Closetgate

From closet + -gate; from the name of the South Park television episode "Trapped in the Closet" (referring to the figurative "closet" that homosexuals who have not disclosed their sexual orientation are said to be in).

Closetgate is heating up! Paramount has joined Tom Cruise's public relations rep in denying reports that the movie star strong-armed the studio into spiking a "South Park" episode that ridicules him and Scientology.

2006 March 18, Scott Collins, “Clamor outside `South Park' closet”, in Los Angeles Times:

The Los Angeles Times dubbed the flap Closetgate. "For Stone and Parker, Closetgate will be the gift that keeps on giving," it said.

2006 March 19, David Usborne, “South Park declares war on Tom Cruise”, in The Independent:

Viacom says it's dropping actor Tom Cruise for his strange behaviour. You fans will remember the South Park 'Closetgate' episode and 'couch incident' on the popular talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show of May 23, 2005.

2006 August 23, Anu Anand, “Congo, Iran & Tom Cruise”, in BBC World Service:

Dubbed Closetgate, Comedy Central, a network owned by Viacom, pulled a rerun of this Emmy-nominated episode, supposedly under pressure from Tom Cruise, who threatened to bail out of promoting his upcoming film "Mission: Impossible III," which was being released by Paramount, a division of Viacom.

2009, David Lake, “The 10 Most Controversial 'South Park' Episodes”, in MSN TV, archived from the original on 2009-04-06:

Matt Stone and Trey Parker – the show’s fearless creators – were not afraid to call out Cruise on his power play – being dubbed “Closetgate” by The L.A. Times – even taking out ads, proclaiming tongue-in-cheek that they themselves were "servants of Xenu" and that the "million-year war for Earth" had only just begun, presumably now that their show had been screwed with backdoor deals.

2009, “Tom Cruise - Biography”, in Turner Classic Movies:

Loony toon ... Controversy erupted in March over a South Park episode that made light of Tom's religion, Scientology. The LA Times dubbed it "Closetgate" as Comedy Central pulled the episode at the last minute.

2009, “Off-screen antics cost Cruise”, in Herald-Sun:

A scandal following the airing of the South Park television episode "Trapped in the Closet", which was a satirical parody of Scientology and Scientologist actor Tom Cruise.


vishap

Learned borrowing from Armenian վիշապ (višap).

lbor

(Armenian mythology) a dragon in Armenian mythology closely associated with water


Valli

(Hinduism) One of the two consorts of Murugan, the god of war.


truti

At every moment of time — i.e., in every Truti — there are millions of Trutis — perfect organisms — in space. This may require some explanation. The units of time and space are the same — a Truti. Take any one Truti of time. It is well known […]

1897, Rāma Prasāda, The Science of Breath and the Philosophy of the Tattvas, page 80:

The Surya-Siddhanta (1.10-21) differentiates kala (time) primarily in two forms (i) murtakala (real time) and (ii) umurtakula (unreal time), taking prdna (4 seconds) and truti (atom) as the smallest units respectively, whereas Bhaskara II in his […]

1988, Kapila Vatsyayan, Bettina Bäumer, Kalātattvakośa: A Lexicon of Fundamental Concepts of the Indian Arts, Motilal Banarsidass Publishe, →ISBN, page 219:

(2 1-3),, we have 1 atom (truti ?) of time =6 paramanukalas (atom times) But from table (2.1-7), we have 1 truti =18 paramanukalas (atoms times), and 1 trasarenu =6 paramankalas (atoms times) Therefore it appears that an atom (truti ?) of time […]

(Hinduism) A unit of time equal to about 30 microseconds.


Kozak

* As a Ukrainian, Carpathian Rusyn, Polish, Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian surname, all from the noun Kozak (“Cossack”). Compare the variants Kazak, Kosack, Kosak, Kozack.
* Also as a Polish and Czech surname, occupational surname for a goatherd, from koza (“nanny goat”). This is also found in Slovene and Serbo-Croatian, though probably influenced by the sense above.
* Also as a Slovak and Czech surname, possibly from kozák (“kind of mushroom”).
* As a Turkish surname, from kozak (“cone”) or its homonym meaning "shady place," from Ottoman Turkish قوزاق.
* As a Jewish surname, from Yiddish קאָזאַק (kozak, “Cossack”), related to the first sense above.


M/S

Initialism from the names Mulder and Scully.

I am a M/S 'Shipper from my brown roots to my red toenails, but PMP was in NO WAY "Shippey."

1997 December 2, Gertie "the Bimbo" Beth, “PMP Fantasy (see the ep for what it really is...)”, in alt.tv.x-files (Usenet):

Does this mean that I'm going to be getting spoiled on M/S fic from you as well now? :-D

1998 June 22, StarGzrCMC, “Re: NEW: Heaven Is Here (movie fic) 01/01”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

Ok, being a M/S shipper is kinda hard now without Mulder around.

2001 December 8, Jewlz!, “Re: XF Controversies”, in alt.tv.x-files (Usenet):

(fandom slang) The ship of characters Fox Mulder and Dana Scully from the television series The X-Files.


SPAD

(UK politics, informal) Alternative form of spad (“special advisor in government”)


Aten

(Egyptology) The deified disc of the sun, as an aspect of Re or as the sole God under Akhenaten.


CMM

Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha
w:Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha

(Indian politics) Initialism of Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha.


pancratium

From Latin pancratium, from Ancient Greek παγκράτιον (pankrátion, “a complete contest”). Doublet of pankration.


galaxywide

From galaxy + -wide. Coined by American science fiction author Isaac Asimov in 1940 in the form "galaxy-wide".

coin

I immediately assigned an all-out search, Galaxywide.

1949 January, Henry Kuttner, “Time Axis”, in Startling Stories, volume 18, number 3, page 50:

Critics on both sides of what rapidly became a Galaxywide controversy were forced, however, to acknowledge the magnificent playing of the Student Orchestra and its great technical attainments.

1959 June, Larry M. Harris, “Extracts from the Galactick Almanack”, in Galaxy, volume 17, number 5, page 136:

Protoculture supply was dwindling, the galaxywide war running down like clockwork as both sides' resources and infrastructures declined.

1989, Jack McKinney, The End of the Circle, →ISBN, page 203:


hypaspist

en-noun

hypaspist (plural hypaspists or hypaspistai)

hypaspists (plural)
hypaspistai (plural)

From Ancient Greek ὑπασπιστής (hupaspistḗs, “shield bearer”), from ὑπό (hupó, “under”) + ἀσπίς (aspís, “shield”) + -τής (-tḗs, “suffix forming agent noun”).

bor

Meanwhile Darius had loosed his scythed cars, to whirl destruction into the ranks of the Companions and the hypaspists. But the archers and the Agrian spear-throwers received them with showers of spears and arrows; some of these active hillsmen seized the reins of the horses and pulled the riders from their seats, while the hypaspists, swiftly and undismayed, opened their ranks, and the terrible chariots rattled harmless down the intervals.

1900, John Bagnell Bury, A History of Greece: To the Death of Alexander the Great, Cambridge University Press, page 777:

1988 [CUP], A. B. Bosworth, Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great, Cambridge University Press (Canto), 1993, page 259,
The other major component of the Macedonian infantry was the corps of hypaspists. This force had evolved from the old bodyguard of the Macedonian kings and its nucleus, the agema, still acted as Alexander's guard when he fought on foot. The rest of the hypaspists were organised in chiliarchies (units of 1,000), perhaps three in number.

2013, Michael Taylor, Antiochus the Great, Pen & Sword Books (Pen & Sword Military), unnumbered page,
Perhaps fearful of blame in the event of failure, Lagoras asked that two of the King's favourites join the assault, Theodotus the Aetolian and Dionysius, the commander of the hypaspists, an elite subset of the Silver Shields.

(historical, military, Ancient Greece) A type of lightly armoured foot soldier equipped with an aspis (shield) and spear.


yatra

yatras (plural)
Yatra (alternative)
yaatra (alternative)

Thousands of activists and vehicles therefore diffused quietly out of Delhi in the following days to reassemble in a yatra that now swelled to 40–50,000 people.

1999, Thomas Blom Hansen, The Saffron Wave: Democracy and Hindu Nationalism in Modern India, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 261:

By calling this little stroll a yatra I am making a mild joke to myself, because in India a yatra can be a grueling expedition such as a hike to the top of Mount Kailas in the Himalayas.

2002, John Ittner, Lighting the Lamp of Wisdom: a Week Inside a Yoga Ashram, SkyLight Paths Publishing, →ISBN, page 80:

At the inauguration of this temple a yatra for her was performed attracting again a big part of Chatamput's mostly female inhabitants, who all claimed that Kondamakalamma now is the "real" goddess of the village.

2005, Christian Strümpell, “Forts and Camps in Tribal Orissa: Kshatriyaization and Industrialization Compared”, in Georg Pfeffer, editor, Contemporary Society: Identity, Intervention and Ideology in Tribal India and Beyond, volume 7, Concept Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 71:

I thus wonder whether the yatra was not primarily "efficient" for the upper middle classes who - physically removed from direct participation - enjoyed the BJP going on a yatra, presenting them with ready-made edutainment about nationality, easy to digest, without much physical and mental effort.

2006, Ritual and Identity: Performative Practices as Effective Transformations of Social Reality, volume 8, LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster, →ISBN, page 287:


sarissa

sarissas (plural)
sarissae (plural)
sarisa (alternative)

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek σάρισσα (sárissa).

lbor

(Ancient Greece) A long pike used in the traditional Greek phalanx formation.


peltast

From Ancient Greek πελταστής (peltastḗs).

(historical) A type of light infantry unit in Ancient Greece who often served as skirmishers.


omake

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

Borrowed from Japanese お負け (omake, “extra, bonus”).

In this omake, the characters are breaking the fourth wall to talk to the audience.

(anime) A special video feature that accompanies an anime, such as a collection of deleted scenes or outtakes.

(manga) Additional material to the main series added to the tankobon edition of a manga.


OEL

My Dead Girlfriend is one of the best OEL manga ever.

(attributive, of manga, anime, visual novels) Initialism of original English-language: Manga-, anime-style media originally published in English; (loosely, by extension) Any non-Japanese media which features a manga or anime style.


Ming

CHWEN, King of Korea, having by his Ambaſſadors paid Homage to the Emperor Hong-vû, Founder of the Ming Dynaſty in 1368, was, by that Monarch, created King of Kau-li, preſented with a Silver Seal, and veſted with the ancient Privileges of ſacrificing to the Gods of the Rivers and Mountains of Korea.

1747, A New General Collection of Voyages and Travels, volume IV, London: Thomas Astley, →OCLC, page 325, column 2:

The Comet of 1385 was discovered in China by the astronomers of the Ming dynasty, on October 23 (period Houng-wou eighteenth year, ninth moon, day Wou-yn): it was then on the borders of Thai-wei (a constellation of stars in Leo and Virgo, surrounding β Leonis); it touched β Virginis, and left Thai-wei by what the Chinese termed the "great gate," i.e. between β and n Virginis.

1845, J. R. Hind, “Mr. J. R. Hind on the Elements of several Comets not previously computed”, in Philosophical Magazine, volume XXVII, London, page 418:

When Koxinga, the Ming Dynasty loyalist who drove the Dutch colonists from Taiwan in 1661, ending an occupation that had laster 37 years, Taipei was nonexistent.

1973 July 15, “Trade assures Taipei of wealth, prosperity”, in Free China Weekly, volume XIV, number 27, Taipei, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2:

Only 8.2 percent of the wall, built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) is maintained properly, according to a study by the China Great Wall Society, an organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of the Wall.

2015 June 29, “10 Pct. of Great Wall missing due to erosion, vandalism and poor management”, in EFE, archived from the original on 2022-09-10:

Among Professor Spence’s most ambitious books was “The Search for Modern China,” which made The New York Times’s best-seller list and is now a standard text. It took an 876-page view of China’s history from the decline of the Ming dynasty in the 1600s to the democracy movement of 1989.

2021 December 27, Neil Genzlinger, “Jonathan Spence, Noted China Scholar, Dies at 85”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-12-27, Books:

A former dynasty in China, reigning from the end of the Yuan to the beginning of the Qing (Ching).


Teabagistan

(US politics, slang) An idealized, rural, conservative version of America, as recalled by Tea Party members.


paleoconservative

paleoconservatives (plural)
palaeoconservative (alternative)

From paleo- + conservative, by analogy with neoconservative.

Coordinate term: neoconservative

In fact, the neoconservative Moynihan running in New York against the paleoconservative James Buckley was able to position himself as the proper heir to a New Deal liberal tradition that Moynihan had been vigorously criticizing for almost a decade.

1979 February 13, “The Neocons”, in Esquire:

If they are fraying now, it is at least in part due to the prevalence of demagogues who wish to claim that there is only one path to virtuous American-ness: paleoconservatives like Jesse Helms and Pat Robertson who think this country has one single ethic, […].

1992, Robert Hughes, “The Fraying of America”, in Time, archived from the original on 2010-01-03:

As noted earlier, immigration was the issue that sent the open border Right on a search-and-destroy mission against paleoconservatives.

1999, Joseph Scotchie, The Paleoconservatives, page 11:

(US politics) A political conservative who espouses paleoconservatism, opposing mass immigration, embracing states' rights and supporting cultural conservatism and social structures perceived to be traditional.


paleoconservative

en-adj

paleoconservative (comparative more paleoconservative, superlative most paleoconservative)

more paleoconservative (comparative)
most paleoconservative (superlative)
palaeoconservative (alternative)

The first of Bannon's ten documentary film pamphlets, In the Face of Evil (2014), still followed a rather classic neoconservative narrative, albeit with a paleoconservative touch.

2019, Jonas Staal, Propaganda Art in the 21st Century, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 101:

In 2013, for instance, Pat Buchanan, a leading voice on the “paleoconservative” traditionalist right, described Putin as “one of us,” an ally in what he saw as the defining struggle of our era,[…]

2022 March 4, Thomas Zimmer, “America’s culture war is spilling into actual war-war”, in The Guardian:

(US politics) Holding views associated with paleoconservatism.

paleokonservativ

holding the views associated with paleoconservatism


Iseult

Old French, the name of the queen who fell in love with Tristan in medieval romance Tristan and Iseult, perhaps from Celtic, of uncertain meaning, possibly Proto-Brythonic *Adsiltia (“she who is gazed upon”); compare Welsh syllu and Irish súil. Otherwise from Germanic, equivalent to Old High German is (“ice”) + hiltja (“battle”) (from Proto-West Germanic *hildi).

der

Just as he finished, the daughter came in, Iseult. A name out of the past, a darkly Celtic presence: jet-black hair, the same as Minogue had had, tall.

1988, John Brady, A Stone of the Heart, St Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 9:

A female given name from the Germanic languages.


Isolde

Borrowed from the German Isolde, German form of Iseult.

A female given name from the Celtic languages or the Germanic languages.


superdeformed

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

(anime, manga) Alternative form of super deformed (“drawn in an exaggerated way, typically small and chubby, with stubby limbs and oversized heads”).


weeaboo

Bulgarian: уийб (uijb)

Indonesian: wibu

Polish: łibus

A nonce word in "Weeaboo", a 2005 Perry Bible Fellowship comic by Nicholas Gurewitch, used later that year as a wordfilter replacement for the abusive term wapanese on the message board 4chan, from which its current sense derived and spread. Now sometimes reclaimed as a self-description by anime and manga fans.

(fandom slang, sometimes positive) A person who is obsessively interested in anime, manga or Japanese culture more generally.


eat my shorts

/ˈiːt maɪ ˈʃɔːɹts/

Popularized by the TV series The Simpsons (1989), where it is a catchphrase of Bart Simpson.

Notre Dame boys greeted one another with "Eat It" to be answered by "Eat It Raw" or "Eat a Big One" or "Eat My Shorts," sometimes "Eat My Crusty Shorts."

[1977, James P. Leary, The Boys from the Dome […] , page 69:

Mickey: You could be the biggest fairy of them all!
Meat: Eat my shorts!

1983, Roger Swaybill, Alan Ormsby, Bob Clark, Porky's II: The Next Day (motion picture):

Richard Vernon: You're not fooling anyone, Bender. The next screw that falls out will be you.
 John Bender: Eat my shorts.
Richard Vernon: What was that?
John Bender: Eat... My... Shorts.

1985, John Hughes, The Breakfast Club (motion picture):

Her eyes are telling me, "Eat my shorts, you precocious little fart." I definitely haven't made a friend.

1988, Greg Matthews, The Gold Flake Hydrant, page 232:

For instance, Bart often expresses his irreverence toward authority on "The Simpsons" by exclaiming "Eat my shorts."

[1996, Douglas Rushkoff, Media Virus! […] , page 186:

(idiomatic, chiefly US, vulgar) An irreverent rebuke or dismissal.


10 Downing Street

(UK politics) The address of the residence in London of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

[…] he declared from early in his life that he intended to be viceroy of India, as a natural stepping-stone on his way to 10 Downing Street.

2001, Trevor Owen Lloyd, Empire: the history of the British Empire, →ISBN, page 138:

(UK politics, by extension, metonymically) The title or office of the Prime Minister.

[…] explicitly clear, in the way that 10 Downing Street has made it clear in the case of city academies, that it is perfectly legitimate to put people in the House of Lords […]

2006, Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Public Administration Select Committee, Propriety and Honours: Interim Findings; Fourth Report of Session 2005-06, volume 29, →ISBN, page 23:

(by extension, metonymically) The government of the United Kingdom.


unlaw

en-verb

unlaw (third-person singular simple present unlaws, present participle unlawing, simple past and past participle unlawed)

unlaws (present singular third-person)
unlawing (participle present)
unlawed (participle past)
unlawed (past)

(transitive, obsolete, Scots law) To fine.


euhemerism

en-noun

euhemerism (usually uncountable, plural euhemerisms)

euhemerisms (plural)
euemerism (alternative)
Euemerism (alternative)
Euhemerism (alternative)

From Euhemerus + -ism, ultimately from Latin Euhēmerus, from Ancient Greek Εὐήμερος (Euḗmeros), an ancient Greek Sicilian Skeptic who proposed most or all mythology derived from historical figures and natural events which received supernatural characteristics only through retelling.

In regard to the Thracian god Zalmosis, the Hellespontic Greeks interpreted his character and attributes according to the scheme of Euemerism.

1846, George Grote, History of Greece, volume I, page 596:

Then again there was a period of what is sometimes called Euhemerism - the theory that the gods and goddesses had actually once been men and women, historical characters round whom a halo of romance and remoteness had gathered.

1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 10:

(uncountable) The belief that legends and mythology arise from exaggerated descriptions of historical people and events.

يُوهَيْمِرِيَّة

attribution of a historical origin to myths and legends


MSR

Mars Sample Return mission
w:Mars sample return mission

(space science, US, NASA) Initialism of Mars Sample Return mission.

Although I regard this as a romantic piece, it's not an MSR in the usual sense--our heroes don't ride off into the sunset locked in each other's arms.

1997 April 12, Loch Ness [username], “Letters of Transit (0/14) By Loch Ness”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

I'm writing an MSR (big surprise there) and I have a scene where M&S do a nice, sensuous slow dance.

2000 March 5, Tim Scott, “Research assistance request”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

In the last couple of years, it seems like the vast majority of stories posted are MSRs. You rarely see a slash story posted here anymore.

2001 August 4, Circe, “Re: xfc: XFC content changes”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

(countable, X-Files fandom slang) Mulder/Scully romance; a fanfic involving a romantic relationship between the characters Fox Mulder and Dana Scully of the The X-Files.

I am a shipper, and yes, I prefer to read MSR.

2000 May 8, C. E. McLarney, “Re: NEW: "Remotely Controlled" (1/1) by Marguerite”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

Although I read MSR occasionally (and at one time did exclusively) the minute I discovered slash I was hooked.

2003 April 14, pjay [username], “slash”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

Made me want to read MSR again, and I thought I'd finally kicked that habit.

2006 June 12, jzjenn [username], “Paula Graves News”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

(uncountable, fandom slang) Such fan fiction collectively.


BL

From Japanese BL(ビーエル) (bīeru), from ボーイズラブ (bōizu rabu), from English boys + love.

Initialism of boys' love (“yaoi media”).


pupillarity

Borrowed from Medieval Latin pūpillāritās.

(Scots law) The period before puberty, or from birth to fourteen in males, and twelve in females


Goldwater Republican

Goldwater Republican (plural Goldwater Republicans)

Dating from 1964 in the United States, the year Barry Goldwater tried unsuccessfully for the office of president.

For months he insisted that he did not want the nomination, would not seek it, and would only reluctantly accept a genuine draft. Despite Scranton's repeated statements, it was behind him that anti-Goldwater Republican leaders late last week tried to rally—and Scranton showed signs of acquiescence.

1964 July 12, “Republicans: The Man on the Bandwagon”, in Time:

"A lot of people who think of themselves as Goldwater Republicans do not know what it really means to be a Goldwater Republican," said Tom Paniccia, a former Air Force sergeant who was discharged from the military last year after he had proclaimed his homosexuality. "He has always had a near libertarian stance on keeping government out of people's lives."

1994 March 24, Timothy Egan, quoting Tom Paniccia, “Goldwater Defending Clinton; Conservatives Feeling Faint”, in The New York Times:

(US politics) A member of the Republican Party whose policies resemble those of Barry Goldwater, including support for the smallest government possible at the federal level, free enterprise, fiscal conservatism, an internationalist, neoconservative, and anti-communist foreign policy, as well as social libertarianism.


Moral Majority

Coined by conservative activist Paul Weyrich in 1979 and later popularized by televangelist Jerry Falwell.

(US politics) A faction of the US Republican Party whose policies include conservatism on social and personal matters, infusing religion into the American political process.


kleroterion

kleroteria (plural)
cleroterion (alternative)
cleroterium (alternative)

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κληρωτήριον (klērōtḗrion), from κληρόω (klēróō, “appoint by lot”) + -τήριον (-tḗrion, adjective suffix).

lbor

(history, Athenian democracy) A device used in sortition, consisting of a stone slab incised with rows of slots and with an attached tube, and operating on tokens representing citizens.


Xenophanean

Of or relating to the pre-Socratic philosopher Xenophanes of Colophon.


Democritean

Of or relating to Democritus, an ancient Greek philosopher noted for his atomic theory.


Parmenidean

Of or relating to Parmenides, an Ancient Greek philosopher born in Elea.


modius

Learned borrowing from Latin modius, from modus (“a measure”) + -ius (adjective-forming suffix). Doublet of muid and mud. See also almud and almude.

(historical) A Roman dry measure of about a peck or 9 litres.


Illyria

From Latin Illyria, from Ancient Greek Ἰλλυρία (Illuría), which may be from Illyrian.

A region in Southeast Europe, the western part of what is now the Balkan Peninsula that was inhabited by the Illyrians, ancient Indo-European people.


exarchate

From exarch + -ate (forms nouns denoting rank or office, the concrete charge of it).

af

Exarchate of Africa

Astolphus peremptorily refused to listen to the remonstrances of Pepin, who called upon him to evacuate the towns in the exarchate of Ravenna, and to leave the Pope unmolested in the environs of Rome as well as in Rome itself.

1868, Robert Black, A Popular History of France From The Earliest Times:

(historical) The province or area of an exarch.


exceptor

(Ancient Rome) A hired legal representative or advocate in court.


ObamaCare

/oʊˈbɑ məˌkɛəɹ/

Blend of Obama (“Barack Obama”) + healthcare or Medicare and perhaps influenced by earlier HillaryCare.

blend

Obamacare (alternative)
Obama-care (alternative)
Obama Care (alternative)

For some reason, Obama's senior economist, Austan Goolsbee, chooses not to believe this about Obamacare, possibly because he figures the private-but-regulated health-care plans in Obama's National Health Insurance Exchange would be more generous than Obama's public health-care plan.

2007 July 5, Timothy Noah, “Edwardscare: A Trojan Horse, in Slate Magazine”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

This is a trick. This is a trick that's going on here. This idea that, that whether it's HillaryCare, or ObamaCare, or EdwardsCare, that idea that it's not socialized medicine is a trick. It's a massive growth in government control of medicine.

2007 September 26, Rudy Giuliani, address to the New Jersey Republican Party (about 12 minutes 30 seconds in)

Those who designed ObamaCare were willing to sacrifice marriage for the sake of seeming to be “progressive and equitable,” even though social science research reveals a clear link between single motherhood and poverty.

2010, Richard McKenzie Neal, We the People: A Christian Nation, page 161:

This book will tell you what is right and wrong with Obamacare and will offer solutions to improve healthcare in our country so that it remains of high quality and sustainable financially in the future for all Americans.

2011, Tony Maglione, Obamacare: A Doctor's Guide to Saving Healthcare:

Of course ObamaCare is socialism. It has been designed along explicitly socialist lines[…]

2011, Kevin Williamson, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism, page 237:

Tonight, for our main story, we’re going to look at Obamacare. Basically, the opposite of this photo which is more “Obama don’t give a fuck”!

2017 March 12, “American Health Care Act”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 4, episode 5, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:

(US, neologism, originally derogatory) Any of various healthcare plans seen as associated with Barack Obama before or during his tenure as U.S. President; especially, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590): a healthcare reform plan that was passed in 2010 and signed into law by him.


Obamunism

Both are interesting choices as poster children for corporate American promoters of Obamunism.

2010, Chris Horner, Power Grab: How Obama's Green Policies Will Steal Your Freedom and Bankrupt America, page 142:

More recently, Patrick Michaels, a longtime critic of climate science and policy scholar at the Cato Institute, criticized plans for a cap and trade system to control greenhouse gases as “Obamunism.”

2010, Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway, Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming, page 253:

It's amusing to listen to the moonbats continue to blame Bush for everything wrong now in the second term of Obamunism.

2013, Jay Kennedy, "Bush admin. had nothing to do with 'fast & furious', look it up" (letter to the editor), The Laconia Daily Star (Laconia, NH), 14 May 2013, page 5

(neologism, derogatory) The economic or political policies of the Obama administration, viewed as socialism, communism, or government overreach.


trophæal

/tɹəʊˈfiːəl/

From the Latin tropaeum, trophaeum (“trophy, monument to victory in war”); suffixing to the stem trophæ- the suffix -al.

trophaeal (alternative)
trophaeall (alternative)
tropheal (alternative)

This place contains ſo many remarkable remains, and collections ſo curious, that we are ſorry to paſs by it curſorily. We adviſe the reader and the traveller to be leſs haſty. The trophæal arch and the ſepulchral monument, at Glanum Livii, a colony probably eſtabliſhed by M. Livius Druſus Libo, afford alſo ſeveral circumſtances, which will intereſt the attentive traveller.

1788?: Tobias George Smollett [ed.], The Critical Review: or, Annals of Literature, volume 65, page 454

[…H]e would have ſeen with what an endeavour at accuracy (in pages 36, 7, 8) I have diſtinguiſhed trophæal monuments, erected on the fields of battle by the generals and their armies, from triumphal arches, erected by the authority of government, after theſe generals had been admitted to the honour of a triumph.

1795, Thomas Pownall, An Antiquarian Romance, Endeavouring to Mark a Line, by Which the Most Ancient People, and the Processions of the Earliest Inhabitancy of Europe, May Be Investigated, page 197:

(Roman antiquity, of a monument or memorial) Erected without Senatical grant by a prevailing general as a trophy (or tropæum) commemorating a battle in which he was victorious; compare triumphal.


tropæum

tropæa (plural)
tropheum (alternative)
trophæum (alternative)
tropæon (alternative)

/tɹəʊˈpiːəm/

From the Latin tropaeum (“trophy”, “tropæum”). Doublet of trophy.

(historical) A monument erected (originally on the field of battle) by the prevailing army (without Senatical grant — contrast triumph) to commemorate victory in war, featuring spoils taken from the enemy (especially the personal arms of the vanquished general), and dedicated to an appropriate god (such as Mars).


French Revolution

(historical) A period in France of radical social and political upheaval which saw the country change from a monarchy to a republic (1789–1799).


snikt

[Wolverine:] It seems you didn't get my meaning, friend.
[Wolverine:] This is still a free country, isn't it?
[sound effect:] SNIKT!

1975 May, Len Wein (writer), Dave Cockrum (illustrator), John Costanza (letterer), “Second Genesis!”, in Giant-Size X-Men, number 1, page 8:

Hasbro kicks off the convention with a snikt!

2009 February 15, Scott Collura, “Toy Fair 09: Wolverine, Iron Man, and Spectacular Spidey”, in IGN:

However, there’s a lot more to this grisly Canuck’s story than just the “snikt” sound effect.

2018 July 25, Peyton Hinckle, “Snikt To The Man: All Of Wolverine’s Abilities, Officially Ranked”, in CBR.com:

(onomatopoeia, fandom slang) The sound of Wolverine's claws emerging.


Merope

(Greek mythology) The youngest of the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas and Pleione, and a consort of Hermes.

(Greek mythology) A daughter of Cypselus, king of Arcadia.


songline

(Australian Aboriginal mythology) A path across the land (or sometimes the sky) marking the route followed by an Aboriginal ancestor made during the Dreaming; often recorded in traditional songs, stories, dance and painting; a dreaming track.


Dreaming

The men in this moving mirage of battered vehicles felt they had well and truly followed the Dreaming.

2006, Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, Giramondo, published 2012, page 124:

(Australian Aboriginal mythology) The time of the shaping of the physical and spiritual world by the ancestors; the events or beliefs connected to these times.


dreaming track

The spiritual Dreaming track of the ceremony in which they were all involved, moved along the most isolated back roads, across the landscape, through almost every desert in the continent.

(Australian Aboriginal mythology) A path across the land (or sometimes the sky) marking the route followed by an Aboriginal ancestor made during the Dreaming; often recorded in traditional songs, stories, dance and painting.

夢幻路線 /梦幻路线 (mènghuàn lùxiàn) (no equivalent exists; lit. "fantasy route")


Obamacrat

(US politics) A Democratic supporter of Barack Obama.


velarium

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

(historical) An awning that stretched over the seating area of the Colosseum in Ancient Rome and other Roman amphitheaters.


southron

Likely from a Northumbrian alteration of earlier Old English suþern, suþærn. The switch from -ern to -ron is likely due to the influence of Old Norse rann (“place, house, home”) on Old English ærn (“home, place”).
More at southern.

Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America

(US, archaic) Alternative form of Southern: of or related to the American South, particularly (historical) the Confederate States of America.


southron

To the natural impressibility of the southron, the Louisianian adds the enthusiasm of the Frenchman.

1890, T. C. DeLeon, Four Years in Rebel Capitals:

(US, archaic) Alternative form of Southerner: someone from the American South, particularly (US, historical) a Confederate citizen or soldier.


confarreation

en-noun

confarreation (countable and uncountable, plural confarreations)

(Ancient Rome) A form of marriage in Ancient Rome that was solemnized with cakes made from far (emmer)

confarreatio

Ancient Roman marriage solemnized with spelt cakes


Byzantine Greek

Collectively, the continuum of forms of the Greek language as written and spoken during the time of the Byzantine Empire (C.E. 330–1453), preceded by Koine Greek and Early Medieval Greek and succeeded by Late Medieval Greek to Modern Greek. (ISO 639-3 code: grc shared with Classical Greek.)


kattar

en-adj

kattar (comparative more kattar, superlative most kattar)

more kattar (comparative)
most kattar (superlative)

From Hindi कट्टर (kaṭṭar, “strict, rigid”).

"And even the announcement of Delhi’s own Board of Education came with one of the avowed aims being making students “kattar deshbhakt” (staunch patriots)."

(India, religion, Hinduism) strict, rigid, fundamentalist, especially in terms of religious belief

sanghi

used towards traditionalist Hindus with nationalist views


brahmana

Anglicized/transliterated from Sanskrit ब्राह्मण (brā́hmaṇa).

The brahmin varna in Hinduism. (Plural: brahmana.)


PHB

After the character in Scott Adams' Dilbert comic strip.

I know this. Which is why I use it. However proving it to my PHB is a diffrent ^([sic]) matter :-)

2001, John Imrie, “my variables in foreach loops”, in comp.lang.perl.moderated (Usenet):

[…] identically dressed in blue three-piece suits, hung around accosting visitors with annoyingly impenetrable PHB marketroid jargon […]

2002, Gardner Dozois, Supermen: Tales of the Posthuman Future:

(slang, derogatory) Initialism of pointy-haired boss, an incompetent micromanager.


winged monkeys

Metaphorical reference to the literal winged monkeys that appear as the minions of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1900 children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: winged + monkeys.

(plural only, chiefly ironic or humorous) Ominous pawns of evil forces.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Wicked Witch of the West


1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

The street address of the White House in Washington, D.C., the official residence of the President of the United States.

(colloquial, metonymically) The current President and the closest members of his administration.


Spidey-sense

Spidey-senses (plural)
spider sense (alternative)
spidey sense (alternative)
Spidey sense (alternative)
Spidey Sense (alternative)
Spider sense (alternative)
Spider Sense (alternative)
spidey-sense (alternative)
Spidey-Sense (alternative)

From the superpower of the fictional character Spider-Man (introduced by Marvel Comics in August 1962), nicknamed Spidey, who is able to preternaturally sense danger before it can be perceived by other senses.

Having known the man for most of his life he had a certain Spidey-sense when it came to Tim’s problems.

2003, Matthew F. Winn, chapter 1, in The Sandman, College Station, Tex.: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing, →ISBN, page 5:

Abby, let me ask you this: Is your spidey sense sure Alison was killed by a man? Your other clues were that 'he' was short, wore oversized clothing, and had dark hair. What if Alison was killed by a butch-looking female?

2004 December, Victoria Laurie, Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye (A Psychic Eye Mystery), New York, N.Y.: Signet, New American Library, →ISBN:

But the sports media elite, eating free press box sushi while the rest of us are paying $9.00 for a hot dog, could never understand what set our collective spidey senses tingling.

2005, Dave Zirin, “Stir of Echoes: A New Sporting Resistance?”, in What’s My Name, Fool?: Sports and Resistance in the United States, Chicago, Ill.: Haymarket Books, →ISBN, page 259:

Don't settle for taking the world at face value. Too many people see a logo or a uniform and make bad assumptions. If your Spidey-sense tells you something's wrong, it probably is. If you don't have Spidey-sense, walk loudly and carry a big stick.

2009, “Top Ten Ways to Shut Down Hackers”, in Securing Intellectual Property: Protecting Trade Secrets and Other Information Assets, Burlington, Mass., Oxford, Oxfordshire: Butterworth-Heinemann; Syngress, →ISBN, page 153:

A sense of foreboding, almost like a Spidey-sense, tingled at the back of my neck.

2010, Tate Hallaway [pseudonym; Lyda Morehouse], Honeymoon of the Dead, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN:

As I turn to the right to get to the Registration Desk, my spidey senses are starting to warn me. There's nothing I can see that is cause for immediate concern, but I know I've got to keep paying attention to those spidey senses. I know they've saved me in the past.

2018 March 10, Brad Bagwell, chapter 1, in The Hunter: Southeast Asia, Ishpeming, Mich.: BookVenture Publishing, →ISBN, page 3:

While we are all enticed by the roller-coaster ride that will come with owning a 21-year-old Ronald Acuna, most of our spidey-senses tell us that a safe player in the first round allows us to survive six months of injuries and ineffectiveness from some of our subsequent picks.

2019 February 27, Fred Zinkie, “Ranking the Safest First-round Picks in Fantasy Baseball Drafts”, in Yahoo! Sports, archived from the original on 2019-03-18:

(humorous) An intuitive feeling, usually of something being dangerous or risky; (more generally) instinct, intuition.


magical girl

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

Calque of Japanese 魔法少女 (まほうしょうじょ, mahō shōjo).

calque

まほうしょうじょ, mahō shōjo

The magical girl starts out as a typical schoolgirl. Her transformation—via a glamorous costume, and amplified by special powers—gives her a new identity.

2013, Christopher Hart, Magical Characters, Watson-Guptill Publications, →ISBN, page 17:

Contrary to conventional magical girl anime, in which protagonists happily accept their superpower, shōjo heroines are reluctant to become Magical Girls in Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

2014, Lien Fan Shen, “The Dark, Twisted Magical Girls: Shōjo Heroines in Puella Magi Madoka Magica”, in Norma Jones, Maja Bajac-Carter, Bob Batchelor, editors, Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 183:

The magical girl genre was originally aimed at girls: series like Sailor Moon were first serialized in shōjo manga (girls' comics) magazines and contained many traits common to that genre.

2015, Deborah Shamoon, “The Superflat Space of Japanese Anime”, in Lilian Chee, Edna Lim, editors, Asian Cinema and the Use of Space: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Routledge, →ISBN, page 98:

In Japanese anime and manga, a young girl with superhuman abilities who is called upon to fight evil.

девочка-волшебница f (devochka-volshebnitsa, literally “a girl wizard”)

девушка-волшебница f (devushka-volshebnitsa, literally “a young woman wizard”)


Cartman

Eric Cartman, a fictional character from the animated sitcom South Park.


BHO

Barack Hussein Obama
w:Barack Hussein Obama


GWB

On the real, just to show proof, hit the GWB and blow the whole roof off the toll booth, bitch ass nigga!

2003, “Get It on the Floor”, in Kasseem Dean, Earl Simmons (lyrics), Grand Champ, performed by DMX, Ruff Ryders Entertainment:

George Washington Bridge
w:George Washington Bridge

(US, New York, New England, New Jersey) Initialism of George Washington Bridge.


tripus

Unadapted borrowing from Latin tripūs, from Ancient Greek τρίπους (trípous); doublet of tripod and teapoy. In the sense associated with Cambridge University, the Tripus is named after the three-legged stool on which he sat during the degree-awarding ceremony.

(obsolete, rare, in the history of Cambridge University, capitalised when used as a title) A Bachelor of Arts appointed to make satirical strictures in humorous dispute with the candidates at a degree-awarding ceremony; tripos, prevaricator.

tripod

three-legged vessel in Greek and Roman antiquities


Brezhnev

Borrowed from Russian Бре́жнев (Bréžnev).

Бре́жнев Брежнев#Russian

A transliteration of the Russian surname Бре́жнев (Bréžnev); usually refers to the Russian revolutionary and Soviet Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) Leonid Brezhnev.


teabagger

teabaggers (plural)
tea-bagger (alternative)

(neologism, often derogatory) An affiliate of the Tea Party movement, or a supporter of its protests and/or ideology.


Holyrood

From Middle English Holy Rood, Holyrode, holy-rode, holy roode, hali rode, halgorode, equivalent to holy + rood (“crucifix, cross”).
The town in Newfoundland is named after a location near Crewkerne, Somerset.

But Matheson has indicated that the Scottish Government will not be responding to the consultation because transport policy in Scotland is a matter for ministers at Holyrood and not at Westminster.

2020 December 16, “Network News: Scotland set to snub Johnson's Union Connectivity Review”, in RAIL, page 21:

Yousaf is almost certain to be confirmed as Scotland’s next first minister in a nominal vote at Holyrood on Tuesday but now has to bridge those divides by bringing the SNP’s warring wings together.

2023 March 27, Severin Carrell, Libby Brooks, “Humza Yousaf elected leader of Scottish National party”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(UK politics, by extension, metonymically) The Scottish Parliament.


land rights for gay whales

en-noun

land rights for gay whales pl (plural only)

(Australia) a parody of typical Greens policies and those that support them.


Chinese astrology

The astrology system which was developed in China and is based on yin and yang, twelve signs represented by animals, the lunisolar calendar and five planets.


Aegina

(Greek mythology) A nymph of the island that bears her name.


Rockefeller Republican

Rockefeller Republican (plural Rockefeller Republicans)

Named after the center-left Republican political positions of Nelson Rockefeller.

United States of America
United States of America

(US politics, dated) A moderate or liberal member of the Republican Party of the United States of America, especially one from the northeast of the USA.


Dixiecrat

A Dixiecrat is nothing but a Democrat in disguise.

1964 April 3, Malcolm X, The Ballot or the Bullet:

socially conservative
social conservative

(US politics, dated) A member of the Democratic Party of the United States of America from the southern States, especially one of the former territories of the Confederate States of America, who hold socially conservative viewpoints, and supports racial segregation and white power.

Throughout the controversy, most prominent southern leaders stayed within the Democratic Party. After the election, the Dixiecrat movement evaporated. The South's vocal dissent in 1948, however, forecast the sectional unrest of the following decades, weakened the region's loyalty to the Democratic Party, and prepared the way for future political realignment.

2014, James W. Ely Jr., Bradley G. Bond, The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, UNC Press Books, →ISBN, page 190:

States' Rights Democratic Party
States' Rights Democratic Party

(US politics, historical) A member of the short-lived States' Rights Democratic Party of the United States of America.


War Democrat

(US politics, historical) A member of the Democratic Party of the United States of America who supported the prosecution of Confederates and sympathizers during the American Civil War.


Nicomedia

From Latin Nīcomēdīa, from Ancient Greek Νικομήδεια (Nikomḗdeia), from Νικομήδης (Nikomḗdēs) + -ιᾰ (-iă, “ia: forming place names”).

(historical) Former name of Izmit, a city in Turkey; the ancient capital of Bithynia.


Trumpian

(somewhat uncommon) A political supporter of Donald Trump.


Trump

en-proper noun

Trump (countable and uncountable, plural Trumps)

⇒ Translingual: donaldtrumpi

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

The surname has two sources.
* English (Devon): an occupational name for a trumpeter, from Middle English trumpe (“trumpet”).
* German (Bavaria): from German Trump, possibly an occupational name for a drummer, from Middle High German trumbe (“drum”), although the alternative forms Trumpf, Drumpf cannot be derived from this (except by postulating them to be hypercorrections)
* The place in Baltimore county was named after settler Simeon Van Trump.

During their interview, Shahidi asked Clinton about the uncomfortable second presidential debate, during which Trump stalked her around the stage.

2017 December 3, Kayleigh Roberts, “Yara Shahidi Just Asked Hillary Clinton About That Very Uncomfortable Trump Debate”, in Harper's BAZAAR:

Donald Trump (b. 1946), a businessman, television personality, and current president of the United States of America (2017-2021, 2025-present).

A ghost town in Park County, Colorado, United States.

Baltimore County
Baltimore County#English

An unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States.


Disney World

Disney Worlds (plural)
Disneyworld (alternative)

From Walt Disney World, a resort in Florida owned by Disney which is home to a group of theme parks.

[…]a sort of Disney World of American history. All the ticket takers and street sweepers and information givers were dressed in period costumes, the women in big aprons and muffin hats, the men in tricornered caps[…]

1989, Bill Bryson, The lost continent: travels in small-town America, page 110:

Somehow one's acceptance into humanity is dependent on the kind of Disney World assumption that differences are only on the surface.

1994, Kumar Rupesinghe, Marcial Rubio Correa, The culture of violence, page 87:

There is no refuge from reality in teaching, no orderly life in a kind of Disney World of the mind where nothing really dangerous ever happens and a predictable good time is had by all.

2000, James Joseph O'Donnell, Avatars of the word: from papyrus to cyberspace, page 144:

(informal, often derogatory) A place resembling the Disney World theme park, often typified by a corporately-designed saccharine cheerfulness.


decan

(Egyptology, astrology) One of a collection of 36 small constellations or zodiacal subdivisions that appear heliacally at intervals of 10 days or are separated by approximately 10 degrees.


Antonius

Marcus Antonius

nomen gentilicium
nomen gentilicium#English


Chiron

(Greek mythology) An old, wise centaur who served as Achilles' mentor and teacher.


Fiume

Borrowed from Italian Fiume, from Latin Flūmen, from flūmen (“river”).

(historical) A former polity in Europe, between 1920–1924.


Sarkozyism

From Sarkozy + -ism, following French sarkozysme, after French President Nicolas Sarkozy (b. 1955).

The policies of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.


Arean

From Ares + -an under influence of Ancient Greek άρεος (áreos) and άρειος (áreios, “Martian, martial”). Cf. Arian.

Near-synonym: Martian

It is appealing to assume that the epigram was inspired by the statue itself. Probably the Arean weapons Aphrodite has donned include helmet, spear and shield but not the Apolline bow and arrow.

1979, Karelisa Hartigan, The Poets and the Cities: Selections from the Anthology about Greek Cities, Hain, →ISBN, page 54:

In addition to his possible exploitation of the sexual reversal occasionally found in Arean cult, we also find

1980, Carl Deroux, Studies in Latin literature and Roman history, volume 168, page 449:

1989, Robert Lamberton, Homer the Theologian: Neoplatonist Allegorical Reading and the Growth of the Epic Tradition, quotation of Proclus translated from the Greek,
... and in bonding together the Arean and the Aphrodisian, he had taken the craft of Hephaestus as his model.

Ares is also associated with fire. [...] All the Arean desire [...]

2007, Dagonet Dewr, Sacred Paths for Modern Men, page 63:

(rare) Of or related to Ares, the Greek god of war, counterpart of the Roman Mars.


Ganymedean

/ˌɡænəmɪˈdiː.ən/

(Greek mythology) Of or relating to the hero Ganymede in Greek mythology.


Enceladan

(Greek mythology, astronomy) Of or relating to Enceladus.


Enceladean

(Greek mythology) Of or relating to the giant Enceladus in Greek mythology.


ephebic

en-adj

ephebic (comparative more ephebic, superlative most ephebic)

more ephebic (comparative)
most ephebic (superlative)

The ephebic androgyny of the high classic Apollo turned into effeminacy in Hellenistic art.

Pertaining to a young man or to early manhood, especially in Ancient Greek contexts.


Apophian

(Egyptian mythology) Of or relating to Apophis.


penates

From Latin Penātēs, from penus (“inner part of house”).

lest the name thereof being discovered unto their enemies, their Penates and Patronal Gods might be called forth by charms and incantations.

1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, I.3:

(Roman mythology) The household deities thought to watch over the houses and storerooms of ancient Rome.


principate

en-noun

principate (countable and uncountable, plural principates)

Learned borrowing from Latin prīncipātus, referring to the titles prīnceps senātūs (“first among senators”) and prīnceps cīvitātis (“first among citizens”), adopted by Octavian Caesar Augustus in order to preserve the illusion of formal continuance of some aspects of the Roman Republic.

lbor

Coordinate term: dominate

1967, Richard Alexander Bauman, The Crimen Maiestatis in the Roman Republic and Augustan Principate, Witwatersrand University Press.:

The history of the courts and of judicial procedure during the principate is closely parallel to that of the government as a whole.

1972, H. F. Jolowicz, Barry Nicholas, A Historical Introduction to the Study of Roman Law, 3rd edition, Cambridge University Press, page 395:

The transition from republic to Principate brought a new and potent factor into the legal picture of the Roman state, the princeps or emperor.

1978, A. Arthur Schiller, Roman Law: Mechanisms of Development, Walter de Gruyter (Mouton Publishers), page 463:

1996, Clare Krojzl (translator), Sebastian Hensel, III: From Diocletian to Alaric [1886, lecture notes], Theodor Mommsen (editor), A History of Rome Under the Emperors, C.H.Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Republished 2005, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), eBook, page 317,
The dominate of Diocletian and Constantine differs more sharply from the principate than the latter does from the Republic.

In the introductory chapter I had already started to examine how Tacitus' designation of the Augustan regime as a versus status potentially draws a line of continuity between the principate and the civil wars which that regime claims to have resolved.

2000, Ellen O'Gorman, Irony and Misreading in the Annals of Tacitus, Cambridge University Press, page 23:

(Ancient Rome) The early period of the Roman Empire, during which some characteristics of the government of the Roman Republic were retained; the reign of any particular emperor during said period.


Supes

(colloquial) Superman, the DC Comics character.


XY

(fandom slang) Initialism of Pokémon X and Y.


Song

A 1,000-year-old bowl from China's Song Dynasty sold at auction for $37.7 million on Tuesday, breaking the record for Chinese porcelain, auction house Sotheby?s said.
The small piece -- which dates from 960-1127 -- broke the previous record of $36.05 million set in 2014 for a Ming Dynasty wine cup which was sold to a Shanghai tycoon.

2017 October 3, “Bowl sells for Chinese porcelain record $37.7 million: Sotheby?s”, in France 24, archived from the original on 2017-10-03, Live news:

(historical) A former dynasty in China, reigning from the end of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms to the beginning of the Yuan.


faravahar

From Persian فروهر (faravahar), from Middle Persian plwʾhl.

A symbol of the religion Zoroastrianism, also used to represent the Iranian nation.


tritagonist

Ancient Greek, originally in Greek drama, from ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs, “a combatant, pleader, actor”). By surface analysis, trit- (“third”) + agonist (“combatant, participant”).

surf

In Greek drama, the actor who played the third role (after the protagonist and deuteragonist)


juneteenth

en-proper noun

juneteenth (countable and uncountable, plural juneteenths)

Alternative letter-case form of Juneteenth


laconicum

From Latin Lacōnicum (“sweating room”, literally “Spartan [bath]”).

bor

A hot dry sweating room, next to the caldarium in the Roman baths.


GSA

Employees at GSA tell WIRED that Coristine has appeared on calls where workers were made to go over code they had written and justify their jobs.

2025 February 2, Vittoria Elliott, “The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk’s Government Takeover”, in WIRED, archived from the original on 2025-02-02:

General Services Administration
w:General Services Administration

(US politics) Initialism of General Services Administration.


biobed

(science fiction, chiefly Star Trek) A bed equipped with biofeedback sensors for medical diagnosis.


Spockian

en-adj

Spockian (comparative more Spockian, superlative most Spockian)

more Spockian (comparative)
most Spockian (superlative)

And you can see from the Spockian ears and the raised eyebrows, he had a positive Mephistophelian look.

1989, Howard Aiken, “Early Inventors”, in Robert Slater, editor, Portraits in Silicon, The MIT Press, →ISBN:

She bit into tough, stringy meat that had a pungent, wild taste to it. "Interesting," she commented, attempting a Spockian neutrality.

1997, Alex Matthews, Satan's Silence: The Second Cassidy McCabe Mystery, Intrigue Press, →ISBN, page 135:

Most cognitive psychologists in the mideighties viewed the brain as a computer-like mechanism based on pure logic and rational thought. There was no room for emotions in their Spockian formulation.

2009, Paul Herr, Primal Management: Unraveling the Secrets of Human Nature to Drive High Performance, AMACOM, →ISBN, page 24:

Related to, or characteristic of, the character Spock from Star Trek, especially in being emotionally detached.


talaria

/təˈlɛəɹi.ə/

From Latin tālāria, plural form of tālāris (“of or pertaining to the ankle or heel”), from tālus (“anklebone, talus; heel”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to touch”).

refn

From the collection of the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, California, USA.

der

Byres has drawn these figures with wings at their ankles, sometimes fastened to the leg, and sometimes like those at their shoulders, growing from the flesh—in both which ways the talaria of Mercury and Perseus are represented on ancient monuments. Nothing of this sort could I perceive; it was manifest to me that these were not talaria, but simple buskins with peaked flaps, such as are commonly depicted on vases of the archaic Greek style, and on the legs of Roman Lares in the paintings of Pompeii.

1848, George Dennis, “Bieda.—Blera.”, in The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria. … In Two Volumes, volume I, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, footnote 10, page 319:

From the Graiæ the literary myths make him [Perseus] go to the Nymphs, the artistic ones to the Naiads or nymphs of the lake Tritonis, from which he receives the helmet of Hades, the kibisis or wallet, and the talaria or winged sandals. [...] Other versions made him receive the helmet and talaria from Hermes. On the early monuments the helmet of Hades is like the petasus of Hermes, and the sandals are winged, but in many other works of art, such as mirrors or gems, the talaria are represented as wings, which he attaches to his feet.

1854 May 25, Samuel Birch, “V. On a Vase Representing an Adventure of Perseus.”, in Archaeologia: Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity, London: Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London; printed by J[ohn] B[owyer] Nichols and Sons, […], published 1855, →OCLC, page 56:

With his horizon all his own, yet he a poor man, born to be poor, with his inherited Irish poverty or poor life, his Adam's grandmother and boggy ways, not to rise in this world, he nor his posterity, till their wading webbed bog-trotting feet get talaria to their heels.

1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “Baker Farm”, in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 225:

It was the god Hermes, he who conducted souls to the Elysian fields, the slender, agile, elegant figure, beautiful in its sinuous motion, with the petasus on his head and the winged talaria on his ankles, that I beheld floating over me.

1867 May, W. W. S., “A Modern Magician”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CI, number DCXIX, Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons, […], →OCLC, page 566:

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) The winged sandals worn by certain gods and goddesses, especially the Roman god Mercury (and his Greek counterpart Hermes).


pythonic

en-adj

pythonic (comparative more pythonic, superlative most pythonic)

more pythonic (comparative)
most pythonic (superlative)

Alternative letter-case form of Pythonic (“of or pertaining to, or resembling, the Python in Ancient Greek mythology, a serpent which lived at Delphi (regarded as the centre of the Earth) until it was killed by Apollo; (figurative) enormous; monstrous”)


Amerithrax

/əˈmɛɹ.ɪˌθɹæks/

Blend of America + anthrax; the name used for the case by the FBI.

The 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, in which letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to news media offices and politicians.


photocard

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

Alternative form: PC

(South Korean idol fandom) A card bearing a photograph of an idol, sold as collectible merchandise or fanmade.


Sita

Borrowed from Sanskrit सीता (sītā, “furrow”).

(Hinduism) A goddess, the consort of Rāma.

It is only this late in the day, and possibly only in Willesden, that you can find best friends Sita and Sharon, constantly mistaken for each other because Sita is white (her mother liked the name) and Sharon is Pakistani (her mother thought it best — less trouble).

2000, Zadie Smith, White Teeth, London: Hamish Hamilton, →ISBN, pages 282–283:

A female given name from Sanskrit mainly used in India.


Octavian

From Latin Octavianus, derivative of Octāvius.

(historical) A male given name from Latin, notably borne by Augustus (Caesar) between 44 and 27 BCE


Hermaphroditus

From Latin, from Ancient Greek Ἑρμαφρόδιτος (Hermaphróditos, from Ἑρμῆς (Hermês) + Ἀφροδίτη (Aphrodítē)).

bor

Ἑρμαφρόδιτος

(Greek mythology) The son of Hermes and Aphrodite who merged bodies with a naiad.


Palinism

en-noun

Palinism (countable and uncountable, plural Palinisms)

Palinisms (plural)
Palin-ism (alternative)

Sarah Palin has stepped in with her peculiar style of speaking. There are literally thousands of sites catering to the insatiable appetite for Palinisms.

2008 November 13, “Thus spake Sarah Palin”, in Daily News and Analysis, India, retrieved 2010-08-20:

An entire book could be dedicated to 'Palinisms'—the gaffes made by the Republican vice-presidential candidate.

2008 December 22, Byrony Gordon, “2008 in celebrity train wrecks”, in telegraph.co.uk, retrieved 2010-08-20:

(countable) A statement or turn of phrase used by U.S. public figure Sarah Palin that is unintentionally comical due to malapropisms, dubious coherency, etc.


adminiculate

en-verb

adminiculate (third-person singular simple present adminiculates, present participle adminiculating, simple past and past participle adminiculated)

adminiculates (present singular third-person)
adminiculating (participle present)
adminiculated (participle past)
adminiculated (past)

(transitive, Scots law) To prove; to corroborate.


Krishnology

From Krishna + -ology. As a nonce word (attested 1929) used for illustrating the parallels between Christology and the theology of Krishnaism. Since the late 2000s also used by ISKCON authors in a more general sense.

Whether it be questions of Science or Philosophy, or of Christology or Krishnology (1929)http://books.google.com/books?id=HwgaAAAAMAAJ&q=Krishnology+-%22Webster%27s+Quotations%22&dq=Krishnology+-%22Webster%27s+Quotations%22&hl=en&ei=W5x3TJfMAp-g4Qbdm5zSBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCkQ6AEwATgK

Christology and Krishnology: a critical study of the concept of Avatora from the Christian standpoint (1952, title)http://books.google.com/books?id=YsEcHAAACAAJ&dq=Krishnology+-%22Webster%27s+Quotations%22&hl=en&ei=rJx3TJCeHpuP4gafyJy7Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA

The position of Krishna in Krishnaism viewed as a parallel of that of Christ in Christianity.


triumpher

(historical, Ancient Rome) Someone who was honoured with a triumph; a victorious soldier.


sacrilicious

en-adj

sacrilicious (comparative more sacrilicious, superlative most sacrilicious)

more sacrilicious (comparative)
most sacrilicious (superlative)

/sækɹəˈlɪʃəs/

Blend of sacrilegious + delicious, coined in a 1994 episode of the animated TV series The Simpsons (see quotation below).

I know I shouldn't eat thee, Lord, but... mmmm, sacrilicious.

1994 March 17, “Homer Loves Flanders”, in The Simpsons, season 5, episode 16, spoken by Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta (voice)):

Not for the modest, at those times, the secluded bar area features several TVs showing porn while you eat and drink. Mmmm, sacrilicious.

2004 October 27, Elizabeth Canning Blackwell, Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Chicago, 5th edition, Hoboken: Wiley, →ISBN, →OL, page 194:

Sellers offered VMGC T-shirts — "I ate the Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese ... It was Sacrilicious!"

2006 April 15, Susanna Paasonen, “"Virgin Mary in Grilled Cheese NOT A HOAX! LOOK & SEE!"”, in Everyday eBay: Culture, Collecting, And Desire, New York: Routledge, →ISBN, →OL, page 201:

Maybe they thought it would be inappropriate — dare I say, sacri-licious — to eat the animal the team is named after.

2007 March 1, Josh Pahigian, The Ultimate Minor League Baseball Road Trip: A Fan's Guide to AAA, AA, A, and Independent League Stadiums, Globe Pequot, →ISBN, →OL, page 44:

(slang, humorous) producing pleasure through the violation of taboos


freedom ride

freedom rides (plural)
Freedom Ride (alternative)

It is a slight miracle, I think, that in the almost two years since February of 1960 there has not been a fatality. But we have come amazingly close to it several times. Let me mention the case of William Barbee who was on the Freedom Ride when it arrived at Montgomery and met with mob violence.[…]

1961, Diane Nash, “Inside the Sit-ins and Freedom Rides: Testimony of a Southern Student”, in Mathew H. Ahmann, editor, The New Negro, New York, N.Y.: Biblo and Tannen, published 1969, →OCLC, page 58:

Segregation must be stopped. It must be broken down. Those of us on the Freedom Ride will continue. No matter what happens we are dedicated to this. We will take the beatings. We are willing to accept death. We are going to keep coming until we can ride anywhere in the South.

1961 (year of quotation), Rachel Tisdale, quoting James Zwerg, “The Nation Takes Notice”, in The Freedom Riders (We Shall Overcome), New York, N.Y.: Rosen Publishing Group, published 2014, →ISBN, page 20:

A Negro leader said today the "freedom riders" whose arrival here touched off race riots last Saturday will continue their test of Southern bus station segregation barriers. [...] [T]he Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. [...] told a news conference the group met for four hours last night and decided that "the freedom ride must continue, we will not specify the exact time, but it will continue."

1961 May 23, “‘Freedom ride’ must continue—Rev. King”, in Sarasota Journal, volume 10, number 27, Sarasota, Fla.: Lindsay Newspapers, →OCLC, page 2, column 7:

The Freedom Rides had reached their peak in June but were not over, and the ferment stirred up by them had by no means subsided. [...] It was the Nashville Student Movement that had continued the Freedom Rides when CORE [Congress of Racial Equality], the original sponsor, had declared them too dangerous and had withdrawn. These students had a right to feel proud and sure of themselves.

1972, James Forman, “Lucretia Collins: ‘The Spirit of Nashville’”, in The Making of Black Revolutionaries, illustrated edition, Seattle, Wash., London: University of Washington Press, published 2000, →ISBN, book 1 (A Constant Struggle), page 146:

Challenging legal obstacles to equality, the civil rights movement inspired mass protests—sit-ins, freedom rides, marches to Birmingham, Montgomery, and Selma—that eliminated obvious forms of racial discrimination as it won support from sympathetic whites.

1982, Peter N. Carroll, “‘This Terrible Division between Us’: The Politics of Race”, in It Seemed Like Nothing Happened: America in the 1970s, New Brunswick, N.J., London: Rutgers University Press, published 2000, →ISBN, part 1 (The Loss of Connection), pages 38–39:

Abbie [Hoffman] took his freedom ride at the tail end of the freedom movement. He had missed the chance to be among the Freedom Riders of 1961 or the Freedom School teachers of 1964, and he was determined not to let the South slip through his fingers again. The summer of 1965 would be the last time that significant numbers of Northern whites would go to Mississippi for civil rights, and Abbie would be among them.

1996, Jonah Raskin, “White Mischief, Black Power”, in For the Hell of It: The Life and Times of Abbie Hoffman, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Calif., London: University of California Press, published 1998, →ISBN, page 55:

CORE [Congress of Racial Equality] organized some of the earliest sit-ins for civil rights in Chicago in 1943, and in 1947 sponsored the first interracial freedom ride, called the "Journey of Reconciliation."

2014, Ron Young, “Meeting the Vietnamese ‘Enemy:’ Resisting the Draft; Mass Marches in D.C.”, in Crossing Boundaries in the Americas, Vietnam, and the Middle East: A Memoir, Eugene, Or.: Resource Publications, Wipf and Stock Publishers, →ISBN, page 66:

(US, politics, historical) In the United States in the 1960s (chiefly 1961), any one of a number of trips taken by bus or other forms of transport through parts of the southern U.S., made by groups of civil rights activists demonstrating their opposition to racial prejudice and segregation.


Hygiea

From Latin Hygēa, Hygīa, from Ancient Greek Ὑγίεια (Hugíeia), Ὑγεία (Hugeía).

(Greek mythology) Ancient Greek goddess of health, cleanliness, and sanitation. Her Roman name is Hygēa/Hygīa or Salus.


absolvitor

Borrowed from Latin absolvitor (literally “let him be acquitted”), the third-person singular future passive imperative form of absolvō (“I absolve, acquit, or declare innocent”). Compare absolutory.

bor

Pitmedden purſues Seaton of Menzies as Repreſenting his Father, who was one of the Purſuers Brothers Tutors, for his Fathers Intromiſſion with the Pupils Means, who alleadged Abſolvitor.

1668 December 19, James Dalrymple, “Mr. Alexander Seaton contra Menzies” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 575

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

Scottish Language Dictionaries
w:Scottish Language Dictionaries

(Scots law) A decision or decree made by a court in favour of the defendant in a given action; dismissal.


menat

Borrowed from Egyptian mnjt in the form of the 19th-century Lepsius-style transcription menȧt.

In Ancient Egypt, a heavy beaded necklace and musical instrument with a crescent-shaped plate in the front and a keyhole-shaped amuletic counterweight in the rear, considered sacred to Hathor.


TNG

Star Trek: The Next Generation
w:Star Trek: The Next Generation

(television) Initialism of Star Trek: The Next Generation.


CSM

Cantiga de Santa Maria
w:Cantigas de Santa Maria

(music) Initialism of Cantiga de Santa Maria.


Atalanta

From Ancient Greek Ἀταλάντη (Atalántē, “balanced”), from ἀ- (a-, “used to express unity”) + τάλαντον (tálanton, “balanced”).

der

36 Atalante
Atalanta
Guido Reni
Hippomenes

It is the Arcadian Atalanta, the daughter of Iasus and Clymene, who is primarily known from the tales of the Calydonian boar hunt and the Argonauts. The Boeotian version of Atalanta is the daughter of King Schoeneus and is primarily noted for her skill in the footrace. In both versions of the myth, Atalanta was a local figure allied to the goddess Artemis.

Abandoned at birth by her parents, Iasus and Clymene, Atalanta was raised by bears and later rescued by a hunter who taught her the ways of mortals. When Atalanta found fame as a runner and marksman, her parents reclaimed her.

2001, Suzanne I. Barchers, From Atalanta to Zeus, Greenwood Publishing Group (Teacher Ideas Press), page 17:

(Greek mythology) A huntress and heroine in Greek mythology, renowned for her great speed and strength; depending on the version of the myth, either the daughter of Iasus (a prince of Arcadia) by Clymene or of King Schoeneus of Boeotia.


qilin

qilins (plural)
kilin (alternative)
kylin (alternative)

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 麒麟 (qílín). Doublet of kirin.

...a red and gold textile with phoenixes in one row swooping towards qilins in the next amidst a densely foliated ground...

1989, Ernst J. Grube, Eleanor G. Sims, Islamic Art: Volume 3:

Roundel depicting dragon attacked by qilins; mounted on an album page.

2001, David J. Roxburgh, Prefacing the image: the writing of art history in sixteenth-century Iran:

When the qilin leaves, the emperor traces the shapes he saw into the dirt.

2010, Molly Blaisdell, Necdet Yilmaz, Truth about Unicorns:

A mythical Chinese hooved chimerical creature, said to appear in conjunction with the arrival of a sage.


BOTUS

Marlon Bundo is not only the first Botus (Bunny of the United States), but may be the first rabbit to: a) ride in Air Force Two; b) hold an official Instagram account that documents his every bemused lollop across a seemingly endless collection of Persian rugs; and c) have an unofficial Twitter account that reveals a much harder edge.

2018 March 20, Sian Cain, “Vice-president Mike Pence disappears down the rabbit hole”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-09-04:

Bundo had gained fame as the BOTUS (Bunny of the United States), and his Instagram account has more than 32,000 followers.

2022 January 17, Bryan Pietsch, “Marlon Bundo, Pence family rabbit and unlikely gay rights figure, dies”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-01-17:

(US politics, humorous) Initialism of bunny of the United States; a tongue-in-cheek title bestowed on Marlon Bundo, a rabbit belonging to the family of Mike Pence.


Gleek

I'm more of a Gleek myself.

2009 September 7, Jason Wuthrich, “Re: OT what new shows are you looking forward to seeing this fall season?”, in alt.tv.american-idol (Usenet):

2010, Evie Parker, 100% Gleek: The Unofficial Guide to Glee:

Well I thought she looked quite cute, so I Googled her. I'm not yet a full on Gleek, honest!

2010 February 3, Fred X, “Re: Glee - the woman from Pushing Daisies”, in uk.media.tv.misc (Usenet):

are there any other Gleeks out here in viPhone land? I saw on my facebook today that there's a Glee app!! $2.99 so I grabbed it. maybe I shouldn't have seeing all the financial stress I'm currently under but I'm a Gleek in a big way!! so I couldn't resist!! I needed to check it out!!!

2010 April 17, "Jessica and Goldina", "anyone try the Glee app?", in "VIPhone" (Google Groups group)

Yep... I'm a "Gleek"! (I'm sure it's partially due to being in band in high school, as we usually did a medley of songs from a musical during each performance.)

2010 April 30, Zoot, “Re: Glee-------”, in alt.x.y (Usenet):

Fair warning: One is the beginning of a musical number that's been on every Gleek's watch-list since Spears tweeted this pic.

2010 September 24, Kate Stanhope, “Do You Mind That Glee Can't Keep a Secret?”, in TVGuide:

And you call yourself a Gleek...

2010 September 27, Don Del Grande, “Re: 09/26/2010 New Episode”, in alt.tv.simpsons (Usenet):

(fandom slang) A fan of the television show Glee.


Question Period

en-noun

Question Period (plural Question Periods)

Question Periods (plural)
question period (alternative)

Two Progressive Conservatives asked Mr Winters during the Commons question period what is being done about Parliament's electric clocks and the library of Parliament.

1955 January 24, “Parliament's Clock, Library Questioned”, in Ottawa Citizen, Canada, retrieved 2010-10-02, page 6:

Opposition members blasted the Tory budget during Question Period on Wednesday, charging that it raises income taxes on the poorest Canadians.

2006 May 3, “‘Neo-Conservative budget’ raises taxes on poor: Liberals”, in CBC.ca, Canada, retrieved 2010-10-02:

(Canada, politics, government) In the federal and provincial parliaments, a period of regularly scheduled time in the lower chamber during which members of the official opposition party and other members may direct questions to the prime minister and to cabinet ministers concerning affairs of state.


Hatshepsut

From the short form of her birth name, Egyptian HAt:t-A51-t:Z2ss (ḥꜣt-špswt, “Hatshepsut”, literally “Foremost of Noblewomen”), from ḥꜣt (“front”) + the plural of špst (“noblewoman”).

bor

The documentary film refers to using the CT scans to build a composite Thutmosid face to compare to the putative Hatshepsuts as well as indicating any possible “common features” that she may have shared with them (Quilici 2007b).

2016, Ryan Metcalfe, “Hatshepsut’s Tooth”, in Richard H. Wilkinson, Kent R. Weeks, editors, The Oxford Handbook of the Valley of the Kings, Oxford, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, part X (Human Remains from the KV and Their Study), chapter 27 (Recent Identity and Relationship Studies, Including X-Rays and DNA), page 404:

An ancient Egyptian queen (1508–1458 BCE).


paizuri

en-noun

paizuri (countable and uncountable, plural paizuri or paizuris)

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

Borrowed from Japanese パイ擦(ず)り (paizuri), a blend of オッパイ (oppai, “titty”) + 擦(す)り (suri, “rubbing”).


Romulan

From Romulus + -an. From the Star Trek franchise, in which they are described as being from the planet Romulus, drawing inspiration from the Roman origin story of Romulus and Remus.

"Some sort of Romulan game," Riker said thoughtfully. "Trying to make us guess what they're up to."

1999, Peter Allen David, Double or Nothing:

"He looks like a Romulan." Suddenly, her attention is focused on him and she calls across the street, "Hey, monkey Romulan, sort it out!"

...the law vaporizes like a Romulan warrior into the ions of space.

2001, Michael W McConnell, Robert F Cochran, Angela C Carmella, Christian perspectives on legal thought:

A member of a fictional alien race, described as being cunning and opportunistic.


Romulan

en-adj

Romulan (comparative more Romulan, superlative most Romulan)

more Romulan (comparative)
most Romulan (superlative)

Pertaining to the fictional extraterrestrial race, or its fictional polity, the Romulan Star Empire; from Star Trek.


Romulan

constructed language
constructed language#English

A fictional language and a constructed language. The fictional language of the Romulans, a fictional extraterrestrial race from Star Trek. Created words and phrases from Star Trek have been latterly expanded upon to create a constructed language, that some among the Star Trek fandom attempt to build into a usable language.


plagium

en-noun

plagium (usually uncountable, plural plagiums)

From Latin plagium (“kidnapping”), compare plagiarism, probably from plaga (“a net, snare, trap”).

(Scots law) abduction, especially of a child


eparchy

Via Late Latin eparchia from Koine Greek ἐπαρχία (eparkhía, “province; prefecture”), from Ancient Greek ἔπαρχος (éparkhos, “commander, governor; prefect, eparch”) from ἐπι- (epi-, “on, upon; over”) + ἀρχός (arkhós, “ruler”); equivalent to epi- + -archy.

af

(historical, Ancient Rome) A district of the Roman Empire at the third echelon

Eastern Roman Empire
Eastern Roman Empire

Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire

(historical, Ancient Greece, Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire) A provincial government or office headed by an eparch in the Greek-speaking Eastern Roman Empire (akin to a prefecture governed by a prefect in the Latin-speaking Western Roman Empire)

Ancient Greece; Byzantine Empire; Ancient Greece; Byzantine Empire


oeconomus

From Latin oeconomus, from Ancient Greek οἰκονόμος (oikonómos), from οἶκος (oîkos, “house”) + νόμος (nómos, “law, rule”).

A Byzantine title given to the chief steward or treasurer of a household or institution.


sextarius

en-noun

sextarius (plural sextariuses or sextarii)

From Latin sextārius (“one-sixth”), from sextus (“sixth”) + -ārius (“-ary: forming adj.”). Doublet of sextary.

(historical) A Roman unit of dry measure.


Silenus

As a goat he [Dionysus] can hardly be separated from the minor divinities, the Pans, Satyrs, and Silenuses, all of whom are closely associated with him and are represented more or less completely in the form of goats.

1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 34:

(Greek mythology) A companion and tutor to the wine god Dionysus.


Twihard

Twihards (plural)
Twi-hard (alternative)
twihard (alternative)
twi-hard (alternative)

Getting "Twihards" who love virtuous vampires to buy the soundtrack is easy — but getting Radiohead fans to plunk down cash for a little bit of the "New Moon" universe will be a coup.

2009 October 3, Ann Donahue, “'New Moon' Rising”, in Billboard, page 19:

Beginning at popular Rialto Beach, share this classic coastline with beachcombers, dog walkers (allowed on-leash to Ellen Creek), and scores of Twihards from across the country.

2011, Craig Romano, Backpacking Washington: Overnight and Multiday Routes, The Mountaineers Books, published 2011, →ISBN, page 38:

'Not me, I'm an out and out Twihard, loved the vampires in Twilight – still do, always will – so I know what it's like when people take the mickey. My brothers drew huge fangs and devil tails on all my posters of Robert Pattinson.'

2014, Samantha Tonge, From Paris, With Love, Carina, published 2014, →ISBN:

(fandom slang) An avid fan of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight book series or the related films.


Jaspis

Blend of jasper and lapis (from lapis lazuli).

(fandom slang) The ship of characters Lazuli Jasper and Lapis Lazulifrom the Steven Universe series.


AMV

Coordinate term: PMV

Initialism of anime music video: a fan-made anime clipshow set to music.


lenocinium

Borrowed from Latin lenocinium (“pimping, prostitution”).

bor

(Scots law) A husband's connivance at his wife's adultery.


Juventas

(Roman mythology) The goddess of youth, and a daughter of Jupiter and Juno. Juventas was the cupbearer of the gods until she married her paternal halfbrother, Hercules, with whom she had twin sons, Alexiares and Anicetus. She is the Roman counterpart of Hebe.


fujo

Clipping of fujoshi, from Japanese 腐女子 (ふじょし, fujoshi, literally “rotten girl”).

uder

They consider themselves “Fujo” (Yaoi readers or creators are referred as “Fujoshi” in Japanese) and they have been reading Yaoi for more than five years.

2010, Dienfang Chou, “Exploring the Meaning of Yaoi in Taiwan for Female Readers: From the Perspective of Gender”, in Intercultural Communication Studies, volume 19, number 1, page 82:

people be like “fujos suck and fetishize gay men” and then talk about their favorite BL 😳😳

2019 October 25, mahi alina (@noctupavo), Twitter:

"So, while I'm personally self-aware of the fact that I'm a fujoshi," she continued, "I would still be upset if someone were to say, 'You're into that fujoshi crap?' or call me a 'nasty fujo' to my face. […]

2022, Kota Nozomi, translated by Tristan K. Hill, When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace, Volume 1, unnumbered page:

(informal, fandom slang, sometimes derogatory) A female fan of yaoi or more broadly of slash fiction.


MIC

(Malaysian politics) Initialism of Malaysian Indian Congress. (a political party for Malaysian Indians)


Telemachus

From Ancient Greek Τηλέμαχος (Tēlémakhos).

(Greek mythology) the son of Odysseus and Penelope


Laertes

(Greek mythology) the father of Odysseus


Diomedes

Borrowed from Latin Diomēdēs, from Ancient Greek Διομήδης (Diomḗdēs).

(Greek mythology) a hero in Greek mythology, mostly known for his participation in the Trojan War


Imbros

island of Turkey in the north-eastern Aegean Sea


Basic Pokémon

A Pokémon card (in Pokémon Trading Card Game) that does not evolve from any other Pokémon card, or evolves from a Baby Pokémon card.


mytharc

Blend of mythology + story arc, used originally and most commonly in reference to The X-Files.

This [Neon Genesis Evangelion] is one show that -really- has me sucked in. And yes, their mytharc has to be the most perfectly constructed thing I've ever seen. :)

1999, Heath Smith, “TAN: Neon Genesis and how to do the mytharc properly”, in aus.tv.x-files (Usenet):

I think this is what you seek to avoid in mytharcs - a plot that drowns out the character-based drama and morality plays that are still Gene's finest legacy.

2000, Allronix, “An open letter to Ms. Roddenberry”, in alt.tv.earth-final-conflict (Usenet):

The mytharc is a continuous story line about the government's involvement in a plot to cover up the presence of extraterrestrials on Earth.

2008, J. P. Telotte, The essential science fiction television reader, page 234:

(fandom slang) The ongoing story arc that underpins all episodes of a television series.


duat

(Egyptology, Egyptian mythology) The realm of the dead in Egyptian mythology.


liferent

en-noun

liferent (countable and uncountable, plural liferents)

The said William Aitken, being of new solemnly sworn, &c., depones he is a Burgess of Hawick, and had the property of a house which he now liferents, the fee being disponed to his son-in-law, Bailie Robert Scot, for the use of his son William, his daughter, Bailie Scot's wife, having paid the price of the house; depones sixty years ago Gilbert Elliot was tenant in Nether Southfield, who broke Hawick Common by plowing a part of it, which the Deponent saw at the Common-Riding when the Magistrates and other persons at the Common-Riding potched the ground he had plowed, and was then sown that he might not reap the crop of this.

1898, R. S. Craig, Adam Laing, The Hawick Tradition of 1514: The Town's Common Flag and Seal, page 240:

(Scots law) The right to receive for life the benefits of a property or other asset, without the right to dispose of it.


Jediism

A minor modern religion based on the Jedi of the Star Wars series.


Eeveelution

Eeveelutions (plural)
Eevolution (alternative)
eevolution (alternative)

(fandom slang) Any Pokémon that is an evolution of Eevee, either official or made up by fans.


Simpsonian

en-adj

Simpsonian (comparative more Simpsonian, superlative most Simpsonian)

more Simpsonian (comparative)
most Simpsonian (superlative)

Of or relating to George Gaylord Simpson (1902–1984), US paleontologist.

Of or pertaining to The Simpsons, an American animated sitcom.


Homer Simpsonian

Homer Simpsonian (comparative more Homer Simpsonian, superlative most Homer Simpsonian)

more Homer Simpsonian (comparative)
most Homer Simpsonian (superlative)

From Homer Simpson (name of a character in The Simpsons, an animated TV serial) + -ian.

Of or pertaining to the vocalizations or behavior of Homer Simpson.


Pokémaniac

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

Blend of Pokémon + maniac. Derived from "POKéMANIAC", the name of a class of opponent characters in-game. The characters are nowadays seen donning cosplay pieces resembling the Pokémon creatures (though originally wearing lab coats and portrayed as being somewhat lunatic). "POKéMANIAC" was the term used in the English translation for the aforementioned, originally called 「かいじゅうマニア」 [kaijuumania] ("monster maniac") in Japanese. Equivalent to Poké- + maniac.

A dedicated or obsessive fan of Pokémon.


Mickey Mousing

From Mickey Mouse + -ing, in reference to early Walt Disney films, where the music served to mimic the animated motions of the characters.

(animation) Synchronization of actions on screen with the accompanying music.


Vietnam War

The country’s first black president, and its first president to reach adulthood after the Vietnam War and Watergate, Mr. Obama seemed like a digital-age leader who could at last dislodge the stalemate between those who clung to the government of the Great Society, on the one hand, and those who disdained the very idea of government, on the other.

2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times:

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

(historical) The war that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia between 1955 and 1975 between South Vietnam (backed by the United States and SEATO) and North Vietnam aiding the South Vietnamese communist guerrilla army known as the Vietcong (supported by the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union) for the struggle for total Communist control of Vietnam as one state.


Virgilian

Virgilian (comparative more Virgilian, superlative most Virgilian)

more Virgilian (comparative)
most Virgilian (superlative)
Vergilian (alternative)

This Virgilian diversion, together with the spectral thoughts incident to All Hallows’ Eve with its Witch-Sabbaths on the hills, produced in me last Monday night a Roman dream of such supernal clearness and vividness, and such titanic adumbrations of hidden horror, that I verily believe I shall some day employ it in fiction.

1927, H. P. Lovecraft, The Very Old Folk:

Through Mr. Burroughs, he met the other future luminaries of the Beat Generation and became, in the words of Mr. Burroughs's biographer, Ted Morgan, “a sort of Virgilian guide to the lower depths.”

1990 June 10, Jan Herman, quoting Ted Morgan, “The Beatnick's Beatnick”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Not a single extant Virgilian manuscript survives from the ninth century, despite the number of ninth-century manuscripts of Virgil's works and commentaries on his works.

2008, Jan M. Ziolkowski, Michael C. J. Putnam, The Virgilian tradition: the first fifteen hundred years, →ISBN, page 439:

Of or pertaining to Virgil (Roman writer)


Pokédollar

From Poké- + dollar, coined by fans to describe an alternative symbol for yen that first appears on the games Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue, from 1996.

(Pokémon) A unit of currency that is usually described as having characteristics of yen and/or dollar. Its symbol is .


eevolution

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Eevolution.


Zionistic

Zionistic (comparative more Zionistic, superlative most Zionistic)

more Zionistic (comparative)
most Zionistic (superlative)


Sarlacc

From the Star Wars film Return of the Jedi (1983).

A fictional multi-tentacled beast known to dissolve its prey slowly, buried in a depression in the desert sands of the planet Tatooine.


Jade Emperor

/ˈd͡ʒeɪd ˈɛmpəɹə/

/ˈd͡ʒeɪd ˈɛmpɹə/

/ˈd͡ʒeɪd ˈɛmpəɹɚ/

/ˈd͡ʒeɪd ˈɛmpɹɚ/

Calque of Chinese 玉皇 (Yùhuáng) or 玉帝 (Yù Dì, “Jade Emperor”).

(Chinese mythology) The lord of the Celestial Hierarchy, ruling over Heaven, Earth, and Hell.


minority leader

en-noun

minority leader (plural minority leaders)

minority leaders (plural)
Minority Leader (alternative)

Jeffries, 52, will assume the role of minority leader when the new Congress is sworn in early next year, inheriting the position held for nearly two decades by Pelosi, a towering figure in Democratic politics who was the first female speaker.

2022 November 30, Lauren Gambino, “House Democrats elect Hakeem Jeffries as first Black leader in Congress”, in The Guardian:

House of Representatives
House of Representatives

(US politics) In each of the legislative chambers of the United States Congress—the United States Senate and the House of Representatives—the elected member selected by the members of the political party with the second-largest number of elected members, who serves as principal spokesperson for the members of that party in that chamber and who plays a leading role in creating policies and strategies governing his or her party's business in that chamber.


Rocketshipper

From rocket + shipper (after the characters' team, Team Rocket, and punningly on rocketship).

Those of you who have read my fanfics will know that I am a Rocketshipper.

2000 January 13, Blue-Jackal and her box-o-Skywarp [username], “Jessie and James, an item?”, in alt.fan.team-rocket (Usenet):

All the Rocketshippers love to talk about evidence in favor of Jessie/James being in love and such.

2000 February 7, BBD127 [username], “Rocketshipping... negative evidence?”, in alt.fan.team-rocket (Usenet):

You realize, of course, that this thread would probably get us lynched by the large Rocketshipper population on the net.

2001 January 15, Bodger [username], “Re: Gay couple in Godzilla vs. Megalon”, in rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc (Usenet):

(fandom slang) A shipper of Jessie and James, characters in the animated version of Pokémon.


Melitene

From Latin Melitene, from Ancient Greek Μελιτηνή (Melitēnḗ). Doublet of Malatya.

(historical) Former name of Malatya, a city in Turkey.


Yoda

The character was introduced in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Perhaps from Sanskrit योद्धा (yoddhā, “warrior”).

A wise old Jedi Master in the Star Wars films.


Jedi Knight

A powerful rank of Jedi below that of Jedi Master.


Eurus

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

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

(Greek mythology) The god of the East Wind, autumn, protection, comfort, balance, preservation, change, adulthood and maturity.


Boreas

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Βορέᾱς (Boréās).

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

BOREAS, one of the four Cardinal Winds, and one of the Deities of the Heathens, was the Son of Aſtræus and Aurora, and had his Seat at Thrace. Pindar calls him the King of Winds. [Footnote numbers omitted.]

1735, Pierre Bayle with Pierre des Maizeaux, The Dictionary Historical and Critical of Mr Peter Bayle. The Second Edition, Carefully Collated with the Several Editions of the Original; in which many Passages are Restored, and the Whole Greatly Augmented, particularly with a Translation of the Quotations from Eminent Writers in Various Languages. To which is Prefixed, the Life of the Author, Revised, Corrected, and Enlarged, by Mr Des Maizeaux, Fellow of the Royal Society, 2nd edition, volume II, London: Printed for J. J. and P. Knapton; [et al.], →OCLC, page 78:

Orithya was the daughter of Erectheus, and the prieſteſs of Boreas; for each of the winds has a preſiding deity, which the teleſtic art, or the art pertaining to ſacred myſteries, religiouſly cultivates. […] Orithya, therefore, becoming enthusiastic, being poſſeſſed by her proper God Boreas, and no longer energizing as a human being (for animals ceaſe to energize according to their own peculiarities, when poſſeſſed by ſuperior causes), died under the inſpiring influence, and thus was ſaid to have been raviſhed by Boreas.

1804, Plato, “The Phædrus”, in Floyer Sydenham, Thomas Taylor, transl., The Works of Plato, viz. His Fifty-five Dialogues, and Twelve Epistles, Translated from the Greek; Nine of the Dialogues by the Late Floyer Sydenham, and the Remainder by Thomas Taylor: with Occasional Annotations on the Nine Dialogues Translated by Sydenham, and Copious Notes, by the Latter Translator; in which is Given the Substance of nearly all the Existing Greek Ms. Commentaries on the Philosophy of Plato, and a Considerable Portion of such as are already Published. In Five Volumes, volume I, London: Printed for Thomas Taylor, by R. Wilks, Chancery-Lane; and sold by E. Jeffery, and R. E. Evans, Pall-Mall, page 293, footnote 2:

The promotion of Pan is matched by the new attention Athens paid to Boreas, god of the north wind, after he destroyed the Persian fleet off Artemision (Herodotus, 7.189) A tradition (λέγεται δε λόγος) held that the Athenians prayed to the god before the battle to assist them, the equivalent of the prebattle encounter between Pan and Pheidippides. As in the complaint of Pan, the god Boreas was remembered as assisting the Greeks before, in this case by having sent a storm off Mount Athos during the expedition under Mardonios (6.44.2).

1995, Sarah P. Morris, Daidalos and the Origins of Greek Art, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 322:

One very windy day, the god Boreas became a citizen of the town of Thurii, the new Sybaris in Magna Graecia. In more concrete terms, in 397 b.c. Dionysius of Syracuse, at war with the Carthaginians, launched an expedition of three hundred ships crammed with armed men – hoplites, men of bronze – against Thurii. The North Wind was blowing against them, and Boreas wrecked the ship. It was a disaster for Dionysius, but the citizens of Thurii, saved by the god Boreas, passed a decree granting citizenship to the wind.

2000, Giulia Sissa with Marcel Detienne, “When the Olympians Donned the Citizen's Costume”, in Janet Lloyd, transl., The Daily Life of the Greek Gods, Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, →ISBN, page 137:

(Greek mythology) The god of the North Wind.


Pikachu

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

(video games, anime, manga) A small yellow rodent-like Pokémon species that has red cheeks and a tail shaped like a lightning bolt, and has electricity-related powers.


reprobator

(Scots law, historical) An old form of action to prove a witness to be perjured or biased.


Sunda

Indonesian Pasundan (“former Sunda Kingdom area such as West Java, Banten and western Central Java”)


Williamite

We fought for the royal Stuarts that reneged us against the Williamites and they betrayed us.

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 316:

A follower of William III of England who deposed James II in the Glorious Revolution.


Williamite

en-adj

Williamite (comparative more Williamite, superlative most Williamite)

more Williamite (comparative)
most Williamite (superlative)

For whether King James, or K. William prevails, all our ancient Privileges ſeem expiring; and we are threatened, on all ſides, with Military and Arbitrary Government, unleſs we make a Tender of the Crown upon the Terms of the Conſtitution, to the King we have hitherto Abdicated, and who cannot, in common Honeſty, and according to the genuine ſignification of the Word, be ſaid to have abdicated his Crown, till he refuſes it upon thoſe Terms; which if he ſhould, the Diſtinction of His and the Williamite Party would ſoon have an End, […]

[1689?], Better Late than Never, →OCLC, signature A, recto, column 1:

For to whom ſhould I dedicate a Book of this kind, I mean ſuch a Williamite one, if I may be allowed to ſpeak ſtill in our late Dialect, if not to your Grace?

1702, Robert Fleming [the younger], “To His Grace James, Duke of Queensberry, &c.”, in The Blessedness of Those Who Die in the Lord: A Practical Discourse Occasioned by the Death of King William; wherein a Character of Him is Given. […], London: […] Andrew Bell […], →OCLC, page iv:

The poems reprinted here ought to enter some partial exceptions to the rule that between the reigns of James II and of Queen Anne the one poetic exception is Dryden. In these publicly crowded years he gave the world, from his retirement, or exile, the Satires of 1693, the Virgil of 1697, and the Fables of 1700. But he would not be drawn over to the King’s side, and the student of poetry must look to less familiar writers if he is to find anything of a Williamite character worth his attention.

1974, Earl Miner, “Introduction”, in Augustan Reprint Society, Poems on the Reign of William III (1690, 1696, 1699, 1702) (Publication Number 166), Los Angeles, Calif.: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, →OCLC, page i:

A war which for many who supported it in England was waged in defence of the Protestant religion and against popish idolatory, had its supporters in Scotland too, primarily Revolutioners, that is Williamite whigs and presbyterians, some of whom were even more fervent in their commitment to the Protestant cause than their English brethren.

2006, Christopher A[llan] Whatley with Derek J. Patrick, “War, Trade and Tariffs”, in The Scots and the Union, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, published 2007, →ISBN, chapter 4 (The 1690s: a nation in crisis), page 157:

(historical) Of or relating to the reign of William III of England from 1689 to 1702.

Of or relating to his followers who deposed James II in the Glorious Revolution.