word

en-noun

word (countable and uncountable, plural words)

words (plural)
worde (alternative obsolete)

desc

Chinese Pidgin English: word, 𭉉 (Chinese spelling)

From Middle English word, from Old English word, from Proto-West Germanic *word, from Proto-Germanic *wurdą, from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥dʰh₁om. Doublet of verb and verve; further related to vrata.

you get more with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone

(telegraphy) A unit of text equivalent to five characters and one space.


teleport

Teleports provide access to multiple satellites and other media as well. Independently owned teleports may also provide competitive access to different satellite systems.

2004, D. K. Sachdev, Business Strategies For Satellite Systems, page 131:

(telecommunications) A satellite ground station.


port

en-verb

port (third-person singular simple present ports, present participle porting, simple past and past participle ported)

ports (present singular third-person)
porting (participle present)
ported (participle past)
ported (past)

From Old French porter, from Latin portāre (“carry”). Akin to transport, portable.

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

If you submit a request to port a number, and you list the name on the account as Bob Smith, but your local carrier has the number listed under your wife's name Mary Mahoney, the porting request is rejected.

2011, Stephen P. Olejniczak, Telecom For Dummies, page 131:

(ergative, telephony) To carry or transfer (an existing telephone number) from one service provider to another.


jitter

en-noun

jitter (countable and uncountable, plural jitters)

/ˈd͡ʒɪtə(ɹ)/

Possibly alteration of chitter (“to tremble, shiver”), from Middle English chittern (“to twitter, chatter”). Ultimately onomatopoeic; compare didder and teeter as well as German zittern.

inh

Now you have mirror-clear TV without picture flopover, jitter, tear!

1956, LIFE, volume 41, number 11, page 41:

(telecommunications) An abrupt and unwanted variation of one or more signal characteristics.

interferentie

telecommunications: abrupt and unwanted variation of signal characteristics


AM

en-noun

AM (countable and uncountable, plural AMs)

AMs (plural)
A.M. (alternative)
A. M. (alternative)
A M (alternative)

amplitude modulation
amplitude modulation#English

(communication, broadcasting) Initialism of amplitude modulation; contrasted with FM.


send

From Middle English senden, from Old English sendan (“to send, cause to go”), from Proto-West Germanic *sandijan, from Proto-Germanic *sandijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sont-eye- (“to cause to go”), causative of *sent- (“to walk, travel”). The noun derives from the verb.
Cognates
Cognate with Saterland Frisian seende (“to send”), Dutch zenden (“to send”), German senden (“to send”), Danish and Norwegian sende (“to send”), Swedish sända (“to send”), Icelandic senda (“to send”). Related also to Old English sand, sond (“a sending, mission, message”). See also sith.

inh

In the sonification of the PDE code, notes are scattered throughout a wide pitch range, and sends and receives are relatively balanced; although in the beginning of the application there are bursts of sends […]

1992, Tara M. Madhyastha, A Portable System for Data Sonification, page 71:

(telecommunications) An operation in which data is transmitted.


mobile

→ Japanese: モバイル (mobairu)

→ Kurtöp: མོ་བ་འིལ (mobail)

→ Persian: موبایل (mobâil)

From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin mōbilis (“easy to be moved, moveable”), from moveō (“move”).

der

Mobiles squerking, mobiles chirping / Take the money and run

2000, “Idioteque”, in Kid A, performed by Radiohead:

(telephony, UK, Ireland) Ellipsis of mobile phone.


SMS

en-noun

SMS (countable and uncountable, plural SMSes)

SMSes (plural)
S.M.S. (alternative)
S. M. S. (alternative)

/ˌɛs ɛm ˈɛs/

The second spot, “One Thing,” shows the unlikely custom car shop workin', musclebound dude-bro, who loves his iPhone because it consolidates the iPod, camera, cell phone and SMS device he used to carry around in “a little bag.”

2007 October 15, Eric Newman, “iPhone is different things to different dudes”, in Brandweek, volume 48, →ISSN, page 226:

short message service
short message service#English

(uncountable, telecommunications) Initialism of short message service: a system enabling cell phones to send or receive text messages.

short message service

(countable) A text message sent using this system.


GSM

(mobile telephony) Initialism of Global System for Mobile communications.


ETSI

(telecommunications) Initialism of European Telecommunication Standards Institute.


SIM

Despite the ongoing health crisis, the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) has ordered phone operators in the country to block SIM cards not linked to a national identity number (NIN), used to bundle together biometric records such as fingerprints and headshots.

2021 February 10, Eoin McSweeney, “As Covid-19 cases rise in Nigeria, a government policy is creating crowds and chaos”, in CNN:

Subscriber Identity Module
Subscriber Identity Module#English

(telecommunications) Acronym of Subscriber Identity Module.


PSTN

Public switched telephone network
w:Public switched telephone network

(telecommunications) Initialism of Public switched telephone network.


ISDN

integrated services digital network#English

(telecommunications) Initialism of integrated services digital network.


IMSI

(telecommunications) Acronym of International Mobile Subscriber Identity.

international mobile subscriber identity


mobile station

(telecommunications) All the user equipment (mobile phone, SIM card etc) and software needed for communication with a GSM network.


base station subsystem

base station subsystem (plural base station subsystems)

(telecommunications) that section of a GSM network which is responsible for transmitting radio signals to and receiving radio signals from a mobile phone


network subsystem

network subsystem (plural network subsystems)

(telecommunications) The central subsystem of a particular mobile phone operating company in a GSM network.


PCS

(telecommunications) Initialism of personal communication system.


false

en-verb

false (third-person singular simple present falses, present participle falsing, simple past and past participle falsed)

falses (present singular third-person)
falsing (participle present)
falsed (participle past)
falsed (past)

From Middle English false, fals, from Old English fals (“false; counterfeit; fraudulent; wrong; mistaken”), from Latin falsus (“counterfeit, false; falsehood”), perfect passive participle of fallō (“deceive”). Reinforced in Middle English by Anglo-Norman and Old French fals, faus. Compare Scots fals, false, Saterland Frisian falsk, German falsch, Dutch vals, Swedish and Danish falsk; all from Latin falsus. Displaced native Middle English les, lese, from Old English lēas (“false”); See lease, leasing. Doublet of faux.
The verb is from Middle English falsen, falsien, from Old French falser, from Latin falsō (“falsify”), itself also from falsus; compare French fausser (“to falsify, to distort”).

cog

(electronics, telecommunications, of a decoder) To incorrectly decode noise as if it were a valid signal.


accent

en-noun

accent (countable and uncountable, plural accents)

From Middle English accent, from Medieval Latin accentus and Old French accent, acent, both from Latin accentus, past participle of accinō (“sing to, sing along”). The word accent had been borrowed into Old English already, but was lost and reborrowed in Middle English.

tongval

distinctive pronunciation associated with a region, social group, etc.

The name Cézanne is written with an acute accent.

(orthography) A mark or character used in writing, in order to indicate the place of the spoken accent, or to indicate the nature or quality of the vowel marked.

pilkku

geometry: mark indicating minutes and seconds of a degree

(prosody, poetry) Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse.


stylus

styli (plural)
styluses (plural)
stilus (alternative)

Borrowed from Latin stylus (“a stake or pale”). Probably not directly related to Ancient Greek στῦλος (stûlos, “a pillar”). Doublet of style.

иго́лка

граммофо́нная

(writing) An ancient writing implement consisting of a small rod with a pointed end for scratching letters on clay, wax-covered tablets or other surfaces, and a blunt end for obliterating them.

A small implement with a pointed end used for engraving and tracing.

(computing) A small device resembling a pen used to input handwritten text or drawings directly into an electronic device with a touch-sensitive screen.

ստիլուս

pen for writing on a touch-sensitive screen

[T]he pleasure of writing on wax with a stylus is exemplified by the fine, flowing hand of a Roman scribe who made out the birth certificate of Herennia Gemella, born March 128 AD.

2013 September 14, Jane Shilling, “The Golden Thread: the Story of Writing, by Ewan Clayton, review”, in The Telegraph:


small

en-adj

small (comparative smaller, superlative smallest)

smaller (comparative)
smallest (superlative)

From Middle English smal, from Old English smæl (“small, narrow, slender”), from Proto-Germanic *smalaz (“small”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mal-, *(s)mel- (“small, mean, malicious”). Cognate with Scots smal; sma (“small”); West Frisian smel (“narrow”); Dutch smal (“narrow”); German schmal (“narrow, small”); Low German small (“narrow”); Danish, Norwegian, Swedish smal (“narrow; thin; slender”); Latin malus (“bad”); Russian ма́лый (mályj, “small”).

inh

better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness

"I've got catholic tastes. Catholic with a small "c", of course."

1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 584:

(writing, not comparable) Minuscule or lowercase, referring to written or printed letters.

փոքրատառ

minuscule or lowercase, referring to written letters


router

→ Japanese: ルーター, ルータ

→ Korean: 라우터 (rauteo)

That’s one of the biggest hurdles of managing a router and your network security in general, it’s a massive chore that is fraught with technical jargon, hurdles and screens saying ‘no’, ‘invalid’ or ‘not available’.

2022 May 17, “Synology SRM 1.3 Software Review Part 4 – The Safe Access Application”, in NAS Compares:

(telecommunications) Any device that directs packets of information using the equivalent of Open Systems Interconnection layer 3 (network layer) information. Most commonly used in reference to Internet Protocol routers.


symbol

From French symbole, from Latin symbolus, symbolum (“a sign, mark, token, symbol, in Late Latin also a creed”), from Ancient Greek σύμβολον (súmbolon, “a sign by which one infers something; a mark, token, badge, ticket, tally, check, a signal, watchword, outward sign”), from συμβάλλω (sumbállō, “I throw together, dash together, compare, correspond, tally, come to a conclusion”), from σύν (sún, “with, together”) + βάλλω (bállō, “I throw, put”).

der

en:indivisible bit of signal in telecommunications

(telecommunications) A signalling event on a communications channel; a signal that cannot be further divided into meaningful information.


vowel

→ Yoruba: fáwẹ̀lì

From Middle English vouel, from Old French vouel, a variant of voyeul (whence French voyelle), from Latin vōcālis (“voiced”), itself a semantic loan of Koine Greek φωνῆεν (phōnêen). Doublet of vocal and vocalis.

Facetiously is spelled with all six vowels in alphabetical order.

(orthography) A letter representing the sound of a vowel; in English, the vowels are a, e, i, o, u, w (sometimes), y (sometimes) .


hack

Abbreviation of hackney (“an ordinary horse”), probably from place name Hackney.

Dason is nothing but a two-bit hack.

He's nothing but the typical hack writer.

(derogatory, authorship) An untalented writer.


bad

en-adj

bad (comparative worse or (nonstandard) badder or (nonstandard) more bad, superlative worst or (nonstandard) baddest or (nonstandard) most bad)

worse (comparative)
badder (comparative nonstandard)
more bad (comparative nonstandard)
worst (superlative)
baddest (nonstandard superlative)
most bad (nonstandard superlative)

From Middle English bad, badde (“wicked, evil, depraved”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps a shortening of Old English bæddel (“hermaphrodite”) (for loss of -el compare Middle English muche from Old English myċel, and Middle English wenche from Old English wenċel), or at least related to it and/or to bǣ̆dan (“to defile”), compare Old High German pad (“hermaphrodite”).
Alternatively, perhaps a loan from Old Norse into Middle English, compare Norwegian bad (“effort, trouble, fear”, neuter noun), East Danish bad (“damage, destruction, fight”, neuter noun), from the Proto-Germanic noun *badą, whence also Proto-Germanic *badōną (“to frighten”), Old Saxon undarbadōn (“to frighten”), Norwegian Nynorsk bada (“to weigh down, press”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰ- (“to bend, press, push, oppress”).

unk

uncertain

der

æ-tensing, New York City, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore

Don't you dare speak to me with that bad language!

(of a word, speech, or writing) Vulgar, obscene, or blasphemous.


RJ

en-noun

RJ (countable and uncountable, plural RJs)

(telecommunications) Initialism of registered jack.


beat

→ Pennsylvania German: biede

From Middle English beten, from Old English bēatan (“to beat, pound, strike, lash, dash, thrust, hurt, injure”), from Proto-West Germanic *bautan, from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to push, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewd- (“to hit, strike”).
Compare Old Irish fo·botha (“he threatened”), Latin confutō (“to strike down”), fūstis (“stick, club”), Albanian bahe (“sling”), Lithuanian baudžiù, Old Armenian բութ (butʻ)).

der

march to the beat of a different drummer

(authorship) A short pause in a play, screenplay, or teleplay, for dramatic or comedic effect.


CS

(telecommunications) Initialism of circuit-switched.

(nautical, telecommunications) Initialism of cable ship.


NL

(telegraphy) Initialism of night letter.


TX

en-verb

TX (third-person singular simple present TXes, present participle TXing, simple past and past participle TXed)

TXes (present singular third-person)
TXing (participle present)
TXed (participle past)
TXed (past)

(telecommunications, electronics) Abbreviation of transmit.


TX

(telecommunications, electronics) Abbreviation of transmitter.


read

read (third-person singular simple present reads, present participle reading, simple past read, past participle read or (archaic, dialectal) readen)

reads (present singular third-person)
reading (participle present)
read (past)
read (participle past)
readen (archaic dialectal participle past)
read (infinitive)
read (first-person present singular)
read (first-person past singular)
read (present second-person singular)
read (past second-person singular)
reads (present singular third-person)
read (past singular third-person)
read (plural present)
read (past plural)
read (present subjunctive)
read (past subjunctive)
read (imperative present)
reading (participle present)
read (participle past)
readen (participle past)

From Middle English reden, from Old English rǣdan (“to counsel, advise, consult; interpret, read”), from Proto-West Germanic *rādan, from Proto-Germanic *rēdaną (“advise, counsel”), from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₁dʰ- (“to arrange”).
Cognate with Scots rede, red (“to advise, counsel, decipher, read”), Saterland Frisian räide (“to advise, counsel”), West Frisian riede (“to advise, counsel”), Dutch raden (“to advise; guess”), German raten (“to advise; guess”), Danish råde (“to advise”), Swedish råda (“to advise, counsel”), Persian رده (rade, “to order, to arrange, class”). In West Germanic the verb had a sense “interpret”, which developed further into “interpret letters” in English and “interpret by intuition, guess” on the continent. Compare rede.

lees

to look at and interpret letters or other information

atzeman

of text, etc., to be interpreted or read in a particular way

olvasd

to substitute (a corrected piece of text in place of an erroneous one); used to introduce an emendation of a text

Do you read me?

Hello, HAL. Do you read me, HAL?

1968, Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey, spoken by Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea):

(transitive, telecommunications) To be able to hear what another person is saying over a radio connection.

чу́вам

to be able to hear (in a radio connection)


leg

→ Finnish: legi

→ Hungarian: leg

From Middle English leg, legge, from Old Norse leggr (“leg, calf, bone of the arm or leg, hollow tube, stalk”), from Proto-Germanic *lagjaz, *lagwijaz (“leg, thigh”) (see it for more).
Cognate with Scots leg (“leg”), Icelandic leggur (“leg, limb”), Norwegian Bokmål legg (“leg”), Norwegian Nynorsk legg (“leg”), Swedish lägg (“leg, shank, shaft”), Danish læg (“leg”), Lombardic lagi (“thigh, shank, leg”), Latin lacertus (“limb, arm”), Persian لنگ (leng). Upon borrowing, mostly displaced the native Old English term sċanca (Modern English shank).

der

don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining

don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining

piss on someone's leg and tell them it's raining

(telephony) A branch or lateral circuit connecting an instrument with the main line.


slug

Nicoline van der Sijs
Slug (disambiguation)

Originally referred to a slow, lazy person, from Middle English slugge (“lazy person", also "sloth, slothfulness”), probably of either Old English or Old Norse origin; compare Norn slug (“lazy, slothful, sluggish”), dialectal Norwegian slugg (“a large, heavy body”), sluggje (“heavy, slow person”), Danish slog (“rascal, rogue”); perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sliǵ-ōn, from *sley- (“smooth; slick; sticky; slimy”) or otherwise from the root of Old Norse slókr (“lazy person, oaf”), whence Icelandic slókur (“laziness”). Compare also Dutch slak (“snail, slug”). Doublet of slotch.

inh

(television editing) A black screen used to separate broadcast items.


CLI

calling line identity
w:calling line identity

caller line identity
w:calling line identity

(telecommunications) Initialism of calling line identity or caller line identity.


dish

en-noun

dish (countable and uncountable, plural dishes)

Tok Pisin: dis

From Middle English dissh, disch, from Old English disċ (“plate; bowl; dish”), from Proto-West Germanic *disk (“table; dish”) (whence also Proto-Slavic *dъska, whence Bulgarian дъска́ (dǎská), Polish deska, Russian доска́ (doská)), Russian чан (čan)) from Latin discus. Doublet of dais, desk, disc, discus, disk, and diskos.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots disch (“dish; plate”), Dutch dis (“table”), German Low German Disk, Disch (“table”), German Tisch (“table”), Danish disk (“dish; counter”), Swedish disk (“dish; counter”), Icelandic diskur (“dish; plate”), Finnish tiski (“desk, counter; dish”).
Compare the identical meaning expansion (vessel for food, then also content of such a vessel, then also specific type of food): Bulgarian блю́до (bljúdo), Russian блю́до (bljúdo). For the roundness aspect compare Polish rondel (“pan, saucepan”) (< Latin rotundus (whence also English round)).

doublet

satellite dish

radar dish

(telecommunications) A type of antenna with a similar shape to a plate or bowl.


inset

From Middle English insetten, from Old English insettan (“to set in, institute, appoint”), equivalent to in- + set. Cognate with Dutch inzetten (“to insert, set in”), Low German insetten (“to set in”), German einsetzen (“to insert, employ”), Danish indsætte (“to insert”), Swedish insätta (“to inset, induct, institute”), Icelandic innsetja (“to install”).

cog

Microphone insets can deteriorate and older examples may produce a permanent frying noise.

1998, Andrew Emmerson, Electronic Classics: Collecting, Restoring and Repair, page 99:

(telecommunications) A modular microphone that can be removed from a telephone handset without disassembly.


contraction

en-noun

contraction (countable and uncountable, plural contractions)

PIE word
 *ḱóm
From Late Middle English contraccioun, contraxion (“spasm, contraction; constriction, shrinking; act of pressing together”), from Old French contraction (modern French contraction), from Latin contractiō(n) (“a drawing together, contraction; abridgement, shortening; dejection, despondency”), from contrahō (“to draw things together, assemble, collect, gather; to enter into a contract”) + -tiō(n) (suffix forming nouns relating to actions or their results). Contrahō is derived from con- (prefix denoting a bringing together of objects) + trahō (“to drag, pull”) (probably from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- (“to drag, pull; to run”)). By surface analysis, contract + -ion (suffix denoting actions or processes, or their results).

verkleining

Don’t is a contraction of do not; and ’til is a contraction of until.

Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.

A (sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume; a narrowing, a shortening, a shrinking.

(orthography) In the English language: a shortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark.


machine

→ Ainu: マシン

→ Bengali: মেশিন (meśin)

→ Cowlitz: məšín

→ Irish: meaisín

→ Japanese: マシン (mashin)

→ Korean: 머신 (meosin)

→ Maori: mīhini

→ Punjabi

Gurmukhi script: ਮਸ਼ੀਨ (maśīn)

Shahmukhi script: مشین (maśīn)

→ Swahili: mashine

→ Tok Pisin: masin

Borrowed from Middle French machine, from Latin māchina (“a machine, engine, contrivance, device, stratagem, trick”), from Doric Greek μᾱχᾰνᾱ́ (mākhănā́), cognate with Attic Greek μηχᾰνή (mēkhănḗ, “a machine, engine, contrivance, device”), from which comes mechanical. Displaced native Old English searu.

cog

perpetual motion machine of the first kind

perpetual motion machine of the second kind

Outline of machines on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

I called you earlier, but all I got was the machine.

(telephony, abbreviation) An answering machine or, by extension, voice mail.

I am apt to think, that the changing of the Trojan fleet into water-nymphs, which is the most violent machine in the whole Æneid[…]

1712 May 2 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “MONDAY, April 21, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 351; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume IV, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

(poetry) Supernatural agency in a poem, or a superhuman being introduced to perform some exploit.


cable

Recorded since c.1205 as Middle English cable, from Old Northern French cable, from Late Latin capulum (“lasso, rope, halter”), from Latin capiō (“to take, seize”). Use of the term "cable" to refer to the USD/GBP exchange rate originated in the mid-19th century, when the exchange rate began to be transmitted across the Atlantic by a submarine communications cable.

կաբելային

communications system with coaxial or fiber optic

I tried to watch the movie last night but my cable was out.

If the takeover is approved, Comcast would control 20 of the top 25 cable markets, […]. Antitrust officials will need to consider Comcast’s status as a monopsony (a buyer with disproportionate power), when it comes to negotiations with programmers, whose channels it pays to carry.

2014 March 15, “Turn it off”, in The Economist, volume 410, number 8878:

(communication) A system for transmitting television or Internet services over a network of coaxial or fibreoptic cables.

cable television
cable television#English

(television) Ellipsis of cable television, broadcast over the above network, not by antenna.


straight

en-adj

straight (comparative straighter, superlative straightest)

straighter (comparative)
straightest (superlative)
streight (alternative obsolete)

→ Japanese: ストレート

From Middle English streight, streght, streiȝt, the past participle of strecchen (“to stretch”), from Old English streċċan (past participle ġestreaht, ġestreht), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (“to stretch”). Doublet of straught. Equivalent to stretch + -ed.

der

“Was it a straight message?” Miss Jenny asked. The other said yes and she added: “Horace must have got rich, like the soldiers say all the Y.M.C.A. did. Well, if it has taught a man like Horace to make money, the war was a pretty good thing, after all.”

1964 [1929], William Faulkner, Sartoris (The Collected Works of William Faulkner), London: Chatto & Windus, page 23:

(telegraphy, historical, of a telegram) Sent at a full rate for immediate delivery; being a fast telegram.


bridge

bridges (plural)
bridg (alternative obsolete)
brigge (alternative)

From Middle English brigge, from Old English brycġ (“bridge”), from Proto-Germanic *brugjō, *brugjǭ (“bridge”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerw-, *bʰrēw- (“wooden flooring, decking, bridge”).
Cognate with Scots brig, brigg, breeg (“bridge”), Saterland Frisian Brääch (“bridge”), West Frisian brêge (“bridge”), Dutch brug (“bridge”), German Brücke (“bridge”), Danish brygge (“wharf”), Icelandic brygga (“pier”), Gaulish briua (“bridge”).
The verb is from Middle English briggen, from Old English brycġian (“to bridge, make a causeway, pave”), derived from the noun. Cognate with Dutch bruggen (“to bridge”), Middle Low German bruggen (“to bridge”), Old High German bruccōn (“to bridge”) (whence Modern German brücken).
The musical connection sense is a semantic loan from German Steg, from Old High German steg.

ацҳа

construction or natural feature that spans a divide

if someone told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it

(poetry) A point in a line where a break in a word unit cannot occur.


bridge

en-verb

bridge (third-person singular simple present bridges, present participle bridging, simple past and past participle bridged)

bridges (present singular third-person)
bridging (participle present)
bridged (participle past)
bridged (past)
bridg (alternative obsolete)
brigge (alternative)

(computing, communication) To connect two or more computer buses, networks etc. with a bridge.

橋接 /桥接

computing, communication: to connect with a bridge


cell

From Middle English celle, selle, from Old English cell (attested in inflected forms), from Latin cella (“chamber, small room, compartment”), later reinforced by Old French cel, sele, Old French cele. ultimately from Proto-Italic *kelnā, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelneh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”). Doublet of cella and hall.

der

intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cell

melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cell

Virtual Channel number 5 received 170 cells.

(communication) A short, fixed-length packet, as in asynchronous transfer mode.

клетка

a short, fixed-length packet as in asynchronous transfer mode

I get good reception in my home because it is near a cell tower.

(communication) A region of radio reception that is a part of a larger radio network.


tell

en-verb

tell (third-person singular simple present tells, present participle telling, simple past and past participle told or (dialectal or nonstandard) telled)

tells (present singular third-person)
telling (participle present)
told (participle past)
told (past)
telled (dialectal participle past)
telled (dialectal past)
tell (infinitive)
tell (first-person present singular)
told (first-person past singular)
tell (present second-person singular)
tellest (archaic present second-person singular)
told (past second-person singular)
toldest (archaic past second-person singular)
tells (present singular third-person)
telleth (archaic present singular third-person)
told (past singular third-person)
tell (plural present)
told (past plural)
tell (present subjunctive)
told (past subjunctive)
tell (imperative present)
telling (participle present)
told (participle past)

From Middle English tellen (“to count, tell”), from Old English tellan (“to count, tell”), from Proto-West Germanic *talljan, from Proto-Germanic *taljaną, *talzijaną (“to count, enumerate”), from Proto-Germanic *talą, *talǭ (“number, counting”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol- (“calculation, fraud”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian tälle (“to say; tell”), West Frisian telle (“to count”), West Frisian fertelle (“to tell, narrate”), Dutch tellen (“to count”) and Dutch vertellen (“to tell”), Low German tellen (“to count”), German zählen, Faroese telja. More at tale.

cog

Maria rewrote the section of her novel that talked about Meg and Sage's friendship to have less telling and more showing.

(authorship, intransitive) To reveal information in prose through outright expository statement — contrasted with show.


round

en-adj

round (comparative rounder or more round, superlative roundest or most round)

rounder (comparative)
more round (comparative)
roundest (superlative)
most round (superlative)
around (alternative)
ron (alternative)

From Middle English round, rounde, from Old Northern French roünt, rund, Old French ront, runt, reont ( > French rond), from both Late Latin retundus and the original Latin rotundus. The noun developed partly from the adjective and partly from the corresponding French noun rond. Doublet of rotund.

pyöreä

pronounced with the mouth in the shape of an "O"

(authorship, of a fictional character) Well-written and well-characterized; complex and reminiscent of a real person.


cloud

From Middle English cloud, from Old English clūd (“mass of stone, rock, boulder, hill”), from Proto-West Germanic *klūt, from Proto-Germanic *klūtaz, *klutaz (“lump, mass, conglomeration”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to ball up, clench”).
Cognate with Scots clood, clud (“cloud”), Dutch kluit (“lump, mass, clod”), German Low German Kluut, Kluute (“lump, mass, ball”), German Kloß (“lump, ball, dumpling”), Danish klode (“sphere, orb, planet”), Swedish klot (“sphere, orb, ball, globe”), Icelandic klót (“knob on a sword's hilt”). Related to English clod, clot, clump, club. Largely replaced Middle English wolken, from Old English wolcn (whence Modern English welkin), the commonest Germanic word (compare Dutch wolk, German Wolke).

cog

(telecommunications) A telecom network (from their representation in engineering drawings).


flat

en-adj

flat (comparative flatter, superlative flattest)

flatter (comparative)
flattest (superlative)
flatt (alternative obsolete)
flatte (alternative obsolete)

bumpy

antonym(s) of “having no variations in altitude”

→ Portuguese: flat

From Middle English flat, a borrowing from Old Norse flatr (compare Norwegian and Swedish flat, Danish flad), from Proto-Germanic *flataz, from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“flat”); akin to Saterland Frisian flot (“smooth”), German Flöz (“a geological layer”), Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús), Latvian plats, Sanskrit प्रथस् (prathas, “extension”). Doublet of plat and pleyt.
The noun is from Middle English flat (“level piece of ground, flat edge of a weapon”), from the adjective.
The algebraic sense was coined by Serre in a 1956 paper, originally as French plat.

inh

The author added a chapter to flesh out the book's flatter characters.

(figurative) Lacking liveliness or action; depressed; uninteresting; dull and boring.

(authorship, figuratively, especially of a character) Lacking in depth, substance, or believability; underdeveloped; one-dimensional.


dialogue

en-noun

dialogue (countable and uncountable, plural dialogues)

dialogues (plural)
dialog (alternative US)

Inherited from Middle English dialog, from Old French dialoge (French dialogue), from Late Latin dialogus, from Ancient Greek διάλογος (diálogos, “conversation, discourse”), from διά (diá, “through, inter”) + λόγος (lógos, “speech, oration, discourse”), from διαλέγομαι (dialégomai, “to converse”), from διά (diá) + λέγειν (légein, “to speak”).

der

The movie had great special effects, but the dialogue was lackluster.

In 1936, Anstey had co-directed Housing Problems, which featured direct dialogue recording - allowing the subjects of the film to speak for themselves. As Anstey said: "At the time nobody had done it, and we gave slum dwellers a chance to make their own films."

2021 March 10, Greg Morse, “Telling the railway's story on film”, in RAIL, number 926, page 42:

(authorship) In a dramatic or literary presentation, the verbal parts of the script or text; the verbalizations of the actors or characters.

حِوَار

verbal part of a literary or dramatic work


broad

en-adj

broad (comparative broader, superlative broadest)

broader (comparative)
broadest (superlative)

thin

antonym(s) of “wide—regarding occupied space, width of an object”

skinny

antonym(s) of “wide—regarding body width”

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-der.?
Proto-Germanic *braidaz
Proto-West Germanic *braid
Old English brād
Middle English brod
English broad
From Middle English brood, brode, from Old English brād (“broad, flat, open, extended, spacious, wide, ample, copious”), from Proto-West Germanic *braid, from Proto-Germanic *braidaz (“broad”), of uncertain origin.
Cognate with Scots braid (“broad”), West Frisian breed (“broad”), Saterland Frisian breed (“broad”), Low German breed (“broad”), breet, Dutch breed (“broad”), German breit (“broad, wide”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Bokmål bred (“broad”), Norwegian brei (“broad”), Icelandic breiður (“broad, wide”).

inh

not be able to hit the broad side of a barn

Lee: I wrote that line for you. Maeve: A bit broad, if you ask me.

2018 April 22, “Journey into Night” (39:17 from the start), in Westworld, season 2, episode 1, spoken by Maeve Millay and Lee Sizemore (Thandie Newton and Simon Quarterman), via HBO:


key

en-verb

key (third-person singular simple present keys, present participle keying, simple past and past participle keyed)

keys (present singular third-person)
keying (participle present)
keyed (participle past)
keyed (past)

From Middle English keye, kaye, keiȝe, from Old English cǣġ (“key, solution, experiment”) (whence also Scots key and kay (“key”)), of uncertain origin. The only sure cognates are Saterland Frisian Koai (“key”), West Frisian kaai (“key”), and North Frisian kay (“key”). Possibly from Proto-Germanic *kēgaz, *kēguz (“stake, post, pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵogʰ-, *ǵegʰ-, *ǵegʰn- (“branch, stake, bush”), which would make it cognate with Middle Low German kāk (“whipping post, pillory”), and perhaps to Middle Dutch keige (“javelin, spear”) and Middle Low German keie, keige (“spear”). For the semantic development, note that medieval keys were simply long poles (ending in a hook) with which a crossbar obstructing a door from the inside could be removed from the outside, by lifting it through a hole in the door. Liberman has noted, however, "The original meaning of *kaig-jo- was presumably '*pin with a twisted end.' Words with the root *kai- followed by a consonant meaning 'crooked, bent; twisted' are common only in the North Germanic languages."

cog

(telegraphy and radio telegraphy) To depress (a telegraph key).


apostrophe

apostrophes (plural)
apostrophë (alternative)
apostrophy (alternative)

From French apostrophe, or Latin apostrophus, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστροφος (apóstrophos, “accent of elision”), a noun use of an adjective from ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō, “I turn away”), from ἀπό (apó, “away from”) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”).

der

Since its inception the apostrophe has been a controversial piece of punctuation.

2021, Claire Cock-Starkey, Hyphens & Hashtags, Bodleian Library, page 30:

(orthography) The text character ’, which serves as a punctuation mark in various languages and as a diacritical mark in certain rare contexts.


federation

en-noun

federation (countable and uncountable, plural federations)

federations (plural)
fœderation (alternative)

desc

ဖယ်ဒရေးရှင်း

→ Burmese: ဖယ်ဒရေးရှင်း (hpaida.re:hrang:)

/ˌfɛdəˈɹeɪʃn̩/

Borrowed from French fédération, from Late Latin foederatio, from Latin foederare; equivalent to federate + -ion.

(computing, telecommunications) A collection of network or telecommunication providers that offer interoperability.


stroke

The noun is derived from Middle English strok, stroke (“blow from a weapon, cut”), from Old English strāc, from Proto-West Germanic *straik, from Proto-Germanic *straikaz (“stroke”), from Proto-Indo-European *streyg- (“to rub, stroke; to shear; to strike”).
Sense 3.6.2.2 (“the oblique, slash, or virgule (‘/’)”) is a contraction of oblique stroke, a variant of oblique which was originally used in telegraphy.
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
* German Streich (“stroke”)
* Middle Low German strēk (“stroke, trick, prank”)
* Scots strak, strake, straik (“blow, stroke”)

isku

one of a series of beats or movements against a resisting medium, by means of which movement through or upon it is accomplished

ход

single movement or thrust of a part (such as a piston) of a machine that moves back and forth; length of this movement

A single movement of a paintbrush, chisel, pen, pencil, or similar implement; a line or mark made by such an implement.

(linguistics, calligraphy, typography) A line making up a written character.

خَطّ

line or mark made on a surface by an implement for drawing, writing, etc.

筆畫 /笔画

line making up a written character; specifically, a Chinese, Japanese, or Korean character


prefix

prefixes (plural)
præfix (alternative obsolete)
prefixe (alternative obsolete)

Borrowed from Late Latin praefīxum, from Latin praefīxus, past participle of praefīgō (“I (fix, fasten, set up) in front”, “I fix on the (end, extremity)”) (from prae- (“before”) + fīgō (“I fix”, “I fasten”, “I affix”)), equivalent to pre- + -fix. Doublet of the archaic synonym prefixum.

in the UK, a number with an 0800 prefix is a toll-free number.

Add the prefix +34 to dial a Spanish number from abroad

(telecommunications) A set of digits placed before a telephone number, to indicate where the number is based, what type of phone number it is (landline, mobile, toll-free, premium rate etc.)

kode

telecommunications: set of digits placed before a telephone number


flash

en-noun

flash (countable and uncountable, plural flashes)

→ Catalan: flaix

→ Polish: flesz

In some senses, from Middle English flasshen, a variant of flasken, flaskien (“to sprinkle, splash”), which was likely of imitative origin; in other senses probably of North Germanic origin akin to Swedish dialectal flasa (“to burn brightly, blaze”), related to flare. Compare also Icelandic flasa (“to rush, go hastily”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

(telecommunications) Ellipsis of hook flash.


acatalectic

From Late Latin acatalēcticus, from Ancient Greek ἀκατάληκτος (akatálēktos, “leaving off”).

der

(poetry, prosody) Designating a line of verse having the required number of syllables in the last foot


acatalectic

(poetry, prosody) A verse which has the complete number of feet and syllables


churn

en-noun

churn (countable and uncountable, plural churns)

Noun from Middle English chyrne, cherne, kyrne ( > Scots kirn), from Old English ċyrn, ċyrin, ċirin (“churn”), from Proto-Germanic *kirnijǭ (“churn”); verb from Middle English chyrnen from Old English ċernan, from Proto-Germanic *kirnijaną (“to churn, stir”), of unknown origin. Cognate with West Frisian tsjerne, Dutch karn, Walloon serene, German Karn, Kirne, Norwegian Bokmål kjerne, Danish kærne, Swedish kärna, Icelandic kirna.

der

(telecommunications) The time when a consumer switches his/her service provider.

(telecommunications) The mass of people who are ready to switch carriers.


PS

(telecommunications) Abbreviation of packet-switched.


ABC

en-noun

ABC (countable and uncountable, plural ABCs or ABC's)

ABCs (plural)
ABC's (plural)
absey (alternative)

From Middle English abece, ABC, from the first three letters of the Latin alphabet, standing for the whole alphabet.

(obsolete, poetry) A type of poem in which the lines start with the letters of the alphabet in order.


NSA

(mobile telephony) Initialism of non-standalone architecture.


metre

en-verb

metre (third-person singular simple present metres, present participle metring, simple past and past participle metred)

metres (present singular third-person)
metring (participle present)
metred (participle past)
metred (past)
meter (alternative)

From Old English, from Latin metrum, from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure, rule, length, size, poetic metre”).

der

(poetry, music) To put into metrical form.


TM

en-noun

TM (countable and uncountable, plural TMs)

(UK, telecommunications, historical) Initialism of telephone manager.


echo

echo (countable and uncountable, plural echoes or echos)

echoes (plural)
echos (plural)
echoe (alternative)
eccho (alternative)

From Middle English eccho, ecco, ekko, from Medieval Latin ecco, from Latin echo, from Ancient Greek ἠχώ (ēkhṓ), from ἠχή (ēkhḗ, “sound”). Possibly from the same Proto-Indo-European root as sough.

(poetry) A device in verse in which a line ends with a word which recalls the sound of the last word of the preceding line.


terminal

→ Bulgarian: термина́л (terminál)

→ Japanese: ターミナル (tāminaru)

→ Korean: 터미널 (teomineol)

desctree

→ Russian: термина́л (terminál)
→ Kazakh: терминал (terminal)

Borrowed from Late Latin terminalis (“pertaining to a boundary or to the end, terminal, final”), from Latin terminus (“a bound, boundary, limit, end”). See term, terminus.

термина́л

computing - the end of a line of signals

(telecommunications) The apparatus to send and/or receive signals on a line, such as a telephone or network device.


error

en-verb

error (third-person singular simple present errors, present participle erroring, simple past and past participle errored)

errors (present singular third-person)
erroring (participle present)
errored (participle past)
errored (past)
errour (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English errour, from Anglo-Norman errour, borrowed from Old French error, from Latin error (“wandering about”), infinitive of errō (“to wander, to err”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌶𐌴𐌹 (airzei, “error”), Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌶𐌾𐌰𐌽 (airzjan, “to lead astray”). More at err. By surface analysis, err + -or (suffix forming nouns of quality, state, or condition).

surf

-or<pos:suffix forming nouns of quality, state, or condition>

The block transmission errored near the start and could not be received.

(telecommunications) To show or contain an error or fault.


hook

sometimes in Northern England and Ireland, otherwise obsolete

From Middle English hoke, from Old English hōc, from Proto-West Germanic *hōk, from Proto-Germanic *hōkaz, variant of *hakô (“hook”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kog-, *keg-, *keng- (“peg, hook, claw”).
Cognates
Compare West Frisian heak, Dutch haak (“hook”)) (compare West Frisian/Dutch hoek (“hook, angle, corner”), Low German Hook, Huuk); also related to hake.

(authorship) A brief, punchy opening statement intended to get attention from an audience, reader, or viewer, and make them want to continue to listen to a speech, read a book, or watch a play.


pilot

→ Dari: پیلوت (pilot)

→ Hindi: पायलट (pāylaṭ)

→ Japanese: パイロット (pairotto)

→ Korean: 파일럿 (pailleot)

→ Northern Kurdish: pîlot

From Middle French pilot, pillot, from Italian pilota, piloto, older also pedotta, pedot(t)o (the form in pil- is probably influenced by pileggiare (“to sail, navigate”)); ultimately from unattested Byzantine Greek *πηδώτης (*pēdṓtēs, “helmsman”), from Ancient Greek πηδόν (pēdón, “blade of an oar, oar”), hence also Ancient and Modern Greek πηδάλιον (pēdálion, “rudder”).

der

(telecommunications, often attributive) A tone or signal, usually a single frequency, transmitted over a communications system for control or synchronization purposes.


pager

From page + -er (agent noun suffix) or + -er (measurement suffix) (sense 3).

Before he could bring it down, the pager clipped to his belt went off. Alan pushed the button that turned the hateful gadget off and stood indecisively in front of the shop door a moment longer […]

1991, Stephen King, Needful Things, page 355:

(telecommunications) A wireless telecommunications device that receives text or voice messages.


mechanics

From Latin mēchanicus, from Ancient Greek μηχανικός (mēkhanikós), from μηχανή (mēkhanḗ, “machine, tool”).


POP

(telecommunications) Acronym of point of presence.


mast

From Middle English mast, from Old English mæst (“mast”), from Proto-West Germanic *mast, from Proto-Germanic *mastaz (“mast, sail-pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *mazdos (“pole, mast”).
Cognate with Dutch mast, German Mast, and via Indo-European with Latin mālus, Russian мост (most, “bridge”), Irish adhmad.

(nautical, communication, aviation) A tall, slim post or tower, usually tapering upward, used to support, for example, sails or observation platforms on a ship, the main rotor of a helicopter, flags, floodlights, meteorological instruments, or communications equipment, such as an aerial, usually supported by guy-wires (except in the case of a helicopter).


switch

→ Gulf Arabic: سويچ (swīč)

→ German: Switch

Perhaps from Middle Dutch swijch (“twig”), first attested in c. 1592. The mechanical device for altering the direction of something sense is first attested in c. 1797, pertaining to pivoted rails on minecart railways, which were once wooden.

камута́тар

system allowing the interconnection of telephone lines

(telecommunications) A system of specialized relays, computer hardware, or other equipment which allows the interconnection of a calling party's telephone line with any called party's line.


PLC

en-noun

PLC (countable and uncountable, plural PLCs)

(uncountable, telecommunications) Initialism of packet loss concealment.

power line communication
power line communication#English

(countable, communication) Initialism of power line communication.


protagonist

Penguin Books
The Independent
The Sense of Style
protagonist

From Ancient Greek πρωταγωνιστής (prōtagōnistḗs, “a chief actor”), from πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”) + ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs, “a combatant, pleader, actor”). By surface analysis, prot- (“first”) + agonist (“combatant, participant”).

der

πρωταγωνιστής

surf

(authorship) The main character, or one of the main characters, in any story, such as a literary work or drama.


Saturnian

en-adj

Saturnian (comparative more Saturnian, superlative most Saturnian)

more Saturnian (comparative)
most Saturnian (superlative)

(poetry) Involving a meter consisting of three iambics and an extra syllable followed by three trochees, employed by satirists in Ancient Rome.


bar

en-noun

bar (countable and uncountable, plural bars)

→ Albanian: bar m

→ Arabic: بَار m (bār)

→ Armenian: բար (bar)

→ Bulgarian: бар (bar)

→ Burmese: ဘား (bha:)

→ Chichewa: bála

→ Cantonese: 吧 (baa¹)

→ Czech: bar m

→ Danish: bar c

→ Dutch: bar m

→ Esperanto: baro

→ Estonian: baar

→ French: bar m
→ Romanian: bar

→ Galician: bar m

→ Georgian: ბარი (bari)

→ German: Bar f

→ Greek: μπαρ n (bar)

→ Gulf Arabic: بار (bār)

→ Hebrew: בָּר (bar), בָּאר (bár)

→ Hungarian: bár (also via German)

→ Icelandic: bar m

→ Irish: beár m

→ Italian: bar m

→ Japanese: バー (bā)

→ Khmer: បារ (baa)

→ Korean: 바 (ba)

→ Lithuanian: bãras m

→ Macedonian: бар m (bar)

→ Malagasy: ba

→ Mandarin: 吧 (bā)

→ Norwegian:

Bokmål: bar m

Nynorsk: bar m

→ Persian: بار (bâr)

→ Polish: bar m

→ Portuguese: bar m

→ Russian: бар m (bar)

→ Serbo-Croatian: ба̑р m, bȃr m

→ Slovene: bȃr m

→ Spanish: bar m

→ Swahili: baa

→ Swedish: bar c (see there for further descendants)

→ Thai: บาร์ (baa)

→ Turkish: bar

→ Xhosa: íbhári

→ Zulu: ibha

From Middle English barre, from Old French barre (“beam, bar, gate, barrier”), from Vulgar Latin *barra, of uncertain origin. Doublet of barre.

der

I don't have any bars in the middle of this desert.

(telecommunications, electronics) One of an array of bar-shaped symbols that display the level of something, such as wireless signal strength or battery life remaining.

linie

technology: a part of a pictogram indicating signal strength or charge level


acute

en-adj

acute (comparative acuter or more acute, superlative acutest or most acute)

acuter (comparative)
more acute (comparative)
acutest (superlative)
most acute (superlative)

From Late Middle English acute (“of a disease or fever: starting suddenly and lasting for a short time; of a humour: irritating, sharp”), from Latin acūta, from acūtus (“sharp, sharpened”), perfect passive participle of acuō (“to make pointed, sharpen, whet”), from acus (“needle, pin”). The word is cognate to ague (“acute, intermittent fever”).
As regards the noun, which is derived from the verb, compare Middle English acūte (“severe but short-lived fever; of blood: corrosiveness, sharpness; musical note of high pitch”).

cog

The last letter of ‘café’ is ‘e’ acute.

A more conservative approach, particularly if your author is a skilled computer user, would be to replace the problem characters with simple words or codes that are guaranteed to transfer successfully between computers. For example, you could replace é with e-acute if that particular character is causing problems. […] The author could then do a search and replace to change all instances of e-acute back to é before publication.

2007, Geoff[rey J. S.] Hart, “Editing in Special Situations”, in Effective Onsceen Editing: New Tools for an Old Profession, Pointe-Claire, Que.: Diaskeuasis Publishing, →ISBN, page 404:

Commonly used European accents are available as below: / á Á a acute / […] / é É e acute / […] / í Í i acute / […] / ó Ó o acute / […] / ú Ú u acute

2017, [Michael] Mitchell, [Susan] Wightman, “Foreign Languages”, in Typographic Style Handbook, London: MacLehose Press, →ISBN, section 10.2.1 (Commonly Used Accents), page 143:

(orthography, postpositive) Of a letter of the alphabet, having an acute accent.

agut

(orthography) after a letter of the alphabet: having an acute accent


acute

The word ‘cafe’ often has an acute over the ‘e’.

The number of Notes in this Table, without either acute or grave marks (´ or `), is 75. Of those bearing one acute mark (´) it is 74, of those with two acutes (´´) 70, with three acutes (´´´ or ´³) 51, […]

1817 June, John Farey, Sen., “CI. On Mr. Listons, or the Euharmonic Scale of Musical Intervals, […]”, in Alexander Tilloch, editor, The Philosophical Magazine and Journal: […], volume XLIX, number 230, London: Printed by Richard and Arthur Taylor. […], →OCLC, page 445:

The five vowels marked with acutes over them, it is probable, were first contrived to assist the ignorant monks in reading the church service, that by this means they might arrive to a proper and settled pronunciation in the discharge of their sacerdotal duties; […]

1824, J[ohn] Johnson, “A Fount of Letter, as Considered by Letter Founders”, in Typographia, or The Printers’ Instructor: […], volume II, London: Published by Messrs. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green, […], →OCLC, page 34:


tap

The noun is derived from Middle English tappe (“hollow device for controlling the flow of liquid from a hole, cock, faucet, spigot; hole through which the liquid flows; the liquid which thus flows”), from Old English tæppa, from Proto-West Germanic *tappō, from Proto-Germanic *tappô (“a plug, tap; peg; tapering stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂p- (“to lose; to sacrifice”). Doublet of tapa.
The verb is derived from Middle English tappen (“to obtain (liquid, chiefly liquor) from a tap; to obtain and sell (liquor)”), from Old English tæppian (“to provide (a container) with a stopper; to obtain (liquid) from a tap”), and then either:
* from Old English tæppa (see above) + -ian (suffix forming verbs); or
* from Proto-Germanic *tappōną, from *tappô (noun) (see above).
Verb sense 1.3.5 (“to turn over (a playing card or playing piece) to remind players that it has already been used in that round”) alludes to the abilities or resources of the card or piece having been drawn on to the point of temporary exhaustion: see verb sense 1.3.2.

inh

(communication, chiefly law enforcement)

A device used to listen in secretly on telephone calls or other communications.

salakuuntelulaite

telephone tap

It is true—and undisputed—that, in the weeks between the 2016 election and Trump's inauguration, several top Obama administration officials asked the National Security Agency to reveal the identity of an American citizen overheard on phone taps speaking with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak—a request known as "unmasking."

2020 May 14, Fred Kaplan, “‘Obamagate’ wasn’t even a Scandal the First Time”, in Slate, New York, N.Y.: The Slate Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-05-30:

A secret interception of telephone calls or other communications using such a device; also, a recording of such a communication.

подслу́шване

secret interception of telephone calls or other communications using such a device; recording of such a communication


tap

en-verb

tap (third-person singular simple present taps, present participle tapping, simple past and past participle tapped)

taps (present singular third-person)
tapping (participle present)
tapped (participle past)
tapped (past)
tap (infinitive)
tap (first-person present singular)
tapped (first-person past singular)
tap (present second-person singular)
tappest (archaic present second-person singular)
tapped (past second-person singular)
tappedst (archaic past second-person singular)
taps (present singular third-person)
tappeth (archaic present singular third-person)
tapped (past singular third-person)
tap (plural present)
tapped (past plural)
tap (present subjunctive)
tapped (past subjunctive)
tap (imperative present)
tapping (participle present)
tapped (participle past)

точа

to draw off (a liquid) from a container or other source; to draw off a liquid from (a container or other source)

They can’t tap the phone without a warrant.

mitchener. Why didn't you telephone? / balsquith. They tap the telephone. Every switchboard in London is in their hands, or in those of their young men.

1909, [George] Bernard Shaw, Press Cuttings: A Topical Sketch […], London: Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 3:

On 3 May the Government decided to take over the Telephone Exchange, which had been operated since the beginning of the war mainly by C.N.T. workers; it was alleged that it was badly run and that official calls were being tapped.

1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XI, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC, pages 160–161:

"Oh, there is one thing," the Minister called after Lebel, "how did you know to tap the telephone line of Colonel Saint-Clair's private apartment?" Lebel turned in the doorway and shrugged. "I didn't," he said, "so last night I tapped all your telephones. Good day, gentlemen."

1971 August 6, Frederick Forsyth, “Anatomy of a Kill”, in The Day of the Jackal, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →ISBN, page 347:

Ever worry about shadowy forces tapping your phone calls and listening in on your private conversations? Well, astronomers have some good news for you: it won't be aliens with their ears (or whatever auditory sensory organs they have evolved) to the speaker getting into your business—unless they've done a lot better than we have at funding radio astronomers.

2023 May 23, “Is E.T. Eavesdropping on Our Phone Calls?”, in Scientific American, New York, N.Y.: Springer Nature America, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-10-03:

(communication, chiefly law enforcement) To connect a listening and/or recording device to (a communication cable or device) in order to listen in secretly on telephone calls or other communications; also, to secretly listen in on and/or record (a telephone call or other communication).

подслушвам

to connect a listening and/or recording device to (a communication cable or device) in order to listen in secretly on telephone calls or other communications; to secretly listen in on and/or record (a telephone call or other communication)


transportability

en-noun

transportability (countable and uncountable, plural transportabilities)

(communication) The quality of equipment, devices, systems, and associated hardware that permits their being moved from one location to another to interconnect with locally available complementary equipment, devices, systems, associated hardware, or other complementary facilities.


virgule

Borrowed from Middle French virgule, from Latin virgula (“twig; scratch comma”), from virga (“rod, branch”) + -ulus (diminutive suffix). Doublet of virgula.

(typography, dated) A pipe, ⟨|⟩.
(poetry) Used to mark metrical feet.

A pipe, ⟨|⟩.
Used to mark metrical feet.


signal

From Old French segnal, seignal or Medieval Latin signāle; noun use of the neuter of Late Latin signālis, from Latin signum; verb use from 1805, as a shortened from signalize (1650s).

My mobile phone can't get a signal in the railway station.

(of a radio, TV, telephone, internet, etc.) An electromagnetic action, normally a voltage that is a function of time, that conveys the information of the radio or TV program or of communication with another party.

сигна́л

telecommunication: electromagnetic action that conveys information


ERP

ERP (countable and uncountable, plural ERPs)

effective radiated power
w:effective radiated power

equivalent radiated power
w:equivalent radiated power

(uncountable, telecommunications) Initialism of effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power.


operating time

operating time (countable and uncountable, plural operating times)

käyttöaika

time interval between input/request for service and completion of task

(computing, telecommunications) The time interval between the instant a request for service is received from a user and the instant of final release of all facilities by the user or either of two users.

(telecommunications) In conference calls, the time interval between the instant a request for service is received from one of a group of concurrent users and the instant all but one of the users have released all facilities.


reference

reference (countable and uncountable, plural references)

From Middle French référence, from Medieval Latin referentia, nominative neuter plural of referēns, present participle of referō (“return, reply”, literally “carry back”). Morphologically refer + -ence.

verwysing

academic writing: identification of a source

(academic writing) A short written identification of a previously published work which is used as a source for a text.

(academic writing) A previously published written work thus indicated; a source.


BBS

BBS (countable and uncountable, plural BBSes or BBSs)

BBSes (plural)
BBSs (plural)
B.B.S. (alternative)
B. B. S. (alternative)

Parallel to the emergence of text-based multiplayer games, though, was another kind of virtual community: Bulletin Boards (BBSs). BBSs were modems people could dial up to, connect with, and exchange software and messages with other members of the community. […] These BBSs, early frontier outposts of our virtual worlds, were John Lester’s first experience of a community outside the physical.

2007, Tim Guest, “Lester Prototype: The Beginning of Virtual Worlds”, in Second Lives: A Journey Through Virtual Worlds, London: Hutchinson, →ISBN, page 60:

bulletin board system
bulletin board system#English

bulletin board service
bulletin board service#English

(telecommunications, Internet) Initialism of bulletin board system or bulletin board service.


ADSL

ADSL (countable and uncountable, plural ADSLs)

asymmetric digital subscriber line#English

(telecommunications) Initialism of asymmetric digital subscriber line.


antagonist

[ɛə̯nˈtæɡənɪst]

From Latin antagonista, from Ancient Greek ἀνταγωνιστής (antagōnistḗs, “opponent”) (ἀντί (antí, “against”) + ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs, “a combatant, pleader, actor”)), from ἀνταγωνίζομαι (antagōnízomai, “to antagonize”).

der

ἀνταγωνιστής

So God forbid I'm seen just as an average human being / I mean, imagine if antagonists lacked any evil scheme

2022, Will Wood (musician), “The Main Character”, in In case I make it,, performed by Will Wood:

(authorship) The main character or force opposing the protagonist in a literary work or drama.


slip

From Middle English slippen, probably from Middle Low German slippen, from Old Saxon *slippian, from Proto-West Germanic *slippjan, from Proto-Germanic *slipjaną (“to glide”), an iterative form of *slīpaną (“to slip, slide”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyb- (“slimy; to slide”). Possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *slewbʰ- (“slip, slide”), or related to Proto-Germanic *slībaną (“to split”); related to Old English slipor (“slippery”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian slipje (“to slip”), Dutch slippen (“to slip”), German Low German slippen, slupen (“to slip”), German schlüpfen (“to slip”).

there's many a slip between the cup and the lip

there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip

(telecommunications) The positional displacement in a sequence of transmitted symbols that causes the loss or insertion of one or more symbols.


ghost

en-noun

ghost (countable and uncountable, plural ghosts)

ghosts (plural)
ghoast (alternative obsolete)
gost (alternative obsolete)

→ Japanese: ゴースト (gōsuto)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-ghost.wav

Inherited from Middle English gost, from Old English gāst, gǣst (“breath, spirit, soul, ghost”) (compare modern English Holy Ghost), from Proto-West Germanic *gaist, from Proto-Germanic *gaistaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéysdos, derived from *ǵʰéysd- (“anger, agitation”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gäist, Jeest, West Frisian geast, Dutch geest, German Low German Geest, Geist, German Geist, Swedish gast.
The ⟨h⟩ in the spelling appears in the Prologue to William Caxton's Royal Book, printed in 1484, in a reference to the ‘Holy Ghoost’, likely introduced by Caxton's assistant, Wynkyn de Worde, as a result of Flemish influence, where it was spelled gheest at the time. Doublet of geist.

I've written both as a ghost for experts and under my name.


trunk

From Middle English tronke, trunke, from Old French tronc (“alms box, tree trunk, headless body”), from Latin truncus (“a stock, lopped tree trunk”), from truncus (“cut off, maimed, mutilated”). For the verb, compare French tronquer, and see truncate. Doublet of truncus and tronk.

der

the apple does not fall far from the trunk

(heading) A channel for flow of some kind.

(US, telecommunications) A major circuit between telephone switchboards or other switching equipment.


trunk

en-verb

trunk (third-person singular simple present trunks, present participle trunking, simple past and past participle trunked)

trunks (present singular third-person)
trunking (participle present)
trunked (participle past)
trunked (past)

(telecommunications) To provide simultaneous network access to multiple clients by sharing a set of circuits, carriers, channels, or frequencies.


synopsis

From Late Latin synopsis, itself from Ancient Greek σύνοψις (súnopsis), from σύν (sún, “with or whole”) + ὄψις (ópsis, “view”) meaning whole view.

(authorship) A brief summary of the major points of a written work, either as prose or as a table; an abridgment or condensation of a work.


Venus

en-noun

Venus (countable and uncountable, plural Venuses or Veneres)

From Middle English Venus, from Latin Venus.

Immoderate Venus in excess, as it is a cause, or in defect; so, moderately used, to some parties an only help, a present remedy.

(obsolete or poetry) Sexual activity or intercourse, sex; lust, love.


speaker

→ Brunei Malay: speaker

→ Belarusian: спі́кер (spíkjer)

→ Estonian: spiiker

→ French: speaker

→ Georgian: სპიკერი (sṗiḳeri)

→ Italian: speaker

→ Japanese: スピーカー (supīkā)

→ Malayalam: സ്പീക്കർ (spīkkaṟ)

→ Maltese: speaker, spiker

→ Norwegian Bokmål: speaker

→ Polish: spiker

→ Romanian: speaker

desctree

→ Russian: спикер (spiker)
→ Kazakh:
Cyrillic script: спикер (spiker)
Latin script: spiker

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Latin script: spiker

Cyrillic script: спикер

→ Spanish: speaker

→ Swahili: spika

→ Turkish: spiker

→ Ukrainian: спі́кер (spíker)

From Middle English speker, spekere, an alteration (with change of suffix) of Old English speca, spreca (“speaker”), from Proto-Germanic *sprekô (“speaker”), equivalent to speak + -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Spreeker (“speaker”), West Frisian sprekker (“speaker”), Dutch spreker (“speaker”), German Low German Spreker (“speaker”), German Sprecher (“speaker”).

puhuja

linguistics: producer of a given utterance

Popular culture often incorrectly attributes quotes from the speakers of poems or songs to the authors thereof, as when "I took the one less traveled by" is attributed to Robert Frost rather than to the speaker in Frost's "The Road Not Taken".

(especially in linguistics) The producer of a given utterance, whether speech or text.

(poetry) The literary character uttering the lyrics of a poem or song, as opposed to the author writing the words of that character.


carrier

From Middle English cariere, partly from carien + -ere, after Anglo-Norman carier, cariour, and partly directly from Anglo-Norman. By surface analysis, carry + -er.

но́сьбіт

person or object that carries someone or something else

(telecommunications) A mobile network operator; wireless carrier.


telephone

en-noun

telephone (countable and uncountable, plural telephones)

First used by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 to refer to the modern instrument, but previous devices had been given this name, which was borrowed from French téléphone. Ultimately from Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle, “afar”) + φωνή (phōnḗ, “voice, sound”).

ателефон

a device used for two-way talking with other people

talk to Ralph on the big white telephone

(countable, telephony) A telecommunication device (originally mechanical, and now electronic) used for two-way talking with another person (now often shortened to phone).


spim

spim (usually uncountable, plural spims)

(telephony) Unsolicited messages sent to cellular phones.


ATM

ATM (countable and uncountable, plural ATMs)

asynchronous transfer mode
asynchronous transfer mode#English

(telecommunications, electronics) Initialism of asynchronous transfer mode.

ATM

(telecommunication, electronics) Asynchronous Transfer Mode


quinzaine

(poetry) A piece of verse having fifteen syllables.


interpolation

interpolation (countable and uncountable, plural interpolations)

/ɪnˌtɜː.pəˈleɪʃən/

/ɪnˌtɜː.pəˈleɪʃən/

From French interpolation, from Latin interpolatio.
Morphologically interpolate + -ion.

Today a widely established convention encloses all editorial interpolations in square brackets [like so] for clarity.

Bentley wrote a letter […] upon the scriptural glosses in our present copies of Hesychius, which he considered interpolations from a later hand.

1830, Thomas De Quincey, Life of Richard Bentley:

We, who are born into the world's artificial system, can never adequately know how little in our present state and circumstances is natural, and how much is merely the interpolation of the perverted mind and heart of man.

1843, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The New Adam and Eve”, in Mosses from an Old Manse. […], part II, New York, N.Y.: Wiley and Putnam, published 1846, →OCLC, page 1:

(editing, content analysis) That which is introduced or inserted; in contexts of content analysis of centuries-old texts, especially something foreign or spurious.


register

registers (plural)
registre (alternative)

/ˈɹɛd͡ʒ.ɪ.stə/

/ˈɹɛd͡ʒ.ɪ.stɚ/

/ˈɹɛd͡ʒ.ə.stɚ/

From Medieval Latin registrum, from Late Latin regesta (“list, items recorded”), from Latin regerō (“to record, to carry back”), from re- + gerō (“to carry, bear”). Compare Latin registoria (“a treasurer”). Some senses influenced by association with unrelated Latin regō (“to rule”).

der

(telecommunications) The part of a telegraphic apparatus that automatically records the message received.

(telecommunications) A list of received calls in a phone set.

loki

telecommunications: list of received calls


rubber

en-verb

rubber (third-person singular simple present rubbers, present participle rubbering, simple past and past participle rubbered)

rubbers (present singular third-person)
rubbering (participle present)
rubbered (participle past)
rubbered (past)

"There's a lot of nostalgia about the phone and how it was the way to get the local news," said Jane Beck of the Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury. One way was "rubbering," or listening in on a neighbor's conversations ...

1999, Los Angeles Times, "Party's Over for Rural Phone Customers in Green Mountain State," (Jan. 31, 1999)

(telephony) To eavesdrop on a telephone call


aperture

/ˈæp.ɚˌt͡ʃʊɹ/

/ˈæp.ɚ.t͡ʃɚ/

/ˈæp.ɚˌtjʊɹ/

-æpə(ɹ)tʃʊə(ɹ)

From late Middle English, from Latin apertūra (“an opening”), from aperiō (“to uncover, make or lay bare”) + -tūra (“-ure”, action noun suffix). Doublet of overture.

stralingsvlak

hole restricting the diameter of the lightpath through one plane

апертура

refers to the opening itself, not to the device

(space flight, communication) The (typically) large-diameter antenna used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency energy containing the data used in communication satellites, especially in the geostationary belt. For a comsat, this is typically a large reflective dish antenna; sometimes called an array.


PTC

(telecommunications) Pacific Telecommunications Council.


USB

(communication, space science) Initialism of unified S-band (a communication system used for the Apollo program).

unified S-band

(communication) Initialism of upper sideband.


VCO

(communication) Initialism of Voice Carry Over, a service that relays voice communication to the deaf.


Based on the telephone number used in North America to obtain telephone numbers of listed subscribers.

(Canada, US, telephony) The telephonic information service.


exchange

en-noun

exchange (countable and uncountable, plural exchanges)

From Middle English eschaunge, borrowed from Anglo-Norman eschaunge, from Old French eschange (whence modern French échange), from the verb eschanger, from Vulgar Latin *excambiāre (from Latin ex with Late Latin cambiō). Spelling later changed on the basis of ex-, with pronunciation following. By surface analysis, ex- + change.

The 555 exchange is reserved for use by the phone company, which is why it's often used in films.

NPA-NXX-1234 is standard format, where NPA is the area code and NXX is the exchange.

(telephony, US) The fourth through sixth digits of a ten-digit phone number (the first three before the introduction of area codes).


defective

en-adj

defective (comparative more defective, superlative most defective)

more defective (comparative)
most defective (superlative)

From Middle English defectif, defective, from Old French defectif, from Late Latin dēfectīvus.

(orthography, of a script) Not capable of representing all the phonemic distinctions of a language it is used to write.


chapter

chapters (plural)
chapiter (alternative)
chapitre (alternative)
chapiture (alternative)
chaptre (alternative)
chapyter (alternative)
chapytre (alternative)
chaptire (alternative)

→ Cebuano: tsapter

From Middle English chapitre, from Old French chapitre, from Latin capitulum (“a chapter of a book, in Medieval Latin also a synod or council”), diminutive of caput (“a head”); see capital, capitulum, and chapiter, which are doublets of chapter.

der

Detective novel writers try to keep up the suspense until the last chapter.

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

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

(authorship) One of the main sections into which the text of a book is divided.

CHAPTER - One of the principal divisions of a book, and, in reference to the Bible, one of the larger sections into which its books are divided. This division, as well as that consisting of verses, was introduced to facilitate reference, and not to indicate any natural or accurate division of the subjects treated in the books.

1842, Walter Farquahar Hook, A Church Dictionary, published 1896:

At least thirty-two of the first forty-seven decretal chapters were received by English ecclesiastics,

1963, Charles Duggan, Twelfth-century Decretal Collections and Their Importance in English History, page 127:

il conclut: « No pope, no collection but the masters who served the one and commented on the other ultimately determined the content of this decretal chapter».

1983, Revue théologique de Louvain - Volume 14, page 127:

But unlike a similar annotation, it has not been turned into a chapter title because the annotation “de quodam hermita” (Of a certain hermit) immediately preceded it. If a scribe had also turned Liberauit Dominus hermitam into a chapter title, he would have created a chapter that consisted of a single sentence, which even for a rather dull scribe would seem unacceptable. […] While scribe A wrote the body of the text of the De nugis curialium, scribe X contributed the rubricated chapter headings.

2017, Joshua Byron Smith, Walter Map and the Matter of Britain, page 67:

While rubrics do not appear in paper manuscripts, eight paper manuscripts contain chapter titles, which serve the same function as the medieval rubrics.

2018, Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir, Emily Lethbridge, New Studies in the Manuscript Tradition of Njáls saga, page xvii:

Characteristics: parchment; 92 fols.; 260 × 180 mm.; 32 lines; Italy; ca. 1430; two hands: humanistic rotunda with some Gothic features; marginal notes by first hand and names by a second hand; space left for initials; rubric inscriptions; superscript variants by first hand; chapters marked in margin; horizontal catchwords; quaternions.

2018, David J. Hunt, A Textual History of Cicero's Academici Libri, page 152:

From canon law, he cited Gratian's Decretum, Gregory's Decretales, the Sexto and Clementines Decretales, and the Extravagantes, and specifically referred to “the rules for understanding the Law” in a decretal chapter on Propterea.

2021, David T. Orique, The Unheard Voice of Law in Bartolomé de Las Casas’s Brevísima Relación de la Destruición de las Indias, page 97:

A section of a work, a collection of works, or fragments of works, often manuscripts or transcriptions, created by scholars or advocates, not the original authors, to aid in finding portions of the texts.


umlaut

Borrowed from German Umlaut in the 19ᵗʰ century, from um- or um (“around, re-, trans-”) + Laut (“sound”), from Old High German hlūt. More at loud.

(orthography) The diacritical mark ( ¨ ) placed over a vowel when it indicates a (rounded) front vowel

"Naïve" takes an umlaut because it is pronounced as two syllables.

(informal, orthography) Synonym of diaeresis.


PRC

en-noun

PRC (countable and uncountable, plural PRCs)

(communication) Initialism of personal radio communications, e.g. the PRC-77 portable secure FM radio set.


simplex

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-simplex.wav

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-simplices.wav

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-simplicia.wav

Henri Poincaré
MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
Pieter Hendrik Schoute

The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin simplex (“plain, simple; single”). The first part, sim-, comes from Proto-Indo-European *sem-, *sm̥- (“one; together”). The second part, -plex, may be from *pleḱ- (“to weave”).
The noun is derived from the adjective. The plural forms simplices and simplicia are learned borrowings from Latin simplicēs (masculine or feminine) and simplicia (neuter), respectively plural forms of simplex.
Noun sense 1 (“generalization of a triangle or tetrahedron to an arbitrary dimension”) was apparently coined by the Dutch mathematician Pieter Hendrik Schoute (1846–1913) as a short version of Simplicissimum in Mehrdimensionale Geometrie (in German, 1902). (In his pioneering works on algebraic topology, the French mathematician Henri Poincaré (1854–1912) had previously introduced the concept, but not the actual term simplex.)

lbor

(computing, telecommunications) Of a circuit or device: involving signals which travel in one direction at a time; unidirectional.

симплекс

of a circuit or device: involving signals which travel in one direction at a time — see also unidirectional


duplex

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
Borrowed from Latin duplex (“double, two-fold”), from duo (“two”) + plico (“fold together”); compare the roots of διπλόος (diplóos, “double”); compare also πλέκω (plékō, “twist, braid”). By surface analysis, duo- + -plex.

duplex telegraphy

(telecommunications) Bidirectional (in two directions).


data

→ Turkish: data

dater (non-rhotic, except some South Asian accents)

Borrowed from Latin data, nominative plural of datum (“that is given”), neuter past participle of dō (“I give”). Doublet of date.

run out of data

(mobile telephony) Ellipsis of mobile data (“digital information transmitted using the cellular telephone network rather than Wi-Fi”).


alba

First attested in 1821; borrowed from Occitan alba, ultimately from Latin albus (“white”); compare Spanish alba (“dawn”).

(poetry) A type of lyrical poetry, traditionally Provençal, about lovers who must part at dawn.


baud

en-noun

baud (countable and uncountable, plural bauds)

Borrowed from French baud. Named for French inventor Jean-Maurice-Émile Baudot (1845-1903).

To reach the Backroom Bulletin Board, call (718) 849-6699 with a computer, using either the 300 or 1200 baud setting on the modem.

1985 April 13, Stephanie Poggi, “Queer Hackers”, in Gay Community News, page 2:

(computing, telecommunications) A unit of data transmission symbol rate; the number of signalling events per second.

بَاوْد

A rate defined as the number of signalling events per second


retrograde

en-adj

retrograde (comparative more retrograde, superlative most retrograde)

more retrograde (comparative)
most retrograde (superlative)

The adjective is derived from Middle English retrograd, retrograde (“of a planet: appearing to move in a direction opposite to the order of the zodiac signs, retrograde; unfortunate”), from Middle French retrograde and Old French retrograde (“of a celestial object: appearing to move backwards; moving backwards; reverse; palindromic; opposed to change”) (modern French rétrograde), and from their etymon Latin retrōgradus (“of a celestial object: appearing to move backwards”) (compare Late Latin retrōgradus (“reverse; palindromic”)), from retrō (“back, backwards; behind; before, formerly”) + gradus (“pace, step”). By surface analysis, retro- + -grade.
The adverb and noun are derived from the adjective.

cog

/ˈɹɛtɹə(ʊ)ɡɹeɪd/

/ˈɹɛtɹəˌɡɹeɪd/

retrògrad

reverting to an inferior or less developed state — see also declining, regressing

(poetry, archaic) Of verse: reading the same forwards or backwards; palindromic.


breve

From Middle English breve, variant of bref, from Old French brieve, breve (feminine form of brief, bref), from Latin brevis (“short”).

(orthography, printing) A semicircular diacritical mark (˘) placed above a vowel, commonly used to mark its quantity as short.


Sapphic

Sappho (Ancient Greek Σαπφώ (Sapphṓ)) + -ic, whence Latin Sapphicus. Sense related to sexuality alludes to Sappho's poetry discussing love between women (see also lesbian).

(poetry) Of a certain kind of verse reputed to have been invented by Sappho, consisting of five metrical feet, of which the first, fourth, and fifth are trochees, the second is a spondee, and the third a dactyl.


Sapphic

Sapphics (plural)
Sapphick (alternative)

His Sapphics, on the story of Bacchus and Ariadne, are easy, elegant, and poetical.

1824, Vicesimus Knox, The Works of Vicesimus Knox, D.D.: With a Biographical Preface:

The first line (which goes by the name of Aristophanes) is a Sapphic without the initial trochees.

1887, Horace, Horace: The Odes, Carmen Seculare, and Epodes, page 174:

"A real Sapphic," said Crane, dropping into a poetical tone, as an elocutionist does when he is hungry for an opportunity to recite a favorite sketch.

1888, Maurice Thompson, A Fortnight of Folly, page 41:


diaeresis

diaereses (plural)
diaresis (alternative)
dieresis (alternative)
diæresis (alternative)
diaëresis (alternative)

/daɪˈɛɹɪsɪs/

/daɪˈɪəɹɪsɪs/

/daɪˈɪəɹɪsɪs/

/daɪˈɛɹəsɪs/

/daɪˈɪəɹɪsiːz/

PIE word
 *dwís
Unadapted borrowing from Late Latin diaeresis (“distribution; division of a diphthong into two syllables”), from Ancient Greek δῐαίρεσῐς (dĭaíresĭs, “distribution, division; division of a poetic line when the end of a word and a metrical foot coincide; division of a diphthong into two syllables”), from δῐαιρέω (dĭairéō, “to divide; to distinguish; to resolve a diphthong or contracted form”) + -σῐς (-sĭs, suffix forming abstract nouns or nouns of action, process, or result). Δῐαιρέω (Dĭairéō) is derived from δῐᾰ- (dĭă-, prefix meaning ‘across; through; in different directions’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dwís (“doubly, twice; in two”)) + αἱρέω (hairéō, “to grasp, seize, take”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to grasp, seize, take”)).
The plural is borrowed from Latin diaeresēs.

diërese

separation of one syllable (especially a vowel which is a diphthong) into two distinct syllables

Diæreſis is vvhen tvvo points ouer a vovvell diuide it from another vovvel, as bouë, queuë, read bou-e, queu-e, not bo-ue, que-ue.

1611, Randle Cotgrave, compiler, “Briefe Directions for Such as Desire to Learne the French Tongue. And First, of the Vowels, and Diphthongs.”, in A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, signature Nnnn, recto, column 2:

The Diæresis is used to divide a diphthong into two syllables; as, Creätor.

1841, William Corry, “Grammatical Terms, with Their Respective Marks and Explanations”, in An English Spelling Book, with Reading Lessons; for the Use of the Parish and Other Schools of New Brunswick, St. John, N.B.: […] Henry Chubb, […], →OCLC, page 8:

An 85-year injustice has been rectified at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey with the corrected spelling of one of the greatest of all literary names. Reader, it is finally Brontë, not Bronte. An amended memorial to Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë was unveiled on Thursday with added diaereses (two dots) that ensure people pronounce it with two syllables. As if it rhymed with Monty, not font. The memorial was installed in 1939 and, for whatever reason, came without the diaereses that the Brontës used.

2024 September 26, Mark Brown, “Brontë sisters finally get their dots as names corrected at Westminster Abbey”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-10-05:

A separation of one syllable (especially a vowel which is a diphthong, that is, beginning with one sound and ending with another) into two distinct syllables; distraction.

(orthography) The diacritical mark consisting of two dots (¨) placed over a letter (especially the second of two consecutive vowels) to indicate that it is sounded separately, usually as a distinct syllable.

deelteken

diacritical mark consisting of two dots (¨) placed over a letter to indicate that it is sounded separately


page

From Old French page, possibly via Italian paggio, from Late Latin pagius (“servant”), probably from Ancient Greek παιδίον (paidíon, “boy, lad”), from παῖς (paîs, “child”); some sources consider this unlikely and suggest instead Latin pagus (“countryside”), in sense of "boy from the rural regions". Used in English from the 13th century onwards.

Before he could bring it down, the pager clipped to his belt went off. […] If you were a lawyer or a business executive, maybe you could afford to ignore your pages for a while, but when you were a County Sheriff—and one who was elected rather than appointed—there wasn't much question about priorities.

1991, Stephen King, Needful Things, page 355:

Woman, why don't you be answering any of my pages?

1995, Amy Heckerling, Clueless, spoken by Murray (Donald Faison):

(telecommunications, dated) A message sent to someone's pager.


page

en-verb

page (third-person singular simple present pages, present participle paging, simple past and past participle paged)

pages (present singular third-person)
paging (participle present)
paged (participle past)
paged (past)

I'll be out all day, so page me if you need me.

It's not even eight thirty and Murray is paging me.

1995, Amy Heckerling, Clueless, spoken by Dionne (Stacey Dash):

(transitive, telecommunications, dated) To contact (someone) by means of a pager or other mobile device.


unit interval

The unit interval of a signal with a baud rate of 1,000 Bd is 1 millisecond.

symbol duration time
symbol duration time

(telecommunications) symbol duration time.


WAP

(telecommunications) Wireless Application Protocol, an open international standard for applications that use wireless communication, such as Internet access from a cellular phone.


WAP

en-noun

WAP (countable and uncountable, plural WAPs)

wireless access point
w:Wireless access point

(telecommunications) Initialism of wireless access point.


rest

rest (countable and uncountable, plural rests)

From Middle English rest, reste, from Old English ræst, from Proto-West Germanic *rastu, from Proto-Germanic *rastō, from Proto-Indo-European *ros-, *res-, *erH- (“rest”). Cognate with West Frisian rêst (“rest”), Dutch rust (“rest”), German Rast (“rest”), Swedish rast (“rest”), Norwegian rest (“rest”), Icelandic röst (“rest”), Old Irish árus (“dwelling”), German Ruhe (“calm”), Albanian resht (“to stop, pause”), Welsh araf (“quiet, calm, gentle”), Lithuanian rovà (“calm”), Ancient Greek ἐρωή (erōḗ, “rest, respite”), Avestan 𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬨𐬈 (aⁱrime, “calm, peaceful”), Sanskrit रमते (rámate, “he stays still, calms down”), Gothic 𐍂𐌹𐌼𐌹𐍃 (rimis, “tranquility”). Related to roo.

rest

stick used to support the cue in snooker

(poetry) A short pause in reading poetry; a caesura.


foil

en-noun

foil (countable and uncountable, plural foils)

From Middle English foyle, from Middle French fueille, from Old French fueille (“plant leaf”), from Late Latin folia, the plural of folium, mistaken as a singular feminine.
The literary sense is from the practice of backing a gem with metal foil to make it shine more brilliantly.
Doublet of folio and folium, distantly also with phyllo and phyllon.

As Puss comes to realize his legendary status is not a substitute for interpersonal connection, his interactions with Kitty and the therapy dog start to take on a surprising amount of weight, while Goldilocks serves as a well-realized foil who has more in common with Puss that is at first apparent.

2022 December 20, Leigh Monson, “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish review: Antonio Banderas leads the best film yet in the Shrek franchise”, in AV Club:

(authorship, figuratively) In literature, theatre/theater, etc., a character who helps emphasize the traits of the main character and who usually acts as an opponent or antagonist, but can also serve as the sidekick of the protagonist.

contrastfiguur

character who helps emphasise the traits of the main character


blank verse

blank verse (countable and uncountable, plural blank verses)

Milton's command of blank verse exceeds even Shakespeare's.

[T]here is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tygers hart wrapt in a Players hyde, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blanke verse as the best of you: and beeing an absolute Iohannes fac totum, is in his owne conceit the onely Shake-scene in a countrey.

1592, Robert Greene, Groats-Worth of Witte, Bought with a Million of Repentance, London: imprinted for William Wright, folio F¹v:

I could have spoken in blank verse of Shakespearean beauty, all sorts of great ideas flashed through my mind; it was as though the bonds of my flesh had been loosened, and left the spirit free to soar to the empyrean of its native power.

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “The Spirit of Life”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 288:

Soon after Surrey's translation of Virgil, blank verse became a persuasive rival to the heroic couplet.

2006, Philip Hobsbaum, “The heroic couplet”, in Metre, Rhythm and Verse Form, Routledge, →ISBN, page 18:

(poetry) A poetic form with regular meter, particularly iambic pentameter, but no fixed rhyme scheme.


septet

PIE word
 *septḿ̥
From Latin septem (“seven”).

A group of seven, particularly
(poetry) A set of seven lines.

A group of seven, particularly
A set of seven lines.


Shakespearean sonnet

Shakespearean sonnet (plural Shakespearean sonnets)

Named after English playwright and poet William Shakespeare (1564–1616) and strongly associated with his authorship.

named-after

(poetry) A sonnet comprising three quatrains and a final couplet, in iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg.


Spenserian sonnet

en-noun

Spenserian sonnet (plural Spenserian sonnets)

Named after English poet Edmund Spenser (1552/1553–1599) and associated with his authorship.

named-after

(poetry) A sonnet comprising three quatrains with the latter rhyme part being carried over from one quatrain to the next, and a concluding couplet, therefore comprising a rhyme scheme of abab bcbc cdcd ee.


Petrarchan sonnet

en-noun

Petrarchan sonnet (plural Petrarchan sonnets)

Named after Italian scholar, poet and humanist Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374), who did not invent but made large use of this form in his authorship.

named-after

(poetry) A sonnet comprising an octave and a closing sestet, following the rhyme scheme of either abba abba cde cde or abba abba cd cd cd or abba abba cce dde or abba abba cdd cee.


tag

From Middle English tagge (“small piece hanging from a garment”), probably of North Germanic origin. Compare Norwegian tagg (“point; prong; barb; tag”), Swedish tagg (“thorn; prickle; tine”), Icelandic tág (“a willow-twig”). Compare also tack.

cog

Seems here like Russ would be speaking. You could use a tag here.

(Can we date this quote?), michael, alt.fiction.original (Usenet):

If you want to start with talk, stick a tag in right away

(Can we date this quote?), Jane MacDonald, alt.fiction.original (Usenet):

You could combine these two paragraphs, I think, and rewrite to lose the tag portion of the third sentence.

(Can we date this quote?), bart_...@hotmail.com, alt.fiction.original (Usenet):

(informal, authorship) An attribution in narrated dialogue (eg, "he said") or attributed words (e.g. "he thought").


quiescent

en-adj

quiescent (comparative more quiescent, superlative most quiescent)

more quiescent (comparative)
most quiescent (superlative)

Learned borrowing from Latin quiēscēns, quiēscentem.

lbor

The k is quiescent in "knight" and "know".


measure

→ Japanese: メジャー (mejā)

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

From Middle English mesure, from Old French mesure, from Latin mēnsūra (“a measure”), from mēnsus, past participle of mētīrī (“to measure”). Largely displaced native Old English metan ("to measure" whence modern mete) and ġemet (“a measure”).

lainsäädäntötoimenpide

piece of legislation as course of action

a poem in iambic measure

(poetry) The manner of ordering and combining the quantities, or long and short syllables; meter; rhythm; hence, a metrical foot.

размер

poetry: manner of ordering and combining the quantities


acknowledgment

en-noun

acknowledgment (countable and uncountable, plural acknowledgments)

acknowledgments (plural)
acknowledgement (alternative)

(telecommunications, computing, networking) A response (ACK) sent by a receiver to indicate successful receipt of a transmission (See Wikipedia article on transmission).

ontvangstbevestiging

indication of a successful receipt of a transmission


squitter

From squit (“to squirt”) + -er. Compare skitter.

Mlat triangulates a moving aircraft's position from a number of fixed ground stations at known locations receiving and time stamping an aircraft-transponder squitter.

2011, Lionel K Anderson, Virtual Radar - Using the SBS-1er and Basestation Software, page 119:

(communications engineering) A random broadcast of data occurring either intentionally or in response to noise.


squitter

en-verb

squitter (third-person singular simple present squitters, present participle squittering, simple past and past participle squittered)

squitters (present singular third-person)
squittering (participle present)
squittered (participle past)
squittered (past)

(communications engineering) To broadcast squitter.


hacker

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

hacker

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

ха́кер

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

hakkuri

something that hacks; device or tool for hacking

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

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

white hat

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

hakkeri

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

a phone hacker

I'm a computer crook, the Willie Sutton of hackers. I break into computer systems for fun—and profit. To me, the Apple is the forbidden fruit.

1986 April, Curtis Slepian, “The April Papers”, in R. Wayne Schmittberger, editor, Games, volume 10, number 4 (number 74 overall), New York, N.Y.: Playboy Enterprises, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 15:

Typically, one hacker will annoy another; the offended party replies by launching a denial-of-service attack against the offender.

2007, “Category 5—Illustrative Crosscutting Problem-focused Research Areas”, in Seymour E. Goodman, Herbert S. Lin, editors, Toward a Safer and More Secure Cyberspace, Washington, D.C.: Committee on Improving Cybersecurity Research in the United States, National Research Council, →ISBN, part II (An Illustrative Research Agenda), page 205:

In 2022, hackers leaked unreleased footage from its next iteration of GTA.

2023 December 4, Ramishah Maruf, “GTA 6 leak: ‘Grand Theft Auto’ trailer reveals game’s release date”, in CNN:


redundant

en-adj

redundant (comparative more redundant, superlative most redundant)

more redundant (comparative)
most redundant (superlative)

From Latin redundāns, present participle of redundō (“to overflow, redound”), from red- (“again, back”) + undō (“to surge, flood”), from unda (“a wave”).

(of words, writing, etc) Repetitive or needlessly wordy.


octave

From Latin octavus (“eighth”). Doublet of octavo, ochava, and oitava.

Octave in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

With mournful melody it continued this octave.

a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:

(poetry) A poetic stanza consisting of eight lines; usually used as one part of a sonnet.


receive

en-verb

receive (third-person singular simple present receives, present participle receiving, simple past and past participle received)

receives (present singular third-person)
receiving (participle present)
received (participle past)
received (past)
receave (alternative obsolete)
receyve (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English receiven, from Old French receivre, from Latin recipere (“take back, accept, etc.”), from re- (“back”) + capiō (“to take”); see capacious. Compare conceive, deceive, perceive. Displaced native Middle English terms in -fon/-fangen (e.g. afon, anfon, afangen, underfangen, etc. "to receive" from Old English -fōn), native Middle English thiggen (“to receive”) (from Old English þiċġan), and non-native Middle English aquilen, enquilen (“to receive”) (from Old French aquillir, encueillir).

der

(telecommunications) To detect a signal from a transmitter.


receive

receives (plural)
receave (alternative obsolete)
receyve (alternative obsolete)

In the sonification of the PDE code, notes are scattered throughout a wide pitch range, and sends and receives are relatively balanced; although in the beginning of the application there are bursts of sends […]

1992, Tara M. Madhyastha, A Portable System for Data Sonification, page 71:

(telecommunications) An operation in which data is received.


roger

→ Japanese: ラジャー (rajā)

From Roger, used circa 1940 in UK and US military communication to represent "R" when spelling out a word. "R" is the first letter in received, used to acknowledge understanding a message. "Roger" for "received" was in spoken usage in air traffic radio parlance by 1950.

Pilot: CESSNA TWO THREE FOUR—ROGER—OUT.

(radio telecommunications) Received (used in radio communications to acknowledge that a message has been received and understood)