Latin

en-proper noun

Latin (countable and uncountable, plural Latins)

From Middle English Latin, Latyn, from Old English Lǣden, from Vulgar Latin *ladinum (“Latin”) and Old French latin (“Latin”); all from Latin Latinus (“belonging to Latium”). Later influenced in form by the Latin word. Compare Dutch Latijn (“Latin”), German Latein (“Latin”), Swedish Latin (“Latin”).

(printing) The nonsense placeholder text (often based on real Latin) used in greeking.


Luna

From Middle English lune, luna (“the moon”), from Latin lūna/Lūna, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂. Doublet of Roxane.

Luna that ne'er shines by day.

1868, George Villiers Duke of Buckingham, Edward Arber, The Rehearsal: With Illustrations from Previous Plays, Etc, page 129:

He has but little prudence, no apprehension of consequences, and none of that melancholy which in tempraments of Luna and Venus is generally felt, and from which he is saved by the combination of Mars and Mercury.

1896, The Era Almanack, Dramatic & Musical, page 22:

The different visible shapes of Luna are called her phases.

1909, Govind H. Keskar, Combined Introductory Astrology, page 14:

Lagrange point L1 is the perfect location for humanity's next major space station, the natural gateway to the moon. This one-of-a-kind point in space is located on the direct line between Earth and Luna about 200,000 miles from Earth, or conversely, a mere 39,000 miles above the geometric center of Luna's nearside.

2011, Charles Lee Lesher, Aldrin Station - Rise of Luna:

(chiefly science fiction or poetic) The name of Earth's moon; Moon.


Matrix

the Matrix (canonical)
matrix (alternative)

From the 1984 novel Neuromancer and popularized in the 1999 movie The Matrix.

“The matrix has its roots in primitive arcade games,” said the voice-over, “in early graphics programs and military experimentation with cranial jacks.” […] “Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts … A graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. […]”

1984, William Gibson, chapter 3, in Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 51:

Now some folks want to claim that we're in the Matrix right now (or that the physical world is an illusion).

2009 September 23, possum, “Re: In which the Trollpa evinzes hizzelf aza profezzional nuizzance”, in talk.religion.buddhism (Usenet), message-ID <64c3fc87-b24c-4339-9e04-b4ecaa1497f7@a6g2000vbp.googlegroups.com>:

2017, Chuck Lorre Productions #557 (post-episode text), "The Recollection Dissipation", The Big Bang Theory
Recent events have made it abundantly clear that the fabric of the universe is unraveling. Reality as you know it, the matrix if you will, is dissolving.

(science fiction) A simulated reality to which many humans are connected. In some works created by sentient machines to subdue humans.


O

en-noun

O (countable and uncountable, plural Os)

American Library Association
w:American Library Association

(printing) American Library Association abbreviation of octavo, a book size (20-25 cm).


Q

(literature, pseudonym) Arthur Quiller-Couch.


Roman

en-adj

Roman (comparative more Roman, superlative most Roman)

more Roman (comparative)
most Roman (superlative)

From Old French Romain, from Latin Rōmānus. In reference to the Byzantine Empire, via the Byzantine Greek endonym Ῥωμαῖος (Rhōmaîos). By surface analysis, Rome + -an. Doublet of Romano.

(typography) A font that is upright, as opposed to oblique or italic. (See roman font.)


Roman

(printing, countable) A single letter or character in Roman type.


Shylock

Possibly derived from Hebrew שלח (Šélaḥ, the grandson of Shem), or Old Saxon [Term?] (“white-haired”), referring to goldsmiths and scriveners. It may also be derived from Michael Lok and an archaic meaning of shy (“untrustworthy”).

(fiction) A moneylender (Jewish stereotype) in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.


Sol

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

(poetic, science fiction) The Sun, the star orbited by the Earth.


Standard

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

"I felt that I had to come," she said, as if she could tell from my face that I still wasn't getting it. She spoke Standard, with no real accent. She was dressed in pragmatic, sexless human clothes; if we hadn't been face-to-face, she could have passed for a human.

1996, Joan D. Vinge, Dreamfall, New York, N.Y.: Warner Books, →ISBN, page 150:

universal language
universal language#Noun

(science fiction, fantasy) Denoting the name of a universal language in various works.


Tellus

Borrowed from Latin tellus (“Earth, globe, world”), from Proto-Italic *telnos, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *telnos ~ *telnes-, from *telh₂- (“flat ground”), but reshaped after rūs. Otherwise, could derive from Etruscan 𐌕𐌖𐌋𐌀𐌓 (tular, “earth”).

bor+

"Greetings, oh guests from Tellus! I feel more like myself, now that I am again in my trappings and have my weapons at my side." He attached a timepiece to the wrist of each of the guests, with a bracelet of the blue metal. "Will you accompany me to fourth-meal or aren't you hungry?"

1958, Edward E[lmer] Smith, The Skylark of Space, revised edition, Pyramid Books, page 121:

(literary, now chiefly science fiction) The planet Earth.


Tonto

From Spanish tonto (“fool, idiot”), the Spanish name for the tribe, a calque of Western Apache kounʼnde (“wild rough people”). The fictional character (described as Comanche or Potawatomi) either from Potawatomi or named after Tonto Basin, Arizona.

cal

(fiction) The Native American sidekick of the Lone Ranger.


Winter

en-noun

Winter (countable and uncountable, plural Winters)

(poetry) Alternative letter-case form of winter.


Yahoo

Century Dictionary
Gulliver's Travels
Jonathan Swift
Yahoo (Gulliver's Travels)

Coined by Jonathan Swift in Gulliver's Travels. According to the Century Dictionary, "[a] made name, prob[ably] meant to suggest disgust".

I therefore often begged his Favour to let me go among the Herds of Yahoos in the Neighbourhood, to which he always very graciouſly conſented, being perfectly convinced, that the Hatred I bore thoſe Brutes, would never ſuffer me to be corrupted by them; […]

1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Relates Several Particulars of the Yahoos. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part IV (A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms), pages 271–272:

(fiction) One of a race of brutes, who look and act similar to men, inhabiting the same land as the civilized Houyhnhnms.


shuck

(European folklore) A supernatural and generally malevolent black dog in English folklore.


MAC

MAC (countable and uncountable, plural MACs)

(science fiction) Initialism of magnetic accelerator cannon.


martial

From Middle English martial, marcial, mercial, mercialle (“relating to war, warlike; military; for use in fighting or warfare; brave, hardy; combative, fierce; ruthless, vicious; domineering, overbearing”), from Middle French martial (modern French martial (“martial”)), or directly from its etymon Latin mārtiālis (“of or pertaining to Mars, the Roman god of war”), from Mārtius (“of or pertaining to Mars”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship). The English word is cognate with Italian marziale (“martial”), Portuguese marcial (“martial”), Spanish marcial (“martial”).

der

The Martials, if there be Martials in any sense in which there are terrestrials on our own planet, may have no eyes at all; their whole civilisation, if they have say, may depend on senses of which we have absolutely no trace, [...]

1892, The Spectator: A Weekly Review of Politics, Literature, Theology, and Art, volume LXIX, London: F. C. Westley, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 218, column 2:

(chiefly science fiction, obsolete) Synonym of Martian (“inhabitant of the planet Mars”).


Martial

From Latin Martialis (“Roman cognomen”), from martiālis (“belonging or dedicated to the Mars, the Roman god of war, or to war”), from Mārs (“the god Mars; the planet Mars”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns).

The Martials, if there be Martials in any sense in which there are terrestrials on our own planet, may have no eyes at all; their whole civilisation, if they have say, may depend on senses of which we have absolutely no trace, […]

(chiefly science fiction, obsolete) Alternative letter-case form of martial (“inhabitant of the planet Mars; Martian”).


fondu

en-noun

fondu (countable and uncountable, plural fondus)

Borrowed from French fondu (“melted”). Compare fondue.

(printing) The graded shift from one color into another.


middle-earth

(fiction) Alternative letter-case form of Middle-earth: the setting of the Lord of the Rings mythos.


elegant variation

elegant variation (countable and uncountable, plural elegant variations)

Introduced by H. W. Fowler and F. G. Fowler in The King's English (1906).

A closely related rule for encoding legal texts is the same meaning, same form principle. We saw previously that this rule requires lawyers to avoid elegant variation. Instead, they should consistently use one word if they mean the same thing.

1999, Peter M. Tiersma, Legal Language, University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 131:

(journalism, literature) The use of synonyms to avoid repetition (regarded as a stylistic fault when done excessively).

Francis George Fowler
H. W. Fowler
The King's English


CMYK

(computing, printing) Initialism of cyan, magenta, yellow, key: the colour model used in colour printing.


pulp

en-adj

pulp (comparative more pulp, superlative most pulp)

more pulp (comparative)
most pulp (superlative)

From Middle English pulpe, from Latin pulpa.

The Nightwing annual had what felt like a very 'pulp-ish' plot, and the Superman annual was great, with a very pulp plot and a^([sic]) incredible Doc Savage tribute cover.

1997 July 22, Eric Gimlin, “Re: Annual theme '98”, in rec.arts.comics.dc.universe (Usenet), message-ID <33D504B4.105@swbell.net>:

Rather than Asimov I might suggest Stanley Weinbaum (since he died young and early in his career, he is far more "pulp" than Asimov - and remarkably readable - there is a LANCER collection of some of his short stories).

2003 January 3, Mark Wheatley, “Re: PULP 2003 READING”, in alt.pulp (Usenet), message-ID <3E159FC7.70409@insightstudiosgroup.com>:

(fiction) Of or pertaining to pulp magazines; in the style of a pulp magazine or the material printed within such a publication.


run down

en-verb

run down (third-person singular simple present runs down, present participle running down, simple past ran down, past participle run down)

runs down (present singular third-person)
running down (participle present)
ran down (past)
run down (participle past)

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

If they occasionally supply any additional copy after this element, run it down with a manual line break.

(transitive, typography) To move (some copy) down to the next line.


kicker

In a printing machine, the combination of a kicker mechanism for displacing a newspaper […]

1931, Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, page 490:

(printing) A device that periodically displaces a newspaper from the print production line, to aid in gathering the newspapers into fixed-size bundles.


interpunct

From Latin interpunctus, from inter- (“between, mid-”) + punctus (“point”).


Neptunian

From Neptune (“eighth planet in the solar system”) + -ian.

suffix

I need not say that from Neptune the earth is completely invisible, as well as Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter. Saturn is a little star which departs from the sun up to 18°. For the Neptunians the solar system appears to be composed of the sun, Saturn, Uranus, their own world, and the planet which doubtless gravitates beyond Neptune.

1894, Camille Flammarion, “The Planet Neptune and the Frontiers of the Solar Domain”, in J[ohn] Ellard Gore, transl., Popular Astronomy: A General Description of the Heavens: … Translated from the French with the Author’s Sanction, London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 470:

We learn the energy quotient of a bogus Earthling, note how much it varies from that of a genuine one, and then proceed to carefully single out every Neptunian. It will take time, no doubt, but not perhaps as long as we think, as the percentage of Neptunians to Earthlings is small.

1952, John Russell Fearn, chapter 12, in Quorne Returns (The Golden Amazon Saga; book 6), [Rockville, Md.]: Wildside Press, published 2013, →ISBN, page 102:

Pretend that you are a visitor to Earth from the planet Neptune. When you return home you will want to describe Earthlings to your fellow Neptunians. [...] Good luck! Or as Neptunians say, "Urk bliff!"

2001, Justin McCory Martin, “March”, in Marvelous Month-by-month Writing Prompts: 250 Knock-their-socks-off Writing Prompts to Inspire Super Writing All Year Long!, New York, N.Y.: Scholastic Professional Books, →ISBN, page 43:

Since Neptune had been the chosen planet to help Earth work through its current series of crises, Neptunians were key beings at this time. Each visit to Earth was a specific mission for those who were chosen to travel there.

2001 April 12, Patricia Ann Pich, “Neptune”, in Out of this World: A Fairy Tale for Children of All Ages, [Bloomington, Ind.]: 1stBooks, →ISBN, pages 5–6:

(chiefly science fiction) An (imaginary) inhabitant of the planet Neptune.


OCD

Oxford Classical Dictionary
w:Oxford Classical Dictionary

(publishing, history) Initialism of Oxford Classical Dictionary.


zombify

en-verb

zombify (third-person singular simple present zombifies, present participle zombifying, simple past and past participle zombified)

zombifies (present singular third-person)
zombifying (participle present)
zombified (participle past)
zombified (past)
zombiefy (alternative)

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

She managed to flee the sorcerer who had attempted to zombify her and enjoyed relative prosperity in Jamaica.

1994, A History of Literature in the Caribbean: Hispanic and Francophone Regions, Arnold, et al:

(transitive, fiction) To turn into a zombie (a member of the living dead or undead).


caesura

caesuras (plural)
caesurae (plural)
cesura (alternative)
cæsura (alternative archaic)

Latin caesūra (“cutting, hewing”), from caesus, perfect passive participle of caedō (“I cut down, hew”).


uplift

uplift (third-person singular simple present uplifts, present participle uplifting, simple past and past participle uplifted)

uplifts (present singular third-person)
uplifting (participle present)
uplifted (participle past)
uplifted (past)

извисявам

to raise something or someone to a higher level

—genetically uplifted the ancestors of the saurs, and culturally—at least—uplifted the kraken. We are used to thinking of these species as wise and ancient, which indeed they are, but the octopods are their 'Elder Race.'

2003, Ken MacLeod, Engine City, New York, N.Y.: Tor, →ISBN, page 79:

To raise something or someone to a higher physical, social, moral, intellectual, spiritual or emotional level.

(science fiction) To raise (a nonsentient species) into sentience.


technobabble

'Dimensional incursion? What kind of ludicrous technobabble is that supposed to—' ¶ Unexpectedly, he fell silent.

1997, Lawrence Miles, chapter 4, in Alien Bodies, page 84:

'We are self-sufficient...We don't rely on clear skies and satellite access and not being deep underground, because of your wonderful technobabble devices.'

1998, Peter Anghelides, chapter 1, in Kursaal, page 6:

"And despite all the weird events the dialogue is naturalistic and light on technobabble", says Peter. "Such a relief after recent stories."

2006 November, Michael Pritchard, Doctor Who Magazine, number 376, page 45:

Destroying the sphere doesn’t work, so the Discovery crew hatches a plan, with some incoherent technobabble: They’re going to launch the time traveling suit and the sphere so far into the future that, somehow, this will save sentient life in the universe.

2019 March 29, Sopan Deb, “‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Season 2, Episode 11: Struggle Is Pointless”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(fiction) Technical or scientific language used to convey a false impression of meaningful technical or scientific content.


Jovian

From Latin Iovis, genitive of Iuppiter, analysable as Jove + -ian.

(chiefly science fiction) An imaginary inhabitant of the planet Jupiter.


volte-face

volte-faces (plural)
volte face (alternative)

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

Shakespeare often used volte-faces in the rhyming couplets at the end of his sonnets.

(literature, chiefly poetry) A dramatic change in mood or tone.


fey

en-noun

fey (countable and uncountable, plural fey or feys)

From Middle English faie, fei (“a place or person possessed with magical properties”), from Middle French feie, fee (“fairy", "fae”). More at fairy.


literal

literals (plural)
litteral (alternative obsolete)
lit. (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-literal.wav

From Middle English literal, from Old French literal, from Late Latin litteralis, also literalis (“of or pertaining to letters or to writing”), from Latin littera, litera (“a letter”); see letter.

(epigraphy, typography) A misprint (or occasionally a scribal error) that affects a letter.


annum

annums (plural)
a (alternative)
ann. (alternative)

From Latin per annum (“yearly”), from annus (“year”).

(uncommon, science fiction) A "year" determined by the revolution of an extraterrestrial planet.


EPS

Encapsulated PostScript
w:Encapsulated PostScript

(computing, publishing, file format) Initialism of Encapsulated PostScript: a typographically set publishing format with vector graphics.


takeoff

takeoff (countable and uncountable, plural takeoffs)

takeoffs (plural)
take-off (alternative)

(printing, UK, historical) The removal of sheets from the press.


RH

RH (countable and uncountable, plural RHs)

(pornography, literature) Initialism of reverse harem (a genre of fiction in which a woman has multiple male sexual partners or love interests).


qwertz

(computing, typography) A style of keyboard layout used in some European countries.


e-journal

e-journals (plural)
ejournal (alternative)

(publishing) An electronic journal, an academic journal published in electronic form.


Alcaic verse

(poetry) A Greek meter, supposedly invented by Alcaeus, consisting of combinations of spondee, iambs and dactyls.


pullout

pullout (countable and uncountable, plural pullouts)

pullouts (plural)
pull-out (alternative)

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

(typography) Synonym of liftout (“quotation given special visual treatment”).


supplement

From Latin supplementum (“that which is added to supply a shortage”), from supplere (“to provide something”).

der

the literary supplement

"Mid-Lent, and the Enemy grins," remarked Selwyn as he started for church with Nina and the children. Austin, knee-deep in a dozen Sunday supplements, refused to stir; poor little Eileen was now convalescent from grippe, but still unsteady on her legs; her maid had taken the grippe, and now moaned all day: "Mon dieu! Mon dieu! Che fais mourir!"

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

(journalism, scientific literature) An additional section of a newspaper devoted to a specific subject; an additional section of a journal issue, or an additional issue, for a similar purpose.


royalty

en-noun

royalty (countable and uncountable, plural royalties)

→ Danish: royalty

→ German: Royalty

→ Italian: royalty

→ Norwegian Bokmål: royalty

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: royalty

→ Portuguese: royalty

→ Swedish: royalty

From Middle English royaltee, roialtee, royalte, from Old French roialté, roiauté, realté (compare earlier Old French realted (“realm, kingdom”)), from Vulgar Latin *rēgālitās, from Latin rēgālis, equivalent to royal + -ty. Doublet of regality.

Until the total of advances in that contract has been earned out by royalties from any or all books in that contract, the author will not receive additional royalties.

2014, Richard Curtis, Mastering the Business of Writing:

(authorship) To make more money from a book than it cost to run an advertising campaign for it; to make enough in royalties to cover the advance a book received.


IPC

International Publishing Company
w:International Publishing Company

(publishing) Initialism of International Publishing Company, now IPC Media.


cunny

cunny (countable and uncountable, plural cunnies)

cunnies (plural)
cute and funny (alternative euphemistic)

(countable, fandom slang, chiefly anime and manga) The vulva or vagina of a child or childlike character (loli).

(countable, synecdochically) A child or childlike character, especially when considered sexually attractive; a loli.

(uncountable, metonymic) Lolicon-themed media, especially when erotic (hentai).


ligate

en-verb

ligate (third-person singular simple present ligates, present participle ligating, simple past and past participle ligated)

ligates (present singular third-person)
ligating (participle present)
ligated (participle past)
ligated (past)

Latin ligātus, perfect passive participle of ligō (“I bind”). Doublet of legato. Compare league.

(transitive, typography) To connect text characters with a ligature.


reptilian

From reptile + -ian, replacing earlier reptilious and adjectival reptile.

More evolved than the Grays or Reptilians, the Humanoids seem to feel some sort of kinship with humans and are likely to be kind.[…] Some researchers believe the Grays are merely preparing the way for a full-scale invasion of Reptilian aliens.

2001, Caroline Tiger, The UFO Hunter’s Handbook: A Field Guide to the Paranormal, →ISBN, pages 62–63:

Such powerful human families would descend upon the reptilians themselves and they would be willing to do just anything to retain their power.

2010, Chico Penteado, Talking to the Reptilians-A Report from Brazil, →ISBN, page 11:

The reptilians are the creation of the Carians.

2011, Collin Robert Bowling, A New Order of the Ages, →ISBN:

Reptilians generally are envisioned as half snake, half human, and they are thought to have come from the Alpha Draconian star system.

2015, Marty Crump, Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog, Adder's Fork and Lizard's Leg, →ISBN:

(science fiction) A reptilian alien, especially (ufology, often capitalized) of a shapeshifting race alleged to secretly control the world.


extradimensional

(science fiction) Originating outside the known physical reality of the universe.

(science fiction) Coming from a world outside Einsteinian space-time.


empathy

en-noun

empathy (countable and uncountable, plural empathies)

A twentieth-century borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐμπάθεια (empátheia, literally “passion”) (formed from ἐν (en, “in, at”) + πάθος (páthos, “feeling”)), equivalent to em- + -pathy, coined by Edward Bradford Titchener in 1909 to translate German Einfühlung. The modern word in Greek εμπάθεια (empátheia) has an opposite meaning denoting strong negative feelings and prejudice against someone.

coin

(parapsychology, science fiction) A paranormal ability to psychically read another person's emotions.


YA

22 March 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Gameshttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-hunger-games,71293/
While Collins does include a love triangle, a coming-of-age story, and other YA-friendly elements in the mix, they serve as a Trojan horse to smuggle readers into a hopeless world where love becomes a stratagem and growing up is a matter of basic survival.

(especially publishing) Initialism of young adult


aug

(science fiction) Clipping of augmentation.


webbing

en-noun

webbing (countable and uncountable, plural webbings)

(printing) Tapes conducting webs of paper in a printing machine.


recto

verso

antonym(s) of “front side of a flat object”

reverso

antonym(s) of “right-hand page of a book”

Borrowed from Latin rēctō foliō (“on the right leaf, on the right page”), the ablative case of the Latin rēctus (“right”). Compare versus (“turned”).

The front side of a flat object which is to be examined visually, as for reading, such as a sheet, leaf, coin or medal.

(printing) The right-hand page of a book of a script which reads from left to right, usually having an odd page number.


verso

recto

antonym(s) of “back side of a flat object”

recto

antonym(s) of “left-hand page of a book”

From Latin in versō foliō (“on the turned leaf, on the turned page”), the ablative case of the Latin versus (“turned, changed”) from the perfect passive participle of vertō (“turn”). Compare rēctus (“right”).

der

The back side of a flat object which is to be examined visually, as for reading, such as a sheet, leaf, coin or medal;

(printing) The left-hand page of a book of a script which reads from left to right, usually having an even page number.

лява страница

на отворена книга


stanza

From Italian stanza, from Vulgar Latin *stantia (“standing, stopping-place”), from Latin stāns, stantis, from stō, stāre, from Proto-Italic *staēō, from Proto-Indo-European *sth₂éh₁yeti, stative verb from *steh₂- (whence English stand). Doublet of stance.

(poetry) A unit of a poem, written or printed as a paragraph; equivalent to a verse.


solidus

From Middle English solidus, from classical Latin solidus (“solid”), see below. Doublet of sol, sold, soldo, solid, sou, and xu.
In numismatic and weight senses, via medieval Latin solidus (“various coins”), from Late Latin solidus (“a gold coin of the Roman Empire”). In chemical sense, via German Solidus, coined by H.W.B. Roozeboom in his 1899 Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie, Stöchiometrie, und Verwandtschaftslehre (XXX, page 387).
In typography, from the shilling mark originally being an abbreviation (a long s ⟨ſ⟩), of Medieval Latin solidus meaning shilling.

der

slash (typography)
solidus (coin)
solidus (disambiguation)

(typography) Synonym of slash ⟨/⟩, originally (UK) in its use as the shilling mark and now its formal designation by the ISO and Unicode.

slash

(typography) The formal name of the oblique strikethrough overlay (as in A̷ and B̸) in Unicode.

(typography) The division line between the numerator and the denominator of a fraction, whether horizontal or oblique.


(publishing) Initialism of pulled-to-publish.


Norse

Partly from Dutch Noorsch (now Noors (“Norwegian”)), from noordsch (“northern; nordic”); and partly from Danish norsk (“Norwegian”). Both equivalent to north + -ish. Doublet of Norsk.

(US printing, rare, dated) A size of type between Saxon and excelsior, 2+¹⁄₂-point type.


Uranian

Aphrodite Pandemos
Aphrodite Urania
Louvre
Voyager 2

/jʊˈɹeɪnɪən/

[T]he fury of a fiery hot-brained Marsian, may kindle immediate and incessant wrangling and feuds; whilst a quiet placid Uranian, in his turn, may yet at times be excessively annoyed, ay, worried and tormented, by the tardiness, listlessness and inactivity of his dronish companion.

1839, A Fantastical Excursion into the Planets, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, page 172:

And obviously, since the year of the Uranians lasts 84 of our years, the continuance of the sun above the horizon would last for many years. [...] And as with the summer day, so with the winter night, years elapse before either comes to an end. For upwards of 20 years, in a latitude corresponding to that of London, the Uranians—if there are any—never see the small Uranian sun.

1872, Richard A[nthony] Proctor, “Uranus and Neptune, the Arctic Planets”, in Other Worlds than Ours: The Plurality of Worlds Studied under the Light of Recent Scientific Researches, 3rd edition, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, pages 171–172:

(chiefly science fiction) An inhabitant of the planet Uranus.


planer

the compositor "planes down" the "forme," to make a the surface of the type stand flat and even, by blows of the mallet upon a piece of smooth wood laid upon the pages, called, from its use, "a planer;" and it is then ready for the pressman

1825, Thomas Curson Hansard, Typographia, an Historical Sketch of the Origin and Progress of the Art of Printing:

(archaic, printing) A wooden block used for forcing down the type in a form, and making the surface even.


run out

en-verb

run out (third-person singular simple present runs out, present participle running out, simple past ran out, past participle run out)

runs out (present singular third-person)
running out (participle present)
ran out (past)
run out (participle past)

(obsolete, printing) To fill a line with quadrats or full points.


destroyer

/dəˈstɹɔɪ.ɚ/

From destroy + -er. Designating a warship, it is ellipsis of torpedo-boat destroyer, the longer term appearing at the end of the 19th century and the shorter form early in the 20th.

(military, nautical) A larger warship with guided missile armament, usually intended for air defence or anti-ship roles. Often, but not always, larger than a frigate and smaller than a cruiser.

(science fiction, by extension) A starship of comparable role.


sentient

en-adj

sentient (comparative more sentient, superlative most sentient)

more sentient (comparative)
most sentient (superlative)

From Latin sentiēns (“feeling, perceiving”), present active participle of sentiō.

Not even a microbe? I don't want to blow up something that could evolve into a sentient species in a couple of billion years.

2002, André Bormanis, “Silent Enemy”, in Star Trek: Enterprise, season 1, episode 12, spoken by Jonathan Archer:

Lemoine has been placed on “paid administrative leave” after publishing a transcript of conversations with LaMDA which he claims support his belief that the chatbot is sentient and comparable to a seven- or eight-year-old child. […] While Lemoine no doubt genuinely believes his claims, LaMDA is likely to be as sentient as a traffic light.

2022 June 14, Toby Walsh, “Labelling Google’s LaMDA chatbot as sentient is fanciful. But it’s very human to be taken in by machines”, in The Guardian:

After more than 25 years as an artificial intelligence researcher[…]Dr. Goertzel knew he had finally reached the end goal: Desdemona, a machine he had built, was sentient. But a few minutes later, he realized this was nonsense.

2022 August 5, Cade Metz, “A.I. Is Not Sentient. Why Do People Say It Is?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(loosely, chiefly science fiction) Possessing human-like awareness and intelligence.

բանական

science fiction: possessing human-like awareness, knowledge and intelligence


sentient

The merpeople and the sentients who lived on the beach often hitched rides on these creatures, steering them by pressure on exposed nerve centers.

1965, Philip José Farmer, The Maker of Universes:

(loosely, chiefly science fiction) An intelligent, self-aware being.


cockatrice

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

First attested 1382 as Middle English cocatrice (“basilisk”), from Old French cocatriz, from Late Latin calcātrīx (“she who treads upon something”), from Latin calcō (“tread”), from calx (“heel, hoof”).

der

For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 8:17:

(fantasy, folklore) A snake or serpent that appears to be hatched from a rooster, or cock's, egg.


bara

Short for barazoku, from Japanese 薔薇族 (barazoku, literally “rose tribe”), referencing the gay men's magazine Barazoku, which was the first of its kind published in Japan, itself named after a post-World War II term for gay men.

bor

(Japanese fiction, strictly) A genre of homoerotic media, usually also pornographic, typically created by gay men and targeted at gay men in Japan.


sector

sector
sector (Star Trek)
sector (instrument)

(science fiction) a fictional region of space designated for navigational or governance purposes.


impressionism

en-noun

impressionism (countable and uncountable, plural impressionisms)

(poetry) A style that used imagery and symbolism to portray the poet's impressions.


seven-league boots

seven-league boots pl (normally plural, singular seven-league boot)

The Count strode away as if he had secured seven-league boots, and in less time than it seemed possible, though it was an age to Lady Anne (...), he returned with two bank of England notes in his hand, which he put into the bailiff's, saying,—"There's your money for yourself and all. You have proper behavour, and will make no say of this littel matter."

1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XL, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 211:

(folklore, fairy tale) A pair of boots enabling the wearer to cross seven leagues at one stride.


unjustified

en-adj

unjustified (comparative more unjustified, superlative most unjustified)

more unjustified (comparative)
most unjustified (superlative)

unjustified text in a wordprocessor

(typography) Not justified (of text, arranged on a page or a computer screen such that the left and right ends of all lines within paragraphs are aligned)


sleeper

From Middle English sleper, equivalent to sleep + -er.

(science fiction) A pod or similar device containing a person in cryosleep.


ghostwrite

en-verb

ghostwrite (third-person singular simple present ghostwrites, present participle ghostwriting, simple past ghostwrote, past participle ghostwritten)

ghostwrites (present singular third-person)
ghostwriting (participle present)
ghostwrote (past)
ghostwritten (participle past)
ghost-write (alternative)
ghost write (alternative)

Mariana would rather not ghostwrite for a living because she finds it a thankless task.

(authorship, intransitive) To write under the name of another (especially literary works).

The president has someone to ghostwrite his addresses.

(authorship, transitive) To author a literary work or speech in the place of another.


synaesthesia

en-noun

synaesthesia (countable and uncountable, plural synaesthesiae or synaesthesias)

synaesthesiae (plural)
synaesthesias (plural)
synæsthesia (alternative)
synesthesia (alternative)

/ˌsɪn.ɪsˈθiː.ʒə/

From Ancient Greek σύν (sún, “with”) + αἴσθησις (aísthēsis, “sensation”), modelled after anaesthesia. It is analysable as syn- + -aesthesia.

Linking moods with colours is one example of synaesthesia. […] As a tool for improving writing, the idea of synaesthesia is versatile and innovative. Why use only visual references to describe visual impressions? Why just describe sounds using sound-related words? Play with cross-matching the senses.

2006, Stephen Bowkett, “Descriptive Writing”, in Boys and Writing (Pocket PAL), London: Network Continuum Education, Continuum International Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 38:

[I]t may be stated that the concept of synaesthesia is instrumental for understanding music videos, since videos are based on the soundtrack's visual associations. Yet to discuss associations here may cause some problems. […] [Nicholas Cook] seems to be relying on a rather normative conception of synaesthesia, which for its part supports the idea of absolute, nonrepresentational music. The implication of his discussion is that the "true" forms of music–image synaesthesia come only in the forms of perception of color or light when hearing a certain musical sound.

2007, Antti-Ville Kärjä, “Visions of a Sound Nation: Finnish Music Videos and Secured Otherness”, in Roger Beebe, Jason Middleton, editors, Medium Cool: Music Videos from Soundies to Cellphones, Durham, N.C., London: Duke University Press, →ISBN, page 181:

(art, literature) A literary or artistic device whereby one kind of sensation is described in the terms of another.


monologue

monologues (plural)
monolog (alternative US noun)

dialogue

antonym(s) of “a monopolizing utterance”

First attested in c. 1550. Borrowed from Middle French monologue, modeled on dialogue, ultimately from Byzantine Greek μονόλογος (monólogos, “soliloquy, monologue”).

der

(drama, authorship) A long speech by one person in a play; sometimes a soliloquy; other times spoken to other characters.


sequential art

(art, comics) A form of art where the content is presented in a series of artistic items positioned in a specific order to convey its message or effect, such as a comic strip.


ARC

en-noun

ARC (countable and uncountable, plural ARCs)

“One of them came up to me in a signing line and asked for a blurb,” says Jen. “Can you believe it? Title I’ve never heard of, from some small press I’ve never heard of, and she comes up to me with a bound ARC, beaming, like of course I’m going to say yes.”

2023, R. F. Kuang, Yellowface, The Borough Press, page 90:

(publishing) Acronym of advance reader's copy, a copy of a book given to a reviewer free in advance for review purposes.


shape-shifter

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

(fantasy, mythology, science fiction) Alternative form of shapeshifter.


changeling

/ˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒlɪŋ/

The noun is derived from change + -ling (suffix with the sense ‘immature; small’). Sense 6 (“idiot, simpleton”) is from the idea that foolish children had been left by magical creatures (sense 1).
The adjective is derived from the noun.

suffix

[S]he, as her attendant, hath / A louely boy ſtollen, from an Indian king: / She neuer had ſo ſweete a changeling.

[c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, […], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

Every Lover admires his miſtris, though ſhee be very deformed of her ſelfe, [...] her feet ſtinke, ſhee breed lice, a meere changeling, a very monſter, [...]: if he loue her once, he admires her for all this, he takes no notice of any ſuch errors, or imperfections of body or minde.

1638, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Symptomes or Signes of Love Melancholy, in Body, Minde, Good, Bad, &c.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy. […], 5th edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [Robert Young, Miles Flesher, and Leonard Lichfield and William Turner] for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 3, section 2, member 3, subsection 1, page 515:

Juſt as a Changeling ſeems below the reſt / Of Men, or rather is a two-legg’d Beaſt, / So theſe Gigantick Souls amaz'd we find / As much above the reſt of human kind.

1709, Earl of Murlgrave [i.e., John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, formerly Earl of Mulgrave], An Essay on Poetry, London: […] H. Hills, […], →OCLC, page 15:

Nothing will induce parents to show any attention to a child that they suspect of being a changeling.

1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 263:

It was easy enough to see that the child was a changeling, for it wasn't like other children at all it screamed and cried, as if a knife stuck in it, and it wheezed and hit about with its arms like a huldre-cat, and was as ugly as sin.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 298:

His nurse had told him all about changelings, and how the little people would always try to steal a beautiful human child out of its cradle and put in its stead one of their own ailing, puking brats [...]

1961, Muriel Saint Clare Byrne, Elizabethan Life in Town and Country, 8th edition, London: Methuen & Co., →OCLC, page 285:

(European folklore, also figurative) In pre-modern European folklore: an infant of a magical creature that was secretly exchanged for a human infant. In British, Irish and Scandinavian mythology the exchanged infants were thought to be those of fairies, sprites or trolls; in other places, they were ascribed to demons, devils, or witches.

خائن

infant of a magical creature secretly exchanged for a human infant

(fantasy, science fiction) An organism which can change shape to mimic others; a shape-shifter.


hard-boiled

en-adj

hard-boiled (comparative more hard-boiled, superlative most hard-boiled)

more hard-boiled (comparative)
most hard-boiled (superlative)
hardboiled (alternative)
hard boiled (alternative)

(literature, especially detective fiction) Written in a laconic, dispassionate, often ironic style for a realistic, unsentimental effect.


formalism

en-noun

formalism (countable and uncountable, plural formalisms)

/ˈfɔɹml̩ˌɪzm̩/

(literature) An approach to interpretation and/or evaluation focused on the (usually linguistic) structure of a literary work rather than on the contexts of its origin or reception.

形式主義 /形式主义

literature: structural approach to interpretation


QWERTY

QWERTY (countable and uncountable, plural QWERTYs)

QWERTYs (plural)
qwerty (alternative)
Qwerty (alternative)

Christopher Latham Sholes
Henry Holt and Company

From the first six letters on one of the upper rows of such a keyboard.

It was the Monotype model D keyboard introduced in 1907 which became the standard for printers, with a "qwerty" typewriter lay and removable keybars which made the keyboard independent of the matrix case arrangement.

1978, Allen Kent, Harold Lancour, Jay E[lwood] Daily, editors, Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, volumes 24 (Printers and Printing to Public Policy, Copyright), New York, N.Y., Basel: Marcel Dekker, →ISBN, page 109:

The older children we came to know had had a great deal of experience with written language, and they certainly had a firm grasp of the alphabetic sequence. They were annoyed with the arrangement of letters on the typewriter keyboard, which begins at the second from the top row and proceeds left to right with the letters, "Q," "W," "E," "R," "T," and "Y." Computer professionals, who refer to this arrangement as the "QWERTY keyboard," have pointed out that, although it originated in order to avoid jam-ups of frequently used keys on the manual typewriter, the QWERTY arrangement is now completely obsolete but apparently here to stay. Third and fourth graders knew only that QWERTY had no logic that they could discern, and, until they developed basic keyboard familiarity, it greatly delayed their attempts at finding the keys they needed.

1991, Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Cynthia L. Paris, Jessica L. Kahn, “Hunting, Pecking, and Checking: Learning to Write with Word Processing”, in Learning to Write Differently: Beginning Writers and Word Processing (Language and Educational Processes), Norwood, N.J.: Ablex Publishing, →ISBN, page 137:

[…] The Dvorak typewriter keyboard is, it has been claimed, ergonomically superior to the standard "Qwerty" arrangement. But having settled on the current standard keyboard, largely by historical accident, now manufacturers are supposedly reluctant to produce Dvorak keybboards so long as almost all typists are trained on Qwerty, while typists don't want to train on Dvorak when almost all keyboards are Qwerty. Even the inferior keyboard as a matched choice is superior to failing to coordinate at all.

1992, Jack Hirshleifer, John G. Riley, “Strategic Uncertainty and Equilibrium Concepts”, in The Analytics of Uncertainty and Information (Cambridge Surveys of Economic Literature), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, published 2002, →ISBN, section 9.1 (Nash Equilibrium), page 330:

The ‘QWERTY’ layout of keyboards is also a cause for concern. The design means that the fingers of the left hand (the less dominant hand for most Westerners) do 57 per cent of the work in typing English text. RSI symptoms are often found to be more intense in the left hand of keyboard users.

1993 September 11, John Ballard, “RSI on Trial: More People Suffering from Repetitive Strain Injury are Seeking Compensation in Court as Fresh Evidence Comes to Light about the Symptoms and Causes of this Crippling Disorder”, in New Scientist, London: New Scientist Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-04-13:

The typewriter using separate characters on type bars striking on a cylinder soon dominated the market. Because adjacent striking bars tended to jam when struck rapidly, manufacturers abandoned the alphabetical placement of letters on the keyboard in favor of the left-to-right "qwerty" disposition that takes into account the frequency and sequence of letters in English.

1994, Henri-Jean Martin, “Beyond Writing”, in Lydia G. Cochrane, transl., The History and Power of Writing, Chicago, Ill., London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 465:

(uncountable, computing, typography, chiefly attributive) A standard layout of keys on a keyboard for typing, in which the leftmost keys of the top lettered row are Q-W-E-R-T-Y.

كويرتي

If you need to get a grip on a remote workstation, remote-control software can put your fingers on the pearly white QWERTYs of any computer, even half a world away.

1995 February 20, “Windows remote-control software: Reaching beyond your grasp”, Product Comparison, in InfoWorld, volume 17, number 8, San Mateo, Calif.: InfoWorld Publishing Company, →ISSN, page 66:

(countable, computing, typography) A keyboard with such a layout.


headline

(printing, dated) The line at the top of a page containing the folio or number of the page.


uke

From Japanese 受け (uke), the 連(れん)用(よう)形(けい) (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of the verb 受(う)ける (ukeru, “to receive, to get”).

ja-ryk

Yaoi uke in fanfics often bear the brunt of stereotypical "negative female characteristics" such as passivity, helplessness, and masochism.

2008, Tan Bee Kee, “Rewriting Gender and Sexuality in English-language Yaoi Fanfiction”, in Antonia Levi, Mark McHarry, Dru Pagliassotti, editors, Boys' Love Manga: Essays on the Sexual Ambiguity and Cross-Cultural Fandom of the Genre, McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 142:

You'd rather have Sebas be an uke?

2010, Pentabu, My Girlfriend’s a Geek, volume 1, Yen Press, published 2012, →ISBN:

Shizuku is so, so, so cute! I love him as an uke so much I can't stand it!

2010, Kyoka Wakatsuki, “Afterword”, in The Selfish Demon King, Digital Manga Publishing, →ISBN, page 137:

(Japanese fiction, fandom slang) A passive or submissive male fictional character in a same-sex relationship; a bottom.


shoot 'em up

shoot 'em ups (plural)
shoot-em-up (alternative)
shoot-'em-up (alternative)
shoot them up (alternative)

My wife won't watch this movie; it's a shoot ’em up.

The arcaders have it easy. All they need to do is drop a quarter into a machine to find out how good the latest shoot 'em up game really is. But for the home computer owner, it's another story.

1983 August, Popular Mechanics, volume 160, number 2, page 88:

An unmissable shoot 'em up.

1989, Duncan Macdonald, R-Type (video game review) in Your Sinclair issue 37, January 1989

(idiomatic, film, television, literature, video games) A piece of media which depicts considerable gunplay.

Bullet Hell: DoDonPachi exemplifies the term better than any other shoot 'em up, providing a snowstorm of fiery pixels to both simultaneously dodge and eliminate.

2011 December 5, Tony Mott, 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die: You Must Play Before You Die, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

In a shoot'em up, the player usually looks from above on her player character (most commonly in the form of a spaceship). The spaceship is constantly moving forward, but since the perspective is relatively fixed on it, the traversed space is actually moving from top to bottom or left to right, and the player has no ability to influence that movement.

2013 August 28, Sebastian Domsch, Storyplaying: Agency and Narrative in Video Games, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 65:

It is surprising nowadays to see so much silicon dedicated to a "niche" feature [starfield rendering], but the extreme popularity of shoot em ups like R-Type, Gradius, or Darius at the time made a good case for it.

2022 November 5, Fabien Sanglard, The Book of CP-System, Sanglard Publishing, page 88:

(video games) A video game in which one plays as a character moving and shooting in an autoscrolling two-dimensional world, with emphasis on dodging bullets and predicting enemy movement patterns.


exposition

en-noun

exposition (countable and uncountable, plural expositions)

From Middle English exposicioun, from Old French esposicion, from Latin expositiō, from expōnere (“to put forth”). The sense meaning "exhibition" is a later semantic loan from French exposition.

This essay has too much exposition in it.

My reviewer said she couldn't picture the setting for my story, so I'm improving the exposition.

(authorship) The act or process of declaring or describing something through either speech or writing, in nonfiction or in fiction; the portions and aspects of a piece of writing that exist mainly to describe or explain a set of things (such as, in fiction, the setting, characters and other non-plot elements).

I turned my research into an exposition on the traditional music of Borneo.

(authorship) An essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail.

বয়ান

(authorship) An opening section in fiction, in which background information about the characters, events or setting is conveyed.


Bruno

en-proper noun

Bruno (countable and uncountable, plural Brunos or Brunoes)

From Italian, German etc continental European Bruno, name of medieval Italian and German saints and royalty, Latinized form of Old High German brūn (“brown”), from Proto-West Germanic *brūn. The surname is mostly borrowed from Italian Bruno. Doublet of Brown.


tone down

en-verb

tone down (third-person singular simple present tones down, present participle toning down, simple past and past participle toned down)

tones down (present singular third-person)
toning down (participle present)
toned down (participle past)
toned down (past)

(literature, television, media, ambitransitive) To make a television program, piece of writing, etc. less offensive and so more suitable for a family audience.


bring up

bring up (third-person singular simple present brings up, present participle bringing up, simple past and past participle brought up)

brings up (present singular third-person)
bringing up (participle present)
brought up (participle past)
brought up (past)

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

From Middle English bring up, dissimilated from Middle English upbringen (“to bring up, raise”). Doublet of upbring.

der

(obsolete, printing) To level type or make it ready for printing by overlaying it.


comm

comms (plural)
comm. (alternative abbreviation)

My comm was set on silent mode—nothing in or out except emergency transmissions.

2018, Joseph Kainz, Sector 12 and the Art of Burning, page ix:


gen

en-verb

gen (third-person singular simple present gens, present participle genning, simple past and past participle genned)

gens (present singular third-person)
genning (participle present)
genned (participle past)
genned (past)

Samples could be taken from the original, and plans could be made, but genning could not be initiated until death had occurred.

2008, Bart Dahmer, Primal Screams, →ISBN, page 36:

Her nurturer ears, genned to be hyper-sensitive, had to be hurting from the noise.

2011, Karen Sandler, Tankborn, →ISBN, page 28:

(science fiction) To genetically engineer.


speech bubble

(comics) A rounded outline, containing words, representing speech in a comic.

shtëllungë ligjërimi

rounded outline representing speech in a cartoon


run-in

en-adj

run-in (not generally comparable, comparative more run-in, superlative most run-in)

more run-in (comparative)
most run-in (superlative)

These headings are of the run-in type because a free-hanging style would just be a waste of column inches.

participial adjective
participial adjective

(participial adjective; editing, typography) (not comparable) Having been run in before or behind previous text.


rotunda

rotundas (plural)
rotundae (plural)
Rotunda (alternative)

Learned borrowing from Latin rotunda, from rotundus (“round”). In the architectural sense, from Sancta Maria Rotunda (the name for a church in the Pantheon).

(typography, frequently capitalized) A Gothic typeface used in early printed books in Northern Italy, based on a rounded script developed in the 13th cent.; the manuscript hand on which this typeface was based.

rotunda

typography: Gothic typeface based on a 13th-C. rounded script


in-line

An in-line mathematical formula does not have to be on a line of its own.

Parenthetical referencing is a citation style which uses in-line citations enclosed within parentheses.

This is an inline (e.g. mid-sentence) template for marking up text as a Wikipedia self-reference.

(writing) Inserted in the flow of a text.


sestet

From Italian sestetto, from sesto (“sixth”), Latin sextus, from sex (“six”).

(poetry) The last six lines of a sonnet, forming two stanzas of three lines each.


hinting

en-noun

hinting (countable and uncountable, plural hintings)

(typography) The process of adding hints to a computer-based font in order to align the glyphs to a rasterized grid at specific sizes in a visually appealing manner.


drive out

en-verb

drive out (third-person singular simple present drives out, present participle driving out, simple past drove out, past participle driven out)

drives out (present singular third-person)
driving out (participle present)
drove out (past)
driven out (participle past)

(obsolete, printing, of type) To set closely; to take up less space because the typesetter uses type that is thinner than the copy or the typesetter whites out more or squeezes in more lines on each page.


extended

en-adj

extended (comparative more extended, superlative most extended)

more extended (comparative)
most extended (superlative)

(typography, of a typeface) Wider than usual.


longueur

Borrowed from French longueur (literally “length”).

bor+

Most of the reasons given for its disappearance make sense: people are happier, busier; the work done by the anti-Freudian skeptics has finally taken hold of the popular imagination, so that people have no time for analytic longueurs and no patience with its mystifications.

1998 August 17, Adam Gopnik, “Man Goes To See a Doctor”, in The New Yorker:

He cultivated the aura, if not quite of the Anti-Christ, at least of an Anti-Sun King, discountenancing his uncle and shocking the dévots by preferring the intimacy and informality of a clique of drinking companions to the formal longueurs of the courtly round […].

2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 30:

[T]he reader can’t help feeling that a few judicious nips and tucks might have dispersed the longueurs that waft around the third quarter of the book.

2015 October 5, Michiko Kakutani, “Review: ‘City on Fire,’ Garth Risk Hallberg’s Novel of New York in the Bad Old Days”, in New York Times:

Claire Fontaine (who are actually a duo) have queered the phrase, lending its pungency and ambiguity to a biennale that I wish were nearly so succinct. There are longueurs. There are detours and incomprehensible delays.

2024 April 22, Adrian Searle, “Venice Biennale 2024 review – everything everywhere all at once”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(authorship) A lengthy passage in a dramatic or literary work, especially a dull or tedious one; a period of boredom.


embolden

en-verb

embolden (third-person singular simple present emboldens, present participle emboldening, simple past and past participle emboldened)

emboldens (present singular third-person)
emboldening (participle present)
emboldened (participle past)
emboldened (past)
embolden (infinitive)
embolden (first-person present singular)
emboldened (first-person past singular)
embolden (present second-person singular)
emboldenest (archaic present second-person singular)
emboldened (past second-person singular)
emboldenedst (archaic past second-person singular)
emboldens (present singular third-person)
emboldeneth (archaic present singular third-person)
emboldened (past singular third-person)
embolden (plural present)
emboldened (past plural)
embolden (present subjunctive)
emboldened (past subjunctive)
embolden (imperative present)
emboldening (participle present)
emboldened (participle past)
imbolden (alternative)

From bold (adjective) + em- -en (variant of en- -en (circumfix forming transitive verbs denoting an increase in, or intensification of, the quality denoted by the enclosed word)). Compare Middle English embolden, enbolden (“to make bold, encourage”) (modern English embold, enbold, imbold (obsolete)), and inboldysshen (“to embolden, encourage”).

This note introduces several additional features of LATEX: […] ▪ The use of text style commands, including the \emph command to emphasize text, the \textbf command to embolden text, and the \texttt command to produce typewriter style text.

1999, George [A.] Grätzer, “Typing Text”, in First Steps in LATEX, Boston, Mass.: Birkhäuser; New York, N.Y.: Springer, →ISBN, page 8:

The [HTML] tags

 indicate paragraphs breaks, and we have included some basic text formatting:  for emphasis (typically italics),  for underline and  to embolden text.

2004, Jason Whittaker, “Web Design”, in The Cyberspace Handbook, London; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, part III (Reading/Writing Cyberspace), page 216:

Embolden the company name. Balance-wise, the company name could do with standing out more.

2007, Craig Grannell, “Getting User Feedback”, in The Essential Guide to HTML5 and CSS3 Web Design, Berkeley, Calif.: Friends of ED, Apress, →ISBN, page 339:

(typography) To format (text) in boldface.


chronoscope

/ˈkɹɒnəˌskəʊp/

(science fiction) A device able to directly view other times, past or future.


tin can

For here am I sitting in a tin can / Far above the world / Planet Earth is blue / And there's nothing I can do

(science fiction, slang) A metal spaceship or space station.


phaser

* (science fiction): For the fictional weapon coined for Star Trek: originally a "ph(oton ma)ser," later changed canonically to a "phas(ed)-e(nergy) r(ectifier)" (of "nadions", not photons).
* (phase modulation): phase + -er

Captain James Kirk: "Set your phaser on one quarter. I'll leave mine on stun."

1966 September 8, George Clayton Johnson, The Man Trap (Star Trek), season 1, episode 1:

His oddly reserved nature stands out [...]. Whyte sets his phaser on stun, not kill.

A Bajoran rushed past with an armful of phaser rifles, another with a box of hand phasers.

1999, Dafydd ab Hugh, chapter 3, in Fallen Heroes [Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; 5], New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books:

Giolitti's Gold Key art is widely admired, [...] and this is a terrific opportunity to pick up a page—set your phasers on bid.

2004, Hertiage Signature Auction #811, page 185:

I said, "Set phasers on be-a-bastard."

Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

(science fiction) Fictional energy weapon, with multiple settings for degree of intensity, from the television series Star Trek (1966–69).


phaser

phaser (third-person singular simple present phasers, present participle phasering, simple past and past participle phasered)

phasers (present singular third-person)
phasering (participle present)
phasered (participle past)
phasered (past)

(science fiction, transitive) To shoot with a phaser weapon.


Nordic

From French nordique, from nord (“north”).

Called “Nordics,” the aliens are human-like in appearance, of average height, and often have long, flowing hair. Contactees are typically struck by the beauty of the Nordics, as was Howard Menger (1959): “She seemed to radiate and glow,” Menger explains,

2007, Erich Goode, D. Angus Vail, Extreme Deviance, Pine Forge Press, page 41:

But the third most common alien is called a Nordic, or humanoid.

2012, Kelly Milner Halls, Alien Investigation: Searching for the Truth about UFOs and Aliens, Millbrook Press, page 45:

Known as Nordics, these extraterrestrials are said to have blond hair, blue eyes, and pale skin and are anywhere from 6 to 8 feet (183cm to 244cm) tall.

2012, Patricia D. Netzley, Extraterrestrial Life: Alien Encounters, Reference Point Press, page 33

(ufology, science fiction) A race of extraterrestrials similar in appearance to Nordic humans.


forme

1978, David A. Bloestein, Introduction, John Marston, David A. Bloestein (editor), Parasitaster: Or, The Fawn, page 47,
Both these formes, with running titles intact, were retained to print sheet D of Q2.

1994, Jay L. Halio, Introduction, Jay L. Halio (editor), William Shakespeare, The First Quarto of King Lear, page 21,
Q2 was printed in twenty-two formes.

In casting off, the printing house would judge the length of a manuscript to determine both how many sheets would be needed, and what the divisions were between one forme and another. (A forme is one side of a sheet: four quarto pages or two folio pages.) Because formes do not have many consecutive pages, estimates would be further broken down by page. If a quarto forme includes a putative page one, for instance, that side of the sheet would also include pages four, five, and eight.

2011, Eugene Giddens, How to Read a Shakespearean Play Text, page 41:

(printing) Alternative form of form (“type etc. secured in a chase”).


ascender

Catherine had a paperback called Graphology: The Mind in the Hand, which gave her all sorts of warnings about people’s tendencies and repressions (“Artist or Madman?” “Pet or Brute?”). “It's those enormous ascenders, darling,” she said: “I see a lot of ego.”

2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 1, in The Line of Beauty […], London: Picador, →ISBN:

(typography, graphology) The portion of a lowercase letter that extends above the midline.

(typography, uncommon) A lowercase letter that has such a portion, such as d or h.


kobold

en-noun

kobold (plural kobolds or (rare) kobolde)

kobolds (plural)
kobolde (plural rare)
cobold (alternative)

Borrowed from German Kobold. Doublet of cobalt.

a. 1867, George MacDonald, The Shadows, 2000 [1980], The Golden Key and Other Stories, page 96,
The king had seen all kinds of gnomes, goblins, and kobolds at his coronation; […] .

Among the nonhuman creatures that peopled rural Europe in the Middle Ages — the fairies, elves, dwarfs, trolls, and kobolds — there were beneficent female spirits who patronized those households that treated them well.

1977, James Buchanan Given, Society and Homicide in Thirteenth-Century England, published 2007, page 138:

In Germany also the kobolds are rather troublesome than otherwise, to the miners, taking pleasure in frustrating their objects, and rendering their toil unfruitful.

2011, William Wirt Sikes, Varla Ventura, The Occult Powers of Goats and Other Welsh Tales of Goblins, Fairies, Gnomes, and Elves, unnumbered page:

(German folklore) A mischievous elf or goblin, or one connected (and helpful) to a family or household.

There were also various trolls like great smiling badgers, brownies darting about laughing, dwarves with large gray heads, sensuous mermaids, stony kobolds, green gnomes, sirens and many elves, who were busy purifying the sacred hilltop in a mythological cooperation marvelous to the soul's perception.

2005, Scott Elliot Hicks, The Shattering Light of Stars, page 62:

(fantasy literature) One of a diminutive and usually malevolent race of beings, often with a reptilian or dog-like appearance.


Dalek

Dalek
Doctor Who
Genesis of the Daleks
I, Davros
Terry Nation
The Daleks

Coined by Terry Nation in 1963 for his script of The Mutants (later retitled "The Daleks"), the second serial of the first season of Doctor Who. Accounts of how he devised the word vary. Within the Doctor Who universe, the word is supposed to be related to the name of the people from whom the Daleks evolved, either the Kaleds (as according to later serial Genesis of the Daleks) or the Dals (as in The Daleks), or to derive from a word meaning "gods" in their (fictional) language, in which the sacred "Book of Predictions" is written. According to the I, Davros audio fiction the book reads "...and on that day, men will become as gods", with the last word pronounced "Dal-eks".

'But Alydon,' I persisted, 'the Daleks aren't human beings. They're just evil, half creatures, half machines, determined to destroy you.'

1964, David Whitaker, Dr. Who and the Daleks, chapter 6 (based on the film script Dr. Who and the Daleks by Milton Subotsky, based itself on the tele-script The Mutants/The Daleks by Terry Nation)

[…] what kind of courage it must have taken for Hawkins, an actor renowned for the quality of his voice, to go back onto the set to deliver lines in that oesophageal monotone, what he called his "Dalek voice".

1987, Barry Norman, The Movie Greats, page 144:

This synthesizer is by far the best I have heard, because it varies the intonation, and does not speak like a Dalek.

p. 1996, Together with English Core, fourteenth edition (Rachna Sagar Pvt. Ltd., page 234

My voice still insisted on disappearing into my shoes every time it happened so that I sounded like a Dalek, but with a bit of experience behind me I felt marginally more confident.

2000, Rosie Parnell (Rosie White), The Crit: An Architecture Student's Handbook (co-written with Charles Doidge, Rachel Sara), page xii

One man was skiting around on a big, wheeled camera like a Dalek, dodging the scurrying assistants and clipboard-wielders, […]

2003, Siân Preece, “Country Cooking Countdown”, in Scottish Girls About Town, published 2004, page 19:

Then the Dalek turned and picked off the other passengers one by one. It screamed... 'Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!'

2006, Gareth Roberts, chapter 9, in I Am a Dalek:

Gordon Brown sounds like a Dalek with about three stock phrases... Remember, Daleks always want world domination but they always lose.

a. 2010, Peter Bazalgette, quoted in the Funniest Thing You Never Said: 2, page 333

And Peter was so focused too: like a Dalek in a track suit.

2011, Colin Neill, Turas: A Story of Strangers in a Strange Land, page 166:

(science fiction) A member of a species of extraterrestrial cyborg mutants who appear in the television programme Doctor Who and are known for travelling in metallic shells, having monotone, mechanically distorted voices, repeating a limited number of phrases, and their fanatical obsession with exterminating other, non-Dalek beings.


ligature

ligature (countable and uncountable, plural ligatures)

From Middle English ligature, from Middle French ligature, from Late Latin ligātūra, from Latin ligātus, past participle of ligāre (“to tie, bind”).

Meronym: ligand

typographic ligature
typographic ligature

(countable, typography) A character that visually combines multiple letters, such as æ, œ, ß or ĳ; also logotype. Sometimes called a typographic ligature.

ὑφέν

typography: character that combines multiple letters


kokoro

/ˈkoʊkəˌɹoʊ/

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

Borrowed from Japanese 心(こころ) (kokoro, “heart, mind, spirit”).

Fame is for weenies. I'd rather be remembered for inventing a weird guitar effect or a recording technique than becoming famous by a song, unless the song is genuinely from my kokoro.

1992 December 7, Mike, “Re: When Things Go Wrong”, in bit.listserv.allmusic (Usenet), message-ID <ALLMUSIC%92120719125825@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU>:

(fandom slang, chiefly anime and manga) A heart.


juvenile

Borrowed from Latin iuvenīlis (“youthful; juvenile”), from iuvenis (“young; a youth”) + -īlis (suffix forming adjectives indicating a relationship or a pertaining to). Iuvenis is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yuh₁en- (“young”), from *h₂óyu (“long life; lifetime”) (from *h₂ey- (“age; life”)) + *h₁én (“in”).

Formerly a publisher of juveniles, out of the market till 1959, when it will enter adult fiction field.

1958, The Author and Journalist, volumes 42–43, Denver, Colo.: H. Ellithrope, →OCLC, page lxxxiv, column 1:

(literature) A publication for young adult readers.


superpower

superpower (countable and uncountable, plural superpowers)

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

Administered in such a way, in that superpowers it assures.

1994, C. J. Lee, Caldwell Lee the Poet to Be: The Forthright Omnipotence Era, Dorrance Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 46:

This is his superpower, I think. The comic geek always has one, and Oliver's is a poker face that would leave even the Holy Trinity guessing what he's thinking.

2014, Christina Lauren, Dirty Rowdy Thing, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 258:

If I could have a superpower id^([sic]) want to be able to teleport. I hate walking and driving gives me headaches.

2021 December 6, Givinuplol, belugasareneat, “What superpower you would like?”, in reddit.com:

(countable, fiction) An extraordinary physical or mental ability, especially possessed by a superhero or supervillain.


conceited

en-adj

conceited (comparative more conceited or (informal) conceiteder, superlative most conceited or (informal) conceitedest)

more conceited (comparative)
conceiteder (comparative informal)
most conceited (superlative)
conceitedest (informal superlative)
conceipted (alternative)

Conceited wit showed its character towards the end of the fifteenth century in the work of poets who made it their aim to exercise their hearers' minds with cleaver plays of metaphor and ingenious reasoning.

2006, A. J. Smith, Metaphysical Wit, page 20:

(rhetoric, literature) Having an ingenious expression or metaphorical idea, especially in extended form or used as a literary or rhetorical device.


spondee

spondees (plural)
spondeus (alternative archaic)

From Latin spondēus (“spondee”), from Ancient Greek σπονδεῖος (spondeîos, “associated with a libation”) from σπονδή (spondḗ, “libation”): spondees were often used in melodies sung at libations.

der

(poetry) A word or metrical foot of two syllables, either both long or both stressed.


orientalism

en-noun

orientalism (countable and uncountable, plural orientalisms)

orientalisms (plural)
Orientalism (alternative)

From French orientalisme, from oriental (“eastern, Oriental”). Equivalent to Oriental + -ism.

(art, architecture, literature) The tendency to represent eastern subjects, to assume stylistical characteristics original of the East.

اِسْتِشْراق

the tendency to represent eastern subjects


mannerism

mannerism (countable and uncountable, plural mannerisms)

mannerisms (plural)
Mannerism (alternative)

From Italian manierismo, from maniera, coined by Luigi Lanzi at the end of the 18ᵗʰ century.

/ˈmænəˌɹɪzəm/

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

(art, literature) In literature, an ostentatious and unnatural style of the second half of the sixteenth century. In the contemporary criticism, described as a negation of the classicist equilibrium, pre-Baroque, and deforming expressiveness.

(art, literature) In fine art, a style that is inspired by previous models, aiming to reproduce subjects in an expressive language.


webcomic

From Web + comic. The word is first attested 2000, but websites titled "WebComics" existed previously (as early as 1995).

Webcomics certainly have their selling points. They are harder to censor and generally free from editorial meddling[…]

2008, Danny Fingeroth, The Rough Guide to Graphic Novels, →ISBN, page 275:

Weinersmith, who is best known for his webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, describes the polystate as a geopolitical entity in which multiple overlapping states exist — but each “state” consists of citizens who have agreed to the laws of a single non-geographic state; typical geographically-bound nations, or traditional “geostates”, would be replaced by “polystates”, which are collections of “anthrostates”.

2014 June 12, George Dvorsky, “12 Futuristic Forms of Government That Could One Day Rule the World”, in Gizmodo:

Almost six years ago, Andrew Hussie began another one of a series of webcomics on his website, MS Paint Adventures. These early comics were experiments in fan-sourced storytelling: He’d create and monitor forums for character and story suggestions, then fold them into the story.

2015 February 24, Lilian Min, “How the Internet Invented a New Kind of Storytelling”, in The Atlantic:

(comics, Internet) An online comic, especially one first published on the Internet.


copyedit

en-verb

copyedit (third-person singular simple present copyedits, present participle copyediting, simple past and past participle copyedited)

copyedits (present singular third-person)
copyediting (participle present)
copyedited (participle past)
copyedited (past)
copy edit (alternative)
copy-edit (alternative)

Memoirs of a Bastard Angel contains so many amazing howlers that it seems barely to have been copyedited or proofread.

1990 April 28, Duncan Mitchell, “A Dazzling Parade Of Celebrity Names”, in Gay Community News, page 11:

(transitive, printing) To correct the spelling, grammar, formatting, etc. of printed material and prepare it for typesetting, printing, or online publishing.


mora

From Latin mora (“duration of time, delay”).

In the quantitative meters in Sanskrit a heavy syllable is considered to be equal to two morae and a light syllable equivalent to one mora.

1918, Elcanon Isaacs, “The Metrical Basis of Hebrew Poetry”, in The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, volume 35, page 22:

(poetry) A unit used to measure lines and stanzas of poetry.


ductus

Borrowed from Latin ductus (“leading, conducting”, noun). Doublet of duct and douit.

bor

The number of strokes that make up a written letter, and the direction, sequence and speed in which they are written (Compare graph; see also aspect.)

A subtle reduction of weight towards the middle of the stroke of the letter.


bioroid

/ˈbaɪ.əʊˌdɹɔɪd/

(science fiction) A cybernetic or fully biological organism created by artificial means.

genetically engineered
genetic engineering

(science fiction) A genetically engineered humanoid-like organism created for the purpose of enslavement.


leading

From Middle English leedynge, equivalent to lead (chemical element) + -ing; so named because in metal typesetting (letterpress and hot metal typesetting), pieces of lead (slugs, strips, blocks, etc) were often the mechanical means of producing the gap.

(typography) Vertical space added between lines; line spacing.


folio

From Middle English folio (“leaf of a book”), borrowed from Medieval Latin foliō, Late Latin foliō, Latin foliō, the ablative singular form of Late Latin folium (“leaf or sheet of paper”), Latin folium (“leaf of a plant”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“bloom, flower”). Doublet of foil and folium, and distantly related to phyllo and phyllon.
Senses 1, 2, 3.1, 5, and 6 relating to a leaf or page are derived from Medieval Latin foliō in references; sense 5 (“page in an account book”) may be derived from Italian foglio (“rectangular sheet of paper”), from Latin folium. Senses 3.2 and 3.3 relating to a paper size are from Italian in foglio or its etymon Latin in foliō.

der

Folio.—The running number of the pages of a work. When there is no running title, the folio is placed in the centre of the head-line; when there is a running title, at the outside corner—the even folio on the left, the odd on the right. The preface, contents, index, and all introductory matter, usually have separate folios inserted in Roman lower-case numerals.

[1871, “Folio”, in J[ohn] Luther Ringwalt, editor, American Encyclopædia of Printing, Philadelphia, Pa.: Menamin & Ringwalt, 517 Minor Street; J. B. Lippincott & Co., 715 Market Street, →OCLC, page 172:

verso left-hand page of a book usually identified with even folio numbers. […] recto right-hand page of a book usually identified with odd folio numbers.

2006, Andrew Haslam, “Creating a Book”, in Book Design (Portfolio), London: Laurence King Publishing, →ISBN, page 21:

A page number. The even folios are on the left-hand pages and the odd folios on the right-hand pages.

This pocket copying-machine, by which letters and writings of all sizes, even folio, may be very quickly copied, consists of a press four inches long, with a small cylinder, which contains pens and ink: the whole apparatus may be conveniently carried in the pocket, and the price is very moderate.

1821 April 1, “Useful Arts”, in The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Co. Conduit-Street, Hanover-Square, →OCLC, page 180:

(by extension, printing)
A sheet of paper folded in half.

A rare copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio.

A treatiſe in Folio, intitled, The Magazen of Honour, or a Treatiſe concerninge the Nobillitie of England accordinge to the Lawes of England, with their Priviledges in Parliament, & in what caſes noe priviledge, together with the Etymologie, definition & antiquitie of 3 ſortes of Barons.

1759, Humfrey Wanley, David Casley, William Hocker, Charles Morton, compilers, A Catalogue of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts, Purchased by Authority of Parliament, for the Use of the Publick; and Preserved in the British Museum. Published by Order of the Trustees, volume II, London: Printed by Dryden Leach, and sold by L. Davis and C. Reymers, opposite Grays-Inn, Holborn, →OCLC, serial number 5876:

Another, with the bump of order unnaturally developed, had his folios and quartos all reduced, in binding, to one size, so that they might look even on his bookshelves.

1902, William Blades, The Enemies of Books, 2nd edition, page 102:

He [collector Anthony Morris Storer] bequeathed part of his collection to […] Eton College, including the First Folio [of William Shakespeare], a fine copy of the Second Folio, a poor copy of the Third Folio, and the collection of Quartos.

2003, Anthony James West, The Shakespeare First Folio: The History of the Book. Volume II: A New Worldwide Census of First Folios, volume II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 87:

A book made of sheets of paper each folded in half (two leaves or four pages to the sheet); hence, a book of the largest kind, exceeding 30 centimetres in height.


polyphony

en-noun

polyphony (countable and uncountable, plural polyphonies)

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πολυφωνία (poluphōnía); equivalent to poly- + -phony.

lbor

the polyphony of a biblical passage

(literature) The quality of a text of being able to be read in more than one way.


sidebar

The tables in the sidebar can be used to determine “average” height and weight, and to provide a slight random variation if desired.

2004 "Height and Weight", GURPS Basic Set 3rd Edition 6th printing page 15

(typography) A block of information placed at the side of a printed page.


starburst

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

(typography) A symbol similar to an asterisk, but with additional rays: ✺.


bang out

en-verb

bang out (third-person singular simple present bangs out, present participle banging out, simple past and past participle banged out)

bangs out (present singular third-person)
banging out (participle present)
banged out (participle past)
banged out (past)

As Hill left, his colleagues on the foreign desk started to bang him out – the traditional printers' farewell that involves thumping the desk as loudly as possible. According to reports the whole of the Telegraph's vast multimedia newsroom, said to be the largest in Europe, was shaking as staff banged out yet another colleague.

2008 June 26, “Hill and Dryden off with a bang”, in The Guardian:

(transitive, British, printing) To celebrate (a fellow printing or newspaper industry worker) to mark their completion of an apprenticeship or their retirement by (formerly) hitting metal furniture in the printing room or (more recently) hitting one's desk in the newsroom.


Ionian

* (Hellenic, Ionia, architecture): Ionia + -n
* (moon of Jupiter): Io + -n- + -ian

(science fiction) An inhabitant of Io, a moon of Jupiter.


diacritical mark

en-noun

diacritical mark (plural diacritical marks)

(orthography, typography) A symbol in writing used with a letter to indicate a different pronunciation, stress, tone, or meaning.


acute accent

From Latin accentus (“accent”) acūtus (“sharp”), a calque of Ancient Greek προσῳδία (prosōidía, “accent”) ὀξύς (oxús, “sharp”).
Cognate to French accent aigu.

der

(orthography): A diacritical mark ( ´ ) that can be placed above a number of letters in many languages of the Latin, Greek and Cyrillic writing systems.


colophon

Borrowed from Late Latin colophōn, from Ancient Greek κολοφών (kolophṓn, “peak or finishing touch”).

(printing, publishing) In manuscripts (typically before the invention of printing), the note, usually at the end, left by the scribe who copied it, giving information on their exemplar, where and when the copy was made, and sometimes, their own name.

(printing) A printer's or publisher's identifying inscription or logo appearing at the front or end of a book, or the same appearing on the spine or dust jacket.


Oompa Loompa

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

Apparently a fanciful formation in line with whimsical English words like fuzzy-wuzzy, Humpty Dumpty, etc. Perhaps reminiscent of "exotic" ethnonyms to Westerners; note Roald Dahl spent time in Tanganyika, East Africa, during his service in the Royal Air Force. Also compare oom-pah (“genre of German folk music”) (the Oompa Loompas dance to quirky, rhythmic songs).

Dr. Evil: Is he giving off too much of a creepy Umpa Lumpa vibe? / What’s wrong, Mini-Me?

1999 June, Mike Myers, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, New Line Cinema

Nobody, not even an Umpa Lumpa, had warned me what would happen to a blind guy who refuses to close his eyes.

2006, Ryan Knighton, Cockeyed, A Memoir, page 152:

It could be worse, but I've learned to become invisible to Machiavellian dilettantes, faux radical Satanistas, and bloodsucking Oompa-Loompas of the painfully ordinary variety.

2006, Adrian C. Louis, Logorrhea, Northwestern University Press,, →ISBN, page 44:

[Referring to the male member] It's not one of the Muppets or an Umpa Lumpa.

2006, Sherry Argov, Why Men Marry Bitches: A Woman's Guide to Winning Her Man's Heart, page 89:

Don’t be afraid to write your name in the books and on the pans that were yours before you found yourself sharing a studio apartment that would normally not be big enough for an Oompa-Loompa.

2006, Anna Jane Grossman, Flint Wainess, It’s Not Me, It’s You: The Ultimate Breakup Book, page 129:

Nevertheless, some subtle market forces are at work which pressure the canny shopkeeper into giving up valuable shelf space to the contents of an Oompa Loompa’s cocktail cabinet.

2006, Simon Trewin and Michael Moran, The Encyclopaedia of Guilty Pleasures, John Murray, page unknown

For women with skin of color, it's so, so important to get the shade and tone right. If it's wrong, you can look incredibly ashy, or like an Oompa Loompa.

2006, Iman, The Beauty of Color: The Ultimate Beauty Guide for Skin of Color, page 34:

The men[…]have gone way overboard with the spray-on tan. They’re as orange as Oompa Loompas, and they stare at my boobs for a very long time before acknowledging me.

2007, Meta Smith, Queen of Miami, Hachette Digital, →ISBN:

I don't know who decided all porn actors must be the same shade of orange as Oompa Loompas.

2009, Reverend Jen, Live Nude Elf: The Sexperiments of Reverend Jen, Counterpoint Press, →ISBN, page 172:

Dahl insisted there was no racist intent behind the Oompa Loompas but also said he found himself sympathising with the NAACP.

2017 September 13, Haroon Siddique, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory hero 'was originally black'”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(fiction) Any of the fictional pygmies who manufacture candy in Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.


pilcrow

Probably an alteration of Middle English pylcrafte, modification of Late Latin paragraphus.

(typography) A symbol designating a paragraph break.

The symbol ¶.
A symbol designating a paragraph break.


modulation

en-noun

modulation (countable and uncountable, plural modulations)

/ˌmɑd͡ʒəˈleɪʃən/

From Late Middle English modulacion, modulacioun (“act of making music or singing; harmony; melody, song”), from Middle French modulation (modern French modulation), and directly from its etymon Latin modulātiō (“regular or rhythmical measure, modulation; inflection of tone; (architecture) calculation of measurements from a standard unit; (Late Latin) act of making music or singing; melody, song”), from modulātus (“modulated”) + -iō (suffix forming abstract nouns from verbs). Modulātus is a perfect participle of modulor (“to beat time; to make music or sing; to measure; etc.”), from modulus (“rhythmical measure, interval; rhythm; small interval or measure, etc.”) + -or (suffix forming certain inflections of verbs); and modulus is from modus (“measure; method; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure; etc.”)) + -ulus (diminutive suffix). By surface analysis, modulat(e) + -ion (suffix denoting an action or process, or its result).

listen/core

Modulation vocal music example duple.mid

изменение

modification or regulation of something to achieve an appropriate measure or proportion; an instance of this

(uncountable) Modification or regulation of something to achieve an appropriate measure or proportion; (countable) an instance of this.

(typography, countable) The contrast between the thick and thin parts of the strokes of a typeface.


nonpareil

en-noun

nonpareil (countable and uncountable, plural nonpareils)

nonpareils (plural)
non-pareil (alternative)
nonparella (alternative)
nonpareillo (alternative)

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

/ˌnɑnpəˈɹɛl/

From Late Middle English non-parail (“unparalleled, nonpareil”) [and other forms], from Middle French nonpareille, nonpareil (“unparalleled”) (obsolete), from non- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + pareil (“alike, like, same”). Pareil is derived from Old French pareil, from Late Latin pāriculus (“equal; like; of a number: even”), from Latin pār (“equal; like; of a number: even; suitable”) + -culus (a variant of -ulus (suffix forming diminutives)). Doublet of umpire.
Noun sense 4 (size of type standardized at 6-point) is usually taken to derive from the attractive type cut by the brothers Giovanni and Gregorio De Gregori (fl. 1482–1503 and 1496–1527 respectively) for their 1498 edition of the divine offices in Venice; it was for a long time the smallest-sized type in use.

nb...

nonparaille, nonpareyl, nounparalle, nowimparaile

der

I believe that letters which are less than a millimetre and a half (1/17 inch) high, will finally prove injurious to the eye. How little attention has hitherto been paid to this important subject is exemplified in the fact that even oculistic journals and books frequently contain nonpareil, or letters only a millimetre (1/25 inch) high.

1881 May 19, Hermann Cohn, “Eyes and School-Books”, in Popular Science Monthly:

A Handbook of Astronomy (cover, brown leather, detached, 5 plates, antique letterpress long primer, author’s footnotes nonpareil, marginal clues brevier, captions small pica).

1922 February, James Joyce, “[17]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

(uncountable, typography, chiefly historical) A size of type between ruby and emerald (or, in the United States, between agate and minion), standardized as 6-point; (countable) a slug of this size.

nonparej

size of type standardized at 6-point; slug of this size


displayed

en-adj

displayed (comparative more displayed, superlative most displayed)

more displayed (comparative)
most displayed (superlative)

(typography) Set with lines of prominent type interspersed, to catch the eye.


combining form

As far as possible this specification uses non-combining characters, however, in the cases tdot, TripleDot and DotDot Unicode only has combining forms of the accents, and so the entity replacement text starts with a space, to avoid the possibility that the expansion of the entity combines with preceding text.

2014 April 10, “XML Entity Definitions for Characters (2nd Edition)”, in David Carlisle, Patrick Ion, editors, w3.org, World Wide Web Consortium, retrieved 2015-03-22:

(computing, typography) A character encoded from a sequence of other characters instead of a precomposed character.


dilithium

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

Fifty years later and it seems like we should—I don’t know if dilithium crystals are out there—but, you know, we should be getting some breakthroughs.

2016 October, Scott Dadich, quoting Barack Obama, “Barack Obama Talks AI, Robo Cars, and the Future of the World”, in Wired, →ISSN:

(science fiction) A fictional crystalline mineral in the Star Trek franchise, described as an essential component of anti-matter energy generation systems.


selvage

en-noun

selvage (countable and uncountable, plural selvages)

selvages (plural)
selvedge (alternative)

From early modern Dutch selfegghe (Modern Dutch zelfkant (“selvage”)), equivalent to self + edge.

ива

finished edge of a woven fabric parallel with warp

(printing) The excess area of any printed or perforated sheet, such as the border on a sheet of postage stamps or the wide margins of an engraving.

reunus

excess area of printed or perforated sheet


pup

(chiefly US, newspapers, publishing) An early edition of a periodical publication, intended for distribution to distant locations.


doublet

doublets (plural)
doubtlet (alternative)

From Middle English doublet, a borrowing from Old French doublet, from double, duble, doble + -et.

zeke

(historical in English) a man’s waistcoat

(literature) In textual criticism, two different narrative accounts of the same actual event.

szövegismétlődés

literature: in textual criticism, two different narrative accounts of the same actual event

(printing, US) A word or phrase set a second time by mistake.


silver bullet

(literally, folklore) A bullet made of silver, usually with reference to the folkloric belief that such bullets are the only weapons which can kill a werewolf, vampire, or other monster.


boldness

boldness (usually uncountable, plural boldnesses)

From Middle English boldnesse, equivalent to bold + -ness. Cognate with Scots baldness, bauldness (“boldness”).

(typography) The relative weight of a font; the thickness of its strokes.


Igor

From the hunchbacked lab assistant to Dr. Victor Frankenstein in the 1931 U.S. film Frankenstein of Universal Studios, which was named "Fritz", and the successor to Dr. Frankenstein found in the third and fourth films, named "Ygor"; which have been conflated in popular culture to become "Igor".

(fiction) A stock character, the lab assistant to a mad scientist, vampire, or miser frequently depicted as being deformed in some manner, physically and/or psychologically.


Arial

Derived from the word aerial, introduced as a trademark by Monotype.

(typography) A sans serif typeface designed by Monotype as a clone of Helvetica. Notably a default Windows font.


macule

en-verb

macule (third-person singular simple present macules, present participle maculing, simple past and past participle maculed)

macules (present singular third-person)
maculing (participle present)
maculed (participle past)
maculed (past)
mackle (alternative)

From Middle French macule, from Latin macula. Doublet of macchia, macula and, with a suffix, maquis.

(printing) To blur or be blurred; especially to blur or double an impression from type.


en-noun

12mo (usually uncountable, plural 12mos)

(printing) A book size using duodecimo-sized pages.


4to (countable and uncountable, plural 4tos)

From Latin quārtō, ablative case singular of quārtus (“fourth”).

(printing) Abbreviation of quarto, a corresponding book size.


(printing) A book size, corresponding to the page size.


juvenilia

From Latin iuvenīlia, neuter plural of iuvenīlis (“of or pertaining to youth”).

...rhyme was not his [Milton's] talent; he had neither the ease of doing it, nor the graces of it: which is manifest in his "Juvenilia" or verses written in his youth, where his rhyme is always constrained and forced,...

1693, John Dryden, A Discourse on the Origin and Progress of Satire:

Lewis’s juvenilia is childlike, and the way it has been handled is childish.

1996, Kathryn Lindskoog, Light in the Shadowlands:

Though there is a large body of criticism on Brontë’s novels, there are very few interpretations of the juvenilia, […]

1997, Tomoko Kuribayashi with Julie Tharp edd., quoting Susan Anne Carlson, “Incest and Rage in Charlotte Brontë’s Novelettes,”, quoted in Creating Safe Space,:

The last line, adapted from Coleridge, reminds us that we are never such kleptomaniacs as in our juvenilia.

2003, James Fenton, The Strength of Poetry:

(chiefly literature) Works produced during an artist's or author's youth.


catalectic

From Latin catalecticus, from Ancient Greek καταληκτικός (katalēktikós, “leaving off, incomplete”) from κατάληξις (katálēxis).

der

καταληκτικός

(poetry) A line with incomplete meter, lacking a syllable at the end or ending with an incomplete foot.


incunabulum

From Latin incūnābulum (“cradle, origin”).

Sebastian, a profound student of such lore, had long believed that the book was a mere medieval legend; and he had been startled as well as gratified when he found this copy on the shelves of a dealer in old manuscripts and incunabula.

August 1935, Clark Ashton Smith, “The Treader of the Dust”, in Weird Tales:

Something about him reminded me of one of those figures from old-fashioned playing cards or the sort used by fortune-tellers, a print straight from the pages of an incunabulum: his presence was both funereal and incandescent, like a curse dressed in its Sunday best.

2004, Luisa Graves, The Shadow of the Wind, translation of original by Carlos Ruiz Zafón:

(printing) A book, single sheet, or image that was printed before the year 1501 in Europe.


introverted

en-adj

introverted (comparative more introverted, superlative most introverted)

more introverted (comparative)
most introverted (superlative)
introvert (alternative)

In the Quatrain Reversed or Introverted, the first line corresponds with the fourth.

1896, Richard Green Moulton, The Literary Study of the Bible, page 50:

(poetry, literature) Arranged so that two similar words, lines, etc. form the middle of the structure.


englyn

The concluding Englyn has written below it, in a very bad and quite different hand, "Dauid (or Daniel?) Davies," but whether this name is that of the supposed author of the Englynion, or that of one of the owners of the MS., we cannot say.

1892, F[rancis] T[urner] Palgrave, “Henry Vaughan of Scethrog, 1622–1695: Some Notes on His Life and Characteristics as a Poet of Welsh Descent”, in Egerton Phillimore, editor, Y Cymmrodor: The Magazine of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, volume XI, London: Printed for the Society [Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion] by Gilbert & Rivington, Limited, St. John's House, Clerkenwell, London, E.C., page 222:

The metrical system of the canine original, which recalls the intricate alliterative and isosyllabic rules of the Welsh englyn, is infinitely more complicated but we believe our readers will agree that the spirit has been well caught.

1922 February 2, James Joyce, Ulysses: A Novel, Paris: Shakespeare and Company; Sylvia Beach, OCLC 560090630; republished London: Published for the Egoist Press, London by John Rodker, Paris, October 1922, OCLC 2297483, page 299

The englyn as we know it in Canu Llywarch Hen and Elegy on Cynddylan is characterized by three lines with end rhyme.

1993, Sarah Lynn Higley, Between Languages: The Uncooperative Text in Early Welsh and Old English Nature Poetry, University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, →ISBN:

(poetry) A short Welsh or Cornish poem of a variable structure, with each line using quantitative metre and cynghanedd (a repeating pattern of consonants and accent), and different lines being arranged in standardized patterns of rhyme and half rhyme.


suspended animation

(science fiction) The deliberate slowing of the body's functions, sometimes by the use of cryonics, on long interstellar journeys.


beta reader

(publishing) A person who informally proofreads another person's text before the latter makes it available to the general public.


fall out

en-verb

fall out (third-person singular simple present falls out, present participle falling out, simple past fell out, past participle fallen out)

falls out (present singular third-person)
falling out (participle present)
fell out (past)
fallen out (participle past)

(intransitive, obsolete, printing, of type) To fall off due to the quoins holding it in place having become wet and therefore loose.


intaglio

en-noun

intaglio (countable and uncountable, plural intagli or intaglios or intaglioes or intaglii)

intagli (plural)
intaglios (plural)
intaglioes (plural)
intaglii (plural)

Borrowed from Italian intaglio, from intagliare (“to engrave”).

(printing) Any printing method in which the ink is laid upon the sunken parts of the printing form.


scumming

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

(printing) The accumulation of sticky ink on a plate.


ottava

From Italian ottava (“octave”) (also feminine form of ottavo (“eighth”), ordinal form of otto).


time warp

time warps (plural)
timewarp (alternative)

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

But as the reports on the Bild investigation suggest, the company’s workplace culture may be stuck in a time warp.

2021 October 17, Ben Smith, “At Axel Springer, Politico’s New Owner, Allegations of Sex, Lies and a Secret Payment”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(science fiction) A hypothetical discontinuity in the flow of time that would uncausally move events from one time period to another.


time warp

en-verb

time warp (third-person singular simple present time warps, present participle time warping, simple past and past participle time warped)

time warps (present singular third-person)
time warping (participle present)
time warped (participle past)
time warped (past)
timewarp (alternative)

(science fiction, transitive, intransitive) To travel through time in such a manner.