box

en-verb

box (third-person singular simple present boxes, present participle boxing, simple past and past participle boxed)

boxes (present singular third-person)
boxing (participle present)
boxed (participle past)
boxed (past)

Etymology tree
Ancient Greek πῠ́ξος (pŭ́xos)
Ancient Greek -ις (-is)
Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís)bor.
Late Latin buxisbor.
Proto-West Germanic *buhsā
Old English box
Middle English box
English box
From Middle English box (“container, box, cup”), from Old English box (“box, case”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhsā (“box”) from Late Latin buxis (“box”), Latin pyxis (“small box for medicines or toiletries”), of uncertain origin; compare Ancient Greek πύξος (púxos, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”) and Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”). Doublet of piseog, pyx, and pyxis.
Cognate with Middle Dutch bosse, busse (“jar; tin; round box”) (modern Dutch bos (“wood, forest”), bus (“container, box; bushing of a wheel”)), Old High German buhsa (Middle High German buhse, bühse, modern German Büchse (“box; can”)), Swedish bössa (“box”).
The humorous plural form boxen is from box + -en, by analogy with oxen.

cog

(transitive, graphic design, printing) To enclose (images, text, etc.) in a box.


ball

en-noun

ball (countable and uncountable, plural balls)

→ Cantonese: 波 (bo¹)

→ Japanese: ボール (bōru)

→ Makah: ba·la

→ Yoruba: bọ́ọ̀lù

From Middle English bal, ball, balle, from an unattested Old English *beall, *bealla (“round object, ball”) or Old Norse bǫllr (“a ball”), both from Proto-Germanic *balluz, *ballô (“ball”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰol-n- (“ball, bubble”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, inflate, swell”). Cognate with Old Saxon ball, Dutch bal, Old High German bal, ballo (German Ball (“ball”); Ballen (“bale”)). Related forms in Romance are borrowings from Germanic. See also balloon, bale.

ампыл

object, generally spherical, used for playing games

туп

ballistics: a solid nonexplosive missile

cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey

(printing, historical) A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; formerly used by printers for inking the form, then superseded by the roller.


stork

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

My sister's expecting a visit from the stork.

(folklore or euphemistic) The mythical bringer of babies to families, or good news.


distribution

en-noun

distribution (countable and uncountable, plural distributions)

distributions (plural)
distribucion (alternative obsolete)

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

(printing, historical) The process of sorting the types and placing them in their proper boxes in the cases.


flat

en-adj

flat (comparative flatter, superlative flattest)

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

bumpy

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

→ Portuguese: flat

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

inh

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

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

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


flat

This same publisher notes pricing is a crucial factor in the mass market field of $1, $1.95 and $2.95 "flats."

1970, The Publishers Weekly, volume 197, page 85:

(publishing) A flat, glossy children's book with few pages.


apex

Borrowed from Latin apex (“point, tip, summit”).

The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.

A diacritic in Classical Latin that resembles and gave rise to the acute.

A diacritic in Middle Vietnamese that indicates /ŋ͡m/.

A sharp upward point formed by two strokes that meet at an acute angle, as in "W", uppercase "A", and closed-top "4", or by a tapered stroke, as in lowercase "t".


impose

en-verb

impose (third-person singular simple present imposes, present participle imposing, simple past and past participle imposed)

imposes (present singular third-person)
imposing (participle present)
imposed (participle past)
imposed (past)
impose (infinitive)
impose (first-person present singular)
imposed (first-person past singular)
impose (present second-person singular)
imposest (archaic present second-person singular)
imposed (past second-person singular)
imposedst (archaic past second-person singular)
imposes (present singular third-person)
imposeth (archaic present singular third-person)
imposed (past singular third-person)
impose (plural present)
imposed (past plural)
impose (present subjunctive)
imposed (past subjunctive)
impose (imperative present)
imposing (participle present)
imposed (participle past)

The verb is derived from Late Middle English imposen (“to place, set; to impose (a duty, etc.)”), borrowed from Middle French imposer, and Old French emposer, enposer (“to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”) (modern French imposer), from im-, em- (variants of en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’)) + poser (“to place, put”), modelled after:
* Latin impōnere (“to place or set (something) on; (figurative) to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”), from im- (variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘on, upon’)) + pōnō (“to place, put; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂pó, *h₂epó (“away; off”) + *tḱey- (“to cultivate; to live; to settle”)); and
* Latin impositus (“established; put upon, imposed”), the perfect passive participle of impōnō: see above.
The noun is derived from the verb.

der

They [pages] are imposed as follows, the illustration showing how the pages appear in the form. […] 18, 24, 32, and 48mo may be imposed in a similar manner, or may be so imposed as to be cut before folding.

1877, Edward H[enry] Knight, “Imposing”, in Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary. […], volume II (GAS–REA), New York, N.Y.: Hurd and Houghton […], →OCLC, page 1172, column 1:

(archaic) To physically lay or place (something) on another thing; to deposit, to put, to set.

(printing) To lay (columns or pages of type, or printing plates) arranged in a proper order on the bed of a press or an imposing stone and secure them in a chase in preparation for printing.

kiinnittää

To lay (columns or pages of type, or printing plates) arranged in a proper order on the bed of a press, etc.


plate

→ Maori: pereti

→ Hindi: प्लेट (pleṭ)

From Middle English plate, from Old French plate, from Medieval Latin plata, from Vulgar Latin *plat(t)us, from Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús, “broad, flat, wide”). Compare Spanish plato.
(foot): Cockney rhyming slang, from "plates of meat" for "feet".

We finished making the plates this morning.

(printing) An engraved surface used to transfer an image to paper.

гравю́ра

printing: engraved surface used to transfer an image to paper

(printing, photography) An image or copy.

(printing, publishing) An illustration in a book, either black and white, or colour, usually on a page of paper of different quality from the text pages.

làmina

printing, publishing: full page illustration


dialogue

en-noun

dialogue (countable and uncountable, plural dialogues)

dialogues (plural)
dialog (alternative US)

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

der

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

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

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

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

حِوَار

verbal part of a literary or dramatic work


broad

en-adj

broad (comparative broader, superlative broadest)

broader (comparative)
broadest (superlative)

thin

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

skinny

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

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

inh

not be able to hit the broad side of a barn

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

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


solid

en-adj

solid (comparative more solid or solider, superlative most solid or solidest)

more solid (comparative)
solider (comparative)
most solid (superlative)
solidest (superlative)

From Middle English solide, borrowed from Old French solide, from Latin solidus (“solid”), from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂-i-dʰ-o-s (“entire”), suffixed form of root *solh₂- (“integrate, whole”). Doublet of sol, sold, soldo, solidus, sou, and xu.

doublet

American English writes many words as solid that British English hyphenates.

(typography) Written as one word, without spaces or hyphens.

(printing, dated) Not having the lines separated by leads; not open.


solid

en-adv

solid (comparative more solid, superlative most solid)

more solid (comparative)
most solid (superlative)

Many long-established compounds are set solid.

(not comparable, typography) Without spaces or hyphens.


plasma

en-verb

plasma (third-person singular simple present plasmas, present participle plasmaing, simple past and past participle plasmaed)

plasmas (present singular third-person)
plasmaing (participle present)
plasmaed (participle past)
plasmaed (past)

From Late Latin plasma (“mold”), from Ancient Greek πλάσμα (plásma, “something formed”).

der

(science fiction, transitive) To transform something into plasma.


tail

Sranan Tongo: tere

From Middle English tail, tayl, teil, from Old English tæġl (“tail”), from Proto-West Germanic *tagl, from Proto-Germanic *taglą (“hair, fiber; hair of a tail”), from Proto-Indo-European *doḱ- (“hair of the tail”), from Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- (“to tear, fray, shred”). Cognate with Scots tail (“tail”), Saterland Frisian Tail (“tail, end”), West Frisian teil (“tail”), Dutch teil (“tail, haulm, blade”), Low German Tagel (“twisted scourge, whip of thongs and ropes; end of a rope”), German Zagel (“tail”), dialectal Danish tavl (“hair of the tail”), Swedish tagel (“hair of the tail, horsehair”), Norwegian tagl (“tail”), Icelandic tagl (“tail, horsetail, ponytail”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌲𐌻 (tagl, “hair”). In some senses, apparently by a generalization of the usual opposition between head and tail.

cog

have the world by the tail on a downhill pull

mackerel sky and mare's-tails make lofty ships carry low sails

mackerel sky and mare's-tails make tall ships carry low sails

the cow knows not the worth of its tail till it loses it

trust someone as far as one could fling a bull by the tail

(typography) The lower loop of the letters in the Roman alphabet, as in g, q or y.


river

→ Finnish: river (“river (in poker)”)

Sranan Tongo: liba

From Middle English ryver, from Anglo-Norman rivere, from Early Medieval Latin rīpāria (“littoral, riverbank”), from Latin rīpārius (“of a riverbank”), from Latin rīpa (“river bank”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- (“to scratch, tear, cut”). Unrelated to Latin rīvus (“stream”) (whence rival, derive). Doublet of riviera and rivière. Displaced native Old English ēa.

der

lake [⇒ thesaurus] "stream of running water"

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class III § 348. River

(typography) A visually undesirable effect of white space running down a page, caused by spaces between words on consecutive lines happening to coincide.

نهر أبيض

typography: visually undesirable effect of white space running down a page


pull

en-verb

pull (third-person singular simple present pulls, present participle pulling, simple past and past participle pulled)

pulls (present singular third-person)
pulling (participle present)
pulled (participle past)
pulled (past)

push

antonym(s) of “apply force to (something) so it comes towards one”

-ʊl (accents with foot–goose merger or full–fool merger)

Verb from Middle English pullen, from Old English pullian (“to pull, draw, tug, pluck off”), of uncertain ultimate origin. Related to West Frisian pûlje (“to shell, husk”), Middle Dutch pullen (“to drink”), Middle Dutch polen (“to peel, strip”), Low German pulen (“to pick, pluck, pull, tear, strip off husks”), Icelandic púla (“to work hard, beat”).
Noun from Middle English pul, pull, pulle, from the verb pullen (“to pull”).

cog

it's not the whistle that pulls the train

pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire

(printing, dated) To take or make (a proof or impression); so called because hand presses were worked by pulling a lever.


pull

en-noun

pull (countable and uncountable, plural pulls)

button

antonym(s) of “device meant to be pulled”

(printing, historical) A single impression from a handpress.


float

en-verb

float (third-person singular simple present floats, present participle floating, simple past and past participle floated)

floats (present singular third-person)
floating (participle present)
floated (participle past)
floated (past)

From Middle English floten, from Old English flotian (“to float”), from Proto-West Germanic *flotōn, from Proto-Germanic *flutōną (“to float”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewd-, *plew- (“to float, swim, fly”). Compare flow, fleet.

To get the footer acting right, you need to float it and clear it on both margins.

2010, Andy Harris, HTML, XHTML and CSS All-In-One For Dummies, page 290:

(computing, publishing, transitive) To cause (an element within a document) to float above or beside others.


float

From Middle English flote, from Old English flota (“sailor, boat”), from Proto-West Germanic *flotō, from Proto-Germanic *flutô, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd-.

(publishing, digital typesetting) Any object (element) whose location in composition (page makeup, pagination) does not flow within body text but rather floats outside of it, usually anchored loosely (in buoy metaphor) to spots within it (citations, callouts): a figure (image), table, box, pull quote, ornament, or other floated element.


stone

en-noun

stone (countable and uncountable, plural stones or (UK, as unit of weight) stone)

Sranan Tongo: ston

→ Esperanto: ŝtono

From Middle English ston, stone, stan, from Old English stān, from Proto-West Germanic *stain, from Proto-Germanic *stainaz, from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- (“to stiffen”).
See also West Frisian stien, Saterland Frisian Steen, Dutch steen, German Stein, Danish and Swedish sten, Norwegian stein; also Russian стена́ (stená, “wall”), Ancient Greek στία (stía, “pebble”), στέαρ (stéar, “tallow”), Albanian shtëng (“hardened or pressed matter”), Sanskrit स्त्यायते (styāyate, “it hardens”)). Doublet of stein.

cog

The Chief called the makeup editor to the stone, pointed to the story which had caught his eye, and suggested a fairly simple remake.

1965, George Murray, The Madhouse on Madison Street, page 38:

(printing, historical) A stand or table with a smooth, flat top of stone, commonly marble, on which to arrange the pages of a book, newspaper, etc. before printing.


space

en-noun

space (countable and uncountable, plural spaces)

From Middle English space, from Anglo-Norman space, variant of espace, espas et al., and spaze, variant of espace, from Latin spatium, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peh₂- (“to stretch, to pull”).

مَسَافَة

gap between written characters, lines etc.

Fully Automated Luxury Queer Space Communism

If it be only a Single Letter or two that drops, he thruſts the end of his Bodkin between every Letter of that Word, till he comes to a Space: and then perhaps by forcing thoſe Letters closer, he may have room to put in another Space or a Thin Space; which if he cannot do, and he finds the Space ſtand Looſe in the Form; he with the Point of his Bodkin picks the Space up and bows it a little; which bowing makes the Letters on each ſide of the Space keep their parallel diſtance; for by its Spring it thruſts the Letters that were cloſed with the end of the Bodkin to their adjunct Letters, that needed no cloſing.

1683, Joseph Moxon, Mechanick Exercises: Or, the Doctrine of Handy-Works. Applied to the art of Printing., volume 2, pages 240–1:

Horizontal spacing is further divided into multiples and fractions of the em. The multiples are called quads. The fractions are called spaces.

1979, Marshall Lee, Bookmaking, page 110:

Other larger spaces – known as quads – were used to space out lines.

2005, Phil Baines, Andrew Haslam, Type & Typography, 2nd edition, page 91:

(heading) A bounded or specific extent, physical or otherwise.

(letterpress typography) A piece of metal type used to separate words, cast lower than other type so as not to take ink, especially one that is narrower than one en (compare quad).


space

en-verb

space (third-person singular simple present spaces, present participle spacing, simple past and past participle spaced)

spaces (present singular third-person)
spacing (participle present)
spaced (participle past)
spaced (past)

The captain spaced the traitors.

Sound effect of blow with blunt instrument, groan, and the unmistakable cycling of an air lock—Castor: "Sorry, folks. My assistant has just spaced Mr. Rudolf. […]"

1952, Robert A. Heinlein, The Rolling Stones:

A lot of people make jokes about spacing somebody, about shoving somebody out an airlock. I don't think it's funny. Never will.

1995, J. Michael Straczynski, And Now for a Word (Babylon 5), season 2, episode 15, spoken by Dr. Stephen Franklin (Richard Biggs):

(transitive, science fiction) To kill (someone) by ejection into outer space, usually without a space suit.

He well remembered, when he was a junior officer, how the sight of a well dressed, impeccably neat commanding officer, no matter how long they had been spacing, maintained the enthusiasm, confidence and morale of the officers and men.

1947 January 7, Bernard I. Kahn, “Command”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume 38, number 5:

(intransitive, science fiction) To travel into and through outer space.


apostrophe

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

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

der

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

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

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


dagger

From Middle English daggere, daggare, dagard, probably adapted from Old French dague (1229), related to Occitan, Italian, Spanish daga, Dutch dagge, German Degen, Middle Low German dagge (“knife's point”), Old Norse daggarðr, Danish daggert, Faroese daggari, Welsh dager, dagr, Breton dac, Albanian thikë (“a knife, dagger”), thek (“to stab, to pierce with a sharp object”).
In English attested from the 1380s.
The ultimate origin of the word is unclear. Grimm suspects Celtic origin.
Others have suggested derivation from an unattested Vulgar Latin *daca "Dacian [knife]", from the Latin adjective dācus. Chastelain (Dictionaire etymologique, 1750) thought that French dague was a derivation from German dagge, dagen, although not attested until a much later date).
The knightly dagger evolves from the 12th century. Guillaume le Breton (died 1226) uses daca in his Philippide. Other Middle Latin forms include daga, dagga, dagha, dagger, daggerius, daggerium, dagarium, dagarius, diga; the forms with -r- are late 14th century adoptions of the English word).
OED points out that there is also an English verb dag (“to stab”) from which this could be a derivation, but the verb is attested only from about 1400.
Relation to Old Armenian դակու (daku, “adze, axe”) has also been suggested. Alternatively, a connection from Proto-Indo-European *dʰāg-u- and cognate with Ancient Greek θήγω (thḗgō, “to sharpen, whet”).


-sama

(anime and manga, fandom slang) Appended to a person's name or nickname to convey honour and respect.


display

en-verb

display (third-person singular simple present displays, present participle displaying, simple past and past participle displayed)

displays (present singular third-person)
displaying (participle present)
displayed (participle past)
displayed (past)

From Middle English displayen, from Anglo-Norman despleier and Old French despleier, desploiier, from Medieval Latin displicare (“to unfold, display”), from Latin dis- (“apart”) + plicāre (“to fold”). Doublet of deploy.

der

(printing, dated) To make conspicuous by using large or prominent type.


wedge

en-noun

wedge (countable and uncountable, plural wedges)

From Middle English wegge (“wedge”), from Old English weċġ (“wedge”), from Proto-West Germanic *wagi, from Proto-Germanic *wagjaz.

The wedge is used in Czech and is illustrated by the Czech name for the diacritic, haček.

1982, Thomas Pyles, John Algeo, The Origins and Development of the English Language, 3rd edition, page 49:

The tilde and the circumflex have a place in the ASCII scheme but the wedge and the umlaut do not.

1996, Geoffrey Keith Pullum, William A. Ladusaw, Phonetic Symbol Guide, 2nd edition, page xxvi:

The háček or ‘wedge’ ⟨ˇ⟩ is a diacritic commonly used in Slavic orthographies. […] As a tone mark the wedge is used iconically for a falling-rising tone as in Chinese Pinyin.

1999, Florian Coulmas, “háček”, in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems, page 193:

Any symbol shaped like a V in some given orientation.


stroke

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

isku

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

ход

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

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

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

خَطّ

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

筆畫 /笔画

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

(computing) In Unicode: the formal name of the individual horizontal strikethroughs (as in "A̶").

Subject: Fire. Dear Sir-stroke-Madam: I am writing to inform you of a fire which has broken out at the premises of … No. That's too formal.

2006 February 3, Graham Linehan, “Calamity Jen”, in The IT Crowd, season 1, episode 2:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) The oblique, slash, or virgule ("/").


nut

→ Japanese: ナット (natto)

From Middle English nute, note, from Old English hnutu, from Proto-West Germanic *hnut, from Proto-Germanic *hnuts (“nut”), from a root *knu- possibly shared with Proto-Celtic *knūs and Latin nux (“nut”). Based on the form of the nouns and the restriction of the root to Germanic, Celtic and Italic, it has been argued to be of non-Indo-European (substrate) origin.
See also West Frisian nút, Dutch noot, German Nuss, Danish nød, Swedish nöt, Norwegian nøtt.

dió

walnut in particular and an element in the name of some other nuts

dióféle

literally: ’walnut-like’, the family of this fruit

walnuts, hazelnuts/peanuts, chestnuts, and related fruits

even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while

(typography slang) En, a unit of measurement equal to half of the height of the type in use.

Halbgeviert

typography: unit equal to half of the height of the type in use


beard

PIE word
 *bʰardʰéh₂
From Middle English berd, bard, bærd, from Old English beard, from Proto-West Germanic *bard, from Proto-Germanic *bardaz (compare West Frisian burd, Dutch baard, German Bart). Cognate further to Latin barba, Lithuanian barzda, Russian борода́ (borodá): the word may date to Proto-Indo-European as *bʰardʰeh₂, *bʰh₂erdʰeh₂. Doublet of barb.

(printing, dated) That part of a type which is between the shoulder of the shank and the face.


hyperbole

en-noun

hyperbole (countable and uncountable, plural hyperboles)

From Middle English iperbole, yperbole, from Latin hyperbolē, from Ancient Greek ὑπερβολή (huperbolḗ, “excess, exaggeration”), from ὑπέρ (hupér, “above”) + βάλλω (bállō, “I throw”, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-). Doublet of hyperbola.

der

Hyperbole soars too high, or creeps too low,
Exceeds the truth, things wonderful to shew.

1835, L[arret] Langley, “[The Seven Tropes.] Hyperbole.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 12:

The great staircase, however, may be termed, without much hyperbole, a feature of grandeur and magnificence.

1837, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Legends of the Province House:

"Nay, nay, good Sumach," interrupted the Deerslayer, whose love of truth was too indomitable to listen to such hyperbole, with patience[…]

1841, J[ames] Fenimore Cooper, chapter VIII, in The Deerslayer: A Tale. […], 1st British edition, volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 248:

c. 1910, Theodore Roosevelt, Productive Scholarship
Of course the hymn has come to us from somewhere else, but I do not know from where; and the average native of our village firmly believes that it is indigenous to our own soil—which it can not be, unless it deals in hyperbole, for the nearest approach to a river in our neighborhood is the village pond.

The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people's fantasies. ..People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It's an innocent form of exaggeration—and a very effective form of promotion.

1987, Donald Trump, Tony Schwartz, The Art of the Deal, page 58:

In these circumstances, hyperbole is called for, the rhetorical figure that raises its objects up, excessively, way above their actual merit : it is not to deceive by exaggeration that one overshoots the mark, but to allow the true value, the truth of what is insufficiently valued, to appear.

1995, Richard Klein, “Introduction”, in Cigarettes are sublime, Paperback edition, Durham: Duke University Press, published 1993, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 17:

The perennial problem, especially for the BBC, has been to reconcile the hyperbole-driven agenda of newspapers with the requirement of balance, which is crucial to the public service remit.

2001, Tom Bentley, Daniel Stedman Jones, The Moral Universe:

Trump has always believed in “truthful hyperbole,” as he called it in “The Art of the Deal.” But now it’s untruthful hyperbole.

2025 June 28, Maureen Dowd, “Obfuscating on Obliterating”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(uncountable, rhetoric, literature) Deliberate or unintentional overstatement, particularly extreme overstatement.


American

Americans (plural)
Am. (alternative)
Amer. (alternative)
Americanian (alternative)
Murican (alternative)

Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *amalą
Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-
Proto-Indo-European *-s
Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs
Proto-Celtic *rīxsbor.
Proto-Germanic *rīks
Proto-Germanic *Amalarīksder.
Proto-Indo-European *ḱey-
Proto-Indo-European *-mos
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóymos
Proto-Indo-European *tḱóymos
Proto-Germanic *haimaz
Proto-Germanic *rīks
Proto-Germanic *Haimarīksder.?
Italian Amerigoder.
New Latin Americalbor.
English America
Middle English -n
English -n
English American
From America + -n. compare Latin amerī̆canus.

etymon

(uncountable, US printing, rare, dated) A size of type smaller than German, 1-point type.


manga

en-noun

manga (countable and uncountable, plural manga or mangas)

manga (plural)
mangas (plural)
mangwa (alternative obsolete)

desc

→ Hindi: मांगा (māṅgā), माँगा (māṅgā), मैंगा (maiṅgā)

Black Cat (manga)
Hokusai
manga (disambiguation)

Borrowed from Japanese 漫画(まんが) (manga), from Middle Chinese 漫 (MC manH, “free, unrestrained”) + 畫 (MC hweaH|hweak, “drawing”). Compare Mandarin 漫畫／漫画 (mànhuà), Korean 만화 (漫畵／漫畫, manhwa). After an 1814 book by Katsushika Hokusai. Doublet of manhua and manhwa.

zh-l

漫畫／漫画 (mànhuà)

English speakers are quick to notice the at times incorrect use of English in anime and manga. Many English words are customarily used in standard Japanese speech, and sometimes they are pronounced and employed in a manner quite different from their native use.

2001, Gilles Poitras, “What makes anime unique”, in Anime Essentials: Every Thing a Fan Needs to Know, page 63:

Manga (Japanese comics) are everywhere. Even here in Auckland. One can find various titles in their original versions as well as in Chinese, Korean and English translations.

2007, Yukako Sunaoshi, “Who reads comics? Manga readership among first-generation Asian immigrants in New Zealand”, in Popular Culture, Globalization and Japan, page 94:

Manga-influenced comics by Western authors are frequently sold alongside manga, although in most bookstores the decision is primarily a matter of format and packaging (i.e., whether the book is printed in the compact manga size or the traditionally larger American comic book format).

2012, Jason Thompson, “Introduction”, in Manga: The Complete Guide, page 46:

(countable, comics) A comic originating in Japan.


doujinshi

en-noun

doujinshi (countable and uncountable, plural doujinshi or doujinshis)

doujinshi (plural)
doujinshis (plural)
dojinshi (alternative)
dōjinshi (alternative)

Borrowed from Japanese 同(どう)人(じん)誌(し) (dōjinshi, “fan-produced manga or essay booklets”), from 同(どう)人(じん) (dōjin, “group for the same interest”) + 誌(し) (shi, “magazine or a pamphlet”).

ja-r

(manga) A fan-produced book or magazine of Japanese fiction; especially manga.


faction

Near-synonym: fictionalization

Blind genius of faction / Obituary of Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer [title]

1986 June 16, W. J. Weatherby, “Blind genius of faction”, in The Guardian:

Contemporary reviewers offered different labels in attempts to describe the genre of Schindler's List. Lorna Sage, D.J. Enright and Robert Taubman called it a ‘documentary novel’; Paul Bailey and Gay Firth ‘faction’; […]

2000, Sue Vice, Holocaust Fiction, Psychology Press, →ISBN, page 93:

[Norman Mailer] was, though, absolutely the daddy of faction, his novels or journalism reporting every conflict from 1939 to Iraq and biographising Americans including John F Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali and Neil Armstrong.

2007 November 12, Mark Lawson, “The king of faction”, in The Guardian:

(literature, film) A form of literature, film etc., that treats real people or events as if they were fiction; a mix of fact and fiction.


gem

en-noun

gem (countable and uncountable, plural gems)

Inherited from Middle English gemme, gimme, yimme, ȝimme, from Old English ġimm, from Proto-West Germanic *gimmu (“gem”) and Old French gemme (“gem”), both from Latin gemma (“a swelling bud; jewel, gem”). Doublet of gemma and Gemma.

der

(uncountable, printing, uncommon, obsolete) A size of type between brilliant (4-point) and diamond (4½-point), running 222 lines to the foot.


leader

→ Catalan: líder

→ Czech: lídr

→ Galician: líder

→ Japanese: リーダー (rīdā)

→ Korean: 리더 (rideo)

→ Polish: lider

→ Portuguese: líder

→ Romanian: lider

→ Russian: ли́дер (líder)

→ Spanish: líder

→ Turkish: lider

→ Ukrainian: лі́дер (líder)

From Middle English leder, ledere, from Old English lǣdere (“leader”), from Proto-West Germanic *laidijārī (“leader”), equivalent to lead + -er. Cognate with Scots ledar, leidar (“leader”), West Frisian lieder (“leader”), Dutch leider (“leader”), German Leiter (“leader, conductor, manager”), Danish leder (“leader, manager”), Swedish ledare (“leader, conductor, director”), Icelandic leiðari (“leader, conductor”).

cog

If you need to reload film, the cassette can be rewound slightly by turning the hub located on one end of its spool. Do not rewind so much that the leader disappears into the cassette.

2011, Rebekah Modrak, Bill Anthes, Reframing Photography: Theory and Practice:

Someone or something that leads or conducts.

(film, printing) A piece of material at the beginning or end of a reel or roll to allow the material to be threaded or fed onto something, as a reel of film onto a projector or a roll of paper onto a rotary printing press.

(printing) A type having a dot or short row of dots upon its face.

(printing, in the plural) A row of dots, periods, or hyphens, used in tables of contents, etc., to lead the eye across a space to the right word or number.


device

From Middle English devis, devise, devyce, devys, devyse, from Old French devis and devise, from Latin dīvīsus, past participle of dīvidō (“to divide”). Doublet of devise (noun).

Prior to the issuance of the first stamps, letters accepted by postmasters for dispatch were marked "Paid" by means of pen and ink or hand stamps of various designs. … To facilitate the handling of mail matter, some postmasters provided special stamps or devices for use on letters as evidence of the prepayment of postage.

1943 United States Post Office Department. A Description of United States Postage Stamps / Issued by the Post Office Department from July 1, 1847, to April 1, 1945 [sic], USGPO, Washington, p1

(printing) An image or logo denoting official or proprietary authority or provenience.

tunnus

printing: image denoting authority or provenience


teek

She stood there dumbfounded as the door swung open and banged against the inside wall, narrowly missing her.¶ I did that, she thought. I'm a... teek?

2011, Nate Kenyon, StarCraft Ghost: Spectres, →ISBN, page 140:

(science fiction) A telekinetic person; a person who has telekinetic abilities.


teek

en-verb

teek (third-person singular simple present teeks, present participle teeking, simple past and past participle teeked)

teeks (present singular third-person)
teeking (participle present)
teeked (participle past)
teeked (past)

Tears of pain came to his eyes—and he didn’t know which hurt more, the pain of the soup on his arm or the real shock he had received when he had forced himself to keep from teeking the falling soup halfway across the room.

1957 April 7, Robert Silverberg, “Hidden Talent”, in Worlds of If, page 27:

With a brief psionic push, Nova teeked them aside and into the rock, firing her rifle at the soft areas just above the creature's rib cage.

2011, Nate Kenyon, StarCraft Ghost: Spectres, →ISBN, page 44:

(science fiction, transitive) To use telekinesis on; to move (something) with the power of one's mind.


charade

LL-Q1860 (eng)-John Adams VI-Charade.wav

From French charade, charrade (“prattle, idle conversation; a kind of riddle”), probably from Occitan charrada (“conversation; chatter”), from charrar (“to chat; to chatter”) + -ada. As a round of the game, originally a clipping of acting charade but now usually understood and formed as a back-formation from charades.

der

CHARADE, a trifling species of composition, or quasi-literary form of amusement, which may perhaps be best defined as a punning enigma propounded in a series of descriptions. A word is taken of two or more syllables, each forming a distinct word; each of these is described in verse or prose, as aptly and enigmatically as possible; and the same process is applied to the whole word. The neater and briefer the descriptive parts of the problem, the better the charade will be. In selecting words for charades, special attention should be paid to the absolute quality of the syllables composing them, inaccuracy in trifles of this sort depriving them of what little claim to merit they may possess. The brilliant rhythmic trifles of W. Mackworth Praed are well known. Of representative prose charades, the following specimens are perhaps as good as could be selected:—“My first, with the most rooted antipathy to a Frenchman, prides himself, whenever they meet, upon sticking close to his jacket; my second has many virtues, nor is its least that it gives its name to my first; my whole may I never catch!” “My first is company; my second shuns company; my third collects company; and my whole amuses company.” The solutions are Tar-tar and Co-nun-drum.

1878, "Charade" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. V, p. 398

(literature, archaic) A genre of riddles where the clues to the answer are descriptions or puns on its syllables, with a final clue to the whole.


tractor beam

Possibly a shortening of attractor beam; note however the broader meaning of tractor (“machinery that pulls something”). Coined by American science fiction author E. E. Smith in 1931 in his novel Spacehounds of IPC, first serialized in Amazing Stories.

coin

Through it Stevens saw with satisfaction that the Forlorn Hope was not being abandoned; in the grip of powerful tractor beams, every fragment of the wreckage was following close behind them in their flight through space.

1931 August, E. E. “Doc” Smith, “Spacehounds of IPC”, in Amazing Stories, volume 6, number 5, page 549:

By the way they're braced, there are tractor beams and pressor beams and—there are vacuum tubes that have grids but apparently work with cold cathodes.

1945 June, Murray Leinster, “The Ethical Equations”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume 35, number 4, page 122:

We're caught in a tractor beam! It's pulling us in!

1977, George Lucas, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, spoken by Han Solo (Harrison Ford):

(science fiction) A device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance.


escape pod

(chiefly science fiction) Any small, secondary, emergency-use vehicle used to evacuate from the main vehicle during times of danger.


pipe

→ Bengali: পাইপ (paip)

desc

→ Gulf Arabic: پيپ (pēp, bēb, “smoking pipe”), پايپ (pāyp, bāyb, “medium of transportation (sense 2.1)”)

→ Hindi: पाइप (pāip)

→ Japanese: パイプ (paipu)

→ Korean: 파이프 (paipeu)

→ Malay: paip

→ Maori: paipa

→ Russian: пайп (pajp)

→ Urak Lawoi': ปาเฮะ (pahëq)

From Middle English pīpe, pype (“hollow cylinder or tube used as a conduit or container; duct or vessel of the body; musical instrument; financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, pipe roll”), from Old English pīpe (“pipe (musical instrument); the channel of a small stream”), from Proto-West Germanic *pīpā. Reinforced by Vulgar Latin *pīpa, from Latin pipire, pipiare, pipare, from pīpiō (“to chirp, peep”), of imitative origin. Doublet of fife.
The “storage container” and “liquid measure” senses are derived from Middle English pīpe (“large storage receptacle, particularly for wine; cask, vat; measure of volume”), from pīpe (above) and Old French pipe (“liquid measure”). In specific contexts, calques similar units of measure such as Portuguese pipa.
The verb is from Middle English pīpen, pypyn (“to play a pipe; to make a shrill sound; to speak with a high-pitched tone”), from Old English pīpian (“to pipe”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

inh

While parseing an xml document( sax parser ), trying to replace ' | ' with ' & ' , it finds the pipe, but won't replace with amper.

2001 July 13, JimmyMac, “java and xml”, in comp.lang.java.help (Usenet):

(computing, typography) The character |.

Meanings relating to computing.
The character |.


mask

Borrowed from Middle French masque (“a covering to hide or protect the face”), from Italian maschera (“mask, disguise”), from (a byform of, see it for more) Medieval Latin masca, mascha, a borrowing of Proto-West Germanic *maskā from which English mesh is regularly inherited.
Replaced Old English grīma (“mask”), whence grime, and displaced non-native Middle English viser (“visor, mask”) borrowed from Old French viser, visier.
Compare also Hebrew מַסֵּכָה (masseiḥa).

蒙版

two-color bitmap used to create transparency in an image

(publishing, film) A flat covering used to block off an unwanted portion of a scene or image.


acatalectic

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

der

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


acatalectic

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


penultimate

penultimates (plural)
pænultimate (alternative archaic)

From a substantivation of the above adjective. Equivalent to Latin paenultimus + -ate (noun-forming suffix).

af

Antepenultimate is that before the Penultimate, or the last but two.

(uncommon) A penult, a next to last, particularly:

(linguistics, literature, uncommon) The penultimate syllable of a word or metrical line.


fighter

From Middle English fightere, fyghtor, feghtere, feghtare, fiȝtare, fiȝtere, from Old English feohtere. Equivalent to fight + -er.

Task Force 42 consisted of almost two dozen main line spinships, including the carriers Olympus Shadow and Neptune Station. Each of these can launch more than a hundred fighters or ALRs.

1990, Dan Simmons, The Fall of Hyperion, New York: Doubleday, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 32:

I toss around [37,654 tonne] dreadnoughts like they were fighters; dimly aware of the former crews being crushed to liquescence.

2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: Terminal Six (Legendary):

A class of fixed-wing aircraft whose primary purpose is to shoot down other aircraft, sometimes accompanied by a secondary purpose of attacking ground targets.

(science fiction, by extension) A starfighter


bullet

en-noun

bullet (countable and uncountable, plural bullets)

From Middle English bullet (“an official tag or badge of registration or identification”), from Old French bullete, diminutive of boule (“ball”). Later influenced by Middle French boulette and French boulet.

inh

(typography) A printed symbol in the form of a solid circle, “•”, often used to mark items in a list.

odrážka

typography: printed symbol in the form of a solid circle


put up

en-verb

put up (third-person singular simple present puts up, present participle putting up, simple past and past participle put up)

puts up (present singular third-person)
putting up (participle present)
put up (participle past)
put up (past)

(transitive, printing, historical) To set (matter) in capital letters; to switch text from lowercase to capital letters.


put down

put down (third-person singular simple present puts down, present participle putting down, simple past and past participle put down)

puts down (present singular third-person)
putting down (participle present)
put down (participle past)
put down (past)

(obsolete, printing) To set type in lowercase; to switch type from capital to lowercase letters.


put in

put in (third-person singular simple present puts in, present participle putting in, simple past and past participle put in)

puts in (present singular third-person)
putting in (participle present)
put in (participle past)
put in (past)

(obsolete, printing) To distribute type that is ready for composing.


splash

Probably an alteration of plash (compare spatter, spill for the initial s-).


ABC

en-noun

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

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

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

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


ABC

Audit Bureau of Circulations
w:Audit Bureau of Circulations

(publishing) Initialism of Audit Bureau of Circulations.


ABC

Like QWERTY, the name is based on the first letter keys.

(computing, typography) A keyboard layout in which all keys are arranged in alphabetical order in English.


kick

en-verb

kick (third-person singular simple present kicks, present participle kicking, simple past and past participle kicked)

kicks (present singular third-person)
kicking (participle present)
kicked (participle past)
kicked (past)
kick (infinitive)
kick (first-person present singular)
kicked (first-person past singular)
kick (present second-person singular)
kickest (archaic present second-person singular)
kicked (past second-person singular)
kickedst (archaic past second-person singular)
kicks (present singular third-person)
kicketh (archaic present singular third-person)
kicked (past singular third-person)
kick (plural present)
kicked (past plural)
kick (present subjunctive)
kicked (past subjunctive)
kick (imperative present)
kicking (participle present)
kicked (participle past)

→ German: kicken

→ Welsh: cicio

From Middle English kyken (“to strike out with the foot”), from Old Norse kikna (“to sink at the knees”) and keikja (“to bend backwards”) (compare Old Norse keikr (“bent backwards, the belly jutting forward”)), from Proto-Germanic *kaikaz (“bent backwards”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *kī-, *kij- (“to split, dodge, swerve sidewards”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵeyH- (“to sprout, shoot”). Compare also Dutch kijken (“to look”), Middle Low German kīken (“to look, watch”). See keek.

штовхну́ти

ного́ю; нога́ми

(printing, historical) To work a press by impact of the foot on a treadle.


universe

universes (plural)
Universe (alternative)

From Middle English universe, from Old French univers, from Latin universum (“all things, as a whole, the universe”), neuter of universus (“all together, whole, entire, collective, general, literally turned or combined into one”), from uni-, combining form of unus (“one”) + versus (“turned”), perfect passive participle of vertō (“to turn”). Analyzable as uni- + -verse through backformation of -verse.

der

God does not play dice with the universe

Annabelle Comes Home (the 7th and most recent movie in the Conjuring universe, and the 3rd to focus on Annabelle) is a direct sequel to both previous Annabelle movies, which occurred before the events of The Conjuring – but take place after the events of the 2013 franchise-starter.

2019, June 26, Daniel Menegaz, "Tracking Annabelle's confusing journey through the Conjuring universe", Entertainment Weekly

An imaginary collection of worlds; the general imaginary world within which a work of fiction takes place, broader than its immediate setting.

(literature, films) A collection of stories with characters and settings that typically share a continuity but are less interrelated than those of sequels or prequels.


graph

Clipping of graphic formula. From 1878; verb from 1889.

A graph is a token-level nondistinctive representation of a grapheme. It can differ from the other variants of its grapheme with regard to upper case, lower case, script, print, typeface style, typeface size, etc.

2003, J. Richard Andrews, Introduction to Classical Nahuatl, Revised Edition, University of Oklahoma Press, page 10:

(linguistics, typography) A graphical unit on the token-level, the abstracted fundamental shape of a character or letter as distinct from its ductus (realization in a particular typeface or handwriting on the instance-level) and as distinct by a grapheme on the type-level by not fundamentally distinguishing meaning.


nick

The noun is derived from Late Middle English nik (“notch, tally; nock of an arrow”). Its further etymology is unknown; a connection with nock (“notch in a bow to hold the bowstring; notch at the rear of an arrow that fits the bowstring; cleft in the buttocks”) has not been clearly established.
The verb appears to be derived from the noun, though the available evidence shows that some of the verb senses predate the noun senses. No connection with words in Germanic languages such as Danish nikke (“to nod”), Middle Dutch nicken (“to bend; to bow”) (modern Dutch knikken (“to nod”)), Middle Low German nicken (“to bend over; to sink”), Middle High German nicken (“to bend; to depress”) (modern German nicken (“to nod”)), Middle Low German knicken (“to bend; to snap”) (modern German knicken (“to bend; to break”), Old Frisian hnekka (“to nod”), and Swedish nicka (“to nod”), has been clearly established.

unknown

further etymology is unknown

cog

A nick is a hollow cast crossways in the shanks of types, to make a distinction readily between differnt sorts and sizes; and to enable the compositor to perceive quickly the bottom of the letter as it lies in the case, when composing; as nicks are always cast on that side of the shank on which the bottom of the face of the letter is placed. A great deal of inconvenience frequently arises, owing to the founders casting different founts of types with a similar nick in each.

1841, William Savage, “NICK”, in A Dictionary of the Art of Printing, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 543:

The types are of the usual thickness and height. In the centre of each type, in the front, is a deep nick of a dovetail shape, which fits upon a metal edge, so that the type cannot be displaced. But of 111 letters which are required in the fount, each letter has two, three, or four other nicks cut at right angles, the nicks of no one letter being the same as another.

1862, International Exhibition, 1862. Jurors’ Reports, London: Bell and Daldy, […], →OCLC, class XXVIII, section C (Plate, Letterpress, and Other Modes of Printing), page 3:

(printing, dated) A notch cut crosswise in the shank of a type, to assist a compositor in placing it properly in the stick, and in distribution.


PBS

In Chapter 7, she has Victor Frankenstein describe his creation as “handsome”—PBS altered this to “beautiful”, which appears in the final text.

2024 February 17, Erica Wagner, “Kill your darlings”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 2:

Percy Bysshe Shelley
w:Percy Bysshe Shelley

(literature) Initialism of Percy Bysshe Shelley.


metre

en-verb

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

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

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

der

(poetry, music) To put into metrical form.


SM

en-noun

SM (countable and uncountable, plural SMs)

(science fiction) Initialism of space marine.


echo

echo (countable and uncountable, plural echoes or echos)

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

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

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


(software, publishing, typography) Abbreviation of PostScript Level 2.


em

Attested since 1808. In typography, the em is named after the em quadrat (later called em quad), from m quadrat, a metal type used in letterpress typesetting, which is as wide as the point size of the font.

etymid

name of the Latin script letter _M_, _m_

(typography) A unit of measurement equal to the height of the type in use.


bleeding edge

bleeding edges (plural)
bleeding-edge (alternative)

Blend of bleed + leading edge, and metaphorically alluding to the cutting edge (“forefront or position of greatest advancement in some field”) as a double-edged sword.

(cartography, printing) The situation produced when the image extends beyond the nominal margin.


artificial intelligence

en-noun

artificial intelligence (countable and uncountable, plural artificial intelligences)

/ˌɑː.təˈfɪʃ.əl ɪnˈtɛl.ə.d͡ʒəns/

/ˌɑɹ.təˈfɪʃ.əl ɪnˈtɛl.ə.d͡ʒəns/

Coined by American computer scientist and cognitive scientist John McCarthy in 1955, and popularized at the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence, 1956.

kunsmatige intelligensie

intelligence exhibited by an artificial entity

ሠው ሰራሽ ዕውቀት

śäw säraš ʿəwḳät

artificially intelligent → artificially intelligently

While the humans scurried in confusion, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) created by MIT/Bell Labs linked itself into the network of high-speed, twentieth generation computers placed at its disposal by a Red Alert Priority, evaluated data thoughtfully for a minute and a half and then proceeded to get in touch with its opposite number in the Russian Republics.

1973, Gardner Dozois, Chains of the Sea, →ISBN, Chains of the Sea, page 83:

What Daedadus really is, is the world's first successful wholly autonomous AI. Whatever mysterious organization managed to create the first true artificial intelligence succeeded so well that their creation managed to convince them that they'd failed... and then escaped.

2000, Sheldon Pacotti (writer) & Warren Spector (director/producer), Deus Ex

Dylan Hunt: "This is Captain Dylan Hunt of the High Guard. Investigation has shown that an Artificial Intelligence was involved in the tragic death of your President. In such a case, Commonwealth law demands that the AI's personality be completely erased."

2001 January 15, Walter Jon Williams, All Great Neptune's Ocean (Andromeda), season 1, episode 10:

Also remember that Skynet's an artificial intelligence. Intelligence, for our purpose, means being able to use reason in order to achieve your goals.

2009, Josh Weisberg, “It Stands to Reason: Skynet and Self-preservation”, in Terminator and Philosophy: I'll Be Back, Therefore I Am, →ISBN:

Intelligence exhibited by an artificial (non-natural, human-made) entity.

(countable, chiefly science fiction) An intelligent, self-aware computer or computer program.

kunstmatige intelligentie

science fiction: intelligent, self-aware computer or computer program


exobiology

en-noun

exobiology (usually uncountable, plural exobiologies)

From exo- + biology, coined by American molecular biologist Joshua Lederberg.

coin

Biology has lately given rise to a new discipline: exobiology, the study of extraterrestrial life. Ever since 1959, when analysis of a piece of meteor substance showed traces of organic compounds, a controversy has raged as to whether these compounds came into the atmosphere with the meteorite or whether they originate on earth.

1973, Lyall Watson, Supernature, page ix. 310:

(biology, science fiction) The branch of biology dealing with lifeforms originating a different planet.

exobiologia

biology dealing with extraterrestrial lifeforms


PG

Although Supergirl fans will relish page 4, I believe the first panel of 5 says it all: after a full force ramming by SG, PG just casually tosses her into a wall. Now *that's* Power Girl.

1997 October 25, Lightning, “REVIEW Power Girl #1, uhm, I mean Supergirl #16”, in rec.arts.comics.dc.universe (Usenet), message-ID <62tta5$a7g$1@206.230.70.77>:

Actually, a point could be made that the animated Supergirl is much more like Power Girl than the pre Crisis Supergirl.
For one thing she adopted the name Karen (Karen Starr was the name Kara Zor-L created), also she wears PG's costume colors and has a strong resentment toward's Clark's overprotectiveness. The only difference is that the animated SG has the Kara Zor-El personality more than she does Power Girl's.

1998 May 6, CaptT...@webtv.net, “Re: Why is TV kind of pre-Crisis and comics Post-Crisis”, in rec.arts.comics.dc.universe (Usenet), message-ID <6iouoe$1jf$1@newsd-134.iap.bryant.webtv.net>:

I kinda hate how they made Power Girl (Kara/SG pre-Crisis on World 2 or 3?) evil and a clone of SG. One of my fav comics growing up was Supes, and PG and I think Green Arrow going after Vandal Savage.

2005 September 21, tan...@bellsouth.net, “Re: JLU - WOW”, in alt.tv.cartoon-network (Usenet), message-ID <SL7Ye.4284$xg3.1881@bignews4.bellsouth.net>:

(comics) Initialism of Power Girl (“DC Comics superheroine”).


jet

Borrowed from French jet (“spurt”, literally “a throw”), from Old French get, giet, from Vulgar Latin *iectus, jectus, from Latin iactus (“a throwing, a throw”), from iacere (“to throw”). See abject, ejaculate, gist, jess, jut. Cognate with Spanish echar.

bor+

Edward H[enry] Knight
w:Edward H. Knight

(printing, dated) The sprue of a type, which is broken from it when the type is cold.


hook

sometimes in Northern England and Ireland, otherwise obsolete

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

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

(typography) A diacritical mark shaped like the upper part of a question mark, as in ỏ.

felső kérdőjel

typography: a diacritical mark shaped like the upper part of a question mark: ỏ

Common diacritics in Slavonic language are the hook ˇ (as in haček – Czech for ‘hook’) and the stroke ´ (robić – Polish for ‘do/make’).

2003, Language Issues, XV-XVIII, page 36:

In Czech, palatalization is normally indicated by the symbol ˇ, called haček or “hook.”

2003, David Adams, The Song and Duet Texts of Antonín Dvořák, page 168:

2004, Keesing’s Record of World Events L:i–xii, page unknown
In detailing the proposed shortening of the Czech Republic to Česko…the hook (hacek) erroneously appeared over the letter “e” instead of the “C”.


mechanics

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


minion

en-noun

minion (countable and uncountable, plural minions)

1490, from Middle French mignon (“lover, royal favourite, darling”), from Old French mignon (“dainty, pleasing, gentle, kind”), from Frankish *minnju (“love, friendship, affection, memory”), from Proto-Germanic *minþijō, *mindijō (“affectionate thought, care”), from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”). Doublet of mignon.

der

(uncountable, typography, printing) The size of type between nonpareil and brevier, standardized as 7-point.


slash

Late Middle English, originally a verb of uncertain etymology. Perhaps of imitative origin, or possibly from Old French esclachier (“to break in pieces”), a variant of esclater, which is likely a Germanic borrowing, from Frankish *slaitan (“to slit, tear”).
Used in the Wycliffe Bible as slascht (see 1 Kings 5:18) but otherwise unattested until 16th century. Conjunctive use from various applications of the punctuation mark ⟨/⟩. See also slash fiction.

onomatopoeic

imitative

der

Initial inquiries among professional typists uncover names like slant, slant line, slash, and slash mark. Examination of typing instruction manuals discloses additional names such as diagonal and diagonal mark, and other sources provide the designation oblique.

1965, Dmitri A. Borgmann, Language on Vacation, page 240:

(originally US, typography) The slash mark: the punctuation mark ⟨/⟩.

(often proscribed) Any similar typographical mark, such as the backslash ⟨\⟩.


fireball

en-verb

fireball (third-person singular simple present fireballs, present participle fireballing, simple past and past participle fireballed)

fireballs (present singular third-person)
fireballing (participle present)
fireballed (participle past)
fireballed (past)

/ˈfaɪəɹˌbɔl/

Chelyabinsk meteor
Nevada Test Site
Operation Upshot–Knothole

The noun is derived from fire (noun) + ball (noun). The adjective and verb are derived from the noun.

(transitive, fiction, chiefly fantasy, science fiction) To attack (someone or something) with balls of fire.

hyökätä tulipalloin

to attack (someone or something) with balls of fire


dash

From Middle English daschen, dassen, from Danish daske (“to slap, strike”), related to Swedish daska (“to smack, slap, spank”), of obscure origin. Compare German tatschen (“to grope, paw”), Old English dwǣsċan (“to quell, put out, destroy, extinguish”). See also dush.

noncog

(typography) Any of the following symbols: ‒ (figure dash), – (en dash), — (em dash), or ― (horizontal bar).


hash

From French hacher (“to chop”), from Middle French hacher, from Old French hacher, from Old French hache (“axe”), from Frankish *happjā (“axe”). Compare also Old English ġehæċċa (“sausage meat”, literally “that which is hacked or chopped up”).

ncog

(typography) The # symbol (octothorpe, pound).


protagonist

Penguin Books
The Independent
The Sense of Style
protagonist

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

der

πρωταγωνιστής

surf

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


Saturnian

en-adj

Saturnian (comparative more Saturnian, superlative most Saturnian)

more Saturnian (comparative)
most Saturnian (superlative)

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


Saturnian

(science fiction) An inhabitant of the planet Saturn.


mail

en-noun

mail (usually uncountable, plural mails)

From Middle English mayle (“mail armor”), borrowed from Old French maille (“loop, stitch”), from Vulgar Latin *macla, from Latin macula (“blemish, mesh”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *smh₁-tleh₂, from *smeh₁- (“smear, rub”). Compare maillot.

thurak

armour consisting of metal rings or plates linked together

(uncountable, by extension, now fiction, fantasy) Armour consisting of small plates linked together.


matrix

matrices (plural)
matrixes (plural)
matrice (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English matris, matrice, matrix, from Old French matrice (“pregnant animal”), or from Latin mātrīx (“dam, womb”), both ultimately from māter (“mother”). Doublet of mother from Indo-European ancestor.
Slang usage coined with the 1999 sci-fi action film The Matrix.

基質 /基质

analytical chemistry: sampling environment

He'd operated on an almost permanent adrenaline high, a byproduct of youth and proficiency, jacked into a custom cyberspace deck that projected his disembodied consciousness into the consensual hallucination that was the matrix.

1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 5:

Mari Otsu, a 25-year-old Japanese-Hawaiian artist, tells me she was “desperately lonely” while she was studying at New York University, when she “realised that [she]^([sic]) was in the matrix”. I ask her what she means.

2023 October 28, Jemima Kelly, “Back to school”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 20:

(slang, figurative, science fiction) Alternative letter-case form of Matrix; a controlled environment or situation in which people behave in ways that conform to pre-determined roles.

Matrix

(printing, historical) In hot metal typesetting, a mold for casting a letter.

Matrize

mold for casting a letter (hot metal typesetting)

(printing, historical) In printmaking, the plate or block used, with ink, to hold the image that makes up the print.

матри́ца

plate or block holding an image (printing)


bar

bar (countable and uncountable, plural bars)

→ Albanian: bar m

→ Arabic: بَار m (bār)

→ Armenian: բար (bar)

→ Bulgarian: бар (bar)

→ Burmese: ဘား (bha:)

→ Chichewa: bála

→ Cantonese: 吧 (baa¹)

→ Czech: bar m

→ Danish: bar c

→ Dutch: bar m

→ Esperanto: baro

→ Estonian: baar

→ French: bar m
→ Romanian: bar

→ Galician: bar m

→ Georgian: ბარი (bari)

→ German: Bar f

→ Greek: μπαρ n (bar)

→ Gulf Arabic: بار (bār)

→ Hebrew: בָּר (bar), בָּאר (bár)

→ Hungarian: bár (also via German)

→ Icelandic: bar m

→ Irish: beár m

→ Italian: bar m

→ Japanese: バー (bā)

→ Khmer: បារ (baa)

→ Korean: 바 (ba)

→ Lithuanian: bãras m

→ Macedonian: бар m (bar)

→ Malagasy: ba

→ Mandarin: 吧 (bā)

→ Norwegian:

Bokmål: bar m

Nynorsk: bar m

→ Persian: بار (bâr)

→ Polish: bar m

→ Portuguese: bar m

→ Russian: бар m (bar)

→ Serbo-Croatian: ба̑р m, bȃr m

→ Slovene: bȃr m

→ Spanish: bar m

→ Swahili: baa

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

→ Thai: บาร์ (baa)

→ Turkish: bar

→ Xhosa: íbhári

→ Zulu: ibha

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

der

(typography) Any of various lines used as punctuation or diacritics, such as the pipe ⟨|⟩, fraction bar (as in 12), and strikethrough (as in Ⱥ), formerly (obsolete) including oblique marks such as the slash.


acute

en-adj

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

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

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

cog

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

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

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

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

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

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

agut

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


acute

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

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

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

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

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


xenophobe

From xeno- + -phobe. From Ancient Greek ξένος (xénos, “foreign, strange”), + Ancient Greek φόβος (phóbos, “fear”).

uder

(science fiction, rare, nonstandard) One who hates or fears extraterrestial life.


draconian

From Latin dracō (“dragon”) (stem dracōn-) + -ian.

... Draconians are fast. They'll fly to meet us no doubt. I remember after a few moments that the human queen is here as well. I call out to her, “Human queen, you are rescued by the Draconians. Come forth and know that you are safe under[…]

(Can we date this quote?), Miranda Martin, Draconians Queen, Looking Glass Publications INC:

... Draconians keep for pets . Vithacan - Symbionts that attach themselves to other creatures and survive off their emotional energy . Soul suckers is a disrespectful term for their race . Zelerians Race of squid like creatures with few[…]

2021 August 31, Miranda Martin, Draconians Shared Bride, Looking Glass Publications INC:

... draconians lifted the webbed bodies of the kender's friends and bore them away . Other draconians followed behind , carrying the companions ' packs and their weapons . As the draconians marched along a path very near the hidden kender[…]

2006, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Dragonlance Chronicles, →ISBN:

(fiction) A creature resembling a dragon.


psi

en-noun

psi (countable and uncountable, plural psis)

From Ancient Greek ψεῖ (pseî), the name for the twenty-third letter of the alphabet (Ψ, ψ).

‘Come, lad,’ he said. ‘We will take tea together and speak of the noumenon, the psi and other more heterogenous phenomena.’

When an event is classified as a psi phenomenon, it is claimed that all known channels for the apparent interaction have been eliminated.

1996, Michael F. Stoeber, Hugo Anthony Meynell, Critical Reflections on the Paranormal (page 60)

It traces the growth of homo gestalt with the uniting of six lovely outcasts of society who have psi powers and come together as a hive mind, thus creating a gestalt super-being.

2005, Michael Ashley, Transformations: The History of the Science Fiction Magazine 1950 to 1970, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, page 133:

(uncountable, parapsychology, science fiction) A form of psychic energy.


glass

en-verb

glass (third-person singular simple present glasses, present participle glassing, simple past and past participle glassed)

glasses (present singular third-person)
glassing (participle present)
glassed (participle past)
glassed (past)
glasse (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English glas, from Old English glæs, from Proto-West Germanic *glas, from Proto-Germanic *glasą, possibly related to Proto-Germanic *glōaną (“to shine”) (compare glow), and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰleh₁- (“to shine, shimmer, glow”).
Cognate with West Frisian glês, Dutch glas, Low German Glas, German Glas, Swedish glas, Icelandic gler.

“The Covenant don’t ‘miss’ anything when they glass a planet,” the Master Chief replied.

2003, Eric Nylund, Halo: First Strike, New York: Del Rey, →ISBN, page 155:

(transitive, science fiction) To bombard an area with such intensity (by means of a nuclear bomb, fusion bomb, etc) as to melt the landscape into glass.


arcadian

en-adj

arcadian (comparative more arcadian, superlative most arcadian)

more arcadian (comparative)
most arcadian (superlative)

/ɑɹˈkeɪdɪən/

(literature) Ideally rustic or pastoral.


typeface

typefaces (plural)
type face (alternative)

(Technically Aptos and Calibri are typefaces, while a “font” refers to a particular face or size, like italics or boldface. But in practice, “font” is often used as a synonym for “typeface,” including by Microsoft employees interviewed for this article.)

2024 February 28, Victor Mather, “Microsoft Word’s Subtle Typeface Change Affected Millions. Did You Notice?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(typography) The particular design of some type, font, or a font family.

(printing) The surface of type which inked, or the impression it makes.


font

→ Thai: ฟอนต์ (fɔ́n)

From Middle French fonte (“act or process of founding or melting; act of producing items from molten metal; cast iron; set of type”) (modern French fonte), either:
* from fondre (“to melt, melt down; to smelt”), from Old French fondre, from Latin fundere, the present active infinitive of fundō (“to pour out; to make by smelting, found”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- (“to pour”); or
* from Late Latin *fundita, a noun use of funditus, a perfect passive participle form of Latin fundō (see above; the classical Latin form is fūsus).

der

(typography) A set of glyphs of unified design, belonging to one typeface (e.g., Helvetica), style (e.g., italic), and weight (e.g., bold). Usually representing the letters of an alphabet and its supplementary characters.

In metal typesetting, a set of type sorts in one size.

In phototypesetting, a set of patterns forming glyphs of any size, or the film they are stored on.

In digital typesetting, a set of glyphs in a single style, representing one or more alphabets or writing systems, or the computer code representing it.

خَطّ

typesetting: a grouping of consistently-designed glyphs

(originally computing, typography, informal) A typeface.

They bought a license for the Gulliver font and installed that font on several machines.

en:computer file encoding a typeface or subset thereof

(computing, typography, metonymic) A computer file containing the code used to draw and compose the glyphs of one or more typographic fonts on a computer display or printer.


shadow

en-noun

shadow (countable and uncountable, plural shadows)

From Middle English schadowe, schadewe, schadwe (also schade > shade), from Old English sċeaduwe, sċeadwe, oblique form of sċeadu (“shadow, shade; darkness; protection”), from Proto-West Germanic *skadu, from Proto-Germanic *skadwaz (“shade, shadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- (“darkness”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots scaddow, schaddow (“shadow”), Saterland Frisian Skaad (“shade, shadow”), Dutch schaduw (“shadow”), German Schatten (“shadow, shade”), Norwegian skodde (“fog, mist”), Irish scáth (“shadow”), Ancient Greek σκότος (skótos, “darkness, gloom”) (whence English scoto-).

cog

(typography) A drop shadow effect applied to lettering in word processors etc.


glyph

First attested in 1727. Borrowed from French glyphe, from Ancient Greek γλυφή (gluphḗ, “carving”), from γλύφω (glúphō, “I carve, engrave”).

глиф

carved relief representing a sound, word or idea

The grid column header displays a sort glyph indicating an ascending or descending ordering.

(typography, computing) A visual representation of a letter, character, or symbol, in a specific font and style.


turn

en-verb

turn (third-person singular simple present turns, present participle turning, simple past and past participle turned or (obsolete) turnt)

turns (present singular third-person)
turning (participle present)
turned (participle past)
turned (past)
turnt (obsolete participle past)
turnt (obsolete past)
turn (infinitive)
turn (first-person present singular)
turned (first-person past singular)
turn (present second-person singular)
turnest (archaic present second-person singular)
turned (past second-person singular)
turnedst (archaic past second-person singular)
turns (present singular third-person)
turneth (archaic present singular third-person)
turned (past singular third-person)
turn (plural present)
turned (past plural)
turn (present subjunctive)
turned (past subjunctive)
turn (imperative present)
turning (participle present)
turned (participle past)
turnt (archaic participle past)

From Middle English turnen, from Old English turnian, tyrnan (“to turn, rotate, revolve”) and Old French torner (“to turn”), both from Latin tornāre (“to round off, turn in a lathe”), from tornus (“lathe”), from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos, “turning-lathe: a tool used for making circles”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, rub by turning, turn, twist, bore”). Cognate with Old English þrāwan (“to turn, twist, wind”), whence English throw. Displaced native Middle English wenden from Old English wendan (see wend), and Middle English trenden from Old English trendan (see trend), among several other terms.

lyödä kierre

in cricket, make the ball move sideways when it bounces

kiertää

of a cricket ball, move sideways when it bounces

(printing, dated) To invert a type of the same thickness, as a temporary substitute for any sort which is exhausted.

muuttua

printing: invert a type of the same thickness


turn

→ Japanese: ターン (tān)

Partly from Anglo-Norman *torn, from Latin tornus, from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos), and partly an action noun from the verb turn.

دَوْرَة

movement about an axis ending up with the same orientation

360° turn

movement about an axis returning to the original orientation

the first turn of the screw pays all debts

(printing, dated) A type turned upside down to serve for another character that is not available.


turnover

en-noun

turnover (countable and uncountable, plural turnovers)

(printing, publishing) Synonym of runover.


question mark

Do you see this curious-looking mark in the margin? It is a little crooked mark with a dot at the bottom of it. It is a question mark. It always comes at the end of questions.

1856, Jacob Abbott, “Lesson V. Questions.”, in Learning to Read. […] (Harper’s Picture Books for the Nursery; The Little Learner), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, part III (Hard Reading Lessons), page 132:

When you come to a question mark, you must stop and rest. If the question may be answered by yes or no, your voice must rise on the last word before the question mark.

1857, Richard Greene Parker [i.e., Richard Green Parker], J[ames] Madison Watson, “Lesson II. The Interrogation Point.”, in The National Second Reader: […], revised edition, New York, N.Y.: A[lfred] S[mith] Barnes & Co., […], →OCLC, part I (Marks and Pauses), paragraph 4, page 14:

As the relation of the faulted lamprophyre dike to faults 1 to 3 is not known, the intersection of the dike with these faults is shown on plate 13 with question marks.

1954, George C. Hardin, Jr., “[Moore Hill Fault System, Crittenden and Livingston Counties.] Geology.”, in William R. Thurston, George C. Hardin, Jr., Harry J. Klepser, Fluorspar Deposits in Western Kentucky: Part 3 (Geographical Survey Bulletin; 1012-E), Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 96:

Fortunately, then, this text in which the play is preserved to us is, in general, substantively good. The quarto's punctuation and lineation, however, are much less reliable than its language. The pointing is not in most respects notably worse than that in comparable publications; but the text is peppered with question marks, the printers either having spilled these among the other marks or run out of periods.

1966, Lawrence J. Ross, “Introduction”, in Cyril Tourneur [now thought to be by Thomas Middleton], edited by Lawrence J. Ross, The Revenger’s Tragedy (Regents Renaissance Drama), Lincoln, Neb., London: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN, page xxxi:

I would like to comment only on the question mark in the topic – and raise several questions for our discussion hidden within that question mark, questions integral to the ongoing debates since [John] Calvin, integral to the "historically extended and socially embedded argument within the Reformed tradition about the very goods that constitute that tradition" (adapting Alasdair MacIntyre's description of a living tradition).

2009, Dirk J. Smit, “On Self-love: Impulses from Calvin and Calvinism on Life in Society?”, in Robert Vosloo, editor, Essays on Being Reformed: Collected Essays 3, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa: SUN MeDIA Stellenbosch, →ISBN, part 4 (Contemporary Challenges), page 493:

The waitress, [...] places my coffee beside my notebook then stops to gawp at what I've written and a deep frown forms between her unplucked eyebrows. She stares at the initials, the connecting lines, the question marks, the circles. I see them as she sees them: a load of rubbish, fanciful nonsense from a person who has watched one too many cop shows.

2015, Dorothy Koomson, “Smitty”, in That Girl from Nowhere, London: Arrow Books, Penguin Random House, published 2016, →ISBN, page 415:

(typography) The punctuation mark "?", used at the end of a sentence to indicate a question.

ܫܘܼܘܕܵܥܵܐ ܕܫܘܼܐܵܠܵܐ

šuwdāʿā d-šuʾālā


knockout

knockouts (plural)
knock-out (alternative)

→ Belarusian: нака́ўт (nakáŭt)

desc

→ Portuguese: nocaute, knockout (unadapted spelling)

→ Russian: нока́ут (nokáut)

→ Spanish: nocaut

→ Ukrainian: нока́ут (nokáut)

→ Vietnamese: nốc ao

(printing) An event where a foreground color causes a background color not to print.


virgule

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

Other Chaucerian manuscripts had the virgule (or virgil or oblique: /) at the middle of lines.

1990, John McDermott, Punctuation for Now, page 20:

(typography, obsolete or historical) A medieval punctuation mark similar to the slash ⟨/⟩ or pipe ⟨|⟩ and used as a scratch comma and caesura mark.

(typography, dated) A slash, ⟨/⟩ or ⟨／⟩.

A slash, ⟨/⟩ or ⟨／⟩.
Used to mark line breaks within quotes.

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

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


factotum

en-noun

factotum (plural factotums or (nonstandard) factota)

factotums (plural)
factota (nonstandard plural)

From New Latin factotum (literally “do everything”), from Latin fac, present singular imperative of faciō (“do, make”) + tōtum (“everything”); attested in English from 1566.

bor

(printing, historical) A large decorative printing block with a central space into which any letter can be inserted, used to mark the beginning of a chapter of a book in early printing.


Gothic

en-adj

Gothic (comparative more Gothic, superlative most Gothic)

more Gothic (comparative)
most Gothic (superlative)
gothic (alternative)
Gothick (alternative obsolete)
goffick (alternative)

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

From Late Latin gothicus (“Gothic, barbaric”), from Ancient Greek Γοτθικός (Gotthikós), from Ancient Greek Γότθοι (Gótthoi, “Goths”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”), proposed to derive from unattested Gothic *𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌰 (*guta). Equivalent to Goth + -ic. The various usages of the adjective are introduced nearly simultaneously in the first half of the 17th century. The literal meaning “of the Goths” is found in the 1611 preface of the King James Bible, in reference to the Gothicke tongue. The generalized meaning of “Germanic, Teutonic” appears in the 1640s. Reference to the medieval period in Western Europe, and specifically the architecture of that period (“barbaric style”, initially a term of abuse), also appears in the 1640s, as does reference to “Gothic characters” or “Gothic letters” in typography.

готически

of the type formerly used for printing German

Gothic tales

Shelley's two early novels Zastrozzi and St. Irvyne are, as many scholars have noted, obviously connected to the tradition of the Gothic novel; as well, two volumes of early poetry contain Gothic elements and his tragedy The Cenci has been […]

1975, John V. Murphy, The Dark Angel: Gothic Elements in Shelley's Works, Bucknell University Press, →ISBN, page 9:

(literature) Of or relating to the style of fictional writing associated with Gothic fiction, emphasizing violent or macabre events in a mysterious, desolate setting.

готически

of or relating to a style of fictional writing

Gothic letters

black letter
black letter#English:_typography

(typography, England) Synonym of black letter.

(typography, US) Of a sans serif typeface using straight, even-width lines, also known as grotesque or lineal.


type

→ Japanese: タイプ

→ Korean: 타입 (taip)

From Middle English type (“symbol, figure, emblem”), from Latin typus, from Ancient Greek τύπος (túpos, “mark, impression, type”), from τύπτω (túptō, “I strike, beat”).

tyyppiyksilö

biology: individual representative of its taxonomic group

(printing, countable) A letter or character used for printing, historically a cast or engraved block.

(uncountable) Such types collectively, or a set of type of one font or size.

The headline was set in bold type.

(chiefly uncountable) Text printed with such type, or imitating its characteristics.


sort

From Middle English sort, soort, sorte (cognate Dutch soort, German Sorte, Danish sort, Swedish sort), borrowed from Old French sorte (“class, kind”), from Latin sortem, accusative form of sors (“lot, fate, share, rank, category”).

Green managed to recover a total of 151 sorts (the name for individual pieces of type) out of a possible 500,000.

2024 May 5, Holly Black, “Remnants of a Legendary Typeface Have Been Rescued From the River Thames”, in artnet:

(typography) A piece of metal type used to print one letter, character, or symbol in a particular size and style.


steel

en-noun

steel (countable and uncountable, plural steels)

steels (plural)
steele (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English stele, stel, from Old English stīele, from Proto-West Germanic *stahlī (“something made of steel”), enlargement of *stahl (“steel”), from Proto-Germanic *stahlą, from *stah- or *stag- (“to be firm, rigid”), from Proto-Indo-European *stak- (“to stay, to be firm”). Compare Scots stele, Yola stehli.

der

1843, J. Ballantine, The gaberlunzie's wallet. With numerous illustrations on steel and wood.:

A re-issue of the Examples of the Architecture of Venice. By John Ruskin... With the Text, and the 16 Plates (10 Steels and 6 Lithographs) as originally published.

(countable) Any item made of this metal, particularly including:


steel

The best picture I have had yet is the steel frontis-piece to my new book.


bracket

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

kllapë

generically any of “(”, “)”, “[”, “]”, “{”, “}”, “⟨”, “⟩”, “<”, “>”, etc.

(typography) The small curved or angular corner formed by a serif and a stroke in a letter.


random

en-noun

random (countable and uncountable, plural randoms)

From earlier randon, from Middle English randoun, raundon, from Old French randon, from randir (“to run, gallop”) (whence French randonnée (“long walk, hike”)), from Frankish *randiju (“a run, race”) or Old Norse rend (“a run, race”), both from Proto-Germanic *randijō, from *rinnaną (“run”, verb), from Proto-Indo-European *(H)r̥-nw- (“to flow, move, run”). Cognate with Middle Low German uprinden (“to jump up”), Danish rende (“to run”). See run.

cog

Utilization of all floor space underneath case racks and randoms is another feature of the modern composing room; […]

1935, Newspaper World, numbers 1930-1955, page 41:

Printers' frames and randoms

2002, Republic of Korea, number 2, page 502:

(printing, historical) A frame for composing type.


reference

en-noun

reference (countable and uncountable, plural references)

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

verwysing

academic writing: identification of a source

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

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


form

form (countable and uncountable, plural forms)

→ Korean: 폼 (pom)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: form

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

der

imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

And the form is inked, the paper is applied, the bed is slid, and the platen is levered down and the proof is printed.

2010, Andrea Levy, The Long Song, Tinder Press (2017), page 382:

(printing, dated) The type or other matter from which an impression is to be taken, arranged and secured in a chase.


historical

en-adj

historical (comparative more historical, superlative most historical)

more historical (comparative)
most historical (superlative)
historicall (alternative)

From Latin historicus (“historical”) + -al (forming adjectives denoting of or relating to). By surface analysis, history + -ical.

suf

Hagiography, the historical genre which is the subject of this week's seminar, comprises narratives concerned with the saints and their achievements, especially the miracles which God has performed through them and on their behalf.

2017 December 8, Paul Hayward, “Seminar VII: Hagiography”, in Medieval Primary Sources—Genre, Rhetoric and Transmission:

There is no acknowledgment—because there is no understanding—that sometimes historical fiction departs from facts in order to reach for more abstract, thematic, or complexly intuitive truths that even the most diligently fact-checked histories and biographies can fail to illuminate.

2015 January 28, Mark Harris, “How 'Selma' Got Smeared”, in Grantland:

Of, concerning, or in accordance with recorded history, (particularly) as opposed to legends, myths, and fictions.

(literature, art) About history; depicting persons or events from history.

Of, concerning, or in accordance with the past generally.


fo

(paper, printing) Abbreviation of folio, page and book size (10"-12.5" x 15"-20").


roman

In some early printed Bibles quoted text is indicated by changing the font from roman to italic.

2021, Claire Cock-Starkey, Hyphens & Hashtags, Bodleian Library, page 48:

(of type, typography) Upright, as opposed to italic.

(of text, typography, computing) Of or related to the Latin alphabet or roman numerals.


roman

(typography) One of the main three types used for the Latin alphabet (the others being italics and blackletter), in which the ascenders are mostly straight.


antagonist

[ɛə̯nˈtæɡənɪst]

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

der

ἀνταγωνιστής

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

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

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


saber

(science fiction) Clipping of lightsaber


slip

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

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

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

(printing, dated) A portion of the columns of a newspaper, etc., struck off by itself; a proof from a column of type when set up and in the galley.


manifold

en-verb

manifold (third-person singular simple present manifolds, present participle manifolding, simple past and past participle manifolded)

manifolds (present singular third-person)
manifolding (participle present)
manifolded (participle past)
manifolded (past)
manyfold (alternative)

From Middle English manifolden, from Old English maniġfealdan (“to multiply, abound, increase, extend, reward”), equivalent to many + -fold. Cognate with Middle High German manecvalten, Icelandic margfalda (“to multiply”), Swedish mångfaldiga (“to manifold, reproduce”).

cog

(transitive, printing) To multiply or reproduce impressions of by a single operation.


ghost

en-noun

ghost (countable and uncountable, plural ghosts)

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

→ Japanese: ゴースト (gōsuto)

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

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

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


subtext

subtext (countable and uncountable, plural subtexts)

→ Hebrew: סאבטקסט (sábtekst)

Everyone heard the announcement, but not everyone agrees on what the subtext was.

The word dick has meant penis since the 1890s, but Chester Gould’s private detective “Dick Tracy” has no puerile subtext related to this word.

2011, Patrick Spedding, James Lambert, “Fanny Hill, Lord Fanny, and the Myth of Metonymy”, in Studies in Philology, volume 108, number 1, page 113:

While his major plays appear on the surface to have little plot, their subtext is full of overheated romance and melodrama.

2012 July 27, Jason Zinoman, “Chekhov's Banana Peel”, in Slate:

(literature) The implicit meaning of a text, often a literary one, or a speech or dialogue.


compose

en-verb

compose (third-person singular simple present composes, present participle composing, simple past and past participle composed)

composes (present singular third-person)
composing (participle present)
composed (participle past)
composed (past)

From Middle English composen, from Old French composer (“to compose, compound, adjust, settle”), from com- + poser, as an adaptation of Latin componere (“to put together, compose”), from com- (“together”) + ponere (“to put, place”).

der

(printing, dated) To arrange (types) in a composing stick for printing; to typeset.


sans

From Middle English saunz, sans, borrowed from Old French sans, senz, sens, from Latin sine (“without”) conflated with absēns (“absent, remote”). Compare French sans, Italian senza, Portuguese sem, and Spanish sin.


leaf

en-noun

leaf (countable and uncountable, plural leaves)

Tok Pisin: lip

From Middle English leef, from Old English lēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *laub, from Proto-Germanic *laubą (“leaf”), from Proto-Indo-European *lowbʰ-o-m, from *lewbʰ- (“leaf, rind”)
See also West Frisian leaf, Low German Loov, Dutch loof, German Laub, Danish løv, Swedish löv, Norwegian Nynorsk lauv, Icelandic lauf; also Irish luibh (“herb”), Latin liber (“bast; book”), Lithuanian lúoba (“bark”), Albanian labë (“rind”), Latvian luba (“plank, board”), Russian луб (lub, “bast”).
(Internet slang: Canadian): In reference to the maple leaf as national symbol.

flat-leaf parsley

Petroselinum crispum neapolitanum group; syn. Petroselinum crispum var. neapolitanum

Heretofore advertisers have had to buy and pay for a leaf — two pages.

1900, Profitable Advertising, volume 10, number 2, page 893:

(publishing, bookbinding, advertising) A sheet of a book, magazine, etc. (consisting of two pages, one on each face of the leaf).


batter

batter (countable and uncountable, plural batters)

From Middle English bature, from Old French bateure (“the action of beating”), from batre (“to beat”). Doublet of batture.

der

In repairing batters at the edges of the plate, when the bevel has been torn away by the catches, &c., it is necessary to solder a piece of metal along the side.

1881, The Printing Times and Lithographer, page 251:

(countable, printing) A bruise on the face of a plate or of type in the form.


extragalactic

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

(science fiction) Originating outside of the local galaxy.