cover

en-noun

cover (countable and uncountable, plural covers)

→ Hijazi Arabic: كَڤَر (kavar)

→ Portuguese: cover

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-?
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm
Proto-Italic *kom
Old Latin com
Latin cum
Latin con-
Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-?
Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi
Proto-Indo-European *h₂wer-
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Latin operiō
Latin cooperiō
Old French covrirbor.
Middle English coveren
English cover
From Middle English coveren, borrowed from Old French covrir, cueuvrir (modern French couvrir), from Late Latin coperire, from Latin cooperiō (“I cover completely”), from co- (intensive prefix) + operiō (“I close, cover”). Displaced native Middle English thecchen and bethecchen (“to cover”) (from Old English þeccan, beþeccan (“to cover”)), Middle English helen, (over)helen, (for)helen (“to cover, conceal”) (from Old English helan (“to conceal, cover, hide”)), Middle English wrien, (be)wreon (“to cover”) (from Old English (be)wrēon (“to cover”)), Middle English hodren, hothren (“to cover up”) (from Low German hudren (“to cover up”)).
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the original sense of the verb and noun cover was “hide from view” as in its cognate covert. Except in the limited sense of “cover again”, the word recover is unrelated and is cognate with recuperate. Cognate with Spanish cubrir (“to cover”).

cog

throw nickels around like manhole covers

(espionage) A persona maintained by a spy or undercover operative; cover story.

peitetarina

espionage: persona maintained by an operative


election

en-noun

election (countable and uncountable, plural elections)

From Middle English eleccioun, eleccion, from Anglo-Norman eleccioun, from Latin ēlectiōn-, stem of ēlectiō (“choice, selection”), from ēligō (“I pluck out, I choose”). Equivalent to elect + -ion.

[H]e [Paul] laboureth to comfort Timothy vvith the remembrance of the ſtedfaſtneſs of Gods eternal decree of Election, becauſe grounded on his foreknowledge; […]

1684, John Bunyan, A Holy Life, the Beauty of Christianity: Or, An Exhortation to Christians to be Holy, London: […] B. W. for Benj[amin] Alsop, […], →OCLC, page 3:

(theology) In Calvinism, God's predestination of saints including all of the elect.


lie

en-verb

lie (third-person singular simple present lies, present participle lying, simple past lay or laid, past participle lain or laid or (obsolete) lien)

lie See usage notes. (canonical)
lies (present singular third-person)
lying (participle present)
lay (past)
laid (past)
lain (participle past)
laid (participle past)
lien (obsolete participle past)
lie (infinitive)

From Middle English lien, liggen, from Old English liċġan, from Proto-West Germanic *liggjan, from Proto-Germanic *ligjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-.
Cognate with West Frisian lizze, Dutch liggen, German liegen, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål ligge, Swedish ligga, Icelandic, Faroese and Norwegian Nynorsk liggja, Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (ligan); and with Latin lectus (“bed”), Irish luí, Russian лежа́ть (ležátʹ), Albanian lag (“troop, band, encampment”).
As a noun for position, the noun has the same etymology above as the verb.

cog

a corresponding transitive version of this word

The Wind is lowd, and will not lie till the Ship be cleard of the dead.

c. 1607–1608, William Shakeſpeare, The Late, And much admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: Imprinted at London for Henry Goſſon, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest.


lie

From Middle English lie, from Old English lyġe (“lie, falsehood”), from Proto-Germanic *lugiz (“lie, falsehood”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewgʰ- (“to tell lies, swear, complain”). Cognate with Old Saxon luggi (“a lie”), Old High German lugī, lugin (“a lie”) (German Lüge), Danish løgn (“a lie”), Bulgarian лъжа́ (lǎžá, “а lie”), Russian ложь (ložʹ, “а lie”), Czech lež (“a lie”), Middle Polish łeż (“a lie”), Serbo-Croatian laž (“a lie”).

der

I knew he was telling a lie by his facial expression.

Man everywhere is the born enemy of lies.

1840 May 5, Thomas Carlyle, “Lecture I. The Hero as Divinity. Odin. Paganism: Scandinavian Mythology.”, in On Heroes, Hero-Worship and The Heroic in History, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1840, →OCLC, page 4:

An intentionally false statement; an intentional falsehood.


knowledge

en-noun

knowledge (usually uncountable, plural knowledges)

From Middle English knowleche, knaweleche, cnawlece (“knowledge”), from knowen (“to know, recognise”) + -leche. Related to Middle English knowlechen (“to find out, acknowledge”). For more on the Middle English suffix -leche, compare freelage. Compare also Old English cnāwelǣċ, cnāwelǣċing (“acknowledging, acknowledgement”).

cog

zeal without knowledge is a runaway horse

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class IV § 490. Knowledge


matter

en-noun

matter (countable and uncountable, plural matters)

From Middle English matere, mater, from Anglo-Norman matere, materie, from Old French materie, matiere, from Latin materia (“wood”), from mater (“mother”), in which case cognate with Old Armenian մայր (mayr, “cedar”) and մայրի (mayri, “forest”). More recently, referred to Proto-Indo-European *dem-. Doublet of Madeira, mata, mater, matrix, and mother.
Displaced Middle English andweorc, andwork (“material, matter”), from Old English andweorc (“matter, substance, material”), Old English intinga (“matter, affair, business”).

lëndë

basic structural component of the universe

(philosophy) Aristotelian: undeveloped potentiality subject to change and development; formlessness. Matter receives form, and becomes substance.


courage

en-noun

courage (usually uncountable, plural courages)

From Middle English corage, from Old French corage (French courage), from Vulgar Latin *corāticum, from Latin cor (“heart”). Distantly related to cardiac (“of the heart”), which is from Greek, but from the same Proto-Indo-European root. Displaced Middle English elne, ellen, from Old English ellen (“courage, valor”).

“Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality.”

1942, C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters:

I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.

1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa., New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:

Courage isn't having the strength to go on - it is going on when you don't have strength.

1993, Stanley P. Cornils, The Mourning After: How to Manage Grief Wisely:

2008, Maya Angelou, address for the 2008 Cornell University commencement
Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently.

I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.

2008, Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Screenplay:

The ability to maintain one's will or intent despite either the experience of fear, frailty, or frustration; or the occurrence of adversity, difficulty, defeat or reversal. Moral fortitude.


subjective

en-adj

subjective (comparative more subjective, superlative most subjective)

more subjective (comparative)
most subjective (superlative)

(philosophy, psychology) Experienced by a person mentally and not directly verifiable by others.


asset

Back-formation from assets, from Anglo-Norman asetz, from Old French assez (“enough”). Compare Middle English asseth.


heaven

en-noun

heaven (countable and uncountable, plural heavens)

horror

antonym(s) of “blissful place or experience”

From a wide variety of Middle English forms including hevene, heven, hevin, and hewin (“heaven, sky”), from Old English heofon, heofone (“heaven, sky”), from Proto-West Germanic *hebn (“heaven, sky”), of uncertain origin.
Cognate with Scots heiven, hewin (“heaven, sky”), Middle Dutch heven (“sky, heaven”), Low German Heven (“heaven, sky”), Middle High German heben (“sky, heaven”), and possibly the rare Icelandic and Old Norse hifinn (“heaven, sky”), which are all probably dissimilated forms of the Germanic root which appears in Old Norse himinn (“heaven, sky”), Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃 (himins, “heaven, sky”), Old Swedish himin, Old Danish himæn and probably also (in another variant form) Old Saxon himil, Old Dutch himil (modern Dutch hemel), and Old High German himil (German Himmel).
Accepting these as cognates, some scholars propose a further derivation from Proto-Germanic *himinaz (“cover, cloud cover, firmament, sky, heaven”).

سَمَاء

سَمَاوَات pl (samāwāt)

فَلَك

أَفْلَاك pl (ʔaflāk)

Teache the people to gett heuen with fastynge.

1544, Richard Tracy, A supplycacion to our moste soueraigne lorde Kynge henry the eyght Kynge of England of Fraunce and of Irelande, section C:

...what I speake
My body shall make good vpon this earth,
Or my diuine soule answer it in heauen.

1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene 1]:

Wee haue a great high Priest, that is passed into the heauens.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Hebrews 4:14:

(religion) The afterlife of the blessed dead, traditionally conceived as opposed to an afterlife of the wicked and unjust (compare hell); specifically:

(Christianity, Islam) Paradise, the afterlife of the souls who are not sent to a place of punishment or purification such as hell, purgatory, or limbo; the state or condition of being in the presence of God after death.

سَمَاء f جَنَّة f فِرْدَوْس

سَمَاوَات pl (samāwāt)


true

en-adj

true (comparative truer or more true, superlative truest or most true)

truer (comparative)
more true (comparative)
truest (superlative)
most true (superlative)

[t̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷu̠ː]

From Middle English trewe, from Old English trīewe, (Mercian) trēowe (“trusty, faithful”), from Proto-Germanic *triwwiz (compare Saterland Frisian trjou (“honest”), Dutch getrouw and trouw, German treu, Norwegian and Swedish trygg (“safe, secure’”), from pre-Germanic *drewh₂yos, from Proto-Indo-European *drewh₂- (“steady, firm”) (compare Irish dearbh (“sure”), Old Prussian druwis (“faith”), Ancient Greek δροόν (droón, “firm”)), extension of *dóru (“tree”) (possibly also Proto-Slavic *sъdorvъ (“healthy”) from the same root). More at tree. For the semantic development, compare Latin robustus (“tough”) from robur (“red oak”).

der

the course of true love never did run smooth

"A and B" is true if and only if "A" is true and "B" is true.

(logic) Of the state in Boolean logic that indicates an affirmative or positive result.

իրական

A state in Boolean logic that indicates an affirmative or positive result


similarity

en-noun

similarity (countable and uncountable, plural similarities)

From French similarité.
Morphologically similar + -ity

Hardly is there a similarity detected between two or three facts, than men hasten to extend it to all.

1859–1860, William Hamilton, edited by H[enry] L[ongueville] Mansel and John Veitch, Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC:

(philosophy) The relation of sharing properties.


singularity

singularity (countable and uncountable, plural singularities)

/ˌsɪŋɡjəˈlæɹətɪ/

From Middle English singularite, from Old French singularité, from Late Latin singulāritās (“singleness”), from Latin singulāris (“single”).
Morphologically singular + -ity

One conversation centered on the ever accelerating progress of technology and changes in the mode of human life, which gives the appearance of approaching some essential singularity in the history of the race beyond which human affairs, as we know them, could not continue.

1958, Stan Ulam, “Tribute to John von Neumann”, in Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society:

Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended. ... I think it's fair to call this event a singularity ("the Singularity" for the purposes of this paper).

1993, Vernor Vinge, “The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era”, in Whole Earth Review:

[Vernor] Vinge was among those (along with, notably, Ray Kurzweil) to discuss the transformation of humans by technology, coming in a matter of decades, referred to as "the singularity."

[2011 January 5, Rob Walker, “Cyberspace When You're Dead”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

The notion of the Singularity is predicated on Moore's Law, the 1965 observation by the Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, that the number of transistors that can be etched onto a sliver of silicon doubles at roughly two year intervals.

2016 April 7, John Markoff, “When Is the Singularity? Probably Not in Your Lifetime”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

technological singularity
technological singularity#English

(sometimes capitalized) Ellipsis of technological singularity: a hypothetical turning point in the future, the culmination ever accelerating technological progress, when human history as we have known it ends, and a strange new era begins. For some writers, the catalyst is superhuman machine intelligence.


fire

fire (countable and uncountable, plural fires)

→ Japanese: ファイヤー (faiyā)

Sranan Tongo: faya

From Middle English fyr, from Old English fȳr (“fire”), from Proto-West Germanic *fuir, from *fuïr, a regularised form of Proto-Germanic *fōr (“fire”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥.
See also Saterland Frisian Fjuur, West Frisian fjoer, Dutch vuur, Low German Füer, German Feuer, Danish fyr. Also, compare Hittite 𒉺𒄴𒄯 (paḫḫur), Umbrian pir, Tocharian A/B por/puwar, Czech pýř (“hot ashes”), Ancient Greek πῦρ (pûr, “fire”), and Armenian հուր (hur, “fire”). This was an inanimate noun whose animate counterpart was Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥gʷnis (see ignite). Cognate to pyre.

pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire

there may be snow on the mountaintop but there's fire in the valley

there may be snow on the rooftop but there is fire in the furnace

you don't look at the mantelpiece when you poke the fire

you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire

(uncountable, alchemy, philosophy) The aforementioned chemical reaction of burning, considered one of the Classical elements or basic elements of alchemy.


bi

I'm straight, but my oldest sister is bi.


bi

For some reason, I'm feeling _very_ sensitive to bi-discrimination tonight. I'm really not trying to mock the points being made here, it's just that many of the same arguments can be turned around and used to describe the discrimination that bis face.

1991 October 10, Ken Jones, “Re: Bisexual privilege? (Was Re: Tom Robinson Concert”, in soc.motss (Usenet):


creationism

creationism (usually uncountable, plural creationisms)

the preservation of the race of man is made to grow out of that quickening impulse, which we call the life of humanity. This notion, which was called Traducianism by the schoolmen (the system opposed to it being termed Creatianism ^([sic]))

1848, Robert Wilberforce, The Doctrine of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in its relation to Mankind and to the Church:

(theology) The Abrahamic doctrine that each individual human soul is created by God, as opposed to traducianism.


wind

wind (countable and uncountable, plural winds)

Tok Pisin: win

Torres Strait Creole: win

From Middle English wynd, wind, from Old English wind (“wind”), from Proto-West Germanic *wind, from Proto-Germanic *windaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁n̥tos (“wind”), from earlier *h₂wéh₁n̥ts (“wind”), derived from the present participle of *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).
Cognates
Cognate with Dutch wind, German Wind, West Frisian wyn, Norwegian and Swedish vind, Icelandic vindur, Latin ventus, Welsh gwynt, Sanskrit वात (vā́ta), Russian ве́тер (véter), perhaps Albanian bundë (“strong damp wind”). Doublet of athlete, vent, weather and nirvana.

it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good

you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

(philosophy, alchemy) One of the four elements of the ancient Greeks and Romans; air.


mole

From Middle English molle (“mole”), molde, mole, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *mulaz, *mulhaz (“mole, salamander”), from Proto-Indo-European *molg-, *molk- (“slug, salamander”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)melw- (“to grind, crush, beat”).
Cognate with North Frisian mull (“mole”), Saterland Frisian molle (“mole”), Dutch mol (“mole”), Low German Mol, Mul (“mole”), German Molch (“salamander, newt”), Old Russian смолжь (smolžʹ, “snail”), Czech mlž (“clam”).
Derivation as an abbreviation of Middle English molewarpe, a variation of moldewarpe, moldwerp (“mole”) in Middle English is unexplained and probably unlikely due to the simultaneous occurrence of both words. See mouldwarp.

der

(espionage) An internal spy, a person who involves himself or herself with an enemy organisation, especially an intelligence or governmental organisation, to determine and betray its secrets from within.


tail

Sranan Tongo: tere

From Middle English tail, tayl, teil, from Old English tæġl (“tail”), from Proto-West Germanic *tagl, from Proto-Germanic *taglą (“hair, fiber; hair of a tail”), from Proto-Indo-European *doḱ- (“hair of the tail”), from Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- (“to tear, fray, shred”). Cognate with Scots tail (“tail”), Saterland Frisian Tail (“tail, end”), West Frisian teil (“tail”), Dutch teil (“tail, haulm, blade”), Low German Tagel (“twisted scourge, whip of thongs and ropes; end of a rope”), German Zagel (“tail”), dialectal Danish tavl (“hair of the tail”), Swedish tagel (“hair of the tail, horsehair”), Norwegian tagl (“tail”), Icelandic tagl (“tail, horsetail, ponytail”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌲𐌻 (tagl, “hair”). In some senses, apparently by a generalization of the usual opposition between head and tail.

cog

have the world by the tail on a downhill pull

mackerel sky and mare's-tails make lofty ships carry low sails

mackerel sky and mare's-tails make tall ships carry low sails

the cow knows not the worth of its tail till it loses it

trust someone as far as one could fling a bull by the tail


instrumentalist

(philosophy) An adherent of instrumentalism.


heart

en-noun

heart (countable and uncountable, plural hearts)

Torres Strait Creole: at

→ Bengali: হার্ট (harṭ)

→ Cantonese: heart

→ Cebuano: Heart

→ Irish: hart

→ Japanese: ハート (hāto); ハツ (hatsu) (from hearts)

→ Korean: 하트 (hateu)

→ Tagalog: Heart

PIE word
 *ḱḗr
From Middle English herte, from Old English heorte (“heart”), from Proto-West Germanic *hertā, from Proto-Germanic *hertô (“heart”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱérd (“heart”). Doublet of cardia; see also core.
Most of the modern figurative senses (such as passion or compassion, spirit, inmost feelings, especially love, affection, and courage) were present in Old English. However, the meaning “center” dates from the early 14th century.
The verb sense “to love” is from the 1977 I ❤ NY advertising campaign.

the way to a man's heart is through his stomach

a good, tender, loving, bad, hard, or selfish heart

Upon his browes was pourtraid vgly death, / And in his eies the furies of his heart, / That ſhine as Comets, menacing reueng, / And caſts a pale complexion on his cheeks.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene ii:

Calm and deep peace in this wide air,
These leaves that redden to the fall;
And in my heart, if calm at all,
If any calm, a calm despair: […]

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XI:

The seat of the affections or sensibilities, collectively or separately, as love, hate, joy, grief, courage, etc.; rarely, the seat of the understanding or will; usually in a good sense; personality.

قَلْب

seat of affections, understanding or will


wire

wire (countable and uncountable, plural wires)

→ Gulf Arabic: واير (wāyir)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: vaier, wire

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: vaier, wire

→ Swedish: vajer, wire

From Middle English wir, wyr, from Old English wīr (“wire, metal thread, wire-ornament”), from Proto-Germanic *wīraz (“wire”), from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁iros (“a twist, thread, cord, wire”), from *weh₁y- (“to turn, twist, weave, plait”).

score string

object used to keep the score in billiards

(slang) A hidden listening device on the person of an undercover operative for the purposes of obtaining incriminating spoken evidence.

Wanze

slang: hidden listening device on the person


mash

en-verb

mash (third-person singular simple present mashes, present participle mashing, simple past and past participle mashed)

mashes (present singular third-person)
mashing (participle present)
mashed (participle past)
mashed (past)

Either by analogy with mash (“to press, to soften”), or more likely from Romani masha (“a fascinator, an enticer”), mashdva (“fascination, enticement”). Originally used in theater, and recorded in US in 1870s. Either originally used as mash, or a backformation from masher, from masha. Leland writes of the etymology:
: It was introduced by the well-known gypsy family of actors, C., among whom Romany was habitually spoken. The word “masher” or “mash” means in that tongue to allure, delude, or entice. It was doubtless much aided in its popularity by its quasi-identity with the English word. But there can be no doubt as to the gypsy origin of “mash” as used on the stage. I am indebted for this information to the late well-known impresario [Albert Marshall] Palmer of New York, and I made a note of it years before the term had become at all popular.

der

To flirt, to make eyes, to make romantic advances.


reason

en-noun

reason (countable and uncountable, plural reasons)

From Middle English resoun, reson, from Anglo-Norman raisun (Old French raison), from Latin ratiō, from ratus, past participle of reor (“reckon”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂reh₁- (“to think”), reanalysed root of *h₂er- (“to put together”). Doublet of ration and ratio.

der

The reason this tree fell is that it had rotted.

There is a reason why so many should be symmetrical: The selective advantage in a symmetrical complex is enjoyed by all the subunits[…]

1996, Daniel Clement Dennett, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life, page 198:

That which causes something: an efficient cause, a proximate cause.

(logic) A premise placed after its conclusion.

A cause:
A premise placed after its conclusion.


evil

en-noun

evil (countable and uncountable, plural evils)

From Middle English yvel, evel, ivel, uvel, from Old English yfel, from Proto-West Germanic *ubil, from Proto-Germanic *ubilaz (compare Saterland Frisian eeuwel, Dutch euvel, Low German övel, German übel, Gothic 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌻𐍃 (ubils, “bad, evil”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂up(h₁)élos, a deverbal derivative of *h₂wep(h₁)-, *h₂wop(h₁)- (“treat badly”). Compare Old Irish fel (“bad, evil”), from Proto-Celtic *uɸelos, and Hittite 𒄷𒉿𒀊𒍣 (huwapp-ⁱ, “to mistreat, harass”), 𒄷𒉿𒀊𒉺𒀸 (huwappa-, “evil, badness”). See -le for the supposed suffix.
Alternatively from *upélos (“evil”, literally “going over or beyond (acceptable limits)”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo, *h₃ewp- (“down, up, over”).

cog

sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof

the love of money is the root of all evil

The evils of society include murder and theft.

Evil lacks spirituality, hence its need for mind control.

The heart of the sons of men is full of evil.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 9:3:

The preposterous altruism too![…]Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVI, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

IS ANYTHING more obvious than the presence of evil in the universe? Its nagging, prehensile tentacles project into every level of human existence. We may debate the origin of evil, but only a victim of superficial optimism would debate its reality. Evil is stark, grim, and colossally real.

1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., “The Death of Evil upon the Seashore”, in Strength to Love, New York: Pocket Books, published 1964, →OCLC, page 71:

Moral badness; wickedness; malevolence; the forces or behaviors that are the opposite or enemy of good.


mark

→ Bengali: মার্কা (marka)

→ Cantonese: 嘜／唛 (mak¹, maak¹)

→ Japanese: マーク (māku)

→ Korean: 마크 (makeu)

From Middle English mark, merk, merke, from Old English mearc (“mark, sign, line of division; standard; boundary, limit, term, border; defined area, district, province”), from Proto-West Germanic *marku, from Proto-Germanic *markō (“boundary; boundary marker”), from Proto-Indo-European *marǵ- (“edge, boundary, border”).
Compare march.
cognates
* Dutch mark, merk (“mark, brand”)
* German Mark (“mark; borderland”), Marke (“brand”)
* Swedish mark (“mark, land, territory”)
* Icelandic mark (“mark, sign”)
* Latin margo (“edge, margin”)
* Persian مرز (marz, “limit, boundary”)
* Sanskrit मर्या (maryā, “limit, mark, boundary”), मार्ग (mārga, “mark, section”).

cog

(heading) Indicator of position, objective etc.

(logic) A characteristic or essential attribute; a differential.


postulate

From Medieval Latin postulāt- (“asked”), from the verb postulāre (“to ask”), from Latin postulō (“request”).


derive

en-verb

derive (third-person singular simple present derives, present participle deriving, simple past and past participle derived)

derives (present singular third-person)
deriving (participle present)
derived (participle past)
derived (past)

From Middle English deriven, from Old French deriver, from Latin dērīvō (“to lead, turn, or draw off (a liquid), draw off, derive”), from dē (“away”) + rīvus (“a stream”); see rival. Unrelated to arrive.

der

(transitive, logic) To deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning.


context

en-noun

context (countable and uncountable, plural contexts)

(logic) For a formula: a finite set of variables, which set contains all the free variables in the given formula.


impassible

en-adj

impassible (comparative more impassible, superlative most impassible)

more impassible (comparative)
most impassible (superlative)

(chiefly theology) Unable to suffer, or feel pain.


queer

queer (comparative queerer, superlative queerest)

queerer (comparative)
queerest (superlative)

→ German: queer, Queer

→ Russian: квир (kvir)

→ Swedish: queer

Attested since about 1510, at first in Scots. Usually taken to be from Middle Low German (Brunswick dialect) queer (“oblique, off-center”) or the related German quer (“diagonal”), from Old Saxon thwerh, from Proto-West Germanic *þwerh, from Proto-Germanic *þwerhaz, from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to turn, twist, wind”); compare Latin torqueō, and see more at thwart. The OED argues against this due to the semantic differences and the date at which the word appears in Scots.
Began to be used to describe gay people in the late 1800s, see usage notes for more.

der

An old long-faced, long-bodied servant, gave a queer look

1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], Tales of a Traveller, (please specify |part=1 to 4), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, […], →OCLC:

“I wish I hadn’t cried so much!” said Alice, as she swam about, trying to find her way out. “I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears! That will be a queer thing, to be sure! However, everything is queer to-day.”

1865 November (indicated as 1866), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “The Pool of Tears”, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, pages 23–24:

One thing has struck me as a bit queer. During my two terms of office the whole Democratic press, and the morbidly honest and 'reformatory' portion of the Republican press, thought it horrible to keep U.S. troops stationed in the Southern States, and when they were called upon to protect the lives of negroes–as much citizens under the Constitution as if their skins were white–the country was scarcely large enough to hold the sound of indignation belched forth by them for some years. Now, however, there is no hesitation about exhausting the whole power of the government to suppress a strike on the slightest intimation that danger threatens.

1877, Ulysses S. Grant, The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: November 1, 1876-September 30, 1878, page 252:

It looked queer to me to see boxes labeled "His Excellency, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America." The packages so labeled contained Bass ale or Cognac brandy, which cost "His Excellency" less than we Yankees had to pay for it. Think of the President drinking imported liquors while his soldiers were living on pop-corn and water!

1885, David Dixon Porter, Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War, page 274:

Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. […] When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter V, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

“’Tis a queer book - here, leave me git on my spectacles - ” The old man fumbled among his rags, producing a pair of dirty and amazingly antique glasses (...)

1920, H. P. Lovecraft, w:The Picture in the House:

1927, J. B. S. Haldane, “Possible Worlds” in Possible Worlds and Other Papers, London: Chatto & Windus,
Now, my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.

A queer look came over John Arable's face. He seemed almost ready to cry himself.

1952, E. B. White, Charlotte's Web, page 3:

Though it may seem very queer,
we've got no jobs to give you here,
so we are sending you to Vietnam.

1965, “Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation”, Tom Paxton (lyrics), Tom Paxton (music):

(dated outside Ireland, Scotland and England) Weird, odd, or different; whimsical.

(colloquial, sometimes derogatory) Non-heterosexual or non-cisgender: homosexual, bisexual, asexual, transgender, etc.


queer

(colloquial, sometimes derogatory) A person of any non-heterosexual sexuality or sexual identity.

janet

slang: person of atypical sexuality or sexual identity


queer

en-verb

queer (third-person singular simple present queers, present participle queering, simple past and past participle queered)

queers (present singular third-person)
queering (participle present)
queered (participle past)
queered (past)

If I go, for instance, to the history of the church in Latin America, and decide to queer the history of the Jesuitic Missions, I may find that, in many ways, the missions were more sexual than Christian.

2003, Marcella Althaus-Reid, The Queer God, page 9:

Jonathan Goldberg further explores the implications of queering history in his essay in the same volume.

2006, Carla Freccero, Queer/Early/Modern, page 80:

We might say that there has been a ‘queering’ of urban studies insofar as the metropolitan lives, subcultures and social movements of gays and lesbians are now seen as valid objects of study.

2013, Mark Davidson, Deborah Martin, chapter 8, in Urban Politics: Critical Approaches, SAGE, →ISBN:

(social sciences) To reevaluate or reinterpret (a work) with an eye to sexual orientation and/or to gender, as by applying queer theory.

(slang, LGBT, neologism) To make a work more appealing or attractive to LGBT people, such as by not having strict genders for playable characters.


Platonic

en-adj

Platonic (comparative more Platonic, superlative most Platonic)

more Platonic (comparative)
most Platonic (superlative)

From Latin Platōnicus. By surface analysis, Plato + -n- (intervocalic) + -ic (“relating to”).

surf

Of or relating to the ancient Greek philosopher Plato or his philosophies.

The homosexual dismisses heterosexual love as a distasteful bondage to normalcy and bourgeois domestication, but the Platonic lover of the soul is dismissing all sexuality as bondage to the physical world.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 193:

Alternative letter-case form of platonic (non-sexual).


Platonic

A Platonist; a follower of Plato's ideas.


NSA

National Security Agency
w:en:National Security Agency

National Surveillance Agency
w:en:National Security Agency

(government, US) Initialism of National Security Agency.

(government, US, humorous) Initialism of National Surveillance Agency.

(government, US, humorous, nickname) Initialism of No Such Agency.

Initialism of National Security Agency.
Initialism of No Such Agency.

Alternative forms: N.S.A., N. S. A.


philia

en-noun

philia (countable and uncountable, plural philias)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek φιλία (philía).


arity

arity (countable and uncountable, plural arities)

From -ary (taken from unary/binary/ternary [function/operator]) + -ity. Compare adicity and adinity.

(logic, mathematics, computer science) The number of arguments or operands a function or operation takes. For a relation, the number of domains in the corresponding Cartesian product.


polygyny

polygyny (countable and uncountable, plural polygynies)

From Ancient Greek πολύ (polú, “many”) + γυνή (gunḗ, “woman, wife”). By surface analysis, poly- + -gyny.

We may infer that in most cases where polygyny exists, monogamy co-exists to a greater extent, and in all other cases to a considerable extent.

1883, Herbert Spencer, The Principles of Sociology, page 685:

The state or practice of having several wives at the same time; plurality of wives; marriage to several wives.


burden of proof

burden of proof (plural burdens of proof)

(epistemology) The obligation of the person making a claim in a dispute to provide sufficient evidence for their position.

التزام بتقديم الدليل

obligation of the person making a claim to provide evidence for their position

証拠を提示する義務

しょうこをていじするぎむ


sphere

From Middle English spere, from Old French sphere, from Late Latin sphēra, earlier Latin sphaera (“ball, globe, celestial sphere”), from Ancient Greek σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “ball, globe”), of unknown origin. Not related to superficially similar Persian سپهر (sepehr, “sky”) .

uder

In point of fact, so often as we think a subject as partially included within the sphere of a predicate, eo ipso we think it as partially, that is, particularly, excluded therefrom.

a. 1856, William Hamilton, “Appendix III: Quantification of Predicate,—Immediate Inference,—Conversion,—Opposition”, in Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic, volume 2, published 1860, page 526:

All categorical propositions necessarily imply the existence of their subjects in the appropriate sphere; in affirmative propositions this involves the existence of the predicate in the same sphere; but in negative propositions the predicate does not necessarily exist in that particular sphere, though it does in some sphere.

1896, James Welton, A Manual of Logic, 2nd edition, volume 1, page 213:

Finally, the disjunctive judgment contains a relation of two or more propositions to each other—a relation not of consequence, but of logical opposition, in so far as the sphere of the one proposition excludes that of the other.

1900 [1781], Immanuel Kant, translated by J. M. D. Meiklejohn, Critique of Pure Reason, page 58:

(logic, dated) The domain of reference of a proposition, subject, or predicate, or the totality of the particular subjects to which it applies.


grue

Blend of green + blue. The philosophy sense was coined by American philosopher Nelson Goodman in 1955 to illustrate concepts in the philosophy of science. The linguistic sense was coined by American linguist Paul Kay in 1975 as a translation from languages such as Welsh that have a basic cover term that covers both the hues called "green" and "blue" in English.

coinage

The grue property is defined as: x is grue if and only if x is green and is observed before the year 2000, or x is blue and is not observed before the year 2000.

1965, Nelson Goodman, Fact, Fiction and Forecast:

The unexamined emeralds cannot be both green and grue, since if they are grue and unexamined they are blue.

2007, Michael Clark, Paradoxes from A to Z:

(philosophy) Of an object, green when first observed before a specified time or blue when first observed after that time.

bloen

philosophy: of an object that is first green, then blue


idea

en-noun

idea (plural ideas or (philosophy, rare) ideæ)

→ Japanese: アイディア (aidia), アイデア (aidea)

Borrowed from Latin idea (“a (Platonic) idea; archetype”), from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “notion, pattern”), from εἴδω (eídō, “I see”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to know; see”). Cognate with French idée. Doublet of idée. Related to idol, idolum, and eidolon.

der

The idea that the same experiments always get the same results, no matter who performs them, is one of the cornerstones of science’s claim to objective truth. If a systematic campaign of replication does not lead to the same results, then either the original research is flawed (as the replicators claim) or the replications are (as many of the original researchers on priming contend). Either way, something is awry.

2013 October 19, “Trouble at the lab”, in The Economist, volume 409, number 8858:

(philosophy) An abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect approximations; pure essence, as opposed to actual examples.

иде́я

philosophy: abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect


atom

→ Swahili: atomi

From Middle English attome, from Middle French athome, from Latin atomus (“smallest particle”), from Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos, “indivisible”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + τέμνω (témnō, “I cut”). Atoms are so named because historically the notion was that they were indivisible, given that chemically they are indeed so; the splitting of atoms awaited a later era of science and technology, and nonchemical means.

atoom

historical: theoretical particle of matter

atom

mathematics: member of a Boolean algebra

बूलियन बिजगणितीय प्रणालीतील एक घटक

(philosophy) In logical atomism, a fundamental fact that cannot be further broken down.


macrocosm

From Middle French macrocosme (from Old French macrocosme) and Medieval Latin macrocosmus, formed from Ancient Greek μακρός (makrós, “great, long”) + κόσμος (kósmos, “universe, order”).

(philosophy) A complex structure, such as a society, considered as a single entity that contains numerous similar, smaller-scale structures.

大宇宙

a complex structure containing numerous smaller-scale structures


SO

second-order logic
second-order logic#English

(logic, computer science) Initialism of second-order logic.


verifiable

(logic) A statement or observation that can be verified.


universal

From Middle English universal, from Old French universal (modern French universel), from Latin ūniversālis.

When we examine common words, we find that, broadly speaking, proper names stand for particulars, while other substantives, adjectives, prepositions, and verbs stand for universals.

1912, Bertrand Russel, The Problems of Philosophy, Chapter 9:

We might also distinguish those expressions which are used to refer to individuals or particulars from those which are used to refer to what philosophers have called universals: e.g., to distinguish such expressions as "Everest" and "this chair" from "the number three", "the color red" and "drunkenness".

Empiricism was similarly a response to this loss of universals—a radically contingent world with no underlying order must constantly be studied and tested—and made God himself unnecessary: divine spirit and human spirit were alien enough to each other that they could function without taking each other into account.

2021, Meghan O'Gieblyn, chapter 11, in God, Human, Animal, Machine […] , →ISBN:

(philosophy) A characteristic or property that particular things have in common.


crazy

en-adj

crazy (comparative crazier, superlative craziest)

crazier (comparative)
craziest (superlative)

Why is she so crazy about him?

In love; experiencing romantic feelings.


Boolean

From Boole + -ean, named after English mathematician, philosopher and logician George Boole (1815–1864).

named-after

Oh, Boolean operators! "Blue and ones"! Good idea!

2005 May 9, Michael Chapman; Matthew Chapman, “Bug In Mouth Disease”, in Homestar Runner, spoken by Strong Sad (Matthew Chapman):

(logic, computing) Pertaining to data items that can have “true” and “false” (or, equivalently, 1 and 0 respectively) as their only possible values and to operations on such values.

booleà

logic: pertaining to data items that have values “true” and “false”


Boolean

(logic, computing) A variable that can hold a single true/false (1/0) value.


li

(Chinese philosophy) A meaningful ceremony or ritual; etiquette, behaviour.


accursed

en-adj

accursed (comparative more accursed, superlative most accursed)

more accursed (comparative)
most accursed (superlative)

* First attested in the early 13th century.
* From Middle English acursed, from acursen (“to curse”), from Old English ācursian, from ā + cursen, from curs (“curse”).

Accurſt be he that firſt inuented war

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iv:

[…]—if any one, be he who he may, attempt to alter the faith once for all delivered, let him be accursed.

1885, Charles Abel Heurtley, transl., The Commonitory of Vincent of Lérins, Chapter 8:

1912, Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by Constance Garnett, The Brothers Karamazov, Book III, Chapter 7,
For at the very moment I become accursed, at that same highest moment, I become exactly like a heathen […]

We did not come here to waste words in treating with Sauron, faithless and accursed; still less with one of his slaves. Begone!

1955, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King, The Return of the King/Book V, Chapter 10

(theology) Doomed to destruction or misery; cursed; anathematized.


sacrament

From Middle English sacrament, from Old French sacrement, from Ecclesiastical Latin sacrāmentum (“sacrament”), from Latin sacrō (“hallow, consecrate”), from sacer (“sacred, holy”), originally sum deposited by parties to a suit.

der

Coordinate term: ordinance

Priest: I'm sorry, it's Duncan Dirk Dick. I've just done it. / Father: Well, undo it. / Priest: Undo it? / Father: Yes. / Priest: This is a holy sacrament of the Church, not a bleeding hotel reservation. You can't just undo it.

1989 February 10, Stephen Fry et al., “Christening”, in A Bit of Fry and Laurie, season 1, episode 5:

(Christianity) A sacred act and the attendant ceremony, considered (theology) an outward sign of divine grace.


eternal

en-adj

eternal (comparative more eternal, superlative most eternal)

more eternal (comparative)
most eternal (superlative)

From Middle English eternal, from Old French eternal, from Late Latin aeternālis, from Latin aeternus (“eternal”), from aevum (“age”). Displaced native Old English ēċe.

hope springs eternal in the human breast

(philosophy) Existing outside time; as opposed to sempiternal, existing within time but everlastingly.


libertarian

/ˌlɪb.əˈtɛə.ɹɪ.ən/

Foundation for Economic Education
Joseph Déjacque
Leonard Read
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
William Belsham
lois scélérates

The noun is derived from liber(ty) + -arian (suffix denoting an advocate of or believer in something). The adjective is derived from the noun.
sense development
The word was first attested in English in 1789 in William Belsham’s Essays: see the quotation. This was contrasted with necessitarian, in the context of free will, and was not used in the more frequently encountered modern sense.
Compare French libertaire (“person with extreme left-wing beliefs, anarchist”), from liberté (“freedom”) + -aire (suffix forming nouns). Libertaire is derived from Latin libertas. The French word was first attested in a May 1857 letter by the French anarcho-communist Joseph Déjacque (1821–1865) to the anarchist philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–1865), reading: “Anarchiste juste-milieu, libéral et non LIBERTAIRE [A centrist anarchist, liberal and not LIBERTARIAN] […]”. It was popularized as a euphemism for anarchiste in the 1890s, following the French lois scélérates (literally “villainous laws”) under which anarchist publications were banned.
Sense 3.2 (“believer in right-libertarianism”) developed in the United States in the 1940s and was popularized in the 1950s. In the 1940s, Leonard Read (1898–1983), the founder of the Foundation for Economic Education, a free-market think tank, began calling himself “libertarian” in contrast with a “classical liberal”. In 1955, Dean Russell also promoted the use of the word, writing: “Let those of us who love liberty trade-mark and reserve for our own use the good and honorable word ‘libertarian’.”

cog

[W]here is the difference betvveen the Libertarian, vvho ſays that the mind chuſes the motive; and the Neceſſarian, vvho aſſerts that the motive determines the mind; if the volition be the neceſſary reſult of all the previous circumſtances?

1789, [William Belsham], “Essay I. On Liberty and Necessity.”, in Essays, Philosophical, Historical, and Literary, London: […] C[harles] Dilly, […], →OCLC, page 11:

(philosophy) A believer in the freedom of thinking beings to choose their own destiny (the doctrine of free will) as opposed to those who believe the future is predetermined (the doctrine of necessity).


libertarian

en-adj

libertarian (comparative more libertarian, superlative most libertarian)

more libertarian (comparative)
most libertarian (superlative)

/ˌlɪb.əˈtɛə.ɹɪ.ən/

(philosophy) Relating to the doctrine of free will as opposed to the doctrine of necessity.

libertarianistinen

relating to the doctrine of free will as opposed to the doctrine of necessity


function

From Middle French function, from Old French fonction, from Latin functiō (“performance, execution”), from functus, perfect participle of fungor (“to perform, execute, discharge”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewg- (“to enjoy”).

دَالَّة

mathematics: a relation between a set of inputs and a set of permissible outputs

A relation where one thing is dependent on another for its existence, value, or significance.

фу́нкция

(mathematics) A relation in which each element of the domain is associated with exactly one element of the codomain.

(computing) A routine that receives zero or more arguments and may return a result.

وَظِيفَة

computing: routine that returns a result

(biology) The physiological activity of an organ or body part.

фу́нкцыя

biology: physiological activity of an organ or body part

(chemistry) The characteristic behavior of a chemical compound.

фу́нкцыя

chemistry: characteristic behavior of a chemical compound


teleology

en-noun

teleology (countable and uncountable, plural teleologies)

From Ancient Greek τέλος (télos, “purpose”), genitive τέλεος (téleos), and λόγος (lógos, “word, speech, discourse”).

The received intellectual tradition has it that, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, revolutionary philosophers began to curtail and reject the teleology of the medieval and scholastic Aristotelians, abandoning final causes in favor of a purely mechanistic model of the Universe.

2008, Monte Ransom Johnson, Aristotle on Teleology:

(philosophy) The study of the purpose or design of natural occurrences.


epistemology

epistemology (countable and uncountable, plural epistemologies)

/ɪˌpɪstəˈmɒləd͡ʒi/

/əˌpɪstəˈmɒləd͡ʒi/

/ɪˌpɪstəˈmɑləd͡ʒi/

/əˌpɪstəˈmɑləd͡ʒi/

/ɛˌpɪstəˈmɑləd͡ʒi/

From Ancient Greek ἐπιστήμη (epistḗmē, “science, knowledge”), from ἐπίσταμαι (epístamai, “I know”) + -λογία (-logía, “discourse”), from λόγος (lógos, “Study, explanation”). The term was introduced into English by the Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier (1808-1864).

uder

Some thinkers take the view that, beginning with the work of Descartes, epistemology began to replace metaphysics as the most important area of philosophy.

[P]hilosophers of the time [early 20th century] were primarily concerned with epistemology and the foundations of the sciences; they often spoke as if we were separated from the real world by a screen of "representations" or "sense-data"; they tended to regard our approach to the world as one of disinterested observation.

2014 April 12, Michael Inwood, “Martin Heidegger: The philosopher who fell for Hitler [print version: Hitler’s philosopher]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review section), London, page R10:

(uncountable) The branch of philosophy dealing with the study of knowledge; the theory of knowledge, asking such questions as "What is knowledge?", "How is knowledge acquired?", "What do people know?", "How do we know what we know?", "How do we know it is true?", and so on.


degree

From Middle English degre, borrowed from Old French degré (French: degré), itself from Latin gradus, with the prefix de-.

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 26. Degree

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 31. Greatness

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 32. Smallness

(logic) The number of logical connectives in a formula.


slash

Originally a verb of uncertain etymology. Possibly from French esclachier (“to break”). Used in the Wycliffe Bible as slascht (see 1 Kings 5:18) but otherwise unattested until 16th century. Conjunctive use from various applications of the punctuation mark ⟨/⟩. See also slash fiction.

Comments merely allow readers to proclaim themselves mortally offended by the content of a story, despite having been warned in large block letters of INCEST or SLASH (any kind of sex between two men or two women: the term originated with the Kirk/Spock pairing – it described the literal slash between their names).

2013, Katherine Arcement, “Diary”, in London Review of Books, volume 35, number 5:

(fandom slang) Slash fiction; fan fiction focused on homoerotic pairing of fictional characters.


slash

en-verb

slash (third-person singular simple present slashes, present participle slashing, simple past and past participle slashed)

slashes (present singular third-person)
slashing (participle present)
slashed (participle past)
slashed (past)

Having read slash for other fandoms (mainly X-Files and Sentinel), I can say the whole gay issue gets dealt with more often in that slash than it does in Trek slash. That's not to say that all the slashers who slash in a "modern-era" show deal with AIDS, homophobia and other gay issues, but some of them do.

1997 December 17, ASCEM, quoting Ruth Gifford, “Re: An Interesting Question, re Slash vs. Gay Fiction”, in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated (Usenet):

(intransitive, fandom slang) To write slash fiction.


friendly

From Middle English frendly, freendly, frendely, frendlich, from Old English frēondlīċ, from Proto-Germanic *frijōndlīkaz, equivalent to friend + -ly. Cognate with Saterland Frisian früntelk, fjuntelk (“friendly”), West Frisian freonlik (“friendly”), Dutch vriendelijk (“friendly”), German Low German fründelk, frünnelk (“friendly”), German freundlich (“friendly”).

This match is merely a friendly, so don't worry too much about it.

Brazil provided a different test from Germany and gave England lessons Southgate will store before he gets his squad together again for friendlies against the Netherlands in Amsterdam and at home to Italy in March.

2017 November 14, Phil McNulty, “England 0-0 Brazil”, in BBC News:

(sports) A game which is of no consequence in terms of ranking, betting, etc.


universalism

en-noun

universalism (countable and uncountable, plural universalisms)

/ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːsəlˌɪzəm/

(theology) The belief that all souls can attain salvation.

ουνιβερσαλισμός

the belief that all souls can attain salvation


regret

regret (countable and uncountable, plural regrets)

From Middle English regretten, regreten, from Old French regreter, regrater (“to lament”), from re- (intensive prefix) + *greter, *grater (“to weep”), from Frankish *grātan (“to weep, mourn, lament”), from Proto-Germanic *grētaną (“to weep”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁d- (“to sound”); and Frankish *greutan (“to cry, weep”), from Proto-Germanic *greutaną (“to weep, cry”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd- (“to weep, be sad”), equivalent to re- + greet. Cognate with Old High German grāzan (“to cry”), Old English grǣtan (“to weep, greet”), Old English grēotan (“to weep, lament”), Old Norse gráta (“to weep, groan”), Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (grētan, “to weep”). More at greet.

der

Under squared errorloss we show that there exists unique minimax regret solution for the problem of selecting the threshold.

2002, Bernd Droge, On the Minimax Regret Estimation of a Restricted Normal Mean, and Implications:

Each loss then represents this unavoidable loss plus a regret (loss due to ignorance of Ө). Subtracting these unavoidable losses, we obtain the regret table, Table 1.7, and the average regret table, Table 1.8.

2012, Herman Chernoff, Lincoln E. Moses, Elementary Decision Theory, page 12:

(decision theory) The amount of avoidable loss that results from choosing the wrong action.


genetic

/d͡ʒəˈnɛtɪk/

/d͡ʒɪˈnɛtɪk/

Coined from genesis, similarly to antithesis, antithetic. Ultimately from Ancient Greek γίγνομαι (gígnomai, “I come into being”). By surface analysis, gene + -tic or genesis + -etic.

Guy Stroumsa (2011) proposes the use of the alternative term Abrahamic religions, emphasizing the genetic relationship between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and their branches, for which the idea of monotheism is not always central.

2016 September 15, Koji Yamashiro, edited by Yochai Ataria, David Gurevitz, Haviva Pedaya, and Yuval Neria, Trauma and Monotheism: Sugmund Freud’s Moses and Monotheism and the Possibility of Writing a Traumatic History of Religion, Springer International Publishing Switzerland, →DOI, →ISBN, page 251:

(theology) Based on a shared membership in a religious family.


closed

open

antonym(s) of “also phonetics (of vowels, syllables)”

(mathematics, logic, of a formula) Lacking a free variable.


operation

en-noun

operation (countable and uncountable, plural operations)

→ Japanese: オペレーション (operēshon)

→ Scottish Gaelic: opairèisean

/ˌɒp.əˈɹeɪ.ʃən/

/ˌɑ.pəˈɹeɪ.ʃən/

From Middle French operation, from Old French operacion, from Latin operātiō, from the verb operor (“I work”), from opus, operis (“work”). Equivalent to operate + -ion.

عَمَلِيَّة

The number of operands associated with an operation is called its arity; an operation of arity 2 is called a binary operation.

Operation (mathematics)
w:Operation (mathematics)

(computing, logic, mathematics) A procedure for generating a value from one or more other values (the operands)

(mathematics, more formally) a function which maps zero or more (but typically two) operands to a single output value.


attribute

From Latin attributus past participle of attribuere.

(logic) That which is predicated or affirmed of a subject; a predicate; an accident.

attribuutti

logic: that which is predicated or affirmed of a subject


discharge

en-verb

discharge (third-person singular simple present discharges, present participle discharging, simple past and past participle discharged)

discharges (present singular third-person)
discharging (participle present)
discharged (participle past)
discharged (past)

/dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ/

/ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ/

/dɪsˈtʃɑɹdʒ/

/ˈdɪstʃɑɹdʒ/

-ɪstʃɑː(ɹ)dʒ

From Middle English dischargen, from Old French deschargier (“to unload”), from Late Latin discarricāre (“unload”). By surface analysis, dis- + charge.

(logic) To release (an auxiliary assumption) from the list of assumptions used in arguments, and return to the main argument.


nihil

en-noun

nihil (countable and uncountable, plural nihils)

I shall no longer believe all the visions of my youth:
They have dissolved into nihil.

1996, David Tibet, “The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home (Theinmostlightthirdandfinal)” (lyrics)

All tales about the beginning are apt to eliminate the nothing and make being overall. […] Without Nihil the whirlpool of the beginning settles down and becomes a stagnant puddle of pure being. Nihil disappears.

2008, Arvydas Šliogeris, Names of Nihil, page 13:

That is, in the sovereign act of creation, whereby YHWH orders chaos, YHWH provisionally defeated the power of the Nihil but did not destroy or eliminate the threat of chaos.

2009, Walter Brueggemann, An Unsettling God: The Heart of the Hebrew Bible, page 143:

(uncountable, chiefly philosophy) nothingness, nonbeing


probity

probity (countable and uncountable, plural probities)

From Middle French probité, from Latin probitās (“uprightness, honesty”), from probus (“good, excellent, honest”); see probe, prove.

[…] they can but bend our hearts to the love of probity and true honour […]

1748, [David Hume], Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:

[W]hen the interests or reputation of their own nation come into collision with those of another, they go to the opposite extreme, and forget their usual probity and candour, in the indulgence of spleen, and an illiberal spirit of ridicule.

1819 July 31, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “English Writers on America”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number II, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, page 102:

Distilled to its essence, it is by no means clear that the ‘Cablegate’ disclosures were intended to support freedom of information, transparency, probity in government, or defence of the public interest.

2013, Andrew F. Cooper, Jorge Heine, Ramesh Thakur, editors, The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy, OUP Oxford, →ISBN, page 464:

The veterans add in their letter, which was partly coordinated by the campaign group Republic: “Officers of the British armed forces must adhere to the very highest standards of probity, honesty and honourable conduct. […]

2022 January 13, Ben Quinn, “Queen strips Prince Andrew of military roles and royal patronages”, in The Guardian:

Integrity, especially of the quality of having strong moral principles; decency and honesty.


ship

(fandom slang) A fictional romantic relationship between two characters, either real or themselves fictional, especially one explored in fan fiction.


ship

en-verb

ship (third-person singular simple present ships, present participle shipping, simple past and past participle shipped)

ships (present singular third-person)
shipping (participle present)
shipped (participle past)
shipped (past)

→ Spanish: shippear, shipear

I ship Kirk and Spock in “Star Trek”.

I ship Peggy and Angie in “Marvel's Agent Carter”.

I should warn you that I could not identify a ‘dank meme’ if the fate of the working class depended on it and that I shall not be ‘shipping’ Lenin and Trotsky.

2017, Helen Razer, Total Propaganda: Basic Marxist Brainwashing for the Angry and the Young, Allen & Unwin, →ISBN:

(fandom slang) To support or approve of a fictional romantic relationship between two characters, typically in fan fiction or other fandom contexts.


unknown

en-adj

unknown (comparative more unknown, superlative most unknown)

more unknown (comparative)
most unknown (superlative)

From Middle English *unknowen, *uniknowen, uniknowe, from Old English unġecnāwen (“unknown”), equivalent to un- + known.

The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 58:

I suspect that this large and complex military railway system, shrouded in official secrecy for most of its operational life, remains unknown to many people.

2022 January 12, Chris Hegg, “The secret railway in the woods”, in RAIL, number 948, page 34:

(sometimes postpositive) Not known; unidentified; not well known.


en-verb

♥ (third-person singular simple present ♥s or ♥'s, present participle ♥ing or ♥'ing, simple past and past participle ♥ed or ♥'ed or ♥'d)

♥s (present singular third-person)
♥'s (present singular third-person)
♥ing (participle present)
♥'ing (participle present)
♥ed (participle past)
♥ed (past)
♥'ed (participle past)
♥'ed (past)
♥'d (participle past)
♥'d (past)

I♥NY [I love New York.]

I ♥ U.

Stylistic substitution for the word love.


paradise

en-noun

paradise (countable and uncountable, plural paradises)

→ Fijian: parataisi

→ Maori: pararaiia

→ Niuean: parataiso

→ Tokelauan: palataiho

From Middle English paradis, paradise, paradys, from Late Old English paradīs, borrowed from Old French paradis, from Latin paradīsus, from Ancient Greek παράδεισος (parádeisos), ultimately from Proto-Iranian *paridayjah. Doublet of parvis. Displaced Old English neorxnawang.

Not that Adam that kept the Paradise but that Adam that keeps the prison:

c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

Up into Heav’n from Paradise in hast
Th’ Angelic Guards ascended,

1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 17-18:

Government like dress is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradise.

1776, Thomas Paine, Common Sense, Philadelphia, page 1:

If all was good and fair we met,
This earth had been the Paradise
It never look’d to human eyes
Since Adam left his garden yet.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXIV, page 41:

I feel deadly faint, bowed, and humped, as though I were Adam, staggering beneath the piled centuries since Paradise.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 132, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

(Abrahamic religions) A garden where Adam and Eve first lived after being created.


treff

The Moscow experts on treffs perform their duty with ponderous, often ridiculous, awkwardness. Before the atomic spy Allan Nunn May left Canada to go to London, a treff in London had to be arranged for him and another agent.

1955, David J. Dallin, Soviet Espionage, page 495:


economy

economy (countable and uncountable, plural economies)

From Middle English yconomye, yconomy, borrowed via Old French [Term?] or Medieval Latin from Latin oeconomia, from Ancient Greek οἰκονομία (oikonomía, “management of a household, administration”), from οἶκος (oîkos, “house”) + νέμω (némō, “distribute, allocate”). By surface analysis, eco- + -nomy. The first recorded sense of the word economy, found in a work possibly composed in 1440, is “the management of economic affairs”, in this case, of a monastery.

اِقْتِصاد

effective management of the resources of a community or system

(theology) The method of divine government of the world. (See Economy (religion).)


ambisexual

en-adj

ambisexual (comparative more ambisexual, superlative most ambisexual)

more ambisexual (comparative)
most ambisexual (superlative)

From ambi- + -sexual; in modern senses relating to human sexuality, influenced by bisexual.

(slang) Of ambiguous sexual orientation.


innuendo

en-noun

innuendo (plural innuendoes or innuendos or innuendis)

innuendoes (plural)
innuendos (plural)
innuendis (plural)

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

From the Latin innuendō (“by nodding”), ablative singular form of innuendum (“a nodding”), gerund of innuō (“I give a nod”).

(logic) A rhetorical device with an omitted, but obvious conclusion, made to increase the force of an argument.


kiss

en-verb

kiss (third-person singular simple present kisses, present participle kissing, simple past and past participle kissed)

kisses (present singular third-person)
kissing (participle present)
kissed (participle past)
kissed (past)

From Middle English kissen, kussen, from Old English cyssan (“to kiss”), from Proto-West Germanic *kussijan, from Proto-Germanic *kussijaną (“to kiss”).
Cognates include Saterland Frisian küsje, Dutch kussen, German Low German küssen, German küssen, Danish kysse, Swedish kyssa, Norwegian kysse, Icelandic kyssa. Compare Proto-Indo-European *ku-, *kus- (probably imitative), with byspels including Ancient Greek κύσσω (kússō), poetic form of κύσω (kúsō, “to kiss”), and Hittite [script needed] (kuwassanzi, “they kiss”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

ncog

you kiss your girlfriend with that mouth

you kiss your grandfather with that mouth

you kiss your grandmother with that mouth

He […] kissed her lips with such a clamorous smack, / That at the parting all the church echoed.

c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

I'll kiss thy foot. I'll swear myself thy subject.

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. […] The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window[…], and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.

1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:

I kissed a girl and I liked it / The taste of her cherry chapstick / I kissed a girl just to try it / I hope my boyfriend don't mind it

2008 April 28, Katy Perry, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Cathy Dennis, “I Kissed a Girl”, in One of the Boys, performed by Katy Perry:

(transitive) To touch with the lips or press the lips against, usually to show love or affection or passion, or as part of a greeting.

The nearside of the car just kissed a parked truck as he took the corner at high speed.

His ball kissed the black into the corner pocket.

Like fire and powder, / Which as they kiss consume.

c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vi]:

Rose, rose and clematis, / Trail and twine and clasp and kiss, / Kiss, kiss; and make her a bower / All of flowers, and drop me a flower, / Drop me a flower.

1867–1870 (date written), Alfred Tennyson, Arthur Sullivan, composer, “No. II. At the Window.”, in The Window: Or, The Songs of the Wrens […], London: Strahan & Co., […], published 1871, →OCLC:

Night hath fled away into the valleys. The dawn kisseth the mountain tops.

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

(transitive, intransitive) To (cause to) touch lightly or slightly; to come into contact.

We're kissing in the moonlight / Love was shining so bright and true

1990, Norell Oson Bard (lyrics and music), “Kissing in the Moonlight”performed by The Boppers:

(reciprocal) Of two or more people, to touch each other's lips together, usually to express love or affection or passion.


kiss

From Middle English kis, kys, kus, forms of cos influenced by kissen, from Old English coss, from Proto-West Germanic *koss, from Proto-Germanic *kussaz.

A touch with the lips, usually to express love or affection, or as a greeting.

With some satisfaction, Gergory read this through twice, signed it and added kisses[.]

1966, Brian W. Aldiss, The Saliva Tree, published 1968, page 67:

An 'X' mark placed at the end of a letter or other type of message, signifying the bestowal of a kiss from the sender to the receiver.

(astronomy) The alignment of two bodies in the solar system such that they have the same longitude when seen from Earth; conjunction.

(aviation) A low-speed mid-air collision between the envelopes of two hot air balloons, generally causing no damage or injury.


Achillean

en-adj

Achillean (comparative more Achillean, superlative most Achillean)

more Achillean (comparative)
most Achillean (superlative)

/ˌækɪˈliːən/

Historically, there was indeed an Achillean, homosexual flavor of the declassé bachelorhood out of which Hitler and others formed the advance guard of National Socialism.

1980, Douglas Fowler, A Reader's Guide to Gravity's Rainbow, page 169:

Thus, he exalts as a means of republican cohesion, as the unshakeable basis of the modern nation what he calls "manly love," a sort of Achillean friendship, but at the same time it is this love, this passionate friendship that he sings.

1995, Gay Wilson Allen, Ed Folsom, Walt Whitman & the World, →ISBN, page 254:

For Theocritus Idyll 29.34 the sexual love between Achilles and Patroclus was so uncontroversial that it could be referred to in a pederastic poem by means of the shorthand "Achillean friends".

2007, Waldemar Heckel, Lawrence A. Tritle, Pat Wheatley, Alexander's Empire: Formulation to Decay, page 87:

Of or relating to sexual or romantic intimacy between men, supposedly in the style of Achilles' relationship with Patroclus.


mate

From Middle English mate, a borrowing from Middle Low German mate (“messmate”) (replacing Middle English mette (“table companion, mate, partner”), from Old English ġemetta (“sharer of food, table-guest”)), derived from Proto-Germanic *gamatjô, itself from *ga- (“together”) (related to German and Dutch ge-) + *matjô (from *matiz (“food”)), related to Old English mete (“food”)). From the same Middle Low German source stems German Low German Maat (“journeyman, companion”), German Maat (“naval non-commissioned officer”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian Moat (“friend, buddy, comrade, mate”), Dutch maat (“mate, partner, colleague, friend”). More at Old English ġe-, English co-, English meat. Doublet of maat.

cog

I'm going to the pub with a few mates.

He's my best mate.

(colloquial, British, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, sometimes elsewhere in the Commonwealth) A friend, usually of the same sex.

Excuse me, mate, have you got the time?

(colloquial, British, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, sometimes elsewhere in the Commonwealth) Friendly term of address to a stranger, usually male, of similar age.


atheism

en-noun

atheism (usually uncountable, plural atheisms)

16th century Middle French athéisme, from athée (“atheist”), a loan from Ancient Greek ἄθεος (átheos, “godless”, from ἀ- (a-, “without”) + θεός (theós, “deity, god”)).
First English attestation dates to 1587 (OED).

ateïsme

lack of belief that any deities exist (with or without a belief that no deities exist)

(obsolete) Absence of belief in the One True God, defined by Moore as personal, immaterial and trinitarian (thus Islam, Judaism and unitarian Christianity), as opposed to monotheism.


strong

en-adj

strong (comparative stronger, superlative strongest)

stronger (comparative)
strongest (superlative)

forceless

antonym(s) of “capable of producing great physical force”

fragile

antonym(s) of “capable of withstanding great physical force”

diluted

antonym(s) of “having a high concentration of an essential or active ingredient”

Sranan Tongo: tranga

Aukan: taanga

Saramaccan: taánga

From Middle English strong, strang, from Old English strang, from Proto-West Germanic *strang, from Proto-Germanic *strangaz (“tight, strict, straight, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ- (“taut, stiff, tight”). Cognate with Scots strang (“strong”), Saterland Frisian strang, West Frisian string (“austere, strict, harsh, severe, stern, stark, tough”), Dutch streng (“strict, severe, tight”), German streng (“strict, severe, austere”), Swedish sträng, strang (“severe, strict, harsh”), Norwegian strang (“strong, harsh, bitter”), Norwegian streng (“strong, hard”), Icelandic strangur (“strict”), Latin stringō (“tighten”).

cog

a chain is only as strong as its weakest link

the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must

(mathematics, logic) Having a wide range of logical consequences; widely applicable. (Often contrasted with a weak statement which it implies.)


chi

From the Mandarin 氣／气 (qì) from the Wade–Giles romanization: chʻi⁴, from Middle Chinese 氣 (MC khj+jH), from Old Chinese 氣 (OC *kʰɯds, “breath, vapor”). Compare modern Japanese 気(き) (ki), Korean 기(氣) (gi) and Vietnamese khí (氣).

Early Taoist philosophers and alchemists regarded ch'i as a vital force inhering in the breath and bodily fluids and developed techniques to alter and control the movement of ch'i within the body; their aim was to achieve physical longevity and spiritual power.

[1987, “ch'i”, in Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition, volume 3, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 186, column 3:

He took several deep breaths, finding his chi as Butler had taught him.

2001, Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl, Viking Press, page 196:

At the greenmarket, it’s still mostly potatoes and apples. There are no tender greens, fava beans, peas, asparagus, artichokes, sorrel, rhubarb or early strawberries.
Those harbingers of the season are said to be full of chi, or qi, the Chinese word for life force. We’re craving them as we’re craving lighter, brighter-tasting meals, food that is greener and fresher.

2013 April 2, David Tanis, “Hurry Up, Spring”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2013-04-02, Dining & Wine:

According to traditional Chinese medicine, blood carries chi, your “life force,” which fuels all the functions of the body. When you lose blood, you lose chi, and this causes your body to go into a state of yin (cold). When yin (cold) and yang (hot) are out of balance, your body will suffer physical disorders.

2017 January 8, Leslie Hsu Oh, “I tried the Chinese practice of ‘sitting the month’ after childbirth”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-01-08, Health & Science:

(philosophy) A life force in traditional Chinese philosophy, culture, medicine, etc, related (but not limited) to breath and circulation.


double agent

Coordinate term: triple agent

(espionage) A spy who pretends to work for one side, when they are actually working for or passing information to the other.


weak

en-adj

weak (comparative weaker, superlative weakest)

weaker (comparative)
weakest (superlative)

healthy

antonym(s) of “lacking in force or ability”

potent

antonym(s) of “lacking in taste or potency”

From Middle English weyk, wayk, weik, waik, from Old Norse veikr (“weak”), from Proto-Germanic *waikwaz (“weak, yielded, pliant, bendsome”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to bend, wind”).
Cognate with Old English wāc (“weak, bendsome”), Saterland Frisian wook (“soft, gentle, tender”), West Frisian weak (“soft”), Dutch week (“soft, weak”), German weich (“weak, soft”), Norwegian veik (“weak”), Swedish vek (“weak, pliant”), Icelandic veikur (“bendsome, weak”). Related to Old English wīcan (“to yield”). Doublet of week and wick.

cog

the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

(mathematics, logic) Having a narrow range of logical consequences; narrowly applicable. (Often contrasted with a strong statement which implies it.)


undermine

en-verb

undermine (third-person singular simple present undermines, present participle undermining, simple past and past participle undermined)

undermines (present singular third-person)
undermining (participle present)
undermined (participle past)
undermined (past)

Coordinate term: overmine

We can even go further: when we consider an object in everyday life we do not usually just undermine or overmine it as if it demanded an either/or approach, but rather we run the two processes in tandem: duomining, as Harman labels it.

2022, Nicholas Gayle, Conrad and the Being of the World, page 25:

(philosophy) To regard an object as the sum of the parts that compose it, in object-oriented ontology.


liar

From Middle English lier, liere, lyere, liȝer, lieȝer, legher, from Old English lēgere, lēogere (“liar, false witness, hypocrite”), from Proto-West Germanic *leugārī, from Proto-Germanic *leugārijaz (“liar”), from *leuganą (“to lie”) + *-ārijaz, equivalent to lie + -ar. More at lie.

The Swabber is to keep the Cabbins, and all the Rooms of the Ship clean within board, and the Liar to do the like without board. The Liar holds his Place but for a week; and he that is first taken with a Lie upon a Monday morning, […] for that week he is under the Swabber, and meddles not with making clean the Ship within board, but without.

1703, Sir William Monson, Sir William Monson's Naval Tracts in Six Books, page 348:

The swabber, perhaps the lowliest position on the ship, was responsible for cleaning the decks. By tradition, each Monday a new crewmember was appointed the liar—the first person caught telling a lie the previous week.

2005, Caleb H. Johnson, The Mayflower and Her Passengers, page 35:

(nautical, obsolete) A swabber responsible for cleaning the outside parts of the ship rather than the cabins, a role traditionally assigned to a person caught telling a lie the previous week.


bracket

bracket (third-person singular simple present brackets, present participle bracketing, simple past and past participle bracketed)

brackets (present singular third-person)
bracketing (participle present)
bracketed (participle past)
bracketed (past)

From earlier bragget, *bracket, from Middle English *braget, *braket (attested in braket nail), from Old French braguette (“the opening in the fore part of a pair of breeches, one's fly”), a diminutive of Old French brague (“knickers, britches”), from Old Occitan braga, from Latin brāca (“pants”), from Transalpine Gaulish *brāca, from Proto-Germanic *brāks, an early form of Proto-Germanic *brōks (“leggings, breeches, trousers”).

der

(philosophy, phenomenology) In the philosophical system of Edmund Husserl and his followers, to set aside metaphysical theories and existential questions concerning what is real in order to focus philosophical attention simply on the actual content of experience.


crocodile

→ Maori: kokorotaera, karakotaera

→ Niuean: kirokotaili

→ Tokelauan: kolokotaila

→ Tongan: kalokataile

→ Welsh: crocodeil

From Middle English cocodrill, cokadrill, cokedril, from Old French cocodril (modern French crocodile), from Medieval Latin cocodrillus, from Latin crocodilus, from Ancient Greek κροκόδειλος (krokódeilos). The word was later refashioned after the Latin and Greek forms. Doublet of krokodil.

[ˈkʰɹɑkədaɪɫ]

We have seen syllogisms, crocodiles, enthymemas, sorites, &c. explained and tried upon a boy of nine or ten years old in playful conversation[…]

1798, Maria Edgeworth, Practical Education:

(logic) A fallacious dilemma, mythically supposed to have been first used by a crocodile.


haunt

en-verb

haunt (third-person singular simple present haunts, present participle haunting, simple past and past participle haunted)

haunts (present singular third-person)
haunting (participle present)
haunted (participle past)
haunted (past)

From Middle English haunten (“to reside, inhabit, use, employ”), from Old French hanter (“to inhabit, frequent, resort to”), from Old Northern French hanter (“to go back home, frequent”), from Old Norse heimta (“to bring home, fetch”) or/and from Old English hāmettan (“to bring home; house; cohabit with”); both from Proto-Germanic *haimatjaną (“to house, bring home”), from Proto-Germanic *haimaz (“village, home”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóymos (“village”).
Cognate with Old English hǣman (“to cohabit, lie with, marry”); related to Old English hām (“home, village”), Old French hantin (“a stay, a place frequented by”) from the same Germanic source. Another descendant from the French is Dutch hanteren, whence German hantieren, Swedish hantera, Danish håndtere. More at home.

cog

A couple of ghosts haunt the old, burnt-down house.

You wrong me Sir,thus ſtill to haunt my houſe.

c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 52, column 1:

Foul spirits haunt my resting place.

1600, [Torquato Tasso], “(please specify |book=1 to 20)”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, →OCLC:

those cares that haunt the court and town

1713, Jonathan Swift, Imitation of Horace, Book I. Ep. VII:

(transitive) To inhabit or to visit frequently (most often used in reference to ghosts).

[…]haunte thi silf to pite [or pitee].

c. 1382–1395, John Wycliffe [et al.], edited by Josiah Forshall and Frederic Madden, The Holy Bible, […], volume I (in Middle English), Oxford: At the University Press, published 1850, →OCLC, I. Timothy 4:7, columns 1, 2:

(transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To accustom; habituate; make accustomed to.

Leave honest pleasure, and haunt no good pastime.

a. 1569 (date written), Roger Ascham, edited by Margaret Ascham, The Scholemaster: Or Plaine and Perfite Way of Teaching Children, to Vnderstand, Write, and Speake, the Latin Tong, […], London: […] John Daye, […], published 1570, →OCLC:

(transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To practise; to devote oneself to.


haunt

The lofty mountains roſe faint to the ſight and loſt their foreheads in the diſtant ſkies: the little hills, cloathed in darker green and ſkirted with embroidered vales, diſcovered the ſecret haunts of kids and bounding roes.

1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page iv:


minor

en-adj

minor (comparative more minor, superlative most minor)

more minor (comparative)
most minor (superlative)

antonym(s) of

serious, grave, severe, dangerous, fatal, life-threatening, acute (informal)

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

der

The minor term of John Stuart Mill's famous syllogism—usually mistakenly credited to Aristotle—is Socrates; the major term is mortal.

Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option, particularly:

(logic) Acting as the subject of the second premise of a categorical syllogism, which then also acts as the subject of its conclusion.


minor

byvak

subject of secondary undergraduate study

And so musten oure clerkis argue whan þai aleggen for her lordeschip þe lyuynge of her patrons & sayntis, & sayen þus: "Seynt thomas & seynt hwe & seynt Swiþune wer þus lordis, & in þis þai suyd cristis lyuynge & his lore; þerfor we may lefulli be þus lordis." And I wote wel þat gabriel schal blow his horne or þai han preuyd þe mynor; þat is, þat þes seyntes or patrons in þis suyden þe lore or þe life of ihesu criste.

c. 1450, anonymous author, The Clergy May Not Hold Property, page 31:

(logic) Ellipsis of minor term or minor premise.


tableau

Unadapted borrowing from French tableau, from Old French tablel (“a surface which is used primarily for painting”).


least

From Middle English leste, lest, last, from Old English lǣst, a contraction of læsast, læsest, lærest (“least”), from Proto-Germanic *laisistaz (“smallest; least”), related to Old English læs (“less”). Cognate with Old Frisian leist, Old Saxon lēs. More at less.

inh

(philosophy) Something of the smallest possible extent; an indivisible unit.


synthesis

en-noun

synthesis (countable and uncountable, plural syntheses)

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

der

(logic) A deduction from the general to the particular.

համադրություն

logic: deduction from the general to the particular

(philosophy) The combination of thesis and antithesis.

համադրություն

philosophy: combination of thesis and antithesis


type

→ Japanese: タイプ

→ Korean: 타입 (taip)

From Middle English type (“symbol, figure, emblem”), from Latin typus, from Ancient Greek τύπος (túpos, “mark, impression, type”), from τύπτω (túptō, “I strike, beat”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp-. Related to stupid, stupefy and stop.

tyyppiyksilö

biology: individual representative of its taxonomic group

(theology) An event or person that prefigures or foreshadows a later event - commonly an Old Testament event linked to Christian times.

edeltäjä

theology: event or person that prefigures or foreshadows


phenomenon

en-noun

phenomenon (plural phenomena or (nonstandard) phenomenons or phenomenon)

phenomena (plural)
phenomenons (nonstandard plural)
phenomenon (plural)

noumenon

From Late Latin phaenomenon (“appearance”), from Ancient Greek φαινόμενον (phainómenon, “thing appearing to view”), neuter present middle participle of φαίνω (phaínō, “I show”).

der

Every "phenomenon" must be, at any rate, partly subjective or dependent on the subject.

1900, S. Tolver Preston, “Comparison of Some Views of Spencer and Kant”, in Mind, volume 9, number 34, page 234:

The Kantian phenomenon is the real as we are compelled to think it.

1912, Roy Wood Sellars, “Is There a Cognitive Relation?”, in The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods, volume 9, number 9, page 232:

(philosophy, chiefly Kantian idealism) An experienced object whose constitution reflects the order and conceptual structure imposed upon it by the human mind (especially by the powers of perception and understanding).

fenomen

philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind


parenthesis

en-noun

parenthesis (countable and uncountable, plural parentheses)

/pəˈɹɛnθəsɪs/

Learned borrowing from Late Latin parenthesis (“addition of a letter to a syllable in a word”), itself borrowed from Ancient Greek παρένθεσις (parénthesis, “insertion”).

der

(mathematics, logic) Such brackets as used to clarify expressions by grouping those terms affected by a common operator, or to enclose the components of a vector or the elements of a matrix.

փակագծեր

(mathematics, logic) brackets used to clarify expressions by grouping terms affected by a common operator


thesis

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Johann Gottlieb Fichte

From Late Middle English thesis (“lowering of the voice”) and also borrowed directly from its etymon Latin thesis (“proposition, thesis; lowering of the voice”), from Ancient Greek θέσῐς (thésis, “arrangement, placement, setting; conclusion, position, thesis; lowering of the voice”), from τῐ́θημῐ (títhēmi, “to place, put, set; to put down in writing; to consider as, regard”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”)) + -σῐς (-sis, suffix forming abstract nouns or nouns of action, process, or result). The English word is a doublet of deed.
Sense 1.1 (“proposition or statement supported by arguments”) is adopted from antithesis. Sense 1.4 (“initial stage of reasoning”) was first used by the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814), and later applied to the dialectical method of his countryman, the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831).
The plural form theses is borrowed from Latin thesēs, from Ancient Greek θέσεις (théseis).

der

Senses relating to logic, rhetoric, etc.

(logic) An affirmation, or distinction from a supposition or hypothesis.

(philosophy) In the dialectical method of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: the initial stage of reasoning where a formal statement of a point is developed; this is followed by antithesis and synthesis.


form

en-noun

form (countable and uncountable, plural forms)

→ Korean: 폼 (pom)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: form

From Middle English forme (“shape, figure, manner, bench, frame, seat, condition, agreement, etc.”), borrowed from Old French forme, from Latin fōrma (“shape, figure, image, outline, plan, mold, frame, case, etc., manner, sort, kind, etc.”).
The now dated UK school sense ("division grouping school students") is derived from public school nomenclature, which was later used by state schools. It is sometimes said to be from the sense of "bench", where students of certain ages would sit together, though this is disputed, or alternatively from the sense of "established method of expression or practice".

der

imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

(philosophy) The inherent nature of an object; that which the mind itself contributes as the condition of knowing; that in which the essence of a thing consists.


major

en-adj

major (comparative more major, superlative most major)

more major (comparative)
most major (superlative)

From Middle English major, from Latin maior, comparative of magnus (“great, large; noble, important”), from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂yōs (“greater”), comparative of *meǵh₂- (“great”). Compare West Frisian majoar (“major”), Dutch majoor (“major”), French majeur. Doublet of mayor.

Occurring as the predicate in the conclusion of a categorical syllogism. (of a term)

Containing the major term in a categorical syllogism. (of a premise)


major

pääaineopiskelija

student specializing in a specified subject


datum

en-noun

datum (plural (senses 1–3) data or (senses 1 and 4–5) datums)

Borrowed from Latin datum (“a given”). Doublet of die.

(philosophy) A fact known from direct observation.

(philosophy) A premise from which conclusions are drawn.


assertoric

/ˌæsɚˈtɔɹɪk/

(logic) Stating that which is actual, usually in contrast with modal sentences.


horseshoe

/ˈhɔːɹs.ʃuː/

From Middle English horsscho, horssho, horscho, hors schoo, equivalent to horse + shoe.

almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

close only counts in horseshoes and darts

close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades


system

→ Japanese: システム (shisutemu)

Partly borrowed from Middle French sisteme, systeme, partly directly from its etymon Late Latin systēma (“harmony; musical scale; set of celestial objects; set of troops; system”), from Ancient Greek σύστημα (sústēma, “musical scale; organized body; whole made of several parts or members”), from σῠνίστημῐ (sunístēmi, “to combine, organize”) + -μᾰ (-ma, resultative suffix). σῠνίστημῐ is from σῠν- (sun-, “with, together”) + ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to stand”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”).
Cognate with Dutch systeem, modern French système, German System, Italian sistema, Portuguese sistema, Spanish sistema. Doublet of systema.

sistem

In the footnote attached to this statement Rosen refers to the “hypnotic” quality of Kojève’s system.

2019, David McIlwain, Michael Oakeshott and Leo Strauss: The Politics of Renaissance and Enlightenment, →ISBN, page 131, note 5:

A group or set of related things that operate together as a complex whole.

(philosophy) A comprehensive and logically organized set of propositions or philosophical beliefs.


distinctive

From Latin distinctus, perfect passive participle of distinguere (“to push apart, to divide”), + -ive (forming adjectives signifying relation or tendency to). Cognate with French distinctif and Medieval Latin distinctivus.

Mennonites could go forth somewhat detached from the chauvinism of Western culture—but not so from the Mennonite distinctives.

1979, Theron F. Schlabach, “Gospel versus Gospel”, in Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History, page 154:

(theology) A distinctive belief, tenet, or dogma of a denomination or sect.


formula

en-noun

formula (countable and uncountable, plural formulae or formulas or formulæ)

formulae (plural)
formulas (plural)
formulæ (plural)

Irish: foirmle

Scottish Gaelic: foirmle

Borrowed from Latin formula (“a small pattern or mold, form, rule, principle, method, formula”), diminutive of forma (“a form”); see form.

bor

(logic) A syntactic expression of a proposition, built up from quantifiers, logical connectives, variables, relation and operation symbols, and, depending on the type of logic, possibly other operators such as modal, temporal, deontic or epistemic ones.

論理式

logic: syntactic expression of a proposition


homo

en-adj

homo (comparative more homo, superlative most homo)

more homo (comparative)
most homo (superlative)

(colloquial, sometimes derogatory) Of or pertaining to homosexuality.


allopoiesis

autopoiesis

antonym(s) of “creation of something other than the self”

(philosophy) Creation of something other than the self.

alopoiese

(philosophy) Creation by something else than the self.


double

en-verb

double (third-person singular simple present doubles, present participle doubling, simple past and past participle doubled)

doubles (present singular third-person)
doubling (participle present)
doubled (participle past)
doubled (past)

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English double, from Old French doble, double, from Latin duplus (“twofold”). Doublet of doppio and duple.

Was this simply the cover name of an Allied spy-code named the Brass Monkey? […] The possibility that the Brass Monkey himself was "doubling" (with headquarters' approval, of course) is too logical […]

(espionage, intransitive) To operate as a double agent.


non sequitur

en-noun

non sequitur (plural non sequiturs or non sequuntur)

non sequiturs (plural)
non sequuntur (plural)

Learned borrowing from Latin phrase nōn sequitur (“it does not follow”).

what does that have to do with the price of tea in China

Having a costumed superhero abduct the vicar was an utter non sequitur in the novel.

Non sequiturs, gratuitous acts, frustrating ellipses, ambiguities, a dearth of emotion: Miss [Lillian] Hellman avails herself of all these current techniques in telling a story that she keeps telling us may not be a story at all.

1980 May 13, Anatole Broyard, “Books of The Times”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(narratology) Any abrupt and inexplicable transition or occurrence.

Gedankensprung

any abrupt and inexplicable transition or occurrence

(logic) Any invalid argument in which the conclusion cannot be logically deduced from the premises.

Ralph Wiggum is generally employed as a bottomless fount of glorious non sequiturs, but in “I Love Lisa” he stands in for every oblivious chump who ever deluded himself into thinking that with persistence, determination, and a pure heart he can win the girl of his dreams.

2012 August 5, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “I Love Lisa” (season 4, episode 15; originally aired 02/11/1993)”, in AV Club:

A statement that does not logically follow a statement that came before it.

Coordinate term: paraprosdokian

(humor) A kind of pun that uses a change of word, subject, or meaning to make a joke of the listener’s expectation.


fetish

Etymology tree
Proto-Italic *fakjō
Latin faciō
Proto-Indo-European *-tós
Proto-Italic *-tos
Latin -tus
Latin factus
Latin -īcius
Latin factīcius
Portuguese feitiçobor.
French fétichebor.
English fetish
Borrowed from French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço, from Latin factīcius (“artificial”). Doublet of factitious.

etymon

I know a guy who has a foot fetish.

a fetish for leather

The first time, I was confused. His needs were obscure to me, and what I could perceive of them seemed to me ridiculous, laughable, like a fetish for lace-up shoes.

1985, Margaret Atwood, “Soul Scrolls”, in The Handmaid’s Tale, Toronto, Ont.: McClelland and Stewart, →ISBN, page 163:

Sexual attraction to or arousal at something abnormally sexual or nonsexual, such as an object or a nonsexual part of the body.

ֆետիշ

something nonsexual which arouses sexual desire


opposition

/ˌɒp.əˈzɪʃ.ən/

/ˌɑ.pəˈzɪʃ.ən/

From Middle English opposicioun, from Old French oposicion (whence French opposition), from Late Latin oppositiō, translating Ancient Greek ἀντίθεσις (antíthesis), from the past participle stem of classical Latin oppōnō (“I set against”).

(logic) The difference of quantity or quality between two propositions having the same subject and predicate.


medium

Borrowed from Latin medium, neuter of medius (“middle”), from Proto-Italic *meðjos, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between”). Compare middle. Doublet of mid, medio, media, and mediate.

doublet

(countable, logic) The mean or middle term of a syllogism, that by which the extremes are brought into connection.


revelation

en-noun

revelation (countable and uncountable, plural revelations)

/ˌɹɛv.əˈleɪ.ʃən/

From Middle English revelacioun, from Old French revelacion, from Latin revēlātiō (“disclosure”), from revēlō (“to disclose”), re (“again”) + vēlō (“to cover”).

This does not mean that God has difficulty overcoming obstacles; if one questions whether revelation is ‘a simple matter’, this need not refer to whether or not God has to exert himself greatly to overcome these obstacles, or whether he is grieved or suffers in some way to overcome these obstacles.

2008, Rolfe King, Obstacles to Divine Revelation: God and the Reorientation of Human Reason, Bloomsbury Academic, →ISBN:

(theology) A manifestation of divine truth.