photographer

/fəˈtɑɡɹəfɚ/

/fəˈtɒɡɹəfə/

From photograph + -er, from Ancient Greek φωτός (phōtós), genitive singular of φῶς (phôs, “light”) (fōs) and γράφω (gráphō, “I write”).

Award-winning Sydney photographer Stephen Dupont’s latest exhibition focuses on change and detribalisation in Papua New Guinea .

2015 July 3, “The Outside Land”, in The Guardian:

Multiple photographers worried privately in conversations with Axios that the images from the rally could turn into a kind of "photoganda," with the Trump campaign using them to further their agenda despite the photographers' intent of capturing a news event.

2024 July 15, Aïda Amer, “How photographers view the photos of Trump's assassination attempt”, in Axios:

(photography) One who takes photographs, typically as an occupation.


sub-lieutenant

commissioned officer
commissioned officer

(military, navy) A commissioned officer of the navy whose rank is immediately below that of a lieutenant.

(UK) A commissioned officer of the Royal Navy ranking above a midshipman and below a lieutenant.


baker

Inherited from Middle English bakere, from Old English bæcere (“baker”), from Proto-Germanic *bakārijaz (“baker”), equivalent to bake + -er. Cognate with Dutch bakker (“baker”), German Bäcker (“baker”), Norwegian Bokmål baker (“baker”), Swedish bagare (“baker”), Icelandic bakari (“baker”).

But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's trades and industries. By the 1200s, brewers and bakers, tilemakers, glassblowers, pottery producers, and a range of other craftsmen all became hour-to-hour consumers of charcoal.

2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion:

A person who bakes and sells bread, cakes and similar items.


senator

From Latin senātor, ultimately from senex (“old”), equivalent to senate + -or.

сена́тар

historic: position in government of ancient Rome

In Germany, a minister of the executive branch of government in the city states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg; and a government official of cities that were part of the Hanseatic League.


artist

→ Japanese: アーティスト (ātisuto)

From French artiste, from Late Latin artista, from ars (“art”). Doublet of artiste. Displaced native Old English cræftiga. By surface analysis, art + -ist.


biblist

One who holds the Bible as the sole rule of faith.

bibliste

one who holds the Bible as the sole rule of faith


seaman

From Middle English seeman, seman, from Old English sǣmann. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Seemon (“seaman, sailor”), West Frisian seeman (“seaman, sailor”), Dutch zeeman (“seaman, sailor”), German Low German Seemann (“seaman, sailor”), German Seemann (“seaman, sailor”), Swedish sjöman (“seaman, sailor”), Norwegian sjømann (“seaman, sailor”). Equivalent to sea + -man.

cog

petty officer third class
petty officer third class

(US, Navy) An enlisted rate in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard, ranking below petty officer third class and above seaman apprentice.


sportsman

→ Korean: 스포츠맨 (seupocheumaen)

→ Russian: спортсме́н (sportsmén)

→ Welsh: sbortsmon

On the contrary, the difference between the worse male and female sportsmen was 54 ms. Among the male sportsmen [...]. Among the female sportsmen [...]

2014, Libor Flemr, Jiří Němec, Kateřina Kudláčková, editors, Physical activity in science and practice: Conference Proceedings | In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Charles University in Prague [Prague, 19-21 June 2013], page 237:

In both cases the female sportsmen were Nordic skiers.

2008, Atko Viru, Adaptation in Sports Training, Informa Healthcare USA, New York, p. 227 (Chapter 9: Gender Differences in Training Effects, sub-chapter Metabolic Capacities in male and female Athletes)

(UK) A man who engages in sports; an athlete.

At last extinguishing the fire, he took the idol up very unceremoniously, and bagged it again in his grego pocket as carelessly as if he were a sportsman bagging a dead woodcock.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 3”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

(dated) A man who engages in country sports, such as hunting or fishing.


consultant

From French consultant, present participle of consulter, from Latin cōnsultāre (“to deliberate, consult”), frequentative of cōnsulere (“to consult, deliberate, consider, reflect upon, ask advice”), from com- (“together”) + -sulere, of uncertain origin.

der

(medicine, UK, Ireland) A senior hospital-based physician or surgeon who has completed all specialist training and has been placed on the specialist register in their chosen speciality, roughly equivalent to an attending physician in North America.


bouncer

At 199 centimetres and a hundred kilos going up, he was scary big and he found work as a bouncer and enforcer[.]

2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 117:

(informal) A member of security personnel employed by bars, nightclubs, etc. to decide who can enter, maintain order, and deal with patrons who cause trouble.

(dated) One who bounces; a large, heavy person who makes much noise in moving.

"Why, I'll tell you, Mr. Simple; he's a good tempered, kind fellow enough, but—" / "But what?" / "Such a bouncer!!" / "How do you mean? He's not a very stout man." / "Bless you, Mr. Simple, why don't you understand English. I mean that he's the greatest liar that ever walked a deck.[…]"

1833, [Frederick Marryat], chapter XII, in Peter Simple. […], volume II, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, →OCLC, page 190:


chorus

en-noun

chorus (plural choruses or (dated) chorusses or (rare) chori)

choruses (plural)
chorusses (dated plural)
chori (plural rare)

The noun is borrowed from Medieval Latin chorus (“church choir”), Latin chorus (“group of dancers and singers; dance”), from Ancient Greek χορός (khorós, “group of dancers and singers, choir, chorus; dance accompanied by song; round dance”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- (“to encircle, enclose”) or *ǵʰoros. Doublet of choir, chore, and hora.
The plural form chori is from Latin chorī, from Ancient Greek χοροί (khoroí).
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

The performance of the chorus was awe-inspiring and exhilarating.

But the rise of multiracialism is not all Kumbaya choruses and “postracial” identity. The N.A.A.C.P. criticized the census change, fearing that since so few in the black community are of fully African descent, mass attrition to a mixed-race option could threaten political clout and Federal financing.

2008 March 23, Peggy Orenstein, “Mixed Messenger”, in The New York Times:

A group of singers performing together; a choir; specifically, such a group singing together in a musical, an opera, etc., as distinct from the soloists; an ensemble.

хор

group of singers performing together — see also choir

(often attributively) A feature or setting in electronic music that makes one instrument sound like many.


electrocutioner

/ɪˌlɛktɹəˈkjuʃənɚ/

/ɪˌlɛktɹəˈkjuːʃənə/

Blend of electrocution + executioner, or electrocution + -er

U.S. Supreme Court: STATE OF LA. EX REL. FRANCIS v. RESWEBER, 329 U.S. 459 (1947) 329 U.S. 459 STATE OF LOUISIANA ex rel. FRANCIS v. RESWEBER, sheriff, et al. No. 142.
'Then the electrocutioner turned on the switch and when he did Willie Francis' lips puffed out and he groaned and jumped so that the chair came off the floor. Apparently the switch was turned on twice and then the condemned man yelled: 'Take it off. Let me breath." Affidavit of official witness Harold Resweber, dated May 23, 1946.

Smiling as I throw the switch that takes away their breath
I see life as an interruption to the tune of death

1978, The Residents (lyrics and music), “The Electrocutioner”, in Duck Stab/Buster & Glen, performed by Monica Ganas and Snakefinger:

an executioner who carries out an execution by means of electricity.


fuzzy

Uncertain. Apparently from fuzz + -y, though some sources suggest that fuzz derives from fuzzy. Compare fozy, or Low German fussig (“loose; spongy”).

A "fuzzy" on the other hand is a "people person," — someone who prefers studying the humanities or social sciences, someone who sees the world in broad contextual terms.

2010, Donald Barr, Questioning the Premedical Paradigm […] , Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 2:

If you majored in the humanities or social sciences, you were a fuzzy, and if you majored in engineering or computer science, you were a techie.

2017, Scott Hartley, The Fuzzy and the Techie […] , Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN:

(slang) A person, especially a college student, interested in humanities or social sciences, as opposed to one interested in mathematics, science, or engineering.


Sgt

(abbreviation) A title added before the name of a sergeant.


sportswoman

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

(UK) A woman who engages in sports; a female athlete.


hype man

Hammer and the Posse, a group consisting of four dancers, two DJs and one hype man (“He’s the guy who pumps the crowd up,” Hammer explained), hope to win over rap fans.

1988 April 3, Lee Hildebrand, “M.C. Hammer Nails Down A Royal Reputation”, in San Francisco Chronicle, page 42:

Puff is up on stage with Biggie rappin’ almost as much as Biggie. He’s not just the hype man on stage goin’ Yea Yea, he’s rappin’ whole verses.

1995 August 30, Richard Payton, “Re: Suge Vs Puffy”, in rec.music.hip-hop (Usenet):

Hype men, for those of you unfamiliar with the lingo, are the fellas you see at rap shows who stand next to MCs and bellow certain words along with the rap to add emphasis.

2004 May 26, Jordan Harper, “I Love a Parade: Radar Station hitches a ride with great big rappers”, in Riverfront Times, St. Louis, Mo.:

Mills appeared first, performing with a hype man (someone who exorts the crowd and sings along with key lines) and a disk jockey.

2004 August 9, The New Yorker, page 100:

A hip-hop performer responsible for backup rapping and singing and increasing an audience’s excitement with call-and-response chants.


contractor

Borrowed from Late Latin contractor, from Latin contract-, stem of contractus + -tor. First attested in the 16th century.

مُقَاوِل

A person or company that constructs or improves buildings

A person or company that builds or improves buildings.

A person or company that performs specific tasks like electrical or plumbing work in construction projects.

podratçı

A person or company hired to maintain existing facilities like air conditioning systems, groundskeeping, etc.

podratçı

It looks like you're off to a three-hour staff meeting that doesn't apply to me. I'm glad I'm a highly-paid contractor. I'll be increasing my skills while you fight to get oxygen to your brains.

A person hired to do a job on a business contract, as opposed to a permanent employee.

kontraktor

A person on a business contract, as opposed to a permanent employee


blogger

The New York Times called it “another signal moment for bloggers,” while over at HardwareGeeks.com (“a community for sophisticated geeks and geekettes”), they were flying the victory flag: “A blogger with a White House Press pass? Just another sign of the times and another indication that bloggers are as powerful as regular media.”

2005 March, William Powers, “Sleeping With the Enemy”, in The Atlantic:

(Internet) A contributor to a blog (from weblog) or online journal.


boxer

They look over the boxes that have been packed, pass judgment upon defects detected by the boxers, and O. K. the boxes […]

1917, Vocational Education Survey of Minneapolis, Minn, page 385:


adjutant

From Latin adiūtō, frequentative of adiuvō (“assist”). First attested in 17th century. Or from Latin adiuvāns, present participle of adiuvō, from iuvō (“help”).

(military) A lower-ranking officer who assists a higher-ranking officer with administrative affairs.


editor

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-editor.wav

From Medieval Latin ēditor, from Late Latin ēditor, from ēditus, perfect passive participle of ēdō (“give out, put forth, publish”).

A person who edits or makes changes to documents.

John Johnson wrote this term paper and the editor was Joan Johnson.

A person who edited a specific document.

John is the city editor at the Daily Times.

A person at a newspaper, publisher or similar institution who edits stories and/or decides which ones to publish.

The TPU EVE editor is an excellent, extensible, programmable editor.

(computing) A program for creating and making changes to files, especially text files.

(television, cinematography) Someone who manipulates video footage and assembles it into the correct order etc for broadcast; a picture editor.

střihač

someone who manipulates video footage and assembles it into the correct order


collier

From Middle English colier (“charcoal burner”), from col (“coal”).

inh

For this reason, the collier took constant care to keep the covering of earth in good order.

1957, H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, page 224:

en:person who produces or distributes coals of any type

en:person who produces or distributes charcoal

A person in the business or occupation of producing or distributing coal (any of several types of carbon fuel).

(dated or historical) A person in the business or occupation of producing (and selling) charcoal.


porter

From Middle English porter, portere, portier, borrowed from Anglo-Norman portour and Old French porteor, from Late Latin portātor, from past participle of Latin portāre (“to carry”). By surface analysis, port (“to carry”) + -er.

surf

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

2022 December 14, David Turner, “The Edwardian Christmas getaway...”, in RAIL, number 972, page 35:
Tips were an important part of porters' income, and at Christmas passengers felt there was extra pressure to give them - despite some perceiving the level of service to be poor.


plumber

→ Irish: pluiméir

→ Welsh: plymer

From Middle English plumber, from Old French plummier (French plombier); from Latin plumbārius, from plumbum (“lead or lead shot”).

loodgieter

one who fits, etc, pipes for water, gas or drainage

One who furnishes, fits, and repairs pipes and other apparatus for the conveyance of water, gas, or drainage.

One who installs piping for potable and waste water.

It involved the break-in of the office of Mr. Lewis Fielding, Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist, by the White House “plumbers.”

1979, United States. Congress. House. Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Subcommittee on Legislation, Espionage Laws and Leaks: Hearings Before the Subcommittee...:

A person who investigates or prevents leaks of information.

(British, informal) In the Royal Navy, an apprentice, a boy aged 16 to 18, who is trained in technical skills at the Dockyard Schools to become an artificer.


ferash

From Arabic فِرَاش (firāš, “to spread a carpet”).

bor

(obsolete, Anglo-Indian) A menial domestic servant responsible for spreading carpets, pitching tents, etc.


grazier

/ˈɡɹeɪʒə(ɹ)/

Graziers on the tablelands are in dire straits because they do not have enough winter feed and will have to keep reducing stock.

(UK, historical) One who grazes cattle and/or sheep on a rural property.

They came ungraciously, but after his dark, bodeful hints as to the necessity of their attending service at the grazier's homestead next day, he was invited inside and a place was cleared for him at the table.

1902, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Bush Studies (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 66:

As a result of these causes the grazier marks himself off fairly sharply from the rest of Australia. He has always spent a considerable proportion of the time in the capital cities, in each of which he has formed a club to which, besides the graziers, only a few of the wealthiest and most prominent of the city dwellers are admitted.

1963, Colin Clark, Australian Hopes and Fears, page 75:

They have been here, the bora rings, for over twenty thousand years, it is believed; it is only in the past hundred, a hiccup in time, that indifferent graziers and the treads of their four-wheel drives have scattered the stones and have imprinted zippered cars across their sacred clay skin.

1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, paperback edition, Virago Press, page 44:

The ‘grazier’ image can be contrasted to that of the ‘cocky’. Graziers have tended to own large tracts of land, have inherited family wealth from the heady days of high wool prices, often reside in stately homes, possess a good education, and have taken leadership roles in the industry.

2000, Bill Pritchard, Phil McManus, Land of Discontent: The Dynamics of Change in Rural and Regional Australia, page 34:

(Australia) The owner of a large property on which sheep or cattle graze.


lawnmower

(preceded by definite article) A dance move in which the dancer mimics using a petrol lawn mower by pulling the starter cord and then pushing the mower forwards to the beat of the music.


bard

(15th c.) from Scottish Gaelic bàrd, from Old Irish bard, from Proto-Celtic *bardos (“bard, poet”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“praise”), and reinforced by Latin bardus, borrowed from Celtic. Cognate with Latin grātus (“grateful, pleasant, delightful”), Sanskrit गृणाति (gṛṇāti, “calls, praises”), Old Church Slavonic жрьти (žrĭti, “to sacrifice”).

cog

He is a Welsh bard, and a man full of animation, anecdote, and independence; […]

1837, Richard Llwyd, The Poetical Works of Richard Llwyd, the Bard of Snowdon:

A WEAPON, THE WARRIOR CARRIES. A SAW, THE IDIOT CARRIES. AN INSTRUMENT, THE BARD CARRIES.

2023, Rundisc, Chants of Sennaar, Focus Entertainment, via Nintendo Switch, level/area: Gardens:

A professional poet and singer, like among the ancient Celts, whose occupation was to compose and sing verses in honor of the heroic achievements of princes and brave men.

бард

professional poet and singer — see also minstrel


bard

From French barde. English since the late 15th century.

(cooking) A thin slice of fat bacon used to cover any meat or game.


bard

en-verb

bard (third-person singular simple present bards, present participle barding, simple past and past participle barded)

bards (present singular third-person)
barding (participle present)
barded (participle past)
barded (past)

(cooking) To cover (meat or game) with a thin slice of fat bacon.


hacker

From Late Middle English hackere, hakker, hakkere (“one who cuts wood, woodchopper, woodcutter; (rare) tool for cutting wood”), from hakken, hacke (“to cut (something) with a chopping action, hack; to make a chopping action”) + -er(e) (suffix forming agent nouns). Hakken is derived from Old English *haccian (“to hack”), from Proto-West Germanic *hakkōn (“to chop, hack”), from Proto-Germanic *hakkōną (“to chop, hack”), from Proto-Indo-European *keg-, *keng- (“to be sharp; a handle; a hook; a peg”). The English word may be analysed as hack (“to chop or cut down in a rough manner”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).

hacker

one who uses a computer to gain unauthorized access to data stored in, or to carry out malicious attacks on, computer networks or computer systems

ха́кер

one who is expert at programming and solving problems with a computer

hakkuri

something that hacks; device or tool for hacking

(computer security, telecommunications) One who uses a computer to gain unauthorized access to data stored in, or to carry out malicious attacks on, computer networks or computer systems.

(by extension, computer security, telecommunications) Synonym of white hat (“a computer security professional who hacks computers for a good cause, or to aid a company, organization, or government without causing harm (for example, to identify security flaws)”)


bowyer

From Middle English bowyere, bowȝere, variant forms of bowere (“bowyer”), equivalent to bow + -yer.

A clause of a former act directing the bowyers of London and Westminster to make four bows of different wood for one of yew, was repealed on their representation that the citizens of London would use none but yew bows, and in its place they were ordered always to have by them at least fifty bows of elm, witch-hasel, or ash.

1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, pages 38–39:

A person who makes or sells bows (for use with arrows).

(archaic) A person who uses the bow, an archer.


representative

From Middle English (implied in representatyfliche), from Old French representatif. By surface analysis, represent + -ative; See representation.

All representatives face re-election every two years.

(US, politics) Specifically, a member of the United States House of Representatives.


spark

→ Esperanto: sparko

→ Japanese: スパーク

From Middle English sparke, sperke, from Old English spearca, from Proto-West Germanic *sparkō (compare Saterland Frisian Spoorke, West Frisian spark, Dutch spark, German Low German Sparke, German Sparke), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *sparkaz (“lively, energetic”), from Proto-Indo-European *sperg- (“to strew, sprinkle”) (compare Breton erc’h (“snow”), Latin spargō (“to scatter, spread”), sparsus (“scattered”), Lithuanian sprógti (“to germinate”), Ancient Greek σπαργάω (spargáō, “to swell”), Avestan 𐬟𐬭𐬀𐬯𐬞𐬀𐬭𐬈𐬔𐬀 (frasparega, “branch, twig”), Sanskrit पर्जन्य (parjanya, “rain, rain god”)).

cog

(in the plural sparks but treated as a singular) A ship's radio operator.

At the other extreme, with limitless budgets all they have to do is dream up amazing lighting rigs to be constructed and operated by the huge team of gaffers and sparks, with their generators, discharge lights, flags, gobos and brutes.

1999, Des Lyver, Graham Swainson, Basics of Video Lighting, page 103:


spark

Probably Scandinavian, akin to Old Norse sparkr (“sprightly”).

The finest sparks and cleanest beaux.

1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC:

Jones had no sooner quitted the room, than the petty-fogger, in a whispering tone, asked Mrs Whitefield, “If she knew who that fine spark was?”

1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:

He will retrieve his errors yet—their worthy Father, once my honour'd master, was at his years nearly as wild a spark.

1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, I.ii:


model

desc

→ Cantonese: 模特兒 /模特儿 (mou⁴ dak⁶ ji⁴), 摩度

→ Cebuano: model

→ Japanese: モデル

→ Korean: 모델 (model)

→ Mandarin: 模特兒 /模特儿, 麻豆 (neologism)

→ Swahili: modeli

From Middle French modelle, from Old Italian modello, from Vulgar Latin *modellus, diminutive form of modulus (“measure, standard”), diminutive of modus (“measure”); see mode, and compare module, modulus, mould, mold.

عارض أزياء

ʕāriḍ ʔazyāʔ

Leonardo da Vinci chose a 15th century criminal as a model for Judas in his painting The Last Supper. The supersize model displayed the latest summer shorts fashion, tactfully representing similarly overweight teenagers.

en:person physically representing a human being

A person who serves as a human template for artwork or fashion.

en:person who presents goods to the public

A person, usually an attractive male or female, who is hired to show items or goods to the public, such as items that are given away as prizes on a TV game show.

They studied fasting and glycemia in a mouse model.

They studied Mendelian inheritance in a fruit fly model.

They studied plasmid transfer in a mycobacterial model.

en:organism or species used in studying biology including disease

(biology, medicine) An organism or species that is used to study an aspect of physiology or pathophysiology or a particular disease; often, a nonhuman one used to approximate processes in humans.

software architecture
software architecture

(software architecture) In software applications using the model-view-controller design pattern, the part or parts of the application that manage the data.


stapler

A device which binds together sheets of paper by driving a thin metal staple through the sheets and simultaneously folding over the ends of the staple against the back surface of the paper.


stapler

(dated) One employed to sort wool according to its staple.


software engineer

en-noun

software engineer (plural software engineers)

Back-formation from software engineering.

backformation

One who designs and implements software solutions.

програми́ст

one who designs and implements software solutions


first violinist

en-noun

first violinist (plural first violinists)

A violinist who is assigned to play melody (usually more technically difficult music).


second violin

The second violin part in an orchestral score, generally a harmony to the first violin's melody and generally less technically demanding.


first fiddle

O'Neil played a lively first fiddle.

The fiddle part generally carrying the melody.

O'Neil had been first fiddle in the band for years.

One who takes a leading part in anything.


fiddler

From Middle English fithelere, from Old English fiþelere, from *fiþele. By surface analysis, fiddle + -er.
(capstan-house): So called because the fiddle would sometimes be played to cheer the sailors working there.

We were the self-controlled, cautious, nifty merchants, decorous fiddlers of accounts, hoarders of wealth, excellent bribers, family and community creatures governed by manners.

2005, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, The drama of my life (in The Independent online, http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/the-drama-of-my-life-483792.html)

The community of radio amateurs—trespassing fiddlers on the cutting edge of technological possibilities—prefigured the geek community that was to inhabit Silicon Valley 50 years later.

2012, Fiorenza Belussi, Udo Hermann Staber, Managing Networks of Creativity, page 92:

A burrowing crab of the genus Gelasimus, of many species. The male has one claw very much enlarged, and often holds it in a position similar to that in which a musician holds a fiddle.

Actitis hypoleucos
Actitis hypoleucos#Translingual

The common European sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos); so called because it habitually wags its tail up and down resembling the back and forth movement of a fiddler.

A large species of cicada, Macrotristria angularis, of eastern Australia; cherry nose.


principal

principal (countable and uncountable, plural principals)

From Middle English principal, from Old French principal, from Latin prīncipālis.

Principal (education)
Principal value
principal

The important administrative figure to the teacher is the school principal.

1971, Louis Kaplan, Education and Mental Health, page 413:

The problem was neatly summed up by one principal in Australia who said recently: ‘There is no incentive for me to develop my best teachers to become my successor.[…]’

2008, Brian Dive, The Accountable Leader: Developing Effective Leadership Through Managerial Accountability, page 212:

Now renamed Teaching Australia, its officers are undertaking exploratory steps in developing professional standards for school leaders. A National Standards Drafting Group of volunteer principals is currently drafting principal standards (Teaching Australia, 2007).

2009, Colin J. Marsh, Key Concepts for Understanding Curriculum, page 132:

2011, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook 2011-2012, page 45,
Principals are now being held more accountable for the performance of students and teachers, while at the same time they are required to adhere to a growing number of government regulations.

(Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines) The chief administrator of a school.

1967, University of Edinburgh Graduates′ Association, University of Edinburgh Journal, Volumes 23-24, page 314,
Unlike the students, Principal Robertson, who now resided almost alone in the College, continued to use the accustomed route on his visits to the Old Town; and it “became the joke of the day that from being the principal gate it had become only a gate for the Principal.”⁵

Coordinate term: bursar

(UK, Canada) The chief executive and chief academic officer of a university or college.

মুহতামিম

When an attorney represents a client, the client is the principal who permits the attorney, the client′s agent, to act on the client′s behalf.

My principal sells metal shims.

The firm admitted the amount owed, but averred as an affirmative defense that it had hired the expert as an agent of a disclosed principal, the client.

1958, American Law Institute., Restatement of the Law, Second: Agency 2d, volume 7, page 533:

A food broker has been defined as an independent sales agent who performs the services of negotiating the sale of food and/or grocery products for and on account of the seller as principal.

1966, Pan American Union, The Marketing Structure for Selected Processed Food Products: In Sweden, Denmark, Norway, The Federal Republic of Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom, page 34:

2009, California Continuing Education of the Bar, California Probate Code, page 375,
An attorney-in-fact has a duty to act solely in yhe interest of the principal and to avoid conflicts of interest.

(law) A legal person that authorizes another (the agent) to act on their behalf; or on whose behalf an agent or gestor in a negotiorum gestio acts.

مُوَكِّل

legal: one on behalf of whom an agent or gestor acts

повјѐритељ m (more often means creditor, повѐрилац, повјѐрилац)

povjèritelj m (more often means creditor, povèrilac, povjèrilac)

Silverberg also gives the reader reader some excellent character insight; deep probes into the minds of all the principals bring the reader closer to the persons involved than might be thought possible with the plot so far removed from the realm of normality.

1973 August 4, J. Ralf Green, “The Hossenpfepper Column”, in Gay Community News, page 3:


serf

From Middle English serf, from Old French serf, from Latin servus (“slave, serf, servant”).


pastor

pasta (Australia, New Zealand, Northern England)

From Middle English pastour, from Old French pastor (Modern French pasteur), from Latin pāstor.

(now rare) Someone who tends to a flock of animals: synonym of shepherd.

Someone with spiritual authority over a group of people.

(Protestantism) A minister or priest in a church.

Coordinate term: parochial vicar

(Roman Catholicism, US) The main priest serving a parish.


pastor

en-verb

pastor (third-person singular simple present pastors, present participle pastoring, simple past and past participle pastored)

pastors (present singular third-person)
pastoring (participle present)
pastored (participle past)
pastored (past)

As they pastored churches in Georgia and Texas, they supported talented black politicians who were unable to win statewide office.

2009 January 21, Shaila Dewan, “Epic Campaign Divided Family, Then United It”, in New York Times:

(Christianity, transitive, intransitive, stative) To serve a congregation as pastor


weaver

From Middle English wevere, wever, from Old English *wefere, *wifre, *wæfre (“weaver”, in compounds), equivalent to weave + -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Weeuwer (“weaver”), Dutch wever (“weaver”), German Low German Wever (“weaver”), German Weber (“weaver”), Swedish vävare (“weaver”), Icelandic vefari (“weaver”).

Any of certain spider species, such as the sheet weaver or the funnel weaver, so named because they spin interesting and characteristic webs.


spy

From Middle English spien, aphetic variant of earlier espien (“to espy”), from Old French espier (“to spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to see, look”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”). Akin to German spähen (“to spy”), Dutch spieden (“to spy”).
The noun displaced native Old English sċēawere (literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "mirror." In this sense, the verb displaced Old English sċēawian, which was also the word for "to watch" and became the Modern English word show.

ncog

The dead leap at the throat, destroy
The meaning of the day; dark forms
Have scaled your walls, and spies betray
Old secrets to amorphous swarms.

1941, Theodore Roethke, “Feud”, in Open House; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, 1975, →ISBN, page 4:

Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.

2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55:

(espionage) A person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage).


trader

On November 29 1952, a special train ran from Sunderland to Leeds for Christmas shoppers and those attending a Leeds vs. Brentford match. It caused controversy, with Sunderland traders protesting that their shops were just as good as those in Leeds.

2023 December 27, David Turner, “Silent lines...”, in RAIL, number 999, page 29:

One who earns a living by trading goods or securities.


master

Sranan Tongo: masra

→ Catalan: màster

→ Finnish: master

→ French: master

→ German: Master

→ Polish: master

→ Portuguese: máster

→ Spanish: máster

→ Turkish: master

From Middle English maister, mayster, meister (noun) and maistren (verb), from Old English mǣster, mæġster, mæġester, mæġister, magister (“master”), from Latin magister (“chief, teacher, leader”), from Old Latin magester, from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s, (as in magnus (“great”)) + -ester/-ister (compare minister (“servant”)). Reinforced by Old French maistre, mestre (noun) and maistriier, maister (verb) from the same Latin source. Compare also Saterland Frisian Mäster (“master”), West Frisian master (“master”), Dutch meester (“master”), German Meister (“master”). Doublet of maestro, magister, and meister.

doublet

Southern US, African-American Vernacular, obsolete

use the master's tools to dismantle the master's house

(by extension) A person holding a similar office in other civic societies.


master

en-verb

master (third-person singular simple present masters, present participle mastering, simple past and past participle mastered)

masters (present singular third-person)
mastering (participle present)
mastered (participle past)
mastered (past)

He mastered in English at the state college.

(intransitive, usually with in) To earn a Master's degree.


virtuoso

/ˌvɜ.tʃuˈəʊ.səʊ/

Borrowed from Italian virtuoso, from Late Latin virtuōsus (“virtuous”), from Latin virtus (“excellence”). Doublet of virtuous.

For, besides the extraordinary Neatness of the Room, it was adorned with a great Number of Nicknacks, and Curiosities, which might have engaged the Attention of a Virtuoso.

1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 10, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume III, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VIII, page 224:

(now historical) An expert in virtù or art objects and antiquities; a connoisseur.

Someone with special skill or knowledge; an expert.

Specifically, a musician (or other performer) with masterly ability, technique, or personal style.

վիրտուոզ

A person with masterly ability, technique or style


virtuoso

en-adj

virtuoso (comparative more virtuoso, superlative most virtuoso)

more virtuoso (comparative)
most virtuoso (superlative)

/ˌvɜ.tʃuˈəʊ.səʊ/

Instead, he was able to sit alongside De Bruyne on the City bench admiring a virtuoso performance from Foden, pulling every string in the number 10 role and illustrating again why he is so important to Guardiola, and why he simply must start for Gareth Southgate's England at Euro 2024.

2024 April 3, Phil McNulty, “Man City 4-1 Aston Villa: Phil Foden produces 'masterclass' to show worth again”, in BBC:


brickie

(British, New Zealand, Australia, slang) A bricklayer.


guardian

→ Japanese: ガーディアン (gādian)

/ˈɡɑː.dɪ.ən/

From Middle English gardein, garden, (also wardein, > Modern English warden), from Old French guardein, from the verb guarder, of Germanic origin. Compare French gardien. Doublet of warden. By surface analysis, guard + -ian.

Thoſe who ought to be the guardians of propriety are often the perverters of it. Hence Accidence for Accidents, Prepoſtor for Prepoſitor and Conſtur for Conſtrue[…]

1791, John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary […] , London: Sold by G. G. J. and J. Robinſon, Paternoſter Row; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, →OCLC, page 162:

As your Senior Tutor, I am your moral guardian,’ he said at last. ‘A moral guardian yearns for an immoral ward and the Lord has provided.

Someone who guards, watches over, or protects.


imam

Borrowed from Arabic إِمَام (ʔimām, “leader”).

Now it chanced that in one of the mosques was an Imam. (footnote: The person specially appointed to lead the prayers of the congregation and paid out of the endowed revenues of the mosque to which he is attached)

1901, John Payne, Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp:

But then there's a Christian cleric and an imam on each of the country's three regional censorship boards, in Kaduna, Lagos and Onitsha, although more than one producer told me that the brown envelope worked the same magic here as in any other Nigerian Government department.

In the 1980s, roughly six hundred young Algerian men, many of them protégés of Muslim Brothers from Egypt and Wahhabi imams from Saudi Arabia, went to Afghanistan to join the anti-Soviet jihad.

2004 October 7, London Review of Books, page 3:

The critically low level of rainfall in the second half of 2020 – approaching 50% year on year for November – led the religious affairs directorate to instruct imams and their congregations to pray for rain last month.

2021 January 13, Bethan McKernan, “Turkey drought: Istanbul could run out of water in 45 days”, in The Guardian:

(Islam) One who leads the salat prayers in a mosque.

(usually capitalized) A Shi'ite Muslim leader descended from the prophet Muhammad and functioning as his spiritual successor.

(Twelver Shi'ism) One of the Twelve imams, descendants of Muhammad from the seventh to ninth centuries CE who lived exemplary lives.


critic

Borrowed from Middle French critique, from Latin criticus, from Ancient Greek κριτικός (kritikós, “of or for judging, able to discern”), from κρίνω (krínō, “I judge”).

der

The opinion of the most skilful critics was, that nothing finer [than Goldsmith's Traveller] had appeared in verse since the fourth book of the Dunciad.

1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC:

A person who appraises the works of others.

نَقَّاد

When an author has many beauties consistent with virtue, piety, and truth, let not little critics exalt themselves, and shower down their ill nature.

1741, I[saac] Watts, The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logick: […], London: […] James Brackstone, […], →OCLC:

One who criticizes; a person who finds fault.

ناقد

one who criticizes; a person who finds fault


critic

en-verb

critic (third-person singular simple present critics, present participle criticking, simple past and past participle criticked)

critics (present singular third-person)
criticking (participle present)
criticked (participle past)
criticked (past)

1607, Antony Brewer (attributed), Lingua, or the Combat of the Five Senses for Superiority
Nay, if you begin to critic once, we shall never have done.

(obsolete, transitive, intransitive) To criticise.


compiler

Serbo-Croatian: kompajler

From Middle English compilour, from Anglo-Norman compilour, from Old French compileur, from Latin compīlātōrem, equivalent to compile + -er.

a compiler of poetry anthologies

my favourite crossword compiler


hostie

From hostess + -ie (“diminutive suffix”).

If the alarm goes off, the hostie stops and looks for the likely suspect or asks all the people in the nearest seats who has an electronic device and tells whoever it is to turn the device off. The hostie doesn't have to decide if some smartarse who wants to listen on a scanner is trying to convince her that it only an MP3 player or whether device A is OK and device B isn't OK. If her instruction is that the device is to be turned off, then it's turned off!

2003 June 21, smithxpj, “radios aboard aircraft - new rules”, in aus.radio.amateur.misc (Usenet):

Emma, who is still 2.5 cm under the required hostie height and therefore may never realise her dream, said of her ordeal, ‘I was scared, but I did it for my career.’

2003, Frances Whiting, Oh to Be a Marching Girl, Pan Macmillan Australia, page 25:

2011, Les Hawkins, Great Australian Fly-Fishing Stories, Chapter 20, HarperCollins Publishers Australia, unnumbered page,
The cute hostie at the check-in for Kamchatka accepted a note the Russian Ambassador in Canberra had given me about excess luggage and gave me a smile rather than a bill.


wright

From Middle English wrighte, wriȝte, wruhte, wurhte, from Old English wyrhta (“worker, maker”), from Proto-West Germanic *wurhtijō (as in *wurkijan). Cognate with wrought, dated Dutch wrecht, work.

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

(archaic except in compounds) A builder or maker of something.

wrecht

(obsolete) builder or maker of something


athlete

From Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs), from ἀθλέω (athléō, “compete for a prize”), from ἆθλον (âthlon, “prize”) or ἆθλος (âthlos, “competition”).

(US, Canada) A person who actively participates in physical sports, especially with great skill; a sportsperson.


amir

From Arabic أَمِير (ʔamīr, “commander, prince”). Doublet of Amir, emir, admiral, and amira.


augur

Borrowed from Latin augur, of uncertain origin; akin to augurō (“interpret omens”).

Augur of ill, whoſe tongue was never found / Without a prieſtly curſe, or boding ſound; [...]

a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The First Book of Homer’s Ilias”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 420:

A diviner who foretells events by the behaviour of birds or other animals, or by signs derived from celestial phenomena, or unusual occurrences.

faltore

diviner who foretells events by unusual occurrences

It was an ancient tradition, that when the Capitol was founded by one of the Roman kings, the god Terminus (who presided over boundaries, and was represented, according to the fashion of that age, by a large stone) alone, among all the inferior deities, refused to yield his place to Jupiter himself. A favorable inference was drawn from his obstinacy, which was interpreted by the augurs as a sure presage that the boundaries of the Roman power would never recede.

1776, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol I, ch 1-pt ii:

(Ancient Rome) An official who interpreted omens before the start of public events.


caddy

en-verb

caddy (third-person singular simple present caddies, present participle caddying, simple past and past participle caddied)

caddies (present singular third-person)
caddying (participle present)
caddied (participle past)
caddied (past)

I was honored to caddy for Tiger Woods at a charity golf game.

We took turns caddying, one caddying, two playing. We went out across the river to the teeing ground of the first hole.

1897 (date written), Paul T. B. Ward, quotee, “19th Hole: The Readers Take Over”, in Sports Illustrated, volume 19, number 4, Chicago, Ill.: Time Inc., published 22 July 1963, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 60:

The next day the thirty-two qualifying players were paired off into sixteen sets of opponents. Charlotte was matched against a girl from California. After the first few minutes, the result was never in doubt. "Take it easy, miss," said the highly gratified Mr. Ogilvie, who was caddying for Charlotte. "You hold her in the hollow of your hand."

1917 July, George Weston, chapter VI, in The Apple-tree Girl: The Story of Little Miss Moses, who Led Herself into the Promised Land, Philadelphia, Pa., London: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, published 1918, →OCLC, page 100:

The scheme had been, if I remember, that after lunch I should go off and caddy for Honoria on a shopping tour down Regent Street; but when she got up and started collecting me and the rest of her things, Aunt Agatha stopped her.

1923 May 17, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “Introducing Claude and Eustace”, in The Inimitable Jeeves, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1979, →ISBN, page 63:

(intransitive, golf) Chiefly followed by for: alternative spelling of caddie (“to serve as a caddy (noun sense) for a golfer”)


dyer

One who dyes, especially one who dyes cloth etc. as an occupation.


fifer

From fife + -er. Piecewise doublet of piper.


ganger

From Middle English ganger, from Old English gangere (“a ganger, footman”), equivalent to gang + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gunger, West Frisian gonger, Dutch ganger, German Gänger, Danish gjænger, ganger, Swedish gängare, Icelandic gangari.

inh

(chiefly Scotland) One who or that which walks or goes; a goer; a walker.

Primary responsibility must rest with a ganger. He failed to appreciate the danger of disturbing the track, short of ballast, on a very hot day.

1950 March, “Notes and News: Merstham Quarry Derailment”, in Railway Magazine, page 210:

The length ganger saw the train passing with the van derailed and promptly telephoned the Sandbach signalman, who restored his signals to danger, but not in time to stop the train before the final derailment occurred.

1961 November, “Talking of Trains: Derailment near Holmes Chapel”, in Trains Illustrated, page 652:

'My dad was a railway ganger.'

1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, paperback edition, Virago Press, page 159:

(business, rail transport) One who oversees a gang of workmen.

(coal mining) One who is employed in conveying the coal through the gangways.

(nautical) A length of chain, one end of which is fastened to an anchor when let go, when the other end is fastened to a hawser.


gilder

From Middle English gilder (“gilder; goldsmith”) [and other forms], from gilden (“to cover with gilding, gild; to decorate with gold”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“to flourish; green, yellow”)) + -er, -ere (suffix forming agent nouns, especially the names of persons engaged in professions or trades); analysable as gild + -er.

der

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-gilder.wav

A lady ſhould, indeed, ſtudie her face, when wee thinke ſhee ſleepes: nor, when the dores are ſhut, ſhould men bee inquiring, all is ſacred within, then. [...] you ſee guilders will not worke, but inclos'd. They muſt not diſcouer, how little ſerues, with the helpe of art, to adorne a great deale.

1609 December (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Epicoene, or The Silent Woman. A Comœdie. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 532:

The leather gilders lay a Couch of water and whites of eggs on the leather, before they apply the leaf gold or ſilver.

1735, [John Barrow], “COUCH”, in Dictionarium Polygraphicum: Or, The Whole Body of Arts Regularly Digested. […], volume I (A–H), London: […] C[harles] Hitch and C[harles] Davis […], and S[amuel] Austen […], →OCLC:

Gilding in oil, or oily ſize, is uſed for domes, roofs of churches, ſtatues that are to ſtand in the weather, &c. For this purpoſe the Engliſh gilders generally adopt a gold ſize, made of yellow oker ground fine with water, and dried on a chalk ſtone, then ground up with a proper quantity of drying oil, to give it the ſtiffneſs required.

1767, Thomas Mortimer, “GILDER”, in A New and Complete Dictionary of Trade and Commerce: […], volume II, London: Printed for the author; and sold by S. Crowder, […]; and J. Coote, […]; and J. Fletcher, […], →OCLC, column 2:

He was a painter and gilder. [...] Now could the poor gilder no longer get paid by his employers.

1810 January, “O.” [pseudonym], “Remarkable Benevolence”, in The Christian’s Magazine: Designed to Promote the Knowledge and Influence of Evangelical Truth and Order, volume III, number I, New York, N.Y.: Published by Williams and Whiting, […]; J. Seymour, printer, →OCLC, page 29:

A carriage, for example, was formerly the product of the labour of a great number of independent artificers, such as wheelwrights, harness-makers, tailors, locksmiths, upholsterers, turners, fringe-makers, glaziers, painters, polishers, gilders, &c. [...] [I]f a number of carriages are being made simultaneously, some may be in the hands of the gilders while others are going through an earlier process.

1887, Karl Marx, “Division of Labour and Manufacture”, in Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling, transl., edited by Frederick [i.e., Friedrich] Engels, Capital: A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production: Translated from the Third German Edition, volume I, London: Swan Sonnenschein, Lowrey, & Co., […], →OCLC, part IV (Production of Relative Surplus-value), section 1 (Twofold Origin of Manufacture), page 327:

Charles Shaw was born in Tunstall, in the Potteries, in 1832, the son of a skilled painter and gilder in the pottery trade who lost this well-paid job through victimization after a strike.

1974, “An Old Potter”, in John Burnett, editor, Useful Toil: Autobiographies of Working People from the 1820s to the 1920s, London: Allen Lane, →ISBN; republished London, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, 1994, →ISBN, part III (Skilled Workers), page 303:

On the Costa, a street full of gilders, carpenters, carvers, and stucco experts, their status as Inglesi—bourgeois as well as fine artists—set them apart.

1996, Carolyn Burke, “Anglo-Florence (1907–10)”, in Becoming Modern: The Life of Mina Loy, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, part II (Becoming Mina Loy), page 117:

Indeed, economic resource, previously assigned to physical ornamentation, the gold of the gilder, is here plowed into the control right down to the last half-millimeter.

2014, Francesca Hughes, “Error and Surface: Counted Away: Indexicality and the Sublimation of Ornament: (Hermine) Wittgenstein’s Radiator”, in The Architecture of Error: Matter, Measure, and the Misadventures of Precision, Cambridge, Mass., London: MIT Press, →ISBN, page 235:

One who gilds; especially one whose occupation is to overlay things with gold.


hamal

A porter in Turkey and nearby countries.


hosier

/ˈhəʊ.ʒə(ɹ)/

/ˈhəʊ.ʒɪə(ɹ)/

From Middle English hosyer; equivalent to hose + -ier.

William Blake's father was a hosier.

Haberdasher and hosier. Each of those trades merge in the other, occasionally;..our Hosiers seldom confine their dealings to the wares which clothe our legs.

1837, Nathaniel Whittock, edited by J. Bennett, The complete book of trades, 1st edition, volume 1, page 289:

One who deals in hose or stocking, or in goods knit or woven like hose.


jigger

→ Catalan: gigre

From jig + -er (agent suffix). Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary suggests a possible link to Old High German gīga (“fiddle”).

(golf, dated) A golf club used to play low flying shots to the putting green from short distances.


jigger

A slang term of unknown origin, originally meaning prison. Oxford English Dictionary suggests that its origin might be the same as Etymology 1, above.

Sizing up the padlock, Mac slapped at a webbing pocket for his lock jiggers, but felt nothing.

2010, Mark Abernethy, Second Strike, →ISBN, page 19:

The question is, where did he get this jigger from? You don't buy them at ironmongers, you know.' He handled the bright instrument lovingly. As he moved the handles the two tiny levers opened and shut like the mandibles of a Picasso crab.

2012, Michael Gilbert, Sky High, →ISBN, page 183:

(slang, UK) Short for jigger gun (“lock pick”).


khan

Via late Middle English can, chan from Old French chan, from Medieval Latin chanis, from Turkic *qan, contraction of *qaɣan. Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰴𐰍𐰣 (qaɣan), and Mongolian хаан (xaan). Sense 1 (ruler in the Middle Ages) after Genghis Khan, from Middle Mongol ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨ (qaɣan). Doublet of khagan.

(historical) A ruler over various Turkic and Mongol peoples in the Middle Ages.

خَان

a ruler over various Turkic and Mongol peoples in the Middle Ages


khan

From Arabic خَان (ḵān, “inn, caravanserai, hotel”) and Persian خان (xân, “inn, caravanserai”).

bor

‘Guess the name of that,’ she said, pointing to her delicate parts. The porter tried this name and that and ended by asking her to tell him and cease her slapping. ‘The khān of Abu-Mansur,’ she replied.

1923, Powys Mathers, transl., The Thousand Nights and One Night:

At each of these stations there is a hostelry which they call a khan, where travellers alight with their beasts, and outside each khan is a public watering-place and a shop at which the traveller may buy what he requires for himself and his beast.

1958-1994, Hamilton Gibb & CF Beckingham, in The Travels of Ibn Battutah, Folio Society 2012, page 27

Synonym of caravanserai, particularly in Middle Eastern contexts.

Synonym of fonduk, an inn or hotel in Middle Eastern contexts.


laster

A workman whose business it is to shape boots or shoes, or place leather smoothly, on lasts.


From Nan, pet form of the formerly very common female given names Anne and Agnes. As a nursemaid and grandmother, a clipping of earlier nana, from nanny under the probable influence of mama, also from Nan. Compare Mary.

(obsolete) Synonym of maid: a servant girl.

We had my nan over for Christmas dinner.

(British, Ireland, Australia, Canada, endearing) Synonym of grandmother.


Gerry ordered poppadoms and parathas and then he was interrupted by requests for vindaloos, chicken madrases and sag joshes, rice, raita and nan, from Priest, Morgan and Maria Grazia.

2002, Desmond Barry, A Bloody Good Friday, page 157:


pug

Origin unknown, possibly related to West Flemish pugge (“(adjective) small; (noun) short person; pet name derived from the first name Pugge”); though it is uncertain whether sense 1 (“senses relating to someone or something small”) and sense 2 (“senses relating to people”) are derived from the same source.
Sense 1.8 (“small demon”) was probably influenced by, though not a variant of, puck.

pentu

any of various animals, such as a ferret, hare, squirrel, or young salmon

[Ulysses] ty'd his deafen'd Sailors (vvhile he paſs'd / The dreadful Lady's Lodgings) to the Maſt, / And rather venture drovvning, than to vvrong / The Sea-pugs chaſte Ears vvith a bavvdy Song: […]

a. 1681 (date written), Samuel Butler, “Satyr”, in R[obert] Thyer, editor, The Genuine Remains in Verse and Prose of Mr. Samuel Butler, […], volume I, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1759, →OCLC, page 77, lines 143–146:

(nautical) A cabin boy, a shipboy or ship's boy.

Senses relating to people.
A cabin boy, a shipboy or ship's boy.


sepoy

→ Dutch: sepoy, sipoy

→ Indonesian: sepoy

→ German: Sepoy

→ Italian: sepoy

→ Swedish: sepoy

→ Finnish: sepoy

→ Turkish: sepoy

From Portuguese sipae, from Urdu سِپاہی (sipāhī) / Hindi सिपाही (sipāhī), from Classical Persian سِپَاهِی (sipāhī, “soldier, horseman”), from سِپَاه (sipāh, “army”). Doublet of spahi and sipahi.

der

If our door were in the hands of the Sepoys the place must fall, and the women and children be treated as they were in Cawnpore.

1890 February, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Strange Story of Jonathan Small”, in The Sign of Four (Standard Library), London: Spencer Blackett […], →OCLC, page 238:

They proved to be the wives of a body of sepoys, also from the 5th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry; the sepoys had perished, and their families been enslaved, when their pattamar had been captured by the Qawasim some months before.

1997, Charles E. Davies, The Blood-red Arab Flag: An Investigation Into Qasimi Piracy, 1797-1820, University of Exeter Press, →ISBN, page 312:

(historical, military) A native soldier of the East Indies, employed in the service of a European colonial power, notably the British India army (first under the British-chartered East India Company, later in the crown colony), but also France and Portugal.


tooter

"Gimme the tooter." Dan took the tin dinner-horn, but paused before he blew.

1897, Rudyard Kipling, chapter 8, in Captains Courageous:

A person or device that toots; a pipe or horn, or the person who plays it.


banker

→ German: Banker

→ Punjabi: ਬੈਂਕਰ (baiṅkar)

usurer

offering loans, esp. at very high interest


biologist

Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus.[…]A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that. Developed as a tool to electronically combine the sharpest bits of multiple digital images, focus stacking is a boon to biologists seeking full focus on a micron scale.

2013 July-August, Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist:

Wildlife biologist Stanley Temple hypothesised that perhaps the dodo tree was dependent on its seeds passing through the digestive system of dodos in order to properly germinate and that the handful of individuals in the 1970s were the last remaining trees from seeds that passed through a dodo in the 1690s-1700s when they went extinct.

2017 May 3, Mark Carnall, “Finding zombies, ghosts and Elvis in the fossil record”, in The Guardian:

A student of biology; one versed in the science of biology.


chef

→ Afrikaans: sjef

→ Maltese: xeff

→ Thai: เชฟ (chéep)

Unadapted borrowing from French chef (from the positions of chef d’office and chef de cuisine), from Old French chief (“head, leader”) (English chief), from Vulgar Latin capus (“head”) (from which also captain, chieftain), from Latin caput (“head”) (possibly related to English cap (“head covering”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kauput-. Doublet of cape, capo, caput, and chief through Latin, and head and Howth through Proto-Indo-European.

But trying to stop all the nation's meth chefs makes as much sense as building a wall along the Mexican border.

1998, SPIN, volume 14, number 3, page 100:

Owsley Stanley, the world's most exacting and prolific LSD chef who supplied the majority of America's West Coast with LSD in the 1960s, claimed he made so much acid not because he wanted to change the world, but rather because it was almost impossible not to make vast quantities of the drug once the synthesis had been embarked upon.

(slang) One who manufactures illegal drugs; a cook.

magirist

cook, particularly a learned or skilful one


dean

From Middle English den, deen (“dean”), from Anglo-Norman deen and continental Old French deien (modern French doyen), from Latin decānus. Doublet of doyen.

Lucretius versus the Lake Poets ' Nature I loved ; and next to Nature , Art . '
Dean , adult education may seem silly .
What of it though ? I got some willy - nilly
The other evening at your college deanery .
And grateful for it ( Let's not be facetious!)[…]

1995 October, Robert Frost, Richard Poirier, Robert Frost: Collected Poems, Prose, & Plays (LOA #81) (DE-601)374069697: Library of America series), Library of America, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 357:

A senior official in a college or university, who may be in charge of a division or faculty (for example, the dean of science) or have some other advisory or disciplinary function (for example, the dean of students).

դեկան

senior official in college or university


draper

From Middle English draper, from Anglo-Norman draper, from Old French drapier, from drap + -ier.

[S]uch was the aberration of mind attending converse with a successful draper.

1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 26:

One who sells cloths; a dealer in cloths; a textile merchant.


espy

en-noun

espy (countable and uncountable, plural espies)

From Middle English aspie, espie (“covert investigation or observation, scouting, spying; information obtained through spying; secret and treacherous plan, plot; treachery; a scout or spy”) [and other forms],
from Anglo-Norman espie, Old French espie, from espier (verb): see further at etymology 1.
Cognates
* Italian spia
* Spanish espia

Howe the right and lawes of the land / Were execute, and who durſt take in hand / To diſobey his ſtatutes and decrees, / If they were well kept in all countrees: / Of theſe he made ſubtile inueſtigation / Of his owne eſpie, and other mens relation.

1599, Richard Hakluyt, “After the Chapitles of Commodities of Diuers Lands, Sheweth the Conclusion of Keeping of the Sea Enuiron, by a Storie of King Edgar, and Two Incidents of King Edward the Third, and King Henrie the Fifth”, in The Principal Nauigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoueries of the English Nation, […], 2nd edition, London: […] George Bishop, Ralph Newberie, and Robert Barker, →OCLC, page 203:

When as the Eagle, Ioves great bird, did ſee her enemy, / Sharpe warre in th' ayre with beake ſhe did prepare / Gainſt Serpent feeding in the wood, after eſpy / Cauſe it her egges and young fiercely in peeces tare.

1608, Edward Topsell, “Of the Winged Dragon”, in The Historie of Serpents. Or, The Second Booke of Liuing Creatures: […], London: […] William Jaggard, →OCLC, page 168:

An act of finding out or observing by spying or looking; an espial or espying.


jailer

Inherited from Middle English gayoler, gayler, jayler, from Old French jaiolier, gaiolier, from jaiole. By surface analysis, jail + -er.

Sometimes some of the ejected ministers preached to them privately, and now and then the jailer allowed Mr. H. to go out in the night to preach to them, and administer the Lord's Supper.

1775, Samuel Palmer, The Nonconformist's Memorial:

But the next morning came, and my coffee was brought by her mother; the next, and the next, by the under jailers; and Angiola continued grievously ill.

1883, Silvio Pellico, chapter 32, in My Ten Years' Imprisonment:

The jailer was also roused by the earthquake and came to the outer door; he was perhaps a soldier, or at least had something of Roman discipline, giving him presence of mind.

2001, Sir William Mitchell Ramsay, St. Paul: The Traveler and Roman Citizen, page 176:

One who enforces confinement in a jail or prison.


player

From Middle English pleyer, playere, from Old English pleġere (“player, athlete, wrestler”), from Proto-West Germanic *plegārī. Equivalent to play + -er.

inh

(music) One who plays on a musical instrument.

One that plays
One who plays on a musical instrument.

But up to this time the application of the player mechanism had been confined to reed instruments, the piano manufacturers having successfully resisted the introduction of the player mechanism into the piano; but, in the meantime, the manufacturers of players had grown strong and the manufacturers were beginning to properly interpret the handwriting on the wall

1915, John McTammany, The Technical History of the Player:

A Technical Treatise on Piano Player Mechanism" contains detailed description of the various types of interior and exterior players, embracing manual, pneumatic, automatic, mechanical and electric

1909, William Braid White, Regulation and Repair of Piano and Player Mechanism, ..., page 179:

Electric players used either a four-lobe rotary pump belt-driven by an electric motor or a self-contained electric motor and ...

1970, Arthur W. J. G. Ord-Hume, Player piano: the history of the mechanical piano and how to repair it:

(historical) A mechanism that actuates a player piano or other automatic musical instrument.

koneisto

mechanism that actuates a player piano or similar

In this space we explored lesbian sadomasochism, met other S/M women who were serious players, had access to safe equipment and, through watching other women, learned new techniques.

1991 April 22, Wickie Stamps, “A Lesbian Looks At The GMSMA's 10ᵗʰ Anniversary Celebration”, in Gay Community News, page 11:

A participant; one involved in something.

One who participates in a particular type of sexual play.

Thunder only happens when it’s rainin’ / Players only love you when they’re playin’ / Say women, they will come and they will go / When the rain washes you clean, you’ll know

1977, Stevie Nicks (lyrics and music), “Dreams”, in Rumours, performed by Fleetwood Mac, Warner Bros.:

(informal) A person who plays the field rather than having a long-term sexual relationship.


knacker

From Old Norse hnak (“saddle”) (whence Icelandic hnakkur (“saddle”)).

Travelling Community
Travelling Community

(Ireland, British, offensive) A member of the Travelling Community; a Rom (Gypsy).

antoušek

one who separates animals for reuse — see also flayer


knave

From Middle English knave, knafe, from Old English cnafa (“child, boy, youth; servant”), from Proto-West Germanic *knabō. Cognate to Dutch knaap and German Knabe.

Many a duteous and knee-crooking knave that, doting on his own obsequious bondage, wears out his time, much like his master's ass, For naught but provender, and when he's old – cashier'd! Whip me such honest knaves.

c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:


mammy

That's what you for—to help white folks keep niggers down. That's why he sent you to me. They be calling you mammy in a few years. You be running the whole house when the old man dies.

(US, historical, often pejorative) In the southern United States, a black nanny employed to look after white children; or in the antebellum South, a female slave who was close to the household and looked after the children.


nanny

Constantijn Huygens Jr.
Nanny (disambiguation)

(1795) It has often been assumed that the English term was originally a widespread child's word for "female adult other than mother" (compare Greek νάννα (nánna, “aunt”), nanna). See also Welsh nain (“grandmother”).
On the other hand, according to recent research of the Dutch historical linguists Hans Beelen and Nicoline van der Sijs (published in Onze Taal, September 2018), on which see also etymologiebank.nl, in Dutch), the term nanny (and the British colloquial nan for "grandmother") may actually be eponymous, viz. being originally an affective form (i.e. a hypocoristic) of the popular female name Anne. The Dutch statesman and scientist Constantijn Huygens Jr. made the following observation during one of his many sojourns in England (noted in his Journaal, dated 13 December 1692): "Yesterday I received 10lb of chocolate again, from niece Becker, and she had Nanny, her maid, bringing me the money that she had owed me" (Gisteren kreegh 10 ℔ choccolate wederom van nicht Becker, en had Nanny, haer meidt, geweest om mij 't geldt, dat van haer hebben most, te brengen). Beelen and van der Sijs therefore assumed that "since many female domestic servants were named "Nan" or "Nanny", the name became a sobriquet for the profession of "maid, childminder" in the 18ᵗʰ century". ("Omdat veel vrouwelijke huisbedienden in het Engels de voornaam Nan of Nanny hadden, verschoof de betekenis in de achttiende eeuw naar die van een beroepsaanduiding: ‘meid, kindermeisje’")

onomatopoeic

child's word

Breeding is a consuming goal, and the ascendance of the sex drive is nearly as apparent in the behavior of a mountain goat billy. So given over is he to following and defending a succession of nannies as he searches for one in heat (estrus), he loses interest in food altogether; […]

1983, Douglas H. Chadwick, A Beast the Color of Winter: The Mountain Goat Observed, Bison Books, published 2002, →ISBN, page 159:

Nannies and billies look very similar, both having dangerously sharp, curved black horns.

2005, Richard Cannings, The Rockies: A Natural History, Greystone Books, published 2005, →ISBN, page 103:

A farmer friend keeps a video camera in the barn so she can turn on her goat cam and observe her animals at any time of the day or night. A baby monitor picks up the sounds of a nanny when she goes into labor—if the nanny is one who changes the usual pitch of her voice or nervously bleats during kidding.

2013, Janet Hurst, The Whole Goat Handbook: Recipes, Cheese, Soap, Crafts & More, Voyageur Press, published 2013, →ISBN, page 28:


pugilist

From Latin pugil (“boxer”) + -ist, related to pugnus (“fist”), from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“prick, punch”). Compare contemporary pugilism (“boxing”) (1791).

der

I laugh and hoot at ye, ye cricket-players, ye pugilists, ye deaf Burkes and blind Bendigoes!

In 1925, boxer shorts were unleashed on the world: loose-fitting underwear for men, featuring an elastic waistband inspired by the shorts worn by boxers. It was underwear for the inner pugilist.

2018, Alan Burdick, “Science has Resolved the Question of Boxers vs. Briefs”, in The New Yorker:

One who fights with their fists, especially a professional prize fighter; a boxer.

مُلَاكِم

one who fights with their fists — see also boxer


rapper

One who, or that which, raps or knocks.
The knocker of a door.

(historical, mining) A swinging knocker for making signals at the mouth of a shaft.

A spiritualistic medium who claims to receive communications from spirits in the form of knocking sounds.

He rose from the ghetto to become a successful rapper.

(music) A performer of rap music, or someone who raps in any form of music.

A mechanical, or later electric, signalling device formerly used in the mines of north-eastern England to signal to the engineman that the cages carrying men or coals up and down the shaft were ready to be raised or lowered.


referee

/ˌɹɛf.əˈɹiː/

From Middle English [Term?], from past participle of Old French referer (“to relate, to refer”), from Latin referre (“to carry back, to report, to notify”); as if refer + -ee, that is, the person to whom something is referred for consideration.

The referee kicked Jim out of the game for fighting.

(sports) An umpire or judge; an official who makes sure the rules are followed during a game.

Your application, along with letters from three referees, should be received by January 31.

(UK) A person who writes a letter of reference or provides a reference by phone call for someone. US English: reference.

An expert who judges the manuscript of an article or book to decide if it should be published.


sailor

Alteration of earlier sailer, from Middle English sailer, sayler, saylere, equivalent to sail + -or. Cognate with German Segler (“sailor”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English marinel, marynell (“sailor”) borrowed from Old French marinel (“sailor”). See mariner.

a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor

Merchants, common sailors, captains of vessels, skippers, […] naval officers of all countries, and the Governments of several states on the two continents, were deeply interested in the matter.

1873, Jules Verne, chapter I, in [anonymous], transl., Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas; […], James R. Osgood edition, Boston, Mass.: Geo[rge] M[urray] Smith & Co., →OCLC, part I, page 3:

Mary is a sailor
dreaming of northern shores
lost galleons on the sea
Mary ever on her way

2008, Cécile Corbel (lyrics and music), “Mary”, in Songbook vol. 2 (CD), performed by Cécile Corbel, Brittany: Keltia Musique:

A person who sails; one whose occupation is sailing or navigating ships or other waterborne craft.

In particular, a member of the crew of a (civilian or military) vessel, as opposed to a captain, admiral, etc.; a mariner; a common seaman.

Coordinate term: yachtsman

A person who sails sailing boats (as opposed to boats powered by other means) as a sport or recreation.

He's a talented sailor and has spent many years at sea.


scribe

From Middle English scribe, from Old French scribe (“scribe”), from Late Latin usage of scrība (“secretary”) (used in the Vulgate Bible translation to render Ancient Greek γραμματεύς (grammateús, “scribe, secretary”), which had been used in its turn to render the Hebrew סופר (“writer, scholar”)) from scrībere (“to write, draw, draw up, draft (a paper), enlist, enroll, levy; orig. to scratch”), probably akin to scrobs (“a ditch, trench, grave”).

noncog

[T]he pleasure of writing on wax with a stylus is exemplified by the fine, flowing hand of a Roman scribe who made out the birth certificate of Herennia Gemella, born March 128 AD.

2013 September 14, Jane Shilling, “The Golden Thread: the Story of Writing, by Ewan Clayton, review [print edition: Illuminating language]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review), page R28:

Someone who writes; a draughtsperson; a writer for another; especially, an official or public writer; an amanuensis, secretary, notary, or copyist.

The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone,[…]. Scribes, illuminators, and scholars held such stones directly over manuscript pages as an aid in seeing what was being written, drawn, or read.

2013 September-October, Henry Petroski, “The Evolution of Eyeglasses”, in American Scientist:

A person who writes books or documents by hand as a profession.ᵂ

(archaic) A writer and doctor of the law; one skilled in the law and traditions; one who read and explained the law to the people.


shaver

From Middle English schaver; equivalent to shave + -er.
In its meaning of a boy, lad, recorded since 1592, the word shaver has also been postulated to derive from Romani chavo (“young man”), which also gives us the modern slang chav, ultimately derived from Sanskrit छा (chā, “young animal”).

A barber, one whose occupation is to shave.

A tool or machine for shaving; an electric razor.

The shaver is an honest friendly man as before: he has a good deal to do to smother his Welsh fire, which, you know, he has in a greater degree than some would imagine. He posts himself a good part of the year in some warm house, wins the ladies money at ombre, and convinces them, that they are highly obliged to him.

1723, John Arbuthnot, letter to Jonathan Swift:

(slang, obsolete) An extortionate bargainer; a sharper.

By these shavers the Turks were stripped.

1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:

One who fleeces; a pillager; a plunderer.


shopkeeper

A trader who sells goods in a shop, or by retail, in distinction from one who sells by wholesale, or sells door to door.


tanner

George II of Great Britain
John Sigismund Tanner
Royal Mint

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

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

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

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

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 469:

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


vassal

From Middle English vassal, from Old French vassal, from Medieval Latin vassallus (“manservant, domestic, retainer”), from Latin vassus (“servant”), from Gaulish *wassos (“young man, squire”), from Proto-Celtic *wastos (“servant”) (compare Old Irish foss and Welsh gwas).

der

The manor's vassals owed first fruits and a tithe to the parish church, another 10% to the lord (including at least 50 eels), a week or two each year of service in the manor's upkeep, and service in the local fyrd.

It was superimposed on rules of conduct evolved at an earlier date as the spontaneous expression of class consciousness; rules that pertained to the fealty of vassals (the transition appears clearly, towards the end of the eleventh century, in the Book of the Christian Life by Bishop Bonizo of Sutri, for whom the knight is, first and foremost, an enfeoffed vassal ) and constituted above all a class code of noble and 'courteous' people.

2002, Marc Bloch, Feudal Society: Vol 2: Social Classes and Political Organisation, page 38:

(historical, law) The grantee of a fief, a subordinate granted use of a superior's land and its income in exchange for vows of fidelity and homage and (typically) military service.

The king ordered his vassals to join him on the crusade unless they had a written note signed by the archbishop or pope.

(historical) Any direct subordinate bound by such vows to a superior.

The vassals of his anger.

1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

(figurative) Any subordinate bound by similar close ties.


vassal

Did they, quoth you? / Who sees the heavenly Rosaline / That, like a rude and savage man of Inde / At the first opening of the gorgeous east / Bows not his vassal head and strucken blind / Kisses the base ground with obedient breast?

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


vassal

en-verb

vassal (third-person singular simple present vassals, present participle vassaling or vassalling, simple past and past participle vassaled or vassalled)

vassals (present singular third-person)
vassaling (participle present)
vassalling (participle present)
vassaled (participle past)
vassaled (past)
vassalled (participle past)
vassalled (past)

(transitive) To subordinate to someone or something.


whaler

without the wine–whine merger, non-rhotic

Composed of whale + -er. In sense 1, displaced Old English hwælhunta (literally “whale hunter”).

ncog

For a whaler's wife to have been “ 'round the Cape” half a dozen times, or even more, was nothing extraordinary.

1890, Century Illustrated Magazine, XL, 511:

Whalers have always overexploited their stocks, driving them to commercial extinction.[…]American whalers, operating at first from the coast and later in sea-going boats, took about 200 000 right whales in addition to humpbacks and grays.

1986 June 5, Jeremy Cherfas, “What price whales?”, in New Scientist, page 36:

The whalers brought a new way of life. They brought a chance for travel. Many Chamorros traveled to London and the United States. Over eight hundred Chamorro whalers settled in Honolulu.

2001, Lawrence J. Cunningham, Janice J. Beaty, A History of Guam, page 170:

One who hunts whales; a person employed in the whaling industry.

The whalers (or requiem sharks) are one of the largest and best known family of sharks. Worldwide there are 48 species in 12 genera. However, relatively few species are on the Great Barrier Reef.

1997, John Ernest Randall, Gerald R Allen, Roger C. Steene, Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef, 2nd edition, page 17:

2003, Mark Thornley, Veda Dante, Peter Wilson, Action Guide: Surfing Australia, Tuttle Publishing, HK, page 264,
The whaler shark family, which includes the grey reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos),silvertip (Carcharhinus albimarginatus), bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) and bronze whaler (Carcharhinus brachyurus) are fast moving, territorial and have bitten divers snd surfers in the past.

You can also take a dip with lemon, whaler and other nonpredatory sharks.

2008, Alan Murphy, Justin Flynn, Olivia Pozzan, Paul Harding, Queensland & the Great Barrier Reef, 5th edition, Lonely Planet, page 219:

(Australia) Any shark of the family Carcharhinidae; a requiem shark.

the nomad, “the whaler,” it is who will find the new order hostile to his vested interest of doing nothing.

(Australia, slang, dated) A sundowner; one who cruises about.


clergyman

Holonym: clergy

Coordinate term: clergywoman

I think if post commanders of the unchaplained posts could employ acceptable clergymen […] then the needs might be met.

1883, United States. War Department, Annual Reports of the War Department, volume 1, page 128:

The king experienced his first attack in autumn 1788, and as his condition worsened and the physicians-in-ordinary proved unable to cope or cure, the Reverend Dr Francis Willis (1717–1807), a clergyman doctor who ran a madhouse in Lincolnshire, was called in.

1997, Roy Porter, The Greatest Benefit to Mankind, Folio Society, published 2016, page 263:

A male member of a clergy; especially, an ordained (male) Christian minister.

قِسِّيس

ordained (male) Christian minister, male member of the clergy


poet

[ˈpʰoʊ̯ɪ̈(ʔ)t̚]

From Middle English poete, from Old French poete, from Latin poēta (“poet, author”), from Ancient Greek ποιητής (poiētḗs, “creator, maker, author, poet”), from ποιέω (poiéō, “I make, compose”). Displaced native Old English sċop. Doublet of piyyut.


milkman

(US, slang) A black man who prefers dating white women.


pedologist

A scientist who studies origins, composition and distribution of soils and the materials from which soils are formed.


soil scientist

A scientist who studies soil as a component of natural and man-made systems.


piccolo

Western concert flute
Western concert flute

A transverse flute that is smaller than a Western concert flute and pitched nearly an octave higher.

[A]s I fled I felt Laploshka's reproachful eyes watching the amount that I gave to the piccolo—out of his two francs.

1910, Saki [pseudonym; Hector Hugh Munro], “The Soul of Laploshka”, in Reginald in Russia and Other Sketches, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC, page 71:

A waiter’s assistant in a hotel or restaurant.

(US, chiefly Southern US and New York) A coin-operated gramophone; a jukebox.

A bottle of champagne containing 0.1875 litres of fluid, one quarter the volume of a standard bottle.


piccolo

There is also the Piccolo Trumpet, built in D, which can with ease attack high notes which are outside the range of the ordinary B flat instrument, as well as the rarely used Bass Trumpet.

1945, Christian Darnton, You and Music, 2nd edition, New York: Pelican Books, retrieved 2022-02-20, page 65:

musical instruments
musical instruments#English

Designating the highest-pitched or smallest of a family of musical instruments.


mezzo-soprano

A voice or voice part intermediate in compass between soprano and contralto.


garbage collector

en-noun

garbage collector (plural garbage collectors)

Java uses a technique known as garbage collection to remove objects that are no longer needed. The garbage collector is Java's grim reaper.

2002, Patrick Niemeyer, Jonathan Knudsen, Learning Java, O'Reilly, →ISBN, page 135:

(programming) An algorithm, procedure or thread dedicated to garbage collection: reclaiming resources which are no longer in use.


gladiator

From Latin gladiātor, from gladius (“sword”). See also English gladius.


sexton

From Old French segrestien, from Medieval Latin sacristanus, based on Latin sacer (“sacred”). Doublet of sacristan.

A church official who looks after a church building and its graveyard and may act as a gravedigger and bell ringer.


bookie

(informal) A bookmaker, being a person who, or business which, takes bets from the general public on sporting events and similar.


ironmonger

/ˈaɪə(ɹ)nˌmʌŋɡə(ɹ)/

From Middle English iremonger; equivalent to iron + monger.

(chiefly British, Ireland) A retailer in iron goods and hardware.


flack

en-verb

flack (third-person singular simple present flacks, present participle flacking, simple past and past participle flacked)

flacks (present singular third-person)
flacking (participle present)
flacked (participle past)
flacked (past)

From Middle English flacken (“to palpitate, flutter”), from Old English *flaccian, from Proto-West Germanic *flakkōn, from Proto-Germanic *flakkōną (“to beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ-, which could be related to Ancient Greek πλάζω (plázō, “to turn away from”).
Akin to Middle Dutch vlacken (“to flicker, flash, sparkle”), Danish flakke (“to wander”), Swedish flacka (“to rove, rove about, ramble”), Icelandic flakka (“to move”). Compare also Icelandic flaka (“to flap, hang loose”), Swedish flaxa (“to flap, flutter”).

cog

(intransitive, obsolete) To flutter; palpitate.

(intransitive, UK dialectal) To hang loosely; flag.

(transitive, UK dialectal) To beat by flapping.


flack

Edward Bernay, who was a consultant to the US Delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference which terminated the first World War (and who finally wound up as a flack for the United Fruit Company in Latin America), believed that propaganda and its covert marketing could effectively alter the will of the American public.

1998, Winston Smith, Art Crime: The Montage Art of Winston Smith, page 25:

Thought you were flack," she said.
"I'm not flack."
"All right, P.R., a reporter, a novelist."

1999, Patricia Cornwell, The Southern Cross, page 233:

In July, Nick Clegg, a former Deputy Prime Minister of the U.K. who is now a top flack at Facebook, published a piece on AdAge.com and on the company’s official blog titled “Facebook Does Not Benefit from Hate,” in which he wrote, “There is no incentive for us to do anything but remove it.”

2020 October 12, Andrew Marantz, “Why Facebook Can’t Fix Itself”, in The New Yorker:

(Canada, US) A publicist, a publicity agent.


flack

[..] he told funny stories about his early days in the theater district, flacking shows up and down the street, but Klara wasn’t listening.


flack

en-noun

flack (countable and uncountable, plural flacks)


dentist

It is singular how forcibly this passage in my narrative brings to my mind a picture which used to be, some years ago, at a broker's—that charnel-house of the comforts and graces of life. It had been taken out of its frame, and leant in a dark and dusty corner against a perpendicular armchair, whose rigid uprightness seemed suited only to the parlour of a dentist, repose being the last idea it suggested.

1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 119:

Thus Django becomes the carrier of the “public use of one's reason”—the Kantian road to enlightenment given to him by the German “Forty-Eighter” dentist–turned-bounty hunter Dr. “King” Schultz, and represents the fictive, allohistorical beginning of the battle against slavery and racism in the United States.

2014 July 31, Oliver C. Speck, editor, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained: The Continuation of Metacinema, Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 25:

A medical doctor who specializes in teeth.


skier

a professional skier

a poor skier

Some ski instructors are allowed to take groups off-piste too, so long as they don't travel across glaciers, but the tour hosts and reps who commonly show skiers around pisted runs within large resorts are definitely not allowed to go off-piste […]

2014, Alun Richardson, Rucksack Guide - Ski Mountaineering and Snowshoeing, page 126:

Townsend hare inhabit this area, particularly above the cabin, and a skier is likely to have one explode from a tree well and disappear into the whiteness as he skis by. Life is a constant bivouac for them -- they spend days huddled in tree wells during storms -- but I suspect they are as content and warm in their luxurious coats as we are in a cabin.

2014, Patrick Armstrong, The Log of a Snow Survey, →ISBN:


second lieutenant

second lieutenant (plural second lieutenants)

The lowest rank of a commissioned officer in the United States Army, United States Air Force, or United States Marine Corps, below a first lieutenant. The rank of second lieutenant is equivalent to the naval rank of ensign.

ensign

traditional infantry lowest commission officer rank

coronet

traditional cavalry lowest commission officer rank


biker

→ French: biker (noun), bikeur

→ German: Biker

→ Italian: biker

→ Spanish: biker


carpenter

From Middle English carpenter, from Anglo-Norman carpenter (compare Old French charpentier), from Late Latin carpentārius (“a carpenter”), from Latin carpentārius (“a wagon-maker, carriage-maker”), from Latin carpentum (“a two-wheeled carriage, coach, or chariot, a cart”), from Gaulish carbantos, from Proto-Celtic *karbantos (“chariot, war chariot”), probably related to Proto-Celtic *karros (“wagon”). Doublet of carpintero. More at car.
Displaced native Old English trēowwyrhta (literally “tree worker”).

ncog

A person skilled at carpentry, the trade of cutting and joining timber in order to construct buildings or other structures.


human chattel

Where is the man of intelligence who does not instantly see that this provision of human law […] makes the relation, between father and mother, that of mere agents for increasing the gains of him who claims a right of property in the human chattel, whose offspring, by law, are his?

1863, Harper Twelvetrees, preface to The Story of the Life of John Anderson, the Fugitive Slave, William Tweedie (publisher), page ix

Human beings considered property, that is, slaves.


ripper

A legislative bill or act that transfers powers of appointment from the usual holders to a chief executive or a board of officials.

(computing) Software that extracts content from files or storage media.


ripper

Compare rip (“a basket”), or riparian (“relating to a river bank”).

But what's the action we are for now? Robbing a ripper of his fish.

c. 1622, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger [et al.?], “Beggars Bush”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act V, scene i:

w:Webster's Dictionary#Webster's New International Dictionary 1909

(obsolete) One who brings fish from the seacoast to markets in inland towns.


barmaster

From earlier barghmaster, berghmaster. Compare German Bergmeister.


veterinarian

From Latin veterīnārius (“cattle doctor”) + -an, from veterīnae (“beasts of burden, draught-”), probably from vehō (“to convey, draw”), or from vetus (“old”). By surface analysis, veterinary + -an.

A fascination with Hokkaido's wild country first drew the veterinarian to Abashiri, and he is a leading expert on the Ezo red fox. Like much of Hokkaido's wildlife, this fox is not found on Honshu.

1980, National Geographic Society (U.S.), National geographic, →OCLC:

The first edition, translated into 6 languages, appeared to fulfil a need, and a minisurvey of UK veterinarians graduated 2–40 years ago showed unanimous support for such a revision […]

2005, Anthony David Weaver, Guy St. Jean, Adrian Steiner, Bovine surgery and lameness:

A medical doctor who treats non-human animals.


physician

From Middle English fisicien, from Old French fisicïen (“physician”) (modern French physicien (“physicist”)), from fisique (“art of healing”), from Latin physica (“natural science”), from Ancient Greek φυσική ἐπιστήμη (phusikḗ epistḗmē, “knowledge of nature”), from φυσικός (phusikós, “pertaining to nature”). Displaced native Middle English læche, leche, archaic English leech (“physician”). Morphologically physic + -ian.

der

φυσική ἐπιστήμη

His forefathers had been, as a rule, professional men—physicians and lawyers; his grandfather died under the walls of Chapultepec Castle while twisting a tourniquet for a cursing dragoon; an uncle remained indefinitely at Malvern Hill;[…].

1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter II, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

In 2009, the Obama Administration released guidelines on enhanced interrogation written in 2003 and 2004 by the CIA Office of Medical Services. ^((OMS).1-3(appendix F)) The OMS guidelines, even in redacted form, and opinions from the US Department of Justice's (DOJ’s) Office of Legal Counsel show that CIA physicians, psychologists, and other health care personnel had important roles in enhanced interrogation.

2010 August 4, Leonard S. Rubenstein, JD, Stephen N. Xenakis, MD, “The Ethics of Enhanced Interrogations and Torture: A Reappraisal of the Argument”, in JAMA, volume 304, number 5, American Medical Association, →DOI, pages 569–570:

A practitioner of physic, i.e. a specialist in internal medicine, especially as opposed to a surgeon; a practitioner who treats with medication rather than with surgery.


director

/daɪ̯əˈɹɛktə(ɹ)/

Borrowed from Middle French directeur and its source Late Latin dīrēctor, dīrēctōrem, from Latin dīrēctus.

Francis Gurry is director of WIPO.
Audio (US): (file)

2019 February 3, “UN Study: China, US, Japan Lead World AI Development”, in Voice of America, archived from the original on 2019-02-07

One who directs; the person in charge of managing a department or directorate (e.g., director of engineering), project, or production (as in a show or film, e.g., film director).

A counselor, confessor, or spiritual guide.

(chemistry) The common axis of symmetry of the molecules of a liquid crystal.

drejtor

supervisor, manager — see also film director


calligrapher

/kəˈlɪɡɹəfɚ/


biographer

Albert Bigelow Paine, his biographer to be and literary executor, who has been constantly with him, said that for the last year at least Mr. Clemens had been weary of life. When Richard Watson Gilder died, he said: "How fortunate he is. No good fortune of that kind ever comes to me."

1910 April 22, “Mark Twain is Dead at 74”, in The New York Times:

In May 1898, for example, the funeral train of our Mr Gladstone would be brought from his country estate at Hawarden to Westminster station on the District Line via Willesden Junction. One of his biographers notes, 'Victorians saw no indignity in a coffin for a state funeral arriving by Underground.'

2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 33:

The writer of a biography; a professional writer of biographies.


actuary

→ Portuguese: atuário

/ˈæktʃuˌɛɹi/

From Latin āctuārius (“copyist, account-keeper”), from āctus (“public business”); see actuarius.

(dated) Registrar, clerk. [16th-19th c.]


dai

Borrowed from Hindi दाई (dāī), from Sanskrit.

Kausalya, she learnt, was his dai, the one who had breast-fed and looked after him.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 72:

(chiefly North India, Pakistan, Bangladesh) A wet nurse; a midwife.


cyclist

A solitary cyclist was coming towards us. His head was down and his shoulders rounded, as he put every ounce of energy that he possessed on to the pedals. He was flying like a racer.

1903 December 26, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., published February 1905, →OCLC:

A person who rides a cycle, especially a bicycle, or who habitually engages in cycling.


civil servant

Policing the relationship between government and business in a free society is difficult. Businesspeople have every right to lobby governments, and civil servants to take jobs in the private sector.

2013 August 10, Schumpeter, “Cronies and capitols”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:

Civil servants in the MoT gave a fresh note of caution to the Minister concerning BR's estimates, because those for electrification from Euston had gone from a budgeted £75m to an actual £160m.

2020 April 8, David Clough, “How the West Coast wiring war was won”, in Rail, page 61:

A person employed in the civil service; a government employee.


first violin

(music) The lead or primary violin role in an orchestra or other ensemble, or in a musical composition, that typically contains the melody and is often more technically demanding than the second violin role. The first violin role is played by a first violinist, typically the best violinist in the orchestra.

(British, music) The leader of the violin section of a symphony orchestra; the concertmaster.


busker

A person who solicits donations while entertaining the public, often by playing a musical instrument, on a street or in another public area such as a park or marketplace.


policeman

→ French: policeman

→ Maori: pirihimana

→ Welsh: plismon

The policeman who arrests the "Red" does not understand the theories the "Red" is preaching; if he did, his own position as bodyguard of the monied class might seem less pleasant to him.

1941, George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn, Pt. I:

Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

Still agitated, she watched resentfully as two traffic policemen remounted their motorcycles.

2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 378:

(law enforcement) A male police officer, sometimes used for any police officer regardless of gender.

(chemistry) A glass rod capped at one end with rubber, used in a chemistry laboratory for gravimetric analysis.

(entomology) Any skipper of the genus Coeliades.

A team may have a policeman or enforcer.

2002, P. J. Harari, Dave Ominsky, Ice Hockey Made Simple: A Spectator's Guide, page 26:


policewoman

(law enforcement) A female police officer.