folio

From Middle English folio (“leaf of a book”), borrowed from Medieval Latin foliō, Late Latin foliō, Latin foliō, the ablative singular form of Late Latin folium (“leaf or sheet of paper”), Latin folium (“leaf of a plant”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“bloom, flower”). Doublet of foil and folium, and distantly related to phyllo and phyllon.
Senses 1, 2, 3.1, 5, and 6 relating to a leaf or page are derived from Medieval Latin foliō in references; sense 5 (“page in an account book”) may be derived from Italian foglio (“rectangular sheet of paper”), from Latin folium. Senses 3.2 and 3.3 relating to a paper size are from Italian in foglio or its etymon Latin in foliō.

Folio.—The running number of the pages of a work. When there is no running title, the folio is placed in the centre of the head-line; when there is a running title, at the outside corner—the even folio on the left, the odd on the right. The preface, contents, index, and all introductory matter, usually have separate folios inserted in Roman lower-case numerals.]

[1871, “Folio”, in J[ohn] Luther Ringwalt, editor, American Encyclopædia of Printing, Philadelphia, Pa.: Menamin & Ringwalt, 517 Minor Street; J. B. Lippincott & Co., 715 Market Street, →OCLC, page 172

verso left-hand page of a book usually identified with even folio numbers. […] recto right-hand page of a book usually identified with odd folio numbers.

2006, Andrew Haslam, “Creating a Book”, in Book Design (Portfolio), London: Laurence King Publishing, page 21

A page number. The even folios are on the left-hand pages and the odd folios on the right-hand pages.

This pocket copying-machine, by which letters and writings of all sizes, even folio, may be very quickly copied, consists of a press four inches long, with a small cylinder, which contains pens and ink: the whole apparatus may be conveniently carried in the pocket, and the price is very moderate.

1821 April 1, “Useful Arts”, in The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Co. Conduit-Street, Hanover-Square, →OCLC, page 180

(by extension, printing)
A sheet of paper folded in half.

A rare copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio.

A treatiſe in Folio, intitled, The Magazen of Honour, or a Treatiſe concerninge the Nobillitie of England accordinge to the Lawes of England, with their Priviledges in Parliament, & in what caſes noe priviledge, together with the Etymologie, definition & antiquitie of 3 ſortes of Barons.

1759, Humfrey Wanley, David Casley, William Hocker, Charles Morton, compilers, A Catalogue of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts, Purchased by Authority of Parliament, for the Use of the Publick; and Preserved in the British Museum. Published by Order of the Trustees, volume II, London: Printed by Dryden Leach, and sold by L. Davis and C. Reymers, opposite Grays-Inn, Holborn, →OCLC, serial number 5876

Another, with the bump of order unnaturally developed, had his folios and quartos all reduced, in binding, to one size, so that they might look even on his bookshelves.

1902, William Blades, The Enemies of Books, 2nd edition, page 102

He [collector Anthony Morris Storer] bequeathed part of his collection to […] Eton College, including the First Folio [of William Shakespeare], a fine copy of the Second Folio, a poor copy of the Third Folio, and the collection of Quartos.

2003, Anthony James West, The Shakespeare First Folio: The History of the Book. Volume II: A New Worldwide Census of First Folios, volume II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 87

A book made of sheets of paper each folded in half (two leaves or four pages to the sheet); hence, a book of the largest kind, exceeding 30 centimetres in height.


steamroller

(by extension, informal) Any heavy road roller.


parlay

en-verb

parlay (third-person singular simple present parlays, present participle parlaying, simple past and past participle parlayed)

parlays (present singular third-person)
parlaying (participle present)
parlayed (participle past)
parlayed (past)

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

The verb is derived from paroli (“cumulative bet in card games”), possibly modified under the influence of French parler (“to speak, talk”). Paroli is derived from French paroli (“double stake”), from Italian paroli, plural of parolo (first-person singular present indicative of parare (“to protect or shield (from); to prepare”), from Latin parāre, present active infinitive of parō (“to arrange, prepare; to furnish, provide”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to go through; to carry forth, fare”)) + Italian -lo (suffix meaning ‘it; this or that thing’).
The noun is derived from the verb.

der

Shall we parlay the value of our products?

(transitive, by extension) To increase (an asset, money, etc.) by gambling or investing in a daring manner.

се о́бложи

to increase (an asset, money, etc.) by gambling or investing in a daring manner

They believe that if [Roy] Harris can maintain his standing among the leading heavyweights, they can parlay this rating with Texas enthusiasm and oil money into enticing Floyd Patterson into coming down and defending his heavyweight title against Roy.

1957 October 5, W[ilfred] C[harles] Heinz, “Battler from the Backwoods”, in Ben Hibbs, editor, The Saturday Evening Post, volume 230, number 14, Philadelphia, Pa., London: Curtis Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 71, column 2

K[avalam] M[adhava] Panikkar's concept of Indian Ocean regional security, the Indian-inspired Colombo Plan, [Jawaharlal] Nehru's architectonic role in the creation of the Nasser–Nehru–Tito neutralist axis and the Bandung gambit of legitimizing China's entry into the constraints of the comity of nations were efforts to parlay general Indian weakness into strength, its positions of regional strength into hegemony, and resultant regional hegemony into parity with China in a peace of peers.

1968, Wayne Wilcox, “China’s Strategic Alternatives in South Asia”, in Tang Tsou, editor, China’s Policies in Asia and America’s Alternatives (China in Crisis; 2), Chicago, Ill., London: University of Chicago Press, published 1969, page 408

Guatemala has remained a society organized to harness an impoverished, segmented rural labor force for the production of exports that a small landowning elite, in partnership with foreign commercial interests, parlays into profit in world markets.

1984, Laurel Herbenar Bossen, “Appendix One: Historical Background of Guatemala”, in The Redivision of Labor: Women and Economic Choice in Four Guatemalan Communities (SUNY Series in the Anthropology of Work), Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, page 321

[Oliver] Stone's vision, to decode the top secret message hidden in the CIA archives, parlays conspiracy theory onto screen memory, and as he clearly hopes, into history.

1994, Elizabeth A. Fay, “Romancing the Heroine, Reading the Self: Same Difference”, in Donaldo Macedo, editor, Eminent Rhetoric: Language, Gender, and Cultural Tropes (Series in Language and Ideology), Westport, Conn., London: Bergin & Garvey, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISSN, page 77

[Petra] Epperlein and [Michael] Tucker focus on two featherweight hopefuls: Dustin Poirier, a formidable contender who's looking to parlay a history of schoolyard violence and street-fighting into a potential career, and Albert Stainback, a more thoughtful yet more erratic and undisciplined fighter whose chief gimmick is entering the ring wearing a hat like the one Malcolm McDowell wore in A Clockwork Orange.

2002 April 19, Scott Tobias, “Fightville”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2019-11-04

She knew she should put off thinking about starting up anything until after finishing her cookie column commitment … and figuring out how to parlay that into a job that would carry her into the new year and beyond.

2013 October, Donna Kauffman, “Where There’s Smoke …”, in The Sugar Cookie Sweetheart Swap, New York, N.Y.: Kensington Publishing, chapter 3, page 67

[Mike] Skinner retired the Streets in 2011 after five albums that successfully parlayed UK garage to Oasis fans (and everyone else), earning much adulation, a No 1 – Dry Your Eyes, from 2004's A Grand Don't Come for Free – and the counterweight of occupational hazards.

2019 June 1, Kitty Empire [pseudonym], “The Streets review – the agony and ecstasy of a great everyman”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2019-01-26

Victoria's Secret, the American retailer that once parlayed a “sex sells” strategy into a $7bn-revenue-empire of underwear, is heading back to TV screens.

2023 September 30, Chantal Fernandez, “Changing the formula”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 5

(transitive, by extension, generally) To convert (a situation, thing, etc.) into something better.

aus etwas Kapital schlagen

to convert (a situation, thing, etc.) into something better


riposte

From French riposte, taken from Italian risposta, a derivative of the verb rispondere (“to respond”).

Some context is required. Moldova were weak at the back and blunt up front, and have failed to score in six matches stretching back to last October, with only hints at English complacency offering them glimpses of summoning a riposte.

2012 September 7, Dominic Fifield, “England start World Cup campaign with five-goal romp against Moldova”, in The Guardian

(by extension) A counter-attack in any combat or any sport.


woodwork

en-noun

woodwork (usually uncountable, plural woodworks)

From Middle English woodewerk (“carpentry”), equivalent to wood + work.

out of the woodwork

Friends and relatives were coming out of the woodwork to celebrate his good fortune.

So when he wants to, he can just kind of blend into the woodwork.

(figurative, by extension) A place of concealment or obscurity.


alpha male

The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists

Originally used in scientific research of hierarchies in social animals, the term is now often applied to men with dominating characteristics. Already in some use during the 1990s, it was further popularized by Neil Strauss in The Game (2005).

Alpha male investing Aggressive stock-picker on the prowl for less risky financial plan Stanley Richards may have been a latecomer to investing, but he's made up for lost time by aggressively buying

2000 Feb, Black Enterprise, Alpha Male Investing, volume 30, number 7, page 54

This alpha-male status gives him the highest opportunity to mate with many of the best genetic examples of the females in his liking

2007, Paul Dobransky, L. A. Stamford, The Secret Psychology of How We Fall in Love, link

The alpha male, is lucky in this regard, since he has a gang and while he must protect them all

year unknown, Wings Of Success, How to Attract Anything You want in Life, page 32

Nadal is supposedly the alpha male in any slugfest. But Rosol's forehand shots were being sent towards the Majorcan at 93mph plus, and his was the fastest serve at 134mph.

2012 June 28, Jamie Jackson, “Wimbledon 2012: Lukas Rosol shocked by miracle win over Rafael Nadal”, in the Guardian

Fàbregas is having a lapse in form and Costa seems so preoccupied with alpha-male aggro it possibly distracts him from the rather more important task of beating the opposition goalkeeper.

2015 March 12, Daniel Taylor, “Chelsea out of Champions League after Thiago Silva sends 10-man PSG through on away goals”, in The Guardian (London)

Maybe the supposed human alpha male is a combination of disgruntled male wish fulfilment and borderline-pseudoscientific justification for resorting to bullying, intimidation and generally all-round unpleasant behaviour by men hoping to impose their will on a world they find too complex and unnerving so revert to their baser instincts to get what they want, despite knowing deep down they don’t deserve it and shouldn’t have it?

2016 October 10, Dean Burnett, “Do alpha males even exist?”, in The Guardian

(by extension) A dominant, assertive, protective, oftentimes successful, leadership-type man or male.


potluck

potluck (countable and uncountable, plural potlucks)

From pot + luck. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, sense 3 (“a shared meal consisting of whatever guests have brought”) is unlikely to have been influenced by potlatch even though it has the same meaning.

тюрлюгювеч

meal consisting of whatever food is available

How to get rich of Dutch Henry taxed the wits of the invaders. The whole morning and the early afternoon went to pot-luck firing from the trench along the draw, but although it was often asserted that Henry must long since be dead—having returned none of the shooting that was meant to call his fire—no one manifested the curiosity necessary to prove the assertion by closing in on the cabin.

1921 August, Frank H[amilton] Spearman, “The Raid of the Falling Wall”, in Laramie Holds the Range, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, published November 1921, →OCLC, page 143

(by extension) Whatever is available in a particular situation.


fixer-upper

From a reduplicating suffixation of fix up, equivalent to fix + -er + up + -er.

Don't be seduced into a relationship with someone who seems to be a "fixer-upper." Attempts at renovating people usually fail.

2000, Susan Curtin Kelley, Dale Burg, The Second Time Around

(informal, by extension) A potential romantic partner who may need some motivation to improve their personality or habits.


cross-fertilization

cross-fertilization (countable and uncountable, plural cross-fertilizations)

His fame led to some curious cultural cross-fertilizations. In Japan, the Yamamoto-clad singer stirred up a singular fanaticism—so much so that Japanese charter flights traveled all the way to Kinshasa, while in Tokyo, clone bands skilled at his kind of soukous multiplied.

2002, Frank Tenaille, translated by Steven Toussaint and Hope Sandrine, Music Is the Weapon of the Future: Fifty Years of African Popular Music, Chicago, IL: Lawrence Hill Books, page 183

(by extension) The mutual exchange of ideas or concepts from different fields for mutual benefit.


symptomatic

en-adj

symptomatic (comparative more symptomatic, superlative most symptomatic)

more symptomatic (comparative)
most symptomatic (superlative)

Borrowed from French symptomatique, from New Latin symptomaticus, from Ancient Greek συμπτωματικός (sumptōmatikós, “of or pertaining to a chance (or a symptom), casual”), from σύμπτωμα (súmptōma, “a symptom”). By surface analysis, symptom + -atic.

der

συμπτωματικός

The city's problems are symptomatic of the crisis that is spreading throughout the country.

Symptomatic of a shallow understanding and an unamiable temper.

1843, Thomas Macaulay, Sir James Mackintosh's History of the Revolution

And it is symptomatic of the many paradoxes of Lederer's life that of all the people in the room, Brotherhood is the one whom he would most wish to serve, if ever he had the opportunity, even though — or perhaps because — his occasional efforts to ingratiate himself with his adopted hero have met with iron rebuff.

(by extension) Constituting a symptom or indication; characteristic, indicative.


soursop

/ˈsaʊəɹˌsɒp/

Bermuda buttercup (Oxalis pes-caprae), an edible wood sorrel native to South Africa

(by extension) any wood sorrel, especially when used as food


loose cannon

Jack is considered a loose cannon due to his volatile personality and his track record of being unable to maintain his composure.

(idiomatic, by extension) An uncontrolled or unpredictable person who causes damage to their own team, faction, political party, etc.

обезья́на с грана́той f /lit: monkey with a grenade/


murderous

en-adj

murderous (comparative more murderous, superlative most murderous)

more murderous (comparative)
most murderous (superlative)

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

From murder + -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns denoting possession or presence of a quality).

suffix

a murderous exam

conditions were murderous


Rorschach test

/ˈɹɔːʃɑːk tɛst/

/ˈɹɔːʃæk tɛst/

/ˈɹɔɹˌʃæk tɛst/

/ˈɹɔɹʃək tɛst/

She demurely took out a piece of paper with an ink blot on it , a Rorschach test . ... Poe said he had been saved by Desmond FitzGerald , the patron saint of knuckledraggers , who sent him away from headquarters to keep him from getting ...

1996, Roger Warner, Shooting at the Moon: The Story of America's Clandestine War in Laos, Steerforth Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 84

(by extension) Any test of an individual's perception of phenomena.


sumptuary

en-adj

sumptuary (comparative more sumptuary, superlative most sumptuary)

more sumptuary (comparative)
most sumptuary (superlative)

/-t͡ʃəˌwɛɹi/

From Latin sūmptuārius (“of or relating to expenditure, sumptuary; person in charge of household expenses”) + English -ary (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Sūmptuārius is derived from sūmptus (“charge, cost, expense”) + -ārius (suffix forming adjectives); and sūmptus from sūmō (“to catch, seize, take; to acquire, get, obtain; to apply, employ, use; to consume, spend”) (from sub- (prefix meaning ‘below, beneath, under’) + emō (“to acquire, procure; to buy, purchase”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₁em- (“to distribute; to take”))) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs).
cognates
* Middle French sumptuaire (modern French somptuaire)
* Italian sontuario
* Portuguese suntuário
* Spanish suntuario

der

(by extension) Of or relating to sumptuary laws or regulations.

sumptuari

of or relating to sumptuary laws or regulations


fourth wall

A reference to the three walls of a box set, with the fourth wall being the imaginary wall separating the performers from the audience. Coined by philosopher and art critic Denis Didérot in 1758 and thus a calque of French quatrième mur.

coinage

Even though you, the author, may be maintaining a fourth wall between your characters and your readers, he, the narrator, is not keeping that fourth wall between himself and the audience he thinks he's telling the story to.

1999, Orson Scott Card, (Please provide the book title or journal name)

The fourth wall is the imaginary barrier between the stage and the audience, and the phrase is a metaphor for the dramatic frame.

2003, Robert Keith Sawyer, Improvised Dialogues: Emergence and Creativity in Conversation, page 107

As actors, we are still looking out into the imaginary fourth wall. The difference is that in film, the fourth wall is no longer fixed;

2003, Cathy Haase, Acting for Film, page 92

... removes the fourth wall of the nineteenth-century novel and, in doing so, eliminates the border between a fictional inside and a nonfictional outside.

2004, Diana Fuss, The Sense of an Interior: Four Writers and the Rooms that Shaped Them, page 207

I've saved the worst for last. The crudest scheme is to drop the fourth wall and advise players as to actions that are inhibiting

2005, Chris Crawford, Chris Crawford on Interactive Storytelling, page 208

(by extension) The boundary between the fiction and the audience.


rhinitis

Near-synonyms: rhinosinusitis; coryza; catarrh

(medicine, broadly, metonymically, disease entity) cold; common cold.


cutie

A brand name of a particular cultivar of orange.

(by extension) Any small mandarin orange variety such as a tangerine or a satsuma.


first water

The term originated in the gemstone trade, where it was used to signify water-like clarity.

He's a liar, swindler, and hypocrite—a scoundrel of the first water.

“A nice, juicy steak,” he is said to have called for, “French fries, apple pie and a cup of coffee.” It is probable that he really said “a coff of cuppee,” however, as he was a wag of the first water and loved a joke as well as the next king.

1922, Robert C. Benchley, chapter XXII, in Love Conquers All, Henry Holt & Company, page 111

Presumably this was another case in which an engine had failed and had been replaced at short notice; certain it is that none but experts of the very first water could have coaxed such amazing work out of an engine of such comparatively small dimensions.

1934 February, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice & Performance”, in Railway Magazine, pages 93–94

(by extension) The highest rank or quality or the greatest degree.


pass out

en-verb

pass out (third-person singular simple present passes out, present participle passing out, simple past and past participle passed out)

passes out (present singular third-person)
passing out (participle present)
passed out (participle past)
passed out (past)

"It took me about a month to pass out on this box," he adds. "It's easy to be daunted by all the levers and bell codes and Absolute Block, but it's all the usual rules of anywhere else. You can't just come up here from the street though, and I thought I'd never be able to work this SB [signal box], but you just get on with it until it becomes second nature."

2018, Rail, issue 857, July 18-July 31, article on Severn Bridge Junction signal box at Shrewsbury

(by extension) To become proficient in a particular job or task.


back-to-back

Seen in laboratory frame the photon-jet pair is not any longer back-to-back and the energy balance is distorted.

2009, R. Fiore, Alessandro Papa, Igor Ivanov, Jacques Soffer, Diffraction 2008: International Workshop on Diffraction in High Energy Physics, Amer Inst of Physics

This produces two back-to-back jets of hadrons that dominate the inclusive high energy cross-section.

2000, S. Söldner-Rembold, Photon '99: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Structure and Interactions of the Photon, Including the 12th International Workshop on Photon-Photon Collisions, Freiburg, Germany, 23-27 May 1999

Photons at leading order are produced back-to-back with an associated parton with nearly identical transverse momenta.

2015, Thomas Schörner-Sadenius, The Large Hadron Collider: Harvest of Run 1, Springer, page 392

In the rest frame of the #x5C;pi⁰ the photons emerge back-to-back isotropically.

1992, David Shaw Brown, A Comparison of High Transverse Momentum Direct Photon and Neutral Pion Events in Negative Pion and Proton-nucleus Collisions at 31.5 GeV Center of Mass Energy

(physics, by extension) Emerging in exactly opposite directions.


colophon

Borrowed from Late Latin colophōn, from Ancient Greek κολοφών (kolophṓn, “peak or finishing touch”).

der

(by extension, Internet) A page on a website identifying the details of its creation, such as the author's name and the technologies used.


furbelow

Corruption of falbala; first attested in the late 1600s or early 1700s. Not related to fur.

The band played ceaselessly. Even when the other instruments were resting the pianist kept up his monotonous vamping, with a dreary furbelow for embellishment here and there, to which some few of the dancers continued to shuffle round the floor.

1954, Alexander Alderson, chapter 4, in The Subtle Minotaur

(by extension) A small, showy ornamentation.


roll call

On paper, the Japanese had come out on top of the engagement; granted, Hiei had taken a worrying level of damage, but Kirishima was still intact, the light cruiser Nagara and four destroyers were likewise good to go, and four more were damaged but operational. Apart from Hiei, only three destroyers were missing from the roll call.

2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 23:24 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN), archived from the original on 2022-11-07

It’s an astonishing roll call of future talent from when they were still young and hungry in Manhattan.

2022 November 23, Hadley Freeman, “Like a cinema virgin: how Madonna went stratospheric making Desperately Seeking Susan”, in The Guardian

(by extension) The subset of those members of a specific group who are present or available out of the full set of all the members of said group.


Provençal

/ˌpɹɒvɑːnˈsɑːl/

/ˌpɹɒvənˈsɑːl/

/ˌpɹɒvɒnˈsɑːl/

From Middle French provenceal, provençal, from Latin prōvinciālis.

(broadly, dated in linguistics) The language spoken in Provence; Occitan.


man-eater

Coordinate term: lady-killer

"That only proves she has affairs with them too. She's a man-eater."

1945, Norman Lindsay, The Cousin from Fiji, page 233

Watch out, boy, she'll chew you up / (Oh-oh, here she comes) / She's a maneater

1982, Hall & Oates (lyrics and music), “Maneater”, in H₂O

(by extension, slang) A seductive dangerous woman, often readily taking and discarding male romantic partners.


pecker

From Middle English pekker, equivalent to peck (“to pick at something in the manner of a bird”) + -er (“forming agent nouns”).

af

(UK colloquial, by extension of the sense ‘beak’) A nose.

Mr. King... misstated the fact in saying that he had put a piece of lighted paper to the master's nose while asleep in that house; it was his hot pipe that he applied to the sleeper's nostrils, at the same time crying: Come, old chap, keep your pecker up.

Pecker, ‘keep your Pecker up’,... literally, keep your beak and head well up, ‘never say die’.

Be firm, my moral pecker.

1875, W.S. Gilbert, Trial by Jury, section 4

... he had every facility given him to remain under lock and key, with a chair, a table, a mattress in a corner, and a litter of fallen plaster on the floor, in an irrational state of funk, and keeping up his pecker with such tonics as Mariani dispensed.

1900, Joseph Conrad, chapter 5, in Lord Jim

Fred and I managed to keep our peckers up somehow.

2003, J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, page xii

keep one's pecker up
keep one's pecker up

(UK colloquial, by extension, from the expression ‘keep one's pecker up’) Spirits, nerve, courage.


golden calf

(by extension) Money as an end in itself; mammon.


effusion

en-noun

effusion (countable and uncountable, plural effusions)

Borrowed from Middle French effusion, from Latin effūsiō (“outpouring”). Displaced native Old English āgotennes.

1930; George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind, Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby; Animal Crackers, Paramount Pictures
Captain Spaulding: My friends, I am highly gratified by this magnificent display of effusion […]

(figurative, by extension) An outpouring of speech or emotion.


calends

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

From Middle English calendes, calendas, calendis, kalandes, kalendas, kalendes, kalendez, kalendis, kalendus (also in the singular forms calende, kalend, kalende), from Latin kalendās, accusative plural of kalendae (“first day of a Roman month”), an archaic variant of calandae, from calandus (“which is to be called or announced solemnly”), the future passive participle of calō (“to call, announce solemnly”) (referring to the Roman practice of proclaiming the first days of the lunar month upon seeing the first signs of a new crescent moon), from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to call, cry, summon”). Although the singular form calend (now obsolete, rare) appeared in English (and compare Old English calend, kalendus (“calends; a month”)), no singular form was used in Latin as recurring days of the calendar were always referred to in the plural.
Sense 2 (“a day for settling debts and other accounts”) refers to the Roman practice of fixing the calends as the day for debts to be paid.

nb...

Containing an Account of Their Manners, Customs, Diversions, Religious Rites, Philosophy, Festivals, Oracles, Laws, Arts, Engines of War, Weights, Measures, Money, Medals, Computation and Division of Time, Chronological Terms, Heresies in the Primitive Church, &c. &c.

(by extension) A day for settling debts and other accounts.

The feasts of the Israelites were the Sabbath; the first day of each month, called in our translations calends, or new-moon; the three great feasts of the passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, instituted in memory of the three greatest blessings they received from God, […]

1809, Claude Fleury, “Their Religion”, in Adam Clarke, transl., The Manners of the Ancient Israelites; […], 3rd edition, London: Sold by William Baynes, […]; J[oseph] Butterworth, […]; and T. Blanshard, […], →OCLC, page 147

חֹדֶשׁ m. […] the new moon, the day of the new moon, the calends of a lunar month which was a festival of the ancient Hebrews, Num[bers] 29:6; 1 Sam[uel] 20:5; 18:24; Ex[odus] 19:1, […]

1846, [Wilhelm] Gesenius, “חֹדֶשׁ”, in translated by Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, Gesenius’s Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures. Translated, with Additions and Corrections from the Author’s Thesaurus and Other Works, London: Samuel Bagster and Sons, […], →OCLC, page CCLXIII, column 1

(by extension, biblical, Judaism, obsolete) Synonym of Rosh Hodesh (“the Jewish festival of the new moon, which begins the months of the Hebrew calendar”)


lode

Doublet of load, which has however become semantically restricted. The now-archaic lode continues the old sense of Old English lād (“way, course, journey”) but by the 19th century survived only dialectally in the sense of “watercourse”, as a technical term in mining, and in the compounds lodestone, lodestar.

inh

In recent years, Jack Grieve of the department of English and linguistics at the University of Birmingham in England has embraced Twitter as a bountiful lode for looking at language-use patterns.

2019 September 25, Gary Stix, “Two Linguists Use Their Skills to Inspect 21,739 Trump Tweets”, in Scientific American


nonpareil

en-noun

nonpareil (countable and uncountable, plural nonpareils)

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

/ˌnɑnpəˈɹɛl/

From Late Middle English non-parail (“unparalleled, nonpareil”) [and other forms], from Middle French nonpareille, nonpareil (“unparalleled”) (obsolete), from non- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + pareil (“alike, like, same”). Pareil is derived from Old French pareil, from Late Latin pāriculus (“equal; like; of a number: even”), from Latin pār (“equal; like; of a number: even; suitable”) + -culus (a variant of -ulus (suffix forming diminutives)).
Noun sense 4 (size of type standardized at 6-point) is usually taken to derive from the attractive type cut by the brothers Giovanni and Gregorio De Gregori (fl. 1482–1503 and 1496–1527 respectively) for their 1498 edition of the divine offices in Venice; it was for a long time the smallest-sized type in use.

nb...

nonparaille, nonpareyl, nounparalle, nowimparaile

nonpareillo

quasi-Italian, obsolete, chiefly 17th–18th c.

(by extension, dated) A small pellet of white or coloured sugar used as decoration on baked goods and candy.

(by extension) A small, flat chocolate drop covered with such pellets of sugar, similar to a comfit.

(by extension) A caper (“pickled edible flower bud”) of the smallest size.


fin de siècle

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-fin de siècle.wav

Borrowed from French fin-de-siècle (literally “end of the century”).

bor

(by extension) Pertaining to the close of the 20th (or any other) century.


intercalary

From Latin intercalārius, from intercalāris, from intercalō, from inter (“among”) + calō (“call out, proclaim”).

(sciences, by extension) Inserted between other things

(botany) of a meristem: situated between zones of permanent tissue, thus a shoot growing at the base of a leaf, in comparison with apical growth at the tip of a root or plant.

...two radial cells, second longer than first; intercalary fork fairly distinct; crossvein r-m vertical...

1953, Willis W. Wirth, “American Biting Midges of the Helid Genus Monohelea”, in Proceedings of the United States National Museum, volume 103, number 3320, pages 135–154

(entomology) of a wing vein: between the major veins common to insect wings.

Breaks caused by chromosome aberrations in regions with repeats may not result in a sharp decline of viability, so that break points of chromosome rearrangements in intercalary heterochromatin may be more frequent than in other regions.

1982 December, I. F. Zhimulev et al., “Intercalary heterochromatin in Drosophila”, in Chromosoma, volume 87, →DOI, pages 197–228

In this new model, the anterior and posterior blastemas were formed as signaling centers to direct intercalary reorganization of body regionality or positional information.

2007 February 28, Kitokazu Agata et al., “Unifying principles of regeneration I: Epimorphosis versus morphallaxis”, in Development, Growth, and Differentiation, →DOI


earmark

en-verb

earmark (third-person singular simple present earmarks, present participle earmarking, simple past and past participle earmarked)

earmarks (present singular third-person)
earmarking (participle present)
earmarked (participle past)
earmarked (past)

слагам настрана

to specify or set aside for a particular purpose

You can donate to the organization as a whole, or you can earmark your contribution for a particular project.

Now that police departments were suddenly flush with cash and military equipment earmarked for the drug war, they needed to make use of their new resources.

2012, Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow, page 74

A widening of the M4 had long been mooted, and the Welsh Government had even earmarked most of the required £1.6bn funding for a new 14-mile, six-lane section around Newport. Then, in the face of opposition from environmentalists, came a realisation that similar road schemes across the world tend merely to encourage greater car use and therefore soon prove ineffective in solving the original problem.

2020 December 2, Christian Wolmar, “Wales offers us a glimpse of an integrated transport policy”, in Rail, page 56

(transitive, by extension) To specify or set aside for a particular purpose, to allocate.

(transitive, finance, UK) To designate part of a pension to be payable to the holder's former spouse or partner at its time of payment.


chops

Inflected forms. The jazz slang sense “musical ability” is a reference to the use of the lips to blow instruments.

Although he did not know all of the ins and outs of the newsroom, he had the writing chops to become a regular contributor.

["]If you don't have a guy who gives you that, despite the greatest acting chops in the world, the show is not going to succeed," Gilligan adds.

2009 March 6, Alan Sepinwall, quoting Vince Gilligan, “Sepinwall on TV: Bryan Cranston talks 'Breaking Bad' season two”, in The Star-Ledger, archived from the original on 2011-11-16

In Sean Hannity's interview with Herman Cain, the Fox News host asks, with his signature slow-pitch softball style, whether the former CEO has the necessary foreign policy chops to be president.

2011 October 27, Conor Friedersdorf, “A Dare for Herman Cain: Prove Your Foreign-Policy Chops”, in The Atlantic

If you're a Python guru, you can look for ideas to apply your craft to penetration testing, or if you are a newbie Pythonist with some penetration testing chops, then this module serves as a perfect ending to your search for some hands-on experience in pentesting.

2016, Christopher Duffy et al., Python: Penetration Testing for Developers, Packt Publishing Ltd

Former Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Senator Tim Scott have governing chops and personal appeal, and they have been shrewd about keeping Trump at a distance without seeming to attack him, but they are relative newbies and unknown quantities in national politics—high-risk propositions against an incumbent.

2023 August 16, Jonathan Rauch, “Why Not Pence?”, in The Atlantic

His portfolio expanded as he honed his SEO chops—he was assigned to the Ubisoft account to help launch an Assassin’s Creed title, for example, and he produced YouTube content for Telemundo during the 2018 World Cup.

2023 October 19, Brendan I. Koerner, “Watch This Guy Work, and You’ll Finally Understand the TikTok Era”, in Wired, →ISSN

(informal, by extension) One's skill at any endeavor; ability, talent; competency.


sylph

First attested in 1657. From New Latin sylphes, coined by Paracelsus in the 16th century. The coinage may derive from Latin sylvestris (“of the woods”) and nympha (“nymph”). Ultimately from the root silva (“woods, forest”). Related to sylvan.
More at Wikipedia.

(by extension) A slender woman or girl, usually graceful and sometimes with the implication of sublime station over everyday people.


spangle

The noun is derived from Middle English spangel (“small piece of ornamental metal, spangle; small ornament”) [and other forms], from spang (“small piece of ornamental metal, spangle; small ornament; type of bowl or cup”) + -el (diminutive suffix). Spang is derived from Middle Dutch spange, spaenge (“buckle, clasp; brooch; spangle”) (modern Dutch spang (“clasp; hook; metal hairband; metal pin”)), from Middle Low German spangel (“small chain or clasp”), from Proto-Germanic *spangō (“brooch; clasp”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)penh₁- (“to twist; to weave”). The English word is analysable as spang + -le (diminutive suffix).
The verb is derived from the noun.

nb...

spancle, spangele, spangell, spangelle, spangyll

der

A point of light; also (rare), a glitter, a sparkle.

In the male [mille fleur booted bantam] the general plumage color is red with the tip of each feather ending in a V-shaped, white spangle which is separated from the red portion of the feather by a black bar. […] The wing bows are also red, tipped with white spangles.

1942 January, M[orley] A. Jull, “Ornamental Bantam Class”, in Standard Breeds and Varieties of Chickens. II. Ornamental and Game Classes (Farmers’ Bulletin; no. 1507), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Agriculture; U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 33

The Golden-Spangled Hamburg has an attractive pattern, the plumage over the body being golden bay, each feather ending with an elongated, greenish-black spangle. […] The spangles of the wing coverts should form two distinct, parallel bars across the wings.

1954 March, “Ornamental Bantam Class”, in Ornamental and Game Breeds of Chickens (Farmers’ Bulletin; no. 2066), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Agriculture; U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 6

In summer, mated female wasps deposit large numbers of eggs in the tissue on the underside of expanded oak leaves, inducing the formation of characteristic spangle galls. […] Spangle galls often occur in vast numbers, and cause spotting of the foliage, visible from above. However, infested trees are seldom if ever harmed.

2012, David V. Alford, “Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Sawflies and Wasps)”, in Pests of Ornamental Trees, Shrubs and Flowers: A Color Handbook, 2nd edition, Waltham, Mass., San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press, page 400, column 1

A speckle or spot, especially on the body of an animal.


shark bait

Holden's heart was loud enough to deafen him. He couldn't go against a mage of the power. No one could, no one could ever survive. One word and he was shark-bait.

2011, Julia Knight, Ten Ruby Trick, Toronto: Carina Press

I usually tried to cheer Pete up; this time he was dragging me down with him into his bottomless depths of despair. I simply could not accept the general newsroom consensus that Ryan was shark bait.

2014, Edna Buchanan, The Britt Montero Series, omnibus edition, New York, N.Y.: Diversion Books

(humorous, by extension) One who is in a precarious or vulnerable position; a dead duck.


carpetbagger

/ˈkɑɹpɪtˌbæɡɚ/

/ˈkɑːpɪtˌbaɡə/

From carpetbag + -er, because many carried their belongings in cheap luggage made from carpet fabric.

By the tenth century, out of the diversity of these Christianized Anglo-Saxon kingdoms emerged one of the most coherent political units in Europe, a single monarchy of England, with a precociously centralized government which eventually fell like a ripe plum into the grateful hands of Norman carpetbaggers in 1066.

2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 339

A large number of estates, and all the most important offices, were taken over by incoming Russian officials, adventurers and carpetbaggers. At the head of them were figures like General Alexander Rimsky Korsakov (1753–1840),[…]

2012 January 5, Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms: The Rise and Fall of States and Nations, Penguin

(derogatory, by extension) One who comes to a place or organisation with which they have no previous connection with the sole or primary aim of personal gain, especially political or financial gain.

opportuniste

One who comes to a place or organisation primarily or solely for personal gain


faker

faker: A friendly track acting as a hostile for exercise purposes. (STANAG 1241)

2011, APP-6C: NATO Joint Military Symbology, page 555

(military, by extension) A friendly unit (usually aircraft) that acts as a hostile unit in a military exercise.


gremlin

Oxford English Dictionary
Roald Dahl
The Gremlins

Uncertain; the following etymologies have been suggested:
* A variant of goblin.
* From Irish gruaimín (“gloomy little person”); or from Dutch gremmelen (“to soil, stain; to spoil”), or griemelen, grimmelen (“(obsolete) to abound, teem; to swarm”), but according to the Oxford English Dictionary there is little evidence for such derivations.
The word was popularized, especially in the United States, by the children’s novel The Gremlins (1943) by the British author Roald Dahl (1916–1990), in which gremlins sabotage Royal Air Force aircraft in revenge for the destruction of their forest home to make way for an aircraft factory; the creatures later join forces with the British to fight the Nazis.

We rechecked everything, and we suspect gremlins in the database.

Any mysterious, unknown source of mischief or trouble, or the problem created thereby.

häikkä

any mysterious, unknown source of mischief or trouble, or the problem created thereby

(surfing, skateboarding, slang) A young, inexperienced surfer or skateboarder, regarded as a nuisance.

keltanokka

young, inexperienced surfer, seen as being a nuisance


valency

en-noun

valency (countable and uncountable, plural valencies)

From Late Latin valentia and Latin valentia (“bodily strength; health; vigour”) + English -y (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting a condition, quality, or state). Valentia is derived from valēns (“healthy, strong, vigorous”) + -ia (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns); while valēns is the present active participle of valeō (“to be healthy, sound, or well; to be strong; to have influence or power, etc.”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“to rule; powerful, strong”).
Sense 1 (“combining capacity of an atom”) and sense 3 (“number of arguments a verb can have”) are possibly from valence + -y.

der

vaccine valency

Some etymons appear to have greater valency than others when it comes to the formation of portmanteau words.

2018, James Lambert, “A Multitude of ‘Lishes’: The Nomenclature of Hybridity”, in English World-Wide, page 10

The rationale behind GSK's buy is that bigger is better, in terms of vaccine valency. It has been shown that including more disease-causing serotypes decreases the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease. To this end, Pfizer and Merck last year got the nod for 20-valent and 15-valent vaccines respectively. Affinivax's AFX3772, meanwhile, is a 24-valent jab.

2022 May 31, Madeleine Armstrong, “GSK goes back to its vaccine bread and butter”, in Evaluate Vantage, retrieved 2023-05-09

(countable, chemistry) Alternative form of valence (“the combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical determined by the number of atoms of hydrogen with which it will unite, or the number of electrons that it will gain, lose, or share when it combines with other atoms, etc.”)

(uncountable, by extension) The capacity of something to combine with other things, as for example the capability of a vaccine as measured by the number of pathogen serotypes that it can counteract.


Rolodex

Blend of rolling + index; a brand name, originally part of a range including other items such as the Autodex and Clipodex.

(by extension) A large list or category (of something specified).


guessing game

(by extension) A situation in which there is insufficient information, requiring participants to rely on conjecture.


penthouse

From Anglo-Norman pentiz (“pentice”), from apendiz (“appentice”), ultimately from a suffixed form of Latin appendō (“I append”). Altered by folk etymology to appear to be a compound of house. Doublet of appentice and pentice.

The proboscis […] is doubled up by means of the joint, and in that position lies secure under a scaly penthouse.

1802, William Paley, Natural Theology, section XIX

(by extension, now rare) Something forming a shelter or canopy over something; an awning, shelter, etc.


madhouse

(by extension) A chaotic, uproarious, noisy place.


canvass

en-verb

canvass (third-person singular simple present canvasses, present participle canvassing, simple past and past participle canvassed)

canvasses (present singular third-person)
canvassing (participle present)
canvassed (participle past)
canvassed (past)

The verb is derived from canvas (“type of coarse cloth woven from hemp”). The connection between “to toss (someone) in a (canvas) sheet; (by extension) to batter, beat, or thrash (someone or something); etc.” and “to seek the support of voters or a constituency in a forthcoming election or poll” is not entirely clear.
The noun is derived from the verb. It has been suggested that noun sense 4.2 (“rejection (at an election, of a suit, etc.)”) may refer to the canvas bag used by journeymen mechanics which they used to pack up their tools after they had completed their jobs, in which case it is not derived from the verb but directly from canvas (noun).

nb...

Now First Collected; with Notes by the Late William Gifford, Esq. and Additional Notes, and Some Account of Shirley and His Writings, by the Rev. Alexander Dyce. In Six Volumes.

(by extension, politics, obsolete except US, Philippines) To scrutinize (the ballot in an election or the votes cast) and reject irregular votes; also, to challenge or dispute (an election result).

(by extension) To batter, beat, or thrash (someone or something).

(by extension) To assail or attack (someone or something).

(by extension) To severely criticize (a person, a written work, etc.).


irruption

en-noun

irruption (countable and uncountable, plural irruptions)

From Middle French irruption, from Latin irruptio.

How can we explain this irruption of young people self-identifying as socialists?

(by extension) An abrupt increase in the size of a movement or organization.


tropical year

small Solar System body
small Solar System body

(by extension) The time it takes for any astronomical object (such as a planet, dwarf planet, small Solar System body, or comet) in direct orbit around a star (such as the Sun) to make one revolution around the star, taking into account orbital precession.


soufflé

en-verb

soufflé (third-person singular simple present soufflés, present participle souffléing, simple past and past participle souffléed or souffléd)

soufflés (present singular third-person)
souffléing (participle present)
souffléed (participle past)
souffléed (past)
souffléd (participle past)
souffléd (past)

Unadapted borrowing from French soufflé, from souffler (“to puff”).

The July Revolution's promises have been fricasseed, liberties ground into salamis, the budget souffléd, republicans put up as marmalade, public order fried, politesse burned, and glory boiled.

2010, Amy Wiese Forbes, The Satiric Decade, page 180

Case pictured his pasty-faced mother talking her way out of being souffléd alive by pasty-faced nasties.

2011, Frank Omar, Me...And the Undead, page 94

Wild thoughts ran through Jessica's mind – had she been kidnapped, abducted, souffléd by Syrians? – before the voices at the front door carried.

2017, Jamie Bernthal, Jessica Brick Investigates, page 47

Donovan looked for a place to throw Ivan and Ivan could sense this, but he wasn't excited about getting souffléd onto a wooden floor.

2018, T. Edwin Robertson, Wrestler II, page 110

But it is hard not to smile when you are having fun, including while you are in midair a er being body-locked, halfway through the process of being suplexed (more like souffléd in my case) by an extremely competent opponent twenty years younger and twenty pounds heavier.

2022, Joseph Bruchac, A Year of Moons: Stories From The Adirondack Foothills

(transitive, figurative, by extension) To treat analogously to the way one prepares a soufflé.

Designed by Shannon Rodgers for Jerry Silverman, in ivory souffléd wool tweed.

The fabrics — some 25,000 yards of them — form an extraordinary collection, ranging from 69¢ domestic cottons to souffléd mohairs, Hong Kong silks and haute couture fabrics from the Rue de la Paix .

1965, Cue: The Weekly Magazine of New York Life, page 14

Suddenly faces go beautifully frail (not pale) – with a delicious new kind of makeup: the sheerest fluff of souffléd color-in-creme!

1965, Mademoiselle: The Magazine for the Smart Young Woman vol 61, page 36

She was tall and slim, with short reddish hair souffléd into a bob.

2008, Jancee Dunn, Don't You Forget About Me, page 77

At floor height, I see people I recognize, but it takes a moment because they are all dressed in formal evening wear, their makeup done, their permed hair souffléd into intricate styles.

To give a light, airy, and/or fluffy texture to, especially if done by whipping or blowing.

Feeling that he must bring his subject down to the level of a layman's comprehension, the author has outdone himself in preparing a style picturesque and souffléd enough to do the trick requested.

And if you want to meditate on social significances, ask yourself what America would be like if our natural Angloid heaviness of temper had not been fermented and souffléd by such diverse racial strains?

1940, Book-of-the-Month Club News, page 4

The madness is a sort of souffléd Hellzapoppin, of light jolts and quick surprises.

1958, Briton Hadden, Henry Robinson Luce, Time - Volume 72, page 80

This period also saw the triumph of the operetta, which satirized and souffléd the tragic love plots of grand opera.

1998, Sally Banes, “The Romantic Ballet”, in Dancing Women: Female Bodies on Stage, London, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, section “Coppélia and the “decline” of French nineteenth-century ballet”, page 36

To make lighthearted, witty, or whimsical.

Not a rite-of-passage rash-and-fever, not a week eating ice cream on the sofa, this was not chickenpox but a biblical plague the month before he turned two, his skinny frame covered entire with pennysized bulbs sagging, fat with neon green pus, as though he had been mummified in bubble wrap, victim of the world's bees, skin around the pustules souffléd with red welts, coat of monstrous nipples.

The long polished table like the deck of his uncle Hugo's yacht, the partridge with bread sauce, the club claret, the white heads in black tie, the souffléd features of accountants, lawyers, civil servants, bankers, teachers, all scrambling to recall each other's nicknames for the chance to voice them once again.


lewis

From Middle English lewis, of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old French lous, plural of lou, loup (“the name of a kind of siege engine”, literally “wolf”); or related to clevis.

(by extension, figurative) The son of a Freemason, envisaged as assisting his father in heavy work or in old age.


seesaw

seesaw (third-person singular simple present seesaws, present participle seesawing, simple past and past participle seesawed)

seesaws (present singular third-person)
seesawing (participle present)
seesawed (participle past)
seesawed (past)

Probably a frequentative imitative of rhythmic back-and-forth, up-and-down or zigzagging motion, such as teeter-totter, zigzag, flip-flop, ping pong, etc., under the umbrella term of reduplication; also likely influenced by the verbs see and saw of either present or past tense.

onomatopoeic

imitative

When I think of your kisses / My mind see-saws

1971, “All I Want”, in Blue, performed by Joni Mitchell

(intransitive, by extension) To fluctuate.


cataphile

PIE word
 *ḱóm
Borrowed from French cataphile, a blend of catacombe (“catacomb”) + -phile (suffix denoting one who loves a thing).

blend

Urban exploration has many subcultures, each with its own fetishes and slang. There are rooftoppers, builderers, cataphiles and those with a taste for "ruin porn" – artfully lit photos of decaying masonry and Rorschach water stains.

2013 December 2, Peter Ross, “Exploring derelict Scotland with urban explorers”, in The Scotsman, Edinburgh: The Scotsman Publications, JPIMedia Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-06-18

(by extension) An individual who explores subterranean catacombs, mines, or quarries.


chieftain

From Middle English cheveteyn, cheftayne, from Old French chevetaine, from Late Latin capitaneus (English captain), from Latin caput (“head”), from Proto-Indo-European *kauput- (English head), itself from Proto-Indo-European *kap-. Doublet of captain and chief.

The robber chieftain divided up the spoils.

bendeleider

A leader of a group, e.g. a robbers' chieftain


distil

en-verb

distil (third-person singular simple present distils, present participle distilling, simple past and past participle distilled)

distils (present singular third-person)
distilling (participle present)
distilled (participle past)
distilled (past)

PIE word
 *de
From Late Middle English distillen (“to fall, flow, or shed in drops, drop, trickle; to shed drops; to fill (the eyes) with tears; (alchemy, medicine) to subject (something) to distillation; to obtain (something) using distillation; to distil; to condense or vaporize; (figuratively) to give (good fortune) to; to say (slanderous words)”) [and other forms], from Old French distiller (modern French distiller (“to distil”)), and from its etymon Latin distīllāre, a variant of Latin dēstīllāre, the present active infinitive of dēstīllō (“to drip or trickle down; to distil”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘down, down from, down to’) + stīllō (“to drip, drop, trickle; to distil”) (from stīlla (“drop of liquid; (figuratively) small quantity”), probably a diminutive of stīria (“ice drop; icicle”), from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“stiff”)).
cognates
* French distiller (“to distil”)
* Italian distillare (“to distil”)
* Occitan distillar
* Portuguese destilar (“to distil; to drip”)
* Spanish destilar (“to distil; to exude; to filter”)

nb...

destillen, destylle, distall, distill, distille, dystyll

cog

(by extension, figuratively) To impart (information, etc.) in small quantities; to infuse.


write out

en-verb

write out (third-person singular simple present writes out, present participle writing out, simple past wrote out, past participle written out)

writes out (present singular third-person)
writing out (participle present)
wrote out (past)
written out (participle past)

The temperance movement was driven by women, but we let ourselves be written out of that because it gave us a bad name.

2018 April 11, Zoe Williams, “What's the best way to get written out of history? Be a middle-aged woman”, in The Guardian

Chinese Railroad Workers Were Almost Written Out of History. [title]

2019 May 14, Karen Zraick, Chang W. Lee, “Chinese Railroad Workers Were Almost Written Out of History. Now They’re Getting Their Due.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

(transitive, by extension) To exclude someone from a narrative or history.


indy

From Indianapolis (“location of major car race”).

(by extension, motor racing, automotive) An open-wheel open-cockpit single-seat racecar

Coordinate term: grand prix

(by extension, motor racing) A motorcar race that uses this type of car


diapason

Borrowed from Latin diapason, from Ancient Greek διαπασῶν (diapasôn), that is διά (diá, “through”) + πασῶν (pasôn, “all”) (χορδῶν (khordôn, “notes”)), “through all (notes)”.

(by extension, literary) The range or scope of something, especially of notes in a scale, or of a particular musical instrument.

диапазо́н

the range or scope of something, especially of notes in a scale, or of a particular musical instrument


bedded in

(by extension, of a system) that has been used for some time, and minor bugs have been removed and small improvements added


favonian

en-adj

favonian (comparative more favonian, superlative most favonian)

more favonian (comparative)
most favonian (superlative)

/fəˈvəʊnɪən/

Borrowed from Latin favōniānus, from Favōnius (“the West Wind”), which heralded the beginning of spring.


arabesque

/ˌæɹ.əˈbɛsk/

/ˌæɹ.əˈbɛsk/

Borrowed from French arabesque, from Italian arabesco, from arabo (“Arab”). By surface analysis, Arab + -esque.

For a man who condemned worldly pleasures he ate with elegance. She loved to watch the arabesque of fingers and two forks.

1995, Gregory Maguire, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, 25th Anniversary edition, William Morrow, published 2020, pages 8–9

In characterizing some of his tales as 'Arabesque', Poe intended no specific reference to the Arab manner of telling stories. He only used the term to refer to intricately patterned tales (intricate as the design of an oriental carpet) in which the centre of interest lay in the cunningly crafted plot, […]

2003, Robert Irwin, The Arabian Nights: A Companion, page 210

(by extension, attributively) Elaborate or ornate creations in general.


hidden variable

en-noun

hidden variable (plural hidden variables)

We do not perceive any physical cause of another’s actions but use our understanding of their inner state as a hidden causal variable for their behaviors. This involves a detachment of perceptual similarity from causal similarities so that the mental factors of ToM form a class of hidden variables that we add to our perception to understand causal relations in a social context.

2023 May 22, Peter Gärdenfors, Marlize Lombard, “The Evolution of Human Causal Cognition”, in Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Archaeology, Oxford University Press, →DOI, pages 277–298

(figurative, loosely) An implicitly assumed influence.


indaba

Borrowed from Zulu índaba (“affair, issue, matter; piece of news; story”), from ín- (class 9 noun prefix) + -daɓa (stem meaning ‘affair, matter’).

bor

(by extension) Any conference, discussion, or meeting.

(by extension, scouting) An international conference of Scout leaders.


portfolio

desc

→ Portuguese: portfólio, portfolio, portefólio (Portugal)

/pɔːtˈfəʊ.liˌəʊ/

From Italian portafoglio; cognate with French portefeuille (“folder, wallet”), from Latin portāre (“to carry”) and folium (“sheet”). The meaning "collection of responsibilities" came by extension in the 1930s.

(by extension) The collection of such documents, especially the works of an artist or photographer.


ticking-over

(by extension) doing a gentle amount of work


thundercloud

the ominous thunderclouds of war

(by extension, figurative) Something menacing and brooding.


lustrum

refn

From the collection of the Louvre in Paris, France.

We puſh Time from us, and we wiſh Him back; / Laviſh of Luſtrums, and yet fond of Life; / Life we think long, and ſhort; Death ſeek, and ſhun; […]

1742–1745, [Edward Young], “Night the Second. On Time, Death, Friendship. Humbly Inscrib’d to the Right Honourable the Earl of Wilmington.”, in The Complaint: Or, Night-thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality, London: Printed for A[ndrew] Millar […], and R[obert] Dodsley […], published 1750, →OCLC, page 29, lines 172–174

Thus passed away two lustra of her life, and, as yet, my daughter remained nameless upon the earth. "My child," and "my love," were the designations usually prompted by a father's affection, and the rigid seclusion of her days precluded all other intercourse. Morella's name died with her at her death. Of the mother I had never spoken to the daughter;—it was impossible to speak.

1835 April, Edgar Allan Poe, “Morella”, in The Southern Literary Messenger: Devoted to Every Department of Literature, and the Fine Arts, Richmond, Va.: T. W. White, →OCLC; republished in The Works of Edgar Allan Poe: In Four Volumes, volume I, New York, N.Y.: W. J. Widdleton, publisher, 1849, →OCLC, page 473

I am hardly, if I do not deceive myself, twenty years old, and already, dearest Rosamunda, there weigh upon my existence twenty lustrums, and of these twenty lustrums I have drunk the bitterness of intranquility even to the dregs, without having done more than touched with my lips the joy of the first days of my childhood beside you.

1852, Adadus Calpe [pseudonym; Antonio Diodoro de Pascual], chapter XIV, in Henry Edgar, transl., The Two Fathers. An Unpublished Original Spanish Work. … Translated into the English Language by the Author, and Henry Edgar. Part Second: Hector Alone, New York, N.Y.: Stringer & Townsend, publishers, […]; George P[almer] Putnam, […], →OCLC, page 189

Q. Now, sir, if you would be so kind as to guess upon his age. / A. Forty five years are certain. I would guess a lustrum more.

1985, John Fowles, A Maggot, London: Jonathan Cape

(by extension, literary) Synonym of quinquennium: Any 5-year period.


assimilation

en-noun

assimilation (countable and uncountable, plural assimilations)

/əˌsɪməˈleɪʃən/

Borrowed from Medieval Latin assimilatio. By surface analysis, assimilate + -ion.

(by extension) The absorption of new ideas into an existing cognitive structure.


strut

en-verb

strut (third-person singular simple present struts, present participle strutting, simple past and past participle strutted)

struts (present singular third-person)
strutting (participle present)
strutted (participle past)
strutted (past)
strut (infinitive)

The verb is derived from Middle English strouten, struten (“to bulge, swell; to protrude, stick out; to bluster, threaten; to object forcefully; to create a disturbance; to fight; to display one's clothes in a proud or vain manner”) [and other forms], from Old English strūtian (“to project out; stand out stiffly; to exert oneself, struggle”), from Proto-Germanic *strūtōną, *strūtijaną (“to be puffed up, swell”), from Proto-Indo-European *streudʰ- (“rigid, stiff”), from *(s)ter- (“firm; strong; rigid, stiff”).
The English word is cognate with Danish strutte (“to bulge, bristle”), Low German strutt (“stiff”), Middle High German striuzen (“to bristle; to ruffle”) (modern German strotzen (“to bristle up”), sträußen (obsolete, except in Alemannic)); and compare Gothic 𐌸𐍂𐌿𐍄𐍃𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌻 (þrutsfill, “leprosy”), Old Norse þrútinn (“swollen”).
The noun is derived from the verb. Noun sense 2 (“instrument for adjusting the pleats of a ruff”) appears to be due to a misreading of a 16th-century work which used the word stroout (strouted (“caused (something) to bulge, protrude, or swell; strutted”)).

nb...

strote, stroute, strouʒten, strowte, strut, strute

cog

He strutted about the yard, thinking himself master of all he surveyed.

[...] I trow it is enough to make a man forswear the very mother that bore him, and to wish that he had never had one, when one is cooped up in a gloomy hole like this, to watch a door within which strutteth a jackanapes too proud to speak civil to those that approach him.

1850, Thomas Cooper, chapter XX, in Captain Cobler; or, The Lincolnshire Rebellion: An Historical Romance of the Reign of Henry VIII, London: J[ames] Watson, […], →OCLC, page 191

"With Mosaic cheers unglutted, / Stood he in this vast abode; / As thou struttest, so he strutted, / As thou crowest, so he crow'd— / He the well-beloved of Hansard, / Is he kin, sweet bird, to you?" / But the valiant bantam answer'd— / "Cock-a-doodle-doodle-doo!"

1857 May, “[Lays of the Elections. By Various Rejected Contributors.] The Cock of the Hustings.”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume LXXXI, number CCCCXCIX (American edition, volume XLIV, number 5), New York, N.Y.: Published by the Leonard Scott & Co., […], →OCLC, page 632

Hast thou nor shame, nor modesty, nor fear? / That thus thou struttest in the face of God, / Spreading thy peacock's feathers, with their gleam?

1867, Peter Macmorland, “A Preacher.—I. Sonnet.”, in Sabbath, an Ode: With Poems Suited to the Communion Season, 2nd edition, Edinburgh: H. Cameron, […], →OCLC, stanza 2, page 87

[...] I recognise the two Miss Boulters, the acknowledged queens of Welby society, each of whom has managed to secure a cavalier for escort; Margaret Watson flounces by with young Boulter, a stout, florid youth with an insinuating eye; Jo and Charlotte strut out together arm in arm with a funny imitation of their elders.

1888 September, [Amy Levy], “Griselda”, in Temple Bar: […] A London Magazine for Town and Country Readers, volume LXXXIV, London: Richard Bentley & Son, […]; New York, N.Y.: Willmer and Rogers; Paris: Galignani, →OCLC, chapter II (A Welby Festival), page 73

(intransitive, by extension, also figuratively) To walk haughtily or proudly with one's head held high.

Taking you and your colleagues as the model of modern times, I should almost fear that the John Bull of former days was as different from the John Bull of the present time, as is a broad-shouldered, fearless Highlandman from the dapper cockney who struts the Park by the side of his fellow-milliner.

1827, S[olomon] Atkinson, The Effects of the New System of Free Trade upon Our Shipping, Colonies & Commerce, Exposed in a Letter to the Right Hon. W[illiam] Huskisson, President of the Board of Trade, London: James Ridgeway, […], →OCLC, page 46

The frantic father struts the stage, / And swells with true sublimity of rage / Against his son, who leads a wanton life, / And scorns the offer of a dowried wife.

1838, Horace, “Satire IV”, in David Hunter, transl., The Satires and Epistles of Horace, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], →OCLC, book I, pages 20–21, lines 63–66

Still garbed in notions wont to gird / Minds in the reign of George the Third, / He strutteth an embodied tameness / In a sober suit of sameness.

1868, P. F. Roe, “Rhythmical Etchings of Character. No. III. Thomas Trite, Esquire.”, in Poems: Characteristic, Itinerary, and Miscellaneous, London: John Camden Hotten, […], →OCLC, page 51

(transitive, by extension) To walk across or on (a stage or other place) haughtily or proudly.


biddy

Derived from Biddy, diminutive form of Bridget. It became a generic name for an Irish maid (US), and then for an old woman.

(by extension, derogatory) An Irishwoman.


Punchinello

en-proper noun

Punchinello (plural Punchinellos or Punchinelloes)

Punchinellos (plural)
Punchinelloes (plural)

/ˌpʌnt͡ʃɪˈnɛləʊ/

From Italian Pulcinella or Neapolitan Pulecenella, of uncertain origin (see the Italian entry).

(by extension) Somebody who resembles this character; a grotesque buffoon.


rear-view mirror

en-noun

rear-view mirror (plural rear-view mirrors)

Guilt is a powerful emotion in the moment, but it's easy to ignore once it's in the rear-view mirror.

(figurative, by extension) The observer's perception of something that is past or has been surpassed.


time trial

(by extension) Any competitive event in which competitors are timed rather than racing against each other.


tittle

From Middle English tytle, titel, titele, from Anglo-Norman titil, titule and Medieval Latin titulus (“small stroke, diacritical mark, accent”), from Latin titulus (“title”). Doublet of tilde, titer/titre, title, titlo, and titulus.

doublet

I am living fast to see the time when a book that misses its tide shall be neglected, as the moon by day, or like mackerel a week after the season. No man has more nicely observed our climate than the bookseller who bought the copy of this work; he knows to a tittle what subjects will best go off in a dry year, and which it is proper to expose foremost when the weather-glass is fallen to much rain.

(by extension) A small, insignificant amount (of something); a modicum or speck.


throw down

en-verb

throw down (third-person singular simple present throws down, present participle throwing down, simple past threw down, past participle thrown down)

throws down (present singular third-person)
throwing down (participle present)
threw down (past)
thrown down (participle past)

US, popularized 1970s in street culture, from idiom throw down the gauntlet (“to issue a challenge”), used in sense “to fight, to incite a fight, to make a stand” or otherwise get about partying with abandon (first used by Jay Johnson in Detroit in 1978 - taken nationally by Cecil Franklin, manager/brother of Aretha Franklin).
Sense of “accomplish something respectable” evolved from sense “to make a stand, to exhibit, to demonstrate (in a challenging way)” inherent in the fighting sense.
Sense of “to make a contribution” likely influenced by sense “to make a stand”, as in “are you in?”, “will you stand up and contribute?”

Yeah, they could literally throw down. When their sound came out, it was earth-shaking.

1997, Richard C. Green, Soul: Black Power, Politics, and Pleasure, page 93

“You're performing for the who's who of radio and records at the Soul Train Awards tonight and you've got to throw down”.

1998, Sheila Copeland, Chocolate Star, page 260

(slang, idiomatic, intransitive, by extension) to accomplish or produce something in a grand, respectable, or successful manner; to "represent".


birthplace

Coney Island was the birthplace of the hot dog.

(by extension) The location where something was created or devised.


pyrex

(by extension) Any glass capable of withstanding high temperatures, such as tempered glass suitable for cooking


chiastic

en-adj

chiastic (comparative more chiastic, superlative most chiastic)

more chiastic (comparative)
most chiastic (superlative)

A chiastic⁹⁸ plotting of the passage illustrates beyond doubt that the disciple has to be identified with the Master.

1986, Xavier Léon-Dufour, translated by Terrence Prendergast, Life and Death in the New Testament, Harper & Row, page 112

Immediately one realizes that Bonjour's and Braunmuller's idea of chiastic plotting in King John bears no resemblance to the standard definition of rhetorical chiasmus: the falling character King John and the rising character Philip Faulconbridge could theoretically be said to cross paths at one point[…].

2003, Shakespearean Criticism, Volume 78, Gale Research, page 52

(by extension) Pertaining to the position of two things relative to one another.


brevet

Inherited from the Middle English brevet (“official letter”), from the Anglo-Norman diminutive of bref (“letter”), from the Latin brevis (“short”), whence brief.

inh

seal of approval
seal of approval#English

A warrant from the government, granting a privilege, title, or dignity, as in France.

(by extension) An authoritative grant or mark of recognition; a seal of approval.


heuristics

From heuristic, from German heuristisch, from New Latin heuristicus by irregular formation from Ancient Greek εὑρίσκω (heurískō, “I discover”).

der

(psychology, by extension) Simple, efficient rules which people often use to form judgments and make decisions.

(engineering, by extension) Experience-based methods used to reduce the need for calculations pertaining to equipment size, performance, or operating conditions.


airhead

From air + head (“foremost, topmost, or leading part”), sense 1 (“area of hostile territory seized for use as an airbase”) by analogy with beachhead and bridgehead.

compound

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

(by extension) A (usually temporary) landing area for aircraft for supplying a non-military operation.


signing

Early goals from summer signings Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Andre Santos proved enough to give Arsenal a narrow win over Olympiakos.

2011 September 28, Tom Rostance, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Olympiakos”, in BBC Sport

(by extension) A player signed by a sporting organization.


Hottentot

Borrowed from Dutch Hottentot, its first known use in Dutch being in the 1650s. The third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary concluded in 2008 that hottentot came into English in the seventeenth century. But it finds that no definitive etymology of Dutch hottentot can so far be given:
A very large number of different etymologies for the name have been suggested ... The most frequently repeated suggestion ... is that the word was a spec. use of a formally identical Dutch word meaning ‘stammerer, stutterer’, which came to be applied to the Khoekhoe and San people on account of the clicks characteristic of their languages. However, evidence for the earlier general use appears to be lacking. Another frequent suggestion is that the people were so named after one or more words which early European visitors to southern Africa heard in chants accompanying dances of the Khoekhoe or San ... but the alleged chant is rendered in different ways in different 17th-cent. sources, and some of the accounts may be based on hearsay rather than first-hand knowledge.
It does seem clear, however, that hottentot was an exonym, that is, not the Khoikhoi's own name for themselves but rather a foreign term applied to them.

The Hottentots (Khoisan peoples) once an independent nation but whose simple tribal system had disintegrated rapidly as they were relentlessly displaced from their traditional grazing grounds and driven deep into the still uninhabited interior […]

1978, Patricia Storrar, Portrait of Plettenberg Bay

The Hottentots (Khoisan) of either sex, young and old, who were in the boor's service, always choose to sleep in the fireplace.

The Dutch colonists in this frontier district, two years after an uprising of the Khoisan (“Hottentots”), were wary of the newly installed British regime at the Cape of Good Hope.

2012, Richard Elphick, The Equality of Believers: Protestant Missionaries and the Racial Politics of South Africa, University of Virginia Press

First, in 1828, all legal disabilities on the free people of colour, particularly the Khoisan [Hottentots], were removed by Ordinance 50.

2014, Patrick Brantlinger, Dark Vanishings: Discourse on the Extinction of Primitive Races, 1800–1930, Cornell University Press

(archaic, loosely, now offensive) A member of the broader Khoisan group of peoples.


tranquilizer

(pharmacology) A drug used to reduce anxiety or tension.

(loosely) A gun that fires sedative darts.


gardening

en-noun

gardening (usually uncountable, plural gardenings)

wiki gardening

digital gardening

Several special pages help with the wiki gardening task:¶ ❑ Uncategorized pages (Special:Uncategorizedpages): These are pages that do not have one or more categories assigned. Use this page to ensure that all pages are categorized.

2008, Mark S. Choate, Professional Wikis, John Wiley & Sons, page 171

Tom Critchlow, a consultant who has been cultivating his digital garden for years, spells out the main difference between old-school blogging and digital gardening.

2020 September 3, Tanya Basu, “Digital gardens let you cultivate your own little bit of the internet”, in MIT Technology Review

(by extension) Any process of care, maintenance, or curation, especially digitally.


sucking

(archaic, by extension, figurative) Young and inexperienced.


beaner

From bean + -er. Literally "a person who eats beans".
Beans are a staple of Mexican cuisine.

(US, ethnic slur, offensive, by extension) Any Hispanic person.


beaner

From bean + -er; see bean (“(slang) head”).

Any ideas on how I could solve this problem? This seems to be beyond what my beaner can solve right now....I hope all this work wasn't for nothing!

2001 October 2, William, “Capturing Group Therapy Hours?”, in microsoft.public.access.forms (Usenet)

I know what picture yer referring to, but I didn't have a problem with that because the fundamentals of reactance have been in my beaner since I was a teen.

2004 April 30, Active8 [username], “Re: Smith Chart question”, in sci.electronics.design (Usenet)

Before Chester could compose himself, the Bombshell leaned over and planted a ruby red smackaroo right on top of his bald spot. Chester Cranepool had had a few things hit him on top of his head before, but nothing that felt that good. Looking like a Franciscan monk with a bullseye on his beaner, Chester simply said, “Bless you, my child.”

2011, Mike Griffin, Tales of the Lost Flamingo, AuthorHouse, published 2011, page 159


chambers

From chamber + -s (suffix forming pluralia tantum and regular plurals of nouns, and the third-person singular simple present indicative forms of verbs).

suffix

Chiefly in in chambers: a judge's private office which is used for hearings that do not need to be held in open court.

tuomarin toimisto

judge’s private office which is used for hearings that do not need to be held in open court

(British) Originally, a set of rooms at an Inn of Court used by one or more barristers as an office and residence; now, the office of one or more barristers in any building.

asianajajan toimisto

originally, a set of rooms at an Inn of Court used by one or more barristers as an office and residence; now, the office of one or more barristers in any building


box office

en-noun

box office (countable and uncountable, plural box offices)

1786, presumably from sales of boxes, box seats (“separated private seating”). Sense of “total sales” from 1904.
Folk etymology is that this derives from Elizabethan theatre, where theater admission was collected in a box attached to a long stick, passed around the audience. However, first attestation is over a century later (theaters were closed in 1642), making this highly unlikely.

If any further insurance was required, the popularity of the three "Topper" films in the 1930s — based on Thorne Smith's characters — would seem to indicate that amusing ghosts made good box office.

2005, Barry Day, Coward on Film: The Cinema of Noël Coward, page 88

(uncountable, by extension, film) The total amount of money paid by people worldwide to watch a movie at cinemas/movie theaters.


manna

manna (countable and uncountable, plural mannas)

From Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin manna, from Ancient Greek μάννα (mánna), from Hebrew מן (mān, “'manna”).

Australian manna

from Eucalyptus viminalis, E. gunnii, E. pulverulenta

manna mealybug

Trabutina crassispinosa or Trabutina mannipara

The introduction of technical progress in this model can be made in a very simple manner if we assume that it is of the ‘disembodied’ type, that is, something like manna that falls from heaven on all capital goods, old and new. [emphasis in original]

2010, Giancarlo Gandolfo, Economic Dynamics, 4th edition, Springer, page 197f

(by extension) Any boon which comes into one's hands by good luck.


war chest

(by extension) A fund for some special purpose, such as a political campaign


swoon

en-verb

swoon (third-person singular simple present swoons, present participle swooning, simple past and past participle swooned)

swoons (present singular third-person)
swooning (participle present)
swooned (participle past)
swooned (past)

From Middle English swounen, swonen (“to faint”), and aswoune (“in a swoon”), both ultimately from Old English ġeswōgen (“insensible, senseless, dead”), past participle of swōgan (“to make a sound, overrun, suffocate”) (compare Old English āswōgan (“to cover over, overcome”)), from Proto-West Germanic *swōgan, from Proto-Germanic *swōganą (“to make a noise”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weh₂gʰ-.
Cognate with Low German swogen (“to sigh, groan”), Dutch zwoegen (“to groan, breathe heavily”), dialectal Norwegian søgja (“to whistle, hum, talk loudly”). More at sough.

cog

(by extension) To be overwhelmed by emotion, especially infatuation.


knee-deep

From Middle English kne-depe; equivalent to knee + deep.

By the time Tracey arrived, Kayla was working on her second cup of café mocha and knee-deep in paperwork.

2007, Katherine D. Jones, Dangerous Dilemmas, Brooklyn, N.Y.: Noire Passion, Parker Publishing, LLC, page 113

(figuratively, by extension) Deeply involved in something, or preoccupied with something.


Sim

(by extension) A person with Methodist tendencies.


consul

From Middle English consul, from Old English consul, from Latin cōnsul.

(by extension) An official residing in major foreign towns to represent and protect the interests of the merchants and citizens of their country.

konsull

official who protects the interests of citizens


quill

From late Middle English quyl, which is first attested in the early 15th century with the meanings "fragment of reed" and "shaft of a feather", probably from Low German and Middle Low German quiele, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to pierce, stick”).
Compare Middle High German kil (“large feather, quill”), which is derived from the Low German term.

cog

He picked up his quill and wrote a poem.


timpanum

(by extension) The diaphragm of a telephone.


snow day

Coordinate term: heat day

A day when a school or other workplace is closed due to bad winter weather, especially snow.

(by extension) A day when a school or other workplace is closed due to weather


stentorian

en-adj

stentorian (comparative more stentorian, superlative most stentorian)

more stentorian (comparative)
most stentorian (superlative)

From Stentor + -ian, from Ancient Greek Στέντωρ (Sténtōr). Stentor was the herald of the Greek forces in the Iliad, noted for his loud voice.

(by extension) Stern, authoritarian; demanding of respect.


two-edged

Then there's that term 'gay'. Does that still mean all homosexual people? For some folks, as mentioned earlier, yes. For others, no. It is in reality a two-edged term. On the hand meaning all sisters and brothers, yet on the other hand sisters in the political, social, economic liberation movement, called Gay Liberation. It implies a political stand.

1973 December 1, Don McGaw, “Homosexual=Homophile=Gay=Gay Community?”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 24, page 4

(by extension) having two, often contrasting, meanings or interpretations


short shrift

en-noun

short shrift (countable and uncountable, plural short shrifts)

/ˌʃɔːt ˈʃɹɪft/

/ˌʃɔɹt ˈʃɹɪft/

From short + shrift (“act of going to or hearing a religious confession; confession to a priest”). Shrift is derived from Middle English shrift (“confession to a priest; act or instance of this; sacrament of penance; penance assigned by a priest; penitence, repentance; punishment for sin”) [and other forms], from Late Old English scryft, Old English sċrift (“penance, shrift; something prescribed as punishment, penalty; one who passes sentence, a judge”), from sċrīfan (“of a priest: to prescribe absolution or penance; to pass judgment, ordain, prescribe; to appoint, decree”) (whence shrive), from Proto-Germanic *skrībaną (“to write”), from Latin scrībō (“to write”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreybʰ- (“to scratch, tear”).

nb...

schrift, schrifte, scheryft, schryft, schryfte, scrifft, scrifte, sherift, shirfte, shreft, shrif, shrifft, shrifte, shrive, shruft, shryft, shryfte, (Kent, Southwest England) ssriffe, ssrift, ssrifthe, ssrifþe, ssrifte, ssryft, ssryfte, (chiefly Northern England or Early Middle English) scrif, scrift, scrifte, shreft, (Early Middle English) screft, srift, srifte

der

"Here is a spy of the enemy, General," said the Sergeant. / "Make short shrift of him! We have no time for court-martials now." / "He's been condemned already, sir. He's the same man that was rescued from under the gallows by Commodore Stout's men."

1859, J[ohn] B[eauchamp] Jones, “The Invasion of the North”, in Border War; a Tale of Disunion, New York, N.Y.: Rudd & Carleton, […], →OCLC, page 182

Where actual disloyalty could be directly or constructively proved, the Crown made short shrift about surrenders, as in the case of those houses which were implicated in the Pilgrimage of Grace: the monks were tied up to the nearest beam, the abbots condemned to the halter and the butcher's knife (on which [Thomas] Cromwell called "sorted" evidence), and the property at once confiscated.

1868, John Henry Blunt, “The Dissolution of the Monasteries [a.d. 1535–a.d. 1545]”, in The Reformation of the Church of England: Its History, Principles, and Results: [a.d. 1514–a.d. 1547], London, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Rivingtons, →OCLC, page 338

One of the most picturesque objects in Amsterdam was the Herring-packers' Tower. Here persons suspected of heresy were confined, and given short shrift, being thrown out at night, tied hands and feet, into the Y.

1883 July–December, Richard Heath, “The Rise and Fall of Amsterdam”, in The Contemporary Review, volume XLIV, London: Isbister and Company […], →ISSN, →OCLC, section II, page 493

(chiefly uncountable, by extension) Speedy execution, usually without any proper determination of guilt.

(countable, by extension) A short interval of relief or time.


pops

From papa (“dad”) + -s (hypocoristic suffix).

(by extension) A man old enough to be the speaker's father.


clinic

Borrowed from French clinique, from Late Latin clīnicus (“a bed-ridden person, one baptized on a sick-bed, a physician”), from Ancient Greek κλῑνικός (klīnikós, “pertaining to a bed”), from κλῑ́νη (klī́nē, “bed”), from κλῑ́νω (klī́nō, “to lean, incline”).

(medicine, by extension) A hospital session to diagnose or treat patients.


lifeline

→ Japanese: ライフライン (raifurain)

The girls, of course, were my lifeline during this time.

2012, Melissa Rycroft, My Reality, Simon and Schuster

Slowly I began to fill up some of the emptiness inside—writing had become my lifeline.

2012, Aaron Dixon, My People Are Rising, Haymarket Books, page 64

The Government has thrown a lifeline to Alstom's Derby Works, with an offer of an order for ten Class 345 nine-car electric multiple units (EMUs) for the Elizabeth line - but only if the 'price is right'.

2024 May 1, Mel Holley, “Network News: Elizabeth line '345s' offer a lifeline for Derby Works”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 8

(by extension) A source of salvation in a crisis.


bulgogi

/bʊlˈɡoʊɡiː/

Borrowed from Korean 불고기 (bulgogi, from 불 (bul, “fire”) + 고기 (gogi, “meat”)).

bor

(by extension) Any of various Korean dishes of grilled meat in this style.


put up one's dukes

en-verb

put up one's dukes (third-person singular simple present puts up one's dukes, present participle putting up one's dukes, simple past and past participle put up one's dukes)

puts up one's dukes (present singular third-person)
putting up one's dukes (participle present)
put up one's dukes (participle past)
put up one's dukes (past)

Possibly by analogy to a king or other ruler summoning his dukes, and by extension the duke's knights or other soldiers, to battle an enemy. Another possibility is Cockney rhyming slang as explained at duke. It could also be a convoluted--though erroneous--reference to the 9th Marquess of Queensbury (after whom the rules for modern boxing were initially named).

The NBC reporter who came to the match on Wednesday told Lafferty "Come on, put up your dukes, we want to see some blood."

2008, Jonathan Schaeffer, One Jump Ahead: Computer perfection at checkers, page 401

(idiomatic, by extension) To take firm action or to show oneself to be committed to such action, as when competing in a sporting event or other contest.


control panel

graphical user interface
graphical user interface

(by extension, graphical user interface) A computer display offering a number of controls or options.


nacelle

PIE word
 *néh₂us
Borrowed from French nacelle (“rowing boat, skiff; gondola (of a hot-air balloon, etc.); structure on an aircraft to house an engine”), Middle French nacelle (“rowing boat, skiff”), from Old French nacele, from Late Latin naucella, nāvicella (“small boat or ship”), from Latin nāvis (“a ship”) (from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂us (“a boat”)) + -ella (diminutive suffix).
cognates
* Anglo-Norman naucele, naucle (“small boat”)
* Late Latin nacella (“small boat”)

bor

(by extension)
A hollow boat-shaped structure.

An enclosure housing machinery or a motor.

(electrical engineering) The part between the rotor and tower of a wind turbine.

electrical engineering
electrical engineering

naveta

(nautical) The submersed providers of buoyancy of a SWATH-hulled boat.

naselli

(road transport) A streamlined enclosure on the body or dashboard of a motor vehicle.


sanitize

en-verb

sanitize (third-person singular simple present sanitizes, present participle sanitizing, simple past and past participle sanitized)

sanitizes (present singular third-person)
sanitizing (participle present)
sanitized (participle past)
sanitized (past)

Near-synonym: bowdlerize

And yet for all that, the filmmakers were in fact trying to sanitize Mitchell’s novel.

2007 November 4, Stephen L. Carter, “Almost a Gentleman”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

(transitive, by extension) To make something, such as a dramatic work, more acceptable by removing potentially offensive material.


temporize

temporize (third-person singular simple present temporizes, present participle temporizing, simple past and past participle temporized)

temporizes (present singular third-person)
temporizing (participle present)
temporized (participle past)
temporized (past)
temporize (infinitive)

From Middle French temporiser (“to wait one's time, temporize”) + English -ize (suffix forming verbs). Temporiser is derived from Medieval Latin temporizāre, from Latin temporāre (“to delay, put off”) + -izāre (suffix forming the present active infinitive of verbs). Temporāre is derived from tempor-, the inflected stem of tempus (“age, time, period; season of the year; due, opportune, or proper time”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *temp-, *ten- (“to extend, stretch (in the sense of a stretch of time)”), or *temh₁- (“to cut (in the sense of a section of time)”)) + -āre.

der

(intransitive, by extension) To discuss, to negotiate; to reach a compromise.


Ruritania

Used by Anthony Hope as a setting for his novels.

(by extension) A place of adventure, romance, and intrigue.


downhill

en-adv

downhill (comparative farther or further downhill, superlative farthest or furthest downhill)

farther (comparative)
further downhill (comparative)
farthest (superlative)
furthest downhill (superlative)

After Don made those tasteless remarks, our relationship with him went downhill.

(by extension) Deteriorating, getting worse.


downhill

en-adj

downhill (comparative further downhill, superlative furthest downhill)

further downhill (comparative)
furthest downhill (superlative)

have the world by the tail on a downhill pull


voyeurism

en-noun

voyeurism (usually uncountable, plural voyeurisms)

(by extension) The derivation of satisfaction by obsessively watching or following sensational or sordid subjects.


incandescence

incandescence (usually uncountable, plural incandescences)

Borrowed from French incandescence.
Morphologically incandesce + -ence.

That sensual triggering which is to awaken them into the incandescence of Gay Consciousness to which world of Spirit a loving sexual flowering is both "open sesame" and Gateway.

1983 April 16, Harry Hay, “Peter Pans”, in Gay Community News, page 4

(by extension) great emotion, especially anger


hardscrabble

He leads a hardscrabble existence.

While Rose tried to keep up with Westbrook, the Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony struggled mightily, going 4 of 19 for 18 hardscrabble points.

2016 November 28, Mike Vorkunov, “Despite Flash of Rose’s Prime, Knicks Are Dazed by Westbrook and Thunder”, in The New York Times

(Canada, US, by extension) Involving hard work and struggle.


crud

crud (countable and uncountable, plural cruds)

From Middle English crud, crudde (“coagulated milk; curd; any coagulated or thickened substance; dregs”), from Old English crūdan (“to press”). Doublet of curd.

(uncountable, figuratively, by extension) Something of poor quality.


movies

We are going to the movies for our anniversary.


crossroads

The shiny wet black triangle at the crossroads of where her legs split.

2005, Jake Logan, Slocum and the Sierra Madras Gold

Together they control the approaches to this important railway crossroads from Chester, Crewe, Wolverhampton, Hereford and Machynlleth, and the station itself via an unusual mix of semaphore and colour light signals.

2018, Rail, issue 857, July 18-July 31, article on Severn Bridge Junction signal box at Shrewsbury

(by extension) A centrally located position


centerfold

(by extension) Any very sexually attractive person, who is therefore material for such a photograph.


flood tide

(by extension) The highest point of something; a climax.


fractal

From French fractal, from Latin fractus (“broken”), perfect passive participle of frangō (“break, fragment”).

In essence, you are assuming that each segment of a company is a fractal of the whole[…]

1999, John J. McGonagle, Carolyn M. Vella, The Internet Age of Competitive Intelligence

(by extension, sometimes figuratively) An object, system, or idea that exhibits a fractal-like property, especially the property of self-similarity at numerous but not infinitely many scales.

fractal

anything exhibiting self-similarity at many scales


fractal

A fractal situation emerges in this way then: the consequences of Ulysses' decision to abandon Calypso are not entirely predictable.

2007, Vincent Spina, “Three Central American writers: alone between two cultures”, in Carlota Caulfield, Darién J. Davis, editors, Companion to United States Latino Literatures

2020, Frank E. Zachos, Les Christidis, Stephen Garnett, “The Tree of Life, however, is an encaptic system displaying a nested hierarchy with a fractal pattern (lineages within lineages).”, in Mammalia, volume 84, number 1, page 2:

(by extension, sometimes figurative) Exhibiting a fractal-like property.


legit

en-adj

legit (comparative more legit, superlative most legit)

more legit (comparative)
most legit (superlative)

(by extension, of a thing or person) Genuine, actual, literal or honest.


digger

From Middle English dyggar, equivalent to dig + -er.
In the sense of "Australian soldier", attributed to the considerable time that soldiers spent digging trenches during World War I.

(Australia, dated, by extension) a friendly term of address, especially to a man.


below the belt

Commenting on his bachelorhood in a debate on marital ethics was a bit below the belt, don't you think?

(by extension, idiomatic) Unfair; dirty; not according to the generally accepted rules.


sluice

en-verb

sluice (third-person singular simple present sluices, present participle sluicing, simple past and past participle sluiced)

sluices (present singular third-person)
sluicing (participle present)
sluiced (participle past)
sluiced (past)

From Middle English sluse, alteration of scluse, from Anglo-Norman escluse (“sluice, floodgate”), from Late Latin exclusa (“extrusion, gate”), from Latin exclūsus, form of exclūdō (“I shut out, I exclude”) (English exclude). Cognate to Dutch sluis.

der

And now men with a hose have come and are sluicing out the streets.

1910, Lord Dunsany, “Bethmoora”, in A Dreamer's Tales, London: George Allen & Sons, page 68

He also organized a bucket brigade for sluicing down the decks.

1977, Timothy Findley, The Wars, Penguin Canada, published 1985, page 60

(transitive, more generally) To wash (down or out).


low blow

(figurative, by extension) Any attack that is considered unfair or unscrupulous.


shooter

From Middle English schoter, schuter, schotter, scheter, schetare, scheotere, from Old English sċēotere (“shooter”), equivalent to shoot + -er. Compare Dutch schieter, schutter (“shooter”), German Schießer (“shooter”), Swedish skjutare, West Frisian sjitter (“shooter”).


slippery slope

(by extension) A logical fallacy in which a party asserts that a particular result will probably follow from a given decision or circumstance, without necessarily providing any rational argument for the likelihood of the assumed consequence.


insulin

en-noun

insulin (countable and uncountable, plural insulins)

From Latin īnsula (“island”) (named for the islets of Langerhans, where insulin is produced) + -in.

en:any insulin or insulin analogue, broadly

(broadly) Any exogenous preparation of this hormone or its analogues for use as a medication.


placket

From French plaquer (“to lay or clap on”). See placard.

[…] was that brave [hart] made to pant for a placket: and now i’th’ dog-days too, when nothing dare love!

1647, John Fletcher, The Humorous Lieutenant, London: H.N., 1697, act 4, scene 1, page 50

After this, the vengeance on the whole camp! or rather, the bone-ache! for that, methinks, is the curse dependent on those that war for a placket.

c. 1601, William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, act 2, scene 2

(obsolete, slang, by extension) A woman.


casserole

casserole (countable and uncountable, plural casseroles)

Unadapted borrowing from French casserole.

ubor

(by extension) Any type of food that fills the high-walled dish or pan in which it was cooked.


cross off

en-verb

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

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

I can cross off another project from the list.

(idiomatic, by extension) To finish; to regard something as complete.


peripeteia

en-noun

peripeteia (countable and uncountable, plural peripeteias)

/pɛɹɪpɪˈtɪə/

/pɛɹɪpɪˈtaɪə/

/pɛɹɪpɪˈtiə/

/pɛɹɪpɪˈteɪə/

From Late Latin peripetia, and its source Ancient Greek περιπέτεια (peripéteia), from περιπίπτω (peripíptō, “to change suddenly”), from περί (perí, “round, around, about”) + the stem of πίπτω (píptō, “to fall”).

Once more I was a man in a myth, incapable of understanding it, but somehow aware that understanding it meant it must continue, however sinister its peripeteia.

They were to bestride the Algerian scene like demigods until the tragic peripeteia of 1961 […]

1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York Review books, published 2006, page 167

(by extension) Any sudden change in circumstances; a crisis.