month

en-noun

month (plural months or (UK colloquial) month)

months (plural)
month (UK colloquial plural)
moneth (alternative)

From Middle English month, moneth, from Old English mōnaþ (“month”), from Proto-West Germanic *mānōþ, from Proto-Germanic *mēnōþs (“month”), from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon, month”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- (“to measure”), referring to the moon's phases as the measure of time, equivalent to moon + -th.
Cognate with Scots moneth (“month”); North Frisian muunt (“month”); Saterland Frisian Mound (“month”), Dutch maand (“month”); German Low German Maand, Monat (“month”); German Monat (“month”); Danish and Norwegian Bokmål måned (“month”); Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish månad (“month”); Icelandic mánuði (“month”); Latin mēnsis (“month”); Ancient Greek μήν (mḗn); Armenian ամիս (amis); Old Irish mí; Old Church Slavonic мѣсѧць (měsęcĭ). See also moon.

der

pinch and a punch for the first of the month

July is my favourite month.

Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.

2013 August 3, “Boundary problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:

A period into which a year is divided, historically based on the phases of the moon.

We went on holiday for two months.

Charles had not been employed above six months at Darracott Place, but he was not such a whopstraw as to make the least noise in the performance of his duties when his lordship was out of humour.

1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:

With the north London derby to come at the weekend, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp opted to rest many of his key players, although he brought back Aaron Lennon after a month out through injury.

2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3-1 Shamrock Rovers”, in BBC Sport:

A period of 30 days, 31 days, or some alternation thereof.

Sckenkius hath two other instances of two melancholy and mad women, so caused from the suppression of their months.

1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:

(obsolete, in the plural) A woman's period; menstrual discharge.


abbess

abbesses (plural)
abbatess (alternative)
abbotess (alternative)

From Middle English abbesse, from Old French abeesse (French abbesse), from Late Latin or Ecclesiastical Latin abbatissa, feminine of Latin abbas, abbatis (“abbot”).

The abbess was always after the nuns to keep the convent immaculately clean.

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

A female superior or governess of a nunnery, or convent of nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which the abbots have over the monks.

Why laſt night, as Colonel Kill'em, Sir William Weezy, Lord Frederick Foretop, and I were careleſsly ſliding the Ranelagh round, picking our teeth, after a damn'd muzzy dinner at Boodle's, who ſhould trip by but an abbeſs, well known about town, with a ſmart little nun in her ſuite.

1770, Samuel Foote, The Lame Lover, a Comedy in Three Acts. […], London: […] Paul Vaillant; and sold by P[eter] Elmsly […]; and Robinson and Roberts, […], →OCLC, Act I, page 12:

So an old Abbess for the rattling Rakes, / A tempting dish of human nature makes, / And dresses up a luscious Maid: / I rather should have said, indeed, undresses, / To please a youth's unsanctified caresses.

1793, John Wolcot, A Poetical, Serious, and Possibly Impertinent, Epistle to the Pope, Ode II, page 33:

"I mean to inform you," answered the Oxonian, with a grin on his face, "that those three nymphs, who have so much dazzled your optics, are three nuns, and the plump female is Mother .... of great notoriety, but generally designated the Abbess of .... Her residence is at no great distance from one of the royal palaces; and she is distinguished for her bold ingenuous line of conduct in the profession which she has chosen to adopt; so much so, indeed, that she eclipses all her competitors in infamy."

1881, Pierce Egan, chapter 8, in Life in London, page 205:

Charles G[odfrey] Leland
w:Charles Godfrey Leland

John S[tephen] Farmer
w:John Stephen Farmer

(archaic, British slang) A woman who runs a brothel; a woman employed by a prostitute to find clients.


abbot

Gullah: aabut

From Middle English abbot, abbod, abbed, from Old English abbat, abbad, abbod, from Latin abbās (“father”), from Ancient Greek ἀββᾶς (abbâs), from Aramaic אבא (’abbā, “father”). Doublet of abba, abbé, and bwana.

The pastor or administrator of an order, including minor and major orders starting with the minor order of porter.

A layman who received the abbey's revenues, after the closing of the monasteries.

(archaic, British slang) A brothel-owner's husband or lover.

(archaic, British slang) A ponce; a man employed by a prostitute to find clients, and who may also act as a bodyguard or equivalent to a bouncer.


abolitionism

en-noun

abolitionism (countable and uncountable, plural abolitionisms)

Norwegian Bokmål: abolisjonisme

Polish: abolicjonizm

/ˌæb.əˈlɪʃ.əˌnɪz.m̩/

աբոլիցիոնիզմ

opinion in favor of the abolition of something

Abolitionism is a term that refers to a particular ideological and legal approach to prostitution. The approach has its roots in 19th-century feminism and is still a potent force […] Thus abolitionism arose as a movement against the state regulation of prostitution. The leader of the abolitionist movement was Josephine Butler, […]

2006 January 1, Melissa Hope Ditmore, Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 4:

Support for the abolition of something; the tenets of abolitionists.

Support for the abolition (banning) of sex work.


abort

→ Polish: abort

→ Portuguese: abort

From Middle English, from Latin abortus, perfect active participle of aborior (“miscarry”), formed from ab + orior (“come into being”). Doublet of abortus.

(now rare) The product of a miscarriage; an aborted offspring; an abortion.

In Japonia 'tis a common thing to stifle their children if they be poor, or to make an abort, which Aristotle commends.

1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition I, section 2, member 4, subsection vi:

(obsolete) A miscarriage; an untimely birth; an abortion.


abort

en-verb

abort (third-person singular simple present aborts, present participle aborting, simple past and past participle aborted)

aborts (present singular third-person)
aborting (participle present)
aborted (participle past)
aborted (past)

From Latin abortare, from abortus, from aboriri (“miscarry”), from ab- (“not”) + oriri (“come into being, arise, appear”).

(transitive, intransitive) To cause a premature termination of (a fetus); to end a pregnancy before term.

(transitive, biology) To cause an organism to develop minimally; to cause rudimentary development to happen; to prevent maturation.

keskeyttää kasvu

biology: to cause an organism to develop minimally


abortifacient

en-adj

abortifacient (comparative more abortifacient, superlative most abortifacient)

more abortifacient (comparative)
most abortifacient (superlative)

First attested in 1875. abort + -facient (“causing an”), from Latin facere (“to make”).


abortion

en-noun

abortion (countable and uncountable, plural abortions)

From Latin abortiōnem (“miscarriage, abortion”), from aborior (“to miscarry”). Equivalent to abort + -ion. Displaced native Old English ǣwyrp (literally “throwing out, rejection”).

surkastuma

fruit/produce that doesn't come to maturity

Mary decided to have an abortion because she was too young to raise a baby.

It is impossible for an abortion clinic to have a waiting list of more than nine months.

1997, George Carlin, Brain Droppings, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 93:

The story of Ms. He and her mother began in the early 1960s, shortly before the Cultural Revolution shook China. Her young parents, who worked in a pottery factory in Rongchang in present-day Chongqing municipality, conceived her while unmarried. “They were told by the factory, ‘Have an abortion or be fired’,” she said. They chose to keep her and were fired.

2014 January 20, Didi Kirsten Tatlow, “‘She. Herself. Naked.': The Art of He Chengyao”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-08-16, Sinosphere:

Representative Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania will resign from Congress after claims that the anti-abortion Republican had urged a woman he was having an extramarital affair with to have an abortion.

2017 October 5, Ben Jacobs, The Guardian:

(medicine) The expulsion from the womb of a foetus or embryo before it is fully developed, with loss of the foetus.

人工妊娠中絶

じんこうにんしんちゅうぜつ


abortional

en-adj

abortional (comparative more abortional, superlative most abortional)

more abortional (comparative)
most abortional (superlative)

/əˈbɔɹ.ʃn̩.l̩/

(rare) Pertaining to abortion; miscarrying; abortive.


abortionist

Mad. Restell, the celebrated Abortionist [is arrested].

The quack abortionist, with “a little knowledge,” impudently, remorselessly, and secretly employs his craft for filthy lucre’s sake, perpetrating one crime to conceal another, at which science and charity blush.

1848 October 7, “Morals and Murder – the Case of Eliza Wilson”, in The Medical Times, volume 18, number 471, London, page 373:

Such a fetus is perfectly viable save for the act of the abortionist.

1998, J. David Bleich, Bioethical Dilemmas: A Jewish Perspective, volume 1, Hoboken, New Jersey: KTAV Publishing House, →ISBN, page 277:

According to Bray, “there is a difference between taking a retired abortionist and executing him, and killing a practicing abortionist who is regularly killing babies.” The first act is in Bray’s view retributive, the second defensive.

2003, Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, 3rd edition, Berkeley, California: University of California Press, →ISBN, page 24:

In 1962, when abortion was still illegal, I published an anonymous interview with Dr. Robert Spencer, a humane abortionist who was known as “The Saint.”

2005, Paul Krassner, One Hand Jerking: Reports from an Investigative Satirist, →ISBN, page 24:

[…] a gruesome procedure in which the abortionist dismembers a child who could survive outside the womb.

2009, Dinesh D’Souza, Letters to a Young Conservative, →ISBN, page 191:

Then she asks her to go first to meet the abortionist. Then she neglects to make a reservation at the hotel the abortionist specifies. That almost sinks the arrangement: The abortionist has experience suggesting that hotel will be a safe venue, and suspects he may be set up for a police trap.

2009–2010, Roger Ebert, Roger Ebert’s Movie Yearbook 2010, review of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, page 146:

(now sometimes offensive) A person who performs abortions, especially illegally or secretly.

aborteur

person who performs abortions — see also angel maker

(chiefly derogatory) A person who advocates for or supports the legality of abortion.


abortive

abortive (comparative more abortive, superlative most abortive)

more abortive (comparative)
most abortive (superlative)

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

First attested in 1382, with the meaning "causing stillbirth or miscarriage". From Middle English abortif, from Old French abortif, from Latin abortīvus (“causing abortion”), from aborior (“miscarry, disappear”), from ab (“amiss”) + orior (“appear, be born, arise”).

abortive medicines

1809, Bartholomew Parr, Medical Dictionary:

Each country may have a different prevalence of infectious abortive agents. The most common agents of abortion in cattle are Brucella spp., Campylobacter spp., Chlamydiaceae, Coxiella burnetii, Leptospira spp., […]

2018 May, Carla Sebastiania, Ludovica Curcioa, Marcella Ciulloa, Deborah Crucianib, Silvia Crottib, Cristina Pescab, Martina Torricellia, Martina Sebastianellia, Andrea Felicic, Massimo Biagetti, “A multi-screening Fast qPCR approach to the identification of abortive agents in ruminants”, in Journal of Microbiological Methods, volume 148, →DOI, page 12:

(medicine, pharmacology, rare) Causing abortion; abortifacient.


accoucheur

Attested since 1727. Borrowed from French accoucheur, from accoucher (“to go to childbed, be delivered”), from Old French culcher (“to lie”), from Latin collocō (“I place, put, set in order, assign”), from con- + locō (“I put, place, set”). See accouchement.

der

And lastly, obstetrical chairs seemed most natural to the accoucheurs of the middle ages.

1951 February, Forrest H. Howard, “The Physiologic Position for Delivery”, in Northwest Medicine, volume 50, number 2, Portland, Ore.: Northwest Medical Publishing Association, page 98:

Family story: on the day of his birth the accoucheur approached his father, the baby wrapped in a cloth.

1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial, published 2007, page 163:

(medicine) A person, especially a man, who delivers a baby (in childbirth).


rag week

From rag (“piece of old cloth”) + week. From the former use, by women, of rags to protect their clothing from menstrual blood.

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

I wouldn't bother trying to get off with her – it's rag week.

(British slang, vulgar) The days of the month when a woman has her period.


transvestite

Borrowed from Latin trāns + vestītus, form of vestiō (“I clothe, I dress”) (as in English vestment, vest). Literally, a "cross-dresser". From transvestitism, from German Transvestitismus, coined in 1910 by Magnus Hirschfeld (the practice itself is much older).

Even though Steven used to dress up in his sister's clothes, it still came as a surprise he ended up as a transvestite.

A person who sometimes wears clothes traditionally worn by and associated with the opposite sex; typically a male who cross-dresses occasionally by habit or personal choice.


birth

en-verb

birth (third-person singular simple present births, present participle birthing, simple past and past participle birthed)

births (present singular third-person)
birthing (participle present)
birthed (participle past)
birthed (past)

From Middle English birthen, birðen, from the noun (see above).

I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies!

1939, Sidney Howard, Ben Hecht, Jo Swerling, John Van Druten, Oliver H.P. Garrett, Gone with the Wind (film):

Kelly: Is it true we have a pod containing a baby krogan down in the cargo hold?
Shepard: Not a baby. He's a full-grown super soldier ready for combat.
Kelly: Please be careful if you decide to... err... birth him? His personality is completely unknown.

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

She cites some recent examples from the papers: “I birthed two babies in rapid succession”; Beyoncé “birthed her twins”; while somewhere else in the same paper a woman proudly proclaimed: “I birthed a calf!”. She ends: “My objection to the American usage is that it seems to stress rather crudely the muscular process of bringing forth a baby, whereas the graceful British English term ‘to give birth to’ is much more dignified!”

2023 March 5, Jonathan Bouquet, “May I have a word about… being stuck in a permacrisis”, in The Observer, →ISSN:

(transitive) To bear or give birth to (a child).


DBE

Order of the British Empire
w:Order of the British Empire

Initialism of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.


KBE

Initialism of Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.


seme

Borrowed from Japanese 攻め (seme), derived from the verb 攻める (semeru, “to attack”).

[…] BL manga readers chose intelligence, protectiveness, and beauty/handsomeness as the top three most important traits in a seme […]

2008, Dru Pagliassotti, “Better Than Romance? Japanese BL Manga and the Subgenre of Male/Male Romantic Fiction”, in Antonia Levi, Mark McHarry, Dru Pagliassotti, editors, Boys' Love Manga: Essays on the Sexual Ambiguity and Cross-Cultural Fandom of the Genre, McFarland & Company (2008), →ISBN, page 73:

Sebas has always been the seme.

2010, Pentabu, My Girlfriend's a Geek, volume 1, Yen Press (2012), →ISBN:

The seme is larger, stronger, and more traditionally masculine, while the uke is smaller, weaker, and more feminine.

2011, Robin E. Brenner, Snow Wildsmith, “Love through a DIfferent Lens: Japanese Homoerotic Manga through the Eyes of American Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Other Sexualities Readers”, in Timothy Perper, Martha Cornog, editors, Mangatopia: Essays on Manga and Anime in the Modern World, Libraries Unlimited (2011), →ISBN, page 97:

(Japanese fiction, fandom slang) An active or dominant male character in a same-sex relationship; a top.


man

men (plural)
mang (alternative)
mane (alternative)
mans (alternative)
mon (alternative)
mxn (alternative)
mans (alternative)
mens (alternative)
mandem (alternative)
mens (alternative)
mxn (alternative)
myn (alternative)

Tok Pisin: man

→ Cantonese: man

→ Chinook Jargon: man

→ Korean: 맨 (maen)

→ Mandarin: man (mān)

→ Spanish: man

→ Thai: แมน (mɛɛn)

→ Volapük: man

From Middle English man, from Old English human being, person, man (“g=m”), from Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann- (“g=m”), from Proto-Indo-European *mon- (“human being, man”). Doublet of Manu.

inh

a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle

a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle

behind every great man there stands a woman

behind every successful man there stands a woman

every man is the architect of his own fortune

give a man a fish and you feed him for a day

teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime

it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God

the best laid plans of mice and men go oft astray

the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry

Stay away from my man!


AA

en-noun

AA (countable and uncountable, plural AAs)

approach anxiety
approach anxiety#English

(seduction community) Initialism of approach anxiety.


husband

⇒ Chinese: 黑漆板凳 (hēiqī bǎndèng) (obsolete)

→ Japanese: ハズバンド (hazubando)

⇒ English: husbando

From Middle English husbonde, housbonde, from Old English hūsbonda, hūsbunda (“male head of a household, householder, master of a house”), from Old Norse húsbóndi (“master of house”), from hús (“house”) + bóndi (“dweller, householder”), equivalent to house + bond (“serf, slave", originally, "dweller”).
Bond in turn represents a formation derived from the present participle of West Scandinavian búa, East Scandinavian bôa = to build, plow; compare German bauen, der Bauende. Cognate with Icelandic húsbóndi (“head of household”), Faroese húsbóndi (“husband”), Norwegian husbond (“head of household, husband”), Swedish husbonde (“master”), Danish husbond (“husband”) (< Old Danish husbonde).

cog

You should start dating so you can find a suitable husband.

The husband and wife are one person in law.

1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:

A great bargain also had been[…]the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire. In fact, that arm-chair had been an extravagance of Mrs. Bunting. She had wanted her husband to be comfortable after the day's work was done, and she had paid thirty-seven shillings for the chair.

1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0016:

But Sophia's mother was not the woman to brook defiance. After a few moments' vain remonstrance her husband complied. His manner and appearance were suggestive of a satiated sea-lion.

1921, Ben Travers, chapter 6, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

A man in a marriage or marital relationship, especially in relation to his spouse.

(UK) A manager of property; one who has the care of another's belongings, owndom, or interests; a steward; an economist.

Husband of the Herd

1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

While reading her book, Sally leaned back against her husband, wishing it were the human kind.

A large cushion with arms meant to support a person in the sitting position; a husband pillow.


wall

From Middle English wal, from Old English weall (“wall, dike, earthwork, rampart, dam, rocky shore, cliff”), from Proto-West Germanic *wall (“wall, rampart, entrenchment”), from Latin vallum (“wall, rampart, entrenchment, palisade”), from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind, roll”).
Perhaps conflated with waw (“a wall within a house or dwelling, a room partition”), from Middle English wawe, from Old English wāg, wāh (“an interior wall, divider”), see waw.
Cognate with North Frisian wal (“wall”), Saterland Frisian Waal (“wall, rampart, mound”), Dutch wal (“wall, rampart, embankment”), German Wall (“rampart, mound, embankment”), Swedish vall (“mound, wall, bank”). More at wallow, walk.

cog

the apples on the other side of the wall are the sweetest

throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick

throw things at the wall and see what sticks

Depreciation of assets happens. Prepare yourself
Marla. Get ready for the wall.

1996 December 27, “The Definitive Answer to "Why Nice Guys Finish Last"”, in alt.romance (Usenet):

At what age would you peg the
'wall' to be for men, on or thereabouts?

2001 February 2, “what a drag it is getting old”, in soc.singles (Usenet):

I have never had a problem getting the attention of men. I'm 44
and there's no wall staring me in the face

2001 June 19, “the laws of biomechanics”, in soc.singles (Usenet):

That was only six
years later and Natasha is not near the wall yet

2002 January 22, “towards a useful smv metric”, in soc.singles (Usenet):

As for the wall....Im convinced part of this is just something us guys tell ourselves to 'get back'(in our minds) at all the girls who wouldn't sleep with us 5-10 years ago

2015 July 20, “catcalls are bad”, in rec.sport.football.college (Usenet):

(slang, seduction community, chiefly definite) The stage of biological aging where physical appearance and attractiveness start to deteriorate rapidly.


Chad

4chan
Chad (name)
Chad (slang)
Chicago, Illinois

From Middle English Chadde, from Old English Ċeadda, of obscure meaning; name of a seventh-century Anglo-Saxon saint, revived in the 20th century.
The sense of “alpha male” originates from an apparent stereotype that men with such a name tend to bear that temperament, first attested in c. late 1990s in Chicago, Illinois (specifically "successful white man, yuppie"), but in common usage only as of the late 2010s via 4chan slang.

etydate

They are united by the fact that women will not have sex with them, usually attributed to shallow obsessions with looks or superficial personality, and by their hatred of “Chads” and “Stacys”, the men and women who have sex.

2018 April 25, Alex Hern, “Who are the 'incels' and how do they relate to Toronto van attack?”, in The Guardian:

Short for “female humanoid”, it’s used in place of the word “woman” to depict how, in an incel’s view, women are not entirely human, but are instead robot-like androids who only crave sex with Chads.

2018 April 28, Kate Wilson, “Last week in tech: sex robots”, in The Georgia Straight:

(Internet slang, seduction community, incel slang) A very handsome, usually tall man whom women find sexually attractive; at times seen as an alpha male of a group.


woman

women (plural)
womxn (alternative)
womyn (alternative)
womxn (alternative)
womyn (alternative)
wymyn (alternative)
womin (alternative)
wommon (alternative)
womon (alternative)
wimin (alternative)
wimmin (alternative)
wimmen (alternative)
wymmyn (alternative)
weoman (alternative)
whoman (alternative)
wimen (alternative)
womans (alternative)
womens (alternative)

desc

Antigua and Barbuda Creole English: uman

Aukan: uman

Jamaican Creole: ooman

Krio: uman

Sranan Tongo: uma; oema (superseded)

Torres Strait Creole: oman

→ Japanese: ウーマン (ūman)

→ Korean: 우먼 (umeon)

→ Volapük: vom

From Middle English womman, wimman, wifman, from Old English wīfmann (“woman”, literally “female person”), a compound of wīf (“woman, female”, whence English wife) + mann (“person, human being”, whence English man). For details on the pronunciation and spelling history, see the usage notes below.
Cognate with Scots woman, weman (“woman”), Saterland Frisian Wieuwmoanske (“female person, female human, woman”). Similar constructions can be found in West Frisian frommes (“woman, girl”) (from frou and minske, literally "woman human").
A few alternative spellings (see below) respell the term so as not to contain man.

com

whence English <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">wife</i>

whence English <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">man</i>

cog

one hair of a woman can draw more than a hundred pair of oxen

But this woman is a nice German woman that fell on the ice and sprained her ankle last winter, and we saw to her well as we could till she got better.

1887, Helen Campbell, Prisoners of poverty: their trades and their lives, page 120:

Dr. J. H. Vincent, the great lecturer, says that a man's greatness consists in his courage; his inherent nobleness; his noble deeds, great exploits, and benefits to the world; but that behind every great man is a great woman - his mother.

1888 September 6, Michigan School Moderator, page 402, column 3:

Cause I'm every woman / It's all in me

1978, Ashford & Simpson (lyrics and music), “I’m Every Woman”, in Chaka, performed by Chaka Khan:

During World War II, many women worked as blacksmiths in the shipbuilding industry and found they liked the challenging, independent work.

1979, Muriel Lederer, Blue-collar jobs for women, page 59:

But of course Britain since 1979 has had a woman prime minister, while no woman has ever come near to being president of the United States.

1985, Anthony King, The British Prime Minister, Duke University Press, →ISBN:

"There is nothing wrong with Melissa or the way she was raised. She is a sweet, kind, intelligent woman with a generous heart and more love for her child than you and Mother ever showed for either of your children."

2012, Kate Welsh, Substitute Daddy, →ISBN:

You can't spend months studying the history of the suffrage movement without gaining a new appreciation for the grit and gumption it takes to be a powerful woman leader.

2020 August 18, Veronica Chambers, The Staff of The New York Times, Finish The Fight!: The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote, HarperCollins, →ISBN:

Listen, Holly. Thou art a good and honest man, and I fain would spare thee; but, oh! it is so hard for woman to be merciful.

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “The Balance Turns”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 191:

“[…] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”

1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

I am Woman, hear me roar / In numbers too big to ignore

1972, Helen Reddy, I Am Woman, first line:

For if modern woman is so intent on keeping her surname alive, why not demand it be passed along to her children?

1997, Bob Grant, Let's Be Heard, page 42:

Unsurprisingly, if modern man is a sort of camera, modern woman is a picture.

2011, Eileen Gray and the Design of Sapphic Modernity: Staying In, page 109:

(collective) All female humans collectively; womankind.

Sir, have you ever served with any Bajoran women?

1993, Michael Piller, “Emissary”, in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney):

To be born a woman has been to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men.

2003, Amelia Jones, The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader, Psychology Press, →ISBN, page 37:

One of the elves, a woman with long auburn hair, was garbed identically to the two dwarves.

2007, Clifford B. Bowyer, The Siege of Zoldex, Silver Leaf Books, LLC, →ISBN, page 307:

Clearing a space between the tables, the men tested their prowess against one another with feats of wrestling and archery and bouts with quarterstaves. Two of the elves, a man and a woman, demonstrated their skill with swordplay—[…]

2008, Christopher Paolini, Brisingr: Or The Seven Promises of Eragon Shadeslayer and Saphira Bjartskular - Inheritance Book Three, →ISBN, page 549:

At the very dawn of religion, God was a woman.

2012, Merlin Stone, When God Was A Woman:

There was a pair of burly dwarves – a woman and a man – bearing the markings of the formidable Thane Guards.

2014, Oisin McGann, Kings of the Realm: Cruel Salvation, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

A female person, usually an adult; a (generally adult) female sentient being, whether human, supernatural, elf, alien, etc.

Perhaps my problem is that I am a cat woman. I can't imagine any finicky feline (and they all are that at one time or another) slobbering over anyone, even a beloved owner, the way a dog does.

2004, Hyveth Williams, Secrets of a Happy Heart: A Fresh Look at the Sermon on the Mount, page 70:

A female person who is extremely fond of or devoted to a specified type of thing. (Used as the last element of a compound.)

By her woman I sent your message.

1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:


woman

en-verb

woman (third-person singular simple present womans, present participle womaning or womanning, simple past and past participle womaned or womanned)

womans (present singular third-person)
womaning (participle present)
womanning (participle present)
womaned (participle past)
womaned (past)
womanned (participle past)
womanned (past)

[…]he should prove, from the testimony of the most experienced seamen, that the vessel was, if not, strictly speaking, sufficiently manned, yet that she was sufficiently manned and womanned. The Gypsey was a vessel of 43 tons burden, and there were on board two able seamen and the Captain’s wife, who was a very good sailor;

1813, “Yorkshire Assizes. May a woman be deemed a sailor sufficient in manning a vessel? Case of Insurance.—Cook v. Thompson.”, in The Literary Panorama, […], volume XIV, London: […] Cox and Baylis, […] for C[harles] Taylor, […], page 683:

Apparently the Sixty-ninth Street office of Bagby Answers, Inc., was being womaned for the day from other offices.

1956, Rex Stout, Three Witnesses, The Viking Press, page 54:

Gus Dinsmore, the public beach parking lot attendent,^([sic]) said he guessed that so many cars must be just stopped dead along the road that even those manned (or womaned) by able drivers would be unable to move.

1990, Stephen King, chapter 28, in The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition, New York, N.Y.: Signet, published 1991 May, →ISBN, page 235:

The information desk is now manned (womaned) by someone whose main job is to help you reserve time slots for the computers or guide you through the arduous process of “logging on.”

2010, Julia Glass, The Widower's Tale, page 77:


kindle

kindle (third-person singular simple present kindles, present participle kindling, simple past and past participle kindled)

kindles (present singular third-person)
kindling (participle present)
kindled (participle past)
kindled (past)

From Middle English kyndel, from kynde + -el. The verb is derived from the noun form by conversion.

ORLANDO Are you native of this place?
ROSALIND As the cony that you see
dwell where she is kindled.

c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], lines 344-46:

The poor beast had but lately kindled.

1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “(please specify |book=I to XXXVII)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], (please specify |tome=1 or 2), London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:

If she kindled and lost just a few kits and is not bony over her back and hind end, you can rebreed immediately. If she kindled a large litter (more than, say, eight kits), you may wish to wait a week or two before rebreeding so that she can ...

2014, Karen Patry, The Rabbit-Raising Problem Solver, Storey Publishing, →ISBN, page 146:

(intransitive, of a rabbit or hare) To bring forth young; to give birth.


king

kings (plural)
kyng (alternative)
kynge (alternative)
kinge (alternative)

Tok Pisin: king

desc

⇒ American Sign Language: K@Shoulder K@Abdomen

→ Burmese: ကင် (kang)

→ Isubu: kinge

→ Japanese: キング (kingu)

→ Korean: 킹 (king)

→ Maori: kingi

→ Marshallese: kiin̄

→ Thai: คิง (king)

From Middle English king, kyng, from Old English cyng, cyning (“king”), from Proto-West Germanic *kuning, from Proto-Germanic *kuningaz, *kunungaz (“king”), equivalent to kin + -ing. Doublet of cyning and knez.
Cognate with Scots keeng (“king”), North Frisian köning (“king”), West Frisian kening (“king”), Dutch koning (“king”), Low German Koning, Köning (“king”), German König (“king”), Danish konge (“king”), Norwegian konge, Swedish konung, kung (“king”), Icelandic konungur, kóngur (“king”), Polish ksiądz (“priest”), Russian князь (knjazʹ, “prince”), Old Church Slavonic кънѧѕь (kŭnędzĭ), Romanian chinez, Finnish kuningas (“king”), Estonian kuningas, Ingrian kunigas, Karelian kuninkas, Livvi kuńingas, Ludian kuńingas, Veps kuningaz, Võro kuning and Votic kunikaz. Eclipsed non-native Middle English roy (“king”) (Early Modern English roy), borrowed from Old French roi, rei, rai (“king”).
The verb is inherited from Middle English kyngen, *kingen (“To perform the duties of a king”), itself from the noun king, kyng.

Audio — the king

акрал

a male of a royal family who is the supreme ruler of his nation

in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king

Henry VIII was the king of England from 1509 to 1547.

A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy; in an absolute monarchy, the supreme ruler of his nation.


queen

queens (plural)
queene (alternative)
quene (alternative)
queyne (alternative)

Tok Pisin: kwin

⇒ American Sign Language: G@Shoulder-PalmDown G@Abdomen-PalmDown

→ Burmese: ကွင်း (kwang:)

→ German: Queen

→ Japanese: クイーン (kuīn), クィーン (kwīn)

→ Korean: 퀸 (kwin)

→ Marshallese: kwiin

→ Sikaiana: kuini

→ Spanish: cuina

→ Thai: ควีน (kwiin)

From Middle English quene, queen, cwen, from Old English cwēn (“queen”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwāni, from Proto-Germanic *kwēniz (“woman”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷénh₂s (“woman”).
Cognate with Scots queen, wheen (“queen”), Old Saxon quān ("wife"; > Middle Low German quene (“elderly woman”)), Dutch kween (“woman past child-bearing age”), Swedish kvinna (“woman”), Norwegian kvinne (“woman”), Danish kvinde (“woman”), Icelandic kvon (“wife”), Gothic 𐌵𐌴𐌽𐍃 (qēns, “wife”), Norwegian dialectal kvån (“wife”). Related to and possibly merged with and/or absorbed some senses of English quean, from Middle English quene, from Old English cwene (“woman; female serf, quean”), see quean. Generally eclipsed non-native Middle English regina (“queen”), borrowed from Latin rēgīna (“queen”) (see Modern English regina). Doublet of quean and gyne.

gloss

"wife"; > Middle Low German <i class="Latn mention" lang="gml">quene</i> (“elderly woman”)

cog

Holonym: royal family

But our mercifull Queene Elizabeth hath not burned the popiſh prieſtes on the alters where they committed idolatrie in ſaying of Maſſe, and worſhipped a piece of breade for the bodie of Chriſte (which ſhee might haue done if ſhee would) and yet you count not her for a godly and mercifull Queene.

1582, Thomas Lupton, The Christian Against the Jesuite, London, retrieved 2022-01-14, page 50v:

In 1952, at the last accession, there were only eight members of the new entity taking shape in the outline of the British Empire. The Queen was the head of state in seven of them, and she was proclaimed Head of the Commonwealth to accommodate India’s lone status as a republic.

2017 March 17, Sam Knight, “‘London Bridge Is Down’: The Secret Plan for the Days After the Queen’s Death”, in The Guardian, London, retrieved 2022-01-16:

[…] and yet I will not ſay but amongſt duſt there is Pearle found, and in hard rockes Dyamonds of great value, and ſo amongſt many women there are ſome good, as that gracious and glorious Queene of all woman kinde the Virgin Mary the mother of al bliſſe, what wun her honour, but an humble minde and her paines and loue vnto our Sauiour Chriſt.

1620, Thomas Tell-Troth [pseudonym of Joseph Swetnam], The Araignment of Lewd, Idle, Froward, and Unconstant Women: Or the Vanitie of Them, Choose You Whether, London, published 1807, retrieved 2022-01-14:

A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen.

(Christianity) The Virgin Mary (especially in formulations such as Queen of Heaven, Queen of Glory).

Know you the town is full of folks?
 Know you the shows are full of queens?
That every mail is full of jokes
 Born of the nation's brightest beans?

1914, Franklin P. Adams, By and Large, Garden City, New York: Doulbleday, Page & Company, retrieved 2022-01-15, page 142:

When I find my queen, we’re having a whole tribe like our grandparents used to swing it back in the day.

1999, Camika Spencer, When All Hell Breaks Loose, New York: Villard, →ISBN, retrieved 2022-01-15, page 38:

en:attractive woman or female romantic partner

(slang, originally US) An attractive woman; a female partner in a romantic relationship.


ate

Borrowed from Tagalog ate (“elder sister”), from Hokkien 阿姊 (á-ché, “eldest sister”).

bor+

A respectful title or form of address for an older woman.


boy

en-noun

boy (countable and uncountable, plural boys or (eye dialect) boyz)

boys (plural)
boyz (plural pronunciation-spelling)
boi (alternative)

Jamaican Creole: bwoy

Sranan Tongo: boi, boy

→ Cebuano: boy

→ Chinese: boy

desctree

→ Dutch: boy
→ French: boy
→ Lingala: bɔ́i
→ Indonesian: boi

→ German: Boy

→ Hungarian: boy

→ Iraqi Arabic: بوي

→ Italian: boy

→ Japanese: ボーイ (bōi)

→ Polish: boy

→ Russian: бой (boj)

→ Spanish: boy

→ Swahili: boi

→ Tagalog: boy

→ Vietnamese: bồi

→ Welsh: boi

Etymology tree
Proto-West Germanic *bōjō
Old English *bōia
Middle English boye
English boy
From Middle English boy /boye (“servant, commoner, knave, boy”), from Old English *bōia (“boy”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōjō, from Proto-Germanic *bōjô (“younger brother, young male relation”), from Proto-Germanic *bō- (“brother, close male relation”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰā-, *bʰāt- (“father, elder brother, brother”).
Cognate with Scots boy (“boy”), West Frisian boai (“boy”), Dutch boi (“boy”), Low German Boi (“boy”), and probably to the Old English proper name Bōia. Also related to West Flemish boe (“brother”), Norwegian dialectal boa (“brother”), Dutch boef (“rogue, knave”), Bavarian Bua (“young boy, lad”), German Bube ("boy; knave; jack"; > English bub), Icelandic bófi (“rogue, crook, bandit, knave”). See also bully.

gloss

"boy; knave; jack"; > English <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">bub</i>

boy

formerly, African male servant in colonies

mutil

male of any age, used as a friendly diminutive

all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

since Adam was an oakum boy in Chatham Dockyard

when Adam was an oakum boy in Chatham Dockyard

My Boy Stephen Grauener.

1625, W. Hawkins in Samuel Purchas, Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas his Pilgrimes, Vol. I, iii, vii, 211

They picked out two of the strongest of the Boys (as they call the Men) about the place.

1834, Edward Markham, New Zealand or Recollections of It, section 72:

The blacks who work on a station or farm are always, like the blacks in the Southern States, called boys.

1876, Ebenezer Thorne, The Queen of the Colonies, or, Queensland as I Knew It, section 58:

From a domestic point of view the advent of the Chinese was a decided blessing, for, instead of the European ladies of the settlement having to do all their own work, they were able to employ a proper staff of Chinese boys.

1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 233:

[In Shanghai,] The register clerk assigns you to a room, and instead of ‘Front!’ he shouts ‘Boy!’

1907 May 13, Evening Post, N.Y, section 6:

He thrust his head into the aisle. "Boy!" A Chinese in a white coat responded listlessly. "What will you have? Beer?"

1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 521:

Aborigine Wally... described himself as ‘number one boy’ at the station.

1960 February 5, Northern Territory News, 5/5:

(now rare and usually offensive outside some Commonwealth nations) A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee, particularly:

(historical or offensive) A non-white male servant regardless of age, particularly as a form of address.

poika

affectionate term of address for male dog


girl

en-noun

girl (countable and uncountable, plural girls)

girls (plural)
gal (alternative)
gel (alternative)
girle (alternative)
gyrle (alternative)
gorl (alternative)
grrrl (alternative)
grrl (alternative)
guhrl (alternative)
gurl (alternative)
gworl (alternative)
gyal (alternative)

desctree

Jamaican Creole: gyal, gal
→ English: gal; gyal
→ Icelandic: gella
→ Japanese: ギャル (gyaru)
→ English: gyaru

Tok Pisin: gel

→⇒ Finnish: kiltsi

→ French: girl; gow

→ German: Girl

→ Hungarian: görl

→ Japanese: ガール (gāru)

Etymological Dictionary of the German Language

de:Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

From Middle English gerle, girle, gyrle (“young person (boy or girl)”), perhaps from Old English *gyrele, from Proto-West Germanic *gurilā, from a zero-grade diminutive of *gaurā (“young child”) + *-ilā. Ultimately of unknown origin. Doublet of gal/gyal and gyaru.

A young female human, or sometimes a young female animal.

A female servant; a maid. (see usage notes)

'Now, girls,' continued Healey, 'you're very high-spirited and that's as it should be but I won't have you getting out of hand.[…]' […] Setting a spatted foot on the bench that ran down the middle of the changing-room with elegant distain, Adrian began to flip through a pile of Y-fronts and rugger shorts with his cane.

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, pages 5–6:

(colloquial) A term of endearment. (see usage notes)

There isn't any guy going to steal my girl!

1922, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Girl from Hollywood:

I took my girl to the cinema to watch your American movies.

1996, Elizabeth Wong, Kimchee and Chitlins: A Serious Comedy about Getting Along, page 74:

Don't look at me, you got a girl at home
And everybody knows that, everybody knows that, ah-ah
Don't look at me, you got a girl at home
And everybody knows that

2012, Taylor Swift (lyrics and music), “Girl at Home”, in Red, performed by Taylor Swift:

Are you getting a boy cat or a girl cat?

A female non-human animal, especially, in affectionate address, a female pet, especially a dog.

Are there “boy” trees and “girl” trees? Yes. A number of species, among them the yew, holly and date-bearing palm, have their male and female flowers on different trees. The male holly, for instance, must be planted fairly close to the female ...

Of the 100 percent total, 25 will have two girl genes, 50 will have one boy and one girl gene, and 25 will have two boy genes.

1970 [earlier 1963], Helen V. Wilson, Helen Van Pelt, Helen Van Pelt's African Violets, Dutton Adult

When there are two "girl" genes the plant is a girl dwarf.

1972, GSN Gesneriad Saintpaulia News: African Violets, Gloxinias, Other Gesneriads and Exotic Plants:

(somewhat childish) A female (tree, gene, etc).


masculine

en-adj

masculine (comparative more masculine, superlative most masculine)

more masculine (comparative)
most masculine (superlative)
m. (alternative)
m (alternative)

From Middle English masculyne, masculyn, from Old French masculin, from Latin masculīnus, diminutive of masculus (“male, manly”), itself a diminutive of mās (“male”). Displaced native Old English werlīċ (literally “manly”).

mashkullor

having male qualities, not feminine or effeminate

Of or pertaining to the male gender; manly.

Of or pertaining to the male sex; biologically male, not female.

ذَكَرِيّ

of the male sex; biologically male, not female; manly

That lady, after her husband's death, held the reins with a masculine energy.

1818, Henry Hallam, View of the state of Europe during the Middle ages:

[…] a masculine church.

1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):

Having the qualities stereotypically associated with men: virile, aggressive, not effeminate.

The noun Student is masculine in German.

(grammar) Of, pertaining or belonging to the male grammatical gender, in languages that have gender distinctions.

(of a noun) Being of the masculine class or grammatical gender, and inflected in that manner.

mashkullor

grammar: being of the masculine class, being inflected in the masculine manner

امذ (IMẔ; ism-muẕakkar, literally “m; masucline noun”)

German uses the masculine form of the definite article, der, with Student.

(of another part of speech) Being inflected in agreement with a masculine noun.


neuter

neuter (not generally comparable, comparative more neuter, superlative most neuter)

more neuter (comparative)
most neuter (superlative)
n. (alternative)
n (alternative)
ntr (alternative)

Inherited from Middle English neutre, from Latin neuter, from ne (“not”) + uter (“whether”), a semantic loan from Koine Greek οὐδέτερος (oudéteros); compare English whether and neither.

semantic loan

a neuter noun

the neuter definite article

a neuter termination

the neuter gender

In The Cook and the Carpenter, Arnold used the device of a neuter pronoun "na," instead of assigning gender to the characters.

1982 April 10, Maida Tilchen, “June Arnold Dies of Cancer”, in Gay Community News, page 3:

(grammar) Having a form which is not masculine nor feminine; or having a form which is not of common gender.

asnjanës

grammar: having a form which is not masculine nor feminine


neuter

neuters (plural)
n. (alternative)
n (alternative)
ntr (alternative)

непреходен глагол

grammar: intransitive verb — see also intransitive verb

(biology) An organism, either vegetable or animal, which at its maturity has no generative organs, or but imperfectly developed ones, as a plant without stamens or pistils, as the garden Hydrangea; especially, one of the imperfectly developed females of certain social insects, as of the ant and the common honeybee, which perform the labors of the community, and are called workers.

neutri

biology: organism which at its maturity has no generative organs

the information i acquire may help me finalize my decision to become a neuter. let me say that castration is (for me) in no way a short term goal. it's something i've heard about, thought about, and believe may benefit me personally.

1999 July 21, ipso facto, “can anyone out there tell me...”, in alt.eunuchs.questions (Usenet):

I WOULD SOONER BECOME A NEUTER
no seriously tell me where the libido-suppressing pills are

You can change yourself into a neuter, but you can't become the opposite sex.

2023 September 27, @Philosophy_the, Twitter:

(uncommon, sometimes offensive) One who has been neutered; eunuch.

(grammar) A noun of the neuter gender; any one of those words which have the terminations usually found in neuter words.


father

Ireland, Canada, California, Western Pennsylvania, older New York City

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-?
Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr?
Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr
Proto-Germanic *fadēr
Proto-West Germanic *fader
Old English fæder
Middle English fader
English father
From Middle English fader, from Old English fæder, from Proto-West Germanic *fader, from Proto-Germanic *fadēr, from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr, possibly from *peh₂- + *-tḗr. Doublet of ayr, faeder, padre, pater, and père.

doublet

it is a wise child that knows his own father

My father was a strong influence on me.

The Pꝛouerbes of Solomon: A wiſe ſonne maketh a glad father: but a fooliſh sonne is the heauineſſe of his mother.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 10:1:

When this conversation was repeated in detail within the hearing of the young woman in question, and undoubtedly for his benefit, Mr. Trevor threw shame to the winds and scandalized the Misses Brewster then and there by proclaiming his father to have been a country storekeeper.

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

Ah, but how beautiful (my baby boy) is! And he is mine, mine for ever. Even if he hates me he will be mine. He cannot help it, he is made out of me; I am his father.

1905, E. M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread, chapter 7

My personal success or failure is insignificant; the rise or fall of the nation is my responsibility and must not be shirked. Upon introspection, I feel I am firmer than ever in confidence that the Communists will be defeated. These are feelings which will comfort Father's soul in Heaven.

1980 August 1 [1980 May 1], Ching-kuo Chiang, “President Chiang Ching-kuo continues his period of mourning and finds that visits to countryside and people give him renewed strength”, in Taiwan Today, archived from the original on 2020-05-17:

Father, dear father
Will you be proud of me?
I wish I could be
Just like you.

2010 April 7, “My First Borrowing”, in Cécile Corbel (lyrics), Cécile Corbel and Simon Caby (music), 借りぐらし Kari-gurashi [The Borrowers] (CD), performed by Cécile Corbel, Yamaha Music Communications:

Shepard: The bartender over there?
Liara: The matriarch hired by the asari government to track my movements?
Shepard: She's your father.
Liara: I know.

2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Apollo Cafe, Presidium Commons, Citadel:

A male parent, especially of a human; a male who parents a child (which he has sired, adopted, fostered, taken as his own, etc.).

My friend Tony just became a father.

A male who has sired a baby; this person in relation to his child or children.

So Dauid ſlept with his fathers, and was buried in the citie of Dauid.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Kings 2:10:

Therefoꝛe it is of faith, that it might bee by grace; to the ende the pꝛomiſe might be ſure to all the ſeede, not to that onely which is of the Law, but to that alſo which is of the faith of Abꝛaham, who is the father of vs all,

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 4:16:

A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a progenitor; especially, a first ancestor.

In proceeding in this fashion, the fathers assembled at Pisa were following the generally accepted canonistic teaching of the day […]

2003, Francis Oakley, The Conciliarist Tradition: Constitutionalism in the Catholic Church, 1300–1870, →ISBN, pages 37–8:

On the part of the fathers of the synod, over 50 bishops, from every continent, spoke on different ‘group forms’ of the lay apostolate, whereas about 38 fathers made their own interventions in writing to the General Secretary.

2009, Peter Chidi Okuma, Empowerment of the Catholic Laity in the Nigerian Political Situation […], →ISBN, page 177:

Remember that the fathers of Vatican II had rejected the first draft of the constitution on revelation entirely.

2014, Ronald D. Witherup, The Word of God at Vatican II: Exploring Dei Verbum, →ISBN, page 31:

(Christianity) A member of a church council.


father

en-verb

father (third-person singular simple present fathers, present participle fathering, simple past and past participle fathered)

fathers (present singular third-person)
fathering (participle present)
fathered (participle past)
fathered (past)

Well go too, we'll haue no Baſtards liue, / Eſpecially ſince Charles muſt Father it.

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 IV, scene v], page 117, column 2:


mother

Australian Kriol: motha

→ Japanese: マザー (mazā)

→ Korean: 마더 (madeo)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr
Proto-Germanic *mōdēr
Proto-West Germanic *mōder
Old English mōdor
Middle English moder
English mother
From Middle English moder, from Old English mōdor, from Proto-West Germanic *mōder, from Proto-Germanic *mōdēr, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr. Doublet of Madeira, mata, mater, matrix, and matter.
Some have proposed that the "dregs" sense is from Middle Dutch modder (“filth”), from Proto-Germanic *muþraz (“sediment”), but modder is not known in this meaning. On the other hand, words for "mother" have developed the secondary sense of "dregs" in several Romance and Germanic languages; compare Dutch moer, French mère de vinaigre, German Essigmutter, Italian madre, Medieval Latin māter, and Spanish madre.

ʔindi

female (human) who parents a child, gives birth to a baby, or is pregnant

metro-

of or pertaining to the mother, such as metropolis

my very educated mother just served us nachos

my very educated mother just served us nine pizzas

my very educated mother just served us nine pumpkins

my very educated mother just served us noodles

my very excellent mother just served us nine pizzas

My sister-in-law has just become a mother for the first time.

He had something of his mother in him.

He had something of his mother in him, but this was because he realized that in the end only her love was unconditional, and in gratitude he had emulated her.

The "Ritual to Celebrate Birthing" begins with a leader welcoming all participants : "Welcome to this celebration for N. She is approaching the time when she will become a mother for the first time (or become a mother again).

2005, Trudelle Thomas, Spirituality in the Mother Zone: Staying Centered, Finding God, Paulist Press, →ISBN, page 41:

A female who has given birth to a baby; this person in relation to her child or children.


brother

en-noun

brother (plural brothers or (archaic in most senses) brethren)

brothers (plural)
brethren (archaic plural)
brotha (alternative)
brudda (alternative)
brothah (alternative)
brothuh (alternative)
bruvver (alternative)
broth'r (alternative)

Bahamian Creole: bredda

Belizean Creole: breda

Bislama: brata

Cameroon Pidgin: bro̱da

Gullah: broda

desctree

Hawaiian Creole: braddah
→ English: braddah

Islander Creole English: broda

Italian: bro

Kabuverdianu: bróda

Krio: brohda

Nicaraguan Creole: brada

Nigerian Pidgin: broda

Pichinglis: brɔda

Pijin: brata

Saramaccan: baáa

Sranan Tongo: brada
Aukan: baala
Saramaccan: baaa
→ Dutch: brada

Tok Pisin: brata, barata

→ Japanese: ブラザー

→ Korean: 브라더 (beuradeo)

→ Portuguese: brada, brother

PIE word
 *bʰréh₂tēr
Inherited from Middle English brother, from Old English brōþor, from Proto-West Germanic *brōþer, from Proto-Germanic *brōþēr, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr. Doublet of bhai, bru, frater, friar, pal, and vai.

弟弟

dai⁶⁻⁴ dai⁶⁻²

ağa

elder brother; in the northern dialect: aqa

ах дүү

brothers in general but including both elder and younger brothers

[Michael Jackson] went on television and said, “I don't have sex because of my religious beliefs”, and the public believed it. I know brothers was like “get the fuck out of here!”. And white people, “Michael's a special kinda guy!”

1987, Eddie Murphy Raw, spoken by Eddie Murphy:

SPIN: Aren't you both as popular with white people as black people?
L.L.: Oh, no question. But I've always said, that's why when people say, "L.L., hey, like, on the last album, you sold out," I say, "Yo, can I ask you a question, Mike Tyson sell out?" "No, he's a brother." I say, he's a cross-over artist. He went pop. You know what I'm saying? I mean, the rap audience [...] they have to understand that their music is for all people. Me personally, I don't think it's about being black or white, […]

1991 January, SPIN, volume 6, number 10, page 58:

The white cop grilled me. He was tall, but had a stomach like a pregnant woman. The other two were brothers, and they looked like they just didn't wanna be standing there.

2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 148:

But damn if they knew when to just leave a brother alone and let him sulk in silence.

(African-American Vernacular) A fellow black man.


sister

en-noun

sister (plural sisters or (archaic in most senses) sistren)

sisters (plural)
sistren (archaic plural)

desc

→ Gulf Arabic: سِسْتَر (sistar, “female nurse”)

→ Japanese: シスター (shisutā)

→ Korean: 시스터 (siseuteo)

PIE word
 *swésōr
From Middle English sister, suster, from Old English swustor, sweoster, sweostor (“sister, nun”); from Proto-Germanic *swestēr (“sister”), from Proto-Indo-European *swésōr (“sister”).
Cognate with Scots sister, syster (“sister”), West Frisian sus, suster (“sister”), Dutch zuster (“sister”), German Schwester (“sister”), Norwegian Bokmål søster (“sister”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish syster (“sister”), Icelandic systir (“sister”), Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌰𐍂 (swistar, “sister”), Latin soror (“sister”), Russian сестра́ (sestrá, “sister”), Lithuanian sesuo (“sister”), Albanian vajzë (“girl, maiden”), Sanskrit स्वसृ (svásṛ, “sister”), Persian خواهر (xâhar, “sister”).
In standard English, the form with i is due to contamination with Old Norse systir (“sister”).
The plural sistren is from Middle English sistren, a variant plural of sister, suster (“sister”); compare brethren.

妹妹

mui⁶⁻⁴ mui⁶⁻²

My sister is always driving me crazy.

A daughter of the same parents as another person; a female sibling.


son

From Middle English sonn, sone, sun, sune, from Old English sunu (“son”), from Proto-Germanic *sunuz (“son”), from Proto-Indo-European *suHnús (“son”), from Proto-Indo-European *sewH- (“to bear; give birth”).

па

a male person in relation to his parents

Before the birth of the man's child, he said: "I want a son, not a daughter."

From what conſummate vertue I have choſe / This perfect Man, by merit call'd my Son,

1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 10, lines 165-166:

A male adopted person in relation to his adoptive parents.

Eli called Samuel his son. Be plain, good son, and homely in thy drift.

1832, Noah Webster, “SON”, in A Dictionary of the English Language Intended to Exhibit the Origin of Words, the Orthography and Definitions: in Two Volumes · Volume 2:

A male person who has such a close relationship with an older or otherwise more authoritative person that he can be regarded as a son of the other person.

Son, can't you see that she's just a little girl?

1984, “Working on the Highway”, in Bruce Springsteen (music), Born in the U.S.A.:

Shepard: Stay with me. We're almost through this.
Admiral Anderson: You did good, son. You did good. I'm proud of you.
Shepard: Thank you, sir. Anderson?

2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:

A familiar address to a male person from an older or otherwise more authoritative person.


son

From Spanish son (literally “tone, sound”).

When son first emerged in the streets of Havana, in the early twentieth century, it was shut down by the police, as were most forms of African culture. Son groups, conjuntos, caught playing on the street, as was the tradition, had their instruments confiscated.

2017, Mark Kurlansky, Havana: A Subtropical Delirium, Bloomsbury, →ISBN:

(music) Son cubano, a genre of music and dance blending Spanish and African elements that originated in Cuba during the late 19th century.


daughter

en-noun

daughter (plural daughters or (archaic) daughtren)

daughters (plural)
daughtren (archaic plural)
dafter (alternative)

Australian Kriol: doda

From Middle English doughter, doghter, from Old English dohtor (“daughter”), from Proto-West Germanic *dohter, from Proto-Germanic *duhtēr, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰugh₂tḗr.

devil is beating his wife and marrying his daughter


grandfather

The noun is derived from Middle English grandfadre, graundfadir, graunfadir, grauntfader, and other forms, from graunt (“big, large; great, important”) + fā̆der (“male parent, father; remoter male ancestor”), probably modelled after Middle French grandpere, grant pere (“male parent; remoter male ancestor”) (whence French grand-père); the English word is analysable as grand- + father. Superseded earlier eldfather, elderfather. The verb is derived from the noun.

/ˈɡɹændˌfɑːðə/

/ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌfɑðɚ/

[ˈɡɹ̠(ʷ)ẽˑə̯̃n(d)ˌfɑˑðɚ]

you kiss your grandfather with that mouth

Brethren: Here is the pipe which your grandfathers used to smoke with when they met together in councils of peace. And here is some of that good tobacco, prepared for our grandfathers from God:—When you shall taste of it, you shall feel it through all your body; and it will put you in remembrance of the good councils your grandfathers used to hold with the English, your brethren, and that ancient friendship they had together.

1758 November 25, [Israel Daniel Rupp], “[No. XI.] Post’s Second Journal, 1758. The Second Journal of Christian Frederick Post, on a Message from the Governor of Pennsylvania, to the Indians of the Ohio, in the Latter Part of the Same Year.”, in Early History of Western Pennsylvania, and of the West, […], Pittsburgh, Pa.: Published by A. P. Ingram, […]; Harrisburg, Pa.: Published by W. O. Hickok, published 1848, →OCLC, page 111:


grandmother

grandmothers (plural)
grand-mother (alternative)

/ˈɡɹænˌmʌðə/

/ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌmʌðɚ/

From Middle English graundmodre, grauntmoder, granmoder; equivalent to grand- + mother. Compare French grand-mère. Superseded earlier eldmother, eldermother.

don't teach your grandmother how to suck eggs

don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs

don't teach your grandmother how to milk ducks

don't teach your grandmother to steal sheep

if my grandmother had balls, she'd be my granddad

if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a streetcar

you kiss your grandmother with that mouth


grandson

Coordinate term: granddaughter

(either son’s or daughter’s son) źiśisyn


granddaughter

granddaughters (plural)
grandaughter (alternative)
grand-daughter (alternative)

Coordinate term: grandson


uncle

Bislama: angkel

→ Burmese: အန်ကယ် (ankai)

⇒ Chinese: 安哥 (āngē)

→ Hawaiian: ʻanakala

→ Hindi: अंकल (aṅkal)

→ Irish: uncail

→ Scottish Gaelic: uncail

Tok Pisin: ankol

Torres Strait Creole: ankel

→ Welsh: wncl

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwh₂os
Latin avunculus
Old French unclebor.
Middle English uncle
English uncle
From Middle English uncle, borrowed from Anglo-Norman uncle and Old French oncle, from Vulgar Latin *aunclum, from Latin avunculus (“maternal uncle”, literally “little grandfather”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂euh₂-n-tlo- (“little grandfather”), a dialectal diminutive of *h₂éwh₂ō (“grandfather, adult male relative other than one’s father”) (whence also Latin avus (“grandfather”)). Displaced native Middle English em (“uncle”) from Old English ēam (“maternal uncle”), containing the same Proto-Indo-European root, and Old English fædera (“paternal uncle”). Compare Saterland Frisian Unkel (“uncle”), Dutch nonkel (“uncle”), German Low German Unkel (“uncle”), German Onkel (“uncle”), Danish onkel (“uncle”). More at eam and eame.

der

And it was while all were passionately intent upon the pleasing and snake-like progress of their uncle that a young girl in furs, ascending the stairs two at a time, peeped perfunctorily into the nursery as she passed the hallway—and halted amazed.

1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 14:

The brother or brother-in-law of one’s parent.

ungji

brother (or brother-in-law) of someone’s parent

свако

last two may also apply to the husband of the paternal aunt

(euphemistic) Used as a title for the male companion to one's (usually unmarried) parent.

(especially in the Southern US, parts of UK and South Asia) An affectionate term for a man of an older generation than oneself, especially a friend of one's parents, by means of fictive kin.

дзя́дзька

form of address to a man by young people or children in some countries

Plain old uncle as he [Socrates] was, with his great ears, — an immense talker.

1850, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Representative Men:

(Southern US, slang, archaic) An older African-American male.

(Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Brunei, informal) Any middle-aged or elderly man older than the speaker and/or listener.


aunt

→ Hawaiian: ʻanakē

→ Irish: aint

→ Pennsylvania German: Aent

→ Yoruba: àǹtí

From Middle English aunte, from Anglo-Norman aunte, from Old French ante, from Latin amita (“father's sister”). Displaced native Middle English modrie (“aunt”) (from Old English mōdriġe (“maternal aunt”); compare Old English faþu, faþe (“paternal aunt”)). The digraph ⟨au⟩ representing /æ ~ ɑː/ instead of the expected /ɔː/ is irregular, and has not been conclusively explained.

cog

As a rule, you see, I'm not lugged into Family Rows. On the occasions when Aunt is calling to Aunt like mastodons bellowing across primeval swamps and Uncle James's letter about Cousin Mabel's peculiar behaviour is being shot round the family circle... the clan has a tendency to ignore me.

1923, P.G. Wodehouse, The Inimitable Jeeves:

The sister or sister-in-law of one’s parent.

ဒေါ်လေး

younger sister of one's father or mother

백모

eldest brother; father's older brother's wife

ipmi

parent's or their sibling's cousin's wife

The female cousin or cousin-in-law of one’s parent.

(endearing) A woman of an older generation than oneself, especially a friend of one's parents, by means of fictive kin.

հորաքույր

affectionate term for an older woman, by means of fictive kin

I saw neither hope of his reclaiming, nor comfort in his being; and was it not then better bestowed upon his uncle than upon one of his aunts?—I need not say bawd, for every one knows what aunt stands for in the last translation.

c. 1604–1606 (date written; published 1608), Thomas Middleton, “A Trick to Catch the Old One”, in A[rthur] H[enry] Bullen, editor, The Works of Thomas Middleton […] (The English Dramatists), volume II, London: John C. Nimmo […], published 1885, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii, page 267:


nephew

From Middle English nevew, neveu (“nephew, grandson”), from Old French neveu, from Latin nepos, nepōtem, from Proto-Italic *nepōts (“nephew, grandson”), whence also French neveu, Italian nipote. Displaced or absorbed the inherited English neve (“nephew, grandson, male cousin”), from Middle English neve, from Old English nefa, from Proto-West Germanic *nefō, from Proto-Germanic *nefô (“nephew, grandson”), whence Dutch neef, German Neffe. All ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *népōts (“grandchild, sister's son”). Cognate with Serbo-Croatian nećak, Irish nia, Persian نوه (nave).
Spelt with -ph- by readaptation to Latin nepos since the 15th century, which later triggered the spelling pronunciation with /f/.

der

A son of one's sibling, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law; either a son of one's brother (fraternal nephew) or a son of one's sister (sororal nephew).

neef

fraternal or sororal nephew — see also fraternal nephew, sororal nephew


niece

From Middle English nece (“niece, granddaughter”), from Old French nece (“niece, granddaughter”) (Modern French nièce (“niece”)) from Late Latin neptia, representing Latin neptis (“granddaughter”), from Proto-Indo-European *néptih₂ (“granddaughter, niece”). Doublet of nift.

My niece just celebrated her 15th birthday.

A daughter of one’s sibling, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law; either the daughter of one's brother ("fraternal niece"), or of one's sister ("sororal niece").

niggie

fraternal or sororal niece — see also fraternal niece, sororal niece


father-in-law

en-noun

father-in-law (plural fathers-in-law or (colloquial, nonstandard) father-in-laws)

fathers-in-law (plural)
father-in-laws (colloquial nonstandard plural)
father in law (alternative)

/ˈfɑːðəɹɪnˌlɔː/

From Middle English fader in lawe, fadyr-in-lay, fader yn lawe, equivalent to father + -in-law.

`Yes,` replied Snawley. `The fact is, I am not their father, Mr Squeers. I'm only their father-in-law.`

1839, Charles Dickens, chapter IV, in Nicholas Nickleby, →ISBN, page 41:


mother-in-law

mother-in-law (plural mothers-in-law or (colloquial, nonstandard) mother-in-laws)

mothers-in-law (plural)
mother-in-laws (colloquial nonstandard plural)

/ˈmʌ.ðəɹ.ɪnˌlɔː/

/ˈmʌ.ðəɹ.ɪnˌlɑː/

From Middle English moder in lawe; equivalent to mother + -in-law.


brother-in-law

brother-in-law (plural brothers-in-law or (archaic) brethren-in-law or (colloquial, nonstandard) brother-in-laws)

brothers-in-law (plural)
brethren-in-law (archaic plural)
brother-in-laws (colloquial nonstandard plural)
brother in law (alternative)

/ˈbɹʌðɚ ɪn ˌlɔ/

/ˈbɹʌðɚ ɪn ˌlɑ/

/ˈbɹʌðəɹ ɪn ˌlɔː/

From Middle English brother-in-lawe; equivalent to brother + -in-law.

bilas nga lalaki (sa igsoong babaye sa bana)

義兄弟

husband's elder or younger sister's husband

bilas nga lalaki (sa igsoong babaye sa asawa)

義兄弟

wife's elder or younger sister's husband

A male relative of one's generation, separated by one degree of marriage:

He was appalled by trench conditions and the prolongation of the war, a disillusionment further encouraged by the Easter rising, in which his brother-in-law, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington (qv), was murdered by a deranged Anglo–Irish officer, J. C. Bowen-Colthurst (qv).

2009, Donal Lowry, “Kettle, Thomas Michael (‘Tom’)”, in Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press:

(uncommon) Co-brother-in-law: A male relative of one's generation, separated by two degrees of marriage:

The husband of the sibling of one's spouse.

The brother of the spouse of one's sibling.


sister-in-law

sister-in-law (plural sisters-in-law or (colloquial, nonstandard) sister-in-laws)

sisters-in-law (plural)
sister-in-laws (colloquial nonstandard plural)

Inherited from Middle English suster-in-lawe; equivalent to sister + -in-law.

inh+

새언니 (saeeonni) (woman's older brother's wife, lit. "new older sister")

bilas nga babaye (sa igsoong lalaki sa asawa)

bilas nga babaye (sa igsoong lalaki sa bana)

Though they are not twins, my sister-in-law resembles my wife in almost every way.

A female relative of one's generation, separated by one degree of marriage:

My sister-in-law and my brother both met while they were on vacation in Jamaica.

(less common) Co-sister-in-law: The wife of one's sibling-in-law.

The wife of the sibling of one's spouse.

The sister of the spouse of one's sibling.


son-in-law

en-noun

son-in-law (plural sons-in-law or (colloquial, nonstandard) son-in-laws)

sons-in-law (plural)
son-in-laws (colloquial nonstandard plural)
soninlaw (alternative)

/ˈsʌnɪnˌlɔː/

From Middle English sone in lawe; equivalent to son + -in-law.

12 ¶ And the men said vnto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? sonne in law, and thy sonnes, and thy daughters, and whatsoeuer thou hast in the citie, bring them out of this place.
13 For we will destroy this place, because the crie of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD: and the LORD hath sent vs to destroy it.
14 And Lot went out, and spake vnto his sonnes in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get yee out of this place: for the LORD wil destroy this citie: but hee seemed as one that mocked, vnto his sonnes in law.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 19:12–14:


daughter-in-law

daughter-in-law (plural daughters-in-law or (colloquial, nonstandard) daughter-in-laws)

daughters-in-law (plural)
daughter-in-laws (colloquial nonstandard plural)

/ˈdɔːtə(ɹ)ɪnˌlɔː/

From Middle English douȝter in lawe; equivalent to daughter + -in-law.

And we can watch how that plays out as Trump attempts to get his daughter-in-law, Lara, into the U.S. Senate.

2024 November 17, Howie Klein, “A Plurality Of American Voters Have Embraced Kakistocracy As Their Preferred Form Of Governance”, in DownWithTyranny:


female

Etymology tree
Proto-Italic *fēmanā
Latin fēmina
Proto-Indo-European *-lós
Proto-Italic *-elos
Latin -lus
Latin -la
Latin fēmella
Latin fēminader.
Old French femelebor.
Middle English femele
Middle English female
English female
From Middle English female, an alteration of Middle English femele, from Old French femele, femelle (“female”), from Medieval Latin fēmella (“a female”), from Latin fēmella (“a girl, a young female, a young woman”), diminutive of fēmina (“a woman”). The English spelling and pronunciation were remodelled under the influence of male, which is otherwise not etymologically related. Contrast woman, which is etymologically built on man (as in person).

der

One of the female (feminine) sex or gender.

(botany) A plant which produces only that kind of reproductive organ capable of developing into fruit after impregnation or fertilization; a pistillate plant.


egg

en-noun

egg (countable and uncountable, plural eggs)

→⇒ German: not the yellow from the egg

Jamaican Creole: eg

Sranan Tongo: eksi

The noun is derived from Middle English eg, egg, egge (“egg of a domestic or wild fowl; egg of a snake”) [and other forms] (originally Northern England and Northeast Midlands), from Old Norse egg (“egg”), from Proto-Germanic *ajją (“egg”) (by Holtzmann’s law), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm (“egg”), probably from *h₂éwis (“bird”), from *h₂ew- (“to clothe oneself, dress; to be dressed”) (in the sense of an animal clothed in feathers). Doublet of huevo, oeuf, and ovum.
The native English ey [and other forms] (plural eyren) (obsolete), from Old English ǣġ, is also derived from Proto-Germanic *ajją. It survived into at least c. 16th century before being fully displaced by egg.
The verb is derived from the noun.

wôwan

approximately spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, insects, reptiles, and other animals, housing the embryo within a membrane or shell during its development

ou

thing which looks like or is shaped like an egg

egg

person regarded as having not yet realized they are transgender, or who has not yet come out as transgender or is in the early stages of transitioning; one’s lack of awareness that one is transgender

kill the goose that lays the golden eggs

there's more than one way to cook an egg

there's more than one way to crack an egg

In the Fall into the division of labor, [Claude] Lévi-Strauss sees the great hunters trading women to create the exogamous bonds of one hunting band with another. The egg is, but the sperm does. The tiny sperm may be furious in its activity, but its highway to the egg is paved by the alkaline trail set down by the Great Mother.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, “Hominization”, in The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture (A Lindisfarne Series Book), New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, part 2 (The Transformations of Prehistory), page 80:

Although they serve the same function across the plant, animal and fungal kingdoms, sperm and eggs vary wildly in their structure and biochemistry, even among closely related species. […] Many genes that determine sperm and egg structure and biochemistry are rapidly evolving, constantly changing the chemical environment necessary for the sperm to bind to the egg.

2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, New Haven, Conn.: Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2013-04-22, abstract, page 210:

(also cytology) Synonym of ovum (“the female gamete of an animal”); an egg cell.

ovum

That fits, though, she thought. Wear the same outfit day after day, your brain gets numb to how it looks or feels—Wendy shut the album. No. […] She hated analyzing the whys of [not-out] trans girls. She had always hated it, and she hated how easy it had become; the bottomless hole of egg mode.

2018, Casey Plett, edited by Susan Safyan, Little Fish, Vancouver, B.C.: Arsenal Pulp Press, →ISBN, page 24:

So I remember being told, in the very early part of my transition, that I had been, until now, an egg, and—as powerfully rooted in a belief in latency as I found myself[.]

2020, Grace Lavery, “Egg Theory's Early Style”, in Transgender Studies Quarterly, page 384:

(transgender slang) A person regarded as having not yet realized they are transgender, who has not yet come out as transgender, or who is in the early stages of transitioning.

to crack someone's egg (to cause someone to realize that they are transgender)

(transgender slang, by extension) One's lack of awareness that one is transgender.


handmaid

handmaids (plural)
handmaiden (alternative)
handmayd (alternative)

Inherited from Middle English handemayde, hand-maide, handmaide, handmayd, hand mayde, hand-mayde, haundmaid, hondemayde, hondmaide, hond-mayde. By surface analysis, compound of hand + maid, the first component in the sense of "ready at hand".

surf

And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 2:18:

(now historical) A maid that waits at hand; a female servant or attendant.


handmaiden

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

From Middle English hande mayden, handmaiden, hand mayden, hand-mayden, handmayden, hondemaiden, hond maydyn, hoondmaydyn. By surface analysis, hand + maiden.
Sense 2 is an allusion to Canadian poet Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985), in which "handmaids" are women who serve the male commanders in a patriarchal dystopia.

senseno

feminist woman who supports transgender rights

Online and over Shabbat dinners, arguments about the election have grown bitter. Those grudgingly planning to vote for Labour have been called traitors to the community and self-hating Jews. Anti-Corbyn die-hards, on the other hand, have been branded the handmaidens of a hard Brexit.

2019 November 21, Benjamin Mueller, “At Odds With Labour, Britain’s Jews Are Feeling Politically Homeless”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-11-13:


ba

The sound is very commonly made by infants, and is interpreted by parents as a reference to themselves.

(colloquial and in direct address) Father, baba.


VT

(LGBTQ, especially transgender) Initialism of voice training.


gaffer

Likely a contraction of godfather, but with the vowels influenced by grandfather. Compare French compère, German Gevatter.

And you're here to tell me what's what. Just like your bloody gaffer promised.

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 117:

(UK, informal) The leader of a group or team, such as a boss, foreman, coach, or publican.


they

head

they (third-person, nominative case, usually plural, sometimes singular, objective case them, possessive their, possessive noun theirs, reflexive themselves, or reflexive singular themself)

en-pron

them (objective)
their (possessive)
theirs (noun possessive)
themselves (reflexive)
themself (reflexive singular)
They (alternative)
dey (alternative)
thay (alternative)
theye (alternative)
thaay (alternative)
theye (alternative)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *tóy
Proto-Germanic *þai
Proto-Norse *ᚦᚨᛁᛉ (*þaiʀ)
Old Norse þeirbor.
Middle English þei
English they From Middle English þei, borrowed in the 1200s from Old Norse þeir, plural of the demonstrative sá which acted as a plural pronoun. Displaced native Middle English he from Old English hīe — which vowel changes had left indistinct from he (“he”) — by the 1400s, being readily incorporated alongside native words beginning with the same sound (the, that, this). Used as a singular pronoun since 1300, e.g. in the 1325 Cursor Mundi.
The Norse term (whence also Icelandic þeir (“they”), Faroese teir (“they”), Danish de (“they”), Swedish de (“they”), Norwegian Nynorsk dei (“they”)) is from Proto-Germanic *þai (“those”) (from Proto-Indo-European *to- (“that”)), whence also Old English þā (“those”) (whence obsolete English tho), Scots thae, thai, thay (“they; those”).
The origin of the determiner they (“the, those”) is unclear. The OED, English Dialect Dictionary and Middle English Dictionary define it and its Middle English predecessor thei as a demonstrative determiner or adjective meaning "those" or "the". This could be a continuation of the use of the English pronoun they's Old Norse etymon þeir as a demonstrative meaning "those", but the OED and EDD say it is limited to southern, especially southwestern, England, specifically outside the region of Norse contact.

etymon

it doesn't matter what they say about you as long as they spell your name right

The following table shows a list of English personal pronoun

including archaic and dialectal forms. Dialectal and obsolete

other attested third-person singular pronouns

Somebody requested a seat at Friday's performance but didn't say if they preferred the balcony or the floor.

If someone enters the restricted area, they are required to present identification.

One of the boys tripped over, and they hit their head on the door.

Then shalt thou bring forth that man, or that woman (which haue committed that wicked thing) vnto thy gates, euen that man, or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones till they die.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 17:5:

Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione.

1997, J. K. Rowling, chapter 10, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, (quoted edition: London: Bloomsbury, 2000, →ISBN, page 187):

One thing a nominee earns is the right to pick the vice president that they think will best reflect their vision of the country, and I am just glad I will have nothing to do with it.

2008, Michelle Obama, quoted in Lisa Rogak, Michelle Obama in Her Own Words, New York, NY: PublicAffairs, 2009. →ISBN, page 18

The boycott, led by Elisha Lim, of a Toronto gay and lesbian newspaper after it refused to use their preferred pronoun ["they"], citing grammar considerations, inspired me.

2014, Ivan E. Coyote, Rae Spoon, Gender Failure, →ISBN:

I'm angry that we're here again, that we have had to tell another mother that their child is dead.

2015 April, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (mayor of Baltimore), commenting on the death of Freddie Gray

(the third-person singular nominative, occasionally proscribed) A single person, previously mentioned, but typically not if previously named and identified as male or female, especially if of unknown, irrelevant or (since 21st century) non-binary gender. Now increasingly used for an unnamed person even if the gender of the person is identified.

the third-person singular nominative; occasionally proscribed; the third-person singular nominative; occasionally proscribed

not used in Dyirbal (Dyirbal has no third-person pronoun)

(usually indicated by the suffix only) -nak

o

third-person singular, of unknown, irrelevant, or non-binary gender

(usually indicated by the third-person singular zero suffix only) -∅

그 (geu) (literary, poetic, or in translated works only)


give birth

en-verb

give birth (third-person singular simple present gives birth, present participle giving birth, simple past gave birth, past participle given birth)

gives birth (present singular third-person)
giving birth (participle present)
gave birth (past)
given birth (participle past)

It was clear that she was about to give birth.

(intransitive, of viviparous animals) To release live offspring from the body into the environment.


transgender

trans-gender (alternative)
transgener (alternative)
xgender (alternative)

→ Catalan: transgènere (calque)

→ Dutch: transgender

→ French: transgenre (calque)

→ German: transgender

→ Japanese: トランスジェンダー (toransujendā)

→ Korean: 트랜스젠더 (teuraenseujendeo)

desc

→ Portuguese: (Portugal) transgénero, (Brazil) transgênero (calque)

→ Spanish: transgénero (calque)

/ˌtɹænzˈd͡ʒɛndəɹ/

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *terh₂-der.
Proto-Italic *trānts
Latin trāns
Latin trans-bor.
English trans-
Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *-os
Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os
Latin genus
Old French gendrebor.
Middle English gendre
English gender
English transgender
The adjective sense is derived from trans- (“extending across, through, or over”) + gender, modelled after transsexual (adjective) and probably modified from transgenderism which was coined by the American psychiatrist John F. Oliven (1915–1975) in 1965; the terms transgender, transgenderal, transgendered, transgenderist, and similar terms arose in the decades after this. By the 1990s, the word transgender had acquired its current senses, and had also largely displaced the earlier term transsexual: see the usage notes.
The noun and verb senses are derived from the adjective. Regarding noun sense 2 ("synonym of transgenderism"), compare transsex (noun).

etymon

having a gender different from one's assigned sex

prefix

trans<t:extending across, through, or over>

transgenero

(broadly) of a person: having a gender (identity) which is different from one’s assigned sex; (strictly) of a person: having a gender (identity) which is opposite from the sex one was assigned at birth

We have taken to the local radio station, to talk about transgender problems. Carol Fremont is working in this area, and by General Conference we should have some interesting insights and understandings to share regarding transgender persons.

1978 December – 1979 January, J. J., “The Fellowship Family: News and Notes of MCC People and Events around the World”, in F. Jay Deacon, editor, The Gay Christian: A Journal of Theological Reflection from Metropolitan Community Church, Santa Monica, Calif.: Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, →OCLC, page 23, column 2:

Christine Jorgensen, the world's first highly publicized transsexual – or "trans-gender" patient – never planned to be famous because of her surgery.

1979 May 3, Pierre Bowman, “Back in showbiz Christine Jorgensen”, in George Chaplin, editor, The Honolulu Advertiser (People Report Section), Honolulu, Hi.: Thurston Twigg-Smith, →ISSN, →OCLC, page B-1, column 3:

One head of a small gay charity visibly flinched when I mentioned my boyfriend and has been cold towards me ever since. I've even caught someone staring down my top to see if I'm transgender.

2010 March 3, Jessica Green, “I'm sorry, I'm not lesbian: My being a straight editor of Pink News has confused and angered some – but it shows how far gay rights have come”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-08-11:

The film, "Ticked-Off Trannies With Knives," is described by its creator, Israel Luna, as an homage to 1970s exploitation films. But the inclusion of the word "trannie"—a pejorative, in some circles—in the title, and the film's parodic representation of transgender women, has offended many people.

2010 April 7, Natasha Lennard, “City Room: Transgender film draws protests at festival site”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-12-23:

A Chinese court on Thursday found that a transgender man was unjustly fired from his job, a first-of-its-kind ruling that activists called a step forward in the fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. […] Mr. C, a transgender Chinese man who says he was fired for wearing men's clothes, stands outside a court in Guiyang, China, July 27, 2017, holding the court’s ruling that his dismissal violated his employment rights.

2017 July 27, Emily Rauhala, “Transgender Chinese man wins first-of-its-kind labor discrimination case”, in The Washington Post (WorldViews section), Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-11-11:

When Kim Petras teamed up with English singer Sam Smith on "Unholy," a song about male infidelity and betrayal of the ideal of marriage, she may not have expected to make history. But now, the German pop singer Petras is the first transgender woman to win a coveted Grammy in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category. At the Grammy Awards on February 5, 2023, Petras thanked "transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open for me so that I could be here tonight." […] Back in October 2022, the duo Petras and Smith had already become the first publicly transgender and nonbinary solo artists, respectively, to have reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts with their single.

2023 February 6, Stefan Dege, Louisa Schaefer, “Kim Petras: How the trans artist made history”, in Deutsche Welle, archived from the original on 2023-03-30:

(loosely) Of a person: having a gender (identity) which is different from one's assigned sex; that is, the identity of a trans man, trans woman, or someone non-binary, for example, agender, bigender, or third-gender.

Gender identity is whether or not a person perceives him/herself to be a man or woman (see ‘man’ and ‘woman’). The problem arises when a male perceives himself to be a woman, and vise versa.^([sic – meaning vice versa]) Notice I said man or woman, and not male or female. The difference is important. Male and female are biological terms, while man and woman as they are used here are modes of being, ways to be, which are based on psychology and sociology rather than biology. (see ‘gender dysphoria’) Sexual identity is a ‘transsexual’ issue and may involve sexual re-assignment surgery, but may not involve cross-dressing. Gender identity is a ‘transgender’ issue and does not involve surgery, but almost always involves cross-dressing.

1988, Merissa Sherrill Lynn, “Definitions of Terms Commonly Used in the Transvestite–Transsexual Community”, in Diane Dixon, Jan Dixon, Veronica Brown, editors, The TV–TS Tapestry: The Journal for Persons Interested in Crossdressing & Transsexualism, number 51, Wayland, Mass.: International Foundation for Gender Education, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 22:

What is happening in the world at the time, restrictions or freedom in sex-role choices, or in access to clothing fabrics and styles—none of these have much influence on the transgender person’s desire to be the opposite sex.

1990, Louis Sullivan, “Epilogue”, in From Female to Male: The Life of Jack Bee Garland, Boston, Mass.: Alyson Publications, →ISBN, page 174:

She emphasises that being transgender really has nothing to do with your anatomy. There are terms for individuals who have undergone sex reassignment surgery – “transexed”, for example – whereas to be transgender is simply to have the conviction that you are the opposite gender to the body you have been assigned.

2015 August 29, Ben Machell, “The transgender kids”, in The Times, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-22:

Biology has a strong effect on whether people identify as female, male, or transgender. A transgender person was born as one biological sex but feels that her true gender identity is that of the other sex. One theory of why gender and biological sex differ for those who are transgender has to do with timing of hormonal events during pregnancy.

2018, Michael S. Gazzaniga, “Human Development”, in Psychological Science, 6th edition, New York, N.Y: W[illiam] W[arder] Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 367:

Transgender people, who identify as the opposite gender to the one they were born with, should no longer be considered mentally ill, according to a new UN categorisation. The World Health Organization issued a new catalogue Monday covering 55,000 diseases, injuries and causes of death, in which it discreetly recategorised transgenderism. […] Several countries have already taken steps to reclassify transgenderism and take it off the list of mental disorders, including France and Denmark. Say said she thought the text, which is the result of years of discussion among experts, would easily win approval, despite widespread lack of acceptance of transgender people in many parts of the world.

2018 June 19, “Transgenderism no longer a mental illness: WHO”, in France 24, archived from the original on 2018-06-19:

Transgender people report discomfort with their birth sex and a strong identification with the opposite sex. The current study was designed to shed further light on the question of whether the brains of transgender people resemble their birth sex or their gender identity. For this purpose, we analyzed a sample of 24 cisgender men, 24 cisgender women, and 24 transgender women before gender-affirming hormone therapy. We employed a recently developed multivariate classifier that yields a continuous probabilistic (rather than a binary) estimate for brains to be male or female. The brains of transgender women ranged between cisgender men and cisgender women (albeit still closer to cisgender men), and the differences to both cisgender men and to cisgender women were significant (p#61;0.016 and plt;0.001, respectively). These findings add support to the notion that the underlying brain anatomy in transgender people is shifted away from their biological sex towards their gender identity.

2022 March, Florian Kurth, Christian Gaser, Francisco J. Sánchez, Eileen Luders, “Brain Sex in Transgender Women Is Shifted towards Gender Identity”, in Journal of Clinical Medicine, volume 11, number 6, Basel, Basel-Stadt: MPDI, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, →PMID, abstract:

(strictly) Of a person: having a gender (identity) which is opposite from the sex one was assigned at birth: being assigned male but having a female gender, or vice versa (that is, not including a non-binary identity).