Iberian

An extinct language isolate that was spoken in the Iberian peninsula.


cloister

en-verb

cloister (third-person singular simple present cloisters, present participle cloistering, simple past and past participle cloistered)

cloisters (present singular third-person)
cloistering (participle present)
cloistered (participle past)
cloistered (past)

Recorded since about 1300 as Middle English cloistre, borrowed from Old French cloistre, clostre, or via Old English clauster, both from Medieval Latin claustrum (“portion of monastery closed off to laity”), from Latin claustrum (“place shut in, bar, bolt, enclosure”), a derivation of the past participle of claudere (“to close”). Doublet of claustrum.

der

(intransitive) To become a Roman Catholic religious.


Duncan

en-proper noun

Duncan (countable and uncountable, plural Duncans)

* As a Scottish Gaelic and Irish surname, from Donnchadh, a name composed of donn (“brown”) + cath (“battle”). Also spelled as Donagh and Donaghue, Donahue.
* Also as an Irish surname, Anglicized from ó Duinnchinn, from donn (“brown”) + ceann (“head”).

For them the gracious Duncan I have murder'd

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

His full name is Benji Duncan Geoffrey Rigby-Monk. 'You're joking,' Kit said, when I first told him. Benji? Not even Benjamin?' ''Duncan and Geoffrey are his two granddads'names ― both unglamorous and old-dufferish, in Kit's view, and not worth inflicting on a new generation ― and Rigby-Monk is a fusion of Fran's surname and Anton's.

2011, Sophie Hannah, Lasting Damage, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, pages 77–78:

A male given name from Scottish Gaelic anglicized from Scottish Gaelic Donnchadh; the name of two early saints and of two kings of Scotland.


Martian

Amazing Stories
Frank R. Paul
H. G. Wells
Hubble Space Telescope
The War of the Worlds

From Latin Mārtius (“of or relating to the planet Mars”) + -an (adjective-forming suffix). The word is cognate with Middle English marcien, marcyan, mercien (“subject to the influence or power of the planet Mars; relating to the god Mars, that is, warlike”), Middle French martien (“Martian”) (modern French martien), French Martien (“imaginary inhabitant of Mars; any extraterrestrial”), Italian marziano, Latin Mārtiānus (“Martian”), Portuguese marciano, Spanish marciano.

cog

Coordinate term: Martianess

(chiefly science fiction) An inhabitant of the planet Mars.

An inhabitant of the planet Mars.
A male Martian.


Arizona

zh-l

亞利桑那／亚利桑那 (Yàlìsāngnà)

亞里桑那 (Yàlǐsāngnà)

Chinese: 亞利桑那／亚利桑那 (Yàlìsāngnà), 亞里桑那 (Yàlǐsāngnà)

/ˌæɹɪˈzoʊnə/

/ˌɛɹɪˈzoʊnə/

/ˌæɹɪˈzəʊnə/

Uncertain. Possibly from O'odham alĭ ṣonak (literally “small spring”) (traditionally through the Spanish intermediary form Arizonac; compare modern Arizona), a name initially applied to an area around a silver-mining camp in Sonora.
Alternatively, perhaps from Basque haritz ona (literally “good oak”), as the area many Basque herders, and a descendant of them established the ranchería of Arizona (circa 1735) in Sonora.
Suggestions of derivation from arizuma, supposedly a Nahuatl word meaning "silver-bearing", are considered implausible, and derivation from Spanish árida zona (literally “dry zone”) is considered a folk etymology.


Xena

Possibly a variant of Xenia, from Latin Xenia, from Ancient Greek ξενία (xenía, “hospitable”), the assumed name of a fifth-century saint venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church, from ξένος (xénos, “foreign, strange”).

der

A female given name from Ancient Greek of modern usage.


Jerry

..."I, incidentally, am Jeremy Wilson, and anyone who abbreviates that to 'Jerry' does so at unspeakable peril."
"Oh really?" Kay asked. "Why?"
"Well, just a wartime hangover. We used to call the Germans 'Jerries'."
"I don't know much about the German war."

1970, Santha Rama Rau, The Adventuress, page 157:

A diminutive of the male given names Jeremiah, Jeremy, Jerome, Jared, Jermaine, Jerrold, Gerald, Gerard, or similar male given names.

A diminutive of the female given names Geraldine or Jerilyn.

An unincorporated community in Asotin County, Washington, United States; named for early rancher Jerry McGuire.


what's up

Made popular by the cartoon character Bugs Bunny as part of his catch phrase “What’s up Doc?”, as early as 1940. Originally a common greeting from Bugs Bunny creator Tex Avery's neighborhood in Taylor, Texas.

Hey, what's up? – Hey! Good to see you.

(rhetorical question, colloquial) A casual greeting with a meaning similar to hi or nice to meet you.


Elizabeth

en-proper noun

Elizabeth (countable and uncountable, plural Elizabeths)

From Middle English Elizabeth, from the Ancient Greek Ἐλισάβετ (Elisábet), a transliteration of the Old Testament Biblical Hebrew אלישבע (Elisheva, “my God is an oath”). See El and שבועה. Doublet of Elisheba.

der

Most happy letters! framed by skilful trade, / With which that happy name was first designed, - - - / Ye three Elizabeths! for ever live, / That three such graces did unto me give.

1595, Edmund Spenser, Amoretti, section LXXIV:

"Because if you say it over and over to yourself, darling, it really is a quite strange-sounding name, isn't it? It's just as strange as any other from the Old Testament, Mehetabel or Hepsibah or Shulamith, and any of them might have got to be as fashionable as Elizabeth if a queen had been called by them.

1988 Barbara Vine ( =Ruth Rendell ), The House of Stairs, p.21

No one ever called Elizabeth Tannenbaum stunning, but most men found her attractive. Hardly anyone called her Elizabeth, either. An "Elizabeth" was regal, cool, an eyecatching beauty. A "Betsy" was pleasant to look at, a tiny bit overweight, capable, but still fun to be with.

1993, Phillip Margolin, Gone But Not Forgotten, Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 25:

A female given name from Hebrew, popular since the 16th century.


Classical Greek

The form of the Ancient Greek language used during the classical period of Greek literature: approximately 600 to 300 BCE.


mush

From Angloromani mush (“man”), from Romani mursh, from Sanskrit मनुष्य (manuṣya, “human being, man”).

Oy mush, come over here and gimme a hand with the motor.

"Hey, Mush!" Tony Pellegrino called to Michael standing on the other side of the street.

2018, Brenda Spalding, Bottle Alley, Heritage Publishing, →ISBN, chapter 1:

(British, slang, chiefly Southern England) (US, slang, chiefly Nonantum) A form of address, normally to a man.


Old French

The French language as spoken or written from the 9th to the early 14th century.

ou frans

French language from 9th to the early 14th century


SDP

We believed that the Trots represented a mad, extreme form of Labour that was never going to do anything for anybody, yet we felt strongly that nothing would be achieved by jumping ship and defecting to the SDP.

2008, Cherie Blair, Speaking for Myself: My Life from Liverpool to Downing Street:

Social Democratic Party
w:Social Democratic Party (UK)

(UK politics, historical, 1981–1988) Initialism of Social Democratic Party, a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom.


Krishna

en-prop

Krishna (countable and uncountable, plural Krishnas)


Area 51

Unclear, but perhaps from a grid numbering system of the area by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). While Area 51 is not part of this system, it is adjacent to Area 15.

Nevada Test and Training Range
w:Nevada Test and Training Range

(science fiction or ufology, informal) A secret military facility, airport, and airbase in Nevada Test and Training Range, Nevada, United States. It is the subject of conspiracy theories claiming it is where the US government hides extra-planetary alien visitors.

Atomic Energy Commission
en:Area 51
en:Area 51 (disambiguation)

Area 51

military base in Nevada rumored to contain extraterrestrial life


Oliver

en-proper noun

Oliver (countable and uncountable, plural Olivers)

From Middle English Oliver, from Old French Olivier, by folk etymology derived from the Latin name Olīvārius, but probably representing an Old High German form of Old Norse Óleifr (“ancestral + relic”) (modern Danish Olaf and Swedish Olof), or Proto-Germanic *ala- (“all”) + *wēraz (“true”) (modern Swedish allvar). Name of a paladin of Charlemagne in medieval French romance.

Froyſard, a Countreyman of ours, records, / England all Oliuers and Rowlands breed, / During the time Edward the third did raigne: […]

1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 98, column 1:

"My name is Oliver, sir," replied the little invalid with a look of great astonishment. "Oliver," said Mr. Brownlow; "Oliver what? Oliver White,—eh?" "No, sir, Twist,—Oliver Twist." "Queer name," said the old gentleman. What made you tell the magistrate your name was White?"

1837 August, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “In Which Oliver Is Taken Better Care of than He Ever Was Before. With Some Particulars Concerning a Certain Picture.”, in Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], published 1838, →OCLC, page 187:

And Oliver suits me, don't you find? It rather goes with my dark, dark hair and kissable ivory teeth, my slim waist, my panache and my linen suit with the ineradicable stain of Pinot Noir.

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

A male given name from the Germanic languages.


Bambara

The Bambara groundnut, Vigna subterranea.


Bambara

A West Sudanic language spoken mainly in Mali by as many as six million people, and by smaller numbers of people in Senegal Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, and Gambia.


priory

A monastery or convent governed by a prior or prioress.


Gabriel

From Latin Gabriel, from Ancient Greek Γαβρῑήλ (Gabrīḗl), from Hebrew גַּבְרִיאֵל (gaḇrīʾḗl, “God is my strong man”), from גֶּבֶר (géver, “strong man, hero”) and אֵל (ʾēl, “God, deity”), from Proto-Semitic *ʾil-. Doublet of Jibril.

der

Yea, it seems to me not fit for Christian humility to call a man Gabriel or Michael, giving the names of angels to the sons of mortality.

1629, Thomas Adams, Meditations upon Creed, The Works of Thomas Adams, James Nichol (1862), volume 3, page 212

"I'm the only Gabriel in the whole school," I told my father. "You don't have to whisper it from the tomb, lad. You should thank your mother and me for giving you a handle that people notice. You ought to be pleased, not down in the dumps. Backstreet Gabriels aren't bumped into on every corner, remember.

1986, Paul Bailey, Gabriel's Lament, Viking, published 1987, →ISBN, page 20:


Wilson

en-proper noun

Wilson (countable and uncountable, plural Wilsons)

From Will (short form of William) + -son.

affix

short form of <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">William</i>

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Sinn Féin

From Irish Sinn Féin (literally “we ourselves”) from sinn (“we, us”) + féin (“-self, -selves”).

compound

Ireland’s largest party, Fianna Fáil, has said it will not consider going into government with Sinn Féin, a decision likely to prevent the leftwing nationalists from entering power for the first time.

2020 February 13, “Ireland: Fianna Fáil rules out coalition with Sinn Féin”, in The Guardian, sourced from Reuters, →ISSN:

(Irish politics) An Irish political party committed to the reunification of Ireland.


Horace

From Latin Horatius, a Roman family name of obscure origin, possibly from Etruscan. Doublet of Horatio.


Kapampangan

A language of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian family of languages; it is one of the major languages of the Philippines and the primary language in the province of Pampanga, as well as southern Tarlac.


Kapampangan

A native speaker of the Kapampangan language.


Kapampangan

Pertaining to the Kapampangan language or its speakers.

капампанганский

pertaining to Kapampangan or its speakers


Pali

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit पालि (pāli).

lbor

A Middle Indo-Aryan language of north India, closely related to Sanskrit; the sacred language of the Buddhist scriptures.


Balinese

en-noun

Balinese (countable and uncountable, plural Balinese)

Balinese (cat)
Balinese language
Balinese people


Balinese

A car is taking us to a traditional Balinese dance at a nearby temple. It is on a cliff top with scenic views of the Indian Ocean and sheathed in what the internet calls a “peaceful ambience.”

2022 November 26, Virginia Feito, “Sweating Through a Honeymoon in Paradise”, in The New York Times:

Of or relating to Bali, its inhabitants, or their language or culture.

balinès

of or relating to Bali, or its inhabitants, language or culture


Taoiseach

Taoiseach (plural Taoiseachs or Taoisigh)

Borrowed from Irish Taoiseach (“chieftain, leader; prime minister of Ireland”).
The plural form Taoisigh is borrowed from Irish Taoisigh.

bor

Article 28. […] 5. 1º The head of the Government, or Prime Minister, shall be called, and is in this Constitution referred to as, the Taoiseach. 2º The Taoiseach shall keep the President generally informed on matters of domestic and international policy.

1937 July 1 (date ratified), “The Government”, in The Constitution of Erin, Ireland, San Francisco, Calif.: Russell Quinn, published [1938?], →OCLC, page 22:

To cope with the situation created at home by the war so close at hand, an Taoiseach (Prime Minister [Éamon] de Valera) rearranged his cabinet and formed a Ministry of Supplies under one of his ablest men.

1940 December 7, Arthur W. Bromage, Mary C. Bromage, “Ireland—What Now?”, in The Michigan Alumnus: Quarterly Review: A Journal of University Perspectives, volume XLVII, number 10, Ann Arbor, Mich.: Alumni Association of the University of Michigan, →OCLC, page 208:

The only leader of the 1916 Easter rebellion to escape hanging, [Éamon d]e Valera lost the civil war, then won elections that made him taoiseach (prime minister) for 19 years.

1954 May 31, “The Taoiseach Falls: De Valera Nears the End of Long Political Trail”, in Henry R[obinson] Luce, editor, Life, volume 36, number 22, Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 29, column 1:

The Constitution of Ireland, art. 13, requires that the President of Ireland, the formal head of state, appoints the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) on the nomination of the Dáil Eireann (a popular elected legislative Chamber of Deputies). Ther same provision also requires that the President appoints the other members of the government on the nomination of the Taoiseach with the previous approval of the Dáil.

1983 October, Law Library, Library of Congress, “Time Span between Election or Selection of an Official and the Subsequent Taking of Office in Various Foreign Countries [Ireland]”, in Commencement of Terms of Office of the President and Members of Congress: Hearing before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-eighth Congress, Second Session on S.J. Res. 71: A Joint Resolution Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States Relative to the Commencement of the Terms of Office of the President, Vice President, and Members of Congress […] (Serial No. J-98-113), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published 24 April 1984, →OCLC, page 42:

So what if they didn't have their Christmas Eve drinks party with the two Taoiseachs? They would have the satisfaction of knowing they could have.

1993, Mary Breasted, chapter 12, in Why Should You Doubt Me Now?, New York, N.Y.: Farrar Straus Giroux, →ISBN, page 50:

Although Taoisigh insist that choices are based on merit and capacity, they show a remarkable tendency to surround themselves with loyalists.

1994, Brian Farrell, “The Political Role of Cabinet Ministers in Ireland”, in Michael Laver, Kenneth A. Shepsle, editors, Cabinet Ministers and Parliamentary Government (The Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 81:

Despite the attacks, 'the boss', as [Charles] Haughey was to become known, was elected taoiseach by 82 votes to 62. However, he was a taoiseach with strong opposition from within his own party.

2003, Dermot Keogh, “Ireland, 1972–84”, in J[acqueline] R. Hill, editor, A New History of Ireland, volumes VII (Ireland 1921–84), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 379:

Under normal circumstances, when a Taoiseach 'advises' the President to dissolve the Dáil and thereby bring about a general election, the President is bound to accede to this. However, the President, in the words of Article 13.2.2 [of the Constitution of Ireland], 'may in his absolute discretion refuse to dissolve Dáil Éireann on the advice of a Taoiseach who has ceased to retain the support of a majority in Dáil Éireann'.

2010, Michael Gallagher, “The Oireachtas: President and Parliament”, in John Coakley, Michael Gallagher, editors, Politics in the Republic of Ireland, 5th edition, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge in association with PSAI Press, →ISBN, part II (Representative Democracy at Work), page 200:

For three centuries, the fabled Round Room in Dublin's Mansion House has been the site of some of Ireland's most important gatherings. British monarchs and Irish taoiseachs, a Catholic pope and a Protestant terrorist, all have walked its halls.

2010, David J. Lynch, “Money is Just Evidence”, in When the Luck of the Irish Ran Out: The World’s Most Resilient Country and Its Struggle to Rise Again, New York, N.Y., Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 175:

He [Charles Haughey] was determined to seize the initiative, to paint a picture of a taoiseach forging ahead with a bold new strategy in relation to Northern Ireland – a leader, driven by an inner crusade to transform the landscape of Anglo-Irish relations.

2016, Stephen Kelly, “The Haughey—Thatcher Relationship: The Anglo-Irish Summit Meeting, May 1980”, in ‘A Failed Political Entity’: Charles Haughey and the Northern Ireland Question 1945–1992, Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland: Merrion Press, →ISBN, page 149:

Everyone in the UK and Ireland should be afraid of a no-deal Brexit, the Irish taoiseach said, after he was accused of engaging in “Project Fear mark two”.

2019 August 1, Kevin Rawlinson, “Leo Varadkar: ‘We should all be afraid of a no-deal Brexit’”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-26:

Well, I was there from 1973 to 1993, working directly with five different taoisigh, at different times, of course, as secretary to the government, or Cabinet Secretary in Robert [Armstrong]'s terms—from Sunningdale to the Downing Street Declaration.

2020, John Coakley, Jennifer Todd, quoting Dermot Nally, “The Anglo-Irish Agreement, 1985”, in Negotiating a Settlement in Northern Ireland, 1969–2019, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 173:

Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations

(Irish politics) The head of the government of Ireland, comparable to a prime minister of a Commonwealth of Nations country.


Chaldean

From Ancient Greek Χαλδαῖος (Khaldaîos).

Chaldean Catholic Church
Chaldean Catholic Church

A member of the Chaldean Catholic Church.


Andrea

Latinate feminine form of Andreas and Andrew.

There's not much you can do with a name like Andrea. "Call me And." I don't think so. "Call me Andy." You say that and people will start calling you Handy Andy, and before you know it, you'll be getting phones calls from people wanting you to come and get their drain unstopped. So I've been forced to have people call me Andrea, which sounds like a girl who takes ballet and is learning to play the cello.

2003, Jack Weyland, Everyone Gets Married in the End, Cedar Fort,, →ISBN, page 157:


basilica

en-noun

basilica (plural basilicas or basilicae)

Borrowed from Latin basilica, from Ancient Greek βᾰσῐλῐκή (basilikḗ), from βᾰσῐλῐκὴ στοά (basilikḕ stoá, “royal hall”), ultimately from βασιλικός (basilikós, “royal”), from βασιλεύς (basileús, “king, chief”). Doublet of basoche.

A Roman Catholic church or cathedral with basilican status, an honorific status granted by the pope to recognize its historical, architectural, or sacramental importance.


Meryl

A female given name from Scottish Gaelic, variant of Muriel.


Cheryl

Coined in the early 20th century, possibly a blend of Cherie or Cherry and Beryl. (See cher for the etymology of Cherie.)

Cheryl is a woman of few interests: she will be watching TV or she'll be out shopping.
"Cheryl" is a soft, round, pleasant name. "Cheryl" sounds like a person who listens to classic rock, irons aprons and plays bunko. In fact, she's not an aunt at all. She's a glorified housekeeper.

2009, Caroline B. Cooney, If the Witness Lied, Random House LLC, →ISBN, page 38:

A female given name originating as a coinage.


Errol

Transferred from a rare Scottish surname derived from a place name, of unknown meaning. Later interpreted as a variant of Earl in the U.S.

Bridey says if she had a son which please God she will some day she'll call him Ronald because she's mad about Ronald Colman that you see in the Coliseum Cinema. Or Errol, that's another lovely name, Errol Flynn.
Mam says, will you go way outa that, Bridey. I'd never be able to stick my head out the door and say, Errol, Errol, come in for your tea. Sure the poor child would be a laughingstock.

1996, Frank McCourt, chapter VII, in Angela's Ashes, HarperCollins, →ISBN, pages 203–204:

A male given name transferred from the surname. Popularized by American Actor Errol Flynn


Filipino

From Spanish filipino m, from Felipe + -ino, demonym to Spanish las Islas Filipinas (“The Philippine Islands (P.I.); The Philippines”), after Spanish El Rey Felipe II de España (“King Philip II of Spain”). The Spanish term formerly only referred to a male Philippine-born person of pure or majority Spanish descent, synonym to Spanish insular (“islander”) (plural insulares) in the Spanish Colonial Era of the Philippines, before it was applied as a nationality for every citizen of the Philippines from the First Philippine Republic during the Philippine Revolution.

der

(uncountable) The national language of the Philippines, based on Tagalog.

Filippyns

the national language of the Philippines


Neville

en-proper noun

Neville (countable and uncountable, plural Nevilles)

* A Norman baronial surname, de Neville, from place names in Normandy, Néville, from Old French Neville (“Néel's estate”) or Neuville (“new settlement”), equivalent to nuef + ville.
* Also as an Irish surname, from Ó Niadh (see Nee) or Ó Cnaimhín (see Nevin).

(countable) A male given name transferred from the surname, of 16th century and later usage.


cathedral

Ellipsis of cathedral church, from Middle English chirche cathederall, cathedrall chirch, calque of Late Latin ecclēsia cathedrālis (“church serving as the bishop's or archbishop's office”), from Latin ecclēsia + cathedrālis. Displaced Old English hēafodċiriċe (literally “main church, head church”).

ncog

The principal church serving as the office (and some as place of residence) of an archdiocese's/a diocese's archbishop/bishop which is symbolized by an episcopal throne known as the cathedra.

katedraal

church serving as the office of the diocese's bishop and archdiocese's archbishop


Trevor

He never wasted a word even to tell his name until that was required of him by the rules. When he said 'Trevor' it was a statement of fact, not as it would have been with the others a statement of shame or defiance. - - - There was every reason why T., as he was afterwards referred to, should have been an object of mockery - there was his name ( and they substituted the initial because otherwise they had no excuse not to laugh at it ) - - -

1941, Graham Greene, “The Destructors”, in Collected Stories, Heinemann, page 327:

A male given name from Welsh, from Welsh Trefor. Popular in the UK in the 1950s and the 1960s.


Gretel

A female given name from German, diminutive of Margarete.


Amaryllis

A female given name from Latin or Ancient Greek


Ancient Greek

Any of the various forms of the Greek language of classical antiquity, particularly the classical Attic dialect used in Athenian literature.


Selene

From the Ancient Greek Σελήνη (Selḗnē, proper noun), from σέλας (sélas, “light”).

der

“Selene, I am going to get you out of bed and sit you in the chair for a minute. I want to put this heavy blanket and sheet on your bed so it will keep your new bedding clean.”

2008, Diane M. Unger, A Colonial Lieutenant Beckons, page 143:

In the opening sequence of the film Underworld (2004), the beautiful vampire assassin Selene, clad in tight black rubber and leather, is perched beside gargoyles on top of a soaring Gothic tower.

2012, Johan Höglund, “10: Militarizing the Vampire: Underworld and the Desire of the Military Entertainment Complex”, in Tabish Khair, Johan Höglund, editors, Transnational and Postcolonial Vampires: Dark Blood, page 173:

We also made arrangements with my sister Marion and brother-in-law Richard for Selene to stay with them over long school holidays, like Thanksgiving and Easter, when the campus would be closed for a few days.

2013, Arnold E. van Beverhoudt, Jr., Island Boy: My Life on the Rock, page 157:


Syriac

From Ancient Greek συριακός (suriakós), an adjective pertaining to Συρία (Suría), the Greek name for Aram, and probably based on the name Assyria.

The language of the kingdom of Osroene.

The liturgical language of various churches with roots in the Middle East.

An Aramaic language, part of the Semitic language family, specifically:


Syriac

A speaker of the Syriac language (see above).

Syriac Orthodox Church
Syriac Orthodox Church


Syriac

Of, pertaining to, or being the Syriac language, its speakers, or their culture.


Mobilian

An informal Native American trade language used among the tribes of the US Southeast, primarily along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. May have originally been the language of one particular tribe.


Walloon

Borrowed from Middle French Wallon / wallon, from Frankish *walh, from Proto-Germanic *walhaz (“foreigner”).
Cognate to Welsh/Wales, the second part of Cornwall, and first part of walnut, as well as Gaul and Wallachia.

A Romance language spoken in parts of southern Belgium and northern France (around Givet).


Maricopa

Borrowed from Spanish, of uncertain origin.

In the valley of the Gila and on its tributaries from the northeast are the Pimas, Maricopas, and Papagos.

1895, J[ohn] W[esley] Powell, chapter I, in Canyons of the Colorado, Meadville, PA: Flood & Vincent; republished as The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, New York: Dover, 1961, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 24:

A member of a Native American people belonging to the Yuman linguistic stock, a part of the Hokan family. They originate in the Colorado River area, but following an exodus in the 1700s or 1800s, they live amongst the Pima in the vicinity of the Gila and Salt Rivers.


Maricopa

A city in Pinal County, Arizona, United States.


Tyson

* A variant of Tison. A nickname from Old French tison (“firebrand”).
* A patronymic English surname, variant of Dyson, from Dennis + -son.
* In the U.S.A. adopted by a German family who came to America (Germantown, PA) in 1683, originally named German Teisen "son of Theiss", which was short for Matthias. Original spellings were Theisen, Theissen, Teisen, Teison.

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Sidney

en-proper noun

Sidney (countable and uncountable, plural Sidneys)

English surname, from several placenames in England, from Old English sīdan, dative of sīd (“spacious, wide”) + īeġ (“island”).

A male or female given name transferred from the surname.


Mebyon Kernow

From Cornish, meaning "Sons of Cornwall".

A left-of-centre political party that campaigns for greater self-government for Cornwall.


Thalia

From Ancient Greek Θαλία (Thalía) or Θάλεια (Tháleia); from Ancient Greek θάλλω (thállō, “flourish, to be verdant”).

uder

(rare) A female given name from Ancient Greek.


Nigel

English form of Latin Nigellus, from nigellus (“slightly black”), diminutive of niger (“(shining) black”), particularly used in the Middle Ages to Latinize Norman Néel and Irish Neil.

'I thought, sir,' answered Nigel, with as much haughtiness as was consistent with the cool distance he desired to preserve, 'I thought I had told you, my name was Nigel Grahame.'
His eminence of Whitefriars on this burst into a loud, chuckling, impudent laugh, repeating the word, till his voice was almost inarticulate, - 'Niggle Green - Niggle Green - Niggle Green! why, my lord, you would be queered in the drinking of a penny pot of Malmsey, if you cry before you are touched.'

1822, Walter Scott, chapter XXIII, in The Fortunes of Nigel:

A male given name from Latin, of mostly British usage.


Rutland

Unclear. Attested in Old English as Roteland and Ritelanede. Perhaps hrīþer (“cattle”) + land (“land”), or from the personal name Rota + land.

unk

Unclear


Maximillian

A male given name from Latin, variant of Maximilian, a modern spelling of Maximilian, taken from films and video game characters.


Gillian

Dromio of Ephesus. Maud, Bridget, Marian, Cicely, Gillian, Ginn!
Dromio of Syracuse. Mome, malt-horse, capon, coxcomb, idiot, patch! - - -
Dost thou conjure for wenches, that thou call'st for such a store

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

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

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

A female given name from Latin. Medieval variant of Julian and Juliana, revived and quite popular in Britain in the mid-twentieth century.


Pollyanna

Pollyanna Pocket was small, with long floppy ears and a tail that coiled upwards in a little ringlet. She was a bouncy, happy young dog, who frolicked all day

A female given name from Hebrew derived from Polly and Anna; rare in the real world.


Hollywood

en-proper noun

Hollywood (countable and uncountable, plural Hollywoods)

(Hollywood, L.A., CA, USA): Coined by real estate developer H. J. Whitley, from holly + wood.

Bollywood

for more similarly formed names, see Category:en:Film industries

A nickname for someone involved with the film industry or celebrity culture.


chapel

→ Japanese: チャペル (chaperu)

→ Korean: 채플 (chaepeul)

From Middle English chapele, chapel, from Old French chapele, from Late Latin cappella (“little cloak; chapel”), diminutive of cappa (“cloak, cape”). Doublet of capelle.
(printing office): Said to be because printing was first carried on in England in a chapel near Westminster Abbey.

der

(especially Christianity) A place of worship, smaller than or subordinate to a church.

One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter III, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

A place of worship in another building or within a civil institution such as a larger church, airport, prison, monastery, school, etc.; often primarily for private prayer.

A funeral home, or a room in one for holding funeral services.


chapel

The village butcher is chapel.

(Wales) Describing a person who attends a nonconformist chapel.


chapel

en-verb

chapel (third-person singular simple present chapels, present participle chapelling, simple past and past participle chapelled)

chapels (present singular third-person)
chapelling (participle present)
chapelled (participle past)
chapelled (past)

(nautical, transitive) To cause (a ship taken aback in a light breeze) to turn or make a circuit so as to recover, without bracing the yards, the same tack on which she had been sailing.


Indiana

en-proper noun

Indiana (countable and uncountable, plural Indianas)

From indian + -a. From “Indiana Territory” dating from 1800, noting the territory's large Native American Indian population. From indian territory.

Haldimand County
Haldimand County#English

A ghost town in Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada.

A borough, the county seat of Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States.

American Samoa · Guam · Northern Mariana Islands · Puerto Rico · United States minor outlying islands · United States Virgin Islands

(rare) A unisex given name
(rare) A male given name

(rare) A unisex given name
(rare) A female given name


Sussex

Sussex (countable and uncountable, plural Sussexes)

From Old English Sūþseaxan (literally “South Saxons”), which stood for both Sussex and its people.
The town in New Brunswick may have been named after Sussex, New Jersey. The civil parish is named after the town.

inh

Ellipsis of Sussex Drive or Sussex Street; a street in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on which the residence of the Prime Minister of Canada and the Governor General of Canada are located.


Maximilian

From German Maximilian, ultimately of Latin origin.

It is as well certainly not to call a parcel of idle and ragged young rogues by the titles of Augustus, Orlando, and Theodore: nor does it sound very fitting and heroical to hear a father cry out pompously to his little boy, as we did once, - "You, Sir, there, - Maximilian,- come out of the gutter."

1820 February 9, Leigh Hunt, “Names”, in The Indicator, number XVIII:

A male given name from Latin, rare in English.


Waray-Waray

Borrowed from Waray-Waray Waray-Waray, from Waray.

(linguistics) A central Philippine Visayan language from the islands of Samar, Biliran, and northeast Leyte.


Gurage

Any of the Semitic languages of these people.


Anurag

From Sanskrit अनुराग (anurāga, “a higher love, as of music or art”).

der

A male given name from Sanskrit used mainly in India.


Norfolk

Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk
Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk
Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk
James Cook
Mary Howard, Duchess of Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk (disambiguation)
William Ambrosia Cowley

From Middle English Northfolk, from Old English Norþfolc (literally “northern people”), from norþ (“north, northern”) + folc (“folk, people, race, nation”). As an Ecuadorian island, clipping of Duke of Norfolk's Island, bestowed by William Ambrosia Cowley in 1684 honor of Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk; his son Henry, the 7th duke; or both. As an Australian island and territory, bestowed by James Cook in 1774 in honor of Mary Howard, wife of the 9th duke.

(historical) Former name of Santa Cruz, an island in Galapagos, Ecuador.


Camden

From Old English campas (“enclosure”) + denu (“valley”).

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


Missouri

From a French adaptation of Miami wimihsoorita (“the people who have dugout canoes”), a term for the inhabitants of the area around the Missouri River.

Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming

A state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Capital: Jefferson City. Largest city: Kansas City.


Alabama

From Alabama Albaamaha, the name of a people native to the area.

That’s right. In fact, a law which passed in Mississippi is so restrictive, it could close the one remaining abortion clinic they have in the entire state, meaning a Mississippi woman, right now, could be saying to herself, “I need to go someplace more progressive like Alabama.”

2014 November 2, “State Legislatures and ALEC”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 23, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:

A state of the United States. Capital: Montgomery. Largest city: Birmingham.

A Muskogean language, spoken by the Alabama people.

ພາສາອາລາບາມາ

phā sāʼā lā bā mā


Casey

en-proper noun

Casey (countable and uncountable, plural Caseys)

Anglicisation of an Irish surname Ó Cathasaigh (“descendant of (a person named) Watchful”).

A male given name transferred from the surname.

Casey Anthony was sentenced on Thursday to a four-year jail term, the maximum possible, for lying to the police, but will be freed this month because she has spent nearly three years behind bars in Orlando, Fla., awaiting trial.

A female given name transferred from the surname.

A minor city in Adair County and Guthrie County, Iowa, United States.

A town in Washburn County, Wisconsin, United States.


Cyril

→ Cebuano: Cyril

→ Japanese: シリル (Shiriru)

→ Korean: 시릴 (Siril)

Via Late Latin Cȳrillus, from Ancient Greek Κύριλλος (Kúrillos), from κύριος (kúrios, “lord, master”).

Boxers, too, not so long ago a somewhat uncouth section of the community who were seldom if ever mistaken for members of the Vere de Vere family, have taken on a polish which makes their society a pleasure. They have names like Cyril and Percy and Clarence and live up to them.

1954, P. G. Wodehouse, Over Seventy: An Autobiography with Digressions, Herbert Jenkins, published 1957, page 35:

A male given name from Ancient Greek; best known for a ninth century missionary to the Slavs.


Kent

From Old English Cent, from Latin Cantium, from Brythonic *Cantio (compare Old Irish céite (“gathering, folkmoot, hillock”)), from Proto-Celtic *kantos (“corner, rim”).

cog

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


Luannah

A female given name originating as a coinage.


San Franciscan

en-adj

San Franciscan (comparative more San Franciscan, superlative most San Franciscan)

more San Franciscan (comparative)
most San Franciscan (superlative)


Algonquian

Relating to a group of North American languages.

algonquí

relating to a group of North American languages


Tennessee

From Cherokee ᏔᎾᏏ (tanasi), believed to mean “winding river”.


Dec

A diminutive of the male given name Declan.


hypocorism

en-noun

hypocorism (countable and uncountable, plural hypocorisms)

/haɪˈpɑkəˌɹɪzəm/

Borrowed from Late Latin hypocorisma, a loan from Ancient Greek ὑποκόρισμα (hupokórisma), ὑποκορισμός (hupokorismós, “pet name”), from ὑποκορίζεσθαι (hupokorízesthai), ὑποκορίζομαι (hupokorízomai, “to use a pet name; to act in a childish manner”), from ῠ̔πο- (hupo-, prefix indicating a small degree) + κορίζομαι (korízomai, “to caress”) (from κόρος (kóros, “boy; youth”), κόρη (kórē, “girl; young woman”)).

af

"Mary" is informed that "Polly" is one of those "hypocorisms," or pet-names, in which our language abounds. Most are mere abbreviations, as Will, Nat, Pat, Bell, &c., taken usually from the beginning, sometimes from the end of the name.

1850 February 2, Benj[amin] H[all] Kennedy, “Pet-names”, in Notes and Queries: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc., volume I, number 16, London: George Bell, […], published 16 February 1850, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 242, column 1:

For the flattering hypocorisms of lovers and parents see Plut. de Leg. Poet. p. 44; [...]

1865, Frederic W[illiam] Farrar, “The Nature of Words”, in Chapters on Language, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, footnote 3, pages 281–282:

The addition of diminutive or familiar prefixes and suffixes to the name of a saint to produce a 'pet name' or hypocorism, is common in the Celtic areas and would at times seem to produce extra saints from doublets of existing names.

2000, Karen Jankulak, “The Cult of St Petroc in Cornwall”, in The Medieval Cult of St Petroc (Studies in Celtic History; 19), Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 41:

Cabbage, however, has enjoyed unlikely success as a hypocorism, a usage that dates back to the mid nineteenth century; this usage arose as a direct translation of chou, which French lovers had been calling each other for a long time: "Oh, mon petit chou"—"Oh, my little cabbage."

2003, Mark Steven Morton, “My Swete Hurle Bawsy: Terms of Endearment”, in The Lover’s Tongue: A Merry Romp through the Language of Love and Sex, Toronto, Ont.: Insomniac Press, →ISBN, page 52:

Another example are hypocorisms (nicknames based on personal names) derived via language-specific word formation processes. In Amadeus, the German hypocorisms for Wolfgang and Constanze, Wolfie and Stanzi, can pass as German as well as American English – however, the latter hearing is encouraged by Constanze's pronunciation of the first vowel in Wolfie as [ˈvʊlfɪ] rather than German [ˈvɒlfɪ].

2008, Lukas Bleichenbacher, “Replacement Strategies”, in Multilingualism in the Movies: Hollywood Characters and Their Language Choices (Schweizer Anglistische Arbeiten [Swiss Studies in English]), Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg: Francke Verlag, →ISBN, →ISSN, section 5.3 (Evocation), page 66:

Barney's own name is a hypocorism of Barnabas or Barnaby; Ted is a clipping of Theodore, which commonly becomes the hypocorism Teddy; among Barney's many sexual encounters were Wendy, Abby, and Jenny, each a hypocorism of original names Gwendolyn, Abigail, and Jennifer.

2016, Jessie Sams, “Word Formation in HIMYM [How I Met Your Mother]”, in Kristy Beers Fägersten, editor, Watching TV with a Linguist, Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, →ISBN, page 172:

(countable) A term of endearment; a hypocoristic, a pet name.


Charlie

→ Translingual: Charlie

Heaven only knows why a man with a strong biblical name like James wants to be a president named Jimmy. I'm certain that if he were called Charles, he wouldn't fool around that way. Charles is not so bad, but Charlie is a terrible burden to bear.

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

A diminutive of the male given name Charles; also used as a formal given name.

Ча́рли

diminutive of Charles or its translations in other languages

'Can I call you Charlotte?'
'No. I hate the name, makes me sound like a Victorian aunt. I'm Charlie, and no, you can't call me that either.'

2007, Sophie Hannah, Hurting Distance, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 225:

A diminutive of the female given name Charlotte or Charlene, also used as a formal given name, although less common than the male name.

Karo

diminutive of Charlotte or Charlene or its translations in other languages


Clara

Learned borrowing from Latin clāra, feminine of clārus (“bright, shining, clear”), a post-classical name made famous by the 13th century Saint Clara (Clare) of Assisi. Doublet of Clare and Claire.

But the fashion spreads deeper and wider; the village is infected and the village green; Amelias and Claras sweep your rooms and cook your dinners, gentle Sophias milk your cows, and if you ask a pretty smiling girl at a cottage door to tell you her name, the rosy lips lisp out Caroline.

1830, Mary Russell Mitford, Our Village: Fourth Series: Cottage Names::

My mother called me Clara. And everybody else called me Clara until I was fourteen years old. Then I got sick of it. Clara! Sounds like breaking glass. Did you ever stop to think of that, Frank? Say it fast and hit the C.

1956, Tad Mosel, Other People's Houses. Six Television Plays., page 123:

Կլարա

cognates and transliterations of the name Clara


Upper Sorbian

a Slavic language spoken in part of Saxony


Lower Sorbian

a highly endangered West Slavic language spoken in parts of southern Brandenburg

الصُورْبِيَّة السُّفْلَى

a Slavic language spoken in part of Brandenburg

Upper Sorbian

more lively sister language spoken in Saxony


Addison

en-proper noun

Addison (countable and uncountable, plural Addisons)

A patronymic surname from a medieval diminutive form of Adam + -son.

A surname transferred from the given name.

My name is Addison Jane Dawson, but you can call me Addy; everyone else does. I was named after my great grandfather, Addison Jay Dawson, - - -

2009, J. Scott Romig, The Lookout Tree, Author House, →ISBN, page 1:

A female given name transferred from the surname popular in the 2000s, following Alison and Madison.

A town in Vermont, United States, named after the poet Joseph Addison.

Synonym of Webster Springs, West Virginia; this is actually the official name, after landowner Addison McLaughlin.

Webster Springs

A number of townships in the United States, listed under Addison Township.


Reynard

/ˈɹɛnɑː(ɹ)d/

From Old French Renart (Modern renard (“fox”)), influenced by Middle Dutch Reynaerd, both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *Raginaharduz, from *raginą (“decision, advice, counsel”) + *harduz (“hard, strong”). Compare German Reinhard, Old High German Reginhart (“strong in counsel”).


Goidel

Learned borrowing from Old Irish Goídel (“Gael”). Doublet of Gael.

learned borrowing

A Gael; a member of the Goidelic division of Celtic languages as opposed to the Brythonic division.


nominal

→ Afrikaans: nominaal

From the Middle English nominalle (“of nouns”), borrowed from Latin nōminālis (“of names”), from nōmen (“name”).

a nominal difference

1856 February, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Oliver Goldsmith, republished in 1865, The Miscellaneous Writings of Lord Macaulay, Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and Green, page 300,
At Edinburgh he passed eighteen months in nominal attendance on lectures, and picked up some superficial information about chemistry and natural history.

In contrast to the traditionally conservative or libertarian ethos of the entrepreneurial class, the oligarchy is increasingly allied with the nominally populist Democratic Party and its regulatory agenda.

2013 October 5, Joel Kotkin, “California’s New Feudalism Benefits a Few at the Expense of the Multitude”, in The Daily Beast:


Wolof

Jolof Empire
Jolof Kingdom
Wolof language
Wolof people
jollof rice

A West African people, mostly in Senegal.

‘But come on: haven’t you learnt even a little bit of Wolof yet?’

2016, Zadie Smith, Swing Time, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 221:

The language traditionally spoken by those people.


Megan

Borrowed from Welsh Megan, cognate with English Margaret, ultimately from an Indo-Iranian source.

Was it true that twenty-six years had passed, or had he dreamed and awakened to find Megan waiting for him by the big apple tree?

1916, John Galsworthy, chapter VIII, in The Apple Tree:

A female given name from Welsh, diminutive of Margaret.


Simon

From Middle English Simon, from Latin Simon, from Ancient Greek Σίμων (Símōn), from Biblical Hebrew שִׁמְעוֹן (šimʿōn, “hearkening”). In Britain, confusion arose at an early date due to similarity with native Sigmund (Siegmund), and its Norman introduced variant, Simund. Doublet of Simeon.

der

His first name is Simon. I wonder why his mother named him that, or it may have been his father. My own father never bothered with the naming of us, it was up to Mother and Aunt Pauline. There is Simon Peter the Apostle, of course, who was made a fisher of men by our Lord. But there is also Simple Simon. Met a pie man, going to the fair.

1996, Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace, Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 379:


Sami

From Northern Sami Sápmi, from one of the Sami languages, of uncertain origin/meaning, but possibly related to Proto-Balto-Slavic *źémē (“land”). More at Sápmi and Sami.

A member of an indigenous Finno-Ugric people of Lapland.


Sami

Relating to the Sami people of northern Scandinavia, or the Sami languages.

Samisch

relating to the Sami people or languages


Sami

Derived from Arabic سَامِي (sāmī), from the informal pronunciation of سَامٍ (sāmin, “high, exalted”).

A male given name from Arabic, feminine equivalent Samiyah.


Sami

A diminutive of the female given name Samantha.


Royal Road

(historical) The longest road in the ancient system of trade routes and roads developed in Achaemenid Persia, which connected the capitals Sardis (in Asia Minor) to Susa (in Mesopotamia) and featured post-stations with service facilities.


Lauren

"I don't like my name," said Delphine. "Nobody likes their own name."
"I don't like mine."
"Lauren's nice. They picked a nice name for you."

2004, Alice Munro, “Trespasses”, in Runaway:Stories, Knopf, page 214:

A female given name from Latin, masculine equivalent Laurence; feminine of Lawrence

A male given name from Latin, of rare usage, variant of Laurence.


Oscar

Exact origin uncertain. Resuscitated by James Mcpherson in The Works of Ossian (1765). Napoleon, an admirer of the Ossianic poems, chose it for his godson Oscar Bernadotte, who became a king of Sweden.
The modern given name is a conflation of two unrelated names: first, Middle Irish Oscar (the name of Fionn Mac Cumhaill's grandson in Irish mythology), from Middle Irish os (“deer”) + cara (“friend”); and second, Old English Ōscār, Ōsgār (personal name, literally “spear of the gods/spear of God”), from Old English ōs (“god”) and gār (“spear”) (see Oswald). Compare German Ansgar (personal name), Danish Asker, Asger (personal name), Norwegian Asgeir (personal name), Icelandic Ásgeir (personal name).
(Academy Award): Disputed. Said to have been named by actress Bette Davis after her first husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson, or by secretary Margaret Herrick after her cousin Oscar Pierce.

bor

My son, though alone, is brave. Oscar is like a beam of the sky: he turns around, and the people fall.

1765, James Macpherson, The Poems of Ossian, Tauchnitz, published 1847, page 192:

Had a funny first name, like Oscar or maybe - no! I remember now. It was Felix. Felix Tanner.

2005 Marc Cerasini, etc, Operation Hell Gate, HarperEntertainment, page 134

A male given name from Irish or Old English.


Cymry

Borrowed from Welsh Cymry, q.v. Cognate with English Cambrian and Cymric.

The natural conclusion is that the Silurians or Iberians, now represented by the little, dark Welshmen, are the oldest existing race in Wales, and, though now speaking Cymraeg, were long before the Cymry there.

1881, James Bonwick, Who Are the Welsh? (Our Nationalities; III), London: David Bogue, […], page 46:

“What brings you into our lands?” The strange looking barbarian asked again. / He was speaking Cymraeg, which means the language of the aborigines, or “the language of the first race.” It was the same language of the Cymry of which Cedric and his tribe was a people of.

2001, Jodie K. Scales, Of Kindred Celtic Origins, volumes 1 (Myths, Legends, Genealogy and History of an Ordinary American Family), Lincoln, Neb.: Writers Club Press, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 416:

(uncommon) Synonym of Welsh: the Welsh people collectively.


Vincent

en-proper noun

Vincent (countable and uncountable, plural Vincents)

→ Arabic: فينسنت (fīnsint)

→ Greek: Βίνσεντ (Vínsent)

desc

→ Japanese: ビンセント (Binsento), ヴィンセント (Vinsento)

From French Vincent, from Latin Vincentius, from vincēns (“conquering”), from the verb vincō.

Starry starry night.
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue.

Even their names hinted at a childishness they would never grow out of. When Vincent himself was grown-up, he wondered if this was why they had given their unlooked-for son such a mature name - although later still Vincent suspected that he might have been named for the Vincent Rapide motorbike. As with most things to do with Billy and Georgie, it was too late to ask.

2002, Kate Atkinson, Not the End of the World, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 203:

(countable) A male given name from Latin.

Викентий

chiefly in Russian Orthodox Chirstianity


stupa

From Sanskrit स्तूप (stūpa). Doublet of tope.

He mounded so much honey on the top of the buns that they looked like miniature stupas.

(Buddhism) A dome-shaped Buddhist monument, used to house relics of the Lord Buddha.


pagoda

From Portuguese pagode, which is via Malayalam പകോതി (pakōti) from Sanskrit भगवती (bhagavatī, name of a goddess).

der

On the journey southwards over the flat, fertile plains, paddy fields stretched away on each side of the line, and the landscape was broken only by wooden villages and stately pagodas.

1943 November and December, G. T. Porter, “The Lines Behind the Lines in Burma”, in Railway Magazine, page 325:

A religious building in South and Southeast Asia, especially a multi-storey tower erected as a Hindu or Buddhist temple.

[T]he Mahrattas having offered Alimerdy Khan his liberty for a lak of Pagodas; he does in the Nabob's name desire that the Governor of Madras would receive jewels and money to that amount into his custody, […]

1693 January 2 (date written; Gregorian calendar), J. Talboys Wheeler, compiler, “Governorship of Mr. Nathaniel Higginson. 1692–1698.”, in Madras in the Olden Time: Being a History of the Presidency from the First Foundation of the Governorship of Thomas Pitt, Grandfather of the Earl of Chatham. 1639–1702. […], Madras: […] J. Higginbotham, […], by Graves and Co., Scottish Press, published 1861, →OCLC, page 262:

I, in about two hours, notwithstanding the utmost caution, found myself minus upwards of six hundred pagodas […] .

1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 240

(now historical) A unit of currency, a coin made of gold or half gold, issued by various dynasties in medieval southern India.


que

en-noun

que (countable and uncountable, plural ques)

having lost their own pees and ques, by some pitiful attempt in our alphabetical orchard

1820, John Borthwick Gilchrist, The Stranger's Infallible East-Indian Guide, London, page 163:

he was about to be interviewed by German television and he had to be on his pees and ques.

2011, Elgin Dobbins, Thirty Seconds to Midnight, page 386:

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


Goidelic

Division of the Gaelic languages including Irish Gaelic, Manx Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic.


parish church

From Middle English parische chirche; equivalent to parish + church.

A church that serves as the religious centre of a parish; the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches.


Metis

Borrowed from French métis, from Old French mestis, from Late Latin mixtīcius. Métis originally referred to Francophone and Cree-speaking descendants of the French-Catholic Red River Métis in Manitoba. Compare mestizo.

(Canada) One of three recognized Aboriginal peoples of Canada, descendants of marriages of Cree, Ojibwa, Saulteaux, and Menominee Aboriginal people with French Canadians, Scots and English.


Washington

en-proper noun

Washington (countable and uncountable, plural Washingtons)

Washington (the town in Tyne and Wear, northeast England): probably from the Old English place name Hwæssingatūn (literally “a settlement of the household of Hwæssa”), from Hwæssa (a Saxon chieftain's name) + -ing (“belonging to”) + tūn (“homestead, settlement”). It was attested in 1096 as Wasindone. Hwæssa is of uncertain origin, said to possibly correspond to waþ (“hunt”) + sige (“victory”), or possibly related to hwæte (“wheat”). There are other theories; more on Wikipedia.
The surname derives from the town, and most places in the United States are named for George Washington.

DC

The federal district and city are coterminous and the city government administers the district, so are jurisdictionally equivalent

(US) A male given name transferred from the surname, popular during the first century of American independence, given in honor of George Washington.


Mercedes

en-proper noun

Mercedes (countable and uncountable, plural Mercedes)

From Spanish Mercedes (Mary, Our Lady of Mercy). The car was named for Mercédès Jellinek, the daughter of Austrian businessman Emil Jellinek who ordered 36 cars from Gottlieb Daimler.

A female given name from Spanish, equivalent to English Mercy occasionally borrowed from Spanish.


what the fuck

What the fuck were you thinking? What the fuck was I thinking? What the fuck are you doing?

What the fuck is going on? What the fuck just happened? What the fuck is wrong with you?

(interrogative, vulgar, slang) An intensive form of what.

What the fuck are you doing? — Τι στο διάολο κάνεις

一体全体なんだ？

いったいぜんたいなんだ？


what the fuck

→ Chinese: 花惹發／花惹发 (huārěfā)

→ Dutch: wat de fok

→ French: ouate de phoque

The proof is on my computer. It’s on all these people’s computers, and everyone around here is just going along with that. What the fuck? [quoting Emilia Jones as Reality Winner in the film Winner]

2024 September 11, Richard Brody, ““Winner” Takes Political Comedy Seriously”, in The New Yorker:

(vulgar) Used to express astonishment, shock, incredulity, or disbelief (as an ellipsis of longer expressions).

一体全体なんだ？

いったいぜんたいなんだ？

I finally said “eh, what the fuck” and quit my job.

Every now and then say, "What the fuck." "What the fuck" gives you freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future.

1983, Risky Business, spoken by Miles (Curtis Armstrong):

(vulgar) Used to express nonchalance or the dismissal of any consequences of something one is about to do.


eponymous

en-adj

eponymous (comparative more eponymous, superlative most eponymous)

more eponymous (comparative)
most eponymous (superlative)

PIE word
 *h₁epi
From Ancient Greek ἐπώνῠμος (epṓnumos, “concerning giving one’s name to something; named in a significant manner; surnamed”) + English -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, denoting pertinence or relation).

der

Prince Hamlet is the eponymous protagonist of the Shakespearian tragedy Hamlet.

Robinson Crusoe is the eponymous hero of the book.

The language Limburgish is named after the eponymous provinces in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Hadadas roost in numbers among the trees in the leafier parts of Nairobi and their eponymous call is one of the more insistent elements of the dawn chorus in that part of the world, though they may be heard at any time of the day.

2008, Nicholas Drayson, chapter 5, in A Guide to the Birds of East Africa, London: Penguin Books, published 2012, →ISBN, pages 24–25:

Of, relating to, or being the person or entity after which someone or something is named; serving as an eponym.

epònim

of, relating to, or being the person or entity after which someone or something is named

The American singer-songwriter Madonna released her eponymous album in 1983.

Of a thing: named after a person or entity.

mukaan nimetty

of a thing: named after a person or entity


Gordon

Derived from a Proto-Brythonic term meaning “spacious fort”.

Often he wrote good ones on casual slips and fancied them his; names like Trevellyan or Montressor or Delancey, with musical prefixes; or a good, short, beautiful, but dignified name like "Gordon Dane". He liked that one. It suggested something.

1913, Harry Leon Wilson, Bunker Bean, BiblioBazaar, LLC, published 2008, →ISBN, page 13:

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Anastasia

From the name of a 4th-century martyr, Ancient Greek Ἀναστασία (Anastasía), from ἀνάστασις (anástasis, “resurrection”). The name, and its male counterpart Anastasius, were originally given to children who were born around Eastertime during the early years of Christianity.

en:Anastasia
en:Anastasia (disambiguation)
en:Anastasia (surname)


Sophie

Wilt thou be a nun, Sophie? / Nothing but a nun? / Is it not a better thing / With thy friends to laugh and sing?

1832 Barry Cornwall, English Songs, 1851, LXXXV ("To Sophie")

No, like a small child, my daughter, Sophie Anne Louise. We gave her three names, all of which exist in English as well as in French, so she can change her name just by changing her accent. - - -
Sophie Anne Louise. It is a bit pretentious, do you not find? Maybe it is better in English. Sophie Anne Louise. No, it still sounds like one of Queen Victoria's grandchildren.

1991, Julian Barnes, Talking It Over, →ISBN, pages 241, 252:

A female given name from French Sophie, equivalent to English Sophia of Ancient Greek origin.

Sophia landed on her behind on the soft moss that lined the river bank. "Besides, you don't win yet, Sophie," he said. "I have one more stone still."

1995, Marilyn Seguin, The Bell Keeper: The story of Sophia and the Massacre of the Indians at Gnadenhutten, Ohio, in 1782, page 8:

A diminutive of the female given name Sophia.


Melanie

From French Mélanie, from Latin Melania, the name of two Roman fifth century saints, from Ancient Greek μέλας (mélas, “black, dark”).

'I learn the craft. I'm your uncle's apprentice, Melanie.' - - - She did not quite like the way he kept calling her by her name; there was a humorous inlection on the three liquid syllables as though he found the name funny.

1967, Angela Carter, The Magic Toyshop, Virago Press, published 1994, →ISBN, page 64:


Chloe

Borrowed Ancient Greek χλόη (khlóē, “young green shoot”), an epithet of goddess Demeter.

bor

For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

Of Chloe all the town has rung; / By ev'ry Size of Poets sung. / So beautiful a Nymph appears / But once in Twenty Thousand Years.

1731, Jonathan Swift, Strephon and Chloe:

Before he had met this one, Morgan had assumed that people called Chloe were either the neurotic brilliant daughters of Oxbridge dons or else silly screaming debutantes.

1981, William Boyd, A Good Man in Africa, H.Hamilton, →ISBN, page 24:


Phillip

en-proper noun

Phillip (countable and uncountable, plural Phillips)

Philip#First name
Philip#Surname
Phillip, Australian Capital Territory


Barbara

/ˈbɑɹb(ə)ɹə/

/ˈbɑːb(ə)ɹə/

From Latin Barbara, the name of Saint Barbara, feminine form of barbarus, from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “strange, foreign”). Doublet of Varvara.

der

My mother had a maid call'd Barbara; / She was in love, and he she lov'd prov'd mad / And did forsake her; […]

All in the merrye month of May / When greene buds they were swellin / Yong Jemmye Grove on his death-bed lay / For love of Barbara Allen.

17th century or before: English folk song: Barbara Allen: 1839 version by Thomas Percy

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

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

"Everybody in the next generation," suggested Dick, "will be named Peter or Barbara - because at present all piquant literary characters are named Peter or Barbara."

1922, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, (please specify |book=1, 2, or 3), page 76:

'Barbara?' Barr―baah―rrah. Barbarian woman. Wild. Untamed. An incredibly sexy name.

2007, Marina Lewycka, Two Caravans, Fig Tree, →ISBN, page 299:

Barbullë

cognates and transliterations of female given name


Sophia

Holy Wisdom
Sophia
Sophia of Rome
sophia (wisdom)

Chiefly from Latin Sophia, from Ancient Greek Σοφία (Sophía), from σοφία (sophía, “wisdom”), especially in reference to holy or divine wisdom under the influence of Biblical Hebrew חוכמה (khokhmá), to the early martyr St. Sophia, and to many figures of European royalty and nobility. Also used as a calque for the many cognate forms, such as Italian Sofia, Russian Софи́я (Sofíja), Polish Zofia, etc.

To say the truth, Sophia, when very young, discerned that Tom, though an idle, thoughtless, rattling rascal, was nobody's enemy but his own […]

1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:

I intended to call her after Aunt Grizel, but my wife who, during pregnancy, had been reading romances, insisted upon her being called Olivia. In less than another year we had another daughter, and now I was determined that Grizel should be her name; but a rich relation taking a fancy to stand godmother, the girl was, by her directions, called Sophia, so that we had two romantic names in the family, but I solemnly protest I had no hand in it.

1766, Oliver Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield:

Gram said, "Sophia. Would that be an Italian name?" "It came from a great-aunt," Sophia told her, turning briefly in her direction. "Was your great-aunt Italian?" "No, Scottish." "Oh." I knew what Gram was aiming at here. She wanted to find out whether Sophia was Catholic. She poked her headful of pink curlers forward for a moment and looked at me. "Presbyterian, " I told her. "Oh." She sat back again, Oh, well, you could see her thinking, her own daughter had married Episcopal and the sky hadn't fallen in. "It's a pretty name, anyhow," she told Sophia. "Thank you." "I like names that end with an a, don't you? […]

1998 Anne Tyler, A Patchwork Planet, A.A.Knopf Inc., page 2


production

en-noun

production (countable and uncountable, plural productions)

→ Japanese: プロダクション (purodakushon)

/pɹəˈdʌkʃən/

From Middle English produccioun, from Old French production, from Latin prōductiō, prōductiōnem (“a lengthening, prolonging”). See produce.

der

(Scots law, in the plural) Written documents produced in support of the action or defence.


Theodore

From Latin Theodorus, from Ancient Greek Θεόδωρος (Theódōros), from Θεός (Theós, “God”) and θεός (theós, “god”) + δῶρον (dôron, “gift”). The name was popularized in reference to the prominent St Theodore of Amasea. Unrelated to Theodoric.

It is as well certainly not to call a parcel of idle and ragged young rogues by the titles of Augustus, Orlando, and Theodore: nor does it sound very fitting and heroical to hear a father cry out pompously to his little boy, as we did once, - "You, Sir, there, - Maximilian,- come out of the gutter."

1820 February 9, Leigh Hunt, “Names”, in The Indicator, number XVIII:

'Perfect. What name are we going to give him?'
'Theo.'
'Oh.'
'As in Theodore.'
'Isn't that rather a...?' He stopped. Smiled at her again. 'Why Theodore?'
'I like it. And it suits him. Maybe because it contains the sound 'adore'.'

2010, Maggie O'Farrell, The Hand That First Held Mine, Headline, →ISBN, page 234:

A male given name from Latin and Ancient Greek; the name of a saint, pope, several emperors, etc.


Irene

Borrowed from French Irène, from Ancient Greek Εἰρήνη (Eirḗnē, “peace”), name of a goddess of peace, of early Christian saints, and of an 8th-century Byzantine empress. Doublet of Eirini.

But lest I be thought too literall, give me leave to allegorize upon this Irene. Her name is a Greek name, Εἰρήνη, it signifies peace; we must not dote upon our Irene, our private peace, that the publique should suffer for the sake of it.

1653, Jeremiah Burroughs, Irenicum: To the Lovers of Truth & Peace, London: Robert Dawlman, page 267:

"And I have such a horrible name. Think of it... Kate. Who would take Kate on a Moonlight Cruise...or out to the Minstrels at the point. If you ever do find me in the company of a strange young man, call me Irene. Promise me."

1944, A.J.Cronin, The Green Years, Little, Brown, and Company, page 62:

Better to consider the love of Irene, the seventh of the sisters, with her most elegant name.

1993, Oscar Hijuelos:, The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien, →ISBN, page 75:

A female given name from Ancient Greek, in regular use since the 19th century.


William

desc

→ Azerbaijani: → Uilyam (transliteration)

→ Bengali: উইলিয়াম (uiliẏam)

⇒ Cebuano: William

→ Chinese: → 威廉 (Wēilián) (transliteration)

→ Finnish: Viljami, Wiljami

→ Hawaiian: Uilama, Wilama, Wiliama

→ Ingrian: → Viljam (transliteration)

→ Japanese: ウィリアム (Wiriamu)

→ Korean: → 윌리엄 (willieom) (transliteration)

Russian: Уильям (Uilʹjam)

⇒ Slovak: Viliam

→ Tagalog: William

From Middle English William, from Anglo-Norman Willame, from Old High German Willahelm, from Proto-Germanic *Wiljahelmaz (> Latin Gulielmus), from Proto-Germanic *wiljô (“will”) + *helmaz (“helmet”), the latter component ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to cover, conceal, save”). Cognate with Dutch Willem, German Wilhelm, etc.; cognate borrowings outside of Germanic include Guillaume and Guillermo.

der

This name hath been most common in England since King William the Conquerour, insomuch that upon a festival day in the Court of King Henry the Second, when Sir William Saint-John, and Sir William Fitz-Hamon, especial Officers, had commanded that none but of the name of William should dine in the great Chamber with them, they were accompanied with a hundred and twenty Williams.

1605, William Camden, Remains Concerning Britain, John Russell Smith, published 1870, page 98:

By the same token I should probably have called myself 'Bill'. With a name like William you have choices. Very handy for us chameleons. 'William' is stern and dignified. A little austere and unapproachable. He conquers things. It is what my mother calls me when she is angry with me.

2004, Christopher Wood, California, Here I Am, TwentyFirst Century Publishers Ltd, →ISBN, pages 29–30:

A male given name from the Germanic languages popular since the Norman Conquest.


Cleopatra

From Middle English Cleopatra, from Ancient Greek Κλεοπάτρα (Kleopátra), meaning "glory of her father", from κλέος (kléos, “glory”) + πατήρ (patḗr, “father”).

Kleopatra

a given name of women in the Ptolemy dynasty

(rare) A female given name from Ancient Greek.


Colleen

From the word colleen, from Irish cailín (“girl”), not used as a name in Ireland. Colleen can also be interpreted as a variant of Coleen, which was a product of marketing by the Hollywood film industry (to promote a new starlet in the 1920s).

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 English or Irish.


insectoid

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

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

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


ze

Cyrillic script
Appendix:Cyrillic script#English

The name of the Cyrillic script letter З / з.


Luke

From Latin Lūcās, from Koine Greek Λουκᾶς (Loukâs). See the Greek entry for more.

"Your parents like Cool Hand Luke, yes?" "I don't really know. Why?" "Why? Because they name you Luke." I was worried I might have to explain that my name wasn't all that uncommon, and, anyway, Claudia had named me after the alter ego of Hank Williams, Luke the Drifter.

2005, Dallas Hudgens, Drive Like Hell, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 94:


Jane

Variant of Jeanne, from French Jeanne, from Middle French Jehanne, from Medieval Latin Johanna, variant of Latin Ioanna under influence from Latin Iōhannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννα (Iōánna), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָה (Yôḥānāh, literally “God is gracious”), the feminized form of יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān) which produced John and its many doublets. As a placeholder name, cf. similar use of John and Jack and earlier use of Joan in the same role.
Doublet of Gianna, Ivana, Jana, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena.

doublet

In latter years some of the better and nicer sort, misliking Joan, have mollified the name of Joan into Jane, as it may seem, for that Jane is never found in old Records; and as some will, never before the time of King Henry the eight.

1605, William Camden, Remains Concerning Britain, John Russell Smith, published 1870, pages 103–104:

People will please their fancies, and every lady has favourite names. I myself have several, and they are mostly short and simple. Jane, that queenly name! Jane Seymour, Jane Grey, 'the noble Jane de Montford;' - - -

1830, Mary Russell Mitford, Our Village: Fourth Series: Cottage Names::

"What I mean is," said Mrs. Riversedge, "that when I get maids with unsuitable names I call them Jane; they soon get used to it."
"An excellent plan," said the aunt of Clovis coldly; "unfortunately I have got used to being called Jane myself. It happens to be my name."

1912 Saki (H.H.Munro), The Secret Sin of Septimus Brope

A female given name from French, the standard feminine form of John since the 17th century.


outer

inner

antonym(s) of “one who supports leaving the EU”

The 51.4 per cent to 48.6 per cent victory of the "outers" broke the back of the Labour government.

2013 January 25, Jon Cruddas, “Au Revoir, Europe: What If Britain Left the EU? by David Charter”, in The Independent:

2015 May 7, Guy Faulconbridge, “Britain's EU "outers" see opportunity in wake of Greece's "No"”, in Reuters, archived from the original on 2015-12-22:

Meanwhile, outers are disporting themselves on TV in luminous green ties, hand-woven by first years at the Dronefield Academy for the Sartorially Challenged.

2016 February 16, Robert Shrimsley, “Gimme a Brexit break”, in Financial Times:

(UK politics) One who supports leaving the European Union.


Zairean

/zʌɪˈɪəɹ.ɪ.ən/

Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo

A person from Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo)


Goran

A language spoken in the Djurab Desert region of Chad by the Daza people, part of the Nilo-Saharan language family.

A language spoken in southeastern parts of Kurdistan by Kurdish people, part of the Gorani-Zaza language family. This language has no relation with the Goran language spoken by the Daza people.


shoo

From Middle English schew, schowe, show, showe, scou (“shoo!”, interjection). Compare Middle High German schū, schuo (“shoo!”, interjection) (modern German scheu! (“shoo!”)), Dutch schuwen (“to shun”), German scheuchen (“to scare, drive away”).

cog

(informal, demeaning) Go away! Clear off!


Mabel

Clipping of Amabel, from Latin amābilis (“lovable”).

Her name was Mabel Hortense, and the children were very proud of having a cousin who lived in the city and was named Mabel Hortense. At Damsonfield Four Corners, where they lived, all the little girls were name Mary Jane or Sarah Ann or Lucy Maria, or, at the best, Hattie and Carrie; they had scarcely even heard so fine a name as Mabel Hortense.

1883, Sophie Swett, “All the Plums”, in St. Nicholas Magazine, Vol.10, Part 1, page 34:

The red stitching across the breast pocket read Mabel, a name Maggie had not heard since her childhood. What had become of all the Mabels? She tried to picture giving a new little baby that name.

1988, Anne Tyler, Breathing Lessons, →ISBN, page 28:


Jeffrey

- - - you should also be able to sue your association's attorney when they step over the line as Attorney Jeffrey Ewalt did. Oh, my gosh! Even as I say his name Jeffrey, Jeffrey. Jeffrey is a name assigned to little boys with small toys. A cute innocent little boy that would do no harm to anyone. I recommend a name change for Jeffrey Ewalt from Jeffrey to Lucifer.

2005, Harvella Jones, The Texas Homestead Hoax, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 59:

A male given name from the Germanic languages, the usual U.S. spelling of Geoffrey. Popular in the latter half of the 20th century.


Geoffrey

From Middle English Geffrey, from an Old French aristocratic name, Geoffroi [dʒɔfreʲ] (> West Middle French Geoffrey, East Middle French Geoffroy), itself from Proto-French forms (latinized in -us) Jotfredus, Jozsfredus, Josfredus (10th century) and Jof[f]redus, Jofridus, Jaufredus, Geffredus (11th century), and ultimately of Proto-Germanic origin. The second element is *friþuz (“peace, sanctuary”). The first element may be *gautaz (“a Geat, a Goth”) [making the Proto-Germanic term *Gautafriþu], as opposed to *gōdaz (“good”) or *gudą (“god”) in Godfrey; this would also make it related to Jocelyn. The name was introduced to England by the Normans in the 11th century.

"Were you not aware mamma had a son as well as three daughters?"
"Yes, but I didn't know his name. I like Geoffrey; there's some sound in it."

1879, Mary Elizabeth Shipley, Looking Back, page 98:

Geoff grimaced, then smiled back, reminding himself that when his mother wasn't riding this horse, she was a very interesting woman who had taught medieval literature at Drew University for twenty years. In fact, he had been named Geoffrey because of her great admiration for Chaucer.

1996, Mary Higgins Clark, Let me Call You Sweetheart, →ISBN, page 207:

His full name is Benji Duncan Geoffrey Rigby-Monk. 'You're joking,' Kit said, when I first told him. Benji? Not even Benjamin?' Duncan and ''Geoffrey are his two granddads'names ― both unglamorous and old-dufferish, in Kit's view, and not worth inflicting on a new generation ― and Rigby-Monk is a fusion of Fran's surname and Anton's.

2011, Sophie Hannah, Lasting Damage, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, pages 77–78:

A male given name from the Germanic languages. Popular in the U.K. in the 20th century.


succession

en-noun

succession (countable and uncountable, plural successions)

Inherited from Middle English [Term?], from Old French succession, from Latin successiō (noun).

An act, process, or instance of succeeding:

(historical) In Roman and Scots law, the taking of property by one person in place of another.


Aífe

(Irish mythology) Cú Chulainn's lover and a female warrior from Alba


Ulster Cycle

A large body of prose and verse centering around the traditional heroes of Ulaid and the reign of Conchobar mac Nessa. One of the four major cycles of Irish Mythology.


Gae Bulg

The spear of Cúchulainn, given to him by Aife.


Godfrey

en-proper noun

Godfrey (countable and uncountable, plural Godfreys)

From Old French Godefrei, from Old High German Godafrid (“peace of God”), from Proto-Germanic *Gudafriþuz. Equivalent to god + frith. Doublet of Gottfried and Geoffrey.

der

A male given name from the Germanic languages.


Belinda

Alexander Pope
Belinda
Belinda (moon)
The Rape of the Lock

From Belle + -inda, base from various Romance sources such as French belle, Italian bella (“beautiful”), suffix Latinate form of German linde (“soft”) (English linden, lithe). Popularised by Alexander Pope in his poem The Rape of the Lock (1714). The moon is named after a character in Pope's poem.

1714 Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock, Canto V, final verse,
This Lock, the Muse shall consecrate to Fame,
And 'midst the Stars inscribe Belinda’s Name.

"Good-by, my dear Belinda; I leave you to ruminate sweet and bitter thoughts; to think of the last speech and confession of Lady Delacour, or, what will interest you much more, the first speech and confession of—Clarence Harvey."

1801, Maria Edgeworth, “Belinda”, in Tales and Novels, volume 6, New York: Harper & Brothers, published 1835, page 65:

The fairy tale ended savagely on January 11, 1999, when Belinda’s lifeless body was discovered in a closet. Her skull had been shattered by a shotgun blast at close range.

2010, Kathryn Casey, Shattered: The True Story of a Mother's Love, a Husband's Betrayal, and a Cold-Blooded Texas Murder, back cover:

A female given name originating as a coinage.


Black and Tan

A member of the RIC British paramilitary force, operating against Irish republicans in the War of Independence 1920/21.

Dúchrónach

member of the RIC British irregular army group


Judy

"Punch," said Judy,
"You're looking moody."
"Judy," said Punch,
"I want my lunch."

I've never met an old person named Judy. Now that's true. Maybe something happens to girls with young names like Debby, Judy, and Susie. At a certain age they make you change it to Doris, Edna, or Myrtle.

1989, Judy Carter, Stand-up Comedy: A Book, Dell Publ., →ISBN, page 35:

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


Judy

A surname transferred from the given name.


Noel

From Noel in the sense of Christmas; given since Middle Ages to children born at Christmastide.

When Noel came, noisily bursting through the back door with buckets of cleansers and sponges, I introduced myself. "Just call me Noelle," he said of himself. "When I was little they used to call me Noel, Noel, the toilet bowl. Although now I have thought of painting that on the side of my van. It might be good for business? I don't know."

2009, Lorrie Moore, A Gate at the Stairs, Faber and Faber, →ISBN, page 162:


Dougal

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Dùghall, from Old Irish dubgall (“Dane, black-haired foreigner”), synchronically from dubh (“black”) + gall (“stranger”).


Judith

→ Cebuano: Judith

Ultimately from Hebrew יְהוּדִית (Y'hudít, “woman from Judea, Jewess”). Doublet of Yehudit.

The beauty and simplicity of names are altogether arbitrary: Mary and Elizabeth, and Judith, may suit a taste formed on the Puritan model, that is to say, an English and Scottish taste: the French consider Victoire, Adele, Adriane, or any other such "fanciful and romantic" names, quite as simple, and perhaps as beautiful, as Mr. Stuart does Mary and Jane.

1833 The New Monthly Magazine, E. Littell, Vol. 1, January-June 1833, page 211("On Grand Christian Names")


Antonov

Borrowed from Russian Анто́нов (Antónov).

A male surname from Russian, feminine equivalent Antonova.


Boston

→ Abenaki: Pastonki, pastoni

→ Klamath-Modoc: basdin

→ Lushootseed: pastəd

→ Mohawk: Wáhston

The US city is named after the English town (from which several prominent colonists had come), which itself is sometimes said to be named as a contraction of Botolph's town or Botolph's stone (the name Botolph itself coming from Old English Botwulf, from boda + wulf). However, this is uncertain.

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


CP

en-noun

CP (countable and uncountable, plural CPs)

(UK politics, since 2019) Initialism of command paper.


Louis

→ Bengali: লুইস (luiś)

→ Hawaiian: Lui

→ Maori: Ruihi, Rewi

→ Persian: لوئیس (lu'is)

From French Louis, from Middle French Loïs, Loïc, &c., from Old French Looïs, Luis, Lodhuvigs, Lodevis, Lodhwig, &c., from Latin Ludovicus, from Clodovicus, from Frankish *Hlūdawīg, from Proto-Germanic *hlūdaz (“loud; famous”) + *wīgą (“battle”).
Doublet of Lewis and, more remotely, Aloysius, Luis, Ludwig, Luigi, and Clovis.
Remotely related to Slav and related terms through the Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear, be heard; famous”) root.

der

"It is hardly a week since you called me your future husband, and treated me as such; now I am once more the tutor for you: I am addressed as Mr. Moore, and Sir; your lips have forgotten Louis."
 "No, Louis, no: it is an easy, liquid name, not soon forgotten."

1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter 36, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC:


Bislama

Borrowed from Bislama Bislama, from French bêche-de-mer (“sea cucumber”). In the mid-nineteenth century, sea cucumbers were harvested and dried at the same time that sandalwood was gathered. The name came to be associated with the kind of pidgin speech that was used by the local laborers between themselves, as well as their English-speaking overseers.

A creole language spoken on the South Pacific island-nation of Vanuatu, derived from Indo-European (mainly from English) and Oceanic languages.

բիսլամա

a creole spoken on the South Pacific island-nation of Vanuatu

比斯拉马语

Bǐ sī lā mǎ yǔ


Susan

English form of the biblical Susanna, from Biblical Hebrew שׁוֹשַׁנָּה (šōšannā, “lily”), ultimately from Egyptian z:S:n-M9 (zšn).

cog

Susan and she - God rest all Christian souls! - / Were of an age. Well, Susan is with God; / She was too good for me.

c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

"With all my heart, though I have not an idea who little Susan may be. But I have a kindness for all Susans, for simple Susan's sake.

1855, Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South, Bernhard Tauchnitz, published 1855, page 382:

My own 'reaction' to the name Susan is a vision of a sturdy young woman garbed in 'print' and armed with a mop or other domestic implement, a picture compounded of a succession of domestic Susans passing before the eyes of early childhood. […] It is symptomatic of the game of general post now being played by the classes and the masses that Susan is taking refuge, with Betty, Peggy, Jane and Ann, among the aristocracy, while Gladys and Muriel reign below stairs,

1932, Ernest Weekley, Words and Names, J.Murray, page 84:

Susan, they called her. They chose a name that resembled the name she had come with, Sooki, and also it was a comfortable sound for Iranians to pronounce. "Su-san!" Maryam would sing when she went in to get her from her nap. "Su-Su-Su!"
Even on issues pertaining to their daughter, the Yazdans took a very different approach. Imagine changing that charming name, Sooki, part of her native heritage, to plain old Susan!

2006, Anne Tyler, Digging to America, Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, pages 10, 62:


Kurmanji

The Kurdish language with the largest number of speakers, spoken in Turkey, Syria, northernmost Iraq, and parts of Iran and Central Asia.


Simone

From French Simone, feminine form of Simon.


Etruscan

From Latin Etruscus (which see for more) + -an.

The extinct language of Etruria, which has no known relation to any other language.

伊特鲁里亚语

Yītèlǔlǐyàyǔ


pen name

Within a week of King's acknowledging the Bachman pen name, several sources —publishers, book dealers, readers, and fans—had mentioned a number of possible other pseudonyms; obviously, if King admitted to two pen names, John Swithen and Richard Bachmann, there might be others.

1998, Bill Munster, Discovering Dean Koontz, Wildside Press LLC, →ISBN, page 64:

In their time, it was fashionable to sign letters using a pen name. These pen names were borrowed from characters in classical literature.

2002, Jacqueline Ching, Abigail Adams: A Revolutionary Woman, The Rosen Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 19:

A fictitious name used by an author in place of their actual name; a writer's pseudonym.


nom de plume

→ French: nom de plume

Coined in English from French nom (“name”) + de (“of”) + plume (“feather”), by analogy with the borrowed nom de guerre, itself from French nom de guerre.

When King's authorship of Thinner was concealed behind the nom de plume Richard Bachman, the novel sold relatively well.

2018, Robert McParland, Bestseller: A Century of America's Favorite Books, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 154:


Min Min light

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Hippocrates

Borrowed from Latin Hippocratēs, from Ancient Greek Ἱπποκράτης (Hippokrátēs). Compare Middle English Ypocras.

An Ancient Greek male given name from Ancient Greek, notably borne by Hippocrates of Cos, an Ancient Greek physician, circa 5th century BC, sometimes called the "father of medicine."


Carolina

en-proper noun

Carolina (countable and uncountable, plural Carolinas)

Latin: carolinianus (New Latin)

Latin: carolinensis (New Latin)

From Latin Carolus (“Charles”) + -ina (feminine diminutive suffix).
The U.S. states are named for Charles I of England.

af

(countable) A female given name from Latin, Latinate form of Caroline; rare in English.


Russel

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Latinize

en-verb

Latinize (third-person singular simple present Latinizes, present participle Latinizing, simple past and past participle Latinized)

Latinizes (present singular third-person)
Latinizing (participle present)
Latinized (participle past)
Latinized (past)

Guglielmus is a Latinized form of William.

(transitive) To translate something into the Latin language; or make a word similar in appearance or form to a Latin word.

latinalaistaa

to make a word similar in appearance or form to a Latin word


Shazia

From Arabic شَاذِيَّة (šāḏiyya, “rare, precious, unique”).


is the Pope Catholic

Would you like to go to the beach? ― Is the Pope Catholic?

rhetorical question
rhetorical question#English

(colloquial, rhetorical question) A rhetorical question in response to a question to which the answer is an emphatic yes.


Arie

Borrowed from Hebrew אַרְיֵה (aryé, “lion”).


Russell

→ Translingual: russelianus

→ French: Russell

Inherited from Middle English Russel, from Anglo-Norman Russel. Doublet of Rousseau/Roussel. Equivalent to russel.

A male given name transferred from the surname. Diminutive: Russ.


Negar

From Iranian Persian نگار (negâr, “sweetheart; painting”).

bor

نگار نگار#Persian

A transliteration of the Persian female given name نگار (negâr).


Vernon

From Transalpine Gaulish uerna (“alder”) (from Proto-Celtic *wernā, from Proto-Indo-European *wern-) + -o, -onis (locative suffix, literally “place of alder trees”).

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


Seth

From Ancient Greek Σήθ (Sḗth), from Biblical Hebrew שֵׁת (Šet, literally “chosen one, appointed, placed”).

der

The children suggested names. In his childhood the ones they knew would have been unheard-of (Scott, Ross, Damian, Liam, Seth) or, strangely enough, too old-fashioned for popular use (Joshua, Simon, Jack, George).

2011 November 17, Ruth Rendell, Myth / The Astronomical Scarf / Walter's Leg (Storycuts), Random House, →ISBN:

'David, Seth and Aaron,' said Emma. 'Biblical names. I wonder if either of the parents is religious.' 'Jewish?' said Sam. 'They sound Old Testament to me.'

2021 December 7, Elly Griffiths, The Midnight Hour, Brighton Mysteries, →ISBN, page 34:


Kirsten

From North Germanic (Danish Kirsten and Norwegian Kirsten). Doublet of Christina.


hat trick

From hat + trick (“element of a magician’s or variety entertainer’s act; entertaining and difficult physical action”, noun). Sense 2 (“achievement of a bowler taking three wickets in three consecutive balls”)—the original sporting sense—refers to the commemorative hat formerly given as a prize to the bowler by his club.

هاتريك

three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.

שלושער m (shloshá'ar, literally “three-gate or goal”)

གསུམ་སྦྲགས (gsum sbrags, literally “pack-of-three”)

Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament

(UK politics, historical, rare) A means of securing a seat in the House of Commons by a Member of Parliament placing their hat upon it during an absence.


Arthur

From the name of the legendary king, from Middle English Arthure, from Medieval Latin Arthurus, probably from Middle Welsh arth (“bear”).
Other suggestions include Old Welsh arth (“bear”) and ur (“man”), or a Latinized (Romano-British) name; compare Latin Artorius, itself possibly of Etruscan origin, or more likely Messapic-Illyrian related to Proto-Albanian *artsa (“bear”).

Young Arthur is alive: this hand of mine / Is yet a maiden and an innocent hand, / Not painted with the crimson spots of blood.

"Is his name Arthur?" "Arthur James." "It’s quite an old-fashioned name." "We’re an old-fashioned family. His mother was fond of Tennyson."

1951, Graham Greene, The End of the Affair, Viking Press, page 96:

"It will not be his only name," Mr. Saporta said, and his glance hoped he had found an acceptable solution. "We shall also call him 'Aaron'. That will be his Jewish name. But for everyday purposes—Arthur."

1966, Patrick White, The Solid Mandala, Avon Books, published 1975, →ISBN, page 270:

A male given name from the Celtic languages.

A number of places in the United States:

A village in Douglas County and Moultrie County, Illinois.

Wellington North
Wellington North#English

Wellington County
Wellington County#English

A community of Wellington North township, Wellington County, Ontario, Canada, named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.


Gunther

From German Gunther. Compare variants: Gunter, Günter, Guenter, Günther, Guenther, Ginter, Ginther.


TEFL

Acronym of teaching (of) English as a foreign language.

acronym

(education) Teaching of English as a foreign language.


Dzongkha

Borrowed from Dzongkha རྫོང་ཁ (rdzong kha), from རྫོང (rdzong, “jong”) + ཁ (kha, “language”).

com

The national language of Bhutan; Bhutanese.


Nagraj

From Sanskrit नागराज (nāgarāja, “king of snakes”). The surname is from Marathi नागराज (nāgrāj).


Phil

Shortened from Philip, from Ancient Greek Φίλιππος (Phílippos), which see for more information.

A short form of the male given name Philip.

(rare) A short form of the female given name Philippa.


Phil

(rare) A short form of the female given name Philomena.


Mbabaram

An extinct ergative Australian aboriginal language of the Southern Pama branch of the large Pama-Nyungan family of languages.


Viking

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

أُرْدَمَانِيّ

One of the Scandinavian seafaring warriors

(historical) Scandinavian/Northern European seafarers, most familiarly raiders and pirates during the Viking age.

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


Shug

A Scottish nickname usually applied to people with the first name Hew or Hugh or other spellings of this name.


resignation

en-noun

resignation (countable and uncountable, plural resignations)

/ˌɹɛz.ɪɡˈneɪ.ʃən/

/ˌɹez.ɪɡˈnæɪ.ʃən/

From Middle English resignacion, resignacioun, from Old French resignation, from Medieval Latin resignātiōnem, accusative of resignātio. Equivalent to resign + -ation.

(Scots law, historical) The form by which a vassal returns the feu into the hands of a superior.


Cethlenn

(Irish mythology) The wife of Balor of the Fomorians, and, by Balor, the mother of Ethniu; also a prophetess.


Balor

(Irish mythology) A king of the Fomorians, supposed to have lived on Tory Island. Son of Buarainech. Husband of Cethlenn. Father of Ethniu.


Buarainech

(Irish mythology) The father of Balor, the King of the Fomorians.


Ethniu

(Irish mythology) The daughter of the Fomorian king Balor, wife of Cian and the mother of Lugh and Delbáeth, and the grandmother of Cúchulainn and Fionn mac Cumhaill.


Uzziel

From Hebrew עֻזִּיאֵל (“strength of God”).


Manannán mac Lir

Borrowed from Irish Manannán mac Lir, from Old Irish Manandán mac Lir.


Mingo

A polysynthetic language of the Northern Iroquoian language family, once spoken across eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, now spoken fluently by fewer than five fluent people, but in the process of being revitalized.


Scott

en-proper noun

Scott (countable and uncountable, plural Scotts)

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