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Websters
Collegiate
n
Dictionary
ELEVENTH
EDI TI ON
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
A GENUINE MERRIAM-WEBSTER
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Copyright m 2005 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Merriam-Websters collegiate dictionary. Eleventh ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
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1. English languageDictionaries. I. Title: Collegiate dictionary. II. Merriam-
Webster, Inc.
PE1628.M36 2003
423dc21 2003003674
CIP
Merriam-Websters Collegiate
n
Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, principal copyright
2003
COLLEGIATE is a registered trademark of Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
All rights reserved. No part of this book covered by the copyrights hereon may be
reproduced or copied in any form or by any meansgraphic, electronic, or
mechanical, including photocopying, taping, or information storage and retrieval
systemswithout written permission of the publisher.
Made in the United States of America
567TT:QWV0504
Contents
Preface 6a
Explanatory Chart 8a
Explanatory Notes 10a
The English Language in the Dictionary 25a
Guide to Pronunciation 33a
Abbreviations in This Work 38a
Pronunciation Symbols 40a
A Dictionary of the English Language 1
Foreign Words and Phrases 1460
Biographical Names 1466
Geographical Names 1511
Signs and Symbols 1600
A Handbook of Style 1604
Index 1623
Preface
When Websters Collegiate Dictionary was first pub-
lished, the year was 1898, and Americans were being ex-
horted to remember the Maine. As the eleventh consec-
utive edition of this standard reference book appears, we
have crossed the nearly inconceivable divide between the
second and third millennia of the modern era, but since
daily lives can scarcely be led in constant awareness of a
span of time that vast, we now situate ourselves, for the
most part, in the first decade of the twenty-first century.
Over the time between these editions, the world has made
its way through two global wars and many others of a
more limited kind wide-ranging social, political, and eco-
nomic change not to say, revolution and successive
waves of technological change that have transformed com-
munication, transportation, information storage and re-
trieval, and great numbers of other human activities. At
every turn these events and developments have had a ma-
jor effect on the stock of words that English speakers use,
and it has been the job of a good general dictionary to
record these changes. The present book is the latest effort
by the editorial team of Merriam-Webster to meet that re-
sponsibility.
Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edi-
tion, like all earlier editions is meant to serve the general
public as its chief source of information about the words
of our language. Its title may suggest a special appropriate-
ness for the older student, but those who work in offices
and those who read, think, and write at home will equally
find it a trustworthy guide to the English of our day.
The ever-expanding vocabulary of our language exerts
inexorable pressure on the contents of any dictionary.
Words and senses are born at a far greater rate than that at
which they die out. The 1664 pages of this Collegiate make
it the most comprehensive ever published. And its treat-
ment of words is as nearly exhaustive as the compass of an
abridged work permits. As in all Merriam-Webster dictio-
naries, the information given is based on the collection of
15,700,000 citations maintained in the offices of this com-
pany. These citations show words used in a wide range of
printed sources, and the collection is constantly being aug-
mented through the efforts of the editorial staff. Thus, the
user of the dictionary may be confident that entries in the
Collegiate are based on current as well as older material.
The citation files hold 5,700,000 more examples than were
available to the editors of Websters Third New Interna-
tional Dictionary, published in 1961, and 1,200,000 more
than the editors of the Tenth Edition had at their disposal.
The editors of this edition also had available to them a
machine-readable corpus of over 76,000,000 words of text
drawn from the wide and constantly changing range of
publications that supply the paper slips in the citation
files. It is now nearly four times the size of the corpus used
by the editors of the Tenth Edition.
Those entries known to be trademarks or service marks
are so labeled and are treated in accordance with a formu-
la approved by the United States Trademark Association.
No entry in this dictionary, however, should be regarded
as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.
The best features of the vocabulary section in the last
edition have been retained, reviewed, and improved for
this one. Additional pictorial illustrations are present, and
many of them were drawn especially for this book in order
to supplement and clarify definitions. Synonym para-
graphs and usage paragraphs are both here again, aug-
mented in number. The dates of first use provided at most
main entries have proved to be very popular with users of
the Collegiate. For the Eleventh Edition, thousands of
these dates have been pushed back in time, anywhere from
a single year to several centuries from published materials
both print and electronic not available ten years ago,
from the continuing investigations of our own editors, and
from the contributions of hundreds of interested readers.
Two important changes in the treatment of the vocabulary
have been made for this edition, one to provide additional
information and the other to make information easier to
find. All standard variants are now shown at the relevant
main entry so that the reader may see at a glance whether
they are equal variants with the main entry or are distinct-
ly less frequent. And entries for abbreviations as well as
for the symbols for chemical elements are now quickly
found in the vocabulary section and need not be sought in
a separate section tucked away in the back matter, as in
the previous edition.
The front matter of this book establishes a context for
understanding what this dictionary is and how it came to
be, as well as how it may be used most effectively. The Ex-
planatory Notes address themselves to the latter topic.
They answer the users questions about the conventions,
devices, and techniques by which the editors have been
able to compress mountains of information about English
words into so few pages. All users of the dictionary are
urged to read this section through and then consult it for
special information as they need to. The brief essay on our
language as it is recorded in Merriam-Webster dictionar-
ies, and this Collegiate in particular, is meant to satisfy an
interest in lexicography often expressed in the correspon-
dence which our editors receive. The Guide to Pronuncia-
tion serves both to show how the pronunciations in this
book are arrived at and to explain the mechanics of the re-
spelling system in which they are set down.
The back matter retains five sections from the last edi-
tion of the Collegiate. These are Foreign Words and Phras-
es that occur frequently in English texts but have not be-
come part of the English vocabulary thousands of proper
names brought together under the separate headings Bio-
graphical Names and Geographical Names a gathering of
important Signs and Symbols that cannot readily be alpha-
betized and a Handbook of Style in which various stylistic
conventions as of punctuation and capitalization are
summarized and exemplified. All the sections have been
carefully updated for this edition.
Looking at a copy of that long-ago first Collegiate Dic-
tionary, one is struck by how different it is, as a physical
book and as a work of reference, from the present edition.
The board covers are heavy, the margins of the page are
wide, and the type is relatively large at the same time it
holds only about 1100 pages and less than half the number
of vocabulary entries of this Eleventh Edition. At that time
the Merriam-Webster citation file was no more than in its
infancy. Yet the editors of that book created it with the
same careful, serious attention that the present editors
have brought to their work.
We believe that this work sustains and advances the tra-
dition of excellence in lexicography that is the heritage of
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. The editorial staff who
produced it include a number of people who have made
contributions to three or four successive editions of the
Collegiate Dictionary. That experience and that continuity
form an important part of what the Eleventh Edition is, as
do the energy and care of those who have joined the staff
just within the last few years. Some of the latter group will
very likely contribute in major ways to the twelfth, the
thirteenth, perhaps even the fourteenth edition of the Col-
legiate. In the meantime, the entire staff, whose names
are given on the facing page, offer their work to people
everywhere who need information about the vocabulary
of English, in the assurance that it will prove a reliable
companion.
Frederick C. Mish
Editor in Chief
6a
Editorial Staff
Editor in Chief
Frederick C. Mish
Director of Defining
Stephen J. Perrault
Director of Editorial Operations
Madeline L. Novak
Senior Editors
Robert D. Copeland special projects
Joanne M. Despres dates
James G. Lowe general defining
Roger W. Pease, Jr. science defining
James L. Rader etymology
Associate Editors
Michael G. Belanger biographical names
Susan L. Brady Rebecca R. Bryer
Deanna Stathis Chiasson
Kathleen M. Doherty abbreviations and
quotations Anne Eason
Joshua S. Guenter pronunciation
Daniel J. Hopkins geography
Joan I. Narmontas life science
Thomas F. Pitoniak production
Donna L. Rickerby data files
Michael D. Roundy physical science
Maria Sansalone cross-reference
Peter A. Sokolowski Karen L. Wilkinson
Linda Picard Wood
Assistant Editors
Emily B. Arsenault Rose Martino Bigelow
Daniel B. Brandon Emily A. Brewster
Diane Caswell Christian Jennifer N. Cislo
Christopher Chapin Connor Penny L. Couillard
Allison S. Crawford Ilya A. Davidovich
Benjamin T. Korzec G. James Kossuth III
Jeffrey D. Middleton illustrations
Adrienne M. Scholz Neil S. Serven
Kory L. Stamper Emily A. Vezina Judy Yeh
Director of Electronic Product Development
Gerald L. Wick
Electronic Product Development Staff
Michael G. Guzzi manager
L. Jill Nebeker Web production
Elizabeth S. Wolf content coordinator
Director of General Reference
Mark A. Stevens
General Reference Editors
C. Roger Davis Jocelyn White Franklin
Librarian
Francine A. Roberts
Departmental Secretary
Georgette B. Boucher
Head of Data Entry
Veronica P. McLymont
Senior Clerk
Carol A. Fugiel
Clerical and Data-Entry Staff
Mary M. Dunn Florence A. Fowler
Patricia M. Jensen E. Louise Johnson
Stacy-Ann S. Lall Suzanne M. Talaia
Editorial Contributors
Cynthia S. Ashby Sharon Goldstein
Electronic Product Development Consultant
Kara L. Noble
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
John M. Morse
President and Publisher
angle brackets
PAGE 19a
binomial
PAGE 22a
boldface colon
PAGE 20a
called also
PAGE 19a
capitalization label
PAGE 15a
centered dots
PAGE 11a
cognate cross-reference
PAGE 23a
cutback inflected forms
PAGES 14a, 15a
date
PAGES 17a, 18a
defined run-on entry
PAGES 11a, 12a
definition
PAGES 20a, 21a
directional cross-reference
PAGE 23a
equal variant
PAGE 11a
etymology
PAGES 15a, 16a, 17a
functional label
PAGE 13a
guide phrase
PAGE 19a
homographs
PAGE 10a
illustrative quotation
PAGE 19a
inflected forms
PAGES 13a, 14a, 15a
inflectional cross-reference
PAGE 23a
list of undefined words
PAGE 24a
lowercase
PAGE 15a
main entry
PAGE 10a
guide words
PAGES 10a, 11a
often attrib
PAGE 15a
primary stress
PAGE 12a
pronunciation
PAGES 12a, 13a
regional label
PAGE 18a
secondary stress
PAGE 12a
secondary variant
PAGE 11a
sense divider
PAGE 20a
sense letter
PAGE 20a
sense number
PAGE 20a
stylistic label
PAGES 18a, 19a
subject label
PAGE 19a
swung dash (boldface)
PAGE 13a
swung dash (lightface)
PAGE 19a
synonymous cross-reference
PAGE 23a
synonym paragraph
PAGES 23a, 24a
syn see
PAGES 23a, 24a
temporal label
PAGE 18a
undefined run-on entry
PAGES 11a, 12a
uppercase
PAGE 15a
usage note
PAGE 19a
usage paragraph
PAGES 19a, 20a
usage see
PAGE 20a
verbal illustration
PAGE 19a
Explanatory Notes
Entries
MAIN ENTRIES
A boldface letter or a combination of such letters, in-
cluding punctuation marks and diacritics where needed,
that is set flush with the left-hand margin of each column
of type is a main entry or entry word. The main entry may
consist of letters set solid, of letters joined by a hyphen or
a slash, or of letters separated by one or more spaces:
1
alone . . . adj
auetodaf . . . n
and/or . . . conj
automatic pilot n
The material in lightface type that follows each main entry
on the same line and on succeeding indented lines explains
and justifies its inclusion in the dictionary.
Variation in the styling of compound words in English is
frequent and widespread. It is often completely acceptable
to choose freely among open, hyphenated, and closed al-
ternatives as life style, life-style, or lifestyle. However, to
show all the stylings that are found for English compounds
would require space that can be better used for other in-
formation. So this dictionary limits itself to a single styling
for a compound:
peaceemakeer
pellmell
boom box
When a compound is widely used and one styling predom-
inates, that styling is shown. When a compound is uncom-
mon or when the evidence indicates that two or three styl-
ings are approximately equal in frequency, the styling
shown is based on the analogy of similar compounds.
ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS
Abbreviations and symbols for chemical elements are
included as main entries in the vocabulary:
ca abbr circa
Ca symbol calcium
Abbreviations have been normalized to one form. In prac-
tice, however, there is considerable variation in the use of
periods and in capitalization as mph, m.p.h., Mph, and
MPH, and stylings other than those given in this dictio-
nary are often acceptable.
For a list of abbreviations regularly used in this dictio-
nary, see the section Abbreviations in This Work else-
where in the front matter. Many of these are also in gener-
al use, but as a rule an abbreviation is entered either in the
vocabulary or in that list, not both.
ORDER OF MAIN ENTRIES
The main entries follow one another in alphabetical or-
der letter by letter without regard to intervening spaces or
hyphens: battle royal follows battlement and earth
shattering follows earthshaking. Those containing an Ara-
bic numeral are alphabetized as if the numeral were
spelled out: 3-D comes between three-color and three
decker. Those that often begin with the abbreviation St. in
common usage have the abbreviation spelled out: Saint
Anthonys fire.
Full words come before parts of words made up of the
same letters. Solid compounds come first and are followed
by hyphenated compounds and then open compounds.
Lowercase entries come before entries that begin with a
capital letter:
3
semi . . . n
semi- . . . prefix
takeeout . . . n
takeout . . . adj
take out vt
timeoethy . . . n
Timeoethy . . . n
HOMOGRAPHS
When one main entry has exactly the same written form
as another, the two are distinguished by superscript nu-
merals preceding each word:
1
melt . . . vb
1
pine . . . n
2
melt n
2
pine vi
Sometimes such homographs are related: the two entries
melt are derived from the same root. Sometimes there is
no relationship: the two entries pine are unrelated beyond
the accident of spelling. The order of homographs is usual-
ly historical: the one first used in English is entered first. A
homograph derived from an earlier homograph by func-
tional shift, however, follows its parent immediately, with
the result that occasionally one homograph appears ahead
of another that is older in usage. For example, of the three
entries kennel the second a verb is derived from the first
a noun. Even though the unrelated third entry kennel
was used in English many years before the second, it fol-
lows the two related entries.
Abbreviations and symbols that are homographs of oth-
er entries are listed last:
1
bus . . . n
2
bus vb
3
bus abbr
GUIDE WORDS
A pair of guide words is printed at the top of each page.
The entries that fall alphabetically between the guide
words are found on that page.
It is important to remember that alphabetical order
rather than position of an entry on the page determines
the selection of guide words. The first guide word is the al-
phabetically first entry on the page. The second guide
word is usually the alphabetically last entry on the page:
glee I globular cluster
The entry need not be a main entry. Another boldface
worda variant, an inflected form, or a defined or unde-
fined run-onmay be selected as a guide word. For this
reason the last printed main entry on a page is not always
the last entry alphabetically:
IQ I ironness
On the page where these guide words are used, ironmon-
gery is the last printed entry, but ironness, a derivative
word run on at
2
iron, is the last entry alphabetically and so
has been chosen as the second guide word.
All guide words must themselves be in alphabetical or-
der from page to page throughout the dictionary thus, the
alphabetically last entry on a page is not used if it follows
alphabetically the first guide word on the next page:
joint I Jotun
On the page where these guide words are found, Jotunn, a
variant at the entry Jotun, is the last entry alphabetically,
but it is not used as the second guide word because it fol-
lows alphabetically the entry Jotunheim, which is the first
guide word on the next page. To use Jotunn would violate
the alphabetical order of guide words from page to page,
and so the entry Jotun is the second guide word instead.
END-OF-LINE DIVISION
The centered dots within entry words indicate division
points at which a hyphen may be put at the end of a line of
print or writing. Thus the noun posesiebileiety may be ended
on one line with:
pos-
possi-
possibil-
possibili-
and continued on the next with:
sibility
bility
ity
ty
Centered dots are not shown after a single initial letter or
before a single terminal letter because printers seldom cut
off a single letter:
aswirl . . . adj
mouthy . . . adj
idea . . . n
Nor are they shown at second and succeeding homographs
unless these differ among themselves:
1
reeform . . . vb
1
mineute . . . n
2
reform n
2
minute vt
3
reform adj
3
mienute . . . adj
There are acceptable alternative end-of-line divisions
just as there are acceptable variant spellings and pronunci-
ations. It is, for example, all but impossible to produce a
convincing argument that either of the divisions
ausetereiety, auestereiety is better than the other. But space
cannot be taken for entries like ausetereiety or auestereiety,
and auesetereiety would likely be confusing to many. No
more than one division is, therefore, shown for an entry in
this dictionary.
Many words have two or more common pronunciation
variants, and the same end-of-line division is not always
appropriate for each of them. The division flaegelelar, for
example, best fits the variant fl-je-lr whereas the divi-
sion flageelelar best fits the variant fla-j-lr. In instances
like this, the division falling farther to the left is used, re-
gardless of the order of the pronunciations:
aegelelar fl-je-lr, fla-j-lr
For more information on centered dots within entry
words see the paragraph on hyphens in the Guide to Pro-
nunciation.
A double hyphen at the end of a line in this dictionary
stands for a hyphen that belongs at that point in a hyphen-
ated word and that is retained when the word is written as
a unit on one line.
lemon thyme n 1629 : a thyme Thymus citriodorus having lemon
scented leaves used as a seasoning also : its leaves
VARIANTS
When a main entry is followed by the word or and an-
other spelling, the two spellings occur with equal or nearly
equal frequency and can be considered equal variants.
Both are standard, and either one may be used according
to personal inclination:
ocher or ochre
If two variants joined by or are out of alphabetical order,
they remain equal variants. The one printed first is, how-
ever, slightly more common than the second:
polelyewog or poleliewog
When another spelling is joined to the main entry by the
word also, the spelling after also occurs appreciably less
often and thus is considered a secondary variant:
canecelelaetion also caneceleation
Secondary variants belong to standard usage and may be
used according to personal inclination. If there are two
secondary variants, the second is joined to the first by or.
Once the word also is used to signal a secondary variant,
all following variants are joined by or:
1
Shakeespeareean or Shakeespeareian also Shakespereean or
Shakespereian
The use of or to indicate equal variants and also to indi-
cate secondary variants applies not only to main entries,
but to all boldface entry words, including inflected forms
and run-on entries.
Variants of main entries whose spelling places them al-
phabetically more than a column away from the main en-
try are entered at their own alphabetical places as well as
at the main entry:
gibe or jibe . . . vb
1
jibe var of crnr
1
rhyme also rime . . . n
rhymeester also rimeester . . . n
3
rime, rimester var of nvmr, nvmrs1r
Variants having a usage label appear only at their own al-
phabetical places:
metre . . . chiefly Brit var of mr1r
agin . . . dial var of AcArs1
RUN-ON ENTRIES
The defined senses of a main entry may be followed by
one or more derivatives or by a homograph with a differ-
ent functional label. These are run-on entries. Each is in-
troduced by a lightface dash and each has a functional la-
Explanatory Notes 11a
bcI. Thcv arc not dcfincd, howcvcr, sincc thcir mcaninus
arc rcadiIv dcrivabIc from thc mcaninu of thc root word:
slay . . . vb . . . - slayeer n
spireiteed . . . adj . . . - spireiteedely adv - spireiteedeness n
stacecaeto . . . adj . . . - staccato adv - staccato n
Thc dcfincd scnscs of a main cntrv mav bc foIIowcd bv
onc or morc phrascs containinu thc cntrv word or an in-
fIcctcd form of it. Thcsc arc aIso run-on cntrics. Each is in-
troduccd bv a Iiuhtfacc dash but thcrc is no functionaI Ia-
bcI. Thcv arc, howcvcr, dcfincd sincc thcir mcaninus arc
morc than thc sum of thc mcaninus of thcir cIcmcnts:
1
hole . . . n . . . - in the hole 1 : . . .
1
live . . . vb . . . - live it up : . . .
Dcfincd phrascs of this sort arc run on at thc cntrv consti-
tutinu thc first maIor cIcmcnt in thc phrasc. Thc first ma-
Ior cIcmcnt is ordinariIv a vcrb or a noun, but whcn thcsc
arc abscnt anothcr part of spccch mav scrvc instcad:
1
but . . . conj . . . - but what : . . .
Whcn thcrc arc variants, howcvcr, thc run-on appcars at
thc cntrv constitutinu thc first maIor invariabIc cIcmcnt in
thc phrasc:
1
clock . . . n . . . - kill the clock or run out the clock : . . .
1
hand . . . n . . . - on all hands or on every hand : . . .
A run-on cntrv is an indcpcndcnt cntrv with rcspcct to
function and status. LabcIs at thc main cntrv do not appIv
unIcss thcv arc rcpcatcd.
Attcntion is caIIcd to thc dcfinition of vocabulary entry
in this book. Thc tcrm dictionary entry incIudcs aII vocabu-
Iarv cntrics as wcII as aII boIdfacc cntrics in thc scparatc
scctions of thc back mattcr hcadcd Forciun Words and
Phrascs," BiouraphicaI Namcs," and GcouraphicaI
Namcs."
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is indicatcd bctwccn a pair of rcvcrscd vir-
uuIcs \ \ foIIowinu thc cntrv word. Thc svmboIs uscd arc
Iistcd in thc chart printcd insidc thc back covcr of this dic-
tionarv and on thc pauc facinu thc first pauc of thc dictio-
narv propcr. An abbrcviatcd Iist appcars at thc bottom of
thc sccond coIumn on cach riuht-hand pauc of thc vocabu-
Iarv. ExpIanations of thc svmboIs arc uivcn in thc Guidc to
Pronunciation.
SYLLABLES
A hvphcn is uscd in thc pronunciation to show svIIabic
division. Thcsc hvphcns somctimcs coincidc with thc ccn-
tcrcd dots in thc cntrv word that indicatc cnd-of-Iinc divi-
sion; somctimcs thcv do not:
abesenetee \,ab-sn-'tc\
1
meteric \'mc-trik\
STRESS
A hiuh-sct mark \'\ indicatcs primarv (stronucst) strcss
or acccnt; a Iow-sct mark \,\ indicatcs sccondarv (mcdi-
um) strcss or acccnt:
heartebeat \'hrt-,bct\
Thc strcss mark stands at thc bcuinninu of thc svIIabIc that
rcccivcs thc strcss.
Strcss marks arc an indication of thc rcIativc promi-
ncncc of thc svIIabIcs in a word. In runninu spccch thc pri-
marv strcss can varv in EnuIish words for scvcraI contcxtu-
aI and scmantic rcasons. Bccausc thc variation is so urcat,
this book shows thc primarv strcss of a word in its pronun-
ciation as a sinuIc word out of contcxt.
VARIANT PRONLNCIATIONS
Thc prcscncc of variant pronunciations indicatcs that
not aII cducatcd spcakcrs pronouncc words thc samc wav.
A sccond-pIacc variant is not to bc rcuardcd as Icss acccpt-
abIc than thc pronunciation that is uivcn first. It mav, in
fact, bc uscd bv as manv cducatcd spcakcrs as thc first
variant, but thc rcquircmcnts of thc printcd pauc makc
onc prcccdc thc othcr:
apriecot \'a-pr-,kt, '-\
foreeign \'for-n, 'fr-\
A variant that is apprcciabIv Icss common than thc prcccd-
inu variant is prcccdcd bv thc word also:
1
aleloy \'a-,Ioi also -'Ioi\
A variant prcccdcd bv sometimes is cvcn Icss common,
thouuh it docs occur in cducatcd spccch:
ineveiegle \in-'v-uI sometimes -'vc-\
Somctimcs a rcuionaI IabcI prcccdcs a variant:
1
great \'urt, Southern also 'urc()t\
Thc IabcI dial prcccdcs a variant that is notcworthv or
common in a diaIcct or diaIccts of Amcrican EnuIish, but
that is not considcrcd to bc a standard pronunciation:
ask \'ask, 'sk; dial 'aks\
Thc svmboI \\ is pIaccd bcforc a pronunciation variant
that occurs in cducatcd spccch but that is considcrcd bv
somc to bc unacccptabIc:
nuecleear \'n-kIc-r, 'nv-, -kv-Ir\
This svmboI rcfcrs onIv to thc immcdiatcIv foIIowinu vari-
ant and not to subscqucnt variants scparatcd from it bv a
comma or a scmicoIon.
PARENTHESES IN
PRONLNCIATIONS
SvmboIs cncIoscd bv parcnthcscs rcprcscnt cIcmcnts
that arc prcscnt in thc pronunciation of somc spcakcrs but
arc abscnt from thc pronunciation of othcr spcakcrs, or cI-
cmcnts that arc prcscnt in somc but abscnt from othcr ut-
tcranccs of thc samc spcakcr:
1
twinekle \'twi-kI\ vb . . . twinekling \-k(-)Ii\
sateisefacetoery \,sa-ts-'fak-t(-)rc\
reesponse \ri-'spn(t)s\
Thus, thc parcnthcscs at twinkling mcan that thcrc arc
somc who pronouncc thc \\ bctwccn \k\ and \I\ and oth-
crs who do not pronouncc it.
PARTIAL AND ABSENT
PRONLNCIATIONS
Whcn a main cntrv has Icss than a fuII pronunciation,
thc missinu part is to bc suppIicd from a pronunciation in
a prcccdinu cntrv or within thc samc pair of rcvcrscd vir-
uuIcs:
chamepieoneship \-,ship\
12a Explanatory Notes
Maedeiera \m-'dir-, -'dcr-\
Thc pronunciation of thc first thrcc svIIabIcs of champion-
ship is found at thc main cntrv champion:
1
chamepieon \'cham-pc-n\
Thc hvphcns bcforc and aftcr \'dcr\ in thc pronunciation
of Madeira indicatc that both thc first and thc Iast parts of
thc pronunciation arc to bc takcn from thc immcdiatcIv
prcccdinu pronunciation.
PartiaI pronunciations arc usuaIIv shown whcn two or
morc variants havc a part in common. Whcn a variation of
strcss is invoIvcd, a partiaI pronunciation mav bc tcrmi-
natcd at thc strcss mark which stands at thc bcuinninu of a
svIIabIc not shown:
dieverse \d-'vrs, d-', 'd-,\
anechoevy \'an-,cho-vc, an-'\
In ucncraI, no pronunciation is indicatcd for opcn com-
pounds consistinu of two or morc EnuIish words that havc
own-pIacc cntrv:
witch doctor n
A pronunciation is shown, howcvcr, for anv cIcmcnt of an
opcn compound that docs not havc cntrv at its own aIpha-
bcticaI pIacc:
diephosephoeglyecereic acid \(,)d-'fs-fo-uIi-,scr-ik-\
sieve of Ereaetosetheenes \-,cr--'ts-th-,ncz\
OnIv thc first cntrv in a scqucncc of numbcrcd homo-
uraphs is uivcn a pronunciation if thcir pronunciations arc
thc samc:
1
reeward \ri-'word\
2
reward
Pronunciations arc shown for obsoIctc words onIv if thcv
occur in Shakcspcarc:
cloisetress \'kIoi-strs\ n . . . obs
Thc pronunciation of unpronounccd dcrivativcs and
compounds run on at a main cntrv is a combination of thc
pronunciation at thc main cntrv and thc pronunciation of
thc suffix or finaI cIcmcnt as uivcn at its aIphabcticaI pIacc
in thc vocabuIarv:
ovaleness n
shot in the dark
Thus, thc pronunciation of ovalness is thc sum of thc pro-
nunciations of oval and -ness that of shot in the dark, thc
sum of thc pronunciation of thc four cIcmcnts that makc
up thc phrasc.
Thc notation sic is uscd at a fcw pronunciation rcspcII-
inus which arc corrcct but arc at variancc with thc spcIIinu
of thc word.
Kieriebati \'kir--,bas-sic\
Functional Labels
An itaIic IabcI indicatinu a part of spccch or somc othcr
functionaI cIassification foIIows thc pronunciation or, if
no pronunciation is uivcn, thc main cntrv. Thc main tradi-
tionaI parts of spccch arc indicatcd as foIIows:
1
bold . . . adj
1
but . . . conj
handeiely . . . adv oops . . . interj
boeleero . . . n someeone . . . pron
2
under prep
1
shrink . . . vb
If a vcrb is both transitivc and intransitivc, thc IabcIs vt
and vi introducc thc subdivisions:
ateten . . . vb . . . vt . . . vi
A boIdfacc swunu dash is uscd to stand for thc main cn-
trv (as flatten) and scparatc thc subdivisions of thc vcrb. If
thcrc is no subdivision, vt or vi takcs thc pIacc of vb:
2
eece vt
apeperetain . . . vi
LabcIinu a vcrb as transitivc, howcvcr, docs not prccIudc
occasionaI intransitivc usc (as in absoIutc constructions).
Othcr itaIicizcd IabcIs uscd to indicatc functionaI cIassi-
fications that arc not traditionaI parts of spccch arc:
geog abbr -itis n suffix
poly- comb form -ize vb suffix
-logy n comb form Lyecra . . . trademark
-iferous adj comb form -nd symbol
super- prefix
1
may . . . verbal auxiliary
Gramemy . . . service mark gidedyeap . . . vb imper
1
-ic adj suffix meethinks . . . vb impersonal
2
-ward or -wards adv suffix NC17 . . . certification mark
Two functionaI IabcIs arc somctimcs combincd:
zilch . . . adj or n
aoat . . . adj or adv
FunctionaI IabcIs arc not shown for main cntrics that
arc noun phrascs havinu a prcposition in thc middIc:
ball of re (ca. 1900) : a pcrson of unusuaI cncruv . . .
FunctionaI IabcIs arc aIso not shown for phrascs that arc
dcfincd run-on cntrics.
Inflected Forms
In comparison with somc othcr Ianuuaucs, EnuIish docs
not havc manv infIcctcd forms. Of thosc which it has, scv-
craI arc infIcctcd forms of words bcIonuinu to smaII,
cIoscd uroups (as thc pcrsonaI pronouns or thc dcmonstra-
tivcs). Thcsc forms can rcadiIv bc found at thcir own aI-
phabcticaI pIaccs with a fuII cntrv (as whom, thc obIcctivc
casc form of who) or with a cross-rcfcrcncc in smaII capitaI
Icttcrs to anothcr cntrv (as those, thc pIuraI form of that).
Most othcr infIcctcd forms, howcvcr, arc covcrcd cx-
pIicitIv or bv impIication at thc main cntrv for thc basc
form. Thcsc arc thc pIuraIs of nouns, thc principaI parts of
vcrbs (thc past tcnsc, thc past participIc whcn it diffcrs
from thc past tcnsc, and thc prcscnt participIc), and thc
comparativc and supcrIativc forms of adIcctivcs and ad-
vcrbs. In ucncraI, it mav bc said that whcn thcsc infIcctcd
forms arc crcatcd in a manncr considcrcd rcuuIar in En-
uIish (as bv addinu -s or -es to nouns, -ed and -ing to vcrbs,
and -er and -est to adIcctivcs and advcrbs) and whcn it
sccms that thcrc is nothinu about thc formation IikcIv to
uivc thc dictionarv uscr doubts, thc infIcctcd form is not
shown in ordcr to savc spacc for information morc IikcIv
to bc souuht. InfIcctcd forms arc aIso not shown at undc-
fincd run-ons or at somc cntrics bcarinu a Iimitinu IabcI:
gouremand . . . n . . . - gouremanedize . . . vi
1
femeienine . . . adj . . . - femeienineeness . . . n
Explanatory Notes 13a
2
lake n . . . laky . . . adj
2
cote . . . vt . . . obs : to pass by
crouse . . . adj . . . chiefly Scot : nrsx, LrvrLv
On the other hand, if the inflected form is created in an ir-
regular way or if the dictionary user is likely to have
doubts about it even though it is formed regularly, the
inflected form is shown in boldface, either in full or cut
back to a convenient and easily recognizable point. Full
details about the kinds of entries at which inflected forms
are shown and the kinds at which they are not shown are
given in the three following sections.
NOUNS
The plurals of nouns are shown in this dictionary when
suffixation brings about a change of final -y to -i-, when
the noun ends in a consonant plus -o, when the noun ends
in -oo or -ey, when the noun has an irregular plural or a
zero plural or a foreign plural, when the noun is a com-
pound that pluralizes any element but the last, when a fi-
nal consonant is doubled, when the noun has variant plu-
rals, and when it is believed that the dictionary user might
have reasonable doubts about the spelling of the plural or
when the plural is spelled in a way contrary to expecta-
tions:
2
spy n, pl spies
sielo . . . n, pl silos
2
shampoo n, pl shampoos
galeley . . . n, pl galleys
1
mouse . . . n, pl mice
moose . . . n, pl moose
crieteerieon . . . n, pl -ria
soninlaw . . . n, pl sonsinlaw
1
quiz . . . n, pl quizezes
1
sh . . . n, pl sh or shees
coregi . . . n, pl corgis
3
dry n, pl drys
Cutback inflected forms are used when the noun has three
or more syllables:
ameeniety . . . n, pl -ties
The plurals of nouns are usually not shown when the base
word is unchanged by suffixation, when the noun is a
compound whose second element is readily recognizable
as a regular free form entered at its own place, or when the
noun is unlikely to occur in the plural:
1
night . . . n
2
crunch n
foreefoot . . . n
moenogeaemy . . . n
Nouns that are plural in form and that regularly occur in
plural construction are labeled n pl:
muncheies . . . n pl
Nouns that are plural in form but that are not always con-
strued as plurals are appropriately labeled:
roeboteics . . . n pl but sing in constr
two bits n pl but sing or pl in constr
A noun that is singular in construction takes a singular
verb when it is used as a subject a noun that is plural in
construction takes a plural verb when it is used as a sub-
ject.
VERBS
The principal parts of verbs are shown in this dictionary
when suffixation brings about a doubling of a final conso-
nant or an elision of a final -e or a change of final -y to -i-,
when final -c changes to -ck in suffixation, when the verb
ends in -ey, when the inflection is irregular, when there are
variant inflected forms, and when it is believed that the
dictionary user might have reasonable doubts about the
spelling of an inflected form or when the inflected form is
spelled in a way contrary to expectations:
2
snag vt snagged; snageging
1
move . . . vb moved; moveing
1
cry . . . vb cried; cryeing
2
frolic vi froleicked; froleickeing
1
surevey . . . vb sureveyed; sureveyeing
1
drive . . . vb drove . . . driveen . . . driveing
2
bus vb bused also bussed; buseing also busesing
2
visa vt viesaed . . . viesaeing
2
chagrin vt chaegrined . . . chaegrineing
The principal parts of a regularly inflected verb are shown
when it is desirable to indicate the pronunciation of one of
the inflected forms:
learn . . . vb learned lrnd, lrnt learneing
ripeen . . . vb ripeened; ripeeneing r-p-ni, rp-ni
Cutback inflected forms are often used when the verb has
three or more syllables, when it is a disyllable that ends in
-l and has variant spellings, and when it is a compound
whose second element is readily recognized as an irregular
verb:
elimeienate . . . vb -nateed; -nateing
3
quarrel vi -reled or -relled; -releing or -releling
1
reetake . . . vt -took . . . -takeen . . . -takeing
The principal parts of verbs are usually not shown when
the base word is unchanged by suffixation or when the
verb is a compound whose second element is readily rec-
ognizable as a regular free form entered at its own place:
1
jump . . . vb
preejudge . . . vt
Another inflected form of English verbs is the third per-
son singular of the present tense, which is regularly
formed by the addition of -s or -es to the base form of the
verb. This inflected form is not shown except at a handful
of entries as have and do for which it is in some way
anomalous.
ADJECTIVES ADVERBS
The comparative and superlative forms of adjectives
and adverbs are shown in this dictionary when suffixation
brings about a doubling of a final consonant or an elision
of a final -e or a change of final -y to -i-, when the word
ends in -ey, when the inflection is irregular, and when
there are variant inflected forms:
1
red . . . adj rededer; rededest
1
tame . . . adj tameer; tameest
1
kindely . . . adj kindelieer; -est
1
earely . . . adv earelieer; -est
14a Explanatory Notes
diceey . . . adj diceieer; -est
1
good . . . adj beteter . . . best
1
bad . . . adj worse . . . worst
1
far . . . adv farether . . . or furether . . . farethest or furethest
The superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs of two or
more syllables are usually cut back:
3
fancy adj fanecieer; -est
1
earely . . . adv earelieer; -est
The comparative and superlative forms of regularly in-
flected adjectives and adverbs are shown when it is desir-
able to indicate the pronunciation of the inflected forms:
1
young . . . adj youneger y-gr younegest y-gst
The inclusion of inflected forms in -er and -est at adjective
and adverb entries means nothing more about the use of
more and most with these adjectives and adverbs than that
their comparative and superlative degrees may be ex-
pressed in either way lazier or more lazy laziest or most
lazy.
At a few adjective entries only the superlative form is
shown:
3
mere adj, superlative mereest
The absence of the comparative form indicates that there
is no evidence of its use.
The comparative and superlative forms of adjectives
and adverbs are not shown when the base word is un-
changed by suffixation or when the word is a compound
whose second element is readily recognizable as a regular
free form entered at its own place:
1
near . . . adv
unewary . . . adj
The comparative and superlative forms of adverbs are not
shown when they are identical with the inflected forms of
a preceding adjective homograph:
1
hot . . . adj hoteter; hotetest
2
hot adv
Capitalization
Most entries in this dictionary begin with a lowercase let-
ter. A few of these have an italicized label often cap, which
indicates that the word is as likely to be capitalized as not,
that it is as acceptable with an uppercase initial as it is with
one in lowercase. Some entries begin with an uppercase
letter, which indicates that the word is usually capitalized.
The absence of an initial capital or of an often cap label in-
dicates that the word is not ordinarily capitalized:
lunkehead . . . n
gareganetuan . . . adj, often cap
Moehawk . . . n
The capitalization of entries that are open or hyphenat-
ed compounds is similarly indicated by the form of the en-
try or by an italicized label:
obstacle course n
neoExepresesioneism . . . n, often cap N
offoffBroadway n, often cap both Os
unAmereiecan . . . adj
Dutch oven n
Old Glory n
A word that is capitalized in some senses and lowercase
in others shows variations from the form of the main entry
by the use of italicized labels at the appropriate senses:
reenaisesance . . . n . . . 1 cap . . . 2 often cap
Sheteland . . . n . . . 2 often not cap
Trineiety . . . n . . . 2 not cap
Attributive Nouns
The italicized label often attrib placed after the functional
label n indicates that the noun is often used as an adjective
equivalent in attributive position before another noun:
1
botetle . . . n, often attrib
busieness . . . n, often attrib
Examples of the attributive use of these nouns are bottle
opener and business ethics.
While any noun may occasionally be used attributively,
the label often attrib is limited to those having broad attrib-
utive use. This label is not used when an adjective homo-
graph as iron or paper is entered. And it is not used at
open compounds as health food that may be used attribu-
tively with an inserted hyphen as in health-food store.
Etymology
The matter in boldface square brackets preceding the def-
inition is the etymology. Meanings given in roman type
within these brackets are not definitions of the entry, but
are meanings of the Middle English, Old English, or non-
English words within the brackets.
The etymology traces a vocabulary entry as far back as
possible in English as to Old English, tells from what lan-
guage and in what form it came into English, and except
in the case of such words outside the general vocabulary
of English as bascule and zloty traces the pre-English
source as far back as possible if the source is an Indo
European language. These etyma are printed in italics.
OLD, MIDDLE, AND MODERN
ENGLISH
The etymology usually gives the Middle English and the
Old English forms of words in the following style:
1
nap . . . vi . . . [ME nappen, fr. OE hnappian . . . ]
1
old . . . adj [ME, fr. OE eald . . . ]
An etymology in which a word is traced back to Middle
English but not to Old English indicates that the word is
found in Middle English but not in those texts that have
survived from the Old English period:
1
slab . . . n [ME slabbe]
1
nag . . . n . . . [ME nagge akin to D negge small horse]
An etymology in which a word is traced back directly to
Old English with no intervening mention of Middle En-
glish indicates that the word has not survived continuously
from Old English times to the present. Rather, it died out
after the Old English period and has been revived in mod-
ern times:
geemot . . . n [OE gemt . . . ]
thegn . . . n [OE . . . ]
An etymology is not usually given for a word created in
English by the combination of existing constituents or by
Explanatory Notes 15a
functionaI shift. This indicatcs that thc idcntitv of thc con-
stitucnts is cxpcctcd to bc scIf-cvidcnt to thc uscr.
bookeshelf . . . n . . . : an opcn shcIf for hoIdinu books
1
reeproof . . . adj . . . : proof auainst or rcsistant to firc
offputeting . . . adj . . . : that puts onc off : rrLLr1, orsco-
cr1rc
penal code n . . . : a codc of Iaws conccrninu crimcs and offcnscs and
thcir punishmcnt
3
stalk n . . . 1 : thc act of staIkinu
In thc casc of a famiIv of words obviousIv rcIatcd to a
common EnuIish word but diffcrinu from it bv containinu
various casiIv rccounizabIc suffixcs, an ctvmoIouv is usuaI-
Iv uivcn onIv at thc basc word, cvcn thouuh somc of thc
dcrivativcs mav havc bccn formcd in a Ianuuauc othcr
than EnuIish:
1
equal . . . adj [ME, fr. L aequalis, fr. aequus IcvcI, cquaI] . . . 1 a (1)
: of thc samc mcasurc, quantitv, amount, or numbcr as anothcr
equaleiety . . . n . . . 1 : thc quaIitv or statc of bcinu cquaI
equaleize . . . vt . . . 1 : to makc cquaI
WhiIc equalize was formcd in Modcrn EnuIish, equality
was actuaIIv borrowcd into MiddIc EnuIish (via AnuIo-
Frcnch) from Latin aequalitas.
Incorporatinu matcriaI from maIor schoIarIv rcfcrcncc
works compIctcd in rcccnt vcars, thc ctvmoIouics of Iatc
OId and MiddIc EnuIish words borrowcd from Frcnch now
appIv thc IabcI AnuIo-Frcnch" (abbrcviatcd AF) to aII
mcdicvaI Frcnch words known to havc bccn uscd in
Frcnch documcnts writtcn in Britain bcforc about 1400.
This trcatmcnt acknowIcducs that Iitcratc EnuIish spcak-
crs thcn wcrc tvpicaIIv biIinuuaI or triIinuuaI rcadcrs and
writcrs who cuItivatcd distinctivc varictics of Latin and
Frcnch as wcII as of EnuIish, and that words movcd casiIv
from onc to anothcr of thcsc thrcc Ianuuaucs. Thc IabcI
AnuIo-Frcnch" shouId not bc takcn to mcan that thc ctv-
mon is attcstcd cxcIusivcIv in AnuIo-Frcnch, for in thc
urcat maIoritv of cascs thc word has a counatc form in thc
contincntaI northcrn Frcnch of Picardv and Normandv or
thc Frcnch of Paris and its surroundinus. Bccausc AnuIo-
Frcnch is onc diaIcct of mcdicvaI Frcnch, it faIIs within thc
domain of widcr IabcIs OId Frcnch" and MiddIc
Frcnch," which covcr aII diaIccts of Frcnch in thcir rcspcc-
tivc timc framcs. A simiIar caution appIics to dcrivativc
words:
1
joureney . . . n . . . [ME, fr. AF jurnee dav, dav`s Iourncv, fr. jur dav, fr.
LL diurnum . . . ]
This ctvmoIouv docs not mcan that thc dcrivation of ju-
rnee from jur took pIacc onIv in AnuIo-Frcnch. Forms cor-
rcspondinu to AnuIo-Frcnch jurnee cxist in othcr diaIccts
of OId and MiddIc Frcnch, as wcII as in OId Occitan, and
thc word survivcs in Modcrn Frcnch as journe, dav."
LANGLAGES OTHER THAN
ENGLISH
Thc ctvmoIouv uivcs thc Ianuuauc from which words
borrowcd into EnuIish havc comc. It aIso uivcs thc form or
a transIitcration of thc word in that Ianuuauc if thc form
diffcrs from that in EnuIish:
1
mareble . . . n [ME, fr. AF marbre, fr. L marmor, fr. Gk marmaros]
howeitezer . . . n [D houwitser, uItim. fr. Czcch houfnice baIIista]
souk . . . n [Ar sTq markct]
In a fcw cascs thc cxprcssion uItim. fr." rcpIaccs thc
morc usuaI fr." This cxprcssion indicatcs that onc or
morc intcrmcdiatc stcps havc bccn omittcd in tracinu thc
dcrivation of thc form prcccdinu thc cxprcssion from thc
form foIIowinu it:
trieloebite . . . n [uItim. fr. Gk trilobos thrcc-Iobcd, fr. tri- + lobos Iobc]
Whcn a Ianuuauc namc that is not itscIf an cntrv in thc
dictionarv is uscd in an ctvmoIouv, a short parcnthcticaI
dcfinition wiII immcdiatcIv foIIow thc namc:
kookeaeburera . . . n [Wiradhuri (AustraIian aboriuinaI Ianuuauc of ccn-
traI Ncw South WaIcs) gugubarra]
Howcvcr, subfamiIv, Ianuuauc, or diaIcct namcs modificd
bv quaIificrs that simpIv add ucouraphicaI oricntation-as
Intcrior SaIish," MF (Picard diaI.)," or Southcrn
Paiutc"-wiII not bc furthcr dcfincd as Ionu as both thc
quaIificr and thc word bcinu quaIificd arc both cntrics in
thc dictionarv.
Words citcd from ccrtain Amcrican Indian Ianuuaucs
and from somc othcr Ianuuaucs that arc infrcqucntIv
printcd havc bccn rcndcrcd with thc phonctic svmboIs
uscd bv schoIars of thosc Ianuuaucs. Thcsc svmboIs in-
cIudc thc foIIowinu: a raiscd dot to thc riuht of a vowcI Ict-
tcr to mark vowcI Icnuth; a hook bcIow a vowcI Icttcr to
mark nasaIitv; an apostrophc ovcr a consonant Icttcr to
mark uIottaI rcIcasc; a supcrscript w to thc riuht of a con-
sonant Icttcr to mark IabiaIization; thc svmboI Z to rcndcr
\o\; thc svmboI q to rcndcr a hiuh ccntraI vowcI; thc Grcck
Icttcrs , , and to rcndcr voiccd IabiaI, dcntaI, and vcIar
fricativcs; thc svmboI to rcndcr \th\; thc svmboI x to rcn-
dcr \k\; thc svmboI p to rcndcr a uIottaI stop; and thc svm-
boI (crosscd Iambda") for a voiccIcss IatcraI affricatc.
ExampIcs of thcsc svmboIs can bc found at ctvmoIouics
for thc words Athabascan, babassu, coho, fist, Lhasa apso,
potlatch, and sego lily.
ASSLMED OR RECONSTRLCTED
FORMS
An astcrisk pIaccd bcforc a word mcans that it is as-
sumcd to havc cxistcd or has bccn rcconstructcd bv mcans
of comparativc cvidcncc. In somc cascs, thc assumption
mav bc duc to Iack of cvidcncc:
4
bore n [ME *bore wavc, fr. ON bra] (1601)
Thc word is unattcstcd bcforc Modcrn EnuIish, thouuh thc
IikcIihood is stronu that it was borrowcd from Scandina-
vian much carIicr. Thc casc of thc word battlement is
somcwhat diffcrcnt:
batetleement . . . n [ME batelment, fr. AF *bataillement, fr. batailler to
fortifv with battIcmcnts - morc at nA11Lr]
It is hiuhIv probabIc that bataillement cxistcd in AnuIo-
Frcnch, uivcn that both thc undcrIvinu vcrb batailler and
thc MiddIc EnuIish dcrivativc batelment arc attcstcd.
Thc astcrisk is invariabIv uscd bcforc words IabcIcd VL,
which stands for VuIuar Latin," thc traditionaI namc for
thc unrccordcd spokcn Latin of both thc uncducatcd and
cducatcd, cspcciaIIv in thc finaI ccnturics of thc Roman
Empirc. VuIuar Latin forms can bc rcconstructcd on thc
basis of thcir Iatcr outcomc in thc Romancc Ianuuaucs and
of thcir rcIationship with known Latin words:
1
canevas . . . n [ME canevas, fr. AF canevas, chanevaz, fr. VL *cannaba-
ceus hcmpcn, fr. L cannabis hcmp . . . ]
WORDS OF LNKNOWN ORIGIN
Whcn thc sourcc of a word appcarinu as a main cntrv is
unknown, thc cxprcssion oriuin unknown" is usuaIIv
uscd. OnIv in cxccptionaI circumstanccs (as with somc
cthnic namcs) docs thc abscncc of an ctvmoIouv mcan that
it has not bccn possibIc to furnish an informativc ctvmoIo-
uv. Morc oftcn, it mcans that no ctvmoIouv is bcIicvcd to
bc ncccssarv. This is thc casc, for instancc, with most of
thc cntrics idcntificd as variants and with manv dcriva-
tivcs.
16a Explanatory Notes
ETYMOLOGIES OF TECHNICAL
WORDS
Much of the technical vocabulary of the sciences and
other specialized studies consists of words or word ele-
ments that are current in two or more languages, with only
such slight modifications as are necessary to adapt them to
the structure of the individual language in each case.
Many words and word elements of this kind have become
sufficiently a part of the general vocabulary of English as
to require entry in an abridged dictionary. Because of the
vast extent of the relevant published material in many lan-
guages and in many scientific and other specialized fields,
it is impracticable to ascertain the language of origin of ev-
ery such term. Yet it would not be accurate to formulate a
statement about the origin of any such term in a way that
could be interpreted as implying that it was coined in En-
glish. Accordingly, whenever a term that is entered in this
dictionary belongs recognizably to this class of interna-
tionally current terms and whenever no positive evidence
is at hand to show that it was coined in English, the ety-
mology recognizes its international status and the possibil-
ity that it originated elsewhere than in English by use of
the label ISV for International Scientific Vocabulary:
megaewatt . . . n [ISV]
phyeloegeeneteic . . . adj [ISV, fr. NL phylogenesis . . . ]
1
-ol n suffix [ISV, fr. alcohol]
COMPRESSION OF INFORMATION
An etymology giving the name of a language including
ME or OE and not giving the foreign or Middle English
or Old English form indicates that this form is the same as
that of the entry word:
kaepok . . . n [Malay]
1
poegrom . . . n [Yiddish, fr. Russ . . . ]
1
dumb . . . adj [ME, fr. OE . . . ]
An etymology giving the name of a language including
ME or OE and the form in that language but not giving
the foreign or Middle English or Old English meaning in-
dicates that this meaning is the same as that expressed in
the first definition in the entry:
1
weaery . . . adj . . . [ME wery, fr. OE wrig . . . ] . . . 1 : exhausted in
strength . . .
When a word from a foreign language or Middle En-
glish or Old English is a key element in the etymologies of
several related entries that are found close together, the
meaning of the word is usually given at only one of the en-
tries:
veeloece . . . adv or adj [It, fr. L veloc-, velox]
veeloceiepede . . . n [F vlocipde, fr. L veloc-, velox + ped-, pes foot
more at roo1]
veeloceiety . . . n . . . [MF velocit, fr. L velocitat-, velocitas, fr. veloc-,
velox quick prob. akin to L vegre to enliven more at wAxr]
When an etymology includes the expression by alter.
and the altered form is not cited, the form is the term giv-
en in small capital letters as the definition:
ole . . . adj [by alter.] . . . : oLo
When the origin of a word is traced to the name of a per-
son or place not further identified, additional information
may be found in the Biographical Names or Geographical
Names section in the back matter:
faread . . . n [Michael Faraday]
jodhepur . . . n [Jodhpur, India]
RELATED WORDS
When a word of Indo-European origin has been traced
back to the earliest language in which it is attested, words
descended from the same Indo-European base in other
languages especially Old High German, Latin, Greek, and
Sanskrit are usually given:
naevel . . . n [ME, fr. OE nafela akin to OHG nabalo navel, L umbili-
cus, Gk omphalos]
1
wind . . . n . . . [ME, fr. OE akin to OHG wint wind, L ventus, Gk anai
to blow, Skt vti it blows]
Sometimes, however, to avoid space-consuming repetition,
the expression more at directs the user to another entry
where the cognates are given:
hoely . . . adj . . . [ME, fr. OE hlig akin to OE hl whole more at
wnoLr]
Besides the use of akin to to denote relatedness, some
etymologies make special use of akin to as part of a
longer formula of . . . origin akin to. . . . This formula
indicates that a word was borrowed from some language
belonging to a group of languages whose name is inserted
in the blank before the word origin, that it is impossible to
say that the word in question is a borrowing of a particular
attested word in a particular language of the source group,
and that the form cited in the blank after the expression
akin to is related to the word in question as attested within
the source group:
baenana . . . n . . . [Sp or Pg Sp, fr. Pg, of African origin akin to Wolof
banaana banana]
2
briar n [ . . . F bruyre heath, fr. MF bruiere, fr. VL brucaria, fr. LL
brucus heather, of Celt origin akin to OIr froech heather akin to Gk
ereik heather]
This last example shows the two contrasting uses of akin
to. The word cited immediately after of Celt origin akin
to is an attested Celtic word descended from the same et-
ymon as the unattested Celtic source of the Latin word.
The word cited after the second akin to is evidence that
the Celtic etymon has deeper relations within Indo
European.
Dates
At most main entries a date will be found enclosed in pa-
rentheses immediately preceding the boldface colon or the
number that introduces the first sense:
exepoes also exepoese . . . n [F expos, fr. pp. of exposer] 1803 1 : a
formal statement of facts 2 : an exposure of something discreditable
This is the date of the earliest recorded use in English, as
far as it could be determined, of the sense which the date
precedes. Several caveats are appropriate at this point.
First, a few classes of main entries that are not complete
words as prefixes, suffixes, and combining forms or are
not generic words as trademarks are not given dates. Sec-
ond, the date given applies only to the first sense of the
word entered in this dictionary and not necessarily to the
words very earliest meaning in English. Many words, es-
pecially those with long histories, have obsolete, archaic,
or uncommon senses that are not entered in this dictio-
nary, and such senses have been excluded from consider-
ation in determining the date:
greenehorn . . . n [obs. greenhorn animal with green or young horns]
1682 1 : an inexperienced or naive person
The 1682 date is for sense 1, not for the word as a whole.
Greenhorn also has an obsolete sense, animal with green
Explanatory Notes 17a
or young horns, that was recorded as early as 1460, but
since this sense is not entered, it is ignored for purposes of
dating. Third, the printed date should not be taken to
mark the very first time that the wordor even the
sensewas used in English. Many words were certainly in
spoken use for decades or even longer before they passed
into the written language. The date is for the earliest writ-
ten or printed use that the editors have been able to dis-
cover. This fact means further that any date is subject to
change as evidence of still earlier use may emerge, and
many dates given now can confidently be expected to yield
to others in future printings and editions.
A date will appear in one of three different styles:
nuclear family n 1947 : a family group that consists only of father,
mother, and children
1
moonelight . . . n 14c : the light of the moon
1
sheet . . . n ME shete, fr. OE scte, scete . . . bef. 12c 1 a : a broad
piece of cloth esp :
The style that names a year as 1947 is the one used for
the period from the sixteenth century to the present. The
style that names only a century as 14c is the one used for
the period from the twelfth century through the fifteenth
century, a span that roughly approximates the period of
Middle English. The style bef. 12c is used for the period
before the twelfth century back to the earliest records of
English, a span that approximates the period of Old En-
glish. Words first attested after 1500 can usually be dated
to a single year because the precise dates of publication of
modern printed texts are known. If a word must be dated
from a modern text of uncertain chronology, it will be as-
signed the latest possible date of the texts publication pre-
fixed by the abbreviation ca. for circa. For words from
the Old and Middle English periods the examples of use on
which the dates depend very often occur in manuscripts
which are themselves of uncertain date and which may
record a text whose date of composition is highly conjec-
tural. To date words from these periods by year would fre-
quently give a quite misleading impression of the state of
our knowledge, and so the broader formulas involving
centuries are used instead.
Each date reflects a particular instance of the use of a
word, most often within a continuous text. In cases where
the earliest appearance of a word dated by year is not from
continuous text but from a source as a dictionary or glos-
sary that defines or explains the word instead of simply
using it, the year is preceded by ca.:
magnesium hydroxide n ca. 1909 : a slightly alkaline crystalline
compound MgOH2 . . .
In such instances, ca. indicates that while the source pro-
viding the date attests that the word was in use in the rele-
vant sense at that time, it does not offer an example of the
normal use of the word and thus gives no better than an
approximate date for such use. For the example above no
use has so far been found that is earlier than its appear-
ance as an entry in Websters New International Dictio-
nary, published in 1909, so the date is given with the qual-
ifying abbreviation.
Usage
USAGE LABELS
Three types of status labels are used in this dictionary
temporal, regional, and stylisticto signal that a word
or a sense of a word is not part of the standard vocabulary
of English.
The temporal label obs for obsolete means that there
is no evidence of use since 1755:
1
peredu . . . n . . . obs
goveernement . . . n . . . 2 obs
The label obs is a comment on the word being defined.
When a thing, as distinguished from the word used to des-
ignate it, is obsolete, appropriate orientation is usually giv-
en in the definition:
1
cateaepult . . . n . . . 1 : an ancient military device for hurling missiles
farethinegale . . . n . . . : a support as of hoops worn esp. in the 16th
century beneath a skirt to expand it at the hipline
The temporal label archaic means that a word or sense
once in common use is found today only sporadically or in
special contexts:
1
goody . . . n . . . archaic
lonegietude . . . n . . . 2 archaic
A word or sense limited in use to a specific region of the
U.S. has a regional label. Some regional labels correspond
loosely to areas defined in Hans Kuraths Word Geography
of the Eastern United States. The adverb chiefly precedes a
label when the word has some currency outside the speci-
fied region, and a double label is used to indicate consider-
able currency in each of two specific regions:
pung . . . n . . . NewEng
banequette . . . n . . . 1 . . . b Southern
3
pasetor . . . n . . . chiefly Southwest
doegie . . . n . . . chiefly West
galelery . . . n . . . 2 . . . b Southern Midland
1
potelatch . . . n . . . 2 Northwest
smearecase . . . n . . . chiefly Midland
cruleler . . . n . . . 2 Northern Midland
Words current in all regions of the U.S. have no label.
A word or sense limited in use to one of the other coun-
tries of the English-speaking world has an appropriate re-
gional label:
cutety sark . . . n . . . chiefly Scot
lareriekin . . . n . . . chiefly Austral
inedaeba . . . n . . . chiefly SoAfr
spalepeen . . . n . . . chiefly Irish
1
bonenet . . . n . . . 2 a Brit
book off vi . . . chiefly Canad
1
dinekum . . . adj . . . Austral NewZeal
gareron . . . n . . . Scot Irish
The label Brit indicates that a word or sense is current in
the United Kingdom or in more than one nation of the
Commonwealth as the United Kingdom, Australia, and
Canada.
The label dial for dialect indicates that the pattern of
use of a word or sense is too complex for summary label-
ing: it usually includes several regional varieties of Ameri-
can English or of American and British English:
leasteways . . . adv . . . dial
The label dial Brit indicates currency in several dialects
of the Commonwealth dial Eng indicates currency in one
or more provincial dialects of England:
boegle . . . n . . . dial Brit
1
hob . . . n . . . 1 dial Eng
The stylistic label slang is used with words or senses that
are especially appropriate in contexts of extreme informal-
ity, that are usually not limited to a particular region or
18a Explanatory Notes
arca of intcrcst, and that arc composcd tvpicaIIv of short-
cncd or aItcrcd forms or cxtravauant or facctious fiuurcs
of spccch:
4
barb n . . . slang : nAnr1LA1r
2
skinny n . . . slang : insidc information : oor
breadebaseket . . . n . . . 1 slang : s1omAcn
Thcrc is no satisfactorv obIcctivc tcst for sIanu, cspcciaIIv
with rcfcrcncc to a word out of contcxt. No word, in fact,
is invariabIv sIanu, and manv standard words can bc uivcn
sIanu appIications.
Thc stvIistic IabcI nonstand for nonstandard" is uscd
for a fcw words or scnscs that arc disapprovcd bv manv
but that havc somc currcncv in rcputabIc contcxts:
learn . . . vb . . . 2 a nonstand
irereegardeless . . . adv . . . nonstand
Thc stvIistic IabcIs disparaging, offensive, obscene, and
vulgar arc uscd for thosc words or scnscs that in common
usc arc intcndcd to hurt or shock or that arc IikcIv to uivc
offcnsc cvcn whcn thcv arc uscd without such an intcnt:
grinego . . . n . . . often disparaging
piss away vt . . . sometimes vulgar
A subIcct IabcI or uuidc phrasc is somctimcs uscd to in-
dicatc thc spccific appIication of a word or scnsc:
2
break n . . . 5 . . . d mining
anetiemageneteic . . . adj . . . of a watch
1
huemor . . . n . . . 2 a in medieval physiology
In ucncraI, howcvcr, subIcct oricntation Iics in thc dcfini-
tion:
Diedo . . . n . . . : a Icucndarv quccn of Carthauc in ViruiI`s Aeneid who
kiIIs hcrscIf whcn Acncas Icavcs hcr
jeet . . . n . . . : a sprinuinu Iump in baIIct madc from onc foot to thc
othcr in anv dircction
ILLLSTRATIONS OF LSAGE
Dcfinitions arc somctimcs foIIowcd bv vcrbaI iIIustra-
tions that show a tvpicaI usc of thc word in contcxt. Thcsc
iIIustrations arc cncIoscd in anuIc brackcts, and thc word
bcinu iIIustratcd is usuaIIv rcpIaccd bv a Iiuhtfacc swunu
dash. Thc swunu dash stands for thc boIdfacc cntrv word,
and it mav bc foIIowcd bv an itaIicizcd suffix:
1
key . . . n . . . 3 a . . . :thc ~ to a riddIc;
comemit . . . vt . . . 1 . . . c . . . :~ it to mcmorv;
2
plummet vi . . . 2 . . . :priccs ~ed;
weak . . . adj . . . 4 . . . b . . . (2) . . . :historv was mv ~est subIcct;
Thc swunu dash is not uscd whcn thc form of thc boIdfacc
cntrv word is chanucd in suffixation, and it is not uscd for
opcn compounds:
1
true . . . adj . . . 8 . . . :in thc truest scnsc;
turn off vt . . . 4 . . . :turn thc watcr off;
IIIustrativc quotations arc aIso uscd to show words in
tvpicaI contcxts:
coneicteed . . . adj . . . :this unhappv and ~ modcrn woman -1ohn
Lpdikc;
Omissions in quotations arc indicatcd bv cIIipscs:
alieneation . . . n . . . 1 . . . :~ . . . from thc vaIucs of onc`s socictv and
famiIv -S. L. HaIIcck;
LSAGE NOTES
Dcfinitions arc somctimcs foIIowcd bv usauc notcs that
uivc suppIcmcntarv information about such mattcrs as idi-
om, svntax, scmantic rcIationship, and status. A usauc
notc is introduccd bv a Iiuhtfacc dash:
1
inch . . . n . . . 5 : . . . - usu. uscd in thc phrasc give an inch
2
drum . . . vt . . . 2 : . . . - usu. uscd with out
1
so . . . adv . . . 1 a : . . . - oftcn uscd as a substitutc for a prcccdinu
cIausc
1
sforezanedo . . . adj or adv . . . : . . . - uscd as a dircction in music
hajji . . . n . . . : . . . - oftcn uscd as a titIc
Two or morc usauc notcs arc scparatcd bv a scmicoIon:
2
thine pron . . . : that which bcIonus to thcc - uscd without a foIIowinu
noun as a pronoun cquivaIcnt in mcaninu to thc adIcctivc thy uscd
csp. in cccIcsiasticaI or Iitcrarv Ianuuauc and stiII survivinu in thc
spccch of Fricnds csp. amonu thcmscIvcs
Somctimcs a usauc notc caIIs attcntion to onc or morc
tcrms with thc samc dcnotation as thc main cntrv:
water moccasin n . . . 1 : a vcnomous scmiaquatic pit vipcr (Agkistro-
don piscivorus) chicfIv of thc southcastcrn L.S. that is cIoscIv rcIatcd to
thc coppcrhcad - caIIcd aIso cottonmouth, cottonmouth moccasin
Thc caIIcd-aIso tcrms arc shown in itaIic tvpc. If such a
tcrm faIIs aIphabcticaIIv morc than a coIumn awav from
thc main cntrv, it is cntcrcd at its own pIacc with thc soIc
dcfinition bcinu a svnonvmous cross-rcfcrcncc to thc cn-
trv whcrc it appcars in thc usauc notc:
cotetonemouth . . . n . . . : wA1r moccAsr
cottonmouth moccasin n . . . : wA1r moccAsr
Somctimcs a usauc notc is uscd in pIacc of a dcfinition.
Somc function words (as conIunctions and prcpositions)
havc IittIc or no scmantic contcnt; most intcrIcctions cx-
prcss fccIinus but arc othcrwisc untransIatabIc into mcan-
inu; and somc othcr words (as oaths and honorific titIcs)
arc morc amcnabIc to commcnt than to dcfinition:
1
of . . . prep . . . 1 - uscd as a function word to indicatc a point of rcck-
oninu
1
oyez . . . vb imper . . . - uscd bv a court or pubIic cricr to uain attcn-
tion bcforc a procIamation
1
or . . . conj . . . 1 - uscd as a function word to indicatc an aItcrnativc
gosh . . . interj . . . - uscd as a miId oath to cxprcss surprisc
sir . . . n . . . 2 a - uscd as a usu. rcspcctfuI form of addrcss
LSAGE PARAGRAPHS
Bricf usauc parauraphs havc bccn pIaccd at a numbcr of
cntrics for tcrms that arc considcrcd to prcscnt probIcms
of confuscd or disputcd usauc. A usauc parauraph tvpicaI-
Iv summarizcs thc historicaI backuround of thc itcm and
its associatcd bodv of opinion, comparcs thcsc with avaiI-
abIc cvidcncc of currcnt usauc, and oftcn adds a fcw words
of suitabIc advicc for thc dictionarv uscr.
Each parauraph is siunaIcd bv an indcntcd boIdfacc itaI-
ic usage. Whcrc appropriatc, discussion is kcvcd bv scnsc
numbcr to thc dcfinition of thc mcaninu in qucstion. Most
parauraphs incorporatc appropriatc vcrbaI iIIustrations
and iIIustrativc quotations to cIarifv and cxcmpIifv thc
points bcinu madc:
agegraevate . . . vt . . . 1 obs a : to makc hcavv : nLor b : r-
crAsr 2 : to makc worsc, morc scrious, or morc scvcrc : intcnsifv
unpIcasantIv :probIcms havc bccn aggravated bv ncuIcct; 3 a : to
rousc to dispIcasurc or anucr bv usu. pcrsistcnt and oftcn pcttv uoad-
inu b : to producc infIammation in
usage AIthouuh aggravate has bccn uscd in scnsc 3a sincc thc 17th
ccnturv, it has bccn thc obIcct of disapprovaI onIv sincc about 1870. It
is uscd in cxpositorv prosc :whcn his siIIv conccit . . . about his not-
vcrv-uood carIv work has bcuun to aggravate us -WiIIiam Stvron;
Explanatory Notes 19a
but seems to be more common in speech and casual writing a good
profession for him, because bus drivers get aggravated Jackie Glea-
son interview, 1986 now this letter comes to aggravate me a
thousand times worse Mark Twain letter, 1864. Sense 2 is far
more common than sense 3a in published prose. Such is not the case,
however, with aggravation and aggravating. Aggravation is used in
sense 3 somewhat more than in its earlier senses aggravating has prac-
tically no use other than to express annoyance.
When a second word is also discussed in a paragraph,
the main entry for that word is followed by a run-on usage
see . . . , which refers to the entry where the paragraph
may be found:
2
afefect . . . vb . . . usage see rrrrc1
Definitions
DIVISION OF SENSES
A boldface colon is used in this dictionary to introduce a
definition:
1
cooeper . . . n . . . : one that makes or repairs wooden casks or tubs
It is also used to separate two or more definitions of a sin-
gle sense:
unecage . . . vt . . . : to release from or as if from a cage : free from re-
straint
Boldface Arabic numerals separate the senses of a word
that has more than one sense:
1
gloom . . . vb . . . vi . . . 1 : to look, feel, or act sullen or despondent 2
: to be or become overcast 3 : to loom up dimly
Boldface lowercase letters separate the subsenses of a
word:
1
grand . . . adj . . . 5 a : LAvrsn, sLm1LoLs . . . b : marked by a regal
form and dignity c : fine or imposing in appearance or impression d
: Lor1v, sLnLrmr
Lightface numerals in parentheses indicate a further di-
vision of subsenses:
take out vt 1 a 1 : oroLc1, srAA1r 2 : rxcLLor, omr1 3
: wr1noAw, wr1nnoLo
A lightface colon following a definition and immediately
preceding two or more subsenses indicates that the sub-
senses are subsumed by the preceding definition:
2
crunch n . . . 3 : a tight or critical situation: as a : a critical point in
the buildup of pressure between opposing elements . . . b : a severe
economic squeeze . . . c : sno1Acr
seequoia . . . n . . . : either of two huge coniferous California trees of
the bald cypress family that may reach a height of over 300 feet 90
meters: a : crA1 sroLorA b : rowooo 3a
The word as may or may not follow the lightface colon. Its
presence as at
2
crunch indicates that the following sub-
senses are typical or significant examples. Its absence as
at sequoia indicates that the subsenses which follow are
exhaustive.
The system of separating the various senses of a word by
numerals and letters is a lexical convenience. It reflects
something of their semantic relationship, but it does not
evaluate senses or set up a hierarchy of importance among
them.
Sometimes a particular semantic relationship between
senses is suggested by the use of one of four italic sense di-
viders: esp, specif, also, or broadly.
The sense divider esp for especially is used to introduce
the most common meaning subsumed in the more general
preceding definition:
2
slick adj . . . 3 a : characterized by subtlety or nimble wit : cLrvr
esp : wrLv
The sense divider specif for specifically is used to intro-
duce a common but highly restricted meaning subsumed
in the more general preceding definition:
ponetiff . . . n . . . 2 : nrsno specif, often cap : or 1
The sense divider also is used to introduce a meaning
that is closely related to but may be considered less impor-
tant than the preceding sense:
chiena . . . n . . . 1 : ocrLAr also : vitreous porcelain wares as dish-
es, vases, or ornaments for domestic use
The sense divider broadly is used to introduce an ex-
tended or wider meaning of the preceding definition:
otesam . . . n . . . 1 : floating wreckage of a ship or its cargo broadly
: floating debris
ORDER OF SENSES
The order of senses within an entry is historical: the
sense known to have been first used in English is entered
first. This is not to be taken to mean, however, that each
sense of a multisense word developed from the immediate-
ly preceding sense. It is altogether possible that sense 1 of a
word has given rise to sense 2 and sense 2 to sense 3, but
frequently sense 2 and sense 3 may have arisen indepen-
dently of one another from sense 1.
When a numbered sense is further subdivided into let-
tered subsenses, the inclusion of particular subsenses with-
in a sense is based upon their semantic relationship to one
another, but their order is likewise historical: subsense 1a
is earlier than 1b, 1b is earlier than 1c, and so forth. Divi-
sions of subsenses indicated by lightface numerals in pa-
rentheses are also in historical order with respect to one
another. Subsenses may be out of historical order, howev-
er, with respect to the broader numbered senses:
1
job . . . n . . . ca. 1627 1 a : a piece of work esp : a small miscella-
neous piece of work undertaken on order at a stated rate b : the ob-
ject or material on which work is being done c : something produced
by or as if by work do a better next time d : an example of a
usu. specified type : r1rm a 14,000-square-foot with . . . seven
bedrooms Rick Telander 2 a : something done for private advan-
tage suspected the whole incident was a put-up b : a criminal
enterprise specif : onnrv c : a damaging or destructive bit of
work did a on him 3 a 1 : something that has to be done :
1Asx 2 : an undertaking requiring unusual exertion it was a real
to talk over that noise b : a specific duty, role, or function c : a
regular remunerative position d chiefly Brit : state of affairs usu.
used with bad or good it was a good you didnt hit the old man
E. L. Thomas 4 : plastic surgery for cosmetic purposes a nose