dfc0151_FM.

qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page i

Concise Oxford American Dictionary

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page ii

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page iii

Concise Oxford American Dictionary

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page iv

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford Universitys objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright 2006 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York, 10016 www.oup.com/us www.askoxford.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data (tk) ISBN-10: 0-19-530484-5 EAN: 978-0-19-530484-8 This book includes some words that are, or are asserted to be, proprietary names or trademarks. Their inclusion does not imply that they have acquired for legal purposes a nonproprietary or general significance, nor is any other judgment implied concerning their legal status. In cases where the editor has some evidence that a word is used as a proprietary name or trademark, this is indicated by the designation trademark, but no judgment concerning the legal status of such words is made or implied thereby. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page v

Contents
Staff Preface Introduction How to Use This Dictionary Key to the Pronunciations Key to the Abbreviations vi vii viii xiv xv xvii

The Concise Oxford American Dictionary

Ready Reference Commonly Misspelled Words Guide to Punctuation Common Clichs to Avoid Redundant Expressions Proofreaders Marks Usage Notes How Words Are Built: Prefixes, Suffixes, and Combining Forms States of the United States of America Presidents of the United States of America Countries of the World Chemical Elements Standard Weights and Measures with Metric Equivalents and Conversions

1
1059 1061 1065 1071 1076 1080 1081 1099 1122 1123 1124 1129 1130

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page vi

Staff
Erin McKean, Editor in Chief Constance Baboukis, Managing Editor Carol Braham, Alan Hartley, Christine A. Lindberg, Senior Editors Johanna Baboukis, Orin Hargraves, Archie Hobson, Marina Padakis, Editors Grant Barrett, Assistant Editor Sandra Ban, Carol-June Cassidy, Sarah Hilliard, Keyboarders and Proofreaders Elizabeth Jerabek, Editorial Assistant Stephen Perkins, dataformat.com, LLC; Paul Hayslett, Programming, Design, and Composition

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page vii

Preface
The Concise Oxford American Dictionary, with more than 180,000 entries and definitions, is intended to be a convenient and complete dictionary for school, work, and home. The Oxford-exclusive core sense/subsense arrangement of definitions is geared to helping you find just the right meaning quickly and efficiently. Sample sentences or phrases for virtually every sense show words in illuminating contexts, and over a thousand fascinating word histories provide useful background on both common and unusual words. More than three hundred illustrations are included, carefully chosen to provide maximum information in places where only a picture will do. The back of the book contains a handy and useful ready reference guide, with information about weights and measures, chemical elements, states and presidents, frequently misspelled words, punctuation, gentle guidance about problematic words, and more. A dictionary should be a tool for daily use, not a dreaded last resort. We have tried to create not just a book that will satisfy your desire for clear, accurate, and helpful information about words and meanings, but one that is pleasant, easy to use, and a genial companion in your work and leisure. Erin McKean Editor in Chief U.S. Dictionaries Oxford University Press

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page viii

Introduction
The Concise Oxford American Dictionary is designed to be easy to use and largely selfexplanatory. Specialized dictionary symbols and conventions have been avoided wherever possible. These notes are provided as extra help for the user, and as a guide to the structure and principles behind this dictionary.

Structure: Core Sense and Subsense

The first part of speech is the primary one for that word: thus, for bag and balloon the senses of the noun are given before those for the verb, while for babble and bake the senses of the verb are given before those of the noun. Within each part of speech, the first definition given is the core sense. The core sense is the typical, central, or core meaning of the word in modern American English. The core sense is the one that represents the most literal sense that the word has in ordinary modern American usage. This is not necessarily the same as the oldest meaning, because word meanings change over time. Nor is it necessarily the most frequent meaning, because figurative senses are sometimes the most frequent. It is the meaning accepted by native speakers as the one that is most established as literal and central. Each word has at least one core sense, which can act as a gateway to other, related subsenses. These subsenses are grouped under the core sense, each one being introduced by a solid square symbol.
cocoon /k/ekn/

n. a silky case spun by the larvae of many insects for protection as pupae. a similar structure made by other animals. a covering that prevents the cor rosion of metal equipment. something that envelops or surrounds, esp. in a protective or comforting way: the cocoon of her kimono | fig. a warm cocoon of love.

There is a logical relationship between each subsense and the core sense under which it appears. The organization of senses according to this logical relationship is designed to help the user, not only in being able to navigate the entry more easily and find relevant senses more readily, but also in building up an understanding of how senses in the language relate to one another. Many entries have just one core sense. However some entries are more complex and have different strands of meaning, each constituting a core sense. In this case, each core sense is introduced by a bold sense number, and each potentially has its own block of subsenses relating to it.

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page ix

ix

Introduction

Labels
Unless otherwise stated, the words and senses recorded in this dictionary are all part of standard English; that is, they are in normal use in both speech and writing everywhere in the world, at many different levels of formality, ranging from official documents to casual conversation. Some words, however, are appropriate only in particular contexts, and these are labeled accordingly. The Concise Oxford American Dictionary uses the following labels:
archaic: very old-fashioned language, not in ordinary use at all today, but sometimes used

to give a deliberately old-fashioned effect, or found in works of the past that are still widely read. dated: no longer used by the majority of English speakers, but still encountered occasionally, especially among the older generation. derog.: derogatory: language intended to convey a low opinion or cause personal offense. dial.: dialect: not used in standard American English, but still widely used in certain local regions of the United States. fig.: figurative: normally used only in nonliteral contexts, or metaphorically formal: normally used only in writing, in contexts such as official documents. hist.: historical: still used today, but only to refer to some practice or artifact that is no longer part of the modern world. humorous: used with the intention of sounding funny, ironic, or playful. inf: informal: normally used only in contexts such as conversations or letters between friends. offens: offensive: language that is likely to cause offense, particularly racial offense, whether the speaker intends it or not. poetic/lit.: found only or mainly in poetry or in literature written in an elevated style. rare: not in normal use. technical: normally used only in technical and specialist language, though not necessarily restricted to any specific subject field. vulgar slang: informal language that may cause offense, often because it refers to the bodily functions of sexual activity or excretion, which are still widely regarded as taboo.

Labels are also used to indicate a word is used in a particular region or area (Brit., Austral./NZ) or that it is associated with a subject field or specialist activity (Zool., Philately).

Grammar
The Concise Oxford American Dictionary is based on a rigorous examination of the grammatical structures of American English. This information is used to organize entries and define words, but, for the most part, is not made explicit in the definitions. Grammatical information is provided when particular usages are controversial, confusing, or ambiguous.

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page x

Introduction

Patterns that are very frequent or nearly obligatory are presented in bold text, either before the definition or in the example:
push (push for) demand persistently. sound question (someone), typically in a cautious or discreet way, as to their opin ions or feelings on a subject: well sound out our representatives first. gouge (gouge something out) cut or force something out roughly or brutally: one of his eyes had been gouged out.

When a verb or noun is often used as an adjective, or an adjective is used as a noun, this is indicated either before the definition or in the example.
accordion [as adj.] folding like the bellows of an accordion: an accordion pleat. restate state (something) again or differently, esp. in order to correct or to make more clear or convincing: he restated his opposition to abortion | [as adj.] restated earnings. absurd adj. (of an idea or suggestion) wildly unreasonable, illogical, or inappro priate: it would be absurd to blame contemporary Germans for Nazi crimes | [as n.] (the absurd) he had a keen eye for the absurd.

A few other explicit labels are used:

[treated as sing.]: used to mark a noun that is plural in form but is used with a singular verb,

e.g., mumps in mumps is one of the major childhood diseases or genetics in genetics has played a major role in this work. [treated as sing. or pl.]: used to mark a noun that can be used with either a singular or a plural verb without any change in meaning or in the form of the headword (often called collective nouns, because they typically denote groups of people considered collectively), e.g., the staff are committed to this policy or the staff is trying to gag its critics. [tr.]: used to mark a verb that is transitive, i.e., takes a direct object (the type of direct object often being shown in parentheses in the definition), e.g., escort [tr.] accompany (someone or something) somewhere, esp. for protec
tion or security, or as a mark of rank: Shiona escorted Janice to the door. [intr.]: used to mark a verb that is intransitive, i.e., takes no direct object, e.g., abound v. [intr.] exist in large numbers or amounts: rumors of a further scandal abound. [attrib.]: used to mark an adjective that is normally used attributively, i.e., comes before the

noun that it modifies, e.g., leading in a leading politician (not the politician is leading, which has a different meaning). Note that attributive use is standard for many adjectives, especially in specialist fields: the [attrib.] label is used only to mark those cases in which predicative use would be less usual.

Spelling
The Concise Oxford American Dictionary gives advice and information on spelling, particularly those cases that are irregular or that otherwise cause difficulty for native speakers. The main categories are summarized in the following.

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page xi

xi

Introduction

Variant spellings
The main form of each word given in the Concise Oxford American Dictionary is always the standard American spelling. If there is a standard variant, e.g., a standard British spelling variant, this is indicated at the top of the entry and is cross-referred if its alphabetical position is more than ten entries distant from the main entry.
color (Brit. colour) mockumentary (also mocumentary) foetid variant spelling of FETID.

Other variants, such as archaic, old-fashioned, or informal spellings, are cross-referred to the main entry, but are not themselves listed at the parent entry.
scollop archaic spelling of SCALLOP.

Hyphenation
Although standard spelling in English is fixed, the use of hyphenation is not. In standard American English, a few general rules are followed, and these are outlined below. Hyphenation of noun compounds: There is no hard-and-fast rule to determine whether, for example, airstream, air stream, or air-stream is correct. All forms are found in use: all are recorded in the Oxford databank and other standard texts. However, there is a broad tendency to avoid hyphenation for noun compounds in modern English (except when used to show grammatical function: see below). Thus there is, for example, a preference for airstream rather than air-stream, and for air raid rather than air-raid. Although this is a tendency in both American and British English, there is an additional preference in American English for the form to be one word and in British English for the form to be two words; e.g., airfare tends to be the most common form in American English, while air fare tends to be the most common form in British English. To save space and avoid confusion, only one of the three potential forms of each noun compound (the standard American one) is generally used as the headword form in the Concise Oxford American Dictionary. This does not, however, imply that other forms are incorrect or not used. Grammatical function: Hyphens are also used to perform certain grammatical functions. When a noun compound made up of two separate words (e.g., credit card) is placed before another noun and used to modify it, the general rule is that the noun compound becomes hyphenated, e.g., I have overused my credit card and am now in credit-card debt. This sort of regular alternation is seen in example sentences in the Concise Oxford American Dictionary but is not otherwise explicitly mentioned in the dictionary entries. A similar alternation is found in compound adjectives such as well intentioned. When used predicatively (i.e., after the verb), such adjectives are unhyphenated, but when used attributively (i.e., before the noun), they are hyphenated: his remarks were well intentioned; a well-intentioned remark. A general rule governing verb compounds means that, where a noun compound is two

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page xii

Introduction

xii

words (e.g., beta test), any verb derived from it is normally hyphenated (the system was beta-tested). Similarly, verbal nouns and adjectives are more often hyphenated than ordinary noun or adjective compounds (e.g., epoch-making, nation-building).

Inflection
Compared with other languages, English has comparatively few inflections, and those that exist are remarkably regular. We add an s to most nouns to make a plural; we add ed to most verbs to make a past tense or a past participle, and ing to make a present participle. Occasionally, a difficulty arises: for example, a single consonant after a short stressed vowel is doubled before adding ed or ing (hum, hums, humming, hummed). In addition, words borrowed from other languages generally bring their foreign inflections with them, causing problems for English speakers who are not proficient in those languages. In all such cases, guidance is given in the Concise Oxford American Dictionary. The main areas covered are outlined below.

Verbs
The following forms are regarded as regular and are therefore not shown in the dictionary: third person singular present forms adding s to the stem (or es to stems ending in s, x, z, sh, or soft ch), e.g., find finds; crush crushes past tenses and past participles dropping a final silent e and adding ed to the stem, e.g., change changed; dance danced present participles dropping a final silent e and adding ing to the stem, e.g., change changing; dance dancing Other forms are given in the dictionary, notably for: verbs that inflect by doubling a consonant, e.g., bat batted, batting verbs ending in y that inflect by changing y to i, e.g., try tries, tried verbs in which past tense and past participle do not follow the regular ed pattern, e.g., feel past felt; awake past awoke; past part. awoken present participles that add ing but retain a final e (in order to make clear that the pronunciation of g remains soft), e.g., singe singeing

Nouns
Plurals formed by adding s (or es when they end in s, x, z, sh, or soft ch) are regarded as regular and are not shown, e.g., dog dogs; lunch lunches. Other plural forms are given in the dictionary, notably for: nouns ending in i or o, e.g., agouti agoutis; albino albinos nouns ending in a, um, or us that are or appear to be Latinate forms, e.g., alumna alumnae; spectrum spectra; alveolus alveoli nouns ending in y, e.g., fly flies; party parties nouns with more than one plural form, e.g., crux cruxes or cruces; money moneys or monies

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page xiii

xiii

Introduction

nouns with plurals showing a change in the stem, e.g., foot feet; louse lice nouns with plurals unchanged from the singular form are indicated by (pl. same). for polysyllabic words, only the changed syllables are shown.

Adjectives
The following forms for comparative and superlative are regarded as regular and are not shown in the dictionary: words of one syllable adding er and est, e.g., great greater, greatest words of one syllable ending in silent e, which drop the e and add er and est, e.g., brave braver, bravest words that form the comparative and superlative by adding more and most; e.g., beautiful more beautiful, most beautiful Other forms are given in the dictionary, notably for: adjectives that form the comparative and superlative by doubling a final consonant, e.g., hot hotter, hottest two-syllable adjectives that form the comparative and superlative with er and est (typically adjectives ending in y and their negative forms), e.g., happy happier, happiest; unhappy unhappier, unhappiest only the changed final syllables are shown.

Syllabification
In the Concise Oxford American Dictionary, syllable breaks are shown for main entries and derivatives. Although all possible breaks are shown, there are some conventions that govern how writers break words at the ends of lines. Guidelines include: Avoid a break that will leave one letter and a hyphen at the end of the line or one letter (or one letter and a punctuation mark such as a period) at the beginning of a line. Avoid breaking a word that is already hyphenated except at that hyphen (e.g., selfaffirmation; leather-bound). Never break proper names. Avoid breaking abbreviations.

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page xiv

How to Use This Dictionary

Part of speech
bag /bag/ n. 1 a container of flexible material with an opening at the

Each new part of speech (introduced by )

Verb inflections

Phrases (introduced by )

Typical form (in bold)

Derivatives (introduced by )

Pronunciation

Homograph number (indicates different word with the same spelling)

top, used for carrying things: brown paper bags. an amount held by such a container: a bag of apples. a thing resembling a bag in shape. a womans handbag or purse. a piece of luggage: she began to unpack her bags. Baseball a base. 2 the amount of game shot by a hunter. 3 (usu. bags) a loose fold of skin under a persons eye: the bags under his eyes gave him a sad appearance. 4 inf., derog. a woman, esp. an older one, perceived as unpleasant, bad tempered, or unattractive: an interfering old bag. 5 (ones bag) inf. ones particular interest or taste: if religion and politics are your bag, youll find something to interest you here. v. (bagged, bagging) [tr.] 1 put (something) in a bag: customers bagged their own groceries. 2 (of a hunter) succeed in killing or catching an animal: in 1979, handgun hunters bagged 677 deer. fig. succeed in secur ing (something): weve bagged three awards for excellence. inf. take, occupy, or reserve (something) before someone else can do so: get there early to bag a seat in the front row. 3 [intr.] (of clothes, esp. pants) hang loosely or lose shape: these trousers never bag at the knee. 4 quit; give up on: it was a drag to be in the ninth grade at 17, so he bagged it. bagful /-ffl/ n. (pl. -fuls) . bag and baggage with all ones belongings: he threw her out bag and baggage. in the bag inf. 1 (of something desirable) as good as secured: the election is in the bag. 2 drunk: I dont think my parents even suspected that I was half in the bag. bagatelle /fbag/etel/ n. 1 a thing of little importance; a very easy task: dealing with these boats was a mere bagatelle for the worlds oldest yacht club. 2 a short, light piece of music, esp. one for the piano. bagel /ebMg/l/ n. a dense bread roll in the shape of a ring, made by boiling dough and then baking it. baggage /ebagij/ n. personal belongings packed in suitcases for trav eling; luggage. fig. past experiences or long held ideas regarded as burdens and impediments: the emotional baggage Im hauling around. baggy /ebagN/ adj. (-gier, -giest) (of clothing) loose and hanging in folds: baggy pants. (of eyes) with folds of puffy skin below them. baggily /ebag/lN/ adv. bagginess n. bag lady n. inf. a homeless woman who carries her possessions in shopping bags. bagman /ebagfman; -m/n/ n. (pl. -men) inf. an agent who collects or distributes the proceeds of illicit activities: one million dollars cash paid to the generals bagman. bagpipe /ebagfpOp/ n. (usu. bagpipes) a musical instrument with reed pipes that are sounded by the pressure of wind emit ted from a bag squeezed by the players arm. Bagpipes are associated esp. with Scotland, but are also used in folk music in Ireland, Northumberland, and France. bagpiper /ebagfpOp/r/ n. baguette /baeget / n. 1 a long, narrow loaf of French bread. 2 a gem, esp. a diamond, cut in a long rectangular shape: a baguette bagpipes diamond. bah /b/ interj. an expression of contempt or disagreement: You think it was an accident? Bah! Bahai /b/ehO/ (also Bahai) n. (pl. -hais) a monotheistic religion founded in the 19th century as a development of Babism, emphasiz ing the essential oneness of humankind and of all religions and seek ing world peace. The Bahai faith was founded by the Persian Bahaul lah (181792) and his son Abdul Baha (18441921). an adherent of the Bahai faith. Bahaism /-fiz/m/ n. bail1 /bMl/ n. the temporary release of an accused person awaiting trial, sometimes on condition that a sum of money be lodged to guar antee their appearance in court: he has been released on bail. money paid by or for such a person as security. v. [tr.] (usu. be bailed) release or secure the release of (a prisoner) on payment of bail: his son called home to get bailed out of jail. bailable adj. jump bail inf. fail to appear for trial after being released on bail: he jumped bail and was on the run until his arrest. post bail pay a sum of money as bail: I posted bail for him. bail2 n. 1 a bar that holds something in place, in particular: Fishing a bar that guides fishing line on a reel. a bar on a typewriter or

Subsenses (introduced by ) Subject label

Label (showing level of formality) Grammatical information (in square brackets)

Plural form

Variant spelling

Common collocation (highlighted within the example)

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page xv

Key to the Pronunciations

This dictionary uses a simple respelling system to show how entries are pronounced, using the symbols listed below. Generally, only the first of two or more identical headwords will have a pronunciation respelling. Where a derivative simply adds a common suffix such as -ment, -ness, or -ly to the headword, the derivative may not have a pronunciation respelling unless some other element of the pronunciation also changes.
a M

as in hat /hat/, fashion /efaSH/n/ as in day /dM/, rate /rMt/ as in lot /lt/, father /efTH/r/, barn /brn/ b as in big /big/ CH as in church /CH/rCH/, picture /epikCH/r/ d as in dog /dg/, bed /bed/ e as in men /men/, bet /bet/, ferry /eferN/ N as in feet /fNt/, receive /riesNv/ e(/)r as in air /e(/)r/, care /ke(/)r/ / as in soda /esPd//, mother /em/TH/r/, her /h/r/ f as in free /frN/, graph /graf/, tough /t/f/ g as in get /get/, exist /igezist/ h as in her /h/r/, behave /biehMv/ i as in fit /fit/, women /ewimin/ O as in time /tOm/, hire /hO(/)r/, sky /skO/ i(/)r as in ear /i(/)r/, pierce /pi(/)rs/ j as in judge /j/j/, carriage /ekarij/ k as in kettle /eketl/, cut /k/t/, quick /kwik/ l as in lap /lap/, cellar /esel/r/, cradle /ekrMdl/ m as in main /mMn/, dam /dam/ n as in need /nNd/, honor /en/r/, maiden /emMdn/ NG as in sing /siNG/, anger /eaNGg/r/ P as in go /gP/, promote /pr/emPt/

oi ou p r s

as in law /l/, thought /THt/, lore /lr/ as in boy /boi/, noisy /enoizN/ as in wood /wd/, sure /SHr/ as in food /fd/, music /emyzik/ as in mouse /mous/, coward /ekou-/rd/ as in put /pt/, cap /kap/ as in run /r/n/, fur /f/r/, spirit /espirit/ as in sit /sit/, lesson /eles/n/, face /fMs/ SH as in shut /SH/t/, social /esPSH/l/ t as in top /tp/, seat /sNt/, forty /efrte/ TH as in thin /THin/, truth /trTH/ TH as in then /THen/, father /efTH/r/ v as in very /everN/, never /enev/r/ w as in wait /wMt/, quit /kwit/ (h)w as in when /(h)wen/, which /(h)wiCH/ y as in yet /yet/, accuse //ekyz/ z as in zipper /ezip/r/, musician /myeziSH/n/ ZH as in measure /emeZH/r/, vision /eviZH/n/

Foreign Sounds
KH N

as in loch /lKH/, Hanukkah /eKHn/k// as in en route /N ert/, bon mot /fbN emP/ as in hors doeuvre /r edvr//, adieu /edy/ as in couture /ketYr/

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page xvi

Key to Pronunciations

xvi

Stress Marks
Stress (or accent) is represented by marks placed before the affected syllable. The primary stress mark is a short, raised vertical line /e/ which signifies that the heaviest emphasis should be placed on the syllable that follows. The secondary stress mark is a short, lowered vertical line /f/ which signifies a somewhat weaker emphasis than on the syllable with primary stress.

Variant Pronunciations
There are several ways in which variant pronunciations are indicated in the respellings. Some respellings show a pronunciation symbol within parentheses to indicate a possible variation in pronunciation; for example, in sandwich /esan(d)wiCH/. Variant pronunciations may be respelled in full, separated by semicolons. The more common pronunciation is listed first, if this can be determined, but many variants are of equal status. Variant pronunciations may be indicated by respelling only the part of the word that changes. A hyphen will replace the part of the pronunciation that has remained the same. Note: A hyphen sometimes serves to separate syllables where the respelling might otherwise look confusing, as at reinforce /frN-inefrs/.

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page xvii

Key to the Abbreviations

abbr.; Abbr. adj. adv. Aeron. Afr. Anat. Anthropol. approx. Archaeol. Archit. Astrol. Astron. attrib. Austral. aux. Biochem. Biol. Bot. Brit. C c. Can. Chem. cm comb. Comput. conj. contr. Crystallog. cu. derog. dial. E. Ecol. Econ. abbreviation adjective adverb Aeronautics African Anatomy Anthropology approximately Archaeology Architecture Astrology Astronomy attributive Australian auxiliary Biochemistry Biology Botany British Celsius century; circa (about) Canadian Chemistry centimeter, centimeters combination; combining Computing conjunction contraction Crystallography cubic derogatory dialect East Ecology Economics e.g. Electr. Entomol. esp. etc. F. fem. fig. fl. oz. ft. Geog. Geol. Geom. Gram. Hist. hist. i.e. in. inf. infin. interj. interrog. intr. kg km l lb. lit. m masc. Math. Med. Meteorol. mi. Mil. for example (exempli gratia) Electronics Entomology especially et cetera (and the rest) Fahrenheit feminine figurative fluid ounce, fluid ounces foot, feet Geography Geology Geometry Grammar History historical that is (id est) inch, inches informal infinitive interjection interrogative intransitive kilogram, kilograms kilometer, kilometers liter, liters pound, pounds literary meter, meters masculine Mathematics Medicine Meteorology mile, miles Military

dfc0151_FM.qxd

12/29/2005

2:56 PM

Page xviii

Key to the Abbrevations

xviii

ml mm Mus. Mythol. N. n. Naut. offens. orig. Ornithol. oz. part. Philos. Phonet. Photog. Physiol. pl. poss. prep. pres.

milliliter, milliliters millimeter, millimeters Music Mythology North noun Nautical offensive originally Ornithology ounce, ounces participle Philosophy Phonetics Photography Physiology plural possessive preposition present

pron. pronunc. Psychol. refl. rel. S. Scot. sing. sq. symb. Theol. tr. UK U.S. usu. v. var. W. yd. Zool.

pronoun pronunciation Psychology reflexive relative South Scottish singular square symbol Theology transitive United Kingdom United States usually verb variant West yard, yards Zoology