Grauniad

Deliberate misspelling of Guardian, coined by the UK satirical magazine Private Eye, implying that the Guardian newspaper was prone to typographical errors.

Good old Grauniad.

1984 [1981], Jonathan Lynn, Antony Jay, “The Right to Know”, in The Complete Yes Minister, →ISBN, page 135:

Stop along the road for papers; scan headlines, make sure that no late-breaking story displaced the Vanguard piece and that it's intact (ninety-five percent – a satisfyingly high score), check out Doonesbury in the Grauniad, then away.

Katherine Viner wants to appoints a "1 per cent correspondent" to hound the filthy rich. As befits a possible Grauniad editrix, the NUJ misspelt her name.

2015 February 24, Patrick Kidd, “Guardian Angels Declare”, in The Times, page 11:

His appointment marked the start of a daily corrections and clarifications column, a first for a UK newspaper, which has mined a rich seam of typos and other slips for which “the Grauniad” is fondly known.

2021 May 12, Elisabeth Ribbans, “Typo negative: the best and worst of Grauniad mistakes over 200 years”, in The Guardian:

(UK, newspapers, humorous) The Guardian, a British daily national newspaper.


Rickie

A diminutive of the male given name Richard.


star visitor

(informal) An extraterrestrial person who visits from a different star system.


Fulton

From Foulden, a village in Norfolk, from Old English fuġol (“bird”) + tūn (“dwelling”).

A male given name transferred from the surname.


early day motion

en-noun

early day motion (plural early day motions)

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


Jacobite

Syriac Orthodox Church
Syriac Orthodox Church

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


sukun

Near-synonyms: virama, halant

A diacritic (ـْ) used in the Arabic abjad to mark the absence of a vowel.

سُكُون

Diacritic used to mark the absence of a vowel


Buginese

A Malayo-Polynesian language spoken in parts of Sulawesi, Indonesia


Jeannie

A female given name A diminutive form of Jean.


shadda

A diacritic (◌ّ) used in the Arabic script to indicate gemination of a consonant.


Caty

A less common spelling of Katie, diminutive of the female given name Catherine and related names.


Louie

A diminutive of the male given name Louis.

A diminutive of the female given names Louise or Louisa.


damma

Borrowed from Arabic ضَمَّة (ḍamma, “a joining”), instance noun of the verb ضَمَّ (ḍamma, “to join”). Refers to the joining of the lips together when making an /u/ sound.

(linguistics) In the Arabic script, the vowel point for u, appearing as a small curl placed above a letter ( ـُ ) and designating a short u /u/. If the Arabic letter و (wāw) immediately follows, it indicates a long ū /uː/.

ضَمَّة

an Arabic diacritic denoting the vowel point "u" (ḍamma)


Combine

From combine, referring to the merger and purchase of various underground railway, tram and bus companies in London, combining them into one organisation. Originally applied to Underground Electric Railways of London Company Ltd, since used for successor organisations.


wau

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ϝαῦ (waû). Doublet of vav and waw.


Bennie

A diminutive of the male given name Benjamin.

A diminutive of the female given names Bernice or Bernadette.


Uto-Aztecan

From Uto- + Aztecan.
* (General American) IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˌju.toʊ.æzˈtɛ.kən/
* (Received Pronunciation) IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˌjuː.təʊ.æzˈtɛ.kən/
*
 Audio (Southern England): (file)
* Rhymes: -ɛkən
* Hyphenation: U‧to-Az‧te‧can

IPA

A certain Native American language family including a large number of geographically distant languages such as Hopi, Nahuatl (Aztec) and Comanche.


Vikki

20th-century fanciful respelling of Vicky.

A diminutive of the female given name Victoria, variant of Vicky, also used as a formal given name.


Lauretta

An Italian pet form of Laura; first introduced into English as the name of one of the narrators in the Decameron.

Lauretta, ay, you would have her called so; but for my part I never knew any good come of giving girls these heathen Christian names; if you had called her Deborah, or Tabitha, or Ruth, or Rebecca, or Joan, nothing of this had ever happened; but I always knew Lauretta was a runaway name.

1775, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, St. Patrick's Day, Kessinger Publishing, published 2004, →ISBN, page 58:


Marshall Islander

en-noun

Marshall Islander (plural Marshall Islanders)


Pitcairner

A native or inhabitant of the Pitcairn Islands.


Solomon Islander

Solomon Islander (plural Solomon Islanders)


Haryanvi

A Hindi language spoken by about thirteen million people in northern India.


Hollander

From Middle English holander, Hollander; equivalent to Holland + -er; compare the German Holländer.


Brython

From Welsh Brython. Doublet of Briton and Breton.

A (historical) Briton: a member of that people that spoke Brythonic languages.


Marky

A diminutive of the male given name Mark.


Baekje

From the Revised Romanization of Korean 백제(百濟) (Baekje).

(historical) An ancient language spoken in that kingdom.


who's 'she', the cat's mother

Who's 'she' (canonical)
the cat's mother (canonical)

"She's coming on the trip with us too!"

"Who's 'she', the cat's mother?"

Sorry, Gran is coming with us too.

(idiomatic, somewhat dated, British, Ireland, New England) A rebuke especially directed towards children for having referred to a woman as "she", instead of using her name or an appropriately respectful title.


Adullamite

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

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


Thatcherize

en-verb

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

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

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

named-after

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

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

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

(transitive, UK politics) To subject to Thatcherism.

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


Kirundi

The standardized dialect of the Bantu language Rwanda-Rundi which is spoken in Burundi.


Maccy D's

Mum would kill me if she saw me in Maccy D's for breakfast.

We sat in Maccy D's for a little while before she started work in the afternoon.

2006, Jason Ellis, Banana Skins on the Table:

And anyway we went into the service station because he wanted a burger from Maccy D's and I wanted a Coke.

Tony H said: “Handy for something to eat simply .Great coffee. I like Macky Ds occasionally when I am out and about. It was clean and food was hot. So good!”

2019 December 21, Elle May Rice, “The best and worst McDonald's in Liverpool as rated by TripAdvisor”, in Liverpool Echo:


tekke

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

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


Nigerian Pidgin

An English-based creole of Nigeria, combining vocabulary and grammar from the English language as well as various indigenous Nigerian languages.


personal name

A proper name identifying an individual person, especially the full name.


i-breve

The Latin letter "I" with the breve diacritical mark.


Sasak

The language spoken by the Sasak people.


legal name

The legal name of "Jack's Mattresses" is "JM Enterprises {2006} (Illinois) Inc.".

The name of an organisation as indicated in its founding documents, or as subsequently changed by legal process.


Elmo

From an Italian contraction of Erasmo, cognate with Erasmus. Also a German short form of Elmar.
* By folk etymology seen as a short form of Elmer.

MING. About his name. Oscar. Asians always pick out the most curious and most discarded English names from books and TV. Like Cornelius. Elmo. Wellington.

1996 Chay Yew, A Language of Their Own, Two Plays, Grove/Atlantic Inc.

An unincorporated community in Wisconsin.

Twitter was far from perfect before Elmo happened to it but it’s a total shitshow now!

2022 December 12, marie_cast (@marie_cast@toad.social), Mastodon:

It is certainly conceivable that Elmo’s ragtag of leftover desperate engineers put out a feature without properly testing it. 😂

2023 February 8, Jim Stewartson (@jimstewartson@toad.social), Mastodon:

Incredible how low Twitter has sunk since Elmo fired the grownups.

2023 March 19, Alice (@alicek@mas.to), Mastodon:

(derogatory or humorous) A nickname for South African-born tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.


Muscogee

The Muskogean language spoken by the Muscogee.


Kokborok

Borrowed from Kokborok Kok Borok, from kok (“language”) + borok (“people”).

The Sino-Tibetan language of the Tripuri people in the Indian state of Tripura and its neighboring areas of Bangladesh.


Kirby

en-proper noun

Kirby (countable and uncountable, plural Kirbies)

Originally Kirkby, from kirk (“church”) + -by (“habitation”), "village with a church".

(countable) A unisex given name transferred from the surname.


Haida

From Southern Haida X̲aayda /ħaːjd̥a/; compare Northern Haida xaad /ħaːd̥/.

The Haida language, called Skittagetan by Powell, was anciently spoken only on the Queen Charlotte islands off the coast of British Columbia.

1911, John R. Swanton, “Haida”, in Franz Boas, editor, Handbook of American Indian Languages, Washington, page 209:


what the

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

From various expressions such as what the sam hill, what the hey, what the heck, what the hell and what the fuck by aposiopesis.

Hee haw! Did that come out of me? Oh! Huh? What the …? What's going on? Ahhh!

1940, as realization dawns that he is turning into a donkey, in Pinocchio (motion-picture), spoken by Lampwick (Frankie Darrow), Burbank: Disney; distributed by RKO Radio Pictures:

(by ellipsis) Used to express astonishment or incredulity, as a question or questioning of the situation at hand, without requiring any specific vulgarity as intensifier.


Cohen

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Prue

Rosalind savors of quips and hose, / Araminta of wits and beaux; / Prue of old puddings, and Coralie / All of sawdust and spangled shows;

~1886 William Ernest Henley, A Ballade of Ladies' Names, Gleeson White:Ballades and Rondeaus, Read Books 1887, page 19


Illinoisan

/ˌɪləˈnɔɪən/

/ˌɪləˈnɔɪzən/


Illinoisan

/ˌɪləˈnɔɪən/

/ˌɪləˈnɔɪzən/


Ibibio

The language spoken by the Ibibio people of Akwa Ibom State of southern Nigeria. It belongs to the Niger-Congo language family.


Baha

From Arabic بَهَاء (bahāʔ, “splendor, glory”).


Kumyk

a Turkic language spoken by the Kumyks in the Dagestan region of the Russian Federation.


PCC

parochial church council
parochial church council#English

(Church of England) Initialism of parochial church council.


Smriti

A female given name from Sanskrit used in India.


Edythe

A female given name from Old English, variant of Edith.


Ndrumbea

An Austronesian language spoken in parts of New Caledonia, with ISO 639-3 code duf.


Meyer

en-proper noun

Meyer (countable and uncountable, plural Meyers)

* As a German and Alemannic German surname, from the noun Meier (“leaseholder of a manor”). Compare Maier, Mayer, Meier, Myer.
* As a Jewish surname, from Yiddish מאיר (mir). Compare Majer, Major, Mayor, Meir.
* As a Dutch/West Flemish surname, variant of Meijer.

(countable) A male given name from Hebrew, of Jewish usage, an alternative form of Meir.


Dutch Low Saxon

(uncommon) A non-standardized cluster of regional dialects of Low Saxon (Low German), influenced by Dutch, spoken in the northeastern provinces of the Netherlands, and recognized as a minority language by the European Union.


Istanbulite

(demonym) a person from or living in Istanbul


Yurok

Borrowed from Karok [Term?] (“downriver [people]”), as they live on the Klamath River downstream of the Karuk, whose name means "upriver [people]".

bor+

A member of a particular Native American tribe of Northern California.


Vahagn

Borrowed from Armenian Վահագն (Vahagn). Doublet of Verethragna.

Վահագն Վահագն#Armenian

A transliteration of the Armenian male given name Վահագն (Vahagn).


Pumpokol

A Yeniseian language formerly spoken in Siberia that has been extinct since the 18th century.


Kott

A Yeniseian language which was spoken in Siberia and has been extinct for 150 years.


Thais

From Ancient Greek Θαΐς (Thaḯs), became known as the name of the mistress of Alexander the Great.


Arpitan

A neologism coined by Joseph Henriet, a word meaning "mountaineer" or "shepherd" deliberately chosen to "sound like Occitan," based on a local derivative of Latin Alpes (“the Alps, mountain highlands”). Aligned with Franco-Provençal arpetan, New Latin arpitanus. Also see Arpitania and Franco-Provençal.


Yeniseian

A family of languages spoken in central Siberia.

Proto-Yeniseian: the hypothetical parent language of the Yeniseian language family.


Yeniseian

Jenisejisch

of or relating to the languages of the Yeniseian family, or their speakers

Of or relating to the languages comprising the Yeniseian language family, or their speakers.

Of or relating to the hypothetical parent language of the Yeniseian language family.


Franco-Provençal

A Romance language spoken in east-central France, western Switzerland, and northwestern Italy.


Alander

From Aland (“group of islands in the Baltic Sea”) + -er.


Zooey

A female given name from Ancient Greek, variant of Zoë.


Arbëresh

Borrowed from Albanian arbëresh, a rhotic variant of arbënesh (“Albanian”), from Arbën (“Albanian”) + -esh (ablative suffix).

The form of the Albanian language spoken by the Arbëreshë people in southern Italy.

arbërisht

form of Albanian spoken in southern Italy


Arvanitika

/ˌɑːvəˈnɪtɪkə/

Borrowed from Greek αρβανίτικα (arvanítika), a dialectal variant of αλβανικά (alvaniká, “Albanian”) related to Byzantine Greek Ἀρβανίτης (Arbanítēs).
Borrowed from the albanian word and self-designation Arbër, rhotic variant of Arbën.

An archaic form of the Albanian language spoken by a linguistic minority in Greece.


Gazan

A native or inhabitant of Gaza (Gaza City or the Gaza Strip in general).


Tennessean

United States of America
United States of America

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


Zolten

A male given name derivative of the common Hungarian name Zoltán.


Sekgalagadi

Sekgalagadi has noun classes like those of the other Bantu languages.

1997, Lars-Gunnar Andersson, Tore Janson, Languages in Botswana: Language Ecology in Southern Africa:

A language spoken in the Kgalagadi region of Botswana.


Jurchen

From a reconstruction of Jurchen *jörcen, attested via Middle Chinese 竹里真 (ʈɨuk̚ lɨ^X t͡ɕiɪn) and Khitan 𘲮𘯤𘰭 (*ju rả n), developed under the influence of Manchu ᠵᡠᡵᠴᡳᡨ (jurcit) and Classical Mongolian ᠵᠦᠷᠴᠢᠳ (ǰürčid). Vajda argues for a derivation from a Proto-Tungusic word meaning "reindeer people", cognate with the Orochs of Russia's Khabarovsk Province and the Oroks of Sakhalin.

A member of a medieval and early modern Tungusic people, progenitors of the Manchus.


Jurchen

An extinct Tungusic language (code jur), related to Manchu.


Saterland Frisian

a Frisian language spoken mostly in the municipality of Saterland in the district of Cloppenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany


Zsuzsanna

A female given name from Hungarian, equivalent to English Susanna.


Burhan

From Arabic بُرْهَان (burhān, “proof”), an epithet of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.


Kenzie

A female given name, short form of MacKenzie

A male given name, short form of MacKenzie


Jehoshaphat

/d͡ʒəˈhoʊ.ʃəˌfæt/

/d͡ʒəˈhɒʃ.ə.fæt/

/d͡ʒɪˈhɒʃ.ə.fæt/

From Hebrew יְהוֹשָׁפָט, from יהוה (“Yahweh”) + שָׁפַט (shafát, “to judge”), meaning "Yahweh has judged".

der

Hebrew יְהוֹשָׁפָט

compound

(biblical) A male given name from Hebrew


Bennet

From Benedict. See French Benoît, Norman Beneît. Doublet of Benoit and Benito.

A male given name from Latin, in modern use often transferred back from the surname.


Malia

Borrowed from Hawaiian Malia (“Mary”) and in some cases from Mālia (“calm”).


Jensen

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Croesus

Audio (US)

From Latin Croesus, from Ancient Greek Κροῖσος (Kroîsos), from Lydian.

(historical) A male given name from Ancient Greek.


Abednego

/əˈbɛd.nɪˌɡoʊ/

From Hebrew עֲבֵד נְגוֹא, itself derived from a reconstructed Aramaic name meaning likely "servant of Nabu" or "servant of Nergal".

bor

עֲבֵד נְגוֹא

Hebrew עֲבֵד נְגוֹא


Miggy

Fantastic, superb, brilliant, bloody marvellous — I could go on and on calling out superlatives about Xenon 2. It's had enough pre-release hype to rival Batman and it's blown away all other Miggy shoot-'em-ups to date and I can safely say, for quite a while to come as well.

1989, Xenon II Megablast (video game review in Zzap! issue 54, October 1989)

Then do like I do and keep the Miggy for all e-mail and news. No dodgy headers to give you away then :-)

1997, Chris Hewitt, “Where Is everybody?”, in demon.ip.support.amiga (Usenet):

I had no problems with using WD hard drives on my Miggies.

1998, Zorko Antonic, “Western Digital HD”, in comp.sys.amiga.applications (Usenet):


Kamassian

An extinct Samoyedic language that was spoken by Kamasins in Siberia.


Kamasin

A member of an extinct Samoyedic tribe that lived in Siberia.


Maharashtrian

en-adj

Maharashtrian (comparative more Maharashtrian, superlative most Maharashtrian)

more Maharashtrian (comparative)
most Maharashtrian (superlative)

Of or pertaining to Maharashtra, its people, culture or languages (i.e. Marathi people).


Mangalorean

Mangalorean (comparative more Mangalorean, superlative most Mangalorean)

more Mangalorean (comparative)
most Mangalorean (superlative)

Of or pertaining to the former South Canara, its people, culture or languages


Malayali

A member of an ethnic group in south-west India, traditionally, residents of the state of Kerala who speak Malayalam.


what's it to you

"I saw you in the chemist yesterday, what did you buy?" / "What's it to you?"

(defensively) Why are you asking? Why do you want to know?.

¿quién te ha dado vela en este entierro?


South Indian

South Indian (comparative more South Indian, superlative most South Indian)

more South Indian (comparative)
most South Indian (superlative)

Of or pertaining to South India, its people, culture or languages


North Indian

North Indian (comparative more North Indian, superlative most North Indian)

more North Indian (comparative)
most North Indian (superlative)

Of or pertaining to North India, its people, culture or languages


Dholuo

A Nilotic language of Kenya and Tanzania.


Taino

From Taíno taino (“lord, noble, foremost”).

He was accepted as a Taino now and must adapt to their ways.

2015, Donald H Sullivan, Turnbull's Slaves: A Minorcan Story - Plus Taino, Lulu Press, Inc, →ISBN:

Following the birth of a baby, Tainos would perform a naming ritual where the child would be pronounced as a Taino and a human being (Keegan, 1997).

2016, Hector Y. Adames, Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, Cultural Foundations and Interventions in Latino/a Mental Health: History, Theory and within Group Differences, Routledge, →ISBN, page 24:

A member of a group of pre-Columbian indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and some of the Lesser Antilles.


Dhupadhola

The Nilotic language of the Jopadhola people of Uganda.


Braiden

A male given name transferred from the surname, of modern usage.


Remington

The surname is from Rimington, from Old English rima (“edge, border”) + -ing + -tun (literally “settlement by the boundary stream”).


Elissa

From Ancient Greek Ἔλῐσσᾰ (Élissa); probably from Phoenician 𐤀𐤋𐤀𐤎𐤕 (ʾlʾst /Elishat/), 𐤀𐤋𐤀𐤎 (ʾlʾs /Elisha/).


Midwesterner

People from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Kentucky are often considered Midwesterners.


Macanese

A creole language originating in Macau, based on Portuguese and some East Asian languages.


midwesterner

But he's not a native midwesterner; he came here from Portland, Oregon, in 1973 to become an architecture student at the U. of I.

1988 August 26, Sandy Henderson, “In Print: Larry Kanfer's pictures of prairie poetry”, in Chicago Reader:

Alternative letter-case form of Midwesterner


Madeiran

Madeiran (comparative more Madeiran, superlative most Madeiran)

more Madeiran (comparative)
most Madeiran (superlative)


Madurese

An Austronesian language spoken predominantly on the island of Madura.


Shadrach

From Biblical Hebrew שדרך (šdrk /šadrak/), from Iranian, ultimately from Proto-Iranian *ciθráh with the hypocoristic suffix *-akah.

A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.


Old Armenian

The oldest attested form of the Armenian language, first written down at the beginning of the 5th century AD and spoken until 12th century; then replaced by Middle Armenian. Served as a literary language until the 18-19th centuries. Partly intelligible to speakers of modern Armenian.


Meshach

From Biblical Hebrew מישך (myšk /mēšak/), from Iranian, ultimately from Proto-Iranian *mayšáh (“sheep, ram”) with the hypocoristic suffix *-akah.


Gascon

From Middle English Gascoyne, from Anglo-Norman gascoign, gascun et al., Middle French gascon, from Latin plural Vascōnēs. Compare Basque. Doublet of Vascon.

The dialect of the Occitan language spoken in Gascony.


Vashti

bor

Hebrew וַשְׁתִּי (vaštī)

A female given name from Persian of biblical origin.


Prajesh

A Hindi name that can be translated as "leader of men". It is also a name for Brahma, the Creator God.

A male given name from India, popular for boys in Nepal and India.


Magar

From Nepali मगर (magar), from the name in Eastern Magar.

The Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Magar people.


Magdeburgian

/ˌmaɡdəˈbɜːɡɪ.ən/

/ˌmæɡdəˈbɝɡi.ən/


Sino-Tibetan

/ˌsɪnəʊtɪˈbɛtən/

Mandarin, Burmese and Tibetan all belong to the Sino-Tibetan language family.

(linguistics) Of the Sino-Tibetan languages, one of the major language families.


Leilani

Sweet Leilani, Heavenly Flower
I dreamed of a paradise for two.

1934, Harry Owens, Sweet Leilani (a song):


Picard

From Picardy, region of northern France.


Picard

(historical) A member of an Adamite sect of the sixteenth century and earlier, in the Flemish Netherlands and in Bohemia.


Picard

A Romance language closely related to French


double-u

→ Malay: dabel yu

→ Portuguese: dáblio

→ Russian: дабл-ю (dabl-ju)

→ Tagalog: dobolyu

The name of the Latin-script letter W/w.


Kirill

From Russian Кири́лл (Kiríll), from Ancient Greek Κύριλλος (Kúrillos). Doublet of Cyril.

Кири́лл Кирилл#Russian

A transliteration of the Russian male given name Кири́лл (Kiríll).


Anatoli

Transliteration of Russian Анато́лий (Anatólij), from Ancient Greek ἀνατολή (anatolḗ, “sunrise”). Cognate with English Anatole and Latin Anatolius.

der

Анато́лий Анатолий#Russian

A transliteration of the Russian male given name Анато́лий (Anatólij).


Nadezhda

Transliteration of Russian Наде́жда (Nadéžda), from наде́жда (nadéžda, “hope”).

transliteration

Наде́жда Надежда#Russian

A transliteration of the Russian female given name Наде́жда (Nadéžda).


Yelena

From Russian Еле́на (Jeléna), from Latin Helena, from Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē). Doublet of Helena.

Еле́на Елена#Russian

A transliteration of the Russian female given name Еле́на (Jeléna), equivalent to Helen.


Caló

a mixed language or dialect spoken by the Spanish and Portuguese Romani.


Lunda

The language of the BaLunda people of central Africa.


Multicultural London English

An English sociolect peculiar to modern-day London, being a mixture of Cockney, Jamaican, West African, and Indian accents and dialects.


MLE

ante''' 2009: Ignacio Ramos, A. Jesús Moya Guijarro, and José Ignacio Albentosa Hernández [eds.], New Trends in English Teacher Education, page 209 (Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha; →ISBN
In terms of its characteristics, MLE is anchored to a large extent in Jamaican Creole, throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s a competitor to Cockney. But Kerswill et al report that it has now encompassed and synthesized elements of everything from Cockney and African English to Hindi, Bangladeshi languages and Arabic. For this reasons it is sometimes called, erroneously, “Hinglish” or “Jafaican”.

Multicultural London English
Multicultural London English#English

(linguistics) Initialism of Multicultural London English.


Anatole

From French Anatole, from Ancient Greek ἀνατολή (anatolḗ, “sunrise”). Cognate with Latin Anatolius.

(rare) A male given name from Ancient Greek.


Anatolius

From Latin Anatolius, from Ancient Greek ἀνατολή (anatolḗ, “sunrise”). Name of early saints in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

A male given name from Ancient Greek, of only historical usage (though its cognates are common given names in Eastern Europe).


Coleen

Her name is spelled Coleen making her "Co" with a hard O and not Colleen by any stretch - I'm suspicious on her authority on the subject.

2007, Laurie Lindeen, Petal Pusher, Atria Books, →ISBN, page 137:

A female given name from Ancient Greek, variant of Coline, from Nicoline.


Phemie

I was named Euphemia, after my mother's mother. A terrible name, such as nobody has nowadays. At home they called me Phemie, but when I started to work, I called myself Fame. My husband, Dan Casey, called me Fame. Then in a bar of the Shamrock Hotel, years later, after my divorce, when I was going out, a man said to me, "Fame, I've been meaning to ask you, just what is it that you are famous for?"

1985, Alice Munro, The Progress of Love, Chatto&Windus, published 1987, →ISBN, page 7:

A diminutive of the female given name Euphemia.


Electra

From Ancient Greek Ἠλέκτρα (Ēléktra), from ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, “amber”), related to ἠλέκτωρ (ēléktōr, “shining sun”).

(rare) A female given name from Ancient Greek.


Euphemia

Name of an early Christian martyr, from Ancient Greek Εὐφημία (Euphēmía), from εὐ- (eu-, “good”) + φήμη (phḗmē, “repute”) + -ίᾱ (-íā).

affix

"Euphemia is Grandmama's name, my dear." The children looked grave. Euphemia sounded very strange and old-fashioned to them. "Or Effie," added Mr. Barclay, "if you like that better."
Effie, the prettiest of diminutives, gained all suffrages.

1835, Catharine Maria Sedgwick, Home, James Munroe and Company, published 1850, page 52:

"Euphemia," said Kipps at last, unable altogether to keep to himself this suspicion of a high origin that floated so delightfully about him, "Eu-phemia; it isn't a name common people would give to a girl, is it?" - - -
"It's givin' girls names like that," said Buggins, "that nine times out of ten makes 'em go wrong. It unsettles 'em. If ever I was to have a dozen girls, I'd call 'em all Jane.

1905, H. G. Wells, Kipps, Kessinger Publishing, published 2005, →ISBN, page 136:


Satvinder

A unisex given name from India, of Punjab usage.


Saints

Still, Saints looked the likeliest to make the breakthrough, and it came when Jonny Evans could only half-clear a long ball and Chaplow took full advantage.

2011 January 29, Ian Hughes, “Southampton 1 - 2 Man Utd”, in BBC:

(soccer) A nickname of Southampton Football Club, a football club from Southampton, England.


Visigoth

Borrowed from Late Latin Visigothus, from Gothic. According to Mallory & Adams, possibly a tribal name derived from Proto-Germanic *wesuz (reflected in personal names such as Old High German *wisu), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁wésus (“good, excellent”). If so, related to Proto-Celtic *wesus (found in personal names), the Italic goddess Vesuna, and Sanskrit वसु (vasu, “good, excellent”).
The term was coined by Cassiodorus under the misapprehension that it meant "west Goths".

der

Any member of an ancient East Germanic tribe, one branch of the Goths (the Ostrogoths being the other), which participated in several wars with Rome and established a kingdom with Toulouse for its capital.


Indian English

en-noun

Indian English (countable and uncountable, plural Indian Englishes)

indisches Englisch (Indisches Englisch n)

Much more common was the bureaucratic use of Indian English. Below the level of the most highly educated, whose English was invariably modelled on old-fashioned teaching, were the English-using clerks of the Imperial administration.

1986, McCrum, Robert, William Cran, & Robert MacNeil, The Story of English, Viking Penguin Inc., page 329:

A major dialect of the English language, spoken in many varieties in India and by people from India.


Jocasta

Jocasta had my blessing when she seduced you, you stuck-up piffler.

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


language isolate

language isolate (plural language isolates)

(linguistics) A natural language with no proven genetic relationship to another language.


Fiji Hindi

The Indo-Iranian language spoken by people of Indian descent in Fiji.


Labourite

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


Euclid

From Ancient Greek Εὐκλείδης (Eukleídēs).

A male given name from Ancient Greek of mostly historical use.


Darla

A female given name from English, a back-formation from Darlene.


Cassian

From Latin Cassianus, derivative of Cassius. Name of early saints.

A male given name from Latin of mostly historical use.


Sharlene

The name Sharlene sounds like a chemical, she thought. Aunt Gwen has no taste.

1968, Myron S. Kaufmann, Thy Daughter's Nakedness, Lippincott, published 1968, page 39:

A female given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Charlene.


Jarvis

A surname derived from a Middle English form of Gervase.

A male given name from the Germanic languages transferred back from the surname.


Cass

* As an English surname, from a pet form of Cassandra.
* As an Irish surname, from Ó Cais (“descendant of the curly-haired one”), from cas (“curly”).

Most of the time, Anne Marie and Kathleen got along as well as any sisters six years apart would: Kathleen called Anne Annie, and Anne Marie called Kathleen Cass or Kate.

1999, Ann Rule, And Never let Her Go, Warner Books, published 2000, →ISBN, page 30:

A diminutive of the female given name Cassandra of medieval origin, later also used for Cassidy, and Catherine with its variant forms.

A male given name transferred from the surname.

A diminutive of the male given name Cassius.


Gervase

Name of an early saint, Latin Gervasius, of unknown meaning, possibly Latinized from some Germanic name: Proto-Germanic *gaizaz (“spear”), second element of uncertain meaning, possibly vallis (“valley”), Proto-Celtic *wastos (“servant”), or the Brythonic name for the river Isara.

A male given name from the Germanic languages, common in the Middle Ages but rare today.


kue

The names of the letters, as now commonly spoken and written in English, are A, Bee, Cee, Dee, E, Eff, Gee, Aitch, I, Jay, Kay, Ell, Em, En, O, Pee, Kue, Ar, Ess, Tee, U, Vee, Double-u, Ex, Wy, Zee.

1856, Goold Brown, The First Lines of English Grammar, page 10:

And there is [a] proverbial warning to mind your pees and kues.

1997, John Trotter, System of Rational Discourse, page 22:

SQL is pronounced either "ess-kue-ell" or "see-kwell" depending on your preference.

2003, Cristian Darie, Karli Watson, The Programmer's Guide to SQL, Apress, page 1:

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


Lulogooli

A Bantu language spoken by the Avalogoli or Maragoli people of Kenya.


Seljuk

Book of Dede Korkut
Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk
Mahmud al-Kashgari
Seljuk (warlord)

From Ottoman Turkish سلجوق (Selcuk), ultimately from Old Anatolian Turkish سلجك (Selcuk) attested in the Dede Korkut and Karakhanid سلجك (Selcuk) attested in Mahmud al-Kashgari's Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, of uncertain etymology. Compare modern Turkish Selçuk.
Pelliot & al. favored derivation via Arabic سَلْجُوق (Saljūq) from Proto-Oghuz [Term?] (*Sälčük), following some accounts taking the name from Proto-Turkic *sāl (“raft”) + *-čük (“-ock, -let: forming diminutives”) from the warlord's supposed birth on a raft on the Syr Darya. There are other early Persian and Arabic transcriptions, however, including سلجوك (Saljūk), سلچوق (Salčūq), and سلجق (Saljuq). Some sources take the original form of the name to have been *Salçuğ or *Salçığ with the meaning "one who fights", "disputes", or "struggles". Some arguing for an original pronunciation of [Term?] (*Selčük) or [Term?] (*Selčuk) would derive it from an early borrowing of Persian سیل (seyl, “flood”) + *-čük (“-ock, -let: forming diminutives”); others from *Sel as an earlier name of the Muztagh Ata in the Eastern Pamirs. Caferoğlu and Gedikli argue for derivation from a modified borrowing of Old Uyghur clean, pure (sil) + Proto-Turkic *-čük.

...the House of Seljuk...

Seljuk Bey, the legendary founder of an Oghuz Turk dynasty that ruled an eponymous Sunni Muslim empire in Southwest Asia and numerous successor states, particularly in Anatolia.


Seljuk

Book of Dede Korkut
Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk
Mahmud al-Kashgari

Seljuk architecture

The designs, it is true, are more Seljuk than Ottoman (11). But Miletus was never really a Seljuk city, and of course at Constantinople the Ottomans succeeded directly to the Byzantines.

Like so many other Anatolian strongholds , Nicaea had become Seljuk without a fight, and almost at Byzantine invitation. The Turks found themselves in possession of a still impressive city.

Manisa became Seljuk in 1313 and Ottoman in 1390. The Ottoman sultans Murat II and Murat III were particularly fond of Manisa and happily resided here.

1992, Robertson McCarta, Nelles Guide: Turkey, Seven Hills Books, →ISBN:

It became Seljuk in the 11C and Mongol in the 13C. The important medieval trading centre was used from the 16C as the residence of the 'Begs', Kurdish feudal lords who were able to maintain their independence of the Ottoman Empire ...

1989, Marianne Mehling, Turkey, Phaidon Press:

This unhappy peace had been signed by March 1206 (the terminus ad quem). Given that between 13 April and 6 July 1204 Laodikeia became Seljuk, that in August (the terminus post quem) of the same year Kay-Khusraw I refused to cede Laodikeia and Chonai to Theodore I, […]

2014, Dimitri Korobeinikov, Byzantium and the Turks in the Thirteenth Century, OUP Oxford, →ISBN, page 142:

Maurozome's possessions, Laodikeia and Chonai, which had been given to him according to the treaty between Theodore I and the sultan by March 1206, finally became Seljuk in AH 603 (8 August 1206 - 27 July 1207).

2016, Kallirroe Linardou, Leslie Brubaker, Eat, Drink, and Be Merry (Luke 12:19) – Food and Wine in Byzantium: Papers of the 37th Annual Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, In Honour of Professor A.A.M. Bryer, Routledge, →ISBN:

Metal objects retrieved from these rooms look distinctly more Seljuk than Byzantine in nature and have resulted in our re-evaluation of when the site may have been abandoned.

2018, Sharon R. Steadman, Gregory McMahon, The Archaeology of Anatolia Volume II: Recent Discoveries (2015-2016), Cambridge Scholars Publishing, →ISBN, page 113:

Of or related to Seljuk, to his dynasty, to their empire in southwestern Asia, or to the period of their rule from the 11th–14th centuries.

سَلْجُوقِيّ

Of or related to Seljuk, his dynasty, and its empire


Caddo

Clipping of French Kadohadacho, from Caddo kadawdáachuh.

A Caddoan language of the Southern Plains of the United States, spoken by the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma.


Alutiiq

From Russian алеу́ты (aleúty, “Aleuts”), from Aleut allíthuh (“community”).

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


Luhya

A Bantu language spoken in western Kenya and Uganda. Luhya has a number of dialects, including Maragoli, Abagisu, Marama, Kibukusu, Wanga, and Bukusu.


Shawna

From Shawn + -a. Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena.

doublet

"That's an interesting name—Shawna. Almost sounds Indian," he said, knowing she was dying to tell him about her.

1979, Sandy Johnson, The CUPPI, Delacorte Press/E.Friede, →ISBN, page 31:


Lani

Until then he had not thought of following Lani Aldrich to Honolulu. He had been so sure that she would return to him.

1940, Hearst's International combined with Cosmopolitan, v.109, July-December 1940, page 106:

(chiefly US) A female given name from Hawaiian.

Lani pronounced his name Lonny, and someone told me it had been spelled that way at one time. […] Lonny is a boy's name. Who knows what Lani is?

2002, Carol Plum-Ucci, What Happened to Lani Garver, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page XI:


Lani

An indigenous people of Puncak, Central Papua and Lanny Jaya, Highland Papua.


Bel

Short form of Isabel; a variant of Belle and Bell.


Lauje

The Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by this tribe.


Literary Chinese

The written Chinese language used from the end of the Han Dynasty (220 C.E.) to the early 20th century. In Chinese, 文言 (wényán, “literary writing”).

The written Chinese language used from the Zhou Dynasty (1045 B.C.E.) (especially the Spring and Autumn Period), through to the end of the Han Dynasty (220 C.E.). In Chinese, 古文 (gǔwén, “Ancient Writing”). The language of many classics of Chinese literature.

Written Chinese for this entire period, without distinction.


Earthman

Such dreams! Always of Mars, and during my waking hours at night my eyes always sought out the Red Planet when he was above the horizon and clung there seeking a solution of the seemingly unfathomable riddle he has presented to the Earthman for ages.

1928, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Master Mind of Mars, page 2:

(usually science fiction) A male inhabitant of Earth.


Alune

A Malayo-Polynesian language of Indonesia.


Abau

A Papuan language, spoken in the Sandaun province of Papua New Guinea.


Alamblak

A Papuan language spoken in the Angoram district of Papua New Guinea.


Gumatj

An Aboriginal Australian language spoken in the Northern Territory.


Anuta

An Oceanic language of the Solomon Islands.


Dyula

A Niger-Congo language spoken in Upper Volta and Ivory Coast.


Gurindji

/ˈɡʊrɪndʒiː/

A Ngumbin Australian Aboriginal suffixing language spoken in the Wave Hill and Victoria River regions of the Northern Territory.


Laal

An unclassified language spoken in Chad.


Assan

An extinct Yeniseian language formerly spoken in Russia.


Akha

An ethnic group and Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Burma, China, and neighboring countries.


Karamojong

* From Karamojong language. The name means "the old men sat down", referring to a migration.

(linguistics) A Nilo-Saharan language of Uganda.


Timucua

An extinct language isolate formerly spoken in Florida.


Tsou

An Aboriginal Taiwanese language spoken in the Alishan region of Taiwan.


Xavánte

A Ge language spoken by the Xavánte people in and surrounding eastern Mato Grosso, Brazil.


Tsakhur

A Northeast Caucasian language spoken in Russia and Azerbaijan.


Khotanese

From Khotan + -ese. For the first element see Hotan.

An extinct Eastern Iranian language formerly spoken in the Kingdom of Khotan.


Chicagoan

en-adj

Chicagoan (comparative more Chicagoan, superlative most Chicagoan)

more Chicagoan (comparative)
most Chicagoan (superlative)

/ʃɪˈkɑː.ɡoʊən/

/ʃɪˈkɔ.ɡoʊən/


Chicagoan

/ʃɪˈkɑː.ɡoʊən/

/ʃɪˈkɔ.ɡoʊən/


Dargwa

A Northeast Caucasian language of Dagestan, Russia.


Shina

Borrowed from Shina ݜݨیاٗ (ṣiṇyaá), from Sanskrit श्रेण्यक (śreṇyaka), from श्रेण्य (śreṇya, “tribesman”).

Their language, sometimes regarded as multiple languages, which belong to the Dardic family.


Evenki

Derived from Russian эвенки́йский (evenkíjskij) or Evenki эвэнкӣ (əwənkī).

der

эвенки́йский

A Tungusic language spoken in Russia, Mongolia and China.


Classical Chinese

The written Chinese language used from the Zhou Dynasty (1045 B.C.E.) (especially the Spring and Autumn Period), through to the end of the Han Dynasty (220 C.E.). In Chinese, 古文 (gǔwén, “Ancient Writing”) or, formally, 古典漢語／古典汉语 (“Classical Chinese”). The language of many classics of Chinese literature.

The written Chinese language used from the Zhou Dynasty (1045 B.C.E.) to the early 20th century.


Old Japanese

the oldest stage of the Japanese language; spoken through the 8th century and followed by Late Old Japanese


Andi

A Northeast Caucasian language of Russia.


Kalani

Kalani Wright, a 24-year old^([sic]) from Mississippi, wanted to have Lipo 360, a procedure that removes fat from all areas of the midsection, and a B.B.L. last year.

2022 May 11, Sandra E. Garcia, “Butt Lifts Are Booming. Healing Is No Joke.”, in The New York Times Magazine:


Carpathian

Carpathian Shepherd Dog
Carpathian Shepherd Dog#English


Karakalpak

/ˌkæɹəˈkælpæk/

A Turkic language of Uzbekistan and neighboring countries.


disproven

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


Kurukh

A Dravidian language spoken in India and Bangladesh.


Gondi

The Dravidian language spoken by the people in Gondwana, central India.


Dinka

The Nilo-Saharan language spoken by these people.


Kaylie

A female given name transferred from the surname, variant of Kaylee.


Meghann

"Meggie...It hasn't got enough dignity, it doesn't suit you a bit. I'd rather you were called something like Belinda or Madeline, but if Meggie's the best you've got to offer, I'll go for it. What's the Meggie stand for - Margaret?"
"No, Meghann."
"Ah, now that's more like! I'll call you Meghann."
"No, you won't!" she snapped. "I detest it!"

1977, Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds, Gramercy Books, published 1998, →ISBN, page 290:

A female given name from Welsh, a rare modern spelling variant of Megan.


Meggie

I teleported home one night
With Ron and Sid and Meg.
Ron stole Meggie’s heart away
And I got Sidney's leg.

1980 October, Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, London: Pan Books, →ISBN, page 170:

A diminutive of the female given name Margaret.

"Meggie...It hasn't got enough dignity, it doesn't suit you a bit. I'd rather you were called something like Belinda or Madeline, but if Meggie's the best you've got to offer, I'll go for it. What's the Meggie stand for - Margaret?"
"No, Meghann."

A diminutive of the female given name Megan (and variant spellings).


Deane

* As an Irish surname, Anglicized from Mac an Deagánaigh (“son of the Deacon”), see Deacon.
* As an English surname, variant of Dean.

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Royal

A habitational surname, shaped by folk etymology, from places in England, Riehale, Righale, Ryhill and Ryall, Old English ryge (“rye”) + hyll (“hill”), and Royle, rā (“roe”) + hyll (“hill”).

Royal - he had been his mother's little king. Most of his mates called him "Roy". Perhaps only her and Mrs Natwick had stuck to the christened name, they felt it suited.

1974, Patrick White, Five-Twenty, Shorter Novels and Stories, Cape, published 1974, →ISBN, page 173:

A male given name from English from the surname


Royal

A male given name from the word "royal".


butsudan

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

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


Hollywoodian

Someone who works in the film industry in Hollywood.


Jerseyman

(dated) A male inhabitant of Jersey (the largest island of the Channel Islands).


Raymonn

A male given name from the Germanic languages, of rare usage, variant of Raymond or Ramón.


Malabarese

The predominant language spoken in Malabar, also known as Malayalam.


Chamicuro

Their Western Maipuran language, a member of the Arawakan family.


Aristarchus

From Ancient Greek Ἀρίσταρχος (Arístarkhos).

A male given name from Ancient Greek, of historical use only in English.


Khitan

Borrowed from Khitan 𘱿𘲫 (*qid ún) or 𘱿𘱤 (*qid i) under influence from Chinese 契丹 (Qìdān), and Mongolian Кидан (Kidan).
Doublet of Cathay. Cognate with Russian Кита́й (Kitáj, “China”) and the various forms of Cathay (“legendary northern medieval China”) in European languages.

An extinct Mongolic language once spoken in the northern China.


Malayo-Polynesian

/məˌleɪəʊˌpɒlɪˈniːʒən/

A subgroup of languages of the Austronesian language family, mostly dispersed around the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean.


moonspeak

From moon + -speak; probably derived from the anime Turn A Gundam (1999–2000) where the inhabitants of the Moon, known as the Moonrace, have their own language, called Moonspeak by fans.

(slang, derogatory or humorous) Any foreign language deemed confusing by the speaker, especially Japanese or another East Asian language.


Sheilagh

Rare spelling variant of Sheila, anglicization of Irish Síle.


Amsterdammer

Alternative form: Amsterdamer

A person from, or residing in, Amsterdam.

Amsterdammer

An inhabitant or a resident of Amsterdam


antisigma

en-noun

antisigma (plural antisigmata or antisigmas)

antisigmata (plural)
antisigmas (plural)

An unattested Claudian letter, possibly resembling Ↄ or ↃC.


Beyoncé

The recent use of this name is due to the American singer Beyoncé Knowles (born 1981), after her mother's maiden name, which was different from her own parents' surname, Beyincé, due to a clerical error on her birth certificate. It is probably derived from the French surname Boyancé.

A female given name transferred from the surname.


Clarinda

Her nearest handmayd, whom she most did trust, / And to her said: Clarinda, whom of all / I trust a live, sith I thee fostred first; […]

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 29:


chemical structure

chemical structure (plural chemical structures)

(physical chemistry) The arrangement of chemical bonds between atoms in a molecule (or in an ion or radical with multiple atoms), specifically which atoms are chemically bonded to what other atoms with what kind of chemical bond, together with any information on the geometric shape of the molecule needed to uniquely identify the type of molecule.


Yucatec Maya

Mayan language spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula, northern Belize and parts of Guatemala.


Websterism

Again, the spelling of such words as "center" and "traveler" is not an Americanism, though to be found in a few American books, but a Websterism […]

[…] this improvement will no longer figure as an Americanism or a Websterism.

1881, Isaac Pitman, Pitman's Journal of Commercial Education:

(dated) An orthographic convention due to Noah Webster (1758-1843), American lexicographer and spelling reformer.


hog island

Late 19th century, akin to hog waller and hog town.

(slang, US, derogatory) Any poor town or out-of-the-way place.


Vaishak

A male given name from Sanskrit used in India.


COCA

w:Corpus of Contemporary American English

(linguistics) Acronym of Corpus of Contemporary American English.


condescendence

condescendence (countable and uncountable, plural condescendences)

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

der

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


Bay Street

(in Canada) A street in Toronto where many banks and other financial institutions are based.


odonym

From Ancient Greek ὁδός (hodós, “road”) and ὄνυμα (ónuma, “name”). Compare French odonyme and Italian odonimo.

An identifying name given to a street; a street name.


Suren

Ultimately from Parthian 𐭎𐭅𐭓𐭉𐭍 (swryn /Sūrēn/).

Սուրեն Սուրեն#Armenian

A transliteration of the Armenian male given name Սուրեն (Suren).


Sussex Drive

en:Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex

From Sussex + drive. The road was named after Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (1773–1843).

A street in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on which the official residence of the prime minister of Canada, and that of the governor general of Canada, are located


goober

Conscripts by the dozen...
Come pouring in the Castle...
Some from Mississippi state and “Goobers” from Tar river.

1863, anonymous author, “Castle Thunder”, in Louis Napoléon Boudrye, editor, Historic Records of the Fifth New York Cavalry..., Appendix, page 339:

The peanuts or earth-nuts known in North Carolina and the adjoining States as Goober peas, so that during the late Civil War a conscript from the so-called ‘piney woods’ of that State was apt to be nick-named a Goober.

1871, Maximilian Schele de Vere, Americanisms, page 57:

(chiefly Southern US, dated slang) A Georgian or North Carolinian, particularly one from the pine forests of the Sandhills region.


off-worlder

/ˌɒfˈwɜːldə/

/ˈɔfˈwɜɹldəɹ/

From off-world (adjective) + -er (suffix denoting a person characterized by [the adjective to which the suffix is attached]).

suffix

suffix denoting a person characterized by 􂀿the adjective to which the suffix is attached􂁀

So? On your world you do as custom rules. Customs are different here, off-worlder.

1955, Andre Norton [pseudonym; Alice Mary Norton], “Classic move to Disaster”, in Star Guard, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC, page 58:

The distinguished scientist, winner of the Seo Oren Prize for service to all nations through science, has accepted a professorship at Ieu Eun University, an honor never before accorded to an off-worlder.

1974, Ursula K[roeber] Le Guin, chapter 3, in The Dispossessed, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, published July 1975, →ISBN, page 63:

TRAVEL ADVISORY: Korlus ranks second in murder per capita in the Terminus Systems and first in offworlder murder. Civilian traffic is encouraged to employ security professionals when visiting.

2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2, Redwood City, Calif.: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Korlus:

(fantasy, science fiction) One who is not from the local world (whether a dimension, plane, planet, or universe); an alien.

ulkoplaneettalainen

one who is not from the local world — see also alien


Arabise

en-verb

Arabise (third-person singular simple present Arabises, present participle Arabising, simple past and past participle Arabised)

Arabises (present singular third-person)
Arabising (participle present)
Arabised (participle past)
Arabised (past)

‘Asalaamu Alaikum,’ said an unfamiliar voice in the faux-Arabised accent of a non-Arab Muslim who is trying too hard, and Parvaiz looked up to see a compact but powerfully built man, muscles distorting the shape of his tightly fitting bomber jacket.

2017, Kamila Shamsie, Home Fire, Bloomsbury (2018), page 123:


Arabize

Arabize (third-person singular simple present Arabizes, present participle Arabizing, simple past and past participle Arabized)

Arabizes (present singular third-person)
Arabizing (participle present)
Arabized (participle past)
Arabized (past)

Iran was indeed Islamized, but it was not Arabized. Persians remained Persians. And after an interval of silence, Iran reemerged as a separate, different and distinctive element within Islam, eventually adding a new element even to Islam itself.

1999, Bernard Lewis, "Iran in History", Mortimer and Raymond Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies, page 2:

(transitive) To make Arab; to give Arab traits to.


Gerri

A diminutive of the female given name Geraldine, also used as a formal given name.


Jerri

A diminutive of the female given names Geraldine and Jerilyn, also used as a formal given name.


Jeri

Teleplay by Kenneth Biller and Jeri Taylor.

1999, Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda, The Star Trek encyclopedia:

Jeri Ellsworth invented the C-One, a single board computer that is not an emulator, but a reimplementation of the original C64 hardware.

2011, Chris Kohler, Retro Gaming Hacks, page 258:

A diminutive of the female given names Geraldine or Jerilyn, also used as a formal given name.


Hereward

Borrowed from Old English Hereweard, a compound of here (“army”) + weard (“guard”). Doublet of Harvard and Harward.

Look at me, dread me! I am the Hereward. [Footnote: “Guardian of the army”]

1866, Charles Kingsley, chapter 3, in Hereward the Wake, London: Nelson, page 94:

A male given name from Old English of mostly historical use.


Harper

A male given name transferred from the surname.

A female given name transferred from the surname, of modern usage.


Thatcherist

(UK politics) A proponent of Thatcherism.


mandir

Transliteration of Hindi मंदिर (mandir).

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

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

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

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

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

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


Edeline

A female given name from the Germanic languages, of rare usage, variant of Adeline.


Huave

Their language, which is a language isolate with several dialects.


Greig

A male given name transferred from the surname, of mainly Scottish usage.


Ewen

A male given name from Scottish Gaelic, variant of Ewan.


Jenn

A diminutive of the female given name Jennifer.


Khinalug

A Northeast Caucasian language spoken mainly in the villages of Khinalug and Qalayxudat just north of Quba (Quba Rayon, Azerbaijan).


Vivaan

Borrowed from Hindi विवान (vivān), from Sanskrit विवान (vivāna, “plaiting, twisting”).


Keri

A female given name transferred from the surname, variant of Kerry.


Kirsteen

A female given name from Ancient Greek, a Scottish variant of Kirsten (Christina).


Jemma

A female given name from Italian, a spelling variant of Gemma; by folk etymology also used as a feminine form of James/Jem.


Manhattanite

This does not take into account the tens of thousands of New Yorkers who are harmlessly and charmingly insane in a peculiarly Manhattanite manner.

1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 52:


you know what

Well, you know what, he's got a cloud over him. You have to live with who you are and make your peace with your maker about what you really are.

2001 May 10, "Blake's Attorney on Bakley's Murder", CNN Live (transcript)

Well, I guess I’ve got to say, I love the Madonna one that we did — the Drowned world tour. Actually, you know what? The first Blonde Ambition tour I loved. The “Vogue” thing — that was a memorable moment in my lifetime.

2009 March 23, Alex Hawgood, “The Three-Ring Circus”, in New York Times:

(idiomatic) Used, often as a question, to get someone's attention before announcing something.


Lafe

(US) A diminutive of the male given name Lafayette.


LaTonya

A female given name originating as a coinage, variant of Latonia.


Nimbari

A language spoken in northern Cameroon and Nigeria.


doubleyou

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 W/w.


Fayette

Fayette
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette

After Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette

(US) A male given name transferred from the surname or place name.


Nogai

A Turkic language spoken in the northern Caucasus region of southwestern Russia and in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.


Mornington Crescent

Coined in 1978 on the BBC Radio 4 programme I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, after the London Underground station.

A street in London (named after the Earl of Mornington) after which the tube station was named.


Lillias

A female given name from Latin, alternative spelling of Lilias


Linnet

Lindy herself hated the name Lindy. She said it sounded like a girl in pink gingham. At the beginning of this school year she'd started making all the teachers address her by her full name, Linnet. (She'd been named for an English bird that a soldier had mentioned to their mother during the war.) At first Karen had tried to call her that too, but it had felt so unnatural that she'd gradually given it up.

2004, Anne Tyler, The Amateur Marriage, →ISBN, page 105:

A female given name from English, occasionally recorded since the 19th century.


Lilias

First recorded in 16th-century Scotland, a variant of Lilian or possibly from the Spanish Liliosa, name of a 9th-century saint, both ultimately from Late Latin lilium (“lily”).

"Poor little thing! She is very wee and frail, isn't she? Only two months old. We came away from the north, as soon as I was able to travel. She is called Lily."
I remembered Horace having once told me that his mother's name had been Lilias.

1864, Frances Eleanor Trollope, The Tale of Aunt Margaret's Trouble, in All the Year Round, Aug 11th, 1866, page 100

"Lilias! Lilias!" he answered. "Lilias! Where are you?"
"In the garden," it came back like a sound from a golden flute.

1909, Frances Hodgson Burnett, chapter XXVII, in The Secret Garden:


Anmol

From Hindi अनमोल (anmol, literally “priceless”).

bor

A unisex given name from Hindi used in India among the followers of Hinduism, particularly in the northern part of the country.


gje

Cyrillic script
Appendix:Cyrillic script#English

The name of the Cyrillic script letter Ѓ / ѓ.


Thatcherization

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


Aleister

From Scottish Gaelic Alasdair, from Norman French Alexandre or Latin Alexander, from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros), from ἀλέξω (aléxō, “I defend”) + ἀνδρ- (andr-), the stem of ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”).

A male given name from Scottish Gaelic, of rare usage, variant of Alastair.


Minangkabau

A Malayo-Polynesian language of Malaysia and Indonesia.


Elizabethan English

/əˌlɪzəˈbiːθən ˈiːŋɡlɪʃ/

Blends, also known as portmanteau words, are not an original part of English. That is, none occur in Old or Middle English, nor even in Elizabethan English, with the earliest known example being the rare and now obsolete term tomaxe, a blend of tomahawk and axe.

2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide, page 10:

The dialect of English spoken during the reign of Elizabeth I of England.


Negerhollands

US Virgin Islands
United States Virgin Islands

A Dutch-based creole, also incorporating elements of Danish, English, French, Spanish and West African languages, once spoken in what are now the US Virgin Islands.


Middle Persian

The ancestor of New Persian spoken from around 300 BC till about 800 AD, evolving from Old Persian.


Eastern Armenian

One of the two standardized forms of the modern Armenian language, the other being Western Armenian. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia and is the dialect spoken by Armenian diaspora in CIS countries and Iran. It developed in the 19th century in Russian Armenia.


Western Armenian

One of the two standardized forms of the modern Armenian language, the other being Eastern Armenian. Following the Genocide of Armenians of 1915, it is now spoken by the descendants of Armenian survivors from the Ottoman Empire fleeing to Armenian diaspora, mainly in North America and South America, Europe and most of the Middle East except for Iran.


Rae

CHUCK. Joyce Mathews! I see and this girl's name is Rae Edwards. What does Rae stand for?
CHRIS. Rae, Rae!
CHUCK. Rachel? That's what I'm trying to find out; Sugar Ray? Rae doesn't mean too much to me. Hooray, Sugar Ray, etc. So her name is Rachael H? I see.

1965, Lewis Yablonsky, The Tunnel Back: Synamon, Macmillan, page 204:

A diminutive of the female given name Rachel, also used as a formal given name, mostly as a middle name.

Although the name on his birth certificate was spelled "Ray", Ray said he was originally given the name "Rae" after Rae Williams, a cousin on his father's side.

2005, Sam Weller, The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury, William Morrow, →ISBN, page 12:

A male given name; possible variant of Ray.


Cincinnatian

While Fortescue Cuming could entertain a cabinful of young men with a violin in 1807, Frances Trollope noted that Cincinnatians organized formal balls for young people of quality twenty years later.

2015, Emily Foster, The Ohio Frontier: An Anthology of Early Writings, →ISBN, page 139:


Kickapoo

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

Borrowed from Spanish Kikapú, further origins are contested; an Anishinaabeg source proposes giiwigaabaw (“stand here and there”), in reference to the tribe's migratory patterns.

A member of a particular Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe.


cybername

He signed in using his own cybername: Point Guard.

Your modem dials an 800 number a couple of times. Along the way, you'll be asked to make up a cybername for yourself...

2002, David Pogue, Flat screen iMac for dummies:

"Are the two of you going to stick to phony cybernames? Or shall I introduce you by your real ones?"

A nickname used on the Internet or in cyberspace.


Cy

A diminutive of the male given name Cyril.

A diminutive of the male given name Cyrus.


Tamar

From Hebrew תָּמָר (tamár, “Tamar”, literally “date palm, date”).

der

A female given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.


Sanders

en-proper noun

Sanders (countable and uncountable, plural Sanderses)

From the Middle English Sander, a shortened form of Alexander + suffix -s.

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


Thomasina

A female given name from Aramaic, a feminine form of Thomas.


Hui

In Hui restaurants in towns such as Wuchung and Chungning, restaurant workers wearing the white caps of the Hui nationality serve customers. Most government institutions, factories and schools in different parts of the autonomous region have set up dining rooms for the Huis, where their special foods are served.

1978 November [1978 October 16], “Religious Life Never Interfered With”, in Eastern Horizon, volume XVII, number 11, Hong Kong: Eastern Horizon Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 16:

This compact collection of households comprises nine teams that are almost 100 percent Hui, a rarity in central and northern Ningxia, where Hui are thinly distributed among the majority Han population. Yongning county is only 12.9 percent Hui, a relatively small minority in contrast to neighboring Lingwu county in the southeast, which is 47 percent Hui, and southern Jingyuan county, which is 97 percent Hui (the highest concentration of Hui in one county in China).

2002, Dru C. Gladney, “Ethnoreligious Resurgence in a Northwestern Sufi Community”, in Susan D. Blum, Lionel M. Jensen, editors, China Off Center: Mapping the Margins of the Middle Kingdom, Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 109:

Within Xi’an, Hui and Han alike eat roujiamo, the Chinese hamburger: meat tucked into flatbread that’s been crisped on the grill until it shows tiger skin on one side — shades of orange and black — and a chrysanthemum whorl on the other. The Han make it with long-braised pork, doused with a spoonful of its own broth, and the Hui with beef or lamb, stewed, then salted and dried.

2020 May 11, Ligaya Mishan, “Eating in Xi’an, Where Wheat and Lamb Speak to China’s Varied Palette”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 2020-05-11:

An ethnic group of China, distinguished by their practice of Islam, who speak Mandarin (or Dungan in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Russia).


Montegonian

A native or inhabitant of Montego Bay, Jamaica.


Paiwan

(uncountable) The Formosan language of the Paiwan people.


US American

I personally believe that US Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don’t have maps and I believe that our education, such as in South Africa and the Iraq, everywhere such as, and I believe that they should, our education over here in the US should help the US - or should help South Africa, and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future for our children.

2007, Miss South Carolina, Miss Teen USA:

(rare) Alternative form of U.S. American


Ostrogoth

Borrowed from Late Latin Ostrogothus, from Proto-Germanic *austrą ("east") and *gutô, via Ancient Greek Γότθος (Gótthos) from Gothic *𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌰 (*guta).

Any member of an ancient East Germanic tribe, one branch of the Goths (the Visigoths being the other), which invaded Italy in the sixth century


Epirote

Borrowed from Latin Ēpīrōtēs, from Koine Greek Ἠπειρώτης (Ēpeirṓtēs).


U.S. American

I've heard a Canadian say that citizens of the U.S. should really be called USians, but somehow I don't think it will catch on. Instead, if you talk about U.S. Americans, Canadians, Brazilians, and so on, nobody should be offended.

2004, Gwyneth Olofsson, When in Rome or Rio or Riyadh—: cultural Q&As for successful business behavior around the world, page 56:

To Mai, Aunt Mary is another role model, one who is a native-born U.S. American who knows the country's tricks

2005, Pauline T. Newton, Transcultural women of late twentieth-century U.S. American literature, page 139:

Her answer, in its entirety, was: “I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uhmmm, some people out there in our nation don't have maps and uh, I believe that our, I, education like such as, uh, South Africa, and uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uhhh, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, should help South Africa, it should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future, for us.”

2007, Miss South Carolina Teen USA explains herselfhttps://www.today.com/news/miss-south-carolina-teen-usa-explains-herself-1C9014791, today.com

A person from the United States of America.

estatounitense

ílį́įgo Wááshindoon Bikéyah biiʼ kééhojitʼíinii


Shanghainese

Inhabitant of Shanghai; person of Shanghainese descent.


Mags

A diminutive of the female given name Maggie, which is a diminutive of the female given name Margaret.


Pegah

پگاه پگاه#Persian

A transliteration of the Persian female given name پگاه (pagâh).


Sirian

(science fiction) An inhabitant of (an exoplanet orbiting) Sirius.


Marv

Marvin: I have a million ideas, but, they all point to certain death.
Arthur: Thanks very much, Marv!

2005, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)

A diminutive of the male given name Marvin.


Masha

A female given name of Russian origin, diminutive of Maria.


Carmine

The given name is borrowed from Italian Carmine.


Izzy

"I approve of anything you desire to do, Izzy," said Henchard huskily.

1886, Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge:

A diminutive of the female given name Isabel, Isobel, Isabelle, Isabella, Elizabeth, Isidora, Isra, Izebel, Ismara and Isobelle.

“Geez, Cecil, you sound just like Izzy Benet,” Patrick said. “We don’t need two Izzies. Nobody needs two Izzies.”

2012 [2011], R. M. Meluch, The Ninth Circle: A Novel of the U.S.S. Merrimack (Tour of the Merrimack; 5), New York, NY: DAW Books, →ISBN, page 367:

A diminutive of the male given name Israel, Isaac, Isambard, Isidore, Ismail, Chreistus, Chreistos, Isaiah, Isiah, Izzet, Isarn, Ismail and Isam.


Rajasthani

The group of Indo-Aryan languages spoken primarily in Rajasthan and Pakistan.


Aida

Borrowed from Italian Aida, made famous by the opera.

Her name was Aida, like the opera, and I said I’d heard it meant happy in Italian. More laughter. Oh, I always live up to it.

2023, C Pam Zhang, Land of Milk and Honey, Hutchinson Heinemann, page 23:

A female given name from Italian in quiet use since the 1870s.


Nuer

Borrowed from Dinka Nuer; the Nuer name is Naath.


Lilibet

"Oh, Betty, this is so awful for mummy and Margaret," Lilibet wrote to a family friend, Elizabeth Cecil, soon after she became queen.

2005, Carolly Erickson, Lilibet: An Intimate Portrait of Elizabeth II:

A variant of the female given name Lilibeth.


Lisetta

"And you can buy a dress for your wife off this piece of stuff," said Lisetta, who had always an eye to business.

1857, The National Magazine, volumes 10-11, page 350:

(rare) A female given name from Italian.


Banyumasan

A Javanese language closely related to Malay, Sundanese, Madurese, and Balinese.


Newari

A Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Nepal, India and Bhutan by the Newa people, and the only Tibeto-Burman language written in Devanagari script.


Jacinta

Borrowed from Spanish Jacinta. Variant of Jacinda and Jacintha.


Jack the Ripper

September 1888, Jack + the + ripper, from the Dear Boss letter.

Keep this letter back till I
do a bit more work. then give
it out straight. My knife's so nice
and sharp I want to get to work
right away if I get a chance.
Good luck.
Yours truly
Jack the Ripper
Dont mind me giving the trade name

1888 September 25, Jack the Ripper, Dear Boss Letter, London, page 2:

Two communications of an extraordinary nature, both signed "Jack the Ripper," have been received by the Central News Agency, the one on Thursday last and the other yesterday morning. The first - the original of which has been seen by Major Smith, the Assistant Commissioner of the City Police - was a letter, bearing the E.C. postmark, in which reference was made to the atrocious murders previously committed in the East-end, which the writer confessed, in a brutally jocular vein, to have committed; stating that in the "next job" he did he would "clip the lady's ears off" and send them to the police, and also asking that the letter might be kept back until he had done "a bit more work." The second communication was a postcard, and as above stated, it was received yesterday morning. It bore the date, "London, E., October 1," and was as follows: - "I was not codding, dear old Boss, when I gave you the tip. You'll hear about Saucy Jacky's work to-morrow. Double event this time. Number One squealed a bit; couldn't finish straight off. Had not time to get ears for police. Thanks for keeping the last letter back till I got to work again." The postcard was sent to Scotland Yard. No doubt is entertained that the writer of both communications, whoever he may be, is the same person.

1888 October 2, The Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2004-08-10:

Nothing whatever has been discovered during the week to throw light upon the Whitechapel murders. The police entertain the belief, as we gather from the remarks of Mr. Crawford, the City Coroner, who is inquiring into the murder in Mitre Square, that they possess a fairly accurate description of the person of the murderer. He has, however, for the present, disappeared into space, unless it is he who writes certain letters signed "Jack the Ripper." The police think this is the case, and if so, he is an educated or partly educated man, of extreme audacity, intoxicated with the evil pride of crime, and resolute to commit more murders.

1888 October 13, “NEWS OF THE WEEK.”, in The Spectator, number 3,146, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1379, column 1:

Many of the dead were never identified simply because whole families died together and there was no one left to say who they were. One woman, named Elizabeth Stride, claimed to have been one of the survivors of the sinking, although there was no proof of this. She would later go down in history as the third victim of Jack the Ripper.

2018 September 14, Derek Coleman, “Old superstition comes true with tragic consequences”, in AP News, archived from the original on 2023-12-03:

Six weeks after Maxwell reported the sewage seepage this summer, an MDC inmate charged with robbing a bank said the toilet in his cell had been broken for three days.
"I do not care if the defendant is Jack the Ripper, we treat people under our care with respect and decency," U.S. District Judge William Kuntz said in a July 27 hearing about the toilet, which a prosecutor said was fixed ahead of the hearing. "This is an ongoing disgrace."

2021 November 18, Luc Cohen, quoting William Kuntz, “Ghislaine Maxwell sex crimes trial highlights conditions at Brooklyn jail”, in Noeleen Walder, Aurora Ellis, editors, Reuters, archived from the original on 2021-11-18, United States:

A supposed individual who was an unidentified 19th century serial killer in England, who has become part of folklore.


Ringo

From ring + -o. From the stage name of one of the Beatles, Ringo Starr, actually named Richard Starkey, the drummer of the quartet. From ring, from the rings worn by Richard "Ringo Starr" Starkey.


Ringo

From Japanese りんご (Ringo), from 林檎(りんご) (ringo, “apple”).

ja-r

<i class="Latn mention" lang="en">apple</i>

(countable) A male given name from Japanese


Lalage

From Ancient Greek λᾰλᾰγή (lalagḗ, “to prattle”).

der

"What's her name?"
"Lalage." She pronounced it as a dactyl, the g hard. Still she could not raise her eyes. " Mr Rossetti approached me one day in the street. […] He himself proposed the name. He is her godfather." She murmured, "I know it is strange."

1969, John Fowles, The French Lieutenant's Woman, Penguin, published 1981, →ISBN, page 359:


Hortensia

A female given name from Spanish, equivalent to English Hortense.


Fingal

From Scottish Gaelic Fionnghall, from fionn (“fair”) + gall (“stranger”). Used by Macpherson as a rendering of the Irish Fionn mac Cumhail.

Fingal! thou king of heroes! Ossian, next to him in war! ye have fought in your youth; your names are renowned in song.

1765, James Macpherson, The Poems of Ossian, Tauchnitz, published 1847, page 204:

A male given name from Scottish Gaelic, best known in Scotland.


Imelda

From Romance (Italian Imelda, Spanish Imelda), from German Irmhild.

A female given name from the Romance languages


Lilith

bor

Hebrew לִילִית (lîlîṯ)


Ossian

An anglicisation, made known by James Macpherson, of Irish Oisín, diminutive form of os (“deer”).

A male given name from Irish; rather rare in the Anglo-Saxon world.


Venetic

From Latin veneticus, from Venetia (“land of the Veneti; Venice, Veneto”) + -icus (“-ic: forming adjectives”), from Venetī + -ia, of uncertain origin. Equivalent to Veneti + -ic.

(historical linguistics) An extinct Indo-European language once spoken by the Veneti people who lived between the Po River delta in northeastern Italy and the southern Alps in Slovenia in antiquity.


Stacee

A female given name from Ancient Greek, a fanciful respelling of Stacy or Stacey.


Kazak

Borrowed from Kazakh Ⱪazaⱪ (official Latin orthography in Xinjiang diring 1964–1984).

bor+

Official term for the local Kazakh nationality in the People’s Republic of China.


Amie

A female given name from Latin, a less common spelling of Amy.


Clotilda

A Latinate form of the French Clotilde, of Germanic origin (Proto-Germanic *Hlūdahildiz).

A female given name from the Germanic languages; of mostly historical use in the Anglo-Saxon world.


Ceqli

A constructed auxiliary language based on Loglan and influenced by Mandarin.


Atikamekw

Borrowing from Atikamekw atikamekw (“whitefish”); recorded as Atikamegouékhi in early documents.

Their language, part of the Cree subgroup of Algonquian.

atikamekw nehiromowin

Algonquian language spoken by this people


United Statesian

en-noun

United Statesian (plural United Statesians)

To those of us who know […] such entries are more amusing than inconvenient; but to an outsider, say a Frenchman or a United-Statesian, they would cause a great expenditure of useless labour.

1892, William White, Notes and queries, volume 86 (August 20), page 146:

If I was, through my father, a first-generation United Statesian, I found I was, through him, an eleventh-generation North American.

2004, David Plante, American ghosts, page 175:

(nonstandard) An inhabitant or citizen of the United States of America.


Balkan Romani

One of several dialects of Romani, spoken by groups within the Balkans.


Vlax Romani

A dialect of Romani spoken in Bosnia, Herzegovina, Romania, Albania and Hungary.


Lomavren

The mixed language of the Armenian Lom people (the Bosha), spoken by a tiny number of persons mostly in Armenia but also Azerbaijan, Russia and Syria and consisting chiefly of Armenian grammar and pronunciation with an Indic-derived vocabulary.


Gan

From Mandarin 贛／赣 (Gàn, “Jiangxi; Gan (language)”).

One of the major varieties of Chinese, spoken in Jiangxi province.

цзянси́йский

диале́кт, язы́к


Gan

Alternative form of Ngen (“dialect of the Beng language”)


Gan

en-proper noun

Gan (countable and uncountable, plural Gans)

Borrowed from Mandarin 甘 (Gān), Hokkien 顏／颜 (Gân), etc.


Awadhi

An Indo-Aryan language spoken in India and Nepal that is considered to be a part of the Eastern Hindi languages.


Leela

Dorothy's daughters were of exceptional beauty and the sisters could complain only that the Hindi names Dorothy had chosen - Mira, Leela, Lena - were meant to pass as Western ones.

1961, V. S. Naipaul, A House for Mr Biswas, Penguin Books, published 1977, →ISBN, page 366:

A female given name from Sanskrit used in India, a spelling variant of Lila.


Almira

Coined name, possibly inspired by Elmira, of a queen of Castile in C. F. Handel's opera Almira (1705) to an Italian [Term?] libretto.

Almira was the only daughter of a worthy merchant in the city of London.

1762, Almira: Being the History of a Young Lady of Good Birth and Fortune, but more Distinguish'd Merit, W. Owen, page 1:

(rare) A female given name originating as a coinage, of mainly 18th and 19th century usage.


Lilah

Short form of Delilah; also a variant of Leila.

Who was Lilah? I am sure / She was young and sweet and pure; / - - - So to Lilah's name above / I will add two names I love

1874, James Thomson, “Lilah Alice Hypatia”, in The City of Dreadful Night and Other Poems, Reeves and Turner, published 1895, page 282:


Lilia

Borrowed from Latin lilia, plural of lilium (“lily”), or a Latinization of the English Lily.

Lilia, wild with sport, / Half child, half woman as she was, had wound / A scarf of orange round the stony helm,

1853 Alfred Tennyson, The Princess, The Prologue


US-ian

The belief that there is a culture to which a majority of (European-American) USians belong, called "white culture," is a local cultural construction, one powereful enough to influence science and society

1998, Stephen Garrard Post, Peter J. Whitehouse, Genetic testing for Alzheimer disease: ethical and clinical issues, 2nd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, page 266:

(rare) An inhabitant or citizen of the United States of America.


Christyn

A female given name from Latin, variant of Christine


Usanian

USA + -an + -ian, parallel to Panamanian, etc.; or Usania + -an

I remember Juan Trippe arriving at Croydon from Paris in a Handley Page Hercules, at which that great pseudo-Usanian Cy Caldwell had thrown the jeer that it embodied “ built-in head winds.”

1945, Charles Grey Grey, The civil air war, page 116:

Like Usanians in the last half of the 20c, Japanese in the middle part of the Tokugawa Era often exhibited a smug sense of superiority vis-à-vis foreign countries

2007, Robin D. Gill, The Woman Without a Hole—& Other Risky Themes from Old Japanese Poems, page 342:


Ermengarde

From the Old English name reinforced by its Norman cognate, from Proto-Germanic *ermunaz (“all,whole”) + *gardaz (“enclosure”), "strong protection". Cognate with the German saint's name Irmgard.

"What is your name?" she said. [...] "My name's Ermengarde St. John," she answered. / "Mine is Sara Crewe," said Sara. "Yours is very pretty. It sounds like a story-book."

1905, Frances Hodgson Burnett, “Ermengarde”, in A Little Princess: […], New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 26:

(rare) A female given name from Old English.


Lila

Variant of Leila or Lilah, depending on pronunciation; also associated with Spanish lila (“lilac”).

Your name is flowery too. I used to say Mamita would have called you Lady Viola; but violet colors and lilac colors are cousins, and they both suit your complexion and your name, Mamita Lila.

1867, Lydia Maria Francis Child, A Romance of the Republic, Ticknor and Fields, published 1867, page 149:

“I been thinking about ‘Lila.’ I had a sister Lila. Give her a pretty name, maybe she could turn out pretty.”

2014, Marilynne Robinson, Lila, Hachette UK, →ISBN:


Lila

From Sanskrit लीला (līlā, “play, charm”).

A female given name from Sanskrit used in India.


Zebul

(very rare) A male given name from Hebrew.


Wichita

/ˈwɪt͡ʃɪtɔː/

Uncertain. Probably from Creek we-chate (“red water”), referring to We-chate hatchee (Red Water River, or Red River of the South).

A member of a tribe of Native Americans, most populous in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.


Wichita

/ˈwɪt͡ʃɪtɔː/

Their Caddoan language, which is now extinct.

Future speeding on swift wheels / straight to the heart of Wichita!

1966, Allen Ginsberg, Wichita Vortex Sutra:

I'm half sick on the drinks you mixed / Through your / True dreams / Of Wichita

1994, “True Dreams of Wichita”, in Ruby Vroom, performed by Soul Coughing:

A large city, the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States; the largest city in Kansas.


Vitus

Name of an early martyr, Late Latin Vitus, perhaps from a Thracian word meaning "a person from Bithynia". By folk etymology associated with Latin vita (“life”). Vitus has also been used as a Latinization of Guy.

(historical) A male given name from Latin.


native language

en-noun

native language (plural native languages)

Mary Katharine, one of the things in California, kids apparently who speak English as a second language have a year in which they can take classes that are taught in their native language in addition to English, and some people would say that that should help them really get established and after that, you're on your own, go take all the tests in English.

2007 November 23, on “Teaching Spanish; Holiday Debt”, John Gibson Show, Fox Radio

One's first language, learned in early childhood.


martyry

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

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

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

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


Old Spanish

Western Ibero-Romance language that was spoken on the Iberian Peninsula from the 10th century until roughly the beginning of the 15th century, before a consonantic readjustment gave rise to the evolution of Modern Spanish, differentiating Spanish proper from Judæo-Spanish and Haketia.


Downs

Let's go for a walk on the Downs.


Korowai

The Nuclear-Trans-New-Guinean language of these people.


Ammy

Hi. I used to have a CPC464 and now have an Amiga 1200. I've moved to Edinburgh for Uni, and left the Ammy for my younger brother and sister. However, I wouldn't mind being able to play all the old classics...

1995, Paul Branney, “CPC464+ wanted”, in comp.sys.amstrad.8bit (Usenet):

Hi all. A few weeks ago I asked for information on how I could get a replacement 3" drive for/repair to my Amstrad 6128. Glad to say that the drive has now been fixed and my lovely Ammy now works a treat.

1998, D Mazzetti, “CPC 6128”, in comp.sys.amstrad.8bit (Usenet):

Has anyone got an ^([sic]) 6128 for sale?

1999, Paul Morse, “Ammy 6128”, in comp.sys.amstrad.8bit (Usenet):

(computing, informal) An Amstrad CPC computer.


planetless

And I am not going to gamble half our resources on as crazy an effort as this, masterminded by a mouthful of planetless lunatics.

1961, Galaxy Magazine - Volume 20, Issues 1-6, page 163:

He cleared his throat and began the tale of the planetless boy, and Kate listened, drowsy, drifting.

1998, Dana Stabenow, Killing Grounds, →ISBN, page 222:

Umlari, others called them. Or spacefolk. Or those planetless freaks. Living in their great stations, orbiting unwanted stars, the People cared nothing for names.

2006, Marvin Kaye, Forbidden planets, →ISBN, page 269:

(science fiction) Having no home planet.


Fliss

It was addressed to "Fliss Benson", so it must be from someone who knows me.' 'Why must it?' Laurie demands. 'They'd have written "Felicity" otherwise.' He squints at me. 'Is your name Felicity?'

2010, Sophie Hannah, A Room Swept White, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 22:

A diminutive of the female given name Felicity.


Simps

2000, TomServo, “Twin Peaks spoof in Simps!”, in alt.tv.simpsons (Usenet):

(fandom slang) The television program The Simpsons.


Göktürk

From Turkish Göktürk, from gök (“sky, blue”) + Türk (“Turk”).

A member of a powerful nomadic confederation in medieval Asia


Ajeesh

A male given name from India, of Indian usage.


Melia

A diminutive of the female given name Amelia.


Moana

en-proper-noun

Moana (countable and uncountable, plural Moanas)

From Hawaiian Moana (“sea, ocean”), Maori moana, and other Polynesian languages.

A unisex given name from Polynesian
(US) A unisex given name from Hawaiian

A unisex given name from Polynesian
A unisex given name from Hawaiian


Mingrelian

From Mingrel + -ian, from Georgian მეგრელი (megreli). Compare the variant Megrelian.

I’m told, Minister Beria did, on occasion, like to perform Mingrelian peasant songs on the balalaika.

2020, Ben Creed, City of Ghosts, London: Welbeck Publishing, →ISBN, page 264:

A Kartvelian language spoken in parts of Georgia (mainly Samegrelo and Abkhazia).


Tigers

(cricket) The Bangladesh national cricket team.


Tori

The American singer Tori Amos was born in 1963.

A diminutive of the female given name Victoria


Old Italian

Old + Italian, on the pattern of Old English

The theory that there was a spontaneous development of an obscure vowel in final position on certain occasions in Old Italian has gained general currency and has been carried on in the works of the main authorities.

1938, George Melville Bolling, Bernard Bloch, Language, volume 14, Linguistic Society of America, page 224:

[… T]his configuration, in which the infinitive clause is a prepositional complement of a noun, could not be found in the documentary evidence of (Tuscan) Old Italian. Another diverging property in this example is the preverbal subject after prepositions, no longer common in Old Italian at the end of the fifteenth century […]
[… T]he examples show the use of nonauxiliary verbs. Though similar to Old Italian, this is another difference from contemporary Italian.

2000, Guido Mensching, Infinitive Constructions with Specified Subjects: A Syntactic Analysis of the Romance Languages, pages 30 and 31 (Oxford Studies in Comparative Syntax; →ISBN, 9780195133035)

The continuum of languages derived from Vulgar Latin spoken in the Italian peninsula between circa 960 and the establishment of the Accademia della Crusca in 1582.


East Bird's Head

A language family whose members are spoken on the Bird's Head peninsula in West Papua.


Isoko

The language spoken in the Isoko region and Niger Delta in Nigeria, by the Isoko people. It is linguistically similar to the language of the neighboring Urhobo people.


Daffodil

From the daffodil flower, used since the end of the 19th century.

"Pansy would be his wife," Delia guessed.
"Yes, and the baby's name is Daffodil, can you believe it?"
"There's a baby?"
"And it wasn't even a springtime baby! It was born in October!"

1995, Anne Tyler, Ladder of Years, Knopf, →ISBN, page 148:

(rare) A female given name from English.


Praguian

Related to the Prague linguistic circle.


Rahab

Wycherly reflected that any woman raised by a clergyman who named her daughter Rahab was probably making something in the nature of a personal statement.

1997, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Gravelight, →ISBN, page 173:


Budapestian

A native or inhabitant of Budapest, Hungary.


Nicosian

From Medieval Latin Nicosianus, from Nicosia + -ānus. Equivalent to Nicosia + -an.


Copenhagener

[…] young people not only downgrade their own local accents […] relative to young Copenhagen speech, but they also perceive and evaluate the variation in this speech […] in exactly the same way as young Copenhageners do themselves.

2018, Charles Boberg, John Nerbonne, Dominic Watt, The Handbook of Dialectology, page 119:


Bernese

Bernese mountain dog
Bernese mountain dog


Skopjan

During the second half of the soccer game, the Skopjan side trounced the inexperienced team from Bitola.

Of, from, or pertaining to Skopje in North Macedonia.

(by extension, neither derogatory, nor offensive, simple identification) Of, from, or pertaining to North Macedonia, especially in Greek media.

neither derogatory; nor offensive; simple identification; neither derogatory; nor offensive; simple identification


Skopjan

(by extension, sometimes derogatory, sometimes offensive) Someone from North Macedonia, especially in Greek media.


Varsovian

Someone living in or originating from Warsaw.


Samburu

From an old Maasai word, saamburr, for the leather bag the Samburu use.

Their Eastern Nilotic, North Maa language.


Zagrebian

/zɑˈɡɹɛbiən/


Zagrebian

/zɑˈɡɹɛbiən/


Stockholmer

Stockholmers are very proud of their brand new underground railway—they even refrain from putting their feet on the opposite seats—and they have every reason for their pride.

1963 August, W. Shepherd, “Stockholm's modern underground railway”, in Modern Railways, page 99:


Kabulese

(rare) Synonym of Kabuli (“of, or pertaining to Kabul”)


Kabulese

(rare) Synonym of Kabuli (“a resident or native of Kabul”)


Brusselian

Formed as *Brussel (structurally singular back-formation of Brussels) + -ian.


Pru

A diminutive of the female given name Prudence.


Japlish

(informal) A confused blend of Japanese and English; Engrish.


Baghdadi

Borrowed from Arabic بَغْدَادِيّ (baḡdādiyy). By surface analysis, Baghdad + -i.


am I right or am I right

And next to Rosa is Mont Charre, which is great, but just a hair less great than Rosa, am I right or am I right?

1974, William Goldman, Marathon Man, Delacorte Press:

There are songs to sing, there are feelings to feel, there are thoughts to think. That makes three things, and you can't do three things at the same time. The singing is easy, syrup in my mouth, and the thinking comes with the tune, so that leaves only the feelings. Am I right, or am I right? I can sing the singing. I can think the thinking. But you're not going to catch me feeling the feeling. No, sir.

What I love about this country is that: its genius. Greatest inventors in the world. It's beautiful: am I right or am I right?

1988, Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses:

Do you have life insurance, Phil? Because if you do, you could always use a little more, right? I mean, who couldn't? But you wanna know something? I got the feeling ... [whistles] ... you ain't got any. Am I right or am I right? Or am I right? Am I right?

You take your ileum as Wallace Stevens/and you take my ileum/as Gordon Lish,/am I right or am I right?

1999, Gordon Lish, "Aubade", Salmagundi, No. 121/122 (Winter-Spring 1999), p. 201

Customerize the company! Am I right or am I right? For forty years or thereabouts, marketers have worshipped at the feet of the customer.

2004, Stephen Brown, Free Gift Inside!!: Forget the Customer. Develop Marketease, page 7:

(colloquial, rhetorical question) Alternative form of am I right, implying the speaker can't possibly be wrong.


Bing

A male given name transferred from the surname.

A diminutive of the male given names Bingley or Bingham (see also Bing Crosby).


Ridge

en-proper noun

Ridge (countable and uncountable, plural Ridges)

From ridge. Originating from Middle English.


Becki

A fanciful respelling of Becky, diminutive of Rebecca.

A diminutive of the female given name Rebecca, variant of Becky


Xamtanga

A Central Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia by the Xamir.


Xiri

A moribund Khoisan language of South Africa, related to Nama.


Xipaya

A moribund Tupian language of the Pará region of Brazil.


Kassonke

A Manding-West language spoken as a first language by the Khassonké people on the border of Mali and Senegal.


Xinca

Their language, generally considered a language isolate.


Proto-Romance

The reconstructed ancestor of all the Romance languages.


Hayk

A transliteration of the Armenian male given name Հայկ (Hayk).


Queenie

George sat down. Queenie got up. 'Could I have some money to buy a birthday present for somebody?' she asked.

1940, Enid Blyton, The Naughtiest Girl In The School:


Fox

Fox (countable and uncountable, plural Foxes or Foxs)

* (surname): From fox (“vulpine animal”)


Annabella

A female given name from Latin, variant of Annabel or Annabelle.


Shasta

An extinct Native American language, formerly spoken from northern California into southwestern Oregon.

census-designated place
census-designated place

A census-designated place in Shasta County, California, United States.


Shasta

A member of a Native American tribe of California.


Proto-Bantu

The hypothetical protolanguage of the Bantu languages.


Tauri

From Latin Taurī, from Ancient Greek Ταῦροι (Taûroi).

Who these Tauri were is a question of some difficulty. Strabo calls them a Scythian people, but Herodotus clearly distinguishes the Tauri from the Scythians, as being a different nation.

1850, Charles Anthon, “Chersonēsus Taurica”, in A System of Ancient and Mediæval Geography for the Use of Schools and Colleges, page 238:

(historical) An ancient people who inhabited the Crimean Mountains.

Ταῦροι

an ancient people who inhabited the Crimean Mountains


Old Cornish

An early form of the Cornish language, used circa 800-1200 AD.


Uzbekistani

A person from Uzbekistan or one of that ancestry.


Tajikistani

a person from Tajikistan or of Tajikistani descent.


São Toméan

São Tomé and Principe
São Tomé and Principe

Citizen of São Tomé and Principe or of São Toméan descent.

Santomees

citizen of São Tomé and Principe or of São Toméan descent


Rhaetian

(linguistics) An extinct non-Romance language spoken in the ancient region of Raetia in the eastern Alps in pre-Roman and Roman times.


Philomena

From Latin Filumena, from Ancient Greek Φιλουμένη (Philouménē, literally “beloved”). Name of an alleged early martyr whose remains were discovered in 1802 in Rome.

der

"Why did St Philomena get crossed off, I wonder?" asked Celia.
"I don't know, maybe they found her out," Tom grinned. "I know my sister Phil was very annoyed at the time, she felt it was an attack of some sort."

1984, Maeve Binchy, The Lilac Bus, Delacorte Press, published 1991, →ISBN, page 136:


Sabaean

An extinct Semitic language spoken in Sheba (Saba).


Lateef

From Arabic لَطِيف (laṭīf, “gentle, kind”).


boy's name

A given name to a young male person or boy.


calling name

(anthropology, linguistics) The name by which a person is normally identified in conversation.

roepnaam

name by which a person is identified in conversation


baptismal name

1685, Charles Cotton (translator), Essays of Michael, Seigneur de Montaigne, London: T. Basset et al., Volume 1, “Of Names,” pp. 538-539,
Will not Posterity say, that our Modern Reformation has been wonderfully exact, in having […] proceeded so far, as to quarrel with the Ancient Baptismal Names of Charles, Lewis, and Francis, to fill the World with Methusalems, Ezekiels, and Malachies, of a more Scriptural sound?

A custom had generally obtained, of giving a new name, upon adopting a new member into a family. […] In imitation of this common practice, the old christians gave baptismal names to their children, which were intended to point out their heavenly adoption, as their surnames distinguished their temporal alliance.

1779, William Gilpin, Lectures on the Catechism of the Church of England, London: R. Blamire, Volume 1, Lecture 1, p. 9:

“John Walter Ardworth, commonly called Walter; he, like me, preferred to be known only by his second baptismal name. […]”

1846, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, chapter 6, in Lucretia, volume 2, London: Saunders and Otley, page 234:

they had been lovers—if you could give that name to a relationship in which she had never used his baptismal name

1940, Graham Greene, The Power and the Glory, London: Heinemann, Part 2, Chapter 1, p. 85:

βαπτιστικό [vaˌptistiˈko̞] n (meaning: baptismal, abbreviation of baptismal name


Saar

סַעַר סער#Hebrew


SNP

(UK politics) Initialism of Scottish National Party.


Mandaic

The liturgical language of the Mandaean religion, a variety of Aramaic with strong Persian influences.


Astghik

Աստղիկ Աստղիկ#Armenian

A transliteration of the Armenian female given name Աստղիկ (Astġik).


Zizilivakan

A Chadic language spoken in parts of Cameroon and Nigeria.


Zumaya

A moribund Chadic language spoken in Cameroon.


Zaiwa

zh-l

載瓦／载瓦 (Zǎiwǎ)

A language spoken in parts of China and Burma.


Zande

An Ubangian language spoken by the Azande people.


Caburn

(Sussex, rare) A male given name transferred from the place name deriving from the hill in Sussex, mainly found in the city of Brighton.


Sabin

* As an English and French surname, from a personal name derived from Latin Sabinus.
* As an Irish surname, from Ó Sabháin (“descendant of Sabhán”), from sabh (“cub”). Also found as Savage.

Sabin Figaro, Final Fantasy character


Sahaptin

Sahaptian languages
Sahaptin language
Sahaptin people

A member of a Native American people who occupied a large territory along the Columbia river in northern Idaho, Oregon and Washington.


Sahaptin

The language spoken by the Sahaptin people.

A family of languages comprising Sahaptin and Nez Perce.


Saho

The Cushitic language spoken by this people.


haitch

→ Irish: héis

From earlier aitch with an initial H (lost already in Vulgar Latin) restored, from Middle English ache, from Old French ache, from Vulgar Latin *acca, probably an extension of earlier ha, from an unidentified source. The restoration reflects the pronunciation of the letter name in several dialects of English. See the Wikipedia article about the letter.

(chiefly Ireland, Australia) Alternative form of aitch