bara

Short for barazoku, from Japanese 薔薇族 (barazoku, literally “rose tribe”), the name of Japan's first modern gay men's magazine, named after a post-World War II term for gay men.

bor

(Internet slang) A genre of homoerotic media, usually manga and often pornographic, made by gay men for gay men in Japan.


trophy

→ Japanese: トロフィー (torofī)

→ Korean: 트로피 (teuropi)

→ Malayalam: ട്രോഫി (ṭrōphi)

From Middle French trophée, from Latin trophaeum (“a sign of victory, a monument”), tropaeum, from Ancient Greek τρόπαιον (trópaion, “monument of an enemy's defeat”), from neuter of τροπαῖος (tropaîos, “of defeat”), from τροπή (tropḗ, “a rout, a turning of an enemy”).

трафе́й

object taken by a hunter or conqueror of their success

An animal killed by a trophy hunter that usually has its parts sold on the black market.


DPP

Pokémon Diamond, Pearl
w:Pokémon Diamond and Pearl

(fandom slang) Initialism of Pokémon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum.

Democratic Party of the Philippines
w:Democratic Party of the Philippines

(Philippine politics) Initialism of Democratic Party of the Philippines.


DPP

After months of troubling silence, the DPP Keir Starmer, finally stepped forward and directly and loudly challenged Yates.

2014, Nick Davies, Hack Attack: How the truth caught up with Rupert Murdoch, Random House, →ISBN, page 299:

Director of Public Prosecutions
w:Director of Public Prosecutions

(chiefly Commonwealth, law) Initialism of Director of Public Prosecutions.

Deputy Public Prosecutor
Deputy Public Prosecutor#English


SCOTUS

Supreme Court of the United States
w:Supreme Court of the United States

(US politics) Acronym of Supreme Court of the United States.


Amata

From Latin amāta (“loved, beloved”); feminine perfect passive participle of amāre (“love”). It can also be interpreted as the feminine form of the saint's name Amātus.

(Roman mythology) The wife of Latinus and the mother of Lavinia.


Bundestag

/ˈbʊndəsˌtɑːɡ/

The federal/state parliament of Germany.


SPD

In a quirk of German politics, the governing coalitions are often given names. The previous coalition government, headed by the SPD (red), included the Green Party (green) and Liberal Party (yellow) - together they were known as the “traffic light” coalition.

2025 February 22, Sebastian Shukla, Nadine Schmidt and Claudia Otto, “Germany is holding a national election. Here’s what’s at stake”, in CNN:

Social Democratic Party of Germany
w:Social Democratic Party of Germany

(German politics) Initialism of Social Democratic Party of Germany (“Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands”).


FDP

Free Democratic Party
w:en:Free Democratic Party (Germany)

(German politics) Initialism of Free Democratic Party of Germany (Freie Demokratische Partei); a German centrist classical liberal political party.


CDU

“I am certain that this so-called ‘firewall’ will stop after this election,” AfD youth wing leader Hannes Gnauck told CNN Sunday evening. He added, “There will be a CDU after Friedrich Merz, and this CDU will have to work together with the AfD.”

2025 February 24, Sophie Tanno and Nadine Schmidt, “Germany’s far-right may be frozen out of power, but the AfD is now a powerful force”, in CNN:

(German politics) Initialism of Christian Democratic Union (of Germany) (“Christlich Demokratische Union”). (a major mainstream German political party)


ankh

From Egyptian anx-Z1 (ꜥnḫ, “life, to live, symbol for life”).


TEA

(US politics) Initialism of taxed enough already.


PFI

Popular Front of India
w:Popular Front of India

(Indian politics) Initialism of Popular Front of India, a banned organization in India.


Mason-Dixon Line

Mason–Dixon Line (canonical)
Mason-Dixon line (alternative)
Mason and Dixon line (alternative)
Mason's and Dixon's line (alternative)

Charles Mason
Jeremiah Dixon
Mason–Dixon line

Named after English astronomers Charles Mason (1728–1786) and Jeremiah Dixon (1733–1779).

[…] and he tell'd me Georgia would go for me, arter^([sic]) the Gineral^([sic]), as soon as any north of mason and dickson^([sic]).

1833, Charles Augustus Davis, “Letter III […] ”, in Letters of Jack Downing, Major […] , New-York: Harper & brothers, published 1834, page 36:

The epistles are not dated far apart; and in the second, the writer, who dwelleth near ‘Mason and Dixon,’ descants upon the awful climate hereabout in the summer months.

1843, Charles Fenno Hoffman, John Holmes Agnew, “Editor's Table”, in The Knickerbocker; Or, New-York Monthly Magazine, volume 22, New-York: John Allen, page 185:

The Soviet press was disseminating in Africa and Asia stories about black children in the South being denied adequate schooling, black accident victims dying because no white hospital in the South would admit them, and African diplomats being refused access to white restaurants and washrooms while traveling south of the Mason-Dixon line.

2022, Gary Gerstle, chapter 2, in The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order […] , New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, Part I. The New Deal Order, 1930–1980:

The boundary between the free and slave states at the time of the American Civil War, or between states with different segregationist policies in the Jim Crow era.


gaja

Audio (US)

Transliteration of Sanskrit गज (gaja, “elephant; gaja”).

translit

(Hinduism) The sacred name for the elephant


Pericles

From Latin Periclēs, from Ancient Greek Περικλῆς (Periklês, “far-famed”), from περί (perí, “around”) + κλέος (kléos, “glory”).

der

Perikles (alternative)
Periklis (alternative)

A male given name from Ancient Greek, of mostly historical usage


bundler

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

She [Sandberg] was a reliable and prominent Democratic bundler.

2021 July 8, Sheera Frenkel, Cecilia Kang, “Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg’s Partnership Did Not Survive Trump”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


neoteric

From Late Latin neotericus, from Hellenistic Greek νεωτερικός (neōterikós), from comparative of Ancient Greek νέος (néos, “new”).

neoterical (alternative)
neoterick (alternative)

Among our neoteric verbs, those in -ize are exceedingly numerous.

1873, Fitzedward Hall, Modern English, page 294:

Should it all come crashing in on us . . . will there be enough luddites, whose hands remember, to free us from the chains of neoteric technology?

A few words on the two neoteric terms, cybertext and ergodic, are in order.


neoteric

neoterics (plural)
neoterical (alternative)
neoterick (alternative)

(historical) any poet who belonged to the neoterics, a series of avant-garde Latin poets who wrote in the 1st century BC such as Catullus, Helvius Cinna, Publius Valerius Cato, Marcus Furius Bibaculus and Quintus Cornificius.


Ganesha

Ganesa (alternative)
Ganesh (alternative)

(Hinduism) A Hindu god of intellect, wisdom, gates, and beginnings, son of Parvati and Shiva.


Church of England

The English branch of the Christian Church; (since the 16th century) specifically the established Protestant church in England which is the mother church of the Anglican Communion.


chariot

From Middle English chariot, from Old French chariot, from char (“cart”), from Latin carrus (“wagon”). Displaced native Old English hrædwæġn (literally “fast wagon”).

ncog

A two-wheeled horse-drawn cart, used in Bronze Age and Early Iron Age warfare.


apple of discord

en-noun

apple of discord (plural apples of discord)

A reference to the μῆλον τῆς Ἔριδος (mêlon tês Éridos, “apple of Eris”) in Greek mythology, a golden apple inscribed ‘for the fairest female’ which Eris (known as Discordia to the Romans), the goddess of discord and strife, tossed in the midst of the feast of the gods at the wedding of Thetis and Peleus. This provoked a dispute among Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera as to who was the most beautiful, and eventually led to the Trojan War.

He has determined to enter the cabinet surrounded with creatures only, and, as to the Parliament, to trust to his dexterity and strength in throwing the apple of discord, occasions for doing which will, he imagines, soon and frequently occur.

1804 May 19, “Summary of Politics”, in William Cobbett, editor, Cobbett’s Weekly Political Register, volume V, number 20, London: Printed by Cox and Baylis, Great Queen Street; published by Richard Bagshaw, Bow Street, Covent Garden; …, →OCLC, column 768:

He [Pope Pius VII] had hardly regained Rome when a domestic incident in the Bonaparte family became the immediate cause of that struggle between Pope and Emperor which only ended with the downfall of Napoleon's power. This apple of discord was the outraged honour of a Protestant girl, which the Holy Father maintained in the face of her angered Imperial brother-in-law.

1875, Mary H[elen Agnes] Allies, “The Apple of Discord”, in The Life of Pope Pius the Seventh, London: Burns and Oates, Portman Street and Paternoster Row, →OCLC, page 91:

The apportionment of U.S. military assistance to Turkey and Greece has become an apple of discord almost as bitterly disputed by the recipients as the one Aphrodite received from Paris, which touched off the Trojan Wars.

1992, Monteagle Stearns, “The 70 Percent Solution to Our Military Aid Dilemma”, in Entangled Allies: U.S. Policy toward Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus, New York, N.Y.: Council on Foreign Relations Press, →ISBN, page 40:

As in the old days when the tribes were fighting each other over hunting grounds, territories and agricultural land, today DRC [the Democratic Republic of the Congo] is prone to many internal conflicts. Especially in the eastern part of the country today's apples of discord appear to be the much-coveted minerals such as gold, diamonds, coltan, and uranium.

2008, Anthonie Th. Polet, “Between Expectations and Reality in the DRC: Opportunities for Cimic”, in Sebastiaan J. H. Rietjens, Myriame T. I. B. Bollen, editors, Managing Civil-Military Cooperation: A 24/7 Joint Effort for Stability (Military Strategy and Operational Art), Aldershot, Hampshire, Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate Publishing, →ISBN, page 123:

An object or topic which sows anger and dissension; something which causes argument, rivalry, or strife.

Greek mythology
Jacob Jordaens
Museo del Prado


demos

From Ancient Greek δῆμος (dêmos, “ordinary citizens, common people from a district, in a city-state”).

uder

(originally Ancient Greece) An ancient subdivision of Attica (δῆμος); (now also) a Greek municipality, an administrative area covering a city or several villages together.


delict

Borrowed from Latin delictum (“fault”), from neuter of delictus, past participle of delinquo (“to be lacking; to fail; to transgress”), from dē- + linquō (“to leave, quit, forsake, depart from”).

(civil law, Scots law) A wrongful act, analogous to a tort in common law.

civil law; Scots law; civil law; Scots law


Nader effect

Named after Ralph Nader, whose candidacy for President of the United States in the year 2000 was contended to have "spoiled" the election for Al Gore, by taking away enough votes from Gore in Florida and many other states to allow George W. Bush to win.

(US politics) The effect that a candidate for the corresponding political office (especially the office of President of the United States) can have on a close political election, when their candidacy results in the election being won by a candidate dissimilar to them, rather than a candidate similar to them.


trifecta

In fact, there are about a dozen states, including California, Massachusetts, Washington, and Illinois, where Democrats have won the trifecta—they control the governor's seat as well as both houses of the state legislature.

2013 June 26, Steven Hill, “So the Voting Rights Act Is Gutted—What Can Protect Minority Voters Now?”, in The Atlantic:

It’s not just Florida, of course. Republican trifectas in states across the country have introduced and passed dozens of bills aimed at the public existence of trans and other gender-nonconforming people.

2023 December 12, Jamelle Bouie, “Red States and Blue States Are Becoming Different Countries”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(US politics) The complete legislative and executive control of state or federal government by one party: governorship, the upper house, and the lower house of state or federal legislatures.

trifekta

control by one party of the federal or state government


Snoopy

Some dogs will be back porch familiars — beagles with soulful, Snoopy eyes: Dalmatians with spots; bassets with mitten ears; Siberian huskies with wolfish voices; Collies that look just like Lassie.

1978 January 20, “A Day For Dogs And Dog Lovers”, in Milwaukee Journal:

My daughter calls these "Snoopy eyes" after the childlike presentation of the beagle in Schulz's cartoon Peanuts.

2005, Russell Dale Guthrie, The nature of Paleolithic art, page 93:

Mary Mann, another sophomore, sits on the roof of a red dog house, giving her most enigmatic Snoopy look.

2006 April 14, “Good Grief! A Student Musical.”, in The Virginian Pilot:

Being excessive or overzealous only gives the patient a surprised “Snoopy” look.

2009, Douglas Hamilton with Babak Azizzadeh, Beverly Hills Beauty Secrets, page 161:

Charlie Brown's pet beagle in the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz; often representing doggish soulfulness.


détente

Unadapted borrowing from French détente (“relaxing”).

ubor

Analogous structural and political constraints stood in the way of a lasting détente between Germany and Britain.

2012, Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers, Penguin, published 2013, page 318:

No step the United States could take anywhere in the world would bring strategic benefits as great as detente with Iran.

2014 January 14, Stephen Kinzer, “Invading Iraq was dumb enough. Now Congress wants to derail the Iran deal”, in The Guardian:

(chiefly politics) A relaxing of tension, especially between countries.

разра́дка

a relaxing of tension, especially between countries


uke

From Japanese 受け (uke), derived from the verb 受ける (ukeru, “to receive, to get”).

Yaoi uke in fanfics often bear the brunt of stereotypical "negative female characteristics" such as passivity, helplessness, and masochism.

2008, Tan Bee Kee, “Rewriting Gender and Sexuality in English-language Yaoi Fanfiction”, in Antonia Levi, Mark McHarry, Dru Pagliassotti, editors, Boys’ Love Manga: Essays on the Sexual Ambiguity and Cross-Cultural Fandom of the Genre, McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 142:

You'd rather have Sebas be an uke?

2010, Pentabu, My Girlfriend’s a Geek, volume 1, Yen Press, published 2012isbn=9780316221801:

Shizuku is so, so, so cute! I love him as an uke so much I can't stand it!

2010, Kyoka Wakatsuki, “Afterword”, in The Selfish Demon King, Digital Manga Publishing, →ISBN:

(Japanese fiction, fandom slang) A passive or submissive male fictional character in a same-sex relationship; a bottom.


McCarthyism

From McCarthy + -ism, named after United States Senator Joseph McCarthy. Originates from a 1950 Washington Post political cartoon by Herbert Block.

named-after

An important symptom of the difference between McCarthyism and Birchism is the shift in the geographical center of gravity.

1964, Daniel Bell, The Radical Right, page 234:

The intense opposition to, and fear and suspicion of, Communism, particularly in the United States during the 1950s.


Incredible Hulk

en-noun

Incredible Hulk (plural Incredible Hulks)

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

Named after the Incredible Hulk, a Marvel Comics Universe character with green skin.

A green-colored cocktail made with equal parts of the fruit liqueur Hpnotiq and Hennessy brand cognac poured over ice.


/ˌeɪt͡ʃtuːˈoʊ/

Two H initials (Hishammuddin Hussein) represented by H₂ + O for Onn, chosen to humorously match the chemical formula for water.

(Malaysia, Internet slang, humorous, politics) Hishammuddin Hussein Onn, Malaysian politician and son of Hussein Onn, third prime minister of Malaysia.


ichor

ichor (countable and uncountable, plural ichors)

Sense 1 (“liquid said to flow in place of blood in the veins of the gods”) is borrowed from Medieval Latin ichor, from Ancient Greek ῑ̓χώρ (īkhṓr, “fluid running through the veins of gods, ichor; watery part of blood, lymph, serum; watery part of milk, whey; gravy; pus; naphtha”); further etymology unknown, probably from Pre-Greek.
Sense 2.4 (“fetid, watery discharge from a sore”) is from Middle English icor, icore [and other forms], from Medieval Latin ichor; see further above.

der

This ſaid, ſhe wip’d from Venus’ wounded Palm / The ſacred Ichor, and infus’d the Balm.

1716, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, “Book V”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume II, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, page 40, lines 505–506:

With his protruded ſpear her gentle hand / He wounded, piercing through her thin attire / Ambroſial, by themſelves the Graces wrought, / Her inſide wriſt, faſt by her roſy palm. / Blood follow'd, but immortal; ichor pure, / Such as the bleſt inhabitants of heav'n / May bleed, nectareous; […]

1791, Homer, “[The Iliad.] Book V.”, in W[illiam] Cowper, transl., The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 121, lines 387–393:

He [Saint Peter] potter'd with his keys at a great rate, / And sweated through his apostolic skin: / Of course his perspiration was but ichor, / Or some such other spiritual liquor.

1822 October 15, Quevedo Redivivus [pseudonym; Lord Byron], “The Vision of Judgment”, in The Liberal. Verse and Prose from the South, 2nd edition, volume I, number I, London: […] John Hunt, […], published 1823, →OCLC, stanza XXV, page 11:

(Greek mythology) The liquid said to flow in place of blood in the veins of the gods.


maya

Shankara prescribed meditative reflection, through which each individual could pierce the veil of maya and come to recognize the identity between his or her essence and the universal spirit.

2016, Sunil Khilnani, Incarnations, Penguin, published 2017, page 58:

(Hinduism, Buddhism) The power by which the universe is made to appear; the illusion of the phenomenal world, as opposed to its true or spiritual reality.


IDS

(UK politics) Initialism of Iain Duncan Smith.


Fenian Cycle

(Irish mythology) A body of prose and verse focusing on the exploits of the mythological hero Fionn mac Cumhail and his warriors the Fianna Éireann.

cicle fenià

a body of prose and verse focusing on the exploits of the mythological hero Fionn mac Cumhail and his warriors


Fianna Éireann

Meaning "Soldiery of Ireland", named after the mythological Fianna


EFF

(South Africa, politics) Initialism of Economic Freedom Fighters.


Graces

From Latin Gratiae, from gratia (“grace”), from Ancient Greek χᾰ́ρῐς (khắrĭs, “grace, charity”).

<i class="Latn mention" lang="en">grace</i>, charity

(Greek mythology) Three sister goddesses in Greek mythology (Euphrosyne, Aglaia, and Thalia), in whom beauty was deified.


First Amendment

The claimant believed his First Amendment rights had been violated, but the judge was unsure of whether it was a First Amendment issue.

Our First Amendment class discussed the McCain-Feingold Act today, and I'm convinced people who claim money should be granted First Amendment protection are just defending the corrupt status quo of decades past.

What are the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States here referred to [in the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]? […] Among these we are safe in including those which in the Constitution are expressly secured to the people, either as against the action of the Federal or State governments. Included in these are the rights of freedom of speech, and the right peaceably to assemble. […] We find that Congress is forbidden to impair them by the first amendment, and the States are forbidden to impair them by the fourteenth amendment.

1871 May, Circuit Judge William Burnham Woods, “The Power of Congress to Pass the Enforcement Act—The Fourteenth Amendment Construed—The Rights of Citizens of the States and United States Considered.—The United States v. John Hall, Jr., and William Pettigrew. Heard before Woods, Circuit, and Busteed, District JJ., on demurrer to the indictment. [U.S. Circuit Court, 8. D. of Alabama.]”, in The Internal Revenue Record and Customs Journal: A Weekly Register of Official Information on Internal Revenue and Customs, volume XIII, New York, N.Y.: W[illiam] C[onant] & F[rancis] P[harcellus] Church, publishers, office, no. 39 Park Row, →OCLC, page 182, column 3:

One scholar has noted that the [Warren Earl] Burger Court has invalidated more statutes on First Amendment grounds than any previous "court" […]

1981, Thomas A. Schwartz, A Reconceptualization of the First Amendment: The Burger Court and Freedom of the Press, 1969–1980 (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation), Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, →OCLC, page 224:

We have enshrined some of the most cherished rights of Americans in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, including freedom of religion, speech, press, the right to assemble, and petition the government for a redress of grievances.

2002, Clyde E. Willis, “Preface”, in Student's Guide to Landmark Congressional Laws on the First Amendment (Student's Guide to Landmark Congressional Laws), Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, →ISBN:

By considering public opinion data on free press rights against the backdrop of modern First Amendment jurisprudence, we seek to offer new and original insights into the nature of popular support for these rights – and, in the process, we hope to provide a more sophisticated understanding of how the U.S. democratic system actually works

2002, David A[listair] Yalof, Kenneth Dautrich, “Preface and Acknowledgements”, in The First Amendment and the Media in the Court of Public Opinion, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page viii:

The United States has generally not been successful in terms of exporting the First Amendment in the formal or legal sense, even to western democracies with which it shares much in common. Although they have rejected many of the First Amendment’s doctrines and standards, many nations have embraced its general norms, principles, and ideals. Indeed, the American First Amendment has had a profound and lasting effect on expressive and religious liberties throughout the world.

2014, Timothy Zick, “Exporting the First Amendment”, in The Cosmopolitan First Amendment: Protecting Transborder Expressive and Religious Liberties, New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 346:

2019 July 29, Elizabeth Nolan Brown on Reasonhttps://reason.com/2019/07/29/section-230-is-the-internets-first-amendment-now-both-republicans-and-democrats-want-to-take-it-away/
Section 230 Is the Internet's First Amendment.

freedom of the press
freedom of the press

The amendment to the constitution of the United States pertaining to freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of the press.

First Amendment
Newseum
United States Constitution


STAB

(fandom slang, Pokémon) A 50% damage boost applied when a Pokémon uses a move with the same type as itself (for example, an Electric-type Pokémon using an Electric-type move).


FEM

(Philippine politics) Initialism of Ferdinand Marcos, 9th President of the Philippines.


quinquennial

Borrowed from Latin quīnquenniālis, from quīnquennium (“5-year period”) + -ālis, from quīnquennis (“5-year”) + -ium (“-ium: forming abstract nouns”), from quīnque (“five”) + annus (“year”) + -is (suffix forming compound adjectives).

(historical) Synonym of quinquennalia, the festival and religious ritual held in the 5th year of a Roman emperor's reign.


X-Phile

1995, Ngaire Genge, The Unofficial X-Files Companion: An X-Phile's Guide to the Mysteries, Conspiracies, and Really Strange Truths Behind the Show, Crown Trade Paperbacks, →ISBN:

1998, Richard Corliss, Time, quoted in Peter Bart, The Gross: The Hits, the Flops — the Summer That Ate Hollywood, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN, page 227,
And that’s enough to turn an X-phile into an ex-phile.

2003, Robynn J. Stilwell, "The sound is ‘out there’: score, sound design and exoticism in The X-Files", in Allan F. Moore (ed.), Analyzing Popular Music, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 70,
The X-Files – as any X-Phile could tell you – divides into two kinds of episodes: the mythology shows, which further the overarching plot of Mulder’s search for the truth that is ‘out there’ about the US government conspiracy to conceal the alien presence; and the stand-alone shows.

My involvement in coffee connoisseur (Kozinets, 2002), Star Trek fan (2001) and X-Phile (1997) communities was high.

2006, Robert V. Kozinets, “Netnography 2.0”, in Russell W. Belk, editor, Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods in Marketing, Edward Elgar Publishing, →ISBN, page 133:

(fandom slang) A fan of the television series The X-Files.


nationalist

en-adj

nationalist (comparative more nationalist, superlative most nationalist)

more nationalist (comparative)
most nationalist (superlative)

The anti-German riots which erupted simultaneously in many countries in response to the torpedoing of the Lusitania by a German U-boat in 1915 reflected shifts in the status of minorities in multi-ethnic societies at a time of escalating nationalist emotions.

2013 November 5, Tilman Dedering, “‘Avenge the Lusitania’: The Anti-German Riots in South Africa in 1915”, in Immigrants & Minorities, volume 31, number 3, →DOI, pages 256–288:


nationalist

You are either a globalist or a nationalist; one cannot be both.

The dilemma arose from what nationalists perceived as an intolerable disjuncture between the broad geographical extent of Serbdom—the imagined community of Serbs—and the Serbian state as a territorial homeland.

2011, Gerard Toal, Carl T Dahlman, Bosnia Remade, page 53:


Bolshevik

en-noun

Bolshevik (plural Bolsheviks or Bolsheviki)

Bolsheviks (plural)
Bolsheviki (plural)
bolshevik (alternative)

Borrowed from Russian большеви́к (bolʹševík), from большинство́ (bolʹšinstvó, “majority”).

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

(historical) A member of the Communist Party that ruled the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

bolshevik

a member of the majority faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party, which seized power in the October Revolution of 1917


Zouave

From French, from Arabic زَوَاوِيّ (zawāwiyy), used to refer to a Kabyle soldier, especially of the Igawawen people.

(military, historical, by extension) One of a body of soldiers who adopt the dress and drill of the Zouaves in French service, as was done by a number of volunteer regiments in the army of the United States in the Civil War (1861–65).


naiad

From Latin Nāïas, from Ancient Greek Νᾱϊάς (Nāïás, “naiad”), from νάω (náō, “to flow”).

(Greek mythology) A female deity (nymph) associated with water, especially a spring, stream, or other fresh water.

Any of various aquatic plants of the genus Najas.


simurgh

simurghs (plural)
seemurgh (alternative)
simorg (alternative)
simorgh (alternative)
simurg (alternative)
Senmurv (alternative)
Senmurw (alternative)

(Iranian mythology) A gigantic winged benevolent creature.


okrug

From a Slavic language; compare Russian о́круг (ókrug) or Serbo-Croatian округ/okrug.

An administrative division of some Slavic states.


oblast

From a Slavic language, probably Russian о́бласть (óblastʹ, “region, province”), borrowed from Old Church Slavonic область (oblastĭ), from Proto-Slavic *obolstь, from earlier *obvolstь, *obvoldtь, a compound of *o(b)- (“over”) + *volstь (“rule, power, authority”), thus originally probably meaning "a region ruled over". Compare Proto-Slavic *obvoldati (“to rule”).

der

The territorial subdivision below the level of the union republic — or at least below the level of the larger union republics — is that of the oblast, the krai, or the autonomous republic. In 1977 there were 120 oblasts, 6 krais, and 20 autonomous republics, and they corresponded roughly to the American state in size.

1979, Jerry Fincher Hough, How the Soviet Union Is Governed, page 483:

It is important to note, however, that the general pattern of Nizhnii Novgorod oblast at the top and Tiumen' and Yaroslavl' oblasts in the middle, with Saratov at the bottom, occurred too often across all indicators to assume that even those differences in means that were not significant at a .05 confidence level or better occurred merely by chance.

2002, Kathryn Stoner-Weiss, Local Heroes: The Political Economy of Russian Regional Governance, page 119:

Almaty oblast (distinct from Almaty city) is the most rural of Kazakhstan's oblasts, at just 22.2 percent urban.

2010, Martha Brill Olcott, Kazakhstan: Unfulfilled Promise, page 194:

A region or province in Slavic or Slavic-influenced countries.


rosary

From Middle English rosarie, from Latin rosārium, here in its sense as a garland of roses. The coin usage referred to the laurel wreath appearing on the obverse bust, as opposed to the bare head on the pollard. Doublet of Rosario and rosarium.

psalter (150-bead rosary for use with the Psalms)

(historical numismatics) A 13th-century coin minted in Europe as a counterfeit debased form of the sterling silver penny of Edward I, at first accepted as a halfpenny and then outlawed.


East Berlin

(historical, Germany) The Soviet sector of Berlin between 1949 and 1990.

Østberlin

the Soviet sector of Berlin between 1949 and 1990


ISF

Indian Secular Front
w:Indian Secular Front

(Indian politics) Initialism of Indian Secular Front, a political party.


minibus

en-noun

minibus (plural minibuses or minibusses)

From mini- + bus. In the political sense, probably a back-formation from omnibus.

The minibus is the first of two funding packages the House hopes to pass this month.

2020 July 25, Danielle Haynes, “House passes 4-bill spending package”, in UPI:

(US politics) A combined spending bill for multiple departments that is smaller than an omnibus bill.


phaser

* (science fiction): For the fictional weapon coined for Star Trek: originally a "ph(oton ma)ser," later changed canonically to a "phas(ed)-e(nergy) r(ectifier)" (of "nadions", not photons).
* (phase modulation): phase + -er

Captain James Kirk: "Set your phaser on one quarter. I'll leave mine on stun."

1966 September 8, George Clayton Johnson, The Man Trap (Star Trek), season 1, episode 1:

His oddly reserved nature stands out [...]. Whyte sets his phaser on stun, not kill.

A Bajoran rushed past with an armful of phaser rifles, another with a box of hand phasers.

1999, Dafydd ab Hugh, chapter 3, in Fallen Heroes [Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; 5], New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books:

Giolitti's Gold Key art is widely admired, [...] and this is a terrific opportunity to pick up a page—set your phasers on bid.

2004, Hertiage Signature Auction #811, page 185:

I said, "Set phasers on be-a-bastard."

Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

(science fiction) Fictional energy weapon, with multiple settings for degree of intensity, from the television series Star Trek (1966–69).


Phoebus

From Middle English Phebus, from Latin Phoebus, from Ancient Greek Φοῖβος (Phoîbos).

Mor. Miſlike me not for my complexion,
The ſhadowed liuerie of the burniſht ſunne,
To whom I am a neighbour, and neere bred.
Bring me the faireſt creature North-ward borne,
Where Phœbus fire ſcarce thawes the yſicles,
And let vs make inciſion for your loue,
To proue whoſe blood is reddeſt, his or mine.

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 167:

(Greek mythology) An epithet and synonym for Helios; Phoebus Helios, after his maternal aunt, Phoebe.

By Phœbus, here's a moſt neate fine ſtreete; is't not? I proteſt to thee, I am enamord of this ſtreete now, more then of halfe the ſtreetes of Rome, againe; tis ſo polite, and terſe; […]

1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster or The Arraignment: […], London: […] [R. Bradock] for M[atthew] L[ownes] […], published 1602, →OCLC, Act III:

The heaven doth not contain so many stars,
So many leaves not prostrate lie in woods,
When autumn’s old and Boreas sounds his wars,
So many waves have not the ocean floods,
As my rent mind hath torments all the night,

17th century, William Drummond, Sextain I, in English Poetry, published 1907, page 162

And heart spends sighs, when Phœbus brings the light.

For she recalled the edict which decreed
If in one day she did not take or kill
The challenger (to this King Charles agreed),
She was his captive and must do his will.
Phoebus was soon to plunge his golden head
Into the western sea when of her skill
And strength the Maid at last began doubt,
While her fatigue was putting hope to rout.[…]

1991 August 29, Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso: Part Two (Orlando Furioso), Penguin UK, →ISBN, →OCLC:

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) An epithet and synonym for Apollo; Phoebus Apollo.


Virgil

From Middle English Vyrgyle, from Latin Virgilius, from the Roman clan name Vergilius, from Etruscan and of unknown meaning.

A small town in Beadle County, South Dakota.


Moonie

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

The Unification Church, or the "Moonies" as they are commonly known, have a thriving work in South Africa, with their headquarters in Hillbrow and a Moonie farm near Muldersdrift.

I am a proud Korean – a proud Moonie – and a dedicated anti-Communist and I intend to remain so the rest of my life -Bo Hi Pak

1991, Carlton Sherwood, Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, Regnery Gateway, →ISBN:

We "Moonies" were willing to sacrifice personal choice to spin gold out of the raw silk of ourselves, to help create world harmony through family harmony.

2005 July 3, Renee Watabe, “Modern Love - A Leap of Faith”, in New York Times:

(informal) A member of the Unification Church; a follower of its founder Sun Myung Moon

How did Moonie get his nickname? He told us it had something to do with him being born during a full moon.

2013, Hayden Nicholas, Ezekiel's Choice,, WestBow Press, page 100:

Michael "Moonie" Miller was feeling pretty good about things. The day was beautiful. A little breeze, nice and warm, was blowing in from the desert as if often does this time of year in the Los Angeles basin. Two days before Halloween and it's 81 degrees, mid-afternoon. It can't get much better than this, he thought. "Moonie" acquired his nickname years ago but it was hardly relevant anymore.

2010, Bob Ruchhoft, Phil Smith, Good Cop, Dead Cop,, Author House:

He was nicknamed Moonie, because he was such a daydreamer in school.

2005, Maggie Siggins, Bitter Embrace: White Society's Assault on the Woodland Cree, McClelland & Stewart, page 128:

(informal) A nickname in English-speaking countries, sometimes for a person who moons around.

The Moonies and the Dragonballers aren't minorities; they're as large or larger than any other group of animeniacs you're going to find.

1995 December 12, Sea Wasp [username], “Re: Too Many SM/DB posts! ARRGGHH!!!”, in rec.arts.anime (Usenet):

Nope, you're not the only Moonie here. Unfortunately, the US Bandai figures are kinda ugly.

1997 January 3, thewkt [username], “Re: Sailor Moon blow-out at Kay-Bee”, in rec.toys.action-figures (Usenet):

Mike- who has a Sailor Moon webpage up, carries a Sailor Moon wallet and matching coinpurse irl and is just in general a major Moonie.

1998 September 14, Mike Oliva, “OT Sailor Moon”, in alt.games.everquest (Usenet):

(fandom slang) A fan of the Japanese manga and anime franchise Sailor Moon.


agon

agon (countable and uncountable, plural agons or agones)

From Latin agōn, from Ancient Greek ἀγών (agṓn, “contest”).

(uncountable) A two-player board game played on a hexagonally-tiled board, popular in Victorian times.


gorgon

From Middle English gorgon, from Latin Gorgō, from Ancient Greek Γοργώ (Gorgṓ), from γοργός (gorgós, “terrible”). Possibly from the same root as the Sanskrit word "garğ" (गर्जन), which is defined as a guttural sound, similar to the growling of a beast, thus possibly originating as an onomatopoeia.

(Greek mythology) A vicious female monster from Greek mythology with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes. One of the three sisters: Medusa, Stheno and Euryale


homestead

Ultimately from Old English hamstede through an unattested Middle English word. Cognate with German Heimstatt, Dutch heemstede and Swedish hemstad. By surface analysis, home + stead.

чифлик

He owned exactly six hundred and forty acres of what stretched outside his door; his own original homestead and timber claim, making three hundred and twenty acres, and the half-section adjoining, the homestead of a younger brother who had given up the fight, gone back to Chicago to work in a fancy bakery […]

1913, Willa Cather, chapter 2, in O Pioneers!, Part 1:

A house together with surrounding land and buildings, especially on a farm; the property comprising these.

(Canada, US) A parcel of land in the interior of North America, usually 160 acres, that was distributed to settlers from Europe or eastern North America under the Dominion Lands Act of 1870 in Canada or the Homestead Act of 1862 in the United States.


UDC

Universal Decimal Classification
w:Universal Decimal Classification

Initialism of Universal Decimal Classification.

United Daughters of the Confederacy
w:United Daughters of the Confederacy

Initialism of United Daughters of the Confederacy.

‘My cousin gave me Their Eyes Were Watching God. She had it in a class. She goes to UDC. I liked that book.’

2001, Percival Everett, Erasure, Faber & Faber Limited (2021), page 26:

w:University of the District of Columbia

Initialism of University of the District of Columbia.


kokoro

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

/ˈkoʊkəˌɹoʊ/

Borrowed from Japanese 心(こころ) (kokoro, “heart, mind, spirit”).

Fame is for weenies. I'd rather be remembered for inventing a weird guitar effect or a recording technique than becoming famous by a song, unless the song is genuinely from my kokoro.

1992 December 7, Mike, “Re: When Things Go Wrong”, in bit.listserv.allmusic (Usenet), message-ID <ALLMUSIC%92120719125825@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU>:

(fandom slang, chiefly anime and manga) A heart.


genii

On the 11th Century glass bowl above, the painted figures—winged genii, nude athletes and brawny soldiers—resemble mythological characters but may be only lighthearted mimicry of ancient Greek or Roman subjects.

1980, Colin Thubron, Seafarers: The Venetians, page 40:

plural of genius
(Roman mythology) Guardian spirits.


mora

From Latin mora (“duration of time, delay”).

(Scots law) A delay in bringing a claim.


FDR

F.D.R. (alternative)
F. D. R. (alternative)

Over the course of his [Eisenhower's] two terms in office, his administration's expenditures on public works actually exceeded those of FDR and Truman.

2022, Gary Gerstle, chapter 1, in The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order […] , New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, Part I. The New Deal Order, 1930–1980:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
w:Franklin D. Roosevelt

(US politics) Initialism of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32ⁿᵈ US president.

Coordinate term: GDR

Federal Democratic Republic
Federal Democratic Republic#English

Initialism of Federal Democratic Republic.

Abbreviation of West Germany. (Federal Republic of Germany)


Apophis

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

From Ancient Greek Ἄποφις (Ápophis), a borrowing from Egyptian ꜥꜣpp altered after ὄφις (óphis, “snake”).

(Egyptian mythology) An evil snake-god who tries to devour the sun every night.

أبوفيس

an evil snake-god who tries to devour the sun every night

The spacecraft’s navigators have worked out a trajectory that would take it to the asteroid Apophis in April 2029, just after that object, a bit smaller than Bennu, zips within an uncomfortably close but still safe 20,000 miles from Earth.

2021 May 10, Kenneth Chang, “Bye-Bye, Bennu: NASA Heads Back to Earth With Asteroid Stash in Tow”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(astronomy) An asteroid that formerly had a high risk of collision with Earth.


Late Latin

As with English, Latin also has historical periods. These are broken into Early Latin (240–70BC); the Golden Age (70BC–AD14); the Silver Age (AD14–130); Late Latin (2nd–6th century); and then Medieval Latin or Low Latin (6th–15th centuries). ]

[ 2007, elizabeth solopova, stuart d. lee, Key Concepts in Medieval Literature, section 2 Old English, sub-section (b) Anglo-Latin Writing

The form of the Latin language used between the 2nd/3rd and 6th centuries.


late unpleasantness

late unpleasantness (plural late unpleasantnesses)

It is unlikely that anyone with significant knowledge of the Army or the late unpleasantness in Southeast Asia, upon reading these two sentences, would respond other than with a scatological barnyard expletive or some more genteel utterance representing the same level of acceptance.

2003, Zane E. Finkelstein (referring to the Vietnam War), (Please provide the book title or journal name), archived from the original on 2005-08-28:

(euphemistic) A recent war, especially (historical) the American Civil War.


Clintonism

Clintonism (countable and uncountable, plural Clintonisms)

(uncountable) The policies of U.S. president Bill Clinton.


containment

containment (countable and uncountable, plural containments)

Mr. Putin has reinvigorated an alliance that spent years confused about its purpose once it lost the adversary it was formed to contain, the Soviet Union. Now, containment is back.

2022 February 18, David E. Sanger, “The United States’ Message to Russia: Prove Us Wrong”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(uncountable, countable) A policy of checking the expansion of a hostile foreign power by creating alliances with other states; especially the foreign policy strategy of the United States in the early years of the Cold War.


BD

Book of the Dead
Book of the Dead#English

(Egyptology) Initialism of Book of the Dead.


droid

Clipping of android (“robot designed to look and act like a human being”), coined by the American science fiction author Mari Wolf (born 1927) in the story “Robots of the World! Arise!” (1952), and popularized by the film Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, 1977): see the quotations.

coin

"Okay, Allie, I didn't want to have to do this, but if you insist on behaving like an astromech droid, you leave me no choice." Rory's an accountant and a Star Wars nerd.

2006, Shane Bolks, Reality TV Bites: […], New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 16:

(chiefly US, derogatory) A person having the qualities of an android; one with few or no emotions or little personality, or who acts in an unthinking manner; a robot.


ubuntu

Loanword from Zulu ubuntu (“humanity”) and Xhosa ubuntu (“humaneness, solidarity”).

Through Ubuntu the worth of all individuals are recognized and respected. As such, homophobia is an unAfrican^([sic]) because it denies people the opportunity to express their full humanity.

2006 October 26, “South Africa: LGBT Groups Respond To CONTRALESA’s Stance On Same Sex Marriage”, in OutRight Action International, archived from the original on 2015-10-26:

(South Africa) A Nguni Bantu ideology focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other.


CPSA

wikipedia:Communist Party of South Africa

Initialism of Communist Party of South Africa.


Pleiad

(Greek mythology) Any one of the Pleiades.


sceat

sceats (plural)
sceatt (alternative)
sceatta (alternative)

Learned borrowing from Old English sceatt.

lbor

1840, Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, Volume 2, Commissioners on the Public Records of the Kingdom, unnumbered page,
In the Anglo-Saxon laws there is no passage from which the value of the ‘sceat’ can be ascertained with certainty, though from some places in the laws of Ethelbirht it would appear, that, in Kent at least, 20 sceats were equal to 1 scilling.

The Obolus and the Scruple appear to have been equally familiar to the Anglo-Saxons under the names of the older sceat and penny. The Kentishmen seem to have resembled the Franks in their coinage as well as in their Wergilds, for their scilling weighed 20 sceats; and as the scilling was only a corruption of the Roman sicilicus (the shekel), or quarter-ounce weight, the Kentish ounce must have contained 80 sceats or 40 pence; in other words it was the old Salic solidus of 40 scruples, often met with in later times under the name of mancus, or heavier ounce of 30 Carlovingian (or sterling), and 40 Merovingian pence, or scruples.

1862, Eben William Robertson, Scotland Under Her Early Kings, Edmonston and Douglas, page 347:

(numismatics, historical) A small Anglo-Saxon coin, especially one made of silver; sometimes regarded as a weight (and thus a comparative measure of a coin's value).


oread

From Latin Orēas, Orēadis, from Ancient Greek Ὀρειάς (Oreiás), from ὄρος (óros, “mountain”).

The imprisoned ringlets are emancipated; 'fresh as the oread from the forest fountain,' you descend—you breathe the incense of the chocolate—not more I hope—and grow conversational and confidential over the green tea, which, with a fragrance beyond all the violets of April, rises to your lip, 'giving and taking odours.'

1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 92:

(Greek mythology) A mountain nymph; an anthropomorphic appearance of the spirit of a mountain.


triumvirate

From Latin triumvīrātus, from triumvirī (“triumvirs”) + -ātus (“-ate”).

An official group of three people, especially a ruling council of three men and particularly (historical) two such councils in Roman history.


Sisyphus

Indeed, I have looked upon the fable of Sisyphus as an allegory, and that his wife was the stone which so perpetually rolled back upon his hands, effectually retarding his weary progress up-hill.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “A Proposal of Marriage”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 132:

(Greek mythology) Son of Aeolus and Enarete, and king of Ephyra, as tragic figure doomed eternally to roll a boulder up a hill in Tartarus, a part of Hades.


fire-eater

fire-eaters (plural)
fire eater (alternative)
fireeater (alternative)

Frustrated in their attempts to change the law, fire-eaters turned their efforts to breaking it.

1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry for Freedom, Oxford, published 2003, page 103:

(US, historical) An extreme partisan for the South before the US Civil War.


Taoism

Daoism (alternative)
Tauism (alternative)
Taouism (alternative)

The Chinese New Year holiday period, being disrupted this year by the outbreak of a viral illness, has evolved over more than 3,000 years to become the most important of China’s traditional festivals.
As celebrated in China and in many other places where its known as the Lunar New Year, it is largely a secular holiday, yet it includes rituals and traditions that derive from Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, as well as from ancient myths and folk religions.

2020 January 23, David Crary, “Chinese New Year secular now but kept religious underpinning”, in AP News, archived from the original on 2022-06-15:

A religion developed from Taoist philosophy and folk and Buddhist religion and concerned with obtaining long life and good fortune often by magical means.


nebris

From Latin nebris, from Ancient Greek νεβρίς (nebrís), earlier νεβρός (nebrós, “fawn”).

(Greek mythology) The skin of a fawn, as worn by Dionysus, and as worn in his honor by his male followers and female followers (maenads) and other votaries in Ancient Greece. It has also been shown as a panther or fox skin in different contexts.


Dorothy Dixer

Dorothy Dixers (plural)
Dorothy Dix (alternative)
dorothy dixer (alternative)

Named after US advice columnist Dorothy Dix (1870–1951), who reputedly invented some of the more interesting readers’ questions she answered, + -er.

Betraying not a sign of the general mayhem he had just created, he answered a Dorothy Dixer about television violence.

2002, Don Watson, Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: A Portrait of Paul Keating PM, page 273:

On both sides of the chamber, Question Time became highly programmed. This led on the Government side to questions, almost without exception, being Dorothy Dixers of the worst kind.[…]The total domination of this sort of Dorothy Dixer under the Keating Government reduced the use of Question Time considerably.

2006, Julian Disney, J. R. Nethercote, The House on Capital Hill: Parliament, Politics, and Power in the National Capital, page 226:

The real and nasty political attack came later, in question time, when every Labor minister who stood in response to a Dorothy Dixer did so in order to aim a new kick at the cods of the Opposition leader, from a different direction.

2010, Annabel Crabb, Rise of the Ruddbot: Observations from the Gallery, page 244:

(Australian politics) A question asked of a minister by a member of their own party, to give the minister the opportunity to promote the government's work, criticise the opposition, etc.


Brigid

/ˈbɹɪ.d͡ʒɪd/

From Irish Brighid, from Old Irish Brigit, from Proto-Celtic *Brigantī (“high, exalted”).

der

The pagan Brigid was part of the Tuatha Dé Danann – a race of dieties who are said to have inhabited Ireland before the Milesians, from whom today’s Irish people are descended. Raised among druids, Brigid was the daughter of an enslaved woman and the Dagda, chief of the gods.

2024 February 5, Katy Hessel, “Move over Saint Patrick: why the world should be celebrating beer-brewing Brigid”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(Irish mythology) The goddess of the Sacred Flame of Kildare and the patron goddess of the Druids. Daughter of Dagda of the Tuatha Dé Danann.


Dagda

The Middle Irish name Dagda means “Good God” or “Shining God”, from Old Irish Dagdae, from Proto-Celtic *Dago-deiwos, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰagʰo- (“shining”) (< *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn”)) + *deywós (“divinity”).

Raised among druids, Brigid was the daughter of an enslaved woman and the Dagda, chief of the gods.

(Irish mythology) An important god in Irish mythology, portrayed as a father figure, king, and druid.


Classical Latin

The Latin language as spoken and written in formal speeches, literature, the arts, etc., by the ancient Romans.

لَاتِينِيَّة كْلَاسِيكِيَّة

Latin language as spoken and written formally


aedile

aediles (plural)
ædile (alternative)
edile (alternative)

From Latin aedīlis (“commissioner or magistrate”).

bor

Some of these encroachments may have received permission from the town council or the local aediles. A handful of painted notices found on the outside of the Amphitheatre suggest that it was the aediles who authorised the street vendors plying their trade underneath the monument’s arches, and assigned their pitches: ‘By permission of the aediles. Licensed to Caius Aninius Fortunatus’ etc., as the faint and fragmentary Latin seems to say.

2010, Mary Beard, chapter 2, in Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town:

(historical, Ancient Rome) An elected official who was responsible for the maintenance of public buildings, regulation of festivals, supervision of markets and the supply of grain and water.


third party

third parties (plural)
3rd party (alternative)
3d party (alternative)

A seller may employ a third party to perform specific services to augment the value of a product, such as packing and distribution.

(business, commerce) Someone not directly involved in a transaction; an entity beyond the seller (first party) and customer (second party).

第三方

someone not directly involved in a transaction

(law) Someone only incidentally or tangentially connected to an incident or dispute; someone other than the principals; a bystander or independent witness.

Those who belong to the Libertarian Party serve a much larger pro-liberty community and have the specific mission of electing libertarians to public office. They traditionally billed themselves as 'America's largest third party'.

2010, Duncan Watts, Dictionary of American Government and Politics, →ISBN, page 177:

(politics, chiefly US) A political party in opposition to the main parties in a two-party system.


calends

Calends (alternative)
calend (alternative)
kalends (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-calends.wav

From Middle English calendes, calendas, calendis, kalandes, kalendas, kalendes, kalendez, kalendis, kalendus (also in the singular forms calende, kalend, kalende), from Latin kalendās, accusative plural of kalendae (“first day of a Roman month”), an archaic variant of calandae, from calandus (“which is to be called or announced solemnly”), the future passive participle of calō (“to call, announce solemnly”) (referring to the Roman practice of proclaiming the first days of the lunar month upon seeing the first signs of a new crescent moon), from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to call, cry, summon”). Although the singular form calend (now obsolete, rare) appeared in English (and compare Old English calend, kalendus (“calends; a month”)), no singular form was used in Latin as recurring days of the calendar were always referred to in the plural.
Sense 2 (“a day for settling debts and other accounts”) refers to the Roman practice of fixing the calends as the day for debts to be paid.

nb...

Containing an Account of Their Manners, Customs, Diversions, Religious Rites, Philosophy, Festivals, Oracles, Laws, Arts, Engines of War, Weights, Measures, Money, Medals, Computation and Division of Time, Chronological Terms, Heresies in the Primitive Church, &c. &c.

Often with initial capital: the first day of a month.

(historical, Ancient Rome) The first day of a month of the Roman calendar.


suttee

en-noun

suttee (countable and uncountable, plural suttees)

From Sanskrit सती (satī́, “good and virtuous or faithful wife”), from सत् (sát, “true, good, right etc.”). In English usage since 1786. Doublet of sin.

uder

(historical, Hinduism) The traditional custom of a Hindu woman giving herself up to be cremated on her husband’s funeral pyre as a sign of her devotion.


Sylvia

Feminine form of a Medieval form of Silvius, from Latin silva (“forest”). In myths, Rhea Silvia was the mother of famous twins Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. 6th-century saint Silvia was the mother of the pope Gregory the Great.

(Roman mythology) Short for Princess Rhea Silvia, the mother of Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome.


Silvius

From Latin Silvius, from silva (“forest”).

(Roman mythology) The son of Ascanius and his wife.


helot

From Latin Hīlōta, from Ancient Greek Εἵλωτες (Heílōtes), possibly from ἁλίσκομαι (halískomai, “to be captured, to be made prisoner”) or from Ἕλος (Hélos, “Elos”), a Laconian town.

[…] when one of their kings dies, not only the Spartans, but a certain number of the country people from every part of Laconia are forced, whether they will or no, to attend the funeral. So these persons and the helots, and likewise the Spartans themselves, flock together to the number of several thousands, men and women intermingled; and all of them smite their foreheads violently, and weep and wall without stint, saying always that their last king was the best.

1942, “Erato”, in George Rawlinson, transl., The Persian Wars, translation of original by Herodotus:

(historical, Ancient Greece) A member of the ancient Spartan class of serfs.


Mithraic

From Mithras + -ic. First attested in English circa 1678. More at Mithras.

[T]hat the Druids deliberately adopted Mithraic, Serapic or other exotic rituals is, to me, unthinkable.

1928, Lewis Spence, Mysteries of Britain, page xii. 249:


Uathach

(Irish mythology) The daughter of Scáthach and later the lover of Cúchulainn (after a duel with Cochar Crufe).


Cethern

(Irish mythology) In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, an Ulster warrior (son of Fintan) who assists Cúchulainn in the Táin Bó Cúailnge.


Táin Bó Cúailnge

(Irish mythology) The central tale in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology.


Cú Roí

The first element is apparently cú (“hound”); the second probably means "battlefield", making the whole term "hound of the battlefield".

(Irish mythology) A king of Munster and sorcerer who was killed by Cúchulainn and avenged by his son, Lugaid mac Con Roí, who was subsequently killed by Conall the Victorious.


Clymene

(Greek mythology) A nymph married to Iapetus, mother of Prometheus, Epimetheus, Menoetius and Atlas.


Flidais

(Irish mythology) A woodland goddess whose chariot is drawn by deer.


Mesgegra

Mes Gegra (alternative)
Mes Gedra (alternative)

Conall the Victorious
Conall the Victorious

(Irish mythology) The king of Leinster during the events of the Ulster Cycle. He was killed by Conall the Victorious.


Mórrígan

the Mórrígan (canonical)
Morrígan (alternative)
Morrigu (alternative)

From Irish Mór-Ríoghain ("great queen"), from Middle Irish Morrígan.

(Irish mythology) An Irish mythological figure widely considered to be a goddess, and usually interpreted as a triple goddess.


Macha

(Irish mythology) The wife of Nemed. She died only twelve days after arriving in Ireland.


Donn Cuailnge

(Irish mythology) The Brown Bull of Cooley: an extremely fertile stud bull over whom the Táin Bó Cúailnge was fought.


dilithium

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

Fifty years later and it seems like we should—I don’t know if dilithium crystals are out there—but, you know, we should be getting some breakthroughs.

2016 October, Scott Dadich, quoting Barack Obama, “Barack Obama Talks AI, Robo Cars, and the Future of the World”, in Wired, →ISSN:

(science fiction) A fictional crystalline mineral in the Star Trek franchise, described as an essential component of anti-matter energy generation systems.


Liberal Democrat

en-noun

Liberal Democrat (plural Liberal Democrats)

(Australian politics, UK politics) a member of the Liberal Democrats political party


greenback

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


Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats (UK)
Liberal Party (UK)
Social Democratic Party (UK)

From the merger of the Liberals and the Social Democrats.

(UK politics) A centrist political party

(Australian politics) A right-wing libertarian political party


DAD

Currently replaying in preparation for DAD, and the Josiemance is still as lovely as I remember.

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf
w:Dragon Age: The Veilguard

(fandom slang) Initialism of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf (early title of Dragon Age: The Veilguard).


Hyperborea

From Ancient Greek ὑπερβόρεος (huperbóreos), i.e. ὑπέρ (hupér, “over”) + βόρειος (bóreios, “northern”).

(Greek mythology) the land of sunshine and plenty, beyond the northern wind, home to the hyperboreans, a race of giants

Hyperborea

The mythical land of sunshine and plenty


drachm

drachms (plural)
dram (alternative)
drachme (alternative)
dram (alternative)

Borrowed into late Middle English from Old French dragme (modern French drachme), from Late Latin dragma. Doublet of dirham.

(obsolete, numismatics) Alternative form of drachma: a Greek silver coin weighing one drachma.


tomacco

A tomato plant grafted onto a tobacco plant.


MLK

M.L.K. (alternative)
M. L. K. (alternative)

Our own research suggests that MLK’s “I have a dream” is indeed a “hope booster”.

2009, Anthony Scioli, Henry Biller, Hope in the Age of Anxiety, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 367:

This rare convergence occurs because MLK Day is always observed on the third Monday in January, while Inauguration Day is constitutionally mandated for January 20.

2025 January 6, Adeola Adeosun, “Inauguration Day 2025: This Rare Calendar Quirk Hasn't Happened in 28 Years”, in Newsweek:

Martin Luther King Jr.
w:Martin Luther King Jr.


Cassandra

From Ancient Greek Κασσάνδρα (Kassándra).

And so when Cassandra foretold the evils that were to come upon Troy, even her own people would not credit her words.

1897, Michael Clarke, The Story of Troy, page 30:

(Greek mythology) A prophetess who was daughter of King Priam of Troy and his queen Hecuba. She captured the eye of Apollo and was granted the ability to see the future; however, she was destined never to be believed.


Ottoman Empire

/ˈɒtəmən ˈɛmpaɪə/

/ˈɑtəmən ˈɛmpaɪɹ/

Ottoman, from Middle French Ottoman, from post-classical Latin Ottomanus, from Ottoman Turkish عثمان (osman), from Arabic personal name عُثْمَان (ʕuṯmān) + Empire. As Osman is the Turkish spelling of that male Arabic given name ʿUṯmān, the Ottoman Empire is sometimes referred to as the Osman Empire, Osmanic Empire, or Osmanian Empire. Over the centuries the Ottoman Empire existed, it was commonly referred to as Turkey.

Under their fluctuating rule an Ottoman Empire was indeed to survive, with varying fortunes, for a further three and a half centuries. But it was an empire in the continual throes of a decline which, despite periods of respite and glimpses of momentary recovery, was to prove irreversible.

1979, Lord Kinross, The Ottoman Centuries: the Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire, page 616:

It does not seem very convincing to view a major world empire, with the most modern arms at its disposal, as merely the helpless victim of circumstances beyond its control. Even less attractive are "stage theories," which assume that at a given point in time the Ottoman Empire, its economy included, passed from the stage of "florescence" into that of "decay."

1997, Suraıya Faroqhı, Bruce McGowan, Donald Quataert, Şevket Pamuk, with Halil İnalcık as editor, An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire: Volume Two, 1600-1914, page 470

Most of the textbooks consider the period of Murad III (1574-1595) and particularly the murder of the Grand Vizier Sokullu Mehmed Pasha in 1579 as the beginning of the internal decay of the Ottoman Empire. The debacle of Vienna in 1683 the following defeats in the hands of the Holy League and the subsequent Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 are mostly dealt with in a relatively detailed way, [...]

2001, Selçuk Akşin Somel, The modernization of public education in the Ottoman Empire, 1839-1908, page 198:

This was a factor in one of the major long-term weaknesses of the Ottoman Empire, namely the relatively small size of its Turkish population, which limited its ability to colonize conquered regions. [...] In no meaningful sense was Anatolia the empire's metropolis. This might seem strange to Europeans, who are and always were much inclined to use the words Ottoman and Turkish interchangeably when describing the empire.

2002, Dominic Lieven, Empire: The Russian Empire and Its Rivals, page 130:

(historical) A large Turkish empire which began as a Turkish sultanate centered in modern Turkey; founded in the late 13th century, it lasted until the end of World War I.


bakchoi

From Ancient Greek βάκχοι (bákkhoi), from Βάκχος (Bákkhos).

(Ancient Greece) In the Eleusinian Mysteries, the branches that initiates swung along the ground along the Sacred Way, the 22-kilometer pilgrimage from Athens to Eleusis.


Caesarian

From Caesar + -ian, but see also Caesarean section § Etymology.

(British) Alternative spelling of Caesarean.


Lebor Gabála Érenn

The title translates as The Book of the Taking of Ireland.

(Irish mythology) A loose collection of poems and prose narratives recounting the mythical origins and history of an Irish race from the creation of the world down to the Middle Ages.


dana

Transliteration of Sanskrit दान (dāna) or Pali dāna.

The virtue of generosity or giving, a form of alms, in Indian philosophy.


Auster

For a Tempeſt. Take Eurus, Zephyr, Auſter and Boreas, and caſt them together in one Verſe. Add to theſe of Rain, Lightning, and of Thunder (the loudeſt you can) quantum ſufficit. Mix your Clouds and Billows well together till they foam, and thicken your Deſcription here and there with a Quickſand. Brew your Tempeſt well in your Head, before you ſet it a blowing.

1714 June 10, [Alexander Pope], The Guardian, volume I, number 78, London: Printed for J[acob] Tonson, at Shakespear's-Head over-against Catherine-street in the Strand, page 332:

(Roman mythology) The god of the south wind.


Cimmerian

/sɪˈmɪəɹ.ɪ.ən/

From the Latin Cimmerius, from Ancient Greek Κιμμέριος (Kimmérios, “pertaining to the Cimmerii”) + -an.

der

The city, there, of the Cimmerians stands
With clouds and darkness veil’d, on whom the sun
Deigns not to look with his beam-darting eye,

1791, Homer, translated by William Cowper, The Odyssey of Homer:

On their mysterious shores were the improbable homes of impossible peoples. The Great Sea, the Broad Sea, the Boundless Sea; the Ethiopians, "dwelling far away, the most distant of men," and the Cimmerians, "covered with darkness and cloud," where "baleful night is spread over timid mortals."

1900, Jack London, The Shrinkage of the Planet:

(Greek mythology) Any of the mythical people supposed to inhabit a land of perpetual darkness.

Κιμμέριος

any of the mythical people supposed to inhabit a land of perpetual darkness


florin

From Middle English florin, floren, from Old French florin, from Italian fiorino (“little flower”). Doublet of fiorino.

Any of several gold coins once produced in Florence, Italy; model for the other currencies.

ֆլորին

any of several gold coins once produced in Florence, Italy

A pre-decimal British coin, worth two shillings or ten new pence.


maat

From Afrikaans maat (“mate, buddy”). Doublet of mate.

A lot of my maats went west.

2007, William Higham, The Hammarskjold Killing, page 226:


Underground Railroad

the Underground Railroad (canonical)
Underground Railway (alternative)

(historical) The pre-American Civil War anti-slavery resistance movement dedicated to helping escaped slaves to reach safe territory.


epithalamium

en-noun

epithalamium (plural epithalamiums or epithalamia)

epithalamiums (plural)
epithalamia (plural)
epithalamion (alternative)

/ɛpɪθəˈleɪmɪəm/

Learned borrowing from Latin epithalamium, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐπιθαλάμιον (epithalámion, “bridal song”), neuter form of ἐπιθαλάμιος (epithalámios), from ἐπί (epí, “upon”) + θάλαμος (thálamos, “inner chamber, wedding chamber”).

der

Softly she laughed and sighed, and swift her glances flew. She shook her heavy tresses, and their perfume filled the place; she struck her little sandalled foot upon the floor, and hummed a snatch of some old Greek epithalamium.

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

He has wittily redone a tardy epithalamium and some nursery rhymes ("Three blind eunuchs"), and deftly catches the cozy lawnfuls of plastic dwarfs and flamingos, outside the kenneled people.

1976, Choice - Volume 13, Issues 8-12, page 1300:

(Ancient Greece) A song in praise of the bride or bridegroom


ahimsa

Already, at this very early date, the ritualists were moving towards the ideal of ahimsa ("harmlessness") that would become the indispensable virtue of the Indian Axial Age.

2006, Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation, Atlantic Books, published 2007, page 79:

This, in essence, is the Jain doctrine of ahimsa – a direct inversion of Vedic beliefs about the sustaining powers of animal sacrifice.

2016, Sunil Khilnani, Incarnations, Penguin, published 2017, page 9:

(Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) A doctrine of non-violence, concerned with the sacredness of all living things and an effort to avoid causing harm to them.

不殺生 /不杀生

doctrine of non-violence in Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism


Horus

From Late Latin Hōrus, from Ancient Greek Ὧρος (Hôros), from Egyptian ḥr.

(Egyptian mythology) The ancient Egyptian falcon-headed god of the sun, sky, war, and kingship.


Isis

Learned borrowing from Latin Īsis from Ancient Greek Ἶσις (Îsis), from Egyptian st-t:H8-B1 (ꜣst).

Grant me profane kiss / Oh Isis, mother ov all / Thy lips like morphine / Teasing my slumbering heart

2009, Behemoth, Defiling Morality ov Black God:

(Egyptian mythology) An ancient Egyptian goddess, the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, worshiped as the ideal mother and wife and as the matron of nature and magic.


hamadryad

en-noun

hamadryad (plural hamadryads or hamadryades)

hamadryads (plural)
hamadryades (plural)

From Latin Hamadryas, from Ancient Greek Ἁμαδρυάς (Hamadruás), from ἅμα (háma, “together”) + δρῦς (drûs, “tree”).

af

The hamadryades have gone, like the golden fancies of which they were engendered—morning dreams of a young world scarce awake, but full of freshness and beauty. Yet often will the thought, or rather the fancy, come across me, that this wailing but most musical noise—heard in the dim evening, when every tree has a separate sound like a separate instrument, and every leaf a differing tone like the differing notes—is the piteous lament of some nymph pent within the gray and mossy trunk whence she may never more emerge in visible loveliness.

1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 301:

The various supports, rafters, braces and plates are of pandanus logs of a rich oily brown, and make one think of a sylvan cathedral where hamadryads might very well dance, where Syrinx might be chased by Pan, Daphne by Apollo, and various other heathen rites take place in the dark hours before the dawn.

1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka, Eland, published 2019, page 106:

(Greek mythology) A wood-nymph who was physically a part of her tree; she would die if her tree were felled.


hetaera

hetaerae (plural)
hetaeras (plural)
hetaira (alternative)
hetæra (alternative)

From Ancient Greek ἑταῖρα (hetaîra), feminine of ἑταῖρος (hetaîros, “companion”).

Coordinate term: courtesan

But of course our friend is only a shallow twentieth-century reproduction of the great hetairae of the past, the type to which she belongs without knowing it, Lais, Charis and the rest...

(historical, Ancient Greece) A highly cultivated hired female companion who would entertain upper-class male clients and might perform sex acts for them.


hyperborean

hyperboreans (plural)
Hyperborean (alternative)

/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


legate

From late Old English, from Old French legat, from Latin legatus (nominal use of perfect passive participle of lego (“bequeath, send as envoy”)).

Legate, I had the news last night—my cohort ordered home
By ships to Portus Itius and thence by road to Rome.

1911, Rudyard Kipling, “The Roman Centurion’s Song”, in The History of England:

The deputy of a provincial governor or general in ancient Rome.


lustrum

refn

From the collection of the Louvre in Paris, France.

We puſh Time from us, and we wiſh Him back; / Laviſh of Luſtrums, and yet fond of Life; / Life we think long, and ſhort; Death ſeek, and ſhun; […]

1742–1745, [Edward Young], “Night the Second. On Time, Death, Friendship. Humbly Inscrib’d to the Right Honourable the Earl of Wilmington.”, in The Complaint: Or, Night-thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality, London: Printed for A[ndrew] Millar […], and R[obert] Dodsley […], published 1750, →OCLC, page 29, lines 172–174:

Thus passed away two lustra of her life, and, as yet, my daughter remained nameless upon the earth. "My child," and "my love," were the designations usually prompted by a father's affection, and the rigid seclusion of her days precluded all other intercourse. Morella's name died with her at her death. Of the mother I had never spoken to the daughter;—it was impossible to speak.

1835 April, Edgar Allan Poe, “Morella”, in The Southern Literary Messenger: Devoted to Every Department of Literature, and the Fine Arts, Richmond, Va.: T. W. White, →OCLC; republished in The Works of Edgar Allan Poe: In Four Volumes, volume I, New York, N.Y.: W. J. Widdleton, publisher, 1849, →OCLC, page 473:

I am hardly, if I do not deceive myself, twenty years old, and already, dearest Rosamunda, there weigh upon my existence twenty lustrums, and of these twenty lustrums I have drunk the bitterness of intranquility even to the dregs, without having done more than touched with my lips the joy of the first days of my childhood beside you.

1852, Adadus Calpe [pseudonym; Antonio Diodoro de Pascual], chapter XIV, in Henry Edgar, transl., The Two Fathers. An Unpublished Original Spanish Work. … Translated into the English Language by the Author, and Henry Edgar. Part Second: Hector Alone, New York, N.Y.: Stringer & Townsend, publishers, […]; George P[almer] Putnam, […], →OCLC, page 189:

Q. Now, sir, if you would be so kind as to guess upon his age. / A. Forty five years are certain. I would guess a lustrum more.

1985, John Fowles, A Maggot, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN:

(by extension, literary) Synonym of quinquennium: Any 5-year period.


cognomen

en-noun

cognomen (plural cognomens or cognomina)

From Latin cognōmen, from con- (“with”) + nōmen (“name; family name”).

af

Julius Caesar's actual name was Gaius Iulius Caesar. Gaius was his praenomen or forename, Iulius his nomen or surname, and Caesar his cognomen, denoting which part of the Iulius family he belonged to.

Roman tradition suggests that he might also have had the cognomen Octavian to indicate his biological family.

2007, David Potter, chapter 1, in The Emperors of Rome, page 36:

"Five hundred years or more afterwards, the family migrated to Rome under circumstances of which no trace remains, and here, probably with the idea of preserving the idea of vengeance which we find set out in the name of Tisisthenes, they appear to have pretty regularly assumed the cognomen of Vindex, or Avenger."

(historical) A personal epithet or clan name added to the given name and family name of Ancient Romans.

Cognomen

the third part of the name of a citizen of ancient Rome


time immemorial

en-noun

time immemorial (usually uncountable, plural times immemorial)

from time immemorial

My home is in the North of Palestine on the other side of Jordan, beyond the Sea of Galilee. My family has dwelt there from time immemorial, but they always loved this city, and have a legend that they dwelt occasionally within its walls, even in the days when Titus from that hill looked down upon the temple.

1870, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter XVII, in Lothair. […], volume III, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, pages 177–178:

The tower had been consecrated to this ancient diversion from time immemorial, the western façade conveniently forming the boundary of the churchyard at that end, where the ground was trodden hard and bare as a pavement by the players.

1874, Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC:

She had worn from time immemorial an old blue satin dress, and a white crape shawl embroidered in colors; […]

1875 January–December, Henry James, Jr., Roderick Hudson, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co., published 1876, →OCLC; republished as Roderick Hudson (EBook #176), U.S.A.: Project Gutenberg, 18 September 2016:

In every Circular or Polygonal household it has been a habit from time immemorial[…]that the mothers and daughters should constantly keep their eyes and mouths towards their husband and his male friends; and for a lady in a family of distinction to turn her back upon her husband would be regarded as a kind of portent, involving loss of status.

1884, A Square [pseudonym; Edwin A. Abbott], Flatland […] , London: Seeley & Co., Part I: This World, § 4.— Concerning the Women:

The Communists have no need to introduce community of women; it has existed almost from time immemorial.

1888 [1848], Samuel Moore, transl., edited by Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto, translation of Das Kommunistische Manifest by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels:

This is a great tract of a hundred thousand acres, which from time immemorial has been a hunting preserve of the nobility.

1905 April–October, Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1906 February 26, →OCLC:

That there is and from time immemorial has been within that part of the parish called Mablethorpe St. Mary's a laudable custom that, if any outdweller take ancient pasture ground, he shall pay a modus of 4d. an acre, and so in proportion, on the 1st of August, in lieu of all manner of tithe; and that if any of the ancient pasture be once ploughed up or meadowed, it shall, when restored to pasture again, pay 4d. the acre in the hands of such outdweller.

1917, The English Reports: Exchequer, page 789:

This thing is a "pyramid" since time immemorial, shit goes downhill, money goes up: it's that simple.

2002 September 15, David Chase, “For All Debts Public and Private”, in The Sopranos, season 4, episode 1, spoken by Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini):

(countable, uncountable) Time that extends beyond memory or record.

time that extends beyond memory or record

有史以前 (yǒushǐ yǐqián, literally “before history”)

(UK law, uncountable) Time before 6 July 1189.


kryptonite

en-verb

kryptonite (third-person singular simple present kryptonites, present participle kryptoniting, simple past and past participle kryptonited)

kryptonites (present singular third-person)
kryptoniting (participle present)
kryptonited (participle past)
kryptonited (past)

From a fictional radioactive element, kryptonite, that has a detrimental effect on the otherwise invulnerable character Superman. Apparently formed as krypton (“a chemical element, Kr”) + -ite.

affix

(figuratively) To destroy, wreck, or ruin; to affect adversely, as Superman is affected by kryptonite.


Brahman

Brahma (alternative)
Brahmin (alternative)
Brahmana (alternative)
Brāhman (alternative)

Borrowed from Sanskrit ब्रह्मन् (bráhman).

(Hinduism) The unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe. The nature of Brahman is described as transpersonal, personal and impersonal by different philosophical schools.


Vedic

Of or relating to the Sanskrit language of the Vedas


Hellenic

From Ancient Greek Ἑλληνικός (Hellēnikós, “of or relating to Greece or Greeks”), from Ancient Greek Ἑλλάς (Hellás, “Greece”), equivalent to Hellen + -ic.
The English term is a learned borrowing from Ancient Greek formed in the 17th-century, attested from ca. 1640.

der

The Greek language and its dialects from the earliest records (Linear B inscriptions, about 1600-1300 B.C.E.) to the present Modern Greek.


consul

From Middle English consul, from Old English consul, from Latin cōnsul.

konsull

official who protects the interests of citizens

(historical) Either of the two heads of government and state of the Roman Republic or the equivalent nominal post under the Roman and Byzantine Empires.

قُنْصُل

either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic

early modern councilmen of southern France and Catalonia


panther

From Middle English panter, panther, pantere, from Old French pantere, from Latin panthēra, from Ancient Greek πάνθηρ (pánthēr, “panther”).

(mythology, heraldry) A creature resembling a big cat, typically incensed (“emitting fire”), and often having a multicolored hide, found in Ancient Greek mythology and in medieval and later heraldry (in which its depiction sometimes approaches that of a horse).


tet

en-noun

tet (countable and uncountable, plural tets)

(uncountable, informal, medicine) The tetralogy of Fallot.

(countable, informal, medicine) A patient with tetralogy of Fallot.


diligence

diligence (countable and uncountable, plural diligences)

The precepts against parties, to whose oath of verity any point is referred, do only command them to compear at the term, with certification, that if they compear not, they shall be holden as confessing the point referred to their oath; but precepts against witnesses cannot have that certification, but all that can be done against them, or against the havers of writs, is to compel them to appear, and depone; and therefore these precepts are called executorials, because they are for putting the acts to effect by execution: they are also called compulsitors for the same reason. And they are called diligences, because they excuse the users thereof from negligence, whereby posterior diligences being exacty followed, are preferable to prior diligences being neglected, vigilantibus non dormientibus jura subveniunt, which is founded upon that great interest to hasten pleas to an end. They are also called diligences, because though the effect do not follow, yet the user thereof hath endeavoured what he could, and so is held as in the same case as if he had obtained the command of the precept. These precepts are called executorials before executions be thereupon; but they are only called diligences when they are executed in due time.
... Diligences are of three sorts, being either upon precepts before decreets, upon acts, or upon decreets.
The last sort of diligences and executorials, viz. those after decreets, which serve for putting of decreets to execution, and making them effectual, are ordinarily horning, caption, poinding, charges to remove, and thereupon letters of possession, (which are granted on all decreets in petitory and possessory actions, but declaratory actions need none,) together with the executory actions upon arrestments, and of adjudications of lands and annualrents..

1832 James, Viscount of Stair and J,S, More. The institutions of the law of Scotland. Vol 2, p 705

(Scots law) The process by which persons, lands, or effects are seized for debt; process for enforcing the attendance of witnesses or the production of writings.


Shinto

Borrowing from Japanese 神道 (Shintō), from Middle Chinese 神道 (MC zyin dawX, “ways of the gods”), ultimately from Old Chinese 神道 (OC *hlin l'uːʔ, “ways [doings] of Heaven [in matters of fortune or fate]”).

och-l

ways 􂀿doings􂁀 of Heaven 􂀿in matters of fortune or fate􂁀

The number of Shinto deities is very great. The Yengishiki enumerates 3,132 officially recognized shrines, and although the same Gods are reckoned more than once, as being worshipped in different places, still their name is legion.

1905, W.G. Aston, Shinto: The Way of the Gods, page 66:

Formerly the state religion of Japan, a type of animism involving the worship of ancestors and nature spirits.


Brahma

Borrowed from Sanskrit ब्रह्मा (brahmā).

(Hinduism) Hindu god (deva) of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva.


chibi

en-noun

chibi (countable and uncountable, plural chibis)

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

Borrowed from Japanese ちび (chibi, “something small; runt, dwarf; pipsqueak”)

bor+

(countable) A child-like character with exaggerated features, particularly in anime.


Doitsu

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

From Japanese ドイツ (Doitsu, “Germany”) with influence from the anime Hetalia: Axis Powers; ultimately from Dutch Duits. Doublet of Dutch and Deutsch.

emTeX is from Eberhard Mattes, I believe a PhD student in Stuttgart, Doitsu.

1992 October 5, Eugene N. Miya, “[l/m 6/5/91] Soc.culture.japan references”, in soc.culture.japan (Usenet):

i'm from doitsu!

2003 March 27, FuNG [username], “icq people from japan?”, in japan.app.icq (Usenet):

How are things in Doitsu?

2008 June 18, mozark [username], “Re: My Whining 2008 Scorecard”, in alt.sports.basketball.nba.la-lakers (Usenet):

List of Hetalia: Axis Powers characters#Germany


tribune

From Middle English tribune, from Old French tribun, tribune, from Latin tribunus (“tribune, tribal leader”), from tribus (“tribe”).

der

tribune of the plebs
tribune of the plebs

(historical) An elected official in Ancient Rome, a tribune of the plebs.


oecus

Borrowed from Latin oecus, from Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos, “house”).

(history) An apartment, room, or hall in an ancient Roman dwelling house.


Watergate

/ˈwɑtəɹˌɡeɪt/

From the name of the Watergate Hotel; the complex itself was named after the "Water Gate" area where symphony orchestra concerts were staged on the Potomac River between 1935 and 1965.

An American political scandal (beginning with a burglary in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC, in 1972) that eventually led to the resignation of US President Richard Nixon.


tsarism

en-noun

tsarism (usually uncountable, plural tsarisms)

tsarisms (plural)
czarism (alternative)
tzarism (alternative)

A supporter of monarchy ruled by a tsar.


Carter

en-prop

Carter (countable and uncountable, plural Carters)

As an English name, from the occupation carter. As an Irish name, from Irish Mac Artúir (literally “son of Arthur”).

der

In September 2019, Carter warned Americans against reelecting Trump. […] In April 2021, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited the Carters at their home in Plains, after the former presidential couple was unable to travel to Washington for the 46th president’s inauguration.

2024 December 29, Stephen Collinson, “Jimmy Carter, a one-term president who became a globe-trotting elder statesman, dies at 100”, in CNN:

A surname originating as an occupation for someone who was a carter.

Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States of America

Washington County
Washington County#English

A number of places in the United States:

A former unincorporated community in Washington County, Arkansas.

An unincorporated community in Yazoo County, Mississippi.

census-designated place
census-designated place

A census-designated place in Chouteau County, Montana.

An unincorporated community in Tripp County, South Dakota.

A census-designated place in Parker County, Texas.

An unincorporated community in Wabeno, Forest County, Wisconsin.

An unincorporated community in Mercer, Iron County, Wisconsin.

A census-designated place in Uinta County, Wyoming.


Osiris

From Ancient Greek Ὄσιρις (Ósiris), from Egyptian wsjr.

(Egyptian mythology) The Egyptian god of the dead and of the underworld.


demiurge

demiurges (plural)
Demiurge (alternative)
demiurgos (alternative)
demiurgoi (alternative)
demiurgus (alternative)
demiurgi (alternative)

From Ancient Greek δημιουργός (dēmiourgós, “one who works for the people; a skilled workman, a handicraftsman”) (whence Latin dēmiūrgus, French démiurge), from δήμιος (dḗmios, “belonging to the people, public”) (from δῆμος (dêmos, “the people”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂mos (“people”), from *deh₂- (“to divide”) + Ancient Greek -ιος (-ios), from Proto-Indo-European *-yós (suffix creating an adjective from a noun)) + Ancient Greek -ουργός (-ourgós, “worker”) (from ἔργον (érgon, “labour; task; work”), from Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom (“work”)).
No relation with English demi- (as in demigod).

The demiurgi were next in power to the prætor, and therefore ſtiled by Polybius and Livy, the ſupreme magiſtrates of the Achæans. They were ten in number, choſen by the general aſſembly from among the moſt eminent men of the whole league for prudence, equity, and experience. It was their office to aſſiſt, with their advice, the prætor, who was to ſay nothing before the aſſembly, but what had been previouſly approved of by the major part of the demiurgi.

1747, George Sale et al., “Sect. III. The History of the Several States of Greece, from the Beginning of the Achæan League to Its Dissolution, and thence Succinctly to the Present Time”, in An Universal History, from the Earliest Account of Time. […], 2nd edition, volume VII, London: Printed for T[homas] Osborne, […]; A[ndrew] Millar, […]; and J. Osborn, […], →OCLC, book II (The Grecian and Asiatic History), chapter I (The History of Sparta, from Lycurgus, to Its Being Joined by Philpœmen to the Achæans), page 225:

An important Cyrenean inscription of the 4th century, defines the functions of the demiurgi in a given situation and adds that they are discharged by these magistrates in the cities (of Libya), by the hellenodikai in the Temple of Zeus Olympios (i.e. in Olympia), by the amphiktyons at Delphi, and by the hieromnamones in the Temple of Zeus Lykaios (the Lyceum of Arcadia).

1979, Shimon Applebaum, “The Greek Colonization”, in Jews and Greeks in Ancient Cyrene (Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity; 28), Leiden: E. J. Brill, →ISBN, page 39:

(historical, Ancient Greece) The title of a magistrate in a number of states of Ancient Greece, and in the city states (poleis) of the Achaean League.


Golden Fleece

[ˈɡɒʊ̯ɫ.dn̩ ˈfliːs]

(Greek mythology) A magical fleece from a winged ram guarded by the hydra in the tale of Jason and the Argonauts.


Athenian

From Latin athēniēnsis; compare Middle English Athenyensis pl and Old English Athēniense pl. By surface analysis, Athens + -ian.

(Greek mythology) Of or related to Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, technology, and skillful warfare.


Decembrist

From December + -ist, a calque of Russian декабри́ст (dekabríst).

calque

The word civicism (grazhdanstvennost’) originated in the enlightenment ideal of civic Rome, perceptions of the poet as a patriotic citizen and son of the fatherland, and Decembrist dreams of a republic.

1994, Lauren G. Leighton, Esoteric Tradition in Russian Romantic Literature: Decembrism and Freemasonry, Penn State University Press, page 17:

War and Peace grew out of Tolstoy's attempts to write a Decembrist novel, a work that first began to take shape in October 1856, when "The Distant Field" was begun.

2008, Kathryn B. Feuer, Tolstoy and the Genesis of War and Peace, Cornell University Press, page 206:

Mariia Trubnikova was raised in an atmosphere of pious reverence for Decembrist ideals.

2006, “Trubnikova, Mariia (1835-1897)”, in Francisca de Haan, Krasimira Daskalova, Anna Loutfi, editors, Biographical Dictionary of Women's Movements and Feminisms: Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe, 19th and 20th Centuries, Central European University Press, page 584:

According to or derived from the politics or philosophy of the Decembrists.


Buffyverse

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS) is a televisual artifact that contains apocalyptic rhetoric in most episodes—apocalyptic in the sense that something is about to end in the Buffyverse, and rhetorical in the sense that something is going to change in the Buffyverse.

2009, Kylo-Patrick R. Hart, Annette Holba, Media and the Apocalypse, page 77:

2009, Kevin K. Durand, It's All about Power, in Kevin K. Durand (editor), Buffy Meets the Academy: Essays on the Episodes and Scripts as Text, Part I: Power and the Buffy Canon, page 46,
In the Buffyverse, we encounter a true representation of shared power, of partnered power. Further, the “bad guys” are not the only paradigms of patriarchy in the Buffyverse that are overcome.

We can hardly be surprised when Buffy and Satsu find what warmth they can, as Willow does with her demon lover, in an intercut sex scene of the kind which typically precedes an apocalypse in the Buffyverse (#15, p. 26). Scenes like this confirm Em McAvan's point that the Buffyverse associates bisexuality with kink (paragraph 15).

2010, Lewis Call, “Slaying the Heteronormative: Representations of Alternative Sexuality in Buffy Season Eight Comics”, in Erin B. Waggoner, editor, Sexual Rhetoric in the Works of Joss Whedon: New Essays, page 115:

(fandom slang) The fictional world, or universe, which serves as the setting for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.


Pleiades

From Latin Pleiades, from Ancient Greek Πλειάδες (Pleiádes). In the astronomical sense, displaced Old English seofonstierre (literally “the seven stars”).

ncog

(Greek mythology) The "seven sisters", companions of Artemis and daughters of the Titan Atlas and the sea-nymph Pleione.


Pollux

From Latin Pollūx, from Ancient Greek Πολυδεύκης (Poludeúkēs).

(Greek mythology) One of the Dioscuri, son of Zeus and Leda, brother of Castor.


rupia

(historical) The former currencies of Italian Somaliland and Portuguese India.


Hyades

From Middle English Hyades, Yades, from Latin Hyades, from Ancient Greek Ὑάδες (Huádes), nominative and vocative plural of Ὑ̄̆ᾰ́ς (Hū̆ắs, “one of the Hyades”).

(Greek mythology) Daughters of the Titan Atlas and sisters of the Pleiades.


Proto-Greek

The earliest form of the Greek language, the common ancestor of the Greek dialects, including Mycenaean and the classical Greek dialects.

Wiktionary’s coverage of Proto-Hellenic terms


Pterelas

(Greek mythology) King of the Teleboans in Plautus' Amphitruo.


common law

(law, Scots law, Roman-Dutch law) Law of general application throughout a country, province, or state as opposed to law having only a special or local application

Scots law; Roman-Dutch law; Scots law; Roman-Dutch law


Hellen

(Greek mythology) the mythological patriarch of the Hellenes, the son of Deucalion (or sometimes Zeus) and Pyrrha, brother of Amphictyon and father of Aeolus, Xuthus, and Dorus


Mithraism

Translation (1903) of French mithriacisme, as used in 1899 by Franz Cumont as shorthand for "mystères de Mithra". Cumont was convinced that Mithraism was "Roman Mazdaism", hence his (and earlier) treatments of Latin Mithras and Avestan Mithra as synonyms, and the continuing de-inflection of the Latin name (vocative) as French Mithra.

It has left many monuments of itself here in Britain. At Rome the worship was extremely popular, and it may almost be said to have been a matter of chance whether Mithraism should overwhelm Christianity, or whether the younger religion by adopting many of the rites of the older one should establish itself (as it did) in the face of the latter.

1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 41:

"Confirmation is mithraism. So is baptism, only it was blood instead of water. As to the sacrificial meal..." Mason put his fingers in his ears.

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

An astrology-based, middle-platonic mystery religion of the 1st-4th century Roman Empire that claimed to have been founded by Zoroaster, admitted only men, and was especially popular among the Roman military.


Mithras

Learned borrowing from Latin Mithras. Doublet of Mehr, mitre, and Mitra.

A Roman god, cult figure of the 2nd-to-4th-century Roman mystery religion known as the "Mysteries of Mithras" (now colloquially Mithraism)


Shiva

From Sanskrit शिव (śivá, “the auspicious one”).

uder

Śiva (alternative)
Shiv (alternative)
Shivan (alternative)

(Hinduism) The god of destruction and transformation, and together with Brahma and Vishnu, one of the principal deities in Hinduism. Within Shaivism he is viewed as the Supreme deity, whereas in other branches of Hinduism such as the Smarta tradition he is worshipped as one of the six manifestations of the Divine.

A male given name from Sanskrit used in India.


Yuan

[...]the Founder of that Family, who took the Name of Yuen, and who is known in Europe by the Name of Zing hi, or Zing his kan, but whom the Chineſe Hiſtory calls Tchin bi ſe, and Tai tſou, after he had conquer’d the King had thoughts of carrying the War into Corea: His General, called Leou co immediately made himſelf Mafter of the Towns ſituated upon the Eaſt of the River Ya lou;[...]

[1739 [1735], P. Du Halde, “Geographical Obſervations on the Kingdom of Corea”, in The General History Of China, 2nd edition, volume IV, →OCLC, page 391:

The imperial dynasty of China from 1279 to 1368.


OST

Office of Science and Technology
w:Office of Science and Technology

(UK politics, historical) Initialism of Office of Science and Technology.


Stalin

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

Borrowed from Russian Ста́лин (Stálin), from сталь (stalʹ, “steel”) + -ин (-in, possessive suffix), from German Stahl (“steel”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *stahlą (“steel”).

suf

A surname from Russian; usually referring to the Russian [empire, republic] revolutionary and Soviet Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) Joseph Stalin.


cromulent

en-adj

cromulent (comparative more cromulent, superlative most cromulent)

more cromulent (comparative)
most cromulent (superlative)

A humorous, intentionally morphologically opaque neologism and nonce word coined by American television writer David X. Cohen (born 1966) for “Lisa the Iconoclast”, a 1996 episode of the animated sitcom The Simpsons. The ending resembles corpulent, temulent and other Latinate adjectives (derived from -ulentus (“full of, abounding in”)).

coin

Mrs. Krabappel: "Embiggens"? I never heard that word before moving to Springfield.
Ms. Hoover: I don't know why; it's a perfectly cromulent word.
[…]
Principal Skinner: He's embiggened that role with his cromulent performance.

1996 February 18, David X. Cohen, “Lisa the Iconoclast”, in The Simpsons, season 7, episode 16, production code 3F13:

Nerdcore could rise up, it could get elevated.
Oh, and wouldn’t all of those tough rappers hate it
if the nerdcore rose up and got elevated.
We consider the possibleness of this not overstated.
And I know that "possibleness" is not a cromulent word;
every syllable injected is intended to be the one you heard
(an absurd juxtaposition of mission and goal).

2005 August 27, MC Frontalot (lyrics and music), “Nerdcore Rising”, in Nerdcore Rising:

He had a boundless passion for music and entertained many with his beautiful voice and perfectly cromulent sense of humor.

2006 April 10, “Obituaries and in memoriams: Benjamin Sidney Linton”, in The Charlotte Observer:

Of course, you may encounter a new program that doesn't work reliably with UNC paths, and this is a perfectly cromulent workaround.

2008, David A. Karp, “Users and Security”, in John Osborn, Laurel R. T. Ruma, editors, Windows Vista Annoyances (Tips, Secrets and Solutions), Sebastopol, California: O'Reilly Media, →ISBN, →OL, page 505:

There are certainly other cromulent techniques which may perform well for certain models and assumptions.

2008, Alan M. Polansky, “Connections and Comparisons”, in Observed Confidence Levels: Theory and Application, Boca Raton, Florida: Chapman & Hall/CRC Press, →ISBN, →OL, section 7.3 (Multiple Comparisons), page 216:

How well does this function work? For positive integers, it's perfectly cromulent: […]

2009, Bryan O'Sullivan, John Goerzen, Don Stewart, “Functional Programming”, in Mike Loukides, editor, Real World Haskell (Code You Can Believe In), Sebastopol, California: O'Reilly Media, →ISBN, →OL, page 86:

(humorous) Acceptable, satisfactory, or valid.