Rowena

Common Brittonic
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Hengist
Historia regum Britanniae
Ivanhoe
Vortigern
Walter Scott

From the name of the daughter of Hengist and wife of Vortigern in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th century pseudohistorical Latin work Historia regum Britanniae. There have been attempts to connect it to some unattested Old English or Common Brittonic name, but without any real evidence. It was revived after Walter Scott used it in his novel Ivanhoe (1819).
Some places are named after Lady Rowena in the novel.

A female given name from the Germanic languages.


Senga

The name was relatively common in West Central Scotland until the 1980s, and is sometimes said to derive from Agnes.

A female given name originating as a coinage, of mainly Scottish usage.


Krista

A spelling variant of Christa, a modern short form of Christina, partly borrowed from German Christa.


haglaz

From Proto-Germanic *haglaz (“hail”). Doublet of hail.

The h rune symbol in esotericism, Germanic neopaganism and Germanic philology.


chedi

From Thai เจดีย์ (jee-dii), from Pali cetiya (Devanagari spelling: चेतिय (cetiya)), from Sanskrit चैत्य (caitya, “hall, temple, or place of worship”).

der

A Thai Buddhist monument similar to a stupa.

စေတီ

a Thai Buddhist monument similar to a stupa


Ramsey

From Old English hramsa (“wild garlic”) + īeġ (“island”).

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Finley

A unisex given name transferred from the surname.


Canadian English

[p 49] Not so, however, is it with the modern refinements of our Canadian English. In referring to such a feat here, it would be said, not that he dived, but that he dove.
[p 52] These and a thousand other examples which might be produced, fully justify the use of the term “Canadian English,” as expressive of a corrupt dialect growing up amongst our population, and gradually finding access to our periodical literature, until it threatens to produce a language as unlike our noble mother tongue as the negro patua, or the Chinese pidgeon English.

1857, Rev. A.C. Geikie, “Canadian English”, in Canadian Journal, v 2, n 11 (September), pp 344–55, reprinted in Elaine Gold and Janice McAlpine eds. (2010), Canadian English: A Linguistic Reader, Strathy Language Unit Occasional Paper n 6, Kingston: Queen’s University

The variety of the English language used in Canada.


Damien

A male given name from Ancient Greek, the French equivalent of Damian


Derry

en-proper noun

Derry (countable and uncountable, plural Derrys)

From Irish Doire, from doire (“oak grove”), from Old Irish daire (“oak forest”), from Proto-Celtic *daru.


sha

(computing) Alternative letter-case form of SHA (“cryptographic hash”)


Zane

* The usage seems to date from the American writer Zane Grey (1875-1939), born Pearl Zane Gray. It was the surname of his mother's family, of unknown meaning.
* Sometimes explained as a form of John because of the resemblance to Shane, or because Italian surnames such as Zanelli and Zanetto derive from the equivalent name Giovanni.
* In some cases, a respelling of Zayn, which is of Arabic origin.


Frida

* In Scandinavia, Frida mainly derives from the Old Norse name Fríða, short for female names ending in fríðr (“beautiful, beloved”).
* In Central and Eastern Europe, Frida is a short form of compound names containing the Germanic element fried "peace"; cognate to English Freda.

A female given name from the Germanic languages occasionally used in English.


Princeton

Battle of Princeton
Thomas Prince
William Prince (politician)

From prince + -ton (“town”), originally in honor of crown princes or princes of the British Empire but later chiefly in honor of others with the name Prince or locations named Princeton. Doublet of Princetown. Cf. Princes Town, Princeville, Kingston, Kingstone, Coniston, Kingstown, Queenston, and Queenstown.
In particular, the British Columbian town is named for Edward VII, who was known as Albert, Prince of Wales, during the reign of his mother Queen Victoria. The New Jersey borough is named for William III—who became king of England through marriage to Mary II—in honor of his own separate Dutch title of Prince of Orange. The North Carolina town and Nebraska and Ontario communities are named for the New Jersey borough; the Missouri city is named for the Battle of Princeton which occurred there in the American Revolution; and the Illinois city and Florida CDP are named for the university named for its location in the borough. The given name derives from the prestigious university.
The Massachusetts town is named for clergyman Thomas Prince, and the Wisconsin city and town are named for the Massachusetts town. The Minnesota city is named for its founder John S. Prince, and the Idaho CDP is named after the Minnosota city. The Indiana city is named for politician William Prince, and the Kansas city is named for the Indiana city. The Texas city is named for landowner Prince Dowlin. The Kentucky city is named for landowner William Prince.


Mamta

From Hindi ममता (mamtā, “maternal love”).


Petey

A diminutive of the male given name Peter.


Alexis

From French Alexis, from Latin Alexis, ultimately from Ancient Greek Ἄλεξις (Álexis, “helper, defender”).

der

To the maid of his choice, / With a heart palpitating, / Comes Alexis the brave.

1877 W. S. Gilbert - Arthur Sullivan, The Sorcerer, Act I

He wondered how parents who had named their daughter Alexis could possibly have known she'd turn out to be such a beauty.

1990, Ed McBain, Vespers, Mandarin, published 1991, →ISBN, page 120:

A female given name from Ancient Greek, transferred from the male name and used since the 1940s.


Anton

en-proper noun

Anton (countable and uncountable, plural Antons)

Borrowed from German Anton and from other northern European languages. Doublet of Anthony.

'As far as I'm concerned, he's Benjamin Rigby,' said Kit, after the first time we met him. 'He seems like a decent baby and he deserves a decent name. Not that his father's got one, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.' Kit thinks it's only acceptable to 'go around calling yourself Anton', as he puts it, if you're Spanish, Mexican or Colombian, or if you're a hairdresser or a professional ice-skater.

2011, Sophie Hannah, Lasting Damage, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 78:

Анто́н Антон#Bulgarian

A transliteration of the Bulgarian, Belarusian, Russian, or Ukrainian male given name Анто́н (Antón).


Rumsen

One of eight divisions of the Ohlone Native American people of northern California native to Monterey Bay Area.


Rumsen

The now-extinct language of this people, an Ohlone dialect in the Utian family.


Ohlone

A member of an indigenous population native to the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas, California.


Ohlone

The Utian (Penutian) family of languages of this people.


Costanoan

From Spanish Costeños (“coastal people”). The Spanish explorers and Missionaries to Northern California called the native people of the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas the Costeños as early as 1769.

A member of the Ohlone people, native to the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas, California.


Ewan

From Scottish Gaelic Eòghan. Not related to Iwan and Evan.

Euan (alternative)
Ewen (alternative)
Evin (alternative)

Clare insisted that Addison decide on a name - they had already drawn up a shortlist of five - and Addison finally settled on Ewan because it seemed Scottish but not too Scottish.

2002, Kate Atkinson, Not the End of the World, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 119:


Rosie

A diminutive of the female given name Rose, Rosemary and other female names related to the rose. Also used as a formal given name.


Enid

From Middle Welsh eneit (“spirit, life; purity”), from Proto-Celtic *anatyom, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁- (“to breathe, blow”). Cognate with Gaulish anatia (“souls (?)”) attested on the Larzac tablet; see also the modern Welsh anadl (“breath, wind”), from Proto-Celtic *anatlā (“breath, breathing”).

cog

A female given name from Welsh of obscure meaning.


Quentin

From Old French. The name of a third century French martyr, from Latin Quīntīnus, a derivative of the Roman praenomen Quīntus, from quīntus (“fifth”). It was brought to England by the Normans, but never became particularly popular.

Quentin Barry had always wished that he had been called Sean or Brian. It was hard to be called Quentin at a Christian Brothers school in the 1970s. But that was the name they had wanted, his beautiful mother Sara Barry had wanted, she who had always lived in a dream world far more elegant that the one she really lived in.

2003, Maeve Binchy, Quentins, Orion, →ISBN, page 79:

A female given name from Latin occasionally used.


Selina

First recorded in England in the 17th century, possibly from Latin Caelīna (“heavenly”), or a variant of Selene, the Ancient Greek goddess of the moon.


Randall

A Middle English variant of Randolph, preserved as a surname and revived in the twentieth century.

“Each time they’d build, they’d try to outbuild all the rest of them,” said Dr. Randall F. Hipple, a retired obstetrician who helped establish a seven-block stretch of the street as a National Historic District.

2007 July 20, Dave Caldwell, “Williamsport, Pa.: Home of True Small Ball”, in The New York Times:

A male given name from the Germanic languages.


Jolyon

Medieval spelling of Julian, revived by Galsworthy in Forsyte Saga.

In that Summer of 1909 the simple souls who even then desired to simplify the English tongue, had, of course, no cognizance of little Jon, or they would have claimed him for a disciple. But one can be too simple in this life, for his real name was Jolyon, and his living father and dead half-brother had usurped of old the other shortenings, Jo and Jolly. As a fact little Jon had done his best to conform to convention and spell himself first Jhon, then John; not till his father had explained the sheer necessity, had he spelled his name Jon.

1920 October, John Galsworthy, Awakening, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 6:

A male given name from Latin, in quiet use since the 1920s.


Elaine

From Old French Elaine, a variant of Elene, cognate to Helen, ultimately from Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē). A Celtic origin has also been suggested since the name appears in Arthurian legend. Doublet of Helen.

Elaine the fair, Elaine the lovable,
Elaine, the lily maid of Astolat,
High in her chamber up a tower to the east
Guarded the sacred shield of Lancelot;

1859, Alfred Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine:

My own mother named me after her best friend, as women did in those days. Elaine, which I once found too plaintive. I wanted something more definite, a monosyllable: Dot or Pat, like a foot set down. Nothing you could make a mistake about; nothing watery. But my name has solidified around me, with time. I think of it as tough but pliable now, like a well-worn glove.

1988, Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye, page 278:


Elisha

From Biblical Hebrew אֱלִישָׁע (Elisha').

A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin, in quiet use since the 17th century.

A female given name from Hebrew in occasional use, apparently confused with Elizabeth or Alicia.


Jeanie

From Jean + -ie, q.v.
Doublet of Ivanka, Jan, Janelle, Janet, Janey, Janine, Jeanette, Jeannette, Jeannine, Jen, Jenna, Jenny, Jessie, Jo, Jody, Juanita, Shanae, Sinead, and Vanna.

doublet

A diminutive of the female given name Jean.


Gustave

Gustaves (plural)
Gustav (alternative)
Gustavus (alternative)

From French Gustave. French form of Swedish royal name Gustav; see Gustav for more.

A male given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Gustav.


Francesca

/fɹænˈt͡ʃɛskə/

Borrowed from Italian Francesca (“Frances”), the feminine form of Francesco (“Francis”), from Late Latin Franciscus, from Francia (“France”) + -iscus (“-ish”). Doublet of Frances.


Adrienne

From the French Adrienne, the feminine form of Adrien (equivalent to English Adrian).

What I needed was an exciting name and I would give myself one. I was reading a book where the heroine's name was Adrienne. I printed that as my first name. Now what would go well with Adrienne? I peered over my shoulder at the little girl in back of me. Her name was Mary Frances Carroll. Frances...I thought. No, that's not exotic enough. Francine. Francine. That was beautiful. I printed in: FRANCINE.

1962, Jane Trahey, Life with Mother Superior, page 4:


Theodora

From the Ancient Greek feminine form of Theodore.

Peter Mathias and the baby, a tiny girl with a ridiculous name, had gathered around their mother. What was her name, something barbaric, an empress, not Cleopatra - Theodora.

1971, John Updike, Marry Me, Knopf, published 1976, →ISBN, page 126:

A female given name from Ancient Greek, most famously borne by two empresses of Byzantium.


Russ

A diminutive of the male given name Russell.


Olga

Borrowed in the 19th century from Old East Slavic О́льга (Ólĭga), name of a Kievan knyaginya (Saint Olga of Kiev), a medieval form of Helga, Old Norse heilagr (“holy; inviolable, sacred”). Doublet of Helga.

der

Olga was named after a Russian ballerina whose picture had once appeared in a local advertisement for a ballet company that was to perform in Philadelphia during the weeks of her impending conception, and who was shown pirouetting on a point of light, impressing their mother.

1993, Oscar Hijuelos, The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien, →ISBN, page 6:

A female given name from Russian, Ukrainian, or Belarusian.

OLGA YOURIEVNA SOLENSKY and I followed the black-veiled nun through the chaste, white, highly polished salons of the convent while she explained to me the origin of her curious name, with which certain highly considered Russian saints had had to do. In Russia, it seems, they called her Olga, daughter of Youri.

1910, Lucy de Grasse Martin, “Magnificent Olga”, in The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, volume LXXX, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co.; London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd., page 130, column 1:

О́льга Ольга#Russian

A transliteration of the Russian female given name О́льга (Ólʹga).


Silvio

A male given name from Italian, equivalent to English Silvius.


Upton

en-proper noun

Upton (countable and uncountable, plural Uptons)

From Old English upp (“up”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”).

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Arabist

(anthropology, linguistics) A scholar who studies Arab or Arabic culture, politics, or language.

arabista

a scholar who studies Arab or Arabic culture, politics, or language

(historical) One who followed the Arabic system of medicine or (more broadly) scholarship.

(politics) One that wants to spread Arabic culture; an Arab nationalist.

arabista

politics: one that wants to spread Arabic culture


Arabist

en-adj

Arabist (comparative more Arabist, superlative most Arabist)

more Arabist (comparative)
most Arabist (superlative)

Pertaining to Arabism; medieval Arabic scholarship.

Pertaining to the study of Arabic language or culture.


Tobiah

From the Hebrew name טוֹבִיָּה (Toviyyah, “Yahweh is good”).


Sinéad

From Irish Sinéad, from Old Northern French Jeanette, from Middle French Jehanne + -ette, from Medieval Latin Johanna, variant of Latin Ioanna under influence from Latin Iōhannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννα (Iōánna), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָה (Yôḥānāh, literally “God is gracious”), the feminized form of יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān) which produced John and its many doublets.


foo fighter

From foo, either a nonce word or a corruption of the French word feu (“fire”), + fighter (“type of aircraft”).

unidentified flying object
unidentified flying object

Any of various unidentified flying objects, as reported by Allied pilots during World War II.


Torne Valley Finnish

After Torne, the name of the river that separates Finland and Sweden in the north; compare Swedish tornedalsfinska and Finnish tornionlaaksonsuomi.

Meänkieli (language spoken by some 40,000–70,000 people in Northern Sweden)


Mishnaic Hebrew

The Hebrew language as used from the second to the tenth century in the Common Era, descended from Biblical Hebrew.


Biblical Hebrew

the archaic form of the Hebrew language, spoken by the Israelites in the area known as Canaan/Israel in the first millennium BC, best-attested in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible)

հին հրեերեն

the archaic form of the Hebrew language — see also Hebrew


Lilian

Used since the sixteenth century, possibly originally a pet form of Elizabeth, but generally accepted as a variant of Late Latin lilium (“lily”).

Airy, fairy Lilian, / Flitting, fairy Lilian, / When I ask her if she loves me, / Claps her tiny hands above me, / Laughing all she can.

When it was my turn Roger told the crowd that my romanised second and third name, if written as one word in Pinyin, as is now the custom, was exactly like the English girl's name Lilian and he therefore proposed to leave it like that, Lilian being a very pretty name, he said.

2004, Willem Dijkstra, May You Live in Interesting Times, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 77:

These behaviors and mindsets contrast with mindful eating, which means using all your physical and emotional senses to experience and enjoy the food choices you make without judgment, said Lilian Cheung, a lecturer and director of health promotion and communication in the nutrition department at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, via email.

2021 October 14, Kristen Rogers, “Mindful eating could change your food habits and overall life. Here’s how to start”, in CNN:


Tornedalen

/ˈtɔː(ɹ)nəˌdɑːlən/

From Swedish Tornedalen (“Torne Valley”), a geographic region shared by Sweden and Finland.

Tornedalen Finnish
Tornedalen Finnish#English

Tornedalen Finnish, or Meänkieli (Finnic language spoken in northern Sweden)


Rhian

Uncertain; possibly a modern spelling variant of Ryan.


Arcady

Арка́дий Аркадий#Russian

A transliteration of the Russian male given name Арка́дий (Arkádij).


commissary

From Late Latin commissarius, from commissus, past participle of committō (“to commit, entrust to”). Doublet of commissar.

(Scots law) The judge in a commissary court.


Whigs

(UK politics) An 18th- and 19th-century British political party that was opposed to the Tories, and became the Liberal Party.


Sheldon

From Old English scylf (“shelf”) + dūn (“hill”) or denu (“valley”).


Radha

A female given name from Sanskrit used in India.


Utahn

This great honor, Mr. Harwood was the first Utahn to receive.

1901, Alice Merrill Horne, “State Exhibition of Art Fabrics”, in Improvement Era,, volume 5, number 1:

No Utahn has ever sung his way into celebrity.

1926, Bernard De Voto, “Utah”, in American Mercury:

United States of America
United States of America

A native or resident of the state of Utah in the United States of America.


Skraeling

After Old Norse skrælingi (of disputed etymology), the Norse name for the native inhabitants of Greenland and continental North America (Eastern Canada).

skraeling (alternative)
Scraeling (alternative)
scraeling (alternative)
Skræling (alternative)

(linguistics) A little-known language once spoken by the now extinct Beothuk Indians of Newfoundland (also called Beothuk or Red Indian).


WaPo

It's quite impressive that the WaPo editorial board has come out with both barrels against <b₂> their own journalists <c₂>. (Black 2016)

2017, Scott A. Eldridge II, Online Journalism from the Periphery: Interloper Media and the Journalistic Field, Routledge, →ISBN:

(informal, newspapers) Clipping of Washington Post, a newspaper from the United States.


Forrest

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Marmaduke

Thought to be derived from the Irish name Mael Maedóc, "devotee of Maedóc" (an Irish saint); also anglicised as Malachi.

A male given name from Irish, once popular in parts of Yorkshire, Lancashire and County Durham.


Sterling

A unisex given name transferred from the surname.


Stirling

Likely from Scottish Gaelic srib (“stream”) + Scottish Gaelic linn (“pool, lake”).


Jayne

"Having lunch with the Gorgons today?" Andrew had asked her. It was his oft-stated opinion that the ys in Kathryn and Jayne''s names were their compensation for a missing, but coveted, male chromosome.

1997, Sharyn McCrumb, “The Luncheon”, in Foggy Mountain Breakdown and Other Stories, →ISBN, page 118:

A female given name from Hebrew, a 20th-century spelling of Jane.


moon language

(slang) Text written in an incomprehensible script, especially Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, or Hindi.


Libby

A diminutive of the female given name Elizabeth and Isabel.


Shirshak

A male given name from India, of Nepalese and Indian usage.


Scotswoman

Coordinate term: Scotsman


Timmy

A diminutive of the male given name Timothy.


daad

daads (plural)
dad (alternative)
zad (alternative)


Chinook Jargon

A pidginized Native American language used by various tribes of the Pacific Northwest.


Louisiana Creole

A French-based creole with elements of Spanish, Native American and West African languages spoken by the Louisiana Creole people.


Aloysius

/æl.əʊˈɪʃ.əs/

/æl.əʊˈɪs.ɪəs/

Latinization of Occitan [Term?], an Occitan form of Louis. Doublet of Louis.

Mr and Mrs Aloysius Kirby announced the marriage of their daughter Katherine – I knew neither the girl nor the man she was marrying. They must be circularizing the town. It was a funny name. I felt sure I could remember anybody with a name like Aloysius. It was a good Catholic name.

1927, Ernest Hemingway, chapter IV, in The Sun Also Rises:

A male given name from the Germanic languages, notably of a 16th-century Italian saint.


Sino-Japanese

The Chinese-derived elements in the Japanese language.

漢日詞 /汉日词

the Chinese-derived elements in the Japanese language


SPGB

Socialist Party of Great Britain
w:Socialist Party of Great Britain

(UK politics) Initialism of Socialist Party of Great Britain.


Cambria

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin Cambria, from Middle Welsh Kymry, from Proto-Brythonic *kömrüɣ, plural of *kömroɣ. Doublet of Cumberland, Cumbria, and Cymru. Cognate with Welsh Cymru.


Québécois

Québécois (plural)
Quebecois (alternative)
Québecois (alternative)

Coordinate term: Québécoise

I am a proud Québécois.

A native or inhabitant of the province or city of Quebec.


angel hair

Sense 1 is a semantic loan from Italian capelli d'angelo.

sl

Angel hair consists of thin, cotton-like fibers that are found at the scene of UFO sightings. The strands look like spider webs (which many skeptics assert is precisely what they are) and have been found on houses, on the ground, in trees, and hanging off electrical wires following a UFO sighting.

2019, Stephen Spignesi, William J. Birnes, The Big Book of UFO Facts, Figures & Truth, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

(ufology) A sticky, fibrous substance reported in connection with UFO sightings and other paranormal manifestations.


reductive

en-adj

reductive (comparative more reductive, superlative most reductive)

more reductive (comparative)
most reductive (superlative)

From Middle French réductif, from Late Latin reductivus, from the participle stem of Latin reducere (“to reduce”).

(Scots law, now rare) Pertaining to the reduction of a decree etc.; rescissory.


Abbie

Abbey (alternative)
Abbi (alternative)
Abby (alternative)
Abi (alternative)

A diminutive of the female given name Abigail.

A diminutive of the male given name Albert.


Ge'ez

Ge’ez (canonical)
Geez (alternative)
Gi'iz (alternative)
Giiz (alternative)
Geʿez (alternative)
Gəʿəz (alternative)

He takes out a leather-bound Bible, written in Ge'ez, illuminated by drawings of angels with large, soulful eyes.

2019, Maaza Mengiste, The Shadow King, Canongate Books (2020), page 328:

An Ethiopian language which is extinct but still used liturgically.

The writing system originally used for the Ge’ez language.


Ciara

A female given name from Irish, a new Irish feminine form of Ciaran.


Yana

Cognate to English Jane, ultimately from Hebrew, feminine form of Ioannes ( =John).

A female given name from the Slavic languages. A romanization of the Bulgarian or Russian or Ukrainian name Я́на (Jána).


-gen

Borrowed from French -gène, from the Ancient Greek -γενής (-genḗs).

mutagen ― an agent that gives rise to mutations

tormogen ― a cell that forms a socket

A producer of something, or an agent in the production of something.


Guanche

The language of the Guanches, believed to belong to the Berber family.


natural language

en-noun

natural language (countable and uncountable, plural natural languages)

Although some computer programs are now widely regarded as having passed the Turing test, it is clear to discerning humans that they still do not use natural language in the same way that sane humans do, as they often spew nonsense, albeit well-formed linguistically, and they cannot engage in some important kinds of original thought.

programming language
programming language

constructed language
constructed language

(retronym, linguistics) Any human language that has evolved naturally in a community, usually in contrast to computer programming languages, to controlled natural languages, and to constructed languages such as Esperanto (although constructed languages are subject to change by natural forces among fluent speakers).


Amina

Amīna (alternative)
Ameena (alternative)
Aminah (alternative)

A female given name from Arabic, meaning “faithful, trustworthy”, masculine equivalent Amin.


Amina

Āmina (alternative)
Amna (alternative)
Aminah (alternative)

A female given name from Arabic, notably borne by:

the mother of the Islamic prophet Muhammad


Goori

From Awabakal gurri as spoken in far northern New South Wales and south east Queensland, originally distinguished from Koori to the south. (See quotations for more information.)

1991, Joshua Aaron Fishman Reversing Language Shift: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages, Multilingual Matters, →ISBN, page 279,
The availability and spread of an indigenous aggregative term for all Aborigines (Gooris/Kooris) is suggestive of a growing intergroup identity among them, over and above former and current ethnolinguistic demarcations. The term Goori/Kuri itself stems from the Southeastern coastal area, some 300 miles north of Sydney. Wurm and Hattori list ‘7?’ speakers for Kuri and ‘9??’ for the Yuin-Kuric grouping (10 dialects, all but three of which are extinct).

1996, Julie Janson, Gunjies, Act 2, Scene 3, in Black Mary and Gunjies: two plays, Aboriginal Studies Press, →ISBN, page 131,
JUNE: […] It’s born in you, your identity, I never lost mine. Goori spirituality, it’s always there. I was born with somethin’ […]

2002, John Henderson and David Nash, Language in Native Title, Aboriginal Studies Press, →ISBN, page 49,
While I do not have a lot of faith in the native title legislation's ability to deliver the goods for dispossessed and dislocated Goori communities like ours on the eastern seaboard, I am interested in how the process regards our languages in relation to claim hearings and judgements.

2006, Joshua Aaron Fishman, Nancy H. Hornberger, and Martin Pütz, Language Loyalty, Language Planning and Language Revitalization: Recent Writings and Reflections from Joshua A. Fishman, Multilingual Matters, →ISBN, page 144,
Thus, a brochure inviting Gooris (more usually ‘Kooris’, an increasingly popular indigenous self-designation applying to and uniting all Aborigines and favored by some as a collective term to replace Aborigine/Aboriginal) to participate in a series of six weekly seminars about Bundjalung, a language of Southeast Australia that is now down to its last few speakers, […]


Dyuti

Borrowed from Hindi [Term?], meaning halo, radiance and brightness.


Kevyn

A male given name from Irish, of rare usage, variant of Kevin.


Rambabu

The name originated from southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, meaning son of lord Ram. From Ram (god) + babu (son).

A male given name from India, a common Hindu male name in India.


Vinay

From Sanskrit विनय (vinaya), meaning ideal behavior, humility, civility, courtesy, intellect.

A male given name from Sanskrit used in India.


Antara

From Sanskrit अन्तर (antara), meaning interval, this body.


Kaden

A male given name originating as a coinage, variant of Caden.


Caitlyn

A female given name from Irish, one of the modern spelling variants of Caitlin.


Kieron

Ciaran (alternative)
Keiron (alternative)
Kieran (alternative)


Meänkieli

From the native Meänkieli term meänkieli, from meän kieli (“our language”).

The County Board of Education worked out simple textbooks in Meänkieli and started to promote the vernacular in mother tongue instruction (henceforth MTI). Meänkieli was perceived as a bridge between Swedish and St Fi.

2006, Robert B. Kaplan, Richard B. Baldauf, Language Planning and Policy in Europe, →ISBN, page 242:

The Tornedalians call their speech meän kieli ("our language"). Meänkieli was banned from schools until 1992 (see Huss 1999, 80ff. for an historical outline). Since then, the Tornedalians' mother tongue has been taught alongside Swedish. The Meänkieli, however, is not often used in writing outside the schools.

2005, Ulrich Ammon, Sociolinguistics: An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society, Language Arts & Disciplines, →ISBN, page 1547:

A language spoken by some 40,000–70,000 people mainly in Northern Sweden. It is a variant of Finnish with a structure and grammar similar to Finnish, but the vocabulary considerably influenced by Swedish.

托爾訥河谷芬蘭語 /托尔讷河谷芬兰语

Finnic language spoken in northern Sweden


Kven

A language spoken by a few thousand people in Northern Norway. It is a variant of Finnish with a structure and grammar similar to Finnish, but the vocabulary considerably influenced by Norwegian.


Ihitha

From Hindi [Term?], from Sanskrit [Term?] Iha (world or earth) and 'Hitha' ("who does Good, favor").

A female given name from Hindi used in India, meaning a goddess who does good for all creatures in the world.


Imtenan

From Arabic إِمْتِنَان (ʔimtinān, “gratitude”).


Jolly

* Cognate to the French name Jolie. It derives from the Old French word joli (merriness).
* In Punjab (India) it is a corruption of the word jalli.


Malika

A female given name from Arabic, the female version of the title Malik ("King" in Arabic).


Rappai

Christians coined this word from the name of Saint Raphael.

Rappai says he has other things to worry about apart from food.... Rappai - the man with the giant appetite - has been warned by medics to curb his food intake.

2006. BBCNews, UK, 25 July 2006, India's 'Monster Eater' Retires http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5213238.stm

A male given name from Malayalam used in India.


Hughie

From Hugh + -ie. Regarding rain, various etymologies have been proposed; see Send 'er down, Hughie!.

A diminutive of the male given name Hugh.


Hail Mary

en-noun

Hail Mary (plural Hail Marys or Hail Maries)

Hail Marys (plural)
Hail Maries (plural)

From Middle English Heil Marie. The extended figurative sense alludes to the notion of saying a prayer that the action will succeed.

“What did the priest, and all of you, keep on saying when we first went in?” / “Our Fathers, Hail Maries, and Glorias; couldn’t you hear?” asked Emily, laughing. / “No, I should think not, you rattled on so fast- What are Hail Maries and Glorias?” / “The Gloria you know well enough, my dear, because you say it in your church at the end of every psalm,” replied Miss Horton; “the Hail Mary is a prayer to our Blessed Lady,” and she repeated it.

1872, F. A., chapter V, in Marion Howard; or Trials and Triumphs, Philadelphia: Peter F. Cunningham, […], page 100:

And if I say ten Hail Marys / Leave a light on in Heaven for me

1987, Gary Clark (lyrics and music), “Mary's Prayer”, performed by Danny Wilson:

(Christianity) A prayer, of established or conventional wording, calling for the intercession of the Virgin Mary.


Floyd

en-prop

Floyd (countable and uncountable, plural Floyds)

Anglicisation of the Welsh name Lloyd, from Welsh llwyd (“grey, grey-haired”).

After years of thinking it over, Floyd Corkins finally had a plan.

2013 February 6, Carol Cratty and Michael Pearson, “DC shooter wanted to kill as many as possible, prosecutors say”, in CNN:

A male given name transferred from the surname, variant of Lloyd, today particularly common among African Americans.


Sakha

Borrowed from Russian саха́ (saxá), from Yakut саха (saqa), from Proto-Turkic *yaka (“edge; collar”).


Sakha

Borrowed from Russian Саха́ (Saxá), from Yakut Саха (Saqa), from Proto-Turkic *jaka (“edge; collar”).

A geographical region located in North Asia which is inhabited dominantly by the Sakha people.


Yakut

From Russian яку́т (jakút), from Proto-Turkic *yaka (“collar; edge”). Related to Yakut саха (saqa) via earlier *čaqa < *ǰaqa. Compare Turkish yaka (“collar”). The ending -ут possibly contains the Mongol plural suffix; compare Buryat яхад (jaxad, “Yakuts”).

One of a Siberian people who speak a Turkic language, and live in the Lena river basin.


Egyptian Arabic

The dialect of Modern Arabic spoken in Egypt, considered as a dialect continuum.

埃及阿拉伯語 /埃及阿拉伯语

Āijí Ālābó yǔ


Aubrey

From Middle English Aubrey, Aubry, from Norman Auberi, Alberi, from Latin Alberīcus, Latinized form of Old High German Alberich, from Proto-Germanic *Albirīks, from *albiz (“elf, fairy”) + *rīks (“king, ruler”). Possibly influenced by Gaulish Albiorīx (literally "ruler of the world").
Cognates include German Alberich and Italian Alberico.

compound

Aubreigh (alternative)
Awbrey (alternative)

Call him my king, by whose injurious doom / My elder brother, the Lord Aubrey Vere, / Was done to death?

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

A male given name from the Germanic languages or transferred from the surname.

A female given name transferred from the surname, of 1970s and later American usage.


Carmen

From Spanish Carmen, cognate with English Carmel. Made famous outside Spain by the opera Carmen (1875) by Georges Bizet. The male name is from Italian Carmine.

Not all of them looked "Spanish", but, no doubt, all of them were Spanish, even the blue-eyed, white, sylph-like creature, dressed in pale blue and white, who looked much more like a Murillo Madonna than like Carmen, but who danced like a Carmen, with a lithe, luring body entirely without stays[...]

1914, Keith Clark, The Spell of Spain, The Page Company, published 1914, page 223:

"But your Mom won," Carmen said, "and named you after a movie star. Moms get away with murder. Mine, you probably think, named me after the girl in the opera."
"Tell you the truth," Wayne said, "I never thought about it."
"She didn't. She named me after Guy Lombardo's brother, Carmen Lombardo, he sang with the band.

1988, Elmore Leonard, Killshot, Arbor House, published 1989, →ISBN, page 145:

A female given name from Spanish in the nineteenth century.

(dated, rare) A male given name from Italian.


Elinor

A female given name, variant of Eleanor.


Rosamund

Of Germanic origin (probably Frankish via French Rosemonde or Lombardic via Italian Rosmunda), from Proto-Germanic *hrussą (“horse”) and *mundō (“protection”). By medieval folk etymology interpreted as Latin rosa munda (“pure rose”) or rosa mundī (“rose of the world”) in reference to the Virgin Mary.

Rosamond (alternative)
Rosamunde (alternative)

Cooks of any seniority were always 'Mrs'. Housemaids and parlourmaids were supposed to have 'suitable' names - e.g. Jane, Mary, Edith, etc. Such names as Violet, Muriel, Rosamund and so on were not considered suitable, and the girl was told firmly, 'Whilst you are in my service you will be called "Mary"'.

1977, Agatha Christie, An Autobiography, HarperCollins, published 2011, →ISBN, page 31:

A female given name from the Germanic languages.


Howie

A diminutive of the male given name Howard.


Olwen

[…] her daughter, posthumous child of Gil, to my astonishment christened in St. Aidan's with the name Marion (given by her godmother, a broadcaster friend of Esme) and Olwen (given by me as godfather, who thought Nuala's granddaughter should have a good Celtic name to sustain her through life). To my surprise and pleasure, it was Olwen that Esme chose to use when speaking of, and to, the baby - though she showed an unhappy tendency to shorten it to Ollie, in spite of my protests that this brought to mind not a stately princess, but the fat man in the Laurel and Hardy comedy series.

1994, Robertson Davies, The Cunning Man, Viking, published 1995, →ISBN:

A female given name from Welsh from Welsh legend, specifically The Mabinogion.


Bronwen

Bronwen Wallace, b. 1945


Gwendolen

From Welsh gwen (“white, fair, blessed”) + dolen (“ring, bow, hair, brow”).


Gareth

Of Old Welsh origin and cognate with the Welsh name Geraint (from Latin Gerontius (“old man”), from Ancient Greek γέρων (gérōn, “old man”)) or perhaps the word gwareddawg, gwaredd (“gentleness”); see gwâr (“gentle”).

The last tall son of Lot and Bellicent,
And tallest, Gareth, in a showerful spring,
Stared at the spate.

1872, Alfred Tennyson, Gareth and Lynette:

A male given name from Welsh of Welsh origin; name of a knight in the Arthurian romance.


Liam

From Irish Liam, a clipping of Uilliam, itself from English William.

Tall. Glasses. Wearing this yellow hoodie. - - - Liam. I'm pretty sure that's his name. Like, ninety-percent sure. I think it suits him. Liam. The kind of name you never normally hear outside a novel or a movie or whatever.

2003, Alasdair Duncan, Sushi Central, University of Queensland Press, →ISBN, page 43:

A male given name from Irish, currently popular in Ireland, England, Scotland, and the United States.


Livy

A diminutive of the female given name Olivia.


Javier

Argentina has come out of a deep recession in a major victory for the country’s unorthodox President Javier Milei, who has spent the past year enacting sweeping — and painful — reforms in Latin America’s third-largest economy.

2024 December 17, Hanna Ziady, “Argentina exits recession in win for libertarian president Milei”, in CNN:


Ayush

From the Sanskrit phrase आयुष्मान्भव (āyuṣmānbhava) in the Mahabharata, meaning "live long".

A male given name from India, of Indian usage.


Delilah

Borrowed from Hebrew דְּלִילָה (d'līla, “[she who] weakened”).

bor

"Leila!" she said enigmatically. "Have you seen her?" / "I went to her flat last week with Dad—he likes her." / "Delilah is her real name, you know. All men like her. And Captain Fort is her lover."

1919 October, John Galsworthy, chapter I, in Saint’s Progress, London: William Heinemann, published December 1919, →OCLC, part III, 1 §, page 220:

A female given name from Hebrew of Biblical origin.


Dangme

A Niger-Congo language spoken in southeastern Ghana.


Mohammad

A male given name from Arabic: alternative spelling of Muhammad


Chanti

A male given name from India. A common nickname in Andhra Pradesh, India.


Yapese

The Austronesian language spoken in the Federated States of Micronesia, especially by the inhabitants of Yap.


Kimberley

English place name "wood or clearing of Kyneburga (a seventh century female saint)", from Old English cyne- (“royal”) + burh (“fortress”) + lēah (“leigh, clearing”).

A male given name transferred from the surname or place name (site of a battle in the Boer Wars).

It will take some getting used to, a husband named Kim. She has known girls named Kim since she was a squirt in a sunsuit. Quite a few really. Kimberleys and plain Kims.

1991, Don DeLillo, Mao II, Viking, →ISBN, page 16:

A female given name transferred from the surname, variant of Kimberly, popular in the 1960s and the 1970s.


Kimmy

A diminutive of the female given names Kimberley or Kimberly.


Scottie

A diminutive of the male given name Scott.


Stewie

A diminutive of the male given name Stewart.


Matty

A diminutive of the male given name Matthew.

Tilly's name is Matilda. It was typical of Mum and Dad that they wouldn't let her be called Tilly when she came to them because that was the unusual shortening of Matilda, the unconventional one, and you never did unconventional things, you never did things to draw attention to yourself. So they called her Matty. Of course, they hardly ever called her anything, but when they had to, it was Matty.

1990, Barbara Vine, Gallowglass, Curley Pub, published 1991, →ISBN, page 24:

A diminutive of the female given names Matilda or Martha, variant of Mattie.


Bernie

* (male): From Bernard + -ie.
* (female): From Bernadette + -ie or Bernice + -ie.

A similar arrangement was made for her son Bernard, named in honor of the great Carthusian mystic (at least, that is what Jim Gaffney would softly tell Mrs. Kozinski) and of Bernie Astor, the publicist.

1992, Thomas Keneally, Woman of the Inner Sea, Plume, published 1994, →ISBN, pages 18–19:

A diminutive of the male given name Bernard, also used as a formal given name.

To catch a nearer view of the coming ship, now much larger than the mere speck it had at first appeared, little Bernice, or Bernie, as she was most lovingly called at home, had moved far in advance of her mother, till now she stood quite near to the edge of the wharf.

1864 Mary Andrews Denison, Out of Prison, Graves and Young (1864), pages 21-22

A diminutive of the female given names Bernice or Bernadette.


Benji

His full name is Benji Duncan Geoffrey Rigby-Monk. 'You're joking,' Kit said, when I first told him. 'Benji? Not even Benjamin?' Duncan and Geoffrey are his two granddads'names ― both unglamorous and old-dufferish, in Kit's view, and not worth inflicting on a new generation ― and Rigby-Monk is a fusion of Fran's surname and Anton's. 'As far as I'm concerned, he's Benjamin Rigby,' said Kit, after the first time we met him. 'He seems like a decent baby and he deserves a decent name.

2011, Sophie Hannah, Lasting Damage, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, pages 77–78:

A diminutive of the male given name Benjamin.


Chrissie

Chrissy (alternative)
Crissie (alternative)
Crissy (alternative)

A diminutive of the female given names Christina or Christine, sometimes also used as a formal given name


Donny

A male given name; diminutive of Don, Donald, Donovan, Adonis


Coptic

The Afroasiatic language traditionally spoken by the Copts in Egypt, now extinct and used only as a liturgical language.


Ambai

An Austronesian language spoken in Indonesian New Guinea.


Adyghe

/ˈɑː.dɪ.ɡeɪ/

Adigei (alternative)
Adighe (alternative)
Adygei (alternative)

A Northwest Caucasian language spoken in the Republic of Adygea, in the Russian Federation.


Circassian

Adyghe language
Kabardian language
Ubykh language

A North Caucasian language group spoken in Circassia in North West Caucasus Russia.


Adzera

Acira (alternative)
Atsera (alternative)
Atzera (alternative)
Azera (alternative)

An Oceanic Austronesian language spoken in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea.

SIL International split the ISO 639-3 classification into three separate languages: Adzera


Agul

A language primarily spoken by the Aghul people in Russian Dagestan and in Azerbaijan.


Niger-Congo

Congo River
Joseph Greenberg
Niger River
Niger-Congo languages

Coined in the 1950s by Joseph Greenberg, from the name of the two principal rivers in the area this language family is spoken, the Niger River and the Congo River.

(linguistics) A major language family of sub-Saharan Africa noted for the use of a noun class system.


long s

long s's (plural)
long ess (alternative)

An instance lately occurred of a work so divided (a prayer-book), where the first part was printed with long s’s, and the last part with round, independent of other deviations;

1824, J[ohn] Johnson, Typographia, or the Printers’ Instructor: […], volume II, London: […] Messrs. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green, […], page 27:

The Bible itself was quite unknown ground until I was ten and stumbled upon the Apocrypha in an old edition of the Bible printed with long s’s and beautiful early type.

1914, Una Hunt, Una Mary: The Inner Life of a Child, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, page 43:

He liked me to come into his dressing-room to talk to him while he lathered his face, and I remembered the lie I told him when he asked me if I had used the top of his silver shaving-pot to knock in a nail, and the day when he asked me to read him Burke’s speeches aloud in an edition printed with long s’s.

1914, George Moore, ‘Hail and Farewell!’: Vale, London: William Heinemann, page 311:

The ſ character, as distinct from the short s (which is the s character).


short s

short s's (plural)
short ess (alternative)

Coordinate term: long s

Most of it was in modern face of a bad cut, small pica size; the apocrypha was in long primer, old style face, although having short s’s, but the peculiarity was that one signature in the Psalms was in old style with long s’s.

1888 November, The American Bookmaker: A Journal of Technical Art and Information, […], volume VII, number 5, New York, N.Y.: Howard Lockwood & Co., […], page 146:

The following changes have silently been made: long s’s have been changed to short s’s;

2004, Richard-Gabriel Rummonds, “Preface”, in Nineteenth-Century Printing Practices and the Iron Handpress, Oak Knoll Press, page xxxiii:

The s character, as distinct from the long s — the ſ character.


Nash

en-proper noun

Nash (countable and uncountable, plural Nashes)

(countable) A male given name transferred from the surname, of modern America usage.


Len

A diminutive of the male given name Leonard.

Лена Лена#Russian

(•colloquial, •vocative single) A transliteration of the Russian female given name diminutive Лена (Lena)


Marietta

A female given name from Italian, an Italian diminutive of Maria.


Wu

Romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 吳 /吴 (Wú). Doublet of O.

Linguists say the Wu dialect widely spoken in Shanghai, to take one prominent example, shares only about 31 percent lexical similarity with Mandarin, or roughly the same as English and French.
The encounter at the Datian market began when the dumpling seller approached the foreigner with a phrase that sounded like "goodbye" in the Wu dialect. Knowing it must mean something else, the foreigner guessed she was asking his name, and provided it, producing a laugh from the woman who explained, switching to Mandarin, that she had asked if he had eaten lately.

2005 July 10, Howard W. French, “Uniting China to Speak Mandarin, the One Official Language: Easier Said Than Done”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-05-10, World:

A historic and cultural region of China around the mouth of the Yangtze River, whence:

The family of Chinese languages spoken in that region, including Shanghainese and Suzhounese, the second-most spoken family after Mandarin.

وُو

one of the families of the Chinese language


Wu

Romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 武 (Wǔ, “war, warrior, warlike”).

(historical) An epithet of numerous kings and emperors in Chinese history who were honored with variants of the posthumous name Wuwang or Wudi.


Wu

Romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 烏 /乌 (Wū or Wù, “crow, raven, black”).


Wu

Romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 巫 (Wū or Wú, “shaman, sorceror, witch”).


Wu

The romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of various other Chinese surnames: 伍 (Wǔ), 仵 (Wǔ), 鄔／邬 (Wū).


Javan

Belonging to, or descended from, its Javanese main people and its culture


Javan

An inhabitant of the Indonesian island Java

A member or descendant of Java's main, Javanese ethno-linguistic group, by far the largest in Indonesia


Javan

From Hebrew יוון / יָוָן (yaván), identified with Greece.

he-m

יוון / יָוָן (yaván)


Okinawan

/ˌɒkiːˈnɑːwən/

/ˌəʊkiːˈnɑːwən/


wine-whine merger

en-noun

wine-whine merger (plural wine-whine mergers)

/wəinˈʍəin ˌmɛɾdʒəɾ/

As was the case with the wine–whine merger, date from the early twentieth century show that southeastern Pennsylvania was subject to patterns of variation in pronunciation.

2016, Mark L. Louden, Pennsylvania Dutch: The Story of an American Language, page 228:

Chambers (2002) graphs the trajectory of the wine-whine''' merger in four reigions preserving ʍ.

2019, Keiko Bridwell, “Previous Research on the Wine-Whine''' Merger”, in The Distribution of ʍ, page 7:

In Scottish English, the so-called wine-whine''' merger did not take place, in which historical Old and Middle English /hw/ was replaced by /w/[.]

2021, Zeyu Li, “The Distribution of /w/ and /ʍ/”, in Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory:

(phonology) A merger in which [ʍ] (the voiceless sound heard at the beginning of the word whine in a Scottish accent or several accents in the United States) becomes [w] (the sound heard at the beginning of the word wine); in accents where this merger occurs, whine and wine are homophones.


Toraja-Sa'dan

An unwritten South Sulawesi language spoken in southwestern Sulawesi Island in Indonesia.


cross-bench

cross-benches (plural)
crossbench (alternative)

(UK politics) A bench placed perpendicular to others, especially certain such benches in the House of Lords on which independent or neutral members traditionally sit.


cross-bench

en-adj

cross-bench (comparative more cross-bench, superlative most cross-bench)

more cross-bench (comparative)
most cross-bench (superlative)
crossbench (alternative)

(UK politics) Of or pertaining to the cross-benches in the UK houses of parliament.


Umbrian

Relating to Umbria or to its inhabitants or extinct language.

umbre

relating to Umbria or to its inhabitants or extinct language


Cairene

From Latin Cairenus, from Cairo + -nus (“-ene: forming related nouns”). Equivalent to Cairo + -ene.


Maia

A female given name from Latin of recent usage.


Jolene

A blend of the element Jo... in common anglicized forms of various Hebrew names and the ending ...lene shared by the German names Helene and Magdalene. Cognate with Charlene, Darlene, and Marlene, which were constructed in similar manner from the names Charles, darling, and Maria.

Joleen (alternative)
Jo (alternative)
Joe (alternative)

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him just because you can...

A female given name originating as a coinage.


kasra

Borrowed from Arabic كَسْرَة (kasra, “a breaking”), instance noun of the verb كَسَرَ (kasara, “to break”).

In Arabic script, the vowel point for "i", appearing as a small diagonal line placed below a letter ( ـِ ) and designating a short i /i/. If the Arabic letter ي (yāʔ) immediately follows, it indicates a long ī /iː/.

كَسْرَة

in the Arabic script, the vowel point for "i" (kasra)


gentilic

From Latin gentilis (“of a clan or gens”) + English suffix -ic.

Vito Corleone? What kind of name is Corleone? A gentilic?

A personal name derived from a place name.


backwoodsman

(informal, UK politics) A Peer who is seldom present in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom Parliament, who may be encouraged to attend when a very important vote is expected.


Hick

Rhyming nickname for Rick, pet form of Richard.

(rare today) A diminutive of the male given name Richard.


Yoselyn

A female given name from the Germanic languages, a modern variant of Jocelyn, by folk etymology interpreted as a feminine form of Jose/José.


Shahab

From Persian شهاب (šahâb, literally “meteor”), from Arabic شِهَاب (šihāb).

bor

شهاب شهاب#Persian

A transliteration of the Persian male given name شهاب (šahâb).


Tungusic

A language family spoken in Inner Mongolia and parts of Siberia.

тунгусо-маньчжурські_мови


Mixtec

Mixtecs (plural)
Mixtec (plural)
Mistec (alternative)

Borrowed from Spanish mixteco, alteration of mixteca, from Classical Nahuatl mixtēcah (“Mixtecs”, plural).

der

A member of a Mesoamerican people who live primarily in southern Mexico.


Mixtec

en-adj

Mixtec (comparative more Mixtec, superlative most Mixtec)

more Mixtec (comparative)
most Mixtec (superlative)
Mistec (alternative)

Relating to the Mixtecs or their language.


Mixtec

The language or language family of this people.


Baker Street

She was looking more like Sherlock Holmes than ever. Slap a dressing-gown on her and give her a violin, and she could have walked straight into Baker Street and no questions asked.

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XX, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

A street in the City of Westminster, London; the fictional home of Sherlock Holmes was at number 221B.


Atlantean

1940, WHD Rouse, trans. of Nonnus, Dionysiaca
I [Elektra] shall pass from the earth to the stars’ Atlantean vault, and dwell in heaven

(figuratively) Of the celestial spheres carried by Atlas


Atlantean

How Atlantean sounded or how the various alphabets worked is anyone's guess, of course, but since there is a certain logic to how language is constructed, we might allow that theirs may not have been so different from our own.

2008, J. Allan Danelek, Atlantis: Lessons from the Lost Continent:

The language supposedly spoken by the inhabitants of Atlantis.

Indeed, Okrand's goal in inventing Atlantean was to recreate Indo-European, and it thus borrows from several languages yet contains no recognizable words from these linguistic systems.

2006, Tim Conley, Stephen Cain, Encyclopedia of Fictional and Fantastic Languages:

A constructed language invented for the 2001 animated film Atlantis: The Lost Empire.


Sini

A female given name from Malayalam, meaning “a fair-skinned girl”, of Indian usage.


Ella

en-proper noun

Ella (countable and uncountable, plural Ellas)

A 19th-century shortening of Eleanor or Ellen, later also used for any name ending in -ella, such as Gabriella or Daniella. Similar abbreviations have been formed independently in many European languages, for any name containing the syllable -el-, e.g. Elisabeth.

A female given name.
Clipping of Gabriella or Daniella.

She was named Ella Lorena, Ella for her grandmother Ellen, and Lorena because it was the most fashionable name of the day for girls […]

1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, chapter XLII, in Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1944, →OCLC:


Pennsylvania Avenue

A street in Washington, D.C., that runs between the White House and the United States Capitol.


Crimean Tatar

A Turkic language of Crimea (Ukraine), Turkey, Romania, Russia, Bulgaria and Uzbekistan.

克里米亞韃靼語 /克里米亚鞑靼语

Kèlǐmǐyà Dádáyǔ


Aari

2008 SIL International split out Gayil as a separate language and gave Aari the new code aiw


Aklanon

An Austronesian (Visayan) language spoken in the Philippines.


Akawaio

A northern Carib language spoken in Guyana.


Awabakal

Awaba (alternative)
Awabagal (alternative)

The extinct Pama-Nyungan Australian Aboriginal suffixing language, within the Yuin-Kuric group, formerly spoken by these people.


Amaimon

The Papuan language spoken by these people.


Britney

A female given name transferred from the place name, variant of Brittany.


Kassandra

A female given name from Ancient Greek, a rare spelling variant (or alternate transliteration) of Cassandra.


Ansus

An Austronesian language spoken in Indonesian New Guinea.


Travis

From an Old French word meaning "to cross over," related to traverse. Probably a name for a gatekeeper or the toll collector of a bridge.

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Amto

A Papuan language spoken in Sandaun Province of Papua New Guinea.


Antakarinya

Western Desert language
Western Desert language

A Pama-Nyungan Australian Aboriginal language spoken in the Oodnadatta region of South Australia; a major dialect of the Western Desert language group.


Plains Apache

The now-extinct Southern Athabascan language spoken by the Plains Apache people.


Sumatran

From, or pertaining to, the island of Sumatra


Mende

A large West African ethnic group, speakers of the Mende language, living primarily in Sierra Leone and Liberia.


Umbundu

A Bantu language spoken by the Ovimbundu people in the central highlands of Angola.


Kanuri

A Nilo-Saharan language spoken in Niger, Nigeria, and Chad.


Arawak

From Kari'na Aruwako, from the name in Lokono.

Another people, the Surinen, lived near the coast. Like the Arawaks and the Caribs, they had migrated northward into Suriname. The Arawak and Carib peoples greatly outnumbered the Surinen. The Surinen were disappearing by the late 1400s.

2009 January 8, Thomas Streissguth, Suriname in Pictures, →ISBN, page 20:

A member of an Amerindian people who lived in the region of the Caribbean when the Spanish arrived in America.


Arawak

A Caribbean language belonging to this group.


Suzi

Susie (alternative)
Susy (alternative)
Suzie (alternative)
Suzy (alternative)

A diminutive of Susan and of related female given names.


Makua

A group of Bantu languages spoken in Mozambique and neighboring regions.


Makhuwa

A Bantu language spoken by about 2.5 million people in Mozambique and neighboring regions.


Makhuwa-Meetto

A Bantu language spoken by more than one million people in Mozambique and Tanzania.


Makhuwa-Shirima

A Bantu language spoken by half a million people in Mozambique.


tribelet

From tribe + -let. In use since at least 1925, the term was coined by anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber to refer to hundreds of groups of Native Americans in Central California, and has since been employed by many anthropologists to denote California groups of native people.

Kroeber’s emphasis on the small scale of indigenous California social organizations led him to attach the diminutive "-let" to the anthropologically normative term "tribe".

1994, Leventhal et. al., Back from Extinction, "The Ohlone: Past and Present Native Americans of the San Francisco Bay Region." Ballena Press Publication, page 299–300

The second feature, dialectic separateness, of course is an old story for California, but elsewhere in the state each idiom is usually common to a considerable number of tribelets or "village communities."

1925, Kroeber, Alfred L. Handbook of the Indians of California. Washington, D.C: Bureau of American Ethnology: Bulletin No. 78, page 474

The larger tribelets usually had several permanent villages.

1978, Richard Levy, “Costanoan”, in Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 8 (California):

Tribelet […] defined a political and geographical unit comprising several units, usually including a principal and most powerful central village, tied by relations of kinship.

1994, Leventhal et. al., ‘’Back from Extinction’’, ibid., page 299-300

A small tribe of Native Americans, especially a small independent group of Native California people who shared a language and usually comprised one principal village, or several in close proximity, plus smaller resource-gathering camps and territories.


QEW

(Canada, initialism) The Queen Elizabeth Way, a heavily-traveled Canadian highway connecting the Peace Bridge at Buffalo, New York to Toronto, Ontario.


Manxman

"Potatoes and herrings, Mr. Christian; just a Manxman’s supper.”

The Manxman is never wise until the day after the fair. (Traditional Manx saying).

2005, John Ayto, Ian Crofton, Brewer's Britain and Ireland, page 587:


Manxwoman

...the rising inflexion in her voice which made the talk of the true Manxwoman the sweetest thing in the world to listen to.


Rebekah

From Hebrew רִבְקָה (Riḇqāh, “enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”).

bor

A female given name from Hebrew, a less-common variant of Rebecca.


Camille

From French Camille (“Camilla”). Doublet of Camilla.

- - - homecoming weekend at Colgate was frat parties like this, wild earsplitting drunken and not for sensitive girls like Camille, even her name was sensitive, delicate, Camille was to Lionel the most beautiful name he'd ever spoken, like music, - - -

2001, Joyce Carol Oates, Middle Age: A Romance, Fourth Estate, published 2002, →ISBN, page 88:


Diann

A female given name from Latin, variant of Diane.


Carthaginian

/ˌkɑɹθəˈd͡ʒɪniən/

/ˌkɑːθəˈd͡ʒɪniən/

Latin carthāginiānus, from Carthāgō + -iānus.


Minnesotan

When he was finished, as such, he was wringing wet, and now he had to edge and shimmy his way back, and with a most woebegone look, and everybody laughing, except the sad blond boy, and the Minnesotans roaring in the cab.

1957, Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Penguin, published 1976, →OCLC, page 29:

[…] while a Minnesotan in her early thirties summed up the general influence of apocalyptic popular culture: “I think it has made me more of a doomer. […]

2015, Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, Peak Oil: Apocalyptic Environmentalism and Libertarian Political Culture, page 114:

A native or resident of the state of Minnesota in the United States of America.


Ontarian

A native or inhabitant of Ontario, Canada


Manitoban

A native or inhabitant of Manitoba, Canada.


Proteas

(cricket) The South African cricket team


Prince Edward Islander

en-noun

Prince Edward Islander (plural Prince Edward Islanders)

Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island

A native or inhabitant of Prince Edward Island, Canada.


Nova Scotian

A native or inhabitant of Nova Scotia, Canada.


New Brunswicker

New Brunswicker (plural New Brunswickers)

A native or inhabitant of New Brunswick, Canada.


Saskatchewanian

A native or inhabitant of the province of Saskatchewan, Canada.


British Columbian

British Columbian (plural British Columbians)

A native or inhabitant of British Columbia, Canada.


Ruben

Rubens (plural)
Rubin (alternative)
Reuben (alternative)

A male given name from Hebrew, variant of Reuben.


Rubin

A male given name from Hebrew, of rather rare usage, variant of Reuben.


Quebecer

Quebecers (plural)
Québecer (alternative)
Québécer (alternative)
Quebecker (alternative)
Québecker (alternative)
Québécker (alternative)

A native or inhabitant of Quebec City, in the province of Quebec.


Quebecker

(Canada) Alternative spelling of Quebecer


Yukoner

A native or inhabitant of the Yukon Territory, Canada.


Graham

Scottish surname originating from a place Grantham in Lincolnshire, possibly from Old English grand (“gravel”) + hām (“homestead”). As a given name, possibly from Old English græghama "grey-coated one" (ie, wolf).

Graeme (alternative)
Grahame (alternative)

Alexander Graham Bell (credited with inventing the first practical telephone; 'Graham' pronounced as /ˈɡɹeɪ.əm/)

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Montrealer

Montrealers (plural)
Montréaler (alternative)

A native or inhabitant of the city of Montreal.


Abigaille

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Abigaille.

(rare) A female given name, variant of Abigail.


Neo-Latin

(chiefly 19th century) Of or relating to the Romance languages.


Olympian

From Late Latin Olympianus (“Olympic”) + English -an (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘of or pertaining to’, or forming agent nouns). Olympianus is derived from Latin Olympia (“town in Elis, Greece, where the ancient Olympic Games were held”) + -ānus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’); and Olympia is from Ancient Greek Ὀλυμπῐ́ᾱ (Olumpĭ́ā, “Olympia”), from Ὀλῠ́μπῐος (Olŭ́mpĭos, “of or pertaining to Mount Olympus; living on Mount Olympus, Olympian; (specifically) Zeus”) or Ὄλῠμπος (Ólŭmpos, “Mount Olympus”) (see further at etymology 1) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns).
As regards noun sense 1 (“inhabitant of the city of Olympia, Washington, United States”), the city was named after the Olympic Mountains which are visible to the northwest, which in turn were named after Mount Olympus in Greece.

олимпиец

sportsperson competing in the ancient or modern Olympic Games

олимпи́йка

rare; generally used to mean a sports sweatshirt with a zip

An inhabitant of the city of Olympia, the capital of Washington, United States.


Mutsun

The extinct language of this people, an Ohlone dialect in the Utian family.


Cybil

A female given name from Ancient Greek. A 20th century spelling variant of Sybil.


Cybill

A 20th-century variant of Sybil or Sibyl.


Sybil

"I beg your pardon," said Egremont blushing; "I was reading your name. I thought I was reading it to myself. Sybil Gerard! What a beautiful name is Sybil!" "My mother's name," said Gerard; "and my grandame's name, and a name I believe that has been about our hearth as long as our race; and that's a very long time indeed," he added smiling, "for we were tall men in King John's reign, as I have heard say."

1845, Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil, Book 3, Chapter 5:

A female given name from Ancient Greek, the most popular spelling variant of Sibyl since the 19th century.


Blairism

(UK politics) The political ideology attributed to the governments of British Prime Minister Tony Blair


Brownism

(UK politics) The political ideology of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.


Brownite

Brownites (plural)
Broonite (alternative)

From Brown + -ite, from the surname of Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister 2007-2010.

(UK politics, informal) A supporter of Gordon Brown, or his economic or political policies


Brownite

(UK politics) Of, or relating to Brownites, or Gordon Brown's government and policies.


Kristina

A modern Scandinavian spelling variant of Christina

"Kristina Castleberry," she told him. "That's Kristina with a K, and Castleberry just like it sounds."

1991, Julie Kistler, Christmas in Toyland, Harlequin Books, published 1991, →ISBN, page 62:

A female given name from Ancient Greek, variant of Christina.

Кристи́на Кристина#Bulgarian

A transliteration of the Bulgarian, Macedonian, or Russian female given name Кристи́на (Kristína)


Ivo

Latinate form of a medieval name of Old French origin, from Proto-Germanic *īhwaz (“yew, bow”). Name of French and English saints. Cognate with modern French Yves.

It was so farcically alien to be called 'Roger' and 'Furnivall' in a place where everybody had names like Ivo and Gito and Madog.

1970, John Wain, A Winter in the Hills, Viking Press, page 45:

A male given name from the Germanic languages.


Quinne

Possibly from Doric Scots, quinne (young woman); though the name may also be a modern feminine version of Quinn.


mentalese

en-noun

mentalese (usually uncountable, plural mentaleses)

mentaleses (plural)
Mentalese (alternative)

From mental + -ese (suffix forming adjectives and nouns describing, among other things, languages).

suffix

The concept of a proposition as something that can be expressed by sentences in both Mentalese and, say, English is an analogical extension of the concept of a proposition as something that can be expressed by sentences in both English and German.

1964 November 12, Wilfrid Sellars, “Notes on Intentionality”, in The Journal of Philosophy, volume LXI, number 21, New York, N.Y.: The Journal of Philosophy, →DOI, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, page 657:

Translationists are said to treat the coding of thoughts in ‘Mentalese’, whose structure is already known, into a natural language, just like translating a natural language, say Russian, in terms of another known language, say English (G 282). Incorporationists point out the circularity of (36b) because Mentalese, supposed to be intrinsically intelligible, is just English or some other variety of a natural language, and the translation maneuver only postpones the problem, [...]

1977, P. G. Patel, “The Left Parieto-temporo-occipital Junction, Semantic Aphasia and Language Development around Age Seven”, in Linguistics: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the Language Sciences, volume 15, number 196, Berlin, New York, N.Y.: Mouton de Gruyter, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 45:

But where does mentalese come from? If it is learned, then what is it related to in the preceding mentaleses? To avoid endless regress, [Jerry] Fodor postulates an internal language that is innate, a claim that he himself calls "horrendous" and "scandalous," yet inescapable.

1979, Gavriel Salomon, “Cultivation of Mental Skills through Symbolic Forms”, in Interaction of Media, Cognition, and Learning: An Exploration of how Symbolic Forms Cultivate Mental Skills and Affect Knowledge Acquisition (Jossey-Bass Social and Behavioral Science Series), San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass Publishers, →ISBN; republished Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1994 (2009 printing), →ISBN, page 121:

[A]re natural languages merely vehicles for the communication of mentalese? Or does language itself play a role in the formation of our thought? The question is called critical, since a positive response to the latter (language does play a role) would call into question the assumption that all meaning is reducible to mentalese.

1990, Patrick de Gramont, “The Problem of Representation”, in Language and the Distortion of Meaning (Psychoanalytic Crosscurrents), New York, N.Y., London: New York University Press, →ISBN, page 53:

One suggestion is that there is a de facto correlation between words or sentences of natural language and expressions of mentalese and between the logical relations among the former and the causal relations among the latter. This is a curious idea. The alleged correlation is not empirically grounded.

1990, Peter A. French, Theodore Edward Uehling, Howard K. Wettstein, editors, The Philosophy of the Human Sciences (Midwest Studies in Philosophy; XV), Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 446:

[I]t is probably misleading to talk about the language of thought, or to talk about ‘Mentalese’, as if it were a single representational system. We should more properly, in the context of a thesis of massive mental modularity, talk about languages of thought, or Mentaleses.

2006, Peter Carruthers, “The Case for Massively Modular Models of Mind”, in The Architecture of the Mind: Massive Modularity and the Flexibility of Thought, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, section 6 (The Argument from Computational Tractability), page 51:

[Jerry] Fodor's position stems from his theory, first articulated in The Language of Thought, that there is a type of internal system of representation contained within the human mind out of which thoughts are formed, similarly to the way sentences are formed out of individual words, a "language" which he refers to as "mentalese." Our concepts are the units out of which mentalese constructs thoughts. [...] Importantly, mentalese must be sufficiently rich to enable us to utilize it to learn the natural language of our birth, and we must have this type of system of representation prior to any development of natural language.

2014, Gabriel Keehn, “Does the Theory of Recollection Preclude Learning?: A New Dimension to Platonic Nativism”, in Chris Higgins, editor, Philosophy of Education, Urbana, Ill.: Philosophy of Education Society; University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2019-03-07, page 161:

(philosophy, psychology) A hypothetical non-verbal language in which concepts are represented in the mind.


Mriganka

Transliteration of Bengali মৃগাঙ্ক (mrigaṅkô).


Mudathir

Mudather (alternative)
Modathir (alternative)


Aarush

A male given name from Hindi, of Indian usage.


Keelin

Borrowed from Irish Caoilfhionn, from caol (“thin, slender”) + fionn (“light, fair”).


Prerna

A female given name from Hindi used in Hindi-speaking nations.


Shem

From Ancient Greek Σήμ (Sḗm), from Hebrew שם (Šēm).

A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.


Japheth

Aelfric of Eynsham
James Tissot
Wycliffe's Bible

From Middle English Jafeth (as attested in Wycliffe's Bible), from Old English Iafeth (see e.g. Aelfric of Eynsham) and Middle French Japhet, both from Late Latin Iaphet, Iafeth, from Koine Greek Ἰάφεθ (Iápheth), from Hebrew יֶפֶת (yépheth). Further origin uncertain; folk etymology as well as rabbinical and patristic claims usually point to a meaning like "enlarged", in reference to Genesis 9:27, or "fair" (pale, in reference to complexion).

Jafeth (alternative)
Japhet (alternative)
Iapheth (alternative)

“If you are not ready, come with me to another beach,” Japheth said anxiously. “I said,” Jed Elliott said flatly, his teeth showing, “that I can take care of myself.” And the tone was too flat. “Would the americano fight?" Don Leon asked."

1957, The Saturday Evening Post Stories:

“I want to see the bear, Japheth,” said a young Crow. Japheth shook his head, said, “I'll take you to Willow Ridge and show you the black bears that live above the Green River when we get back home, Lowell."

2007, James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel, Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology, Tachyon Publications, →ISBN, page 299:

(uncommon) A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.


Susheela

From Sanskrit (meaning "good character").

A female given name from Sanskrit, popular among Hindu women.


Skolt

A member of a small ethnic Sami fraction living in northern Finland and nearby areas of Russia. The Skolts have their own language, Skolt Sami.


Mordred

Alteration of Modred, from Latin Modredus, from Proto-Brythonic *Modrọd (whence Old Breton Modrot, Old Cornish Modred, Old Welsh Medraut), perhaps from Latin Moderātus.

(Arthurian legend) The illegitimate son of King Arthur, who ultimately killed him in battle.

莫德雷德

in Arthurian legend, the son of King Arthur


Maxonian

Coined to identify a group of alumni of King's School, Macclesfield at Oxford University as a blend of Macclesfield + Oxonian, which was then applied to residents of the town in general.

As a fellow Macclesfieldian — or Maxonian as one was inexplicably called — I was fascinated to read the whole factual story of St Peter's Working Men's Institute, whose weekly affairs I used to report, all unknowing, in the days of bicycle clips and wet macs.

1967, New Society, volume 9, numbers 236-248, page 892:

My thanks to my friends Clifford and Pauline Baillie, true Maxonians both, who helped me with local colour and phrases.

1992, Jan Webster, Bluebell Blue, page viii:

One born-and-bred Maxonian, now living around High Street, proffered a cognate observation about the plight of those 'stuck' on Moss Rose

2005, Evi Girling, Crime and Social Change in Middle England: Questions of Order in an English Town:


Enoch

From Late Latin Enoch, from Ancient Greek Ἑνώχ (Henṓkh), from Hebrew חֲנוֹךְ (Ḥănôḵ).

der

Hebrew חֲנוֹךְ (Ḥănôḵ)

There Enoch spoke no word to any one,
 But homeward—home—what home? had he a home?
 His home, he walk'd.

1864, Alfred Tennyson, “Enoch Arden”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 36–37:


Esselen

The name Esselen "probably derived from the name of a major native village", possibly from the village known as Exse'ein, or the place called Eslenes, the site of the Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo. The Spanish extended the term to mean the entire linguistic group (Hester 1978:498-499).

An indigenous population native to the region of Big Sur on the Central Coast of California.


Salinan

The Salinan were named after the Salinas River by Robert Latham first in 1856, and by John Wesley Powell in 1891.


Sarai

From Hebrew שרי (Saráy), from the plural form of שר (“master, chief”).

And Abram tooke Sarai his wife, and Lot his brothers sonne, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the soules that they had gotten in Haran, and they went foorth to goe into the land of Canaan: and into the land of Canaan they came.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 12:5:

A female given name from Hebrew, most famously born by Sarah, the wife of Abram and mother of Isaac in the Bible, prior to her name change


Teuton

PIE word
 *tewtéh₂
Attested since 1720, from Latin Teutonēs, Teutonī (“the Teutons”) (cf. Ancient Greek Τεύτονες (Teútones)), a Germanic or Celtic tribe that inhabited a coastal area in today's Germany and devastated Gaul between 113 and 101 BCE. Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂ (“people”), from which come:
* Proto-Germanic *þeudō (“people”)
** Old English þēod (“nation, people, country, language”), Middle English thede
** Proto-Germanic *þeudanaz (“ruler, leader of the people”)
*** Gothic 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽𐍃 (þiudans, “king”)
*** Old Norse þjóðann (“prince, king”)
*** Old Saxon þiudan (“lord of the people, ruler”)
*** Old English þēoden (“king, lord”)
** Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz (“of the people or tribe”)
*** English Dutch
*** German deutsch
* Proto-Celtic *toutā
** Old Irish túath
* Persian توده (tôda, tude, “heap, masses, people, folk”)
* Proto-Slavic *ťuďь (“foreign, strange”)
** Russian чужо́й (čužój, “stranger”), чудно (čudno, “strange”), чу́до (čúdo, “miracle”)

cog

The difference between the Clergy and the Teuton conquerors was more than a difference of creed, or of civilization. It was an actual difference of race. They were Romans, to whom the Teuton was a savage, speaking a different tongue, obeying different laws, his whole theory of the universe different from the Roman.

1864, Charles Kingsley, The Roman and the Teuton: A Series of Lectures Delivered Before the University of Cambridge, page 220:

We have noted that the Teutonic layer of European barbarians, unlike the Celtic layer, resisted the disintegrating action of Hellenism to such effect that the Teutons were able to take their place in the external proletariat of the Hellenic World and to dispatch the Hellenic Society in its death agonies with the coup de grâce.

1946, Arnold Joseph Toynbee, A Study of History, volume 1, page 153:

Some fifteen hundred years ago, the Teuton tribes of Northern Europe held an annual ceremony.[…]We can't presume to understand all that this specific ritual meant to the Teutons nor precisely what their expectations might have been.

2007, Judika Illes, Pure Magic: A Complete Course in Spellcasting, page 8:

What he imagined the social order and the experience of the Teutons actually to have been, and why this lost world should represent an ideal, is, it must be said, hard to discover. His pronouncements on the Teutons of the Dark Ages are decidedly sparse.

2012, Peter Longerich, Heinrich Himmler: A Life, page 271:

(historical) A member of an early Germanic tribe living in Jutland noted in historical writings by Greek and Roman authors.

The third threat, from the Teutonic Knights of Germany, was the worst, because the Crusader Teutons wanted not only Russian land but also to kill off the people of Russia because they were a different kind of Christian from them!

2008, K. M. Lucchese, Folk Like Me: The Read-Aloud Book of Saints, page 51:

Its garrison consisted of the Templars and Hospitalliers, the knights of Cyprus, Teutons, French, English, Pizzan, Venetian, and Genoan mercenaries.[…]On the following day the New Tower of the city, which was defended by the Teuton knights, was taken by assault.

2009, Kadir I. Natho, Circassian History, page 177:

(historical) A member of the Teutonic Order.

In the first place, a prolonged struggle in the North Temperate Zone, with a harsh, though not a depressing, natural environment, endows the Teuton with unusual energy and initiative. Then centuries of wanderings in which the strong set forth and the weak and timid stay behind, brings the Teuton to the west of Europe, to the British Isles, and to America, with a courage, enterprise, and self-assertion rare in the history of man. The Teuton becomes the Anglo-Saxon, and therewith less apt for the gregarious life.

1901, Edward Alsworth Ross, Social Control: A Survey of the Foundations of Order, published 2009, page 16:

Every Teuton must fall on his face before an inferior Teuton; until they all find, in the foul marshes towards the Baltic, the very lowest of all possible Teutons, and worship him--and find he is a Slav. So much for Pan-Germanism.

1915, G. K. Chesterton, The Crimes of England, published 2008, unnumbered page:

The history of the Teutons, or Germans, as they are more commonly called, is very much like that of the Bantu in central Africa.

1976, Harry R. Boer, A Short History of the Early Church, page 122:

A member of any Germanic-language-speaking people, especially a German.


Teuton

en-adj

Teuton (comparative more Teuton, superlative most Teuton)

more Teuton (comparative)
most Teuton (superlative)

While some families of the oldest Welsh stocks talk English only, a large number, whose forefathers were Teuton, Norse, or Irish, now converse in Cymraeg.

1881, James Bonwick, “Preface”, in Who Are the Welsh? (Our Nationalities; III), London: David Bogue, […], pages iii–iv:

Had the Jews been so fixed a type, by this time their offspring would have been more numerous than the Chinese. The reverse, however, is the case; and therefore, we may suppose they must have become extinct, had it not been for fresh supplies of Saxon, Teuton, Spanish, and Italian blood.

1886 December 18, Richard Jefferies, “Just Before Winter”, in R[obert] Chambers (Secundus), editor, Chambers’s Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, fifth series, volume III, number 155, London, Edinburgh: W[illiam] & R[obert] Chambers, page 803, column 2:

While the social system could thus be improved, [G. Stanley] Hall knew that heredity was more important. He argued that a pound of heredity was “worth a hundredweight of education.” It was necessary to pay attention to better breeding: “The nation that breeds best, be it Mongol, Slav, Teuton or Saxon, will rule the world in the future.”

1986, Clarence J. Karier, Scientists of the Mind: Intellectual Founders of Modern Psychology, Urbana, Ill., Chicago, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, →ISBN, page 183:


Yolanda

From Spanish Yolanda, the form of a medieval royal name of obscure, probably Germanic, origin. It has been identified with Latin Violante and Ancient Greek ἴον (íon, “violet”) + ἄνθος (ánthos, “flower”).

I chose the name Yolanda Denise, but my husband had reservations about it. He questioned whether people would call her Yolanda or mispronounce the name. He was right. Her name is so frequently mispronounced that it bothers her. There is a tendency among middle-class Negroes to give their children unusual names. Perhaps they are seeking elegance or some special identification. I fell victim to this custom, rather than following the sensible practice of naming the baby after a member of the family.

1969, Coretta Scott King, My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, page 107:


Yvette

Borrowed from French Yvette. The politics sense is a reference to the name of a docile young girl in a school textbook, and was popularized by separatist politician Lise Payette (1931–2018).

A female given name from French borrowed from French in the nineteenth century.


Gwendolyn

Faith read the name of the addressee, "Gwendolyn Zabel. That's a lovely old name."

2009, Karin Slaughter, Genesis, Century, →ISBN, page 108:

A female given name from Welsh, variant of Gwendolen.


Billie

A male or female given name from the Germanic languages derived from Bill, the diminutive of William.


Winnifred

A female given name from Welsh, variant of Winifred.


Vivienne

A female given name from Latin borrowed from French, a variant of Vivian.


Tabitha

From Aramaic טביתא (Ṭabītā’, “doe, roe, gazelle”), translated as Dorcas in the Bible.

uder

A female given name from Aramaic of biblical origin.


Tamera

A female given name from Hebrew, a rare nonstandard spelling variant of Tamara, popularized by actress Tamera Mowry in the 1990s.


Martine

A female given name, masculine equivalent Martin, equivalent to English Martina.


Patrice

20th century variant of Patricia, probably borrowed from the French male given name Patrice.


Selma

en-proper noun

Selma (countable and uncountable, plural Selmas)

Taken to use in the 19th century when similar-sounding names, Elma, Thelma, Alma, Wilma, etc. were in vogue. Perhaps a shortening of Anselma, or from the name of a place in the James Macpherson's Ossian cycle of epic poems, itself from Scottish Gaelic sealladh + math (“good vision”). In some cases perhaps borrowed from Turkish Selma, from Arabic سَلْمَى (salmā).


Diviya

From Sanskrit दिव्या (divyā́), feminine of दिव्य (divyá, “divine, heavenly”).


Wilf

A male given name, diminutive of Wilfred.


Carolyn

He never called me "Carolyn" until long after I'd stopped studying with him. It was always "Caroline", as in his Jardin aux Lilas. When at Juilliard he first learned my name, he snorted "How affected!" I was surprised. "Carolyn" affected? "Caroline" not? I'd always thought it was the other way around.

2007, Carolyn Brown, Chance and Circumstance: Twenty Years with Cage and Cunningham, →ISBN, page 101:

A female given name from the Germanic languages, a variant of Caroline used since the 19th century.


Jeffery

A male given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Geoffrey.


Cindy

Shortened from Lucinda and Cinderella. In the 20th century adopted as a pet form of Cynthia.

Cindi (alternative)
Cindie (alternative)
Cyndi (alternative)
Cyndie (alternative)
Cyndy (alternative)

Cindy came in lugging my trunk, assisted by an elderly servant-woman - - - ["]You may go, Tabitha, to your spinning, and you, Lucinda, bring up a pitcher of water for Miss Mary," said Mrs. Hardinge.

1849, Godey's Magazine, volume 39, page 55:

Now, you must know that Cinderella had a godmother, - - - . The little old lady sat down upon a small log of wood on the opposite side, and said ,― "Why, Cindy, my darling, you have been crying?"

1870, George Cruikshank, George Cruikshank's Fairy Library, page 10:

Her twin daughters were on the playground equipment. Cynthia and Melinda, reduced to Cindy and Mindy, as Carella had dreaded would happen from the moment she named them.

1999, Ed McBain, The Big Bad City, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 139:

'Cindy sounds nice.' 'She is.' 'Is that her real name? Like the doll?' 'Aye, but with a C. C-I-N-D-Y.' 'Isn't that how the doll's spelled?' 'No, the doll has an S.'

2010, James Robertson, And the Land Lay Still, Hamish Hamilton, →ISBN, page 95:

A diminutive of the female given name Cynthia and Lucinda; also used as a formal female given name.


Debra

A spelling variant of Deborah first used in the 20th century.

"She's Debra Jean," the children shouted in chorus. "We decided last night with Daddy." - - - So her name is Debbie, I thought to myself. With a pretty name and a family to love her this baby has to make it.

1966, Marilyn M. Segal, Run Away, Little Girl, Random House, page 6:

A female given name from Hebrew popular in the 1950s and the 1960s.


Fannie

A diminutive of Frances, also used as a formal female given name.


Sadie

We are some of the sales-ladies -
Minnies, Mamies, Susies, Sadies -
From the famous house whose trade is
The distinction and the glory
Of all modern retail story.

1888, William Dean Howells, A Sea-change, Ticknor and company, published 1888, page 34:

A diminutive of the female given name Sarah. Also a popular formal given name in the 19th century.


aq

(physical chemistry) Abbreviation of aqueous solution.


Penutian

A proposed grouping of language families that includes many Native American languages of western North America, predominantly spoken at one time in Washington, Oregon, and California.


Hephzibah

From Biblical Hebrew חֶפְצִי־בָהּ (ḥep̄ṣî-ḇāh, “my delight is in her”).

Thou shalt no more bee termed, Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed, Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land, Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shalbe maried.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 62:4:

"My mother's name was Hephzibah," said Silas, "and my little sister was named after her."

1861, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XIV, in Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, part I, page 250:

"Well, anyhow," she chuckled, "you can be glad it isn't Hephzibah." "Hephzibah!" "Yes. Mrs White's name is that. Her husband calls her 'Hep', and she doesn't like it. She says when he calls out 'Hep - Hep!' she feels as if the next minute he was going to yell,'Hurrah!'"

1913, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter 7, in Pollyanna, L.C. Page, →OCLC:

(now rare) A female given name from Hebrew of Biblical origin. Used by Puritans in the 17th and 18th century.


Neale

A male given name transferred from the surname.

A male given name transferred from the surname, of rare usage, variant of Neil.


Bay Miwok

A division of the Miwok people, who resided east of the San Francisco Bay.


Coast Miwok

A division of the Miwok people, who resided north of the San Francisco Bay.


Lake Miwok

A division of the Miwok people, who resided in the Clear Lake basin, California.

The Utian (Penutian) language spoken by this people.


Sierra Miwok

The linguistic divisions of Miwok people who resided in the western foothills Sierra Nevada Mountains, California (often sub-divided on maps as Northern Sierra Miwok, Central Sierra Miwok, and Southern Sierra Miwok).


Plains Miwok

A division of the Miwok people, who resided in the general area of modern San Joaquin County and parts of Sacramento Valley, California.


Valley Miwok

The eastern Miwok groups of people native to the Sacramento Valley, comprising the Plains Miwok, Bay Miwok, and Sierra Miwok.


Marin Miwok

A subdivision of the Coast Miwok people, who resided in present-day Marin County, California.


Marin Miwok

The dialect of Coast Miwok language spoken by this people.


Bodega Miwok

A subdivision of the Coast Miwok people, who resided at Bodega Bay, California.


Karkin

The spoken language by this people, an Ohlone dialect in the Utian family.


Tamyen

Tamien (alternative)
Thamien (alternative)

The spoken language of this people, an Ohlone dialect in the Utian family.


Chochenyo

Chocenyo (alternative)
Čočenyo (alternative)
Chocheño (alternative)

The language of this people, an Ohlone dialect in the Utian family.


Ramaytush

From Northern Ohlone Rammay-tuš (“people from the west”), used by the Chochenyo people of the East Bay.


Chalon

One of eight divisions of the Ohlone Native American people of northern California native to the Salinas Valley.


Soledad

A city in Monterey County, California, United States.


Santa Clara

The Spanish named a California Mission Santa Clara de Asís after Saint Clare of Assisi in the late 18th century. Eventually the name was extended by linguists to mean the native Tamyen people gathered at the mission and their primary language.

Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County#English

A city in Santa Clara County, California, United States.


Alger

(rare) A male given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Elgar.


Bernice

Biblical form of Berenice, from Ancient Greek Βερενίκη (Bereníkē).

And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus.

Later Martin said, "If we ever have another baby girl, I'm going to give her a simple name like Mary Jane." When we did have another daughter, we called her Bernice Albertine, after her two grandmothers. Not quite Mary Jane, but at least named for members of the family. In any case, she is known as Bunny,


Berenice

/ˌbɛɹəˈniːs/

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Βερενίκη (Bereníkē, “bringer of victory”), itself a borrowing from Ancient Macedonian (compare the native word Φερενίκη (Phereníkē)), from φέρω (phérō, “to bear, to carry, to bring”) + νίκη (níkē, “victory”). Doublet of Veronica.

A female given name from Ancient Greek, notably of ancient queens of Egypt.


Brenda

Possibly from Old Norse brandr (“sword”); by folk etymology seen as a feminine form of Brendan. Its use as a nickname for Queen Elizabeth II originated in Private Eye in reaction to a perceived attempt by the royals to appear less distant and upper class.

We have already mentioned Minna and Brenda, the daughters of Magnus Troil. Their mother had been dead for many years, and they were now two beautiful girls

1821, Walter Scott, chapter III, in The Pirate:

'Brandi's father owns a number of radio stations across the country.' He smiled. 'Beware of women whose first names are potable.'
'I'll keep it in mind.'
'Actually, her real name is Brenda. She was named after Brenda Marshall, who was an actress in the forties. Apparently, my father-in-law was a huge fan.'

1997, Joy Fielding, Missing Pieces, page 85:

There is a widespread belief that Brenda plays no part in politics. This is not entirely true. For instance, she has very strong feelings on Rhodesia.

1977, “Loyal News”, in Private Eye, numbers 393-418, page 23:

Windsor, I was always led to believe. But--as with license plates--they don't ever have to use it. Brenda just signs herself Elizabeth R (Regina).

1993 August 10, Jonathan Beasley Murray, “Re: Royal Family's last name?”, in soc.culture.british (Usenet):

That is something that can never be removed entirely from anyone, the cold aloofness that is seen in the royal family is something that has been bred into them, but it doesn't take away their humanity at all. You only had to see the pictures of Brenda visiting the homeless hostel to know that she was bottling back tears.

2002 February 13, Heretic, “Re: Old Gin Slugger is dead.”, in uk.current-events.n-ireland (Usenet):

The problem isn't just Brenda, it is that there will never be agreement on what to replace her with. viz. the House of Lords debacle, the Australian Republican referendum.

2002 November 6, Tom, “Re: "Be careful, Paul..."”, in uk.politics.misc (Usenet):


San Juan Bautista

The Spanish named a California mission San Juan Bautista meaning Saint John the Baptist, when they founded it in the late 18th century. The name was expanded by linguists to mean the natives of the region gathered at the mission, and their primary language.

The native language spoken in this region.


San Carlos

Borrowed from Spanish San Carlos (“Saint Charles”).

bor+

San Mateo County
San Mateo County#English

San Carlos, California
w:San Carlos, California

A city in San Mateo County, California, United States.

A name for the mission located in Monterey County, California

The native language spoken in the Monterey County region.


Carmel

From Hebrew כַּרְמֶל (karmél, “vineyard of El/God”).

bor

A female given name from Hebrew from the Roman Catholic epithet of Virgin Mary at Mount Carmel.

A city, valley, and river in Monterey County, California, United States. The full name of the city is Carmel-by-the-Sea.

One name for the mission located in Monterey County, California.

Penobscot County
Penobscot County#English

Other places in the United States:
A town in Penobscot County, Maine.

An unincorporated community in Preston County, West Virginia.

An unincorporated community in Waupaca County, Wisconsin.


Jeanette

From Jean + -ette or misspelling of French Jeannette, from Jeanne + -ette, q.v. Originally chiefly Scottish.
Doublet of Ivanka, Jan, Janelle, Janet, Janey, Janine, Jeanie, Jeannette, Jeannine, Jen, Jenna, Jenny, Jessie, Jo, Jody, Juanita, Shanae, Sinead, and Vanna.


Parnika

From a Sanskrit word which means "with leaves".

A female given name from India, of Indian usage.


Cora

Apparently brought up in English literature by James Fenimore Cooper in The Last of the Mohicans (1826), but compare a female heroine of this name in Jean-François Marmontel's Les Incas (1777) and the Ancient Greek epithet Κόρη (Kórē) for Περσεφόνη (Persephónē). It could also refer directly to κόρη (kórē, “maiden”).

The youth had turned to speak to the dark-eyed Cora, when the distant sound of horses hoofs, clattering over the roots of the broken way in his rear, caused him to check his charger;

1826, James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans/Chapter 2:

"Where are you from originally, Coral?" "Indiana." "Lots of Corals out there, I bet." She hesitated, seemed about to flare, and then smiled instead, showing a little gap between two front teeth. "Well, it was Cora Lucille, I guess, " she said, still smiling, looking very much like a Cora Lucille in that moment. Hawes imagined pigtails tied with polka-dot rags.

1990, Ed McBain, Vespers, Mandarin, published 1991, →ISBN, page 78:


Della

Possibly a variant of Adela or Delia. First appeared in the 19th century.

He was afraid that Delia or Della might mention a cousin named Dahlia, and he would laugh. Sweet Jesus, do not let me laugh inappropriately.

2020, Marilynne Robinson, Jack, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

A female given name originating as a coinage.


Dolores

/dəˈlɔː.ɹɪz/


Attashin

Derives from Persian آتشین (âtašin, literally “fiery”), derived from آتش (âtaš, “fire”).

bor

آتشین آتشین#Persian

A transliteration of the Persian female given name آتشین (âtašin).


Tagesa

A male given name from Nigeria. A name given to people who are perceived to have a strong sense of competition as means of personal achievement for community development.


Winnie

Ŭinjo

A diminutive of the female given name Winifred.

Minnie and Winnie
Slept in a shell.
Sleep, little ladies!
And they slept well.

1880, Alfred Tennyson, Minnie and Winnie:

And I became Winnie, which Jimmy Louie said was a lively and lucky-sounding name. "Win, win, win," he said.

1991, Amy Tan, The Kitchen God's Wife, Vintage Books, →ISBN:

Mrs Conchita Warren is an unusual name, I thought as I cycled towards Limehouse. Most local women were Doris, Winnie, Ethel (pronounced Eff) or Gertie.

2002, Jennifer Worth, Call the Midwife, Phoenix, →ISBN, page 127:

A diminutive of the female given name Winifred or, less often, of Winona.

A diminutive of the male given name Winston.

Ŭinĉjo

census-designated place
census-designated place

A census-designated place in Chambers County, Texas, United States, named after Fox Winnie, a railroad contractor.

An unincorporated community in Nottoway County, Virginia, United States.


Anastasi

Romanization of Russian Анаста́сий (Anastásij), cognate with English and Latin Anastasius, ultimately from Ancient Greek.

A male given name from the Slavic languages.


Stylianos

From Greek Στυλιανός (Stylianós), from Ancient Greek Στυλιανός (Stulianós, literally “someone firm”), from στῦλος (stûlos, “pole”).

der

Στυλιανός Στυλιανός#Greek

A transliteration of the Greek male given name Στυλιανός (Stylianós), used in Greece.


Stelios

From Greek Στέλιος (Stélios), diminutive of Στυλιανός (Stylianós), from Ancient Greek Στυλιανός (Stulianós, literally “someone firm”), from στῦλος (stûlos, “pole”).

Στέλιος Στέλιος#Greek

A transliteration of the Greek male given name diminutive Στέλιος (Stélios), used in Greece.


Kari

From Norwegian Kari, diminutive of Katrine.

A female given name from Swedish, of recent usage, equivalent to English Carrie or Cary.


pondian

From The Pond, in reference to the Atlantic Ocean, which separates the United States and Canada from the United Kingdom, + -ian.

(linguistics) Pertaining to differences between English as spoken in the United Kingdom and the United States and or Canada.


Connor

The first name is from Irish Conchúr, Conchobhar, from Old Irish Conchobar (“lover of hounds”). The surname is from Irish Ó Conchúir (“descendant of Conchúr”).

Conor (alternative)
Conner (alternative)
Konner (alternative)
O'Connor (alternative)


Zulgo-Gemzek

A Chadic language of northern Cameroon, spoken by about 26,000 people.