homework

homework (usually uncountable, plural homeworks)

/ˈhəʊmˌwɜːk/

The speaker had certainly done his homework before delivering the lecture.

Since the whole world is watching this launch, they probably should've done some homework on their talking points.

2012 April 10, John Hudson, “North Korea Has a Clumsy Way of Soothing Concerns About Its Rocket Launch”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 2022-01-22

Four years after her first sexual health book came out, Dr. Lori Brotto is giving her readers a little bit of homework for the bedroom.

2017 May 9, “Mindful sex is better sex, says B.C. researcher promoting new workbook”, in CBC News, archived from the original on 2022-11-22

I didn't even know who he was until I did my homework and realised he was a premier footballer for Bayern.

2022 July 18, Donald Mcrae, quoting Michael Yormark, “Roc Nation's Michael Yormark on Romelu Lukaku: 'You have to play to his strengths... I don't think that happened'”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 2022-12-26

Nigeria had done their homework and were well organised. Halimatu Ayinde was exceptional in her marking of James, who had scored twice and provided three assists as she ran the show against China.

2023 August 7, Suzanne Wrack, “England beat Nigeria on penalties to reach Women’s World Cup quarter-finals”, in The Guardian

Exercises assigned by a teacher to a student which review concepts studied in class.

(by extension) Something which one is encouraged to learn or study on one's own.


quantum mechanics

(by extension) Something overly complicated or detailed.


defense

en-noun

defense (countable and uncountable, plural defenses)

From Middle English defens, defense, from Old French defens, defense, from Late Latin dēfēnsa (“protection”). Displaced native Old English bewering. The verb is from the noun.

obrana

An argument in support or justification of something.

(law, by extension) The case presented by the defendant in a legal proceeding.

(law, by extension) The lawyer or team thereof who presents such a case.


cartridge

/ˈkɑɹtɹɪd͡ʒ/

Corruption of earlier cartage, from French cartouche, from Italian cartoccio (“roll of paper”), from Medieval Latin carta (“paper”). Doublet of cartouche.

Cartridge (firearms)
Magnetic tape data storage
cartridge

(by extension) A prefabricated subassembly that can be easily installed in or removed from a larger mechanism or replaced with another interchangeable subassembly.


corner

→ German: Corner

→ Japanese: コーナー (kōnā)

From Middle English corner, from Anglo-Norman cornere (compare Old French cornier, corniere (“corner”)), from Old French corne (“corner, angle”, literally “a horn, projecting point”), from Vulgar Latin *corna (“horn”), from Latin cornua, plural of cornū (“projecting point, end, horn”). The sense of "angle, corner" in Old French is not found in Latin or other Romance languages. It was possibly calqued from Frankish *hurnijā (“corner, angle”), which is similar to, and derived from *hurn, the Frankish word for "horn". Displaced native cognate Middle English hirn, herne, from Old English hyrne, from Proto-Germanic *hurnijǭ (“little horn, hook, angle, corner”), whence modern English hirn (“nook, corner”), itself related to horn.

nurkka

business: interest that is sufficient for price manipulation

(heading) Relating to the playing field.

(boxing, by extension) The group of people who assist a boxer during a bout.


solemn

en-adj

solemn (comparative solemner or more solemn, superlative solemnest or most solemn)

solemner (comparative)
more solemn (comparative)
solemnest (superlative)
most solemn (superlative)

From Middle English solempne, solemne (“performed with religious ceremony or reverence; devoted to religious observances, sacred; ceremonious, formal; of a vow: made under a religious sanction, binding; religious celebration, celebration of a feast day; famous, well-known; important; grand, imposing; awe-inspiring, impressive; grave, serious; dignified; enunciated or held formally”) [and other forms], from Old French solempne, solemne (“serious, solemn”) [and other forms], or from its etymon Late Latin sōlempnis, sōlennis, from Latin sōlemnis, from sollemnis (“appointed, established, fixed; common, customary, ordinary, ritual, traditional, usual; ceremonial, religious, solemn; festive; annual, yearly”) [and other forms]. The further etymology is uncertain; sollus (“entire, whole”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (“whole”)) + epulum (“banquet, feast”) (in the sense of a ritual; perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”)) has been suggested.

nb...

solem, solemp, solempe, solempn, sollempne, solom, solen, solenne, sollen, sollene

Characterized by or performed with appropriate or great ceremony or formality.

plegtig

characterized by or performed with appropriate or great ceremony or formality

(by extension)
Deeply serious and sombre; grave.

Inspiring serious feelings or thoughts; sombrely impressive.

впечатляващ

inspiring serious feelings or thoughts; sombrely impressive

(by extension)
(obsolete) Cheerless, gloomy, sombre.

ankea

cheerless, gloomy, sombre — see also cheerless, gloomy, sombre


exponential growth

en-noun

exponential growth (usually uncountable, plural exponential growths)

(by extension, proscribed) Very rapid growth.


container

→ Danish: container

→ Dutch: container

→ French: container

→ German: Container

→ Greek: κοντέινερ (kontéiner)

→ Japanese: コンテナ

→ Korean: 컨테이너 (keonteineo)

desc

→ Norwegian Bokmål: container, konteiner

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: container, konteinar

→ Brazilian Portuguese: contêiner, container

→ Russian: контейнер (kontejner)

→ Spanish: container

→ Swahili: kontena

→ Swedish: container

From Middle English conteyner, equivalent to contain + -er.

(by extension) Someone who holds people in their seats or in a (reasonably) calm state.


coffin

Borrowed from Cornish koghyn (“exploratory trench”).


total

en-adj

total (comparative more total, superlative most total)

more total (comparative)
most total (superlative)

From Middle English total, from Old French total, from Medieval Latin tōtālis, from tōtus (“all, whole, entire”) + -ālis, the former element of unknown origin. Perhaps related to Oscan 𐌕𐌏𐌖𐌕𐌏 (touto, “community, city-state”), Umbrian 𐌕𐌏𐌕𐌀𐌌 (totam, “tribe”, acc.), Old English þēod (“a nation, people, tribe”), from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂ (“people”). More at English Dutch, English thede.

cog

(mathematics, more generally, of a relation R on X × Y) Left total: Such that for every x in X there is a y in Y with x R y.


folklore

en-noun

folklore (countable and uncountable, plural folklores)

→ Catalan: folklore

→ Danish: folklore

→ Esperanto: folkloro

desctree

→ French: folklore
→ Romanian: folclor n
→ Turkish: folklor

→ Galician: folclore

→ German: Folklore

→ Hebrew: פוֹלְקְלוֹר (folklór)

→ Hungarian: folklór

→ Italian: folclore

→ Polish: folklor

→ Portuguese: folclore

→ Russian: фолькло́р (folʹklór)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: фо̀лкло̄р

Latin script: fòlklōr

desc

→ Spanish: folclore, folclor, folklore, folklor

→ Swedish: folklore

→ Yiddish: פֿאָלקלאָר (folklor)

From folk + lore, coined by British writer William Thoms in 1846 to replace terms such as "popular antiquities". Thoms imitated German terms such as Volklehre (“people's customs”) and Volksüberlieferung (“popular tradition”). Compare also Old English folclar (“popular instruction; homily”) and West Frisian folkloare (“folklore”).

noncog

A selection of longer items of hacker folklore and humor is included in Appendix A, Hacker Folklore.

1996, Eric S. Raymond, The New Hacker's Dictionary, 3rd edition, MIT Press, page 3

Foxes boss Rodgers had a smile that illuminated Wembley as he joined Leicester's players in joyous scenes of celebration after the manager and his players had written their name into the club's folklore.

2021 May 30, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 0 – 1 Leicester”, in BBC Sport

(by extension) The tales, superstitions etc. of any particular group or community.


allergy

→ Bengali: এলার্জি (elarji)

→ Cebuano: alerdyi

→ Hindi: एलर्जी (elarjī)

→ Urdu: الرجی (alarjī)

Borrowed from German Allergie. Coined by Austrian pediatrician Clemens von Pirquet in 1906 from Ancient Greek ἄλλος (állos, “other”) + ἔργον (érgon, “work, activity”), on the model of Energie.

en:any hypersensitivity reaction or process

(medicine, immunology, broadly) A disorder of the immune system causing adverse reactions to substances (allergens) not harmful to most and marked by the body's production of histamines and associated with atopy, anaphylaxis, and asthma; any condition of hypersensitivity to a substance.

en:class I hypersensitivity reaction or process

(medicine, immunology, strictly) Specifically, hypersensitivity of class I in the modern classification thereof: the immunoglobulin E–mediated type.


exponential

Near-synonyms: extreme, huge

There's been an exponential rise in the number of crimes reported this year, compared to last year.

If loans are not what you are looking for, then search for scholarships [...] I have been putting together scholarship letters for parents over the past decade, and there is an exponential amount of money to be had.

2011, Michael Kiers, College Convo - Overview of College Admissions https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/College_Convo_Overview_of_College_Admiss/MqvdAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22exponential+amount%22&pg=PA26&printsec=frontcover

It is also about an arms control forum that has been meeting just once every five years for decision making on topics that are moving with exponential velocity [...]

2013, Daniel M. Gerstein, National Security and Arms Control in the Age of Biotechnology https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/National_Security_and_Arms_Control_in_th/Bf2tAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22exponential+velocity%22&pg=PR11&printsec=frontcover

Of course, one can creatively conjure up a host of things robot-politicians can do at exponential speed and scale, from shaking hands and kissing babies to handling the fundraising “robocalls” that frustrate American voters.

2018 July 31, Alvin Carpio, “Is it time to automate politicians?”, in The Economist

(loosely) Characterised by a very rapid rate of change, especially increase, or merely a very large amount or degree.


stellar

en-adj

stellar (comparative more stellar, superlative most stellar)

more stellar (comparative)
most stellar (superlative)

The actress gave a stellar performance.

Some years ago there were hundreds of musicians of ability, but of less stellar renown, who toured the country, giving performances at less than stellar fees.

1931, Music and Dance, volume 21, Melbourne, Vic.: Australian Musical News Pub. Co., →OCLC, page 27, column 2

Yet the economic seers are at it again, seemingly unabashed by their somewhat less than stellar performances in 1969.

1970, Hardware Age, volume 205, New York, N.Y.: David Williams Co., →OCLC, page 8, column 1

Where a bank may automatically reject any borrower based on a bad credit score, this is not true for all social lending networks. You can still have a less than stellar score and obtain funding as long as you can convince a peer tha your project is worthy or your business model is strong.

2012, Linda A. Jenkins, “What is Social Lending?”, in Creative Financing: How to Get a Small Business Loan without a Banker, Gold Alliance Group, page 1

(by extension) Exceptional, exceptionally good.


antipodes

From Latin, from Ancient Greek ἀντίποδες (antípodes), from ἀντί (antí, “opposite”) + πόδες (pódes), plural of πούς (poús, “foot”).

(figuratively, by extension) The opposite of something.


fringe

From Middle English frenge, from Old French frenge, from Vulgar Latin *frimbia, a metathesis of Latin fimbriae (“fibers, threads, fringe”, plural), of uncertain origin. Compare German Franse and Danish frynse. Eclipsed native Middle English fnæd (“fringe”), Middle English byrd (“fringe”), Middle English fasel (“fringe”) from Old English fæs (“fringe”), and Old English fnæs (“fringe”). Doublet of fimbria.

der

He walked up the heath’s western edge, beside a fringe of scrub where hogweed grew in tangles and brambles rose taller than him.

2020 March 5, Tom Lamont, “The invisible city: how a homeless man built a life underground”, in The Guardian

A decorative border.
(by extension) A border or edging.

A decorative border.
A border or edging.


actinic

From Ancient Greek ἀκτίς, ἀκτῖν- (aktís, aktîn-, “ray”) + -ic.

uder

ἀκτίς, ἀκτῖν-

He bounded over cresting waves that shone in the actinic glare.


kowtow

en-verb

kowtow (third-person singular simple present kowtows, present participle kowtowing, simple past and past participle kowtowed)

kowtows (present singular third-person)
kowtowing (participle present)
kowtowed (participle past)
kowtowed (past)

From Sinitic 叩頭／叩头 (Cantonese 叩頭／叩头 (kau³ tau⁴) / Mandarin 叩頭／叩头 (kòutóu)), literally "knock head".

(by extension) To bow to or show obeisance to.


simp

The JEWS own this country, the IRISH run it, the BRITISH envy it, the GERMANS cuss it, the NEGROES enjoy it, the FRENCH style and perfume it, the CHINESE wash it, BOOTLEGGERS irrigate it, the GREEKS feed and shine it, the JAPS fear it, MEXICANS hate it, RUSSIANS pity it, the ITALIANS fruit it, ALL NATIONS cigarette it, EVERYBODY likes it, and the AMERICANS—well, those poor simps just pay the bills and can keep out of jail if they behave themselves and are very careful about their driving and parking.

1987 February 18, “[untitled]”, in New York Newsday

All of this, inspired by hypersensitive simps who never once had to demonstrate that, by reasonable standards, they had been victimized in any way.

2009, Michael Graham ·, Redneck Nation: How the South Really Won the War

A real pimp is a gentleman, but these are pimps in gorilla suits. They hang around pimps, they have hoes on the track working for them, they may even look like pimps, but they are straight simps.

2012, Pumpin' Ken, Pimpology: The 48 Laws of the Game, page 11

Of course,a guy who wanted to run for office would have to get himself snipped BEFORE he had children, but that's not a big deal since most of the officious little simps who go on to be your mayor realize very early on that they're not going to work for a living.

(slang, by extension) Someone who is not worthy of respect.


simp

Originated in West Coast hip hop culture in the 1980s. Further etymology unknown. Possibly from:
# a special use of simpleton (above);
# a clipping of simper;
# a respelled clipping of sympathetic; or
# a blend of sissy + pimp or possibly sissy + wimp.
Originally restricted to African-American Vernacular English, until it received a boost in usage in the late 2010s through Internet culture, having been popularized through Twitch and TikTok.

white knight

a person who is too submissive for a partner

“Trump simp”.

2020 October 6, Miranda Devine, “Help, the President tweeted my email!”, in Daily Telegraph

Tweet: Crosbee @crosbeelisser . Oct 25 I'm a simp for @justnfields.

2020 October 26, David Regimbal, “Buckeye B-@-tle Cry: Ohio State Fans Celebrated the Return of Big Ten Football By Aggressively Hopping into the Mentions”, in Eleven Warriors

"If I can put it in really plain English, Mr Morrison needs to make sure he doesn't look like he's just a simp to Donald Trump," Shorten said.

2020 November 2, Paul Scott, “Paul Scott writes: So what did Novocastrians most often look for on Google between March and October, 2020?”, in Newcastle Herald

(slang, by extension) Someone who foolishly overvalues someone else and defers to them, putting them on a pedestal.


simp

simp (third-person singular simple present simps, present participle simping, simple past and past participle simped)

simps (present singular third-person)
simping (participle present)
simped (participle past)
simped (past)

(intransitive, slang, by extension) To obsequiously praise or admire.

2018, mimi (@splendamami), Tweet.
the dick can't be that good honey stop simping over that boy

2017, Jody Tran, Spotify playlist *simps in vietnamese*
i dedicate this playlist to all my hoes who want to simp in viet. this takes u on an adventure to the modern angsty world of vietnam. this is where we can get into all our feels culturally. we all gonna mfking be CRYING IN THE VIETNAMESE CLUB!!

2016, @jakedeee, Spotify playlist Simping
If I think about my ex while I listen to this playlist, you should too.

(intransitive, slang, by extension) To reminisce melancholically; to recall once fond memories now tinged with sadness, especially regarding a former lover.


minyan

From Hebrew מִנְיָן (minyán, “number, count, quorum”).

uder

New people assume leadership positions as required and stay around for as long as the minyan meets their needs.

2009, Charles Simon, Building a Successful Volunteer Culture, page 137

Tefillin are not used on Sabbaths and holidays, so unless you attend a minyan on weekday mornings or grew up in a home where men prayed daily, this practice may be unfamiliar to you.

2012, Andrea Lieber, The Essential Guide to Jewish Prayer and Practices


interstice

From late Middle English interstice, from Old French interstice or directly from Latin interstitium (“a space between, gap, interval”), ultimately from intersistere (“to stand in between, to stop in the middle”), from inter- + sistere (“to stand, to stop”).

промежу́ток

временно́й (vremennój)

(by extension) A small interval of time free to be spent on activities other than one's primary goal.


hunger

en-noun

hunger (countable and uncountable, plural hungers)

From Middle English hunger, from Old English hungor (“hunger, desire; famine”), from Proto-West Germanic *hungr, from Proto-Germanic *hungruz, *hunhruz (“hunger”), from Proto-Indo-European *kenk- (“to burn, smart, desire, hunger, thirst”).
Cognate with West Frisian honger, hûnger (“hunger”), Dutch honger (“hunger”), German Low German Hunger (“hunger”), German Hunger (“hunger”), Swedish hunger (“hunger”), Icelandic hungur (“hunger”).

der

I have a hunger to win.

When gangsters bump my shit, can they feel my hunger?

2003, “What Up Gangsta”, in Curtis Jackson, Rob Tewlow (lyrics), Reef Tewlow (music), Get Rich or Die Tryin', performed by 50 Cent, New York City: Shady Records


histrionic

en-adj

histrionic (comparative more histrionic, superlative most histrionic)

more histrionic (comparative)
most histrionic (superlative)

Borrowed from Late Latin histriōnicus (“pertaining to acting; scurrilous, shameful; wretched”), from Latin histriōnicus (“pertaining to acting and the theatre”), from histriō (“actor, player”) + -icus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). By surface analysis, histrion + -ic.

der

[T]he mode and the expression of honour to literature in France has continued to this hour tainted with false and histrionic feeling, because originally it grew up from spurious roots, prospered unnaturally upon deep abuses in the system, and at this day (so far as it still lingers) memorialises the political bondage of the nation.

1848 May–August, [Thomas De Quincey], “Art VI.—The Life and Adventures of Oliver Goldsmith. A Biography. In Four Books. By John Forster. London, 1848. [book review]”, in The North British Review, volume IX, Edinburgh: W. P. Kennedy, […]; London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co.; Dublin: James M‘Glashan, →OCLC, page 208

[Leon] Trotsky's vanity, unlike [Joseph] Stalin's, was, practically speaking, frivolous. There was something more histrionic about it. He had shown himself no less ruthless than Stalin. Indeed, at the time of the Civil War, he had ordered executions on a greater scale than Stalin or anyone else.

1990, Robert Conquest, “The Foreign Element”, in The Great Terror: A Reassessment, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press; 40th anniversary edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, book II (The Yezhov Years), page 414

In the dance, the obsessive-compulsive keeps his mate endlessly frustrated. She, in turn, becomes more histrionic, and as she projects her emotional dirty part into him, he becomes more anal and compulsive.

2008, Joan Lachkar, “The Obsessive-Compulsive Narcissist”, in How to Talk to a Narcissist, New York, N.Y., Abingdon, Oxon.: Routledge, page 72

This lens (known as a carello ottico in Italian and a travelling optique in French) is used sparingly but effectively in General Della Rovere during the important bombardment scene inside the prison, which introduces [Vittorio] De Sica's most histrionic speech.

2009, Peter Bondanella, “Neorealism’s Legacy to a New Generation, and the Italian Political Film”, in A History of Italian Cinema, New York, N.Y.: Continuum International Publishing Group, part 3 (The Golden Age of Italian Cinema), pages 219–220

A vicious circle may form in which the more rejected they feel the more histrionic they become, and the more histrionic they become the more rejected they feel.

2010, Neel Burton, “Personality Disorders”, in Psychiatry, 2nd edition, Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, part 2, page 138, column 2

(by extension) Excessively dramatic or emotional, especially with the intention to draw attention.


satyr

From French satyre, from Latin satyrus, from Ancient Greek σάτυρος (sáturos).


pterodactyl

/ˌtɛɹəˈdæktl̩/

/ˌtɛɹəˈdæktɪl/

From French ptérodactyle, a term coined by Cuvier from Ancient Greek πτερόν (pterón, “wing”) + δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “finger”).

Pterodaktyl m (literal translation: Flügelfinger)


cashmere

en-noun

cashmere (usually uncountable, plural cashmeres)

(countable, by extension) Any similar shawl.


maverick

Named after Texan lawyer and politician Samuel Maverick (1803–1870), who refused to brand his cattle. For probable origin and meaning, see Maverick.
The poker noun sense (“a queen and a jack as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em”) may be from the theme song of the US Western television series Maverick (1957–1962), which says of the eponymous protagonist that “[g]amblin’ is his game” and that he is “livin’ on jacks and queens”.

named-after

(by extension) Anything dishonestly obtained.

As a voter, I'm a maverick, don't belong to any party. I believe that John Doe is the best available man for county commissioner, Richard Roe for sheriff, Joe Hicks for governor—but John is a Democrat, Dick is a Republican, and Joe is—well, something else.

1924 May 3, Collier’s, volume 73, Springfield, Oh.: Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 38

The relative merits of the civils and the demerits of the electricals were extolled in the following challenge: “To the A.I.E.E. [American Institute of Electrical Engineers], hereinafter referred to as the mavericks of the engineering profession."

1926, “The Engineers’ Basketball Contest: Civils vs. Electricals”, in The Idaho Engineer, Boise, Ida.: Idaho Society of Professional Engineers, →OCLC, page 70

If representation and recruitment is an objective, self-styled mavericks like Kelly and his Queensland sidekick George Christensen have some utility.

2021 February 2, Katharine Murphy, The Guardian

(by extension) One who is unconventional or does not abide by rules.

nonkonformista

one who is unconventional or does not abide by rules

We then drift back into our old habits, glorify efficiency, and smile knowingly at the mavericks within the faculty who want the administration to take democracy seriously.

1947, Norman Burns, The Administration of Higher Institutions under Changing Conditions (Institute for Administrative Officers of Higher Institutions; Proceedings), Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, →OCLC, page 75

Florence Nightingale would have been perceived as a maverick during her early career, because she was prioritizing hygiene when everybody else involved in healthcare was focused on other things, such as surgery and pills.

2008, Simon Singh, Edzard Ernst, “How Do You Determine the Truth?”, in Trick or Treatment?: Alternative Medicine on Trial, [London]: Transworld Publishers, pages 36–37

(by extension) One who creates or uses controversial or unconventional ideas or practices.

nonkonformista

one who creates or uses controversial or unconventional ideas or practices


maverick

en-verb

maverick (third-person singular simple present mavericks, present participle mavericking, simple past and past participle mavericked)

mavericks (present singular third-person)
mavericking (participle present)
mavericked (participle past)
mavericked (past)

(by extension) To seize without a legal claim.


megalith

PIE word
 *méǵh₂s
From mega- (prefix meaning ‘very large, great’) + -lith (suffix meaning ‘stone’), a back-formation from megalithic probably modelled after monolith.

confix

(by extension) A large stone or block of stone used in the construction of a modern structure.


meridian

The noun is derived from Late Middle English meridian, meridien (“midday, noon; position of the sun at noon; the south; longitude of a place; (astronomy) celestial meridian”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman meridien (“midday”), Middle French meridien (“midday; the south; terrestrial meridian; (astronomy) celestial meridian”) (modern French méridien), and Old French meridiane, meridiiene, and from their etymon Latin merīdiānum (“midday; position of the sun at noon; the south”), a noun use of the neuter form of merīdiānus (“relating to midday; southern”); see further at etymology 1.
Sense 1.1 (“celestial meridian”) is ultimately modelled after Latin merīdiāna līnea (“meridian line”). Sense 5.2 (“midday rest; siesta”) is modelled after Late Latin meridiana (“midday; midday rest”), probably short for Latin merīdiāna hōra (“midday time”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

nb...

meridene, meridiane, meridien, meridyan, meridyen, merydien, merydyen,

cog

The place on the celestial meridian where it is crossed by the sun or a star at its highest point.

(figuratively) The highest or most developed point, or most splendid stage, of something; culmination, peak, zenith.

зенит

highest or most developed point, or most splendid stage, of something — see also culmination, peak, zenith

(figuratively, specifically) Chiefly followed by of: the middle period of someone's life, when they are at their full abilities or strength; one's prime.

A ring or half-ring with markings in which an artificial globe is installed and may spin.

(mathematics) A line passing through the poles of any sphere; a notional line on the surface of a curved or round body (in particular, an eyeball).

meridiano

line passing through the poles of any sphere; notional line on the surface of a curved or round body


janissary

/ˈd͡ʒænəˌzeɹi/

]
From Italian giannizzaro, possibly via French janissaire or Spanish jenízaro, from Ottoman Turkish یڭیچری (yeniçeri), from یڭی (yeni, “new”) + چری (çeri, “soldier”). Compare Dutch janitsaar, German Janitschar. The word is attested from the early 16th century in English; the janissaries themselves date from the 14th century.

der

<i class="Latn mention" lang="tr">yeniçeri</i>

(historical) An infantry soldier, often of European Christian background from the Balkans as well as Eastern Europe and forcibly converted to Islam, in a former elite Turkish (Ottoman) guard (disbanded in 1826).

(by extension) Any Turkish soldier, particularly one escorting a traveller.


junkie

→ German: Junkie

→ Spanish: yonqui

English people are travel junkies, but Americans hardly ever leave their state.

My uncle is a classic-car junkie.

(slang, by extension) An enthusiast of something.


rhapsody

The noun is derived from Latin rhapsōdia (“part of an epic poem suitable for uninterrupted recitation”), from Koine Greek ῥαψῳδία (rhapsōidía, “part of an epic poem suitable for uninterrupted recitation; rigmarole”), Ancient Greek ῥαψῳδία (rhapsōidía, “composition or recitation of Epic poetry”), from ῥαψῳδός (rhapsōidós, “composer or performer of Epic poetry”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-íā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). Ῥαψῳδός (Rhapsōidós) is derived from ῥᾰ́πτω (rháptō, “to sew”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to bend; to turn”)) + ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “ode; song”) (ultimately from Proto-Hellenic *awoidā́ (“song”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming o-grade action nouns).
Sense 2.2 (“instrumental composition of irregular form”) probably developed from sense 2.1 (“exaggeratedly enthusiastic or exalted expression of feeling in speech or writing”), and both of these senses may have been influenced by rapture (“extreme excitement, happiness, or pleasure”), the latter being a quality associated with the senses. Sense 2.3 (“literary composition consisting of miscellaneous works”) is borrowed from Middle French rhapsodie (modern French rhapsodie), from Latin rhapsōdia: see above.
The verb is derived from the noun.
cognates
* French rhapsodie (“instrumental composition of irregular form”)
* German Rhapsodie (“instrumental composition of irregular form”)

cog

(sometimes with a negative connotation) An exaggeratedly enthusiastic or exalted expression of feeling in speech or writing.

(music) An instrumental composition of irregular form, often incorporating improvisation.

ռապսոդիա

(archaic) A random collection or medley; a miscellany; also, a confused string of stories, words, etc.

(sometimes with a negative connotation, obsolete) A literary composition consisting of miscellaneous works.


woof

The noun is derived from Middle English wof, oof, owf (“threads in a piece of woven fabric at right angles to the warp, weft, woof; also sometimes the warp; transverse filaments of a spider web”) [and other forms] (the forms beginning with w were influenced by warp and weft), from Old English ōwef, āwef, from ō-, ā- (prefix meaning ‘away; from; off; out’) + *wef (“web”) (only attested in the form gewef (“woof”); from wefan (“to weave”), from Proto-West Germanic *weban (“to weave”), from Proto-Germanic *webaną (“to weave”), from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid; to weave”)).
The verb is derived from the noun.

inh

The purple ſtain on fleecy vvoofs he ſpread, / VVhich lur'd the eye, adorning many a nymph, / And drevv the pomp of trade to riſing Tyre.

1757, John Dyer, “Book II”, in The Fleece: A Poem. […], London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC, page 77, lines 600–602

(by extension) A woven fabric; also, the texture of a fabric.

(by extension, loosely, chiefly poetic) The thread or yarn used to form the weft of woven fabric; the fill, the weft.


woof

The interjection and noun are onomatopoeic. Interjection sense 2 (“used to express strong physical attraction for someone”) probably alludes to the eager barking of a dog.
The verb is probably derived from the interjection and the noun. Verb sense 1.2 (“to eat (food) voraciously”) may be influenced by or, alternatively, derived from wolf (“to eat (food) voraciously, devour, gobble”).

He looked up and out a moment as there came to his ear, dully but unmistakably above the roar of the engine, the hoarse "woof" of a bursting anti-aircraft shell.

1918, Boyd Cable [pseudonym], “Bring Home the ’Bus”, in Air Men o’ War, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 14

Calls [of the mantled howler monkey] include woofs, grunts, barks, and howls. […] A series of loud, low barks or woofs precede the long roar.

1997, Fiona A. Reid, “Monkeys (Order Primates)”, in A Field Guide to the Mammals of Central America & Southeast Mexico, New York, N.Y.; Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, page 179, column 1

(by extension) A sound resembling a dog's bark; specifically (sound engineering), a low-frequency sound of bad quality produced by a loudspeaker.

haukunta

sound resembling a dog’s bark; low-frequency sound of bad quality produced by a loudspeaker


heresy

en-noun

heresy (countable and uncountable, plural heresies)

From Middle English heresie, from Old French heresie (modern hérésie), from Latin haeresis, from Ancient Greek αἵρεσις (haíresis, “choice, system of principles”), from αἱρέομαι (hairéomai, “to take for oneself, to choose”), the middle voice of αἱρέω (hairéō, “to take”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ser-; see also Welsh herw (“theft, raid”), Ancient Greek στερέω (steréō, “to deprive of”).

cog

I'm going to declare a heresy for you. All science, if you go back into its roots, saying: 'Why do I believe this?' 'Well, I believe this because of these tests and this proof.' 'Well, why do I believe this?' 'Why did I set up this test?' 'Why did I believe that proof?' All science goes back to something that we believe because we believe it. We believe it because we believe it, and we have no proof for it. It's like a religion.

1985 April 17, Frank Herbert, 15:58 from the start, in Frank Herbert speaking at UCLA 4/17/1985, UCLACommStudies, archived from the original on 2017-02-10

(by extension) A controversial or unorthodox opinion held by a member of a group, as in politics, philosophy or science.


barometer

[bəˈɹɑ.mə.ɾɚ]

[bəˈɹɔm.ɪ.ɾə(ɹ)]

An election is not necessarily an accurate barometer of public opinion. There are other ways in which it makes itself felt, through the press, the forum, discussion, and through every other type of communication.

1916 Jun, Michigan Law Review, volume 14, number 8, pp. 661-665

Italy’s 10-year yield spread versus Germany, considered a barometer of political and economic risks in the euro area, climbed as high as 1.9 percentage points on Tuesday, its widest since the early stages of the pandemic when investors dumped riskier eurozone government debt.

2022 May 4, Tommy Stubbington, Martin Arnold, “ECB policy tightening sends eurozone borrowing costs soaring”, in Financial Times

Elections in six Malaysian states on Saturday will serve as a barometer of public sentiment for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government against a powerful opposition consisting of Malay-Muslim political parties.

2023 August 10, “Owners of ‘LGBT’ Swatch watches could be jailed for three years in Malaysia”, in THe Guardian

(figurative, by extension) Anything used as a gauge or indicator.


zone

→ Korean: 존 (jon)

→ Punjabi: ਜ਼ੋਨ (zon)

From Latin zōna, from Ancient Greek ζώνη (zṓnē, “girdle, belt”).

der

The discussion was veering off into a danger zone.

(by extension) A restricted category or virtual place.

(geometry, loosely, perhaps by meronymy) A frustum of a sphere.


commandeer

en-verb

commandeer (third-person singular simple present commandeers, present participle commandeering, simple past and past participle commandeered)

commandeers (present singular third-person)
commandeering (participle present)
commandeered (participle past)
commandeered (past)

Late 19th century. From Dutch commanderen (“to command”), partially through its descendant, Afrikaans kommandeer (“to command”). Ultimately from French commander, from Old French comander, from Latin commendare. Doublet of command.

"We're stuck taking the bus to school tomorrow, aren't we?" "...Yeah. Moperville South doesn't give bus service out here, so Ellen's commandeering my car."

2007 February 5, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Monday, Feb 5, 2007

(transitive, by extension) To take or use for some purpose (not necessarily arbitrarily or by force).


stoke

stoke (third-person singular simple present stokes, present participle stoking, simple past and past participle stoked)

stokes (present singular third-person)
stoking (participle present)
stoked (participle past)
stoked (past)

From a back-formation of stoker, apparently from Dutch stoker, from stoken (“to kindle a fire, incite, instigate”), from Middle Dutch stoken (“to poke, thrust”), from stock (“stick, stock”), see: tandenstoker. Ultimately the same word as above.

Stoking the star maker machinery behind the popular song

To stoke motivation and ambition, focus instead on the road ahead.

2011, Roy F. Baumeister, John Tierney, Willpower, page 120

(transitive, by extension) To encourage a behavior or emotion.


career

Mid 16th century, from French carrière (“road; racecourse”), from Italian carriera, from Old Occitan carreira, from Late Latin carrāria based on Latin carrus (“wheeled vehicle”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós, from *ḱers- (“to run”); alternatively, from Middle French carriere, from Old Occitan.

a career rapist

(loosely) Synonym of serial (“doing something regularly”)


autograph

/ˈɔːtəɡɹɑːf/

From Latin autographum, in turn from Ancient Greek αὐτόγραφον (autógraphon, “a writing in one’s own hand”). Equivalent to auto- + -graph.

uder

If you could just put your autograph on the ol’ contract, please…

(by extension, colloquial) A person's signature used as a mark of formal approval.


laundry list

Among the laundry list of inconveniences most of us can't abide: cold coffee, airport delays, the high price of gasoline.

2007 July 31, Ceri Au, “Fighting for the Right to Flush”, in Time

The senior Liberal Democrat, echoing the private views of other senior figures across parties, said a daily "laundry list" sent out by the party headquarters contributes to the "diminution of individual expression or even thought in politics" as politicians are expected to repeat a positive central message over and over again.

2013 October 31, Rowena Mason, quoting David Steel, “Lord Steel criticises culture of spin and tweeting in modern politics”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

en:any long list, especially a tedious one

(idiomatic, by extension) A long and often tedious list of items.

(colloquial, by extension) An equally unrealistic skill set claimed by a candidate on a résumé.


caddie

The noun is borrowed from Scots caddie (“military cadet; young man; ragamuffin; person engaged to run errands; person hired to assist a golfer”), from French cadet (“army cadet; younger sibling”), from capdet (“captain; chief”) (Gascony, archaic), from Late Latin capitettum, from Latin caput (“head”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“head”). Doublet of cadel, cadet, capital, capitellum, caudillo, and Kadet.
The verb is derived from the noun.

doublet

(by extension, archaic) A young man; a boy, a lad; specifically (derogatory), one regarded as of low social status; a ragamuffin.

(by extension, historical) A person engaged to run errands such as carrying goods and messages; a commissionaire, an errand boy or errand girl, a gofer; specifically, a member of an organized group of such persons working in large Scottish cities and towns in the early 18th century.

As caddy I had to carry the clubs, for there are four varieties almost everyone used, and some used more. Besides doing this, the caddy has to keep score of the number of strokes used, and watch and find each ball.

1897 (date written), Paul T. B. Ward, quotee, “19th Hole: The Readers Take Over”, in Sports Illustrated, volume 19, number 4, Chicago, Ill.: Time Inc., published 22 July 1963, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 60

Then Carter Chapman picked out his putter, stepped confidently up to the ball, sighted once along the ground, and made his stroke. The ball rolled straight as a die toward the caddy who was holding the flag, and tinkled into the cup for a birdie three!

1921 March, Octavus Roy Cohen, “Follow Through”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LXXII, number 2, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], →OCLC, page 370, column 1

(by extension, golf, also attributively) A person hired to assist a golfer by carrying their golf clubs and providing advice.


wigger

Blend of white + nigger. First use appears c. 1988. See cite below.

(by extension, imprecise) A non-black person of any race considered to be inauthentically appropriating black culture and behavior.


shrove

en-verb

shrove (third-person singular simple present shroves, present participle shroving, simple past and past participle shroved)

shroves (present singular third-person)
shroving (participle present)
shroved (participle past)
shroved (past)


kitty litter

en-noun

kitty litter (usually uncountable, plural kitty litters)

[ˈkʰɪɾi ˈlɪɾɚ]

(by extension, informal) Any similar mix, used to soak up liquid spills.


gallery

From Middle English galery, gallerye, from Middle French galerie, gallerie, from Old French galerie, gallerie (“a long portico, a gallery”), from Medieval Latin galeria (“gallery”), perhaps an alteration of galilea (“church porch”), probably from Latin Galilaea, Galilee, region of Palestine. More at Galilee.

Capello was missing his son's wedding in Milan to take charge – yet his reshaped England team gave him cause for a double celebration as they overturned the odds in front of a delighted Wembley gallery.

2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC Sport

(by extension, metonymically) The spectators at an event, collectively.


cosmos

cosmos (countable and uncountable, plural cosmoses or cosmoi)

From Middle English cosmos (“the universe; the world”), borrowed from Ancient Greek κόσμος (kósmos, “order; universe; the earth, the world; decoration, ornament”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱens- (“to announce, proclaim; to put in order”).
The plural form cosmoi is a learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κόσμοι (kósmoi).

kosmos

This simple cell is a cosmos in this respect: it represents the laws of the universe in changes of matter, and clearly exemplifies their workings in the oral cavity.

1890 May 14, S. B. Palmer, “Matter and Force in the Oral Cavity”, in James W[illiam] White, editor, The Dental Cosmos: A Monthly Record of Dental Science. […], volume XXXII, number 7, Philadelphia, Pa.: The S. S. White Dental Manufacturing Co., […], published July 1890, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 538

Obviously, there are multiple cosmoses in the debate, out of which we picked four. The two first can be understood as compromise cosmoses. […] There is the cosmos of the reformer, which took by and large shape in the EDDP and which we entitled Public Future. Then there is the cosmos of the existing mode of ordering the city which by and large prevailed in the RDDP. […] Further, we present two cosmoses nurturing the strong opposition. They are both militant perspectives surging from the "civil society".

2022, Tobias Baitsch, Amita Bhide, “Politics of Land Use Regulations”, in Luca Pattaroni, Amita Bhide, Christine Lutringer, editors, Politics of Urban Planning: The Making and Unmaking of the Mumbai Development Plan 2014–2034 (Exploring Urban Change in South Asia), Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore, →DOI, →ISSN, page 87

(countable) The universe regarded as a system with harmony and order.

(by extension) A harmonious, ordered whole.


engineer

→ Burmese: အင်ဂျင်နီယာ (anggyangniya)

→ Hawaiian: ʻenekinia

→ Hindi: इंजीनियर (iñjīniyar)

→ Japanese: エンジニア (enjinia)

desc

အိန်ဂျေန်နဳယျာ

→ Mon: အိန်ဂျေန်နဳယျာ

→ Mon: အိန်ဂျေန်နဳယျာ

→ Persian:

Dari: اِنْجِنِیر (injinīr)

/ˌɛn(d)ʒɪˈnɪə/

/ˌɛnd͡ʒɪˈnɪ(ə)ɹ/

The noun is derived from:
* Middle English enginour (“one who designs, constructs, or operates military works for attack or defence, etc.; machine designer”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman enginour, engigneour [and other forms], and Middle French and Old French engigneor, engigneour, engignier (“one who designs, constructs, or operates military works for attack or defence; architect; carpenter; craftsman; designer; planner; one who deceives or schemes”) (modern French ingénieur), from engin (“contraption, device; machine; invention; creativity, ingenuity; intelligence; deception, ruse, trickery”) + -eor, -or (suffix forming agent nouns); engin is derived from Latin ingenium (“innate or natural quality, nature; intelligence, natural capacity; ability, skill, talent; (Medieval Latin) engine; machine”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + gignere (the present active infinitive of gignō (“to bear, beget, give birth to; to cause, produce, yield”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget, give birth to; to produce”)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns); and
* from engine + -er (occupational suffix); and
* from engine + -eer (suffix forming nouns denoting people associated with, concerned with, or engaged in specified activities), possibly modelled after Middle French ingénieur (a variant of Middle French, Old French engigneour; see above), and Italian ingegniere (“engineer”) (obsolete; modern Italian ingegnere).
The verb is derived from the noun.
cognates
* Medieval Latin, Late Latin ingeniārius (“engineer”)
* Medieval Latin ingeniator (“one constructing or using an engine”)
* Old Occitan engenhador, enginhador
* Portuguese engenhador (obsolete), engenheiro (“engineer”)
* Spanish engeñero (obsolete), ingeniero (“engineer”)

nb...

(Late Middle English) engyner, (Middle English) engineour, enginer, engyneour, engyneor, engynour, yngynore

engineor, enginere, engineur, enginor, enginur

cog

A person professionally engaged in the technical design and construction of large-scale private and public works such as bridges, buildings, harbours, railways, roads, etc.; a civil engineer.

Somehow, everybody who isn’t in sales, marketing, or design became an engineer. “We’re hiring engineers,” read startup websites, which could mean anything from Javascript programmers to roboticists.

2015 November 5, Ian Bogost, “Programmers: Stop Calling Yourselves Engineers”, in The Atlantic

Originally, a person engaged in designing, constructing, or maintaining engines or machinery; now (more generally), a person qualified or professionally engaged in any branch of engineering, or studying to do so.

анџьныр

person engaged in designing, constructing, or maintaining engines or machinery; (more generally) a person qualified or professionally engaged in any branch of engineering, or studying to do so

A person trained to operate an engine; an engineman.

(chiefly historical) A person who operates a steam engine; specifically (nautical), a person employed to operate the steam engine in the engine room of a ship.

maskinist

person employed in the engine room of a ship to operate its steam engine

(US, firefighting) A person who drives or operates a fire engine.

maşinist

(chiefly US, rail transport) A person who drives or operates a locomotive; a train driver.

a political engineer

Preceded by a qualifying word: a person who uses abilities or knowledge to manipulate events or people.

(often derogatory) A person who formulates plots or schemes; a plotter, a schemer.


insinuate

en-verb

insinuate (third-person singular simple present insinuates, present participle insinuating, simple past and past participle insinuated)

insinuates (present singular third-person)
insinuating (participle present)
insinuated (participle past)
insinuated (past)

From Latin īnsinuō (“to push in, creep in, steal in”), from in (“in”) + sinus (“a winding, bend, bay, fold, bosom”).

uder

Nanny didn't so much enter places as insinuate herself; she had unconsciously taken a natural talent for liking people and developed it into an occult science.

1995, Terry Pratchett, Maskerade, page 242

(figurative, by extension) To ingratiate; to obtain access to or introduce something by subtle, cunning or artful means.


gust

Apparently from an unrecorded Middle English *gust, from Old Norse gustr (“a gust, blast”), from Proto-Germanic *gustiz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰew-. Cognate with Icelandic gustur (“gust of wind”). Related also to Old Norse gusa (“to gush forth”), Old High German gussa (“flood”), Middle English guschen (> English gush).
The English word was not recorded before Shakespeare.

they are merely driven about by every sudden gust and impulse of the mind

1609 (revised 1625), Francis Bacon, De Sapientia Veterum ('Wisdom of the Ancients')

(by extension) Any rush or outburst (of water, emotion, etc.).


trigger-happy

en-adj

trigger-happy (comparative more trigger-happy, superlative most trigger-happy)

more trigger-happy (comparative)
most trigger-happy (superlative)

Be careful when you work near him; he's trigger-happy with that chain-saw.

He was so trigger-happy that he wheeled and punched me when I brushed by him in the hall.

In a country like Burma, where the trigger-happy ruling elite resorted to arms even against unarmed students on university campuses, we have drawn lessons from history. It has taught us to resort to arms when fighting against fully armed demons.

2021 December 6, Kenny Coyle, “A new stage of resistance: Burmese communists return to armed struggle”, in Morning Star

(by extension) Inclined to behave recklessly or violently at the slightest provocation.


Führer

Borrowed from German Führer, modelled after Italian Duce.

(by extension) A leader, especially one exercising the powers of a tyrant.

دَلِيل

leader exercising the powers of a tyrant


surgery

en-noun

surgery (countable and uncountable, plural surgeries)

/ˈsɜːd͡ʒəɹi/

From Middle English surgerie, from Old French surgerie, from Latin chirurgia, from Ancient Greek χειρουργία (kheirourgía), from χείρ (kheír, “hand”) + ἔργον (érgon, “work”). Doublet of chirurgy.

The C# compiler evidently performs some major surgery on your code each time you use the await keyword.

2019, Ian Griffiths, Programming C# 8.0: Build Cloud, Web, and Desktop Applications, page 716

(by extension, figurative) Drastic changes made to anything.


real life

real life (countable and uncountable, plural real lives)

→ German: Reallife

→ Korean: 리얼라이프 (rieollaipeu)

(by extension, sometimes capitalized) Life outside the Internet.

I kept meaning to look for a better-paying job, but real life intervened.

(by extension) Pressing day-to-day commitments.


epicene

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

From Late Middle English epicene, epicen, epicin, epcyn, episcen, epycen, epycene, epycyn, ypsen (“(grammar) having only one form for masculine and feminine gender, common”), from Late Latin epicoenos, epicoenus (“of a noun: applicable to either males or females”), Latin epicoenon (“noun applicable to either males or females; grammatical gender of such nouns”), from Ancient Greek ἐπίκοινος (epíkoinos, “common to many people, things, etc.; promiscuous, sluttish”) (compare γένος ἐπίκοινον (génos epíkoinon, “common gender”)), from ἐπι- (epi-, prefix meaning ‘on, upon; on top of; all over’) + κοινός (koinós, “common; general, public”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“beside, by, near, with”) + *-yós (suffix forming adjectives from noun stems)).

refn

From the collection of the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany.

der

Boating when epicene is nice, in truth, / E'en though one must allow, / The danger of giving the helm to youth / While pleasure rules the prow. / [...] / 'Tis best when Frank takes his cousin ashore, / She loves botanising, / While Sissy who's left, can handle an oar / In a manner surprising.

1878 June, “Ludovic” [pseudonym], “Epicene Boating”, in The Kentish Magazine: A Literary Monthly Miscellany for the County, number II, Maidstone, Kent: Burgiss-Brown, […]; London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., […], →OCLC, page 63

(by extension) Suitable for use regardless of sex; unisex.

A lot of rather etiolated, epicene, middle-class, male intellectuals have discovered a new authenticity when they come to identify themselves as football fans.

1994 August, Will Self, “The valley of the corn dollies”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, published 17 January 2014, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-04-13

Here it is vital to turn up at least half an hour early, when you find a kitsch variety show, ostensibly staged by a Gibraltarian touring company, in full, ghastly progress. It is certainly nothing if not international: Austria is symbolised by lederhosen and dirndls; gay Paree by boaters and baguettes; and Scotland, somewhat libellously, by kilted, epicene figures singing "Donald, where's your troosers?"

2005 August 18, Michael Billington, “Nuts CocoNuts [theatre review]”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2014-09-19

(by extension, usually derogatory) Of a man: effeminate.


epicene

Of Transvestites and Other Epicenes [article title]

1965 March, David Lee Pagari, “Of Transvestites and Other Epicenes”, in Paul Krassner, editor, The Realist: Freethought Criticism and Satire, number 57, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2018-11-15, page 24

(by extension) A transsexual; also, a transvestite.

[W]hat ſhall be urged in defence of any male creature, who not only adopts every effeminate foible, but glories in them; and affects to deſpiſe and ridicule the rough unpoliſhed creature, who has ſenſe and ſpirit enough to perſiſt in the manly port of his forefathers? Should it be aſked by any villager, who had never been out of the hundred where he was born, (and none but ſuch aſk the queſtion,) if we really have ſuch Epicœnes amongſt us?

1748 June, “Remembrancer, June 11. Epicurism Ruinous to the State.”, in The Scots Magazine. […], volume X, Edinburgh: Printed by W. Sands, A. Murray, and J. Cochran, →OCLC, page 286

(by extension, usually derogatory) An effeminate man.


tyrant

→ Welsh: teirant

From Middle English tyraunt, tiraunt, tyrant, tyrante, from Old French tyrant, from the addition of a terminal -t to tiran (cp. French tyran) via a back-formation related to the development of French present participles out of the Latin -ans form, from Latin tyrannus (“despot”), from Ancient Greek τύραννος (túrannos, “usurper, monarch, despot”), of uncertain origin.

tirà

person who uses violence to treat others unjustly

[…] a sad tyrant, as my friends the Democrats sometimes are.

1817, Mary Mitford in Alfred L'Estrange, The life of Mary Russell Mitford (1870), II i 2

(by extension) Any person who abuses the power of position or office to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.

A pike (called the tyranne of fishes).

1528, Thomas Paynell translating Arnaldus de Villa Nova in Joannes de Mediolano, Regimen Sanitatis Salerni

Public opinion, the greatest tyrant of these times.

1847, A. Helps, Friends in Council, I viii 132

(by extension) A villain; a person or thing who uses strength or violence to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.


cinema

en-noun

cinema (countable and uncountable, plural cinemas)

→ Bengali: সিনেমা (śinema)

→ Gujarati: સિનેમા (sinemā)

→ Hindi: सिनेमा (sinemā)

→ Kannada: ಸಿನಮಾ (sinamā)

→ Lao: ຊິເນມາ (si nē mā)

→ Malayalam: സിനിമ (sinima)

→ Punjabi: ਸਿਨਮਾ (sinmā)

→ Sinhalese: සිනමාහල (sinamāhala)

→ Tamil: சினிமா (ciṉimā)

desc

→ Telugu: సినిమా (sinimā), సైన్మ (sainma), సీన్మ (sīnma) — Telangana

→ Urdu: سِنیما (sinemā)

→ Welsh: sinema

→ Yoruba: sinimá

Borrowed from French cinéma, clipping of cinématographe (term coined by the Lumière brothers in the 1890s), from Ancient Greek κίνημα (kínēma, “movement”) + γράφω (gráphō, “write, record”). Compare German Kino (“cinema”), ultimately from the same Greek source.

der

That game was absolute cinema.

(Internet slang, uncountable) A sophisticated or exemplary film, representative of the art of cinema.

(by extension, humorous) Any media or event that is exemplary.


puma

→ Malay: puma

→ Swedish: puma (calque)

Borrowed from Spanish puma, from Quechua puma.

(by extension) Any feline belonging to the genus Puma.


anodyne

en-adj

anodyne (comparative more anodyne, superlative most anodyne)

more anodyne (comparative)
most anodyne (superlative)

From Middle English anodine, from Medieval Latin anōdynos (“stilling or relieving pain”), from Ancient Greek ἀνώδυνος (anṓdunos, “free from pain”), from ἀν- (an-, “without”) + ὀδύνη (odúnē, “pain”).
Adjective sense “noncontentious” probably through French anodin (“harmless, trivial”), of same origin.

der

It all became so routine, so anodyne, so dull.

What is less known about Cavalleria is that its story is the purest, most anodyne form of a myth about Sicily and the mafia, a myth that was something akin to the official ideology of the Sicilian mafia for nearly a century and a half.

2004, John Dickie, Cosa Nostra: A History Of The Sicilian Mafia, Hodder & Stoughton

States typically like to stick to anodyne messages, like saving wildflowers or animals. But every so often a controversy crops up.

2010 December 9, “Rattled”, in The Economist

when the princess’s former nanny Marion Crawford, “Crawfie”, published an entirely anodyne and sycophantic memoir in 1950, she was cast into outer darkness by the family.

September 8 2022, Stephen Bates, “Queen Elizabeth II obituary”, in The Guardian

(by extension) Noncontentious, blandly agreeable, unlikely to cause offence or debate.


songbird

(idiomatic, by extension) A person, especially a woman, with a melodious voice.


pendulum

Borrowed from the neuter of Latin pendulus (“hanging”).

The pendulum can be seen to be swinging in favour of rail, as with each issue of RAIL comes news of further intermodal service expansion.

2021 October 20, Industry Insider, “The wheels turn slowly”, in RAIL, number 942, page 68

(clocks, mechanics) A body suspended from a fixed support so that it swings freely back and forth under the influence of gravity, commonly used to regulate various devices such as clocks.

(by extension) The tendency of a situation to oscillate (between two extremes).


all hands on deck

It was all hands to the deck in the Swindon penalty box.

2000 March 12, Stuart Barnes, “Swindon stunner for Curbishley”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

Summer, with its good weather and accompanying onslaught of tourists, was the time when they made most of their money for the year, and so it was all hands on deck.

(by extension) A call for everyone to participate in something.


onboard

From on board, equivalent to on- + board.

When it comes to security, everybody seems to be as onboard as I am.

James is onboard as a production manager.

(by extension, figurative) Being a part of, being included in, participating in.


detritus

en-noun

detritus (usually uncountable, plural detritus or (rare) detrita)

From Latin dētrītus (“(that which is) rubbed away”), from dēterō (“rub away”).

bor

But of course: no clutter. No newspapers, no renegade scraps of domestic detritus, no rubber bands, paper clips, coupons, pens or pencils, notebooks, magazines. No knives. Where were the knives?

The cutting head removes any chips out of the railhead and restores the required surface shape. The trains also clear up their own detritus as they travel. Neither milling chips nor grinding dust remain on the track.

2022 September 7, Tom Allett, “At the cutting edge of NR's track work”, in RAIL, number 965, page 39

(by extension) Any debris or fragments of disintegrated material.


mid

From Middle English mid, midde, from Old English midd (“mid, middle, midway”), from Proto-West Germanic *midi, from Proto-Germanic *midjaz (“mid, middle”, adjective), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between, in the middle, middle”). Cognate with Dutch midden (“in the middle”), German Mitte (“center, middle, mean”), Icelandic miður (“middle”, adjective), Latin medius (“middle”, noun and adjective). See also middle. The slang sense may be influenced by terms such as middling and midwit.

cog

(Internet slang, by extension) Trashy; low-quality.


carbohydrate

From their general formula Cₙ(H₂O)ₙ; they were once thought to be hydrates of carbon.

I'm cutting down on carbohydrates like bread and pasta.

(colloquial, by extension, metonymically) Any food rich in starch or other carbohydrates.


smurf

en-verb

smurf (third-person singular simple present smurfs, present participle smurfing, simple past and past participle smurfed)

smurfs (present singular third-person)
smurfing (participle present)
smurfed (participle past)
smurfed (past)

Peyo
The Smurfs
fr:Les Schtroumpfs
nl:De Smurfen

Borrowed from Dutch smurf (via the Belgian comic De Smurfen, a translation of French Les Schtroumpfs), from French schtroumpf, a word that was created by Peyo based on German Strumpf (literally “stocking, sock”), either simply because it sounds funny to the French ear or based on a regional German use for “idiot”. Armand van Raalte was an employee for the Belgian publisher of Peyo's stories who felt that schtroumpf would not have the same effect in Dutch, so he tried to find a simple word that could be used both as a noun and a verb. The result was smurf. In other languages, the term was similarly altered; compare the translations below.

der

He has been absolutely smurfing this season.

Holy shit, he smurfed that fight so hard!

(Internet slang) To use a smurf account.

(by extension, intransitive, transitive) To perform exceptionally well, as if one's using a smurf account, playing into much inferior opponents.


minstrel

The noun is derived from Middle English minstral, menestrel (“actor; juggler; mime; musician; singer; storyteller; (military) soldier playing a horn or trumpet as a signal”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman menestrel [and other forms] and Old French menestrel (“artisan; servant; itinerant musician or poet; worker”) [and other forms] (modern French ménestrel (“minstrel”)), from Late Latin ministerialis (“official or retainer owing household and military service to a feudal lord, a ministerial or ministerialis”), from Latin ministerium (“employment, ministration; office of a minister, ministry; action or attendance by an inferior person such as a slave, service”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives). Ministerium is derived from minister (“accomplice; agent; aide; attendant; servant; waiter”) (probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“little, small”) + *-teros (contrastive or oppositional suffix forming adjectives)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). Doublet of ministerial and ministerialis.
The verb is derived from the noun.

nb...

menestral, menstrel, menstrelle, menstral, menstrale, menstrall, menstralle, menstrel, menstrell, menstrelle, minestral, minestrale, ministral, ministrele, minsterel, minstrale, minstrall, minstralle, minstrel, minstrelle, munstral, munstrel, munstrell, mynestral, mynistralle, mynsterel, mynstraell, mynstral, mynstrale, mynstrall, mynstralle, mynstrel, mynstrell, mynstrelle, mynystral, mynystrel, mynystrell

doublet

(chiefly poetic) Any lyric poet, musician, or singer.

(US, historical) One of a troupe of entertainers, often a white person who wore black makeup (blackface), to present a so-called minstrel show, being a variety show of banjo music, dance, and song (now sometimes regarded as racist).

These include dexamphetamine ( Dexedrine 'dexies ' or 'oranges'), methylamphetamine (Methedrine—'speed'), dexamphetamine combined with amylobarbitone (Drinamyl—'purple hearts' or 'blues'), amphetamine combined with dexamphetamine (Anorexine 12.5 mg - black and white minstrels' and Anorexine 20 mg—'black bombs'), phemetrazine (Preludin), diethylpropion (Tenuate), and methylphenidate (Ritalin).

Lacking food, Jimmy reverts to his “minstrels'” — speed — and in a paranoia of drugs and near-starvation the pair fall out.

2008, Julian Evans, Semi-Invisible Man: The Life of Norman Lewis, page 510

Roger had always been ... libidinous, aren't we all? ... but his powerful body began to writhe with the unearthly flexions of the Kundalini spirit, and after swallowing a couple of nigger minstrels Lesley had given him he spent most of one Friday morning house meeting sitting cross-legged, clutching his crotch and chanting, My dick is God, God is my dick ... over and over again, until Zack had though he would stick my fingers in his eyes, my thumb in his third one, and tear his bloody head off! – Skinning up and smoking a little shit – this Zack hadn't minded, and with two or three residents, in the right surroundings and carefully guided, he believed LSD could have therapeutic benefits.

Harry tipped the contents of Billy's bag on to his desk: boosters, purple hearts, black bombers, French blues, nigger minstrels spilled out, popping across the desk like jumping beans.

2018, J. L. Walker, Jump and Dance, page 151

(by extension, slang) An amphetamine tablet, typically black, or black and white, in colour.

Green’s Dictionary of Slang
w:Green's Dictionary of Slang


bleacher

From Middle English blechere, equivalent to bleach + -er. Compare Dutch bleker, Swedish blekare.

In practice, audience members often have badly obstructed views of the sets—whether due to obstructive camera dollies and production personnel or viewers sitting in the bleachers off to the side of the set that is currently being used.

2010, Jeremy G. Butler, Television Style

(US, television, usually in the plural, by extension) The tiered seating provided for the audience at a television filming.


doss

en-noun

doss (countable and uncountable, plural dosses)

Perhaps from Latin dorsum (“the back”), i.e. what one lies on when sleeping; perhaps from English dialect doss (“a hassock”).

(slang, dated, British and Ireland, by extension) Sleep.


boffin

Origin unknown; a number of possible etymologies have been suggested, but no conclusive evidence exists.
One strong theory conjectures a connection from the "Mr. Boffins" of English novels, such as in Dickens' Our Mutual Friend.

unknown

Origin unknown

— Well, last year I used to have a friend Charley [Charley was in the top sets for English, mathematics and French] but this year he doesn't speak to me any more and every time I see him he's hanging around with boffins like. When I go round to his house, now and again, he's always got his 'O' level and 'A' level books open and he's always concentrating on his work. Hanging around with boffins. / — What are boffins? / — People who work. Stay in all the time. Never go out, go down the town or nothin. And always get good letters home and pats on the back by teachers.

1995, John Abraham, “Organizational Differentiation and Polarization: Setting, Social Class and Pupil Values”, in Divide and School: Gender and Class Dynamics in Comprehensive Education, London, Bristol, Pa.: The Falmer Press, Taylor & Francis, page 55

The opportunities for producers in the interactive multimedia environment are boundless. The boffins writing software programs for interactive multimedia will not be the producers of corporate communications. They need today's producers to bring their communication skills to the interactive domain, […]

1995, Bob Turnbull, “Corporate Video”, in Tom Jeffrey, editor, Film Business: A Handbook for Film Producers, 2nd edition, North Ryde, N.S.W.: AFTRS Publications, published 1998, page 35

(Australia, New Zealand, British, Ireland, informal, by extension) A person with specialized knowledge or skills, especially one who is socially awkward; (in a weaker sense) an intellectual; a smart person.

intello

(informal) person with specialized knowledge or skills


firefighting

(by extension, figuratively) Solving an urgent problem.


facade

Borrowed from French façade, from Italian facciata, a derivation of faccia (“front”), from Latin faciēs (“face”); compare face.

(by extension) The face or front (most visible side) of any other thing, such as an organ.


black box

black box
black box#History
flight recorder#Terminology
gray-box testing
white box (software engineering)

* Since circa 1945 in both main senses (that is, event recorders and objects with unknown innards), which are historically related to each other; for details, see black box § History and flight recorder § Terminology.
* (type of theater): Such theaters are often painted black.

the pilothouse's analogue of an airliner's black box

(transport, by extension) Any similar device on motor vehicles, such as rail event recorders and ship trip recorders.


genocide

en-noun

genocide (countable and uncountable, plural genocides)

Armenian Genocide
Jewish Holocaust
destruction of Carthage
genocide

Coined by lawyer of Polish-Jewish descent Raphael Lemkin in 1943 or 1944 in reference to the Armenian Genocide and the Jewish Holocaust. From the stem of Ancient Greek γένος (génos, “race, kind”) (cognate with Latin gēns (“tribe, clan”), whence genus) + -cide (“killing, killer”). Doublet of gendercide. Compare genticide.

der

(by extension) The systematic killing of substantial numbers of people on other grounds.

ជនឃាត

cĕəʼnĕəʼkhiət

Native Americans in the twentieth century are no longer a "vanishing race" or a silent minority. They have survived centuries of cultural genocide inflicted on them by non-Native Americans— both the well-meaning and the self-seeking— […]

1986, James Stuart Olson, Raymond Wilson, Native Americans in the Twentieth Century

(by extension) The systematic suppression of ideas or practices on the basis of cultural or ethnic origin; culturicide.


podcast

Blend of iPod (“portable music player made by Apple”) + broadcast, probably coined by the British technologist and broadcaster Ben Hammersley (born 1976) who proposed the word podcasting in 2004.

coinage

A programme, especially an audio programme, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on computers or portable devices such as mobile phones.

(loosely, by extension) An individual episode of such a programme.


facelift

Coordinate term: makeover

The old building will get a facelift with new paint, carpet, and decoration.

Early in September the “gift box” that has hidden Bergdorf Goodman's Fifth Avenue entrance since March is due to come off, revealing the results of a six-month facelift.

1984 July 22, Shawn G. Kennedy, “Bergdorf's Facelift”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Using the right sites, you can give Google a face-lift, promote your products or bloviate about your blog, publish a novel, write a business plan, scan your PC for spies, and get free tech help.

2005 July, Dan Tynan, “30 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do on the Internet”, in PC World, volume 23, number 7, page 74

But, after years of legal-wrangling and architectural debate, the modernist Les Halles complex in central Paris is finally on course for a facelift.

2007 July 3, Angelique Chrisafis, “Designers prepare Les Halles for a facelift”, in The Guardian

(by extension) Any activity undertaken to renew, revamp, update, or improve the appearance of something.

翻新

improvement of the appearance of something


cramp

en-verb

cramp (third-person singular simple present cramps, present participle cramping, simple past and past participle cramped)

cramps (present singular third-person)
cramping (participle present)
cramped (participle past)
cramped (past)

From Middle English crampe, from Old French crampe (“cramp”), from Frankish *krampa (“cramp”), from Proto-West Germanic *krampu, from Proto-Germanic *krampō (“cramp, clasp”). Distant relative of English crop.

The […] fabric of universal justice is well cramped and bolted together in all its parts.

1780, Edmund Burke, Principles in Politics

(by extension) To bind together; to unite.


oilskin

en-noun

oilskin (countable and uncountable, plural oilskins)

непромокаема тъкан

cloth made from cotton treated to make it waterproof

(by extension) Foul-weather gear worn by sailors, whether of natural or synthetic materials.


pseudopod

pseudopod (plural pseudopods or pseudopodia)

pseudopods (plural)
pseudopodia (plural)

A pseudopod of blackness elongated itself from the central mass and like a great tentacle clutched the corpse-like being, dragged it back to the pit and over the brink.

(by extension) An extension or projection from something.


tarmac

tarmac (countable and uncountable, plural tarmacs)

Clipping of tarmacadam, which is from tar + macadam (“crushed stones”). Originally a trademark owned by its inventor, Edgar Hooley.

How meek and shrunken did that haughty Tarmac become as it slunk by the wide circle of asphalt of the yellow sort, that was loosely strewn before the great iron gates of Lady Hall as a forerunner of the consideration that awaited the guests of Rupert, Earl of Kare, […].

1922, Michael Arlen, “3/1/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days

(loosely, UK, Ireland, Canada) Any bituminous road surfacing material.


discretize

en-verb

discretize (third-person singular simple present discretizes, present participle discretizing, simple past and past participle discretized)

discretizes (present singular third-person)
discretizing (participle present)
discretized (participle past)
discretized (past)

A rainbow truly contains thousands of color values but can usually be discretized by human sentience into bands of primary and secondary colors.

(transitive, broadly) To represent (any spectrum of reality) as a set of discrete categories or classes; to categorize (a spectral aspect of reality) by lumping together some of its finer distinctions.


regalia

From Middle English regalie, from Medieval Latin rēgālia (“royal powers”), substantivisation of the neuter plural of rēgālis (“of a king”), from rēx (“king”). Doublet of regal.

to be dressed in full regalia (dressed up)

(by extension) Finery, magnificent dress, or lavish or flashy costume.

c. 1685-1686, Charles Cotton, the Essays of M. de Montaigne
After having a long time treated their Prisoners very well, and given them all the Regalia's they can think of, he to whom the Prisoner belongs, invites a great Assembly of his Kindred and Friends

(by extension, obsolete) Sumptuous food.


Easter egg

/ˈiː.stəɹ ˌɛɡ/

Adventure (1980 video game)#Easter_egg
Easter egg

From Easter + egg. Cognate with German Low German Ooosterei (“Easter egg”), Middle High German ōsterei ("Easter egg"; > modern German Osterei).
So called because eggs would be eaten during Easter to break the fasting during Lent. (No eggs, dairy, meat except fish, lard, or foods containing these ingredients could be eaten during Lent.)
The computing sense is from the early 1980s, popularized by the video game Adventure.

gloss

"Easter egg"; > modern German <i class="Latn mention" lang="de">Osterei</i>

For the Best of Bowie DVD release, APl even concealed an Easter egg within a hidden extra.

2004, Michael Burns, George Cairns, Designing DVD Menus: How to Create Professional-Looking DVDs

The repeated appearance of a number as an Easter egg is not a new concept for J.J., Burky or those other members of Lost Labs who previously worked on Alias.

2008, Jon Lachonis, Amy Johnston, chapter 16, in "Lost" Ate My Life: The Inside Story of a Fandom Like No Other

Unlike an allusion — a tip of the hat to a previous work — an Easter egg, when found, is an anachronistic disruption, an anti-mimetic breaking of the fourth wall to make room for a joke, clue or grievance.

2023 January 13, Nick Haramis, “When Did We All Become Pop Culture Detectives?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

(by extension) Any image, feature, or other content that is hidden on a video disc or in a movie, trailer, or poster.


bad hair day

Audrey Hepburn
Laurence Olivier
The Daily Telegraph

Said to have been coined by British trichologist Philip Kingsley (1930–2016).

What's the matter with Fred? Oh, he's just having a bad hair day.

Okay, girls, here’s the plan. I’ll call Jerry and tell him we need to get to Tahiti A.S.A.P. Clover, you free the Bees and restore their memories. Alex, you figure out how to end this very, very, very bad hair day.

2002 March 23, Michelle and Robert Lamoreaux, “The Black Widows”, in Totally Spies!, season 1, episode 16, spoken by Samantha “Sam” (Jennifer Hale), Marathon Media, via Teletoon

(idiomatic, by extension) A day when things seem to be unmanageable or go wrong.


hat trick

From hat + trick (“element of a magician’s or variety entertainer’s act; entertaining and difficult physical action”, noun). Sense 2 (“achievement of a bowler taking three wickets in three consecutive balls”)—the original sporting sense—refers to the commemorative hat formerly given as a prize to the bowler by his club.

هاتريك

three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.

שלושער m (shloshá'ar, literally “three-gate or goal”)

གསུམ་སྦྲགས (gsum sbrags, literally “pack-of-three”)

Jones got a hat trick yesterday. Let’s see if he can do better today.

(cricket) An achievement of a bowler taking three wickets in three consecutive balls.

(by extension, sports) Three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc., such as three consecutive wins.

(specifically, baseball, ironic) The act of striking out three times in a game.

In ice hockey, it’s customary for fans to throw their hats on to the rink after a player scores a hat trick.

(specifically, ice hockey, soccer) Three goals scored by one player in a game.

(specifically, rugby) Three tries scored by one player in a game.

Ever heard of a Gordie Howe hat trick? It comprises a goal, an assist, and a fighting major penalty.

The car salesman came home with front-row seats to the weekend game after achieving a hat trick by selling three cars that day.

And with the debut of his new series Hyperion Bay in 1998, [Joseph] Dougherty accomplished the rare "hat trick" in television: the pilot was written, executive-produced, and codirected by Dougherty.

2002, Douglas Heil, “From Office Temp to ‘Hat Trick’ Showrunner: Interview with Joseph Dougherty”, in Prime Time Authorship: Works about and by Three TV Dramatists (The Television Series), Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, page 129

Three murders in less than two weeks. That's a hat trick.

2015, Les Roberts, “Milan”, in The Ashtabula Hat Trick (A Milan Jacovich/Kevin O’Bannion Mystery), Cleveland, Oh.: Gray & Company, page 51

In these modern cities, anti-infection measures had to be imposed from the top down, by a central authority. To pull this off, the authority required three things: the ability to identify cases in a timely fashion, and so determine the infection's direction of travel; an understanding of how the disease spread (by water? air? insect vector?), and hence the measures that were likely to block it; and some means of ensuring compliance with those measures. When all three of these ingredients – which we'll describe in more detail in the following sections – were in place, containment could be extremely effective, but a hat-trick was rare.

2017 May, Laura Spinney, “Chalking Doors with Crosses”, in Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: PublicAffairs, published September 2017, part 4 (The Survival Instinct), page 91

(by extension, generally) Three achievements or incidents that occur together, usually within a certain period of time.

hattutemppu

three achievements or incidents that occur together, usually within a certain period of time


serving

en-noun

serving (countable and uncountable, plural servings)

Very few Latino rock and roll bands, in the days before Santana, managed to successfully steal even a slight serving of the nation's auditory attention.

1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, page 154

(countable, by extension) A fraction or share.


baffle

baffle (countable and uncountable, plural baffles)

→ French: baffle

→ Spanish: bafle

The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly:
* from French bafouer, baffoüer (“to abuse, revile; to confuse, baffle; to deceive; to flout; to scorn”), imitative of someone making a disdainful sound by expelling air quickly through pouted lips (compare Occitan baf (“interjection expressing disdain”)); or
* from French befer, beffer, beffler (“(obsolete) to deceive; to mock, ridicule”) (compare Old French befe, beffe, buffe (“deception; mockery”); beferie (“deceit; quibbling”)), possibly from bafouer: see above.
The noun is derived from the verb.
cognates
* Italian beffare (“(verb) to deride, mock”), beffa (“(noun) banter; mockery”)
* Occitan bafar (“(verb) to deride, mock”), bafa (“(noun) banter; mockery”)
* Old Spanish bafa (modern Spanish befa (“(noun) banter; mockery”))
* Spanish befar (“(verb) to deride, mock”)

cog

(uncountable) Bewilderment, confusion; bafflement; (countable) an instance of this.

(by extension, countable) A barrier designed to confuse enemies or make them vulnerable.


open-source

open-source cola

(by extension) Describing any product whose composition or method of manufacturing is public knowledge and not proprietary.


cliffhanger

From cliff + hanger, evoking the image of someone left hanging from a cliff, thereby having an uncertain fate.
The term "cliffhanger" is considered to have originated with the serialised version of Thomas Hardy's "A Pair of Blue Eyes", published in Tinsley's Magazine in the 1870s, in which the character Henry Knight is left hanging off of a cliff. It was inspired by a real life story from his wife Emma's childhood, when she had to rescue one of her school friends from a similar position.

This presidential election is such a cliffhanger. Will it be the rising star Dmitry "Obamovich" Medvedev? Or the veteran Gennady "McCainovich" Zyuganov?

February 28 2008, Timothy Garton Ash, “Russia has run rings round the west”, in Guardian, retrieved 2009-02-02

(by extension) An outcome which is awaited with keen anticipation, especially one which is delayed for a period of time or which is not known until the last minute.


critical

en-adj

critical (comparative more critical, superlative most critical)

more critical (comparative)
most critical (superlative)

From Latin criticus + -al, from Ancient Greek κριτικός (kritikós, “of or for judging, able to discern”), from
κρίνω (krínō, “I separate, judge”); also the root of crisis.

der

The patient is critical.

Two critical after fatal Wimbledon school crash

(medicine, by extension) In such a condition.


Viking

Borrowed from Old Norse víkingr (“Viking”). Already in Old English as wīċing and Old Frisian wītsing, but assumed extinct in Middle English and borrowed anew in the 19th century; any survivals in dialect through the Middle Ages are unknown.
Old Norse víkingr itself is from Old Norse vík (“inlet, cove, fjord”) + -ingr (“one belonging to, one who frequents”) (the -r is the nominative desinence). Thus, “one from or who frequents the sea’s inlets”.
The Old English and Anglo-Frisian form, existing since at least the eighth century, could also have been derived from or influenced by Old English wīc (“camp”), on account of the temporary encampments which were often a prominent feature of the Vikings’ raids.
Others proposals were made, like e.g. deriving víkingr from the root related to the verb víkja or deriving both English and Old Norse words to *wīkingaz related to víkja or wīc.

أُرْدَمَانِيّ

One of the Scandinavian seafaring warriors

(by extension, fantasy) A stock character common in the fantasy genre, namely a barbarian, generally equipped with an axe or sword and a helmet adorned with horns.


soft drink

So called in contrast to strong alcoholic beverages, which are "hard liquors".

不含酒精的飲料

any non-alcoholic beverage, such as Cola or milk

pop

most common term in Canada and the upper West and upper Midwest of the US, including western WI, most of IL including Chicago, MI, IN, OH, WV and western PA

soda

most common term in HI, CA, eastern MO, southwestern IL, eastern WI and New England

alcoholic beverage [[[Thesaurus:alcoholic beverage|WS]]]


knob

From Middle English knobbe, from Middle Low German knobbe (“knob; knot in wood”), probably via Old Saxon from a variant of Proto-Germanic *knappô (“knob, lump”), one of several kn- words related to *knuttô (“knot”).
Cognate with Dutch knob, knobbel (“knob”), German Knubbe, Knubbel (“knob”). See also knop.

բռնակ

rounded protuberance, handle, or control switch

Arthur slammed his fist down on the table so hard, the cup jumped, spilling coffee. The rotten bastard means to have the guvnor’s guts. That fucking knob has never been on a live deployment in his entire life.[…]

2013, Roger Gray, Target Trojan, page 157

[…] He must really hate those people!” my father said in an all-too audible aside to Mom. “I don’t hate them, you stupid knob!” Critch said. It’s you and your whole kind I hate!”

2014 May, Thirteen O’Clock Press, Behind Closed Doors

“Yes,” said Jessie, pouring herself a coffee. “The rumours are true. Birdie McBride has a big knob.” “No,” I corrected, deadpan, “I said he is a big knob,”

2015, C. J. Cronin, chapter 29, in Assassination

[…]I let out a sigh, and then stood up, and looked toward the thief, who was still running. “Bloody knob!” I called out, and then began to wipe off the dirt and water with my sweater sleeve.

2016 August, Zona Haselton, chapter 2, in Vengeance

Fearn picks Jeremy Clarkson (“absolute knob. Well-educated, 1980s BBC, and he thinks it’s a licence to say what he wants”); […]

2023 March 5, Miranda Sawyer, quoting Andrew Fearn, “Sleaford Mods: ‘The UK is like a crazy golf course – all we’ve got left are landmarks’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

(by extension, derogatory) A contemptible person; a dick.

The penis; dick.
A contemptible person; a dick.


John Bull

Thatched cottages, manors, old mills, venerable churches and wooded lanes personify a John Bull fancy, neatly tucked into gentle hill folds.

2005, David W. Moore, The Other British Isles, page 183

Next door to all that noble intention stood a bluff old John Bull of a hotel, Warners, now a pub and backpackers, and next to that, until 1993, a cinema, the last of several that had sprung up around the Square as temples of modernity.

2015, Fiona Farrell, The Villa at the Edge of the Empire, page 52

(by extension) Something or someone that is stereotypically English.


filigree

en-noun

filigree (countable and uncountable, plural filigrees)

From French filigrane, from Italian filigrana, from Latin fīlum (“thread”) + grānum (“grain”).

His music is an unlikely mix, combining an openness and simplicity culled from folk traditions, harmonies that are haunting like Copland and triumphant like Brahms, ornaments and fillagrees that Schoenberg would have appreciated, and a treatment of lyrics that is Burkholder's own unique gift.

1981 December 12, Scott Brookie, “Walking and Singing (Like a Man)”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 21, page 13

(by extension) Anything resembling such intricate ornamentation.

filigrana

anything resembling such intricate ornamentation


obituary

/əˈbɪt͡ʃʊ(ə)ɹi/

/əˈbɪt͡ʃəˌwɛɹi/

/əˈbɪt͡ʃuˌɜɹi/

/əˈbɪt͡ʃəɹi/

Baldomero Lillo
La Nación
Susannah Maxwell

PIE word
 *h₁epi
Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin obituārius (“obituary”) + English -ary (suffix denoting something relating to another thing or used in a place). Obituārius is derived from Latin obitus (“act of approaching or going toward, an approach; act of going down, setting; of the sun: sunset; death; destruction, downfall, ruin”) + -ārius (suffix forming adjectives and agent nouns); while obitus is a noun use of the perfect passive participle of obeō (“to go to meet, go towards; (figurative) to die, pass away, perish; (astronomy) to set”), from ob- (prefix meaning ‘toward’) + eō (“to go, move”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”).

doodberig

brief notice of a person’s death, especially one published in a newspaper

You know the Greeks didn't write obituaries. They only asked one question after a man died: "Did he have passion?"

2001 September 13, Marc Klein, Serendipity, spoken by Dean Kansky (Jeremy Piven)

Obituary editors are confronted daily with the need to make delicate hermeneutic interpretations of the social meaning of individuals' deaths and to express these powerfully to their readership. […] [I draw] attention to a discrepancy that appears to exist between, on the one hand, the editors' subjective avowals about the openness of the obituary columns and, on the other hand, the objectively highly restricted origins and trajectories of the obituary subjects.

2007, Bridget Fowler, “The Social Value of Death: The Microworld of the Editors”, in The Obituary as Collective Memory (Routledge Advances in Sociology; 27), New York, N.Y., Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, part I (Theoretical, Historical and Quantitative Studies of the Obituary), page 105

(by extension) A brief biography of a person (especially one who is well-known) who has recently died, usually describing their life and achievements, particularly in the form of an article in a news publication or an item in a news broadcast.

մահախոսական

brief biography of a person who has recently died


final cut

From the fact that in the days of physical film for cinema, the strips of film on which various scenes and takes were recorded had to be cut into pieces and spliced together into a resultant composite strip.

(idiomatic, by extension) The group that remains when a selection process has eliminated other candidates.


flatline

en-verb

flatline (third-person singular simple present flatlines, present participle flatlining, simple past and past participle flatlined)

flatlines (present singular third-person)
flatlining (participle present)
flatlined (participle past)
flatlined (past)

From flat + line. Refers to a continuous straight line (asystole) on an ECG (EKG) or EEG, indicating death.


multiplex

From multi- + -plex or multi- + complex.

cinema multiplex
cinema multiplex#English

(by extension) Ellipsis of cinema multiplex.; A large cinema complex comprising many (typically more than five, and often over ten) movie theatres or houses, showing rooms.


Tommy

May was in New Zealand when war broke out, and immediately left for France, where she worked in a military hospital in a converted high school in Marseilles. Writing home, she said that the French officers were said to be 'fussy' so she was glad to be nursing the Tommies (meaning French rank and file): 'they are brave and good, and patient, and such grateful patients. They are helpful to each other, and take such an interest in their fellow sufferers.'

2017, Janet Tolerton, Make Her Praises Heard Afar: New Zealand Women Overseas in World War One, page 38

(by extension) Any common soldier; a member of the rank and file.


orchestration

en-noun

orchestration (countable and uncountable, plural orchestrations)

22 March 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Gameshttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-hunger-games,71293/
It’s “The Most Dangerous Game” by way of The Running Man and Battle Royale, with touches of Survivor and the mass-scale orchestration of The Truman Show.

(uncountable, by extension) The control of diverse elements.

Microservices applications can be formed with thousand of containers. We need a proper container orchestration framework to handle all of these containers. Let's discuss Kubernetes, which is the most popular container orchestration system, in the next section.

2021, Dhanushka Madushan, Cloud Native Applications with Ballerina […], Packt Publishing Ltd, page 130

(uncountable, by extension, computing) The automated arrangement, coordination, and management of computer systems, middleware, and services.


out of joint

(by extension) Chaotic, disordered, out of control.


RGB

RGB wallpaper

You're about to get lost in the RGB forest and make sensory associations you would never think of in Oscar López Rocha's animation Synesthetic Locked.

2013 February 28, Kevin Holmes, “Experience Synesthesia In Animated Form”, in VICE, archived from the original on 2023-01-03

This threshold of expectations is promptly forgotten in the RGB world of in-game tactical menus in web-friendly, tightly-kerned sans serifs.

2013 August 28, Colin Snyder, “'The Bureau: XCOM Declassified' Is the Sears Roebuck Catalog of Alien-Invasion Period Shooters”, in VICE, archived from the original on 2023-01-03

Destiny 2 newest shader adds an RGB effect to the player's equipment

2022 May 18, Soumyadeep Banerjee, “The newest shader in Destiny 2 Eververse store applies RGB to the player's gear”, in Sportskeeda, archived from the original on 2023-01-03

(loosely, attributively) Something extending across the RGB color space; (especially) something having a wide variety of vivid colors.

An RGB keyboard

The earcups are light aluminum with a classy silver look, accented by an RGB-lit Corsair logo in the center.

2021 May 13, Matt Safford, “Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless XT Review: Expensive Excellence”, in Tom's Hardware

Its next step seems to be gaming, as new code changes hint at full RGB support for keyboards, because we all know the more RGB you have on your computer, the better your frame rates will be.

2022 January 27, Arol Wright, “Gaming Chromebooks might soon become a reality, complete with RGB keyboards”, in Android Police, archived from the original on 2022-07-26

So if lots of RGB isn't extremely high on your list of wants, this case doesn't make sense. This is a case for RGB fanatics who don't mind paying a high price for a whole lot of color-controlled glow.

2022 February 15, Myles Goldman, “Corsair iCue 5000T Review: Lit and Loud”, in Tom's Hardware

As a result, the LL120s are the brightest and showiest fans we tested and a perfect fit for any RGB addict.

2022 September 12, Dave James, “The best PC fans in 2022”, in PC Gamer, archived from the original on 2022-11-09

(by extension, slang) RGB lighting; lights (especially LEDs) able to display a wide range of colors by being able to individually adjust the strength of the red, green, and blue channels.


troglodyte

/ˈtɹɒɡləʊdaɪt/

/ˈt͡ʃɹɑɡlədaɪt/

/ˈt͡ʃɹɑɡloʊdaɪt/

From Latin trōglodyta (“cave dwelling people”), from Ancient Greek τρωγλοδύτης (trōglodútēs, “one who dwells in holes”), from τρώγλη (trṓglē, “hole”) + δύω (dúō, “I get into”).

af

The cave was populated by albino scorpions, blind salamanders, and other troglodytes.

(by extension) Anything that lives underground.


binge

From Leicestershire and Northamptonshire dialect, binge (“to soak”), of unknown origin. Compare dialectal English beene and beam (“to cure leakage in a tub or barrel by soaking, thereby causing the wood to swell”).

(by extension) A compressed period of an activity done in excess, such as watching a television show.

afartament

short period of an activity done in excess


landline

vezetékes

(attributively) connected by a fixed communications cable

(by extension) A telephone connected by such a fixed wire, specifically not wireless/mobile.


obscene

en-adj

obscene (comparative obscener or more obscene, superlative obscenest or most obscene)

obscener (comparative)
more obscene (comparative)
obscenest (superlative)
most obscene (superlative)

From Middle French obscene (modern French obscène (“indecent, obscene”)), and from its etymon Latin obscēnus, obscaenus (“inauspicious; ominous; disgusting, filthy; offensive, repulsive; indecent, lewd, obscene”). The further etymology is uncertain, but may be from ob- (prefix meaning ‘towards’) + caenum (“dirt, filth; mire, mud”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweyn- (“to make dirty, soil; filth; mud”)) or scaevus (“left, on the left side; clumsy; (figurative) unlucky”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skeh₂iwo-).

der

"You ate an obscene amount of those lobster patties last night, Deb." / "And I plan to eat an obscene amount of them tonight as well," I replied.

1999, Joan Wolf, chapter 4, in The Pretenders, [San Francisco, Calif.]: Untreed Reads, published 2020

She would probably jump at the chance to show everyone how to save an obscene amount of money with an obscene amount of coupons.

2015 February, Vivi Barnes, chapter 18, in Stacy Abrams, Tara Quigley, editors, Paper or Plastic, Fort Collins, Colo.: Entangled Teen, Entangled Publishing

I was never jealous or envious when it came to things. The fact that Mama wanted to shower my friend with presents never affected me. Things meant nothing to me because I had an obscene quantity of everything.

2016, Marcela Del Sol, Kaleidoscope: My Life’s Multiple Reflections, Calwell, Canberra, A.C.T.: Inspiring Publishers, page 102

(by extension) Beyond all reason; excessive.


macaroni

en-noun

macaroni (countable and uncountable, plural macaronis or macaronies)

→ Japanese: マカロニ (makaroni)

→ Korean: 마카로니 (makaroni)

→ Scottish Gaelic: macaroni

From Italian maccaroni, plural of maccarone, obsolete variant of maccheroni (“macaroni, fool”), of uncertain origin. Variously derived from late Byzantine Greek μακαρία (makaría, “food made from barley”), from Ancient Greek μακάριος (makários, “blessed, favored by the gods”), and from maccare (“to bruise, to crush”), archaic variant of ammaccare, from Latin maccāre (“to bruise, to crush”). Compare Sicilian maccarruni (“a single piece of macaroni”). As a fop, apparently from the British Macaroni Club rather than from Italian use of maccarone for fools and bumpkins. As a former form of currency, used to calque Spanish macuquino, 18th-century colonial Spanish slang for a similarly clipped coin.

cog

Paste made into strings like pack-thread or thongs of whit-leather (which if greater they call Macaroni, if lesser Vermicelli) they cut in pieces and put in their pots as we do oat-meal to make their menestra or broth of.

MACARONI... is a preparation of wheat originally peculiar to Italy, in which country it is an article of food of national importance. The same substance in different forms is also known as vermicelli, pasta or Italian pastes, taglioni, fanti, &c.

1883, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. XV, s.v.

(uncountable, obsolete or informal, loosely) Pasta, particularly thicker noodles, spaghetti.


popularity

en-noun

popularity (usually uncountable, plural popularities)

From popular + -ity, from Latin popularitas (“an effort to please the people”).

der

(archaic) The quality or state of being adapted or pleasing to common, poor, or vulgar people

(by extension) cheapness; inferiority; vulgarity.


charivari

en-noun

charivari (countable and uncountable, plural charivaris)

/ʃɑːɹɪˈvɑːɹi/

(by extension) Any loud, cacophonous noise or hubbub.


cheek by jowl

By so doing you will certainly profit the art of fiction. For books have a way of influencing each other. Fiction will be much the better for standing cheek by jowl with poetry and philosophy.

1929, Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

Exit and voice, social theorist Albert O. Hirschman's famous dichotomous strategies, collided in the South Carolina countryside, where renewed commitment to the nation existed cheek by jowl with exit from it.

2009, John Fabian Witt, Patriots and Cosmopolitans: Hidden Histories of American Law

(by extension) In very close or intimate association.