knuckle

From Middle English knokel (“finger joint”), from Old English cnucel (“the juncture of two bones; knuckle; joint”), from Proto-West Germanic *knukil, from Proto-Germanic *knukilaz (“knuckle, knot, bump”), as *knukô (“bone, joint”) + *-ilaz (diminutive suffix). Cognate with Dutch knokkel (“knuckle”), Low German Knökel (“knuckle”), German Knöchel (“ankle, knuckle”), Old Norse knykill.


zest

en-noun

zest (countable and uncountable, plural zests)

Auntie Mame had a real zest for life.

1728, Edward Young, Love of Fame, the Universal Passion, Satire II in The Works of the Reverend Edward Young, London: P. Brown, H. Hill & S. Payne, 1765, Volume I, p. 85,
Almighty vanity! to thee they owe
Their zest of pleasure, and their balm of woe.

1807, Thomas Cogan, An Ethical Treatise on the Passions, Bath: Hazard & Binns, Part 1, Disquisition 1, Chapter 1, Section 1 “On the utility of the Passions and Affections,” p. 51,
Liberality of disposition and conduct gives the highest zest and relish to social intercourse.

The singers, male and female, wore blue jeans and long hair and had more zest than talent.

1962, James Baldwin, Another Country, New York: Dell, published 1963, Book Two, Chapter 2, p. 221

59 sneak in some red Smuggle a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a corkscrew into a long matinee. Red wine is rich in life-extending antioxidants, and the caper will add zest even to a bad movie.

2008 January–February, “70 Ways to Improve Every Day of the Week”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 1, →ISSN, page 135

(by extension) Enthusiasm; keen enjoyment; relish; gusto.


glaive

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

From Middle English gleyve (“lance, glaive”), from Old French glaive (“lance; sword”), from Late Latin glavus. The further etymology is uncertain; one possibility is that glavus reflects Latin gladius (“sword”) crossed with clāva (“club”); another is that it derives from a re-crossing of gladius with Proto-Celtic *kladiwos (“sword”); yet another is that it is a borrowing into Late Latin from Old Irish claideb. All of the aforementioned words derive ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- (“to beat; to break”). The Oxford English Dictionary notes that none of these words had the oldest meaning of Old French glaive (“lance”). The English word is cognate with Middle Dutch glavie, glaye (“lance”); Middle High German glavîe, glævîn (“lance”), Swedish glaven (“lance”).

ref

From Wendelin Boeheim (1890) “Die Glese und die Couse”, in Handbuch der Waffenkunde. Das Waffenwesen in seiner historischen Entwicklung vom Beginn des Mittelalters bis zum Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts [Handbook of Weapon Knowledge. Weaponry in Its Historical Development from the Beginning of the Middle Ages to the End of the 18th Century.] (Seemanns kunstgewerbliche Handbücher; VII), Leipzig: E. A. Seemann, →OCLC, figure 396, pages 343–344.

der

Wherefore do you ſo ill tranſlate yourſelf, / Out of the ſpeech of peace, that bears ſuch grace, / Into the harſh and boiſt'rous tongue of war? / Turning your books to glaives, your ink to blood, / Your pens to lances, and your tongue divine / To a loud trumpet, and a point of war?
In the First Quarto (1600) of the play and in Shakespeare’s First Folio (1623), the word is rendered as graues (graves).

c. 1596–1599, William Shakespear[e], “The Second Part of Henry IV. […]”, in The Works of Mr. William Shakespear, volume III (Consisting of Historical Plays), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon-Press, published 1770, →OCLC, act IV, scene i, page 426

Thus furth he drew his truſty glaive, / While thouſands all arround, / Drawn frae their ſheaths glanſt in the ſun, / And loud the bougills ſound.

1750, Allan Ramsay, “Hardyknute. A Fragment of an Old Heroic Ballad.”, in The Tea-table Miscellany: Or, A Collection of Choice Songs, Scots and English, […], 11th edition, volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, stanza XXI, page 215

(loosely or poetic, archaic) A sword, particularly a broadsword.


bard

(15th c.) from Scottish Gaelic bàrd, from Old Irish bard, from Proto-Celtic *bardos (“bard, poet”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“praise”), and reinforced by Latin bardus, borrowed from Celtic. Cognate with Latin grātus (“grateful, pleasant, delightful”), Sanskrit गृणाति (gṛṇāti, “calls, praises”), Old Church Slavonic жрьти (žrĭti, “to sacrifice”).

cog

Shakespeare is known as the bard of Avon.


blimp

Origin not entirely certain. However, most historians believe that it is onomatopoeia for the sound a blimp makes when thumped. Although there is some disagreement among historians, credit for coining the term is usually given to Lt. A.D. Cunningham of the British Royal Navy in 1915.
There is an often repeated, but false, alternative explanation for the term. The erroneous story is that at some time in the early 20th century, the United States military had two classes for airships: Type A-rigid and Type B-limp, hence “blimp”. In fact, A. D. Topping reports on the “Etymology of ‘Blimp’”, in the AAHS Journal, Winter 1963, that:
: “there was no American ‘A-class’ of airships as such—all military aircraft, heavier or lighter-than-air were designated with ‘A’ until the appearance of B-class airships in May 1917. There was an American B airship—but there seems to be no record of any official designation of non-rigids as ‘limp’. Further, according to the Oxford Dictionary, the first appearance of the word in print was in 1916, in England, a year before the first B-class airship.”
J.R.R. Tolkien speculated that the word was a portmanteau word deriving from 'blister' and 'lump': 'the vowel i not u was chosen because of its diminutive significance -- typical of war humour'

onom

onomatopoeia

a 6 meter high blimp made by a professional inflatables company, to be flown in the skies

2018 July 14, “Trump baby balloon: giant blimp takes to the sky above Edinburgh after being transported from London”, in Evening Standard

(by extension) Any large airborne inflatable.


pocket

From Middle English pocket (“bag, sack”), from Anglo-Norman poket, Old Northern French poquet, poquete, diminutive of poque, poke (“bag, sack”) (compare modern Norman pouquette and modern French pochette from Old French pochete, from puche), from Frankish *pokā (“pouch”), from Proto-Germanic *pukkô, *pukô (“bag; pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). Doublet of pochette. Cognate with Middle Dutch poke, Alemannic German Pfoch (“purse, bag”), Old English pocca, pohha (“poke, pouch, pocket, bag”), Old Norse poki (“bag, pocket”). Compare the related poke (“sack or bag”). See also Modern French pochette and Latin bucca.

der

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

I paid for it out of my own pocket.

There was, for much of the period, no cheap public transport; and even the Underground, or one of Shillibeer's horse-drawn omnibuses, was beyond the pocket of many of the poor.

2012, Simon Heffer, “In Fagin's Footsteps”, in Literary Review, section 403

"The financial impact of the fuel duty cut on people's pockets will in fact be minimal, […]"

2022 April 6, “Network News: Spring Statement: Sunak accused of making rail less competitive”, in RAIL, number 954, page 8

(by extension) A person's financial resources.


soap

en-noun

soap (countable and uncountable, plural soaps)

Sranan Tongo: sopo

→ Kari'na: sopo

→ Trió: sopo

→ Wayana: sopu

Tok Pisin: sop

→ Ajië: yööpö

→ Bemba: isopo

desctree

→ Burmese: ဆပ်ပြာ (hcappra)
→ Shan: သပ်ႉပျႃႇ (sâ̰p pjàa)

→ Chichewa: sopo

→ Dutch: soap

→ French: soap

→ German: Soap

→ Irish: sópa

→ Malayalam: സോപ്പ് (sōppŭ)

→ Maori: hopi

→ Marshallese: joob

→ Palauan: sob

→ Pohnpeian: sohpw

→ Tamil: சோப்பு (cōppu)

→ Teribe: söp

→ West Uvean: sop

desc

→ Xârâcùù: söpö

→ Xârâcùù: söpö

From Middle English sope, sape, from Old English sāpe (“soap, salve”), from Proto-West Germanic *saipā, from Proto-Germanic *saipǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *seyb-, *seyp- (“to pour out, drip, trickle, strain”).
Cognate with Scots saip, sape (“soap”), Saterland Frisian Seepe (“soap”), West Frisian sjippe (“soap”), Dutch zeep (“soap”), German Low German Seep (“soap”), German Seife (“soap”), Danish sæbe (“soap”), Swedish såpa (“soap”), Norwegian Bokmål såpe (“soap”), Norwegian Nynorsk såpe (“soap”), Faroese sápa (“soap”), Icelandic sápa (“soap”). Related also to Old English sāp (“amber, resin, pomade, unguent”), Latin sēbum (“tallow, fat, grease”). See seep. Latin sāpō (“soap”) is a borrowing from the Germanic.

cog

I tried washing my hands with soap, but the stain wouldn't go away.

(countable, uncountable, informal, by extension, mineralogy) Some other substance, often a detergent or another surfactant, able to mix with both oil and water, used for cleaning.


pontoon

Borrowed from Middle French ponton, from Old French ponton, from Latin pontō, pontōnem (“ferryboat”), from pōns (“bridge”).

(by extension) A bridge with floating supports.


style

en-noun

style (countable and uncountable, plural styles)

→ Finnish: staili

→ Scottish Gaelic: stoidhle

→ Iban: stail

→ Japanese: スタイル (sutairu)

→ Korean: 스타일 (seutail)

→ Malay: stail

→ Portuguese: style

→ Swahili: staili

The noun is derived from Middle English stile, stel, stele, stiel, stiele, stil, still, stille, styele, style, styill, styll, styyl (“writing tool, stylus; piece of written work; characteristic mode of expression, particularly one regarded as high quality; demeanour, manner, way of life; person's designation or title; stem of a plant; period of time”), from Old French style, estile, stil, stile (modern French style), or from Medieval Latin stylus, both from Latin stilus (“pointed instrument, pale, spike, stake; writing tool, stylus; act of setting down in writing, composition; characteristic mode of expression, style; stem of a plant”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to be sharp; to pierce, prick, puncture, stab; to goad”). Doublet of stylus.
The English word is cognate with Catalan estil (“engraving tool, stylus; gnomon; manner of doing something, style; fashionable skill, grace”), German Stiel (“handle; stalk”), Italian stilo (“needle, stylus; fountain pen; beam; gnomon; part of pistil, style”), Occitan estil, Portuguese estilo (“writing tool, stylus; manner of doing something, style”), Spanish estilo (“writing tool, stylus; manner of doing something, style; fashionable skill, grace; part of pistil, style”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

styl

manner of creating, doing, or presenting something, especially a work of architecture or art

Read Lord Bolingbroke's [book] with great attention, as well as to the ſtyle as to the matter. I wiſh you could form yourſelf ſuch a ſtyle in every language. Style is the dreſs of thoughts, and a well-dreſſed thought, like a well-dreſſed man, appears to great advantage.

1752 January 21 (indicated as 1751 Old Style), Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, “Letter CCVIII”, in Letters Written by the Late Right Honourable Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, to His Son, Philip Stanhope, Esq; […] In Four Volumes, 6th edition, volume III, London: Published by Mrs. Eugenia Stanhope, […]; printed for J[ames] Dodsley, […], published 1775, →OCLC, page 113

The public will naturally expect, that in chuſing a Patron for the Life of Cicero, I should addreſs myſelf to ſome perſon of illuſtrious rank, diſtinguished by his parts and eloquence, and bearing a principal share in the great affairs of the Nation; who, according to the uſual ſtyle of Dedications, might be the proper ſubject of a compariſon with the Hero of my piece.

1790, Conyers Middleton, “To the Right Honorable John Lord Hervey, Lord Keeper of His Majesty’s Privy Seal”, in The History of the Life of M. Tullius Cicero, new edition, volume I, Basel: Printed for J. J. Tourneisen [i.e., Johann Jakob Thurneysen]; and J. L. Legrand, →OCLC, page iii

After all, it is style alone by which posterity will judge of a great work, for an author can have nothing truly his own but his style; facts, scientific discoveries, and every kind of information, may be seized by all; but an author's diction cannot be taken from him.

1806 February, Isaac D’Israeli, “Remarks on Style”, in The Literary Magazine, and American Register, volume V, number XXIX, Philadelphia, Pa.: Published by J[ohn] Conrad & Co. [et al.], →OCLC, page 105, column 1

Methods for more "intelligent" spellchecking as well as for automatic checking of grammar and style are on the way, but they will require the support of electronic dictionaries.

1995, “Perspectives”, in Henning Bergenholtz, Sven Tarp, editors, Manual of Specialised Lexicography: The Preparation of Specialised Dictionaries (Benjamins Translation Library; 12), Amsterdam, Philadelphia, Pa.: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISSN, page 236

(by extension from sense 1.1) A particular manner of expression in writing or speech, especially one regarded as good.

Monarchs are often addressed with the style of Majesty.

Every Printing-houſe is by the Cuſtom of Time out of mind, called a Chappel; and all the Workmen that belong to it are Members of the Chappel: and the Oldeſt Freeman is the Father of the Chappel. I ſuppoſe the ſtile was originally conferred upon it by the courteſie of ſome great Churchman, or men, (doubtleſs when Chappels were in more veneration than of late years they have been here in England) who for the Books of Divinity that proceeded from a Printing-houſe, gave it the Reverend Title of Chappel.

1683, Joseph Moxon, “§ 25. The Office of the Warehouse-keeper. [(As an Appendix.) Ancient Customs Used in a Printing-house.]”, in Mechanick Exercises: Or, The Doctrine of Handy-books. Applied to the Art of Printing, volume II, London: Printed for Joseph Moxon […], →OCLC, number XXII, page 356

One ſtyle to a gracious benefactor, another to a proud, inſulting foe.

1796, Edmund Burke, A Letter from the Right Honourable Edmund Burke to a Noble Lord [William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam], on the Attacks Made upon Him and His Pension, in the House of Lords, by the Duke of Bedford and the Earl of Lauderdale, Early in the Present Sessions of Parliament, London: Printed for J. Owen, […], and F[rancis] and C[harles] Rivington, […], →OCLC, page 10

During the whole of the reign of George I., the money was of the same species and value as that of Queen Anne, but to his style upon the reverse, were added his German titles, with Fidei Defensor [Defender of the Faith], which then, for the first time, appeared upon the coins, although it had been constantly used in the style of our monarchs from Henry VIII., on whom it was conferred by Pope Leo X., in the year 1521.

1821 May 26, “Annals of the Coinage of Britain and Its Dependencies, from the Earliest Period of Authentic History to the End of the Fiftieth Year of the Reign of His Majesty King George III. By the Rev. Rogers Ruding, […] The Second Edition, Corrected, Enlarged, and Continued to the Close of the Year 1818. 5 vols. 8vo. With a 4to. vol. of Plates. London, 1819. [book review]”, in The Literary Chronicle and Weekly Review; […], volume III, number 106, London: Printed by Davidson, […], published by [John] Limbird, […], sold also by Souter [et al.], →OCLC, page 327

A legal or traditional term or formula of words used to address or refer to a person, especially a monarch or a person holding a post or having a title.


midget

Diminutive of midge (from Old English myċġ (“mosquito”), from Proto-Germanic *mugjō, from Proto-Indo-European *mus-, *mu-, *mew-; cognate with Dutch mug (“mosquito”) and German Mücke (“midge, gnat”)), using the suffix -et, originally (1865) for a "little sand fly", only around 1869 also a "very small person".

(loosely) Any small swarming insect similar to the mosquito; a midge.


tray

From Middle English treye, from Old English trēġ, trīġ (“wooden board, tray”), from Proto-West Germanic *trauwi, from Proto-Germanic *trawją (“wooden vessel”), from Proto-Indo-European *drewo-, *dóru (“tree; wood”). Cognate with Old Norse treyja (“carrier”), Old Swedish trø (“wooden grain measure”), Low German Treechel (“dough trough”), Ancient Greek δροίτη (droítē, “tub, vat”), Sanskrit द्रोण (droṇa, “trough”). Related to trough and tree.

cog

Before long they had consumed a whole tray of shrimp cocktails and sent for another.

(by extension) The items on a full tray.


hacker

From Late Middle English hackere, hakker, hakkere (“one who cuts wood, woodchopper, woodcutter; (rare) tool for cutting wood”), from hakken, hacke (“to cut (something) with a chopping action, hack; to make a chopping action”) + -er(e) (suffix forming agent nouns). Hakken is derived from Old English *haccian (“to hack”), from Proto-West Germanic *hakkōn (“to chop, hack”), from Proto-Germanic *hakkōną (“to chop, hack”), from Proto-Indo-European *keg-, *keng- (“to be sharp; a handle; a hook; a peg”). The English word may be analysed as hack (“to chop or cut down in a rough manner”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).

hacker

one who uses a computer to gain unauthorized access to data stored in, or to carry out malicious attacks on, computer networks or computer systems

ха́кер

one who is expert at programming and solving problems with a computer

hakkuri

something that hacks; device or tool for hacking

(computer security, telecommunications) One who uses a computer to gain unauthorized access to data stored in, or to carry out malicious attacks on, computer networks or computer systems.

(by extension, computer security, telecommunications) Synonym of white hat (“a computer security professional who hacks computers for a good cause, or to aid a company, organization, or government without causing harm (for example, to identify security flaws)”)

white hat

PUBG Mobile has seen more than its fair share of hackers, with Tencent banning millions of players every week for cheating.

2021 June 27, Wasif Ahmed, “Tencent Banned over 3.8 Million Hackers in PUBG Mobile Last Week”, in Dot Esports, archived from the original on 2022-06-03

Cheaters continue to plague Fortnite, as Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins and Jack 'CouRage' Dunlop have run into a hacker using fly-mode and aimbot, completely destroying and leaving both popular streamers speechless.

2022 January 11, Samed Kadirogullari, “Fortnite’s Flying Hackers Leave Ninja & CouRage Speechless”, in Screen Rant, archived from the original on 2022-01-11

The server is certainly not for everyone. Gamers need to be prepared to deal with many hackers, trolls, and griefers. However, those looking for a unique Minecraft experience might just find it on 2b2t.

2022 March 9, Edward Hays, “10 best Minecraft servers to play in 2022”, in Sportskeeda, archived from the original on 2022-12-05

While a patch was rolled out that's given Diamond, Master, and Predator competitors protection against DDoSing, players still want Respawn to do more about the abundance of hackers.

2023 January 30, Alex Garton, “Apex Legends Dev Confirms Even More Anti-cheat Improvements Coming in Season 16”, in Dexerto, archived from the original on 2023-01-30

(by extension, video games, slang) Someone who cheats or gains an unfair advantage in a video game by means of a disallowed modification to the game.

hakkeri

someone who cheats or gains an unfair advantage in a video game by means of a disallowed modification to the game

food hacker

growth hacker

(computing, dated) One who is expert at programming and solving problems with a computer.

(by extension) One who applies a novel method, shortcut, skill, or trick to something to increase ease, efficiency, or productivity.

hakkeri

one who applies a novel method, etc., to something to increase ease, efficiency, or productivity


really

From Middle English really, realy, rialliche, equivalent to real + -ly.

وَٱللّٰه؟

indicating surprise at, or requesting confirmation of, some new information

gosh

incredulity, phatically contrived incredulity, or in ironic/sarcastic sense

A: You know, I saw Oliver the other day.

B: Really? What's he been up to?

"Literally" is not the only word that has lost touch with reality: look at "really." That word also was meant to describe a state of reality, or literalness. Even as a substitute for "Is that so?," the word asked, "Is that true, or real?" Nowadays, one guy goes, "I literally flew off the handle," and the other guy goes "Really." It's a grunt, meaning, "I'm still here."

1979 November 4, William Safire, “On Language [column]”, in New York Times

(informal) Indicating surprise at, or requesting confirmation of, some new information; to express skepticism.

(informal, by extension) A phatic confirmation by a listener, to signal active listening; mostly devoid of literal meaning, with the phatically contrived incredulity being merely formulaic.

така ли

sarcastic, typically exaggerated question


stereo

en-noun

stereo (countable and uncountable, plural stereos)

Shortened form of stereotype, stereoscope or stereophonic, all originally derived from Ancient Greek στερεός (stereós, “solid”).

der

He liked to listen to classical music on his stereo.

(by extension) Any object or device equipped with audio components that reproduces sound in stereo, such as a stereo console in the home.


dinky-di

“Wonderful! By the time we′re old I'll be able to speak like an Australian.”
“No way. You′ll never be dinky die. Your English is much too cultured. Just like you.”

2009, Harry Blackley, Korean Rose, page 99

‘Come and meet Sandor and Eva, and here is their son Miklos, all right, Michael he insists on being now, he is dinky-die as they say, a proper Australian, he even forgets how to speak Hungarian, he has just left school like you—[…].’

2009, Madeleine St. John, The Women in Black, page 155

(by extension) Authentically Australian.


Islamism

en-noun

Islamism (countable and uncountable, plural Islamisms)

From Islam + -ism. Compare French islamisme.

Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism

(by extension) Islamic fundamentalism, especially the forms that promote violence, hostility, and persecution of non-believers.


zapper

If games are your life, the choice of a joystick is desperately important. Casual alien-zappers can get by with the cheapest generic Taiwanese clone-stick […]

You are going to go from being a toxic-thought overreactor to a toxic-thought zapper.

2009, Jeffrey Bernstein, Liking the Child You Love

(colloquial, figuratively, by extension) Anything that exterminates.


toll

From Middle English toll, tol, tolle, from Old English toll m or n and toln f (“toll, duty, custom”), from Proto-West Germanic *toll, *tolnu, from Proto-Germanic *tullaz, *tullō (“that which is counted or told, reckoning”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol- (“calculation, fraud”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tol (“toll”), Dutch tol (“toll”), German Zoll (“toll, duty, customs”), Danish told (“toll, duty, tariff”), Swedish tull (“toll, customs”), Icelandic tollur (“toll, customs”). More at tell, tale.
Alternate etymology derives Old English toll, from Medieval Latin tolōneum, tolōnium, alteration (due to the Germanic forms above) of Latin telōneum, from Ancient Greek τελώνιον (telṓnion, “toll-house”), from τέλος (télos, “tax”).

der

We can handle on a toll basis your needs for spray drying, repackaging, crushing and grinding, and dry blending.

(business, by extension) A fee for using any kind of material processing service.

пла́та

за по́льзование доро́гой


stemming

en-noun

stemming (countable and uncountable, plural stemmings)

(by extension) To include a term's inflections as part of a search engine's search.


mantra

Borrowed from Sanskrit मन्त्र (mantra, literally “instrument of thought”), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *mántram, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *mántram, from Proto-Indo-European *mén-tro-m, from *men- (“to think”). Doublet of mind.

bor

The pre-match mantra from the Scotland camp may have been of it not being a “must win” game but that fooled no-one, Poland’s win in Georgia earlier last night simply crystallised how vital it was for the Scots not to lose any more ground at this stage of an intensely competitive campaign.

2014 November 14, Stephen Halliday, “Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero”, in The Scotsman

(by extension) A slogan or phrase often repeated.


charge

en-noun

charge (countable and uncountable, plural charges)

From Middle English chargen, from Old French chargier, from Late Latin carricō (“to load”), from Latin carrus (“a car, wagon”); see car. Doublet of cargo.

(by extension) A measured amount of explosive.


nation

From Middle English nacioun, nacion, from Old French nacion, from Latin nātiōnem, accusative of nātiō (“nation”). Displaced native Old English þēod.

ពលរដ្ឋ

pŭəllĕəʼrŏət

the Dallas Cowboys nation

Did Pinterest create a culture of do-it-yourselfers, or did the DIY nation create Pinterest? The answer may not be certain, but we do know that a lot of customers love to do things on their own.

2016 May 5, Johansson Anna, “5 Marketing Tips for Reaching the DIY Generation”, in Entrepreneur, retrieved 2023-12-21

en:group of persons united by some traits

(collective) A historically constituted, stable community of people, formed based on a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.

(by extension, informal, often humorous) A community united by some trait (especially an interest) but not historically constituted.


stress

stress (countable and uncountable, plural stresses)

Hans Selye
Walter Cannon
stress
stress (mechanics)

From a shortening of Middle English destresse, borrowed from Old French destrecier, from Latin distringō (“to stretch out”). This form probably coalesced with Middle English stresse, from Old French estrece (“narrowness”), from Vulgar Latin *strictia, from Latin strictus (“narrow”).
In the sense of "mental strain" or “disruption”, used occasionally in the 1920s and 1930s by psychologists, including Walter Cannon (1934); in “biological threat”, used by endocrinologist Hans Selye, by metaphor with stress in physics (force on an object) in the 1930s, and popularized by same in the 1950s.

Some people put the stress on the first syllable of “controversy”; others put it on the second.

(countable, phonetics, loosely) A suprasegmental feature of a language having additional attention raised to a sound, word or word group by means of of loudness, duration or pitch; phonological prominence.


click

Imitative of the "click" sound; first recorded in the 1500s. Compare Saterland Frisian klikke (“to click”), Middle Dutch clicken (Modern Dutch: klikken (“to click”)), Old High German klecchen (Modern German: klecken, klicken (“to click”)), Danish klikke (“to click”), Swedish klicka (“to click”), Norwegian klikke (“to click”), Norwegian klekke (“to hatch”).

onomatopoeic

Imitative

The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about[…]and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention. Partly, this is a result of how online advertising has traditionally worked: advertisers pay for clicks, and a click is a click, however it's obtained.

2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 48

Internet traffic to legal pornography sites in the UK comprised 8.5% of all "clicks" on web pages in June – exceeding those for shopping, news, business or social networks, according to new data obtained exclusively by the Guardian.

2013 July 26, Charles Arthur, “Porn sites get more internet traffic in UK than social networks or shopping”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

(by extension) A single instance of content on the Internet being accessed.


bay

From Old French bay, combined with aphetized form of abay; verbal form of baier, abaier.

(by extension) The climactic confrontation between hunting-dogs and their prey.


consumer

Our consumers are upwardly mobile and middle-class.

(by extension) The consumer base of a product, service or business.


codicil

Borrowed from Middle French codicille, from Latin cōdicillus, diminutive of cōdex. See code.

(by extension) Any appendix or addition.


property

en-noun

property (countable and uncountable, plural properties)

From Middle English propertee, properte, propirte, proprete, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Old French propreté, proprieté (“propriety, fitness, property”), from Latin proprietās (“a peculiarity, one's peculiar nature or quality, right or fact of possession, property”), from proprius (“special, particular, one's own”). Equivalent to proper + -ty. Doublet of propriety.

خَاصَّة

attribute or abstract quality associated with an object, individual or concept

characteristic

attribute or abstract quality of an object

Is the property in which you are playing currently on Broadway – is it a musical?

1961, Darren McGavin, quoted at [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onJF43xXG2o?t=1331:]

(US) A script, book, screenplay, or the like that is on the market or has been bought for commercial production as a stage play, movie, or the like.

(US, by extension, rare) A produced stage play, movie, or the like.


lecture

From Middle English lecture, lectour, letture, letteur, lettur, lectury, from Medieval Latin or Late Latin lectura (“reading”), from Latin lectus, past participle of legō (“I read, I recite”).

We will not have lecture tomorrow.

Lecture notes are online.

(by extension) A class that primarily consists of a (weekly or other regularly held) lecture (as in sense 1), usually at college or university.


generally

en-adv

generally (comparative more generally, superlative most generally)

From Middle English generally, generalliche, equivalent to general + -ly.

It is generally known that the Earth is round.

I generally have a walk in the afternoon.

During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant[…]

1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond

Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house ; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something ; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall.

1922, Michael Arlen, “3/19/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days

Generally speaking …

It is generally true that the angles of a triangle sum to 180 degrees.

(obsolete) Collectively; as a whole; without omissions.


triage

en-noun

triage (countable and uncountable, plural triages)

From French triage, from trier (“to sort”).

(computing, by extension) The process of prioritizing bugs to be fixed.


prior

The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin prior (“earlier, former, previous, prior; in front; (figurative) better, superior”), from Proto-Italic *priōs (“earlier, previous”, literally “more before”), ultimately from *pri (“before”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pró (“leading to, toward”) and its etymon *per- (“before, in front; first”)) + *-jōs (suffix forming comparative adjectives). Doublet of before, fore, and former.
The adverb and noun are derived from the adjective.

der

априорное распределение вероятностей

During each of these touchpoints, I'm asking myself where and how my thesis on each holding could be wrong. I'm checking each data point as it comes in against my priors. I'm comparing management behavior to what I would be doing if I were in their shoes.

2022 July 29, Dan Roller, “Maran Partners Fund Q2 2022 Letter”, in Seeking Alpha, archived from the original on 2022-12-08

The votes are in, and our priors are confirmed. The truth is that midterms are nearly as predictable as death and taxes: The party that controls the White House always loses and often badly at that.

2022 November 8, Alex Shephard, “The Cards were always Stacked against Democrats”, in Michael Tomasky, editor, The New Republic, New York, N.Y.: The Republic Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-10-04

(Bayesian statistics) A prior probability distribution, that is, one determined without knowledge of the occurrence of other events that bear on it, before additional data is collected.

(by extension) In the rationalsphere: a belief supported by previous evidence or experience that one can use to make inferences about the future.

priori

in the rationalsphere: belief supported by previous evidence or experience that one can use to make inferences about the future


cumball

>Go away, cumball, your presence is not needed here.
Cumball? What's next? Cuntball? Fuckball? Seriously, your *ball insults are getting boring.

1998 May 13, "Seb", quoting "Neo Atma Weapon 3:16", Can this be true: The answer, in alt.games.final-fantasy

Believe what you want to cumball, the fact is you know jack shit about me, >but i know more then enuff about you, so […]

1999 August 31, Nitro, When NITRO loses! -- NITRO WANTS A MALE *BITCH* TO HAVE SEX WITH!, alt.homosexuality

And how late did you stay up last night spelling that pathetic dribble you concocted you regurgitated cumball?

1999 December 4, "ManOwaR", quoting "Iceman", Iceman...., in rec.sport.football.college

(slang, derogatory, by extension) Fuckwad, a term of contempt.


orotund

en-adj

orotund (comparative more orotund, superlative most orotund)

more orotund (comparative)
most orotund (superlative)

/ˈɔɹə(ʊ)ˌtʌnd/

James Earl Jones
Othello
White House
William Shakespeare

PIE word
 *h₁óh₃s
The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin ōre rotundō (“with a round mouth; hence, clear; loud”) (whence English ore rotundo), possibly influenced by rotund (“having a curved, round, or spherical shape; (figurative) of sound: full and rich”). Ōre rotundō is composed of ōre (the ablative singular of ōs (“mouth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óh₃s (“mouth”)) + rotundō (the ablative singular of rotundus (“circular, round”) (possibly from rota (“wheel”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Hreth₂- (“to run”)) + -undus (suffix forming adjectives)).
The noun is derived from the adjective.

lbor

Of writing, etc.: clear, effective, powerful.

A series of U.N. and government officials spoke. […] In orotund turns of phrase—indeed, in spiraling helices of phrase; in snarled fishing lines of phrase; in endless small intestines of phrase--the speakers ingeniously explored and invented connections between qwerty, alphabetical filing, and socioeconomic advance.

1990, Robert Klitgaard, “Beginning to Move”, in Tropical Gangsters, New York, N.Y.: Basic Books, page 124

(derogatory) Of speech or writing: bombastic, pompous.


helmet

→ Korean: 헬멧 (helmet)

→ Palauan: hermet

→ Punjabi:

Gurmukhi script: ਹੈਲਮਟ (hailmaṭ)

Shahmukhi script: ہیلمٹ (hailmaṭ)

→ Swahili: helmeti

→ Welsh: helmed

From Middle English helmet, helmett, a borrowing from Old French helmet, heaumet, a diminutive of helme (Modern French heaume), equivalent to helm + -et. The Old French is itself of Germanic origin (whence Old English helm). Used in English since the 15th century, it has largely displaced helm as the general word.

Jarvo’s a stinky old helmet.

2021 September 3, MJowen174, Twitter, archived from the original on 2023-01-14

That which resembles a helmet in form, position, etc.

(by extension, derogatory) A contemptible or stupid person.


churl

From Middle English churl, cherl, cheorl (“person not of the nobility or clergy; bondsman, serf, villein; peasant; (also figuratively) servant, slave; unlearned or unrefined person, boor, ignoramus; chap, fellow, man; husband”) [and other forms], from Old English ċeorl (“freeman ranking below a þegn but above a thrall; commoner, peasant; countryman, husbandman; man; husband”), from Proto-West Germanic *kerl, from Proto-Germanic *karilaz (“elder; man”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵerh₂- (“to grow old; to mature”). Doublet of carl, carle.
Sense 2.1 (“rough, surly, ill-bred person”) is probably an extension of sense 1 (“free peasant of the lowest rank; person without royal or noble status; bondman, serf”) and sense 2.2 (“countryman, peasant, rustic”). Sense 2.3 (“person who is stingy”) was influenced by Nabal, who is described in the King James Version of the Bible as “churlish and evil in his doings”; when Nabal, a rich man, is asked to give provisions to David’s men, he replies, “Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? There be many servants nowadays that break away every man from his master. Shall I then take my bread and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?” (1 Samuel 25:3 and 10–11; spelling modernized).
cognates
* Danish karl (“fellow, young man, farmhand”)
* Dutch kerel (“churl; fellow, man”)
* Low German kerl, kerel, kirl (“churl; fellow, man”)
* North Frisian tzierl, tjierl, tsjerl (“churl; fellow, man”)
* Old High German charl, charlo (German Kerl (“fellow, man”))
* Old Norse karl (“man”) (Icelandic karl (“man”))
* Polish karzeł (“small man”)
* Scots churl (“a churl; a rustic”)
* Swedish karl (“fellow, man”)
* West Frisian tsjirl (“churl; fellow, man”)

nb...

chærle, charl, cheerl, cherel, cherelle, cheril, cherld, cherle, cherll, cherlle, cherol, cherril, chirl, chorl, chorle, churle

cog

(derogatory) A rough, surly, ill-bred person; a boor.

грубиян

rough, surly, ill-bred person — see also boor

(archaic) A countryman, a peasant, a rustic.

(archaic) A person who is stingy, especially with money; a selfish miser, a niggard.

(Theodism) A freedman, ranked below a thane but above a thrall.


Great Britain

Of the island of Great Britain, to disambiguate Britain from Brittany, i.e. Lesser Britain. From Middle English Great Brittaigne, Grete Britaigne, Grete breteygne, grete Bretayne, grete breteyne, parallelling Anglo-Norman Grande Brettayne and c. 12th-century Medieval Latin Britannia Maior. Equivalent to Great + Britain.
King James VI and I in 1604 proclaimed himself “King of Great Britain, France and Ireland”.

Kingdom of Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain

(historical or loosely) The United Kingdom, or its predecessor the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1801).

Groot-Brittanje

United Kingdom — see also United Kingdom, Kingdom of Great Britain


quid

Likely derives from the phrase quid pro quo (“this for that”), referring to the exchange of goods/services for money.

(Ireland, colloquial, by extension) Euro.

(Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, by extension, rare) Dollar, dollars.


dreg

en-noun

dreg (countable and uncountable, plural dregs)

Borrowed from Old Norse dregg (“sediment”), from Proto-Germanic *dragjō (whence also Icelandic dregg, Swedish drägg), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrā́ks (“sediment”); see also Latin fraces (“lees of oil”), Albanian ndrag (“to make dirty, foul”), dra (“sediments of dairy products or liquids”).

(by extension) The lowest and most worthless part of something; scum.

feĉo

the lowest and most worthless part of something


orphan

Late Middle English, from Late Latin orphanus, from Ancient Greek ὀρφανός (orphanós, “without parents, fatherless”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃órbʰos.
Cognate with Sanskrit अर्भ (árbha), Latin orbus (“orphaned”), Old High German erbi, arbi (German Erbe (“heir”)), Old English ierfa (“heir”). More at erf.

der

With its government funding curtailed, the gun registry became an orphan program.

(by extension, figuratively) Remaining after the removal of some form of support.


utility

en-noun

utility (countable and uncountable, plural utilities)

From Middle English utilite, from Old French utilite, utilitet (“usefulness”), from Latin ūtilitās, from uti (“to use”). By surface analysis, utile + -ity.

užitek

economics: ability of a commodity to satisfy needs or wants

(business, finance, by extension) A natural or legal monopoly distributer of such a utility; or, the securities of such a provider.

-laitos (e.g. sähkölaitos - electric utility)

värmeverk n and other compounds with verk


bashaw

Variant of pasha, several forms or relatives of which start with /b-/, e.g. Arabic بَاشَا (bāšā).

m+

Arabic بَاشَا (bāšā)

(archaic, often derogatory, by extension) A grandee.


plug

→ Gulf Arabic: بلاك (blāk)

→ Burmese: ပလတ် (pa.lat)

→ Japanese: プラグ (puragu)

From Dutch plug, from Middle Dutch plugge (“peg, plug”), from Old Dutch *pluggi, from Proto-West Germanic *plugi. Further origin unknown. Possibly from Proto-Germanic *plugjaz, but the word seems originally restricted to northern continental West Germanic: compare German Low German Plüg, Norwegian plug (“peg, wedge”, probably borrowed from Middle Low German), German Pflock (“peg”, restricted to Central German and phonetically divergent). Possibly akin to Lithuanian plúkti (“to strike, hew”).

unk

unknown

cog

(electricity) A pronged connecting device which fits into a mating socket, especially an electrical one.

(loosely) An electric socket: wall plug.


conquest

en-noun

conquest (countable and uncountable, plural conquests)

From Middle English conquest, from Old French conqueste (French conquête).

Mankind's conquest of space

Therefore, this dream of the human conquest of selfishness appeared devoid of any strong sense of the necessity of internal struggle to overcome it

2002, Merle Goldman, Leo Ou-fan Lee, An intellectual history of modern China, page 21

(by extension, often figuratively) An act or instance of gaining control of or mastery over something, overcoming obstacles.


apogee

perigee

antonym(s) of “a point in an orbit around the Earth”

perigee is the etymological antonym

(antonym(s) of “highest point”): nadir, perigee

From Middle French apogée, from Latin apogaeum, apogēum, from Ancient Greek ἀπόγειον (apógeion, “away from Earth”), from ἀπό (apó, “away”) + γῆ (gê, “Earth”).

uder

Conjunctions of I and II [Io and Europa] occur when they are near perigee and apogee respectively; conjunctions of II and III [Europa and Ganymede] occur when II [Europa] is near perigee.

1995, John H. Rogers, The Giant Planet Jupiter, Cambridge University Press, page 335

The resolution of the images obtained by this American probe [Messenger] will depend on its altitude [above Mercury] at any one time: about ten meters at perigee (200km altitude), but only one 1 km at apogee (15000km).

2002, Serge Brunier, Solar System Voyage, Cambridge University Press, page 36

[Nereid’s] apogee—farthest point from Neptune—is five times the distance of its perigee—its closest point.

2010, Ruth WalkerMary M. Shaffreyet al., Exploring Space: The High Frontier, Jones & Bartlett Learning, page 129

(astronomy, more generally) The point, in an orbit about any planet, that is farthest from the planet: the apoapsis of any satellite.


bunter

(archaic, by extension) A low, vulgar woman.


bawd

From Middle English bawde, baude, from Old French baud (“bold, lively, jolly, gay”). Doublet of bold.

der

(obsolete, by extension) A person who facilitates an immoral act, especially one of a sexual nature.


team

en-verb

team (third-person singular simple present teams, present participle teaming, simple past and past participle teamed)

teams (present singular third-person)
teaming (participle present)
teamed (participle past)
teamed (past)

From Middle English tem, teem, teme, from Old English tēam (“child-bearing, offspring, brood, set of draught animals”), from Proto-West Germanic *taum, from Proto-Germanic *taumaz (“that which draws or pulls”), from Proto-Germanic *taugijaną, *tugōną, *teuhōną, *teuhaną (“to lead, bring, pull, draw”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull, lead”). Cognate with Scots team, teem (“a chain, harness”), Saterland Frisian Toom (“bridle; breeding”), West Frisian team (“bridle, team”), Dutch toom (“bridle, reins, flock of birds”), German Low German Toom (“bridle”), German Zaum (“bridle”), Norwegian tømme (“bridle, rein”), Swedish töm (“leash, rein”). More at teem, tie, tow.

cog

Rich, creamy avocado is cut back by the citrus sharpness of grapefruit in this Israeli-inspired salad. It's brilliant for a brunchy breakfast, and teams well with grilled salmon, tuna, or mackerel for dinner.

2005, Jill Dupleix, Good Cooking: The New Basics, page 32

(intransitive, by extension) To go together well; to harmonize.


chub

From chub (“short, thick fish species used as bait"; used metaphorically since 1558 for "lazy person”), from Middle English chubbe (“chub (the river fish)”), recorded since c.1450, probably an assibilated form of cub (“a lump, heap, mass”) and cob, from Middle English *cubbe (found only in derivative cubbel (“a block to which an animal is tethered”)), from Old Norse kubbr, kumbr (“block, stump, log”) and/or Old Norse kumben (“stumpy”), see kobbi.
Cognate with Icelandic kubbur (“block, cube”), Norwegian kubb, kubbe (“block, stump, log”), Swedish kubb (“block, log”), and perhaps to Icelandic kubba (“to hew, chop, lop”) and Russian кубышка (kubyška). More at cob, kibble.

inh

(by extension) Any of various vaguely related marine or freshwater fishes.


caddy

An alteration of catty (“(unit of) weight used in China, equivalent to 1⅓ pounds avoirdupois (about 0.605 kilograms)”), borrowed from Malay kati (“weight used in China, Indonesia, and Japan”), from Tamil கட்டி (kaṭṭi, “measure of weight; clod, lump”), from கட்டு (kaṭṭu, “to coagulate, congeal, or consolidate (into a concretion); to harden”).

der

A sauce caddy brought with the tacos offers a choice of salsa cruda, a thin puree of tomatillos, and an emulsion of red chilies.

1990, Washingtonian, volume 25, Washington, D.C.: Washington Magazine, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 121

A (usually small) box, chest, or tin with a lid, and often with partitions, used to keep things in.

rasia

Place the disc in the DVD caddy.

A movable tray or other mechanism for holding (sometimes within a piece of equipment or machinery), securing, and transporting a removable component.

kotelo

movable tray or other mechanism for holding, securing, and transporting a removable component

A lightweight wheeled cart; specifically, one attached to a bicycle as a conveyance for a child, or pulled by hand and used to transport groceries away from a shop.


chug

en-verb

chug (third-person singular simple present chugs, present participle chugging, simple past and past participle chugged)

chugs (present singular third-person)
chugging (participle present)
chugged (participle past)
chugged (past)

Onomatopoeic, in imitation of a working steam engine. The racial slur sense derives from the stereotype of Native Americans chugging alcohol.

Before the year was out, the girls were out of school and the foursome's "Tell Him" was chuggin’ up the charts.

1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, page 130

As the escort carriers chug away south, their single 5-inch rear guns are now cleared to open fire as the range closes.

2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 24:22 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 2022-11-03

For thousands of years, human progress was indexed to the ease and speed of our mobility: our capacity to walk on two legs, and then to ride on animals, sail on boats, chug across the land and fly through the air, all to procure for ourselves the food and materials we wanted.

2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian

(intransitive, by extension) To move or travel at a steady, although not especially fast, pace.


finial

From Late Middle English finial (“(adjective) final; (noun) ornament at the upper extremity of a pinnacle, spire, etc.”) [and other forms], a variant of final (“pertaining to the close or end of something, last, final”), from Old French final (“last, final; definitive”) (modern French final), from Latin fīnālis (“of or pertaining to the end of something, final; of or pertaining to boundaries”), from fīnis (“a border; an end”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”) or *dʰeygʷ- (“to set up; to stick”)) + -ālis (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining’ to forming adjectives).

nb...

finiall, fynial, fyniall, fynyal, fynyall

der

The finial is also of timber (probably oak) and is of the rather elaborate type, originally favoured by the London & South Western Railway for its timber masts.

1947 January–February, “Notes and News: An Unusual Signal at Mottisfont, S.R.”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 55

He says there's a very particular etiquette to having your flag at half-mast: you're supposed to first run it all the way up to the finial at the top and then bring it halfway down.

2005, David Foster Wallace, “The View from Mrs. Thompson’s”, in Consider the Lobster and Other Essays, New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, published 2006, page 129

For several years, the finial was missing, and its replica replacement will save the wooden post from rotting.

2021 September 22, “A Signal Survivor from the 1800s”, in Rail, number 940, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 82

(by extension) Any decorative fitting on the corner, end, or top of an object such as a canopy, a fencepost, a flagpole, a curtain rod, or the newel post of a staircase.

尖頂飾

any decorative fitting on the corner, end, or top of an object


addle

en-adj

addle (comparative more addle, superlative most addle)

more addle (comparative)
most addle (superlative)

tableFrom Middle English adel (“rotten”), from Old English adel, adela (“mire, pool, liquid excrement”), from Proto-West Germanic *adal, from Proto-Germanic *adalaz, *adalô (“cattle urine, liquid manure”).
Akin to Scots adill, North Frisian ethel (“urine”), Saterland Frisian adel "dung", Middle Low German adele "mud, liquid manure" (Dutch aal "puddle"), Old Swedish adel "urine", Danish ajle (“liquid manure”), Bavarian Adel (“liquid manure”).

inh

addle brains

Thus far the poet; but his brains grow addle,

(by extension) Unfruitful or confused; muddled.


cocktail

→ Catalan: còctel

→ Czech: koktejl

→ Dutch: cocktail

→ Esperanto: koktelo

→ Finnish: cocktail

→ French: cocktail

→ Galician: cóctel

→ German: Cocktail

→ Greek: κοκτέιλ (koktéil)

→ Hungarian: koktél

→ Italian: cocktail

→ Japanese: カクテル (kakuteru)

→ Korean: 칵테일 (kakteil)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: cocktail

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: cocktail

→ Polish: koktajl

→ Portuguese: coquetel

→ Russian: кокте́йль (koktéjlʹ) (see there for further descendants)

→ Spanish: cóctel, coctel

→ Swedish: cocktail

→ Thai: ค็อกเทล (kɔ́k-teel)

→ Turkish: kokteyl

→ Vietnamese: cocktail

Early 17th century, from cock (“male bird”) + tail, in the sense “(a horse with its) tail standing up, like a cock’s”.
The origin of the extension to “an alcoholic mixed drink” is unknown. One theory is that it refers to a simulant (gingering), hence a simulating drink; compare pick-me-up.
Another attested use is for non-thoroughbred racehorses: these were considered "cock-tailed" due to their docked tails. This may have led to the term "cocktail" (sense 1) being used for an adulterated spirit.

Scientists found a cocktail of pollutants in the river downstream from the chemical factory.

a cocktail of illegal drugs

Motor vehicles, for example, emit a cocktail of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, particulates, heavy metals and (for diesel) sulphur dioxide.

2013, Andrew Farmer, Managing Environmental Pollution, Routledge, page 22

This chapter examines how the concurrent phenomena of an assertive monarch, persistent civil war, and economic change affected the political activities of townspeople in three ways: in the relationship between the ‘urban sector’ and the English polity, in the complexion of municipal internal politics, and in the nature of urban participation in the civil wars of 1469–71. In all three of these fields, the particular cocktail of circumstances present in the 1460s encouraged a wide variety of townspeople to become invested emotionally and materially in the course of national politics, as they had not been during much of the 1450s.

2019, Eliza Hartrich, “Edward IV, the Earl of Warwick, and a Changing Urban Sector, 1461–71”, in Politics and the Urban Sector in Fifteenth-Century England, 1413–1471, Oxford University Press, page 181

Terry Gourvish, the lead author if the authorised commercial history of BR, described the new BTC structure thus: "The conclusion must be that the combination of a few undynamic railwaymen, underpaid full-timers (Commission and General Staff) and poorly-paid part-time businessmen was not a very potent managerial cocktail."

2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, page 38

(by extension) A mixture of other substances or things.


baste

en-verb

baste (third-person singular simple present bastes, present participle basting, simple past and past participle basted)

bastes (present singular third-person)
basting (participle present)
basted (participle past)
basted (past)

From Middle English basten, of uncertain etymon, possibly from Old French basser (“moisten, soak”), from bacin (“basin”).

Ice Cold Daydream" bastes the bayou funk of the Meters in swirling psychedelia, while "Sweet Thang," a swampy blues cowritten with his dad, sounds like something from Dr. John's "Night Tripper" phase.

2001 April 20, Peter Margasak, “Almost Famous”, in Chicago Reader


jejune

en-adj

jejune (comparative more jejune, superlative most jejune)

more jejune (comparative)
most jejune (superlative)

/d͡ʒəˈdʒuːn/

Borrowed from Latin iēiūnus (“fasting”).

(by extension, of a speech or an argument) Lacking matter; empty; devoid of substance.


facer

He [Joschka Fischer] was for Nato, looser visa rules and—quite the facer for his pacifist colleagues—the bombing of Serbia.

2024 January 27, Janan Ganesh, “Could there be a liberal demagogue?”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 21

(by extension) An unexpected and stunning blow or defeat.


darling

From Middle English derelyng, from Old English dīerling (“darling, favorite, minion; also household god”), corresponding to dear + -ling.

inh

a media darling

a darling of the theatre

One of the darlings of the early vegetarian movement (particularly in its even sadder form, the cutlet), it was on the menu at John Harvey Kellogg's Battle Creek Sanitarium, and has since become the default Sunday option for vegetarians – and a default source of derision for everyone else.

2011 December 15, Felicity Cloake, “How to cook the perfect nut roast”, in Guardian

(by extension) A person or thing, now often a woman, who is very popular with a given group of people.


ingest

en-verb

ingest (third-person singular simple present ingests, present participle ingesting, simple past and past participle ingested)

ingests (present singular third-person)
ingesting (participle present)
ingested (participle past)
ingested (past)

The plane's engine ingested a large bird and flamed out.

(aviation, transitive, by extension, of a jet engine) To cause (an undesired object or fluid) to enter the engine, generally via the intake.


gam

Uncertain but surely formed within English; etymons may include game or gammon.

There is still that yearning for news from Nantucket that there was when the whale-ships stopped for a gam out in the far-distant Pacific Ocean […]

1916, Harry B. Turner, “Nantucket's Early Telegraph Service”, in Proceedings of the Nantucket Historical Association, page 50

If time was available, whaling prospects poor, and the weather gentle, a gam might last all day and include tea and dinner.

1997, Gillies Ross, Margaret Penny, This Distant and Unsurveyed Country, page 14

Twice each year, the Russian Navy sent out such ships to provision Russian whalers in the Sea of Okhotsk. In sailing toward the supposed Russian ship, the Abigail’s captain, Ebenezer Nye, was hoping for a gam with the ship's officers […]

2007, Tom Chaffin, Sea of Gray: The Around-the-World Odyssey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah, page 230

(by extension) A social gathering of whalers (whaling ships).


return

return (third-person singular simple present returns, present participle returning, simple past and past participle returned)

returns (present singular third-person)
returning (participle present)
returned (participle past)
returned (past)

From Middle English returnen, retornen, from Anglo-Norman returner, from Old French retourner, retorner, from Medieval Latin retornare (“to turn back”), from re- + tornare (“to turn”). Compare beturn.

der

(British, by extension, dated in the US) To elect according to the official report of the election officers.


nob

Pronunciation spelling of knob.
Nobleman sense from white-nob (“white-head”) (18th century), referring to the powdered wigs used by those having or affecting upper middle-class status.

(by extension) (vulgar, slang, chiefly UK, Ireland) The penis; dick. (Also spelled knob.)

Col wasn’t impressed with Dick’s patronising comments and turned his back and rolled his eyes whilst at the same time mumbling “Fucking nob, Dick by name Dick by nature” under his breath.

(Can we date this quote?), Philip Mumby, Halfway House, page 85

Christine would help Kelly with her submission so she didn’t look like a complete nob! And in exchange Kelly would introduce and talk Christine through some of her artistic works: giving her a personal guided tour from her earliest through to her latest pieces.

2012, Laura J. Harris, Splintered, page 40

I was in a garden […]A place no bloody nob could take away

2019 July 30, Elisa Braden, A Kiss from a Rogue

(by extension, derogatory) A contemptible person; dick. (Also spelled knob.)


geyser

From the name of a particular Icelandic geyser which is mentioned as early as the 1760s in The Annual Register, as “Geyser, a wonderful spring in the valley of Haukadal”. From Geysir (“Gusher”), the Icelandic name of the hot spring in Iceland (see Wikipedia), from the verb geysa (“to gush”), from Old Norse geysa (“to gush”). Doublet of gusher.

Sporting a few war wounds from Japanese destroyer gunfire, The Sullivans had already launched one spread of torpedoes at the Japanese destroyers that were now littering the ocean floor, or, occasionally, making their own retreat, but she still had one left, so a five-torpedo spread was duly sent at near-point-blank range into the listing and burning remains of Yamato, and, shortly thereafter, four large geysers of water were the reward.

2021 May 5, Drachinifel, 42:03 from the start, in Battle of Samar - What if TF34 was there?, archived from the original on 2022-08-19

(by extension) A momentary vertical jet or fountain of fluid driven upwards by a violent force.


fray

en-verb

fray (third-person singular simple present frays, present participle fraying, simple past and past participle frayed)

frays (present singular third-person)
fraying (participle present)
frayed (participle past)
frayed (past)
or obsolete (archaic)
fray (infinitive)

From Late Middle English fraien (“to attack, invade; to make an attack; to brawl, fight; to make a loud noise (?); to frighten, terrify; to be frightened of (something), fear”), an aphetic variant of affraien (“to attack, invade; to harass; to brawl, fight; to riot; to reproach; to frighten, terrify; to be frightened of (something), fear; to alarm, disturb; to arouse, awaken, excite”) (whence affray), from Anglo-Norman affraier, afrayer (“to frighten, terrify; to disquiet; to disturb”) [and other forms], a variant of effreier, esfreier [and other forms], and Old French effreer, esfreer (“to frighten, scare; to be afraid”) [and other forms] (modern French effrayer), from Vulgar Latin *exfridāre, from Latin ex- (prefix indicating privation) + Frankish *friþu (“peace”) (from Proto-Germanic *friþuz (“peace, tranquility; refuge, sanctuary”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *preyH- (“to love; to please”)).

nb...

afraer, afraier, afreier, affraer, affreer

der

To assail or attack (someone or something); to drive (someone or something) away by attacking.

And this is it, that frayeth men from Chriſt, becauſe they are loath to vunder go his burthen and yoke, to caſt of the world, & leuing thẽſeluen behind thẽ to follow Chriſt.

1583, Bartimeus Andreas [i.e., Bartimaeus Andrewes], “Canticles. 6.”, in Certaine Verie Worthie, Godly and Profitable Sermons, upon the Fifth Chapiter of the Songs of Solomon: […], London: […] Robert Waldegraue, for Thomas Man, →OCLC, page 35

To chase (someone or something) away; to disperse.


master

head

master (plural masters, feminine mistress)

Sranan Tongo: masra

→ Catalan: màster

→ Finnish: master

→ French: master

→ German: Master

→ Polish: master

→ Portuguese: máster

→ Spanish: máster

→ Turkish: master

From Middle English maister, mayster, meister (noun) and maistren (verb), from Old English mǣster, mæġster, mæġester, mæġister, magister (“master”), from Latin magister (“chief, teacher, leader”), from Old Latin magester, from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s, (as in magnus (“great”)) + -ester/-ister (compare minister (“servant”)). Reinforced by Old French maistre, mestre (noun) and maistriier, maister (verb) from the same Latin source. Compare also Saterland Frisian Mäster (“master”), West Frisian master (“master”), Dutch meester (“master”), German Meister (“master”). Doublet of maestro, magister, and meister.

doublet

Southern US, African-American Vernacular, obsolete

use the master's tools to dismantle the master's house

(by extension) A person holding a similar office in other civic societies.


gilt

en-noun

gilt (usually uncountable, plural gilts)

Formed in English from the verb gild (“to cover in gold”). Compare gold and German Geld.

позлата

gold or other metal in a thin layer; gilding

(uncountable) Gold or other metal in a thin layer; gilding.

(uncountable, by extension) Gold-colored paint or other coating.


dram

→ Danish: dram

→ Faroese: drammur

→ Norwegian: dram

→ Scottish Gaelic: dràm

From Middle English dragme, dramme, from Old French dragme, drame, from Late Latin dragma, from Latin drachma, from Ancient Greek δραχμή (drakhmḗ, “unit of weight; a handful”). Doublet of drachma, diram, dirham, dirhem, and adarme.

doublet

a dram of brandy

Oh, brethren, if you wants more preachin'
Save a little dram for me (Glory hallelujah!)

1920, Marshall Walker, Will E. Skidmore (lyrics and music), “Save a Little Dram for Me”performed by Bert Williams

(by extension) Any similarly minute quantity, (now particularly) a small amount of strong alcohol or poison.


kabuki

The whole "weapons of mass destruction" concern was phony from the start, and the drama about inspections was just kabuki: going through the motions.

2005 June 12, Michael Kinsley, “No Smoking Gun”, in Washington Post

Health care reform recently brought Kabuki to mind for both Rush Limbaugh—“what you have here is ‘Kabuki theater’”—and New York Times columnist Frank Rich: “[I]f I were to place an incautious bet on which political event will prove the most significant of February 2010, I wouldn’t choose the kabuki health care summit.”

2010 March 14, Jon Lackman, “It’s Time To Retire Kabuki: The word doesn’t mean what pundits think it does”, in Slate

The boy tells her she will find iPhone chargers if she takes five steps back. Here the performance shifts from mere stiltedness to a kind of hateful Kabuki, an affected defiance of how people naturally act: She walks backward, counting her steps, then turns and slaps her forehead.

2020 January 29, Dan Brooks, “Comedy Written for the Machines”, in New York Times Magazine

(by extension, US) A stylized, pretentious, and often hollow performance; (especially) political posturing.


ponce

en-verb

ponce (third-person singular simple present ponces, present participle poncing, simple past and past participle ponced)

ponces (present singular third-person)
poncing (participle present)
ponced (participle past)
ponced (past)

Uncertain, but probably an aphetic form of French alphonse (“kept man”), from the male given name Alphonse. Also sometimes connected to pounce or French pensionnaire (“pensioner, person living without working”).

ncog

(by extension) To try to get rid of or sell something.


nonce

1975.
Unknown, derived from British criminal slang. Several origins have been proposed; possibly derived from dialectal nonce, nonse (“stupid, worthless individual”) (but this cannot be shown to predate nonce "child-molester" and is likely a toned-down usage of the same insult), or Nance, nance (“effeminate man, homosexual”), from nancy or nancyboy. The rhyme with ponce has also been noted.
As prison slang also said to be an acronym for "Not On Normal Communal Exercise" (Stevens 2012), but this is likely a backronym.

‘He's a nonce[. A] nonsense merchant, a paedophile[,’ Terry explained.]

2004, Jeffery Archer, A Prison Diary, St. Martin's Publishing Group, page 72


Nubia

The origin of this word is contested. At root it is probably a geographical rather than an ethnic designation. (See Nubians § Etymology on Wikipedia.Wikipedia). The related term Noba was used (with some uncertainty even among the writers as to its meaning) both for a people already living in the area and for those who conquered it in the 4th century CE.

pedia

Except date trees, and a few grape vines which I saw at Derr, there are no fruit-trees in Nubia.
The climate of Nubia, though intensely hot in summer, particularly in the narrow rocky parts of the country, is very healthy, owing perhaps to the extreme aridity of the atmosphere.

1819, John Lewis Burckhardt, Travels in Nubia, Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, page 144

Our knowledge of Nubia at the end of the 19th dynasty gradually becomes sparser. It appears that the Egyptians withdrew to the north, while the local population emigrated to the south.

1978, Friedrich W. Hinkel, Exodus from Nubia, Akademie Verlag, page 27

Nubia is part of this landscape, created, formed and sustained by the Nile in complex interplays of geology and river hydrology.

2019, Johannes Auenmüller, “Topography and Regional Geography of Nubia: River, Cataract and Desert Landscapes”, in Dietrich Raue, editor, Handbook of Ancient Nubia, volume 1, Walter de Gruyter, page 39

(by extension, historical) The polity ruling said region.


jot

The noun is borrowed from Latin iōta (“the letter iota of the Ancient Greek alphabet”), from Ancient Greek ἰῶτα (iôta, “ninth letter of the Ancient Greek alphabet; (figurative) very small part of writing, jot”), from Phoenician 𐤉 (y, “tenth letter of the Phoenician abjad, yodh”). Doublet of iota.
Sense 3 (“brief and hurriedly written note”) is derived from the verb.
The verb is probably borrowed from Scots jot, from English jot (noun): see above.

der

He didn’t care a jot for his work.

(by extension, chiefly in the negative) A small, or the smallest, amount of a thing; a bit, a whit.


mullah

Derived from Classical Persian مُلَّا (mullā), from Arabic مَوْلًى (mawlan, “vicar, guardian”).

der

(India, religious slur, slang, by extension) A Muslim.


salvo

A 1719 alteration of salva (“simultaneous discharge of guns”) (1591) from Latin salva (“salute, volley”) (compare French salve, also from Italian), from Latin salve (“hail”), the usual Roman greeting, imperative of salvere (“to be in good health”).

It was an impressive opening salvo from the Baggies, especially for a side that have made a poor beginning to what has been an admittedly tough start to their campaign.

2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes, “Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport

Together, Johnson's plans mean that the clashes in parliament and the Supreme Court may be only the opening salvos in what promises to be the biggest constitutional storm in centuries.

2019 October 6, Tim Shipman, Caroline Wheeler, “'Sack me if you dare,' Johnson will tell Queen”, in The Sunday Times, number 10,178, page 1

(by extension) Any volley, as in an argument or debate.


shiv

en-verb

shiv (third-person singular simple present shivs, present participle shivving, simple past and past participle shivved)

shivs (present singular third-person)
shivving (participle present)
shivved (participle past)
shivved (past)

First attested 1915. From chive, chieve, chife, chiv (“knife”), from Romani chive, chiv, chivvomengro (“knife, dagger, blade”).

(by extension) To stab someone with anything not normally used as a stabbing weapon.


rooter

The five rooters or plows are so fastened in the frame that any one or all can be removed if desired, and each rooter is provided with a removable point, which can be taken off and sharpened without removing the entire rooter from the from the frame.

1920, Halbert Powers Gillette, Earthwork and Its Cost: A Handbook of Earth Excavation, page 122

Breaking old concrete is a simple task for powerful tractor and rooter if the teeth are hooked under slab edge and pulled forward, then raised up by rooter's cable lift.

1955, Dan K. Heiple, Earthmoving, an Art and a Science, page 18

If the airstrip site is on hard and rocky terrain, it will be necessary to loosen and break the soil by using a rooter.

1959, United States. Bureau of Naval Personnel, Equipment Operator 3 & 2, page 177

Under difficult soil conditions, rooters that work on the same principle as subsoilers are used. Rooters are larger, heavier, and more sturdily built than subsoilers and can loosen the soil up to a depth of 1 meter ( 3.3 ft ) (Fig. 4-6).

1968, Amihud Y. Goor, Charles Wesley Barney, Forest Tree Planting in Arid Zones, page 173

(by extension) A type of heavy machinery similar to a plow for breaking up soil, concrete, asphalt, etc.


cog

From Middle English cogge, from Middle Dutch kogge, cogghe (modern kogge), from Proto-Germanic *kuggō (compare German Kock (“cogboat”), Norwegian kugg (“cog (gear tooth)”)), from Proto-Indo-European *gugā (“hump, ball”) (compare Lithuanian gugà (“pommel, hump, hill”)), from *gēw- (“to bend, arch”). See etymology 1 above.


preen

en-verb

preen (third-person singular simple present preens, present participle preening, simple past and past participle preened)

preens (present singular third-person)
preening (participle present)
preened (participle past)
preened (past)

Variant of prune (by influence of preen above). Attested in Chaucer (c. 1395) in the variants preyneth, prayneth, proyneth, prunyht, pruneth, from Old French proignier (“to trim the feathers with the beak”).

der

He brushed and preened the marquis, front and back. “Lucky we are, Your Grace, no gashes that I see. But the beard is in a woeful state —”

2011, Brennan Pursell, The Spanish Match, page 26

Clearly this is not heritage tourism development. Instead it recommends how to preen the city for the uncritical gaze of a kind of tourist who willingly accepts low-grade commercialized leisure.

2011, Dean MacCannell, The Ethics of Sightseeing, page 200

He'd built a lodge and preened the country, and imported or otherwise attracted the game, and then found that no one came.

A piece of human debris, usually plucked up and disposed of by the group of volunteers who pruned and preened the woods on a weekly basis.

(transitive, more generally) To improve the appearance of; groom; prettify.


cue

en-verb

cue (third-person singular simple present cues, present participle cueing or cuing, simple past and past participle cued)

cues (present singular third-person)
cueing (participle present)
cuing (participle present)
cued (participle past)
cued (past)

From earlier qu, abbreviation of Latin quandō (“when”), marked on actor's play copy where they were to begin.

These techniques can cue an open dialogue with your interviewer.

The teenager, as beloved a full-back as any in these parts since Danny McGrain was tearing it up, cut in, shot and saw his attempt deflected in off Sterling's boot. Cue more pandemonium.

2016 September 28, Tom English, “Celtic 3–3 Manchester City”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), BBC Sport


opera

en-noun

opera (countable and uncountable, plural operas or opere)

Borrowed from Italian opera. Doublet of oeuvre, opus, and ure.

(by extension) Any showy, melodramatic or unrealistic production resembling an opera.


stymie

From the meaning in golf (where the stymie ball blocks the other ball from "seeing" the hole), perhaps from Scots stymie, stimie (“person with poor eyesight”), from Scots stime (“the least bit”). Or from Scots styme (“tiny bit, glimmer”) as in se nocht ane styme (“not to see a glimmer (of something)”). If so, it is a doublet of stime.

Mary, will you be mine? Shall we go round together? Will you fix up a match with me on the links of life which shall end only when the Grim Reaper lays us both a stymie?

1922, P. G. Wodehouse, The Clicking of Cuthbert

(by extension) An obstacle or obstruction.


paean

Brill
Charles Scribner's Sons
National Roman Museum
Phidias

From Latin paeān (“a hymn, especially a victory hymn, to Apollo or another god”), from Ancient Greek παιᾱ́ν (paiā́n, “a chant or song, especially a thanksgiving or victory hymn, to Apollo under the name Παιᾱ́ν (Paiā́n)”), from the phrase Ἰὼ Παιᾱ́ν (Iṑ Paiā́n, “O Paean!, Thanks to Paean!”). According to Homer, Paián or Paean was the name of the physician of the gods; its further etymology is unclear. It has been suggested that Παιᾱ́ν is derived from *παιάϝων (*paiáwōn, “one who heals illnesses through magic”), from *παῖϝα (*paîwa), *παϝία (*pawía, “to blow”), related to παίω (paíō, “to hit, strike”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pēu-, *pyu-, *pū- (“to hit; to cut”)), or from παύω (paúō, “to bring to an end; to abate, to stop”) (from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, little; smallness”)), or that it may be a Pre-Greek word.
Compare Middle French and French paean (also French péan), Italian peana, Portuguese peã, péan.

der

a chant or song, especially a thanksgiving or victory hymn, to Apollo under the name <i class="Polyt mention" lang="grc">Παιᾱ́ν</i> (Paiā́n)

cog

The dissolution of this great Republic, and the probable failure of the mighty experiments in government of which it has been the theatre, will be a fine subject for political parties to illustrate their various prejudices. The upholders of despotism will sing pæans over its downfall—the lovers of liberty will mourn over what appears to be the stern condition of man, to run alternately the career of improvement and of degeneracy— […]

1833 February, “The Present Crisis in the United States”, in The Monthly Magazine, of Politics, Literature, and the Belles Lettres (New Series), volume XV, number LXXXVI, London: Published by Charles Tilt, 86, Fleet Street, →OCLC, page 209

Long before they reached this place, which was situated at the other end of the village, they heard the pæan of May carolled by a hundred voices; and, on entering the area, they immediately joined in the chorus.

1841, “The Journey”, in The Life and Times of Dick Whittington; an Historical Romance, London: Hugh Cunningham, St. Martin's Place, Trafalgar Square; Simpkin, Marshall and Co., Stationers' Hall Court; Edinburgh: Bell & Bradfute; Dublin: John Cumming; Glasgow: D. Campbell, →OCLC, page 57

But what tribute shall we bestow, what sacred pæan shall we raise over the tombs of those who dared, in the face of unrivalled power, and within the reach of majesty, to blow the blast of freedom throughout a subject continent?

1843, Dawes, “Intelligence Necessary to Perpetuate Independence”, in John E[py] Lovell, editor, The United States Speaker: A Copious Selection of Exercises in Elocution; consisting of Prose, Poetry, and Dialogue: Drawn Chiefly from the Most Approved Writers of Great Britain and America: Including a Variety of Pieces Suitable for Very Young Readers: Designed for the Use of Colleges and Schools, rev. and imp. stereotype edition, New Haven, Conn.: Published by S. Babcock, →OCLC, page 27

Butler’s wife and co-frontperson Regine Chassagne was a one-woman party, bringing sartorial sparkle, snippets of stylised choreography, her helium soprano and Caribbean fiesta spirit to the performance, skipping through the crowd back to the second stage to dance away troubles on top of the piano as she sang Haiti, her bi-lingual paean to her homeland.

2022 September 6, Fiona Shepherd, “Music review: Arcade Fire, Hydro, Glasgow”, in The Scotsman

(by extension) Any loud and joyous song; a song of triumph.

պեան

any loud and joyous song; a song of triumph

The barbarian, wandering in nature's wilds, plucking the fruits as they grow, or destroying the game for his meat, and quenching his thirst with the waters of the gurgling rill, may furnish the poet with a theme for a pean to the goddess of Natural Liberty; but he will be a barbarian still, and his children after him, will roam over the same uncultivated wastes, and sleep in the same caves and dens, until they learn to associate with others and combine their efforts for mutual good.

1843 February, I. D. W., “Association”, in James E. Ridgely, editor, The Covenant and Official Magazine of the Grand Lodge of the United States, I[ndependent] O[rder of] O[dd] F[ellows]: A Monthly Periodical Devoted to the Cause of Odd Fellowship, volume II, number 2, →OCLC, page 68

Unlike other accounts, Eagles of the RAF is not simply a paean to the pilots as special heroes and "aces," though many performed heroically and some sacrificed their lives.

1991 August, J[ohn] A[shby] Baldwin[, Jr.], “Foreword”, in Philip D. Caine, Eagles of the RAF: The World War II Eagle Squadrons, Washington, D.C.: National Defense University Press, →OCLC, page ix

Mexico's ruling elites have long played up their supposed commitment to the nation's laboring masses. Article 123 of the 1917 Constitution promulgated the most advanced labor code of its time, and revolutionary rhetoric has always rung with paeans to labor.

1992, Edward J. Williams, John T. Passé-Smith, “The Maquiladora Workers: Attitudes and Activities”, in The Unionization of the Maquiladora Industry: The Tamaulipan Case in National Context, San Diego, Calif.: Institute for Regional Studies of the Californias, San Diego State University, page 79

Antimodern romanticism is not primarily a complaint about lost nature; it is mainly a pean to lost values. Modernity is relativistic, the existentialists complain; it has lost a sense of real values, true courage, meaningful integrity.

2007, Michael J. Mazarr, “The Existentialist Diagnosis”, in Unmodern Men in the Modern World: Radical Islam, Terrorism, and the War on Modernity, Cambridge, New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, page 81

Veteran world travelers visiting Newport, Rhode Island, in the first years of the twentieth century were as impressed as neophytes by the sheer concentration of opulent summer villas ringing this old colonial seaport. Grand Duke Boris [Vladimirovich] of Russia's paean to the resort struck a characteristic chord: "I have never dreamed of such luxury as I have seen at Newport."

2008, Paul F. Miller, “Introduction”, in Lost Newport: Vanished Cottages of the Resort Era, Bedford, Mass.: Applewood Books [in cooperation with The Preservation Society of Newport County], page 7

(by extension) An enthusiastic expression of praise.


luge

en-noun

luge (countable and uncountable, plural luges)

The noun is borrowed from Swiss French or Franco-Provençal luge, from Medieval Latin scludia, from Late Latin sclodia, of Celtic origin, from Gaulish *stludio, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *sleydʰ- (“to slide, slip; to be slick or slippery”). If so, it is related to sled and sleigh.
Sense 2.2 (“drinking utensil”) is from its resemblance to the tracks on which luges race.
The verb is derived from the noun.
cognates
* Irish slaod (“raft, float”)
* Old Breton stloit (“sliding; traction”) (modern Breton stlej (“sleigh”))
* Welsh llithr (“slide, slippage”)

der

(uncountable) The sport of racing on luges.

The luge was a block of ice, sometimes up to three-and-one-half feet long, which had narrow grooves etched into it. Alcohol was poured onto one end of the luge and as the alcohol traveled down the narrow grooves in the block of ice, it was cooled and then ran directly into the mouth of the waiting drinker on the other end.

1999, Ronald S. Beitman, Liquor Liability: A Primer for Winning Your Case, Philadelphia, Pa.: American Law Institute; American Bar Association Committee on Continuing Professional Education, page 20

Kegs of beer were set up around every corner. There was also a liquor luge—a giant block of ice, slanted at a 45-degree angle and carved with a convenient path for shots to be poured down and into the mouths of anyone who was thirsty.

2010 March 22, Dan Wiederer, “‘I’ll Do It if Bob Does It’”, in Blue Streak: The Highs, Lows and Behind the Scenes Hijinks of a National Champion, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, page 16

From restaurant openings and closings to how to do a "Bone Marrow Luge," you'll want to check him [Dave Cathey] out for the latest on the gastronomic scene.

2013, Katie Johnstonbaugh, “Introduction”, in Kevin Sirois, editor, Food Lovers’ Guide to Oklahoma: The Best Restaurants, Markets & Local Culinary Offerings, Guilford, Conn.: Globe Pequot Press, page 5

The Torres opened their first location in 2010 in Boyle Heights—the area squished between Downtown and East L.A.—and on their Chef's Night Out, we captured some quality father–son time as each Armando showed the other his generation's Boyle Heights. For Junior that meant creative-Italian appetizing at Bestia (technically in the "Arts District") and something called a "bone luge," where a sommelier pours sherry down your gullet via a recently scraped cow femur.

2017, “Things with Tortillas [Pulled Pork Tacos: Armando de la Torre]”, in J. J. Goode, Helen Hollyman, and the editors of Munchies, editors, Munchies: Late-night Eats from the World’s Best Chefs, Berkeley, Calif.: Ten Speed Press, page 70

(countable) A piece of bone, ice or other material with a channel down which a drink (usually alcoholic) can be poured into someone's mouth.


Tory

From Irish tóraí (“pursuer”), from tóir (“pursuit”). The first recorded use in English is from a 1646 letter by James Butler ("Earl of Ormond") to a Colonel O' Brien, describing bandits and thieves on main roadways.

(by extension) One who is like a British Tory; someone politically conservative.


swag

en-noun

swag (countable and uncountable, plural swags)

(countable, Australia, by extension) A small single-person tent, usually foldable into an integral backpack.


pith

pith (usually uncountable, plural piths)

The noun is derived from Middle English pith, pithe (“central tissue of a plant’s stem or a tree’s trunk and branches; other spongy inner tissue in a plant; flesh of a fruit, pulp; inner tissue in a body; inner part of an object; essential part, essence, quintessence; importance, value; energy, force, strength, vigour; severity”) [and other forms], from Old English piþa [and other forms], from Proto-Germanic *piþô, from earlier *piþō (oblique *pittan); further etymology unknown. Doublet of pit (“seed or stone inside a fruit”).
The verb is derived from the noun (Middle English pethen (“to give courage or strength”), from pith (noun), did not survive into modern English).
cognates
* Dutch peen (“carrot”)
* Middle Low German peddek, peddik, piddek (“bone marrow; medulla; spinal cord; inner part of a horn or quill; (figurative) core, essence”) (the last spelling rare) (Low German Peddik (“core; pulp”))
* West Frisian piid (“pulp, kernel”)

nb...

peth, peþe, pight, piþ, piþe, piþþe, pyght, pyth, pythe, pytthe, pyþe, (Early Middle English) piþa

cog

(feather):

The soft tissue inside a human or animal body or one of their organs; specifically, the spongy interior substance of a horn or the shaft of a feather.

ydin

Chiefly of animals: the soft tissue inside a spinal cord; the spinal marrow; also, the spinal cord itself.

(obsolete) Synonym of diploe (“the thin layer of soft, spongy, or cancellate tissue between the bone plates which constitute the skull”)

diploe

(obsolete, rare) The soft tissue of the brain.

Senses relating to humans and animals.
The soft tissue of the brain.

(Ireland, Southern England, West Country) The soft inner portion of a loaf of bread.


lemma

non-lemma

linguistics, lexicography: canonical form of a word

From Ancient Greek λῆμμα (lêmma, “premise, assumption”), from the same root as λαμβάνω (lambánō, “I take”).

تَمْهِيدِيَّة

mathematics: proposition used mainly in the proof of some other proposition

(mathematics) A proposition proved or accepted for immediate use in the proof of some other proposition.

(in phrases, by extension) A proposition originally used for such a purpose, but having later acquired a greater, independent, importance; a fundamental (often pithy) and widely-used result.


silt

en-noun

silt (countable and uncountable, plural silts)

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

From Middle English silte, cilte, cylte, perhaps from Middle English silen ("to filter; strain"; equivalent to sile + -t), or cognate with Norwegian and Danish sylt (“salt marsh”), Middle Low German sulte (“salt-marsh”), German Sülze (“meat in aspic”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sultijō (“salty water; brine”). Related to Old English sealt (“salt”).

der

(uncountable, by extension) Material with similar physical characteristics, whatever its origins or transport.


weal

From Middle English wele, from Old English wela (“wellness, welfare, prosperity, riches, well-being, wealth”), from Proto-West Germanic *welō, from Proto-Germanic *walô (“well-being, wellness, weal”). Cognate with German Wohl, Danish vel, Swedish väl.

inh

And indeed I blamed myself and sore repented me of having taken compassion on him and continued in this condition, suffering fatigue not to be described, till I said to myself, "I wrought him a weal and he requited me with my ill; by Allah, never more will I do any man a service so long as I live!"

1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 557


berserker

Illustrations of Northern Antiquities
Swedish History Museum
Torslunda plates
Walter Scott

Borrowed from Old Norse berserkr (“Norse warrior who fights with frenzy”), probably from bjǫrn (“bear”) + serkr (“coat; shirt”), referring to the bearskins worn by the warriors. Bjǫrn is possibly ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“brown”); and serkr from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to bind, tie together; thread”). Alternatively, it has been suggested that the first element of the word is from berr (“bare, naked”), suggesting warriors who went into battle without armour, but this is now thought unlikely. Doublet of berserk.
The word was introduced in English by the Scottish author and historian Walter Scott (1771–1832) in Illustrations of Northern Antiquities (1814) (spelled berserkir), and in his novel The Pirate (1822) (spelled berserkar). Sense 3 (“type of von Neumann probe whose mission is to exterminate alien lifeforms”) was coined by the American author Fred Saberhagen (1930–2007) in 1963 in his Berserker series of novels and short stories.
cognates
* Icelandic berserkur
* Swedish bärsärk

ref

From the collection of the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.

coinage

One who fights as if frenzied, like a berserker.

(science fiction) A type of von Neumann probe whose mission is to exterminate alien lifeforms.


tic

Boyle revives some of the stylistic tics which found themselves being ripped off by geezer-gangster Britflicks back in the day, but now the freezeframes are briefer, sharper; the movie itself refers back to the original with variant flashback versions of famous scenes, but also Super 8-type images of the boys’ poignant boyhood in primary school.

2017 January 19, Peter Bradshaw, “T2 Trainspotting review – choose a sequel that doesn't disappoint”, in the Guardian

(by extension) Something that is done or produced habitually or characteristically.


bauble

From Middle English bable, babel, babull, babulle, from Old French babel, baubel (“trinket, child's toy”), most likely a reduplication of bel, ultimately from Latin bellus (“pretty”).

His hind quarters were likewise short, and not racinglike, and taken as a specimen of the horse, he was a mere bauble when looked at by the side of an English race-horse, much less a hunter.

1841, The New Monthly Magazine and Humorist, page 186

(figurative, by extension) Anything trivial and worthless.


antinomy

en-noun

antinomy (countable and uncountable, plural antinomies)

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

Learned borrowing from Latin antinomia + English -y (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting a condition, quality, or state); antinomia is derived from Ancient Greek ἀντινομία (antinomía), from ἀντι- (anti-, prefix meaning ‘against’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- (“face; forehead; front”)) + νόμος (nómos, “custom, usage; law, ordinance”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-íā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns), with νόμος (nómos) derived from νέμω (némō, “to deal out, dispense, distribute”) (from Proto-Indo-European *nem- (“to distribute; to give; to take”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming nouns indicating actions or their results). The English word may be analysed as anti- (prefix meaning ‘against; opposite of’) + -nomy (suffix indicating a system of laws, rules, or knowledge about a body of a particular field).

confix

The Antinomians: These Gospell-truths, these sweet Sermons of Free-grace, that setting up of naked Christ on his Throne, which hath seduced so many thousands of well-meaning souls, do now appear in their own colours, and to any common eye may be seen to be nothing but the grosse Antinomy of the old Libertines.

1645, Robin Jeffs, Fast sermons to Parliament, page 14

There is, notwithstanding, a sort of Manicheism in genius, as there is the antinomy in science, as there are light and shade in art, as there are opposite and similarly appearing movements in life, as there are diverse and simultaneous springs in the human conscience, as there are attraction and repulsion in the sidereal worlds, as there are multiferous and heterogeneous forces that resolve themselves into astonishing antithetic duality .

1888, José M. Aguirre, An Open Letter to James G. Blaine, page 27

Slowly, the term reveals itself as an expression of fundamental tensions and deep structural antinomies: between the sacred and the profane, purity and impurity, morality and immorality, cleanliness and dirt. In conjoining such primal opposites into a single category, white trash names a kind of disturbing liminality a monstrous, transgressive identity of mutually violating boundary terms, a dangerous threshold state of being neither one nor the other.

2006, Matt Wray, Not Quite White, page 2

(by extension) Any contradiction or paradox.

This introduces the antinomy that has followed us through the whole study. The solution of this antinomy is found in making the Not-me, which interrupts self-consciousness, really reflect self-consciousness, by manifesting the nature of the I—in other words, by making it conform to the ideal of the soul.

1884, Charles Carroll Everett, Fichte’s Science of Knowledge: A Critical Exposition, page 12

Of the work that has been done on the liar antinomy, possibly the most profound and certainly the most influential has been that of Tarski

1991, Vann McGee, Truth, Vagueness, & Paradox: An Essay on the Logic of Truth, page 67

(specifically, epistemology, logic) In the thought of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804): an apparent contradiction between valid conclusions; a paradox.

التضاد

(epistemology, logic) apparent contradiction between valid conclusions


wean

en-verb

wean (third-person singular simple present weans, present participle weaning, simple past and past participle weaned)

weans (present singular third-person)
weaning (participle present)
weaned (participle past)
weaned (past)

From Middle English wenen, from Old English wenian (“to accustom; habituate; train; prepare; make fit”), from Proto-Germanic *wanjaną (“to make wont; accustom”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to strive for; wish; love”). Cognate with Dutch wennen, German gewöhnen, Danish vænne, Swedish vänja, Icelandic venja. Related via PIE to wone, wont, and wonder, and perhaps win.

اِنْفَطَمَ

to cease to depend on the mother for nourishment

He managed to wean himself off heroin.

With Marvin getting older ... and walking now ... I thought it was time to start weaning him off of his bottle.

2004 May 3, Tom Armstrong, Marvin (comic)

The troubles of age were intended […] to wean us gradually from our fondness of life.

1727, Jonathan Swift, (Please provide the book title or journal name)

Dalai Lama: "Then, I suggested, “Drink much less vodka.” Instead of that, they traditionally also drink horse milk—"
Oliver: "Wait, hold on, you tried to wean them off vodka by giving them horse milk?"
Dalai Lama: "Oh yes, and they follow."

March 6, 2017, John Oliver, “Interview with the Dalai Lama”, in Last Week Tonight

(transitive, by extension, normally "wean off") To cause to quit something to which one is addicted, dependent, or habituated.

отучвам

to cause to quit something to which one is addicted or habituated

She is weaning from her addiction to tobacco.

(intransitive, by extension) To cease to depend.

(transitive, by extension, obsolete) To raise, to help grow toward maturity


ream

en-verb

ream (third-person singular simple present reams, present participle reaming, simple past and past participle reamed)

reams (present singular third-person)
reaming (participle present)
reamed (participle past)
reamed (past)

Etymology uncertain, possibly a variant of rime (etymology 4). Doublet of room.
cognates
* Dutch ruimen (“to empty, evacuate”)
* German räumen (“to make room”)
* Icelandic rýma (“to make room, clear”).

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

(slang, vulgar, by extension from sense of enlarging a hole) To sexually penetrate in a rough and painful way.

survoa

slang: to sexually penetrate in a rough and painful way


bifurcation

en-noun

bifurcation (countable and uncountable, plural bifurcations)

(by extension) Any place where one thing divides into two.


bonanza

→ Polish: bonanza

From Spanish bonanza (“calm sea, fair weather, good luck, rich lode”), from Medieval Latin bonacia (“fair weather”), a blend of bonus (“good”) + malacia (“calm sea”).

blend

The popular show quickly became a ratings bonanza for the network.

For two decades the bonanza on Scotland’s west coast continued. An occupation that had been seasonal and modestly profitable became year-round and lucrative. Baskets of herring put televisions into fishermen’s cottages and cars outside their doors. But fish, like oil and gas, with which Scotland’s continental shelf is also well-endowed, are not in unlimited supply.

2013 August 31, Bagehot, “The parable of the Clyde”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8851

It has also yielded a bonanza for corporate executives and other shareholders: Money not spent filling warehouses with unneeded auto parts is, at least in part, money that can be given to shareholders in the form of dividends.

2021 March 26, Peter S. Goodman, “In Suez Canal, Stuck Ship Is a Warning About Excessive Globalization”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

(by extension, figurative) Anything which is a great source of wealth or yields a large income or return.

goudmijn

something that is a mine of wealth or yields a large income or return


colossus

From Latin colossus, from Ancient Greek κολοσσός (kolossós, “large statue, especially the colossus of Rhodes”), from an unknown Pre-Greek etymon (and erroneously associated with κολοφών).

der

]The Empire has always been a realm of colossal resources. […] Why, they don't even understand their own colossi any longer. The machines work from generation to generation automatically, and the caretakers are a hereditary caste who would be helpless if a single D-tube in all that vast structure burnt out.[

1951, Isaac Asimov, Foundation (1974 Panther Books Ltd publication), part V: "The Merchant Princes", chapter 18, pages 186–187

What I love about the colossi is that they actually feel colossal : they move ponderously around, sending out tremours with each step; their ancient husks richly detailed with dirt and plant life.

2010 August 11 (5:00pm), Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, "Shadow of the Colossus" reviewed by Zero Punctuation, 3:27–3:42 and 3:56–4:08

(by extension) Any creature or thing of gigantic size.


vamp

From Middle English vaumpe, vaum-pei, vampe (“covering for the foot, perhaps a slipper or understocking; upper of a boot or shoe”), or from Anglo-Norman vampe, *vaumpé (“part of a stocking covering the top of the foot”), from Old French avantpied, avantpiet, variants of avantpié, from avant (“in front”) + pié (“foot”).
Noun senses 2 and 3 (“a patch; something patched up or improvised”) appear to have been extended from sense 1 (“top part of a boot or shoe”). Sense 4 (“repeated and often improvised musical accompaniment”) was probably derived from sense 3, and sense 5 (“activity to fill or stall for time”) from sense 4.
The verb senses were derived from the noun. Compare also Middle English vaum-peien (“(uncertain) to repair (footwear) with a new upper or vamp; to fabricate an upper or vamp”).

cog

(by extension) An activity or speech intended to fill or stall for time.


cross-examination

en-noun

cross-examination (countable and uncountable, plural cross-examinations)

(by extension) Any intense period of questioning, especially if hostile.


anathema

anathema (plural anathemas or anathemata)

Borrowed from Late Latin anathema (“curse, person cursed, offering”), itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀνάθεμα (anáthema, “something dedicated, especially dedicated to eternal damnation”), from ἀνατίθημι (anatíthēmi, “I set upon, offer as a votive gift”), from ἀνά (aná, “upon”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “I put, place”). The Ancient Greek term was influenced by Hebrew חרם (herem), leading to the sense of "accursed," especially in Ecclesiastical writers.

der

Even three years ago, the thought of spending two hours, let alone a whole day, without my mobile would have been anathema.

2015 January 18, Monty Munford, “What’s the point of carrying a mobile phone nowadays?”, in The Daily Telegraph

The actor, who prizes mystery, hated being gossip fodder. “That was anathema to him,” said his sister Martha Fiennes, a filmmaker, “and he just hated the curiosity into his life.”

2022 October 22, Maureen Dowd, “Ralph Fiennes, Master of Monsters”, in The New York Times

(by extension) Something which is vehemently disliked by somebody.


detonation

en-noun

detonation (countable and uncountable, plural detonations)

From French détonation; equivalent to detonate + -ion.

a nuclear detonation

carbon detonation

(chemistry) An explosion or sudden report made by the near-instantaneous decomposition or combustion of unstable substances. Specifically, combustion that spreads supersonically via shock compression.

(by extension) Any sudden explosion made by an exothermic process (whether chemical or not) that produces a supersonic shock wave.