book

books (plural)
boke (alternative obsolete)
booke (alternative archaic)

Sranan Tongo: buku

desctree

Tok Pisin: buk
→ Rotokas: vuku
→ Takia: buk

→ Chichewa: buku

→ Hawaiian: puke

→ Lingala: búku

→ Malagasy: boky

→ Maori: pukapuka (with reduplication)

→ Marshallese: bok

→ Motu: buka

→ Shona: bhuku

→ Somali: buugga

i

possibly also from Afrikaans <i class="Latn mention" lang="af">boek</i>

→ Sotho: buka (possibly also from Afrikaans boek)

→ Zulu: ibhuku (possibly also from Afrikaans boek)

From Middle English bok, book, from Old English bōc, from Proto-West Germanic *bōk, from Proto-Germanic *bōks. Eclipsed non-native Middle English livret, lyveret (“book, booklet”) from Old French livret (“book, booklet”). Bookmaker sense by clipping.

some speakers from Northern England and Ireland

buck (without the foot-strut split, when pronounced /bʊk/)

have more chins than a Chinese phone book

why buy a book when you can join a library

why buy a book when you can join the library

(cartomancy) The twenty-sixth Lenormand card.


abada

From Portuguese abada (“female rhinoceros”), from Malay badak (“rhinoceros”).

It is certain that the unicorn is not to be confounded with the abada, about which they usually dispute; this one may see by the difference of their names, as well as by the difference of their body and parts […]

1864, William Winwood Reade, Savage Africa, page 373:

(mythology) A herbivorous mythological creature of the Central African Congo, similar to the unicorn. Its horns are said to be an antidote to poisons, and it has brown fur, two crooked horns and a boar's tail.


abduction

en-noun

abduction (countable and uncountable, plural abductions)

From Latin abductiō(n) (“robbing; abduction”), from abdūcō (“take or lead away”), from ab (“away”) + dūcō (“to lead”). By surface analysis, abduct + -ion.
* (physiology): From French, from Latin abductus.
* Compare French abduction.

der

But fear of abduction never stopped a good ufologist.

2010, Monte Dwyer, Red in the Centre: Through a Crooked Lens, Monyer Pty Ltd, page 122:


planet

From Middle English planete, from Old French planete, from Latin planeta, planetes, from Ancient Greek πλανήτης (planḗtēs, “wanderer”) (ellipsis of ἀστέρες πλανῆται (astéres planêtai, “wandering stars”)), from Ancient Greek πλανάω (planáō, “wander about, stray”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Latin pālor (“wander about, stray”), Old Norse flana (“to rush about”), and Norwegian flanta (“to wander about”). More at flaunt. So called because they have apparent motion, unlike the "fixed" stars. Originally including also the moon and sun but not the Earth; modern scientific sense of "world that orbits a star" is from 1630s in English. The Greek word is an enlarged form of πλάνης (plánēs, “who wanders around, wanderer”), also "wandering star, planet", in medicine "unstable temperature."

ellipsis of

ἀστέρες πλανῆται

der

Be they not dreames of humane vanity,[…]to make of our knowne earth a bright shining planet [translating astre]?

1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 260:

The moon[…]began to rise from her bed, where she had slumbered away the day, in order to sit up all night. Jones had not travelled far before he paid his compliments to that beautiful planet, and, turning to his companion, asked him if he had ever beheld so delicious an evening?

1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 288:

Another of Boehme's followers, the Welshman Morgan Llwyd, also believed that the seven planets could be found within man.

1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 361:

(now historical or astrology) Each of the seven major bodies which move relative to the fixed stars in the night sky—the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

апланета

each of the seven major bodies which move relative to the fixed stars in the night sky


star

Sranan Tongo: stari
Aukan: sitali

→ Finnish: stara

→ French: star

→ German: Star

→ Italian: star

→ Swahili: staa

From Middle English sterre, from Old English steorra (“star”), from Proto-West Germanic *sterrō, variant of *sternō, from Proto-Germanic *sternô, *sternǭ (“star”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (“star”). Doublet of aster, stella, étoile, and estoile.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots starn, ster, North Frisian steer, West Frisian stjer, Saterland Frisian Stiern, Dutch ster, Luxembourgish Stär, German Stern, Yiddish שטערן (shtern), Vilamovian śtaom, Swedish stjärna, Norwegian stjerne, Icelandic stjarna, Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍉 (stairnō), Spanish estrella, Portuguese estrela, French étoile, Italian stella, Romanian stea, Occitan estela, Venetan stéła, Sicilian stidda, Sardinian isteddu, Mirandese streilha, Walloon sitoele, Romansch staila, Megleno-Romanian steau̯ă, Istriot stila, Istro-Romanian ste, Latin stēlla, Greek αστέρι (astéri), Ancient Greek ἀστήρ (astḗr), Old Armenian աստղ (astł), Persian ستاره (setâre), Tajik ситора (sitora), Pashto ستوری (storay), Mazanderani اساره (ëssâre), Northern Kurdish stêr, Central Kurdish ئەستێرە (estêre), Zazaki astare, Ossetian стъалы (st’aly), Hindi तारा (tārā), Urdu تارا (tārā), Punjabi ਤਾਰਾ (tārā), Gujarati તારો (tāro), Sanskrit तारा (tārā).

аеҵǝа

a celestial body appearing as a point of light on the clear night sky, whose position is relatively fixed with respect to each other

What's in the stars for you today? Find out in our horoscope.

But O malignant and ill-boading Starres,[…]

1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v], page 112, column 2:

Men bless their stars and call it luxury.

1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC:

But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud,[…]. By the time we reached the house we were thanking our stars she had come.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, pages 69–70:

(astrology) A planet supposed to influence one's destiny.


shapeshift

en-verb

shapeshift (third-person singular simple present shapeshifts, present participle shapeshifting, simple past and past participle shapeshifted)

shapeshifts (present singular third-person)
shapeshifting (participle present)
shapeshifted (participle past)
shapeshifted (past)

Probably a back-formation from shapeshifter.

For it was by shape-shifting and magic art, as poets tell, that Paris first beguiled Fair Helen.

1891, H. Rider Haggard and Andrew Lang, The World's Desire, volume II, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, page 13:

Journey in exactly the same way as you did to shapeshift into your power animal except, this time, set your intention to shapeshift into a named ancestor.

2010, Mike Williams, Follow the Shaman's Call: An Ancient Path for Modern Lives, page 91:

I can't shapeshift Zane, I only look like this I always have.

But to embed oneself in an irregular and unpredictable food supply as mycelium does, one must be able to shapeshift.

2020, Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, page 57:

(biology, fantasy, mythology, intransitive) To change one's shape or form (into another) through often magical means, normally applied only to living beings.


sun

en-noun

sun (countable and uncountable, plural suns)

suns (plural)
Sun (alternative capitalized)
sonne (alternative)
sunne (alternative)

From Middle English sonne, sunne, from Old English sunne, from Proto-West Germanic *sunnā, from Proto-Germanic *sunnǭ, from heteroclitic inanimate Proto-Indo-European *sh₂wen-, oblique of Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“sun”). See also Saterland Frisian Sunne, West Frisian sinne, German Low German Sünn, Dutch zon, German Sonne, Icelandic sunna; outside of Germanic, Welsh huan, Sanskrit स्वर् (svàr), Avestan 𐬓𐬇𐬧𐬔 (xᵛə̄ṇg)). Related to sol, Sol, Surya, and Helios. More at solar.

sure as the sun is going to come up tomorrow morning

sure as the sun is going to rise tomorrow morning

think the sun shines out of someone's arse

think the sun shines out of someone's ass

think the sun shines out of someone's backside

think the sun shines out of someone's butt

(cartomancy) The thirty-first Lenormand card.


Thanatos

(Greek mythology) The god of death (specifically of a peaceful death), and twin brother of Hypnos (god of sleep); the Greek counterpart of Mors.


Lethean

From Latin Lēthē, from Ancient Greek Λήθη (Lḗthē).

They ferry over this Lethean sound.

The cup which was offered to you when you departed from Elysium was to be the Lethean draught, which would make you forget the joys you had experienced[.]

1813, Thomas Jefferson Hogg, The Memoirs of Prince Alexy Haimatoff, London: T. Hookham, jun., and E.T. Hookham, page 99:

Accordingly, she one day took the Lethean crown from off his head: immediately all his old ideas rushed on his mind, and inflamed him with an ardent desire to revisit his country.

1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 80:

(chiefly poetic, Greek mythology) Of or relating to the river Lethe, one of the four rivers of Hades. Those who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness.


gnosis

gnosis (countable and uncountable, plural gnoses)

From Ancient Greek γνῶσις (gnôsis, “knowledge”).

der

(occult) An altered state of awareness in which the will is magically effective.


conjunction

en-noun

conjunction (countable and uncountable, plural conjunctions)

/kənˈd͡ʒʌŋk.ʃən/

From Old French conjonction, from Latin coniūnctiō (“joining”), from coniungere (“to join”).

(astrology) An aspect in which planets are in close proximity to one another.


AA

en:Alcoholics Anonymous
en:Anna's Archive
en:The AA

In Magic in Theory and Practice, Crowley explains his other Order, the Silver Star (Argentinum Astrum), which certainly does have such a degree. The AA is a totally secret occult organization in which any member should know only the person who initiated him or her and those whom he or she has initiated.

1999, James R. Lewis, Witchcraft Today: An Encyclopedia of Wiccan and Neopagan Traditions, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 219:


world

whirled (with both the wine–whine merger and fern–fir–fur merger)

whorled (with both mergers, Received Pronunciation only)

From Middle English world, weoreld, from Old English weorold (“world”), from Proto-West Germanic *weraldi, from Proto-Germanic *weraldiz (“lifetime, human existence, world”, literally “age/era of man”), equivalent to wer (“man”) + eld (“age”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English mounde (“world”), from Old French monde, munde (“world”). Cognate with Scots warld (“world”), Saterland Frisian Waareld (“world”), West Frisian wrâld (“world”), Afrikaans wêreld (“world”), Dutch wereld (“world”), Low German Werld (“world”), German Welt (“world”), Norwegian Bokmål verden (“(the) world”), Norwegian Nynorsk verd (“world”), Swedish värld (“world”), Icelandic veröld (“world”).

inh

a lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on

an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind

have the world by the tail on a downhill pull

the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world

the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

(tarot) The twenty-second trump or major arcana card of the tarot.


Achilles

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

Borrowed from Latin Achillēs, from Ancient Greek Ἀχιλλεύς (Akhilleús).

Achilleus (alternative)
Akhilles (alternative)
Akhilleus (alternative)

Achilles! a drayman, a porter, a very camel.

c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

Achilles’ wrath, to Greece the direful spring
Of woes unnumber’d, heavenly goddess, sing!

1715, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, chapter 1, in The Iliad of Homer, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:

If once the lamentation is heard, it will ring out again, of the short-lived Achilles, of the leaf-like change and vicissitude of the human race, of the decay of the heroic age.

1910, Friedrich Nietzsche, chapter 3, in William A. Haussmann, transl., edited by Oscar Levy, The Birth of Tragedy; or, Hellenism and Pessimism (The Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche; 1), Edinburgh, London: T. N. Foulis, page 36:

In the last third of the Iliad, Achilles’ beloved companion, Patroklos, and his bitter enemy, Hektor, die wearing Achilles’ armor, their deaths prefiguring Achilles’ own.

2012, Richard Holway, Becoming Achilles: Child-Sacrifice, War, and Misrule in the Iliad and Beyond, Rowman & Littlefield (Lexington Books), page 153:

(Greek mythology) A mythical semidivine hero, the son of Peleus by the nereid Thetis, and prince of the Myrmidons, who features in the Iliad as a central character and the foremost warrior of the Achaean (Greek) camp.


phoenix

en-noun

phoenix (plural phoenix or phoenixes or phoenices)

phoenix (plural)
phoenixes (plural)
phoenices (plural)
phenix (alternative archaic)
phœnix (alternative obsolete)

From Old English and Old French fenix, from Medieval Latin phenix, from Latin phoenīx, from Ancient Greek φοῖνιξ (phoînix), from Egyptian bnw (boinu, “grey heron”). Doublet of Bennu. The grey heron was venerated at Heliopolis and associated in Egypt with the cyclical renewal of life because the bird rises in flight at dawn and migrates back every year in the flood season to inhabit the Nile waters.

burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood

1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 19”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

(mythology) A mythological bird, said to be the only one of its kind, which lives for 500 years and then dies by burning to ashes on a pyre of its own making, ignited by the sun. It then arises anew from the ashes.

(Chinese mythology) A mythological Chinese chimerical bird whose physical body symbolizes the six celestial bodies; a fenghuang.


Jupiter

From Latin Iūpiter (“father Jove”), from Proto-Italic *djous patēr (literally “sky father”) (cognate with Ancient Greek Ζεῦ πάτερ (Zeû páter, “father Zeus”)), from *djous (“day, sky”) + *patēr (“father”), from Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws (literally “the bright one”), from *dyew- (“to be bright, day sky”), and *ph₂tḗr (“father”). Doublet of Dyaus Pita.

der

(Roman mythology) The King of the Gods, also called Jove. Equivalent to the Greek Zeus, Jupiter was one of the children of Saturn. As supreme god of the Roman pantheon, Jupiter was the god of thunder, lightning, and storms, and appropriately called the god of light and sky.


cast

en-verb

cast (third-person singular simple present casts, present participle casting, simple past and past participle cast or (nonstandard) casted)

casts (present singular third-person)
casting (participle present)
cast (participle past)
cast (past)
casted (nonstandard participle past)
casted (nonstandard past)
cast (infinitive)
cast (first-person present singular)
cast (first-person past singular)
cast (present second-person singular)
castest (archaic present second-person singular)
cast (past second-person singular)
castest (archaic past second-person singular)
casts (present singular third-person)
casteth (archaic present singular third-person)
cast (past singular third-person)
cast (plural present)
cast (past plural)
cast (present subjunctive)
cast (past subjunctive)
cast (imperative present)
casting (participle present)
cast (participle past)

New York, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore

Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *kas-
Proto-Germanic *kastōną
Old Norse kastabor.
Middle English casten
English cast
From Middle English casten, from Old Norse kasta (“to throw, cast, overturn”), from Proto-Germanic *kastōną (“to throw, cast”), of unknown origin.
Cognate with Scots cast (“to cast, throw”), Danish kaste (“to throw”), Swedish kasta (“to throw, cast, fling, toss, discard”), Icelandic kasta (“to pitch, toss”). In the sense of "flinging", displaced native warp.
The senses relating to broadcasting are based on that same term; compare -cast.

cog

let he who is without sin cast the first stone

let him that is without sin cast the first stone

let him who is without sin cast the first stone

he is […] a perfect astrologer, that can cast the rise and fall of others, and mark their errant motions to his own use.

, vol.1, New York Review of Books, 2001, p.309

John Gadbury confessed that Mrs Cellier, ‘the Popish Midwife’, had asked him to cast the King's nativity, although the astrology claimed to have refused to do so.

1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 332:

He did the washing up and stayed behind to watch the dinner cook while she hopped off with a friend to have her horoscope cast by another friend.

1985, Lawrence Durrell, Quinx, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p.1197

(social) To predict, to decide, to plan.

(astrology) To calculate the astrological value of (a horoscope, birth etc.).

laatia

astrology: to calculate the astrological value of


age

en-noun

age (countable and uncountable, plural ages)

From Middle English age, Old French aage, eage, edage, from an assumed Vulgar Latin *aetāticum, derived from Latin aetātem, itself derived from aevum (“lifetime”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“vital force”). Compare French âge. Displaced native Old English ieldu.
The verb is from Middle English agen, from the noun. Originally found mostly as a participial adjective, probably an adjective in -ed, derived from the noun, reanalyzed to create a verb; perhaps modeled on such pairs as Latin senēscō (seneō; verb) / senex (adjective) and Middle French vieillir (verb) / vieil (adjective). Also compare Old French se aagier, eogier (“become of age”).

вре́мя

used in its plural form времена (vremena)

век

especially to indicate particular century

поколе́ние

people who live during a particular period

Mr Lewis says we are living in the age of Aquarius, which means that the world is at present passing through the zodiacal sign of Aquarius, the airy constellation.

1911 April 10, The Evening News, Sydney, page 8, column 2:

(astrology) One of the twelve divisions of a Great Year, equal to roughly 2000 years and governed by one of the zodiacal signs; a Platonic month.


square

→ Welsh: sgwâr

From Middle English square, sqware, squyre; from Old French esquarre, esquerre, (modern French équerre), from Vulgar Latin *exquadra, from Latin ex- + quadro, from quadrus (compare English quad and quadra). Doublet of squad and squadra.
Displaced Old English fēowerecge (fēower nominative + ecg accusative, as in "four-edged").

(astrology) The position of planets distant ninety degrees from each other; a quadrate.


square

en-verb

square (third-person singular simple present squares, present participle squaring, simple past and past participle squared)

squares (present singular third-person)
squaring (participle present)
squared (participle past)
squared (past)

подравнявам

to adjust so as to align with or place at a right angle

jalustaa poikittain

nautical: to place at right angles with the keel

the icy Goat, the Crab that square the Scales

1697, Thomas Creech, The five books of M. Manilius containing a system of the ancient astronomy and astrology, done into English verse:

(astrology) To hold a quartile position respecting.

olla suorassa kulmassa ... nähden

astrology: to hold a quartile position respecting


hemisphere

hemispheres (plural)
hemisphære (alternative)

→ Welsh: hemisffer

From Latin hemisphaerium, from Ancient Greek ἡμισφαίριον (hēmisphaírion), from ἡμι- (hēmi-, “half”) + σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “sphere”). Equivalent to hemi- + sphere. Displaced native Old English healftrendel (literally “half-sphere”).

ncog

(astronomy, astrology) Half of the celestial sphere, as divided by either the ecliptic or the celestial equator .

terrestrial hemisphere

geography: half of the terrestrial sphere


tree

Jamaican Creole: chrii

[t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔ʷiː]

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *drew-
Proto-Indo-European *-om
Proto-Germanic *trewą
Proto-West Germanic *treu
Old English trēow
Middle English tre
English tree
 PIE word
 *dóru
From Middle English tre, tree, treo, treou, trew, trow, from Old English trēo, trēow (“tree, wood, timber, beam, log, stake, stick, grove, cross, rood”), from Proto-West Germanic *treu, from Proto-Germanic *trewą (“tree, wood”), from pre-Germanic *dréwom, thematic e-grade derivative of Proto-Indo-European *dóru (“tree”). Eclipsed alternative terms for tree in Middle English: Middle English beem, from Old English bēam (see beam) and Middle English arbre, from Old French arbre.
Cognates
From the same Proto-Indo-European: Scots tree (“wood, rod, stick”), North Frisian tre, trä (“tree”)Danish træ (“tree”), Swedish trä (“wood”), träd (“tree”), Norwegian tre (“tree”), Icelandic tré (“tree”), Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌿 (triu, “tree, wood, piece of wood”), Sanskrit दारु (dāru, “tree, wood”), Albanian dru (“tree, wood”), Welsh dâr (“oaks”), Ancient Greek δόρυ (dóru, “wood, spear”), Russian де́рево (dérevo) or дре́во (drévo), Tocharian A or. Related to tar, true.

cog

fall out of the ugly tree and hit every branch

the apple does not fall far from the tree

the apple doesn't fall far from the tree


fish

en-noun

fish (countable and uncountable, plural fish or fishes)

Sranan Tongo: fisi

→ Chinook Jargon: pish

→ Finnish: fisu

→ Zulu: ufishi

From Middle English fisch, from Old English fisċ (“fish”), from Proto-West Germanic *fisk, from Proto-Germanic *fiskaz (“fish”) (compare West Frisian fisk, Dutch vis, German Fisch, Danish fisk, Norwegian fisk, Swedish fisk, Icelandic fiskur), from Proto-Indo-European *peysk- (“fish”) (compare Irish iasc, Latin piscis).

a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle

a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle

give a man a fish and you feed him for a day

teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime

neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring

neither fish nor flesh, nor good red herring

the cat would eat fish but would not wet her feet

what does that have to do with the price of fish

(cartomancy) The thirty-fourth Lenormand card.


angle

From Middle English angle, angul, angule, borrowed from Middle French angle, from Latin angulus, anglus (“corner, remote area”). Cognate with Old High German ancha (“nape of the neck”), Middle High German anke (“joint of the foot, nape of neck”). Doublet of angulus and ankle.

cog

(astrology) Any of the four cardinal points of an astrological chart: the Ascendant, the Midheaven, the Descendant and the Imum Coeli.


moon

Sranan Tongo: mun

Tok Pisin: mun

Torres Strait Creole: mun

From Middle English mone, from Old English mōna (“moon”), from Proto-West Germanic *mānō, from Proto-Germanic *mēnô (“moon”), from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon, month”), probably from *meh₁- (“to measure”).
cognates and doublets
Cognate with Scots mone, mune, muin (“moon”), North Frisian muun (“moon”), Saterland Frisian Moune (“moon”), West Frisian moanne (“moon”), Dutch maan (“moon”), German Mond (“moon”), Danish måne (“moon”), Norwegian Bokmål måne (“moon”), Norwegian Nynorsk måne (“moon”), Swedish måne (“moon”), Faroese máni (“moon”), Icelandic máni (“moon”), Latin mēnsis (“month”). See also month, a related term within Indo-European.

inh

(cartomancy) The thirty-second Lenormand card.


snake

→ Maori: neke

→ Sranan Tongo: sneki

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Snake.wav

From Middle English snake, from Old English snaca (“snake, serpent, reptile”), from Proto-West Germanic *snakō (“snake”), derived via Proto-Germanic *snakô from Proto-Germanic *snakaną (“to crawl”).
See also German Low German Snake, Snaak (“snake”), dialectal German Schnake (“adder”), Swedish snok (“grass snake”), Danish snog (“grass snake”), Icelandic snákur (“snake”); also Old High German snahhan.

(cartomancy) The seventh Lenormand card.


child

en-noun

child (plural children or (dialectal or archaic) childer)

children (plural)
childer (archaic dialectal plural)
childe (alternative archaic)
chile (alternative Southern-US pronunciation-spelling)
childrens (alternative)
childs (alternative nonstandard rare)

adult

antonym(s) of “person below the age of adulthood”

parent

antonym(s) of “data item, process or object in a subordinate role”

From Middle English child, from Old English ċild, from Proto-West Germanic *kilþ, *kelþ, from Proto-Germanic *kelþaz (“womb; fetus”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵelt- (“womb”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to ball up, amass”).
Cognate with Danish kuld (“brood, litter”), Swedish kull (“brood, litter”), Icelandic kelta, kjalta (“lap”), Gothic 𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌸𐌴𐌹 (kilþei, “womb”), Sanskrit जर्त (jarta), जर्तु (jártu, “vulva”).

der

[ˈt͡ʃaɪ̯.ɫ̩d]

[t͡ʃəɪ̯(ə)ɫd]

offspring and Thesaurus:son and Thesaurus:daughter

call someone everything but a child of God

it is a wise child that knows his own father

(cartomancy) The thirteenth Lenormand card.


gray

From Middle English gray, from Old English grǣġ, from Proto-West Germanic *grāu, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁- (“to green, to grow”).
See also Dutch grauw, German grau, Old Norse grár); also Latin rāvus (“grey”), Old Church Slavonic зьрѭ (zĭrjǫ, “to see, to glance”), Russian зреть (zretʹ, “to watch, to look at”) (archaic), Lithuanian žeriù (“to shine”).

cog

(chiefly US, ufology) Synonym of grey alien.


tower

→ German: Tower

→ Hindi: टावर (ṭāvar)

→ Japanese: タワー (tawā)

→ Korean: 타워 (tawo)

→ Northern Kurdish: tawer

→ Punjabi: ਟਾਵਰ (ṭāvar)

From Middle English tour, tur, tor, from Old English tūr, tor, torr ("tower; rock"; > English tor) and Old French tour, toer, tor; both from Latin turris (“a tower”), Ancient Greek τύρρις (túrrhis) (Hesychius), τύρσις (túrsis).
Compare Scots tour, towr, towre (“tower”), West Frisian toer (“tower”), Dutch toren (“tower”), German Turm (“tower”), Danish tårn (“tower”), Swedish torn (“tower”), Icelandic turn (“tower”), Welsh tŵr.
Doublet of tor, tourelle, and turret.

(cartomancy) The nineteenth Lenormand card, representing structure, bureaucracy, stability and loneliness.


ba

Any ordinary person who has ever floated out of his body during a nap knows what a Ba is, but unfortunately the dogmas of our materialistic culture constrain the person to ignore and repress his experience.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 220:

But the Ba, I remembered, could be seen as the mistress of your heart and might or might not decide to speak to you, just as the heart cannot always forgive.

(Egyptian mythology) A being's soul or personality, represented as a bird-headed figure, which survives after death but must be sustained with offerings of food.


Victoria

en-proper noun

Victoria (countable and uncountable, plural Victorias or Victoriae)

From Latin Victōria, from victōria (“victory”). Doublet of Vitória. The given name can also be analyzed as the male name Victor + -ia. The places were named in honour of Queen Victoria of Great Britain.

(Roman mythology) The Roman goddess of victory, the counterpart of the Greek goddess Nike.


MC

en-noun

MC (countable and uncountable, plural MCs or MC's)

(astrology) Initialism of medium coeli, the midheaven or highest point in the sky. Contrasted to Imum Coeli.


race

race (countable and uncountable, plural races)

1560s, via Middle French race from Italian razza (early 14th century), of uncertain origin. Partially displaced native Middle English kinde (“kind, type, sort, race, nature”), whence English kind.
theories
* Diez and some other scholars suggest derivation from Proto-Germanic *raitō (whence Old High German reiza (“line”) and Old Norse ríta (“to score, log, outline”)), perhaps via Lombardic *raiza (“line”), which Körting notes is a literal rendering of Latin linea sanguinis (“bloodline of descent”). Anatoly Liberman says "the semantic fit is good" but the chronology falters; he says the Germanic word went out of use before the Italian word arose, and he says the intermediary is not attested.
* Some scholars suggest derivation from Old Spanish raza, rasa, from earlier ras, res (“head of cattle”), from Arabic رَأْس (raʔs, “head”), but Italian razza predates the Spanish word according to Diez and Meyer-Lübke.
* Meyer-Lübke suggested Latin generatio as the root; Körting says "the disappearance of two initial syllables hardly seems credible", but Meyer-Lübke notes the Venetian form narazza and the Old Bellunesian form naraccia, positing that after the first syllable ge- was lost, the remaining (una) narazza came to be reanalysed as una razza.
* Gianfranco Contini suggests the Italian word comes from Old French haraz (“troop of horses”), whence Modern French haras (“breeding farm for horses; stud farm”), from Old Norse hárr (“grey-haired; hoary”). Liberman considers this derivation the most likely.
* Other suggested Latin etyma:
** radius (perhaps via Vulgar Latin *radia) (per Baist).
** radix (“root”) (per Ulrich); Liberman says "the semantic match is excellent", and race (“rhizome of ginger”) (which definitely derives from radix) shows that the phonology is plausible.
** *raptiare (“breed falcons”) (per Körting).
** The nominative of ratio (perhaps via an unattested intermediate form *razzo), as opposed to ragione which derives from the accusative rationem.
* Other implausible suggestions include Slavic raz and Basque arraca, supposedly meaning "stud animal" (Basque arrazza, "race", derives from Spanish).

raça

a group of sentient beings distinguished by common characteristics

عِرْق

a large group of people distinguished from others on the basis of physical characteristics

raça

a group of organisms distinguished by common characteristics

A treaty was concluded between the race of elves and the race of men.

There are two distinct races of gods known to Norse mythology[.]

1898, Herman Isidore Stern, The gods of our fathers: a study of Saxon mythology, page 15:

Imagine a race of aliens that develops on a dimly lit world perpetually shrouded in clouds so that vision would be less useful for survival than on Earth.

1999, Clifford A. Pickover, The Science of Aliens, page 47:

Tali: My father is responsible for the lives of seventeen million people—our entire race is in his hands. And I'm his only child.

2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-1:

A group of sentient beings, particularly people, distinguished by common ancestry, heritage or characteristics (see Wikipedia's article on historical definitions of race):

(fantasy, science fiction, mythology) A large group of nonhumans distinguished from others on the basis of a common heritage.


bear

en-noun

bear (countable and uncountable, plural bears)

Belizean Creole: byaa

→ Hawaiian: pea

→ Irish: béar

→ Maori: pea

→ Niuean: pea

→ Tahitian: pea

→ Tokelauan: pea

→ Tyap: a̱bya

→ Wallisian: pea

→ Xhosa: ibhere

From Middle English bere, from Old English bera, from Proto-West Germanic *berō, from Proto-Germanic *berô (compare West Frisian bear, Dutch beer, German Bär, Danish bjørn).
etymology notes
This is generally taken to be from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“shining, brown”) (compare Tocharian A parno, Tocharian B perne (“radiant, luminous”), Lithuanian bė́ras (“brown”)), related to brown, bruin, and beaver.
On this theory, the Germanic languages replaced the older name of the bear, *h₂ŕ̥tḱos, with the epithet "brown one", presumably due to taboo avoidance; compare Russian медве́дь (medvédʹ, “bear”, literally “honey-eater”).
However, Ringe (2006:106) doubts the existence of a root *bʰer- meaning "brown" ("an actual PIE word of [the requisite] shape and meaning is not recoverable") and suggests that a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰwer- (“wild animal”) "should therefore perhaps be preferred", implying a Germanic merger of *ǵʰw and *gʷʰ (*gʷʰ may sometimes result in Germanic *b, perhaps e.g. in *bidjaną, but it also seems to have given the g in gun and the w in warm).

der

don't sell the skin till you have caught the bear

sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you

(cartomancy) The fifteenth Lenormand card.


human

From Late Middle English humaigne, humayne, humain, from Middle French humain, from Old French humain, umain (“of or belonging to man”, adjective), from Latin hūmānus m (“of man, human”, adjective); see there for further details. Spelling human has been predominant since the early 18th century. Not etymologically related to man.

Greetings. I am Blor-Utar from Zimtok-5. I have come to subjugate the human race. Do not resist. Why humans? Because, in addition to their value as slave labor, they are also delicious and nutritious!

1994 March 29, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes:

(strictly, biology) The most abundant of the primates; Homo sapiens.

(fantasy, science fiction, mythology) A human as contrasted from superficially similar but typically more powerful humanoid creatures; a member of the human race.


rod

From Middle English rodde, from Old English *rodd or *rodde (attested in dative plural roddum (“rod, pole”)), of uncertain origin, but probably from Proto-Germanic *rudd- (“stick, club”), from Proto-Indo-European *rewdʰ- (“to clear land”). Compare Old Norse rudda (“club”). For the root, compare English rid. Presumably unrelated to Proto-Germanic *rōdō (“rod, pole”).

These cylindrical rods fly through the air at incredible speeds and can only be picked up by high-speed cameras.

2000, Jack Barranger, Paul Tice, Mysteries Explored: The Search for Human Origins, Ufos, and Religious Beginnings, Book Three, p.37:

During one such broadcast in 1997, the esteemed radio host bellowed, “I got a fax earlier today from MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) in Arizona and they said what you think are rods are actually insects!”

2009, Barry Conrad, An Unknown Encounter: A True Account of the San Pedro Haunting, Dorrance Publishing, pages 129–130:

He tells of a home video showing a rod flying into the open mouth of a girl singing at a wedding.

2010, Deena West Budd, The Weiser Field Guide to Cryptozoology: Werewolves, Dragons, Skyfish, Lizard Men, and Other Fascinating Creatures Real and Mysterious, Weiser Books, page 15:

(ufology) A rod-shaped object that appears in photographs or videos traveling at high speed, not seen by the person recording the event, often associated with extraterrestrial entities.


ring

→ French: ring
→ Romanian: ring

→ Hungarian: ring

→ Italian: ring

→ Japanese: リング

→ Polish: ring

→ Serbo-Croatian: ring

→ Spanish: ring

→ Turkish: ring

From Middle English ryng, from Old English hring (“ring, circle”), from Proto-West Germanic *hring, from Proto-Germanic *hringaz (“ring”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)krengʰ-, extended nasalized form of *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). Doublet of rank and rink, as well as indirectly range.
Cognates
* West Frisian ring
* Low German Ring
* Dutch ring
* German Ring
* Swedish ring
* Finnish rengas
More distantly cognate with Proto-Slavic *krǫgъ (whence Bulgarian кръг (krǎg), Polish krąg, Russian круг (krug)).

(cartomancy) The twenty-fifth Lenormand card.


spread

en-noun

spread (countable and uncountable, plural spreads)

From Middle English spreden, from Old English sprǣdan (“to spread, expand”), from Proto-Germanic *spraidijaną (“to spread”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to strew, sow, sprinkle”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian spreede (“to spread”), West Frisian spriede (“to spread”), North Frisian spriedjen (“to spread”), Dutch spreiden (“to spread”), Low German spreden (“to spread”), German spreiten (“to spread, spread out”), Norwegian spre, spreie (“to spread, disseminate”), Swedish sprida (“to spread”), Latin spernō, spargō, Ancient Greek σπείρω (speírō), Persian سپردن (sepordan, “to deposit”), English spurn.

cog

(cartomancy) A layout, pattern or design of cards arranged for a reading.


anchor

anchors (plural)
anchour (alternative archaic)

→ Chuukese: angko

From Middle English anker, from Old English ancor, ancra, from Latin ancora, from (or cognate with) Ancient Greek ἄγκυρα (ánkura). The modern form is a sixteenth-century modification after the Medieval Latin spelling anchora. Doublet of ancora, anker, angora, and Ankara.

doublet

(cartomancy) The thirty-fifth Lenormand card.


balance

en-noun

balance (countable and uncountable, plural balances)

balances (plural)
balaunce (alternative)

bias

antonym(s) of “support for both viewpoints”

From Middle English balaunce, from Old French balance, from Late Latin *bilancia, from (accusative form of) Latin bilanx (“two-scaled”), from bi- + lanx (“plate, scale”).
Displaced the word — Old English wǣġ akin to Modern English: wey from Proto-West Germanic *wāgu (“scales; weight”).


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.


fox

en-noun

fox (countable and uncountable, 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.


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.


house

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.


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 imperō (“to command”). Doublet of imperator. Displaced earlier Old English casere, from Latin Caesar.

(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.


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.


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.


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.


labyrinth

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

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.


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.


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.


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


Nike

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

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


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.


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.


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.


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.


detriment

en-noun

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.


Larissa

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Λάρισσα (Lárissa).

bor+

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


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.


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.


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.


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.


decile

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


Venus

From Middle English Venus, from Latin Venus.

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;


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.


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.


Capricornus

/ˌkæpɹɪˈkɔːnəs/

/ˌkæpɹɪˈkɔːɹnəs/

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

(astrology) Capricorn, one of the signs.


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 (dégdhi), Old English dāg (“dough”). More at dough. Doublet of figura.

der

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.


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.


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.


nymph

nymphs (plural)
nymphae (plural)
nymphe (alternative archaic rare)

From Middle English nimphe, from Old English nymphē and Old French nimphe, both from Latin nympha (“nymph, bride”), from Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē, “bride”). Doublet of nympha.

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) Any female nature spirit associated with water, forests, grotto, wind, etc.

нимфа

mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit


fairy

en-noun

fairy (countable and uncountable, plural fairies)

fairies (plural)
faery (alternative)
faëry (alternative)
faerie (alternative)
faërie (alternative)
færie (alternative archaic nonstandard)
fairie (alternative)

From Middle English faierie, fairie, from Old French faerie, from fae + -erie, from Latin fāta (“goddess of fate”). Equivalent to fay + -ry. Attested in English from about 1330, in King Alisaunder, first in the sense of "enchantment, illusion, dream" ("that thou herdest is fairye") and shortly thereafter "realm of the fays, fairy-land" and "the inhabitants of fairyland, collectively". The re-interpretation of the term as a countable noun denoting individual inhabitants of fairy-land can be traced to the 1390s, but became common only in the 16th century, perhaps due to reinterpreting phrases like faerie knight.

"They used to say there were fairies in that hill, I must tell you!"

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 51:

(mythology) A mythical being of human form with magical powers, known in many sizes and descriptions, although often depicted in modern illustrations only as a small sprite with gauze-like wings, especially one that is female. Fairies are revered in some modern forms of paganism.


imp

From Middle English impe, ympe (“tree branch; shoot, sprig; graft, scion; young tree, sapling, seedling; tree”) [and other forms], from Old English impa, impe (“shoot, sprig; graft, scion; young tree, sapling, seedling”), from impian, ġeimpian (“to graft”) (see etymology 1).

"Yes, there are a great, great many coming after us; at least a score," said the lad.—"Well, that's the troll," said the horse; "he is coming after us with his imps."

1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], “The Widow’s Son”, in H[ans] L[ien] Brækstad, transl., Round the Yule Log: Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 218:

It was as if there were little imps dancing in my mouth, and every so often, when a situation arose, they'd get together, giggle wickedly, and try to push words out of my open mouth.

1981 December 1, Ruth Geller, “The Lesbian Teacher”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 20, page 5:

(chiefly fiction and mythology) A small, mischievous sprite or a malevolent supernatural creature, somewhat comparable to a demon but smaller and less powerful, formerly regarded as the child of the devil or a demon (see sense 3.2).


sphinx

sphinxes (plural)
sphinges (plural)
sphynx (alternative obsolete)
spynx (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English Spynx, from Latin Sphinx, from Ancient Greek Σφίγξ (Sphínx), perhaps either from σφίγγω (sphíngō, “to squeeze, to strangle”) (whence also sphincter), of Pre-Greek origin, or from Egyptian Szp:p-A53-anx-n:x (šzp-ꜥnḫ, “divine image”, literally “living image”).

der

<i class="Latn mention" lang="egy">šzp-ꜥnḫ</i>

[W]hatsoe'er of strange / Sculptured on alabaster obelisk, / Or jasper tomb, or mutilated sphynx, / Dark Æthiopia in her desert hills. / Conceals.

1815 September 10 – December 14, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude”, in Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude: And Other Poems, London: […] Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, […]; and Carpenter and Son, […] [b]y S[amuel] Hamilton, […], published 1816, →OCLC, page 9:

(mythology) A creature with the head of a person and the body of an animal, commonly a lion.

أَبُو الهَوْل

mythology: creature with the head of a person and the body of an animal


gnome

From French gnome (“gnome”), from New Latin gnomus, used by Paracelsus as a synonym for pygmaeus (“pygmy”).

When the trees were disposed of, the gnomes vanished again.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 226:

There were not one but four gnomes standing at his feet. “I nearly trod on you,” Daniel said. “What are you doing here?”
The gnomes just stood, looking up at him.

2011, Ross Lawhead, The Realms Thereunder, page 251:

(mythology, fantasy) One of a race of imaginary human-like beings, usually depicted as short and typically bearded males, who inhabit the inner parts of the earth and act as guardians of mines, mineral treasure, etc.; in modern fantasy literature and games, when distinguished from dwarves, gnomes are usually smaller than dwarves and more focused on engineering than mining.


guide

→ Hindi: गाइड (gāiḍ)

→ Japanese: ガイド (gaido)

→ Korean: 가이드 (gaideu)

→ Norwegian: guide

→ Swedish: guide

→ Urdu: گائیڈ (gāeḍ)

c. 1325–75. From Middle English guide, from the Old French guide, from Old Occitan guida, from guidar, from Frankish *wītan (“to show the way, lead”), from Proto-Germanic *wītaną (“to see, know; go, depart”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, know”). Cognate with Old English wītan (“to see, take heed to, watch after, guard, keep”). Related also to English wit.

cog

The familiars of the magicians, on the other hand, were not in all cases evil, and often may have approximated the "guides" with whom present-day spiritualists are well acquainted.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 75:

(occult) A spirit believed to speak through a medium.


demon

demons (plural)
daimon (alternative)
daemon (alternative)
dæmon (alternative)

Anthony the Great
Michelangelo
en:demon
en:demon (disambiguation)

From Middle English demon, a borrowing from Medieval Latin dēmōn, daemōn (“lar, familiar spirit, guardian spirit”), from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn, “dispenser, god, protective spirit”). Doublet of daimon.

der

(Greek mythology) A tutelary deity or spirit intermediate between the major Olympian gods and mankind, especially a deified hero or the entity which supposedly guided Socrates, telling him what not to do.


Aquarius

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

Borrowed from Latin aquārius (“water carrier”), from aqua (“water”) + -arius. See also aquarium.

(astrology) The zodiac sign for the water carrier, ruled by Uranus or Saturn, covering January 20 – February 18 (tropical astrology) or February 15 – March 14 (sidereal astrology).


Scorpio

/ˈskɔːɹpɪoʊ/

From Latin scorpiō (“scorpion”). Doublet of scorpion.

(astrology) The zodiac sign for the scorpion, ruled by Mars and covering October 23 - November 22 (tropical astrology) or November 16 - December 15 (sidereal astrology).


vertex

Late Middle English, borrowed from Latin vertex (“whirl, eddy; top, crown, peak, summit”). Doublet of vortex.

Mathworld article on vertices of polyhedra

Mathworld article on vertices of polygons

(astrology) The point where the prime vertical meets the ecliptic in the western hemisphere of a natal chart.