stork

From Middle English stork, from Old English storc, from Proto-West Germanic *stork, from Proto-Germanic *sturkaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sr̥ǵos (“stork”). Near cognates include Dutch stork, German Storch, Swedish stork, and Icelandic storkur. Compare also Latvian stārķis (“stork”), borrowed from Germanic.

(cartomancy) The seventeenth Lenormand card.


vel

(logic) The ∨ symbol used to represent the inclusive or, which is a logical connective.


distribution

en-noun

distribution (countable and uncountable, plural distributions)

distributions (plural)
distribucion (alternative obsolete)

From Old French, from Latin distributio, from distribuere 'to distribute', itself from dis- 'apart' + tribuere 'to' (from tribus).

(logic) The resolution of a whole into its parts.

erittely

logic: resolution of a whole into its parts


difference

difference (countable and uncountable, plural differences)

From Middle English difference, from Old French difference, from Latin differentia (“difference”), from differēns (“different”), present participle of differre. Doublet of differentia. Morphologically differ + -ence.

know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground

know the difference between one's ass and one's elbow

(logic) The quality or attribute which is added to those of the genus to constitute a species; a differentia.


depth

depth (countable and uncountable, plural depths)

From Middle English depthe, from Old English *dīepþ (“depth”), from Proto-Germanic *diupiþō (“depth”), equivalent to deep + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Scots deepth (“depth”), Saterland Frisian Djüpte (“depth”), West Frisian djipte (“depth”), Dutch diepte (“depth”), Low German Deepde (“depth”), Danish dybde (“depth”), Icelandic dýpt (“depth”), Gothic 𐌳𐌹𐌿𐍀𐌹𐌸𐌰 (diupiþa, “depth”).

(logic) the number of simple elements which an abstract conception or notion includes; the comprehension or content


hedgehog

/ˈhɛd͡ʒ.hɒɡ/

/ˈhɛd͡ʒ.hɔɡ/

From Middle English heyghoge; equivalent to hedge + hog. Eclipsed non-native Middle English yrchoun, irchoun (“hedgehog”), from Old French hirchoun, herichon (“hedgehog”); and Middle English il, from Old English īl, iġil (“hedgehog”).
In the philosophical sense, from the 1953 essay The Hedgehog and the Fox by Irving Berlin.

Austin was patiently and painstakingly concerned with truth within limitations. He was a hedgehog, not a fox.

Dewey was a hedgehog rather than a fox; he spent his life trying to articulate and restate a single vision, and in the writings of his third decade he already exhibits the tension I have claimed to find in the later writings.

1992, J. E. Tiles, Jim E. Tiles, John Dewey, Psychology Press, →ISBN, page 220:

(chiefly philosophy) Someone who has one big overarching personal philosophy or worldview.


fox

fox (plural foxes or (nonstandard, dialectal) foxen)

foxes (plural)
foxen (dialectal nonstandard plural)

→ Cheyenne: vóhkéso

→ Japanese: フォックス (fokkusu)

→ Maori: pōkiha

Isaiah Berlin
The Hedgehog and the Fox
en:fox

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *púḱsos
Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz
Old English fox
Middle English fox
English fox
From Middle English fox, from Old English fox (“fox”), from Proto-West Germanic *fuhs, from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz (“fox”), from Proto-Indo-European *púḱsos (“the tailed one”), possibly from *puḱ- (“tail”).
Cognate with Scots fox (“fox”), North Frisian foos, fos (“fox”), Saterland Frisian Foaks (“fox”), West Frisian foks (“fox”), Dutch vos (“fox”), Low German vos (“fox”), German Fuchs (“fox”), Icelandic fóa (“fox”), Tocharian B päkā (“tail, chowrie”), Russian пух (pux, “down, fluff”), Sanskrit पुच्छ (púccha) (whence Torwali پوش (pūš, “fox”), Hindi पूंछ (pūñch, “tail”)).
In the philosophical sense, from the 1953 essay The Hedgehog and the Fox by Isaiah Berlin.

inh

the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

coyote · dog · fox · jackal · wolf [edit]

(cartomancy) The fourteenth Lenormand card.

(chiefly philosophy) Someone who fuses many different influences and concepts in their philosophy or worldview.


heart

en-noun

heart (countable and uncountable, plural hearts)

hearts (plural)
hart (alternative obsolete)
harte (alternative obsolete)
hearte (alternative obsolete)

Torres Strait Creole: at

→ Bengali: হার্ট (harṭ)

→ Cantonese: heart

→ Cebuano: Heart

→ Irish: hart

→ Japanese: ハート (hāto); ハツ (hatsu) (from hearts)

→ Korean: 하트 (hateu)

→ Tagalog: Heart

PIE word
 *ḱḗr
From Middle English herte, from Old English heorte (“heart”), from Proto-West Germanic *hertā, from Proto-Germanic *hertô (“heart”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱérd (“heart”). Doublet of cardia; see also core.
Most of the modern figurative senses (such as passion or compassion, spirit, inmost feelings, especially love, affection, and courage) were present in Old English. However, the meaning “center” dates from the early 14th century.
The verb sense “to love” is from the 1977 I ❤ NY advertising campaign.

the way to a man's heart is through his stomach

(cartomancy) The twenty-fourth Lenormand card.


dialogue

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

A literary historian, she specialized in the dialogues of ancient Greek philosophers.

(philosophy) A literary form, where the presentation resembles a conversation.


logic

en-noun

logic (countable and uncountable, plural logics)

→ Chinese: 邏輯 /逻辑 (luójí)

From Middle English logik, from Old French logike, from Latin logica, from Ancient Greek λογική (logikḗ, “logic”), from feminine of λογικός (logikós, “of or pertaining to speech or reason or reasoning, rational, reasonable”), from λόγος (lógos, “speech, reason”). Displaced native Old English flitcræft (literally “art of arguing”).

ncog

An old tradition has it that there are two branches of logic: deductive logic and inductive logic. More recently, the differences between these disciplines have become so marked that most people nowadays use "logic" to mean deductive logic, reserving terms like "confirmation theory" for at least some of what used to be called inductive logic. I shall follow the more recent practice, and shall construe "philosophy of logic" as "philosophy of deductive logic".

2001, Mark Sainsbury, Logical Forms - An Introduction to Philosophical Logic, Second Edition, Blackwell Publishing, page 9:

(philosophy, logic) The study of the principles and criteria of valid inference and demonstration.


true

en-adj

true (comparative truer or more true, superlative truest or most true)

truer (comparative)
more true (comparative)
truest (superlative)
most true (superlative)
trew (alternative obsolete)
trewe (alternative obsolete)
troo (alternative nonstandard)

[t̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷu̠ː]

From Middle English trewe, from Old English trīewe, (Mercian) trēowe (“trusty, faithful”), from Proto-Germanic *triwwiz (compare Saterland Frisian trjou (“honest”), Dutch getrouw and trouw, German treu, Norwegian and Swedish trygg (“safe, secure’”), from pre-Germanic *drewh₂yos, from Proto-Indo-European *drewh₂- (“steady, firm”) (compare Irish dearbh (“sure”), Old Prussian druwis (“faith”), Ancient Greek δροόν (droón, “firm”)), extension of *dóru (“tree”) (possibly also Proto-Slavic *sъdorvъ (“healthy”) from the same root). More at tree. For the semantic development, compare Latin robustus (“tough”) from robur (“red oak”).

der

the course of true love never did run smooth

"A and B" is true if and only if "A" is true and "B" is true.

(logic) Of the state in Boolean logic that indicates an affirmative or positive result.


house

en-noun

house (countable and uncountable, plural houses or (dialectal) housen or (chiefly humorous) hice)

houses (plural)
housen (dialectal plural)
hice (humorous plural)
howse (alternative obsolete)

Chinese Pidgin English: houso

Nigerian Pidgin: haus

Tok Pisin: haus

Sranan Tongo: oso
→ Dutch: osso

→ Cantonese: house (hau¹ si²)

→ Japanese: ハウス (hausu)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH-der.?
Proto-Germanic *hūsą
Proto-West Germanic *hūs
Old English hūs
Middle English hous
English house
From Middle English hous, hus, from Old English hūs (“dwelling, shelter, house”), from Proto-West Germanic *hūs, from Proto-Germanic *hūsą, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kews-, from *(s)kewH- (“to cover, hide”).
See also Scots hoose, West Frisian hûs, Dutch huis, German Haus, German Low German Huus, Danish hus, Faroese hús, Icelandic hús, Norwegian Bokmål hus, Norwegian Nynorsk hus and Swedish hus.
Eclipsed non-native Middle English meson, measoun (“house”), borrowed from Old French maison (“house”). More at hose. The uncommon plural form housen is from Middle English husen, housen. (The Old English nominative plural was simply hūs.)

huis

debating chamber for government politicians

a house divided against itself cannot stand

it takes a heap of living to make a house a home

it takes a heap o' livin' to make a house a home

it takes a lot of living to make a house a home

the call is coming from inside the house

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

Since there was a limited number of planets, houses and signs of the zodiac, the astrologers tended to reduce human potentialities to a set of fixed types and to postulate only a limited number of possible variations.

1971, Sir Keith Vivian Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, The Folio Society, published 2012, →ISBN, page 313:

(astrology) One of the twelve divisions of an astrological chart.

dům

astrology: one of the twelve divisions of an astrological chart


house

en-verb

house (third-person singular simple present houses, present participle housing, simple past and past participle housed)

houses (present singular third-person)
housing (participle present)
housed (participle past)
housed (past)

From Middle English housen, from Old English hūsian, from Proto-Germanic *hūsōną (“to house, live, dwell”), from the noun (see above). Compare Dutch huizen (“to live, dwell, reside”), German Low German husen (“to live, dwell, reside”), German hausen (“to live, dwell, reside”), Norwegian Nynorsk husa (“to house”), Faroese húsa (“to house”), Icelandic húsa (“to shelter, house”).

cog

Where Saturn houses.

1697, Virgil, “The First Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

(transitive, astrology) To dwell within one of the twelve astrological houses.


mountain

en-noun

mountain (countable and uncountable, plural mountains)

[ˈmãʊ̯̃(n)ʔn̩]

[ˈmæ̃ʊ̯̃(n)ʔn̩]

From Middle English mountayne, mountain, montaigne, from Anglo-Norman muntaine, muntaigne, from Early Medieval Latin montānia, a collective based on Latin montem (“mountain”), from Proto-Indo-European *monti (compare Welsh mynydd (“mountain”), Albanian mat (“bank, shore”), Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬙𐬌 (mati, “promontory”)), from *men- (“to project, stick out”). Displaced native Old English beorg and dūn, and partially displaced non-native Old English munt, from Latin mōns (whence English mount).

(cartomancy) The twenty-first Lenormand card.


matter

matter (countable and uncountable, plural matters)

From Middle English matere, mater, from Anglo-Norman matere, materie, from Old French materie, matiere, from Latin materia (“wood”), from mater (“mother”), in which case cognate with Old Armenian մայր (mayr, “cedar”) and մայրի (mayri, “forest”). Doublet of Madeira, mata, mater, matrix, and mother.
Displaced Middle English andweorc, andwork (“material, matter”), from Old English andweorc (“matter, substance, material”), Old English intinga (“matter, affair, business”).

lëndë

basic structural component of the universe

(philosophy) Aristotelian: undeveloped potentiality subject to change and development; formlessness. Matter receives form, and becomes substance.


key

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."

шпи́лка

object used to maintain the orientation between two others

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

(cartomancy) The thirty-third card of the Lenormand deck.


emperor

emperors (plural)
emperour (alternative)

From Middle English emperour, from Anglo-Norman emperour, from Latin imperātorem, derived from imperāre (“to command”). Doublet of imperator.

(tarot) The fourth trump or major arcana card of the tarot deck.


empress

empresses (plural)
emperess (alternative obsolete)
empresse (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English emperice, emperesse, from Anglo-Norman and Old French empereriz, from Latin imperatrix, equivalent to emperor + -ess. Doublet of imperatrix. Compare modern French impératrice.

(tarot) The third trump or major arcana card of most tarot decks.


Asia

en-proper noun

Asia (countable and uncountable, plural Asias)

From Middle English Asia, Asie, from Old French Asie and Latin Asia, from Ancient Greek Ᾰ̓σῐ́ᾱ (Ăsĭ́ā), from Mycenaean Greek 𐀀𐀯𐀹𐀊 (a-si-wi-ja /aswijaː/), in turn probably from Hittite 𒀸𒋗𒉿 (aš-šu-wa /Aššuwa/, “northwest Anatolia”) of uncertain origin. Potentially from an Aegean language family substrate or Akkadian. Possibly a doublet of Assuwa.

der

67 Asia
Asia
Asia (mythology)
United Nations Statistics Division

(Greek mythology) A daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, the wife of the Titan, Iapetus, and mother of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius.


communist

communists (plural)
Communist (alternative)

From French communiste, from commun (“common, communal”) + -iste (“-ist”). By surface analysis, commune + -ist.

anarcho-communist

anarchist communist, communist anarchist, free communist, libertarian communist

(communism) An advocate of a society based on the common ownership of property; a proponent of communism.

kommunis

person who follows a communist philosophy


subjective

en-adj

subjective (comparative more subjective, superlative most subjective)

more subjective (comparative)
most subjective (superlative)

(philosophy, psychology) Experienced by a person mentally and not directly verifiable by others.


similarity

en-noun

similarity (countable and uncountable, plural similarities)

From French similarité.
Morphologically similar + -ity

Hardly is there a similarity detected between two or three facts, than men hasten to extend it to all.

1859–1860, William Hamilton, edited by H[enry] L[ongueville] Mansel and John Veitch, Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC:

(philosophy) The relation of sharing properties.


moron

→ French: moron

→ Turkish: moron

Coined by American psychologist Henry H. Goddard in 1910, from Ancient Greek μωρόν (mōrón), the neuter form of μωρός (mōrós, “foolish, dull”).
Coined in the third sense by philosopher Ronald Dworkin.

coin

(philosophy) A hypothetical particle whose existence and configuration can make a moral judgment true.


mark

marks (plural)
marke (alternative obsolete)
merk (alternative obsolete)
marc (alternative obsolete)

→ Bengali: মার্কা (marka)

→ Cantonese: 嘜 /唛 (mak¹, maak¹)

desc

→ Shanghainese: 麥克麥克 /麦克麦克 (⁸maq-kheq₇-maq₈-kheq₇)

→ Japanese: マーク (māku)

→ Korean: 마크 (makeu)

From Middle English mark, merk, merke, from Old English mearc (“mark, sign, line of division; standard; boundary, limit, term, border; defined area, district, province”), from Proto-West Germanic *marku, from Proto-Germanic *markō (“boundary; boundary marker”), from Proto-Indo-European *mórǵs (“edge, boundary, border”).
Compare march.
Cognates
* Dutch mark, merk (“mark, brand”)
* German Mark (“mark; borderland”), Marke (“mark, brand”)
* Swedish mark (“mark, land, territory”)
* Icelandic mark (“mark, sign”)
* Latin margo (“edge, margin”)
* Persian مرز (marz, “limit, boundary”)
* Sanskrit मर्या (maryā, “limit, mark, boundary”), मार्ग (mārga, “mark, section”).

cog

(heading) Indicator of position, objective etc.

(logic) A characteristic or essential attribute; a differential.


incorrigible

/ɪnˈkɔɹɪd͡ʒəb(ə)l/

/ɪnˈkɔɹəd͡ʒəb(ə)l/

From Middle English incorrigible, from Middle French incorrigible (1334), or directly from Latin incorrigibilis (“not to be corrected”), from in- (“not”) + corrigere (“to correct”) + -ibilis (“-able”), equivalent to in- + corrigible. Recorded since 1340.

compound

The statement "My knee hurts" is incorrigible.

(philosophy, of a proposition or belief) Intrinsically incapable of being corrected; impossible to disprove, by its very nature.


reason

en-noun

reason (countable and uncountable, plural reasons)

From Middle English resoun, reson, from Anglo-Norman raisun (Old French raison), from Latin ratiō, from ratus, past participle of reor (“reckon”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂reh₁- (“to think”), reanalysed root of *h₂er- (“to put together”). Displaced native Middle English reden (found in compounds), from Old English rǣden (“condition, stipulation, calculation, direction”), from the same Proto-Indo-European source (compare West Frisian reden (“reason”), Dutch reden (“reason”)). Doublet of ration and ratio.

cog

(logic) A premise placed after its conclusion.

A cause:
A premise placed after its conclusion.


instrumentalist

(philosophy) An adherent of instrumentalism.


postulate

From Latin postulātus or Latin postulātum. Alternatively, a substantivation of Latin postulātus, perfect passive participle of postulō (“to request”), see -ate (noun-forming suffix) for more. Compare French postulat.


cardinal

en-adj

cardinal (comparative more cardinal, superlative most cardinal)

more cardinal (comparative)
most cardinal (superlative)

From Middle French cardinal, from Latin cardinālis (“pertaining to a hinge, hence applied to that on which something turns or depends, important, principal, chief”), from cardin-, cardō (“hinge”) + -ālis, adjectival suffix.

der

(astrology) Being one of the signs Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, associated with initiation, creation, and force.


context

en-noun

context (countable and uncountable, plural contexts)

en:finite set of variables concerning a formula, in logic

(logic) For a formula: a finite set of variables, which set contains all the free variables in the given formula.


garden

Sranan Tongo: dyari

→ Nafaanra: yaadi

From Middle English gardyn, garden, from Anglo-Norman gardin, from Frankish *gardin-, oblique stem of *gardō (“enclosure, yard”), from Proto-Germanic *gardô (“enclosure, garden, house”), whence also inherited English yard. (compare Old French jart alongside jardin, Medieval Latin gardīnus). Doublet of jardin. Displaced Old English wyrttūn.
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian gard, Low German Goorn, Dutch gaard, gaarde, German Garten, Icelandic garður, French jardin, Spanish jardín, Italian giardino, Sicilian jardinu.

tuin

piece of land outside with flowers and plants

gumno

area behind a barn for fruits and vegetables

(cartomancy) The twentieth Lenormand card.


derive

en-verb

derive (third-person singular simple present derives, present participle deriving, simple past and past participle derived)

derives (present singular third-person)
deriving (participle present)
derived (participle past)
derived (past)

From Middle English deriven, from Old French deriver, from Latin dērīvō (“to lead, turn, or draw off (a liquid), draw off, derive”), from dē (“away”) + rīvus (“a stream”); see rival. Unrelated to arrive.

der

(transitive, logic) To deduce (a conclusion) by reasoning.


order

en-noun

order (countable and uncountable, plural orders)

orders (plural)
ordre (alternative obsolete)

→ Swahili: oda

From Middle English ordre, from Old French ordre, ordne, ordene (“order, rank”), from Latin ōrdinem, accusative of ōrdō (“row, rank, regular arrangement”, literally “row of threads in a loom”), from Proto-Italic *ordō (“to arrange”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂or-d-, from *h₂er-.
Related to Latin ōrdior (“begin”, literally “begin to weave”). In sense “request for purchase”, compare bespoke. Doublet of ordo.

cog

on another order

(sciences, engineering, logic) Scale: size or scope.


Fand

(Irish mythology) A fairy and the wife of Manannán mac Lir and later the lover of Cúchulainn.


dev

From Armenian դեւ (dew). Doublet of daeva.

(Armenian mythology) A monster, dragon, serpent, or giant.

(Armenian mythology) An immortal spirit who inhabits old ruins.


elf

en-noun

elf (plural elves or (now nonstandard) elfs)

elves (plural)
elfs (nonstandard plural)
elve (alternative obsolete)

A Dictionary of the English Language
Andrew Brice
Edmund Spenser
John Dryden
Laurence Eusden
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Oliver and Boyd
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Peter Heylyn
Sabine Baring-Gould
Sidney Lanier
Thomas Nashe
elf

→ Arabic: إِلْف (ʔilf)

→ Dutch: elf

→ French: elfe

→ German: Elf, Elfe

→ Japanese: エルフ (erufu)

→ Korean: 엘프 (elpeu)

→ Russian: эльф (elʹf)

→ Ukrainian: ельф (elʹf)

From Middle English elf, from Old English ielf, ælf, from Proto-West Germanic *albi, from Proto-Germanic *albiz. Ultimately probably derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elbʰós (“white”). Doublet of alf, awf, and oaf.

[…] if theyr children at any time vvere frowarde and vvanton, they would ſay to them that the Guelfe or the Gibeline came. VVhich vvords novve from them (as many thinge els) be come into our vſage, and for Guelfes and Gibelines, we ſay Elfes & Goblins.

1579, E. K., “[Iune. Ægloga Sexta.] Glosse.”, in Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 25, recto:

The man whom heauens haue ordaynd to bee / The ſpouſe of Britomart, is Arthegall: / He wonneth in the land of Fayeree, / Yet is no Fary borne, ne ſib at all / To Elfes, but ſprong of ſeed terreſtriall, / And whylome by falſe Faries ſtolne away, / Whyles yet in infant cradle he did crall; / Ne other to himſelfe is knowne this day, / But that he by an Elfe was gotten of a Fay.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 433:

Their Robbin-good-fellowes, Elfes, Fairies, Hobgoblins of our latter age, which idolatrous former daies and the fantasticall world of Greece ycleaped Fawnes, Satyres, Dryades & Hamadryades, did most of their merry prankes in the Night.

1594, Tho[mas] Nashe, The Terrors of the Night or, A Discourse of Apparitions, London: […] Iohn Danter for William Iones, […]:

Every elf, and fairy sprite, / Hop as light as bird from brier.

c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

[…] I had rather have a Child which my Wife ſhould bring me, though by another man, then to have a Changeling brought me by a company of Fairies, Elfs and Goblins: […]

1649, ΕΙΚΩΝ Ἡ ΠΙΣΤΗ. Or, The Faithfull Pourtraicture of a Loyall Subject, in Vindication of ΕΙΚΏΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΉ. […], page 16:

The quarrel ſpreading into parties, called the Guelfs and the Gibellines, became at laſt the wonder and amazement of all good people: inſomuch as ſome are of opinion, that the fiction of the Elfs and Goblins, wherewith we uſe to fright young children, was derived from hence.

1657, Peter Heylyn, Cosmographie in Four Books. Containing the Chorographie and Historie of the Whole World, and All the Principal Kingdoms, Provinces, Seas, and Isles Thereof., 2nd edition, London: […] Henry Seile, […], page 131:

The opinion of Fairies and Elfs is very old, and yet ſticketh very religiously in the minds of ſome. But to root that rank opinion of Elfs out of mens hearts, the truth is, that there be no ſuch things, nor yet the ſhadows of the things, but only by a ſort of bald Friers and knaviſh ſhavelings ſo faigned; […]

1678, The Shepherds Calendar: Containing Twelve Æglogues, Proportionable to the Twelve Months. […], London: […] Henry Hills for Jonathan Edwin, […], page 26:

For there and ſeveral other places / About mill dams and green brae faces, / Both Elrich, Elfs and Brownies ſtayed, / And Green gown’d Farries daunc’d and played; […]

a. 1690, William Cleland, A Collection of Several Poems and Verses, Composed upon Various Occasions, published 1697, page 59:

IN Days of Old when Arthur fill’d the Throne, / Whoſe Acts and Fame to Foreign Lands were blown; / The King of Elfs and little Fairy Queen / Gamboll’d on Heaths, and danc’d on ev’ry Green.

1700, [John] Dryden, “The Wife of Bath Her Tale [by Geoffrey Chaucer]”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 479:

This Juno heard; And ſhall ſuch Elfs, ſhe cry’d, / Diſpute my Juſtice, or my Pow’r deride?

1717, Laurence Eusden, “Book IV. [The Transformation of the Theban Matrons.]”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 127:

[…]the Devaſtations under the Goths, Guelphs, and Gibelines [whence ſome would derive the Terms of Elfs (or Elves) or Fairies, and Goblins (or Hobgoblins) or Spectres, &c.] […]

1760, Andrew Brice, “TUSCANY”, in The Grand Gazetteer; or, Topographic Dictionary, &c., page 1322, column 1:

Farefolkis, fairies, elfs, or elves; […]

1802, J[ames] Sibbald, “Glossary; or An Explanation of Ancient Scottish Words”, in Chronicle of Scottish Poetry; from the Thirteenth Century, to the Union of the Crowns: To Which Is Added a Glossary, volume IV, Edinburgh: […] [F]or J. Sibbald, […], [b]y C. Stewart & Co. […]:

These Picts are the Clan Alpin, the Alps, or Elfs or Elves,—[…]

1850, Matthew Stewart, Remarks on the Subject of Language, with Some Observations in the Form of Notes, Illustrative of the Information Which Language May Afford of the History and Opinions of Mankind, London: […] Richard and John Edward Taylor, […], for, […] the Author, page 14:

Prithee, young one, who art thou, and what has ailed thy mother to bedizen thee in this strange fashion? Art thou a Christian child,—ha? Dost know thy catechism? Or art thou one of those naughty elfs or fairies, whom we thought to have left behind us, with other relics of Papistry, in merry old England?

1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Elf-Child and the Minister”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 130:

The next species of these airy nothings are the elfs, or elves; […]

1852, William Bell, Shakespeare’s Puck, and His Folkslore, Illustrated from the Superstitions of All Nations, but More Especially from the Earliest Religion and Rites of Northern Europe and the Wends, London, page 58:

The Arbhus became in Teutonic mythology the Alben, Elben or Elfen, our Elfs, and in Scandinavian the Alfar.

1868, S[abine] Baring-Gould, “The Piper of Hameln”, in Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, second series, Philadelphia, Pa.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott & Co.; London: Rivingtons, page 173:

The elfs or elves were inhabitants of the fields and groves, the progenitors of the fairies of the middle ages; […]

1868, David Hume, William Cooke Stafford, The History of England, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time; Compiled from the Most Authentic Sources, volume I, London, New York, N.Y.: The London Printing and Publishing Company, Limited, page 53, column 1:

Since you’ve been out, the news arrives / The Elfs’ Insurance Company’s gone.

1877, Sidney Lanier, “The Hard Times in Elfland. A Story of Christmas Eve.”, in [Mary Lanier], editor, Poems of Sidney Lanier, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1884, page 159:

Eve, Danish legend of her concealing her unwashed children, from whom come elfs, trolls, &c.

1879, William Henderson, “Index”, in Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders. […], London: […] [F]or the Folk-Lore Society by W. Satchell, Peyton and Co., […], page 364:

Much of fairy lore clusters around the so-called fairy rings, that is, the green circles in old pastures within which the elfs were supposed to dance at night by the light of the moon.

1889 May, “[Literary Notices.] The Folk-Lore of Plants. By T. F. Thiselton Dyer. […]”, in Popular Science, page 128, column 1:

NAT,[…]; a term applied to all spiritual beings, angels, elfs, demons, or what not, including the gods of the Hindus.

1903, Henry Yule, A[rthur] C[oke] Burnell, “NAT, s.”, in William Crooke, editor, Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive, London: John Murray, […], page 619, column 2:

Elfs and fays, from their haunts in the mountains, whistle their eerie ballads above the gray roof of “Dove Cottage,” and dance their ghostly jigs on the huge hearthstone, among whose blazing logs the Fire God paints his immortal canvases, with colorings splendid beyond the dream of man.

1917 November, Elizabeth Clendenning Ring, “Florence Earle Coates: Some Phases of Her Life and Poetry”, in The Book News Monthly, volume 36, page 109, column 1:

Alfs [elfs]: Another name for the elfs or elves.

2010, Heilan Yvette Grimes, The Norse Myths, Hollow Earth Publishing, →ISBN, page 254:

(Norse mythology) A luminous spirit presiding over nature and fertility and dwelling in the world of Álfheim (Elfland). Compare angel, nymph, fairy.

elf

Norse mythology: luminous spirit dwelling in Álfheim


ogre

First attested in the 18th century, borrowed from French ogre, from Latin Orcus (“god of the underworld”), from Ancient Greek Ὅρκος (Hórkos), the personified demon of oaths (ὅρκος (hórkos, “oath”)) who inflicts punishment upon oath-breakers. Doublet of orc and Orcus.

And in the seventh tale of the third day of the same collection, when Corvetto had hidden himself under the Ogre's bed to steal his quilt, "he began to pull quite gently, when the Ogre awoke, and bid his wife not to pull the clothes that way, or she'd strip him, and he would get his death of cold." "Why, it's you that are stripping me," replied the Ogress, "and you have not left a stitch on me." "Where the devil is the quilt?" says the Ogre[.]

1828, Thomas Keightley, Fairy Mythology, volume II, page 237:

(mythology) A type of brutish giant from folk tales that eats human flesh.


syzygy

syzygy (countable and uncountable, plural syzygies)

From Late Latin sȳzygia (“conjunction”), from Ancient Greek συζυγία (suzugía, “union, yoke, pair”). This word was recognized as English in 1847 (in its astronomical meaning).

der

The duration of an eclipse depends on the relative positions of the sun, moon, and earth in their syzygy.

2004, Phyllis M. Lugger, William Liller, Asteroids to Quasars: A Symposium Honoring William Liller, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 67:

(astronomy, astrology) An alignment of three celestial bodies (for example, the Sun, Earth, and Moon) such that one body is directly between the other two, such as occurs at an eclipse.


beta

en-noun

beta (countable and uncountable, plural betas)

From Ancient Greek βῆτα (bêta). Doublet of beth.

“I guess in your psychological language of alpha males and beta males, I would be firmly in the camp that prefers the more laid-back betas,” she took a deep breath, “like your father.”

2006, Catherine Mann, Blaze of Glory, Harlequin, published 2006, →ISBN:

“They want sexy, virile alpha males, yes? But that doesn't come with sensitive and loyal and all of that. That's a beta. A frickin' collie, Lola. […]

2010, L. A. Banks, “Dog Tired (of the Drama!)”, in Kevin J. Anderson, editor, Blood Lite II: Overbite, Gallery Books, →ISBN, page 121:

She'd always had a thing for alpha males. Not that she had any intention of being bossed around, even if one had her best interests at heart. Her fascination with alphas was that they were a challenge. Betas didn't hold much of an appeal.

2010, Terry Spear, Wolf Fever, Sourcebooks Casablanca, published 2010, →ISBN, page 24:

When they ride the cock carousel in preference to the responsible betas that they find so boring, well, we guess that they pay.

2015, Stephen Jarosek, Tyrants of Matriarchy:

News of Harper-Mercer's murder spree, which killed ten, prompted speculation on neoreactionary forums that the long-awaited “beta uprising” of virginal shut-ins had begun. Not quite. But in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, a large audience of Americans finally saw the real beta uprising in the violent Nazi rally that shut the city down

2018, Corey Pein, Live Work Work Work Die:

(slang, manosphere, masculism) Ellipsis of beta male, a man who is less competent or desirable than an alpha male.


labyrinth

From Middle English laberynt, laberynthe, from Latin labyrinthus, from Ancient Greek λᾰβύρῐνθος (lăbúrĭnthos, “a maze”).

der

Mrs. Churchill liked the interminable labyrinths of the Cyrus and the Cassandra, because she had liked them in the days of her girlhood. Youth identifies itself with the romance; it is the heroic knight, or the lovely lady, of which it reads; it lives amid those fine creations; its sweetest hours are given to dreams which soon "Fade into the light of common day."

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 264–265:

(Greek mythology) A maze-like structure built by Daedalus in Knossos, containing the Minotaur.

A complicated irregular network of passages or paths, especially underground or covered, in which it is difficult to find one's way.

(horticulture) A maze formed by paths separated by high hedges.

A structure similar to a maze, but containing only one path with no branches, as distinguished from a maze which contains multiple branching paths

Whitney is absorbed especially by Dublin's unglamorous interstitial zones: the new housing estates and labyrinths of roads, watercourses and railways where the city peters into its commuter belt.

2014 August 23, Neil Hegarty, “Hidden City: Adventures and Explorations in Dublin by Karl Whitney, review: 'a necessary corrective' [print version: Re-Joycing in Dublin, p. R25]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review):

(by extension) Anything complicated and confusing in structure, arrangement, or character.


Paris

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Πάρις (Páris).

bor+

General American, Canada, Mary–marry–merry merger

(Greek mythology) A Trojan prince who eloped with Helen.


idea

en-noun

idea (plural ideas or (philosophy, rare) ideæ)

→ Japanese: アイディア (aidia), アイデア (aidea)

[ɑjˈdɪː(‿ɹ)]

Borrowed from Latin idea (“a (Platonic) idea; archetype”), from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “notion, pattern”), from εἴδω (eídō, “I see”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to know; see”). Cognate with French idée. Doublet of idée. Related to idol, idolum, and eidolon.

der

The idea that the same experiments always get the same results, no matter who performs them, is one of the cornerstones of science’s claim to objective truth. If a systematic campaign of replication does not lead to the same results, then either the original research is flawed (as the replicators claim) or the replications are (as many of the original researchers on priming contend). Either way, something is awry.

2013 October 19, “Trouble at the lab”, in The Economist, volume 409, number 8858:

(philosophy) An abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect approximations; pure essence, as opposed to actual examples.

иде́я

philosophy: abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect


sphere

spheres (plural)
sphære (alternative archaic)
sphear (alternative archaic)
spheare (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English spere, from Old French sphere, from Late Latin sphēra, earlier Latin sphaera (“ball, globe, celestial sphere”), from Ancient Greek σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “ball, globe”), of unknown origin. Not related to superficially similar Persian سپهر (sepehr, “sky”) .

uder

ſooner ſhall the Sun fall from his Spheare,
Than Tamburlaine be ſlaine or ouercome.

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

It is more simplicitie to teach our children[…][t]he knowledge of the starres, and the motion of the eighth spheare, before their owne.

1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 153:

They understood not the motion of the eighth sphear from West to East, and so conceived the longitude of the Stars invariable.

1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, I.6:

music of the spheres
music of the spheres

(historical, astronomy, mythology) Any of the concentric hollow transparent globes formerly believed to rotate around the Earth, and which carried the heavenly bodies; there were originally believed to be eight, and later nine and ten; friction between them was thought to cause a harmonious sound (the music of the spheres).

sferoj

historical, astronomy, mythology: any of the concentric globes formerly believed to rotate around the Earth

(mythology) An area of activity for a planet; or by extension, an area of influence for a god, hero etc.

In point of fact, so often as we think a subject as partially included within the sphere of a predicate, eo ipso we think it as partially, that is, particularly, excluded therefrom.

a. 1856, William Hamilton, “Appendix III: Quantification of Predicate,—Immediate Inference,—Conversion,—Opposition”, in Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic, volume 2, published 1860, page 526:

All categorical propositions necessarily imply the existence of their subjects in the appropriate sphere; in affirmative propositions this involves the existence of the predicate in the same sphere; but in negative propositions the predicate does not necessarily exist in that particular sphere, though it does in some sphere.

1896, James Welton, A Manual of Logic, 2nd edition, volume 1, page 213:

Finally, the disjunctive judgment contains a relation of two or more propositions to each other—a relation not of consequence, but of logical opposition, in so far as the sphere of the one proposition excludes that of the other.

1900 [1781], Immanuel Kant, translated by J. M. D. Meiklejohn, Critique of Pure Reason, page 58:

(logic, dated) The domain of reference of a proposition, subject, or predicate, or the totality of the particular subjects to which it applies.


arity

en-noun

arity (countable and uncountable, plural arities)

From -ary (taken from unary/binary/ternary [function/operator]) + -ity. Compare adicity and adinity.

(logic, mathematics, computer science) The number of arguments or operands a function or operation takes. For a relation, the number of domains in the corresponding Cartesian product.


burden of proof

burden of proof (plural burdens of proof)

(epistemology) The obligation of the person making a claim in a dispute to provide sufficient evidence for their position.

التزام بتقديم الدليل

obligation of the person making a claim to provide evidence for their position

証拠を提示する義務

しょうこをていじするぎむ


kappa

It was not quite possible for a kappa to go pale, but this one managed, shrinking partly into its shell.

2013, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Kitsune-Mochi: Kitsune Tales #2, page 94:

(Japanese mythology) A tortoise-like demon or imp.


grue

Blue–green distinction in language
New riddle of induction

Blend of green + blue. The philosophy sense was coined by American philosopher Nelson Goodman in 1955 to illustrate concepts in the philosophy of science. The linguistic sense was coined by American linguist Paul Kay in 1975 as a translation from languages such as Welsh that have a basic cover term that covers both the hues called "green" and "blue" in English.

coinage

The grue property is defined as: x is grue if and only if x is green and is observed before the year 2000, or x is blue and is not observed before the year 2000.

1965, Nelson Goodman, Fact, Fiction and Forecast:

The unexamined emeralds cannot be both green and grue, since if they are grue and unexamined they are blue.

2007, Michael Clark, Paradoxes from A to Z:

(philosophy) Of an object, green when first observed before a specified time or blue when first observed after that time.

bloen

philosophy: of an object that is first green, then blue


atom

→ Swahili: atomi

From Middle English attome, from Middle French athome, from Latin atomus (“smallest particle”), from Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos, “indivisible”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + τέμνω (témnō, “I cut”). Atoms are so named because historically the notion was that they were indivisible, given that chemically they are indeed so; the splitting of atoms awaited a later era of science and technology, and nonchemical means. Doublet of atomus.

der

(philosophy) In logical atomism, a fundamental fact that cannot be further broken down.


li

(Chinese philosophy) A meaningful ceremony or ritual; etiquette, behaviour.


influence

en-noun

influence (countable and uncountable, plural influences)

From Middle English influence, from Old French influence (“emanation from the stars affecting one's fate”), from Medieval Latin īnfluentia, from Latin īnfluēns (“flowing in”), present active participle of īnfluō (“flow into”), from in- (“in-”) + fluō (“flow”). Doublet of influenza and inflood.

der

(astrology) An element believed to determine someone's character or individual tendencies, caused by the position of the stars and planets at the time of one's birth.

invloed

(astrology) element determining someone's character or individual tendencies


universal

From Middle English universal, from Old French universal (modern French universel), from Latin ūniversālis.

When we examine common words, we find that, broadly speaking, proper names stand for particulars, while other substantives, adjectives, prepositions, and verbs stand for universals.

1912, Bertrand Russel, The Problems of Philosophy, Chapter 9:

We might also distinguish those expressions which are used to refer to individuals or particulars from those which are used to refer to what philosophers have called universals: e.g., to distinguish such expressions as "Everest" and "this chair" from "the number three", "the color red" and "drunkenness".

Empiricism was similarly a response to this loss of universals—a radically contingent world with no underlying order must constantly be studied and tested—and made God himself unnecessary: divine spirit and human spirit were alien enough to each other that they could function without taking each other into account.

2021, Meghan O'Gieblyn, chapter 11, in God, Human, Animal, Machine […] , →ISBN:

(philosophy) A characteristic or property that particular things have in common.

كُلِّيَّة

A property that particular things have in common.


Nike

From Ancient Greek Νίκη (Níkē), from νίκη (níkē, “victory”).

(Greek mythology) The goddess of victory and triumph; Athena's companion.


SO

second-order logic
second-order logic#English

(logic, computer science) Initialism of second-order logic.


Vulcan

From Latin Vulcānus, probably from Etruscan although very unclear, but unknown meaning and further origin (see more in Latin entry). Doublet of bolcane and volcano.

The goddess Venus was the wife of Vulcan.

(Roman mythology) The god of volcanoes and fire, especially the forge, also the patron of all craftsmen, especially blacksmiths. The Roman counterpart of Hephaestus.


macrocosm

From Middle French macrocosme (from Old French macrocosme) and Medieval Latin macrocosmus, formed from Ancient Greek μακρός (makrós, “great, long”) + κόσμος (kósmos, “universe, order”).

(philosophy) A complex structure, such as a society, considered as a single entity that contains numerous similar, smaller-scale structures.

大宇宙

a complex structure containing numerous smaller-scale structures


verifiable

(logic) A statement or observation that can be verified.


Boolean

From Boole + -ean, named after English mathematician, philosopher and logician George Boole (1815–1864).

named-after

boolean (alternative)
Boolian (alternative)

Oh, Boolean operators! "Blue and ones"! Good idea!

2005 May 9, Michael Chapman; Matthew Chapman, “Bug In Mouth Disease”, in Homestar Runner, spoken by Strong Sad (Matthew Chapman):

(logic, computing) Pertaining to data items that can have “true” and “false” (or, equivalently, 1 and 0 respectively) as their only possible values and to operations on such values.

booleà

logic: pertaining to data items that have values “true” and “false”


Boolean

Booleans (plural)
boolean (alternative)
Boolian (alternative)

(logic, computing) A variable that can hold a single true/false (1/0) value.


degree

→ Burmese: ဒီဂရီ (diga.ri)

→ Juba Arabic: digrii

→ Swahili: digrii

→ Tagalog: digri

From Middle English degre, borrowed from Old French degré (French: degré), itself from Latin gradus, with the prefix de-.

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 26. Degree

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 31. Greatness

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 32. Smallness

(logic) The number of logical connectives in a formula.


eternal

en-adj

eternal (comparative more eternal, superlative most eternal)

more eternal (comparative)
most eternal (superlative)
æternal (alternative archaic)
æternall (alternative obsolete)
eternall (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English eternal, from Old French eternal, from Late Latin aeternālis, from Latin aeternus (“eternal”), from aevum (“age”). Displaced native Old English ēċe.

hope springs eternal in the human breast

(philosophy) Existing outside time; as opposed to sempiternal, existing within time but everlastingly.


kaj

From Armenian քաջ (kʻaǰ), քաջք (kʻaǰkʻ).

There existed destructive female demons called parik, whose husbands were known as kaj.

2006, The Cambridge History of Iran, volume 3, pt.1: Iran, Armenia and Georgia, page 611

(Armenian mythology) A spirit of storm and wind;


ship

→ Japanese: シップ (shippu)

From Middle English ship, schip, from Old English sċip, from Proto-West Germanic *skip, from Proto-Germanic *skipą, from Proto-Indo-European *skēyb-, *skib-. More at shift.
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian skip, Dutch schip, German Schiff, Yiddish שיף (shif), Danish skib, Norwegian skip, Swedish skepp. Related also to Lithuanian skiẽbti (“to rip up”), Latvian škibît (“to cut, lop”), Ancient Greek σκάφη (skáphē, “light boat, skiff”).

cog

it's not the size of the ship, it's the motion of the ocean

(cartomancy) The third card of the Lenormand deck.


closed

(mathematics, logic, of a formula) Lacking a free variable.


mercurial

mercurials (plural)
mercuriall (alternative)
☿ial (alternative)
☿all (alternative)

/məːˈkjʊə.ɹɪ.əl/

Noun sense 1 (“(obsolete) plant known as mercury”) is from Middle English mercurial, from Anglo-Norman mercurial and Old French mercurial, or directly from their etymon, from Mercurius (“the Roman god Mercury”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns).
Later adjective and noun uses may have been directly derived from Latin mercuriālis, whence Middle English mercurial (“under the astrological influence of the planet Mercury”).

ref

From the collection of the Wellcome Library in London, England, UK.

cog

As for [Lambert] Simnell, there was not much in him, more then that hee was a handſome Boy, and did not ſhame his Robes. But this Youth (of whom wee are now to ſpeake) was ſuch a Mercuriall, as the like hath ſeldome beene knowne; and could make his owne part, if at any time hee chanced to bee out.

1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC, pages 112–113:

(astrology) A person born under the influence of the planet Mercury; hence, a person having an animated, lively, quick-witted or volatile character.


mercurial

en-adj

mercurial (comparative more mercurial, superlative most mercurial)

more mercurial (comparative)
most mercurial (superlative)
mercuriall (alternative)
Mercurial (alternative)
☿ial (alternative)
☿all (alternative)

/məːˈkjʊə.ɹɪ.əl/

The Sun to the Terms of Mercury. It inclineth the native to be Mercurial, given to ſtudy Arts and Sciences, and to delight in reading, and to follow his Calling with chearfulneſs.

1682, Joseph Blagrave, “[The Effects of Directions.] The Sun Directed unto Promittors.”, in Obadiah Blagrave, editor, Blagrave’s Introduction to Astrology. In Three Parts. […], London: Printed by E. Tyler, and R. Holt, for Obadiah Blagrave, […], →OCLC, part III, page 254:

6thly, The ☽ separates from a △ of ♂, and applies to ☍ of ☿, lord of the 3d; which intimated that some neighbour of the querent, either with a letter, words, or cross information, would wholly destroy the querent's hopes; and that mercurial men, viz. scholars or divines, would be his enemies: [...]

1852, William Lilly, Zadkiel [pseudonym; Richard James Morrison], “Of the Ninth House and Its Questions. Long Journeys, Voyages, Arts, Science, Church Preferment, Law, &c.”, in An Introduction to Astrology […]: A Grammar of Astrology, and Tables for Calculating Nativities. […], London: H[enry] G[eorge] Bohn, […], →OCLC, page 268:

(not comparable, astrology) Pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Mercury; having the characteristics of a person under such influence (see adjective sense 1).

mercurial

pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Mercury

Near-synonym: Hermesian

I know the ſhape of's Legge: this is his Hand: / His Foote Mercuriall: his martiall Thigh / The brawnes of Hercules: but his Iouiall face— / Murther in heaven?

1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 390, column 1:

[Benjamin] Franklin, the mechanic of his own fortune, [...] tendering, from the self-created nation, to the mightiest monarchs of Europe, the olive-branch of peace, the mercurial wand of commerce, and the amulet of protection and safety to the man of peace on the pathless ocean from the inexorable cruelty and merciless rapacity of war; [...]

1843 February 8, John Quincey Adams, “Presentation of Washington’s Sword and Franklin’s Staff”, in [Francis Preston] Blair, [John C.] Rives, editors, The Congressional Globe: […] (United States House of Representatives, 27th Congress, 3rd session), volume XII, number 16, Washington, D.C.: Published by Blair and Rives; […], published 10 February 1843, →OCLC, pages 254–255:

(not comparable, Roman mythology) Pertaining to Mercury, the Roman god of, among other things, commerce, financial gain, communication, and thieves and trickery; hence (comparable), money-making; crafty.


libertarian

libertarians (plural)
Libertarian (alternative)

/ˌlɪb.əˈtɛə.ɹɪ.ən/

Foundation for Economic Education
Joseph Déjacque
Leonard Read
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
William Belsham
lois scélérates

The noun is derived from liber(ty) + -arian (suffix denoting an advocate of or believer in something). The adjective is derived from the noun.
sense development
The word was first attested in English in 1789 in William Belsham’s Essays: see the quotation. This was contrasted with necessitarian, in the context of free will, and was not used in the more frequently encountered modern sense.
Compare French libertaire (“person with extreme left-wing beliefs, anarchist”), from liberté (“freedom”) + -aire (suffix forming nouns). Libertaire is derived from Latin libertas. The French word was first attested in a May 1857 letter by the French anarcho-communist Joseph Déjacque (1821–1865) to the anarchist philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–1865), reading: “Anarchiste juste-milieu, libéral et non LIBERTAIRE [A centrist anarchist, liberal and not LIBERTARIAN] […]”. It was popularized as a euphemism for anarchiste in the 1890s, following the French lois scélérates (literally “villainous laws”) under which anarchist publications were banned.
Sense 3.2 (“believer in right-libertarianism”) developed in the United States in the 1940s and was popularized in the 1950s. In the 1940s, Leonard Read (1898–1983), the founder of the Foundation for Economic Education, a free-market think tank, began calling himself “libertarian” in contrast with a “classical liberal”. In 1955, Dean Russell also promoted the use of the word, writing: “Let those of us who love liberty trade-mark and reserve for our own use the good and honorable word ‘libertarian’.”

cog

[W]here is the difference betvveen the Libertarian, vvho ſays that the mind chuſes the motive; and the Neceſſarian, vvho aſſerts that the motive determines the mind; if the volition be the neceſſary reſult of all the previous circumſtances?

1789, [William Belsham], “Essay I. On Liberty and Necessity.”, in Essays, Philosophical, Historical, and Literary, London: […] C[harles] Dilly, […], →OCLC, page 11:

(philosophy) A believer in the freedom of thinking beings to choose their own destiny (the doctrine of free will) as opposed to those who believe the future is predetermined (the doctrine of necessity).


libertarian

en-adj

libertarian (comparative more libertarian, superlative most libertarian)

more libertarian (comparative)
most libertarian (superlative)
Libertarian (alternative)

/ˌlɪb.əˈtɛə.ɹɪ.ən/

(philosophy) Relating to the doctrine of free will as opposed to the doctrine of necessity.

libertarianistinen

relating to the doctrine of free will as opposed to the doctrine of necessity


discharge

en-verb

discharge (third-person singular simple present discharges, present participle discharging, simple past and past participle discharged)

discharges (present singular third-person)
discharging (participle present)
discharged (participle past)
discharged (past)

/dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ/

/ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ/

/dɪsˈtʃɑɹdʒ/

/ˈdɪstʃɑɹdʒ/

-ɪstʃɑː(ɹ)dʒ

From Middle English dischargen, from Old French deschargier (“to unload”), from Late Latin discarricāre (“unload”). By surface analysis, dis- + charge.

(logic) To release (an auxiliary assumption) from the list of assumptions used in arguments, and return to the main argument.


attribute

From Latin attributus past participle of attribuere.

(logic) That which is predicated or affirmed of a subject; a predicate; an accident.

attribuutti

logic: that which is predicated or affirmed of a subject


operation

en-noun

operation (countable and uncountable, plural operations)

→ Japanese: オペレーション (operēshon)

→ Scottish Gaelic: opairèisean

/ˌɒp.əˈɹeɪ.ʃən/

/ˌɑ.pəˈɹeɪ.ʃən/

From Middle French operation, from Old French operacion, from Latin operātiō, from the verb operor (“I work”), from opus, operis (“work”). Equivalent to operate + -ion.

عَمَلِيَّة

The number of operands associated with an operation is called its arity; an operation of arity 2 is called a binary operation.

(computing, logic, mathematics, countable) A procedure for generating a value from one or more other values (the operands).

(mathematics, more formally, countable) A function which maps zero or more (but typically two) operands to a single output value.


sylvan

Borrowed from Medieval Latin sylvanus, possibly via Middle French sylvain, from Latin silvanus, cognate with Latin Silvānus (“Roman god of the woods”), from silva (“forest”), from Proto-Indo-European *sel-, *swel- (“beam, board, frame, threshold”). The ⟨y⟩ in sylvanus and its descendants is due to influence from Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē, “wood, matter”), transliterated in the Latin style as hyle. Analysable as sylva (“silva”) + -an.

der

And ſeeing it is ſo generall a report, and ſo many auerre it eyther from their owne triall or from others, that are of indubitable honeſtie and credite, that the Syluanes and Fawnes, commonly called Incubi, haue often iniured women, deſiring and acting carnally with them: […]

1610, Saint Augustine, “Whether It be Credible that the Angels being of an Incorporeall Nature, should Lust after the Women of the Earth, and Marrying Them, Beget Gyants of Them. Chap. 23.”, in J[ohn] H[ealey], transl., St. Augustine, of the Citie of God: […], [London]: […] George Eld, →OCLC, book XV, page 561:

214. A Revel and Sacrifice to Pan. The frequent repetition of these subjects shows how deeply the artist's mind was imbued with the love of sylvan rites and ceremonies, characteristic of the fabled golden age, when "In wanton dance they praise the bounteous Pan." […] [N]ear to her are a nymph and a faun sitting together; the attention of the former is at the moment attracted by a sylvan, who is dragging a goat by the leg; […]

1837, John Smith, “The Works of Nicolas Poussin”, in A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters; in which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Discussion of Their Principal Pictures; a Statement of the Prices at which such Pictures have been Sold at Public Sales on the Continent and in England; a Reference to the Galleries and Private Collections, in which a Large Portion are at Present; and the Names of the Artists by whom They have been Engraved: To which is Added, a Brief Notice of the Scholars & Imitators of the Great Masters of the above Schools, 8th part, London: Published by Smith & Son, 137, New Bond Street, →OCLC, page 113:

Her private orchards, walled on every side, / To lawless sylvans all access denied. / How oft the satyrs and the wanton fawns, / Who haunt the forests, or frequent the lawns, / The god whose ensign scares the birds of prey, / And old Silenus, youthful in decay, / Employed their wiles and unavailing care / To pass the fences, and surprise the fair!

1847, Alexander Pope, “Vertuminus and Pomona. From the Fourteenth Book of Ovid’s Metamorphoses.”, in The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, new edition, London: H[enry] G[eorge] Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden, pages 277–278, lines 19–26:

The sylvans who guarded the palace were bearded buffoons, lazy and stupid but fierce. Without the help of the Silenus, prefect of the satyrs, the cocky satyrs may have fought with the sylvans.

1976, Jane Krier, The English Masque: Vanished Court Drama (unpublished M.A. dissertation), Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin, →OCLC, page 64:

(mythology) A fabled deity of the wood; a faun, a satyr.


teleology

en-noun

teleology (countable and uncountable, plural teleologies)

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

From Ancient Greek τέλος (télos, “purpose”), genitive τέλεος (téleos), and λόγος (lógos, “word, speech, discourse”).

The received intellectual tradition has it that, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, revolutionary philosophers began to curtail and reject the teleology of the medieval and scholastic Aristotelians, abandoning final causes in favor of a purely mechanistic model of the Universe.

2008, Monte Ransom Johnson, Aristotle on Teleology:

(philosophy) The study of the purpose or design of natural occurrences.


detriment

detriment (countable and uncountable, plural detriments)

From Old French detriement, from Latin detrimentum (“loss, damage, literally a rubbing off”), from dēterere (“to rub off, wear”), from dē- (“down, away”) + terere (“to rub”).
Detriment is based off the word deter, and built on similar foundations to the word impediment.

der

Saturn, Jupiter and Mars from their conjunction to their opposition with the Sun are Oriental, and gain two fortitudes; but from their Opposition to their Conjunction are occidental, and incur two detriments.

1660, Henry More, An Explanation of the grand Mystery of Godliness, page 342:

DEJECTION [with Astrol.] said of the planets, when in their detriment, i.e. when they have lost their force or influence by reason of being in opposition to some other, which check and contract them.

1730, NathanBailey, Dictionarium Britannicum,:

This is infallible : Saturn out of all Dignities in his Detriment and Fall, combust : and Venus in the South-angle elevated above him, Lady of both their Nativities, in her essential and accidental Dignities; occidental from the[…]

1761, Philip Massinger, The Dramatic Works of Philip Massinger ... Revised ... by T. Coxeter. With Notes Critical and Explanatory, of Various Authors. To which are Prefixed, Critical Reflections on the Old English Dramatic Writers [by G. Colman]., page 302:

Mercury peregrine, and in detriment or fall, retrograde or combust, in quartile or opposition of Luna from angles, Now in motion, cadent, or in via combusta, or afflicted by Saturn or Mars, shows[…]

1826, Ebenezer Sibly, A New and Complete Illustration of the Celestial Science of Astrology; Or, The Art of Foretelling Future Events and Contingencies, page 257:

The dignity or debility of the planet the eclipse falls on must be noted. Eclipses that fall on a planet in detriment or fall seem to have more of an adverse effect. Eclipses that fall on a planet in its rulership or exaltation seem[…]

2004 January 1, Carol Rushman, Forecasting Your Life Events: An Art of Predictive Astrology, Motilal Banarsidass, →ISBN, page 212:

The Moon is in her detriment in Capricorn, which is opposite Cancer. Those with the Moon in Capricorn may be afraid of their feelings, keeping them locked away. The Moon is in her fall in Scorpio, which is opposite Taurus.

2004 08, Teresa Moorey, The Little Book of Moon Magic, Andrews McMeel Publishing, →ISBN, page 15:

Planets in their detriment do not operate well with their basic natural energies because they are not in a comfortable environment within which to do so. Planets in detriment are disorganized. The easy, peace-loving energy of Venus is[…]

2012, B. D. Salerno, Forensics by the Stars: Astrology Investigates, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 90:

The Moon is in detriment and doesn't aspect the ascendant. Mercury applies to an opposition with Jupiter without reception. Judgement: The Mercury/Jupiter opposition is not fortunate, but there are two very fortunate testimonies,[…]

2019 March 20, Petros Eleftheriadis, Horary Astrology: The Practical Way to Learn Your Fate, The Wessex Astrologer, →ISBN:

(astrology) The position or state of a planet when it is in the sign opposite its house, considered to weaken it.


cross

→ Japanese: クロス (kurosu)

From Middle English cross, cros, from Old English cros (“rood, cross”), from Old Norse kross, from Old Irish cros, from Latin crux (crucī). In this sense displaced native Middle English rood, from Old English rōd; see rood. Compare Welsh croes, Irish crois.
The sense of "two intersecting lines drawn or cut on a surface; two lines intersecting at right angles" without regard to religious signification develops from the late 14th century.
Cognates
*Icelandic kross (“cross”)
*Faroese krossur (“cross”)
*Norwegian Nynorsk kross, kors (“cross”)
*Danish kors (“cross”)
*Swedish kors (“cross”)
*North Frisian kross, korss (“cross”)
*Saterland Frisian Krjuus, Kjus (“cross”)
*West Frisian krús (“cross”)
*Dutch kruis (“cross”)
*German Low German Krüüz (“cross”)
*German Kreuz (“cross”)

(cartomancy) The thirty-sixth Lenormand card.


fate

en-noun

fate (countable and uncountable, plural fates)

From Middle English fate, from Latin fāta (“prediction”), plural of fātum, from fātus (“spoken”), from for (“to speak”). In this sense, displaced native Old English wyrd, whence Modern English weird.

(mythology) Alternative letter-case form of Fate (one of the goddesses said to control the destiny of human beings).

Fate

རླུང་རྟའི་ལྷ་མོ (rlung rta'i lha mo, literally “goddess of the wind horse, where ‘wind horse’ means fortune/fame/luck”)


Lemuria

Lemuria (continent)
en:Lemuria (disambiguation)

(mythology) A mythical lost country, continent, or island proposed to explain the existence of lemurs and their relatives on two continents.


chi

chis (plural)
ch'i (alternative)
ki (alternative)
qi (alternative Hanyu-Pinyin)

From the Mandarin 氣／气 (qì) from the Wade–Giles romanization: chʻi⁴, from Middle Chinese 氣 (MC khj+jH), from Old Chinese 氣 (OC *kʰɯds, “breath, vapor”). Compare modern Japanese 気(き) (ki), Korean 기(氣) (gi) and Vietnamese khí (氣).

Early Taoist philosophers and alchemists regarded ch'i as a vital force inhering in the breath and bodily fluids and developed techniques to alter and control the movement of ch'i within the body; their aim was to achieve physical longevity and spiritual power.

[1987, “ch'i”, in Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition, volume 3, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 186, column 3:

He took several deep breaths, finding his chi as Butler had taught him.

2001, Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl, Viking Press, page 196:

At the greenmarket, it’s still mostly potatoes and apples. There are no tender greens, fava beans, peas, asparagus, artichokes, sorrel, rhubarb or early strawberries.
Those harbingers of the season are said to be full of chi, or qi, the Chinese word for life force. We’re craving them as we’re craving lighter, brighter-tasting meals, food that is greener and fresher.

2013 April 2, David Tanis, “Hurry Up, Spring”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2013-04-02, Dining & Wine:

According to traditional Chinese medicine, blood carries chi, your “life force,” which fuels all the functions of the body. When you lose blood, you lose chi, and this causes your body to go into a state of yin (cold). When yin (cold) and yang (hot) are out of balance, your body will suffer physical disorders.

2017 January 8, Leslie Hsu Oh, “I tried the Chinese practice of ‘sitting the month’ after childbirth”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-01-08, Health & Science:

(philosophy, mysticism) A life force in traditional Chinese philosophy, culture, medicine, etc, related (but not limited) to breath and circulation.


nihil

nihil (countable and uncountable, plural nihils)

I shall no longer believe all the visions of my youth:
They have dissolved into nihil.

1996, David Tibet, “The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home (Theinmostlightthirdandfinal)” (lyrics)

All tales about the beginning are apt to eliminate the nothing and make being overall. […] Without Nihil the whirlpool of the beginning settles down and becomes a stagnant puddle of pure being. Nihil disappears.

2008, Arvydas Šliogeris, Names of Nihil, page 13:

That is, in the sovereign act of creation, whereby YHWH orders chaos, YHWH provisionally defeated the power of the Nihil but did not destroy or eliminate the threat of chaos.

2009, Walter Brueggemann, An Unsettling God: The Heart of the Hebrew Bible, page 143:

(uncountable, chiefly philosophy) nothingness, nonbeing


strong

en-adj

strong (comparative stronger, superlative strongest)

stronger (comparative)
strongest (superlative)
strang (alternative)
stronk (alternative)

Sranan Tongo: tranga

Aukan: taanga

Saramaccan: taánga

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

cog

a chain is only as strong as its weakest link

the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must

(mathematics, logic) Having a wide range of logical consequences; widely applicable. (Often contrasted with a weak statement which it implies.)


Larissa

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Λάρισσα (Lárissa).

bor+

(Greek mythology) A nymph with a local cult near the city of Larissa, Thessaly.


innuendo

en-noun

innuendo (plural innuendoes or innuendos or innuendis)

innuendoes (plural)
innuendos (plural)
innuendis (plural)
inuendo (alternative)

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

From the Latin innuendō (“by nodding”), ablative singular form of innuendum (“a nodding”), gerund of innuō (“I give a nod”).

(logic) A rhetorical device with an omitted, but obvious conclusion, made to increase the force of an argument.


clover

→ Catalan: clóver

From Middle English clovere, claver, from Old English clāfre, earlier clǣfre, from Proto-West Germanic *klaibrā. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Kleeuwer (“clover”), West Frisian klaver (“clover”), Dutch klaver (“clover”), German Low German Klaver (“clover”), German Klee (“clover”).

(cartomancy) The second Lenormand card, representing hope, optimism and short-term luck.


weak

en-adj

weak (comparative weaker, superlative weakest)

weaker (comparative)
weakest (superlative)
weake (alternative obsolete)

healthy

antonym(s) of “lacking in force or ability”

potent

antonym(s) of “lacking in taste or potency”

From Middle English weyk, wayk, weik, waik, from Old Norse veikr (“weak”), from Proto-Germanic *waikwaz (“weak, yielded, pliant, bendsome”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to bend, wind”).
Cognate with Old English wāc (“weak, bendsome”), Saterland Frisian wook (“soft, gentle, tender”), West Frisian weak (“soft”), Dutch week (“soft, weak”), German weich (“weak, soft”), Norwegian veik (“weak”), Swedish vek (“weak, pliant”), Icelandic veikur (“bendsome, weak”). Related to Old English wīcan (“to yield”). Doublet of week and wick.

cog

the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

(mathematics, logic) Having a narrow range of logical consequences; narrowly applicable. (Often contrasted with a strong statement which implies it.)


antelope

→ Irish: antalóp

→ Manx: antelope

From Middle English antelope, from Old French antelop, from Medieval Latin antilops, from Byzantine Greek ἀνθόλοψ (anthólops), which is of obscure origin.

(archaic, mythology) A fierce legendary creature said to live on the banks of the Euphrates, having long serrated horns and being hard to catch.


crocodile

→ Maori: kokorotaera, karakotaera

→ Niuean: kirokotaili

→ Tokelauan: kolokotaila

→ Tongan: kalokataile

→ Welsh: crocodeil

From Middle English cocodrill, cokadrill, cokedril, from Old French cocodril (modern French crocodile), from Medieval Latin cocodrillus, from Latin crocodilus, from Ancient Greek κροκόδειλος (krokódeilos). The word was later refashioned after the Latin and Greek forms. Doublet of krokodil.

[ˈkʰɹɑkədaɪɫ]

We have seen syllogisms, crocodiles, enthymemas, sorites, &c. explained and tried upon a boy of nine or ten years old in playful conversation[…]

1798, Maria Edgeworth, Practical Education:

(logic) A fallacious dilemma, mythically supposed to have been first used by a crocodile.


Python

From Ancient Greek Πύθων (Púthōn), from Πῡθώ (Pūthṓ), the early name of Delphi, from πύθω (púthō, “to rot, to decay”).
The programming language is named after Monty Python.

Here Apollo killed a serpent called the Python, and established a great prophetic shrine. Sometimes it is said that the Titaness Themis had the shrine before him, and this, as well as the killing of the Python, suggests that Apollo took over a place already of religious significance, associated with chthonic (i.e., earth) powers.

1995, Gordon MacDonald Kirkwood, A Short Guide to Classical Mythology, page 11:

It would seem, therefore, that what we have on the Phasian phiale is the Python coiled round the omphalos.[…]Paintings on Greek pottery and coins have preserved many an example of gods seated on an omphalos, including those of Apollo, Nike, Asclepius and others.⁴¹³ Python on the omphalos must have carried some symbolic meaning.

2000, Otar Lordkipanidze, Phasis: The River and City in Colchis, page 70:

Python, says Bailey, is derived from Putho to putrify, and the serpent Python being slain by Apollo, is thus interpreted: by Python is understood the ruin of the waters; Apollo slew this serpent with his arrows; that is, the beams of the sun dispersed the noxious vapours, which destroyed man like a devouring serpent.

2005, M. A. Dwight, Taylor Lewis, Grecian and Roman Mythology, page 183:

(Greek mythology) The earth-dragon of Delphi, represented as a serpent, killed by Apollo.


Zeus

From Ancient Greek Ζεύς (Zeús). Doublet of Dyeus and Jove.

(Greek mythology) Supreme ruler of all Greek gods, husband to Hera.


Acheron

Borrowed from Latin Acherōn, from Ancient Greek Ἀχέρων (Akhérōn), probably Pre-Greek but folk-etymologically said to be from ἄχος (ákhos, “pain, distress”) + ῥέον (rhéon, “stream”).

af

And pull her out of Acheron by the heels

c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

Acheron and Phlegeton, which a subterraneous fire causes to boil, are the billows of that hell which was visited by Æneas.

1807, [Germaine] de Staël Holstein, translated by D[ennis] Lawler, “[[Book XIII. Vesuvius and the plain of Naples.] Chap[ter] IV.] The extempore effusion of Corinna on the Plain of Naples.”, in Corinna; or, Italy. […], volume III, London: […] Corri, […]; and sold by Colburn, […], and Mackenzie, […], →OCLC, page 234:

Behold! I rise from primal silence / As a storm crushing dismal shores ov Acheron

(Greek mythology) A river in the infernal regions; also, the infernal regions themselves. By some of the English poets, it was supposed to be a flaming lake or gulf.


minor

en-adj

minor (comparative more minor, superlative most minor)

more minor (comparative)
most minor (superlative)
miner (alternative)
maner (alternative)
minore (alternative)
minour (alternative)
mynor (alternative)
mynour (alternative)
mynowr (alternative)
mi (alternative)

antonym(s) of

serious, grave, severe, dangerous, fatal, life-threatening, acute (informal)

From Middle English minor, menor, menour, etc., from Latin minor (“lesser; young; young person”) both directly and via Norman and Middle French menor, menour, etc. Doublet of minus but not mini-. Cognate with minister, minify, Minorca, Menshevik, and possibly minnow. Compare Latin minimum and minuō, Old High German minniro, Cornish minow.

der

The minor term of John Stuart Mill's famous syllogism—usually mistakenly credited to Aristotle—is Socrates; the major term is mortal.

Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option, particularly:

(logic) Acting as the subject of the second premise of a categorical syllogism, which then also acts as the subject of its conclusion.


minor

minors (plural)
miner (alternative)
maner (alternative)
minore (alternative)
minour (alternative)
mynor (alternative)
mynour (alternative)
mynowr (alternative)
mi (alternative)

And so musten oure clerkis argue whan þai aleggen for her lordeschip þe lyuynge of her patrons & sayntis, & sayen þus: "Seynt thomas & seynt hwe & seynt Swiþune wer þus lordis, & in þis þai suyd cristis lyuynge & his lore; þerfor we may lefulli be þus lordis." And I wote wel þat gabriel schal blow his horne or þai han preuyd þe mynor; þat is, þat þes seyntes or patrons in þis suyden þe lore or þe life of ihesu criste.

c. 1450, anonymous author, The Clergy May Not Hold Property, page 31:

(logic) Ellipsis of minor term or minor premise.


major

en-adj

major (comparative more major, superlative most major)

more major (comparative)
most major (superlative)
majour (alternative obsolete)

[ˈmeɪ̯d͡ʒɚ(ɹ)]

[ˈmeɪ̯d͡ʒə(ɹ)]

[ˈmæɪ̯d͡ʒə(ɹ)]

From Middle English major, from Latin maior, comparative of magnus (“great, large; noble, important”), from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂yōs (“greater”), comparative of *meǵh₂- (“great”). Compare West Frisian majoar (“major”), Dutch majoor (“major”), French majeur. Doublet of mayor.

Occurring as the predicate in the conclusion of a categorical syllogism. (of a term)

Containing the major term in a categorical syllogism. (of a premise)


major

majors (plural)
majour (alternative obsolete)

[ˈmeɪ̯d͡ʒɚ(ɹ)]

[ˈmeɪ̯d͡ʒə(ɹ)]

[ˈmæɪ̯d͡ʒə(ɹ)]

pääaineopiskelija

student specializing in a specified subject


bracket

en-verb

bracket (third-person singular simple present brackets, present participle bracketing, simple past and past participle bracketed)

brackets (present singular third-person)
bracketing (participle present)
bracketed (participle past)
bracketed (past)

From earlier bragget, *bracket, from Middle English *braget, *braket (attested in braket nail), from Old French braguette (“the opening in the fore part of a pair of breeches, one's fly”), a diminutive of Old French brague (“knickers, britches”), from Old Occitan braga, from Latin brāca (“pants”), from Transalpine Gaulish *brāca, from Proto-Germanic *brāks, an early form of Proto-Germanic *brōks (“leggings, breeches, trousers”).

der

(philosophy, phenomenology) In the philosophical system of Edmund Husserl and his followers, to set aside metaphysical theories and existential questions concerning what is real in order to focus philosophical attention simply on the actual content of experience.


form

en-noun

form (countable and uncountable, plural forms)

→ Korean: 폼 (pom)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: form

From Middle English forme (“shape, figure, manner, bench, frame, seat, condition, agreement, etc.”), borrowed from Old French forme, from Latin fōrma (“shape, figure, image, outline, plan, mold, frame, case, etc., manner, sort, kind, etc.”).
In sense "division grouping school students" (now dated), derived from public school nomenclature later adopted by state schools. It is sometimes said to be from the sense of "bench", where students of certain ages would sit together, though this is disputed, or alternatively from the sense of "established method of expression or practice".

der

imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

(philosophy) The inherent nature of an object; that which the mind itself contributes as the condition of knowing; that in which the essence of a thing consists.


dis

In Norway the Dîsir appear to have been held in great veneration.

1851, Benjamin Thorpe, Northern Mythology, E Lumley, page 116:

A number of places in Norway and Sweden were also named after the Disir

1993, Hilda Ellis Davidson, The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe, Routledge, page 113:

Bard had prepared a feast for him, because a sacrifice was being made to the disir.

1997, ‘Egil's Saga’, translated by Bernard Scudder, The Sagas of Icelanders, Penguin, published 2001, page 67:

(Norse mythology) Any of a group of minor female deities in Scandinavian folklore.


undermine

en-verb

undermine (third-person singular simple present undermines, present participle undermining, simple past and past participle undermined)

undermines (present singular third-person)
undermining (participle present)
undermined (participle past)
undermined (past)

Coordinate term: overmine

We can even go further: when we consider an object in everyday life we do not usually just undermine or overmine it as if it demanded an either/or approach, but rather we run the two processes in tandem: duomining, as Harman labels it.

2022, Nicholas Gayle, Conrad and the Being of the World, page 25:

(philosophy) To regard an object as the sum of the parts that compose it, in object-oriented ontology.


horseshoe

/ˈhɔːɹs.ʃuː/

From Middle English horsscho, horssho, horscho, hors schoo, equivalent to horse + shoe.

almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

close only counts in horseshoes and darts

close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades


decile

(astrology) An aspect or position of two planets when they are distant from each other a tenth part of the zodiac.


least

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

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

inh

(philosophy) Something of the smallest possible extent; an indivisible unit.


system

en-noun

system (countable and uncountable, plural systems)

→ Japanese: システム (shisutemu)

Partly borrowed from Middle French sisteme, systeme, partly directly from its etymon Late Latin systēma (“harmony; musical scale; set of celestial objects; set of troops; system”), from Ancient Greek σύστημα (sústēma, “musical scale; organized body; whole made of several parts or members”), from σῠνίστημῐ (sŭnístēmĭ, “to combine, organize”) + -μᾰ (-mă, resultative suffix). σῠνίστημῐ is from σῠν- (sŭn-, “with, together”) + ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to stand”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”).
Cognate with Dutch systeem, modern French système, German System, Italian sistema, Portuguese sistema, Spanish sistema. Doublet of systema.

sisteem

In the footnote attached to this statement Rosen refers to the “hypnotic” quality of Kojève’s system.

2019, David McIlwain, Michael Oakeshott and Leo Strauss: The Politics of Renaissance and Enlightenment, →ISBN, page 131, note 5:

A group or set of related things that operate together as a complex whole.

(philosophy) A comprehensive and logically organized set of propositions or philosophical beliefs.


datum

en-noun

datum (plural (senses 1–3) data or (senses 1 and 4–5) datums)

Borrowed from Latin datum (“a given”). Doublet of die.

(philosophy) A fact known from direct observation.

(philosophy) A premise from which conclusions are drawn.


formula

formula (countable and uncountable, plural formulas or formulae or formulæ)

formulas (plural)
formulae (plural)
formulæ (plural)

Irish: foirmle

Scottish Gaelic: foirmle

Borrowed from Latin formula (“a small pattern or mold, form, rule, principle, method, formula”), diminutive of forma (“a form”); see form.

bor+

(logic) A syntactic expression of a proposition, built up from quantifiers, logical connectives, variables, relation and operation symbols, and, depending on the type of logic, possibly other operators such as modal, temporal, deontic or epistemic ones.

論理式

logic: syntactic expression of a proposition


medium

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

(countable, logic) The mean or middle term of a syllogism, that by which the extremes are brought into connection.


parenthesis

en-noun

parenthesis (countable and uncountable, plural parentheses)

/pəˈɹɛnθəsɪs/

Learned borrowing from Late Latin parenthesis (“addition of a letter to a syllable in a word”), itself borrowed from Ancient Greek παρένθεσις (parénthesis, “insertion”).

der

(mathematics, logic) Such brackets as used to clarify expressions by grouping those terms affected by a common operator, or to enclose the components of a vector or the elements of a matrix.

փակագծեր

(mathematics, logic) brackets used to clarify expressions by grouping terms affected by a common operator


phenomenon

en-noun

phenomenon (plural phenomena or (nonstandard) phenomenons or phenomenon)

phenomena (plural)
phenomenons (nonstandard plural)
phenomenon (plural)
phaenomenon (alternative archaic)
phænomenon (alternative archaic)
phainomenon (alternative archaic literary)
phœnomenon (alternative hypercorrect obsolete)

noumenon

From Late Latin phaenomenon (“appearance”), from Ancient Greek φαινόμενον (phainómenon, “thing appearing to view”), neuter present middle participle of φαίνω (phaínō, “I show”).

der

Every "phenomenon" must be, at any rate, partly subjective or dependent on the subject.

1900, S. Tolver Preston, “Comparison of Some Views of Spencer and Kant”, in Mind, volume 9, number 34, page 234:

The Kantian phenomenon is the real as we are compelled to think it.

1912, Roy Wood Sellars, “Is There a Cognitive Relation?”, in The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods, volume 9, number 9, page 232:

(philosophy, chiefly Kantian idealism) An experienced object whose constitution reflects the order and conceptual structure imposed upon it by the human mind (especially by the powers of perception and understanding).

fenomen

philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind


synthesis

en-noun

synthesis (countable and uncountable, plural syntheses)

From Latin synthesis, from Ancient Greek σύνθεσις (súnthesis, “a putting together; composition”), from συντίθημι (suntíthēmi, “put together, combine”), from συν- (sun-, “together”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “set, place”). Doublet of sandhi.

der

(logic) A deduction from the general to the particular, by applying the rules of logic to a premise.

համադրություն

logic: deduction from the general to the particular

(philosophy) The combination of thesis and antithesis.

համադրություն

philosophy: combination of thesis and antithesis


tableau

Unadapted borrowing from French tableau, from Old French tablel (“a surface which is used primarily for painting”).


thesis

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Johann Gottlieb Fichte

From Late Middle English thesis (“lowering of the voice”) and also borrowed directly from its etymon Latin thesis (“proposition, thesis; lowering of the voice”), from Ancient Greek θέσῐς (thésĭs, “arrangement, placement, setting; conclusion, position, thesis; lowering of the voice”), from τῐ́θημῐ (tĭ́thēmĭ, “to place, put, set; to put down in writing; to consider as, regard”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”)) + -σῐς (-sĭs, suffix forming abstract nouns or nouns of action, process, or result). The English word is a doublet of deed.
Sense 1.1 (“proposition or statement supported by arguments”) is adopted from antithesis. Sense 1.4 (“initial stage of reasoning”) was first used by the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814), and later applied to the dialectical method of his countryman, the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831).
The plural form theses is borrowed from Latin thesēs, from Ancient Greek θέσεις (théseis).

der

Senses relating to logic, rhetoric, etc.

(logic) An affirmation, or distinction from a supposition or hypothesis.

(philosophy) In the dialectical method of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: the initial stage of reasoning where a formal statement of a point is developed; this is followed by antithesis and synthesis.


Venus

From Middle English Venus, from Latin Venus.

Coordinate term: (Greek counterpart) Aphrodite

Their figures are universally models for brunette Venuses, and their feet arch like rainbows, and are Cinderellian in size.

1888 June 2, “Senoritas of Brazil. [Chicago Mail.]”, in The Cincinnati Enquirer, volume XLVI, number 154, page 13, column 3:

(Roman mythology) The goddess of love, beauty, fertility, and sexuality;


direct

en-adj

direct (comparative more direct, superlative most direct)

more direct (comparative)
most direct (superlative)
darect (alternative India)

/daɪ̯əˈɹɛkt/

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

m+

law of the excluded middle
law of the excluded middle

(mathematics, logic, of a proof) Not employing the law of the excluded middle or argument by contradiction.


manticore

/ˈmæntɪˌkɔɹ/

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

From Latin mantichōras, from Ancient Greek μαρτιχόρας (martikhóras, “man-eater; tiger”), from Old Persian *martyahvārah (“man-eater”), from 𐎶𐎼𐎫𐎡𐎹 (m-r-t-i-y /martyaʰ/, “man”).

der

Now may I present to you the basilisk?
Please down your goggles if you wish to resist
From the fiery depths of the planet’s core
The never sleeping for want of eating unholy stench of the manticore

2005, “Circus Maximus”, performed by Clutch:

(Greek mythology) A beast with the body of a lion (usually red), the tail of a scorpion, and the head/face of a man with a mouth filled with multiple rows of sharp teeth (like a shark), said to be able to shoot spikes from its tail or mane to paralyse prey. It may be horned, winged, or both; its voice is described as a mixture of pipes and trumpets.


assertoric

/ˌæsɚˈtɔɹɪk/

(logic) Stating that which is actual, usually in contrast with modal sentences.


centaur

From Latin centaurus, from Ancient Greek κένταυρος (kéntauros), from Κένταυρος (Kéntauros, “a member of a savage race from Thessaly”).

(Greek mythology) A mythical beast having a horse's body with a man's head and torso in place of the head and neck of the horse.


basilisk

basilisks (plural)
basilisc (alternative)

From Middle English basilicke, borrowed from Old French basilique, from Latin basiliscus, from Ancient Greek βασιλίσκος (basilískos) (literally "minor king or chieftain", possibly based on descriptions or rare encounters with different types of cobra which have crown-like patterns on their head; the "deadly gaze" could have been from the spitting cobra's ability to spit venom into the eyes of predators or prey from a distance), from βασιλεύς (basileús, “king”). The cognitohazard/infohazard sense is by analogy with the deadly gaze of the mythical creature.

the deadly look of the basilisk

The queſtion is in vvhat part of this Serpent the poyſon doth lye; Some ſay in the head alone, and that therefore the Bazeliske is deafe, bycauſe the Ayre vvhich ſerueth the Organe of hearing, is reſolued by the intenſiue calidity: but this ſeemeth not to bee true, […]

1608, Edward Topsell, “Of the Cockatrice”, in The Historie of Serpents. Or, The Second Booke of Liuing Creatures: […], London: […] William Jaggard, →OCLC, page 124:

And without more ado she […] fixed her wonderful eyes upon me - more deadly than any Basilisk's - and pierced me through and through with their beauty, and sent her light laugh ringing through the air like chimes of silver bells.

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

As a revolutionary act of prophecy in an age of political science, Wissenkunst is a unique and anarchic expression of freedom, and not a new and aspiring system of indoctrination. If Wissenkunst is itself turned into political apologetics, then the fabulous plumed serpent is turned into a monster, a basilisk.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 249:

(mythology) A mythical snake-like dragon, so venomous that even its gaze is deadly.


mode

From Old French mode (masculine), from Latin modus (“measure, due measure, rhythm, melody”). Doublet of modus.

tila

mathematics, physics: state of a system represented by an eigenfunction of that system

A particular means of accomplishing something.

(philosophy) That which exists only as a quality of substance.


Capricornus

/ˌkæpɹɪˈkɔːnəs/

/ˌkæpɹɪˈkɔːɹnəs/

From Middle English, borrowed from Latin Capricornus, from capra (“goat”) and cornū (“horn”).

(astrology) Capricorn, one of the signs.


opposition

/ˌɒp.əˈzɪʃ.ən/

/ˌɑ.pəˈzɪʃ.ən/

From Middle English opposicioun, from Old French oposicion (whence French opposition), from Late Latin oppositiō, translating Ancient Greek ἀντίθεσις (antíthesis), from the past participle stem of classical Latin oppōnō (“I set against”).

(logic) The difference of quantity or quality between two propositions having the same subject and predicate.


allopoiesis

autopoiesis

antonym(s) of “creation of something other than the self”

(philosophy) Creation of something other than the self.

alopoiese

(philosophy) Creation by something else than the self.


cup

→ Farefare: kɔpɩ

→ Hebrew: קאפ (kap)

→ Japanese: カップ (kappu)

desc

→ Kashubian: kopsa (Canada, United States)

→ Korean: 컵 (keop)

→ Maori: kapu

Inherited from Middle English cuppe, coppe, from the merger of Old English cuppe (“cup”) and Old English copp (“cup, vessel”).
Old English cuppe is a borrowing from Late Latin cuppa, itself of obscure origin, but probably from earlier Latin cūpa (“tub, cask”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewp- (“a hollow”). Old English copp, however, is from Proto-West Germanic *kopp (“round object, bowl, vessel, knoll, summit, crown of the head”), from Proto-Germanic *kuppaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend, curve, arch”) (whence also obsolete English cop (“top, summit, crown of the head”), German Kopf (“top, head”)).
The Middle English word was further reinforced by Anglo-Norman cupe and Old French cope, coupe, from Latin cuppa. Compare also Saterland Frisian Kop (“cup”), West Frisian kop (“cup”), Dutch kop (“cup”), German Low German Koppke, Köppke (“cup”), Danish kop (“cup”), Swedish kopp (“cup”). Doublet of coupe, hive, and keeve.

unk

obscure

cog

that and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee

that and a nickel will buy you a cup of coffee

that and twenty-five cents will get you a cup of coffee

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

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

(tarot) A suit of the minor arcana in tarot, or one of the cards from the suit.


fool

full (accents with FOOT-GOOSE merger or full-fool merger)

From Middle English fole (“fool”), from Old French fol (cf. modern French fou (“mad”)) from Latin follis. Doublet of fals and follis. Displaced native Old English dwæs.

(tarot, often capitalized Fool) A particular card in a tarot deck, representing a jester.


figure

→ Japanese: フィギュア (figyua)

From Middle English figure, borrowed from Old French figure, from Latin figūra (“form, shape, form of a word, a figure of speech, Late Latin a sketch, drawing”), from fingō (“to form, shape, mold, fashion”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- (“to mold, shape, form, knead”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τεῖχος (teîkhos), Sanskrit देग्धि (degdhi), Old English dāg (“dough”). More at dough. Doublet of figura.

der

(logic) The form of a syllogism with respect to the relative position of the middle term.

its quality, like those of all the rest, is determined by its position in the house of the astrological figure

1889, Franz Hartmann, The Principles of Astrological Geomancy:

(astrology) A horoscope; the diagram of the aspects of the astrological houses.


Saturn

From Old English Sætern, from Latin Sāturnus, probably from Etruscan 𐌔𐌀𐌕𐌓𐌄 (satre), plausibly influenced by Latin satus, past participle of serere (“to sow”).

(Roman mythology) The god of fertility and agriculture, equivalent to the Greek Kronos.


dependent

dependents (plural)
dependant (alternative Commonwealth UK)

From Middle English dependaunt, dependent, from Middle French dependant (present participle of dependre (“to depend”)) and Latin dēpendēns (present participle of dēpendeō (“to depend”)). By surface analysis, depend + -ent.

(philosophy) dependent (origination), in Buddhism, the idea that the existence of everything is conditional and dependent on a cause, and that nothing happens fortuitously or by chance.


token

From Middle English token, taken, from Old English tācn (“sign”), from Proto-West Germanic *taikn, from Proto-Germanic *taikną, from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show, instruct, teach”) with Germanic *k rather than *h by Kluge's law. The verb is from Middle English toknen, from Old English tācnian. Cognate with German Zeichen, Dutch teken and Danish tegn.

that and a token will get you on the subway

(philosophy) A particular thing to which a concept applies.


token

en-verb

token (third-person singular simple present tokens, present participle tokening, simple past and past participle tokened)

tokens (present singular third-person)
tokening (participle present)
tokened (participle past)
tokened (past)

In which sense does ‘∀p ~(p & ~p)’ cause the tokening of the belief in the subject?

2008 August 27, Mikkel Gerken, “Is There a Simple Argument for Higher-Order Representation Theories of Awareness Consciousness?”, in Erkenntnis, volume 69, number 2, →DOI:


leviathan

leviathans (plural)
Leviathan (alternative)

→ Translingual: †Leviathan

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

From Middle English levyethan, levyathan, etc., from Late Latin leviathan, a transliteration of Biblical Hebrew לִוְיָתָן (liv'yatán).

Canſt thou dravv out Leuiathan vvith an hooke? or his tongue vvith a corde vvhich thou letteſt dovvne?

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 41:1, column 1:

The fog seemed to break away as though split by a wedge, and the bow of a steamboat emerged, trailing fog-wreaths on either side like seaweed on the snout of Leviathan.

1904, Jack London, chapter 1, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC:

(biblical, mythology) A vast sea monster of tremendous strength, described as the most powerful and dangerous creature in the ocean.


non sequitur

en-noun

non sequitur (plural non sequiturs or non sequuntur)

non sequiturs (plural)
non sequuntur (plural)
non-sequitur (alternative)
nonsequitur (alternative)

Learned borrowing from Latin phrase nōn sequitur (“it does not follow”).

what does that have to do with the price of tea in China

(logic) Any invalid argument in which the conclusion cannot be logically deduced from the premises.


ren

Learned borrowing from Egyptian rn, r:n-A2

For the Ren did not belong to the man, but came out of the Celestial Waters to enter an infant in the hour of his birth and might not stir again until it was time to go back.

(Egyptian mythology) One’s name, as part of the soul in ancient Egyptian mythology.