whither

except literary (archaic)
poetic (archaic)

From Middle English whider (“to what place?; into or to which; to what place, where; no matter where, to wherever”), from Old English hwider, hwæder (“to what place, where”), from Proto-Germanic *hwadrê (“to what place, where”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷos (“what; which”), from *kʷ- (the primary interrogative root).

Proto-Germanic *hwadrê (“to what place, where”)

Proto-Indo-European *kʷos (“what; which”)

When as wee duely conſider, whether euery way leadeth, or wiſely ponder with our ſelues to what end we refer each one of our actions, and exact of our ſtraying thoughts a more ſeuere account of their wandering courſe, we ſhal find no victory ſo great, as the ſubduing of vice, nothing ſo hard as to liue well, no ſuch vneſtimable iewell, as an honeſt conuerſation: […]

1589, T[homas] Nashe, The Anatomie of Absurditie: […], London: […] I[ohn] Charlewood for Thomas Hacket, […], →OCLC, signature E.iii., verso:

2. Out. [Second Outlaw] VVhether trauell you? / Val[entine]. To Verona. / 1. Out. [First Outlaw] VVhence came you? / Val. From Millaine.

c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 32, column 2:

O Jove! he cry'd, for vvhat Offence have I / Deſerv'd to bear this endleſs Infamy: / VVhence am I forc'd, and vvhether am I born, / Hovv, and vvith vvhat Reproach ſhall I return?

1697, Virgil, “The Tenth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 526, lines 943–946:

You vvill go avvay: VVhither vvill you go? and vvhat can you do? I vvould as vvillingly go avvay as you, if I knevv vvhither: But vve have no Acquaintance, no Friends. Here vve vvere born, and here vve muſt die.

1722 March, H[enry] F[oe] [pseudonym; Daniel Defoe], A Journal of the Plague Year: […], London: […] E[lizabeth] Nutt […]; J. Roberts […]; A. Dodd […]; and J. Graves […], →OCLC, page 143:

"Whither are we going?" inquired the lady tragically. "How should I know?" replied Trott with singular coolness; for the events of the evening had completely hardened him.

1836 February 8, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “The Great Winglebury Duel”, in Sketches by “Boz,” Illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day People. […], volume II, London: John Macrone, […], published 1836, →OCLC, page 241:

Forth from the city, while it yet slumbered, went the two poor adventurers, wandering they knew not whither.

1840 April – 1841 November, Charles Dickens, “Chapter the Twelfth”, in The Old Curiosity Shop. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1841, →OCLC, page 156:

The Spirit did not tarry here, but bade Scrooge hold his robe, and passing on above the moor, sped whither? Not to sea? To sea. To Scrooge's horror, looking back, he saw the last of the land, a frightful range of rocks, behind them; and his ears were deafened by the thundering of water, as it rolled, and roared, and raged among the dreadful caverns it had worn, and fiercely tried to undermine the earth.

1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Three. The Second of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 103:

[W]hat was the use of cavalry in a time of profound peace?—and whither the deuce should the hussars ride?

1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 571:

What he did, whither he went, where he died, might be left to conjecture.

1882, Walter Besant, “The Missing Link”, in All Sorts and Conditions of Men: An Impossible Story […], volume II, London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 136:

Interrogative senses.
To what place; where.

VVhither at length vvilt thou abuſe our patience?

1611, Ben[jamin] Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy, London: […] [William Stansby?] for Walter Burre, →OCLC, Act IIII, signature I3, recto:

And, if there fall out any preternatural immutations in the elements, any strange concussations of the earth, any direful prodigies in the sky, whither should they be imputed, but to these mighty angels; whom it pleaseth the Most High God to employ in these extraordinary services?

1651 (indicated as 1652), Joseph Hall, “[The Invisible World Discovered to Spiritual Eyes, and Reduced to Useful Meditation. […].] Section IV. The Power of Angels.”, in Josiah Pratt, editor, The Works of the Right Reverend Father in God, Joseph Hall, D.D. […], volume VI (Devotional Works), London: […] C[harles] Whittingham, […]; for Williams and Smith, […], published 1808, →OCLC, 1st book (Of God and His Angels), page 455:

Alas, / Whither has wandered now my partial tongue / When all remains untold which ye would hear?

1818–1819 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Prometheus Unbound”, in Prometheus Unbound […], London: C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier […], published 1820, →OCLC, Act III, scene iv, page 117:

'Oh, Lancelot, Lancelot! whither are you forcing me?' / 'I am forcing you no-whither. God, the Father of spirits, is leading you! You, who believe in Him, how dare you fight against Him?'

1848, [Charles Kingsley], “Murder will Out, and Love too”, in Yeast: A Problem. […], London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], published 1851, →OCLC, page 193:

Whither now the DUP [Democratic Unionist Party]? In Westminster, Theresa May's minority government continues to rely on the support of ten DUP members for its very survival. But last week may well have seen the consequences as well as the high point of thumbscrew politics.

2018 February 9, Tommie Gorman, “Whither now the DUP?”, in Raidió Teilifís Éireann, archived from the original on 2022-07-01:

(figurative, also humorous) To what (future) cause, condition or state, reason, etc.; where, where next; also (obsolete) to what extent; how far.

minne

to what (future) cause, condition or state, reason, etc. — see also where

[W]e beſche thee, leaue vs not comfortles, but ſende to vs thine holy ghoſt to comfort vs, and exalte vs vnto thy ſame place, whither our ſauiour Chriſte is gone before: […]

1549 March 7, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilers, “The Introites, Collectes, Epistles, and Gospels, to be Used at the Celebracion of the Lordes Supper & Holye Communion, throughe the Yeare: With Proper Psalmes, and Lessons for Diuers Feastes and Dayes. [The Accencion Daie. Proper Psalms and Lessons.]”, in The Booke of the Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacramentes, […], London: […] Edowardi Whitchurche […], →OCLC, folio lxviii, recto:

[T]hou ſhalt diuide the vvhole prouince of thy Land equally into three partes: that he vvhich for murder is a fugitiue, may haue neere at hand, vvhither to eſcape.

1609, The Holie Bible, […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Doway: Lavrence Kellam, […], →OCLC, Devteronomie 19:3, page 436:

Jeſus anſwered, and ſaid vnto them, Though I beare record of my ſelfe, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I goe: but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I goe.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 8:14, column 1:

This Book, it chaulketh out before thine eyes / The man that ſeeks the everlaſting Prize: / It ſhevvs you vvhence he comes, vvhither he goes, / VVhat he leaves undone, alſo vvhat he does: / It alſo ſhovvs you hovv he runs, and runs, / Till he unto the Gate of Glory comes.

1678, John Bunyan, “The Author’s Apology for His Book”, in The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC:

It vvas about the Beginning of September 1664, that I, among the Reſt of my Neighbours, heard in ordinary Diſcourſe, that the Plague vvas return'd again in Holland; for it had been very violent there, and particularly at Amſterdam and Rotterdam, in the Year 1663. vvhether they ſay, it vvas brought, ſome ſaid from Italy, others from the Levant […]

1722 March, H[enry] F[oe] [pseudonym; Daniel Defoe], A Journal of the Plague Year: […], London: […] E[lizabeth] Nutt […]; J. Roberts […]; A. Dodd […]; and J. Graves […], →OCLC, page 1:

I come / Thence whither thou must go! The grave is fitter / To take the living than give up the dead; / Yet has thy faith prevail'd, and I am here.

1821 (date written), Percy B[ysshe] Shelley, Hellas: A Lyrical Drama, London: Charles and James Ollier […], published 1822, →OCLC, page 43:

Dined at Melville Castle, whither I went through a snow-storm.

1826 November 28 (date written), Walter Scott, “[Entry dated 28 November 1826]”, in David Douglas, editor, The Journal of Sir Walter Scott […], volume I, Edinburgh: David Douglas, published 1890, →OCLC, page 24:

[W]hat greatly encouraged me, it was in an opposite direction from that whence the blind man had made his appearance and whither he had presumably returned.

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Sea-chest”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part I (The Old Buccaneer), page 29:

Close the door of that room behind you, shut off with it all the cares of the outer world, plunge back into the soothing company of the great dead, and then you are through the magic portal into that fair land whither worry and vexation can follow you no more.

1907, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter I, in Through the Magic Door, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, page 1:

The wagon jolted on, carrying me I knew not whither.

1918 September, Willa Sibert Cather, chapter I, in My Ántonia, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company […], →OCLC, book I (The Shimerdas), page 8:

To which place; also (after a noun denoting a place) to which.

jonne

to which place; (after a noun denoting a place) to which

And with the same grave countenance he hurried through his breakfast and drove to the police station, whither the body had been carried.

1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Carew Murder Case”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 38:

Relative senses.
To the place in or to which.

Ah foole, goe vvith thy ſoule vvhither it goes, / A borrovved title haſt thou bought too deare.

c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], signature K1, recto:

VVhether as He mounted up, the Nevvs He tells / To every Orb and Star; but chiefly to / Th' inquiſitive Spirits, vvhoſe ears and hearts he fils / VVith all the VVonders He had ſeen belovv, […]

1648, Joseph Beaumont, “Canto VII. The Great Little One. Stanza 108.”, in Psyche: Or Loves Mysterie, […], London: […] John Dawson for George Boddington, […], →OCLC, page 104, column 1:

[H]is VVorſhip […] gave them proper Letters of Health, and from thence they vvere at Liberty to travel vvhither they pleaſed.

1722 March, H[enry] F[oe] [pseudonym; Daniel Defoe], A Journal of the Plague Year: […], London: […] E[lizabeth] Nutt […]; J. Roberts […]; A. Dodd […]; and J. Graves […], →OCLC, page 170:

Three days after, just a spark / From Paris, answered by a snap at Caen / Or whither reached the telegraphic wire: / "Quickly to Paris! On arrival, learn / Why you are wanted!" Curt and critical!

1873 January 23, Robert Browning, “Part III”, in Red Cotton Night-Cap Country: Or Turf and Towers, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 157:

(generally) In or to any place to which; to whatever place; wherever.

In or to any place to which; to whatever place; wherever.


bolt

From Middle English bolt, from Old English bolt, from Proto-West Germanic *bolt, from Proto-Germanic *bultaz, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeld- (“to knock, strike”). Compare Lithuanian beldu (“I knock”), baldas (“pole for striking”). Akin to Dutch and West Frisian bout, German Bolz or Bolzen, Danish bolt, Swedish bult, Icelandic bolti.

der

The soldiers stood bolt upright for inspection.

[He] came bolt up against the heavy dragoon.

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:


weird

From Middle English werde, wierde, wirde, wyrede, wurde, from Old English wyrd (“fate”), from Proto-West Germanic *wurdi, from Proto-Germanic *wurdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with Icelandic urður (“fate”). Related to Old English weorþan (“to become”). Doublet of wyrd. More at worth.
Obsolete by the 16th century in English, but reintroduced from Middle Scots weird, whence Shakespeare borrowed it in naming the Weird Sisters (originally Weyward Sisters, the Three Witches), reintroducing it to English. The senses “abnormal”, “strange” etc. arose via reinterpretation of Weird Sisters and date from after this reintroduction.

I waltzed into that club just as straight as a goose and I kept tripping over things and people were looking at me weird.

1972, Edwin Shrake, Strange Peaches: A Novel:

Man, you're talking weird!

1974, Vernard Eller, The Most Revealing Book of the Bible: Making Sense Out of Revelation:


jest

(African-American Vernacular, Southern US) Alternative spelling of just


halal

Just like eating halal is not a choice for our Muslim brothers and sisters, for us, eating kosher is not voluntary; it’s who we are and as necessary as the oxygen we need for sustenance.

2020 August 20, Eliezer Brand, “ICE is forcing Muslims to eat pork. My fellow Orthodox Jews: This is our fight!”, in The Forward:

In a halal manner; in accordance with Muslim religious customs.


quick

en-adv

quick (comparative quicker, superlative quickest)

quicker (comparative)
quickest (superlative)

From Middle English quik, quic, from Old English cwic (“alive”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwiku, from Proto-Germanic *kwikwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós (“alive”), from *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”), *gʷeyh₃w- (“to live”).
Cognate with Dutch kwik, kwiek, German keck, Danish kvik (“quick, quick-witted”) and Danish kæk (“bold; spirited”), Swedish kvick; and (from Indo-European) with Ancient Greek βίος (bíos, “life”), Latin vivus, Lithuanian gývas (“alive”), Latvian dzīvs (“alive”), Russian живо́й (živój), Polish żywy (“alive”), Welsh byw (“alive”), Irish beo (“alive”), biathaigh (“feed”), Northern Kurdish jîn (“to live”), jiyan (“life”), giyan (“soul”), can (“soul”), Sanskrit जीव (jīva, “living”), Albanian nxit (“to urge, stimulate”). Doublet of jiva.

Get rich quick.

Come here, quick!

If we consider how very quick the actions of the mind are performed.

1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:

Quick, how do you spell 'Krabs'?

2006, SpongeBob SquarePants, Whale of a Birthday:


pure

From Middle English pure, pur, from Old French pur, from Latin pūrus (“clean, free from dirt or filth, unmixed, plain”), from Proto-Indo-European *pewH- (“to cleanse, purify”). Displaced native Middle English lutter (“pure, clear, sincere”) (from Old English hlūtor, hluttor), Middle English skere (“pure, sheer, clear”) (from Old English scǣre and Old Norse skǣr), Middle English schir (“clear, pure”) (from Old English scīr), Middle English smete, smeate (“pure, refined”) (from Old English smǣte; compare Old English mǣre (“pure”)).

noncog

You’re pure busy.

I just get pure shy with the interview cats.

(Liverpool, Scotland) to a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly.


wholesale

en-adv

wholesale (comparative more wholesale, superlative most wholesale)

more wholesale (comparative)
most wholesale (superlative)


rash

rash (comparative more rash, superlative most rash)

more rash (comparative)
most rash (superlative)

The adjective is derived from Middle English rash, rasch (“hasty, headstrong, rash”) [and other forms], probably from Old English *ræsċ (“rash”) (found in derivatives such as ræsċan (“to move rapidly; to flicker; to flash; to glitter; to quiver”), ræsċettan (“to crackle, sparkle”), etc.), from Proto-West Germanic *rask, *raskī, *rasku, from Proto-Germanic *raskaz, *raskuz, *raþskaz, *raþskuz (“rash; rapid”), from Proto-Indo-European *Hreth₂- (“to run, roll”). The Middle English word was probably influenced by the cognates listed below.
The adverb is derived from Middle English rashe (“quickly, rapidly”), from rash, rasch (adjective) (see above).
cognates
* Dutch ras, rasch (“rash”)
* Middle Low German rasch (“rash”)
* Old Danish rask (“agile, nimble; fast; healthy, vigorous”) (modern Danish rask (“agile, nimble; fast; healthy, vigorous; hasty, rash”))
* Old High German reski (“impetuous, rash”) (Middle High German rasch, resch (“agile, nimble; fast; lively; healthy, vigorous”), modern German rasch, räsch, resch (“agile, nimble; fast; hasty, rash; healthy, vigorous; of food: crisp, crusty”))
* Old Norse rǫskr (“brave; healthy, vigorous”) (Icelandic röskur (“strong; healthy, vigorous”))
* Old Swedish rasker (“agile, nimble; brave; fast; vigorous”) (modern Swedish rask (“agile, nimble; fast; healthy, vigorous”))

cog

Soft Gooddie Sheepe (then ſaid the Foxe) not ſoe: / Vnto the King ſo raſh ye may not goe, / He is vvith greater matter buſied, / Than a Lambe, or the Lambes ovvne mothers hed.

1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale.”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC:

VVhy do you ſpeake ſo ſtartingly and raſh?

c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 327, column 2:

But the right thing 'ud be for Tulliver to go and make it up with her himself, and say he was sorry for speaking so rash.

1860, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “To Garum Firs”, in The Mill on the Floss […], volume I, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book I (Boy and Girl), pages 178–179:

(archaic) Synonym of rashly (“in a rash manner; hastily or without due consideration”)


lever

From Middle English lever, comparative of leve, leef (“dear, beloved, lief”), equivalent to lief + -er. Related to German lieber (“rather”).

Now therfore take my life from me / for I had leuer dye then liue.

[1531, William Tyndale, transl.], The prophete Ionas […], [Antwerp: Merten de Keyser], chapter iiij:[3]:

The wolde ſome mayſter perhappes clowt ye / But as for me ye nede nat doute ye / For I had leuer be without ye / Then haue ſuche beſyneſſe aboute ye.

[1545?], John Heywood, The Playe Called The Foure PP […], London: […] Wyllyam Myddylton, →OCLC; reprinted as John S. Farmer, editor, The Play Called The Four PP […] (The Tudor Facsimile Texts), London; Edinburgh: […] T. C. & E. C. Jack, […], 1908, →OCLC, signature [E.ii.], verso:

For although they were worthy of any puniſhment: yit had I leuer they might haue flooriſhed in welfare and ſafetie: […]

1571, John Calvin, “Iohn Calvin to the Godly Readers Sendeth Greeting”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The Psalmes of Dauid and Others. With M. Iohn Caluin’s Commentaries, London: […] Thomas East and Henry Middelton; for Lucas Harison, and G[e]orge Byshop, →OCLC, 1st part:

For leuer had I die, then ſee his deadly face.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 128:


last night

We partied last night.

during the previous day’s nighttime; during the night before today (This entry is a translation hub.)

vannacht

used to both last night and coming night

heute Nacht

after midnight; can also mean the coming night, depending on tense


not even

Not even I knew that.

You didn't even look at me.

Introduces or constitutes a more emphatic negation or exclusion than "not".


tomorrow night

During the night of the day after the present day.


yearly

From Middle English yeerly, yerely, from Old English ġēarlīċ, ġērlīċ (“yearly, of the year, annual”), equivalent to year + -ly. Cognate with Scots yerelie (“yearly”), Saterland Frisian jierelk (“yearly”), West Frisian jierliks (“yearly”), Dutch jaarlijks (“yearly”), Afrikaans jaarlijks (“yearly”), German jährlich (“yearly”), Danish årlig (“yearly”), Norwegian Bokmål årlig (“yearly”), Norwegian Nynorsk årleg (“yearly”), Swedish årlig (“yearly”), Icelandic árlegur (“yearly”).


loud

en-adv

loud (comparative louder, superlative loudest)

louder (comparative)
loudest (superlative)

From Middle English loude, from Old English hlūde (“loudly”), from Proto-Germanic *hlūda, *hlūdô (“loudly”), related to Etymology 1.

Who knocks so loud at door?

c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:

Unluckily that worthy Officer having, in a literal Sense, taken his Fill of Liquor, had been some Time retired to his Bolster, where he was snoaring so loud, that it was not easy to convey a Noise in at his Ears capable of drowning that which issued from his Nostrils.

1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 14, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book 7, pages 71-72:


nice

nice (comparative nicer, superlative nicest)

nicer (comparative)
nicest (superlative)

From Middle English nyce, nice, nys, from Old French nice, niche, nisce (“simple, foolish, ignorant”), from Latin nescius (“ignorant, not knowing”); compare nesciō (“to know not, be ignorant of”), from ne (“not”) + sciō (“to know”).

Children, play nice.

He dresses real nice.

This riesling's going down nice.

2002, Gina Riley, Jane Turner, That's Unusual: Scripts from Kath and Kim, Series 2, page 245:


bang

bang (comparative more bang, superlative most bang)

more bang (comparative)
most bang (superlative)

From Middle English *bangen, from Old English *bangian or borrowed from Old Norse banga (“to pound, hammer”); both from Proto-Germanic *bangōną (“to beat, pound”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰen- (“to beat, hit, injure”). Cognate with Scots bang, bung (“to strike, bang, hurl, thrash, offend”), Icelandic banga (“to pound, hammer”), Old Swedish bånga ("to hammer"; whence modern Swedish banka (“to knock, pound, bang”)), Danish banke (“to beat”), bengel (“club”), Low German bangen, bangeln (“to strike, beat”), West Frisian bingel, bongel, Dutch bengel (“bell; rascal”), German Bengel (“club”), bungen (“to throb, pulsate”).
In the sense of a fringe of hair, from bang off.
In the sense of abrupt left turn, from Boston left and associated risk of a crash.

gl

"to hammer"; whence modern Swedish <i class="Latn mention" lang="sv">banka</i> (“to knock, pound, bang”)

Audio (US)

The passenger door was bang against the garage wall.

After yet another missed penalty by Kvirikashvili from bang in front of the posts, England scored again, centre Tuilagi flying into the line and touching down under the bar.

2011 September 18, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia”, in BBC Sport:

He arrived bang on time.

Distracted, he ran bang into the opening door.


pat

en-adv

pat (comparative more pat, superlative most pat)

more pat (comparative)
most pat (superlative)

From Middle English *patten, alteration (with loss of medial l) of platten, pletten (“to pat”), from Old English plættan (“to buffet, strike, slap, smack, give a sounding blow”), from Proto-Germanic *plat- (“to strike, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *blod-, *bled- (“to strike, beat”). Cognate with Middle Dutch platten, pletten (“to strike, bruise, crush, rub”), German platzen (“to split, burst, break up”), Bavarian patzen (“to pat”), Swedish plätta, pjätta (“to pat, tap”). For loss of l, compare patch for platch; pate for plate, etc. See plat.

cog

Now might I do it pat

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:

Opportunely, in a timely or suitable way.

He has the routine down pat.

Wauwa Pease says of the strategic position of the Pirates in the dining room: “They have taken the table near the upper doorway so they can make a speedy exit in case their lair is raided.” Of course, the Wauwas stand pat in the middle of the dining room, having nothing to fear.

1922 September 22, “At the Wauwatosa Table”, in City Club News, volume viii, number 2, Milwaukee, page 7:

Candidates in gubernatorial campaigns must stand pat in the middle, trying to push their rivals off the center line, charging the opponent with either left or right extremism.

In Ogoni[land], Shell locations lie pat in the middle of villages, in front and back gardens – and that should lay a particular responsibility on Shell to be absolutely cautious in its operations.

1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa, A Month and a Day, page 112:


way

I used to live way over there.

The farmhouse is way down the bottom of the hill.

He kicked the ball way up.

A number of Dundee businessmen commuted across the bridge from their homes in Wormit, and some became concerned at the speeds that trains were crossing the bridge. Ex-Dundee Provost William Robertson timed one train at 43mph, way in excess of the 25mph speed limit.

2020 September 23, Paul Bigland, “The tragic tale of the Tay Bridge disaster”, in Rail, page 81:

The initial exposure of aluminum, regardless of alloy, will form a thin oxide film on the surface the second it is exposed. This film continues to grow and, after a few days of exposure, the growth slows way down.

2020, L. William Zahner, “Corrosion Characteristics”, in Aluminum Surfaces: a Guide to Alloys, Finishes, Fabrication and Maintenance in Architecture and Art, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 287:

I'm a way better singer than Emma.

I'm way too tired to do that.

It turns out that's way more gain than you need for a keyboard, but you don't have to use all of it to benefit from the sonic characteristics.

2006, Keyboard, volume 32, numbers 1-6, page 132:

Porcine dermal collagen is similar to human dermal collagen biochemically. In mouse skin, the dermis is once again way thinner than in humans.

2023 April 18 (last accessed), “Top differences between human and animal skin”, in Genoskin:

(informal, with comparative or with too + adjective) Much, far, by a great degree.

I'm way tired.

String theory is way cool, except for the math.

With all the way cool boys out there, what if you don't recognize them because you don't know what to look for? Or, what if you have a chance to pick a perfect Prince and you end up with a yucky Frog instead?

2005, Erika V. Shearin Karres, Crushes, Flirts, & Friends: A Real Girl's Guide to Boy Smarts, page 16:


slowly

en-adv

slowly (comparative slowlier or more slowly, superlative slowliest or most slowly)

slowlier (comparative)
more slowly (comparative)
slowliest (superlative)
most slowly (superlative)

From Middle English slowly, slowli, slouli, slowliche, from Old English slāwlīċe (“slowly; sluggishly”), equivalent to slow + -ly. Compare Old Norse slæliga, sljóliga.

inh

Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.

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


economy

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

der

Numerous web sites have tips on how to fly economy.

(US) In or via the part of a commercial passenger airplane reserved for those paying the lower standard fares.


whereas

From where + as (“that”); first attested in the meaning of "where" First attested in the 14ᵗʰ century. Compare thereas.

And home she came, whereas her mother blynd / Sate in eternall night […]

1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.iii:


maestoso

en-adv

maestoso (comparative more maestoso, superlative most maestoso)

more maestoso (comparative)
most maestoso (superlative)


aloft

aloft (comparative more aloft, superlative most aloft)

more aloft (comparative)
most aloft (superlative)

From Old Norse á lopti (“in the sky”); equivalent to a- + loft.

high winds aloft

Someone's turned the chest out alow and aloft.

1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:

He noticed that he still held the knife aloft and brought his arm down, replacing the blade in the sheath.

1954, William Golding, Lord of the Flies:

Lewis Cook held the trophy aloft after becoming the first England captain to lead his country to victory in a major global final since Sir Bobby Moore. A white sea of confetti slowly filled the pitch, with each England player taking hold of the trophy on the stage swiftly erected in Suwon to kick-start the celebrations.

2017 June 11, Ben Fisher, “England seal Under-20 World Cup glory as Dominic Calvert-Lewin strikes”, in the Guardian:

I think you said something concerning the manner in which yonder ship has anchored, and of the condition they keep things alow and aloft?

1859, James Fenimore Cooper, The Red Rover: A Tale:

(nautical) In the top, at the masthead, or on the higher yards or rigging.

ylhäällä mastossa

in the top, at the masthead, or on the higher yards or rigging


side

side (comparative more side, superlative most side)

more side (comparative)
most side (superlative)

From Middle English side, syde, syd, from Old English sīd (“wide, broad, spacious, ample, extensive, vast, far-reaching”), from Proto-West Germanic *sīd, from Proto-Germanic *sīdaz (“drooping, hanging, low, excessive, extra”), from Proto-Indo-European *sēy- (“to send, throw, drop, sow, deposit”). Cognate with obsolete Dutch zijd (“wide, vast”), Low German sied (“low”), Swedish sid (“long, hanging down”), Icelandic síður (“low hanging, long”).


pizzicato

Borrowed from Italian pizzicato, past participle of pizzicare (“to pluck”).

(music) To be played by plucking the strings instead of using the bow.


ad infinitum

Unadapted borrowing from Latin ad infinitum (“to infinity”).

ubor

The idea of eternal return is a mysterious one, and Nietzsche has often perplexed other philosophers with it: to think that everything recurs as we once experienced it, and that the recurrence itself recurs ad infinitum!

1984, Milan Kundera, part I (Lightness and Weight), chapter I, in Michael Henry Heim, transl., The Unbearable Lightness of Being, London: Faber and Faber, translation of Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí, published 1985, →ISBN, page 3:


away

From Middle English away, awey, awei, oway, o wey, on way, from Old English āweġ, onweġ (“away”), originally on weġ (“on one's way; onward; on”), equivalent to a- (“on”) + way.
Cognate with Scots awa, away (“away”), Old Frisian aweg, awei (“away”), Saterland Frisian wäch, wääge (“away”), Dutch weg (“away”), German weg (“away”), Danish væk (“away”), Swedish i väg (“away; off; along”).

He went away on vacation.

The departure was not unduly prolonged.[…]Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments[…]; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity.

1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

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

2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:

I tried to approach him, but he turned away.

throw away, chuck away, toss away

Christmas is only two weeks away.

While De Anza was exploring the Bay of San Francisco, seeking a site for the presidio, the American colonists on the eastern seaboard, three thousand miles away, were celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

1948, Carey McWilliams, North from Mexico / The Spanish-Speaking People of The United States, J. B. Lippincott Company, page 25:

From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.

2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:

I'll dry the dishes and you put them away.

Please file away these documents.

In or to something's usual or proper storage place.

The jewels were locked away in the safe.

He was shut away in the castle tower for six months.

In or to a secure or out-of-the-way place.

fade away, die away

From a state or condition of being; out of existence.

pois

from a state or condition of being; out of existence

The weather has worn away the inscription, and it is no longer legible.

Please wipe away this spilled drink.

That's where tourists go to hear great Cuban bands and dance the night away.

Away! Be gone! And don't let me see you round here again!

1933+, Fran Striker, The Lone Ranger, WXYZ-AM
Hi-yo Silver, away!

(as imperative, by ellipsis) Come away; go away; take away.

pois

equivalent to an imperative: Go or come away; begone; take away

She's been in her room all day, working away at her computer.

On; in continuance; without intermission or delay.

on; in continuance; without intermission or delay; as, sing away

You've got questions? Ask away!

I saw her whaling away at her detractors.


strong

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


wat

Variation of what, used for humorous effect.

(informal, Internet, text messaging) Alternative spelling of what


achromatically

en-adv

achromatically (comparative more achromatically, superlative most achromatically)

more achromatically (comparative)
most achromatically (superlative)


half

New York City, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore

From Middle English half, halfe from Old English healf (“half”); as a noun, 'half', 'side', 'part', from Proto-West Germanic *halb, from Proto-Germanic *halbaz.
Cognates:
Akin to Old Saxon, Old Frisian, and Dutch half, West Frisian heal, German halb, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian halv, Icelandic hálfur and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌱𐍃 (halbs). Compare halve, behalf.

In two equal parts or to an equal degree.

yarı

in two equal parts or to an equal degree

half-colored

half done

half persuaded

half conscious

He does sometimes half wish to change his life, but it is too difficult.

Half loth and half consenting.

1690, [John] Dryden, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal: […], London: […] Jo. Hindmarsh, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):

Their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Nehemiah 13:24:

I sometimes hold it half a sin
To put in words the grief I feel;
For words, like Nature, half reveal
And half conceal the Soul within.

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

To be a King, is halfe to bee a God.

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


yore

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

From Middle English yore, yoare, yare, ȝore, ȝare, ȝeare, from Old English ġeāra (literally “of years”), of unclear origin but probably from Proto-Germanic *jērǫ̂, the genitive plural of Proto-Germanic *jērą (“year”). More at year.

unk

unclear

Which though he hath polluted oft and yore, / Yet I to them for iudgement iust do fly

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 26:


well

en-adv

well (comparative better, superlative best)

From Middle English wel, wal, wol, wele, from Old English wel (“well, abundantly, very, very easily, very much, fully, quite, nearly”), from Proto-Germanic *wela, *wala (“well”, literally “as wished, as desired”), from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“wish, desire”).
Cognate with Scots wele, weil (“well”), North Frisian wel, weil, wal (“well”), West Frisian wol (“well”), Dutch wel (“well”), Low German wol (“well”), German wol, wohl (“well”), Norwegian and Danish vel (“well”), Swedish väl (“well”), Icelandic vel, val (“well”). Related to will.

der

He does his job well.

In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.

1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, “The Tutor's Daughter”, in Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion, page 266:

A chap named Eleazir Kendrick and I had chummed in together the summer afore and built a fish-weir and shanty at Setuckit Point, down Orham way. For a spell we done pretty well. Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand.

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

Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.

2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

This day is not going well.
Audio (US): (file)

2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

(manner) Accurately, competently, satisfactorily.

a well done steak

We’re well beat now.

Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers,[…]. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.

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

That author is well known.

A monument well worth seeing

Indeed, some readers may feel that I am beating a horse now already well dead. But in fact, that dead horse is still being driven daily through the pages of introductory textbooks.

1995 Feb, Luke Timothy Johnson, “The New Testament and the examined life: Thoughts on teaching”, in The Christian Century, volume 112, number 4, page 108:

Energy markets demonstrated in the 1970s and 1980s that they were well capable of adapting to a perceived scarcity.

2000, Colin Robinson, “Energy Economists and Economic Liberalism”, in Energy Journal, volume 21, number 2, page 1:

neither of us was paying attention to any damn imaginary scoring judges -- we were both well content, if a little fatigued.

2006, Spider Robinson, Callahan's legacy:

That guy rocks! I think he's called Matthew Lillard or sommat but he is well cool in Scream.

1999, Drummond Pearson, “What Ash are doing right now...”, in alt.music.ash (Usenet):

Hey Dude / FIFA 2003 is well wicked, I've got FIFA 2002 on PS2, David Beckham on Xbox and Football Manager on Xbox too, out of all pf^([sic]) them FIFA 2003 is easliy^([sic]) the best.

2002, jibaili, “FIFA 2003 How is it?”, in microsoft.public.xbox (Usenet):

Hey, you should've seen it, it was well good.

(degree, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) Very (as a general-purpose intensifier).

I'm glad Joe got fired last week. I think we're well rid of him.

Whatever now the omen prove, It boded well to you.

1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC, (please specify the page number):

Know / In measure what the mind may well contain.

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

October 10, 1714, Alexander Pope, letter to Joseph Addison
All the world speaks well of you.

My Son Johnny, named ſo after his Uncle, was at the Grammar School, and a towardly Child. My daughter Betty (who is now well married, and has Children) was then at her Needle-Work.

1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author, by a Lucky Accident, Finds Means to Leave Blefuscu; and, after Some Difficulties, Returns Safe to his Native Country.”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), page 147:

In a desirable manner; so as one could wish; satisfactorily; favourably; advantageously.


forte

The musicians played the passage forte.


real

UK

US

From Middle English real, from Old French reel, from Late Latin reālis (“actual”), from Latin rēs (“matter, thing”), from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁ís (“wealth, goods”). Doublet of realis.

When I told him the truth, he got real mad.


once upon a time

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-once upon a time.wav

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived a beautiful princess.

There was once upon a time a charcoal-burner who had a son, and he was also a charcoal-burner.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 308:

Long before popular music evolved its many genres and subgenres, the industry was driven by a simple one-size-fits-all philosophy […] Songwriters, once upon a time, wrote songs for the masses.

2012, Christoper Zara, chapter 2, in Tortured Artists: From Picasso and Monroe to Warhol and Winehouse, the Twisted Secrets of the World's Most Creative Minds, page {{{pg}}}:

Once upon a time, there was a Goblin Queen
And she lived in a grand palace...

2023, A. C. MacDonald, Twistwood Tales (comic), Andrews McMeel, →ISBN, page 138:

A long time ago; at some time in the past (a traditional beginning of children's stories, especially fairy tales).

agwa

traditional beginning of children’s stories, especially fairy tales

iq̇o da ara iq̇o ra, ɣvtis uḳetesi ra ikneboda

იყო და არა იყო რა, ღვთის უკეთესი რა იქნებოდა


triannually

(proscribed) Occurring every three years; triennially.


biannually

Taking place twice per year, semiannually.

Taking place every two years, biennially.


retail

[ˈɹ̠ʷiˌtʰeɪ̯ɫ]

We've shut shown our reseller unit. We're only selling retail now.

Direct to consumers, in retail quantities, or at retail prices.


course

"Course it's mighty hard to tell till we've put out a few traps," said the former, "but it looks to me like we've struck it lucky."

1922, A. M. Chisholm, A Thousand a Plate:

Course, my home wasn't exactly in Harlem […]

1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Tell a Green Man Something”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 3 (1928–1935: The Big Apple), page 209:


manifold

en-adv

manifold (comparative more manifold, superlative most manifold)

more manifold (comparative)
most manifold (superlative)

From Middle English manifold, from Old English maniġfeald (“manifold, various, varied, complicated, numerous, abundant, plural”), from Proto-Germanic *managafalþaz, equivalent to many + -fold. Cognate with Middle High German manecvalt (“manifold”), Icelandic margfaldr (“multiple”). Compare also German mannigfaltig (“various”), Dutch menigvoudig (“various”), Danish mangefold (“multiple”), Swedish mångfald (“diversity”).

cog

when his daughter deare he does behold, / Her dearely doth imbrace, and kisseth manifold.

1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, book 1, canto 12:


ginger

en-adv

ginger (comparative more ginger, superlative most ginger)

more ginger (comparative)
most ginger (superlative)

/ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚ/

In a very careful or cautious manner; also, delicately, sensitively.


bimonthly

The organization's board of directors meets bimonthly.

They checked on his progress bimonthly.


wicked

From Middle English wicked, wikked, an alteration of Middle English wicke, wikke (“morally perverse, evil, wicked”). Of uncertain origin. Possibly from an adjectival use of Old English wiċċa (“wizard, sorcerer”), from Proto-West Germanic *wikkō, from Proto-Germanic *wikkô (“necromancer, sorcerer”), though the phonology makes this theory difficult to explain. Alternatively, perhaps related to English wicker, Old Norse víkja (“to bend to, yield, turn, move”), Swedish vika (“to bend, fold, give way to”), English weak.

cog

The band we went to see the other night was wicked loud!

(slang, New England, British) Very, extremely.


happen

From Middle English happenen, hapnen, augmented from Middle English happen (“to come to pass, happen”), perhaps from Old English hæppan (“to move accidentally, slip”) and/or from Old Norse *happa, *heppa, from Proto-Germanic *hampijaną (“to fit in, be fitting”). Equivalent to hap (“a chance, occurrence, byfall”) + -en (verbal suffix).

af

Yeah, well happen if he'd gone quietly, she wouldn't have needed to show him who's in charge.

2016, Sally Wainwright, Happy Valley, spoken by Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire), Manchester: Red Production Company; distributed by BBC Studios, published 2016:


proper

From Middle English propre, from Anglo-Norman proper, propre, Old French propre (French: propre), from Latin proprius.

'I thought it was the American Associated Press.' 'Oh, they are on the track, are they?' 'They to-day, and the Times yesterday. Oh, they are buzzing round proper.'

1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed:

“Christmas Eve,” said Nabby Adams. “I used to pump the bloody organ for the carols, proper pissed usually.”

1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 202:

The kid towelled him up proper.

1957, Ray Lawler, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Sydney: Fontana Books, published 1974, page 32:

Don't you think you must have looked proper daft?

1964, Saint Andrew Society (Glasgow, Scotland), The Scots magazine: Volume 82

(UK, Ireland, colloquial) properly; thoroughly; completely.

"But it's not many of us as can make 'em proper."

1988, Mary Steele, Mallyroot's Pub at Misery Ponds, Ringwood: Puffin Books, page 68:

When I meet a bad chick, know I gotta tell her hello
talk real proper, but she straight up out the ghetto


biweekly

From bi- + week + -ly. The sense referring to twice a week can be analyzed as bi- + weekly.


least

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

inh

It was the least surprising thing.

Used for forming superlatives of adjectives, especially those that do not form the superlative by adding -est.

to reward those who least deserve it

my best routine was the one I had practised the least.

I don't much like housework, and I like cooking least.

In the smallest or lowest degree; in a degree below all others.


type

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

der

I don't think Brooklyn slang is that different from Manhattan slang. But I'm not used to a lot of the slang my friends use. Months ago, I first heard, "There are mad heads here." I was like, "Where did that come from?" For a while they were saying, "That's type funny." I was like: "What? What do you mean by that?" It means "very funny." Or they were like, "That's dumb stupid." I'm like, "That's redundant."

2007 September 16, Alex Mindlin, quoting David Helene, “’Our Year Is the Most Competitive Year in the History of College Applications. Or Something Like That.’”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-02-19:

Yeah, the fat bitch is type-slow.

2012, Jason Hooper, Some Things Are Better Left Untold, West Conshohocken, P.A.: Infinity Publishing, →ISBN, page 20:

Standing before me was a grown ass woman. She was type thick, with nice size succulent breasts, and a nice plumped ass. Cadence was stacked.

2017, Treasure Malian, In Love With the King of Miami, Atlanta, G.A.: Royalty Publishing House, →ISBN, page 17:

I'm ngl you're type ugly too

2023 December 19, @chillimnotacop, Twitter, archived from the original on 2023-12-20:

(African-American Vernacular, slang, rare) Very, extremely.


net

From Middle English net, nette, from Old French net, from Latin nitidus. Doublet of neat and nitid.

You'll have $5000 net.


whereby

Whereby goest thou?

(interrogative, obsolete) By what, in which direction; how.

Shylock:
Nay, take my life and all; pardon not that:
You take my house when you do take the prop
That doth sustain my house; you take my life
When you do take the means whereby I live.

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

M. Sawrey […] devised a mechanical method whereby theatrical scenes could be changed in a simple way.

1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 179:

Other heads saw devolution as a whole new way of life and adopted an approach whereby the power of devolution was used to enable the school to drive the curriculum.

1990, Local management of schools, Kogan Page Ltd:


bi-weekly

Meet weekly or bi-weekly to discuss duties and responsibilities and to encourage other girls in the squads to greater participation and better results.

1944 January 5, Marion E. Purbeck, “Pupil Leadership in the High School”, in The Journal of Health and Physical Education, volume 15, number 1, page 11:

With a Site Coordinator at each agency responsible for day-to-day operations and service assistance, the support groups meet bi-weekly in addition to individual counseling sessions and other types of group activities.

1996, M. Joanna Mellor, Special Aging Populations and Systems Linkages, page 15:

To maintain whiteness apply the strips bi-weekly or once a month.

2015, Louisa Graves, Age-Proof: Beauty Alternatives You Need to Know:


fah

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(New England) Pronunciation spelling of far.


nothing

From Middle English nothyng, noon thing, non thing, na þing, nan thing, nan þing, from Old English nāþing, nān þing (“nothing”, literally “not any thing”), equivalent to no + thing. Compare Old English nāwiht (“nothing”, literally “no thing”), Swedish ingenting (“nothing”, literally “not any thing, no thing”).

cog

The answer was an impatient one—but, nothing daunted, he continued.

1855, The Ladies' Repository, volume 15, page 544:

The Motion from London to Syria is as much as nothing; and nothing altereth the relation which is between them.

1662, Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems:


wen

(eye dialect) Alternative spelling of when


in flagrante delicto

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-in flagrante delicto.wav

Unadapted borrowing from Medieval Latin in flagrante delicto (literally “while the crime is blazing”), from in + flāgrō (“burn”) + dēlictō, form of dēlictum (“crime, misdeed”).

ubor

He would be caught in flagrante delicto, and, with a heavy sentence hovering over him, he would probably be induced to name his accomplice.

1908, Baroness Orczy, chapter V, in The Old Man in the Corner:

We've already established that you were one of Miss Scarlet's clients. That's why you were so desperate to get your hands on those negatives. Photographs of you and Yvette in flagrante delicto, remember?

1985, Jonathan Lynn, Clue, spoken by Colonel Mustard (Martin Mull):

I would add to that the fact that, if we are happy to be caught in flagrante delicto in a picturesque setting, there would be something almost humiliating about being caught somewhere as ugly as that.

2002, Adriana Hunter, transl., The Sexual Life of Catherine M., translation of La Vie Sexuelle de Catherine M. by Catherine Millet, page 146:

When his housemates, two men and a woman, found them in flagrante delicto, one reported, “She said she didn’t want us to think of her as ‘that girl.’ ”

2015 February 8, Naomi Schaefer Riley, “Columbia mattress rape case is not justice — it’s shaming without proof”, in New York Post:

As a student of the fossil record, I can assure you that it’s not often that creatures are transformed, in flagrante delicto, into memento mori.

2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 65:


scilicet

As in ejectment, where the declaration is of a demise the second of January, and that the defendant afterwards, scilicet, the first of January ejected him, here the scilicet may be rejected, as being contrary to what went before.

1792, Dr. Burn's Law Dictionary, volume 2:

(law) Done in the appropriate place within a jurisdiction for the documented act.

(in quotations/citations) Used parenthetically to supply information which is not given in the portion of text being quoted, but is clearly given by its context, such as for quoted pronouns with unquoted antecedents.


main

en-adv

main (comparative more main, superlative most main)

more main (comparative)
most main (superlative)

From Middle English mayn, main, maine, mæin, meyn, from main (noun) (see further at etymology 2); compare Old English mægen- (“strong, main, principal”) (used in combination) and Old Norse megn, megenn (“strong, main”).
The word is cognate with Old High German megīn (“strong, mighty”) (modern German Möge, Vermögen (“power, wealth”)), and also akin to Old English magan (“to be able to”). See also may.

cog

Suck[y]. A Draught of Ale, Friend, for I'm main dry. / Pen[elope]. Fie! fie! Niece! Is that Liquor for a young Lady? Don't disparage your Family and Breeding!

1754, Samuel Foote, “The Knights”, in The Knights. A Comedy, in Two Acts. […], Dublin: Printed by Richard James, […], →OCLC, act II, page 35:

Why, it's main jolly to be sure, and all that so fair.

1778, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, “The Camp: A Musical Entertainment”, in The Dramatic Works of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. With a Memoir of the Author (Dove’s English Classics), London: Printed and published by J. F. Dove, […], published c. 1813–1828, →OCLC, act I, scene ii, page 309:

It was main hot, and the windy was open, and I hear that old song comin’ out as clear as clear […]

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

(British, dialectal) Exceedingly, extremely, greatly, mightily, very, very much.


less

Adverb From Middle English les, lesse, leasse, lasse, from Old English lǣs (“smaller, less”), from Proto-Germanic *laisiz, from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to shrink, grow thin, be gentle”). Cognate with Old Frisian lēs (“less”), Old Saxon lēs (“less”). According to Kroonen (2013), from a northern Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *leh₂is- or *leh₃is-, which he connects to Lithuanian liesas (“lean”).
Determiner and preposition from Middle English lees, lesse, leasse, lasse, from Old English lǣssa (“less”), from Proto-Germanic *laisizan-, from Proto-Germanic *laisiz (“smaller, lesser, fewer, lower”) (see above). Cognate with Old Frisian lessa (“less”).
Verb from Middle English lessen, from the determiner.
Noun from Middle English lesse, from the determiner.

der

I slept even less last night than I did the night before.

I like him less each time I see him.

I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And thus we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing.

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

Randal is less welcome than Rachel but as her spouse we should invite them both.

This gadget is less useful than I expected.

I'm not any less happy for being on my own.

This section of space is much less empty than that between the stars, […]

1957, Lester Del Rey, Rockets Through Space: The Story of Man's Preparations to Explore the Universe:

That brief moment after the election four years ago, when many Americans thought Mr. Obama’s election would presage a new, less fractious political era, now seems very much a thing of the past.

2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times:

In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.

2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:

Used for constructing syntactic diminutive comparatives of adjectives and adverbs.

The grammar book was less than (that is, not at all) helpful.

That this is a positive one makes it no less a stereotype, and therefore unacceptable.


motherfucking

/ˈmʌðə(ɹ)ˌfʌkɪŋ/

From mother + fucking, after motherfucker.

He is one motherfucking mean dude.


raw

From Middle English rawe, raw, rau, from Old English hrēaw (“raw, uncooked”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrau, from Proto-Germanic *hrawaz, *hrēwaz (“raw”), from Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂- (“raw meat, fresh blood”).
Cognate with Scots raw (“raw”), Dutch rauw (“raw”), German roh (“raw”), Swedish rå (“raw”), Icelandic hrár (“raw”), Latin crūdus (“raw, bloody, uncooked”), Irish cró (“blood”), Lithuanian kraujas (“blood”), Russian кровь (krovʹ, “blood”). Related also to Old English hrēow, hrēoh (“rough, fierce, wild, angry, disturbed, troubled, sad, stormy, tempestuous”). More at ree.

We did it raw.


last year

fëret

year before this one — see also yesteryear


fair

en-adv

fair (comparative more fair or fairer, superlative most fair or fairest)

more fair (comparative)
fairer (comparative)
most fair (superlative)
fairest (superlative)

From Middle English fayr, feir, fager, from Old English fæġer (“beautiful”), from Proto-West Germanic *fagr, from Proto-Germanic *fagraz (“suitable, fitting, nice”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to fasten, place”).
Cognate with Scots fayr, fare (“fair”), Danish feir, faver, fager (“fair, pretty”), Norwegian fager (“fair, pretty”), Swedish fager (“fair, pretty”), Icelandic fagur (“beautiful, fair”), Umbrian pacer (“gracious, merciful, kind”), Slovak pekný (“good-looking, handsome, nice”). See also peace.

cog

Clearly, openly, frankly, civilly, honestly, favorably, auspiciously, agreeably.


pretty

From Middle English prety, preti, praty, prati, from Old English prættiġ (“tricky, crafty, sly, cunning, wily, astute”), from Proto-West Germanic *prattug, from Proto-Germanic *prattugaz (“boastful, sly, slick, deceitful, tricky, cunning”), corresponding to prat (“trick”) + -y. Doublet of pratty.
Cognate with Dutch prettig (“nice, pleasant”), Low German prettig (“funny”), Icelandic prettugur (“deceitful, tricky”). For the semantic development, compare canny, clever, cute.

cog

By the Sheets you have sent me to peruse, the Account you have given of her Birth and Parentage is pretty exact [...].

1723, Charles Walker, Memoirs of Sally Salisbury, section V:

Pauſanias's account is related pretty faithfully there, if we except two errors, one, that Arcas an Olympian mixed ſome Hippomanes with the brazen ſtatue, the other that he caſt a mare.

1741, [Pierre] Bayle, “A Dissertation Concerning the Hippomanes”, in John Peter Bernard, Thomas Birch, John Lockman, et al., transl., A General Dictionary, Historical and Critical: […], volume X, London: […] James Bettenham, for G[eorge] Strahan, J. Clarke, […], →OCLC, page 361:

It seems pretty clear that organic beings must be exposed during several generations to the new conditions of life to cause any appreciable amount of variation; […]

1859 November 24, Charles Darwin, “Variation under Domestication”, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 7:

I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.

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

The Revolutionary decade was a pretty challenging time for business.

2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 539:

Somewhat, fairly, quite; sometimes also (by meiosis) very.

'The boy sings pretty, don't he, Master Marner?'

1861, George Eliot, Silas Marner, London: Penguin Books, published 1967, page 139:


From Middle English na, from Old English nā, from Old English ne (“not”) + ā (“ever”). More at no.

Audio (US)


Audio (US)

You need to sleep na.

I have to go na.


Audio (US)

It is far na?


double

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

February 7 1736, Jonathan Swift, letter to Alexander Pope
I was double their age.

When I met the twins, I thought I was seeing double.

There are only a few beds, so some of the children will have to sleep double for the night.

The old man was bent double under his heavy burden.


bare

From Middle English bare, bar, from Old English bær (“bare, naked, open”), from Proto-West Germanic *baʀ, from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (“bare, naked”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰosós, from *bʰos- (“bare, barefoot”).
Cognate with Scots bare, bair (“bare”), Saterland Frisian bar (“bare”), West Frisian baar (“bare”), Dutch bar (“bare”), German bar (“bare”), Swedish bar (“bare”), Icelandic ber (“bare”), Lithuanian basas (“barefoot, bare”), Polish bosy (“barefoot”).

The fiend had bare departed when Ailie came over the threshold to find the auld carline glunching over the fire.

1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

He finally came back to himself and asked why the furor. "Why," Lucy said, "because this is Christmas Eve. We have bare enough time to get ready for the ball, after dinner, as it is."

2009, Allan Cole with Chris Bunch, The Wars of the Shannons:

“I've bare enough for these two, much less fill your belly.”

That pissed me off bare.

That's bare stupid.

tosi

slang words meaning "very, significantly"

While none of the participants had complete confidence in condoms, they continued to use them as a better alternative than “going in bare".

2000, Northeast African Studies - Volume 7, page 119:

It would be fine to have these women bare, without condoms.

2002, The Society of Malawi Journal - Volumes 55-58, page 70:

I like to go bare. I don't like wearing condoms, actually I hate 'em.

2010, M. L. Matthews, I Am Not the Father: Narratives of Men Falsely Accused of Paternity, →ISBN:


rapid

en-adv

rapid (comparative more rapid, superlative most rapid)

more rapid (comparative)
most rapid (superlative)

Borrowed from French rapide, from Latin rapidus.


something

From Middle English somþyng, some-thing, som thing, sum thinge, sum þinge, from Old English sum þing (literally “some thing”), equivalent to some + thing. Compare Old English āwiht (“something”, literally “some thing, any thing”), Swedish någonting (“something”, literally “some thing, any thing”).

cog

The baby looks something like his father.

Angelo. Yet giue leaue (my Lord,)
That we may bring you something on the way

c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

I miss them something terrible. (I miss them terribly)

You can't thrash when you have rheumatic fever – though you want to something awful, Mrs. White says.

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

Seeing him here, though, I all of a sudden feel more like I been gone from home three years, instead of three weeks, and I miss my people something fierce.

1994 Summer, Rebecca T. Goodwin, “Keeper of the house”, in Paris Review, volume 36, number 131, page 161:

And then she put the coffin right out on her front porch. Jim told everyone he'd built it kind of roomy since Bobby Lee was on the stout side, but that it better get used quick because sycamore tends to warp something terrible.

2001 January, Susan Schorn, “Bobby Lee Carter and the hand of God”, in U.S. Catholic, volume 66, number 1, page 34:

(colloquial, especially in certain set combinations) Used to adverbialise a following adjective


medium

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


doe

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

(African-American Vernacular, MLE) though


more

non-rhotic, dough-door merger, African-American Vernacular

From Middle English more, from Old English māra (“more”), from Proto-West Germanic *maiʀō, from Proto-Germanic *maizô (“more”), from Proto-Indo-European *mē- (“many”).
Cognate with Scots mair (“more”), Saterland Frisian moor (“more”), West Frisian mear (“more”), Dutch meer (“more”), Low German mehr (“more”), German mehr (“more”), Danish mere (“more”), Swedish mera (“more”), Norwegian Bokmål mer (“more”), Norwegian Nynorsk meir (“more”), Icelandic meiri, meira (“more”).

I like cake, but I like chocolate more.

I could no more climb that than fly!

More advanced students.

I have more than carried out my obligation.

I have no complaints and no more does my mom.

Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.

2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:

You're more beautiful than I ever imagined.

Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.

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:

Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.

2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:

Used to form the comparative form of adjectives and adverbs.

по- (po-) (before adjectives and adverbs as a prefix)

по́ (pó) (before verbs, nouns and prepositions)

Than was there pees betwyxte thys erle and thys Aguaurs, and grete surete that the erle sholde never warre agaynste hym more.

1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum ii”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book XV, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC:

(now poetic) In negative constructions: any further, any longer; any more.

I was more better at English than you.

(now dialectal, humorous or proscribed) Used in addition to an inflected comparative form.


direct

en-adv

direct (comparative more direct, superlative most direct)

more direct (comparative)
most direct (superlative)

/daɪ̯əˈɹɛkt/

Borrowed from Latin dīrectus, perfect passive participle of dīrigō (“straighten, direct”), from dis- (“asunder, in pieces, apart, in two”) + regō (“make straight, rule”). Compare dress. Doublet of derecho.
For the meaning development compare with Russian напра́вить (naprávitʹ, “to direct, to turn, to aim, to level, to point”), отпра́вить (otprávitʹ, “to send, to dispatch, to forward”) connected with пра́вить (právitʹ, “to govern, to rule, to drive, to steer”).

m+

The walls, which are fixed direct into the ground without a plinth, are made of wattle and plastered with a thin lair of mud or cowdung.

1912, Central Provinces (India), Central Provinces District Gazetteers, page 96:

Presumably Mary is to carry messages that she, Anne, is too delicate to convey direct.

2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate, published 2010, page 346:


best

From Middle English beste, best, from Old English betst, betest, from Proto-Germanic *batistaz.

A popular aphorism says it best: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Out of my ſight, thou Serpent, that name beſt
 Befits thee with him leagu'd, thy ſelf as falſe
 And hateful;

1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 867–869:

But had we beſt retire, I ſee a ſtorm?

1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, 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 65, line 1072:

He prayeth best, who loveth best / All things both great and small.

1797–1798 (date written), [Samuel Taylor Coleridge], “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere”, in Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems, London: […] J[ohn] & A[rthur] Arch, […], published 1798, →OCLC:

At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy ; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.

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

You'd best save a backup copy, just in case the morons lose the one that you sent and then try to act like you never sent one.

Had I not best go to her?

1854, Arthur Pendennis [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], →OCLC:

To the most advantage; with the most success, cause, profit, benefit, or propriety.


underwater

en-adv

underwater (comparative more underwater, superlative most underwater)

more underwater (comparative)
most underwater (superlative)

/ʌndɚˈwɔtəɹ/

Can you swim underwater?

So as to go beneath the surface of the water.

подводно

nautical: going beneath the surface of the water


local

local (comparative more local, superlative most local)

more local (comparative)
most local (superlative)

From Middle English local, from Late Latin locālis (“belonging to a place”), possibly also via Old French local; ultimately from Latin locus (“a place”).
The ring-theoretic senses derive from Krull, who first referred to Noetherian commutative rings with a unique maximal ideal as "Stellenring" (Stellen (“place”) + ring) in 1938. The term was inspired by algebraic geometry, where local rings encode information about the behavior of curves (surfaces, etc.) at points; hence, describe "local" behavior.

der

It's never been more important to buy local.

Coca-Cola, for example, shifted its stance, unsuccessfully, between “think global, act global” and “think local, act local” during the tenures of three different CEOs in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

2016, Vinod K. Jain, Global Strategy: Competing in the Connected Economy, page 122:

In the local area; within a city, state, country, etc.


alot

(nonstandard, proscribed) Alternative form of a lot (compare to awhile).


great

From Middle English greet (“great, large”), from Old English grēat (“big, thick, coarse, massive”), from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“big in size, coarse, coarse grained”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd-, *gʰer- (“to rub, grind, remove”).
Cognate with Scots great (“coarse in grain or texture, thick, great”), West Frisian grut (“large, great”), Dutch groot (“large, stour”), German groß (“large”), Old English grēot (“earth, sand, grit”). Related to grit. Doublet of gross.

cog

Those mechanical colored pencils work great because they don't have to be sharpened.

(informal) Very well (in a very satisfactory manner).


betimes

From Middle English betymes, from bi (“by”) + time + adverbial -s. By surface analysis, betime + -s (adverbial suffix). Compare also betides.

surf

Behold, as wilde asses in the desart, goe they foorth to their worke, rising betimes for a pray: the wildernes yeeldeth food for them, and for their children.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 24:5:

They slept well that night and betimes next morning the mother of Alaeddin arose and went with her bowl to the King's court which she found closed.

1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC:

“I’ll answer for it, that he hath faced both the Catalan and the Moor, in his time, young as he may seem. Thou knowest that the nobles are wont to carry their sons, as children, early into the fight, that they may learn the deeds of chivalry betimes.”

1840, [James Fenimore Cooper], chapter I, in Mercedes of Castile: Or, The Voyage to Cathay. […], volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: Lea and Blanchard, →OCLC, page 20:

Smart lad to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay.

1896, A. E. Housman, “To An Athlete Dying Young,”, in A Shropshire Lad:

I was up betimes in the morning, but Holmes was afoot earlier still, for I saw him as I dressed, coming up the drive.

1902, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 13, in The Hound of the Baskervilles:

However they dined very early, for the winter dusk fell betimes at this season [...].

1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 786:

(dated) In good season or time; early, especially in the morning; seasonably.

[O]ne prayed God right heartily aloud that He would send them betimes a knight that durst convoy them through this strait pass.

1898, The High History of the Holy Graal, translated by Sebastian Evans, Branch IX, Title II

Reproving betimes with sharpness...and afterward showing forth an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved[…]

(archaic) In a short time, soon; quickly, forthwith.


approx

[…] place the pan into a hot oven 175 degrees approx 5 minutes until the top has been cooked.

2009 January 23, Achim Herterich, “Cooking tips, recipes with eggs”, in Herald Sun:


just

From Middle English juste, from Old French juste, from Latin iūstus (“just, lawful, rightful, true, due, proper, moderate”), from Proto-Italic *jowestos, related to Latin iūs (“law, right”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew-. Compare Scots juist (“just”), Saterland Frisian juust (“just”), West Frisian just (“just”), Dutch juist (“just”), German Low German jüst (“jüst”), German just (“just”), Danish just (“just”), Swedish just (“just”). Doublet of giusto.

der

is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me

it is always darkest just before the dawn

my very easy method just speeds up naming planets

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

the darkest hour is always just before the dawn

the darkest hour is just before the dawn

Just plant a few tomatoes, unless you can freeze or dry them.

He calls it vermilion, but it's just red to me.

Philander went into the next room, which was just a lean-to hitched on to the end of the shanty, and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.

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

From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much.[…] But viewed from high up in one of the growing number of skyscrapers in Sri Lanka’s capital, it is clear that something extraordinary is happening: China is creating a shipping hub just 200 miles from India’s southern tip.

2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:

Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths.

2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37:

I spent two hours cooking my favorite recipe, just to burn the rice and ruin the meal.

I helped him out just for him to betray me.

Introduces a disappointing or surprising outcome that renders futile something previously mentioned.

Just follow the directions on the box.

(sentence adverb) Used to reduce the force of an imperative; simply.

sadəcə

used to reduce the force of an imperative

I just called to say "hi".

Used to convey a less serious or formal tone

sadəcə

used to convey a less serious or formal tone

Lord, we just want to thank You and praise Your Name.

It is just splendid!

just fine

They just left, but you may leave a message at the desk.

Philander went into the next room[…]and came back with a salt mackerel[…]. Next he put the mackerel in a fry-pan, and the shanty began to smell like a Banks boat just in from a v'yage.

The fastball just missed my head!

The piece just might fit.

Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall. Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

[script needed] m or m pl or f or f pl (abhi)

He wants everything just right for the big day.

And having just enough, not covet more.

1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Fourteenth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:

The god Pan […] guided my hand so just to the heart of the beast.

c. 1580 (date written), Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “[The Second Booke] Chapter 19”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC, folio 122, recto:

To-night, at Herne's oak, just 'twixt twelve and one.

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

Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.

2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:


ostensibly

On 13 June the peshwa signed a new treaty, ostensibly complying with the demands of the British government[…]

1889, Leslie Stephen, Sidney Lee, Dictionary of National Biography:

Up to a year or two ago it had been the custom to kill horses in the yards — ostensibly for fertilizer; […]

1905, Upton Sinclair, chapter IX, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 26 February 1906, →OCLC:

The original branch was 5¾ miles long, from Llantrisant to Cowbridge only, but in 1889, the T.V.R. [Taff Vale Railway] obtained powers […] to continue the line for 6½ miles south to the coast at Aberthaw, ostensibly for the purpose of serving the important limestone works there, but one suspects other motives, including an understandable desire on the part of the T.V.R. to put a spoke in the wheel of the oncoming Barry Railway !

1951 December, T. B. Sands, “Some Railway Byways in the Vale of Glamorgan”, in Railway Magazine, page 838:

People strive to achieve perfection — ostensibly an honorable goal — but complete perfection is dangerous. To be imperfect, but human, is far preferable.

2007, Brian Herbert, Kevin J Anderson, Sandworms of Dune:

Mr. Marwan’s story — a tale overflowing with the suspense and ruthless duplicity of a spy novel — began to take shape in the spring of 1969. He had come to London, ostensibly to consult a Harley Street doctor about a stomach ailment. He chose to be examined by a doctor whose offices had been used previously for a covert meeting between King Hussein of Jordan and the general director of the Israeli prime minister’s office."

2007 April 10, “Who Killed Ashraf Marwan?”, in The New York Times, retrieved 2015-09-18:

The "petrol clams" are fleshy and flavourful -- the secret to avoiding a hydrocarbon taste is not to inhale while slipping them into the mouth -- and a speciality of the West Sea Barrage beach at Nampho, southwest of Pyongyang.
The sandy beach lies at the far end of the eight-kilometre barrier across the Taedong river mouth -- ostensibly built for flood control, but which also blocks access to Pyongyang, a few dozen kilometres upriver, for any invading navy.

2017 August 3, “Shellfish, fire and Party praise: beach breaks, North Korea style”, in France 24, sourced from Nampho (North Korea) (AFP), archived from the original on 2020-11-11, Live news:

Quite possibly the worst aspect of this is the role of the train operating companies and their representative body, the ineptly named Rail Delivery Group (RDG). Ostensibly, the plan has come from them. In reality, this has been driven entirely by Government, which asked each train operator to draw up plans for its area.

2023 July 26, Christian Wolmar, “Closing ticket offices to lead to 'catch-22' for passengers”, in RAIL, number 988, page 42:

(modal) Seemingly, apparently, on the surface.


whenever

From Middle English whan evere, whanne ever, whanne evere, whener, when ever; equivalent to when + ever.

Whenever will I find time to finish that jigsaw?

(interrogative) When ever: emphatic form of when.

Feel free to visit whenever.


approx.

aprox.

abbreviation of words equivalent to approximately


alright

[ɒː(ɫ)ˈɹəi̯t]

Univerbation from all + right. Compare Old English eallriht (“all-right, just, exactly”), equivalent to al- (“all”) + right.

cog

(sometimes proscribed) Alternative form of all right.


per anum

If, however, a man had intercourse with a woman per anum he was at one time liable to be put to death.

1927, Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 (of 6):


per orum

From per, borrowing from classical Latin per (“through”), and orum as incorrectly formed accusative of ōs (“mouth”).

(US, medicine) Alternative form of per orem per os; via the mouth; orally


whole

en-adv

whole (comparative more whole, superlative most whole)

more whole (comparative)
most whole (superlative)

From Middle English hole (“healthy, unhurt, whole”), from Old English hāl (“healthy, safe”), from Proto-West Germanic *hail, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“whole, safe, sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilos (“healthy, whole”). The spelling with wh-, introduced in the 15th century, was for disambiguation with hole, and was absent in Scots.
Cognates
Compare West Frisian hiel, Low German heel/heil, Dutch heel, German heil, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hel, Norwegian Nynorsk heil; also Welsh coel (“omen”), Breton kel (“omen, mention”), Old Prussian kails (“healthy”), Old Church Slavonic цѣлъ (cělŭ, “healthy, unhurt”). Related to hale, health, hail, hallow, heal, and holy.

cog

I ate a fish whole!

That’s a whole other story.

(colloquial) In entirety; entirely; wholly.


acutely

en-adv

acutely (comparative more acutely, superlative most acutely)

more acutely (comparative)
most acutely (superlative)

I minored in physics at university, so am acutely aware of atomic structure.

Holloway has unfinished business in the Premier League after relegation last year and he will make a swift return if he can overcome West Ham a week on Saturday. Sam Allardyce, the West Ham manager, will be acutely aware that when the stakes are high, Blackpool are simply formidable.

2012 May 9, John Percy, “Birmingham City 2 Blackpool 2 (2-3 on agg): match report”, in the Telegraph:


actively

actively (comparative more actively, superlative most actively)

more actively (comparative)
most actively (superlative)

From late Middle English actyvely; equivalent to active + -ly.

He was actively listening.

She was actively working, not “sleeping on the job”.

a word used actively

(grammar) In the active form; not passive.


across

From Middle English acros, from early Middle English a-croiz, a-creoyz, from Anglo-Norman an (“in, on”) + croiz (“in the form of a cross”); Equivalent to a- + cross. More at cross.

she helped the blind man across; the river is half a mile across

[The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […].

2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

(no corresponding word, literally:) 從一邊到另一邊

If we sail off at noon, when will we be across?

He leaned across for a book.

(no corresponding word, literally:) 從...的一邊向

I got stuck on 4 across.


admirably

admirably (comparative more admirably, superlative most admirably)

more admirably (comparative)
most admirably (superlative)

He succeeded admirably in drawing fire away from the troop transports.

Admirably, he went down with his ship after the surviving crew got away in lifeboats.

...yet more than all I had heard of it, now strongly informed me I was to expect that supreme pleasure which she had placed in the meeting of those parts so admirably fitted for each other.

1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC:

They have made admirably great improvements in quality.


affably

affably (comparative more affably, superlative most affably)

more affably (comparative)
most affably (superlative)


affectionately

affectionately (comparative more affectionately, superlative most affectionately)

more affectionately (comparative)
most affectionately (superlative)

Catherine is affectionately known as "Kit Kat" to her friends.

The couple were touching each other affectionately.


fucking

→ Danish: fucking

→ Dutch: fucking

→ German: fucking

→ Norwegian Bokmål: føkkings

→ Romanian: fucking

→ Swedish: fucking

→ Icelandic: fokking

This is fucking ridiculous!

I can't believe he fucking stole my car!

You've never seen a bunch of guys more fucking shocked to lose

2004, Tommy Lee with Anthony Bozza, Tommy Land, page 79:

A bit young to be so cynical and so superior, you may think. My reply is that you should fucking well have been there, and felt it for yourself.

2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic, published 2011, page 81:

(vulgar) Really, very; having intensive force, often applying to the whole sentence or clause.

(Mexico, is used as adverb by some people even if identical to the adjective) pinche


afresh

afresh (comparative more afresh, superlative most afresh)

more afresh (comparative)
most afresh (superlative)

From Middle English a-fresche, equivalent to a- + fresh. Compare Old English afersċean (“to freshen; become fresh”).

cog

We ditched the original design, and decided to start afresh.


adrift

en-adv

adrift (comparative more adrift, superlative most adrift)

more adrift (comparative)
most adrift (superlative)

things wore on till eight or nine o'clock, every thing getting adrift and being smashed, and every one on board jamming themselves up in corners or holding on to beams to prevent their going adrift likewise

1858, John Mullaly, The Laying of the Cable, Or the Ocean Telegraph, page 231:

In a drifting condition; at the mercy of wind and waves.


same

From Middle English same, from Old Norse samr (“same”) and/or Old English same, sama (“same”) in the phrase swā same (swā) (“in like manner, in the same way (as)”), both from Proto-Germanic *samaz (“same”), from Proto-Indo-European *somHós (“same”). Doublet of -some.
Cognate with Scots samin (“same, like, together”), Dutch samen (“together”), Danish samme (“same”), Swedish samma (“same”), Norwegian Bokmål samme (“same”), Norwegian Nynorsk same (“same”), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌼𐌰 (sama), a weak adjectival form, Ancient Greek ὁμός (homós, “same”), Old Irish som, Russian са́мый (sámyj), Sanskrit सम (samá), Persian هم (ham, “also, same”), Finnish sama (“same”), Estonian sama (“same”).

A mother loves all her children the same.

My hometown looked much the same as when I'd left 10 years ago.

It took all night to find our hotel room, as we forgot our room number and each door looked the same.

(used with the) The same way; in the same manner; to the same extent, equally.


same

same (comparative more same, superlative most same)

more same (comparative)
most same (superlative)

From Middle English same, samme, samen, (also ysame, isame), from Old English samen (“together”), from Proto-Germanic *samanai (“together”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one, together”). Cognate with Scots samin (“together”), Dutch samen (“together”), German zusammen (“together”), Swedish samman (“together”), Icelandic saman (“together”).


absent-mindedly

en-adv

absent-mindedly (comparative more absent-mindedly, superlative most absent-mindedly)

more absent-mindedly (comparative)
most absent-mindedly (superlative)

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

(manner) Preoccupiedly; in an absent-minded manner.


afoot

"The dogs were no sooner let loose, than the hare was afoot.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 77:

On foot. (support of the body, standing)

Hamlet: […]I prithee, when thou seest that act afoot, / Even with the very comment of thy soul / Observe mine uncle:[…]

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

Possibly some chemical experiment was afoot; possibly----Well, it was no business of mine to speculate upon why he wanted it.

1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

In San Francisco and in New Jersey, to quote two other examples, plans are afoot to subsidise new commuter line construction or existing operations out of toll revenue from state highways or bridges.

1959 October, “Talking of Trains: Paying for the commuters”, in Trains Illustrated, page 458:

‘Patience,’ said Slartibartfast again. ‘Great things are afoot.’¶ ‘That's what you said last time we met,’ said Arthur.¶ ‘They were,’ said Slartibartfast.¶ ‘Yes, that's true,’ admitted Arthur.¶ All, however, that seemed to be afoot was a ceremony of some kind.

1982 August, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; 3), London: Pan Books, →ISBN, page 29:

(figurative) In motion; in action; astir; stirring; in progress.


powerful

powerful (comparative more powerful, superlative most powerful)

more powerful (comparative)
most powerful (superlative)

From Middle English pouerful, powarfull, equivalent to power + -ful.

"She was stinkin' hot down here that summer, an' we were powerful dry."

1972, John O'Grady, It's Your Shout, Mate, Ure Smith, page 59:

(dialect, Southern US or archaic) very; extremely


aggressively

aggressively (comparative more aggressively, superlative most aggressively)

more aggressively (comparative)
most aggressively (superlative)

Yes, there were instances of grandstanding and obsessive behaviour, but many were concealed at the time to help protect an aggressively peddled narrative of [Oscar] Pistorius the paragon, the emblem, the trailblazer.

2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities: Bladerunner's punishment for killing Reeva Steenkamp is but a frippery when set against the burden that her bereft parents, June and Barry, must carry [print version: No room for sentimentality in this tragedy, 13 September 2014, p. S22]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport):


actually

From Middle English actualy, actuelly, equivalent to actual + -ly. The Philippine interjection is a calque of Tagalog talaga.

His promises did not correspond with what he actually did.

(modal) In act or in fact; really; in truth; positively.

فِعْلًا

Neither actually […] nor passively.

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

At the time whereof we are writing, though the Great George was on the throne and ladies wore gigots and large combs like tortoise-shell shovels in their hair, instead of the simple sleeves and lovely wreaths which are actually in fashion, the manners of the very polite world were not, I take it, essentially different from those of the present day: and their amusements pretty similar.

1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:


airily

airily (comparative more airily, superlative most airily)

more airily (comparative)
most airily (superlative)


ja

Borrowed from Afrikaans ja (“yes”), from Dutch ja (“yes”). More at yea.

Ja, he had been fooled and it was not pleasant for a man to go home and tell his wife that he been verneuked.


afterwards

From Middle English [Term?], from Old English æfteweard (“behind”) + -s (“(adverbial genitive)”). By surface analysis, after + -wards.

Another Karadeniz cross led to Cudicini's first save of the night, with the Spurs keeper making up for a weak punch by brilliantly pushing away Christian Noboa's snap-shot.
Two more top-class stops followed quickly afterwards, first from Natcho's rasping shot which was heading into the top corner, and then to deny Ryazantsev at his near post.

2011 November 3, Chris Bevan, “Rubin Kazan 1 - 0 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport:

(temporal location) At a later or succeeding time.