Acheron

Borrowed from Latin Acherōn, from Ancient Greek Ἀχέρων (Akhérōn), probably Pre-Greek but folk-etymologically said to be from ἄχος (ákhos, “pain, distress”) + ῥέον (rhéon, “stream”).

af

And pull her out of Acheron by the heels

c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

Acheron and Phlegeton, which a subterraneous fire causes to boil, are the billows of that hell which was visited by Æneas.

1807, [Germaine] de Staël Holstein, translated by D[ennis] Lawler, “[[Book XIII. Vesuvius and the plain of Naples.] Chap[ter] IV.] The extempore effusion of Corinna on the Plain of Naples.”, in Corinna; or, Italy. […], volume III, London: […] Corri, […]; and sold by Colburn, […], and Mackenzie, […], →OCLC, page 234:

Behold! I rise from primal silence / As a storm crushing dismal shores ov Acheron

(Greek mythology) A river in the infernal regions; also, the infernal regions themselves. By some of the English poets, it was supposed to be a flaming lake or gulf.


minor

minors (plural)
miner (alternative)
maner (alternative)
minore (alternative)
minour (alternative)
mynor (alternative)
mynour (alternative)
mynowr (alternative)
mi (alternative)

From Middle English minor, menor, menour, etc., from Latin minor (“lesser; young; young person”) both directly and via Norman and Middle French menor, menour, etc. Doublet of minus but not mini-. Cognate with minister, minify, Minorca, Menshevik, and possibly minnow. Compare Latin minimum and minuō, Old High German minniro, Cornish minow.

byvak

subject of secondary undergraduate study

(Scots law, obsolete) An adolescent, a person above the legal age of puberty but below the age of majority.


Delphi

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Δελφοί (Delphoí).

(rare) A female given name from Ancient Greek, as well a diminutive of Delphine.


pope

Jamaican Creole: puop

Tok Pisin: pop

→ Hindi: पोप (pop)

→ Urdu: پوپ (pop)

From Middle English pope, popa, from Old English pāpa, from Vulgar Latin papa (title for priests and bishops, esp. and by 8th c. only the bishop of Rome), from early Byzantine Greek παπᾶς (papâs, title for priests and bishops, especially by 3rd c. the bishop of Alexandria), from late Ancient Greek πάπας (pápas, title for priests and bishops, in the sense of spiritual father), from πάππας (páppas, “papa, daddy”).

do not sit in Rome and strive with the Pope

(Coptic Orthodoxy) An honorary title of the Coptic bishop of Alexandria as father and head of his church.


czar

See tsar. The spelling czar, the older spelling in English, comes from Sigismund von Herberstein's Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii ("Notes on Muscovite Affairs") of 1549. The alternative tsar began to replace it in the 19th century.

drug czar

cyberczar

The federal mental health czar is calling for more money to expand services to help people suffering amid the social isolation imposed by the coronavirus pandemic […]

2020 May 8, Jayne O'Donnell, “'Deaths of despair': Coronavirus pandemic could push suicide, drug deaths as high as 150k, study says”, in USA Today, archived from the original on 2020-05-09:

(informal, US politics, Philippine politics) An appointed official tasked to regulate or oversee a specific area.


cartouche

Borrowed from French cartouche, from Italian cartuccia, from carta, from Latin charta, from Ancient Greek χάρτης (khártēs). Doublet of cartridge.

Besides the uncial writing on the convex side of the sherd at the top, painted in dull red, on what had once been the lip of the amphora, was the cartouche already mentioned as being on the scarabaeus, which we had also found in the casket.

1887, H. Rider Haggard, chapter 3, in She:

In 1762, Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, a French priest who was a scholar of Eastern languages, had made the inspired guess that the cartouches set off words of great importance, such as the names of gods or rulers.

2013, Margalit Fox, The Riddle of the Labyrinth, Profile 2014, page 49:

(Egyptology, hieroglyphs) An oval figure containing the characters of an important personal name, such as that of royal or divine people.


raw

From Middle English rawe, raw, rau, from Old English hrēaw (“raw, uncooked”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrau, from Proto-Germanic *hrawaz, *hrēwaz (“raw”), from Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂- (“raw meat, fresh blood”).
Cognate with Scots raw (“raw”), Dutch rauw (“raw”), German roh (“raw”), Swedish rå (“raw”), Icelandic hrár (“raw”), Latin crūdus (“raw, bloody, uncooked”), Irish cró (“blood”), Lithuanian kraujas (“blood”), Russian кровь (krovʹ, “blood”). Related also to Old English hrēow, hrēoh (“rough, fierce, wild, angry, disturbed, troubled, sad, stormy, tempestuous”). More at ree.

(anime fandom slang) A recording or rip of a show that has not been fansubbed.

生肉

anime fandom: a recording or rip that has not been fansubbed

(manga fandom slang) A scan that has not been cleaned (purged of blemishes arising from the scanning process) and has not been scanlated.

生肉

manga fandom: a scan that has not been cleaned and scanlated


decennial

From Latin decennialis, from decennium (“10-year period”) + -ālis, from decennis (“10-year”) + -ium (“-ium”, suffix forming abstract nouns), from decem (“ten”) + annus (“year”) + -is (suffix forming compound adjectives).

Roman coins mentioning the vota publica for Macrinus are RIC IV.1 5–13; on vota publica for the decennials and vicennials of emperors in the 2nd and 3rd c. ad, see Chastagnol 1984.

2022, Martin Hallmannsecker, Roman Ionia..., p. 110

(historical) Synonym of decennalia, the festival and religious ritual held in the 10th year of a Roman emperor's reign.


Sinhala

Borrowed from Sinhalese සිංහල (siṁhala), itself borrowed from Sanskrit सिंहल (siṃhala, literally “lionlike”), from सिंह (siṃhá, “lion”) + -ल (-la), recorded as the name of the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from about the 10th to 12th century, but presumably older, as it is also the source of the name Ceylon in western geographic tradition.
The name is sometimes glossed as "abode of lions", referring to a supposed former abundance of lions on the island ( The Asiatic Journal 20 (1836), p. 30). Doublet of Ceylon and Elu.


Sinhala

(Mahabharata) The kingdom in the island of Sri Lanka mentioned in the Mahabharata.


oasis

en-noun

oasis (plural oases or (rare, sometimes proscribed) oasises)

oases (plural)
oasises (plural proscribed rare sometimes)

From Late Latin Oasis, from Ancient Greek Ὄασις (Óasis), from Demotic wḥj, from Egyptian wḥꜣt (“oasis, cauldron”), G43-V28-G1-X1:N25 Compare Sahidic Coptic ⲟⲩⲁϩⲉ (ouahe) and Arabic وَاحَة (wāḥa).

It was the Lost Oasis, the Oasis of the vision in the sand. […] Deep-hidden in the hollow, beneath the cliffs, it lay; and round it the happy verdure spread for many a rood. […] Yes, the quest was ended, the Lost Oasis was the Found!

1892, James Yoxall, chapter 7, in The Lonely Pyramid:

On the edge of the dunes lies the oasis town of Dunhuang, a key strategic crossroads on the Silk Road as the routes divided to the west to skirt the Taklamakan to the north and south.

2015, Michael Welland, “Barriers and Corridors, Imports and Exports”, in The Desert: Lands of Lost Borders, Reaktion Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 317:

A spring of fresh water, surrounded by a fertile region of vegetation, in a desert.


synthesis

synthesis (countable and uncountable, plural syntheses)

From Latin synthesis, from Ancient Greek σύνθεσις (súnthesis, “a putting together; composition”), from συντίθημι (suntíthēmi, “put together, combine”), from συν- (sun-, “together”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “set, place”). Doublet of sandhi.

der

The Saturnalia was apparently the only occasion, however, when the synthesis could be worn in public with decorum.

1918, American Philological Association, Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, page 132:


Venus

From Middle English Venus, from Latin Venus.

Coordinate term: (Greek counterpart) Aphrodite

Their figures are universally models for brunette Venuses, and their feet arch like rainbows, and are Cinderellian in size.

1888 June 2, “Senoritas of Brazil. [Chicago Mail.]”, in The Cincinnati Enquirer, volume XLVI, number 154, page 13, column 3:

(Roman mythology) The goddess of love, beauty, fertility, and sexuality;


harpe

(Ancient Greece) A type of curved weapon or implement, variously described as a sickle, a pruning hook, or a curved sword like a scimitar. In later depictions it became a combination of a straight sword on one side and a curved blade on the other.


libra

libras (plural)
librae (plural)
contexts (Roman)

From Latin lībra (“pound”), partially via Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese libra. Doublet of arratel, libbra, Libra, lira, litra, litre, livre, and rottol.

doublet

Ancient Roman units of measurement#Weight

pound

Portuguese contexts, but more often used for the arratel

(historical) Synonym of pound, a notional pound of silver as a money of account, especially in medieval contexts.


pugio

The Pugio or Dagger was used by the Romans, a species of that weapon called the Hand Seax was worn by the Saxons, with which they massacred the English on Salisbury Plain in 476.

1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 34:

(historical) A dagger or poignard, especially the kind used by the Ancient Romans.


metropolis

en-noun

metropolis (plural metropolises or metropoleis or metropoles or metropolizes or metropoli or (obsolete) metropolisses or (obsolete) metropolis's)

metropolises (plural)
metropoleis (plural)
metropoles (plural)
metropolizes (plural)
metropoli (plural)
metropolisses (obsolete plural)
metropolis's (obsolete plural)

Borrowed from Late Latin mētropolis, from Ancient Greek μητρόπολις (mētrópolis, “mother city”), from μήτηρ (mḗtēr, “mother”) + πόλις (pólis, “city (state)”). By surface analysis, metro- + -polis. Doublet of metropole.

der

Colonies certainly did not become "clones" of their metropolises, but it is equally false that their colonial heritages were not influenced by the organization of the metropolises.

2010, James Mahoney, Colonialism and Postcolonial Development: Spanish America in Comparative Perspective:

(history, especially Ancient Greece) The mother (founding) polis (city state) of a colony.


hierophant

en-noun

hierophant (plural hierophants or hierophantes)

hierophants (plural)
hierophantes (plural)

/ˈhaɪəɹəˌfænt/

From Ancient Greek ἱεροφάντης (hierophántēs, from ἱερός (hierós, “holy”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “I show, make known”)).

bor

The exhibition of ancient statues, relics, and symbols, concealed from daily adoration (as in the Catholic festivals of this day), probably, made a main duty of the Hierophant.

1837, Edward Lytton Bulwer [i.e., Edward Bulwer-Lytton], Athens: Its Rise and Fall: […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, book I, page 59:

If books are as provocative as you suggest, one would expect every librarian to utter the shrill screams of a hierophant, to clash ecstatic castanets in his silent alcoves!

1919, Christopher Morley, The Haunted Bookshop, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, →OCLC:

Most scholars name the rectangular enclosure anaktoron, locate in it the throne of the hierophant, and suppose that from it emanated the central revelation which occurred, in Plutarch's phrase, ‘when the anaktora were opened’.

2005, Robert Parker, Polytheism and Society at Athens, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 351:

Eleusinian Mysteries
Eleusinian Mysteries

(Ancient Greece) An ancient Greek priest who interpreted sacred mysteries, especially the priest of the Eleusinian Mysteries.


vehicle

Borrowed from French véhicule, from Latin vehiculum (“a carriage, conveyance”), from vehere (“to carry”).

uder

(Hinduism) An animal or (rarely) a plant on which a Hindu deity rides or sits.

वाहन

Hinduism: animal or plant on which a Hindu deity sits


manticore

/ˈmæntɪˌkɔɹ/

From Latin mantichōras, from Ancient Greek μαρτιχόρας (martikhóras, “man-eater; tiger”), from Old Persian *martyahvārah (“man-eater”), from 𐎶𐎼𐎫𐎡𐎹 (m-r-t-i-y /martyaʰ/, “man”).

der

Now may I present to you the basilisk?
Please down your goggles if you wish to resist
From the fiery depths of the planet’s core
The never sleeping for want of eating unholy stench of the manticore

2005, “Circus Maximus”, performed by Clutch:

(Greek mythology) A beast with the body of a lion (usually red), the tail of a scorpion, and the head/face of a man with a mouth filled with multiple rows of sharp teeth (like a shark), said to be able to shoot spikes from its tail or mane to paralyse prey. It may be horned, winged, or both; its voice is described as a mixture of pipes and trumpets.


Third World

the Third World (canonical)
third world (alternative)
3rd World (alternative)
3rd world (alternative)

Our district has many immigrants from Third World countries

developing countries
developing countries

(sometimes derogatory) developing countries, especially that of Africa, Asia and Latin America


First World

(historical, politics) Those countries aligned with the West during the Cold War, particularly in contrast to those aligned with the East (Second World).

第一世界

first-world problems

(informal) Wealthy, developed nations, contrasted with the Third World.


Second World

Those countries aligned with the East during the Cold War, particularly in contrast to those aligned with the West (First World).


vallum

From Latin vallum. Doublet of wall comes from this word via a Proto-Germanic borrowing from Latin.

(historical, Ancient Rome) A rampart; a wall, as in a fortification.


centaur

From Latin centaurus, from Ancient Greek κένταυρος (kéntauros), from Κένταυρος (Kéntauros, “a member of a savage race from Thessaly”).

(Greek mythology) A mythical beast having a horse's body with a man's head and torso in place of the head and neck of the horse.


Khmer Rouge

/ˈkmɛəɹ ˈɹuːʒ/

/kəˈmɛəɹ ˈɹuːʒ/

Unadapted borrowing from French Khmer rouge (“red Khmer”), from Khmer (“Khmer”) + rouge (“red”).

ubor

(historical) A Cambodian communist guerrilla force active from the 1970s to the 1990s under the leadership of Pol Pot.


jayhawker

(historical) An abolitionist raider in the Kansas–Missouri border skirmishes during the American Civil War.


Saturn

From Old English Sætern, from Latin Sāturnus, probably from Etruscan 𐌔𐌀𐌕𐌓𐌄 (satre), plausibly influenced by Latin satus, past participle of serere (“to sow”).

(Roman mythology) The god of fertility and agriculture, equivalent to the Greek Kronos.


ping pong

en-noun

ping pong (countable and uncountable, plural ping pongs)

ping pongs (plural)
ping-pong (alternative)
pingpong (alternative)

→ Chinese: 乒乓球 (pīngpāngqiú)

→ Greek: πινγκ πονγκ (pingk pongk)

→ Italian: ping pong

→ Japanese: ピンポン (pin pon)

→ Korean: 핑퐁 (pingpong)

→ Portuguese: pingue-pongue

→ Russian: пинг-понг (ping-pong)

→ Spanish: ping pong

Onomatopoeic. The name “ping-pong” was in wide use before British manufacturer J. Jaques & Son Ltd trademarked it in 1901. Jaques sold the rights to the “ping-pong” name in the United States to Parker Brothers. Registered in the United States in 1930, Ping-Pong (with dash) is still a registered wordmark of Parker Brothers, Inc. Contrary to a common misconception, the word does not originate from Chinese 乒乓 (pīngpāng), though there are possibilities that the coiners encountered Chinese themselves.

(UK politics) The exchange of proposed amendments between the two Houses of Parliament, particularly at the end of a session when compromises have to be made to complete the legislative process within the limited time available.


ren

Learned borrowing from Egyptian rn, r:n-A2

For the Ren did not belong to the man, but came out of the Celestial Waters to enter an infant in the hour of his birth and might not stir again until it was time to go back.

(Egyptian mythology) One’s name, as part of the soul in ancient Egyptian mythology.


nymph

nymphs (plural)
nymphae (plural)
nymphe (alternative)

From Middle English nimphe, from Old English nymphē and Old French nimphe, both from Latin nympha (“nymph, bride”), from Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē, “bride”). Doublet of nympha.

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) Any female nature spirit associated with water, forests, grotto, wind, etc.

нимфа

mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit


nymph

en-verb

nymph (third-person singular simple present nymphs, present participle nymphing, simple past and past participle nymphed)

nymphs (present singular third-person)
nymphing (participle present)
nymphed (participle past)
nymphed (past)
nymphe (alternative)

Kuster meanwhile nymphed the middle of the Snag. When I joined him, I threw my streamer between the main channel's flow and the skinnier side-channel flow, […]

2019, James W. White, Fly-fishing the Arctic Circle to Tasmania, page 253:

(fishing) To fish using a nymph larva as bait.


lira

lire (plural)
lira (plural)
liras (plural)

From Italian lira, from Latin lībra (partly via Turkish lira, Arabic لِيرَة (līra), Maltese lira, Greek λίρα (líra), and Hebrew לִירָה (“lirá”), all of which are originally from the Italian). Doublet of arratel, libbra, Libra, libra, litra, litre, livre, and rottol.

doublet

The former currency of Italy, Malta, San Marino, Cyprus and the Vatican City, superseded by the euro


adhere

en-verb

adhere (third-person singular simple present adheres, present participle adhering, simple past and past participle adhered)

adheres (present singular third-person)
adhering (participle present)
adhered (participle past)
adhered (past)
adhære (alternative)

From Middle English *adheren (suggested by Middle English adherande (“adhering, adherent”, present participle)), from Latin adhaerēre, adhaesum: ad (“to”) + haerēre (“to stick”). Compare French adhérer.

cog

The Dictionary of the Scots Language
w:Dictionary of the Scots Language

Scottish Language Dictionaries
w:Scottish Language Dictionaries

(intransitive, Scots law) To affirm a judgment.


advise

en-verb

advise (third-person singular simple present advises, present participle advising, simple past and past participle advised)

advises (present singular third-person)
advising (participle present)
advised (participle past)
advised (past)
advise (infinitive)
advize (alternative)
avise (alternative)
avize (alternative)

From Middle English avisen (“to perceive, consider, inform”), from Old French aviser, from avis, or from Late Latin advisō, from ad + visō, from Latin videō (“to see”), visum (“past participle of videō”). See also advice.

inh

(Scots law) To deliver judgment after a case has been reserved for further consideration.


sphinx

sphinxes (plural)
sphinges (plural)
sphynx (alternative)
spynx (alternative)

From Middle English Spynx, from Latin Sphinx, from Ancient Greek Σφίγξ (Sphínx), perhaps either from σφίγγω (sphíngō, “to squeeze, to strangle”) (whence also sphincter), of Pre-Greek origin, or from Egyptian Szp:p-A53-anx-n:x (šzp-ꜥnḫ, “divine image”, literally “living image”).

der

<i class="Latn mention" lang="egy">šzp-ꜥnḫ</i>


maniple

maniples (plural)
manyple (alternative)
mainipul (alternative)
manypule (alternative)
manaple (alternative)
manipul (alternative)
manipule (alternative)
manuple (alternative)
manipil (alternative)

From Late Middle English maniple, manyple (“scarf worn as vestment, maniple”), borrowed from Middle French, Old French maniple, manipule (“handful; troop of soldiers; scarf worn as vestment”) (modern French manipule), from Latin manipulus (“bundle, handful; troop of soldiers”), from manus (“hand”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon, signal”)) + the weakened root of pleō (“to fill; to fulfil”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)). The English word is cognate with Italian manipulo (“scarf worn as vestment”) (obsolete), manipolo (“handful; troop of soldiers; scarf worn as vestment”).
Sense 2 (“part of a priest’s vestments”) is probably from the fact that the item was originally carried in the hand. It may originate from a handkerchief or napkin worn by Roman consuls as an indication of rank.

cog

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

Holonym: legion

[T]hey divided the Haſtati, Principes, and Triaris, each of them into 10 companies, making of thoſe three ſorts of ſouldiers 30 ſmall regiments, which they called Manipuli: And again, they ſubdivided each maniple into two equall parts, and called them Ordines, which was the leaſt company in a legion, and according to the rate ſet down by Polybius, contained 60 ſouldiers. […] By this therefore it may appear that a legion conſiſted of four ſorts of ſouldiers, which were reduced into ten cohorts, and every cohort contained three maniples, and every maniple two orders, and every order had his Centurion marching in the head of the troop, and every Centurion had his Optionem, or Lieutenant, that ſtood in the tail of the troop.

1655, Clement Edmond[e]s, “The Second Commentary of the Wars in Gallia. [Observation.]”, in Julius Caesar, translated by Clement Edmond[e]s, The Commentaries of C. Julius Cæsar, of His Warres in Gallia, and the Civile Warres betwixt Him and Pompey, Translated into English: […], revised edition, London: […] R[oger] Daniel; and are to be sold by Henry Tvvyford, […], Nathaniel Ekins […], and Iohn Place […], →OCLC, book II, page 43:

And preſently changing the Order of his March, made his Flank which was next the Enemy thrice as ſtrong as it was before; plac'd ſeveral Spearmen and Slingers between the Battalions or Maniples of foot; planted all the Cavalry in the Wings; And after a brief Excitation to his Soldiers, caus'd the Army in this Figure to file off to the Left, and towards the Plain.

1709, Caius Crispus Sallustius [i.e., Gaius Sallustius Crispus], “The History of Caius Crispus Sallustius: Containing an Account of the Jurgurthine War”, in John Rowe, transl., Caius Crispus Sallustius the Historian Made English. […], London: […] Richard Sare, […], →OCLC, page 126:

Crossing the ditch, he was followed first by the men of his own maniple, and then by the whole legion.

1828, Titus Livius [i.e., Livy], “Book XXV.—Chapter XIV.”, in [anonymous], transl., The History of Rome by Titus Livius, the Twentieth to the Thirtieth Books Inclusive, […], volume I, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] D. A. Talboys and J. Vincent, →OCLC, page 317:

Our Army, besides being of an insignificant strength compared with the physical force of the country, and so detached and scattered as to be mere maniples of men, has been so frequently into its original elements of citizenship, and has at all times so mingled with our social institutions, as to appear a homogeneous part of the grand community, and only a better regulated and more effective body of militia.

1833 June, “Art. II.—Documents Communicated to Congress by the President, at the Opening of the Second Session of the Twenty-second Congress, Accompanying the Report of the Secretary of War.”, in American Quarterly Review, volume XIII, number XXVI, Philadelphia, Pa.: [Henry Charles] Carey, [Isaac] Lea & Blanchard […], →OCLC, page 298:

He [Ignatius of Antioch] was taken to Rome in the custody of a maniple of ten soldiers.

1945, H. Burn-Murdoch, “Ignatius, Bishop and Martyr, a.d. 110”, in Church, Continuity & Unity, 1st paperback edition, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, published 2014, →ISBN, page 120:

There was an insane delight to be taken in their mission. They were but two maniples. If the alarm were raised, thousands of Syracusan defenders would rise from their beds, drunk or not, and annihilate them. If it weren't, the rewards would be immeasurable.

2014, Ben Kane, Hannibal: Clouds of War, London: Arrow Books, Random House, →ISBN, page 426:

(Ancient Rome, military) A division of the Roman army numbering 120 (or sometimes 60) soldiers exclusive of officers; (generally, obsolete) any small body of soldiers.


World War I

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-World War I.wav

WWI (alternative)
World War 1 (alternative)
World War One (alternative)

(history) The war from 1914 to 1918 between the Entente Powers of the British Empire, Russian Empire, France, Italy, the United States and other allied nations, against the Central Powers represented by the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.

第１次世界大戦

だいいちじせかいたいせん


apa

A title used for male clergy or saints in the Coptic Church.


demon

demons (plural)
daimon (alternative)
daemon (alternative)
dæmon (alternative)

Anthony the Great
Michelangelo
en:demon
en:demon (disambiguation)

From Middle English demon, a borrowing from Medieval Latin dēmōn, daemōn (“lar, familiar spirit, guardian spirit”), from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn, “dispenser, god, protective spirit”). Doublet of daimon.

der

(Greek mythology) A tutelary deity or spirit intermediate between the major Olympian gods and mankind, especially a deified hero or the entity which supposedly guided Socrates, telling him what not to do.


pharaoh

en-noun

pharaoh (countable and uncountable, plural pharaohs)

pharaohs (plural)
pharao (alternative)
Pharaoh (alternative)
pharaon (alternative)

From Middle English pharao (also as pharaon, farao, faraon, etc.), from Old English Pharao, from Late Latin Pharaō, from Ancient Greek Φαραώ (Pharaṓ), from Hebrew פַּרְעֹה (par‘ōh), from Egyptian pr-ꜥꜣ (“palace, pharaoh”, literally “pr (“house”) + ꜥꜣ (“great, big”)”).

der

And the Egyptians ſhall know that I am the Lord, when I haue gotten me honour vpon Pharaoh, vpon his charets, and vpon his horſemen.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 14:18, column 1:

(historical) The supreme ruler of Ancient Egypt; a formal address for the sovereign seat of power as personified by the "king" in an institutional role of Horus son of Osiris; often used by metonymy for Ancient Egyptian sovereignty


cornucopia

en-noun

cornucopia (countable and uncountable, plural cornucopias or cornucopiae or (archaic) cornucopiæ)

cornucopias (plural)
cornucopiae (plural)
cornucopiæ (archaic plural)

Borrowed from Latin cornūcōpia (“mythical horn of plenty”), from cornū (“horn”) + cōpia (“abundance”).

bor+

Device, an anchor held by a hand from the clouds: behind the anchor are a kind of brackets, in the form of cornucopiæ, croſſed; […]

1786, Typographical Antiquities: or An Historical Account of the Origin and Progress of Printing in Great Britain and Ireland: […], volume II, London: […] [F]or the Editor, and sold by Mr. T. Payne and Son, […], page 1163:

It soon came: as they were on their way to a transparency of their majesties, not a little larger than life—with Bellona, in a very handsome helmet, on one side, and Peace, with a cornucopia and a full blown wreath of roses, on the other—the path was interrupted by a little knot of gentlemen.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Fête”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 59:

So far as Swedenborg’s elucidation extends, it is comprised in seven groupings of this family; and, possibly, the Hebraic forms of the several names which are included in them, may at some future period, like so many cornucopiæ of wisdom, yield abundance of precious fruit to the Biblical student.

1849, Elihu Rich, A Biographical Sketch of Emanuel Swedenborg: With an Account of His Works, London: E. Rich, […], page 139:

A head of Trajan, between two cornucopiæ, under which is a winged foot, with a caduceus and a dolphin.

1851, B[ram] Hertz, Catalogue of the Collection of Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Indian, Peruvian and Mexican Antiquities, London: […], page 46:

On these the details of the cornucopiae resemble those familiar in the Hellenistic world: from the horn, filleted and filled to overflowing with bunches of grapes, […]

1975, Yaʻaḳov Meshorer, Nabataean Coins, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, page 25:

The three cornucopiae which branch out to hold the candles are apparently unparalleled and this in itself offers some encouragement for regarding the pieces as by Giuseppe, for the majority of his designs seem to have been cast once only (counting for this purpose a pair as a unique item, as with the lower parts of the Victoria and Albert Museum firedogs).

1981, Charles Avery, Studies in European Sculpture, Christie’s, →ISBN, page 66:

There are other mysteries expressed by the bison horn, the Paleolithic original of which the classical cornucopia is a copy: the horn of plenty is the universal vulva from which emerge all the creatures of life, plants, animals, and humans.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 105:

The two cornucopiae carried by the figure likely identify her as Isis, but they also make clear her inanimate status.

2021, Stephanie Pearson, “[The Lure of Egyptian Treasures] Egyptian Gods as Lamp Stands”, in The Triumph and Trade of Egyptian Objects in Rome: Collecting Art in the Ancient Mediterranean, De Gruyter, →ISBN, page 69:

(Greek mythology) A goat's horn endlessly overflowing with fruit, flowers and grain; or full of whatever its owner wanted: or, an image of a such a horn, either in two or three dimensions.

قرن الوفرة

mythical horn endlessly overflowing with food and drink


pileus

Borrowed from Latin pīleus, a form of pilleus (“a felt cap”).

Coordinate term: Phrygian cap

Among the Romans the cap of felt was the emblem of liberty. When a slave obtained his freedom he had his head shaved, and wore instead of his hair an undyed pileus.

1859, William Smith, editor, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, page 920:

(historical, Ancient Rome) A conical felt hat worn in Ancient Rome and Greece.

plisi

felt hat worn in ancient Rome and Greece


reduce

en-verb

reduce (third-person singular simple present reduces, present participle reducing, simple past and past participle reduced)

reduces (present singular third-person)
reducing (participle present)
reduced (participle past)
reduced (past)

From Middle English reducen, from Old French reduire, from Latin redūcō (“reduce”); from re- (“back”) + dūcō (“lead”). See duke, and compare with redoubt.

(transitive, Scots law) To annul by legal means.


shilling

Sranan Tongo: sren

From Middle English schilling, shilling, from Old English sċilling, from Proto-Germanic *skillingaz, equivalent to skill + -ing. Doublet of scalding and schilling.

look as if one had lost a shilling and found sixpence

A great bargain also had been[…]the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire. In fact, that arm-chair had been an extravagance of Mrs. Bunting. She had wanted her husband to be comfortable after the day's work was done, and she had paid thirty-seven shillings for the chair.

1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0016:

(historical) A coin formerly used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta, Australia, New Zealand and many other Commonwealth countries worth twelve old pence, or one twentieth of a pound sterling.


decimalisation

en-noun

decimalisation (usually uncountable, plural decimalisations)

decimalisations (plural)
decimalization (alternative)

Specifically, conversion of the currencies of the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1971 from pounds, shillings and pence to a decimal system in which one pound was worth 100 new pence (later renamed simply pence).


Thatcherism

From Thatcher + -ism. Popularized by Jamaican-born British sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall in an article in Marxism Today, see quotations.

coin

Thus “Thatcherism” is—give or take one or two elements—the corresponding political bedfellow of a period of capitalist recession: the significant differences between this and other variants of Tory “philosophy” being conceived as without any specific pertinent political or ideological effects.

1979 January, Stuart Hall, “The Great Moving Right Show”, in Marxism Today, page 14:

(UK politics) The political ideology attributed to the governments of British prime minister Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990), characterised by, among other things, a free market economy, privatisation, low taxation, austerity and opposition to unionisation.

撒切爾主義 /撒切尔主义

political ideology of Thatcher's governments


Thatcherite

en-adj

Thatcherite (comparative more Thatcherite, superlative most Thatcherite)

more Thatcherite (comparative)
most Thatcherite (superlative)

/ˈθæt͡ʃəɹaɪt/

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

named-after

a Thatcherite policy

Morgan, by his own description represented the new spirit of Thatcherite enterprise.

(UK politics) Of or relating to Thatcherism.

He has a Thatcherite outlook on life.


Thatcherite

/ˈθæt͡ʃəɹaɪt/

(UK politics) An advocate of Thatcherism.


Thatcher's children

She has not begun to stem the tide of British ugliness—the yobbish teenagers shivering in their torn gear; the shoddy streets littered with fast-food packaging; the drunks urinating on London's tube platforms; the drug culture. It is facile to call those concerned “Thatcher's children”: she is not responsible for their actions.

London's financial district, like New York's, had its “big bang,” after which, as though from dragon's teeth, Yuppies sprang up, armed with Porsches and mobile telephones. They included, inevitably, some unattractive specimens, and much of their wealth has proved evanescent. To call them “Thatcher's children” is both unfair and unhistorical. Just the same corner-cutting, money-obsessed types can be found in the novels of Trollope and Galsworthy. At the other end of the scale are the workers in moribund industries, the unmarried mothers, and the feckless young, all those who have come to expect more from the welfare state than the welfare state could ever provide: They too are called “Thatcher's children”: but their problems would have existed whatever government was in power.

1990, Anthony Lejeune, “Class”, in National Review, volume 42, number 21, pages 81–84:

Negus (2002), for example, characterizes intermediaries in the music industry in London as “public schoolboys”; in Manchester they have been seen as “Thatcher's children,” the unemployed and disaffected.

2005, Justin O'Connor, “Cities, Culture and ‘Transitional Economies’: Developing Cultural Industries in St. Petersburg”, in John Hartley, editor, Creative Industries, Wiley-Blackwell, page 255:

The social group in Britain that came to be known as ‘Thatcher's children’ (benefiting from the right-wing monetarist policies of Margaret Thatcher's government) were also called ‘yuppies’ (young, upwardly-mobile professionals, especially those working in money markets and the Stock Exchange). They often originated in the south-east of England and their profit motives were legitimised by government policy in favour of free market economics.

2007, Nikolas Coupland, Style: Language Variation and Identity, Cambridge University Press, page 96:

Non-unionism was now the norm across swathes of the private sector so that only an estimated 16% of employees were organised by trade unions by 2006. Increasingly younger workers aged between sixteen and twenty-four – known as Thatcher's children – saw little point in being trade union members.

2007, Anthony Seldon, Blair's Britain, 1997–2007, Cambridge University Press, page 228:

People who grew up or were born in the United Kingdom during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990) and who adopted the ideology of Thatcherism.


antebellum

From the Latin ante bellum (literally “before the war”).

bor

Slavery was an accepted part of antebellum plantation life.

There was no single characteristic house style during the antebellum period, but the elegant plantation homes built in the American South, with their central entrances, balconies, columns, and formal ballrooms, came closest to representing a discrete architectural style for the period.

2004, James M. Volo, Dorothy Denneen Volo, The Antebellum Period, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 115:

(US) Of the period prior to the American Civil War, especially in reference to the culture of the southern states.


Adonis

The Phœnician Adonis was identical with Tammūz.

1866, Sabine Baring-Gould, Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, S. George:

1900, James Frazer, The Golden Bough, Chapter 42: Osiris and the Sun,
A strong reason for interpreting the death of Osiris as the decay of vegetation rather than as the sunset is to be found in the general, though not unanimous, voice of antiquity, which classed together the worship and myths of Osiris, Adonis, Attis, Dionysus, and Demeter, as religions of essentially the same type. The consensus of ancient opinion on this subject seems too great to be rejected as a mere fancy. So closely did the rites of Osiris resemble those of Adonis at Byblus that some of the people of Byblus themselves maintained that it was Osiris and not Adonis whose death was mourned by them.

1921, Jessie Weston, From Ritual to Romance, Chapter X: The Secret of the Grail (1) - The Mysteries,
As Sir J. G. Frazer has before now pointed out, there are parallel and over-lapping forms of this cult, the name of the god, and certain details of the ritual, may differ in different countries, but whether he hails from Babylon, Phrygia, or Phoenicia, whether he be called Tammuz, Attis, or Adonis, the main lines of the story are fixed, and invariable. Always he is young and beautiful, always the beloved of a great goddess; always he is the victim of a tragic and untimely death, a death which entails bitter loss and misfortune upon a mourning world, and which, for the salvation of that world, is followed by a resurrection.

(Greek mythology) A beautiful young man loved by Aphrodite.


PDD

People Demand Democracy
w:People Demand Democracy

(UK politics) Initialism of People Demand Democracy.


Holy Grail

the Holy Grail (canonical)
Holy Grails (plural)

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

From Middle English Holy Grayle.
(web page layout): So called because it was traditionally difficult to achieve with the available markup.

(Arthurian legend) An artifact in Arthurian mythology, being the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper and in which some of his blood was caught during the crucifixion.


theme

-iːmi (for the sense dealing with the Byzantine empire only)

From Middle English teme, from Old French teme, tesme (French thème), from Latin thema, from Ancient Greek θέμα (théma), from τίθημι (títhēmi, “I put, place”), reduplicative from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, do”) (whence also English do). Doublet of thema.

Theme

computing: collection of color schemes, sounds, artwork etc.

(linguistics) Topic, what is generally being talked about.

aihe

linguistics: topic, what is generally being talked about


panic

en-adj

panic (comparative more panic, superlative most panic)

more panic (comparative)
most panic (superlative)
panick (alternative)

The adjective is borrowed from Middle French panique, a word itself borrowed from Ancient Greek πανικός (panikós, “pertaining to Pan”); Pan, the Greek god of fields and woods, was believed to be the source of mysterious sounds that caused contagious, groundless fear in herds and crowds, or in people in lonely spots.
Adjective sense 3 (“pertaining to or resulting from overpowering fear or fright”) is partly an attributive use of the noun.
The noun is derived from the adjective, while the verb is derived from the noun. Verb sense 1.3 (“to highly amuse, entertain, or impress (an audience watching a performance or show”) is derived from noun sense 4 (“a highly amusing or entertaining performer, performance, or show”).

der

(Greek mythology, archaic) Alternative letter-case form of Panic (“pertaining to the Greek god Pan”)


provost

From Middle English, from late Old English prōfost, prāfost, from Late Latin prōpositus, variant of Latin praepositus (“[one] placed in command”). In some senses, via Anglo-Norman provolt; via Anglo-Norman and Old French provost (modern French prévôt). As a Central European ecclesiastical office, via German Propst, Danish provst, etc.

steward

deputy overseeing medieval estates or fees

police officer

deputy overseeing medieval law enforcement; military police

One placed in charge: a head, a chief, particularly:

(religion) The minister of the chief Protestant church of a town or region in Germany, the Low Countries, and Scandinavia.


Uranus

Borrowed from Latin Ūranus, from Ancient Greek Οὐρανός (Ouranós), from οὐρανός (ouranós, “sky, heaven”).

(Greek mythology) The Greek god who personified the sky and heavens and fathered the Titans. Roman counterpart: Caelus.


Neptune

From Middle English Neptune, Neptunus, a borrowing from Latin Neptūnus, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰ-tu-s (“damp, cloudy”) (source of Ancient Greek νέφος (néphos), Sanskrit नभस् (nábhas), etc.), with the sense of "wet, moist."
Puhvel, however, connects it with Proto-Italic *nepōts from Proto-Indo-European *népōts by analogy to Portūnus, cognate with Vedic Apām Napāt and Avestan Apąm Napāt, Child (cf: neve, nephew) of the Water as part of an Indo-European 'Fire in the Water' myth.

Neptune
Neptune (disambiguation)#Places
Neptune (god)

(Roman mythology) The god of the ocean and of earthquakes, equivalent to Poseidon in Greek mythology.


Pluto

From Latin Plūtō, from Ancient Greek Πλούτων (Ploútōn, “god of the underworld”). Venetia Burney is often credited as having suggested the name for the celestial body.

bor

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) Greco-Roman god of the underworld.


Yankee

Yankees (plural)
Yanky (alternative)
Yengee (alternative)

First attested in 1765, when it was described as "a name of derision … given by the Southern people on the Continent to those of New England". Various suggestions have been made as to its origin: that it derives from a Cherokee word meaning "slave" or "coward" and was applied to the New Englanders by the Virginians because the former refused to aid the latter in a war against the Cherokees; that it derives from Yengees, an Indian corruption of English; and that it derives from Janke, a pet form of the common Dutch forename Jan. The OED regards the last of these as "perhaps the most plausible".

...in a short time, a kind of infectious mirth and pride in their bargains took possession of the place, and every one bought something, holding out their purchases to view, and praising them in the words and phraseology of the young yankees, who, finding their own importance, were not slow to avail themselves of it,...

1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXXIX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 194:

(chiefly Commonwealth, sometimes derogatory) A native or inhabitant of the United States.

[…]so that I couldn't help telling her, sir, that in our country, leastways in Virginia (they say the Yankees are very pert), young people don't speak of their elders so.

1857–1859, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, chapter XXXIV, in The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1858–1859, →OCLC:

“So, he is the father of Emmie Slattery’s baby,” thought Scarlett. “Oh, well. What else can you expect from a Yankee man and a white-trash girl?”

1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1944, →OCLC, part I, page 71:

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

я́нкі

native or inhabitant of the Northern USA

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


Tutankhamun

Borrowed from Egyptian i-mn:n-t-w&t-anx (twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn, literally “Living Image of Amun”). The variant spellings of the final vowel are taken from variant forms of the name of the god Amun as found in various different sources: u from Coptic ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ (amoun), o from Ancient Greek Ἄμμων (Ámmōn), and e from the purely conventional system of Egyptological pronunciation.

Tutankhamen (alternative)
Tutankhamon (alternative)

Ancient Egyptian pharaoh known for his young age and his tomb, which was preserved intact to the modern age.

تُوت عَنْخ آمُون

tūt ʕanḵ ʔāmūn


Caesarean

Caesareans (plural)
caesarean (alternative)
Cæsarean (alternative)
cæsarean (alternative)
Caesarian (alternative)
caesarian (alternative)
Cæsarian (alternative)
cæsarian (alternative)
cesarean (alternative)
Cesarean (alternative)
Cesarian (alternative)
cesarian (alternative)

Shortening of Caesarean section; see also Caesarean section § Etymology.


reincarnation

en-noun

reincarnation (countable and uncountable, plural reincarnations)

/ˌɹiːɪŋkɑː(ɹ)ˈneɪʃən/

a reincarnation of an old video game


diet

diets (plural)
diët (alternative)
diate (alternative)

From Middle English diet, dyet, from Old French diete, from Medieval Latin diēta, diaeta (“a public assembly; set day of trial; a day's journey”), from Ancient Greek δῐ́αιτα (dĭ́aita, “way of living, living space; decision, judgement”), influenced by Latin diēs (“day”).

der

(Scots law) A criminal proceeding in court.


toga

togas (plural)
togae (plural)
togæ (plural)

Borrowed directly from Latin toga, from tegō (“I clothe”). Doublet of toge.
The Philippine (and Indonesian) senses are due to the resemblance of the white ceremonial gowns worn by graduates of institutions to the loose outer garment worn by the citizens of Ancient Rome.

Or think of a decent young citizen in a toga - perhaps too much dice, you know - coming out here in the train of some prefect, or tax-gatherer, or trader even, to mend his fortunes.

1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 196:

A loose outer garment worn by the citizens of Ancient Rome.


ward

en-noun

ward (countable and uncountable, plural wards)

→ Swahili: wodi

From Middle English ward, warde, from Old English weard (“watching, ward, protection, guardianship; advance post; waiting for, lurking, ambuscade”), from Proto-West Germanic *wardu, from Proto-Germanic *wardō (“protection, attention, keeping”), an extension of the stem *wara- (“attentive”) (English wary, beware), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to cover”).
Cognate with German Warte (“watchtower”), warten (“wait for”); English guard is a parallel form which came via Old French.

inh

(historical, Scots law) Land tenure through military service.

Protection, defence.
Land tenure through military service.


deva

Transliteration of Sanskrit देव (deva, “deity, god”). Doublet of daeva.

translit

Coordinate term: devi

A god in Vedic mythology, Hinduism and Buddhism.


chromatic

en-adj

chromatic (not generally comparable, comparative more chromatic, superlative most chromatic)

more chromatic (comparative)
most chromatic (superlative)

Borrowed from French chromatique (“chromatic”) or directly from its etymon Latin chrōmaticus, from Ancient Greek χρωματικός (khrōmatikós, “relating to colour; one of the three types of tetrachord in Greek music”), from χρῶμα (khrôma, “colour; pigment; chromatic scale in music; music”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to grind; to rub; to stroke; to remove”), perhaps in the sense of the grinding of pigments) + -τῐκός (-tĭkós, suffix forming adjectives); analysable as chroma + -tic.

der

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

(Ancient Greece, historical) One of three types of tetrachord (the others being the diatonic and enharmonic), with an interval between half and four-fifths of the total interval of a tetrachord.


cowabunga

/ˌkæɔəˈbaŋɡə/

/ˌkaʊəˈbʌŋɡə/

/ˌkaʊəˈbʌŋɡə/

Unknown, but was popularized (as Kowa-Bunga) by Chief Thunderthud on the American children's show Howdy Doody in the late 1940s or early 1950s, and became associated with American surfing culture. By the early 1980s, it was used as the catch-phrase of Cookie Monster on the American television show Sesame Street, and gained popularity with a broader audience after its use in the American cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the late 1980s and early 1990s. (For further treatment, see here.)

Kowa-Bunga (alternative)
cowabonga (alternative)
kawabonga (alternative)
kowabonga (alternative)
kowabunga (alternative)

Cowabunga, dude!

Kowa-Bunga! Then Me Fix You Good! You Be Sorry.

Shouting the surfer's cry ‘Cowabunga!’ they climb a 12-ft. wall of water and ‘take the drop’ off its shoulder.

Both words turn up in the same sentence—as in ‘Cowabunga, it's humongous!’—when the children crowd around some toy.

1991 December 9, The New Yorker, page 115:

(slang, originally US, usually humorous) Expressing amazement, enthusiasm, or joy.

Cookie Monster
Howdy Doody
surfing culture


Vulgar Latin

(linguistics, historical) The Latin language as spoken by the Roman people, as opposed to Classical Latin as written in formal literature. Developed into Proto-Romance and descendant languages in the Early Middle Ages.


bias

en-noun

bias (countable and uncountable, plural biases or biasses)

c. 1520 in the sense "oblique line". As a technical term in the game of bowls c. 1560, whence the figurative use (c. 1570).
From Middle French biais, adverbially ("sideways, askance, against the grain") c. 1250, as a noun ("oblique angle, slant") from the late 16th century.
The French word is likely from Old Occitan biais, itself of obscure origin, most likely from Vulgar Latin *biaxius (“with two axes”).

Coordinate term: ult

The last thing you want is for your camera to die when you finally get that selca with your bias.

2015, "Top 10 Tips For Travelling To Korea", UKP Magazine, Winter 2015, page 37

Sweet, sensitive, and impossibly sassy, V is many fans' bias, and an integral member of the group.

2019, Katy Sprinkel, The Big Book of BTS: The Deluxe Unofficial Bangtan Book, unnumbered page:

One in particular, Minho, really caught my eye. He became what is called my bias or favorite member.

2019 May 7, Joelle Weatherford, “Can't stop the K-Pop train”, in The Eagle, Northeast Texas Community College, page 8:

(South Korean idol fandom) A person's favourite member of a K-pop band.


cyclops

cyclops (plural cyclops or cyclopes or cyclopses)

cyclops (plural)
cyclopes (plural)
cyclopses (plural)

Borrowed from Latin cyclōps, from Ancient Greek Κύκλωψ (Kúklōps, “Cyclops”).

der

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) A one-eyed giant from Greek and Roman mythology.


Aeneas

From Latin Aenēās, from Ancient Greek Αἰνείας (Aineías).

(Greek mythology) A Trojan hero and the legendary ancestor of Romans.


South Yemen

People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen

(historical) A former country in the Middle East from 1967 until 1990; full name People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.


North Yemen

(historical) A country in the Middle East until 1990.


nomen

From Latin nōmen (“name”), a clipping of nōmen gentīle (“family name”). Doublet of name and noun.

Greeks and other provincials who gained Roman citizenship kept their Greek names as cognomens, to which they added Roman nomens and praenomens—usually those of the ones to whom they owed their citizenship.

1990, Richard N. Longenecker, Galatians (Word Biblical Commentary; 41), Zondervan, →ISBN, page 2:

(historical) The family name of an Ancient Roman, designating their gens.


astroturfing

From AstroTurf (“a synthetic substitute for grass”), a play on grass roots, as in “fake grass roots”. Attributed to U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen in an unidentified 1985 public statement: "[A] fellow from Texas can tell the difference between grassroots and Astroturf."

(originally US politics, now social media, marketing) The disguising of an orchestrated campaign as a "grass-roots" event, i.e., a spontaneous upwelling of public opinion.

Tarnung einer Kampagne als Volksbewegung


stella

Borrowed from Latin stēlla (“a star”). Doublet of estoile, étoile, and stelo; related to aster and star.

(US, numismatics) Alternative letter-case form of Stella.


Amazon

From Middle English, from Latin, from Ancient Greek Ἀμαζών (Amazṓn); perhaps Ionian Greek pronunciation of Old Persian *hamazan- (“warrior”), as the Amazon women were known warriors. A popular folk etymology, of Ancient Greek provenance, claims that the word derives from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + μαζός (mazós, “breast”), referencing the belief that Amazons cut off their right breast so that it would not hinder their ability to fire a bow or throw a spear.

When, therefore, one envisions a matriarchy, one should not conjure up visions of a gang of Amazons lopping off breasts and testicles to rule by force of arms.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 149:

(Greek mythology) A member of a mythical race of female warriors inhabiting the Black Sea area.


bizarro

en-noun

bizarro (countable and uncountable, plural bizarros)

Variant of bizarre, equivalent to bizarre + -o; see that entry for more information. In the sense of “logical inverse”, derived via the comic book character Bizarro, an inverted version of Superman from a planet where “good” means “bad” and so on, and popularized by "The Bizarro Jerry", a 1996 episode of the sitcom Seinfeld.

Often described as "the Citizen Kane of dismemberment movies," this cult-movie masterpiece set the standards for the "bizarros-who-turn-their-home-into-a-human-slaughterhouse" horror genre.

1997, Harold Schechter, The Manly Movie Guide, Boulevard, →ISBN:

Showgirl breasts and round hips that swayed to a sultry beat when she walked and drew heartbreakers and bizarros from the four corners of the earth.

2008, Cindy Gerard, Whisper No Lies, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 1:

BOOM!, he can't walk, can't talk, he's in a ward at a state institution with thirty retarded bizarros, many of them bizzare^([sic]) […]

2009, Martin Drapkin, Now and at the Hour, Dog Ear Publishing, →ISBN, page 1:


para

Borrowed from Serbo-Croatian pàra/па̀ра, from Ottoman Turkish پاره (pare, para), from Persian پاره (pâre).

She managed things with so much economy that she was enabled to save two paras every day, out of the piastre which he gave her.

1854, Bayard Taylor, A Journey to Central Africa; or, Life and Landscapes from Egypt...:

(historical) A former subunit of currency in several countries in the Ottoman/Turkish and Yugoslav regions.


mummy

mummy (countable and uncountable, plural mummies)

From Middle English mummie, from Anglo-Norman mumie, from Middle French momie, from Medieval Latin mumia, from Arabic مُومِيَاء (mūmiyāʔ), from Persian مومیا (mumyâ), from موم (mum, “wax”). Doublet of mumijo.

der

Arabic مُومِيَاء (mūmiyāʔ)

For many, mummies fascinate more than repel. Our horrific connotations lie not so much with the mummy itself, but in associated fears. The mummy serves, of course, as a general reminder of our own mortality and our fear of death, but this alone is not enough to make it a monster.

2007, S. T. Joshi, Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares, volume 1, page 376:

(countable, by extension) A reanimated embalmed human corpse, as a stock character in horror films.


UKIP

UK Independence Party
UK Independence Party#English


UK Independence Party

A Euro-sceptic political party in the United Kingdom.


scanlation

en-noun

scanlation (countable and uncountable, plural scanlations)

scanlations (plural)
scanslation (alternative)

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

(comics, chiefly manga) The process of scanning and translating foreign-language comics (especially Japanese manga or Korean manhwa) into the translator's language, for free distribution over the Internet.


aegis

aegises (plural)
aegides (plural)
ægis (alternative)
egis (alternative)

Borrowed from Latin aegis, from Ancient Greek αἰγίς (aigís, “goatskin; shield of Athena”), probably from αἴξ (aíx, “goat”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyǵ- (“goat”).
The plural form aegides (IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈiːd͡ʒɪdiːz/) is borrowed from Latin aegides, from Ancient Greek αἰγῐ́δες (aigĭ́des).

IPA

IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈiːd͡ʒɪdiːz/

покровителство

endorsement, sponsorship — see also endorsement, sponsorship

The goat Amalthea, which had suckled Jove, being dead, that god is said to have covered his buckler with the skin thereof, whence the appellation Aegis, from αιξ, αιγις, a she-goat. Jupiter afterwards restoring the goat to life, covered it with a new skin, and placed it among the stars. This buckler, which was the work of Vulcan, he gave to Minerva, who having killed the Gorgon Medusa, nailed her head to the middle of the Aegis, which henceforth possessed the faculty of converting to stone all who beheld it, as Medusa herself had while alive.

1790, “AEGIS”, in Bell’s New Pantheon; or, Historical Dictionary of the Gods, Demi-gods, Heroes, and Fabulous Personages of Antiquity: … In Two Volumes, volume I, London: Printed by and for J[ohn] Bell, […], →OCLC, page 20, column 1:

Herodotus, as proof of this origin of Minerva, says, that the Greeks had taken from the Libyan women, the dress and the ægis with which her statues were represented: this dress was of leather: the ægis, as its name implies, was simply a goatskin died red and worn over the shoulders like a mantle: the extremity of it was cut into shreds or tassels, which the lively fancy of the Grecian artists converted into serpents.

1822, James Millingen, Painted Greek Vases, from Collections in Various Countries: […] (Ancient Unedited Monuments; series 1), London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 3:

The robe and aegides of the statues of Minerva the Greeks have made in imitation of the Lybians, for except that the robe among the Lybians is of leather and the fringes of the aegis are not serpents but strips of leather, the adorning is entirely the same. And the very name is an acknowledgement that the vesture of the palladium is derived from Lybia, for the Lybian women put around the robe their goat skins tasselled and stained with madder (ἐρευθεδάνω) and from these goat skins, (ἐχ δὲ τῶν αἰγἑων τουτἑων) the Greeks have taken the word aegis.

1837, F. M. Hubbard, quoting Herodotus, “Article III. An Inquiry into the Commerce of Ancient Egypt.”, in B[ela] B[ates] Edwards, editor, The American Biblical Repository, volume X, number 27, New York, N.Y.: Gould & Newman, publishers and printers, Boston, Mass.: Perkins & Marvin and Crocker & Brewster, Cincinnati, Oh.: Truman & Smith, →OCLC, page 49:

In her right hand Minerva bore a beaming lance, and in her left a buckler, called the Egis. The Egis of Minerva had embossed upon it the head of Medusa.

1849, [Eliza Robbins], “Minerva”, in Elements of Mythology; or, Classical Fables of the Greeks and Romans: […], 11th improved edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: Published and for sale by Hogan & Thompson […], →OCLC, page 57:

Cattle grazed where now is the Forum Romanum, and the Capitol, now glittering with gold, was covered then with brambles; nevertheless a god already dwelt there, even Jupiter himself, whose right hand had oft been seen to shake the aegis and summon the storm-clouds.

1934 November, Theodor Haecker, “Leader and Mission”, in A[rthur] W[esley] Wheen, transl., Virgil, Father of the West (Essays in Order; no. 14), London: Sheed & Ward, →OCLC, page 65:

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) A mythological shield associated with the Greek deities Zeus and Athena (and their Roman counterparts Jupiter and Minerva) shown as a short cloak made of goatskin worn on the shoulders, more as an emblem of power and protection than a military shield. The aegis of Athena or Minerva is usually shown with a border of snakes and with the head of Medusa in the center.


decimate

en-verb

decimate (third-person singular simple present decimates, present participle decimating, simple past and past participle decimated)

decimates (present singular third-person)
decimating (participle present)
decimated (participle past)
decimated (past)

Borrowed from Latin decimāre (“to take or offer a tenth part”), from decimus (“tenth”). As a noun, via Latin decimatus (“tithing area; tithing rights”).

tertiate

reduce proportionately, by single aliquot part

God sometimes decimates or tithes delinquent persons, and they died for a common crime, according as God hath cast their lot in the decrees of predestination.

Said to have been martyred as a Christian legionary commander of late Roman times for having refused an imperial order to kill one in ten (that is, decimate in the Roman meaning of the word) of the soldiers of another legion which had gone into revolt...

1989, Basil Davidson, “The Ancient World and Africa”, in Egypt Revisited, page 49:

...where Caesar threatened to disband Legio X after a mutiny. The men begged him to decimate them instead, and Caesar relented in the same way that Titus refrained from executing this cavalryman after his comrades’ appeal.

1998, Adrian Goldsworthy, The Roman Army at War, page 263:

Shall we decimate them? That sounds good, nice word. Remove one-tenth of the population!

2007, Russell T. Davies, “The Sound of Drums”, in Doctor Who:

(archaic) To kill one-tenth of (a group), (historical, specifically) as a military punishment in the Roman army selected by lot, usually carried out by the surviving soldiers.

delmar

Roman history: to kill one out of ten men

...there will be eight hundred and ten laborers producing as nine hundred, while, to accomplish their purpose, they would have to produce as one thousand... Here, then, we have a society which is continually decimating itself...

1840, P.J. Proudhon, What is Property?, page 164:

To destroy or remove one-tenth of (something).

For example, in multiplying 3 by 0.2, the 3 units have to be decimated—that is, divided into 10 equal parts, obtaining 3 “deci-units” for each part, and then 2 such parts taken, giving as the answer 6 deci-units, or 0.6.

1910 January, “Multiplication of Decimals”, in The Practical Teacher, volume 30, number 7, page 414:

(obsolete) To divide into tenths; to decimalize.

In this dramatic picture, the nation is literally decimated, and even the tenth which remains is subjected to a further destruction.

1998, H. Wayne House, editor, Israel, the Land and the People, page 63:

African slaves were needed to replace Native American populations that had been decimated (literally reduced to one-tenth their size) by European conquest.

2003, Susan S. Hunter, Black Death, page 58:

In the New World, European colonists initially enslaved Native Americans, decimating the indigenous populations to one-tenth of their original sizes.

2005, Wilma A. Dunaway, “Put in Master’s Pocket”, in Appalachians and Race, page 116:

(proscribed) To reduce to one-tenth: to destroy or remove nine-tenths of (something).

A decimate tool allows us to obtain a more coarse-grained view of the data over the full n-dimensional space.

1999, Mihalisin & al., "Visualizing Multivariate Functions, Data and Distributions" in Readings in Information Visualization: Using Vision to Think, page 122

However, many times it is more practical to decimate existing high-res models because of time, money or manpower issues.

Given this initial fine mesh, we smooth and decimate it to a desired mesh resolution.

2004, Geremy Heitz et al., “Automatic Generation of Shape Models using Nonrigid Registration with a Single Segmented Template Mesh”, in Vision Modeling and Visualization 2004, page 74:

(computer graphics) To replace (a high-resolution model) with another of lower but acceptable quality. (Usually algorithmically)

alentaa resoluutiota

computer graphics: to replace with lower resolution


aarti

en-noun

aarti (countable and uncountable, plural aartis)

aartis (plural)
aarthi (alternative)
arati (alternative)
arti (alternative)

Borrowed from Hindi आरती (ārtī), from Sanskrit आरात्रिक (ārātrika).

The kings of Mewar always visited the Brindabani Temple, did arati, touched the Blue One's feet, ate prasad, and distributed largesse amongst the subjects of Chittor on Janmashtami.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 165:

(Hinduism) A particular Hindu prayer ritual, involving candles made from clarified butter.


Keb

(Egyptian mythology) Alternative form of Geb


Blueshirt

(Ireland, derogatory) A member of Ireland's Fine Gael political party, which O'Duffy's followers joined after their own organization was dissolved.


pundit

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *per-
Proto-Indo-European *pró
Proto-Indo-European *pro-
Proto-Indo-Iranian *pra-
Sanskrit प्र- (pra-)
Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-
Sanskrit ज्ञा (jñā)
Sanskrit प्रज्ञा (prajñā)
Prakrit 𑀧𑀡𑁆𑀡𑀸 (paṇṇā)bor.?
Sanskrit पण्डा (paṇḍā)
Sanskrit -इत (-ita)
Sanskrit पण्डित (paṇḍita)bor.
Hindi पंडित (paṇḍit)bor.
English pundit
Borrowed from Hindi पंडित (paṇḍit) / Urdu پنڈت (panḍit), from Sanskrit पण्डित (paṇḍita, “scholar, learned man, teacher, philosopher”). Doublet of pandit.

bor

Pundits in black gowns, with spectacles on their noses and undigested wisdom in their insides; bearded headmen of the wards; [...] all these people and more also you might find in the white room.

1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘On the City Wall’, In Black and White, Folio Society, published 2005, page 430:

A learned person in India; someone with knowledge of Sanskrit, philosophy, religion and law; a Hindu scholar.


anna

From Hindi अन्न (ann, “food, grain”), आना (ānā), from Sanskrit अन्न (anna).


fisc

Partly from Middle French fisc and partly from its etymon, Latin fiscus (“basket, money-bag, public treasury”); see fiscal.

(Ancient Rome) The public treasury of Rome.


World War II

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-World War II.wav

As students all over the United States knuckle down to learning, the rumble of war drums once more proclaims Mars high man in Europe. Discarding morbid curiosity, every student should consider it vitally necessary to get a general picture of the causes, movements, and possible effects of World War II. The average U. S. citizen's knowledge of World War II will probably decide his role in it.

1939 November 10, “Following The War”, in The Chart, volume I, number 1, Joplin, Missouri: Joplin Junior College, page 4, column 1:

Nothing since the beginning of World War II, a year ago last September, has boosted British morale or given them greater courage to fight on as has this brilliant Libyan campaign.

1941 March, Frederick M. Barrows, “The War in Africa”, in Command and General Staff School Military Review, volume XXI, number 80, →OCLC, page 23, column 1:

If Demandt's essay served as a strident example of the German desire for normalcy, a more subtle example was provided by a brief allohistorical depiction of a Nazi victory in World War II written by German historian Michael Salewski in 1999.

2005 May 23, Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, The World Hitler Never Made: Alternate History and the Memory of Nazism, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 182:

The tiny island of Tinian was the launch point for American planes carrying atomic bombs to Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Now a new runway is being carved from the jungle, just south of World War II ruins inked with mildew.

2023 March 25, Damien Cave, “An Anxious Asia Arms for a War It Hopes to Prevent”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-25:

(history) The war from 1939 to 1945 of the Allied forces, including the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the United States, France, and China, against the Axis Powers, including Germany, Italy, and Japan.

מִלְחֶמֶת הָעוֹלָם הַשְּׁנִיָּה \ מלחמת העולם השנייה

Great Patriotic War

primarily in a Soviet or Russian context


World War III

One time ago a crazy dream came to me / I dreamt I was walking into World War Three

1963, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Talkin' World War III Blues”, in The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan:

And I also wanted to be sure to keep Chiang Kai-shek, who had some notion of starting a World War Number Three, from going into China and doing just that.

1964, Harry S. Truman, 2:16 from the start, in MP2002-410 Several Cuts of Former President Truman Talking about Wars and Korea, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives Identifier: 595162:

The WOPR [War Operations Planning Response] has already fought World War III as a game time and time again.

1983, Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes, WarGames, spoken by Paul Richter:

A hypothetical world war following World War II.

اَلْحَرْبُ اَلْعَالَمِيَّةُ اَلثَّالِثَة


lingam

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit लिङ्गम् (liṅgam, nominative singular of लिङ्ग (liṅga, “sign, mark”)).

lbor

nominative singular of <i class="Deva mention" lang="sa">लिङ्ग</i> (liṅga, “sign, mark”)

Then we have the very numerous lingams (conventional representations of the male organ) to be seen, scores and scores of them, in the arcades and cloisters of the Hindu Temples - to which women of all classes, especially those who wish to become mothers, resort, anointing them copiously with oil, and signalizing their respect and devotion to them in a very practical way.

1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 182:

(Shaivism) The aniconic phallic representation traditionally worshipped as a symbol of or in connection with Shiva.


embiggen

en-verb

embiggen (third-person singular simple present embiggens, present participle embiggening, simple past and past participle embiggened)

embiggens (present singular third-person)
embiggening (participle present)
embiggened (participle past)
embiggened (past)

From em- + biggen or big + em- -en, possibly analogous to belittle. The morphology parallels that of enlarge (en- + large) or embolden (em- + bold + -en).
The verb's first recorded use is in an 1884 edition of the British journal Notes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers, Etc. by C. A. Ward (see quotation below).
The word’s current popularity follows its deployment as an intentionally ungainly form by television writer David X. Cohen for The Simpsons episode “Lisa the Iconoclast” in 1996.

Are there not, however, barbarous verbs in all languages? ἀλλ’ ἐμεγάλυνεν αυτοὺς ὁ λαός, but the people magnified them, to make great or embiggen, if we may invent an English parallel as ugly. After all, use is nearly everything.

1884, C.A. Ward, “New Verbs”, in Notes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers, Etc, volume 10, page 135:

A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.

1996, “Lisa the Iconoclast”, in The Simpsons, season 7, episode 3F13, spoken by Jebediah Springfield (Harry Shearer):

[Page 24] For large P, the three-form fluxes are dilute, and the gradient of the Myers potential encouraging an anti-D3 to embiggen is very mild.
[Page 26] While in both cases for P anti-D3-branes the probe approximation is clearly not good, in the set up of this paper we could argue that there is a competing effect which can overcome the desire of the anti-D3s to embiggen, namely their attraction towards the wrapped D5s.

2007 January 23, Riccardo Argurio, Matteo Bertolini, Sebastián Franco, Shamit Kachru, “Gauge/gravity duality and meta-stable dynamical supersymmetry breaking”, in Journal of High Energy Physics, pages 24, 26:

As I joyfully embiggen myself into the vague silhouette of Chewbacca, I have time to reflect on just what it is about big hair that I find so elementally appealing.

2012 4 Feb, Caitlin Moran, “Hair: a big issue”, in The Times:

Train stations: how busy is yours? Victoria Station in 1927. Click image to embiggen.

2013 May 19, “Every train station in Britain listed and mapped: find out how busy each one is”, in The Guardian, picture caption:

You can hide enemies, stack them up high, embiggen them with a Super Mushroom, hide coins in pipes, and so much more!

2019, 1:24 from the start, in Super Mario Maker 2 Direct 5.15.2019 (Nintendo Direct), Nintendo:

(nonstandard, usually humorous, ergative) To enlarge; to make or become bigger.

David X. Cohen
Lisa the Iconoclast
Notes and Queries
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Simpsons


eques

From Latin eques (“horseman, knight; equestrian”).

uder

(historical, Ancient Rome) A member of the equestrian order (Latin: ordo equester), the lower of the two aristocratic classes of Ancient Rome, ranking below the patricians.


NP

(South Africa) Initialism of National Party.


tribble

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

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

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

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

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

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

2010, Dakota Cassidy, chapter 19, in Accidentally Demonic:

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

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

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


Trekker

(fandom slang) A fan of the TV science fiction series Star Trek.


scarab

→ Irish: scarab

→ Welsh: sgarab

From Middle French scarabée, from Latin scarabaeus (“beetle”). Doublet of scarabaeus, now obsolete.

The scarab, which is a very small one, Leo had insisted upon having set in a massive gold ring, such as is generally used for signets, and it was this very ring that I now picked up.

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

A symbol, seal, amulet, or gem fashioned to resemble the sacred beetle.


picayune

The noun is borrowed from southern French picaillon, pécaillon, picayon (“type of small foreign coin; (informal, especially in the plural) cash, money”), and from its etymon Occitan picalhon, picaioun (“cheaply made Savoyan-Piedmontese coin that was rapidly demonetized; (by extension) cash, money”), probably from Occitan piquar (“to ring (bells); to knock, strike”) (referring to the clinking of coins in a pocket), originally imitative.
The adjective is derived from the noun.

ref

From the collection of the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

der

(person unworthy of respect or useless):

(something of very little value):

(figuratively, informal) A person regarded as unworthy of respect or useless; also, something of very little value; a trifle.


picayune

en-adj

picayune (comparative more picayune, superlative most picayune)

more picayune (comparative)
most picayune (superlative)

Childishly spiteful; tending to go on about unimportant things; small-minded.


agger

From Middle English agger (“heap, pile”), from Latin agger (“earthwork, rubble, rampart”), from ad- (“toward, towards”) + gerere (“to carry”).

der

By the Augustan period, however, the old ashlar circuit with its earthen agger was beginning to be dismantled in some places.

2012, Seth G. Bernard, “Continuing the Deabte on Rome's Earliest Circuit Walls”, in Papers of the British School at Rome, number 80, page 2:

(historical) Synonym of earthwork in ancient Roman contexts, particularly a defensive wall or mound.


feu

(Scots law, property law, historical) Land held in feudal tenure.


feu

en-verb

feu (third-person singular simple present feus, present participle feuing, simple past and past participle feued)

feus (present singular third-person)
feuing (participle present)
feued (participle past)
feued (past)

1813, "Keith", Entry in Nicholas Carlisle, A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, Volume II, unnumbered page,
The Village of OLD KEITH is of ancient date, having been partly feued by the predecessors of the Family of Forbes, and partly feued by the Ministers, and stands upon the glebe: this Village is greatly on the decline, and almost a ruin.—About the year 1750, the late Lord FINDLATER divided a barren Muir, and feued it out in small lots […] .

1841, Alexander Dunlop, J. M. Bell, John Murray, James Donaldson (reporters), Cases Decided in the Court of Session, Volume 3, 2nd Series, page 620,
The prohibition of feuing beyond a certain extent was clearly implied; […] .

But in effect, whereas Heriot's knew that their feuing conditions were subordinate to the law of contract, the Earl of Moray knew by 1822 that as a result of the Lords' decision in 1818 estate development could not be controlled by contract law and the feuing plan.[…]The impact on the Moray estate was that[…]despite a recession in the Edinburgh property market generally after 1826, virtually the entire estate was feued by 1836.

2001, Richard Rodger, “The Transformation of Edinburgh: Land, Property and Trust in the Nineteenth Century”, in Paperback, Cambridge University Press, published 2004, page 68:

(Scots law, transitive) To bring (land) under the system of feudal tenure.


kama

The place of kāma or the pursuit of love and pleasure in the balanced Hindu scheme of life derives from the importance attached to the life of the married householder (grhastha).

1958, V. Raghavan, “Chapter XII: Kāma, The Third End of Man”, in Stephen N Hay, William Theodore De Bary, editors, Sources of Indian Tradition, volume 2, page 258:

Ancient Indian thought divides the principal aims of human existence into dharma (religion, morality, social obligations), artha (economics, politics, power), and kāma (erotic pleasure, sexual interaction, sexual gratification).

2006, “Indian Erotology”, in Alan Soble, editor, Sex from Plato to Paglia: A Philosophical Encyclopedia, Volume 1: A-L, page 493:

(Hinduism) The act or process of wishing; longing, desire (with or without sexual connotations); one of the goals of life in Hindu tradition.


kitsune

(Japanese mythology) A Japanese fox spirit, often but not exclusively female, said to have powers such as shape-shifting, and whose power is symbolized by increase in number of tails.


tanuki

tanuki (plural)
tanukis (plural)
tanooki (alternative)

Borrowed from Japanese 狸(たぬき) (tanuki, “raccoon dog”).

(Japanese mythology) A folkloric figure in the form of a tanuki, regarded as a shapeshifter and renowned for its enormous scrotum and testicles.


Ahti

(Finnic mythology) The god of depths, water, and fishing in Finnish mythology.

(Egyptian mythology) A goddess in Egyptian mythology.


triumvir

en-noun

triumvir (plural triumviri or triumvirs)

A Middle English back-formation of triumvirate.


Charon

Charon
Charon (disambiguation)
Charon (moon)
Edmond Hamilton
NASA

From Ancient Greek Χάρων (Khárōn). The name of the moon was coined by American astronomer James W. Christy in 1978, in reference to a fictional moon of Pluto in a novel by Edmond Hamilton but also influenced by its similarity to Char, a pet name for Charlene, his wife's name — hence the alternative American pronunciation, which is used at NASA.

coin

(Greek mythology) The ferryman of Hades, who rowed the shades of the dead across the river Styx.


pork

en-noun

pork (countable and uncountable, plural porks)

→ Japanese: ポーク (pōku)

From Middle English pork, porc, via Anglo-Norman, from Old French porc (“swine, hog, pig; pork”), from Latin porcus (“domestic hog, pig”).
Cognate with Old English fearh (“piglet”). Doublet of farrow. Compare also other West Germanic words for pigs: Ferkel, Ferke, and varken.
Used in English since the 14th century, and as a term of abuse since the 17th century.
US politics sense is related to pork barrel.
The verb is from the black American form of poke.

der

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

(US politics, slang, derogatory) Funding proposed or requested by a member of Congress for special interests or their constituency as opposed to the good of the country as a whole.


coupon

From French coupon, from couper (“to cut”).

(UK politics, historical) The letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the coalition government.


kite

Borrowed from Coptic ⲕⲓⲧⲉ (kite), from Demotic qt, from Egyptian qdt.

[…] in the great Harris papyrus, […] precise quantities are recorded by weight in terms of the deben (about 2½ oz.) and the qite (¼ oz.) of gold, silver, copper and precious stones, without any reference to their value. […] Five pots of honey were bought for five qite of silver and an ox for five qite of gold.

1981, Pierre Montet, “The Arts and the Professions”, in A[ymer] R[obert] Maxwell-Hyslop, Margaret S[tefana] Drower, transl., Everyday Life in Egypt in the Days of Ramesses the Great, Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN, page 167:

[I]t was found necessary to employ media of exchange, and emmer wheat and silver were both used for this purpose. The latter was particularly favoured, but it was normally treated by weight, being measured in kite (9.53 g) and deben (10 kite) in purely Egyptian contexts, though foreigners such as the Jewish mercenaries at Elephantine could use their own metrological systems.

1983, Allen B. Lloyd, “The Late Period, 664–323 BC”, in B[ruce] G[raham] Trigger, B[arry] J[ohn] Kemp, D[avid Bourke] O’Connor, A. B. Lloyd, Ancient Egypt: A Social History (Cambridge History of Africa), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, published 2001, →ISBN, page 328:

The scribe of the temple Sedy set out with the pure priest and goldsmith Tuty for the frames; they removed one deben and three and a half qite of gold, which they took for the chief of the gang Pameniu.

2003, Pascal Vernus, “The Plunder of Western Thebes”, in David Lorton, transl., Affairs and Scandals in Ancient Egypt: Translated from the French, Ithaca, N.Y., London: Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 25:

In the Saite and Persian Periods, Abnormal Hieratic and Demotic texts usually measure value as weights of silver. […] The weights of silver are almost always either the deben of 91 grams, or the kite of 9.1 grams. In the Persian Period, Demotic texts sometimes also refer to staters equated to two kite, or five to the deben.

2016, Brian Muhs, “The Saite and Persian Periods (664–332 BCE)”, in The Ancient Egyptian Economy: 3000–30 BC, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 189–190:

The shekel was an Israelite unit of weight that appears to have weighed about 10g, and so it is the rough equivalent of the Egyptian kite, which also weighed about 10g.

2017 May, Ralph Ellis, “King David”, in Solomon, Pharaoh of Egypt, 4th edition, Cheshire: Edfu Books, →ISBN, page 57:

(Egyptology) A measure of weight equivalent to ¹⁄₁₀ deben (about 0.32 ounces or 9.1 grams).


chorus

en-noun

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

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

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

der

[W]ee would that the voice and dialect of the propheteſſe Pythia, reſembling the ſpeech of a Chorus in a tragedie from a ſcaffold, ſhould pronounce her anſwers not in ſimple, plaine, and triviall termes, without any grace to ſet them out, but with Poeticall magnificence of high and ſtately verſes, diſguiſed as it were with metaphors and figurative phraſes, yea, and that which more is, with ſound of flute and hautboies: […]

1603, Plutarch, “Why the Prophetesse Pythia Giveth No Answers Now from the Oracle in Verse or Meeter”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, →OCLC, page 1199:

A group of singers and dancers in a theatrical performance or religious festival who commented on the main performance in speech or song.

كَوْرَس

(Ancient Greece, historical) group of singers and dancers in a theatrical performance or religious festival who commented on the main performance in speech or song

And the Apocalyps of Saint Iohn is the majeſtick image of a high and ſtately Tragedy, ſhutting up and intermingling her ſolemn Scenes and Acts with a ſevenfold Chorus of halleluja's and harping ſymphonies: […]

1642 (indicated as 1641), John Milton, The Reason of Church-governement Urg’d against Prelaty […], London: […] E[dward] G[riffin] for Iohn Rothwell, […], →OCLC, 2nd book, page 39:

A song performed by the singers of such a group.


Serapis

Borrowed from Latin Serāpis, from Ancient Greek Σάρᾱπις (Sárāpis), from Egyptian wsjr-ḥp, from wsjr (“Osiris”) + ḥp (“Apis”).

A Graeco-Egyptian god devised during the 3rd century BC as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians in the realm of Ptolemy I.


yoink

Coined by writer George Meyer for the TV show The Simpsons; perhaps from yank, or imitative of the sound effect (a quick upward slide on a violin) that accompanies something being snatched in classic comedies.

Marge: But you look better, you don't sweat when you eat any more, and look – [holds up a wad of cash] You've saved more than a hundred dollars. I found it in your pants.
Homer: [snatches money] Yoink!

1993, “Duffless”, episode of the Simpsons [television]

Yoink! He snatched Granny Glee's frilly pink hat with his little feet.

2012, John Sazaklis, Candy Store Caper, →ISBN, page 24:

The way I've always done this stunt is to grab my partner and jump us over together. It's absolute hell on my knees. I lean toward Brando and raise my eyebrows. “Yoink.” “Definite yoink,” he replies, equally inspired.

2014, G. T. Almasi, Hammer of Angels: A Novel of Shadowstorm, →ISBN:

YOINK! Coach Pittman snatched the puck out of midair.

2015, Marty McKnight, Jim Nasium Is a Hockey Hazard, →ISBN, page 42:

2021 (November 13) "Olivia & Yunan" (Amphibia s3e7b) Yunan grabbing a crossbow
Ooh, ominous. After you, milady. Yoink!

(colloquial) Onomatopoeic, accompanying or describing a yank, swipe, or snatch.


Ravana

(Hinduism) The king of the asuras, ruler of Lanka and killed by Rama in Ramayana.


So, given the ever growing list of J6ers that are real estate agents...has anyone looked into whether they attended whatever grift it was that 45 had going about training folks to be real estate agents?
(Tonight's random thought)

2022 September 5, Chirparrooo, Twitter, archived from the original on 2022-09-06:

(US politics, slang) Donald Trump, as the forty-fifth president of the United States.


Medusa

From Middle English Medusa, Meduse, from Latin Medūsa, from Ancient Greek Μέδουσα (Médousa), from μέδω (médō, “rule over”).

1895, Adolf Furtwängler, Eugenie Strong (editor and translator), Masterpieces of Greek Sculpture: A Series of Essays on the History of Art, 2010, →ISBN, page 201,
On an Attic vase of the middle of the fifth century the head of Medusa in the hand of Perseus is represented as that of a beautiful woman free from any distortion. This led us to conclude (supra, p. 158) that Medusa must have been so represented at Athens in the greater arts even previous to this vase, for the vase-painters never invent such bold novelties for themselves.

It will be suggested here that the myth of Perseus, involving the decapitation of Medusa, is a narrative version of ritual.

2000, Nannó Marinatos, The Goddess and the Warrior: The Naked Goddess and Mistress of the Animals in Early Greek Religion, page 62:

But their depictions of Perseus are remarkably different and demonstrate the ambiguity of Medusa that was seeping into Victorian iconography. In later, Roman versions of the myth, for example Ovid's Metamorphoses, Perseus slays the sea monster with his sword instead of using Medusa’s head to petrify the monster.

2001, Dennis Berthold, “Melville's Medusas”, in Sanford E. Marovitz, Athanasios C. Christodoulou, editors, Melville "Among the nations": Proceedings of an International Conference, Volos, Greece, July 2-6, 1997:

(Greek mythology) The youngest and only mortal of the three gorgon sisters, killed by Perseus.

Medusa (Rubens)
Medusa (disambiguation)
Rubens


Hanuman

Hooniman (alternative)
Hoonimaun (alternative)

A Hindu demi-god who was a devotee of Lord Rama. He was born to Anjana and Vayu, plays the role of a god’s servant in Ramayana, and is also known as the "monkey god". He represents loyalty to the Lord and Master.


Tigger

From the initials of The Independent Group + -er.

Nor is there any sign that Corbyn is at present willing to make any overtures to the eight Tiggers and those who may be contemplating joining them.

2019 February 25, John Crace, “The Independent Group may have secured another Tory government. That's not an accident”, in British GQ:

For one Tigger in particular, Chuka Umunna, 2019 was quite a rollercoaster. Over the course of the year, he was an MP for Labour, an MP for The Independent Group, an MP for the Lib Dems, and then an MP for no one.

2020 January 31, Michael Deacon, “The 20 funniest moments of Brexit”, in The Telegraph:

In fact, Joan Ryan MP (the first Labour MP to jump ship to the Tiggers/Change UK) said, after I'd confessed to her about the dog shampoo, ‘Well, I think your coat looks very nice.’

2020 March 19, Rachel Johnson, Rake's Progress: My Political Midlife Crisis, →ISBN:

(informal, UK politics, historical) A member of The Independent Group for Change, a pro-European British political party that existed in 2019.


Cold War

/ˌkəʊld ˈwɔː/

Coined by American journalist Herbert Bayard Swope in 1947, in a speech he wrote for Bernard Baruch (1870–1965), an American financier and adviser to President Woodrow Wilson.

coinage

Well Russia at the present time is at a crossroads. It is often said that the Cold War is over and that the West has won it- that's only half true. Because what has happened is that the communists have been defeated, but the ideas of freedom now are on trial. If they don't work, there will be a reversion to, not communism which has failed, but what I call a new despotism which would pose a mortal danger to the rest of the world because it would be infected with the virus of Russian imperialism which of course has been a characteristic of Russian foreign policy for centuries.

1992 March 30, Richard Nixon, 13:46 from the start, in Richard Nixon on ‘Inside Washington’, Richard Nixon Foundation, via Seoul Broadcasting System, archived from the original on 2017-10-09:

The situation in Berlin had its uses for Moscow, of course, as for others–the city had become the primary listening post and spy center of the Cold War; some 70 different agencies were operating there by 1961, and it was in Berlin that Soviet espionage scored some of their greatest successes.

2005, Tony Judt, “The Politics of Stability”, in Postwar: A history of Europe since 1945, London: Vintage Books, published 2010, →ISBN:

The dynamic tests at Wildenrath use continuous test tracks built on the site of a former Royal Air Force station that was vacated after the end of the Cold War.

2023 November 29, Philip Haigh, “New Piccadilly Line trains put to the test”, in RAIL, number 997, page 26:

(historical) The period of hostility short of open war between the Soviet Bloc and the Western powers, especially the United States, between 1945 and 1991.

Bernard Baruch
International Herald Tribune
Woodrow Wilson

Koue Oorlog

period of hostility short of open war between the Soviet Bloc and the Western powers, 1945–1991


Dubya

Representing a southern United States pronunciation of W, the middle initial of George W. Bush.

(often derogatory) A nickname for and abbreviation of George W. Bush.


despot

From Middle French despote, from Old French despote, from Medieval Latin despota, from Ancient Greek δεσπότης (despótēs, “lord, master, owner”). Cognate with Sanskrit दम्पति (dámpati).

der

(historical) A title awarded to senior members of the imperial family in the late Byzantine Empire, and claimed by various independent or semi-autonomous rulers in the Balkans (12th to 15th centuries)


sextary

From Middle English sextarie, sextary, anglicized from Latin sextārius (“pint”). Doublet of sextarius.

(historical) Synonym of sextarius, an ancient Roman unit of volume


kamikaze

[ˌkʰɑmɪˈkʰɑːzɪi̯]

Borrowed from Japanese 神風(かみかぜ) (kamikaze, “divine wind”).

One who carries out a suicide attack, especially with an aircraft.

Coupled with this were issues involving actually getting enough torpedoes out there to the fleet in the first place! Whilst they were a munition, a torpedo is far more complex and took far longer to build than a shell for a naval gun, even a battleship shell. Torpedoes, remember, are effectively small self-guiding kamikaze submarines, and, so, unless you have a large factory and an extensive production line going, you're only gonna see handfuls produced each year.

2020 February 12, Drachinifel, 8:16 from the start, in The Mark 14 Torpedo - Failure is Like Onions, archived from the original on 2022-11-24:

A vehicle used for a suicide attack, especially an aircraft.

A cocktail made of equal parts vodka, triple sec and lime juice.


kamikaze

en-verb

kamikaze (third-person singular simple present kamikazes, present participle kamikazeing, simple past and past participle kamikazed)

kamikazes (present singular third-person)
kamikazeing (participle present)
kamikazed (participle past)
kamikazed (past)

[ˌkʰɑmɪˈkʰɑːzɪi̯]

(transitive) To destroy (a ship, etc.) in a suicide attack, especially by crashing an aircraft.

(intransitive) To carry out a suicide attack, especially by crashing an aircraft.


d'oh

Audio (US)

Imitative. Popularised by the cartoon character Homer Simpson in the TV show The Simpsons. Voice actor Dan Castellaneta has said that he modelled his version on the drawn-out "do-o-o-o" sound made by Jimmy Finlayson in the films of Laurel and Hardy.
The OED has references from the BBC as far back as 1945.

—I just paid for our food. —You didn't have to. It's free. —D'oh!

Expresses frustration or anger, especially at one’s own stupidity.

British Broadcasting Corporation
Homer Simpson
Jimmy Finlayson
Laurel and Hardy
Oxford English Dictionary
The Simpsons


caste

Borrowed from Portuguese or Spanish casta (“lineage, breed, race”), of uncertain origin.
* The OED derives it from Portuguese casto (“chaste”), from Latin castus (“chaste"; "chastity”).
* Coromines (1987) argues instead for a hypothetical Gothic form *𐌺𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 (*kasts, “group, collection of animals”), cognate with English cast, from Proto-Germanic *kastuz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ǵ-es-.

unc

uncertain

Pakistan is a conservative, religious state. The Edhi Foundation is unusual in its ignoring of caste, creed, religion and sect. This strict stance has led to some criticism from religious groups.

2017 April 6, Samira Shackle, “On the frontline with Karachi’s ambulance drivers”, in the Guardian:

Any of the hereditary social classes and subclasses of South Asian societies or similar found historically in other cultures.


prana

en-noun

prana (countable and uncountable, plural pranas)

From Sanskrit प्राण (prāṇa, “breath; life”).

He it is who sends the (in-coming) Prana (life-breath) upward and throws the (out-going) breath downward.

1919, Swami Paramananda, transl., The Upanishads:

He who knows Aditi, who rises with Prana (the Life Principle), existent in all the Devas.

May my limbs, speech, Prana (life-force), sight, hearing, strength and all my senses, gain in vigor.

(Hinduism, yoga) Respiration, breathing, seen as a life principle or life force.


stress

stress (countable and uncountable, plural stresses)

Hans Selye
Walter Cannon
stress
stress (mechanics)

From a shortening of Middle English destresse, borrowed from Old French destrecier, from Latin distringō (“to stretch out”). This form probably coalesced with Middle English stresse, from Old French estrece (“narrowness”), from Vulgar Latin *strictia, from Latin strictus (“narrow”).
In the sense of "mental strain" or “disruption”, used occasionally in the 1920s and 1930s by psychologists, including Walter Cannon (1934); in “biological threat”, used by endocrinologist Hans Selye, by metaphor with stress in physics (force on an object) in the 1930s, and popularized by same in the 1950s.

(Scots law) distress; the act of distraining; also, the thing distrained.


LC

LC (countable and uncountable, plural LCs)

The lord chancellorship certainly needed reform and sadly Lord Irvine resisted taking the sensible steps of creating an independent judicial appointments commission and ending the nonsense of the LC having the right, should he choose, of sitting himself as a judge on cases.

2016 July 27, Helena Kennedy QC, “Letters: Charlie Falconer to blame for lord chancellor folly”, in The Guardian:

(UK politics) Initialism of lord chancellor.