Roy

en-prop

Roy (countable and uncountable, plural Roys)

→ French: Roy

→ Norwegian: Roy

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: Roy

→ Norwegian Bokmål: Roy

→ Swedish: Roy

From various sources:
* Anglo-Norman roy (“king”) a variant of Old French roi, from Latin rēx, rēgem from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs (“ruler, king”). Doublet of Rey.
* Scottish Gaelic ruadh (“red, red-haired”) from Old Irish rúad, from Proto-Celtic *roudos from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-.
* Anglicisation of Bengali রায় (raẏ, surname).

der

- - - The real pity is that the only name William Burton remembers is Roy ...it was a popular name in the fifties and sixties so there were probably quite a few of them."
"Not that popular," said George. "Surely it's Roy Trent?"
"Roy Rogers...Roy Orbison... Roy of the Rovers...Roy Castle..."
"At least one of those was a comic-book character," said Andrew.
"So? Bill Clinton and David Beckham named their children after places. All I'm saying is we can't assume Roy Trent from Roy."

2003, Minette Walters, Disordered Minds, Macmillan., →ISBN, page 173:

On the invitation list: Govs. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Tim Walz of Minnesota, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Tony Evers of Wisconsin, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Wes Moore of Maryland and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico.

2024 February 7, Edward-Isaac Dovere, “Harris set to host Democratic governors this weekend to discuss 2024 campaign”, in CNN:

(countable) A male given name from Scottish Gaelic.


Voynichese

From Voynich + -ese, named after Polish book dealer Wilfrid Voynich (Polish Wojnicz).

named-after

The language in which the Voynich manuscript is ostensibly written.


Harvey

en-prop

Harvey (countable and uncountable, plural Harveys)

From Haerviu, name of a Breton saint, from Old Breton hoiarn (“iron”) + viu (“blazing”). Cognate with modern Breton Haerviu.
In Ireland, used as an anglicisation of Irish Ó hAirmheadhaigh and Ó hEarchaidh.
The civil parish in New Brunswick is probably named in honour of British colonial administrator John Harvey (1778 - 1852).

Miramax Films cofounders Bob and Harvey Weinstein will end their successful, but often tumultuous, 12-year relationship with The Walt Disney Company to launch their own media company.

2005 March 30, “Miramax founders leave Disney”, in The Guardian:

After getting permisssion from my mom, I personal messaged ten different Harveys from her profile who seemed “obviously” Native and lived in Phoenix.

2018, Tommy Orange, “Edwin Black”, in There There, New York, N.Y.: Vintage Books, →ISBN, page 69:

A male given name from the Celtic languages, in modern use often transferred back from the surname.


Victorian

en-adj

Victorian (comparative more Victorian, superlative most Victorian)

more Victorian (comparative)
most Victorian (superlative)

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

Viktorina

of or relating to the culture or social conditions of that period

From the platforms at Wapping or Rotherhithe you can see the tunnel fleetingly illuminated as the trains approach; it looks so incredibly Victorian that you expect to see Jack the Ripper loitering between the arches.

2012, Andrew Martin, “Deeper”, in Underground Overground: A Passenger’s History of the Tube, London: Profile Books, →ISBN, page 93:

One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city's effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.

2014 June 14, “It’s a gas: It is possible to sniff out problems in sewer pipes before they happen”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891, London: Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-10-28:

Of or relating to the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901, or that period.

فيكتوري

of or relating to the reign of Queen Victoria or that period


Victorian

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

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

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

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

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

викторианец

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

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

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


Victorian

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

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


Victorian

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


Miami

Miami
Miami (disambiguation)
en:Lake Okeechobee
en:Mayaimi
en:Miami River (Florida)

From Mayaimi, one of only ten words recorded from the language of the now-extinct Mayaimi people, meaning "big water", referring to the large lake on whose shores they lived, alternately called Lake Miami, Lake Mayimi, Lake Maymi, Lake Maimi; now called Lake Okeechobee. The Florida city is named for the Miami River. The river is named for its source, Lake Miami.

Miami-Dade County
Miami-Dade County#English

A city, the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Ellipsis of Miami River.; A river in Miami-Dade County, Florida, a river flowing past the city of Miami, Dade.


Condere

A male given name from Irish, borne by an Ulster warrior renowned for his eloquence in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology.


Celtchar

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

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


Luír Cheltchair

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


Brig Bretach

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


Blaí Briugu

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


Ferdiad

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


Californian

And almost five million Californians voted Republican.

2015 November 9, “Why The Electoral College Ruins Democracy” (00:02:13 from the start), in Adam Ruins Everything (television production), spoken by himself (Adam Conover), truTV, via truTV:

In fact, it's often somewhat disparagingly called "Boz Angeles" for the many Californians and celebrities that have come to town, as well as its perceived "fanciness" in relation to the rest of the state.

2020 March 5, Sophie-Claire Hoeller, “I spent 3 days in Bozeman, Montana, aka 'Boz Angeles.' Here's what surprised me most about one of the fastest-growing cities in the US.”, in Insider:

United States of America
United States of America

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


visitor

visitors (plural)
visitour (alternative)
visiter (alternative)

Partly from Middle English visiter, visitere, equivalent to visit + -er; and partly from Middle English visitour, from Anglo-Norman visitour, from Old French visetëor. By surface analysis, visit + -or.

5: Of course there is always the remote (I hope) possibility that instant panic will prompt us to send a hailstorm of nuclear warheads out upon the visitor.

1979, Chris Boyce, Extraterrestrial Encounter: a Personal Perspective, Chartwell Books, page 184:

When we ask what evidence does in fact exist of extraterrestrial sojourns on our planet, we can start with what would surely be the best evidence of all: an actual visitor, or group of visitors, visible to crowds of people and ready for photo opportunities, television interviews, handshakes, polite conversation, and dancing.

2001, Donald Goldsmith, Tobias C. Owen, The Search for Life in the Universe, University Science Books, page 511:

The visitor in Man Facing South-east claims pure altruism; Rantes (Hugo Soto) wants to alleviate the suffering of the poor and helpless.

2004, Carol Schwartz Ellis, Sean Redmond (editor), With Eyes Uplifted: Space Aliens as Sky Gods in Liquid Metal: The Science Fiction Film Reader, Wallflower Press, page 145

The tower radioed the flight leader, Captain Thomas F. Mantell, Jr., and requested that he engage and attempt to identify the strange visitor.

2007, Frank G. Wilkinson, The Golden Age of Flying Saucers: Classic UFO Sightings, Saucer Crashes and Extraterrestrial Contact Encounters, Lulu.com, page 37:

(ufology, specifically) An extraterrestrial being on Earth.


Johnny

From John + -y. In the sense of an Englishman, compare John Bull.

A diminutive of the male given name John.

Janie

similar diminutives that derive from Jane, which derives from John


Pete

A diminutive of the male given name Peter.


Ted

Shortened form of Edward, Theodore, Thaddeus or Edmund.

A nickname for the male given names Edward, Theodore, Thaddeus, and Edmund.

泰德

diminutive of Edward, Theodore, Thaddeus, or Edmund


Akkadian

Of or pertaining to the Akkadian language of ancient Mesopotamia.

Of or pertaining to the Akkadian Empire.


Akkadian

The now extinct Semitic language of ancient Mesopotamia, formerly used as an international language of diplomacy.


Akkadian

Akkadians (plural)
Accadian (alternative)

A Semitic inhabitant of the region of Mesopotamia near the city of Akkad.


Avestan

An ancient Eastern Old Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrian Avesta.


fane

fanes (plural)
faine (alternative)
phane (alternative)

From Middle English fane, from Old English fana (“cloth, banner”), from Proto-West Germanic *fanō, from Proto-Germanic *fanô (“cloth, flag”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂n- (“to weave; something woven; cloth, fabric, tissue”). Doublet of fanon and vane.

der

The ſteeple had become old and ruinous; and therefore the preſent one was built about the year 1740. It had, at that time, four fanes mounted on ſpires, on the four corners; theſe being judged too weak for the fanes, were taken down in 1764, and the roof of the ſteeple altered.

1801, John Baillie, An Impartial History of the Town and County of Newcastle Upon Tyne, page 541:

(obsolete) A weathercock, a weather vane.


Hamilton

en-proper noun

Hamilton (countable and uncountable, plural Hamiltons)

Translingual: ℍ

From Old English Hameldūne, from hamel (“blunt, flat-topped”) + dūne (“hill”). The Scottish surname is from the place in Leicestershire.

咸美頓

name of various cities in English-speaking countries

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Irish Gaelic

/ˌaɪɹɪʃ ˈɡeɪlɪk/

the Gaelic language indigenous to Ireland, commonly called Gaeilge or Irish


Wes

A diminutive of the male given name Wesley.


Wesley

Several places in England, from Old English west (“west”) + lēah (“wood, clearing”). Equivalent to west + -ley (“lea”).

A male given name transferred from the surname, of 18th century and later usage, today often without any religious connotations.


Darlington

/ˈdɑːlɪŋtən/

-ɑː(ɹ)lɪŋtən

From Middle English Dearnington, Derlinton, from Old English Dearthingtun, supposedly “the settlement of Deornoth’s people”, from an unclear root + -ing + tūn. Compare Old English dīerling. The transistor configuration is named for its inventor, Sidney Darlington.

(rare, chiefly Africa) A male given name transferred from the surname.


adherence

en-noun

adherence (countable and uncountable, plural adherences)

adherences (plural)
adhærence (alternative)

From Middle French adhérence, from Latin adhærentia.

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

Scottish Language Dictionaries
w:Scottish Language Dictionaries

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


Maurice

From Middle English Maurice, from Late Latin Mauritius, derived from Maurus (“Moor; dark, swarthy”). Popularized by a 3rd-century Roman soldier martyr.

For some reason I am a man known by his surname; I might never have been christened for all the use my friends make of the rather affected Maurice my literary parents gave me.

1951, Graham Greene, The End of the Affair, Viking Press, page 5:

A male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Morris.


Nance

A diminutive of the female given name Nancy.


Jerome

From the Old French vernacular form of the saint's name Hieronymus, from Ancient Greek Ἱερώνυμος (Hierṓnumos). Doublet of Hieronymus.


Urartian

Urartaean (alternative)
Urartean (alternative)

The extinct language spoken by the inhabitants of Urartu. Related to Hurrian.


Uyghur

Uyghurs (plural)
Uyghur (plural)
Uygur (alternative)
Uigur (alternative)
Uighur (alternative)
Ouigour (alternative)
Uigour (alternative)

A new U.S. congressional committee on China will hold its second hearing on Thursday, seeking to highlight what Washington says is an ongoing genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China's Xinjiang region.
Rights groups accuse Beijing of abuses, including forced labor, mass surveillance and the placement of 1 million or more Uyghurs - a mainly Muslim ethnic group - in a network of internment camps in Xinjiang.

2023 March 23, Michael Martina, “U.S. House panel on China to highlight abuse of Uyghurs in second hearing”, in Jonathan Oatis, editor, Reuters, archived from the original on 2023-03-23:

A member of a Turkic ethnic group living in northwestern China and southeastern Kazakhstan.


Uyghur

Uygur (alternative)
Uigur (alternative)
Uighur (alternative)
Ouigour (alternative)
Uigour (alternative)


Augustus

From Latin Augustus, from augustus (“majestic, venerable”). Doublet of august.

A male given name from Latin, risen in popularity since the 18th century.


Terran

The magazines, in the nearby rack, were in English. And on their covers, laughing Terrans.

1966, Philip K. Dick, Now Wait for Last Year:

(chiefly science fiction) An inhabitant of Earth; an earthling, especially a human.


Terran

A hypothetical language spoken throughout all of Earth.


Louise

From French Louise, the feminine form of Louis.

Louise, thy stately name sounds in my ear / Like a sea wave, that gathering, hill on hill, / Upon the blue horizon, smooth and still, / Sweeps to the shore

1890 Arthur Weir, John Arthur Lockhart: The Romance of Sir Richard. Published by William Drysdale&Co. page 83

That's what I baptized her. Mary Louise. Everybody else called her just plain Mary, but that wasn't the way I intended it. I intended it Mary Louise. That's a pretty name, isn't it? Mary Louise. Mary is too...plain?

1957, Ed McBain, The Con Man, Armchair Detective Library, published 1991, →ISBN, page 47:

I've always thought I was too large for a soft, musical name like Louise, too untidy.

1991, Emily Ellison, The Picture Makers, G.K.Hall, →ISBN, page 111:


Shuli

A hypocoristic for Shulamith (and possibly Sulamit).

It is co-curated by Shulamith (a.k.a. Shuli) Berger

2003, Esther Nussbaum, chapter IV, in HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries:


izzard

desc

Hong Kong English: Z (pronounced as /(j)iˈzɛd ~ (j)iˈsɛd/ or /(j)ɪˈzɛd ~ (j)ɪˈsɛd/)

From Middle English izod, ezod, ezed, from Old French et zede (literally “and zed”), as spoken when reciting the alphabet.

der

... [Reading.] Dear Sir,—ay, that's that. Then there's an M, and a T, and an S, but whether the next be an izzard, or an R, confound me, I cannot tell.

1773, [Oliver] Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer: Or, The Mistakes of a Night. A Comedy. […], London: […] F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page):

(Scotland, Hong Kong, and archaically in England and Ireland) The letter Z; zed, zee.


Calum

From Scottish Gaelic Calum, from Late Latin Columba (literally “dove”), the name of a sixth century Scottish saint, one of the patron saints of Scotland. Doublet of Colm.


Margaret

en-proper noun

Margaret (countable and uncountable, plural Margarets)

From the name of a legendary third century saint, from Middle English Margaret, from Old French Margaret (French Marguerite), from Latin Margarita, from Ancient Greek μαργαρίτης (margarítēs, “pearl”), ultimately from an Indo-Iranian source.
The same source, through folk etymology, has produced Old English meregrot (“pearl”, literally “stone or pebble of the sea”), related to Old Saxon merigrita, merigriota (“pearl”), Old High German merigrioz, equivalent to mer- + groat.

cog

Margaret shall now be queen, and rule the king;
But I will rule both her, the king, and realm.

1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First 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 V, scene v]:

Margaret, Marguerite - the pearl! the daisy! Oh name of romance and of minstrelsy, which brings the days of chivalry to mind, and the worship of flowers and ladies fair!

1830, Mary Russell Mitford, Our Village: Cottage Names:

Fair as a summer dream was Margaret,— / Such dream as in a poet's soul might start, / Musing of old loves while the moon doth set: […]

1844, James Russell Lowell, “A Legend of Brittany. Part First.”, in Poems, Cambridge, Mass.: John Owen, →OCLC, stanza I, page 3:

Amongst us English, the name is a greater favourite than with any other nation: but we have played upon it, and abused it oftener too. In no language does Margaret sound sweeter or homelier than in ours: not so Mag, Maggie, Meg, Madge, Moggie, Peg, Peggy, and abominable Piggy, of which abridgements only the two first are defensible.

1868, Bentley's Miscellany, London, page 417:

The girls from our year were mainly named some version of Shawn. There was Shawna, Dawna, Shawnee, Dawnali, Shalana, and just plain Dawn and Shawn. There was also a girl named Margaret, named after her grandmother, who worked at the post office. I ended up talking with Margaret.

2012, Louise Erdrich, The Round House, Corsair, published 2013, →ISBN, page 292:


Juan

A male given name from Manx or Spanish, equivalent to English John.


Jacques

A male given name from French borrowed from French.


Donald

en-proper noun

Donald (countable and uncountable, plural Donalds)

⇒ Translingual: donaldtrumpi

Name of Scottish kings and an early saint, from Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall and reinforced by Medieval Latin Donvaldus ~ Donaldus, from Old Irish Domnall, from Proto-Celtic *Dubnowalos (“prince / chief of the world”). Doublet of Domhnall.

der

"Country?" replied Cuddie; "ou, the country's weel eneugh, and it werena that dour deevil, Calver'se, ( they ca' him Dundee now) that's stirring about yet in the Highlands, they say, with a' the Donalds, and Duncans, and Dugalds, that ever wore bottomless breeks, driving about wi' him, to set things asteer again, - - -

1816, Walter Scott, Old Mortality, Samuel H. Parker, published 1836, page 232:

My friends call me Terry. My husband always used my full name, Teresa. He said it made him feel like he was married to a foreign woman. And I never called him Don or Donny or Donny Joe. I called him Donald from the first time we met.

1980, Laura Furman, The Glass House, a Novella and Stories, Viking Press, published 1980, →ISBN, page 76:

Donald Duk never liked his name. He hates his name. He is not a duck. He is not a cartoon character. - - - "Only the Chinese are stupid enough to give a kid a stupid name like Donald Duk," Donald Duk says to himself.

1991, Frank Chin, Donald Duk, Coffee House Press, published 1991, →ISBN, page 1:


Stanley

From places in England, Old English stān (“stone”) + lēah (“meadow”). Equivalent to stone + -ley (“lea”).
* The given name has also been used as an anglicisation of Stanisław, Stanislav and related names.
The coastal town in Hong Kong is named after Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby.

named-after

A male given name transferred from the surname, popular in the early 20th century.


Adrian

From Latin Hadrianus (“from the Roman harbor Hadria”) a place name ultimately from Etruscan 𐌇𐌀𐌕𐌓𐌉𐌀 (hatria). Doublet of Hadrian. See Adria.

der

Which, of he, or Adrian, for a good wager, / Firſt begins to crow ?

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

"My only worth will be in always remembering to do the thing that pleases you; and yet, although I don't really like Adie, it has a more home-like, more whisperable sound than Adrian. Adrian is a grand, heroic sort of a name, yet what a beautiful name it is.

1874, Bertha de Jongh, The Sisters Lawless, by the author of Rosa Noel, page 245:

His baptismal register spoke of him pessimistically as John Henry, but he had left that behind with the other maladies of infancy, and his friends knew him under the front-name of Adrian.

I'm afraid neither of us was looking where we were going. We Adrians are notoriously abstracted, are we not?

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 40:

A male given name from Latin or Etruscan.

(rare) A female given name from Latin (compare Adriana, Adrianna, Adrienne).

A number of places in the United States:

A city in Nobles County, Minnesota, United States.


Gary

en-proper noun

Gary (countable and uncountable, plural Garys)

Medieval short form of Germanic compound names beginning with gari (“spear”)/geri (“spear”), such as Gerard, Gerald, or Gerbert. Cognate with the Scottish and Irish Gaelic name Garaidh.
* The last-century popularity of the given name is due to the American actor Gary Cooper (1901–1961), whose stage name was invented by his agent, a native of Gary, Indiana.

Dressed up like a million dollar trooper / Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper

1930, Irving Berlin (lyrics and music), “Puttin' On The Ritz”:

"Gary's an awful name. Whatever he's like. It reminds me of a G.I. man with a crew cut, and 'Mom' tattooed on his chest, and lots of pin-up pictures on his wall."

1964, Anne Tyler, If Morning Ever Comes, Severn House, published 1983, page 52:

A male given name transferred from the surname, popular from the 1940s to the 1970s.


Larry

No one gets named Larry anymore. It's had it as a name. Think of someone called Larry and you automatically conjure up a guy drinking beer in a sixties rec room.

1998, Carol Shields, Larry's Party, Penguin, →ISBN, page 254:

"Larry, name's Larry." I smiled, it was too ridiculous. He was worried about me calling him Lawrence instead of Larry with a rogue zombie climbing out of the dirt.

2002, Laurell K. Hamilton, Circus of the Damned, JOVE, →ISBN, page 149:

A diminutive of the male given name Laurence or Lawrence, popular as a male given name in the U.S. in the 1940s and the 1950s.


Stewart

Stewart (countable and uncountable, plural Stewarts)

Stewarts (plural)
Steward (alternative)
Stuart (alternative)

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Joshua

/ˈd͡ʒɒʃ(j)ʊə/

From Biblical Hebrew יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yehoshúa'), perhaps from הוֹשֵׁעַ (Hoshéa') with addition of יהוה (YHWH, “Yahweh”), thus meaning "Yahweh is salvation". See הוֹשִׁיעַ (hoshía', “to save”). By cognate a direct equivalent to Jesus via Latin Iēsūs and Ancient Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs) from Aramaic יֵשׁוּע (Yēšū́ʿ), akin to Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshúa'), a variant of Yehoshúa'. The Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible and the Greek New Testament consistently render the two Hebrew names Yehoshúa' (whence Joshua) and Yeshúa' (whence Jeshua) into Koine Greek as Iēsoûs (whence Jesus).

cog

Aramaic יֵשׁוּע (Yēšū́ʿ)

"His father had a notion," observes Malone, on the authority of Dr. Percy, Bishop of Dromore, "that it might at some future period of his life be an advantage to a child to bear an uncommon Christian name, - - - Hence our author derived the scriptural name of Joshua, which, though not very uncommon, occurs less frequently than many others." But another biographer has suggested, with more appearance of reason, that it was probably given to him because an uncle, who was one of his godfathers, bore the same name,

1835, “The Literary Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds. To Which is Prefixed a Memoir by H.W.Beechey”, in Strand, London: T. Cadell, page 33:


Madison Avenue

From Madison Avenue, a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, where advertising boomed in the 1920s.

An avenue in Manhattan, New York, known as the center of the American advertising industry.


alien abduction

en-noun

alien abduction (plural alien abductions)

(ufology) The abduction of a person by extraterrestrials.


Friedrich

en-prop

Friedrich (plural Friedrichs or Friedriches)

Friedrichs (plural)
Friedriches (plural)

As it happened, also, the particular Friedrichs and Wilhelms whom he meant to see and confer with were out of town, or had moved their habitats, so that he could not easily find them. […] “I beg your pardon, but can you tell me where Friedrich Baum lives?”

1872 December, Edward E[verett] Hale, “Ups and Downs”, in Old and New, volume VI, number 6, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, […], chapter XXVI, pages 689–690:

The dour Friedrich Wilhelm I, never out of uniform, accumulating tax income from a dozen different unconstitutional sources, takes time out from drilling his grenadiers to smash an inefficient postillion over the head with his cane. The sleepless Friedrich der Grosse, an atheist Calvin, rises at 6 a.m. to write the day’s orders to his bureaucrats, a shining example to the world of “enlightened despotism.” Even the feckless Friedrich Wilhelm III, defeated by a French revolutionary army, appoints a minister to tell him “Your majesty must do from above what the French have done from below.” […] When the king contemplated (God forbid) his abdication on the issue, Bismarck threw himself into the breach, accepted the office of Chancellor, defied the parliament, and collected the tax, just as the Friedrichs and Wilhelms had done before the French Revolution interrupted the course of progress.

1983, William R[omeyn] Everdell, The End of Kings: A History of Republics and Republicans, New York, N.Y.: The Free Press, →ISBN, page 250:

The king’s palace, abode of all the Friedrichs and Wilhelms, had stood there, too, vacated after World War One, discreetly ignored by Hitler, bombed by the Allies in 1945, and finally demolished by the communists.

2001, James Howard Kunstler, The City in Mind: Meditations on the Urban Condition, New York, N.Y.: The Free Press, →ISBN, page 116:

Eventually it [the law faculty] chose Friedrich Julius Stahl (1802–1861) – born Joel Golson (or Jolson). […] [Abraham] Uhlfelder’s activities were also efficient in assuring Joel’s (and other Jews’) admission to the renowned Protestant school, the Wilhelm Gymnasium.⁹⁶ It was there that Joel became acquainted with Friedrich Immanuel Niethammer – the Bannerträger des Neuhumanismus – and with the philosopher and [Johann Wolfgang von] Goethe’s friend Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi. Joel also developed a special relationship with Friedrich Wilhelm Tiersch during his Gymnasium years. […] Clearly, his choice of a new name shows what it must have felt like to be a Joel surrounded by so many Friedrichs and Wilhelms.

2013, Reut Yael Paz, “Jews, Universities and International Law”, in A Gateway between a Distant God and a Cruel World: The Contribution of Jewish German-Speaking Scholars to International Law (The Erik Castrén Institute Monographs on International Law and Human Rights; 16), Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, →ISBN, section 3 (Jewish Legal Denkstil/Denkkollektiv as Gateways in German Law Faculties), subsection 2 (Friedrich Julius Stahl: The ‘Paul’ of the 19th Century), pages 105–106:

Kaufmann goes so far in this as to state that what happened to two famous Friedriches—Hölderlin and Nietzsche—in their later years (madness and vegetation, respectively) does not really matter since their works had by then been done.

2022, Andrew Oberg, “(Honestly) Facing Finitude”, in The Christ Is Dead, Long Live the Christ: A Philotheologic Prayer, a Hermeneutics of Healing, Eugene, Ore.: Resource Publications, Wipf and Stock Publishers, →ISBN, part 4 (Temporality: God/“God” Here, “the Kingdom” Now), page 200:

A male given name from German, equivalent to English Frederick.


Misha

A transliteration of the Russian Ми́ша (Míša), a hypocoristic for Михаи́л (Mixaíl), the Russian equivalent of Michael, from Hebrew מיכאל.
Also a female name, presumably analogous to Michelle.

A male given name from Russian, Ukrainian.


Mikhail

From Russian Михаи́л (Mixaíl, “Michael”), from Hebrew מיכאל. Doublet of Michael.

Михаи́л Михаил#Russian

A transliteration of the Russian male given name Михаи́л (Mixaíl).


Alvin

From Old English Ælfwine, made up of ælf (“elf”) + wine (“friend”).


backbench

backbenches (plural)
back bench (alternative)
back-bench (alternative)

His spacious quarters indicate his transition from backbench upstart to established member of the governing team.

There was no separate back-bench organization ; indeed there were no back-bench caucuses in any Nigerian Legislative House, and any attempt to create one would probably have been regarded by the leadership concerned as a subversive move.

1963, Richard L. Sklar, Nigerian Political Parties: Power in an Emergent African Nation, published 2004, page 400:

Both Thatcher's and Major's PPSs developed the role of trying to see that those members considered loyal to the leadership won the main positions on backbench party committees.

1995, R. L. Borthwick, Churchill to Major: The British Prime Ministership Since 1945, page 153:

In fall 1984, Brian Mulroney led a cabinet with far more political experience than the Conservative backbench.

1997, David Campbell Docherty, Mr. Smith Goes to Ottawa: Life in the House of Commons:

2009, John Coakley, Michael Gallagher, Politics in the Republic of Ireland, page 301,
In situations of low ministerial turnover and increased professionalisation of politics, with most TDs regarding politics as a career, Taoisigh could find that impatience on the backbenches leads to calls for leadership turnover to effect promotions.

A bench at the back of a room or seating area.

(politics, UK, New Zealand, often attributive) In a house of legislature following the model of the Westminster system (such as the UK House of Commons), any bench behind either of the front benches and occupied by members of each party group who are not party leaders, cabinet ministers, holders of offices such as the whips, etc.


House of Commons

“House”, in this term, means a deliberative assembly, while “the Commons” stands for “the common people”, as opposed to nobility.

مَجْلِس عُمُوم

lower house in UK or Canadian parliament

When the legislation was debated by the House of Commons, Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said it was "riddled with holes", while former Conservative Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg said it was "badly written".

2024 March 20, Conrad Landin, “"Farcical" Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act isn't working”, in RAIL, number 1005, page 25:

(UK politics) The lower house of the British Parliament.


Brit

1901, either a shortening of Britisher or Briton, or a back-formation of British.

(lexicography) Abbreviation of British English.


Nawin

Variant of Navin or Naveen, from a Sanskrit word meaning "new". Nawin is also a common name in Indonesia. Compare Persian نوین (navin, “new, modern”).


Parisian

Parisians (plural)
Parisien (alternative)

From Middle English Parisien, perisien, from Middle French parisien, from Medieval Latin parisiānus. By surface analysis, Paris + -ian.

Coordinate term: Parisienne

Not all of France was inundated by the nationalist wave – it was predominantly young, intelligent Parisians who embraced the new bellicism […].

2012, Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers, Penguin, published 2013, page 295:

A native, citizen and/or inhabitant of Paris, France


Early Modern English

The form of the English language written and spoken from the end of the 15th century to the mid-17th century.


American Indian

en-noun

American Indian (plural American Indians)

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

American + Indian. The noun is attested since 1702, the adjective since shortly thereafter.

A member of some indigenous peoples of the Americas, especially the continental United States, but excluding the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleuts.

(Canada) An indigenous person from the United States.


cis-

From the Latin preposition cis (“on this side of”). The earliest known sexuality-related use of the prefix in any language was in a 1914 German-language book on sexology. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest use of the prefix in the context of gender in English dates from 1994.

quote-book

Lexikon Des Gesamten Sexuallebens

1914, Ernst Burchard, Lexikon Des Gesamten Sexuallebens, Berlin, BV047570799, page 32:
Cisvestitismus, die Neigung, die Kleidung einer anderen Altersstufe, Volks- oder Berufsklasse des gleichen Geschlechts zum Zwecke sexueller Entspannung anzulegen, dem Transvestitismus verwandt (s. Verkleidungstrieb).
Cisvestism, the tendency to don the clothes of a different age group, ethnic group, or profession of the same sex for the purpose of sexual relaxation, related to transvestism (see disguise instinct).

cis- + diazene → cis-diazene

(physical chemistry) Forming names of chemical compounds in which two atoms or groups are situated on the same side of some plane of symmetry passing through the compound.


trans-

cis-

antonym(s) of “chemistry, other side/beyond, gender”

Borrowed from Latin trāns (“across, on the far side, beyond”).

bor

transacetylase, tranexamic acid, transaldolase

(physical chemistry) A compound in which two atoms or groups are situated on opposite sides of some plane of symmetry passing through the compound. (Also used without the hyphen as an adjective; see trans.)


Richmond

From Middle English Rychemund, from a name cognate to French Richemont (“town in Normandy”). Equivalent to rich + mound.


Rog

A diminutive of the male given name Roger.


Amanda

Derived from Latin Amanda, feminine form of the saint's name Amandus, from amandus, future passive participle of amāre (“to love”): thus meaning "who/which is to be loved". Taken into regular use as an English given name from 18th-century literature.

O there is a sweet era in the life of man, when ( the brain being tender and fibrillous, and more like pap than anything else ) - a story read of two fond lovers, separated from each other by cruel parents, and by still more cruel destiny -
Amandus - He
Amanda - She -
each ignorant of the other's course.

1767 Laurence Sterne: Tristram Shandy: Book VII, Chapter 31

Sue always thought of her offspring as Amanda. Allowing her to name the child had been one of the last indulgences that Brian had seen fit to bestow. Even then he had not the generosity to conceal his displeasure at her choice. Pretentious. Snobbish. Affected. The baby had been 'Mandy' from the day of her birth and, once Brian had really got the hang of high-rise/comprehensive linguistic mores, 'Mand'.

1994, Caroline Graham, Written in Blood, page 35:

Both Bobba and Coristine are listed in internal OPM records reviewed by WIRED as “experts” at OPM, reporting directly to Amanda Scales, its new chief of staff.

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


Chinese character

en-noun

Chinese character (plural Chinese characters)

There are no Publick Schools in all China (though ſome Writers have erroneouſly ſet forth the contrary) but every perſon chuſes his own Maſter, by whom he is taught in his Houſe, at his own charge. And in regard of the great difficulty in teaching the Chineſe Characters, in reſpect of their vaſt number and variety, it is impoſſible for one to teach many ſeveral perſons ; and therefore every Maſter of a Family takes an Intſructer into his Houſe for his Children, of whom if there be two or three to learn, they are as many as one Tutor can well teach.

1669, John Nievhoff, translated by John Ogilby, An Embassy from the Eaſt-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham Emperour of China, London: John Macock, page 163:

Had it not been for the casual discovery in the year 1625 of a deeply buried black marble tablet near Hsi-an containing nearly 1,700 Chinese characters, and a long list of names of priests in Syriac, the fact that such a sect rooted itself in the Celestial Empire would never have been believed, as indeed after the tablet was unearthed it was for a long time discredited.

1912, Arthur Henderson Smith, “Uplifting Leaders”, in The Uplift of China, →OCLC, page 117:

Any character used in the written form of several languages of China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam.

кита́йская гра́мота

can also be derogatory, "something unreadable"


Herbert

→? Cebuano: Herbert

From Old French Herbert, from Frankish *Hari-bercht, from a Proto-Germanic source *Harjaberhtaz, from *harjaz (“army”) + *berhtaz (“bright”).

Herbert, Sydney, Milton, Seymour. You know, all the time I was growing up I thought those were the most ordinary Jewish first names, until someone pointed out that they were British last names. I guess to my great-grandparents those names must have sounded so modern, so sophisticated, so - non-Eastern European. And now they're just Uncle Miltie, Uncle Sy, Uncle Herb. Do other people have Uncle Donne and Uncle Wordsworth?

1989, David Leavitt, Equal Affections, →ISBN, page 215:

A male given name from the Germanic languages, in modern use partly transferred back from the surname.


Lusophone

Lusophones (plural)
lusophone (alternative)

From Portuguese lusófono (“Portuguese-speaking”), from Lusitania (“the Roman province in what is now Portugal”), in the form of Luso- + -phone.


Wilhelm

Borrowed from German Wilhelm. Doublet of William.

As it happened, also, the particular Friedrichs and Wilhelms whom he meant to see and confer with were out of town, or had moved their habitats, so that he could not easily find them.

1872 December, Edward E[verett] Hale, “Ups and Downs”, in Old and New, volume VI, number 6, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, […], chapter XXVI, page 689:

The dour Friedrich Wilhelm I, never out of uniform, accumulating tax income from a dozen different unconstitutional sources, takes time out from drilling his grenadiers to smash an inefficient postillion over the head with his cane. The sleepless Friedrich der Grosse, an atheist Calvin, rises at 6 a.m. to write the day’s orders to his bureaucrats, a shining example to the world of “enlightened despotism.” Even the feckless Friedrich Wilhelm III, defeated by a French revolutionary army, appoints a minister to tell him “Your majesty must do from above what the French have done from below.” […] When the king contemplated (God forbid) his abdication on the issue, Bismarck threw himself into the breach, accepted the office of Chancellor, defied the parliament, and collected the tax, just as the Friedrichs and Wilhelms had done before the French Revolution interrupted the course of progress.

The king’s palace, abode of all the Friedrichs and Wilhelms, had stood there, too, vacated after World War One, discreetly ignored by Hitler, bombed by the Allies in 1945, and finally demolished by the communists.

Eventually it [the law faculty] chose Friedrich Julius Stahl (1802–1861) – born Joel Golson (or Jolson). […] [Abraham] Uhlfelder’s activities were also efficient in assuring Joel’s (and other Jews’) admission to the renowned Protestant school, the Wilhelm Gymnasium.⁹⁶ It was there that Joel became acquainted with Friedrich Immanuel Niethammer – the Bannerträger des Neuhumanismus – and with the philosopher and [Johann Wolfgang von] Goethe’s friend Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi. Joel also developed a special relationship with Friedrich Wilhelm Tiersch during his Gymnasium years. […] Clearly, his choice of a new name shows what it must have felt like to be a Joel surrounded by so many Friedrichs and Wilhelms.

A male given name from German, equivalent to English William.


Indo-Iranian

A branch of the Indo-European language family, including the Indic and Iranian languages.


Swiss-German

en-adj

Swiss-German (comparative more Swiss-German, superlative most Swiss-German)

more Swiss-German (comparative)
most Swiss-German (superlative)


Terri

A female given name; a spelling variant of Terry, diminutive of Teresa.


first language

She was born and raised in France, although her first language is Portuguese because her parents are from Brazil.

Vocabulary is a vital component of educational success in both first and second language contexts.

2018, Clarence Green, James Lambert, “Advancing disciplinary literacy through English for academic purposes: Discipline-specific wordlists, collocations and word families for eight secondary subjects”, in Journal of English for Academic Purposes, volume 35, →DOI, page 105:

The first language one is taught to speak; one's native language.


Rolf

From Old Norse Hrólfr, and from its Old French equivalent, cognates of Rudolph. Brought to England by the Normans, survived in surnames and was revived in the 19th century, partly due to its modern Scandinavian cognate.

A male given name from the Germanic languages.


Cockney

First attested in Samuel Rowland's 1600 The Letting of Humours Blood in the Head-Vaine as "a Bowe-bell Cockney", from Middle English cokenay (“a spoiled child; a milksop, an effeminate man”), used in the 16th c. by English country folk as a term of disparagement for city dwellers, of uncertain etymology. Possibly from Middle English cokeney (“a small, misshapen egg”), from coken (“cocks'”) + ey (“egg”) or from Cockney and Cocknay, variants of Cockaigne, a mythical land of luxury (first attested in 1305) eventually used as a humorous epithet of London. Compare cocker (“to spoil a child”).

der

(UK) From the East End of London, or London generally.


Scáthach

(Irish mythology) The female warrior who trains Cúchulainn in the arts of war in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology.


DA

en-noun

DA (countable and uncountable, plural DAs or DA's)

(UK politics) Initialism of devolved administration.


Yumpla Tok

From yumpla a plural personal pronoun in the creole, and tok meaning talk or speech.

a creole of the Torres Strait in Australia.


Bernard

From Middle English Bernard, from Old French Bernard, Bernart, from Medieval Latin Bernardus, probably from Frankish *Bernhard (compare Old High German Bernhart, Old English Beornheard), from Proto-Germanic *Bernuharduz, equivalent to bear + -ard. Popularized by medieval European saints.

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:


Nuu-chah-nulth

/nuːˈtʃɑːnʊlθ/

From Nootka nuučaan̓uł (“all along the mountains”).

uder

The polysynthetic Nuu-chah-nulth language, Nootka, which belongs to the Wakashan language group and is still spoken by about 500 people.


Hugh

From the Old French aristocratic and saint's name Hughe, brought to England by Normans, from a short form of Germanic names beginning with Proto-Germanic *hugiz (“heart, mind”), such as Hubert. Cognate with Old English hyġe (“mind, spirit, intellect”). More at high, how.

cog

I will rather trust a Fleming with my butter, Parson Hugh the Welshman with my cheese, an Irishman with my aqua-vitae bottle, or a thief to walk my ambling gelding, than my wife with herself.

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

Cold's the wind, and wet's the rain, / Saint Hugh be our good speed. / Ill is the weather that bringeth no gain, / Nor helps good hearts in need.

1600, Thomas Dekker, The Shoemaker's Holiday:

"You are engaged to Mr. Harden, I suppose?" "Yes, Mr. Harden. I call him Hugh, his second name. I like the name of Hugh. The exquisite long vowel pleases me―Hugh! Hugh!".

1894, W. H. Miller, J. Mcaulauy, W. Stevens, The Leisure Hour, Richard Jones, page 651:

Hugh McAnally was universally known as "Wee Shug". He didn't know why people called Hugh always ended up nicknamed Shug.

1996, Ian Rankin, Let It Bleed, Thorndike Press, published 2000, →ISBN, page 68:

What I had noticed all of my young life, from as early as five years old, was that very few people outside my family knew how to pronounce my name―or spell it. "Hue, Hug, Huge, Huh, Hugo. Everything but my name, HUGH!" - - - I grew up thinking that I was the only Hugh in the world, and all my life I'll be meeting people who will have trouble pronouncing my name.

2011, Hughie Boy Levoy, Chicago Kid, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 151:


Reilly

From Irish Ó Raghallaigh, a surname meaning "descendants of Raghallach".

A unisex given name transferred from the surname, of modern usage.


Ness

en-proper noun

Ness (countable and uncountable, plural Nesses)

Named after the River Ness, of Celtic/Pictish origin, from a Proto-Celtic word *Nesta describing great currents, according to MacBain, from the same Proto-Indo-European root that gave the river Νέστος (Néstos), possibly *ned- (“water”).

(Irish mythology) An Ulster princess and the mother of Conchobar mac Nessa and Findchoem in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Daughter of Eochaid Sálbuide. Also the mother of Cormac Cond Longas by incest with Conchobar mac Nessa.


Eochaid Sálbuide

(Irish mythology) The king of Ulster prior to the events of the Ulster Cycle in Irish mythology. Father of Ness. He was deposed as High King by Eochaid Feidlech.


Dian Cecht

(Irish mythology) A god of healing. The healer for the Tuatha Dé Danann and the father of Cian.


Tuatha Dé Danann

From Irish Tuatha Dé Danann (literally “peoples of the goddess Danu”).

bor

(Irish mythology) The fifth group of inhabitants of Ireland according to the Lebor Gabála Érenn tradition, thought to represent the gods of the Goidelic Irish. Their Christian redactors have reduced them to historical kings and heroes.


Deirdre

From Irish Deirdre, from Old Irish Derdriu.

Derdriu (alternative)
Dierdre (alternative)

(Irish mythology) The foremost tragic heroine in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology.

Deirdre, it seemed to him, was the most beautiful name in the world. But Mrs. Stanley had different views on nomenclature. She had never, she declared, heard so utterly preposterous a name. […]"Theatre and saltpetre are both spelt that way, Arthur; depend upon it, it is Deirder - a sort of peasant name like Darby and Biddy, a corruption of something else."

1885, Frances Mabel Robinson, Mr. Butler's Ward, Vizetelly, page 95:

His daughter was called Deirdre, a good Irish name, but now she signed herself Dee, and her man friend was called Fox.

1996, Maeve Binchy, This Year It Will Be Different: A Christmas Treasury, Hachette UK, published 2008, →ISBN:


Cheyenne

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

Borrowed from French Cheyenne, from Dakota šahíyena, from Dakota šaia (“to speak incoherently”), from Dakota ša (“red”) and Dakota ya (“to speak”).

A member of an indigenous people of the Great Plains in North America.


Cheyenne

The capital and largest city of Wyoming, United States and the county seat of Laramie County; named for the people.

A river in the United States; flowing 295 miles from the confluence of the Antelope and Dry Fork creeks in Thunder Basin National Grassland, Wyoming into Lake Oahe, a reservoir of the Missouri River, at Mission Ridge, South Dakota.

Roger Mills County
Roger Mills County#English

A town, the county seat of Roger Mills County, Oklahoma, United States.

A female or male given name of modern American usage.


split infinitive

en-noun

split infinitive (plural split infinitives)

Yeah, Ronnie! (or, the Split Infinitive of the Year, possibly the Century) – on being asked if the New York Times report was true that the 1983 deficit will be $124 billion, rather than the $91.5 billion in the Reagan budget … A: 'I couldn't answer until we have to, by law, shortly, in a couple of weeks, present an updated project.'

1982 April 4, Nick Clarke, quoting Alistair Cooke, “Keeping in Touch”, in Alistair Cooke: A Biography, 1st U.S. edition, New York, N.Y.: Arcade Publishing, published 2000, →ISBN, page 487:

The split infinitive was regrettable, but the writers of Star Trek came up with the phrase to capture the essential idea brought to mind at the mention of the words "frontier" and "pioneer": "to boldly go where no man has gone before."

1994, Patricia Nelson Limerick, “The Adventures of the Frontier in the Twentieth Century”, in James R. Grossman, editor, The Frontier in American Culture: An Exhibition at the Newberry Library, August 26, 1994 – January 7, 1995, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Calif.: University of California Press, →ISBN, page 89:

Such fetishes as insisting on It's I, not ending sentences with prepositions, and avoiding split infinitives are all dismissed as the nonsense they are.

2001, R[obert] L[awrence] Trask, “Introduction”, in Mind the Gaffe: The Penguin Guide to Common Errors in English (Penguin Reference Books), London: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 17:

(grammar) An infinitive with one or more modifiers inserted between the to and the verb.

disigita infinitivo

an infinitive with one or more modifiers inserted between the to and the verb


Deichtine

(Irish mythology) Female name. In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, the mother of Cúchulainn and sister of Conchobar mac Nessa.


Erika

Spelling variant of Erica, the feminine form of Eric, or borrowed directly from modern Scandinavia, ultimately from Old Norse Eiríkr.

Erica (alternative)
Ericka (alternative)

A female given name from the Germanic languages or Old Norse.


Angeleno

Angelenos (plural)
Angeleño (alternative)
Angelino (alternative)
Los Angeleno (alternative)

/ˌænd͡ʒɪˈliːnəʊ/

Coordinate term: Angelena

The LAPD has asked Angelenos not to shoot at the alien spaceship, fearing it might trigger an interstellar war.

He expressed his concerns through a series of histrionic rhetorical questions concerning L.A.’s shortcomings, all of which Sadie, a native Angeleno, already knew: Did she know about the earthquakes? The fires? The floods?

2022, Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Vintage (2023), page 185:


Mehran

From Persian مهران (mehrân), from Middle Persian mtrʾn (mihrān). Related to Persian مهر (mehr) and Mithra.

مهران مهران#Persian

A transliteration of the Persian male given name مهران (mehrân).


Permian

An inhabitant of the Russian region of Perm; specifically, one belonging to a branch of the Finno-Ugric peoples, including Komis and Udmurts, who speak Permic languages.


Permian

en-adj

Permian (comparative more Permian, superlative most Permian)

more Permian (comparative)
most Permian (superlative)

Pertaining to the Perm region of Russia, or its inhabitants.

permiläinen

pertaining to the Perm region and its inhabitants

‘In many ways modern art was a culture of the beach. They say it's the light, the special quality of quartz in the Permian rock.’

2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 103:

(geology) Pertaining to the last geologic period of the Paleozoic era; comprising the Cisuralian, Guadalupian and Lopingian epochs from about 280 to 248 million years ago.


Silurian

Silurian (comparative more Silurian, superlative most Silurian)

more Silurian (comparative)
most Silurian (superlative)

(archaeology) Of or related to the Silures, a pre-Roman British tribe.


Cambrian

Synonym of Walian: a Welsh person, a Welshman or Welshwoman.


Mississippian

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


systematic name

en-noun

systematic name (plural systematic names)

A name that systematically designates a well-defined group of entities.

(chemistry) A name composed of words or symbols that precisely describe chemical structure; such names exist for both elements and compounds

systematický název

name precisely describing chemical structure


systematic element name

systematic element name (plural systematic element names)

Before IUPAC named the element with atomic number 106 “seaborgium” in honour of Glenn Seaborg, it was called by the systematic element name unnilhexium.

(chemistry) A systematic name for an element, derived from the digits of its atomic number to which the suffix -ium is appended; normally only used for transuranic elements before or for a short period after they have been created, after which they are given a non-systematic name.


Terrence

A male given name from Latin, variant of Terence.


Terence

From Latin Terentius, a Roman family name of obscure origin, borne by a Roman playwright and by early Christian saints.
* In Ireland, it has been used to represent Turlough.

Terrance (alternative)
Terrence (alternative)
Terance (alternative)

"Very likely the ragged scion of one of those Irish gentry, who has taken naturally to 'the road'. He should be at school - though I warrant me his knowledge of Terence will not extend beyond his own name," said Lord Henry Somerset, aid-de-camp to the Lord Lieutenant.

1867, Bret Harte, chapter I, in Terence Denville:

They had an expensive, well-cut air which was like a uniform, and their conversation was all about people with names like Terence and Geoffrey, Philippa and Vivien, who lived in London and County Wicklow and who were "terribly amusing".

1963, Jane McIlvaine, Cammie's Cousin, Bobbs-Merrill, page 58:

A male given name from Latin, popular in the U.K. in the mid-twentieth century.


placeman

Plus, contrary to hysterical prediction and uninformed innuendo, Bryant Lemuel's influence did not fill this pilot project with compliant placemen, instead leaving all appointments to the university science faculty.

2007, Christopher Brookmyre, Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks, →ISBN, page 183:

Predictably, the brow-beaten Clement in the end submitted to Philip's demands that the papal commission, which was eventually convened in November 1309, should consist predominantly of clerics who were known to be royal placemen.

2007, Edwin Mullins, The Popes of Avignon, Blue Bridge, published 2008, page 32:

(UK politics, derogatory) One appointed to an office, especially in government, as a reward for political or other support; an appointee, a yes-man.


Plato

Via Latin Plato, from Ancient Greek Πλάτων (Plátōn), from πλατύς (platús, “broad, wide”), either because of Plato's robust body, or wide forehead or the breadth of his eloquence.

My name is Plato Jones. Plato Constantine Jones. Plato because my mother is Greek, and Jones because my father is Welsh, and Constantine after his father, my grandfather, who is Constantine Llewellyn Jones.

1993, Nina Bawden, The Real Plato Jones, Houghton Miffin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 1:

The Greek philosopher, 427–347 BC, follower of Socrates.


Harold

From a merger of Old English Hereweald and Old English Harold (itself from Old Norse Haraldr), both from Proto-Germanic *Harjawaldaz, from *harjaz (“army”) + *waldaz (“ruler, authority”). Related to Walter, which has the elements reversed. Cognate with Danish, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish Harald, Faroese and Icelandic Haraldur.

cog

For I have heard the Steers / Had land in Saxon times; and your own name / Of Harold sounds so English and so old / I am sure you must be proud of it.

1882, Alfred Tennyson, The Promise of May:

She called her husband Hal because no one else had ever done so and it had a dashing ring, rather out of keeping with Harold's appearance.

1984, Ruth Rendell, The Killing Doll, Pantheon Books, →ISBN, page 42:

A male given name from Old English or Old Norse.


Eddie

There's a world of difference between the name Edward, which sounds rather regal and stuffy (Edwardian) and the name Eddie, which sounds like a guy on the bus.

1994, Caroline Knapp, The Merry Recluse: A Life in Essays, Counterpoint Press, published 2004, →ISBN, page 169:

A diminutive of Edward, Edgar, Edwin, or other male given names beginning with Ed-.


Hmong

Hmoob (alternative)
Mong (alternative)
Moob (alternative)

A people who live predominantly in the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand, and (in diaspora) around the world.


Hmong

The lect spoken by these people, which is a cluster of a large number of lects which are sometimes considered dialects and sometimes separate languages.


Hmong

Of or relating to the Hmong, their culture, or their lect.


Germania

From Latin Germānia. Doublet of Germany.

(historical) Any of several geographical regions of different historical periods that were mainly inhabited by Germanic peoples.


Hindustani

Borrowed from Hindustani ہِنْدُوسْتانی (hindūstānī) / हिंदुस्तानी (hindustānī), from Classical Persian هِنْدُوسْتَانِی (hindūstānī), from هِنْدُو (hindū, “Hindu, Indian”) + ـسْتَان (-stān, “land”) + adjective suffix ـِی (-ī). Equivalent to Hindustan + -i.

der

هِنْدُوسْتَانِی

Hindoostane (alternative)
Hindostanee (alternative)
Hindoostanee (alternative)
Hindoostani (alternative)
Hindustanee (alternative)
Hindustane (alternative)
Hindōstāni (alternative)

Swerg, in the Hinduſtànì language, means Heaven.

1792, Sir William Jones, Dissertations and Miscellaneous Pieces Relating to the History and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences, and Literature, of Asia, page 150:

Kim watched the stars as they rose one after another in the still, sticky dark, till he fell asleep at the foot of the altar. That night he dreamed in Hindustani, with never an English word…

1900 December – 1901 October, Rudyard Kipling, chapter XI, in Kim (Macmillan’s Colonial Library; no. 414), London: Macmillan and Co., published 1901, →OCLC:

Cambridge University Press
w:Cambridge University Press

The pluricentric language of Hindi-Urdu, of which Hindi and Urdu are literary standards; the language from which Hindi and Urdu are derived.

Hindustani, or Urdu (i.e., camp language), is a dialect of Hindi, differing from it in its large admixture of Persian words, and in that it is usually printed in Persian or Arabic characters, while Hindi is commonly printed in Sanskrit letters.

1895, Harlan Page Beach, The Cross in the Land of the Trident, page 59:

(historical) The language which is now known as Urdu.

Of the several languages derived from the Sanskrit, none exercises so general and wide-spread an influence over India as the Hindi, or Sir George's Common Hindustani.

1873, Haris Chandra's magazine, page 119, column 1:

But Mr. Lyall, in an article that is all too short, shows that Hindustani, or Hindi (for there is no essential difference between the two) possesses a continuous body of literature which represents intellectual life in Northern India during the past six centuries.

1880, The Pall Mall Budget: Being a Weekly Collection of Articles Printed in the Pall Mall Gazette from Day to Day, with a Summary of News, page 977, column 2:

(historical) The language which is now known as Hindi.


Ronald

Anglicized from Scottish Gaelic Raghnall, itself derived from Old Norse Rǫgnvaldr, from rǫgn (“advice”) + valdr (“power”), later partly merged with the Continental Germanic equivalent Reynold.

Bridey says if she had a son which please God she will some day she'll call him Ronald because she's mad about Ronald Colman that you see in the Coliseum Cinema. Or Errol, now that's another lovely name, Errol Flynn. ---
Ronald, says Bridey, Ronald. He's gorgeous.
No, says Mam, it has to be Irish. Isn't that what we fought for all these years? What's the use of fighting the English for centuries if we're going to call our children Ronald?

1996, Frank McCourt, chapter VII, in Angela's Ashes, HarperCollins., →ISBN, pages 203–204:

A male given name from the Germanic languages.


Ron

Former United Nations ambassador and current GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley slammed fellow Republicans former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Monday in a campaign letter highlighting Haley’s first quarter accomplishments.

2023 April 11 [2023 April 10], Sarah Elbeshbishi, “Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley slams Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis in campaign letter”, in USA Today, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-12:

A diminutive of the male given name Ronald.

A male given name from Hebrew of Hebrew origin, meaning "Song of Joy".


Hansard

Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Luke Hansard
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Thomas Curson Hansard

From Hansard, the surname of Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), an English printer who inherited the business of printing reports of parliamentary debates and proceedings from his father Luke Hansard (1752–1828). T. C. Hansard added his name to the title of the reports from 1829, and from about 1859 they began to be referred to generically as “Hansards”.

Mr. BURNS thought that if they were to have a Hansard at all, they should take steps to have it thoroughly well done, and he would be very glad if they could get rid of these corrections altogether. He thought the exact words, or as nearly as possible the exact words, should be put into the Hansard, and the staff should be so efficient that there would be no necessity for corrections.

1868 October 16, A[rthur] J[ohn] Burns, “Reporting Debates”, in New Zealand. Parliamentary Debates. Third Session of the Fourth Parliament. […] (House of Representatives), volume IV, Wellington: G. Didsbury, government printer, →OCLC, page 372, column 1:

Now, Hansard's Debates originated in the year 1803, and through the enterprize of a son of the late Mr. Luke Hansard, who had been so long connected with the printing of the House, these Debates had supplied the Parliament with a very accurate record of its proceedings. They were cited continually in the House, and so great was their reputation that even in Prussia they had a Preussiches Hansard; there was also a Hansard's Debates both in Canada and Australia. [...] Suppose, then, that these Debates came to an end to-morrow; [...] the newspapers would not supply them with the materials which were now contained in Hansard. It was impossible that the newspapers could report the proceedings of the House at sufficient length.

1875 May 4, Mitchell Henry, “Parliament—Publication of Debates and Exclusion of Strangers.—Resolution.”, in Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates, […] (House of Commons), volume CCXXIV (Third Series), 3rd volume of the session, London: Published by Cornelius Buck, at the office for “Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates,” […], →OCLC, columns 68–70:

He, for example, who would essay to take account of Mr. [William Ewart] Gladstone, must read much else besides Hansard; he must brush up his Homer, and set himself to acquire some theology.

1885, [Augustine Birrell], “Carlyle”, in Obiter Dicta, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 1:

In any case, the judges are not allowed to read Hansard in order to see what the sponsors, or any other member, may have said. This is a much criticised rule, but there is a certain amount to be said for it. The legislative processes, through which the parliamentary draftsman's work must pass, are confusing and muddled.

1983, Geoffrey Lewis, “Statutory Interpretation”, in Lord Atkin, London: Butterworths, →ISBN, page 118; reprinted Oxford, Oxfordshire, Portland, Or.: Hart Publishing, 1999, →ISBN:

In a country like India with a vibrant democracy, parliamentary debates play a very crucial role and are watched with keen interest by the people, who are politically conscious. The Reporters' Branch is entrusted with the responsibility of producing the Indian Hansard, i.e., the Official Report of the proceedings of Lok Sabha.

1992, “The Indian Hansard”, in Parliament of India: The Ninth Lok Sabha 1989–1991: A Study, New Delhi: Northern Book Centre for the Lok Sabha Secretariat, →ISBN, part I (Articles), page 63, column 1:

The object of the court in interpreting legislation is to give effect so far as the language permits to the intention of the legislature. If the language proves to be ambiguous I can see no sound reason not to consult Hansard to see if there is a clear statement of the meaning that the words were intended to carry. The days have long passed when the courts adopted a strict constructionist view of interpretation which required them to adopt the literal meaning of the language. [...] I cannot agree with the view that consulting Hansard will add so greatly to the cost of litigation, that on this ground alone we should refuse to do so. Modern technology greatly facilitates the recall and display of material held centrally. I have to confess that on many occasions I have had recourse to Hansard, of course only to check if my interpretation had conflicted with an express Parliamentary intention, but I can say that it does not take long to recall and assemble the relevant passages in which the particular section was dealt with in Parliament, nor does it take long to see if anything relevant was said.

1992 November 26, Lord Griffiths [Hugh Griffiths, Baron Griffiths] (judge of the House of Lords), “Pepper (Inspector of Taxes) … Respondent and Hart … Appellant [[1993] Appeal Cases 593]”, in The Law Reports of the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting: House of Lords, Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and Peerage Cases, London: Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales, published 1993, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2019-09-18, pages 617–618:

Imagine a parliamentary stenographer scribbling furiously in the days before tape recorders. His job is to record politicians' speeches so they can be written up and preserved in an official parliamentary record like Hansard. [...] When some dramatic break or swerve in the speech seems too uncertain to sort out there and then, the stenographer sticks in clumps of hyphens, partly as a signal to himself that he will need to sort this out later when "correcting" and "clarifying" his final copy for Hansard.

1993, Graham Bradshaw, “Appendix: Dashing Othello’s Spirits”, in Misrepresentations: Shakespeare and the Materialists, Ithaca, N.Y., London: Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 258:

Following the debate in question, Tim Loughton sent an unmarked copy of Hansard to his constituent to inform him that he would no longer be acting as his MP as the constituent had made this position untenable. [...] However, and unbeknown to Loughton, the constituent reported the debate to the police as a 'hate crime' and complained that sending a copy of Hansard was 'harassment'.

2015, Roger Williams, “Harassment in Sussex”, in Rough Justice: Citizens’ Experience of Mistreatment and Injustice in the Early Stages of Law Enforcement, Hook, Hampshire: Waterside Press, →ISBN, part 1 (Contributions, Media and Experiences), page 106:

(chiefly British, Commonwealth) The official report of debates and other proceedings in the British and some Commonwealth parliaments.


Alicia

A Latinization of Alice, which is in turn from Old French Adelais, Germanic Adalheidis (from the Germanic *adal, meaning noble, and *heid, meaning type).

Aleshia (alternative)
Alisha (alternative)
Alyshia (alternative)
Alyssa (alternative)
Alycia (alternative)
Alissia (alternative)
Alisia (alternative)

A female given name from the Germanic languages.


Eurasian

Eurasians (plural)
Euro-Asian (alternative)
Euroasian (alternative)

From Euro- + Asian. Attested since 1844.

Any person native to Eurasia, or descended from people native to Eurasia.


Monica

From Latin Mŏnĭca, name of the mother of St. Augustine, of uncertain meaning but probably Berber or Phoenician origin.

They named her Monica. Why the name was chosen I have never learnt; but I do not conceive that there was any reason for the choice other than the taste of her parents in the matter of sounds. It is a pleasing enough name, euphoniously considered, and beyond that — as is so commonly the case — no considerations were taken into account. To her, however, at once imaginative and of a feeble and dependent spirit, the name was fateful. St. Monica was made the special object of her devotions in her childhood, and reigned so later when she became a wife.

1913, Rafael Sabatini, The Strolling Saint, Kessinger Publishing, published 2004, →ISBN, page 3:


Shirl

A short form of the female given name Shirley.


Shirley

English place name from Old English sċīr (“county”) + lēah (“meadow”). Equivalent to shire + -ley (“lea”). More at shire, leigh.

Sherley (alternative)
Shurley (alternative)

Shirley Blythe was with Una Meredith and both were rather silent because such was their nature. Shirley was a lad of sixteen, sedate, sensible, thoughtful, full of a quiet humour.

1921, Lucy Maud Montgomery, chapter 2, in Rilla of Ingleside:

(rare) A male given name transferred from the surname.

Shirley Keeldar (she had no christian name but Shirley: her parents, who had wished to have a son, finding that, after eight years of marriage, Providence had granted them only a daughter, bestowed on her the same masculine family cognomen they would have bestowed on a boy, if with a boy they had been blessed)—[…]

1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Fieldhead”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, pages 294–295:

"Why a girl like you should be named Shirley is beyond me. You haven't a ruffle or a furbelow anywhere in your nature." "Is that meant for an insult?" she asked, flushing angrily. "No, it's just that it's incongruous. You are the 'give us this day our daily bread' sort of person. Shirley is party stuff."

1951, Alice Tisdale Hobart, The Serpent-Wreathed Staff, Bobbs-Merrill, page 50:

A female given name transferred from the surname, popular from the 1920s to the 1950s.


Morgan le Fay

/ˌmɔːɡən lə ˈfeɪ/

From Old Welsh or Old Breton Morgen (a female given name unrelated with the male one Morgan, literally “sea-born”) + Old French la fee (“the fairy”).

a female given name unrelated with the male one <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">Morgan</i>

(Arthurian legend) The half sister of King Arthur, known for being a powerful enchantress.


Orpheus

From Ancient Greek Ὀρφεύς (Orpheús), built from an uncertain root with the -εύς (-eús) suffix. Perhaps root-cognate to Ancient Greek ὀρφανός (orphanós, “orphan”).

cog

(rare) A male given name from Ancient Greek.


Hercules

head

Hercules (plural Herculeses or Hercules or (obsolete) Herculesses or (obsolete) Hercules's)

Herculeses (plural)
Hercules (plural)
Herculesses (obsolete plural)
Hercules's (obsolete plural)

From Latin Herculēs, from Etruscan 𐌇𐌄𐌓𐌂𐌋𐌄 (hercle), from Ancient Greek Ἡρακλῆς (Hēraklês), apparently cognate of Ἥρα (Hḗra, “Hera”) and, according to Haudry, from Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥ (“year, season”) + κλέος (kléos, “glory”).

der

(rare, countable) A male given name from Ancient Greek.


Vesta

From Middle English Vesta, from Latin Vesta, related to Ancient Greek ἑστία (hestía, “to dwell”) and Ἑστία (Hestía, “Hestia”), all from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-; see also Old High German and Old English wesan (“to be”), Gothic wisan, Sanskrit वसति (vasati, “abide dwell”).
Vesta itself came to mean chaste, pure, or virgin, based from this goddess.

cog

A female given name from Latin in occasional use.


Moira

Anglicized from Irish Máire, a cognate of Mary. Doublet of Maura.


Ulysses

From Latin Ulyssēs, a frequent alternative form of Ulixēs (“Odysseus”), influenced by the Ancient Greek Ὀδυσσεύς (Odusseús). Doublet of Odysseus.


Odysseus

From Ancient Greek Ὀδυσσεύς (Odusseús). Doublet of Ulysses.


Diana

→ Hawaiian: Kiana
→ English: Kiana

→ Serbo-Croatian: Дајана, Dajana

→ Spanish: Dayana

Borrowed from Late Latin Diāna, short form of Latin Dīāna, derived by syncope from Old Latin Dīvāna, equivalent to dīvus + -āna; roughly akin to Proto-Italic *deiwā (“goddess”) + Proto-Indo-European *-néh₂.
Originally an Old Italic divinity of light and the moon; later identified as the Roman counterpart to Greek goddess Artemis. Cognate of Attic Greek Διώνη (Diṓnē), similarly syncopated from older Ancient Greek Διϝωνη (Diwōnē), whence via Latin Diōne is derived English Dione used in various ways across astronomy, chemistry, biology, and as a given name. From the same root Proto-Indo-European *dyúh₃onh₂- also potentially cognate to English June via Latin Jūnō.

But succeeding ages (little regarding S. Chrysosthome's admonition to the contrary) have recalled prophane names, so as now Diana, Cassandra, Hyppolytus, Venus, Lais, names of unhappy disaster are as rife, as ever they were in paganism.

1605, William Camden, Remains Concerning Britain, John Russell Smith, published 1870, page 56:

A wholesome British name like Diana, Anne, Margaret or Elizabeth impresses a judge much more than all your vulgar Marilyns, Donnas, Madonnas and Dawns.

1993, James Kirkup, Queens Have Died Young and Fair, P. Owen, →ISBN, page 94:


Irving

Variant of the Scottish habitational surname Irvine, probably from a Celtic word cognate with Welsh ir, yr (“fresh”) + afon (“river”).

A male given name transferred from the surname, often used by English-speaking Jews to anglicize Israel.


Rebecca

Rebeccas (plural)
Rebeccah (alternative)
Rebekah (alternative)
Rebekka (alternative)

The Vulgate (Latin) form of biblical Rebekah, from Hebrew רִבְקָה (Rivka, “enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”).

der

And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 9:10-12:

They would say, if 'twas Rebecca,
That she is a little Quaker.

1809, Charles and Mary Lamb, Poetry for Children: Choosing a Name:

"What's her name?" I asked. "Rebecca. Rebecca Valentine." The name Rebecca excited me. I had always wanted to meet a woman called Rebecca—and not Becky. (Rebecca, Ruth, Roxane, Rosalind, Frederika, Ursula, Sheila, Norma, Guinevere, Leonora, Sabina, Malvina, Solange, Deirdre. What wonderful names women had! Like flowers, stars, constellations…)

1949, Henry Miller, Sexus (The Rosy Crucifixion), Grove Press, published 1965, →ISBN, page 312:

Our daughter's name, Rebecca, summons up similar visions. Although our family is not Jewish, both names (David and Rebecca) have a Hebrew ancestry which, in the eyes of many beholders ( i.e. teachers ) invokes a vision of a family that values education.

1997, Robert T. Tauber, Self-fulfilling Prophecy, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 61:

A female given name originating from the Bible [in turn from Hebrew], in regular use since the Reformation.


cross the floor

en-verb

cross the floor (third-person singular simple present crosses the floor, present participle crossing the floor, simple past and past participle crossed the floor)

crosses the floor (present singular third-person)
crossing the floor (participle present)
crossed the floor (participle past)
crossed the floor (past)

(UK politics, of a member of a parliament) To vote against one’s own political party in parliament.

Two weeks ago, Mr Davies intimated to Mr Brown that he was ready to cross the floor.

2007 June 27, Philip Webster, Francis Elliott, “How Brown led his latest recruit across the floor”, in Times of London, retrieved 2008-11-09:

(UK politics, informal, of a member of a parliament) To resign from one’s political party and join another party, resulting in moving from one’s currently assigned desk or seat in the legislative chamber to a new desk or seat physically located with the other members of one’s new party.


Serb

From Serbo-Croatian Srbi, from Proto-Slavic *sьrbъ (“ally, Serb, Sorb”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to protect, watch over”); akin to Latin servo (“I guard, I protect”), Old English searu (“weapons, armor”), Lithuanian sárgas (“watchman”), Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs, “hero”), Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (haraⁱti), 𐬵𐬀𐬎𐬭𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (haᵘruuaⁱti, “to guard”). Doublet of Sorb.

der

Dozens of NATO peacekeepers were injured after they were attacked by ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo, during protests over the installation of ethnically Albanian mayors.

2023 May 30, Christian Edwards, “Why did ethnic Serbs attack NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo? Here’s what we know”, in CNN:

A person of Serb descent (not necessarily from Serbia). (Compare Serbian.)

Serwiër

person of Serb descent — see also Serbian


Serb

A prominent Kosovo Serb politician, Oliver Ivanovic, was shot dead outside his party offices Tuesday morning, halting talks between Kosovar and Serb delegates that had been set to resume that day.

2018 January 16, Milena Veselinovic and Sheena McKenzie, “Leading Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic shot dead outside office”, in CNN:


Effie

From Euphemia + -ie (diminutive form), or, very rarely, from modern Greek Eftychia or Euthemia (diminutive form).

"Yes, little wild flower - I shall call you that, unless your name sounds like you. What is it, dear?"
"Effie Malie."
"That is charming; now, Effie Malie, sit down upon this mossy bank with me, […]

1857, J. T. Bickford, Scandal, Shepard, Clark, and Brown, page 82:

A diminutive of the female given name Euphemia, also used as a formal given name in the 19th century.


Lillian

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

Your mother's name was Lillian, Minnie Lee,
Her other name I never heard, until
I stood within the church and saw her wed
So she is ever Lillian Lee to me.

Lillian Russell was christened Helen Louise Leonard. Tony Pastor gave her the name Lillian Russell, for the very practical reason, I believe, that it had so many "l's" in it, and consequently would look well on a bill-board.

1907, Lewis Clinton Strang, Famous Prima Donnas, L.C.Page&Co, page 33:

A female given name from Latin, of American usage; variant form Lilian (UK).


Harriet

Anglicized form of French Henriette, feminine form of Henri (“Henry”), popular in England in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Harriet, by the way, is a very sprightly name. It is the female of Harry, and is identified in my imagination with I know not what of the power of being lively and saucy, without committing the sweetness of womanhood.

1833, Leigh Hunt, A Year of Honey-Moons, Court magazine and monthly, E. Bull, published 1833, page 33:

I found myself wanting to explain it to her, this middle-aged woman with the kind of haircut you call a hairdo, which needed to be set in rollers every night, who had a name like Agnes or Harriet, a name that even predated my mother's generation.

1995, Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America, Riverhead Books, published 1995, →ISBN, page 14:


Babs

From the clipping of Barbara + -s (hypocoristic suffix).

A diminutive of the female given name Barbara.


confirmation name

en-noun

confirmation name (plural confirmation names)

(Christianity) A name given usually by a pastor to a confirmand during a confirmation ceremony in various Christian denominations.


maiden name

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

The original last name of a person, usually a woman, who has changed their last name upon marriage.

旧姓 (きゅうせい, kyūsei, literally “previous name, old name”)

apellido de soltera

only used in foreign contexts, married women in Spanish-speaking countries keep their original surnames instead


Sandeep

From Hindi संदीप (sandīp, “enlightened”).

A male given name from Hindi used in India.


Sanya

Transliteration of Russian Са́ня (Sánja), diminutive of Алекса́ндра (Aleksándra) and Алекса́ндр (Aleksándr). In some cases possibly from Serbo-Croatian Сања and Sanja.


Sanya

Variant of Saniyah, Saniyya, from Arabic سنيّة (“radiant”)


American Sign Language

American Sign Language: 𝣷𝪜 𝤃𝪜 𝣜𝪜 (from ASL)

A sign language used primarily in the United States of America and Canada.

American Sign Language
Stokoe notation
Sutton SignWriting

language that uses hands, facial expressions, and other bodily behavior to communicate


ASL

American Sign Language
American Sign Language#English


Robinson

en-proper noun

Robinson (countable and uncountable, plural Robinsons)


Ann

→ Danish: Ann

→ Norwegian: Ann

→ Swedish: Ann

→ Tagalog: Ann

From Late Latin Anna chiefly in reference to St Anne the apocryphal mother of Mary mother of Jesus but appearing in the Vulgate in reference to Anna the Prophetess, from Koine Greek Ἄννα (Ánna, “Anna”) in the New Testament, from Hebrew חַנָּה (Ḥannâ, “Hannah”), from חַנָּה (ḥannâ, “grace, gracious, graced with child”). Occasionally reborrowed from languages who adopted the name from English. Very infrequently from Estonian abbreviation of Anna instead. Doublet of Ana, Anna, Anne, and Hannah.

ramsden. When you say Ann, you mean, I presume, Miss Whitefield. / tanner. I mean our Ann, your Ann, Tavy's Ann, and now, Heaven help me, my Ann!

1901–1903, [George] Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman. A Comedy and a Philosophy, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable & Co., published 1903, →OCLC, Act I, page 8:

Given a perfectly good American name like Ann, she has deliberately chosen to label herself "Anya" after a long-dead great-grandmother, and put jam in her tea.

1969, Constance Urdang, Natural History, Harper&Row, page 61:

"Her full name is Annie Lou. Like calling herself a snooty white girl name like Ann makes up for it."
"Must I remind you that Ann is also my middle name?"

2005, Mary Monroe, In Sheep's Clothing, Dafina Books, →ISBN, page 129:


Abraham

Etymology tree
Biblical Hebrew אַבְרָהָםbor.
Ancient Greek Ἀβραάμ (Abraám)bor.
Latin Ābrahāmbor.
Old English Abraham
Middle English Abraham
English Abraham
From Middle English Abraham, from Old English Abraham, from Late Latin Ābrahām, from Ancient Greek Ἀβρᾱᾱ́μ (Abrāā́m), from Hebrew אַבְרָהָם ('aḇrāhām, “Abraham”). Glossed as אַב (aḇ, “father of”) + הֲמוֹן (hăˈmōn, “multitude of”) in Genesis 17:4–5; or from Hebrew אַבְרָם ('aḇrām, “Abram”). Doublet of Ibrahim and Avraham.

etymon

"Lincoln wasn't a Jew, was he?" he said. "I'm sure not," I said. […] "The name Abraham is very suspicious, to say the least," said Goebbels. "I'm sure his parents didn't realize that it was a Jewish name," I said. "They must have just liked the sound of it. They were simple frontier people. If they'd known the name was Jewish, I'm sure they would have called him something more American, like George or Stanley or Fred."

1961, Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night, Dell, published 1975, page 28:


Wayne

An occupational surname for a cartwright, Old English wægen (“wagon”).

"My Dad wanted to name me Mats." "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."

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

Marcella and Nathaniel. Now I know their names. I haven't thought much about having children, but if I did, I wouldn't give them names like that. They're the sort of names you choose if you think you're someone to be reckoned with. I wonder if this is my Reverse L'Oréal Syndrome kicking in again; what would I call my kids, Wayne and Tracey? Because I'm not worth it.

2010, Sophie Hannah, A Room Swept White, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 102:


Neil

Anglicized form of Goidelic/Irish Niall. Doublet of Niall.

Neal (alternative)
Neale (alternative)
Neill (alternative)


Neal

A male given name from Irish, transferred from the surname.


Herzegovinian

The iconic humpbacked bridge rose high over the Neretva, connecting the two halves of the old Herzegovinian town that clung to the clifftops: one Muslim, the other Croat.

2022, Priscilla Morris, Black Butterflies, Duckworth, page 60:

Of, from, or pertaining to Herzegovina and its inhabitants.

赫塞哥維納的 /赫塞哥维纳的

of, from, or pertaining to Herzegovina and its inhabitants


Burkinabe

Burkinabes (plural)
Burkinabé (alternative)

From French burkinabé, from Moore burkĩna (“honest”) + Fula -ɓe (plural ending for a people noun), coined by Burkinabe revolutionary Thomas Sankara.

coin

A person from Burkina Faso or of Burkinabe descent.


Pitcairnese

(linguistics) A creole spoken in the Pitcairn Islands, formed from an eighteenth-century dialect of English and the Tahitian language.


Akan

The Niger-Congo language spoken by these people.


chancellor

chancellors (plural)
chanceler (alternative)
chanceller (alternative)
chancellour (alternative)
chancelor (alternative)
chancelour (alternative)
chaunceler (alternative)
chaunceller (alternative)
chauncellor (alternative)
chauncellour (alternative)
chauncelor (alternative)
chauncelour (alternative)

/ˈtʃɑːnsələ/

/ˈt͡ʃænsələ/

Angela Merkel
Frick Collection
Hans Holbein the Younger
Thomas More

From Anglo-Norman or Middle English chaunceler, chanceler, canceler (“chief administrative or executive officer of a ruler; chancellor, secretary; private secretary, scribe; Lord Chancellor of England; officer of the ruler's exchequer; a high administrative or executive officer (for example, a deputy or representative of a bishop; the head of a university)”), from Old French cancelier, chancelier (“chancellor”), from Late Latin cancellārius (“secretary; doorkeeper, porter; usher of a court of law stationed at the bars separating the public from the judges”), from Latin cancellī (plural of cancellus (“grate; bars, barrier; railings”), diminutive of cancer (“grid; barrier”), from Proto-Italic *karkros (“enclosure”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend, turn”)) + -ārius (suffix forming nouns denoting an agent of use).
The word was present as Late Old English canceler, cancheler, from Norman cancheler, but was displaced in the 13th century by the Old French and Anglo-Norman forms mentioned above.

refn

From the Frick Collection in New York City, New York, USA.

مُسْتَشَار

[page 111] […] Lord Falkland […] took an Opportunity to tell the King, that He had now a good Opportunity to prefer Mr. Hyde, by making him Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the Place of Sir John Colepepper; […] [page 112] He [Colepepper] ſurrendered his Office of Chancellor of the Exchequer: And the next Day Mr. Hyde was ſworn of the Privy-Council, and Knighted, and had his Patents ſealed for that Office.

[1760, Edward, Earl of Clarendon [i.e., Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon], “Part the Second”, in The Life of Edward, Earl of Clarendon, Lord High Chancellor of England, and Chancellor of the University of Oxford. […], volume I, Oxford, Oxfordshire: At the Clarendon Printing-house, →OCLC, pages 111 and 112:

Chancellor Philip Hammond has told the BBC he and other MPs will "find a way" of blocking a no-deal Brexit. […] Mr Hammond is expected to be replaced as chancellor whoever wins the Conservative leadership election later this month.

2019 July 5, “Philip Hammond: MPs will and should Stop No-deal Brexit”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 2019-07-08:

Liz Truss has sacked Kwasi Kwarteng as her chancellor and replaced him with Jeremy Hunt ahead of a U-turn on key sections of her disastrous mini-budget, as she launched a desperate attempt to restore her crumbling political authority.

2022 October 14, “Liz Truss sacks Kwasi Kwarteng before corporation tax U-turn”, in The Guardian:

Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer#English

A senior secretary or official with administrative or legal duties, sometimes in charge of some area of government such as finance or justice.

(UK politics) Ellipsis of Chancellor of the Exchequer.

"Have you agreed on your chancellor, gentlemen?" was the first question of the Judge. The foreman, called in Scotland the chancellor of the jury, usually the man of best rank and estimation among the assizers, stepped forward, and, with a low reverence, delivered to the Court a sealed paper, containing the verdict, […]

1818 July 25, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter XII, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, pages 285–286:

The verdict must be returned to the Court by the chancellor of the jury, in presence of the accused, and of the whole jury; and, being engrossed in the record, and read aloud, it is then sealed up, in terms of the regulations 1672, No. 9, and deposited with the clerk of Court, never to be opened again but by order of the judges. The verdict, when in writing, is authenticated by the subscriptions of the chancellor and clerk of the jury, and accompanied with a list of the names of the jurors, and a state of the vote of each individual, "whether condemning or assoilzieing;" Regulations 1672, No. 9.

1826, Robert Bell, William Bell, “CRIMINAL PROSECUTION”, in A Dictionary of the Law of Scotland, 3rd revised and enlarged edition, volume I, Edinburgh: Printed for John Anderson & Co. […], and Bell & Bradfute, →OCLC, page 333:

[T]he pursuer moved the Court "for a rule to shew cause why this case should not be ordered to be tried, in respect that the verdict as it appears on the notes of the Judge furnished to the parties, was not declared by the chancellor or foreman of the jury in open Court, and taken down by the clerk of the said Court before the jury was discharged."

1853 July 16, Geo[rge] Dingwall Fordyce (reporter), James Paterson (reporter), William Gillies Tytler (reporter), Frederick Hallard (reporter), “James Mackenzie, Pursuer, v. Dunlop, Wilson and Co., Defenders.”, in Reports of Cases Decided in the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and in the House of Lords on Appeal from Scotland, [ […] Being a Continuation of The Scottish Jurist.">…


Edmund

From Old English Ēadmund, from ēad (“prosperity”) + mund (“protection”). Doublet of Eamon.

This Edmund, in the reign of Bolingbroke, / As I have read, laid claim unto the crown; / And but for Owen Glendower, had been king, / Who kept him in captivity till he died.

To me, the sound of Mr. Bertram is so cold and nothing-meaning—so entirely without warmth or character!—It just stands for a gentleman, and that's all. But there is nobleness in the name of Edmund. It is a name of heroism and renown—of kings, princes, and knights; and seems to breathe the spirit of chivalry and warm affections.

1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter IV, in Mansfield Park: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, pages 79–80:

A male given name from Old English, borne by early English kings and saints.


Lloyd

en-proper noun

Lloyd (countable and uncountable, plural Lloyds)

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Adolf

From Old High German adal (“noble”) + wulf (“wolf”). Doublet of Ethelwolf from Old English Æþelwulf.

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


Norrie

A diminutive form of the female given names Noreen, Norette, and Lenore.

A diminutive form of the male given name Norman.

census-designated place
census-designated place

A census-designated place in Pitkin County, Colorado.


Kelly

en-prop

Kelly (countable and uncountable, plural Kellies)

Kellies (plural)
Kelley (alternative)
Kelli (alternative)
Kellie (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-Kelly.wav

A unisex given name transferred from the surname.

On the walls of the salon are blown-up photos of models with dazzling teeth and ingeniously tousled hair - women with names like Kelly and Dawn, who come from tiny towns in Texas and Washington, who are tall and thin, and who don't appear to be burdened by any pasts to speak of.

1986, Daphne Merkin, chapter 1986, in Enchantment, Harcourt Brace Jovanovi, →ISBN, page 207:

One Nation, a new 501(c)4 linked to the Karl-Rove-backed American Crossroads super PAC, is spending more than $1.9 million on print, radio and digital ads highlighting the efforts of Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey to pass the “doc fix” legislation that realigned payments to Medicare providers with inflation.

2015 May 12, Alexandra Jaffe, “First on CNN: New Rove-linked group spends $2M to boost GOP incumbents”, in CNN:

A female given name transferred from the surname, popular from the 1960s to the 1990s.


Antonio

Borrowed from Italian Antonio and Spanish Antonio. Doublet of Anthony.


Gregory

en-proper noun

Gregory (countable and uncountable, plural Gregorys)

→ French: Grégory

→ Hawaiian: Kelekolio

→ Maori: Kerekori

/ˈɡɹɛɡ(ə)ɹi/

Via Latin Grēgorius, from post-classical Ancient Greek Γρηγόριος (Grēgórios, “watchful, vigilant”), from Ancient Greek ἐγείρω (egeírō, “awaken, arouse”).

der

The surname Graff was chosen because upscale consumers respect anything Teutonic - regard it as efficient, intelligent, and reliable. But only up to a point. A forename like Helmut or Wilhelm wouldn't have done. Too German. Too foreign. 'Gregory' scores high on the likability scale. All-American. Greg. He's one of the boys, with Teutonic ancestry.

1990, Jonathan Kellerman, Time Bomb, page 163:


Jeff

We have Jeff. Jeff will be fired. We will exterminate Jeff.

2024 May 12, very tall bart, 1:29 from the start, in [YTP] prager time (YouTube poop; video), spoken by Penis Prager (Dennis Prager):

A diminutive of the male given names Jeffrey, Jeffery, Jefferey, Jeffry, or Jefferson.


Carlos

Borrowed from Spanish Carlos and Portuguese Carlos. Doublet of Charles and Karl.

The Ferraris pressed the self-destruct button, Lewis Hamilton lost his spot on the podium, and there were champagne moments for Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz Jr.

2019 November 17, Sarah Holt, “Verstappen wins Brazilian GP as Ferraris collide AND Gasly and Sainz claim first F1 podiums”, in CNN:

A male given name from Spanish or Portuguese, equivalent to English Charles.


Eugene

Borrowed from French Eugène, from Latin Eugenius, from Ancient Greek Εὐγένιος (Eugénios, “well born”), from εὖ (eû, “good, well”) + -γενής (-genḗs, “born a certain way”). Parallel to eugenics. Doublet of Yevgeny, Eugenius, and Owen.

suf

"Great praise the Duke of Marlb'ro' won / And our good Prince Eugene." / "Why 'twas a very wicked thing!" / Said little Wilhelmine

Eoghan (Owen) is frequently Eugene, and our own O'Curry, though he plucked up courage to prefix the O' to his name in later life, never discarded the Eugene, which, however, is far from being a monstrosity like most of our West-Britonized names

2000, David Pierce, Irish Writing in the Twentieth Century: A Reader, . Cork University Press., →ISBN, page 8:


Napoleon

From French Napoléon, from Italian Napoleone, name of an early saint, of uncertain origin; possibly from the Germanic clan name Nibelung. By folk etymology explained as Napoli (“Naples”) + leone (“lion”).

A male given name from Italian sometimes given in honor of the French emperor.


Keith

en-proper noun

Keith (countable and uncountable, plural Keiths)

* As a Scottish surname, from the placename in Moray, Scotland, from Scottish Gaelic Cèith, meaning "wood" or "from the battleground," which is probably borrowed from Pictish *ᚉᚓᚈ (cēt) meaning "wood", or a forest, from Proto-Brythonic *koɨd.
* As a German surname, from Middle High German kit (“sprout, offspring”) (compare kint).

der

(countable) A male given name transferred from the surname.


Middle French

A historical division of the French language, spoken roughly from 1340 to 1610, during which French became established as the official language of France.