January 2009
31 posts
handsel, hansel, n.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: c1200 Vices & Virtues 29 Sum o{edh}er dwel hie driue{edh}, and segge{edh} {th}at he nafde naht gode han(d)sselle {edh}e him {th}at…
December 2008
31 posts
New Year, n.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: ?c1200 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 4230 Tatt da{ygh}{ygh} iss new {ygh}eress da{ygh}{ygh} Mang enngle {th}eode nemmnedd.
eminence: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1597 DANIEL Civ. Wares VI. xxxiii, Devotion..abates the spirit of eminence.
hegira, hejira, hijra(h: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1590 L. LLOYD Consent of Time 709 (Stanf.) Neither the Arabians of their Hegyra.
scoop, v.1: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: c1330 R. BRUNNE Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8164 Do scope {th}is water, & turn {th}e borne.
chop, v.2: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: c1485 [see chop and change, 4a].
left-over, a. and n.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1891 Cassell’s Family Mag. May 374/1 They all like change of diet, so I provide all sorts of things, with the result that the…
manger, n.1: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: c1350 (a1333) WILLIAM OF SHOREHAM Poems (1902) 120 {Th}e oxe and asse in hare manyour.
mince pie, n.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1573 C. HOLLYBAND French Schoole-maister 94 O Lorde, he hath supped up all the brothe of this mince pie.
bandit: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1593 SHAKES. 2 Hen. VI, IV. i. 135 A Romane Sworder, and Bandetto slaue.
he-said-she-said, a. and n.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1944 F. O. MATTHIESSEN Henry James App. 157 Of more interest is the ‘he said{em}she said’ problem, upon which the older James could…
peep, v.1: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: a1475 in F. J. Furnivall Jyl of Breyntford’s Test. (1871) 30 Owre syre breche, when hit is torn, Hys pentyll pepythe owte beforn, Lyke…
ick, n. and int.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1942 BERREY & VAN DEN BARK Amer. Thes. Slang {section}576/28 Ick, ickie, icky, a devotee of ‘sweet’ music.
right-handed, a. (adv.): OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1398 TREVISA Barth. De P.R. V. xxviii. (Bodl. MS.), A womman is nought right handed and lifte handed.
flippy, a.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1957 J. KEROUAC Let. 17 May (1999) 35 Neal’s wife mad at me now for being bad influence on him, says at least you had ‘a…
nationalization, n.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1801 W. TAYLOR in J. W. Robberds Mem. (1843) I. 383 Does not this forebode the nationalization of liberty-politics at home?
weekday: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: c900 tr. Baeda’s Hist. III. v, {Th}aet hi {th}y feor{edh}an wicdae{asg}e & {th}y syxtan faestan to nones.
establishmentarian, a. and n.: OED Word of the... →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1846 HOOK Educ. People 37 Those who, like myself, are called High Churchmen, have little or no sympathy with mere Establishmentarians.
Montpellier, n.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1797 Encycl. Brit. I. 61/1 The [Acer] monspesulanum [sic], or Montpelier maple, is common in the south of France and in Italy; but is…
crested, ppl. a.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: c1380 Sir Ferumb. 4541 With an hard crested serpentis fel.
implement, v.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1806 Petit. T. Gillies of Balmakewan 23 (Jam.) This was an obligation incumbent upon him, which the petitioners were entitled to insist…
felt, n.1: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: c1000 AeLFRIC Gloss. in Wr.-Wulcker 120 Centrum, uel filtrum, felt.
mallet, n.1: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: c1400 Femina 69 Vnqore auez vn mallet..{ygh}yt haue {ygh}e a maylet.
sprightly, a. and adv.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1596 NASHE Saffron Walden To Rdr., Frisking come aloft sprightly Mercury, that hath wings for his moustachies, wings for his ey-browes,…
deboard, v.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1960 Washington Post 28 Feb. E1/2 Sorry you got stuck with my hat in deboarding Eastern Airlines flight 614.
decoct, v.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: c1420 [see DECOCT ppl. a.].
convulsive, a. (n.): OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1615 CROOKE Body of Man 250 There is a threefold motion of the wombe, one altogether naturall, another altogether Symptomicall and…
excellently, adv.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: c1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2423 {Th}es wer forne {th}e freest {th}at fol{ygh}ed alle {th}e sele, Ex-ellently of alle {th}yse o{th}er.
precarious, adj.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1638 G. LANGBAINE tr. G. Ranchin Rev. Councell Trent VI. ii. 311 Bishops who loose that which belongs unto them, having it onely by way…
endanger, v.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: 1477 J. PASTON in Paston Lett. No. 790 III. 179 He..is fere endangeryd to dyvers in thys contrey.
plausibility, n.: OED Word of the Day →
Today’s word from the OED has the following earliest quotation: a1558 R. BEST in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1589) II. 323 He..was conducted through the Citie of London..with great admiration and…