable, plural Henriettas)

Latinate form of French Henriette, derived from the male given name Henry.

Alberta is more like a man's name than any other name that comes from a men's, more than Georgianna which is just like a magnolia blossom or Henrietta which most people change to Etta or Geraldine which nobody ever thinks of coming from a man's Irish name like Gerald.

1936, George Weller, Clutch and Differential, Ayer, published 1970, →ISBN, page 196:

A female given name from the Germanic languages.


Meg

Old Meg was brave as Margaret Queen,
And tall as Amazon:
An old red blanket cloak she wore,
A chip-hat had she on.

My mother thought Meg a sweet child, that's what she called her, a sweet child, although she was critical of her name.
'What kind of name is that,' she said.
'It's short for Margaret,' I said. 'But everyone calls her Meg.'
'Well, that's no name for a girl, that's a scullery maid's name. I fault the mother.'

1985, E. L. Doctorow, World's Fair, Fawcett Crest, published 1986, →ISBN, page 208:

A diminutive of the female given names Margaret or Megan.


shin

The twenty-first letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others): Shin (letter) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia


Mattathias

/ˌmætəˈθaɪ.əs/

From the Latin Mattathiās, from the Ancient Greek Μᾰττᾰθῐ́ᾱς (Mattathíās), from the Biblical Hebrew מַתִּתְיָהוּ (mattiṯyāhū). Doublet of Matthew.

uder

מַתִּתְיָהוּ

vvho vvas of Matthathias, vvho vvas of Amos, vvho vvas of Naum, vvho vvas of Heſli, vvho vvas of Naggé,

1582, The Nevv Teſtament of Ieſus Chriſt, tranſlated faithfully into Engliſh, out of the authentical Latin (first edition), The Holy Goſpel of Ieſus Chriſt according to Luke iii:25 (page 144)

(rare) A male given name from Hebrew — famously held by:

(Christianity, in Luke’s genealogy of Christ) The son of Amos and father of Joseph, six-times-great–grandfather of Jesus.

vvho vvas of Mahath, vvho vvas of Matthathias, vvho vvas of Semei, vvho vvas of Ioſeph, vvho vvas of Iuda,

1582, The Nevv Teſtament of Ieſus Chriſt, tranſlated faithfully into Engliſh, out of the authentical Latin (first edition), The Holy Goſpel of Ieſus Chriſt according to Luke iii:26 (page 144)

(Christianity, in Luke’s genealogy of Christ) The son of Semei and father of Mahath, twelve-times-great–grandfather of Jesus.

In thoſe dayes aroſe Mathathias the ſonne of Iohn, the ſonne of Simeon, prieſt of the ſonnes of Ioarib from Ieruſalem, and he ſate in the mountayne of Modin: and he had fiue ſonnes, Iohn who was ſurnamed Gaddis: and Simon, who was ſurnamed Thaſi: and Iudas, who was called Machabeus: and Eleazar, who was ſurnamed Abaron: and Ionathan, who was ſurnamed Apphus.

1610, The ſecond tome of the Holie Bible faithfully tranſlated into Engliſh, out of the authentical Latin (first edition), The Firſt Booke of Macabees ii:1–5 (page 896)

(Judaism and Christianity) A Jewish priest featured in the second chapter of 1 Maccabees, instigator of the Maccabean Revolt and progenitor of the Hasmonean dynasty.


Native American

en-noun

Native American (plural Native Americans)

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

His name, as given on the records, was Joe Slater, or Slaader, and his appearance was that of the typical denizen of the Catskill Mountain region; one of those strange, repellent scions of a primitive colonial peasant stock whose isolation for nearly three centuries in the hilly fastnesses of a little-travelled countryside has caused them to sink to a kind of barbaric degeneracy, […] their general mental status is probably below that of any other section of the native American people.

1919, H. P. Lovecraft, Beyond the Wall of Sleep:

(dated) A resident of the United States who is not an immigrant. (Often uncapitalized: native American.)


Ivan

From Russian Ива́н (Iván), and from Ivan in several Slavic languages. Doublet of John and its relatives Evan, Giovanni, Ian, Johann, and Sean, etc.

Amy's husband was called Ivan. Ivan the Terrible, Barry always called him, naturally. 'Ivan? What kind of name is that?' he said to Tracy after Amy's engagement was announced. 'Bloody Russian.'
'Actually, I think it's because he had a Norwegian grandfather', Tracy said.
'Norwegian?' Barry said incredulously, as if she'd just announced that Ivan's family came from the moon.

2010, Kate Atkinson, Started Early, took My Dog, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 66:

A male given name from Russian of English speakers.

Ива́н Иван#Russian

A transliteration of the Russian male given name Ива́н (Iván).

A transliteration of the Macedonian male given name Иван (Ivan).


Ivan

Rare variant of Evan, from Welsh Ifan, the Welsh equivalent of John.

Dafydd ap Ivan ap Einion, an adherent to the house of Lancaster held out, in Harlech Castle, for nine years after the accession of Edward the Fourth to the throne of England.

1833, George Newenham Wright, Scenes in North Wales, T. T. and J. Tegg, page 137:

A male given name from Welsh of Welsh origin.


Kingdom Hall

A place where Jehovah's Witnesses meet for fellowship and worship.

Salón del Reino de los Testigos de Jehová


Artemis

From Ancient Greek Ἄρτεμις (Ártemis). Further etymology is uncertain.

(rare) A female given name from Ancient Greek. The usual male variation is Artemios.

Mr. HISS. And is Mr. Artemis Denaxas an official of that company?
Mr. ALLARD. I believe he is.
Mr. HISS. I offer as "Exhibit No. 307" a letter of August 22, 1933, by Mr. Artemis Denaxas to Mr. Goulding, […]

1934, United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate the Munitions Industry, Munitions Industry: Hearings Before the Special Committee Investigating the Munitions Industry, United States Senate, Seventy-third[-Seventy-fourth] Congress, Pursuant to S. Res. 206, a Resolution to Make Certain Investigations Concerning the Manufacture and Sale of Arms and Other War Munitions, page 735:

Artemis's father rested one hand on the rolling ladder, lifting his weight from the artificial limb. His expression was strange, and one that Artemis could not recall ever seeing. He realized his father was more than anxious. Artemis Fowl Senior was afraid. […] Now Artemis himself grew worried.

2009, Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

She must give her full attention to the man at her side, Mr. Artemis Boutwell, as she had promised her mother. The young Mr. Artemis Boutwell, as everyone referred to him, was tall like Griffin—no, Mr. Parks. She must remember to refer to him ...

2012, Kristy Dykes, The Tender Heart, Barbour Publishing, →ISBN:

(very rare) A male given name from Ancient Greek.


Judah

Borrowed from Biblical Hebrew יְהוּדָה (yehudá), a son of Jacob. Doublet of Judas and Yehuda.


middle name

(name between first and last names): First recorded from Harvardiana in 1835.
 The Philippine sense is from the adaptation of Filipino full names from former Spanish naming customs to the US naming custom of given name first, then the mother's surname before marriage, then the father's surname.

I go by David but it's my middle name; my full name is William David Mason.

a name between the first given name and the family name or surname; a second or subsequent given name

сре́днее и́мя

not used in Russia, patronymics are used instead, foreign context


Engrish

From the mispronunciation of the word English common to Japanese speakers, who have difficulty distinguishing "L" and "R" sounds. The Japanese transliteration of the word "English", イングリッシュ (Ingurisshu) is often used for teaching purposes. In that word, /ɾ/ (romanised as "r") is pronounced instead of the English /l/.

'Why you not teach Engrish more? I must aspeak^([sic]) Engrish.' The Chelsea's resident mad painter was angry at the way Jeremy had been ignoring him.

2003, Bruce L. Russell, Channelling Henry, page 129:

(sometimes derogatory) Ungrammatical, unorthographical or nonsensical English, especially that which is found in East Asia, notably in Japan.


Spanglish

Dunglish

mixture of English and Dutch in the Netherlands

Llanito

mixture of English and Spanish in Gibraltar

The Nobel laureate Octavio Paz is said to have had it that Spanglish is “neither good, nor bad, but abominable.”

2021 November 23, John McWhorter, “America Has More Than One Spanglish”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

A language blend of English and Spanish spoken by both Latinas, Latinos, and Anglo-Americans.


Matthew

From earlier Matheu, from Old French Mathieu, from Latin Matthaeus, from Ancient Greek Ματθαῖος (Matthaîos), from Aramaic מַתַּי (mattay). Compare Hebrew מַתִּתְיָהוּ (mattiṯyāhū, literally “gift of the Lord”). Doublet of Mattathias.

cog

מַתִּתְיָהוּ

- - - My name is Matthew Bramble, at your service. The truth is, I have a foolish pique at the name of Matthew, because it savours of those canting hypocrites, who in Cromwell's time, christened all their children by names taken from the Scripture."

1771, Tobias George Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, Harper&Brothers, published 1836, page 231:

People with incorruptible names like Matthew are always calling people named Charles, Charlie. I wish my folks had named me Matthew. Matt is the worst that can be made of it.

1979 Charles Kuralt, Dateline America, Harcourt Brace Jovanocich, page 184

A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.


Athena

Borrowed from Latin Athena, from Ancient Greek Ἀθηνᾶ (Athēnâ).


Howard

en-proper noun

Howard (countable and uncountable, plural Howards)

Medieval personal name from Middle English Howard, Howarde, from Old Norse Hávarðr, from hár (“high”) + varðr (“guard”). In some cases a variant of Heward, from Old French Huard.

"King Howard Kashpaw, Junior," said his new teacher. "Which one of those names would you like to be called?"
He had never thought about it.
"Howard," he was surprised to hear himself answer. It was that simple. After that he was Howard at school. - - -
""He don't call himself Little King anymore," Lynette said from the kitchen. "He thinks his name's Howard."
"Howard?"
The boy looked at me and nodded.
"He won't claim his dad no more," said King, standing in the doorway. "He's too good."

1984, Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine, Bantam Books, published 1987, →ISBN, page 238,250:

A male given name from the Germanic languages, transferred back from the surname. Short form: Howie.


Mecca

From Arabic مَكَّة (Makka) of uncertain etymology. In American place names, in reference to the Arabian city.

Mrs. Mecca Marie Varney and son are successful lecturers and debaters on various topics of current interest, such as suffrage, etc. Her home is in Paw Paw, Mich. Her lectures are managed by her husband, Charles E. Varney.

1912, The Arrow of Pi Beta Phi, page 107:

Just then, a young boy—named Mecca, as we learned later—arrived at the scene with the flight attendants who had been escorting him to his parents. In the midst of the frantic feeding of the protein bar, Mecca quietly announced:

2020, Born This Way Foundation reporters, Lady Gaga, Channel Kindness: Stories of Kindness and Community, Feiwel & Friends, →ISBN:

(uncommon) A unisex given name, mostly borne by women.


Slavic

It is a commonly known fact that formal marks of perfective aspect in Slavic are prefixes.

Any of various languages spoken by the Slavic peoples, such as Proto-Slavic, Common Slavic, Old Church Slavic, or the modern Slavic languages.


Sanskrit

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit संस्कृत (saṃskṛtá, “perfected, prepared, constructed, refined”). First use appears c. 1617 in the publications of Samuel Purchas.

lbor

The Sanscrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps no longer exists...
- Sir William Jones, 2 February, 1786, at the Asiatick Society.

2004, Benjamin W. Fortson IV, “Introduction”, in Indo-European Language and Culture, page 8:

A classical Indo-European language of South Asia, which is the liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism.


Amerind

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

Blend of American + Indian or possibly blend of American + indigenous. First appears c. 1899 in the publication American Anthropologist.

The cultural hiatus associated with the Pine Pollen Zone suggests that Amerinds may have avoided the area.


faculty

From Middle English faculte (“power, property”), from Old French faculte, from Latin facultas (“capability, ability, skill, abundance, plenty, stock, goods, property; in Medieval Latin also a body of teachers”), another form of facilitas (“easiness, facility, etc.”), from facul, another form of facilis (“easy, facile”); see facile. Doublet of facility.

der

(Church of England) A licence to make alterations to a church.


Arvid

Borrowed from Danish Arvid, Swedish Arvid or Norwegian Arvid.


synagogue

/ˈsɪ.nəˌɡɒɡ/

/ˈsɪ.nəˌɡɑɡ/

From Middle English synagoge, from Old French synagoge, from Latin synagōga, from Ancient Greek σῠνᾰγωγή (sunagōgḗ, “assembly, gathering”), from συνάγω (sunágō, “I gather together”), from σῠ́ν (sún, “with, together”) + ᾰ̓́γω (ágō, “I lead”). By surface analysis, syn- + -agogue.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu and his wife toured Shanghai’s Ohel Moshe synagogue in the Hongkou district that was home to many of the 18,000 Jews granted refuge in Shanghai from the horrors of Nazi persecution.

2013 May 7, “Netanyahu: Jewish people capable of own defense”, in AP News, archived from the original on 2022-05-25:

A place of worship for Jews or Samaritans.


Jewish

en-adj

Jewish (comparative more Jewish, superlative most Jewish)

more Jewish (comparative)
most Jewish (superlative)

From Jew + -ish. Compare Middle English Judewissh (“Jewish”), Old English Iūdēisċ (“Jewish”), Dutch joodsch, joods (“Jewish”), German jüdisch (“Jewish”), Danish jødisk (“Jewish”), Swedish judisk (“Jewish”), Gothic 𐌾𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌹𐍃𐌺𐍃 (judaiwisks, “Jewish”). See also Yiddish.

cog

The roots of American Jewry are not in the Middle East but in Europe—their Jewish style, their strong Jewish words, their strong nostalgia, their actual, weighable history, all this issues from their European origins. Grandpa did not hail from Haifa—he was a Jewish humanist, a spiritual, believing Jew, who complained not in an antique tongue called Hebrew but in colorful, rich, vernacular Yiddish.

1993, Philip Roth, Operation Shylock, page 47:

Although I did know that my Jewish name was Yiddish, the rabbi who first taught me Hebrew in the 1960s insisted that we all have Hebrew and not Yiddish names

2007, Laura Levitt, American Jewish Loss After the Holocaust, page 69:

2012, Aya Elyada, A Goy Who Speaks Yiddish: Christians and the Jewish Language in Early Modern Germany, Stanford University Press:


Jewish

The Statue of Liberty. A French gift with a poem made by a Jewish.

2022 November 26, ArgieSocDem, Twitter, archived from the original on 2022-12-09:

(non-native speakers' English, proscribed) A Jew.


Jewish

Joods

informal term for Yiddish — see also Yiddish

I can't speak Jewish; I can't even understand it.

quoted in 1947, William Lloyd Warner, Leo Srole, The Social Systems of American Ethnic Groups (page 232)

(informal, proscribed) The Yiddish or Hebrew language.

We believe that although he speaks Jewish, he speaks Russian quite badly and pretentiously.

2005 November 17, John Doyle Klier, Imperial Russia's Jewish Question, 1855-1881, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 57:

After a day servicing commercial refrigeration through the five boroughs, Dad would bring home a story of a Chinese waiter on Second Avenue who “speaks Jewish like a Galitzianer,” or of a Mafioso in a Queens fruit market who “has such yiddisher taam, I call him Rabbi Zino.”

2009, Martin S. Jaffee, The End of Jewish Radar: Snapshots of a Postethnic American Judaism, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 115:

A Jew wearing a cap with a visor and a red scarf around his neck is answering a Jewish woman who has addressed him in Polish: “One speaks Jewish aboard the Jewish tram”. Another butts in: “What about in Hebrew?” “In Hebrew as well”.
[…] The Jews in Wereszczyn spoke Jewish amongst themselves, and Polish with us. They had their own Jewish accent, but they had a pretty good grasp of the Polish language.

2012 August 6, Ewa Kurek, Polish-Jewish Relations 1939-1945: Beyond the Limits of Solidarity, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 215:


Bri

A diminutive of the female given name Brianna, or Bridget, or Britney, or, rarely, Britannia or Sabrina.

A diminutive of the male given name Brian.


Siouan

A primary language family containing the Sioux and Catawban languages.


hike

From English dialectal hyke (“to walk vigorously”), probably a Northern form of hitch, from Middle English hytchen, hichen, icchen (“to move, jerk, stir”). Cognate with Scots hyke (“to move with a jerk”), dialectal German hicken (“to hobble, walk with a limp”), Danish hinke (“to hop”). More at hick.

Let's go; get moving. A command to a dog sled team, given by a musher.


Athabascan

From Athabasca + -an, from Cree Athap-askaw.

“I’d like to thank the president for working with us to achieve this significant change to show honour, respect and gratitude to the Athabascan people of Alaska,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican who led the fight for the name change in Congress.

Pertaining to a group of peoples mostly inhabiting Alaska, western Canada, the Pacific coast of California and Oregon, and the Navajo and Apache peoples in the American Southwest.


shul

From Yiddish שול (shul, “school, synagogue”), from Old High German scuola (“school”), from Latin schola, from Ancient Greek σχολή (skholḗ). Doublet of schola and school.

That Asher's mind would have also been on Elohim, at this moment receiving prayers in Asher's shul, goes without saying.

2006, Howard Jacobson, Kalooki Nights, Vintage, published 2007, page 146:

Unfortunately, she has used the attack as a launch pad for a bizarre and undercooked exercise in rhetorical bothsidesism, in which she argues that American Jews should be just as worried about college students who overzealously criticize Israel as they are about the aspiring Einsatzgruppen who shoot up shuls.

2019 September 6, Jordan Weissman, “How Not to Fight Anti-Semitism”, in Slate:

The other reason he has upped his synagogue attendance is more positive. “My life has been about introducing everyone to everyone and going to shul can be like one big party.

2023 July 27, Nicole Lampert, quoting Philip Sallon, “Meet the colourful shul regular who admits: ‘I’m quite an extreme person’”, in The Jewish Chronicle:


Cecil

From Latin Caecilius, a Roman family name derived from caecus (“blind”). The surname has absorbed the Old Welsh Seisyllt, from Latin Sextilius, from Sextus.

John Sumner always called him "Sissy" but other kids called him Cecil or See-sal or Weasil. He didn't mind anything except "Sissy". Every time he heard it he saw red.

1968, Ivan Southall, Let the Balloon Go, Methuen, page 91:


Steven

Inherited from Middle English Stevene, Steven, from Anglo-Norman Estievne, Estievene, from Latin Stephanus, from Ancient Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos), from στέφανος (stéphanos, “crown, wreath”), from στέφω (stéphō, “to put round, to surround”).

His first name was probably Steve or Ed. No, there were no more Steves or Eds in New York. They were now Steven or Edward, whether they were gay or straight. If they had money, they didn't have a nickname. Everybody was into high seriousness, so that now even dogs were named Humphrey and Raphael.

1989, Ann Beattie, Picturing Will, Random House., →ISBN, page 67:

That's why the people of this world believe in... Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, and Steven!

A male given name from Ancient Greek, variant of Stephen.


Tyrone

en-proper noun

Tyrone (countable and uncountable, plural Tyrones)

From Irish Tír Eoghain (literally “land of Eoghan”).

der

(countable, chiefly US) A male given name transferred from the place name.


Fiona

From Irish fionn (“fair, white”). In use before 1713. Popularized by James Macpherson (see 1765 quotation), and perhaps by the 19th-century Scottish writer William Sharp, who chose “Fiona Macleod” as his pen name.

Let the sighs of Fiona rise on the dark heaths of her lovely Ardan.

1765, James Macpherson, The Works of Ossian, the son of Fingal:

A female given name from Scottish Gaelic, in regular use since the 20th century, first in Scotland, then in England.


Dee

Dee
River Dee (Ireland)
River Dee, Aberdeenshire
River Dee, Cumbria
River Dee, Wales

His daughter was called Deirdre, a good Irish name, but now she signed herself Dee, and her man friend was called Fox.

1996, Maeve Binchy, This Year It Will Be Different: A Christmas Treasury, Hachette UK, published 2008, →ISBN:

A unisex given name, short for names beginning with D.


Ethan

From Biblical Hebrew אֵיתָן (ʾêṯān, literally “firmness, strong, or long-lived”).

bor

For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.

There have been Ethan Allen mills, Ethan Allen stock companies, Ethan Allen fire companies and Ethan Allen streets. The name of the daring partisan leader has been used in Vermont much as that of Washington throughout the Union.

1889, John Langdon Heaton, The Story of Vermont: p.90:

They would have named him something dignified: Ethan, or Tristram. Something that couldn't easily be shortened.

2001, Anne Tyler, Back When We Were Grownups, Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, page 88:

A male given name from Hebrew, of mostly American usage since the 18th century; popular in the 2000s.


Venusian

(science fiction) An inhabitant of the planet Venus.


Venusian

(science fiction) A hypothetical language spoken on Venus.


missive

15th century; from Medieval Latin missīvus, from mittō (“to send”).

(in the plural, Scots law) Letters sent between two parties in which one makes an offer and the other accepts it.


Tara

Borrowed from Irish Teamhrach, genitive of Teamhair, from Old Irish Temair (literally “high place”). The female given name is derived from the name of the plantation in Gone with the Wind, named for the place in Ireland.

der

No more to chiefs and ladies bright
The harp of Tara swells

An Irish place name, associated with the Hill of Tara, seat of ancient Irish kings.

A female given name transferred from the place name, of 20th century and later usage.

the story of Tara Cochrane, a war veteran, a physician, and a burned-out man who describes himself in terms of a bad cigarette

1952, Janice Holt Giles, Tara's Healing:


Battle of Britain

(historical) A series of air engagements between the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the German Luftwaffe during World War II for air superiority over southern England and the English Channel prior to any German invasion of the British Isles.

Slag om Brittanje

series of air engagements between the British Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe during World War II


Hokkien

Borrowed from Hokkien 福建 (Hok-kiàn, “Fujian / Fukien”). Doublet of Fukien and Fujian.

bor

Almost 90 percent of Taiwan's 6 million occupants at the end of World War II spoke Hokkien.

2011, Shelley Rigger, Why Taiwan Matters: Small Island, Global Powerhouse, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, →ISBN, page 28:

Because Hokkien is the most widely spoken local language (after Mandarin) in both Taiwan and Kinmen, this national language policy – when implemented in Kinmen – resulted in a different perceived language policy.

2020, Tsung-lun Alan Wan, “Language Revitalization and Perceived Language Shift: A Case of Kinmenese Hokkien”, in Jens Damm, Hauke Neddermann, editors, Intercultural Dialogue across Borders: China between Tradition and Modernity, Zürich: LIT Verlag, →ISBN, page 106:

Under colonial rule, learning or speaking my grandma’s native Hokkien, along with dozens of indigenous languages, was illegal by law.

2022 June 22, Zoe Yu, “Endangered Languages Are Worth Saving”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-06-22, Student Editorial Contest Winner:

The awards celebrate not only Mandopop but also artists singing in Taiwanese - also known as Hokkien - Hakka and indigenous languages, a visible sign of the government's efforts to promote tongues other than Mandarin.

2023 July 2, Ben Blanchard, “Taiwan celebrates linguistic diversity at annual music awards”, in William Mallard, editor, Reuters, archived from the original on 2023-07-03, Asia Pacific:

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Hokkien.

(chiefly Southeast Asia) A linguistic subgroup of the Southern Min (Min Nan) branch, of the Min branch, of the Sinitic (Chinese) branch, of the Sino-Tibetan language family which is mainly spoken in the south-eastern part of mainland China (Fujian province), Taiwan, and by overseas Chinese of Hoklo descent, such as in Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Southern Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Southern Vietnam, etc.

Teochew

Other branches of Southern Min (limited mutual intelligibility)


Romanche

From French romanche, which stems from Latin romanice.


Zion

Zion
Zion (Latter Day Saints)
Zion (disambiguation)#Places

Inherited from Old English, from Ecclesiastical Latin Sion, from Hebrew ציון (tsiyón).

(poetic reference to) Jerusalem city proper; or more strictly speaking, the Temple Mount.

Mount of myrrh

as a special landmark of 'perfume' importance; Analogous to the very special power of prayer that rises specifically from this locale. In accordance with Jewish Midrashic literature


Stancel

Possibly from:
* Old English stane cell, which means "stone chamber". Or it could be from Stancil, a village in England.
* German Stenzel.
* Polish-Jewish Stencel
* Polish Stanisław, or Russian Станислав (Stanislav)
* Romanian stâncă, meaning rock or cliff

(rare) A male given name transferred from the surname.


Stephen

From Latin Stephanus, from Ancient Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos), from στέφανος (stéphanos, “crown, wreath”), from στέφω (stéphō, “to put round, to surround”).
From *stegʷʰ- (“to enlace”) + -νος (-nos, suffix forming an adjective or noun) from Proto-Indo-European *-nós (suffix forming a verbal adjective from a verb stem).

der

I, for my part, ask any candid reader if it was not bad enough to be called Broadfoot, without having it aggravated into Stephen Broadfoot? I feel confident I will here get a tear of sympathy from all unhappy Andrews and Peters, and Aarons and Samuels, with a smile of disdainful compassion from thrice-happy Franks and Charleys and Bills.

1852, William Harrison Ainsworth, “Tale of a Carpet-Bag”, in Ainsworth's Magazine, volume 21, page 17:

It is doubtless true that American English lacks a tradition for the pronunciation of Anthony, a name which was not often bestowed upon American males until the comparatively recent craze for supposedly swank "British" Christian names, like Stephen, Peter, Michael, etc., in this country.

1952, Thomas Pyles, Words and Ways of American English, Random House, page 245:

I thought that ideally it should be a name which could work whether he was serious and reserved or butch, a name like Stephen which could be Steve or David which could be Dave.

2000, Helen DeWitt, The Last Samurai, Miramax Books, published 2002, →ISBN, page 142:

Stephen reigned from 1135-1154, that nasty period of our history dubbed 'The Anarchy', when forces loyal to Stephen contested the throne with those of Henry I's daughter Matilda, who by rights should have been queen. Stephen, her cousin, plonked his own posterior on the throne.

2023 December 27, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: the way to Weymouth”, in RAIL, number 999, page 52:


palochka

From Russian па́лочка (páločka, “little stick”), diminutive of па́лка (pálka, “stick”).

bor

A Cyrillic letter used in writing several Caucasian languages.