See back-of-the-envelope in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for back-of-the-envelope meaning in English (3.0kB)
{
"etymology_text": "From the idea that the calculation or reasoning would be jotted down on any available scrap of paper such as the actual back of an envelope.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "adjective",
"head": "back-of-the-envelope"
},
"expansion": "back-of-the-envelope",
"name": "head"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Do some back-of-the-envelope calculations before all the facts come in.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "2010 April 30, David G. Thomson, Mastering the 7 Essentials of High-Growth Companies, John Wiley & Sons",
"text": "I remember very distinctly in October 1995, after I completed my paper design, I had an epiphany. This back-of-the-envelope design was five years ahead of its time.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Approximate, rough, simplified, especially of a calculation, estimation or other reasoning."
],
"id": "en-back-of-the-envelope-en-adj-Rjl7yNjI",
"links": [
[
"Approximate",
"approximate"
],
[
"rough",
"rough"
],
[
"simplified",
"simplified"
],
[
"calculation",
"calculation"
],
[
"estimation",
"estimation"
],
[
"reasoning",
"reasoning"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) Approximate, rough, simplified, especially of a calculation, estimation or other reasoning."
],
"related": [
{
"word": "napkin math"
},
{
"alt": "Br",
"sense": "back of a",
"word": "fag packet and back-of-a-cigarette-box"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "back-of-an-envelope"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "cūlüè de",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "粗略的"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "ruutupaperi-"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "dos d’une enveloppe"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "de coin de table"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "à l’arrache"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "vite fait"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "hingekritzelt"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "Schmierzettel-"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "Bierdeckel-"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "à pressa"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"colloquial"
],
"word": "em cima do joelho"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"back-of-the-envelope"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-back-of-the-envelope.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/7c/En-au-back-of-the-envelope.ogg/En-au-back-of-the-envelope.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/En-au-back-of-the-envelope.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "back-of-the-envelope"
}
{
"etymology_text": "From the idea that the calculation or reasoning would be jotted down on any available scrap of paper such as the actual back of an envelope.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "adjective",
"head": "back-of-the-envelope"
},
"expansion": "back-of-the-envelope",
"name": "head"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
"related": [
{
"word": "napkin math"
},
{
"alt": "Br",
"sense": "back of a",
"word": "fag packet and back-of-a-cigarette-box"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English adjectives",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English idioms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with usage examples",
"Translation table header lacks gloss"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Do some back-of-the-envelope calculations before all the facts come in.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "2010 April 30, David G. Thomson, Mastering the 7 Essentials of High-Growth Companies, John Wiley & Sons",
"text": "I remember very distinctly in October 1995, after I completed my paper design, I had an epiphany. This back-of-the-envelope design was five years ahead of its time.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Approximate, rough, simplified, especially of a calculation, estimation or other reasoning."
],
"links": [
[
"Approximate",
"approximate"
],
[
"rough",
"rough"
],
[
"simplified",
"simplified"
],
[
"calculation",
"calculation"
],
[
"estimation",
"estimation"
],
[
"reasoning",
"reasoning"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) Approximate, rough, simplified, especially of a calculation, estimation or other reasoning."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"wikipedia": [
"back-of-the-envelope"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-back-of-the-envelope.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/7c/En-au-back-of-the-envelope.ogg/En-au-back-of-the-envelope.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/En-au-back-of-the-envelope.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "back-of-an-envelope"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "cūlüè de",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "粗略的"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "ruutupaperi-"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "dos d’une enveloppe"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "de coin de table"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "à l’arrache"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "vite fait"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "hingekritzelt"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "Schmierzettel-"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "Bierdeckel-"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "à pressa"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"colloquial"
],
"word": "em cima do joelho"
}
],
"word": "back-of-the-envelope"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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