apprehend

en-verb

apprehend (third-person singular simple present apprehends, present participle apprehending, simple past and past participle apprehended)

apprehends (present singular third-person)
apprehending (participle present)
apprehended (participle past)
apprehended (past)

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

From Late Middle English apprehenden (“to grasp, take hold of; to comprehend; to learn”), from Old French apprehender (modern French appréhender (“to apprehend; to catch; to dread”)), from Latin apprehendere, adprehendere, the present active infinitive of apprehendō, adprehendō (“to grab, grasp, seize, take; to apprehend, arrest; to comprehend, understand; to embrace, include; to take possession of, obtain, secure”), from ap-, ad- (prefix meaning ‘to’) + prehendō (“to grab, grasp, seize, snatch, take; to accost; to catch in the act, take by surprise; (figuratively, rare) of the mind: to apprehend, comprehend, grasp”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to hold, seize, take; to find”)).

der

Officers apprehended the suspect two streets away from the bank.

[…] Paul before his converſion entred into their Synagogues at Damaſcus, to apprehend Chriſtians, men and women, and to carry them bound to Jeruſalem, by Commiſſion from the High Prieſt.

1651, Thomas Hobbes, “Of Power Ecclesiasticall”, in Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew Crooke, […], →OCLC, 3rd part (Of a Christian Common-wealth), page 276:

[A] juſtice of the peace cannot iſſue a warrant to apprehend a felon upon bare ſuſpicion; no, not even till an indictment be actually found: and the contrary practice is by others held to be grounded rather upon connivance, than the expreſs rule of law; though now by long cuſtom eſtabliſhed.

1769, William Blackstone, “Of Arrests”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book IV (Of Public Wrongs), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 287:

He soon returned to the Lowlands, and stayed there till he learned that a considerable body of troops had been sent to apprehend him.

1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XIII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume III, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 328:

(law enforcement) To seize or take (a person) by legal process; to arrest.

арышто́ўваць

to seize or take (a person) by legal process — see also arrest


approach

en-verb

approach (third-person singular simple present approaches, present participle approaching, simple past and past participle approached)

approaches (present singular third-person)
approaching (participle present)
approached (participle past)
approached (past)

From Middle English aprochen, borrowed from Old French aprochier (modern French approcher), from Late Latin appropiāre, a verb based on Latin prope (“near”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (a variant of *per- (“before, in front; first”)) + *-kʷe (“suffix forming distributives from interrogatives”)).

(transitive, military) To take approaches to (a place); to move towards (a place) by using covered roads, trenches, or other works.

обръ́щам се

(military) to take approaches to (a place); to move towards (a place) by digging trenches


loony left

Tories Play Loony Left Card

1986: Headline in The Guardian, 18 Nov 1986

The Earl of Halsbury ([Hansard] 1986 p310) spoke of how he had been ‘warned that the loony left is hardening up the lesbian camp and that they are becoming increasingly aggressive'.

1988, Michael Urben, Biography and Education:

1988: John Twitchin, Introduction to The Black and White Media Book
The term ‘anti-racist' has become associated with ‘left-wing sentimentality', not to say ‘loony left extremism'.

I sold the story to The Sun for school funds. They led with TROUBLESOME TOT over another piece about LESBIAN LOONY LEFT IN RIOTS.

1989: Fred Sedgwick, Here Comes the Assembly Man: A Year in the Life of a Primary School (referring to an event in 1988)

They claimed that the London Boroughs Grant Scheme should be eliminated so that ‘public money' would no longer be spent on ‘"loony left" projects such as black lesbian groups'.

1992: Kenneth (EDT) Plummer, Modern Homosexualities: Fragments of Lesbian and Gay Experiences, referring to "leaflets distributed by the Conservative Party local constituency association in Surbiton before the May 1991 elections"

The exaggerations of the Thatcher [Conservative] governments, and the fabrications of the tabloid press, concerning the measures invoked by certain Labour councils in order to tackle discrimination and disadvantage led to coinage of the term 'loony Left'. The Government and its allies in the media ridiculed and reviled the principles and policies of such Labour councils, leading people to believe that one would not be allocated a job or house unless one was a disabled vegetarian single-parent lesbian from an 'ethnic minority' background.

1995, Peter Dorey, British Politics Since 1945:

The republican resolution was an example of the influence of the 'loony left' in the Labor Party.

1996: Mark McKenna, The Captive Republic: A History of Republicanism in Australia 1788-1996 (quoting Dr John Hewson, Leader of the Opposition)

[Political correctness] flourished for a while in what became known as ‘loony left' local authorities where public policies passionately favoured minority needs, the dubious as well as the deserving.

1996, Understanding Journalism, John Wilson:

[Linda] Bellos, who was active in promoting lesbian rights as well as supporting black community initiatives, was depicted as the embodiment of the ‘loony left' and her commitment to opposing racism, sexism and homophobia was caricatured.

1998, Julia Sudbury, Other Kinds of Dreams: Black Women's Organizations and the Politics of Transformation:

The Christic Institute, the looniest fringe group of the loony left, which publicised a number of bizarre conspiracy theories in which virtually every ill on earth could be traced to "secret teams" at the CIA involved in the narcotics trade.

1999, Barbara Olsen, Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton:

In most cases, they follow not the loony left in the Legislature, but Bush's biggest California backer, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

2006, Peter Schrag, California: America's High-Stakes Experiment:

(British, Australia, New Zealand, derogatory, politics) Left-wing politicians or activists whose policies or ideas are considered to be ridiculous or too politically correct.


und

From Middle English unde (“a wave”), from either the Old French unde or Latin unda (“wave”). Doublet of water, ultimately from the same Indo-European root.

My Noble Lord, / AFter a long inquiry about the Arms of your Lordships antient House, and the turning of sundry Books of Impresaes and Herauldry, I found your UNDES famous and very honourable. / In our neighbour Countrey of England they are born, but inversed upside down, and diversified. Torquato Tasso in his Rinaldo maketh mention of a Knight who had a Rock placed in the Waves with the Word Rompe ch'il percote. And other hath the Seas waves with a Syren rising out of them, the word Bella Maria, which is the name of some Courtezan.

, William Drummond, letter "To the Right Honourable the Earl of Perth" in The history of Scotland, from the year 1423 until the year 1542 containing the lives and reigns of James the I, the II, the III, the IV, the V : with several memorials of state, during the reigns of James VI & Charls I

The house of Chedle yet after this diuiding it selfe into two branches, John Basset of new place (being of the yoonger house) left the Labell, and charged the blacke vnds with manie besants dispersed all ouer them.

1592, William Wyrley, The true vse of armorie, page 12:

A Devise may also be handsomely framed from two different Coats of Armes, as of the Husband and his Wife, of two friends, of two Kings, of two States united and confederate. Will you have an example of it, taken out of our Author Bargagli? A Husband bearing Vnde in his armes, and his Wife Roses, gave occasion to joyne them together in one Blazon, with these words, IRRIGATÆ VIVATIORES, i.e. they are more lively when they are watered.

1650, Henry Estienne, Thomas Blount, The art of making devises […] :

(heraldry) A billow- or wave-like marking.


PSP

Police Service of Pakistan
w:Police Service of Pakistan

(Pakistan, law enforcement) Abbreviation of Police Service of Pakistan.


program

programs (plural)
programme (alternative)

→ Malay: program

→ Tok Pisin: program

/ˈpɹəʊˌɡɹæm/

/ˈpɹoʊˌɡɹæm/

From French programme, from Late Latin programma (“a proclamation, edict”), from Ancient Greek πρόγραμμα (prógramma, “a written public notice, an edict”), from προγράφω (prográphō, “I set forth as a public notice”), from πρό (pró, “before”) + γράφω (gráphō, “I write”). Doublet of programma.

der

(politics) A set of principal goals which are supported by a political party or individual candidate.


treasury

→ Gujarati: તિજોરી (tijorī)

→ Hindi: तिजोरी (tijorī)

→ Marathi: तिजोरी (tijorī)

/ˈtɹɛʒ.ə.ɹi/

From Middle English tresorie, from Old French tresorie, from tresor (“treasure”), from Latin thēsaurus (“treasure”), from Ancient Greek θησαυρός (thēsaurós, “treasure house”). Displaced native Old English māþmhūs.

treasury department
treasury department#English

(government) Ellipsis of treasury department.


politically correct

en-adj

politically correct (comparative more politically correct, superlative most politically correct)

more politically correct (comparative)
most politically correct (superlative)
PC (alternative)
P.C. (alternative)

Karen DeCrow
Mao Zedong
Toni Cade Bambara

The earliest known attestation is in late 18th century United States, in response to a toast made to “the United States” instead of to “the people of the United States”.
In the early twentieth century the term was associated with the dogmatic application of Stalinist and Communist Party doctrine, and later popularised by Mao Zedong in his 1963 essay Where Do Correct Ideas Come From? which equated “correct” with “the disciplined acceptance of a party line”.
In the 1970s it was adopted by wider left-wing politics. The first known use in this sense was by Toni Cade in her 1970 anthology The Black Woman. It was subsequently used in a statement by Karen DeCrow in December 1975 in her capacity as president of the National Organization for Women.
In the 1980s it acquired the pejorative sense when used to mock conformist liberal academics, their stereotypical political views and alleged attempts to control language.

Sentiments and expressions of this inaccurate kind prevail in our common, even in our convivial, language. Is a toast asked? ‘The United States’, instead of the ‘People of the United States’, is the toast given. This is not politically correct.

1793, U.S. Supreme Court, Chisholm v State of GA, 2 US 419 (1793)

[On] the one hand we should demand that the poet's work conform to the correct political tendency, on the other hand we have the right to expect that his work be of high quality. … I want to show you that the political tendency of a work can only be politically correct if it is also literarily correct. That means that the correct political tendency includes a literary tendency. For, just to clarify things right away, this literary tendency, which is implicitly or explicitly contained in every correct political tendency – that, and nothing else constitutes the quality of a work.

1934/1970, Walter Benjamin, "The Author as Producer" (address at the Institute for the Study of Fascism, Paris, April 27, 1934), as translated by John Heckman for New Left Review 1/62, July-August 1970

I am here to tell you that we are going to do those things which need to be done, not because they are politically correct, but because they are right. We are going to pass a civil rights bill if it takes all summer.

1964 March 23, Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks in Atlantic City at the Convention of the United Auto Workers:

Lenin gave an all-round substantiation of the impossibility of implementing the United States of Europe slogan under capitalism. He said this slogan merged with socialism and acquired political meaning only under socialism. It was politically correct also from the standpoint of the need to overthrow the three reactionary monarchies of Europe—that of Russia, of Germany and of Austria-Hungary.

1969, Y. F. Sopin, chapter 5, in The Bolshevik Party's Struggle Against Trotskyism, page 214:

(politics) Possessing or conforming to the correct political positions; following the official policies of the government or a political party.

Don Imus, Bernard McGuirk, Trent Lott, Larry Summers, the Duke lacrosse team, Jimmy the Greek, the kid who yelled "water buffalo" at Penn, Howard Cosell, Jon Stewart, Chief Illiniwek, Jackie Mason and "South Park" all have in common only one thing: They have not been Politically Correct.

2007 May 3, Daniel Henninger, “After Imus: End the Executions”, in Wall Street Journal:

From foie gras produced without making birds suffer to "sustainable" fish, British retailers and restaurants are fast embracing politically correct food, helped by celebrity-fuelled pressure.

2010, “Politically correct food on the menu in Britain”, in The Independent:

Even when mounted in the context of animal-centric conferences or events, exhibits of “animal art” routinely display works consisting of animal parts or taxidermied animals—most of which can be viewed while people are eating their politically correct vegan lunch.

2017, Linda Kalof, The Oxford Handbook of Animal Studies, page 434:

(idiomatic, politics, derogatory) Stereotypically left-wing; possessing or conforming to stereotypical left-wing social views.


radical

PIE word
 *wréh₂ds
Inherited from Middle English radical, from Latin rādīcālis (“of or pertaining to the root, having roots, radical”).

radicale

ring theory: ideal of elements of a ring sharing a certain given property

radicale

ring theory: intersection of maximal submodules of a module

(historical, 19th-century Britain, politics) A member of the most progressive wing of the Liberal Party; someone favouring social reform (but generally stopping short of socialism).


ward

en-noun

ward (countable and uncountable, plural wards)

→ Swahili: wodi

From Middle English ward, warde, from Old English weard (“watching, ward, protection, guardianship; advance post; waiting for, lurking, ambuscade”), from Proto-West Germanic *wardu, from Proto-Germanic *wardō (“protection, attention, keeping”), an extension of the stem *wara- (“attentive”) (English wary, beware), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to cover”).
Cognate with German Warte (“watchtower”), warten (“wait for”); English guard is a parallel form which came via Old French.

inh

Thou knowest my old ward; here I lay, and thus I bore my point.

c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:

(fencing) A guarding or defensive motion or position.


corn

en-noun

corn (usually uncountable, plural corns)

Kashubian: kòrné (Canada)

Tok Pisin: kon

→ Maori: kānga

Inherited from Middle English corn, from Old English corn, from Proto-West Germanic *korn, from Proto-Germanic *kurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain; worn-down”), from *ǵerh₂- (“grow old, mature”). Cognate with Dutch koren, German Low German Koorn, German Korn, Danish korn, Norwegian Bokmål korn, Norwegian Nynorsk korn and Swedish korn; see also Albanian grurë, Russian зерно́ (zernó), Czech zrno, Latin grānum and Lithuanian žirnis. Doublet of grain, gram, granum, and grao.
The sense maize (Zea mays) is an ellipsis of Indian corn that developped in 18th century North America.

doublet

what does that have to do with the price of corn

R.I.P Scumpy ah you did say Popcaan
And if a boy diss we clap corn.

2014 June 9, Andrae Hugh Sutherland respectively Popcaan of Popcaan, “Where We Come From” (track 13), in Where We Come From:

We got spinners and dotties
We got .40s and MACs
We got nuff live corn
[…] See the four-door pausing
Skengs out, everyone runnin
But the corn just slapped and floored em
50 shots in that mop

2016 September 9, Liquez respectively Dimzy of 67, “Jump Out Gang” (track 7), in Let’s Lurk:

(Jamaica, MLE, slang, firearms, uncountable) Bullets, ammunition, charge and discharge of firearms.


Belgrade

From French Belgrade, from Medieval Latin Belgradum and Belogradum, ultimately from South Slavic forms of Proto-Slavic *bělъ (“white”) and *gȏrdъ (“fortress, city”), after the white walls of its medieval fortress. Doublet of Beograd, Berat, and Belgorod.

Prosecution witness Osman Selak claimed that the Bosnian Serb army was under the de facto control of Belgrade, as the Prosecution alleged, but under cross-examination could not produce a single example of an order issued by the Yugoslav army to the Bosnian Serb army.

2007, John Laughland, chapter 8, in Travesty: The Trial of Slobodan Milošević and the Corruption of International Justice, London: Pluto Press, →ISBN, page 170:

(metonymic, politics) The Serbian or Yugoslav government.


shotgun

en-noun

shotgun (countable and uncountable, plural shotguns)

shotguns (plural)
shot-gun (alternative)

desc

Japanese: → 散弾銃 (sandanjū) (calque), → ショットガン (shottogan)

→ Tok Pisin: sot gan

From shot + gun. Front passenger seat sense comes from ride shotgun.

Meat was cooked up within hours after the hunter killed the deer with his shotgun.

You can't talk to a man / With a shotgun in his hand

1971, Carole King, Gerry Goffin, “Smackwater Jack”, in Tapestry, Ode Records:

An unusual custom is followed at Llangennith, when shotguns are fired at a wedding - to scare off evil spirits from the newlyweds.

1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 258:

(firearms) A gun which fires loads typically consisting of small metal balls, called shot, from a cartridge.


closet

→ Czech: klozet

→ Polish: klozet

→ Spanish: clóset

→ Welsh: closet

From Middle English closet, from Old French closet, from clos (“private space”) + -et (diminutive suffix), from Latin clausum. Equivalent to close + -et, but generally applied in French solely to small open-air enclosures.

cupboard

storage area set into a wall, used for storing food or dishware

wardrobe

piece of furniture, used for storing clothes

cupboard

piece of furniture, used for storing food or dishware

A Closset is the halfe of the Barre, and tenne of them maie be borne in one fielde.

1572, J. Bossewell, Wks. Armorie, page 12:

(heraldry) An ordinary similar to a bar but half as broad.


bogie

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

(aviation, military, slang) An unidentified aircraft, especially as observed as a spot on a radar screen and suspected to be hostile.


bogey

bogeys (plural)
bogie (alternative)
bogy (alternative)

Probably related to or alteration of bogle, akin to or from a variant of Middle English bugge (“frightening specter, scarecrow”) (whence bug), itself of uncertain origin: perhaps from obsolete Welsh bwg (“ghost, hobgoblin”); compare Welsh bwgwl (“threat”, older “fear”), Irish bagairt (“threat”), but perhaps the root was borrowed from Germanic. Otherwise from Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”); compare Norwegian bugge (“big man”), dialectal Low German Bögge and Alemannic German Böögg (“goblin”, “snot”).
See also Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“a goblin, spook”), Old English pūca (“goblin, mischievous spirit”), Icelandic púki Swedish puke (“small devil, spook”), whence obsolete English puck. Perhaps the Middle English and Welsh words come from a word related to buck and originally referred to a goat-shaped specter. Compare also booger.
The golf sense is from the devil as an imaginary player.

cog

He stood on the sand near the gravel road that passed within two miles of the site of the disintegrated bogey, binoculars hanging on a leather strap from his neck, face streaming with sweat under the brim of his hat... Army and government trucks passed along the road every few minutes, some bearing radiation stickers; many of those outward bound, he knew, carried fragments of the bogey. He was not privy to what they were finding.

1987, Greg Bear, “Lacrimosa Dies Illa!”, in The Forge of God (science fiction), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 83:

United States Department of Defense Air Land Sea Application Center

(military, aviation) An unidentified aircraft, especially as observed as a spot on a radar screen and suspected to be hostile.

God dammit, Mustang! This is Ghost Rider 117. This bogey is all over me. He's got missile lock on me. Do I have permission to fire?

1986, Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr., Top Gun (motion picture), spoken by Cougar:

(military, aviation, slang) Synonym of bandit: an enemy aircraft.


President's Daily Briefing

en-noun

President's Daily Briefing (plural President's Daily Briefings)

President's Daily Briefings (plural)
PDB (abbreviation)

(US, government) Intelligence information from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) provided to the President of the United States (POTUS) every morning, to bring attention to pertinent information about international affairs.


PDB

President's Daily Briefing
President's Daily Briefing#English

President's Daily Brief
President's Daily Brief#English

President's Daily Bulletin
President's Daily Bulletin#English

(US, politics) Initialism of President's Daily Briefing or President's Daily Brief or President's Daily Bulletin.


PRC

PRC (countable and uncountable, plural PRCs)

Police Record Check
Police Record Check#English

(government) Initialism of Police Record Check.


fireman

By February 1944 there were over two thousand women employed at the Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company [...]. There were also female firemen on almost every shipyard crane [...].

1993, Nancy F. Cott, editor, History of Women in the United States. Historical Articles on Women's Lives and Activities. 15. Women and War, page 432:

For firemen everywhere rescuing cats from trees has been as much a part of the job as tackling blazing buildings.

30 June 2019, Don't call us for cats stuck in trees', Fire Brigade warns (Daily Telegraph)

(firefighting) Someone (especially one who is male) who is skilled in the work of fighting fire.


Middle East

desc

الشَّرْق الْأَوْسَط

→ Arabic: الشَّرْق الْأَوْسَط (aš-šarq al-ʔawsaṭ) (calque)

→ Azerbaijani: Orta Şərq (calque)

Сярэ́дні Усхо́д

→ Belarusian: Сярэ́дні Усхо́д (Sjarédni Usxód) (calque)

→ Catalan: Orient Mitjà (calque)

→ Czech: Střední východ (calque)

→ Dutch: Midden-Oosten (calque)

→ French: Moyen-Orient (calque)

→ German: Mittlerer Osten (calque)

Μέση Ανατολή

→ Greek: Μέση Ανατολή (Mési Anatolí) (calque)

→ Italian: Medio Oriente (calque)

→ Kazakh: Орта Шығыс (Orta Şyğys) (calque)

Среден Исток

→ Macedonian: Среден Исток (Sreden Istok) (calque)

→ Norwegian: Midtøsten (calque)

→ Persian: خاورمیانه (xâvar-e-miyâne) (calque)

→ Polish: Środkowy Wschód (calque)

→ Portuguese: Oriente Médio (calque)

→ Romanian: Orientul Mijlociu (calque)

Сре́дний Восто́к

→ Russian: Сре́дний Восто́к (Srédnij Vostók) (calque)

→ Spanish: Medio Oriente (calque)

→ Swedish: Mellanöstern (calque)

→ Turkish: Orta Doğu (calque)

→ Turkmen: Orta Gündogar (calque)

مَشْرِقِ وُسْطیٰ

→ Urdu: مَشْرِقِ وُسْطیٰ (maśriq-e vustā) (calque)

ئوتتۇرا شەرق

→ Uyghur: ئوتتۇرا شەرق (ottura sherq) (calque)

→ Uzbek: Oʻrta Sharq (calque)

From middle + East formed in English, modeled on Far East and Near East. First use appears c. 1876.

The expected announcement is tied to his trip to the Middle East next week, where he’ll visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the officials said.

2025 May 7, Alayna Treene, “Trump planning to change how US refers to Persian Gulf”, in CNN:

(geopolitics) The geopolitical region at the intersection of Asia, Africa and Europe, comprising West Asia excluding the South Caucasus and additionally including all of Egypt and all of Turkey.

Midde-Ooste

region comprising Western Asia without the South Caucasus and additionally including all of Egypt and all of Turkey

ܡܲܕ݂ܢܚܵܐ ܡܸܨܥܵܝܵܐ

maḏnḥā miṣˁāyā

Урта Көнчыгыш

Urta Könçığış

Well, what may happen in the Middle East? I agree there are uncertainties, but when he was condemning the policy of the Government with regard to the Turkish peace, had he thought for a moment of the financial effect of the policy which he advocated?

1920 April 21, House of Commons, quoting Austen Chamberlain, “Budget proposals, Committee of Ways and Means”, in The Parliamentary Debates, volume 128, page 455:

(geopolitics, dated) The region between the Near East and the Far East.


sprog

en-noun

sprog (countable and uncountable, plural sprogs)

1940s, originally service slang. Perhaps from obsolete sprag (“lively young man”), of unknown origin.

(UK, military, RAF, slang, derogatory) A new recruit.


yuck

Amy tells us that her husband, Jim Nelson, is deployed to Afghanistan […] as a nuclear operations officer — a result of graduating from the Naval Postgraduate School in December 2007 with a master's in Applied Physics. I guess I should have been looking for Jim to partner up with for physics help as a Yuck!

2008, United States Military Academy. Association of Graduates, Assembly (volume 67, issues 1-4, page 126)

(US, military, slang) Synonym of yearling (“a sophomore at West Point military academy”).


office

Tok Pisin: opis

→ Belarusian: о́фіс (ófis)

→ Bulgarian: о́фис (ófis)

→ Cebuano: opis

→ Chichewa: ofesi

→ Central Dusun: upis

→ Iban: opis

→ Japanese: オフィス

→ Marshallese: wōpij

→ Malay: opis

→ Russian: о́фис (ófis)

→ Scottish Gaelic: oifis

→ Swahili: afisi

→ Tausug: upis

→ Ukrainian: о́фіс (ófis)

Microsoft Office
office (disambiguation)

From Middle English office, from Old French office, from Latin officium (“personal, official, or moral duty; official position; function; ceremony, esp. last rites”), contracted from opificium (“construction: the act of building or the thing built”), from opifex (“doer of work, craftsman”) + -ium (“-y”, forming actions), from op- (“work”) + -i- (connective) + -fex (combining form of faciō (“to do, to make”)).
The use in reference to office software is a genericization of various proprietary program suites, such as Microsoft Office.

zyrë

room(s) or building used for non-manual work

I withdraw into ‘the office’, otherwise the observer's cockpit.

1917, Alan Bott, An Airman's Outings, page 161:

In the slang of the Royal Air Force man, the cockpit of his plane is the ‘pulpit’ or ‘office’, the glass covering over it the ‘greenhouse’.

‘Up in the office they too knew it.’ ‘The office? You mean the flight deck?’ ‘Just that. No more. No less. The office.’

(UK military slang, dated) A plane's cockpit, particularly an observer's cockpit.


Jim Crow

/ˌdʒɪm ˈkɹoʊ/

From the minstrel show song Jump Jim Crow, written in 1828 by Thomas D. Rice, the originator of blackface performance.

… flying cannon equipped Spitfires V’s mainly on ‘Jim Crow’ operations (operational Patrols along the home coastline intercepting any hostile aircraft and looking out for any invasion forces).

2008, Simon Muggleton, The Battle of Britain Monument in London:

(military, historical) A World War II code name for patrols along the British coastline to intercept enemy aircraft, originally intended to warn of invasion in 1940.


frock

en-verb

frock (third-person singular simple present frocks, present participle frocking, simple past and past participle frocked)

frocks (present singular third-person)
frocking (participle present)
frocked (participle past)
frocked (past)

From Middle English frok, frokke, from Old French froc (“frock, a monk's gown or habit”), perhaps via Medieval Latin hrocus, roccus, rocus (“a coat”), from Frankish *hrokk (“skirt, dress, robe”), from Proto-Germanic *hrukkaz (“robe, jacket, skirt, tunic”), from Proto-Indo-European *kreḱ- (“to weave”).
Cognate with Old High German hroch, roch (“skirt, dress, cowl”) – whence German Rock (“skirt, coat”) –, Saterland Frisian Rok (“skirt”), Dutch rok (“skirt, petticoat”), Old English rocc (“an overgarment, tunic, rochet”), Old Norse rokkr (“skirt, jacket”), whence Danish rok (“garment”).

cog

MajGen Richard G. Schulze […] was selected for two-star rank by members of the January selection board. He was frocked on 27 Jan and assigned new duties as CG, MCRD, San Diego.

1976, The Marine Corps Gazette, volumes 61-62, page 4:

(US military, transitive) To grant to an officer the title and uniform of a rank he will soon be promoted to.


AstroTurf

From astro- + turf, from its namesake trademark, in turn a reference to the Astrodome stadium in Houston, the first major sports venue to install artificial turf in 1966. The venue was named by its developer Roy Hofheinz, presumably a reference to the emerging identity of Houston as Space City.
Originally marketed as ChemGrass.

Astroturf (alternative)
astroturf (alternative)

(US, politics) Alternative form of Astroturf.


coup d'état

en-noun

coup d'état (plural coups d'état or coup d'états)

coups d'état (plural)
coup d'états (plural)
coup d'etat (alternative)

→ Bengali: কুদেতা (kudeta)

→ Cebuano: kudeta

→ Japanese: クーデター (kūdetā)

→ Korean: 쿠데타 (kudeta)

→ Malay: kudeta / کوديتا

Indonesian: kudeta

→ Tagalog: kudeta

Unadapted borrowing from French coup d'État (literally “stroke (or blow) of state”).

ubor

The former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and some of his closest allies are among dozens of people formally accused by federal police of being part of a criminal conspiracy designed to obliterate Brazil’s democratic system through a rightwing coup d’état.

2024 November 21, Tom Phillips, “Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro charged with plotting coup d’état”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(politics, government) The sudden overthrow of a government, differing from a revolution by being carried out by a small group of people who replace only the leading figures.


Agnus Dei

en-noun

Agnus Dei (plural Agnus Deis or Agnus Dei)

Borrowed from Latin Agnus Deī (“Lamb of God”).

(Roman Catholicism, heraldry) A small model, picture, or heraldic representation of a lamb with a cross and sometimes a flag (usually white with a red cross).


jacket

Chinese:

→ Mandarin: 夾克 /夹克 (jiākè), 茄克 (jiākè)

→ Irish: seaicéad

→ Japanese: ジャケット (jaketto)

→ Korean: 재킷 (jaekit)

→ Scottish Gaelic: seacaid

→ Turkish: ceket

→ Welsh: siaced

From Middle French jacquet, diminutive of Old French jaque.

(military) In ordnance, a strengthening band surrounding and reinforcing the tube in which the charge is fired.


frag

Police up your extra ammo and frags, don't leave nothing for the dinks.

1986, Oliver Stone, Platoon, spoken by Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe):

fragmentation grenade
fragmentation grenade

(military slang) A fragmentation grenade.


frag

en-verb

frag (third-person singular simple present frags, present participle fragging, simple past and past participle fragged)

frags (present singular third-person)
fragging (participle present)
fragged (participle past)
fragged (past)

One guy? I fragged a couple of hundred in 'Nam.

1974 January 13, Peter S. Fischer, “Publish or Perish” (00:03:23 from the start), in Columbo, season 3, episode 5, spoken by Eddie Kane:

Cowboy says in a low voice: “Never turn your back on Mother. Never cut him any slack. He fragged Mr. Shortround.”

1979, Gustav Hasford, The Short-Timers, New York: Bantam Books, published 1980, →ISBN, page 173:

(transitive, US military slang) To deliberately kill (one's superior officer) with a fragmentation grenade.

I fragged him once and then meleed him for the kill.

(transitive, military and video games, slang) To hit with the explosion of a fragmentation grenade.


stain

From Middle English steinen, steynen (“to stain, colour, paint”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse steina (“to stain, colour, paint”), from steinn (“stone, mineral blue, colour, stain”), from Proto-Norse ᛊᛏᚨᛁᚾᚨᛉ (stainaʀ), from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (“stone”), from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- (“to stiffen”). Cognate with Old English stān (“stone”). More at stone.
Replaced native Middle English wem (“spot, blemish, stain”), from Old English wamm (“spot, stain”).
In some senses, influenced by unrelated Middle English disteynen (“to discolor, remove the colour from"; literally, "de-colour”), from Anglo-Norman desteindre (“to remove the colour from, bleach”), from Old French destaindre (“to remove the color from, bleach”), from des- (“dis-, de-, un-”) + teindre (“to dye”), from Latin tingo.

noncog

(heraldry) One of a number of non-standard tinctures used chiefly in post-medieval heraldry, especially tenné, murrey, or sanguine.


raise

en-verb

raise (third-person singular simple present raises, present participle raising, simple past and past participle raised)

raises (present singular third-person)
raising (participle present)
raised (participle past)
raised (past)

From Middle English reysen, raisen, reisen, from Old Norse reisa (“to raise”), from Proto-Germanic *raisijaną, *raizijaną (“to raise”), causative form of Proto-Germanic *rīsaną (“to rise”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- (“to rise, arise”). According to Kroonen (2013), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- (“to stir, rise”).
Cognate with Old English rāsian (“to explore, examine, research”), Old English rīsan (“to seize, carry off”), Old English rǣran (“to raise”). Doublet of rear.

whakahī

Referring to lifting the pitch of a musical note

hāpai

Of lifting an object to a higher elevation

hī

Refers to raising an eyebrow in scepticism

raise oneself up by one's own bootstraps

(physical) To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.

(military) To remove or break up (a blockade), either by withdrawing the ships or forces employed in enforcing it, or by driving them away or dispersing them.

aradan qaldırmaq

(military) to remove or break up (a blockade); to relinquish (a siege), or cause this to be done

(military, transitive) To relinquish (a siege), or cause this to be done.


chamber

From Middle English chambre, borrowed from Old French chambre, from Latin camera, from Ancient Greek καμάρα (kamára, “vaulted chamber”). Doublet of camera.

der

Dianne loaded a cartridge into the chamber of the rifle, then prepared to take aim at the target.

(firearms) The area holding the ammunition round at the initiation of its discharge.

حُجْرَة

part of a firearm holding the round before firing

(firearms) One of the bullet-holding compartments in the cylinder of a revolver.

патронник

compartment holding a bullet of a revolver


chamber

en-verb

chamber (third-person singular simple present chambers, present participle chambering, simple past and past participle chambered)

chambers (present singular third-person)
chambering (participle present)
chambered (participle past)
chambered (past)
chambre (alternative)

Bob chambered his fist for a blow, but Sheila struck first.

(martial arts, transitive) To prepare an offensive, defensive, or counteroffensive action by drawing a limb or weapon to a position where it may be charged with kinetic energy.


bicameral

From bi- + Latin camera (“chamber”) + -al.

Once the Senate votes, aides said, the first order of business in the bicameral talks will be to set an overall dollar figure […].

2009 February 9, Carl Hulse, “In Congress, Aides Start to Map Talks on Stimulus”, in New York Times:

(government) Of, having, or relating to two separate legislative chambers or houses.

bicameral

having two separate legislative chambers


nunchaku

en-noun

nunchaku (countable and uncountable, plural nunchakus)

Borrowed from Okinawan 双節棍 (nunchaku) (compare Japanese 双節棍 (nunchaku)), probably from Hokkien 兩節棍 /两节棍 (nn̄g-chat-kùn, literally “two-segment cudgel”), from 兩 /两 (nn̄g, “two”) + 節 /节 (chat, “joint; link; segment”) + 棍 (kùn, “cudgel; stick”).

der

(countable) A weapon originating from Okinawa, Japan, consisting of two sticks joined by a chain or cord.

tsako

weapon consisting of two sticks joined by a chain or cord

(uncountable) The skill of using this weapon in martial arts.


blaze

en-verb

blaze (third-person singular simple present blazes, present participle blazing, simple past and past participle blazed)

blazes (present singular third-person)
blazing (participle present)
blazed (participle past)
blazed (past)

From Middle English blasen (“to blow”), from Old English *blǣsan, from Proto-West Germanic *blāsan, from Proto-Germanic *blēsaną (“to blow”). Related to English blast.

And nowe here is another crosse for your learning, and is thus blazed. The field is Argét, a playn crosse Gules, voyded of the first.

1576, Gerard LEGH, The Accedens of Armory. With an address to the Reader by R. Argoll. Woodcuts. MS. notes, page 28:

[...] yée thal blaze his Armes thus. A. beareth Argent, and Sable parted per Pale.

1597, John Bossewell, Works of Armorie: devided into 3 Bookes, intituled the Concordes of Armorie, the Armorie of Honor and of lotes and creastes, page 28:

Beinge thus blazed: Henzell On a ffeild Gules, beareth Three Acornes Slipped Or; Two and One.

1877, Henry Sydney Grazebrook, Collections for a genealogy of the noble families of Henzey, Tyttery, and Tyzack, page 26:


para

Family of dead para launch legal challenge to Northern Ireland legacy legislation [title]

2023 September 26, Dan Sabbagh, “Family of dead para launch legal challenge to Northern Ireland legacy legislation”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:


vice

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English vice, from Old French vice, from Latin vitium (“fault or blemish”). Displaced native Old English unþēaw.

(law enforcement, slang) Clipping of vice squad.


vampire

vampires (plural)
vampyre (alternative archaic)
wampyr (alternative)

desc

ভ্যাম্পায়ার

→ Bengali: ভ্যাম্পায়ার (bhêmpaẏar)

→ Irish: vaimpír

→ Japanese: ヴァンパイア (vanpaia), バンパイア (banpaia)

→ Marathi: व्हॅम्पायर (vhĕmpāyar)

→ Thai: แวมไพร์ (wɛm-paai)

→ Scottish Gaelic: bhampair

→ Swahili: vampiri

→ Turkish: vampir

→ Welsh: fampir

From French vampire, from German Vampir, via Hungarian from a Slavic word, probably Serbo-Croatian вампир (vàmpīr), proposed to be a variant of unattested *upir, from Proto-Slavic *ǫpyrь, Doublet of oupire.

Vampire. Vampire. Vampire. Battle stations.

anti-ship missile
anti-ship missile#English

(US naval jargon) Synonym of anti-ship missile (ASM), particularly an incoming hostile one.


dismount

en-verb

dismount (third-person singular simple present dismounts, present participle dismounting, simple past and past participle dismounted)

dismounts (present singular third-person)
dismounting (participle present)
dismounted (participle past)
dismounted (past)

From dis- + mount, probably a calque of Old French desmonter.

(military, transitive) To throw (cannon) off their carriages.


refuse

refuse (third-person singular simple present refuses, present participle refusing, simple past and past participle refused)

refuses (present singular third-person)
refusing (participle present)
refused (participle past)
refused (past)
refuse (infinitive)
refuse (first-person present singular)
refused (first-person past singular)
refuse (present second-person singular)
refusest (archaic present second-person singular)
refused (past second-person singular)
refusedst (archaic past second-person singular)
refuses (present singular third-person)
refuseth (archaic present singular third-person)
refused (past singular third-person)
refuse (plural present)
refused (past plural)
refuse (present subjunctive)
refused (past subjunctive)
refuse (imperative present)
refusing (participle present)
refused (participle past)

From Middle English refusen, from Old French refuser, from Vulgar Latin *refūsāre, a blend of Classical Latin refūtāre (whence also refute) and recūsāre (whence also recuse).

to refuse the right wing while the left wing attacks

(military) To throw back, or cause to keep back (as the centre, a wing, or a flank), out of the regular alignment when troops are about to engage the enemy.


forty-five

The robber brandished a forty-five at the cashier to make her empty the till for him.

The phoenix he helped create
Out of control boy without a dad
Shot the gun that startled my life
While I drove him with a forty-five

1998, “Soil”, in Serj Tankian (lyrics), Daron Malakian (music), System of a Down, performed by System of a Down, Track 7:


zap

zap (third-person singular simple present zaps, present participle zapping, simple past and past participle zapped)

zaps (present singular third-person)
zapping (participle present)
zapped (participle past)
zapped (past)

Catalan: zàping

Dutch: zappen

Esperanto: zapi

French: zapping, zapper

Galician: zapear, zapping

German: zappen

Portuguese: zapear, zapar, zapping

Spanish: zapping, zapear

Swedish: zappa

1920s, American English, of imitative origin.

onomatopoeic

imitative

Says a U. S. officer: "We zapped the enemy, now we intend to stick around. […]

1966, U.S. News & World Report, volume 61, page 32:

(US, military, slang, transitive) To kill; to eliminate.


royal

en-adj

royal (comparative royaler or royaller, superlative royalest or royallest)

royaler (comparative)
royaller (comparative)
royalest (superlative)
royallest (superlative)
r. (alternative abbreviation)
roial (alternative obsolete)
roiall (alternative obsolete)
royall (alternative obsolete)
royaler (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English royal, from Old French roial (Modern French royal), from Latin rēgālis, from rēx (“king”). Doublet of regal (“befitting a king”), real (“unit of currency”), ariary, and riyal. Cognate with Spanish real. Displaced native Old English cynelīċ.

doublet

(boxing, military) Free-for-all, especially involving multiple combatants.


royal

royals (plural)
r. (alternative abbreviation)
roial (alternative obsolete)
roiall (alternative obsolete)
royall (alternative obsolete)
royaler (alternative obsolete)


badge

→ Gulf Arabic: باجة (bāja)

→ Japanese: バッジ (bajji)

→ Korean: 배지 (baeji)

From Middle English badge, bagge, bage, bagy, from Anglo-Norman bage or Medieval Latin bagea, bagia (“sign, emblem”), of uncertain origin. Possibly derived from Medieval Latin baga (“ring”), from Old Saxon bāg, bōg (“ring, ornament”), from Proto-Germanic *baugaz (“ring, bracelet, armband”); or possibly the Anglo-Norman word is derived from an earlier, unattested English word (compare Old English bēag (“ring, bracelet, collar, crown”). Cognate with Scots bagie, badgie, bawgy (“badge”).

cog

(heraldry) A distinctive mark worn by servants, retainers, and followers of royalty or nobility, who, being beneath the rank of gentlemen, have no right to armorial bearings.


broomstick

broomsticks (plural)
broom-stick (alternative)

(military slang) A control stick of an airplane or other vehicle.


palisade

Borrowed from Middle French palissade, from Old French, from Old Occitan palissada, from palissa (“stake”), probably from pal (“stake”), or possibly from Gallo-Romance *pālīcea, from Latin pālus (“stake”) + -ade.

We had soon touched land in the same place as before and set to provision the blockhouse. All three made the first journey, heavily laden, and tossed our stores over the palisade.

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

I realize how universal the desire to injure your fellow man is. … Only hear the government of laws and lawyers puts a palisade up. They can injure you a lot, make your life hideous, but they can't actually do you in.

1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 261:

(military) A wall of wooden stakes, used as a defensive barrier.


retrograde

en-verb

retrograde (third-person singular simple present retrogrades, present participle retrograding, simple past and past participle retrograded)

retrogrades (present singular third-person)
retrograding (participle present)
retrograded (participle past)
retrograded (past)

From Middle French retrograder (“to (cause to) go back, return; to (cause to) move backwards; of a celestial object: to show retrograde motion; to date to an earlier period”) (modern French rétrograder), and from its etymon Latin retrōgradī (“to go or step back or backwards; of a celestial object: to show retrograde motion”) (compare Late Latin retrogradare, retrogradari, retrogredere), from retrō (“back, backwards; behind; before, formerly”) + gradior (“to step, walk; to advance, go”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰredʰ- (“to go; to walk”)).

der

/ˈɹɛtɹə(ʊ)ɡɹeɪd/

/ˈɹɛtɹəˌɡɹeɪd/

(military) To retreat or withdraw from a position.

vetäytyä

(military) to retreat or withdraw from a position


quiver

From Middle English quiver, from Anglo-Norman quivre, from Old Dutch cocare (source of Dutch koker, and cognate to Old English cocer (“quiver, case”)), from Proto-West Germanic *kokar (“container”), said to be from Hunnic, possibly from Proto-Mongolic *kökexür (“leather vessel for liquids”); see there for more. Replaced early modern cocker, the inherited reflex of that West Germanic word.
The mathematical sense originated as German Köcher in a 1972 paper by Pierre Gabriel; it was likely chosen because a quiver contains arrows, while a digraph contains directed edges (also called "arrows").

դող

shaking or moving with a slight trembling motion

Don Pedro: Nay, if Cupid have not spent all his quiver in Venice, thou wilt quake for this shortly.

1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], line 271:

Arrows were carried in quiver, called also an arrow case, which served for the magazine, arrows for immediate use were worn in the girdle.

1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 39:

(weaponry) A container for arrows, crossbow bolts or darts, such as those fired from a bow, crossbow or blowgun.


eliminate

en-verb

eliminate (third-person singular simple present eliminates, present participle eliminating, simple past and past participle eliminated)

eliminates (present singular third-person)
eliminating (participle present)
eliminated (participle past)
eliminated (past)

Borrowed from Latin ēlīminātus, perfect passive participle of ēlīminō (“to turn out of doors, banish”), from ē- + līmen (“a threshold”, līmin- in compounds) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), akin to Latin līmes (“a boundary”); see also English limit and limen.

af

(transitive, military) To render (a facility) unusable, to destroy it; to disable (a soldier), make them unable to fight (typically but not necessarily by killing)


tour

From Old French tour, tourn, from the verb torner, tourner.

tor (pour–poor merger, horse–hoarse merger)

taw (pour–poor merger, horse–hoarse merger, non-rhotic)

Among those released were two Americans who had been held captive for more than three months: Alex Drueke, a former U.S. Army staff sergeant who served two tours in Iraq, according to his aunt, Dianna Shaw; […]

2022 September 21, Carly Olson, Dan Bilefsky, “Ten prisoners, including Americans, have been released as part of a Russia-Ukraine exchange, Saudi Arabia says.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


jab

Originally a Scottish (unclear if Scots or Scottish English) form of English job (“peck, poke, thrust”), from Middle English jobben.

American Ward was too quick and too slick for his British rival, landing at will with razor sharp jabs and hooks and even bullying Froch at times.

2011 December 18, Ben Dirs, “Carl Froch outclassed by dazzling Andre Ward”, in BBC Sport:


det

(military, US) Abbreviation of detachment.


bacon

en-noun

bacon (usually uncountable, plural bacons)

→ Bulgarian: бекон (bekon)

→ Chinese: 培根 (péigēn)

→ Finnish: pekoni

→ French: bacon

desc

→ Hebrew: בייקון

→ Hebrew: בייקון

→ Italian: becon

→ Japanese: ベーコン (bēkon)

→ Maori: pēkana

→ Maltese: bejken

→ Norwegian Bokmål: bacon, beiken

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: bacon, beiken

→ Polish: bekon

→ Portuguese: bacon

→ Russian: бекон (bekon)

→ Spanish: bacon, beicon

→ Swedish: bacon

From Middle English bacoun (“meat from the back and sides of a pig”), from Anglo-Norman bacon, bacun (“ham, flitch, strip of lard”), from Old Low Frankish *bakō (“ham, flitch”), from Proto-Germanic *bakô, *bakkô (“back”), an extension of *baką, whence English back, which see for more. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“back, buttocks; to vault, arch”).
Cognate with Old Saxon baco (“back”), Dutch bake (“ham, side of bacon”), Old High German bahho (“ham, side of bacon”), whence German Bache f (“wild sow”), Alemannic German Bache m (“bacon”).
(police): Extension of pig (“police”).


counselor

counselors (plural)
in Canada (US alternative)
counsellor (alternative British Canada)
counselour (alternative obsolete)
counsellour (alternative obsolete)
counseller (alternative archaic)

From Middle English conseillour, counseiler, from Anglo-Norman cunseiler, cunseiliour, from Old French conseillier, from Latin consiliator, agent noun from cōnsilior (“I take counsel”), from cōnsilium (“plan, council, wisdom, advice”). Compare councilor. Displaced native Middle English redere, Middle English redesman, and Middle English redyeve, from Old English rǣdġiefa (literally “advice giver”).

ncog

(politics) A high ranking diplomat, usually just below an ambassador or minister.


wyvern

wyverns (plural)
wivern (alternative)
wiver (alternative)
wyver (alternative)

Alteration of Middle English wyver (“viper”), borrowed from Old Northern French wivre, from Latin vīpera (“viper; snake, serpent”). Doublet of weever and viper.

The jargon of heraldry, its griffins, its moldwarps, its wyverns, and its dragons.

1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:

Notions of freedom are tied up in drink / Our ideal life contains a tavern / Where man may sit and talk of or just think / All without fear of the nighted wyvern, / Or yet another tavern where it appears.

1940-54 The Collected Poetry of Malcolm Lowry, "WE SIT UNHACKLED DRUNK AND MAD TO EDIT", UBC Press,1992, p.222

(heraldry, mythology, fantasy) A draconian creature possessing wings, only two legs and usually a barbed tail.


evolution

en-noun

evolution (countable and uncountable, plural evolutions)

extinction

antonym(s) of “survival through adaptation”

/ɛvəˈlʉːʃən/

Borrowed from Latin ēvolūtiō, ēvolūtiōnis (“the act of unrolling, unfolding or opening (of a book)”), from ēvolūtus, perfect passive participle of ēvolvō (“unroll, unfold”), from ex + volvō (“roll”).
Compare typologically Czech vývoj, Serbo-Croatian развој, Russian разви́ть (razvítʹ), развива́ть (razvivátʹ), разви́ться (razvítʹsja), развива́ться (razvivátʹsja), Russian разви́тие (razvítije), related to Proto-Slavic *viti (whence Czech vít, Russian вить (vitʹ)).

تَطَوُّر

general: a gradual process of development

Mean while, he never failed to be present, when any regiment, or corps of men, were drawn out to be exercised and reviewed, and accompanied them in all their evolutions […].

1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:

Major Holroyd, who acted as the General, was extremely polite, and attentive, and came to us between every evolution, to explain and talk over the manoeuvres.

1779, Frances Burney, Journals & Letters, Penguin, published 2001, page 117:

(military) A manoeuvre of troops or ships.

A change of position.
A manoeuvre of troops or ships.


transformation

en-noun

transformation (countable and uncountable, plural transformations)

Inherited from Middle English transformacioun, from Middle French, from Ecclesiastical Latin trānsfōrmātiō.
Morphologically transform + -ation

inh+

(politics, South Africa) The transition from the apartheid era to a multiracial democracy in South Africa.

перестро́йка

South Africa: ideologically driven government policy


dread

en-noun

dread (countable and uncountable, plural dreads)

From Middle English drede, dred, from the verb (see above). Cognate with Old Frisian drēd, drēde (“fear, dread”).

The Royal Navy sent six dreads and four BCs to intercept the German raiding force.

(military, nautical, historical, slang) Clipping of dreadnought.


greenhouse

From green + house ("house for growing greens"), in reference to the produce grown within.

In the slang of the Royal Air Force man, the cockpit of his plane is the ‘pulpit’ or ‘office’, the glass covering over it the ‘greenhouse’.

(UK military slang, dated) The glass of a plane's cockpit.


sphere of influence

sphere of influence (plural spheres of influence)

In reference to Anglo-German colonial rivalry in Africa. First use appears c. 1885.

[…]it does not mean that the major powers have a right to chop the globe into spheres of influence as colonial empires did centuries ago.

2022 February 23, Madeleine Albright, “Putin Is Making a Historic Mistake”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(politics) A spatial region over which a state has a level of cultural, economic, military or political exclusivity.


caltrop

From Middle English calketrappe, from Old English calcatrippe, from Medieval Latin calcatrippa (“thistle”), from Latin calx or calcare + trappa.

[…] her father, the emperor Alexius, who reigned AD 1081-1118, ordered caltrops to be cast in front of his archers […]

1858, The journal of the British Archaeological Association:

By Sung times, several different types of caltrops had been developed. As in earlier times, both caltrops could be made from both wood and iron...

1954, Joseph Needham, Ling Wang, Science and civilisation in China:

Caltrops, tetrahedrons, and similar devices are designed to puncture vehicle tires or limit foot traffic. The standard design has four points.

2000, Alan Vick, Aerospace operations in urban environments: exploring new concepts:

(weaponry) A metal object, usually small, with spikes arranged so that, when thrown onto the ground, one always faces up as a threat to pedestrians, horses, and vehicles (also used as a heraldic charge).


furniture

furniture (usually uncountable, plural furnitures)

From Middle French fourniture (“a supply, or the act of furnishing”), from fournir (“to furnish”).

uder

(firearms) The stock and forearm of a weapon.


duce

Borrowed from Italian duce. Doublet of doge, duc, duke, and dux.

(fascism) An authoritarian leader, especially Benito Mussolini.

دُوتْشِي

(fascism) an authoritarian leader, especially Benito Mussolini


dough

en-noun

dough (usually uncountable, plural doughs)

doughs (plural)
dow (alternative)
doff (alternative)
duff (alternative)

From Middle English dow, dogh, dagh, from Old English dāg, from Proto-Germanic *daigaz (“dough”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- (“to knead, form, mold”). Cognate with Scots daich, dauch, doach (“dough”), West Frisian daai (“dough”), Dutch deeg (“dough”), Low German Deeg (“dough”), German Teig (“dough”), Norwegian Bokmål deig (“dough”), Danish dej (“dough”), Swedish deg (“dough”), Icelandic deig (“dough”).
The derivation of the second meaning (of money) is obscure, but dates to the mid 19th century.

inh

(US military slang, countable) Clipping of doughboy (“an infantryman”).


lis

[…] it may be dimidiated: for instance, half a rose and half a lis being stuck together, or half a lis and half an eagle.

1915, Guy Cadogan Rothery, ABC of Heraldry, page 175:


P.O.W.

Gaston Huet, the proprietor, whose story is recounted in “Wine and War,” had returned after five years in a German P.O.W. camp. He was in a gravely weakened condition but was able to make the ’45, a great vintage in France.

2022 October 6, Eric Asimov, “Echoes of a World War in Wines From the Early 1940s”, in The New York Times:

(military) Initialism of prisoner of war; also POW.


armiger

/ˈɑːɹmɪd͡ʒɚ/

Borrowed from Latin armiger (“carrying weapons or armour or having coat of arms”).

bor

(loosely, heraldry) Any person entitled to bear a coat of arms.


present

en-adj

present (comparative more present, superlative most present)

more present (comparative)
most present (superlative)
præsent (alternative archaic)
ps. (alternative abbreviation)

slow-acting

antonym(s) of “having an immediate effect”

From Middle English present, from Old French present, from Latin praesent-, praesens, present participle of praeesse (“to be present”), from Latin prae- (“pre-”) + esse (“to be”).

(politics) Neither for or against (used in voting to express abstention)


present

presents (plural)
præsent (alternative archaic)
ps. (alternative abbreviation)

→ Japanese: プレゼント (purezento)

From Middle English presenten, from Old French presenter, from Latin praesentāre (“to show”), from praesent-, praesens, present participle of praeesse (“be in front of”).

The platoon stands at present.

He was at present near the headquarters gates.

(military) The position of a soldier in presenting arms.


present

en-verb

present (third-person singular simple present presents, present participle presenting, simple past and past participle presented)

presents (present singular third-person)
presenting (participle present)
presented (participle past)
presented (past)
præsent (alternative archaic)
ps. (alternative abbreviation)

(transitive, military) To point (a firearm) at something, to hold (a weapon) in a position ready to fire.


conservative

Borrowed from Middle French conservatif, from Latin cōnservō (“to preserve”). Equivalent to conserve + -ative.

A person who favors maintenance of the status quo.

(politics) One who opposes changes to the traditional institutions of their country.

(US, Canada, politics) A person who favors decentralization of political power and disfavors interventionist foreign policy.


conservative

en-adj

conservative (comparative more conservative, superlative most conservative)

more conservative (comparative)
most conservative (superlative)

George Soros remains a favorite target of conservative conspiracy theorists, seeing his corrupting influence behind every liberal movement and within every nook and cranny.

2020 November 18, Brian Lowry, “‘Soros’ looks at the life and activism of the right’s favorite bogeyman”, in CNN:

(US, Canada, economics, politics, social sciences) Supporting some combination of fiscal, political or social conservatism.

مُحَافِظ

supporting fiscal, political or social conservatism

We have always been conscientiously attached to what is called the Tory, and which might with more propriety be called the Conservative, party.

(British, politics) Relating to the Conservative Party.


dope

en-noun

dope (countable and uncountable, plural dopes)

From Dutch doop (“thick dipping sauce”), from Dutch dopen (“to dip”), from Middle Dutch dopen, from Old Dutch *dōpen, from Frankish *daupijan, from Proto-Germanic *daupijaną.
“Doop” in the sense “narcotic drug” ultimately refers to viscous opium juice, the drug of choice of the ancient Greeks; “insider information” perhaps from knowing which horse had been doped in a race. Sense of "stupid person" perhaps following from the drug sense (i.e. relating to those intoxicated on opium), compare dope up. Related to English dip and German taufen.

смазка

viscous liquid used to prepare a surface

(uncountable, firearms) Ballistic data on previously fired rounds, used to calculate the required hold over a target.


pile

en-verb

pile (third-person singular simple present piles, present participle piling, simple past and past participle piled)

piles (present singular third-person)
piling (participle present)
piled (participle past)
piled (past)

From Middle English pyle, from Old French pile, from Latin pīla (“pillar, pier”).

(transitive, military) To place (guns, muskets, etc.) together in threes so that they can stand upright, supporting each other.


pile

From Middle English pile, from Old English pīl, from Proto-West Germanic *pīl, from Latin pīlum (“heavy javelin”). Cognate with Dutch pijl, German Pfeil. Doublet of pilum.

(heraldry) One of the ordinaries or subordinaries having the form of a wedge, usually placed palewise, with the broadest end uppermost.


onager

From Middle English onager, onagir (“wild ass; military catapult”), from Anglo-Norman onager, Middle French onager, onagre, Old French onager, onagre (“wild ass; military catapult”) (modern French onagre), from Late Latin onager (“large siege engine”), Latin onager (“wild ass”), from Hellenistic Ancient Greek ὄναγρος (ónagros, “wild ass”), Byzantine Ancient Greek ὄναγρος (ónagros, “large siege engine”), from ὄνος (ónos, “ass”) + ἄγριος (ágrios, “wild”) (from ᾰ̓γρός (ăgrós, “countryside; field”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- (“to drive”)) + -ῐος (-ĭos, suffix forming adjectives)).
The “military engine” sense alludes to the strong recoil of the engine, likened to an onager’s kick; see the 2007 quotation.

der

The onager, meaning "wild ass," derived its name from its powerful recoil, or kick, upon discharge; […] In addition, although Josephus described an onager in action hurling a 100-pound stone over 400 yards, most onagri achieved a shorter range than the ballista, thus exposing their crews to enemy archers.

2007, Jeff Kinard, “Ancient and Medieval Artillery”, in Artillery: An Illustrated History of Its Impact (Weapons and Warfare Series), Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 17:

(military, historical) A military engine acting like a sling which threw stones from a bag or wooden bucket powered by the torsion from a bundle of ropes or sinews operated by machinery; a torsion catapult.


pact

From Middle English pact, from Middle French pacte, from Old French, and its etymon Latin pactum (“something agreed upon”), from pacīscī (“to agree”). Probably a doublet of patio.


patch

From Middle English patche, of uncertain origin. Perhaps an alteration of earlier Middle English placche (“patch, spot, piece of cloth”), from Old English *plæċċ, *pleċċ (“a spot, mark, patch”), from Proto-West Germanic *plakkju, from Proto-Germanic *plakjō (“spot, stain”). For the loss of l compare pat from Middle English platten. Germanic cognates would then include Middle English plecke, dialectal English pleck (“plot of ground, patch”), West Frisian plak (“place, spot”), Low German Plakk, Plakke (“spot, piece, patch”), Dutch plek (“spot, place, stain, patch”), Dutch plak (“piece, slab”), Swedish plagg (“garment”), Faroese plagg (“cloth, rag”).
Or, possibly a variant of Old French pieche, dialectal variant of piece (“piece”). Compare also Old Occitan petaç (“patch”).

tilkku

small piece of material used to clean a gun barrel

flejtuch

piece of greased cloth used to fit a rifle ball to the bore

(firearms) A small piece of material that is manually passed through a gun barrel to clean it.

(firearms) A piece of greased cloth or leather used as wrapping for a rifle ball, to make it fit the bore.


perp

"We have the perp in custody," the policeman said.

Got himself fired for pulling a sword on an acknowledged perp. Slid it right through the fabric of the perp’s shirt, gliding the flat of the blade along the base of his neck, and pinned him to a warped and bubbled expanse of vinyl siding on the wall of the house that the perp was trying to break into.

1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 6:


quartermaster

quartermasters (plural)
quarter-master (alternative)
quarter master (alternative)

/ˈkwɔːtɚˌmɑːstə/

From Middle English quartermayster, quartermaistre, equivalent to quarter + master. Perhaps reinforced by and merged with Dutch kwartiermeester, kwartier-meester. Compare German Quartiermeister, French quartier-maître.

(military) An officer whose duty is to provide quarters, provisions, storage, clothing, fuel, stationery, and transportation for a regiment or other body of troops, and superintend the supplies. Master of quartering.


quitrent

quitrents (plural)
quit rent (alternative)
quit-rent (alternative)

(law, taxation) A rent reserved in grants of land, by the payment of which the tenant is quit (absolved) from other service.

բահրա

a rent reserved in grants of land, by the payment of which the tenant is quit (absolved) from other service


top secret

NSA's report on the Liberty incident was originally classified top secret.

(military, government) Information classified at one of the highest levels of sensitivity by a government, based on an assessment that it would cause exceptionally grave damage to national security if disclosed.

絕對機密 /绝对机密

information classified at the highest level


avail

en-noun

avail (countable and uncountable, plural avails)

From Middle English availen (“to be of use”), from Old French a (“to”) + vail from valoir (“to be worth”), from Latin valere (“to be worthy, strong”).

While holding an avail yesterday, the candidate lashed out at critics.

(US, politics, journalism) A press avail.


lurk

en-verb

lurk (third-person singular simple present lurks, present participle lurking, simple past and past participle lurked)

lurks (present singular third-person)
lurking (participle present)
lurked (participle past)
lurked (past)

From Middle English lurken, from Old Norse *lúrka, possibly from Proto-Germanic *lūrukōną (“to be lying in wait, lurk”), equivalent to lour + -k (frequentative suffix).
Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk lurka (“to sneak away, go slowly”), dialectal Swedish lurka (“to dawdle, be slow in one's work”), Saterland Frisian lüürkje (“to look secretly, spy”), West Frisian luorkje (“to lurk”), Middle Low German lûrken (“to deceitfully stalk”).

cog

As junior dogsbody, he was lurked with this mission.

2015, Andrew Gordon, The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command:

(UK, naval slang, transitive) To saddle (a person) with an undesirable task or duty.


avellane

From Italian avellana (“filbert”), from Latin Avella or Abella, a city of Campania.

an avellane cross

(heraldry) In the form of four unhusked filberts.


avellane

avellanes (plural)
avellan (alternative)

Cross double fruitagée, or a mascle with four fruitages, or avellanes, joined to the points thereof in cross. See Pl. 5, fig. 19.

1830, Thomas Robson, The British Herald:


averse

en-adj

averse (comparative more averse, superlative most averse)

more averse (comparative)
most averse (superlative)

From Latin aversus, past participle of avertere (“to avert”).

(heraldry) Aversant; of a hand: turned so as to show the back.


averted

averted (comparative more averted, superlative most averted)

more averted (comparative)
most averted (superlative)

[...] : for Mompelgard, two barbels endorsed with tails averted, in a field gules : for Heydenheim, a Saracen's head, with a kind of hussar's cap gules[…]

1765, Daniel Fenning, Joseph Collyer, A New System of Geography, Or a General Description of the World, page 265:

(also heraldry) Turned or directed away (from something).


aviation

en-noun

aviation (usually uncountable, plural aviations)

Borrowed from French aviation, from Latin avis (“bird”), from Proto-Indo-European *awi- (“bird”).


COIN

(US, military) Abbreviation of counterinsurgency.


unitary

confederal

antonym(s) of “that concentrates power in a single body”

unitary group

group whose elements are unitary matrices or operators

a unitary authority

a unitary state

(government, of a system of government or administration) That concentrates power in a single body, rather than sharing it with more local bodies.

едноличен

government: that concentrates power into a single body


sec

sec (plural)
secs (plural)
sec. (alternative)

shadow sec

(colloquial, especially politics) Clipping of secretary


stunner

professional wrestling
professional wrestling

(professional wrestling) A professional wrestling maneuver in which an attacking wrestler applies a facelock to an opponent and falls to a seated position, forcing the opponent's jaw or neck to drop on the attacker's shoulder.


siege

From Middle English sege, from Old French sege, siege, seige (modern French siège), from Vulgar Latin *sēdicum, from Latin sēdicŭlum, sēdēcula (“small seat”), from Latin sēdēs (“seat”).

The Peloponnesian war is a proper subject for history, the siege of Athens for an epic poem, and the death of Alcibiades for a tragedy.

1748, [David Hume], chapter 3, in Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 5:

Liu Pang's general Han Hsin won the strategic city of Hsing-yang for him, but Hsiang-Yü put Liu Pang under siege there.

2001, Alfred S. Bradford, With Arrow, Sword, and Spear: A History of Warfare in the Ancient World, Praeger, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 145:

(military) A prolonged military assault or a blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition.


chauffeur

(firefighting) The driver of a fire truck.


fur

fur (countable and uncountable, plural furs)

From Middle English furre, forre, from Anglo-Norman forre, fuerre (“a case; sheath”), from Frankish *fōdar, from Proto-West Germanic *fōdr, from Proto-Germanic *fōdrą (“sheath”) (compare Old English fōdor (“sheaf”), Dutch voering (“lining”), German Futter (“lining”), Gothic 𐍆𐍉𐌳𐍂 (fōdr, “sheath”)), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-, *poh₂- (“to protect”) (compare Lithuanian piemuō (“protection”), Ancient Greek πῶυ (pôu, “flock”), πῶμα (pôma, “lid”), ποιμήν (poimḗn, “shepherd”), Old Armenian հաւրան (hawran, “herd, flock”), Northern Kurdish pawan (“to watch over”), Sanskrit पाति (pāti, “he watches, protects”).
The verb is from Middle English furren, from Anglo-Norman furrer, forrer, fourrer (“to line, stuff, fill”), from the noun.

cog

(heraldry, countable) One of several patterns or diapers used as tinctures, such as ermine and vair.


quarte

en-noun

quarte (countable and uncountable, plural quartes)

(fencing) The fourth defensive position, with the sword hand held at chest height, and the tip of the sword at neck height, the palm of the hand facing upwards.


quinte

(fencing) The fifth defensive position, with the sword hand held at waist height, and the tip of the sword at knee height.


range

en-verb

range (third-person singular simple present ranges, present participle ranging, simple past and past participle ranged)

ranges (present singular third-person)
ranging (participle present)
ranged (participle past)
ranged (past)

From Middle English rengen, from Old French rengier (“to range, to rank, to order,”), from the noun renc, reng, ranc, rang (“a rank, row”), from Frankish *hring, from Proto-Germanic *hringaz (“ring, circle, curve”). Doublet of ring.

der

(military, of artillery) To determine the range to a target.


sub-lieutenant

commissioned officer
commissioned officer

(military, navy) A commissioned officer of the navy whose rank is immediately below that of a lieutenant.

(UK) A commissioned officer of the Royal Navy ranking above a midshipman and below a lieutenant.

acting sub-lieutenant
acting sub-lieutenant

(Australia, Canada, New Zealand) A commissioned officer of the navy ranking above an acting sub-lieutenant and below a lieutenant.


cave

From Middle English cave, borrowed from Old French cave, from Latin cava (“cavity”), from cavus (“hollow”). Cognate with Tocharian B kor (“throat”), Albanian cup (“odd, uneven”), Ancient Greek κύαρ (kúar, “eye of needle, earhole”), Old Armenian սոր (sor, “hole”), Sanskrit शून्य (śūnya, “empty, barren, zero”). Displaced native Old English sċræf. More at cavum, cavus and cage.

cog

Without joining the cave, Hyde had abstained both in December 1956 and May 1957.

1964, Leon D. Epstein, British Politics in the Suez Crisis, page 125:

(slang, politics, often "Cave") A group that breaks from a larger political party or faction on a particular issue.

siipi

political slang: group that breaks on a particular issue


nest

From Middle English nest, nist, nyst, from Old English nest, from Proto-West Germanic *nest, from Proto-Germanic *nestą, from Proto-Indo-European *nisdós (“nest”), literally "where [the bird] sits down", a compound of *ni (“down”) (whence also English nether) + the zero-grade of the root *sed- (“to sit”) (whence also English sit).

it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest

a machine gun nest

(military) A fortified position for a weapon.

гнездо́

military: fortified position for a weapon


silo

From Spanish silo, of unclear origin. See Spanish silo for more.

As a rule of thumb, to reliably destroy a hardened missile silo or communications bunker, a one megaton warhead should land within a 600 foot radius of its target. This will ensure that the enemy silo lies within the crater gouged out by the nuclear blast.

1987, Michio Kaku, Daniel Axelrod, To Win a Nuclear War: The Pentagon's Secret War Plans, Black Rose Books Ltd., →ISBN, page 203:

(military) An underground bunker used to hold missiles which may be launched.


beep

Blend of big + jeep. From being bigger versions of the general purpose superlight truck, the Willys MB "Jeep".

(US, military, slang, dated, World War II) A 1/2-ton general purpose military light truck

(US, military, slang, dated, World War II, by extension) A 3/4-ton general purpose military medium truck

(US, military, slang, dated, World War II) Especially, the Dodge WC series U.S. Army WWII military trucks, in 1/2-ton 3/4-ton 1-ton variants


diaper

en-noun

diaper (countable and uncountable, plural diapers)

From Middle English dyaper, from Old French dyapre, diaspre, from Medieval Latin diaspra, diasprum from Byzantine Greek δίασπρος (díaspros, adjective), from δια- (dia-, “across”) + ἄσπρος (áspros, “white”).

der

Near-synonym: fur

(heraldry, now chiefly historical) A repeating geometrical or floral pattern, used to cover the surface of a shield and forming the ground for any charges.


bulldog

→ French: bouledogue

→ German: Bulldogge

→ Portuguese: buldogue

From bull + dog, in reference to bullbaiting.

(professional wrestling) Any move in which the wrestler grabs an opponent's head and jumps forward, so that the wrestler lands, often in a sitting position, and drives the opponent's face into the mat.


stockpile

The noun is derived from stock (“supply of anything ready for use”) + pile (“mass of things heaped together”). The verb is derived from the noun.

nuclear pile

semantically quite different from a nuclear stockpile

en:stock of nuclear weapons specifically

A supply (especially a large one) of something kept for future use, specifically in case the cost of the item increases or if there a shortage.

(specifically, military, weaponry) A supply of nuclear weapons kept by a country; a nuclear stockpile.


stockpile

en-verb

stockpile (third-person singular simple present stockpiles, present participle stockpiling, simple past and past participle stockpiled)

stockpiles (present singular third-person)
stockpiling (participle present)
stockpiled (participle past)
stockpiled (past)

запасявам се

to accumulate or build up a supply of (something)

To accumulate or build up a supply of (something).

(specifically, military, weaponry) To build up a stock of (nuclear weapons).


pork

en-noun

pork (countable and uncountable, plural porks)

→ Japanese: ポーク (pōku)

From Middle English pork, porc, via Anglo-Norman, from Old French porc (“swine, hog, pig; pork”), from Latin porcus (“domestic hog, pig”).
Cognate with Old English fearh (“piglet”). Doublet of farrow. Compare also other West Germanic words for pigs: Ferkel, Ferke, and varken.
Used in English since the 14th century, and as a term of abuse since the 17th century.
US politics sense is related to pork barrel.

der

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

(US politics, slang, derogatory) Funding proposed or requested by a member of Congress for special interests or their constituency as opposed to the good of the country as a whole.


coupon

From French coupon, from couper (“to cut”).

(UK politics, historical) The letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the coalition government.


proof

en-verb

proof (third-person singular simple present proofs, present participle proofing, simple past and past participle proofed)

proofs (present singular third-person)
proofing (participle present)
proofed (participle past)
proofed (past)

From Middle English proof, from Old French prove, from Late Latin proba (“a proof”), from Latin probō (“to prove”); see prove; compare also the doublet probe.

(transitive, firearms) To test-fire with a load considerably more powerful than the firearm in question's rated maximum chamber pressure, in order to establish the firearm's ability to withstand pressures well in excess of those expected in service without bursting.


oblique

oblique (third-person singular simple present obliques, present participle obliquing, simple past and past participle obliqued)

obliques (present singular third-person)
obliquing (participle present)
obliqued (participle past)
obliqued (past)

From Middle French oblique, from Latin oblīquus (also spelled oblīcus) (“slanting, sideways, indirect, envious”).

uder

(military) To march in a direction oblique to the line of the column or platoon; — formerly accomplished by oblique steps, now by direct steps, the men half-facing either to the right or left.


Romeo

Borrowed from Italian Romeo, from Ancient Greek Ῥωμαῖος (Rhōmaîos, “Roman”).

der

(espionage) A spy specialised in seducing persons of interest, in particular a man targeting women.


kite

kites (plural)
kight (alternative)
kyte (alternative)

The noun is from Middle English kyte, kīte, kete (“a kite endemic to Europe, especially the red kite (Milvus milvus)”), from Old English cȳta (“kite; bittern”), from Proto-West Germanic *kūtijō, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *kūts (“bird of prey”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewH-d- (“to cry, screech”). The English word is cognate with Scots kyt, kyte (“kite; bird of prey”), Middle High German kiuzelīn, kützlīn (“owling”) (modern German Kauz (“owl”)). Possibly a doublet of coot.
Sense 3 (“lightweight toy”) is from the fact that it hovers in the air like the bird.
The verb is derived from the noun.

And did you know the Chiefie said that one of our kites went in the drink last night?

This time, the engine roared and the kite rocked against the brakes then sluggishly rolled down the strip.

2004, Harry Foxley, Marking Time: A Soldier’s Story, Victoria, B.C., Crewe, East Cheshire: Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 133:

(military aviation, slang) An aeroplane or aircraft.

leko

military aviation, slang: aircraft — see also aircraft


yo

As a greeting first attested in 1859, attested first as a cry of sailors and huntsmen (first attested in the 1400s; compare e.g. huzzah, giddyup). Originally from Middle English yo, io, ȝo, yeo, yaw, variant forms of ya, ye (“yes, yea”), from Old English ġēa (“yes, yea”), from Proto-Germanic *ja (“yes, thus, so”); or perhaps from Old English ēow (“Wo!, Alas!”, interjection). Compare Danish, Swedish, German, Norwegian jo (“yes (flexible meaning)”), Dutch jow (“hi, hey”) and Dutch jo (“hi, hey”). More at yea, ow, ew.
Modern popularity apparently dates from the early 20th century in Philadelphia, PA; amongst the Italian Community there, where io, with (as opposed to in standard Italian language) the stress on the ultima, was a common salutatory response among residents, particularly young males. This usage was apparently reinforced by the aforesaid English terms. It has been claimed to have been a common response at roll calls during World War 2 (see definition 4), and then most intensely attested in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; it thence spread globally from American dominance of pop culture post-WWII.

inh

Sergeant: Smith?
Private Smith: Yo!


section

From Middle English seccioun, from Old French section, from Latin sectiō (“cutting, cutting off, excision, amputation of diseased parts of the body, etc.”), from sectus, past participle of secāre (“to cut”). More at saw.

разрэ́з

surgery: incision or the act of making an incision

non-commissioned officer
non-commissioned officer

(military) A group of 10-15 soldiers led by a non-commissioned officer and forming part of a platoon.

аддзяле́нне

(military) group of 10-15 soldiers lead by a non-commissioned officer and forming part of a platoon


constitutional

en-adj

constitutional (comparative more constitutional, superlative most constitutional)

more constitutional (comparative)
most constitutional (superlative)

PIE word
 *ḱóm
From constitution + -al (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Constitution is derived from Middle English constitucioun, constitucion (“edict, law, ordinance, regulation, rule, statute; body of laws or rules, or customs; body of fundamental principles; principle or rule (of science); creation”) from Old French constitucion (modern French constitution), a learned borrowing from Latin cōnstitūtiō, cōnstitūtiōnem (“character, constitution, disposition, nature; definition; point in dispute; order, regulation; arrangement, system”), from cōnstituō (“to establish, set up; to confirm; to decide, resolve”) (from con- (prefix indicating a being or bringing together of several objects) + statuō (“to set up, station; to establish; to determine, fix”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”))) + -tiō (suffix forming nouns relating to actions or the results of actions), -tiōnem (accusative singular of -tiō).

der

(also politics) Of a monarch: having a purely ceremonial role, or possessing powers limited by a constitution rather than plenary or unlimited powers.

konstitusjonelt monarki

of a monarch: having a purely ceremonial role, or possessing powers limited by a constitution rather than plenary or unlimited powers


foil

en-noun

foil (countable and uncountable, plural foils)

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

Blunt as the fencer's foils, which hit, but hurt not.

1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

1784-1810, William Mitford, History of Greece
Socrates contended with a foil against Demosthenes with a sword.

(fencing) A very thin sword with a blunted (or foiled) tip


Anglo-Saxon

en-adj

Anglo-Saxon (comparative more Anglo-Saxon, superlative most Anglo-Saxon)

more Anglo-Saxon (comparative)
most Anglo-Saxon (superlative)
Anglosaxon (alternative rare)

/ˌæŋ.ɡləʊˈsæk.sən/

From Anglo- + Saxon, from Latin Anglosaxones (Anglo-Saxones), Latin Angli Saxones (literally “the English Saxons”), as distinguished from the Continental Saxons.

der

(politics) Favouring a liberal free-market economy.


epee

epees (plural)
épee (alternative)
épée (alternative)

Borrowed from French épée, from Latin spatha, from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē). Doublet of spatha, spathe, and spade.

(fencing) A sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing.


seat

From Middle English sete, from Old English sǣte, possibly from (or simply cognate with) Old Norse sæti (“seat”), both from Proto-Germanic *sētiją (“seat”), from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”); compare Old English set (“seat”).
Sense 2 (“location or site”) is probably derived from Old English sǣte (“house”), which is related to Old High German sāza (“sedan, seat, domicile”).
Cognates
* Middle Dutch gesaete
* Old High German gisazi (modern German Gesäß)

cog

would you mind putting on your seat belt

Hey, fighter boy, our radar's putting out enough energy to launch your seat from this distance!

A piece of furniture made for sitting, such as a chair, stool, or bench; any improvised place for sitting.

(aviation, military, slang) An ejection seat.


judoka

judoka (plural)
judokas (plural)
jūdōka (alternative)

/d͡ʒuːˈdəʊkə/

(judo) A practitioner of the Japanese martial art of judo.


grapevine

grapevines (plural)
grape vine (alternative)
grape-vine (alternative)


grapevine

en-verb

grapevine (third-person singular simple present grapevines, present participle grapevining, simple past and past participle grapevined)

grapevines (present singular third-person)
grapevining (participle present)
grapevined (participle past)
grapevined (past)
grape vine (alternative)
grape-vine (alternative)

From the top he grapevined his leg around Tibbits' leg and planted his elbow in his opponent's opposite side.

2007, Steve Wolfe, Call Us Champions: More Alaska Wrestling Stories:

The Low Mount is the position where your hips are tight to your opponent's and your legs are usually grapevined or locked underneath his.

2008, Saulo Ribeiro, Jiu-Jitsu University:

So now she's grapevined me, I can't straighten my legs, which means I can't generate the momentum I need to bridge.

2022, David Young, Sean Black, The Ground Is My Ocean:

(transitive, wrestling) To restrain in a leglock.


So, given the ever growing list of J6ers that are real estate agents...has anyone looked into whether they attended whatever grift it was that 45 had going about training folks to be real estate agents?
(Tonight's random thought)

2022 September 5, @Chirparrooo, Twitter, archived from the original on 2022-09-06:

(US politics, slang) Donald Trump (born 1946), American businessman and politician, as the forty-fifth president of the United States.


(dated, military) Ellipsis of German 88 (“WWII German 88mm anti-aircraft artillery piece”).


brinkmanship

en-noun

brinkmanship (usually uncountable, plural brinkmanships)

brinkmanships (plural)
brinksmanship (alternative)

/ˈbɹɪŋk.mənˌʃɪp/

From brink (“border, edge”) + -manship (suffix denoting expertise, involvement, or special status in an area).

suffix

The diplomat accused the other nation’s leader of brinkmanship for refusing to redeploy the troops along their nations’ shared border.

They say that in ancient times the Romans used to take cold showers before deciding on important questions. Perhaps, this should be recommended to some excessively ardent supporters of the policy of brinkmanship.

1959 July, Nikita Khrushchev, “World Affairs”, in [anonymous], transl., Soviet World Outlook: A Handbook of Communist Statements (Department of State Publication; 6836; European and British Commonwealth Series; 56), 3rd edition, Washington, D.C.: Department of State, →OCLC, page 207:

We shall probably have several narrow escapes from Cuban-like brinkmanships, and although these will intensify the realisation of the need for a united world system, the inherent distrust and suspicion with which the present generation has been brought up, coupled with the too slow adaptation of politicians to new situations, will prove too great a hindrance.

1964 June 4, Joseph Rotblat, “Scientists as Peacemakers”, in Nigel Calder, editor, New Scientist, volume 22, number 394, London: Harrison, Raison and Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 619, column 2:

Having said this much, perhaps I can ask you in return that these critics should recognize that the administration, which now bears responsibility for the conduct of our foreign affairs, does not admire force for its own sake, or brinkmanship of any sort.

1965 May 17, William Proxmire, quoting McGeorge Bundy in the The New York Times, 17 May 1965, “Vietnam Debate: Democracy at Work”, in Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 89th Congress, First Session: Appendix (United States Senate), volume 111, part 8, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 10688, column 2:

It is high time to look back from the abyss where we are going to step in and give up the brinkmanship until the point of no return is reached.

1972 April–June, Salil Dutta, “Reviews and Notices of Books: Mahaprolay Ki Ghoney Asche? (Are the Last Days Nearer?) By Jagannath Mukherjee, […]”, in Amalendu Bose, editor, The Calcutta Review, volume III, number 4 (New Series), Calcutta, West Bengal: University of Calcutta, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 324:

The Prime Minister [Tony Blair] is in Belfast today, hoping to repeat his triumph of brinkmanship of last April, when he emerged from an apparent negotiating gridlock with the Good Friday peace agreement.

1999 June 28, Derek Brown, “Brinkmanship in Belfast”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-17:

For three months, a battle of brinkmanship has been going on between the government of Alexis Tsipras and its European creditors over a cash-for-reforms plan that would give Greece the €7.2bn worth of rescue funds that it needs to meet its debt payments.

2015 May 6, “The Guardian view on Greece: dangerous brinkmanship: Editorial”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-02-18:

Debt ceiling brinkmanship in 2011 sent stocks tumbling, slowed economic growth and prompted analysts to downgrade the country’s credit rating for the first time.

2021 September 23, David Leonhardt, Ian Prasad Philbrick, “Congressional brinkmanship”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-02-18:

It was an inept piece of brinkmanship from a politician who, while clearly a decent man, has not convincingly navigated his party through ever-choppier waters following the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon last February.

2024 April 29, Editorial, “The Guardian view on Humza Yousaf’s resignation: miscalculation leads to crisis”, in The Guardian, UK, →ISSN:

(chiefly politics) The pursuit of an advantage by appearing to be willing to take a matter to the brink (for example, by risking a dangerous policy) rather than to concede a point.

邊緣政策 /边缘政策

pursuit of an advantage by appearing to be willing to take a matter to the brink rather than to concede a point


foam

en-noun

foam (countable and uncountable, plural foams)

From Middle English fom, foom, from Old English fām, from Proto-West Germanic *faim, from Proto-Germanic *faimaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)poHy-m-os, from *(s)poH(y)- (“foam”). Cognate with German Feim (“foam”), Latin spūma (“foam”), Latin pūmex (“pumice”), Sanskrit फेन (phéna, “foam”), possibly Northern Kurdish fê (“epilepsy”).

skuim

A substance composed of a large collection of bubbles or their solidified remains, especially:

(firefighting) A collection of small bubbles formed by mixing an extinguishing agent with water, used to cover and extinguish fires.


foam

en-verb

foam (third-person singular simple present foams, present participle foaming, simple past and past participle foamed)

foams (present singular third-person)
foaming (participle present)
foamed (participle past)
foamed (past)

It used to be common practice to foam the runway prior to an emergency landing, in case a fuel-fed fire occurred.

(firefighting) To coat or cover with foam.


dolphin

From Middle English delphyn, from Latin delphīnus, from Ancient Greek δελφίς (delphís), from δελφύς (delphús, “womb”); the modern form in -ol- is probably influenced by the pronunciation of Middle French dauphin. Compare Swedish delfin. Doublet of dauphin. Displaced native Old English mereswīn (literally “sea pig”).

ncog

(heraldry) A depiction of a fish, with a broad indented fin, usually embowed.

(military, obsolete) One of the handles above the trunnions by which a gun was lifted.


Tigger

From the initials of The Independent Group + -er.

Nor is there any sign that Corbyn is at present willing to make any overtures to the eight Tiggers and those who may be contemplating joining them.

2019 February 25, John Crace, “The Independent Group may have secured another Tory government. That's not an accident”, in British GQ:

For one Tigger in particular, Chuka Umunna, 2019 was quite a rollercoaster. Over the course of the year, he was an MP for Labour, an MP for The Independent Group, an MP for the Lib Dems, and then an MP for no one.

2020 January 31, Michael Deacon, “The 20 funniest moments of Brexit”, in The Telegraph:

In fact, Joan Ryan MP (the first Labour MP to jump ship to the Tiggers/Change UK) said, after I'd confessed to her about the dog shampoo, ‘Well, I think your coat looks very nice.’

2020 March 19, Rachel Johnson, Rake's Progress: My Political Midlife Crisis, →ISBN:

(informal, UK politics, historical) A member of The Independent Group for Change, a pro-European British political party that existed in 2019.


pocket

→ Japanese: ポケット

→ Welsh: poced

From Middle English pocket (“bag, sack”), from Anglo-Norman poket, Old Northern French poquet, poquete, diminutive of poque, poke (“bag, sack”) (compare modern Norman pouquette and modern French pochette from Old French pochete, from puche), from Frankish *pokō (“pouch”), from Proto-Germanic *pukkô, *pukô (“bag; pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). Equivalent to poke + -et. Doublet of pochette. Cognate with Middle Dutch poke, Alemannic German Pfoch (“purse, bag”), Old English pocca, pohha (“poke, pouch, pocket, bag”), Old Norse poki (“bag, pocket”). Compare the related poke (“sack or bag”). See also Modern French pochette and Latin bucca.

der

is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me

(military) An area where military units are completely surrounded by enemy units.

чува́л

military: area where military units are completely surrounded by enemy units


flamberge

flamberges (plural)
flamberg (alternative)

The wavy, cutting surface appears in the ‘flamberge,’ to which flame gave a name: it is nowhere better developed than in the beautiful Malay kris (crease). The object seems to be that of increasing the cutting surface.

1884, Richard F[rancis] Burton, “The Sword: What is It?”, in The Book of the Sword, London: Chatto and Windus, […], →OCLC, page 137:

(weaponry) A European sword, typically a greatsword, which had a wavy blade, possibly to increase the cutting surface or for aid in parrying.


fuzzy

Uncertain. Apparently from fuzz + -y, though some sources suggest that fuzz derives from fuzzy. Compare fozy, or Low German fussig (“loose; spongy”).

(slang, military) A soldier with the rank of private.


resident

From Middle English resident, from Anglo-Norman resident, from Latin residēns, present participle of resideō (“to remain behind, reside, dwell”), equivalent to reside + -ent, from re- (“back”) + sedeō (“I sit”). Doublet of resiant and rezident. The espionage sense is a semantic loan from Russian резиде́нт (rezidént).

semantic loan

(diplomacy) A diplomatic representative who resides in a foreign country, usually of inferior rank to an ambassador.

(espionage) Alternative form of rezident.


slope

en-verb

slope (third-person singular simple present slopes, present participle sloping, simple past and past participle sloped)

slopes (present singular third-person)
sloping (participle present)
sloped (participle past)
sloped (past)

The order was given to "slope arms".

(military) To hold a rifle at a slope with forearm perpendicular to the body in front holding the butt, the rifle resting on the shoulder.


boxing glove

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

(boxing, clothing) A padded mitten, designed to protect the hand while punching, and worn in boxing.


floppy

"Ja, our job is not to think or make decisions. We just here to slay floppies," remarked Koos.

1997, Dick Gledhill, One Commando: Rhodesia's Last Years & the Guerilla^([sic]) War It Never Lost, page 55:

(military slang, Rhodesia, South Africa) An insurgent in the Rhodesian Bush War, called as such for the way they "flop" when shot.


fizzle

fizzle (third-person singular simple present fizzles, present participle fizzling, simple past and past participle fizzled)

fizzles (present singular third-person)
fizzling (participle present)
fizzled (participle past)
fizzled (past)

Attested in English since 1525-35. From earlier fysel (“to fart”). Related to fīsa (“to fart”). Compare with Swedish fisa (“to fart (silently)”). See also feist.
It could also come from old Norse: "fise" simply means "blow," like in "blow in the wind." A weather-exposed community in Rogaland, Norway, is called Fister. (In modern language, the verb "fisle" has the same 3 meanings as in English, see below.)

The shot fizzled, generating only 200 tons rather than the 30 kilotons they were aiming for.

(military, of a nuclear weapon) To fail to generate the expected yield when exploded during testing.


fizzle

(military) Failure of an exploding nuclear bomb to meet its expected yield during testing.


kickboxing

Borrowed from Japanese キックボクシング (kikkubokushingu), from English kick + boxing. Possibly coined by Japanese businessman Osamu Noguchi in 1964.

coinage

kick-boxing (alternative)
kick boxing (alternative)

Ex world’s champion [Georges] Carpentier was also expert at kick-boxing.

1940 August 4, Daily Telegraph, Sydney, page 2:

The Japanese kickboxing gym, recently opened in the Thai capital, had been a great success

1973 March, Black Belt magazine, page 13:

(martial arts) A hybrid martial art derived from Muay Thai, karate, and especially boxing during the 1960s to 1970s; more generally, any stand-up combat sport that combines kicks and punches.


Muay Thai

From Thai มวยไทย (muai-tai, “Thai boxing”).

(martial arts) A sport practiced in Thailand which is similar to boxing but also allows strikes with the shins, feet, elbows, and knees.


hip

en-verb

hip (third-person singular simple present hips, present participle hipping, simple past and past participle hipped)

hips (present singular third-person)
hipping (participle present)
hipped (participle past)
hipped (past)

From Middle English hipe, hupe, from Old English hype, from Proto-Germanic *hupiz (compare Dutch heup, Low German Huop, German Hüfte), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb- (compare Welsh cysgu (“to sleep”), Latin cubāre (“to lie”), Ancient Greek κύβος (kúbos, “hollow in the hips”), Albanian sup (“shoulder”), Sanskrit शुप्ति (śúpti, “shoulder”)), from *ḱew- (“to bend”). More at high. The sense "drug addict" derives from addicts lying on their hips while using certain drugs such as opium.

cog

(wrestling) To throw (one's adversary) over one's hip ("cross-buttock").


autonomy

en-noun

autonomy (countable and uncountable, plural autonomies)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek αὐτονομῐ́ᾱ (autonomĭ́ā, “freedom to use its own laws, independence”), from αὐτόνομος (autónomos, “living under one's own laws, independent”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, “-y, -ia”, nominal suffix). By surface analysis, auto- (“self”) + -nomy (“a system of rules or laws about a particular field”).

surf

(government, countable) A self-governing country or region.