Malay

en-noun

Malay (countable and uncountable, plural Malays)

(countable) A person of Malay ancestry, referring to a diverse group of Austronesian peoples inhabiting the Malay archipelago and Malay peninsula in Southeast Asia.


Malay

Recorded in English since 1598; from Malay Melayu, from Malayu, a kingdom on Sumatra's eastern coast (today's Jambi), mentioned by the Chinese Monk Yijing as 末羅瑜國 and during the Yuan (1271-1368) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties as 木剌由, 麻里予兒, 巫來由 and 無來由. The oldest known inscriptions in the Malay language were found at Kedukan Bukit and Talang Tuo, both in the vicinity of Palembang in southern Sumatra, and at Kota Kapur on Bangka island west of Sumatra. They are respectively dated 673, 684 and 686. Exonymous derivation from Malayalam മല (mala, “mountain”) has not been demonstrated.

(broad sense) The Malay language, an Austronesian language spoken by most Malay people and by others where it is an official language, including under the name Indonesian.

(strict sense) The Malay language, an Austronesian language spoken by most Malay people and by others where it is an official language, excluding the national standard known as Indonesian.


Yankee

First attested in 1683, as a name applied disparagingly by Dutch settlers in Nieuw Amsterdam (New York) to English colonists in neighboring Connecticut. It may be from Dutch Janke (“Little John”), the old diminutive form of the common personal name Jan, or it may be from Jan Kees, the familiar form of "Johan Cornelius", or a variant of Jan Kaas, literally "John Cheese", the generic nickname the Flemings used for Dutchmen. It originally seems to have been applied insultingly to the Dutch, especially freebooters, before they turned around and applied it to the English. In English it was a term of contempt (1750s) before it came to be used as a general term for "a native of New England" (1765). The shortened form Yank was first recorded in reference to "an American" in 1778. James Fenimore Cooper suggested that it was a corruption of "English" via the intermediate form "Yengeese."

(chiefly outside the US) A native or inhabitant of the United States.

(chiefly Southern US) A native or inhabitant of the Northern United States.

я́нкі

native or inhabitant of the Northern USA

(chiefly southern Louisiana) An Anglo, as opposed to someone with French ancestry; a native or inhabitant of the rest of the United States.

(baseball) A player for the New York Yankees.

洋基

(baseball) player that plays for the New York Yankees


flying saucer

From an interview given by amateur pilot Kenneth Arnold who described seeing nine flying objects that were "moving like saucers being skimmed across a lake". The description was not meant to describe the shape of the objects, only how they maneuvered, yet the misinterpretation took hold and gained popularity.

en:Flying saucer (confectionery)
en:flying saucer

Some connect the recent spate of flying saucer sightings with a rumored top-secret military aviation project.

An engram is NOT [...] One of the little green men Americans claim have crashed in flying saucers.

1950 December 6, The Sydney Morning Herald, page 3, column 5

unidentified flying object
unidentified flying object

(informal) A disc-shaped unidentified flying object or UFO; originally in reference to sightings by aviator Kenneth Arnold in Washington in 1947.

թռչող ափսե

tʻṙčʻoġ apʻse


unidentified flying object

unidentified flying object (plural unidentified flying objects)

The phrase is usually attributed to US Air Force officer Edward J. Ruppelt (1923–1960) who coined it as a replacement of the terms flying saucer and flying disk.


ufo

Reading of UFO as a word in its own right.


Abkhazian

The Abkhaz language, spoken in Abkhazia, a region in the Caucasus.


White Russian

(cocktail): The word white refers to the milk, while Russian refers to the vodka.

The overseer of the clinic was a White Russian woman, a nun, formerly of the Russian Orthodox community in Jerusalem, but a good-hearted woman. In these cases, we should not be too scrupulous politically, said the priest.

1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society, published 2010, page 340

Of or relating to Russians with tsarist or anti-Soviet sympathies in the period directly following the 1917 Revolution.

russe blanc

of or relating to Russians with tsarist sympathies in the period directly following the 1917 Revolution


White Russian

White Russian (countable and uncountable, plural White Russians)

The White Guard colony in Harbin is armed and organized along military lines. At the head of this army of counter-revolution—the shock troops of Japanese imperialism—stands the notorious tsarist bandit, "Ataman" Semionov.]

[1935, Leon Dennen, White Guard Terrorists in the U.S.A., New York City: Friends of the Soviet Union, page 18

(history) A White Guardist, a Russian who not supported the Socialists in the 1917 Revolution and the Russian Civil War (1917–1923), and afterward (e.g. as a White émigré).

белы

White Guardist (Russian Civil War 1917–1923)

(obsolete, uncountable) The Belarusian language.


Alsatian

Even the dogs here are restrained, Jesse thought, unlike the feral Alsatians back home that would sprint barking from the bottom of the garden straight through the house and smash themselves against the inside of the door until their owners appeared and locked them away.

2020, Paul Mendez, Rainbow Milk, Dialogue Books (2021), page 56

(Australia, New Zealand, British, dated US) A German shepherd dog.


Slovakian

A person from Slovakia or of Slovakian descent.


Germanic

en-adj

Germanic (comparative more Germanic, superlative most Germanic)

more Germanic (comparative)
most Germanic (superlative)

/d͡ʒɜːˈmæn.ɪk/

Learned borrowing from Latin germānicus.

a Germanic tribe

Relating to the Germanic peoples (such as Germans, Scandinavians or Anglo-Saxons).


Bosnian

en-noun

Bosnian (countable and uncountable, plural Bosnians)

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina

(uncountable) The standardized variety of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken primarily by Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

gjuha boshnjake

the standardized variety of Serbo-Croatian


tribble

Probably invented for alliteration with trouble; the creatures first appeared in an episode called "The Trouble with Tribbles".

Scales have proliferated like tribbles in quadra-triticale: just intonations, equal temperaments, scales based on overtones, scales generated from a single interval or pair of intervals, scales without octaves, scales arising from arcane mathematical formulas, scales that reflect cosmological or religious structures, scales that "come from the heart."

1998, William A. Sethares, Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale, page 49

The Hyper-Producing Playwrights of Edmondton: Or Why Alberta’s Capital Breeds New Plays Like Tribbles.

2008, Robin C. Whittaker, editor, Hot Thespian Action!, page 569

They were like tribbles, multiplying by the dozens, cackling, giggling their maniacal joy at the game.

2010, Dakota Cassidy, chapter 19, in Accidentally Demonic

They breed like tribbles, but at least they’re not terrestrial.

2015, Zanzibar 7. Schwarzenegger, Veneri Verbum, page 19

A fictional alien creature in Star Trek, a fast-breeding, cooing ball of fur.


Faroese

Faroese (countable and uncountable, plural Faroese)

/ˌfɛəɹəʊˈiːz/

From Faroe + -ese, from Faroese Føroyar.

(countable) A person from the Faroe Islands, Faroe Islander or Faeroe Islander


Bergamask

From the Italian bergamasco (“from Bergamo”), itself from German Bergheim (“mountain home”).

A rustic dance, supposedly typical of the region


ET

ET (countable and uncountable, plural ETs)

(uncountable) Initialism of Eastern Time (-5 hours to GMT).


Chechen

From Russian чечен- (čečen-), the root in чече́нец (čečénec, “a Chechen man”) or чече́нский (čečénskij, “Chechen (adjective)”).

The language of the Chechens, a member of the Nakh family.


Scots

Borrowed from Scots Scots, from Middle Scots Scottis, from Old English Scottysċ, a late variant of earlier Scyttisċ (“Scottish”). Doublet of Scottish.

A Germanic language closely related to English and descended from northern dialects of Middle English, spoken in parts of Scotland, now especially in the northeastern and southern regions of the country.


Arab

From Arabic عَرَب (ʕarab, “Arabs”) or back-formation from Arabic.

A Semitic person, whose forebears were from the Arabian Peninsula

Having taken a very early breakfast, I mounted about eight o'clock my grey Arab, and without anything occurring worthy of note, killed the first three boars in the space of an hour, […]

1887, Edward B. Baker, Sport in Bengal: and How, When, and where to Seek it, page 61

a. 1892, Charles Spurgeon, a sermon
You Christian people often see the little gutter children — the poor little arabs in the street — and you feel much pity for them, as well you may.

The other day I heard you complaining of the nuisance that small ragged street-boys are to you whenever you go out. […] You wished that some one would do something to clear away these little Arabs, as you are pleased to call them, so that a fine old English gentleman—as you are pleased to think yourself—might take his exercise in peace.


Anglo-Saxon

/ˌæŋ.ɡləʊˈsæk.sən/

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

der

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

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


Livonian

A Finno-Ugric language spoken in Latvia.


Karelian

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


Norman

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

A number of places in the United States:

A township in Manistee County, Michigan.

An inactive township in Dent County, Missouri


pygmy

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

Although Pygmies are relatively protected against gene flow from other populations, many Pygmy tribes show extensive gene replacement and few have remained relatively unaltered.

2018, Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, The History and Geography of Human Genes

(often capitalized) A member of one of various Ancient Equatorial African tribal peoples, notable for their very short stature.

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

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

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


pygmy

en-adj

pygmy (comparative more pygmy, superlative most pygmy)

more pygmy (comparative)
most pygmy (superlative)

Relating or belonging to the Pygmy people.

Amongst foodgrains, as we travelled from the green South and East towards the dry North and West, the pygmy crop of rice gave way to the tall bajra and jowar.

1999, Ashok V. Desai, The Price of Onions, page 73

Like a pygmy; unusually short or small for its kind.


Austro-Hungarian

From Austro- + Hungarian, after Austria-Hungary.

(historical) A person from Austria-Hungary.


Nepali

of, from, or pertaining to Nepal, the Nepali people or the Nepali language


Nepali

a person from Nepal or of Nepali descent


Nepali

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


Novocastrian

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

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


Novocastrian

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


Scouse

The accent and dialect of Liverpool or Merseyside.


Syracusan

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

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


Scot

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

der

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


Fijian

/fɪˈd͡ʒiːən/

A person from Fiji or of Fijian descent.


Fijian

/fɪˈd͡ʒiːən/

Pertaining to Fiji, or its language or people.


Fijian

/fɪˈd͡ʒiːən/

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


Fuegian

Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego#English


Cheddarhead

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

(US, slang, sometimes derogatory) A Wisconsinite.


Oregonian

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

United States of America
United States of America

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


Wookiee

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

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

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

2009, Janet Evanovich, Plum Spooky, page 98

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

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

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


Bajan

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


Earthwoman

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

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

(usually science fiction) A female inhabitant of Earth.


Earthling

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

noncog

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

أَرْضِيّ

Mercurian · Venusian · Lunarian · Marsling

Jupiterian · Saturnian · Uranian · Neptunian · Plutonian


Native American

en-noun

Native American (plural Native Americans)

contiguous United States
contiguous United States

An Indigenous person of the contiguous United States.

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

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

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


Native American

en-adj

Native American (comparative more Native American, superlative most Native American)

more Native American (comparative)
most Native American (superlative)


Amerind

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

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


Venusian

(science fiction) An inhabitant of the planet Venus.


Venusian

(science fiction) A hypothetical language spoken on Venus.


Iberian

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


Martian

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

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

cog

Coordinate term: Martianess

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

An inhabitant of the planet Mars.
A male Martian.


Area 51

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

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

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

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

Area 51

military base in Nevada rumored to contain extraterrestrial life


Chaldean

From Ancient Greek Χαλδαῖος (Khaldaîos).

Chaldean Catholic Church
Chaldean Catholic Church

A member of the Chaldean Catholic Church.


Balinese

en-noun

Balinese (countable and uncountable, plural Balinese)

Balinese (cat)
Balinese language
Balinese people


Filipino

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

der

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

Filippyns

the national language of the Philippines


Walloon

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

The Romance language commonly spoken until the middle of the 20th century in parts of southern Belgium and northern France (around Givet).


San Franciscan

en-adj

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

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


Goidel

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

learned borrowing

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


Cymry

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

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

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

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

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

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


insectoid

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

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

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


Zairean

/zʌɪˈɪəɹ.ɪ.ən/

Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo

A person from Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo)


Min Min light

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2010, Robyn Grady, Bargaining For Baby, unnumbered page

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

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

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


Viking

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

أُرْدَمَانِيّ

One of the Scandinavian seafaring warriors

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

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


Irishman

From Middle English Irisshman, equivalent to Irish + -man.


Yugoslav

en-adj

Yugoslav (comparative more Yugoslav, superlative most Yugoslav)

more Yugoslav (comparative)
most Yugoslav (superlative)

/ˈjuːɡəˌslɑːv/

From Serbo-Croatian Jugoslàvēn, influenced by Slav.

Due to Greek objections, North Macedonia was often referred to as the "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" for many years.

A small band of men, all very Yugoslav-looking, were sitting in the bar, talking politics.

1966 March 12, Georgie Anne Geyer, “[Challenges] Georgie Anne Geyer interviews an ex-Nazi SS officer in exile at Earth’s end”, in Dick Griffin, Rob Warden, editors, Done in a Day: 100 Years of Great Writing from The Chicago Daily News, Chicago, Ill.: The Swallow Press Inc., published 1977, page 435

Titoism was a local variety of Stalinism, very Yugoslav in its nature but also very totalitarian.

1993, Jacek Kurczewski, “Stalinism as Crime”, in The Resurrection of Rights in Poland, Oxford, Oxon: Clarendon Press, page 34

But most alarming at the assembly in Vladikavkaz was the evident hatred of the Chechens, the lurid talk of Chechen atrocities, and of most of Chechnya being ‘ancient Terek Cossack land’, for which ‘we must fight to the last Cossack, after the glorious example of our ancestors’ – all very Yugoslav.

1998, Anatol Lieven, “Failure of the Serbian Option, 1: The Collapse of the ‘Cossacks’”, in Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian Power, New Haven, Conn., London: Yale University Press, part II (The Russian Defeat), page 229

Milka also spoke of her sister’s reaction to the collapse of the former Yugoslavia and ongoing media reports of the conflict. The participant’s sister was, before the war: / … very Yugoslav, she adored Yugoslavia and that’s why she’s so hurt.

2000, Nicholas G. Procter, “The Experience of Long Distance Devastation: Globalisation of Worry”, in Serbian Australians in the Shadow of the Balkan War, Aldershot, Hants., Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, page 128

In the summer of 1991, in the disputed areas of Croatia, the army vainly searched for an aim to justify its existence. It fought a war against Croatian independentists on behalf of a Serbian ‘Yugoslav’ leadership which had not officially entered a war that was not declared, and allowed outside gangs to do most of the dirty work. It did this allegedly to save Yugoslavia. In the process the very mixed and very Yugoslav town of Vukovar was destroyed before it fell, Dubrovnik was blockaded and shelled, and its surroundings were pillaged by military units and volunteers from Montenegro.

2002, Stevan K[osta] Pavlowitch, “Serbia in Darkness – The Milošević Years: the 1990s”, in Serbia: The History behind the Name, London: Hurst & Company, page 207

“Tm afraid I’m not really one for reading the future in coffee grounds,” she said. “I’m not very Yugoslav. Though I enjoy when other people do it.”

2015, Alen Mattich, The Heart of Hell (a Marko della Torre novel), Toronto, Ont.: Spiderline, House of Anansi Press Inc., page 131

(historical) Of, relating to, or characteristic of Yugoslavia or Yugoslavs.


Yugoslav

/ˈjuːɡəˌslɑːv/

He considered himself to be a Yugoslav first and foremost, regardless of his Croat and Serb ancestry.

(historical) A native or inhabitant of Yugoslavia.


Yugoslav

/ˈjuːɡəˌslɑːv/

He is an educated man, speaking English, French, Spanish, Yugoslav, Russian and German, and he saw service in the Army and understands espionage.

2002, Graeme Mount, chapter 3, in Personal Secretary’s File, Bowers to Welles, 16 March 1942, quoted in Chile and the Nazis, Black Rose Books, page 70

(dated, otherwise by extension, nonstandard) Serbo-Croatian


Tatar

An agglutinative language belonging to the Altai group of Turkic languages. It is an official language of Tatarstan. There are some eight million speakers spread across Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia.


Tatar

A person belonging to one of several Turkic, Tatar-speaking ethnic groups in Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia.


Tatar

Tatar (comparative more Tatar, superlative most Tatar)

more Tatar (comparative)
most Tatar (superlative)

Tatar customs

Of or relating to the people or culture of Tatars.


Tatar

Borrowed from Czech, Slovak, Polish Tatar and Hungarian Tatár, an ethnic surname for a Tatar person.


Welshman

From Middle English Walishman, equivalent to Welsh + -man.

Coordinate term: Welshwoman

A man who is a native or inhabitant of Wales.


Nipponese

From Nippon (romanized version of 日本, the native Japanese name for Japan) + -ese.


tribal

tribal (comparative more tribal, superlative most tribal)

more tribal (comparative)
most tribal (superlative)

From Latin tribālis. By surface analysis, tribe + -al, first attested in the 1630s.

social order through tribal law

a tribal society

Based on or organized according to tribes.

tribal

based on or organized according to tribes


tribal

This right had been accepted by relative tribals but misobeyed and effaced by non-tribals and foreign peasants.

1983, Human Science: Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India, page 141

[…] the legendary Adivasi leader Jaipal Singh Munda who came to represent the tribals not just of his native plateau, but also of all of India […]

2018, Vaijayanta Anand, Geeta Balakrishnan, Purnima George, Community Practices in India: Lessons from the Grassroots, page 66


Californian

And almost five million Californians voted Republican.

2015 November 9, “Why The Electoral College Ruins Democracy” (00:02:13 from the start), in Adam Ruins Everything (television production), spoken by himself (Adam Conover), truTV, via truTV

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


visitor

Partly from Middle English visiter, visitere, equivalent to visit + -er; and partly from Middle English visitour, from Anglo-Norman visitour, from Old French visetëor.

5: Of course there is always the remote (I hope) possibility that instant panic will prompt us to send a hailstorm of nuclear warheads out upon the visitor.

1979, Chris Boyce, Extraterrestrial Encounter: a Personal Perspective, Chartwell Books, page 184

When we ask what evidence does in fact exist of extraterrestrial sojourns on our planet, we can start with what would surely be the best evidence of all: an actual visitor, or group of visitors, visible to crowds of people and ready for photo opportunities, television interviews, handshakes, polite conversation, and dancing.

2001, Donald Goldsmith, Tobias C. Owen, The Search for Life in the Universe, University Science Books, page 511

The visitor in Man Facing South-east claims pure altruism; Rantes (Hugo Soto) wants to alleviate the suffering of the poor and helpless.

2004, Carol Schwartz Ellis, Sean Redmond (editor), With Eyes Uplifted: Space Aliens as Sky Gods in Liquid Metal: The Science Fiction Film Reader, Wallflower Press, page 145

The tower radioed the flight leader, Captain Thomas F. Mantell, Jr., and requested that he engage and attempt to identify the strange visitor.

2007, Frank G. Wilkinson, The Golden Age of Flying Saucers: Classic UFO Sightings, Saucer Crashes and Extraterrestrial Contact Encounters, Lulu.com, page 37

(ufology, specifically) An extraterrestrial being on Earth.


Victorian

Victorian (comparative more Victorian, superlative most Victorian)

more Victorian (comparative)
most Victorian (superlative)

From Victoria + -an (suffix forming adjectives and agent nouns), from the name of Queen Victoria (1819–1901), monarch of the United Kingdom.

ვიქტორიანული

of or relating to the culture or social conditions of that period

From the platforms at Wapping or Rotherhithe you can see the tunnel fleetingly illuminated as the trains approach; it looks so incredibly Victorian that you expect to see Jack the Ripper loitering between the arches.

2012, Andrew Martin, “Deeper”, in Underground Overground: A Passenger’s History of the Tube, London: Profile Books, page 93

One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city's effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.

2014 June 14, “It’s a gas: It is possible to sniff out problems in sewer pipes before they happen”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891, London: Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-10-28

Of or relating to the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901, or that period.

فيكتوري

of or relating to the reign of Queen Victoria or that period


Victorian

It was not until the late 1800s when older members of New York society, aghast at the invasion of vulgar "new money," devised a daunting system of social rules – not to mention silverware – meant to repel anyone of humble origins who dared to sit down at one of their twelve-course dinners. It was the Victorians who gave us such useful implements as the strawberry knife.

2008 May 29 – June 4, Aimee Levitt, “St. Louis’ etiquette masters tell us how to mind our manners”, in Riverfront Times, St. Louis, Mo.: Euclid Media Group, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-06-02, page 20

The arrival of the railway turned this isolated fishing village into a popular seaside destination for Victorians who came to breathe fresh sea air, clear their lungs or take the waters.

2022 January 12, Paul Bigland, “Fab Four: The Nation’s Finest Stations: Grange-over-Sands”, in Rail, number 948, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 27

A person born in or living in the Victorian period, or exhibiting characteristics of that period.

викторианец

The commercial resurgence brought about by the area's changing tastes is reflected in midtown's conglomeration of refurbished Victorians, apartments, specialty shops, offices, corner groceries, restaurants, single-family homes, and bed and breakfast inns.

1987, Faren Maree Bachelis, “Downtown Sacramento”, in The Pelican Guide to Sacramento and the Gold Country (A Firebird Press Book), Gretna, New Orleans, La.: Pelican Publishing Company, page 86

(chiefly US, architecture) A house built in the Victorian architectural style.


Victorian

From Victoria (“capital of British Columbia, Canada”) + -an (suffix forming adjectives and agent nouns); incorporated as a city in 1862, the settlement which preceded the city was named Fort Victoria after Queen Victoria in 1843.

(Canada) Of, or native or relating to, the city of Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, Canada.


Victorian

(Canada) A person from the city of Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, Canada.


Terran

The magazines, in the nearby rack, were in English. And on their covers, laughing Terrans.

1966, Philip K. Dick, Now Wait for Last Year

(chiefly science fiction) An inhabitant of Earth; an earthling, especially a human.


Terran

A hypothetical language spoken throughout all of Earth.


alien abduction

en-noun

alien abduction (plural alien abductions)

(ufology) The abduction of a person by extraterrestrials.


American Indian

American Indian (plural American Indians)

American + Indian. The noun is attested since 1702, the adjective since shortly thereafter.

A member of some indigenous peoples of the Americas, especially the continental United States, but excluding the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleuts.

(Canada) An indigenous person from the United States.


Brit

1901, either a shortening of Britisher or Briton, or a back-formation from British.

(lexicography) Abbreviation of British English.


Parisian

From Middle English Parisien, perisien, from Middle French parisien, from Medieval Latin parisiānus. By surface analysis, Paris + -ian.

Coordinate term: Parisienne

A native, citizen and/or inhabitant of Paris, France


Angeleno

/ˌænd͡ʒɪˈliːnəʊ/

Coordinate term: Angelena

The LAPD has asked Angelenos not to shoot at the alien spaceship, fearing it might trigger an interstellar war.


Mississippian

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


Silurian

en-adj

Silurian (comparative more Silurian, superlative most Silurian)

more Silurian (comparative)
most Silurian (superlative)

(archaeology) Of or related to the Silures, a pre-Roman British tribe.


Permian

An inhabitant of the Russian region of Perm; specifically, one belonging to a branch of the Finno-Ugric peoples, including Komis and Udmurts, who speak Permic languages.


Permian

Permian (comparative more Permian, superlative most Permian)

more Permian (comparative)
most Permian (superlative)

Pertaining to the Perm region of Russia, or its inhabitants.

permiläinen

pertaining to the Perm region and its inhabitants

‘In many ways modern art was a culture of the beach. They say it's the light, the special quality of quartz in the Permian rock.’

2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 103

(geology) Pertaining to the last geologic period of the Paleozoic era; comprising the Cisuralian, Guadalupian and Lopingian epochs from about 280 to 248 million years ago.


Cambrian

Synonym of Walian: a Welsh person, a Welshman or Welshwoman.


Germania

From Latin Germānia. Doublet of Germany.

(historical) Any of several geographical regions of different historical periods that were mainly inhabited by Germanic peoples.


Hmong

A people who live predominantly in the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand, and (in diaspora) around the world.


Hmong

The lect spoken by these people, which is a cluster of a large number of lects which are sometimes considered dialects and sometimes separate languages.


Hmong

Of or relating to the Hmong, their culture, or their lect.


Eurasian

From Euro- + Asian. Attested since 1844.

Any person native to Eurasia, or descended from people native to Eurasia.


Pitcairnese

(linguistics) A creole spoken in the Pitcairn Islands, formed from an eighteenth-century dialect of English and the Tahitian language.


Serb

From Serbo-Croatian Srbi, from Proto-Slavic *sьrbъ (“ally, Serb, Sorb”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to protect, watch over”); akin to Latin servo (“I guard, I protect”), Old English searu (“weapons, armor”), Lithuanian sárgas (“watchman”), Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs, “hero”), Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (haraⁱti), 𐬵𐬀𐬎𐬭𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (haᵘruuaⁱti, “to guard”). Doublet of Sorb.

der

A person of Serb descent (not necessarily from Serbia). (Compare Serbian.)

Serwiër

person of Serb descent — see also Serbian


Herzegovinian

The iconic humpbacked bridge rose high over the Neretva, connecting the two halves of the old Herzegovinian town that clung to the clifftops: one Muslim, the other Croat.

2022, Priscilla Morris, Black Butterflies, Duckworth, page 60

Of, from, or pertaining to Herzegovina and its inhabitants.

赫塞哥維納的

of, from, or pertaining to Herzegovina and its inhabitants


Burkinabe

Via French burkinabé, from Moore burkĩna (“honest”) + Fula -ɓe (plural ending for a people noun), coined by Burkinabe revolutionary Thomas Sankara.

coin

A person from Burkina Faso or of Burkinabe descent.


Croat

en-noun

Croat (countable and uncountable, plural Croats)

From Medieval Latin Croata, from Proto-Slavic *xъrvatъ (“Croat”), the Croatian autonym. It, in turn, is probably of non-Slavic origin: it is probably from an Iranian or Germanic language. Doublet of cravat.

It almost made him laugh. What could he possibly do in Ohio? Did Cleveland have a pressing need for secret policemen who spoke Croat?

(uncountable, uncommon) The Croatian lect.


weather balloon

weather balloon (plural weather balloons)

(ufology, sarcastic) a skeptical explanation to debunk a UFO sighting that a believer regards as silly, illogical or disingenuous


Guinean

Someone from Guinea or of Guinean descent.

Guineër

someone from Guinea or of Guinean descent


Angle

Borrowed from Latin Anglus, in turn borrowed from a Germanic source (compare Old English Ængle/Engle (“Angle”)). Probably derived from the toponym Angle, related to Proto-Germanic *anguz "narrow, tight; tapering, angular", either indicating the "narrow" water (i.e. the Schlei estuary), or the "angular" shape of the peninsula.
Folk etymology linking the word to English angel or any antecedents is demonstrably false.

(historical) A member of a Germanic tribe first mentioned by Tacitus, one of several which invaded Britain and merged to become the Anglo-Saxons; an Anglian.


Arcadian

en-adj

Arcadian (comparative more Arcadian, superlative most Arcadian)

more Arcadian (comparative)
most Arcadian (superlative)


Arcadian

A native or inhabitant of Arcadia (in Greece)

A native or inhabitant of Arcadia (in the US) or its suburbs.


Benny

From the name of a dull-witted character, Benny Hawkins, in the British soap opera Crossroads.


Benny

en-noun

Benny (countable and uncountable, plural Bennys or Bennies)

This special version of eggs Benedict will win the hearts of all the Benny fans out there.

This would definitely be a Becca-approved Benedict, which sings high praise. The girl knows her Bennys.

2014 June 17, Ally, “Chalk Point Kitchen Brunch”, in Bitches who Brunch, archived from the original on 2019-07-27


Benny

Sudbury District
Sudbury District#English

A community in Sudbury District, Ontario, Canada, named after W. W. Benny.


Canadien

(Canada) A French Canadian (male or of unspecified sex).


Chin

As a Chinese surname, a variant romanization of various Chinese characters, typically in local dialects. As a name for China, see China.


Geat

From Old English Ġēat, from Proto-West Germanic *Gaut, from Proto-Germanic *gautaz (“Geat”).

(history) A member of a North Germanic tribe formerly occupying what is now Götaland in Sweden.


Even

From Russian Эве́нский (Evénskij), from эвэн (evɛn), of Tungusic origin. Compare Evenki.

A Tungusic language spoken by the Evens in Siberia and the Russian Far East.


Even

An ethnic Even: a member of an indigenous people living in Siberia and the Russian Far East.


Fang

The dominant Bantu language of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, spoken by 1.3 million people, also called Pahouin.

Fang

the language of Guinea which is also called Pahouin

A Beboid language of Cameroon, spoken by only 2400 people, so called because it is spoken in the village of Fang.


Fang

The county sense is from Mandarin 房 (Fáng). The surname sense could be from Mandarin 方 (Fāng), 房 (Fáng), 芳 (Fāng), 仿 (Fǎng) or 放 (Fǎng).

Many valuable medicines are produced in Hupei, particularly in the Shih-nan Prefecture and in the Fang and Hsing-shan districts.

1907, Report for the Year 1907 on the Chemical, Metal and Mining Industries of the Consular District of Lyons, →OCLC, page 23

FANG COUNTY HYDROELECTRICITY--This year the people in Fang County have developed 135 small hydroelectric power stations with a total installed[...]

1978, Translations on People's Republic of China, numbers 471-479, →OCLC

After parting with his brothers, Wang Yü-yang journeyed on the southwest road and came to a small town nestled in the rural region of Fang County.

1990, Eva Wong, transl., Seven Taoist Masters: A Folk Novel of China, Boston & London: Shambhala Publications, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 110

“Its speed was very fast, but it was walking, not running,” Yuan said. As the creature ranged across a mountain in Fang county, bordering the Shennongjia Forestry District, “it walked faster than a human ran”.

2018 August 26, Laurie Chen, “Dreamers, crackpots or realists? The diehards on the trail of China’s ‘Bigfoot’”, in South China Morning Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2018-08-25

Hubei Sanxin Biotechnology Co., LTD, located in Fang County, Shiyan City, has developed a series of traditional Chinese medicine [from] Polygonum Cuspidatum, including "yellow bud stem" vegetables, resveratrol extract, emodin extract, and crude Polygonum cuspidatum extract and so on.

2019, Na Li, Ni Yan, “Present Situation and Development Suggestions of Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry in Hubei Province”, in 2019 4th International Conference on Education and Social Development (ICESD 2019), →DOI, page 147

Now, the Fang County government is trying “incentives,” according to a statement posted Saturday on its website. People who report their own fevers will receive 1,000 renminbi, the equivalent of $143 — a few days’ salary for the average Hubei resident.

2020 March 12, “Deaths in China Surpass Toll From SARS”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-05-21, Asia Pacific


Islander

Prince Edward Islander
Prince Edward Islander#English

Vancouver Islander
Vancouver Islander#English

Pacific Islander
Pacific Islander#English


Edo

A state of Nigeria in the South South geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Benin City.


Himalayan

A domestic cat breed similar to (and, in some places, considered a variety of) the Persian breed, but with the colourpoint coat pattern of the Siamese.


Jute

From Latin plural Iuti, Iutae (in Bede), from Old English Ēotas. Ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *eut, from Proto-Germanic *eutaz, *eutaniz. The spelling was later influenced by Medieval Latin Jutae, Juti.

A member of the Germanic tribe that existed in modern-day Denmark that invaded England about the same time as the Angles and the Saxons in the beginning of the Middle Ages, but were eventually integrated by the time of the Norman Conquest.


Argentine

From Old French argentin (“silvery”), from Latin argentum (“silver”).

Fall River County
Fall River County#English

A township in Fall River County, South Dakota.


Florentine

en-adj

Florentine (comparative more Florentine, superlative most Florentine)

more Florentine (comparative)
most Florentine (superlative)

From French florentin, from Latin flōrentīnus.

Of or relating to the Italian city of Florence.

florentín

of or relating to the Italian city of Florence


Bavarian

/bəˈvɛəɹɪən/

A German dialect spoken in Bavaria (a state of southern West Germany) and Austria, which varies considerably across different regions.


Hun

From Old English Hūnas, Hūne (both plural), from Late Latin Hunni, from Koine Greek Οὗννοι (Hoûnnoi), borrowed through Middle Iranian. Cognate with Old Norse húnir, Old High German Hunni. See also etymology of Xiongnu.
Compare Sogdian [script needed] (xwn), Sanskrit हूण (hūṇa), and 匈奴 (OC *hoŋ-nâ) (c. 318 BCE) > *hɨoŋ-nɑ (Eastern Han), which Schuessler (2014:264) proposes to be transcription of foreign *Hŏna ~ Hŭna. More at Huns.
As a derogatory term for Germans popularized by Rudyard Kipling, reacting to Germany's proposal that the Royal Navy be used to collect debts from Venezuela.

(slang, derogatory, UK, Ireland) A Protestant.


Javanese

An indigenous language spoken by Javanese people.


Median

The northwestern Old Iranian language of the Medes, attested only by numerous loanwords in Old Persian, few borrowings in Old Armenian and some glosses in Ancient Greek; nothing is known of its grammar.

Wiktionary’s coverage of Old Median terms


Mongol

Borrowed from Classical Mongolian ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ (mongɣol), from Middle Mongol ᠮᠣᠩᠬᠣᠯ (mongqol).
The sense “person with Down syndrome” comes from the fact that people with this condition often have a prominent epicanthic fold, as most people of East Asian ethnicity do.

A member of any of the various Mongol ethnic groups living in The Mongolian People's Republic, the (former) USSR, Tibet and Nepal.


Parmesan

/ˈpɑːmɪˌzæn/

/ˌpɑːmɪˈzæn/

/ˈpɑːməˌzən/


Frank

From Middle English Frank, partially from Old English Franca (“a Frank”); and partially from Old French Franc, and/or Latin Francus (“a Frank”), from Frankish *Franko (“a Frank”); both maybe from Proto-Germanic *frankô (“javelin”). Cognate with Old High German Franko (“a Frank”), Old English franca (“spear, javelin”). Compare Saxon, ultimately a derivative of Proto-Germanic *sahsą (“knife, dagger”). Doublet of franc, frank, and farang.

One of the Franks, a Germanic federation that inhabited parts of what are now France, the Low Countries and Germany.


Mon

A member of a people living primarily in the Mon State of Myanmar (also known as Burma), and in Thailand.


Mon

The language of this people, in the Austroasiatic language family.


Mon

Phoebe: Oh, hey, Mon, do you still have your like... old blouses and dresses from high school? Monica: Yeah, I think I have some around here somewhere. Why?

2009, Paulo Quaglio, Television Dialogue: The sitcom Friends vs. natural conversation, page 19

A diminutive of the female given name Monica.


Sooner

Coordinate term: Boomer

Some skunk of a Sooner, sneaking in ahead of the Run, had set the blaze to keep the Boomers off, saving the land for himself.

(historical) One who crossed into Indian territory before the official opening of settlement in the Oklahoma land rush, in order to obtain land sooner.


Estonian

en-noun

Estonian (countable and uncountable, plural Estonians)

(uncountable) The Uralic language that is the official language of Estonia.


Scotch

Contraction of Scottish.
The chess opening is supposedly after its having been played in a correspondence game between Edinburgh, Scotland, and London, England.

But Rob was just saying what a shame it was that folk should be shamed nowadays to speak Scotch – or they called it Scots if they did, the split-tongued sourocks!

1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song (A Scots Quair), Polygon, published 2006, page 156

(dated) The Scottish dialect of English.

The Scotch are a hardy bunch.


Scotch

Scotch (countable and uncountable, plural Scotches)

Paul has drunk a lot of Scotch.

(uncountable) Whisky distilled in Scotland, especially from malted barley.


Scotch

Behind all his assumed unsocialism there lay a true warm heart; nor could anything be kindlier than the welcome which, whenever they did come to him, any of his Scotch relatives received.

1801, William Hanna, Memoirs of the life and writings of Thomas Chalmers, page 422

our landlord informed us, with a sort of apologetic tone, that there was a Scotch gentleman to dine with us.


Ottoman

From Middle French Ottoman, from Medieval Latin Ottomanus, from Ottoman Turkish عثمان (osman), from the Arabic personal name عُثْمَان (ʕuṯmān). Osman is the Turkish spelling of the male Arabic given name Uthman, therefore the Ottoman Empire is sometimes referred to as the Osman Empire, Osmanic Empire, or Osmanian Empire, after Osman I.


Zo

A language spoken in Myanmar and India, especially in Chin State, Mizoram and Manipur, and adjoining parts of Bangladesh.


Pole

A person from Poland or of Polish descent.

лях

now sometimes slightly derogatory or ironic


spacy

en-adj

spacy (comparative spacier, superlative spaciest)

spacier (comparative)
spaciest (superlative)


Tuscan

From Middle English Tuscan, from Late Latin Tuscānus (“belonging to the Tusci”), a people of ancient Italy, from Tuscus, earlier *Truscus, shortened form of Etruscus (“Etruscan”).

der

(architecture) Belonging to the simplest of the five classical orders of architecture, being a Roman modification of the Doric style, with unfluted columns, and without triglyphs.


Swede

From Middle Low German Swêde, from a Germanic word akin to Old Norse Svíþjóð, Old English Swēoþēod (“Sweden”, literally “Swede nation”), itself from Swēo (“Swede”), from Proto-Germanic *swihô (“Swede”). Cognate with Dutch Zweed, German Schwede..

cog

(historical) A member of an ancient North Germanic tribe that inhabited central Sweden

Svear

member of the ancient North Germanic tribe


Vandal

From Latin Vandalus, named after the Germanic tribe, from Proto-Germanic *wandilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ-eh₂-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn, wind, braid”). Also related to Old English Wendlas.

der

An extinct East Germanic language ascribed to have been spoken by the Vandals.


Slav

From Middle English sclave, borrowed from Medieval Latin Sclavus, from Byzantine Greek Σκλάβος (Sklábos); see that entry for more. Doublet of slave and ciao. Displaced native Old English Wined.

(British, birdwatching) The Slavonian grebe.


Afghani

From Afghan + -i, or directly from Persian افغانی (“Afghan (nonstandard)”).

This is not the way Afghanis conduct business. For the Afghans, time is not of the essence.

2003, Jean-Michel Monod, quoted in Intercultural Management →ISBN, page 182

(uncommon, proscribed) An Afghan; a native, inhabitant or national of Afghanistan.


Sicilian

From Latin Sicilia + -an. By surface analysis, Sicily + -an.


Latin

Jamaican Creole: Latn

From Middle English Latyn, Latyne, Latin, from Old French latin, latyn, from Latin latīnus, from Latium (“the region around Rome”) + -īnus (adjective suffix). Displaced or merged with Old English Lǣden. Doublet of Ladino.

The Latin bishop now took the Greek bishop by the hand and conducted him to his throne[…]

1901, John Hackett, A History of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, page 117

(Christianity) Roman Catholic; of or pertaining to the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.


Martial

From Latin Martialis (“Roman cognomen”), from martiālis (“belonging or dedicated to the Mars, the Roman god of war, or to war”), from Mārs (“the god Mars; the planet Mars”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns).

Saint Martial was the first bishop of Limoges, circa 250

A male given name from Latin, narrowly applied to certain historic persons (but some of its foreign cognates are modern given names).

An Anglicized cognomen or given name of the Roman poet Marcus Valerius Martialis, born in Spain in the first century AD and noted for his epigrams.


Martial

For, having found out by a careful series of observations, the parts of Mars' orbit where the planet entered upon its various seasons, he [William Herschel] noted that, soon after mid-winter of the northern hemisphere, the northern white spot attained its greatest dimensions, while the southern was reduced to a tiny oval of light; whereas half a Martial year later, the southern spot was at its largest, and the northern a mere speck when compared with its winter appearance.

1869 February 6, “The Planet of War”, in E[neas] S[weetland] Dallas, editor, Once a Week, volume III, number 58 (New Series), London: Bradbury, Evans, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 74, column 1

(astronomy, obsolete) Alternative letter-case form of martial (“of or relating to the planet Mars”)


Martial

The Martials, if there be Martials in any sense in which there are terrestrials on our own planet, may have no eyes at all; their whole civilisation, if they have say, may depend on senses of which we have absolutely no trace, […]

1892, The Spectator: A Weekly Review of Politics, Literature, Theology, and Art, volume LXIX, London: F. C. Westley, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 218, column 2

(chiefly science fiction, obsolete) Alternative letter-case form of martial (“inhabitant of the planet Mars; Martian”)


Roman

From Old French Romain, from Latin Rōmānus. In reference to the Byzantine Empire, via the Byzantine Greek endonym Ῥωμαῖος (Rhōmaîos). By surface analysis, Rome + -an. Doublet of Romano.

‘Is it like―I don’t know―Catholicism? One only spots the other Romans when one’s practised it oneself?’

2006, Sarah Waters, The Night Watch, Virago Press, page 151


martial

From Middle English martial, marcial, mercial, mercialle (“relating to war, warlike; military; for use in fighting or warfare; brave, hardy; combative, fierce; ruthless, vicious; domineering, overbearing”), from Middle French martial (modern French martial (“martial”)), or directly from its etymon Latin mārtiālis (“of or pertaining to Mars, the Roman god of war”), from Mārtius (“of or pertaining to Mars”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship). The English word is cognate with Italian marziale (“martial”), Portuguese marcial (“martial”), Spanish marcial (“martial”).

The Martials, if there be Martials in any sense in which there are terrestrials on our own planet, may have no eyes at all; their whole civilisation, if they have say, may depend on senses of which we have absolutely no trace, [...]

(chiefly science fiction, obsolete) Synonym of Martian (“inhabitant of the planet Mars”)


Frankfurter

From German Frankfurter. Equivalent to Frankfurt + -er.

A native or inhabitant of Frankfurt, Germany.


Quraysh

Transliteration of Arabic قُرَيْش (qurayš).

translit

When the message arrived the Quraysh were already preparing for war with Medina. It did not take them long to set out from Mecca with 1,000 men in arms, augmented by 100 cavalry. All the grandees of Mecca were there, including Abu Jahl.

2014 September 25, Ziauddin Sardar, Mecca: The Sacred City, Bloomsbury Publishing

An ancient Bedouin tribe that controlled Mecca at the time of Muhammad.


Mogul

census-designated place
census-designated place

A census-designated place in Washoe County, Nevada, United States.


Safavid

From Persian صفوی (Safavi) + -id, from Arabic صَفَوِيّ (Ṣafawiyy), from صَفِيّ (Ṣafiyy, “Safi-ad-Din Ardabili”) + ـَوـ (-aw-, “interfix”) + ـِيّ (-iyy, “-i, -y: forming adjectives and related nouns”).

(informal) A member of the Safavid Empire, an Iranian.


Moghul

Borrowed from Iranian Persian مغول (moğul) (for the spellings moghul and mogul) or from Classical Persian مغول (muğūl, muğōl) and Urdu مغل (muġal) (for other spellings), an Arabic and Persian corruption of Mongol, ultimately from Middle Mongol ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ (mongɣol). More at Mughal.


Jovian

en-adj

Jovian (comparative more Jovian, superlative most Jovian)

more Jovian (comparative)
most Jovian (superlative)

From Latin Iovis, genitive of Iuppiter, analysable as Jove + -ian.

(astronomy) Pertaining to the planet Jupiter.

(Roman mythology) Pertaining to the Roman god Jove or Jupiter (the counterpart of the Greek god Zeus); Jove-like; befitting Jupiter.


Jovian

(chiefly science fiction) An imaginary inhabitant of the planet Jupiter.


Neptunian

From Latin Neptūnius (“of or pertaining to the Roman god Neptune”), from Neptūnus (“the Roman god Neptune”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nebʰ- (“to become damp, cloudy”)) + -ius (suffix forming adjectives from nouns); analysable as Neptune + -ian. The English word is cognate with French neptunien (“pertaining to the Roman god Neptune, pertaining to the sea, pertaining to Neptunism, Neptunian; proponent of Neptunism, Neptunist”), German Neptunier (“proponent of Neptunism, Neptunist”).

cog

The Tomb disburd'ning, whence the Ghoſt aroſe / Of great Achilles; Such when Thracian Foes / (The Prelude of thy Fates, Troy!) he o'rethrew, / And the white hair'd Neptunian Cycnus [i.e., Neptune's son] ſlew.

1679, Lucius Annaeus Seneca [i.e., Seneca the Younger], translated by Edward Sherburne, Troades: Or The Royal Captives. A Tragedy, Written Originally in Latin, […], London: Printed by Anne Godbid, and John Playford, for Samuel Carr, […], →OCLC, act II, scene i, page 21

(Roman mythology) Of or pertaining to Neptune, the Roman god of fresh water and the sea, the counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon.


Neptunian

We are not ourselves, bigotted Neptunians or Vulcanians: we perceive difficulties whichever theory be adopted: and provided the earth be but stable under us, we are not anxiously jealous for the dignity of the trident-wielding power, or for the honour of the hammer-working deity.

1807 October, “View of the Mineralogy, Agriculture, Manufactures, and Fisheries, of the Island of Arran, […] by the Rev. James Headrick. pp. 395. Price 10s. 6d. Constable and Co. Edinburgh: Murray, London, 1807. [book review]”, in The Literary Panorama. Being a Review of Books, Magazine of Varieties, and Annual Register, volume III, London: Printed by Cox, Son, and Baylis, […], [f]or C[harles] Taylor, […], published March 1808, →OCLC, column 57

Its [obsidian's] origin is warmly contested between the Neptunians and Plutonians, many of the latter denominating it a vitreous lava.

1813, John Mason Good, Olinthus Gregory, Newton Bosworth, “OBSIDIAN”, in Pantologia. A New Cyclopædia, Comprehending a Complete Series of Essays, Treatises, and Systems, Alphabetically Arranged; […], volumes VIII (MID–OZO), London: Printed for G. Kearsley; [et al.], →OCLC, column 1

As to the two theories, neither will suffice alone. The neptunian is utterly inadequate to explain the phenomena of basalt; nor can a vulcanist account for the appearance of an hydrophane.—We need both explanations. Those geologists who have travelled in the north of Europe, are generally neptunians; those who have made their observations in the south of the same regions, are generally vulcanists.

1817 April, “Art. IV.—An Elementary Treatise on Mineralogy and Geology, being an Introduction to the Study of Those Sciences, […] By Parker Cleaveland, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, and Lecturer in Chymistry and Mineralogy in Bowdoin College, &c. &c. Boston, 1816. Large 8vo. pp. 668.”, in The Analectic Magazine, volume IX, Philadelphia, Pa.: Published by Moses Thomas, →OCLC, pages 312–313

(geology, historical) A proponent of Neptunism.


Neptunian

From Neptune (“eighth planet in the solar system”) + -ian.

suffix

I need not say that from Neptune the earth is completely invisible, as well as Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter. Saturn is a little star which departs from the sun up to 18°. For the Neptunians the solar system appears to be composed of the sun, Saturn, Uranus, their own world, and the planet which doubtless gravitates beyond Neptune.

1894, Camille Flammarion, “The Planet Neptune and the Frontiers of the Solar Domain”, in J[ohn] Ellard Gore, transl., Popular Astronomy: A General Description of the Heavens: … Translated from the French with the Author’s Sanction, London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 470

We learn the energy quotient of a bogus Earthling, note how much it varies from that of a genuine one, and then proceed to carefully single out every Neptunian. It will take time, no doubt, but not perhaps as long as we think, as the percentage of Neptunians to Earthlings is small.

1952, John Russell Fearn, chapter 12, in Quorne Returns (The Golden Amazon Saga; book 6), [Rockville, Md.]: Wildside Press, published 2013, page 102

Pretend that you are a visitor to Earth from the planet Neptune. When you return home you will want to describe Earthlings to your fellow Neptunians. [...] Good luck! Or as Neptunians say, "Urk bliff!"

2001, Justin McCory Martin, “March”, in Marvelous Month-by-month Writing Prompts: 250 Knock-their-socks-off Writing Prompts to Inspire Super Writing All Year Long!, New York, N.Y.: Scholastic Professional Books, page 43

Since Neptune had been the chosen planet to help Earth work through its current series of crises, Neptunians were key beings at this time. Each visit to Earth was a specific mission for those who were chosen to travel there.

2001 April 12, Patricia Ann Pich, “Neptune”, in Out of this World: A Fairy Tale for Children of All Ages, [Bloomington, Ind.]: 1stBooks, pages 5–6

(chiefly science fiction) An (imaginary) inhabitant of the planet Neptune.


ARV

alien reproduction vehicle
alien reproduction vehicle#English

(ufology) Initialism of alien reproduction vehicle.


Vancouverite

Those frolicking in Vancouver's recreational areas shouldn't be surprised to end up in the middle of a rather messy sloshball game or ultimate Frisbee tournament; Vancouverites tend to leave their big-city attitudes at home.

1995, Pacific Northwest & Alaska: on the loose, Fodor's, page 325

(Canada) A native or resident of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.


Melbournite

(Australia, slang, often humorous, sometimes mildly, derogatory) a resident of Melbourne, Australia


Bohemian

From Bohemia + -ian.
In sense of Romani and by association, marginalized artists, from French bohémien (“person from Bohemia, Romani”), from Bohême (“Bohemia”). Regarding the sense evolution, compare gypsy.


Tassie

From Tasmania + -ie (diminutive suffix).

(informal, Australia) A Tasmanian, a person from Tasmania.


Bicolano

/bɪkəˈlɑːnəʊ/

A language spoken in the Bicol Region, Philippines.


ETI

Ethical Trading Initiative
Extraterrestrial intelligence

Initialism of Ethical Trading Initiative.


reptilian

From reptile + -ian, replacing earlier reptilious and adjectival reptile.

More evolved than the Grays or Reptilians, the Humanoids seem to feel some sort of kinship with humans and are likely to be kind.[…] Some researchers believe the Grays are merely preparing the way for a full-scale invasion of Reptilian aliens.

2001, Caroline Tiger, The UFO Hunter’s Handbook: A Field Guide to the Paranormal, pages 62–63

Such powerful human families would descend upon the reptilians themselves and they would be willing to do just anything to retain their power.

2010, Chico Penteado, Talking to the Reptilians-A Report from Brazil, page 11

The reptilians are the creation of the Carians.

2011, Collin Robert Bowling, A New Order of the Ages

Reptilians generally are envisioned as half snake, half human, and they are thought to have come from the Alpha Draconian star system.

2015, Marty Crump, Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog, Adder's Fork and Lizard's Leg

(science fiction) A reptilian alien, especially (ufology, often capitalized) of a shapeshifting race alleged to secretly control the world.


extradimensional

(science fiction) Coming from a world outside Einsteinian space-time.


Frenchwoman

A French woman; a woman of French ancestry, descent or citizenship.


Hoosier

Uncertain. See Wikipedia's article on the subject for theories. Popularized by the 1830 John Finley poem “The Hoosier’s Nest”.

Indiana’s Borderlanders called themselves Hoosiers, came from the backcountry of Kentucky and western Virginia, and were ambivalent about slavery.

2011, Colin Woodard, chapter 16, in American nations, New York: Penguin

A native or resident of the U.S. state of Indiana.


North American

A person living in or originating from North America.

One of a supernational region within North America

One of a country or nation within North America

One of a country or nation within Central America

One of a country or nation within the Caribbean

One of a dependency within North America


South American

A person from or living in South America.


Frenchman

From Middle English Frenshman; equivalent to French + -man.

The former recommended that all members of the Chamber of Deputies be elected by the scrutin de liste: that they be elected by all Frenchmen of both sexes over 21 years old.

1975, Sue Helder Goliber, The Life and Times of Marguerite Durand: A Study in French Feminism, page 128

A home-made tool used by bricklayers to cut excess mortar from newly pointed brickwork.

red-legged partridge
red-legged partridge


highlander

(Scotland) A person who inhabits the Scottish Highlands.


Canuck

American Dialect Society
Greenwood Publishing Group
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Leiden University
University of Alabama Press

Origin uncertain, often hypothesized to derive from the name or speech of an early Canadian minority, later broadened to denote all Canadians:
* Since 1975, many scholars have come to think the name is from Hawaiian kanaka (“man”), a self-appellation of indentured colonial canoemen and Hawaiian sailors working off the Pacific Northwest, Arctic, and New England coasts, from French canaque (“indigenous Melanesian inhabitant of New Caledonia, Kanak”); or, more likely, American whalers’ pidgin, then re-interpreted as Can(adian) + a suffix. Compare English Kanak and German Kanake.
* Some dictionaries suggest it is derived from the first syllable of Canada, or its etymon Laurentian kanata (“village”), or a related word kanuchsa meaning “villager” in either Laurentian or another Iroquoian language; with the second syllable connected to Inuktitut inuk (“man; person”), from Chinook (“Aboriginal people of the U.S. Pacific Northwest”), or another First-Nation language ending like -oc, -uc, or -uq.
* Fanciful and unlikely suggestions include German genug von Canada (literally “enough of Canada”) (allegedly uttered by German mercenaries during the American War of Independence), French quelle canule (“what a bore”) (allegedly uttered by the French during a siege of Quebec), or the surname Connaught /ˈkɑ.nəxt/ (supposedly a French-Canadian nickname for the Irish).

noncog

French Canadian
French Canadian#Adjective

(Canada, US, informal, sometimes derogatory) A Canadian person; specifically (archaic), a French Canadian person; a pea-souper; also (obsolete) a Canadian person of other non-English descent.

(ice hockey) A member of the Vancouver Canucks professional ice hockey team belonging to the National Hockey League.

Canucksin pelaaja

(skiing) Chiefly as Crazy Canuck: a member of the Canadian alpine ski team.

Canadians are somewhat jealous of the Americans; that they are secretly manœuvering, not exactly with the inoffensive good humor of a much respected yeoman of England, […] but rather after the inordinate example of Ahab of old, so pithily recorded by the sacred historian. Jonathan distinguishes a Dutch or French Canadian, by the term Kanuk.
“Jonathan” is a 19th-century nickname for a New Englander.]

[1835, [Henry Cook Todd], Notes upon Canada and the United States of America: In the Year MDCCCXXXV […], Toronto, Ont.: […] W[illiam] J[oseph] Coates, […], →OCLC, paragraph 263, page 92

We saw a few partridges: we also met a lusty fellow in a forest road with a keg of whisky slung round him, who called to us 'Come boys and have some grog, I'm what you call a canuck:' a (Canadian).
Referring to an English-speaking Canadian.

1849, James E[dward] Alexander, chapter XV, in L’Acadie; or, Seven Years’ Explorations in British America. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 272–273

It is a pity these Canadian militiamen spoilt the good work they had done by never-failing bluster. But for pure and unadulterated brag I will back the lower-class Canuck against the world. The Yankee is a very sucking dove compared to his northern neighbour.

1889, John G[eorge] Donkin, chapter XIII, in Trooper and Redskin in the Far North-West: Recollections of Life in the North-West Mounted Police, Canada, 1884–1888, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington […], →OCLC, page 148

[T]he Canucks were ready with bats, hands, feet and heads, to outplay the locals at all points. They did it to a nicety. It is wonderful to contemplate the quality of ball speiled by the Canucks when their lungs are filled with Rochester air.
Referring to members of a Toronto baseball team.

1895 August 26, “Sports of field and track: Toronto 14, Rochester 11—first game”, in Democrat and Chronicle, volume 63, number 238, Rochester, N.Y.: Rochester Printing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 11, column 1

He's got a Canuck a-workin' for him, and I'd livser trust a wolf 'n one o' them pea-soupers.
Referring to a French Canadian.

1898, Rowland E[vans] Robinson, “Forebodings of Storm”, in A Hero of Ticonderoga, Burlington, Vt.: Hobart J[oseph] Shanley & Co., →OCLC, page 140

The new-comers were a couple of farmers from Minnesota, genuine Americans from birth; wise men, with a keg of good water in their waggon. "And don't you want to be Americans any longer?" I asked. "No," said they most emphatically, "we're Canucks now."

1907 May, Howard Angus Kennedy, “The Dry Patch”, in New Canada and the New Canadians, 2nd edition, London: Horace Marshall & Son, published October 1907, →OCLC, page 192

One person who realizes that the Canadian troops in England have healthy appetites is Corp. J. R. Johnstone, chief butcher of a unit. He and his 16 assistants drag from huge refrigerators eight tons of meat per day for the hungry Canucks; and every other day when rationing is less severe the butchers carve up 16 tons of lamb, beef and pork.

1940 August 9, “Troops pack it away”, in Toronto Daily Star, Toronto, Ont.: The Toronto Star Limited, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 18, column 7

The Scottish skip [Alex F. Torrance] missed a wide open takeout in the fifth leaving the Canucks another single.
Referring to members of the Canadian curling team.

1964 March 19, Larry Wood, “Dagg stays unbeaten: Scotch Cup winner decided tonight”, in Richard L[ouis] Sanburn, editor, The Calgary Herald, Calgary, Alta.: The Southam Company, →ISSN, page 18, column 5

[Jack] Kerouac's writings reveal that, although celebrated as an iconic American, he thought of himself as first and foremost Canadian. In La Vie est d'Hommage, he writes, "I am French Canadian. When I am angry, I often swear in French; when I dream, I often dream in French." He went on to say that "all my knowledge comes from my being French Canadian.” But as a Canuck in the United States, he felt patronized. He needed to hide his true self. Even with his friends in New York, with Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs, he was "a completely different man. We have to live in English, it's impossible to live in French. This is the secret thought of the Canuck in America."
The quotations were translated from French by Stursberg.

2016 June 12, Richard Stursberg, “The Secret Canadian Life of Jack Kerouac: Reading Kerouac’s Lost French Writings Reveals the Travails of a Canuck in America”, in Maclean’s, Toronto, Ont.: Maclean-Hunter Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-06-04


Canuck

"Oh, monsieur, monsieur, ayez pitie de moi; je suis honnète et vous paierai dix fois autant." / "You blasted scoundrel that you are, I want none of your impertinence and Canuck lingo; go hunt up your dirty trash of hungry humbugs, that you shouldered upon me last evening.[…]"

1866, Andrew Learmont Spedon, “Tale III. Adventures with Religious Impostors.”, in Canadian Summer Evening Tales, Montreal, Que.: […] John Lovell, […], →OCLC, pages 71–72

On the deacon-seat in the leapin' heat / With the corn-cobs drawin' cool and sweet, / And timin' the fiddle with tunkin' feet, / A hundred men and a chorus. / "Roule, roulant, ma boule roulant," / It 's all Canuck but a good old song; / Lift it up then, good and strong, / For a cozy night 's before us.

1904, Holman F[rancis] Day, “Kingdom o’ Spruce: Song of the Men o’ the Ax”, in Kin o’ Ktaadn: Verse Stories of the Plain Folk who are Keeping Bright the Old Home Fires up in Maine, Boston, Mass.: Small, Maynard & Company, →OCLC, page 145

So Mama will say, Bon jour, Grack, tu viens enfin? That's Canuck for you ain't been a son to your ma. Can't you see by my skin and bones—I'm sick, I got a habit—I ain't my mama's anymore?

1956, Herbert Gold, “Round and round, the trick of want”, in The Man who was Not with It (An Avon Library Book), New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, published March 1969, →OCLC, page 179

(historical, rare) Synonym of Canadian French (“the French language as spoken by Francophones in Canada”).

kanadanranska

synonym of Canadian French — see also Canadian French


Trojan

/ˈtɹəʊd͡ʒən/

/ˈtɹoʊd͡ʒən/

From old forms Troyan, Troian, Middle English Troiā̆n, from Old English Trōiān, from Latin Trōiānus, from Trōia (“Troy”) + -ānus, from Ancient Greek Τροίᾱ (Troíā).

Trójan

astronomical object residing at a Trojan point

A student (especially an athlete) of the University of Southern California.


Uranian

en-adj

Uranian (comparative more Uranian, superlative most Uranian)

more Uranian (comparative)
most Uranian (superlative)

Aphrodite Urania
Karl Heinrich Ulrichs
Plato

From Latin Ūrania (“muse of astronomy in Greek mythology”) + -an (suffix forming agent nouns). Ūrania is derived from Ancient Greek Οὐρᾰνῐ́ᾱ (Ouraníā, “muse of astronomy”), from οὐράνιος (ouránios, “of or relating to the sky, celestial, heavenly”) (from οὐρανός (ouranós, “the sky; heaven, home of the gods; the universe”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁wers- (“rain”)) + -ιος (-ios, suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘pertaining to’).
The alternative form Ouranian is derived from Ancient Greek οὐράνιος (ouránios).
Adjective sense 2 (“homosexual”) and the noun sense (“a homosexual”) refer to Plato’s work Symposium (c. 385–370 B.C.E.), where the goddess Aphrodite, in her heavenly aspect Aphrodite Urania (see adjective sense 3) is described as inspiring a noble form of affection between older and younger men. Compare German Urning (“a homosexual, Uranian”), Urnigtum (“homosexuality”), also referring to Aphrodite Urania, coined by the German writer Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (1825–1895) in 1864. By the 1900s, the use of the word in this sense had largely been supplanted by homosexual (see further at that entry). The term is no longer mainstream and is almost never used in modern contexts, though it has enjoyed a slight revival as a term for "gay man" as an analogue to lesbian.

der

/jʊˈɹeɪnɪən/

Hence is that secret pardon we bestow / In the true instinct of the grateful heart, / Upon the Sons of Song. The good they do / In the clear world of their Uranian art / Endures for ever; while the evil done / In the poor drama of the mortal scene, / Is but a passing cloud before the sun; [...]

1853, Edward Bulwer[-]Lytton, “The Ideal World”, in The Poetical and Dramatic Works of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Bart., volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, stanza IV, page 317

Hail thou! sole Muse that, in an age of toil, / Of all the old Uranian sisterhood, / Art left to light us o'er the furrowed soil, / Of this laborious star!

1859, Owen Meredith [pseudonym; Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton], “Epilogue”, in The Wanderer, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, part III, stanza I, page 424

At first sight the winds would appear to be if anything Ouranian powers of the upper air, yet it seems that sacrifices to the winds were buried, not burnt.

1903, Jane Ellen Harrison, “The Anthesteria. The Ritual of Ghosts and Spirits.”, in Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: At the University Press, →OCLC, page 67

[T]hose deities which are called ‘chthonic’ or earthly are, as a matter of fact, not in any sense deities of the earth. They are, in one of their aspects associated with the ‘underworld,’ but that underworld is but a segment of their cycle; they are deities of the underworld not because they appertain to the earth or are in any sense a personification of it, but because they are, on the contrary, heavenly bodies which, in the course of their cycle, pass under the earth. They are therefore just as much ‘uranian’ as are the Olympians.

1927, Robert Briffault, “The Great Mothers”, in The Mothers: A Study of the Origins of Sentiments and Institutions, volume III, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, pages 146–147

If he [the Hindu god Varuna] cannot be classed exclusively among the "gods of the sky" he nevertheless has qualities proper to the ouranian divinities. He is visva-darsata, "everywhere visible", he "separated the two worlds", the wind is his breath; [...]

1991, Mircea Eliade, “The ‘God who Binds’ and the Symbolism of Knots”, in Philip Mairet, transl., Images and Symbols: Studies in Religious Symbolism, Mythos paperback edition, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, pages 96–97

Conversely, Kenneth Anger's only widely released film since 1972, Lucifer Rising (1980), uses a megalithic temple (not Stonehenge) and a number of ancient Egyptian sites in a Crowleyan ritual hymn to chthonian and ouranian deities of power and light.

2002, P. Adams Sitney, “The End of the 20th Century”, in Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde 1943–2000, 3rd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, page 417

(comparable, literary, poetic) Celestial, heavenly; uranic.

uranien

celestial, heavenly — see also celestial, heavenly

To have altered my life would have been to have admitted that Uranian love is ignoble. I hold it to be noble – more noble than other forms.

1898 February 18?, Oscar Wilde, “Letter to Robert Ross”, in Merlin Holland, Rupert Hart-Davis, editors, The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, published 2000, page 1019

His [Plato's] Philosophical Eros is not the Uranian Eros which possessed the nation, and the Uranian doctrine is not primarily either philosophical or paederastic. It is a value attached to the masculine which included philosophy as masculine and paederasty when not anti-masculine, but was itself the idea and form of virtue.

1930, Arthur Lyon Raile [pseudonym; Edward Perry Warren], “The Uranian Idea”, in A Defence of Uranian Love, part the second (The Uranian Eros), [London]: Privately printed, →OCLC, pages 19–20

Before these ideals would once again become available to "homosexuality" as a positive social identity, however, the Uranian modality of male love would be rejected by the avant-garde itself as an outworn fashion.

1994, Linda [C.] Dowling, “The Higher Sodomy”, in Hellenism and Homosexuality in Victorian Oxford, Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, page 134

[Edward] Carpenter was disappointed by these meetings with [Walt] Whitman but began to integrate a positive homosexual view into his socialist writings. Carpenter saw the Uranian (homosexual) spirit to be more enlightened than that of the common man and believed that Uranians were the new prophets of the coming social revolution.

2003, Chuck Stewart, “Biographical Sketches”, in Gay and Lesbian Issues: A Reference Handbook (Contemporary World Issues), Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, page 138

Through Veiled Eyes [by John Moray Stuart-Young, published in 1908] was produced by a specialist Uranian publisher for circulation to a specialist Uranian readership, and it required the audience to identify with an adult narrator who spends the bulk of one summer "grooming" an English boy for physical intimacy. This is the sexual scenario most likely to inspire public violence in contemporary Britain, [...] Set in the context of Uranian art, however, it is possible to regard this as a desire fated to be celibate, if only by the status of the angelic love object in the real world as a "real boy, grubby, ink-stained, insolent, uncomprehending of Uranian passion and rebuffing its smallest manifestations." Such a forgiving perspective is one of the few options available to literary critics wishing to avoid the discomfort of drawing biographical conclusions from the material produced by Uranian authors such as Stuart-Young.

2006, Stephanie Newell, “‘Uranian’ Love in West Africa”, in The Forger’s Tale: The Search for Odeziaku (New African Histories), Athens, Oh.: Ohio University Press, page 86

(comparable, literary, archaic) Homosexual; also, pederastic; relating to a man's erotic love for adolescent boys; (specifically) of poetry: conveying appreciation for young men.

For assuredly are there two Venuses; one, the eldest, the daughter of Uranus, born without a mother, whom we call the Uranian; the other younger, the daughter of Jupiter and Dione, whom we call the Pandemian;—of necessity must there also be two Loves, the Uranian and Pandemian companions of these goddesses. [...] [T]he attendant on the other, the Uranian, whose nature is entirely masculine, is the Love who inspires us with affection, and exempts us from all wantonness and libertinism.

a. 1822, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Banquet. Translated from Plato.”, in Mrs. Shelley [i.e., Mary Shelley], editor, Essays, Letters from Abroad, Translations and Fragments, … In Two Volumes, volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: Lea and Blanchard, published 1840, →OCLC, page 86

That this is indeed the general tendency of his [Pausanias of Athens'] speech is made clear by two remarks that follow immediately upon his differentiating the Pandemian from the Uranian gods. [...] But what is true for Aphrodite seems to be a contradiction in terms: she is both one and two and all gods must be praised—both Uranian and Pandemian—and yet only the Uranian ought to be praised [...].

2010, Steven Berg, “Pausanias: Noble Lies and the Fulfillment of Greekness”, in Eros and the Intoxications of Enlightenment: On Plato’s Symposium (SUNY Series in Ancient Greek Philosophy), Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, part 1 (Athens and Enlightenment), page 27

(not comparable, Greek mythology, Roman mythology) Of Aphrodite Urania, the heavenly aspect of the Greek goddess of beauty and love Aphrodite and her Roman counterpart Venus, as contrasted with the earthly aspect known as Aphrodite Pandemos: heavenly, spiritual.

Graced by nurses (art's nurse highly grac'd him) / Who fed him with pure marrow of the Muses; / And when he list, with moisture to refresh him, / He drunke cleare Helicon: cleare from abuses, / He bent his mind to pure Vranian vses, / Vranianie him did to heau'n vpreare: / And made to man, him demi-god appeare.

1600, Cyril Tourneur, The Transformed Metamorphosis, [London]: Printed by Valentine Sims, […], →OCLC; republished in John Churton Collins, editor, The Plays and Poems of Cyril Tourneur: […] In Two Volumes, volume II, London: Chatto and Windus, […], 1878, →OCLC, page 213

Actually, this little girl-child should have been as happy as a lark. But, she wasn't. This is because her Bengali genes had her continually wish to be a Sarasvati, or Uranian Muse, to all the males who came within her ambit – incessantly inspiring them to great works of Art or Scientific discoveries.

2007, Vivek Iyer, chapter 8, in Samlee’s Daughter: A Novel, Great Britain: Polyglot Publications, section I

(not comparable, Greek mythology, dated) Relating to Urania, the Muse of astronomy.


Uranian

/jʊˈɹeɪnɪən/

[T]he fury of a fiery hot-brained Marsian, may kindle immediate and incessant wrangling and feuds; whilst a quiet placid Uranian, in his turn, may yet at times be excessively annoyed, ay, worried and tormented, by the tardiness, listlessness and inactivity of his dronish companion.

1839, A Fantastical Excursion into the Planets, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, page 172

And obviously, since the year of the Uranians lasts 84 of our years, the continuance of the sun above the horizon would last for many years. [...] And as with the summer day, so with the winter night, years elapse before either comes to an end. For upwards of 20 years, in a latitude corresponding to that of London, the Uranians—if there are any—never see the small Uranian sun.

1872, Richard A[nthony] Proctor, “Uranus and Neptune, the Arctic Planets”, in Other Worlds than Ours: The Plurality of Worlds Studied under the Light of Recent Scientific Researches, 3rd edition, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, pages 171–172

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


Haligonian

(England) A native or inhabitant of Halifax, West Yorkshire, England.


bedouin

From Old French beduin (compare French bédouin), from Arabic بَدَوِيِّين (badawiyyīn), plural of بَدَوِيّ (badawiyy), from collective noun بَدْو (badw, “nomads”).

A member of nomadic Arab tribes dwelling in the desert.


cerealogy

There is no university with a department of cerealogy, and consequently anyone may call him- or herself a "cerealogist," even after one single visit to a crop circle.

2001, Eltjo Haselhoff, The Deepening Complexity of Crop Circles: Scientific Research & Urban Legends, page xv

Despite film showing the two men creating highly complex crop circles, the momentum behind cerealogy was too strong to be stopped by any admission of English eccentricity.

2002 August 12, “Cereal offenders who won't go away”, in Christian Science Monitor

Patrick Moore, in Can You Speak Venusian, noted that — shades of cerealogy — the crops over a wide area had been flattened.

2005, Steve Dewey, John Ries, In Alien Heat: The Warminster Mystery Revisited, page 57


Gilbertese

From Gilbert + -ese. See Gilbertese language § Name on Wikipedia.

If each Gilbertese passes on land to his or her children, not very many generations will pass before the land plots become relatively fragmented. This was and is the case. Many land plots are small,[…]

1981, Roland W. Force, Brenda Bishop, Persistence and Exchange: Papers from a Symposium on Ecological Problems of the Traditional Societies of the Pacific Region : XIV Pacific Science Congress, Khabarovsk, U.S.S.R., August--September, 1979

(chiefly in the plural) A person from the Gilbert Islands in Kiribati.


Nazarene

In the sense "person from Nazareth", from Ancient Greek Ναζαρηνός (Nazarēnós, “of Nazareth”), an ethnonym of Ναζαρέθ (Nazaréth). In the sense "a member of a certain sect", from Ancient Greek Ναζωραῖος (Nazōraîos), which may or may not be related. For a list of theories as to the further etymology of this word, see the Wikipedia article on ‘Nazarene’.

(usually as “the Nazarene”) an epithet of Jesus Christ


Fleming

From Middle English flameng, from late Old English Flæmingi, from Old Norse Flǽmingr, Middle Dutch Vlaminc, Vleminc, from Old Frisian (unattested) (compare West Frisian Flaming), from Proto-Germanic *flaumaz (“flowing, current (water)”) and the patronymic suffix *-ingaz (“belonging to, descended from”). More at Flanders.

A number of places in the United States:

A tiny city in Ray County, Missouri; suburb of Kansas City.

A town and hamlet in Cayuga County, New York.


Ewok

Coined by American filmmaker George Lucas in 1983 from the syllabic reverse of Wookiee. The name first appeared in the end titles of the film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

coin

Those vampire-wanna-bes, who are actually cute in a Ewok/troll doll sort of way, pick their teeth nightly after a six-course wing fling.

2000, Lori Torrance, Tea for Texas: A Guide to Tearooms in the State, page 15

Tripping a walker the size of a house is difficult but not impossible. You will need high-tensile wire and suitably grounded posts. Ask your Ewok friends for help.

2005, Daniel H. Wilson, How to Survive a Robot Uprising, Bloomsbury,, page 134

My answer to those who believe that all Bigfoot are just huge cuddly Ewoks is to remind them that there is plenty of evidence that every member of the great apes family […] has exhibited hostility […].

2007, Matthew Scott Hansen, The Shadowkiller: A Novel, page 434

She looked like a little plump Ewok, standing with Big Foot.

2008, Grace Octavia, His First Wife, Dafina Books,, page 30

It’s been claimed that Jon has a string of mistresses, that Kate had an affair with her bodyguard and that Baby Number Six is actually a shaved Ewok with a catastrophic heroin addiction. Or something.

2009 May 22, Stuart Heritage, “Jon & Kate Latest: People You Don’t Know Do Crap You Don’t Care About”, in Hecklerspray

A member of a fictional, primitive race of teddy-bear-like creatures.


ETV

en-noun

ETV (countable and uncountable, plural ETVs)

(ufology, countable) Initialism of extraterrestrial vehicle.


Nordic

From French nordique, from nord (“north”).

A person of Nordic descent or having features typical of Nordic people.

Called “Nordics,” the aliens are human-like in appearance, of average height, and often have long, flowing hair. Contactees are typically struck by the beauty of the Nordics, as was Howard Menger (1959): “She seemed to radiate and glow,” Menger explains,

2007, Erich Goode, D. Angus Vail, Extreme Deviance, Pine Forge Press, page 41

But the third most common alien is called a Nordic, or humanoid.

2012, Kelly Milner Halls, Alien Investigation: Searching for the Truth about UFOs and Aliens, Millbrook Press, page 45

Known as Nordics, these extraterrestrials are said to have blond hair, blue eyes, and pale skin and are anywhere from 6 to 8 feet (183cm to 244cm) tall.

2012, Patricia D. Netzley, Extraterrestrial Life: Alien Encounters, Reference Point Press, page 33

(ufology, science fiction) A race of extraterrestrials similar in appearance to Nordic humans.


Lett

The Strange Case of Peter the Lett


injun

1805–15; variant of Indian. Compare Cajun.

We'll kill ourselves an injun, and maybe two or three!

You want a problem, well I guess we got one now / I really don't know how / There's injuns over every goddamn hill

1999, “What Do You Want Me to Say?”, in Emergency & I, performed by the Dismemberment Plan

Instead of grudgingly admitting the “Injuns” weren’t so bad after all, it actually explores the conflicted culpability of individual white Americans.

2024 February 2, Ellen E. Jones, “Beyond the pale: where are all the films about ‘whiteness’?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

(US, slang, often offensive) A Native American.

en:Native American name controversy#Controversial terminology


Pleiad

(historical) A group of 16th-century French poets who sought to enrich the French language.


Pleiad

(astronomy, demonym) A member of the Pleiades cluster.


close encounter

close encounter (plural close encounters)

(ufology) A supposed observation, or observation of evidence, of extraterrestrial beings or their craft.

contato imediato

observation of extraterrestrials or their craft


Silesian

(uncountable) Lower Silesian, a Germanic language or dialect spoken in southwestern parts of what is now Poland (Lower Silesia).

Slezská němčina

Germanic language or dialect — see also Lower Silesian

(uncountable) Upper Silesian, a West Slavic language spoken in southwestern parts of Poland and the Czech Republic.


Ionian

* (Hellenic, Ionia, architecture): Ionia + -an. From Ionia
* (moon of Jupiter): Io + -n- + -ian. From Io

(science fiction) An inhabitant of Io, a moon of Jupiter


Pomeranian

Among their dialects the Rhine Franconian and Moselle-Franconian varieties prevailed, but other dialects were present as well, such as Upper German Swabian, Low German Westphalian, Pomeranian, and the Mennonite varieties, and even Volga German.

P. Rosenberg, Dialect convergence in the German language islands (Sprachinseln), in: 2005, Peter Auer, Frans Hinskens, Paul Kerswill (eds.), Dialect Change: Convergence and Divergence in European Languages, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge University Press, p. 221ff., here p. 228

… the language of everyday use is characterized by a wide panorama of local dialectal variation, ranging from Low German dialects in the north (e.g. Low Saxon, Westphalian, Pomeranian), through Central German dialects (e.g. Hessian, Thuringian, Silesian) to the High German dialects of the south (e.g. Bavarian, High Alemannic, Alsatian and Franconian) …

2011, George L. Campbell, Gareth King, The Routledge Concise Compendium of the World's Languages, 2nd ed. (1st ed. 1995), p. 238, inside the section German

A second important isogloss that separates Pomeranian from the other Low German variants, … These strong morphemes are absent in the North Sea Germanic area, as well as in Pomeranian.

2019, Gertjan Postma, A Contrastive Grammar of Brazilian Pomeranian (Linguistik Aktuell / Linguistics Today 248), p. 6


Hessian

Hessian (countable and uncountable, plural Hessians)

(historical) A mercenary soldier, especially a German one who fought with the British in the American Revolutionary War.

(mathematics) Ellipsis of Hessian matrix.


Hessian

The Rhine Franconian dialect spoken in Hesse.


Savoyard

He is one of the Emperor’s French-speaking subjects, not a Spaniard but a Savoyard.

2020, Hilary Mantel, The Mirror and the Light, Fourth Estate, page 30


Savoyard

The dialect spoken in Savoy (Savoie and Haute-Savoie in France, canton of Valais in Switzerland, and in the Italian region of Aosta).


Phrygian

/ˈfɹɪ.d͡ʒɪ.ən/

From Latin Phrygiānus + English -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Phrygianus is derived from Phrygia + -ānus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’); and Phrygia is from Ancient Greek Φρῠγῐ́ᾱ (Phrugíā, “region in Anatolia”), from Φρῠ́ξ (Phrúx, “person from Phrygia”) (further etymology unknown, possibly from Phrygian or related to Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“to ascend, rise up; to be elevated, up high”)) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-íā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns).


Provençal

/ˌpɹɒvɑːnˈsɑːl/

/ˌpɹɒvənˈsɑːl/

/ˌpɹɒvɒnˈsɑːl/

From Middle French provenceal, provençal, from Latin prōvinciālis.

(broadly, dated in linguistics) The language spoken in Provence; Occitan.


Vandals

An east Germanic tribe that once lived in north Africa and sacked Rome.


Aleutian

Of, from, or pertaining to the Aleutian Islands (a group of islands in the northern Pacific Ocean, west of Alaska), or to its inhabitants, their culture, or their language.


Mainer

“People have no idea how good this stuff is, but they are about to find out,” said Mr. Patry, 62, who is possibly the most optimistic and talkative native Mainer in history.

2012 September 11, Julia Moskin, “Buttermilk, Often Maligned, Begins to Get Its Due”, NYTimes.com

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

Mainois

native or inhabitant of the State of Maine


Queenslander

From Queensland + -er (suffix attached to placename proper nouns denoting inhabitants or residents of those places).

suffix

In view of the rapid development of Queensland, our prosperity and our major contribution to the nation and to world trade, I believe it is significant that a Queenslander should be honoured with such a high position in Rotary.

1977, Joh[annes] Bjelke-Petersen, “Messages to the Convention and to the President, Incoming President, and President-Elect of Rotary International”, in 1977 Proceedings: Sixty-eighth Annual Convention of Rotary International: San Francisco, California, U.S.A.: 5–9 June, 1977, [Evanston, Ill.]: Rotary International, →OCLC, page 198

In reality the selectors' decision was between [Rod] Marsh and John Maclean and the Queenslander got the nod.

2004, Mark Browning, Rod Marsh: A Life in Cricket, Dural, N.S.W.: Rosenberg Publishing

Takada had the added advantage of being a Queenslander, although from the other end of the state. But to a native north Queenslander, that was better than being from Melbourne.

2009, Darryl Greer, chapter 31, in The Election, [Mudgeeraba, Qld.?]: Darryl Greer, page 249


Minorcan

The variety of Balearic Catalan native to Minorca.


Madrilenian

Of or pertaining to Madrid, Spain, or to its inhabitants.


Dacian

From Dacia + -an, from Latin Dacia (“Dacia”).

An extinct Indo-European language spoken by the people of Dacia.


hyperborean

/hʌɪ.pəˈbɔː.ɹɪən/

From Late Latin hyperboreanus, cognate with Classical Latin hyperboreus, from Ancient Greek ὑπερβόρεος (huperbóreos), composed of ὑπέρ (hupér, “over”) + βόρειος (bóreios, “northern”). See also Ὑπερβόρεοι (Huperbóreoi).

The Hyperboreans venerated Apollo over the other gods.

(Greek mythology, usually capitalised) One of a race of people living in the extreme north, beyond the north wind.

Hyperboréen

(Greek mythology), one a race of people living in the extreme north

(usually humorous) Any person living in a northern country, or to the north.


hyperborean

en-adj

hyperborean (comparative more hyperborean, superlative most hyperborean)

more hyperborean (comparative)
most hyperborean (superlative)

/hʌɪ.pəˈbɔː.ɹɪən/

The hyperborean or frozen sea.

1633, C. Butler, (Please provide the book title or journal name)

You could have knelt down, damn it, Kinch, when your dying mother asked you, Buck Mulligan said. I’m hyperborean as much as you. But to think of your mother begging you with her last breath to kneel down and pray for her. And you refused.

Pertaining to the extreme north of the earth, or (usually jocular) to a specific northern country or area.

северен

pertaining to the extreme north of the Earth


Wisconsinite

My brother is a Wisconsinite; I'm Floridian.

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