sarcophagus

en-noun

sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses or (rare) sarcophagusses)

sarcophagi (plural)
sarcophaguses (plural)
sarcophagusses (plural rare)

/sɑːˈkɒfəɡəs/

/sɑɹˈkɑfəɡəs/

/sɑːˈkɒfəɡaɪ/

/sɑɹˈkɑfəɡaɪ/

Assos
Chernobyl New Safe Confinement
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
Egyptian Museum
Frankfurt Main Cemetery
Franz Adickes

The noun is borrowed from Latin sarcophagus (“grave; sarcophagus; flesh-eating, carnivorous”), from Ancient Greek σᾰρκοφᾰ́γος (sărkophắgos, “sarcophagus; flesh-eating, carnivorous”) (so named from λῐ́θος σᾰρκοφᾰ́γος (lĭ́thos sărkophắgos, literally “flesh-eating stone”) a type of limestone found at Assos in Troas (now Behramkale, Turkey) thought to consume the flesh of corpses, and thus used to make coffins), from σαρκός (sarkós) (the genitive form of σάρξ (sárx, “flesh; body”), from Proto-Indo-European *twerḱ- (“to carve; to cut off, trim”)) + -φάγος (-phágos, suffix meaning ‘eater (of); eating’) (from ἔφαγον (éphagon, “to devour, eat”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂g- (“to allot, distribute; to divide”)).
The plural form sarcophagi is borrowed from Latin sarcophagī.
The verb is derived from the noun.

ref

From the collection of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt.

nb...

Containing Numerous Designs for Dwellings, from the Cottage to the Villa, Including Farm Houses, Farmeries, and Other Agricultural Buildings; Several Designs for Country Inns, Public Houses, and Parochial Schools; with the Requisite Fittings-up, Fixtures, and Furniture; and Appropriate Offices, Gardens, and Garden Scenery; Each Design Accompanied by Analytical and Critical Remarks, Illustrative of the Principles of Architectural Science and Taste of which It is Composed. 􂀿...􂁀 Illustrated by More than Two Thousand Engravings; the Designs by Upwards of Fifty Different Architects, Surveyors, Builders, Upholsterers, Cabinet-makers, Landscape-gardeners, and Others, of whom a List is Given. A New Edition, with Numerous Corrections, and with Many of the Plates Re-engraved.

at the Architectural Library, High Holborn.

ref

From J[ohn] C[laudius] Loudon (1839) “Of the Furniture of Villas”, in An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture; […], new edition, London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans, and sold by John Weale, […], →OCLC, book III (Designs for Villas, with Various Degrees of Accommodation, and in Different Styles of Architecture), figure 1873, page 1045.

der

Near unto Aſſos, a citie in Troas, there is found in the quarries a certaine ſtone called Sarcophagus, vvhich runneth in a direct veine, and is apt to be cloven and ſo cut out of the rocke by flakes: The reaſon of the name is this, becauſe that vvithin the ſpace of fortie daies it is knovvne for certain to conſume the bodies of the dead vvhich are beſtovved therein, skin, fleſh, and bone, all ſave the teeth.

1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XXXVI.] Of Certaine Stones which will Quickly Consume the Bodies that be Laid therein. Of Others Againe that Preserve Them a Long Time. Of the Stone Called Assius, and the Medicinable Properties thereof.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 2nd tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 587:

His Entrails are like the Sarcophagus, that devours dead Bodies in a ſmall Space, […]

a. 1681 (date written), Samuel Butler, “A Glutton”, in R[obert] Thyer, editor, The Genuine Remains in Verse and Prose of Mr. Samuel Butler, […], volume II, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1759, →OCLC, page 461:

(obsolete except Ancient Greece, historical) A kind of limestone used by the Ancient Greeks for coffins, so called because it was thought to consume the flesh of corpses.


Hinduism

en-proper noun

Hinduism (countable and uncountable, plural Hinduisms)

Hinduisms (plural)
Hindooism (alternative)
Hindouism (alternative)

Mordin: Wheel of life. Popular salarian concept. Similar to human Hinduism in focus on reincarnation.
Mordin: Appealing to see life as endless. Fix mistakes in next life. Learn, adapt, improve.
Mordin: Refuse to believe life ends here. Too wasteful. Have much more to offer. Mistakes to fix. Cannot end here. Could do so much more.

2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Tuchanka:

A religion, philosophy and culture native to India, characterized by the belief in reincarnation and a supreme oneness personified in many forms and natures.


sulla

Borrowed from Punjabi ਸੁੱਲ (sulla), a mispronunciation of Punjabi ਮੁੱਲਾ (mullā, “mullah, Islamic religious leader”), derived from Classical Persian ملا (mullā), from Arabic مُلَّا (mullā).

der

(South Asia, religious slur, ethnic slur) A Muslim man; especially one from Pakistan.


Selene

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

Balancing Arria is the union of Selene and Endymion. In the center of the main panel Selene descends from her chariot, whose horses are held by a nymph, to join Endymion, who lies to the right.

1999, Mark P. O. Morford, Robert J. Lenardon, Classical Mythology, page 43:

In the other, more famous story, the moon goddess Selene fell in love with him^([Endymion]) while he was asleep.

2005, Marshall Cavendish Corporation, Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology, volume 4, page 473:

This fragmentary front panel of a sarcophagus preserves two episodes from the story of Endymion and Selene. Selene, goddess of the moon, fell in love with Endymion, a beautiful young mortal.

2010, J. Paul Getty Trust, Kenneth Lapatin, Karol Wight, editors, The J. Paul Getty Museum Handbook of the Antiquities Collection, 2nd edition, page 169:

(Greek mythology) The goddess of the Moon.


villa

Borrowed from Italian villa, from Latin vīlla (“country house”). Doublet of vill and ville.

(Ancient Rome, plural "villae") A country house, with farm buildings around a courtyard.


prevarication

en-noun

prevarication (countable and uncountable, plural prevarications)

/pɹɪˌvæɹɪˈkeɪʃən/

/pɹɪˌvæɹəˈkeɪʃən/

From Anglo-Norman prevaricassion, Middle French prevarication, and their source, Latin praevāricātiō (“collusion with an opponent; transgression; deceit”), from the stem of praevāricor.

der

(Ancient Rome, law, historical) The collusion of an informer with the defendant, for the purpose of making a sham prosecution.


upper

The 'upper' is one of nine apertures through which consciousness can leave the body at death (utkrantih).

2005, Shingo Einoo, Genesis and Development of Tantra, page 128:

When the Tao Te Ching says: “In thought, you can see the cavity,” it is referring to what the Triplex Unity describes as “When the upper is closed, we call it existence; when the lower is closed, we call it nothingness.”

It is said in Tibetan culture, in order to understand the upper, it is necessary to understand the lower first. Once, the lower is understood, the upper is just an introductory.

2010, Tenzin Dhakpa Agongtsang, Realistic Principles, Pittsburgh, PA: RoseDog Books, page 10:

(Taoism) A spiritual passageway through which consciousness can reach a higher dimension.


Thalia

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

uder

(Greek mythology) The Muse of comedy and idyllic poetry.

(Greek mythology) One of the three Graces/Charites.


Mebyon Kernow

From Cornish, meaning "Sons of Cornwall".

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


siren

sirens (plural)
sirenes (plural)
sirene (alternative)

From Middle English siren, from Old French sereine and Latin Sīrēn, Sīrēna, from Ancient Greek Σειρήν (Seirḗn). The mammalian sense was first attested in French in Dominique Bouhours, Les entretiens d'Ariste et d'Eugène, in 1671. The aquatic salamander sense was originally introduced by Linnaeus in 1766, for a genus of his reptiles. Doublet of serin.

Now give ear to what I'm about to say to you , and a god himself will bring it before your mind . First , you will come to the Sirens . These beings enthrall all men who arrive before them . Whoever draws near without knowledge and ...

2008 October 7, Homer, The Odyssey, North Atlantic Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 278:

(Greek mythology) One of a group of nymphs who lured mariners to their death on the rocks.


householder

From Middle English housholdere, equivalent to household + -er. The Buddhist sense is a semantic loan from Pali gahapati (literally “house-master”).

semantic loan

(Buddhism, Hinduism) A layperson, lay devotee, gahapati, grihastha.


Casey

en-proper noun

Casey (countable and uncountable, plural Caseys)

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

Planned Parenthood v. Casey
w:en:Planned Parenthood v. Casey

(US, law, US politics, informal, uncountable) Ellipsis of Planned Parenthood v. Casey. A 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that reaffirmed the right to having an abortion; and reaffirmed the existence of a right to privacy under due process following the 14th Amendment.


deplorable

/dɪˈplɔːɹəbl̩/

PIE word
 *de
The adjective is borrowed from French déplorable (“lamentable, regrettable”), or from its etymon Late Latin dēplōrābilis + English -able (suffix meaning ‘relevant to, suitable to’). Dēplōrābilis is derived from Latin dēplōrō (“to bemoan, complain about; to bewail, lament, deplore”) + -ābilis (suffix meaning ‘able or worthy to be’); while dēplōrō is from dē- (intensifying prefix) + plōrō (“to cry out; to complain; to lament, deplore”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₃(w)- (“to flow; to swim”)). By surface analysis, deplore + -able.
The noun is derived from the adjective. Sense 2 refers to a campaign speech by the American politician and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (born 1947) during the 2016 United States presidential election calling half of the supporters of her Republican opponent Donald Trump (born 1946) a “basket of deplorables”.

der

He [Donald Trump] did not say who “the guys” were—but [John Maguire] Dowd knew he meant the Trump base, the crowds at his rallies, the Fox News watchers, the deplorables.

2018, Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 355:

Trump's fate, [Steve] Bannon declared, rested with the deplorables, who had to be brought to the kind of fearful emotional pitch that would get them to the polls.

2019 June 4, Michael Wolff, “McCain, Woodward, Anonymous”, in Siege: Trump Under Fire, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN:

The self-image of the deplorables is that of the honest, hardworkin' people of the Christian American heartland and South who have been screwed by Washington, D.C., and the coastal elites since the dawn of time.

2020, Rick Wilson, Running against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump—And Democrats from Themselves, New York, N.Y.: Crown Forum, Crown Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 265:

(specifically, US politics, derogatory, neologism) A supporter of Donald Trump.


temenos

The three spheres – political, commercial, spiritual – intersected, and at the very centre of their conjunction was, and is, the Meccan temenos.

2019, Tim Mackintosh-Smith, Arabs, Yale University Press, page 123:

(chiefly Ancient Greece) Ground under, surrounding and adjacent to a temple; a sacred enclosure or precinct.


LP

Liberal Party
w:Liberal Party (Philippines)

(Philippine politics) Initialism of Liberal Party.


forum

→ Italian: forum

→ Korean: 포럼 (poreom)

From Latin forum (“public market place, forum”). Doublet of fuero and door.

Trish was an admin on three forums, and had no trouble at all when it came to moderating them.

(Internet) An Internet message board where users can post messages regarding one or more topics of discussion.


Eris

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἔρις (Éris), from ἔρις (éris, “strife”).
See also Eris (mythology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia and Eris (dwarf planet) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

pedia

According to Homer, the Trojan war is, above all, an affair of the gods. It is about Eris, a sister of the god of war Ares, and about Eros, not directly named by Homer, but who in the figure of Aphrodite, the god of love, plays a central role on the side of the Trojans. Eris is the one who divides gods, mortals, and things from each other; Eros is the one who brings them together.

1992, Samuel Ijsseling, “Eros and Eris: The Trojan War and Heidegger on the Essence of Truth”, in Paul van Tongeren, Paul Sars, Chris Bremmers, Koen Boey, editors, Eros and Eris: Contributions to a Hermeneutical Phenomenology Liber Amicorum for Adriaan Peperzak, Kluwer Academic, page 2:

1993, Herman Parret, The Aesthetics of Communication: Pragmatics and Beyond, Springer, Softcover reprint, page 18,
Eris, "the Strife with the violent heart", one reads in Hesiod's Theogony, is a child of the Night, and "Hateful Struggle gave birth to painful Distress and Distraction and Famine and tearful Sorrow; also Wars and Battles and Murders and Slaughters; also Feuds and Lying Words and Angry Words".

According to Newport, no specific bowling alley can claim to be the site of the birth of the Discordian movement. It evolved at several different bowling alleys. This revelation came as a devastating disappointment to your humble author, who—in the course of writing this book—had planned a grand religious pilgrimage to this envisioned holy site, where I would snap sacred photos of "The Brunswick Shrine," and perhaps even fall to my knees before this fabled Mecca of Discordianism, bowing to the Goddess Eris.

2003, Adam Gorightly, The Prankster and the Conspiracy: The Story of Kerry Thornley and How He Met Oswald and Inspired the Counterculture, Paraview Press, page 58:

And yet Erisianism should not be treated frivolously. Greg Hill told me his experiences with Eris had been quite profound. Although it started as an atheistic joke, his perceptions began to change.

2006, Margot Adler, Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-worshippers, and Other Pagans in America, Penguin, page 351:

(Greek mythology) The goddess of discord and strife, whose apple of discord sparked events that eventually led to the Trojan War; equated by Homer with Enyo (goddess of violent war) and identified with the Roman goddess Discordia;

The goddess of discord and strife, whose apple of discord sparked events that eventually led to the Trojan War; equated by Homer with Enyo (goddess of violent war) and identified with the Roman goddess Discordia;
(religion, Discordianism) the same figure as principal deity of Discordianism, regarded as the goddess of disorder.


Lethe

From Latin Lēthē, from Ancient Greek Λήθη (Lḗthē).

(Greek mythology) The personification of oblivion, daughter of Eris.

No wonder these mortal Folks have so many Complaints, […] if they were dead now, and to be settled here for ever, they'd be damn'd before they'd make such a Rout come over—“But care, I suppose, is thirsty; and till they have drench’d themselves with Lethe, there will be no quiet among ’em” however, I’ll e’en to work; and so, friend Æsop, and brother Mercury, good bye to ye.

1740, David Garrick, Lethe: or Aesop in the Shade, published 1782:

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains / My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, / Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains / One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:

For two-and-twenty years he [Doctor Guillotin], unguillotined, shall hear nothing but guillotine, see nothing but guillotine; then dying, shall through long centuries wander, as it were, a disconsolate ghost, on the wrong side of Styx and Lethe; his name like to outlive Cæsar’s.

1837, Thomas Carlyle, chapter IV, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume I (The Bastille), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, book IV (States-General):

A well-fed man is not driven to drink by the craving that torments the hungry; and the comfortable do not crave for the boon of forgetfulness. Gin is the only Lethe of the miserable.

1890, William Booth, chapter 6, in In Darkest England and the Way Out:

When we have done penance, and are purified, and have drunk of the fountain of Lethe and bathed in the fountain of Eunoe, the mistress of our soul raises us to the Paradise of Heaven.

1891, Oscar Wilde, “The Critic as Artist”, in Intentions:

oblivion n.: Lethe. In Greek mythology, Lethe (pronounced LEEthee) is one of the several rivers of Hades. Those who drink from it experience complete forgetfulness. Today it is used to refer to one in an oblivious or forgetful state.

2015, Peter E. Meltzer, The Thinker's Thesaurus, W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN:

(Greek mythology) The river which flows through Hades from which the souls of the dead drank so that they would forget their time on Earth.


Metis

From Ancient Greek Μῆτις (Mêtis) from Ancient Greek μῆτις (mêtis, “wisdom”).

(Greek mythology) A Titan who was the personification of wisdom, the first spouse of Zeus, and the mother of Athena


plebeian

plebeians (plural)
plebian (alternative)
plebeyan (alternative)
plebean (alternative)
plebeane (alternative)
plebien (alternative)

From Latin plēbēius (“a commoner; common”) + -an (adjective-forming suffix), from Latin plēbēs + -ius (adjective-forming suffix), possibly under the influence of Middle French plebeyen, plebein, plebien (“a commoner”) and plebeien (“concerning the common people”). Cf. Medieval Latin plēbēiānus (“a commoner”), from plēbēius + -ānus.

cog

Na plebeane will tak þe dochter of ane patriciane but hir consent.

1533, John Bellenden translating Livy, History of Rome, Vol. II, Ch. iv, Sect. ii

(historical, Ancient Rome) A member of the plebs, the common citizens of ancient Rome.

պլեբեյ

one of the common people of ancient Rome


KKK

[…] 1919, a time when African American hopes for a just future following their service in World War I were dashed by violent reassertions of white supremacy, including the efflorescence and expansion of the KKK into the Midwestern and northwestern U.S.

2015, Heidi Nast, “Pit Bulls, Slavery, and Whiteness in the Mid- to Late-Nineteenth-Century U.S.”, in Rosemary-Claire Collard, Kathryn Gillespie, editors, Critical Animal Geographies, page 138:

(US politics) Initialism of Ku Klux Klan.


production

en-noun

production (countable and uncountable, plural productions)

→ Japanese: プロダクション (purodakushon)

/pɹəˈdʌkʃən/

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

der

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


Zionist

More than those who are merely pro-Israel, Zionists (1) see contemporary Israeli society as presenting a challenge to their Jewish life in the Diaspora; (2) believe Israel offers a greater chance of a fulfilling and secure Jewish life; and (3) are confronted with the possibility of settling in Israel and attracted to it. Thus, while most American Jews are pro-Israel, far fewer are Zionists in the classical sense.

1995, Stephen M. Cohen, “Jewish Continuity Over Jewish Context”, in Robert Seltzer, Norman S. Cohen, editors, The Americanization of the Jews, page 405:

These investigations indicate that although a large proportion of American Jews call themselves Zionists, their meanings of Zionism are closer to what some investigators have called pro-Israelism. According to the still common Israeli definition of a Zionist as one who views the Diaspora negatively and considers the settlement of Jews in Israel as essential, the vast majority of American Jews would not be considered Zionists.

1996, Gal Allon, Allon Gal, Jerold S. Auerbach, Envisioning Israel: The Changing Ideals and Images of North American Jews, page 151:

Most Zionists hoped for a state of their own, but early in the 20th century, writers like Hillel Solotaroff and Chaim Zhitlowsky, both Yiddish-speaking immigrant intellectuals in New York, imagined another alternative: a federation of self-governing anarchist communes in Palestine that would defend Jewish life without relying on state power.

2019 July 15, Greg Afinogenov, “The Jewish Case for Open Borders”, in Jewish Currents, number Summer 2019:

A believer in the African Zionism religion.


Zionist

en-adj

Zionist (comparative more Zionist, superlative most Zionist)

more Zionist (comparative)
most Zionist (superlative)

صَهْيُونِيّ

of or relating to Zionism, a Zionist, or Zionists

Of or relating to the African Zionism religion.


Typhon

(Greek mythology) The most powerful and feared of all Greek monsters, having the head, arms, and torso of a man, and his bottom half consisting of countless dragons or serpents. Some stories also say that his hands ended in serpents and that he bears 100 heads. He is shrouded in giant wings, his eyes blaze a white fire, and his arms reach towards the stars.

Athanasius Kircher
Oedipus Aegyptiacus
Typhon


tyrant

→ Welsh: teirant

From Middle English tyraunt, tiraunt, tyrant, tyrante, from Old French tyrant, from the addition of a terminal -t to tiran (cp. French tyran) via a back-formation related to the development of French present participles out of the Latin -ans form, from Latin tyrannus (“despot”), from Ancient Greek τύραννος (túrannos, “usurper, monarch, despot”), of uncertain origin.

tirà

person who uses violence to treat others unjustly

To proue him Tyrant, this reason may suffice, That Henry liueth still.

c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], line 71:

The reappearance of tyranny [in the 4th century BC] had many reasons... one of the main causes was the development of antagonism between rich and poor; tyrants came to power exploiting a social and political imbalance within the state.

1980, Michel Austin et al., Economic and Social History of Ancient Greece, section 142:

Ancient Greek tyrannies appeared once more in great numbers with the breakdown of the polis in the period from the fourth to the second centuries [BC]. These later tyrannies tended to rely on a more narrow class base and to use a brutal military rule, and thus writers could use the words tyrant and tyranny, with their modern connotations of evil and cruelty, to describe them accurately.

1996, Roger Boesche, Theories of Tyranny, from Plato to Arendt, section 4:

(historical, Ancient Greece) A usurper; one who gains power and rules extralegally, distinguished from kings elevated by election or succession.


ambrosia

en-noun

ambrosia (countable and uncountable, plural ambrosias)

From Latin ambrosia (“food of the gods”), from Ancient Greek ἀμβροσία (ambrosía, “immortality”), from ἄμβροτος (ámbrotos, “immortal”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + βροτός (brotós, “mortal”).

af

He had a most intense admiration of female loveliness, and looked upon woman as a kind of super-angelic being, whose food should be the ambrosiæ and nectar of the gods, and whose garments the spotless white of vestal purity.

1845 November, Caroline Lee Hentz, “The Mysterious Reticule”, in Sarah J[osepha] Hale, Morton M’Michael, Louis A[ntoine] Godey, editors, Godey’s Magazine and Lady’s Book, volume XXXI, number 16, Philadelphia, Pa.: Louis A. Godey, […], page 202, column 1:

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) The food of the gods, thought to confer immortality.

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) The anointing-oil of the gods.


Irene

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

(Greek mythology) Eirene, the Greek goddess of peace, one of the Horae/Horæ; equivalent to the Roman goddess Pax.


rhapsody

The noun is derived from Latin rhapsōdia (“part of an epic poem suitable for uninterrupted recitation”), from Koine Greek ῥαψῳδία (rhapsōidía, “part of an epic poem suitable for uninterrupted recitation; rigmarole”), Ancient Greek ῥαψῳδία (rhapsōidía, “composition or recitation of Epic poetry”), from ῥαψῳδός (rhapsōidós, “composer or performer of Epic poetry”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). Ῥαψῳδός (Rhapsōidós) is derived from ῥᾰ́πτω (rhắptō, “to sew”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to bend; to turn”)) + ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “ode; song”) (ultimately from Proto-Hellenic *awoidā́ (“song”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming o-grade action nouns).
Sense 2.2 (“instrumental composition of irregular form”) probably developed from sense 2.1 (“exaggeratedly enthusiastic or exalted expression of feeling in speech or writing”), and both of these senses may have been influenced by rapture (“extreme excitement, happiness, or pleasure”), the latter being a quality associated with the senses. Sense 2.3 (“literary composition consisting of miscellaneous works”) is borrowed from Middle French rhapsodie (modern French rhapsodie), from Latin rhapsōdia: see above.
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
* French rhapsodie (“instrumental composition of irregular form”)
* German Rhapsodie (“instrumental composition of irregular form”)

cog

(Ancient Greece, poetry, historical) An epic poem, or part of one, suitable for uninterrupted recitation.

狂想曲

ancient Greek epic poem, or part of one, suitable for uninterrupted recitation


satyr

satyrs (plural)
satyre (alternative)
satyrus (alternative)

From French satyre, from Latin satyrus, from Ancient Greek σάτυρος (sáturos).

Rough Satyrs danced; and Fauns, with cloven heel, / From the glad sound would not be absent long.
male variation of nymphs

(Greek mythology) A sylvan deity or demigod, male companion of Pan or Dionysus, represented as part man and part goat, and characterized by riotous merriment and lasciviousness, sometimes pictured with a perpetual erection.


chakra

/ˈt͡ʃɑː.kɹə/

From Hindi चक्र (cakra) and directly from Sanskrit चक्र (cakra, “wheel, disc, cycle”). As a synonym for hackery, either a correction or hypercorrection of that term based on one of its proposed etymologies. Doublet of chakram, charkha, chukker, cycle, cyclus, and wheel.

dbt

In the etheric body of a yogini in meditation, the polarity is, therefore, not between the brain and the genitals, the second and sixth chakras, but between the inner sexuality of the womb and the heart.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 19:

(Hinduism, Ayurveda) Any of (at least) seven centres of spiritual energy in or near the body, according to Ayurveda philosophy.


karma

en-noun

karma (countable and uncountable, plural karmas)

Borrowed from Sanskrit कर्म (kárma), nom.sg. of कर्मन् (kárman, “act, action, performance”); first attested in English in 1785 in a translation of the Bhagavad Gita by Charles Wilkins.

‘We are all part of a circle of karma. We will be rewarded for the good deeds of our forefathers, and pay the price for their sins.’

2023, Santanu Bhattacharya, One Small Voice, Fig Tree, pages 59-60:

(Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) The sum total of a person's actions, which determine the person's next incarnation in samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth.

كَارْمَا

the total effect of a person’s actions and conduct during the successive phases of his existence


Sati

(Hinduism) One of the daughters of Prasuti and Daksha; killed herself by self-immolation on a fire


sutra

sutras (plural)
Sutra (alternative)
sūtra (alternative)
Sūtra (alternative)
sutta (alternative)

Borrowed from Sanskrit सूत्र (sū́tra, “thread, yarn, string; rule”). Doublet of sutta; more distantly related to sew and suture.

bor

Shepard: This Code of the Justicar seems central to your life.
Samara: It is five thousand sutras, and covers every situation one can encounter. I have memorized every word. There is only the Code.

2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2:

(Buddhism, Hinduism) A scriptural narrative, especially a discourse of the Buddha.


mandala

Borrowed from Sanskrit मण्डल (máṇḍala). Doublet of mandal.

(Hinduism, Buddhism) A graphic depiction of the spiritual universe and its myriad realms and deities.

(Hinduism, Buddhism) Any ritualistic geometric design, symbolic of the Universe, used as an aid to meditation.


Roman Empire

/ˈɹəʊmən ˈɛmpaɪə/

/ˈɹoʊmən ˈɛmpaɪɚ/

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

The sense something that one frequently thinks about is a reference to the "How Often Do You Think About the Roman Empire?" meme, popularized on Instagram and TikTok around September 2023.

(historical) The empire which succeeded the Roman Republic and existed between 27 B.C.E. and 476 C.E. in the west (and until 1453 C.E. in the east; see Byzantine Empire), encompassing territories stretching from Britain and Germany to Spain, North Africa and the Persian Gulf.


outer

inner

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Iron Curtain

/ˌaɪən ˈkɜːtn̩/

A specialized use of iron curtain (“(figurative) impenetrable barrier”), probably partly a calque of German eiserner Vorhang which was used in speeches in the 1940s that were translated into English. The English term appeared in telegrams from the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874–1965) to the President of the United States Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) in 1945, before being popularized in a speech given by Churchill at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, on 5 March 1946: see the quotations.

We liked the plain people of Russia wherever we met them. […] We were behind the "iron curtain" at last!

1920, Mrs. Philip Snowden [i.e., Ethel Snowden], “Making Our Plans”, in Through Bolshevik Russia, London; New York, N.Y.: Cassell and Company, →OCLC, pages 31 and 32:

In the east the iron curtain behind which, unseen by the eyes of the world, the work of destruction goes on, is moving steadily forward.

1945 May 3, Court Schwerin von Krosigk [i.e., Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk], “New foreign minister broadcasts”, in [anonymous], transl., The Manchester Guardian, number 30,757, Manchester: […] John Russell Scott for the Manchester Guardian & Evening News, […], →OCLC, page 5, column 6:

An iron curtain is drawn down upon their [Russia's] front. We do not know what is going on behind.

1945 May 12, Winston Churchill, “No. 6: Leahy Papers: Telegram: Prime Minister Churchill to President [Harry S.] Truman”, in Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers: The Conference of Berlin (The Potsdam Conference) 1945 […] (86th Congress, 1st Session, House Document; no. 161, vol I; Department of State Publication; 7015), volume I, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, published 1960, →OCLC, paragraph 3, page 9:

From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.

1946 March 5, Winston Churchill, “The Sinews of Peace”, in Westminster College Bulletin: World Spotlight Turns on Westminster, series 46, number 1, Fulton, Mo.: Westminster College, published April 1946, →OCLC, column 1:

Indeed, rail traffic of all kinds is developing through the Iron Curtain – for instance, last year a total of 6,445 wagons controlled by Interfrigo, the international company for refrigerated transport, passed between East and West; […]

1960 March, “Talking of Trains: London–Paris in Four Hours”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 134:

Justice is giving ground to the forces of evil. These developments have confused the camp of freedom and abetted the growth of Communism. Even so, the fierce struggle for freedom of the people shut behind the Iron Curtain and the support for their emancipation provided by peace-loving people outside the Iron Curtain have never ceased despite the buffeting from waves of appeasement.

1973 July 17 (date delivered), Chiang Kai-shek, “President Chiang Kai-shek’s Message to the Mass Rally Supporting Captive Nations Week”, in L. Y. Chen, editor, Free China Weekly, volume XIV, number 28, Taipei, Taiwan: Chung Hwa Information Service, published 22 July 1973, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1, columns 1–2:

Now, we are not in a new Cold War. We don't see the descending of a new Iron Curtain, but we have moved back very, very sharply in the wrong direction. We must work with the many Russian democrats still functioning in and out of government, in and out of Parliament, in and out of the business community, to make the dream of a Russian democracy become a reality.

2007 May 17, Tom Lantos, Chairman, Russia: Rebuilding the Iron Curtain: Hearing before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Tenth Congress, First Session […] (Serial No. 110-65), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →ISBN, page 3:

[…] Christopher Hill, one of the Western critics whose works were cited and appreciated behind the Iron Curtain throughout the decades of state socialism.

2022, Miklós Péti, “Samson: An Unlikely Hero of Socialism”, in Timothy Mathews, editor, Paradise from behind the Iron Curtain: Reading, Translating and Staging Milton in Communist Hungary (Literature and Translation), London: UCL Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 68:

(historical) Chiefly preceded by the: the dividing line between Western Europe and the Soviet-controlled regions, especially during the Cold War (1947–1991).


succession

en-noun

succession (countable and uncountable, plural successions)

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

An act, process, or instance of succeeding:

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


Louis

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

der

It was a strange collection, like Billy Bones’s hoard for the diversity of coinage, but so much larger and so much more varied that I think I never had more pleasure than in sorting them. English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Georges, and Louises, doubloons and double guineas and moidores and sequins, […]

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

(historical numismatics) Alternative letter-case form of louis: various gold and silver coins issued by the French kings.


Etruscan

en-adj

Etruscan (comparative more Etruscan, superlative most Etruscan)

more Etruscan (comparative)
most Etruscan (superlative)

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

Of or pertaining to the region and culture of Etruria, a pre-Roman civilization in Italy.


Etruscan

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

伊特魯里亞語 /伊特鲁里亚语

Yītèlǔlǐyàyǔ


axis of evil

2002 State of the Union Address
George W. Bush
axis of evil

Coined by American political commentator David Frum in 2002 and first used publicly by President George W. Bush in the 2002 State of the Union Address. Possibly from a historical analogy to the German-Italian-Japanese axis. Extended to astrophysics by Portuguese scientist João Magueijo in 2005.

coin

I discussed Iraq with Gerhard during his visit to the White House on January 31, 2002. In my State of the Union address two days earlier, I had outlined the threats posed by Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. “States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world,” I said. The media seized on the phrase “axis of evil.” They took the line to mean that the three countries had formed an alliance. That missed the point. The axis I referred to was the link between the governments that pursued WMD and the terrorists who could use those weapons. There was a larger point in the speech that no one could miss: I was serious about dealing with Iraq.

2010, George W. Bush, Decision Points, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 233:

Communist China is on a mission for dominance. At the helm of the New Axis of Evil, China has indicated they will invade independent countries and destroy democratic leadership to achieve that end. My recent visit to Taiwan made it abundantly clear that the leaders in Taiwan want the United States and our allies to stand with them as they fight to keep their independence.

2022 September 9, Marsha Blackburn, “We must stand with Taiwan”, in Tullahoma News, Tullahoma, Tennessee, archived from the original on 2022-09-11:

weapons of mass destruction
weapon of mass destruction

A group of states accused by George W. Bush of sponsoring terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction, originally defined as Iran, Iraq, and North Korea.

مِحْوَر اَلشَّرّ

states supposedly sponsoring terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction


Ulster Cycle

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


Gae Bulg

The spear of Cúchulainn, given to him by Aife.


Aífe

Borrowed from Old Irish Aífe; compare Modern Irish Aoife.

Aoibhe (alternative)
Aoife (alternative)

(Irish mythology) Either of two figures of Irish mythology:

A female warrior from Alba (Scotland), the daughter of Airdgeimm and sister of Scáthach, who became Cú Chulainn's lover; featured in the Ulster Cycle.

One of the wives of Lir, who turned her stepchildren into swans; featured in Oidheadh chloinne Lir ("Fate of the Children of Lir").


CP

en-noun

CP (countable and uncountable, plural CPs)

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


Black and Tan

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

Dúchrónach

member of the RIC British irregular army group


Darth Vader

"Darth" is a blend of dark + death (the derivation from Dark Lord of the Sith is a later development).
"Vader" is traditionally explained as being from Dutch vader (“father”). However, the idea of Vader's fatherhood was only developed for The Empire Strikes Back (after the character was introduced), making this improbable. It is more likely a shortening of invader or from the surname Vader.

What's all this? Looks like Darth Vader's bathroom.

1982, “Knight of the Phoenix”, in Knight Rider, episode 1 (television production), spoken by Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff):

Darth Vader, a villain of the science-fantasy film series Star Wars.


mina

Borrowed from Latin mina, from Ancient Greek μνᾶ (mnâ, “mna”). Compare maneh, from Biblical Hebrew מָנֶה (māne), as well as maund.

What then of the actual fine of thirty minae Socrates proposes? Thirty minae was a large sum, “the equivalent of approximately eight-and-one-half years′ wages," according to one recent estimate (Brickhouse and Smith 1988, 227); enough to buy a library of three thousand philosophy books, if the price of Anaxogoras′ book is any guide (26d6-e2).

1989, C. D. C Reeve, Socrates in the Apology: An Essay on Plato′s Apology of Socrates, page 174:

(historical) A monetary unit of ancient Greece and the Middle East, originally equivalent to the weight of a mina of silver.


boing

Onomatopoeic. The “large breasts” sense is reborrowed from Japanese ボイン, in turn from English boing.

A representation of the sound of something bouncing.

(fandom slang, chiefly in the context of anime and comics) Announcing the presence of large, pert breasts, which are bouncy.


boing

→ Japanese: ボイン

→ English: boing

(fandom slang, chiefly in the context of anime and comics) Large breasts.


Democritus

From Ancient Greek Δημόκριτος (Dēmókritos).

A Greek philosopher (c.460-c.370 BC). The originator of the atomic theory together with his teacher Leucippus.


Hesiod

Semi-learned borrowing from Latin Hēsiodus, from Ancient Greek Ἡσίοδος (Hēsíodos).

slbor

Ancient Greek poet and rhapsodist of the 8th century BCE, known as the first author of didactic verse.


Arthur

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

A number of places in the United States:

A village in Douglas County and Moultrie County, Illinois.

Wellington North
Wellington North#English

Wellington County
Wellington County#English

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


Seth

From Ancient Greek Σήθ (Sḗth), from Egyptian s-t:X (stẖ).

(Egyptian mythology) An ancient Egyptian god, variously described as the god of chaos, the god of thunder and storms, or the god of destruction.


hat trick

hat tricks (plural)
hattrick (alternative)
hat-trick (alternative)

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

driekuns

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

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

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

Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament

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


flamen

flamens (plural)
flamines (plural)
flamin (alternative)

(historical, Ancient Rome) A priest devoted to the service of a particular god, from whom he received a distinguishing epithet. The most honored were those of Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus, called respectively Flamen Dialis, Flamen Martialis, and Flamen Quirinalis.


hexagram

hexagrams (plural)
hexagramme (alternative)

/ˈhɛksəɡɹæm/

A hollow six-pointed star formed by overlapping two equilateral triangles.

Any of the 64 sets of solid and broken lines, formed by pairs of trigrams, used for divination in the I Ching.

A large silver coin minted during the Byzantine Empire.


gens

Bilecik Province
Marcus Aurelius
Roman emperor

Borrowed from Latin gēns (“gens; people, tribe”), from Proto-Italic *gentis, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis (“birth; production”), from *ǵenh₁- (“to beget; to give birth; to produce”) + *-tis (suffix forming abstract or action nouns from verb roots). Doublet of kind, genesis, and jati. See also gender, generate, gentile, genus; also Latin gigno (“I bring forth”).

gentile

of or pertaining to a gens or several gentes

[page 568, column 2] There were certain sacred rites (sacra gentilitia) which belonged to a gens, to the observance of which all the members of a gens, as such, were bound, whether they were members by birth, adoption, or adrogation. A person was freed from the observance of such sacra, and lost the privileges connected with his gentile rites, when he lost his gens, that is, when he was adrogated, adopted, or even emancipated; for adrogation, adoption, and emancipation were accompanied by a diminutio capitis. […] [page 569, column 2] As the gentes were subdivisions of the three ancient tribes, the populus (in the ancient sense) alone had gentes, so that to be a patrician and to have a gens were synonymous; and thus we find the expressions gens and patricii constantly united.

1848, G[eorge] L[ong], “GENS”, in William Smith, editor, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 2nd improved and enlarged edition, London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly, Upper Gower Street; and Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row; John Murray, Albemarle Street, →OCLC, pages 568 and 569:

Caius Julius Caesar belonged to the gens Julius, his father's name was Caesar, and his own individual name (praenomen) was Caius. Women were given the clan name as their own; Caesar's sister was called Julia, and a younger sister would have been called Julia Minor.

1987, Frances Gies, Joseph Gies, “Roots: Roman, German, Christian”, in Marriage and Family in the Middle Ages, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, →ISBN:

(Ancient Rome, historical) A legally defined unit of Roman society, being a collection of people related through a common ancestor by birth, marriage or adoption, possibly over many generations, and sharing the same nomen gentilicium.


resignation

en-noun

resignation (countable and uncountable, plural resignations)

/ˌɹɛz.ɪɡˈneɪ.ʃən/

/ˌɹez.ɪɡˈnæɪ.ʃən/

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

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


inner

outer

antonym(s) of “One who supports remaining in the EU”

From Middle English inner, ynner, ynnere, from Old English innera, comparative of inne (“within”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁en.

(UK politics) One who supports remaining in the European Union.


Bacchus

From the Latin Bacchus, from the Ancient Greek Βάκχος (Bákkhos).

(Roman mythology) Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and vivid social gatherings.


Xenophanes

From Ancient Greek Ξενοφάνης (Xenophánēs). The name means “of foreign appearance” and is composed of ξένος (xénos, “foreign”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “appear”).

Lucretius was the Xenophanes of Roman culture, a great theorist (visionary), an ardent disciple of Universal Nature, an enemy of all superstition, false gods, and false fear of death, […]

1931, Hermann Schneider, Margaret Minna Green, The History of World Civilization, volume 2, page 614:

No Xenophanes arose amongst the Jews to rebuke them for ascribing to Jahweh acts which would be accounted a shame and a disgrace amongst men; […]

1970, John Arthur Passmore, The Perfectibility of Man, page 77:

Euthyphro is no Xenophanes but as a religious and thinking man he can turn to great teachers; […]

1985, Michael Despland, The Education of Desire, page 33:

The pre-Socratic philosopher Xenophanes of Colophon; by extension or reference, any profound or transformative religious thinker.


bushwhacker

bushwhackers (plural)
bushwacker (alternative)

The bushwhackers remained at General Cooper′s camp several days, then crossed the Red River into Texas.

1962, Albert E. Castel, William Clarke Quantrill: His Life and Times, page 155:

1967 April, Donald Keith, The Time Machine Hunts a Treasure, Boys' Life, page 51,
She stared at us. “Hardly. You must be from far off, not to know about Quantrill′s raids. Last March the bushwhackers rode into Aubrey, shot every man in town, stole everything, burned down houses. […] ”

Many bushwhackers were young men born to families of southern heritage who were generally wealthier and more likely to own slaves than the typical Missouri farmer.[…]His eldest daughter, Elisa, was an effective bushwhacker spy and informant.

2007, Jeremy Neely, The Border Between Them: Violence and Reconciliation on the Kansas-Missouri Line, page 109:

(US, historical) A guerrilla (of either side) during the American Civil War.


Oceanid

(Greek mythology) Any of the sea nymphs, daughters of Oceanus and Tethys.


Manannán mac Lir

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


Prometheus

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

From Ancient Greek Προμηθεύς (Promētheús), from πρό (pró, “before”) + μανθάνω (manthánō, “to think”).

(Greek mythology) The Titan chiefly honored for stealing fire from Zeus in the stalk of a fennel plant and giving it to mortals for their use. The god of fire and craft.


Ethniu

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


Balor

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


Buarainech

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


Cethlenn

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


Olympic Games

From Olympic + games, after Middle French ieux olympiques.

The first Olympic Games are traditionally dated to 776 BC.

In the times of the Olimpike games, with chariots exceeding all other in magnificence, he also sent poets and musitians to present his verses, with tents and pavillions gilt and most suinptuously tapistried.

1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

Olympic Games. — Besides the ordinary confederacies that join independent states together, a singular federal bond is remarkable in the Olympic games, which for many ages cemented the Grecian commonwealths by a joint tie of recreation and religious ritual.

1840, John Dunlop, The Universal Tendency to Association in Mankind. Analyzed and Illustrated, London: Houlston and Stoneman, page 103:

(historical, Ancient Greece) A sporting festival held every four or five years on the Plain of Olympia in southern Greece, in honour of Zeus.

Olympian kisat

sporting festival held every four or five years in southern Greece


Johnny Reb

Johnny Rebs (plural)
Johnnie Reb (alternative)

From the sense of Johnny as a placeholder name for any man and reb, US slang for a Confederate citizen or soldier.

Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America

(historical, colloquial) Synonym of Confederate: a citizen of the Confederate States of America, particularly a Confederate soldier.


Johnny Reb

When Lincoln heard the news about the fall,
All the folks thought he'd throw a great vict'ry ball,
But he asked the band to play the song "Dixie"
For you, Johnny Reb, and all that you believe.

Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America#English

(figurative) Synonym of Confederate States of America.


gotra

PIE word
 *gʷṓws
From Sanskrit गोत्र (gotra).

(Hinduism) The lineage or clan assigned to a Hindu at birth.


dragoon

en-verb

dragoon (third-person singular simple present dragoons, present participle dragooning, simple past and past participle dragooned)

dragoons (present singular third-person)
dragooning (participle present)
dragooned (participle past)
dragooned (past)

Battle of Cerro Gordo
Battle of Jena–Auerstedt
Mexican–American War
Smithsonian Institution
Édouard Detaille

The noun is borrowed from French dragon (“dragon (mythological creature); type of cavalry soldier, dragoon”) (originally referring to a soldier armed with the firearm of the same name (sense 1.1)), ultimately from Latin dracō (“dragon; kind of serpent or snake”), from Ancient Greek δρᾰ́κων (drắkōn, “dragon; serpent”), possibly from δέρκομαι (dérkomai, “to see, see clearly (in the sense of something staring)”), from Proto-Indo-European *derḱ- (“to see”)). Doublet of Draco, dracone, and dragon.
The verb is either derived:
* from the noun; or
* from French dragonner (“to force (someone) into doing something, coerce; to torment (oneself)”), from dragon (noun) (see above) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs).

ref

From the collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., United States.

From the collection of the Musée de l'Armée (Army Museum) in Paris, France.

der

She [Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné] appears to have exulted in the extirpation of protestantism in Provence, by the power of her son-in-law, count de Gregnan [i.e., François Adhémar de Monteil, Comte de Grignan]; she even speaks with levity of the sufferings of the huguenots, dragooned into the bosom of the true church.

1803, Mary Hays, “The Marchioness de Sevigne”, in Female Biography; or, Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women, of All Ages and Countries. […], volume VI, London: […] Richard Phillips, […] by Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, page 401:

This was the pious lady [Ninon de l’Enclos] who, in after times, expiated the faults of her youth by dragooning Huguenots into Catholics.

1845 June, “Art. V.—Lives of Men of Letters and Science who Flourished in the Time of George III. By Henry Lord Brougham. Knight and Co. [book review]”, in The Westminster Review, American edition, volume XLIII, number LXXXV, New York, N.Y.: Leonard Scott & Co., […], →OCLC, footnote *, page 191, column 1:

(Christianity, French politics, historical) To subject (a Huguenot) to the dragonnades (“a policy instituted by Louis XIV of France in 1681 to intimidate Protestant Huguenots to convert to Roman Catholicism by billeting dragoons (noun sense 1.2) in their homes to abuse them and destroy or steal their possessions”).

antaa dragonnadeille

to subject (a Huguenot) to the dragonnades


interlocutor

interlocutors (plural)
interlocutour (alternative)

From French interlocutoire, from Latin interlocūtōrium.

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

A decree of the English Court of Chancery is not entitled to more respect in Scotland than a decree (interlocutor) of the Scottish Court of Session in England.

1869, “The Judicial System of Scotland”, in The American Law Register (1852-1891), volume 17, number 5, page 257:


Rama

en:Rama (disambiguation)
en:Rendezvous with Rama

Borrowed from Sanskrit रमा (ramā).
* (Oumuamua): The nickname derives from the similarity of Oumuamua to the fictional object "Rama" in the story Rendezvous with Rama, where that fictional object is named for the goddess.

(Hinduism) A name of the goddess Lakshmi.

A female given name from Sanskrit mainly used in India.

Alternative form of Rāma (“an incarnation of the god Vishnu in Hinduism”).


pontiff

Borrowed from Middle French pontife m, from Latin pontifex m. Doublet of pontifex.

(historical, Ancient Rome) A member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs; a pontifex.


Beijing

Beijing
Encyclopædia Britannica
Hongwu Emperor
Ming Dynasty
Peking University
The Chicago Manual of Style
University of Chicago Press
Xinhuamen
Yongle Emperor

/ˌbeɪˈd͡ʒɪŋ/

c. 1958, the atonal Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 北京 (Běijīng) was established, composed of 北 (“north, northern”) and 京 (jīng, “capital”), distinguishing it from Nanjing to the south, and first applied informally during the reign of the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who preferred to rule from Beijing but was obliged to treat Nanjing as a secondary capital by the dynastic injunctions of his father the Hongwu Emperor. The name continued a practice of several preceding dynasties—especially those of nomadic conquerers from the north such as the Jin and Liao—of maintaining a number of separate capitals designated by their cardinal directions.

Běijīng (alternative)
Peking (alternative)
Pei-ching (alternative)
Peiching (alternative)
Pekin (alternative)
Pachin (alternative)
Paquin (alternative)
Pequin (alternative)

Liu Lao-zheng sidled right up to Zao-hua and said: “That’s right. I went to Beijing [Peking] to visit with my daughter. Zao-hua, I hear that you have become the workpoint recorder.”[…]
Liu Lao-zheng pulled out an abacus from a sack he was carrying over his shoulder. “Huala, huala,” he shook it several times and said: “I bought one in Beijing. I’ll lend it to you to use.”

1976 [1966], Hao Ran, “Debut”, in Wong Kam-ming, transl., Revolutionary Literature in China: An Anthology, White Plains, New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 92:

Backhoes moved house by house, laying waste to a community called Xitai that was built in a plush green valley on the northern edge of Beijing, only a short walk from the Great Wall of China.

2020 August 7, Steven Lee Myers, Keith Bradsher, “Beijing Launches Another Demolition Drive, This Time in Its Bucolic Suburbs”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-08-07, Asia Pacific:

A protester unfurled two banners on a highway overpass in central Beijing on Oct. 13, denouncing Xi Jinping as a “despotic traitor.” China’s censors went to great lengths to scrub the internet of any reference to the act of dissent, prohibiting all discussion and shutting down many offending social media accounts.

2022 October 24, Yuan Li, “A Lonely Protest in Beijing Inspires Young Chinese to Find Their Voice”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-10-24, Business:

Beijing regularly faces dust storms in March and April due to its proximity to the Gobi desert as well as deforestation throughout northern China.

2023 March 22, “China: Sandstorms blanket Beijing as air pollution spikes”, in Deutsche Welle, archived from the original on 2023-03-22:

A direct-administered municipality, the capital city of China.

Guangxi · Inner Mongolia · Ningxia · Tibet Autonomous Region · Xinjiang

Beijing · Tianjin · Shanghai · Chongqing

In Beijing’s view, in the absence of an explicit treaty provision, the central line of the main channel—the Thalweg principle—provided a legal basis for delimiting the boundary in the two rivers. On this basis, Beijing claimed that 600 of the rivers’ 700 islands—including Zhenbao Island on the Ussuri River, just 180 miles southwest of an important Soviet city, Khabarovsk—belonged to the P.R.C.

1980, Melvin Gurton, Byong-Moo Hwang, China under Threat: The Politics of Strategy and Diplomacy, Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 210:

In the Shanghai Communiqué of 1972, we recognized the fact that both Beijing and Taipei viewed Taiwan as part of China but unequivocally expressed our support for a peaceful settlement of the unification issue. While we should not alter the fundamental pillars of our policy, we should consider certain steps that will raise Taiwan's international standing.

1992, Richard Nixon, “The Pacific Triangle”, in Seize the Moment, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 181:

Russian officials have raised increasingly frustrated requests for greater support during discussions with Beijing in recent weeks, calling on China to live up to its affirmation of a “no limits” partnership made weeks before the war in Ukraine began. But China’s leadership wants to expand assistance for Russia without running afoul of Western sanctions and has set limits on what it will do, according to Chinese and U.S. officials.

2022 June 2, Cate Cadell, Ellen Nakashima, “Beijing chafes at Moscow’s requests for support, Chinese officials say”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-06-06:

While Beijing has credited the law with restoring peace and order to the city, it has been criticised by rights groups and western governments for imprisoning pro-democracy activists and undermining civil freedoms.

2023 June 15, Didi Tang, “Spotify removes protest song Glory to Hong Kong”, in The Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-15, World:

People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China

(metonymically) The government of the People's Republic of China.

Anhui · Fujian · Guangdong · Gansu · Guizhou · Henan · Hubei · Hebei · Hainan · Heilongjiang · Hunan · Jilin · Jiangsu · Jiangxi · Liaoning · Qinghai · Sichuan · Shandong · Shaanxi · Shanxi · Taiwan · Yunnan · Zhejiang


ovation

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

/əʉˈvæɪ.ʃn̩/

Triumph, a Solemn Honour done to Generals after great Victories, receiving them into Town with Publick Acclamations; there were two ſorts among the Romans; the Great, that was ſimply called Tr[i]umph; and the Little called, Ovation; […] [I]t was by Special Priviledge that L. Cornelius Lentulus, Proconſul, was admitted to this Honour of an Ovation, in 553. […]

1703, “Triumph”, in An Universal, Historical, Geographical, Chronological and Poetical Dictionary, […], volumes II (M–Z), London: […] J[ohn] Hartley, […]; W. Turner, […]; and Tho[mas] Hodgson, […], →OCLC:

The Dictator [Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus] was allow'd a Triumph, and [Aulus Cornelius] Coſſus an Ovation, wherein he appear'd with the Spoils of K[ing] Volumnius [i.e., Lars Tolumnius], and fix'd them as a ſolemn Offering in the Temple of Jupiter Feretrius, being the firſt Spolia Opima that had been brought thither ſince the Time of Romulus.

1711, “Italy”, in Atlas Geographicus, or, A Compleat System of Geography, Ancient and Modern. […], volume II, in the Savoy [London]: Printed by John Nutt; and sold by Benjamin Barker and Charles King […], →OCLC, page 1404, column 2:

He who had no more than an Ovation granted him, was not crown'd with Laurel, but Myrtle: The Senate, however, and all the ſeveral Orders of Magiſtrates went to meet him. […] It was the way at firſt in Ovations for the Conqueror to go on Foot, but the Cuſtom of riding on Horſeback was afterwards introduc'd. […] Inſtead of bulls, the Victims us'd in the greater Triumphs, they had Sheep in their Ovations, or rather Rams crown'd, which were led before the Conqueror, in order to be ſacrific'd when the Proceſſion was over.

1722, [Bernard de] Montfaucon, “The Triumph for a Naval Victory. II. What the Ovatio was. III. The Ceremonies of the Ovation.”, in David Humphreys, transl., Antiquity Explained, and Represented in Sculptures, … Translated into English, volume III, London: Printed by J[acob] Tonson and J. Watts, →OCLC, book VI (Of the Marks of Victory, […]), paragraph III, pages 104–105:

How attentive were the Romans to the language of ſigns! They wore garments peculiar to their different ranks and ages; they had their togas, and diſtinguiſhing ornaments of various kinds, their roſtrums, their lictors, their faſces, their crowns, ovations, triumphs, &c. all was parade and ceremony; and all had its effect on the minds of the citizens.

1763 January, [Jean-Jacques] Rousseau, “The Difference between Ancient and Modern Eloquence”, in The London Magazine: Or, Gentleman’s Monthly Intelligencer, volume XXXII, London: Printed for R[ichard] Baldwin, […], →OCLC, page 38:

(Ancient Rome) A victory ceremony of less importance than a triumph.


pull a Homer

en-verb

pull a Homer (third-person singular simple present pulls a Homer, present participle pulling a Homer, simple past and past participle pulled a Homer)

pulls a Homer (present singular third-person)
pulling a Homer (participle present)
pulled a Homer (participle past)
pulled a Homer (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-pull a Homer.wav

From pull (“to copy or emulate the actions associated with”). Coined in the Simpsons episode "Homer Defined", after the regular character Homer who stops a nuclear meltdown via eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

(fandom slang, humorous) To succeed despite idiocy.


Pixar

Conceived as a faux-Spanish word meaning “to make pictures”. See pix (“pictures”) and Spanish -ar (verb-forming suffix).

Pixar Animation Studios, a computer-generated imagery (CGI) company known for its animated films.


watcher

From Middle English wacchere, wachere, wacher, equivalent to watch + -er.

(US politics) A political representative aligned with a candidate sent to observe elections to report on irregularities. A scrutineer.


Darth

From the Star Wars universe, where it is used as a title for Sith Lords. (There are Darth Vader, Darth Tyranus, Darth Maul etc.) Blend of dark + death (the derivation from Dark Lord of the Sith is a later development).

Consider the threat of an evil hacker, Darth, who can not only eavesdrop on your network connection but also alter the messages that are sent.

2000, David G. Messerschmitt, Understanding Networked Applications: A First Course (textbook), Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, page 400

[…] glaring malevolently across his desk at me in the manner that had earned him the nickname “Darth” among his elite cadre of audio penetration officers.

2000, Antonio J. Mendez, Malcolm McConnell, The Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA, HarperCollins, published 2000, →ISBN, page 186:

The evil Darth Leonard steals the formula and a young couple must get it back (real life Ward Leonard is a legendary recluse who has hiked the Appalachian Trail something like 20-30 times).

2005, John Illig, Pacific Dream: A Pacific Crest Trail Through-Hike, Elderberry Press, →ISBN, page 74:

I’m sure Darth Hoodie has some other illegal way of messing with inexperienced quarterbacks on the road.

2015 November 27, Jimmy Kempski quoted in "Patriots-Broncos prediction roundup" in Boston Globe

(humorous) Used as a title or name for an evil person.


POTUS

Phillips Code abbreviation, 1895. In more common usage since the 1990s.

The medical history of the principal is extremely important in assessing risk in any given protective detail for a myriad of activities of the protectee [34]. Once again, using the example of the POTUS or former POTUSs (the POTUS has Secret Service protection for life), the range of health status is from extremely healthy and physically active to relatively sedentary with significant medical problems, including endocrine, metabolic, and/or cardiac, with an implantable automatic defibrillator in one protectee.

2001, Richard Carmona, Christopher M. Grande, Dario Gonzalez, “Trauma Care Support for Mass Events, Counterterrorism, and VIP”, in Eldar Søreide, Christopher M. Grande, editors, Prehospital Trauma Care, New York, N.Y.; Basel: Marcel Dekker, Inc., →ISBN, part D (Transportation and Specific Problems), page 732:

Isumbras does not seem to be returning to the place he came from and Jack Bauer keeps leaving his job and returns to it several times – he always tries to lead a “normal” life and is never given such a possibility. Assuming however, that even partial re-integration carries the force of a closure, Bauer is rewarded with friendships among the high and mighty (successive POTUSs of the series feature, Isumbras fares better than Jack, as he receives “more welthe thenne evere he was” (l. 761)⁴⁸.

2016 April 13, Liliana Sikorska, “Sir Isumbras Meets Jack Bauer, or on the (Re)Reading of Medieval Saracen Romances”, in Sławomir Wacewicz, Przemysław Żywiczyński, editors, Theoria et Historia Scientiarum, volume XII (2015), Toruń: Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 105:

It makes sense that ex-POTUSes don't tend to make it onto juries.

2017 October 28, Gabrielle Bruney, “Some Lucky Accused Criminal Could Have Obama on Their Jury”, in Esquire, Hearst Magazine Media, Inc., retrieved 2020-02-23:

It felt like every Asheville restaurant had a framed photo of Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeline^([sic]) Stowe dining in their establishment, taken when the pair resided in a downtown hotel during the 1991 filming of The Last of the Mohicans. If not those two, then there was a pic of another duo, James Garner and Jack Lemmon, who marched through the streets of Asheville in a scene when they (as former POTUSs) accidentally crash a gay pride parade in My Fellow Americans.

2023, Ryan McGee, “Fifth Inning: The Blues Brothers, Macaulay Culkin, and the Circuit Rider”, in Welcome to the Circus of Baseball: A Story of the Perfect Summer at the Perfect Ballpark at the Perfect Time, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, →ISBN:

(US politics) Acronym of President of the United States.


Hindu

Derived from Classical Persian هِنْدُو (hindū, “Indian, Hindu”), from Middle Persian hndwk' (Hindūg, “Indian”), from hnd (Hind, “India”), from Old Persian 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢 (hiⁿdu-, “India”), from Sanskrit सिन्धु (síndhu, “river, stream; Indus”), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *síndʰuṣ, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš (“river”).

der

Of, or relating to Hinduism, or to Hindus and their culture.

هِنْدُوسِيّ

of or relating to Hindus and their culture


Hindu

A person adhering to the Hindu religion (Hinduism).

(dated) Any native inhabitant of Hindustan.


British East India Company

the British East India Company (canonical)

(historical) A seventeenth-century joint-stock company founded to trade with India to Britain's advantage.


have a cow

en-verb

have a cow (third-person singular simple present has a cow, present participle having a cow, simple past and past participle had a cow)

has a cow (present singular third-person)
having a cow (participle present)
had a cow (participle past)
had a cow (past)

Unknown. Popularized by the TV show The Simpsons where it was one of the catchphrases of Bart Simpson.

My mom had a cow when I came in late.

Dad says I'm too young to go steady and seems to think I'm going to drag a girl up the aisle instead of to a school dance. He won't let me watch rock 'n' roll shows, and he'd "have a cow" if he knew I watched 77 Sunset Strip.

1959 April 1, The Des Moines Register, page 9:

"Of all the fates on heaven and earth, why did this one befall me?" "Don't have a cow, dad."

1990, “The Call of the Simpsons” (0:12:10 from the start), in The Simpsons, season 1, episode 7, spoken by Homer Simpson and Bart Simpson (Dan Castellaneta and Nancy Cartwright):

“Pregnant. Holy shit.” “Alyson!” “Oh, Mummy, don't have a cow.”

2007, Julia Spencer-Fleming, In the Bleak Midwinter: A Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mystery, St. Martin's Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 69:

“Dammit, Kayla, you're pregnant. Don't pick up a suitcase,” her husband demanded. “It's just a little one.” “Put it down now.” “Don't have a cow, Patrick. I'm pregnant, not incapacitated.”

2014, Susan Mallery, THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER, Harlequin, →ISBN, page 115:


vestal virgin

From Latin; virgines Vestales referred to the priestesses in charge of the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta in Rome.

(literally) A virgin dedicated to the service of the goddess Vesta.


Athirne

(Irish mythology) Athairne the Importunate, a poet and a satirist of the court of Conchobar mac Nessa in the Ulster Cycle and foster-father of Amairgin mac Echit.


Findchoem

Conall the Victorious
Conall the Victorious

(Irish mythology) Princess of Ulster. Wife of Amairgin mac Echit and sister of Conchobar mac Nessa. Mother of Conall the Victorious.


Achall

(Irish mythology) In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, the daughter of Cairbre Nia Fer; committed suicide after her brother Erc was killed by Conall Cernach.


Fedelm Noíchrothach

The daughter of Conchobar mac Nessa who married Cairbre Nia Fer but was unfaithful to him. Cousin of Conall the Victorious. Mother of Erc and Achall.


Erc

From Old Irish Erc (modern Irish Earc), a word for which the electronic Dictionary of the Irish language gives several meanings, but the most likely meaning for the name is "spotted, speckled, motley," from Proto-Celtic *ɸerkos (“perch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *perḱ- (“colored”).

(Irish mythology) A member of the conspiracy that killed Cúchulainn, but was killed by his second cousin Conall the Victorious. Son of Cairbre Nia Fer and brother of Achall.


Briccriu

Bricriu (alternative)
Briccirne (alternative)
Bricne (alternative)

(Irish mythology) In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology: a warrior, poet, and troublemaker who once held a lavish feast for Conchobar mac Nessa and the heroes of Ulster in his house at Dún Rudraige.


Áed Ruad

(Irish mythology) The High King of Ireland who ruled in rotation with his cousins Díthorba and Cimbáeth, each ruling for seven years in turn.


Díthorba

(Irish mythology) One of the three High Kings of Ireland, who ruled in rotation with Áed Ruad and Cimbáeth, each ruling seven years in turn and for three seven-year periods.


Cimbáeth

(Irish mythology) One of the three High Kings of Ireland, who ruled in rotation with Áed Ruad and Díthorba, each ruling seven years in turn and ruling for three seven year period. He died of plague at Emain Macha.


Finnbhennach

(Irish mythology) In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, an extremely fertile stud bull owned by king Ailill mac Máta. He was originally one of Bodb Dearg's pig-keepers, who fell out with one of his colleagues.


recognition

en-noun

recognition (usually uncountable, plural recognitions)

/ˌɹɛkəɡˈnɪʃən/

From Middle English recognicion, from Middle French recognicion, recognition and its etymon Latin recognitiōnem (accusative of recognitiō), from recognitus, past participle of recognōscere.

(Scots law, historical) A return of the feu to the superior.


Constantinople

From Middle English Constantinople, ultimately from Late Latin Constantinopolis, from Ancient Greek Κωνσταντινούπολις (Kōnstantinoúpolis, “City of Constantine”), after Roman emperor Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (also known as Constantine I, St. Constantine, and/or Constantine the Great).

der

Κωνσταντινούπολις

Constantinopolis (alternative)
Konstantinoupolis (alternative)

Name of present-day Istanbul from 330–1930 C.E.. Previously known as Byzantium.

കോണ്സ്റ്റാന്റിനോപ്പിള്

kōṇsṟṟānṟinōppiḷŭ


Terpsichore

From Ancient Greek Τερψιχόρη (Terpsikhórē, from τέρψις (térpsis, “enjoyment, delight”) + χορός (khorós, “chorus”)).

uder

(Greek mythology) The goddess of dance and the dramatic chorus, and one of the Muses; the daughters of Zeus & Mnemosyne.


Thetis

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

(Greek mythology) One of the Nereids; the mother of Achilles


flip

en-verb

flip (third-person singular simple present flips, present participle flipping, simple past and past participle flipped)

flips (present singular third-person)
flipping (participle present)
flipped (participle past)
flipped (past)

Alteration of earlier fillip, from Middle English filippen (“to make a signal or sound with thumb and right forefinger, snap the fingers”), an attenuated variation of flappen (“to flap, clap, slap, strike”). Cognate with Dutch flappen (“to flap”), German flappen (“to flap”).

inh

Wisconsin had been Democratic for decades, but the Republicans flipped it in 2016.

(transitive, US politics) To win a state (or county) won by another party in the preceding elections.


censor

The noun is borrowed from Latin cēnsor (“magistrate; critic”), from cēnseō (“to give an opinion, judge; to assess, reckon; to decree, determine”) + -sor (variant of -tor (suffix forming masculine agent nouns)). Cēnseō is derived from Proto-Italic *kensēō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱens- (“to announce, proclaim; to put in order”). The English word is cognate with Late Middle English sensour, Proto-Iranian *cánhati (“to declare; to explain”), Sanskrit शंसति (śaṃsati, “to declare”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

cog

The Ancient Roman censors were part of the cursus honorum, a series of public offices held during a political career, like consuls and praetors.

And Nobly nam'd, ſo twice being Cenſor, / Was his great Anceſtor.

c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 14, column 1:

Neither [the Segetes Lustrantur and the Oves Lustrantur] are in this place, to be underſtood the Luſtra, which were wont to be Celebrated at Rome by the Cenſors, after the Cenſus of Citizens was made by a Sacrifice of the Suovetaurilia; for they had ceaſed long ago, as appeareth by what Cenſorinus writeth in his Book de Die Natali; at which time the Office of Cenſors also ceaſed, which ſome endeavoured, though in vain, to re-eſtabliſh.

1685, William Howel[l], “The History of the Reformation of Religion by Constantine”, in An Institution of General History, or The History of Ecclesiastical Affairs of the World. […], London: […] Miles Flesher, →OCLC, paragraph 17, page 7:

[page 110] [Justus] Lipſius divides the Duty of the Cenſors into two Heads; the Survey of the People, and the Cenſure of Manners. […] With respect to the latter part of their Office, they had the power to puniſh an Immorality in any Perſon, of what Order ſoever. […] [page 111] 'Tis very remarkable, that if one of the Cenſors died, no body was ſubſtituted in his room 'till the next Luſtrum, and his Partner was oblig'd to quit his Office; becauſe the Death of a Cenſor happen'd juſt before the ſacking of Rome by the Gauls, and was ever after accounted highly ominous and unfortunate.

1696, Basil Kennett, “Of the Censors”, in Romæ Antiquæ Notitia: Or, The Antiquities of Rome. […], London: […] A. Swall and T. Child, […], →OCLC, part II, book III (Of the Civil Government of the Romans), pages 110–111:

At the head of his victorious legions, in his reign over the ſea and land, from the Nile and Euphrates to the Atlantic ocean, Auguſtus proclaimed himſelf the ſervant of the ſtate and the equal of his fellow-citizens. The conqueror of Rome and her provinces aſſumed the popular and legal form of a cenſor, a conſul, and a tribune.

1788, Edward Gibbon, chapter XLIX, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume V, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, pages 168–169:

The Censors were always two in number, and were originally chosen from the Patricians exclusively. In B.C. 351, we find for the first time a Plebeian Censor, G[aius] Marcius Rutilus. In B.C. 339, a Lex Publilia was passed by Q[uintus] Publilius Philo when Dictator, enacting that at least one of the Censors must be a Plebeian.

1876, William Ramsay, “Magistrates of the Regal and Republican Periods and under the Early Emperors”, in A Manual of Roman Antiquities, 10th edition, London: Charles Griffin and Company […], →OCLC, page 165:

(Ancient Rome, historical) One of the two magistrates who originally administered the census of citizens, and by Classical times (between the 8th century B.C.E. and the 6th century C.E.) was a high judge of public behaviour and morality.


irritate

en-verb

irritate (third-person singular simple present irritates, present participle irritating, simple past and past participle irritated)

irritates (present singular third-person)
irritating (participle present)
irritated (participle past)
irritated (past)

From Latin irritātus, past participle of irritō (“I invalidate, annul”), from irritus (“invalid”), negation of ratus (“valid, established, fixed”).

/ˈɪɹ.ɪˌteɪt/

c. 1634-1661 John Bramhall, Protestants' Ordination Defended
Are human laws presently superfluous, so often as they do not irritate or abrogate Divine laws ?

(transitive, obsolete, Scots law) To render null and void.


nook

From Middle English noke, nok (“nook, corner, angle”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old English hnoc, hnocc (“hook, angle”), from Proto-Germanic *hnukkaz, *hnukkô (“a bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *knewg- (“to turn, press”), from Proto-Indo-European *ken- (“to pinch, press, bend”).
If so, then also related to Scots nok (“small hook”), Norwegian dialectal nok, nokke (“hook, angle, bent object”), Danish nok (“hook”), Swedish nock (“ridge”), Faroese nokki (“crook”), Icelandic hnokki (“hook”), Dutch nok (“ridge”) or Dutch hoek (“corner”), Low German Nocke (“tip”), Old Norse hnúka (“to bend, crouch”), Old English ġehnycned (“drawn, pinched, wrinkled”). Also cognate with Scots neuk, nuk (“corner, angle of a square, angular object”).

cog

You must note, that two Fardells of Land make a Nooke of Land, and two Nookes make halfe a Yard of Land.

a. 1634, W. Noye, The Complete Lawyer, section 57:

Nook, an old legal term for 12+¹⁄₂ acres of land; still in use at Alston.

1903, English Dialectical Dictionary, volume IV, page 295:

They poured their wine by the aume or the fust, and cut their cloth by the goad—not to be confused with the gawd, which was a measure of steel. Their nook was not cosy; it covered 20 acres.

(historical) An English unit of land area, originally ¹⁄₄ of a yardland but later 12+¹⁄₂ or 20 acres.

virgate

unit of area; An English unit of land area, originally ¹⁄₄ of a yardland but later 12+¹⁄₂ or 20 acres.

acre

various fractions & for further subdivisions


facility

en-noun

facility (countable and uncountable, plural facilities)

From Middle English facilite, from Middle French facilité, and its source, Latin facilitās. By surface analysis, facile + -ity. Doublet of faculty.

(Scots law) A condition of mental weakness less than idiocy, but enough to make a person easily persuaded to do something against their better interest.


recall

en-verb

recall (third-person singular simple present recalls, present participle recalling, simple past and past participle recalled)

recalls (present singular third-person)
recalling (participle present)
recalled (participle past)
recalled (past)
recal (alternative)
re-call (alternative)

From re- + call, probably modelled on Latin revocāre, French rappeler, English withcall.

That stop-start-stop has created a groundswell of anger toward Mr. Newsom, a Democrat in the third year of his first term, that is increasingly fueling a movement to recall him from office in one of the bluest of blue states.

2021 February 19, Nellie Bowles, “Hurt by Lockdowns, California’s Small Businesses Push to Recall Governor”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(transitive, US politics) To remove an elected official through a petition and direct vote.


recall

en-noun

recall (countable and uncountable, plural recalls)

recalls (plural)
recal (alternative)
re-call (alternative)

recall petition

representative recall

The action or fact of calling someone or something back.

(chiefly US politics) The right or procedure by which a public official may be removed from office before the end of their term of office, by a vote of the people to be taken on the filing of a petition signed by a required number or percentage of qualified voters.

(US politics) The right or procedure by which the decision of a court may be directly reversed or annulled by popular vote, as was advocated, in 1912, in the platform of the Progressive Party for certain cases involving the police power of the state.


Poseidon

(Greek mythology) The god of the sea and other waters, earthquakes and horses; corresponds to the Roman god Neptune.


walker

→ Irish: válcaeir

→ Persian: واکر (vâker)

From Middle English walkere (“one who walks, traveller”), equivalent to walk + -er.

inh

I would ask for the pleasure of your company, Mr. Knightley, but I am a very slow walker, and my pace would be tedious to you; and, besides, you have another long walk before you, to Donwell Abbey.

1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter VIII, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 118:

We hired a walker for the dogs during the day.

2005, Carlo De Vito, 10 Secrets My Dog Taught Me: Life Lessons from a Man's Best Friend, page 88:

A distracted walker also may be missing an opportunity to bond with their dog, says Burch of the American Kennel Club. “Interacting and having fun together forms a bond that can last a lifetime,” she says.

2023 July 2, Brandon Griggs, “We’re multitasking while walking our dogs. Animal experts say this is a problem”, in CNN:

To better help you in your quest, we asked multiple podiatrists and seasoned long-distance walkers exactly what to look for when selecting the best walking shoes.

2024 September 6, Isla Harvey, “The 10 most comfortable walking shoes, according to podiatrists and shoe experts”, in CNN:

The agent noun of to walk: a person who walks or a thing which walks, especially a pedestrian or a participant in a walking race.

(often in the plural) A shoe designed for comfortable walking.

(cricket) A batsman or batswoman who directly walks off the field when out without waiting for the umpire's decision.

A single mother of three, Rachel is what Facebook users call as ^([sic]) “walker,” or an online sex worker. Using a dummy account, she posts her sexy photos and informs page visitors that she’s available for sex in exchange for money.

2019 June 22, Charisse Ursal, “Social media lures young people to engage in sex for money”, in Philippine Daily Inquirer:

(Philippines) A prostitute, streetwalker.


Elysium

From Latin, from Ancient Greek Ἠλῠ́σῐον (Πεδῐ́ον) (Ēlŭ́sĭon (Pedĭ́on)).

der

Ἠλῠ́σῐον (Πεδῐ́ον)

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) The home of the blessed after death.

至福樂土 /至福乐土

home of the blessed after death in Greek and Roman mythology — see also Elysian Fields


Elysian Fields

Calque of Latin Campī Ēlysiī, from Ancient Greek Ἠλῠ́σῐον Πεδῐ́ον (Ēlŭ́sĭon Pedĭ́on). By surface analysis, Elysian + fields.

Ἠλῠ́σῐον Πεδῐ́ον

Indeed, the Elysian Fields themselves were a part of Hades, though they have since been removed to Paris.

1911, Ambrose Bierce, “Hades”, in The Devil’s Dictionary, New York, N.Y., Washington, D.C.: The Neale Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 127:

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) Elysium; home of the blessed, after death.

Ելիսեյան մարգագետիններ

home of the blessed after death in Greek and Roman mythology — see also Elysium


purdah

en-noun

purdah (countable and uncountable, plural purdahs)

purdahs (plural)
pardah (alternative)
purda (alternative)

Borrowed from Hindustani پردہ / पर्दा (pardā), and its etymon Classical Persian پرده (pardah, “curtain; screen; (archaic) veil”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”).

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Despite Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris's reassurance that "the White Paper is coming" it was further delayed by the period of purdah that preceded local elections held on May 6.

2021 June 2, “Network News: ‘Root and Branch’ Review Three Years in the Making”, in Rail, number 932, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 10:

(countable, UK politics) The period between the announcement of an election or referendum and its conclusion, during which civil servants refrain from making policy announcements or taking actions that could be seen as advantageous to certain candidates in the election.


Koine

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Κοινή (Koinḗ), from ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος (hē koinḕ diálektos, “the common dialect”), from κοινός (koinós, “shared, common, public, general, ordinary, usual”).

bor+

The “common” Greek language that developed and flourished between 300 B.C.E. and 300 C.E. (the time of the Roman Empire), and from which Modern Greek descended. It was based on the Attic and Ionian dialects of Ancient Greek.


Lawrence

en-proper noun

Lawrence (countable and uncountable, plural Lawrences)

Lawrences (plural)
Lieurance (alternative)

(US, law, sexuality, US politics, informal, uncountable) Ellipsis of Lawrence v. Texas. A 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex sexual relations; and reaffirmed the existence of a right to privacy under due process following the 14th Amendment.


lota

From Hindi लोटा (loṭā) / Urdu لوٹا (loṭā).
(person who switches loyalties): From the fact that the lota pot has a tendency to fall over and roll around, as it is not stable sitting on its base.

(Pakistani politics) A person who switches loyalties, especially from one political party to another.


vespillo

Like vespilloes or gravemakers.

1642, [Thomas Browne], “(please specify the page)”, in Religio Medici, London: […] Andrew Crooke, →OCLC:

(Ancient Rome) One who carried out the dead bodies of the poor at night for burial.


Victorian

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

suffix

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

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

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

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

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

викторианец

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

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

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


Victorian

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

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


Victorian

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


playback singer

en-noun

playback singer (plural playback singers)

(singing, cinematography) A singer whose songs are pre-recorded for use in films, especially Bollywood musicals, where actors lip-sync them.

নেপথ্য গায়ক

singer whose songs are lip-synced by an actor


Celtchar

Celtchair (alternative)
Celtar (alternative)
Keltchar (alternative)

(Irish mythology) A leading figure in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology: an Ulster warrior described as tall, grey, and ugly, and who wields a spear called Luír Cheltchair, and who killed Blaí Briugu after the latter slept with his wife Brig Bretach.


Luír Cheltchair

(Irish mythology) The spear wielded by Celtchar. Its lust for blood is so great that it has to be dipped in a cauldron of poison to control it.


Brig Bretach

(Irish mythology) In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, the wife of Celtchar. Her husband Celtchar killed Blaí Briugu for sleeping with her as Blaí Briugu was required to do so by the latter's geas.


Blaí Briugu

(Irish mythology) In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, a wealthy Ulster warrior who kept a hostel. He was killed by Celtchar for sleeping with the latter's wife Brig Bretach.


Ferdiad

(Irish mythology) In Irish mythology, Cúchulainn's best friend and foster-brother.


Asiatic

Learned borrowing from Latin āsiāticus; equivalent to Asia + -atic.

(Egyptology) One of the people of ancient Canaan, Syria, or Mesopotamia; a Semite.


prefect

prefects (plural)
præfect (alternative)
praefect (alternative)

From Middle English prefect and prefecte, from Old French prefect (Mod. French préfet), from Latin praefectus (“one placed in charge, overseer, director, prefect”), from praeficere (“to place in charge”).

prefekt

the head of a prefecture, whether a Japanese prefecture, French department, or Balkan county

the prefect of the aqueducts; the prefect of a camp, of a fleet, of the city guard, or of provisions; the pretorian prefect, who was commander of the troops guarding the emperor's person

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:

It seems that in the autumn of 803 he went on leave. His uncle Po Chi-chên, had recently been moved from his post at Hsü-chou and promoted to be Prefect of Hsü-chʻang in Central Honan.

1951, Arthur Waley, The Life and Times of Po Chü-i, London: George Allen & Unwin, →OCLC, page 33:

(historical) An official of Ancient Rome who controlled or superintended a particular command, charge, department, etc.


basileus

Borrowed from Ancient Greek βασιλεύς (basileús, “chief, king”).

bor

For two centuries its towers and domes were to rise in the heavens, drawing the attention of Emperors and Basilei, of Popes and Patriarchs.

Although portrayals of basileis of the eleventh century wearing the loros in the traditional manner are not lacking, I cannot cite a Byzantine example of metropolitan origin later than 1100.

1990, Ernst Kitzinger, The Mosaics of St. Mary’s of the Admiral in Palermo, Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, →ISBN, page 192:

The revitalization of the Byzantine Empire during the reigns of the energetic and capable basilei of the Comnens dynasty: Alexios I (1081-1118), John II (1118-1143) and Manuel (1143-1180), and the wars with a Rum Sultanate troubled by dynastic fights drastically diminished its possessions in Anatolia.

2003, Victor Spinei, The Great Migrations in the East and South East of Europe from the Ninth to the Thirteenth Century, Romanian Cultural Institute, →ISBN, page 193:

It is quite easy to establish the identity of these “Roman princes” who reoccupied Pannonia after Attila’s death: they were the basilei from Constantinople who, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, claimed to be the only successors of the Caesars (around the turn of the 9ᵗʰ century they began to call themselves “basilei of the Romans”—“basileis ton Romanon” or “Romaion”).

2007, Transylvanian Review, volume 16, Romanian Cultural Foundation, page 16:

In our third example, the tyrant Nabis usurped power from the traditional, dual basileis of Sparta, then had them executed.

2017, Michael Martin, City of the Sun: Development and Popular Resistance in the Pre-Modern West, New York, N.Y.: Algora Publishing, →ISBN, page 64:

The basileis of the Iron Age were now replaced with various appointed and elected magistrates.

2020, David B. Small, “Institutional Evolution of Ancient Greece”, in Dmitri M[ikhailovich] Bondarenko, Stephen A. Kowalewski, David B. Small, editors, The Evolution of Social Institutions: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (World-Systems Evolution and Global Futures), Springer Nature, →ISBN, page 274:

It would probably be worth seeking a possible connection-and-overlay between the name of one of the Byzantine basilei of the 9th century and the godfather of Boris I, Michael III, and that of the Bulgarian ruler Boris-Michael himself, who also lived in that age.

2020, Tsvetelin Stepanov, translated by Daria Manova, Waiting for the End of the World: European Dimensions, 950–1200 (East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450–1450; 57), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 251:

“Peter and Maria basilei of Bugaria,” “Peter and Maria in Christ autocrats of the Bulgarians,” and “Peter and Maria in Christ august autocrats and basilei.”

2023, Christian Raffensperger, Rulers and Rulership in the Arc of Medieval Europe, 1000-1200, Abingdon, Oxon, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN:


urna

A wine vessel, probably the Roman urna, which contained half the quantity of the amphora.

1810, A Description of the Collection of Ancient Terracottas of the British Museum, British Museum, No. XXXIX, page 22:

The congius was the 8th part of the amphora, and the 4th of the urna: it contained 6 sextarii.

1847, Francis Adams, The Seven Books of Paulus Ægeineta, volume 3, The Sydenham Society, page 623:

It follows that the seah must equal the urna, and the hin equal 2 Attic choes.

1903, Sir Charles Warren, The Ancient Cubit and Our Weights and Measures, page 89:

(historical) A Roman unit of liquid measure reckoned as the volume of 40 Roman pounds of wine and equivalent to about 13 L although differing slightly over time.


adherence

en-noun

adherence (countable and uncountable, plural adherences)

adherences (plural)
adhærence (alternative)

From Middle French adhérence, from Latin adhærentia.

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

Scottish Language Dictionaries
w:Scottish Language Dictionaries

(Scots law) The fulfilment of the legal obligation of residing with wife or husband.