Pocket Fowler's Modern English Usage

Pocket Fowler's Modern English Usage
Oxford University Press 2000, 2003 Published by Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford is a registered trade mark 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, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organisatio n. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be se nt to the Rights Department Oxford University Press.
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Abbreviations Abbreviations, other than the standard ones, have been restricted to a handful o f frequently occurring items: AmE American English BrE British English c century (19c = 19th century, and so on) ME Middle English (from 1150 to 1500) OE Old English (up to 1150)
The following bibliographical references are used: Fowler (1926) H.W. Fowler, A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926) Fowlers (1906) H.W. and F.G. Fowler, The King's English (1906; a second edition was published in 1907 and a third in 1931) Gowers (1965) Sir Ernest Gowers, A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (second ed ition, 1965) OED Oxford English Dictionary OED2 Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)
Phonetic transcriptions The letters used to indicate pronunciations are those of the ordinary English al phabet with their normal values. The following special cases should be mentioned : the indeterminate sound as in garden and porter ah as in dark aw as in awful and born dh as in this iy as in jce oh as in bone oo as in boot oo- as in sure ow as in cow uh as in book zh as in measure
Primary stress is indicated by bold type, e.g. the noun project is given as proj -ekt, and the verb as pr-jekt.
* * *
a, an, called the indefinite article (or, by some grammarians, determiner). In origin, a and its by-form an are versions of the Old English an meaning òne'. 1 Before all normal words or diphthongs an is required (an actor, an llness, an Old Master, an uncle). Before a syllable beginning in its m with a vowel but pronounced with a consonantal sound, a is used (a nit, a use; a one, a once-only). Before all consonants except silent eagle, an i written for eulogy, a u h, a is usu
al: a book, a history, a home, a household name, a memorial service, a puddle, a young man; but, with silent h, an hour, an honour. 2 In most circumstances a is pronounced with an unstressed indeterminate sound o r n, but it is sometimes emphasized as ay or an in slow diction or to emphasize singleness (I said a piece, not several). Practice differs with h-words in which the first syllable is unstressed: a (or an) habitual criminal; a (or an) hotel. There is evidence, especially in written English, for the continued use of an b efore habitual, historian, historic(al), horrific, and horrendous, but the choic e of form remains open. However, an hotel now sounds dated (1930s) and a hotel i s more usual. 3 With single letters and groups of letters that are pronounced as individual le tters, be guided by the pronunciation: a B road, a TUC leader; but an A road, an FA Cup match, an SAS unit (assuming the abbreviations are not mentally expanded to their full forms, which would alter the choice). 4 A and an normally precede the word or words they determine (a popular person, an ugly building), but it follows the adjectives many, such, and what (many a ye ar, such a family, what an awful nuisance!). It also follows any adjective prece ded by as or how (Iris Murdoch is as good a writer as Virginia Woolf / He did no t realize how tiresome a person he could be) and often an adjective preceded by so (So bold a move deserved success), although such is now more usual (Such a bo ld move deserved success). In some circumstances the positioning is optional: ei ther before or after an adjective preceded by too (too strict a regime or a too strict regime) and before or after the adverbs quite and rather (at quite an ear ly hour or at a quite early hour; it's rather a hard puzzle or it's a rather har d puzzle). With few and lot, however, the only possible order is quite a few and quite a lot. A good few is now commonly used. 5 A and an are also used to distinguish a particular person or artistic or liter ary creation: Do you know a Lucy Smith? / They own a Van Gogh / She plays a Broa dwood [piano]; and to denote a standard quantity of something that is normally u ncountable: Do you want a beer? / I've been trying a new cheese. Note also the f ollowing uses in time measurement: once a fortnight, 20,000 a year, half an hour, 50 miles an hour. 6 The indefinite article has been used with nouns of multitude (a dozen eggs, a million pounds) for centuries. A fairly recent extension of this use is with an adjective (usually the present or past participle of a verb) between article and noun: The police found themselves confronted by an estimated two hundred youths / The dyke was an astonishing 30 feet wide.
Back - New Search abacus. The normal plural is abacuses.
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abbreviations.
There are several kinds of abbreviations: shortenings, contractions, initialisms , and acronyms. 1 Shortenings of words, though formerly condemned by literary figures such as Ad dison and Pope (18c), are now a common convention, with varying degrees of forma lity (ad = advertisement, bike = bicycle, pub = public house, rhino = rhinoceros , telly = television). Some are the usual forms, with the original forms now reg arded as formal or technical (bus = omnibus, fridge = refrigerator, gym = gymnas ium, turps = turpentine, zoo = zoological garden). 2 Contractions are a type of shortening in which letters from the middle of the word are omitted (Dr = doctor, St = saint) and are sometimes marked as omitted b y use of an apostrophe (can't = cannot, we've = we have). 3 Initialisms are abbreviations consisting of a sequence of the initial letters of words that are pronounced as separate letters: a.m., BBC, DoE, MP, UN. Practi ce varies as to including full points between the letters; the style recommended here is not to include them when all the initials are capitals and in some othe r cases. When the form has a plural, this is formed by adding an -s, now normall y without an apostrophe (e.g. MPs rather than MP's). Possessives are formed in t he usual way (e.g. MP's singular, MPs' plural). 4 Acronyms are initialisms that have gone one stage further and acquired the sta tus of words, being pronounced and treated grammatically as such (Aids, Nato, ra dar). In some cases the original expansions have become irrelevant, as with lase r and radar. (See more fully at ACRONYM.)
Back - New Search abdomen. Stress is normally on the first syllable.
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abduction (18c) is the forcible leading away of a minor (with or without the minor's conse nt) for marriage or seduction or the breaking of a legal custodial arrangement f or the children of divorced parents. Although there is some overlap in meaning w ith kidnap (late 17c), kidnapping is not restricted to minors and is usually don e for the purpose of demanding a ransom from the victim's family or employers. T he more recent hijacking (20c, of unknown origin) applies specifically to vehicl es, especially aircraft. All three words were applied to the seizure and detenti on of political hostages in the Middle East in the 1980s. Carjacking is a very r ecent (1990s) urban development.
Back - New Search abductor is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search abetter is spelt -er, but -or in legal terminology.
Back - New Search abide is now limited to two main meanings, and has lost many others over seven centuri es of use along with several redundant inflections, including abode. The princip al meaning `to bear, tolerate' is now only used in negative contexts, usually with a modal auxiliary verb (Those ordinary Aryan Australian girls whose coarse complexions and lumpy featur es he could not abideH. Jacobsen , 1986). Its other main meaning in current use i s with by, meaning `to stand firm by' (We must abide by our decision). In its other meanings, it tends to be used mostly in the present tense, most famously as an i mperative in a hymn (Abide with me; fast falls the eventideH.F. Lyte , 19c), or as a participial adje ctive (I accept this award with an abiding faith in America Luther , 1964, accepting th e Nobel Peace Prize).
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abjure, adjure. Abjure means `to renounce on oath' (He had abjured, he thought, all superstitions Murdoch , 1985) and to abjure one' s country (or realm) is to swear to abandon it for ever. By contrast, adjure mea ns `to request earnestly' with or (now) more frequently without an oath (They were a ll talking at once, adjuring each other to have fresh cups of tea). Neither word is in everyday use, but they are found in literature and can cause confusion wh en wrongly used.
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-able, -ible. 1 GENERAL. These two suffixes are derived from Latin endings -abilis and -ibilis , either directly or through Old French. Of the two, -able is an active suffix t hat can be freely added to the stems of transitive verbs, whereas the set of -ib le words is a closed one with meanings that are less susceptible to analysis. A few words exist in both forms (e.g. collectable and collectible); others appear to but differ in meaning (e.g. passable, passible). Most words are formed from v erbs, but some are formed from nouns (e.g. comfortable, peaceable).
2 MEANING. The primary meaning these suffixes convey is àble to be -ed' or `capable o f being -ed', e.g. bearable, curable, manageable. Some meanings, however, are acti ve rather than passive, e.g. agreeable = willing to agree, changeable = apt to c hange, comfortable = able to give comfort, viable = able to live. Others, such a s reliable, are formed somewhat in defiance of syntax (here, on is suppressed). Many words acquire special meanings, e.g. actionable, appreciable, biddable, cre ditable, disposable, forgettable, incredible, noticeable, passable, remarkable, reprehensible, tolerable, unspeakable.Top
3 SPELLING PROBLEMS. Some formations require alteration of the stem, since both suffixes begin with a vowel. The most important are: a Words in -y (preceded by a consonant) change y to i: dutiable, rectifiable, un deniable. But note employable, enjoyable. b With some exceptions, words in silent -e lose the e when -able is added: adora ble, excusable, lovable, losable, removable, usable. But note the preferred form s giveable, hireable, likeable, nameable, rateable, saleable. c Words in -ce and -ge normally retain the e: bridgeable, changeable, chargeable , noticeable, peaceable. d Words of more than two syllables ending in -ate lose this ending when -able is added: alienable (not alienatable), appreciable (has special meaning), calculab le, demonstrable, estimable (has special meaning), inestimable (has special mean ing), penetrable, tolerable. However, words of two syllables would not be viable without the ending and therefore retain it: creatable, debatable, dictatable, l ocatable, translatable. e A final consonant is normally doubled when it is doubled in ordinary inflectio n: biddable, forgettable, regrettable. f Words of more than one syllable ending in -fer double the r when the stress is on the final syllable, but do not when the stress is earlier in the word: confe rrable, deferrable, offerable, preferable, profferable, sufferable (but in trans ferable the stress is variable on the first two syllables). Infer makes inferabl e and inferrable, and refer makes referable and referrable. The following table shows the principal forms in -able and -ible, and also shows forms that are liable to be confused (e.g. impassable and impassible) WORDS END
ING IN -ABLE abominable copiable extendable actionable creatable (also extendible, adaptable creditable extensible) administrable curable feeable admittable datable finable also admissible) debatable foreseeable adorable declinable forgettable advisable defendable forgivable agreeable (in literal meanings; see also framable alienable defensible) gettable amenable deferable giveable amiable definable hireable analysable delineable illimitable appreciable demonstrable immovable arguable demurrable immutable ascribable deniable impalpable assessable desirable impassable atonable despicable (= unable to be crossed; see also impassible) available developable impeccable bearable dilatable imperturbable believable dispensable implacable blameable disposable impressionable bribable dissolvable improvable bridgeable drivable indefatigable calculable durable indescribable capable dutiable indispensable changeable eatable indubitable chargeable educable (= able to be educated; see also educible) inflatable clubbable endorsable inimitable collectable equable insufferable
comfortable equitable irreconcilable conceivable evadable irreplaceable conferrable excisable justifiable confinable excitable knowledgeable confusable excusable laughable consolable expandable (also expansible) leviable contractable expendable likeable (of a disease; see also contractible) expiable liveable losable permeable serviceable lovable persuadable sizeable machinable (also persuasible) solvable malleable pleasurable statutable manageable preferable storable manoeuvrable prescribable suitable marriageable preventable superannuable measurable pronounceable timeable mistakable provable tolerable movable rateable traceable readable tradable mutable receivable transferable nameable reconcilable tuneable noticeable rectifiable unconscionable objectionable registrable undeniable obtainable regrettable unexceptionable operable reliable unget-at-able palatable removable unknowable payable reputable unmistakable peaceable retractable unscalable penetrable saleable unshakeable perishable scalable usable
WORDS ENDING IN -IBLE accessible defensible extendible adducible (of an argument etc.; see also defendable) (also extendable, extensibl e) admissible (also admittable) destructible feasible audible diffusible flexible avertible digestible gullible collapsible dirigible impassible comprehensible discernible (= unfeeling; see contemptible discussible also impassable) contractible dismissible inaudible (= able to be divisible incorrigible shrunk; see also educible (= able to be incredible contractable) educed; see also educable) indelible convertible eligible indigestible credible exhaustible indivisible deducible expansible infallible deductible expressible inflexible intangible negligible reproducible invincible ostensible resistible invisible perceptible responsible irascible perfectible reversible irreducible permissible risible irrepressible persuasible suggestible irresponsible (also persuadable) suppressible irresistible plausible susceptible irreversible reducible legible reprehensible
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Back - New Search abled, meaning àble-bodied, not disabled', is a revival of an obsolete 16c word, and is fi rst recorded in print in the US in the 1980s. It is rapidly spreading, in variou s combinations, to denote a particular ability: Deaf dogs should have the same right to compete against their hearing-abled peer sDog World, 1993. More significantly, in the form differently abled (or otherly a bled) it has been adopted as a term of political correctness as a more positive alternative to disabled and handicapped: They were gentle kids, who took endless pains to guard against what they referre d to as `the exploitation of the differently abled'A. Maupin , 1992.
Back - New Search ableism, meaning `discrimination in favour of the abled' (i.e. against the disabled), is one of the newest -ism words, first recorded in the US in the early 1980s. There is a corresponding adjective and noun ableist: The cover design appears to be rather male-dominated, white, ableistRouge, 1990 S o far both words seem settled in form, with little sign of variants ablism and a blist, although these may yet come. See -ISM.
Back - New Search able to. The construction to be able to (do something), with an active to-infinitive, is a natural part of the language, extending to inanimate as well as animate subjec ts (By his proceeding to the beach the next phase of the attack was able to proceedN ew Yorker, 1986). It plays a useful role in compensating for the deficiencies of can in the future and perfect tenses (will be able to / have not been able to), with modal verbs such as might (I might be able to), and with verbs such as bec ome, appear, and seem (They don't seem to be able to do it). When the infinitive is passive, however, it is better to use can or could, and to avoid able to, wh ich sounds too forced (No evidence that an air rifle was able to be firedTimes (heading of Law Report), 1988).
Back - New Search abode.
In the meaning à dwelling-place', abode is falling into disuse except in two fixed expressions: (of) no fixed abode, used of someone without a permanent address, a nd right of abode, especially as applied to citizens of Hong Kong who sought the right to settle in Britain after 1997. It has not entirely gone from literature in its ordinary use (The house, standing at the edge of a fairsized tract of woodland and once, perh aps, the abode of gamekeepers Amis , 1974).
Back - New Search abolishment, abolition. Both words date from the 16c and have been used principally with reference to co ncepts and institutions such as authority, laws, beliefs, feelings, and sins. In the 18c and 19c, abolition took on special meanings relating to the slave trade and capital punishment, which caused abolishment to be restricted to more neutr al and ad hoc uses emphasizing the process rather than the result (The deregulation of financial markets and abolishment of fixed commission ratesI nstitutional Investor (NEXIS), 1989 / It's a negation of him, an abolishment of him, like ripping a medal off his ches t Atwood in New Yorker, 1990).
Back - New Search aborigines. This Latinate word, specifically applied since the 16c to the inhabitants of a c ountry ab origine (from the beginning) has largely given way to aboriginals in t he plural. For the singular, the etymologically indefensible form Aborigine has become firmly established in Australia (early 19c); for the plural, use Aborigin als (with a capital initial letter, in Australian contexts, in both cases). The adjective is always Aboriginal. The abbreviated form Abo, used with varying degr ees of affection and hostility, is common in Australia, both as a noun and as an adjective.
Back - New Search abortive, aborted. The central meaning of abortive since the time of Shakespeare has been `coming to nought, fruitless, useless, unsuccessful'. It can be applied to attempts, efforts, missions, coups, proposals, etc., and to any action that proves to be unsuccess ful, even the most trivial (An abortive attempt to do the Times crosswordA.N. Wilson , 1982). Aborted is not , despite the protestations of the American writer William Safire , a better alt ernative, since it denotes actual failure whereas abortive can be used of failur e that is potential.
Back - New Search abound can have as its subject things that are plentiful or (followed by in or with) th e place where things are plentiful: Mulberry trees abound in Oxford [note that in goes with Oxford, not abound!] Morr is , 1978 / A few years since this country abounded in wild animalsA. Moorehead , 1963 / The text, written in Yinglish and American, abounds in euphemismsObserver, 1974. The word is also common intransitively with no complementation: When the idea of a university of the air was first floated, sceptics abounded.Lis tener, 1984.
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about. 1 AS A PREPOSITION. In the meaning `roughly, approximately' (eg. It took about ten m inutes, about is the usual BrE word; around is also used, and is much more commo n in AmE. Round about is more informal, and is largely confined to BrE.
2 MEANING `CONCERNING'. In this meaning, about is either a preposition or a conjunct ion (followed by which, how, etc.): (preposition) The quarrels were about money / (conjunction) There was a great deal of discussion about which versions should be used. Since the 1930s, the phrase to be about (something) has developed a sp ecial meaning `to be primarily concerned with' and even `to have as its aim', as in Love and war were about winning, not fair playA. Price , 1982. When precision is important, it is better to use a less ambiguous phrase, e.g. Love and war had wi nning as their purpose, and did not involve fair play. The phrase what it's all about is a clich, and should be restricted to less forma l contexts: They like the feeling that they have had to fight other men for possession. That is what it is all about, really. Brookner , 1984Top
3 USED INSTEAD OF OF. About is tending to replace of in uses such as We're more aware about it / The Vietnamese are disdainful about Chinese cooking / The issue about how such things are monitored.Top
4 BE ABOUT TO. In affirmative contexts, to be about to denotes intention: I am a
bout to go shopping. A more idiomatic negative use, not about to (do something), should only be used informally: I'm not about to foist something on the general public just for the sake of rele asing somethingRecord Mirror, 1982. In more formal usage, it is better to use one of several alternatives such as do not intend to (or, more emphatically, have n o intention of), am not likely to, etc.Top
Back - New Search abridgement is the better spelling, rather than abridgment.
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abrogate, arrogate. Abrogate means `to repel, annul, or cancel' and is used with reference to laws, rule s, treaties, and other formal agreements (The Cabinet clung stubbornly to the belief that the mere signing of the agreeme nt itself abrogated imperial preferential tariffsD. Aitchison , 1969 / He abrogated at once the Penal CodeW.H. Auden , 1969); arrogate means `to lay claim to without justification' (That sort of writing which has arrogated to itself the epithet `creative'D.J. Enrigh t , 1966 / The illegal but effective authority which the Assembly of the United Nations see med now to have arrogated to itselfH. Macmillan , 1971).
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absolutely. This word has a string of important meanings in the broad area ìn an absolute pos ition, manner, or degree', and can be applied to many domains of physical and conc eptual activity including language and politics. It has also come to be used as a mere intensive (absolutely awful, absolutely essential, absolutely out of the question). In conversation, absolutely is used àbsolutely' (i.e. without a grammati
cal complement) as a strong affirmative reply: Ìs he nice?' I asked Àbsolutely,' she said and glowedsource in British National Corpus, 1978 / `Communism was a form of Antichrist.' Òoh, absolutely, absolutely.'spoken material in Br itish National Corpus, 1993. With not, it is often used in speech as an emphatic refusal or denial: Because your mother insisted. Àbsolutely not.'B. Neil , 1993.
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absolve. 1 Pronunciation is now normally with -z-, not -s-.
2 The usual construction is with a direct object, or in the passive, followed by of or from: It absolved him of all responsibilityL.A.G. Strong , 1948 / Dollar was absolved of personal liability for the line's debtsTime, 1950 / Absolve me from all spot of sin Agee , 1950.Top
Back - New Search abstract nouns. The Fowlers (1906) and Gowers (1965) warned against the excessive use of abstrac t nouns, Gowers coining the term àbstractitis' as a label for his disapproval. The principal area of offence is in official documents and formal writing. The Fowle r brothers attacked `the farfetched, the abstract, the periphrastic, the long', and gave the following as an example: The signs of the times point to the necessity of the modification of the system of administration [rewrite as It is becoming c lear that the administrative system must be modified]. Gowers gave another examp le: Participation by the men in the control of the industry is non-existent [rew rite as The men have no part in the control of the industry].
Back - New Search abuse has in 20c developed a sinister violent meaning, `maltreatment or (especially sexu
al) assault of a person', and is now widely familiar in the specific context of ch ild abuse, of which various aspects include physical abuse, ritual abuse, sexual abuse, and even satanic abuse. At the same time its older meaning, `misuse or imp roper use', has been greatly extended in explicit combinations such as alcohol abu se, drug abuse, heroin abuse, solvent abuse, steroid abuse, etc., all associated with harmful or narcotic substances. Few semantic developments have such appall ing social implications as these.
Back - New Search abysmal, abyssal. The currency of these two words is in inverse proportion to that of the parent w ords: abysmal, with its figurative meaning `very bad' and a literal meaning relating to gorges, outer space, etc., is common, whereas abyssal is limited to technica l usage in oceanography, `belonging to one of the deepest levels of the ocean' (e.g. in the term abyssal floor). By contrast, abyss is still used (usually in figura tive use, e.g. They are staring into the abyss), whereas abysm is not. Examples of abysmal: (figurative) Some doctors have an abysmal lack of knowledge about the range of s ocial services availableBritish Medical Journal, 1975 / The day was hot, the organisation excellent, and the cricket of generally abysma l qualityWisden Cricket Monthly, 1992 / (literal) Far, far beneath in the abysmal seaP. Allardice , 1990.
Back - New Search academic. The central meanings of this word (òf or belonging to an academy or institution f or higher learning') survive, but a little more than a century ago it developed a depreciatory range of meanings `merely theoretical, having no practical applicatio ns': All the discussion, Sirs, isacademic. The war has begun alreadyH.G. Wells , 1929 / The strike was dismissed as `largely academic' by Merseyside Health AuthorityTimes, 1 990.
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accent. 1 The noun is stressed on the first syllable and the verb (meaning `to lay stress on, to emphasize' in various senses) on the second.
2 In general use, an accent is ìndividual, local, or national mode of pronunciati on', as in a Scottish accent, a slight accent, etc.: She had the accent of a good finishing school Braine , 1957 / `Crme de framboises,' she read in her governessy accentS. Hill , 1969 / She resembled Jackie Kennedy, butsurprisinglyhad a strong Scottish accentJ. Bow , 1 991. It is also used to mean the position of the stress in a word, and a sign pu t on a word in writing to mark a feature of its pronunciation: You must pronounce this all as one word with the accent on the first syllableC.S. Lewis , 1955. There are other special meanings in art and music. The meaning re lating to pronunciation is the earliest one, and has given rise to extended uses , in which accent means à distinctive feature or emphasis': After 1926 the accent was to lie on the development of technical educationR. Peth ybridge , 1990 / The early autumn of 1992 produced no less than four major auctions with an accen t on matters aeronauticalFlyPast, 1992. This use is common in advertising and mar keting: Accent is on comfort when you step in for a relaxing drinkpromotional material in British National Corpus, 1990s.Top
3 As a verb, accent means `to place an accent on (a word or syllable)'. In figurativ e meanings, accentuate is invariably used: I observed a severe grey skirt, the waist accentuated by a leather belt Golding , 1967 / Collingwood also has a rather learned look, accentuated by steel spectaclesR. Cob b , 1985.Top
Back - New Search accept, except. There is little danger of confusion in spoken contexts, since all they have in c ommon is their similar pronunciation in running discourse, but their spelling is open to confusion. David Crystal reports in his book Who Cares About English Us age? (1984) that several of 20 English undergraduates asked to choose between Sh all we accept / except his invitation to dinner chose except.
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access, accession. 1 AS NOUNS. The two words are hardly at all interchangeable: accession means arr ival or admission, whereas access means the opportunity of arriving or of admiss ion. Accordingly, accession to the throne means becoming sovereign, whereas acce ss to the throne means the right or opportunity to petition the sovereign. An ac cess of a physical or emotional feeling such as fever, fury, joy, despair, is a sudden attack of it regardless of the physical or emotional state beforehand; an accession of strength, or an accession to a library, is something added to an e xisting stock.
2 AS VERBS. Since the 1890s, to accession has meant `to enter as a new book in a l ibrary' (The new books have been promptly accessionedG.M. Jones , 1892). More recently, a ccess has taken on a verbal meaning `to gain access to (data held in a computer)', e .g. Design engineers can now access the computer directly through terminals in their officesScientific American, 1977. A possible metaphorical application of the com puting model of human behaviour may be seen in a new meaning in psychology: `to ex perience (deep feelings)', as in Deciding all of a sudden that he's got to do some grieving, learn to access his rageNew Republic, 1992. Use of the verb in more generalized contexts, such as The kitchen may be accessed from the dining room, should be avoided (use reach, app roach, enter, etc., or rephrase).Top
Back - New Search accessary, accessory. These two words come by different routes from the same Latin source of our word accede. In AmE, accessory is dominant both as a noun and as an adjective, and it has fast become so now in BrE, although accessary is still used occasionally (w here before it was used invariably) as a term in law in both varieties. But -ory is preferable in all meanings: As the one person who knew of their illegalities I felt I was becoming an access ory after the factS. Unwin , 1960 / If he buried the captain, as he says, he's an accessoryR. Macdonald , 1971 / Accessory ideas associated with the principal ideaM. Cohen , 1977. As a noun, accessory has become widely used in the 20c to refer to smaller artic les of dress (gloves, handbag, etc.) or the extras in a motor vehicle (fog-light s, radio, etc.). Example: Accessories may be considered essential to an outfit. Lurie , 1981.
Back - New Search accommodate, accommodation. These are among the most commonly misspelt words in English: there are two cs an d two ms. The verb accommodate is followed by to when it means àdapt' and by with w hen (less usually) it means `to equip, supply, oblige': e.g. His eyes quickly accommodated to the gloom/ Major Kent was accommodated with a hammock chairG.A. Birmingham , 1908.
Back - New Search accompanist is now the standard form of the word for à person who plays a musical accompanime nt'. The by-form accompanyist, used by Dickens , is now occasionally encountered i n AmE.
Back - New Search accomplice, accomplish. The standard pronunciation of both words is now -kum-, not -kom-.
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according. 1 ACCORDING AS. This is now well established as a subordinating conjunction mean ing `depending on whether, to the extent to which', despite Fowler's long warning (1 926) against its use: e.g. Llanaba Castle presents two quite different aspects, according as you approach i t from the Bangor or the coast road Waugh , 1928.
2 ACCORDING TO. This is used as a complex preposition, and means (a) in a manner that is consistent with (something), e.g. Everything went according to plan, (b ) as stated by (a person or authority), e.g. According to our records, the account is in credit / I have acted according to m y conscience Blunt , 1979 / (with an element of uncertainty or disbelief) Accordi ng to them, we're supposed to stay at home, (c) in a manner or degree that is in proportion to (something), e.g.
Arrange the blocks according to size and colour / My price varied from twenty to fifty pounds according to the neighbourhood and the customer Greene , 1966.Top
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account. The phrase on account of is a slightly formal preposition meaning `because of' (He remained miserable and ashamed, largely on account of his appetite which con tinued to torment him Brookner , 1988). Its use (with or without of) as a conjunc tion is non-standard: e.g. Take your three days off, Mr. Barlow, only don't expect to be paid for them on a ccount you're thinking up some fancy ideasE. Waugh , 1948 / Account of you think you're tough you're going up to State Prison where you'll h ave to prove itE. Leonard , 1994 (US).
Back - New Search accountable is mostly used in the construction to be accountable to someone for something: e .g. Labour MPs would at least have the authority to keep a Labour government account able to them for what they say and do Benn , 1979. Its old use as an opposite of unaccountable (By Georgeit was a very accountable obstinacy Eliot , 1876) is now rarely found.
Back - New Search accumulative see CUMULATIVE.
Back - New Search accusative is a grammatical term denoting a noun or pronoun that is governed by a verb or p reposition, e.g. house in Then we saw the house and They stood in front of the h ouse. In English it is only certain pronouns that change their form in the accus
ative (e.g. him, them, us): see CASES.
Back - New Search accuse is now always used in the construction to accuse someone of something: e.g. He accused the sound technicians of sabotaging the recordM. Puzo , 1969 / People jumped up and accused her of making common cause with the NazisD. May , 19 88. Other constructions (e.g The Romanists accuse the Protestants for their indifference Southey , 1809) have fallen out of use.
Back - New Search accused. The accused, meaning a person who has been accused in law, is an everyday use. T he or an accused man, person, banker, etc., in which the individuals are only ge nerically identified, are also routinely acceptable. It is inadvisable, however, to use expressions such as the accused thief or the accused rapist, which speci fy the type of criminal, since identification with the crime is in question by t he very use of the term accused (alleged might be a better word here).
Back - New Search Achilles' heel, Achilles' tendon. Use an apostrophe in both expressions for consistency, even though the connectio n with Achilles is remote in the second.
Back - New Search acid. Since the 1960s, when acid was first used to mean the hallucinogenic drug LSD, t he word has developed all the connotations of a sub-culture. Those taking drugs came to be called acid heads or acid freaks; and their way of life came to depen d on going on acid trips at acid parties to the sound of acid rock or acid jazz. More recently (1988), the (apparently unrelated) term Acid House (or just House ) has been applied to a style of music and dancing imported to Britain from Chic ago, and associated with widespread use of hallucinogenic drugs. These uses are striking examples of the transformation of the primary sense of a basic term in a technical subject, in this case chemistry.
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acid rain. Many people are surprised to learn that acid rain, i.e. rain with significantly increased acidity as a result of atmospheric pollution, is first recorded (with slightly different connotations) as early as 1859. Its wide currency in English across the world is recent, and especially since the problem was brought to the attention of the UN in 1972; it appeared first in technical writing and then pas sed rapidly into everyday use.
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acid test. When Fowler was preparing the first edition of Modern English Usage, he remarked that acid test was undoubtedly the popularized technical term `most in vogue at t he moment of writing (1920)'. In scientific use it meant the use of nitric acid to test for gold; in transferred use it had acquired the broad sense à severe or co nclusive test', a use that was popularized by Woodrow Wilson two years before Fowl er was writing (The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good willTimes, 1918). For other extensions of technica l terms see the table at POPULARIZED TECHNICALITIES.
Back - New Search acknowledgement. This spelling is preferred in BrE, although acknowledgment is more usual in AmE.
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acoustic. 1 PRONUNCIATION. Earlier in the 20c two pronunciations were competing with each other: one with -ow- and the other with -oo-. The second has prevailed, despite Fowler's prediction that ìf the word came into popular use, it would probably be with -ow-', based on traditional assumptions about the English pronunciation of Gr eek.
2 The noun acoustics is construed as singular when used to mean `the science of so und' (e.g. Acoustics is a branch of physics), and as plural when used to mean `the a
coustic properties of a building' (e.g. The acoustics of the cathedral are magnifi cent).Top
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acronym. 1 This term, which was first used in the 1940s, denotes a type of abbreviation m ade up of a set of initials that are pronounced as a single word, as Nato is (as distinct from BBC). An acronym is generally treated as a word in its own right in other ways, for example in the formation of plurals when appropriate. Example s of familiar acronyms include: Aids (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), Anza c (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), ASH (Action on Smoking and Health), S ALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks), Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scien tific, and Cultural Organization), and WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant). Some of these, especially the names of organizations, start off as ordinary abbrevia tions (often with full stops) and develop into acronyms; others (e.g. ASH) are d eliberately contrived so as to lend themselves to pronunciation as words and hen ce acquire acronym status artificially.
2 Examples of acronyms that form ordinary nouns are laser (light amplification b y stimulated emission of radiation), radar (radio detection and ranging), and SW OT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, strengths: used in business assessment s). Some general acronyms are highly forced, notably POSSLQ (person of the oppos ite sex sharing living quarters, often pronounced poss-lk).Top
3 In everyday use, acronym is sometimes applied to abbreviations that are proper ly initialisms, since they are pronounced as separate letters (e.g. EU = Europea n Union, VCR = video cassette recorder).Top
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act, action. 1 The distinction between the two words in their general meanings is not always clear: we are judged by our acts or by our actions. In general, however, action has more of the notion of performance, and extends to inanimate things (we can s peak only of the action, not of the act, of a machine), whereas act connotes mor
e strongly the fact of something done and also implies responsibility rather mor e necessarily than action does (hence the Acts of the Apostles, not the Actions, which Fowler (1926) suggested as the logical preference). Action is also used a ttributively in expressions such as action committee, painting, replay, etc., wh ereas act is not. The actions of a person are usually viewed as occupying some t ime, and (in the plural) denote the habitual or ordinary deeds of a person, the sum of which make up his or her conduct. Act, by contrast, normally means someth ing brought about rapidly or over a short period, especially in phrases with of (an act of God, an act of madness).
2 Both words have special meanings which are exclusive to each (an act of a play , an act in a variety show, military action, etc.), and in fixed expressions (to put on an act, caught in the act, to clean up one's act, to take action, where the action is, a piece of the action, etc.).Top
3 Action, in its modern use as a transitive verb meaning `to take action on (a dec ision or request, etc.)' is best left to the evasive language of business managers (Dismissal will be actioned when the balance of probabilities suggests that an e mployee has committed a criminal actDaily Telegraph, 1981).Top
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activate, actuate. Activate (17c) originally meant `to make active' (as in activate the lungs). It fell out of use for a time at the end of the 19c, and was marked as obsolete in the first OED. New uses in physics, chemistry, and other branches of science have br ought it back into prominence and actuate (also 17c in current meanings), once d ominant, is now in decline. Activate is the normal word in mechanical contexts s uch as burglar alarms, traffic lights, flight plans, and also occasionally in th e context of human behaviour, where the choice is perhaps influenced by motivate (e.g. Are they activated by concern for public morality?). Actuate is less comm on in physical and mechanical contexts, and is generally restricted to less appe aling abstract qualities such as anger, greed, jealousy, malice, etc. (His opposition was actuated by a different and more compelling motive than that of her other relatives Cecil , 1948 / Peirce was actuated by the analogy with science, not by a visionJ. Barzun , 1983) .
Back - New Search active.
The active voice of verbs is illustrated by the sentence France beat Brazil in t he final, in which the subject of the verb (France) performs the action and the object (Brazil) is affected by the action. The passive equivalent is Brazil were beaten by France in the final, in which the grammatical roles of the two partic ipants in the action are reversed. See PASSIVE.
Back - New Search actual is often used redundantly in ways that add nothing to the meaning: Mr Healey said the press did not print Labour's actual policies. `Not a sausage.'Time s, 1981. Examples of legitimate use are: He gathered there were few actual artists in the room [as distinct from would-be artists] Bainbridge , 1980 / The actual total [as distinct from the provisional total] was surely higherScient ific American, 1980.
Back - New Search actuality has driven out actualness, which was recorded by Johnson and was used as a synon ym meaning `the state of being actual' up to the end of the 19c. Actualities are àctu al existing conditions or circumstances'; in addition, actuality has acquired a sp ecial concrete meaning, à film record or radio or television broadcast of an even t as it actually occurs' (The films began with àctualities', the record of more or less formal current event sH.G. Wells ).
Back - New Search actually is one of a number of words, like definitely, really, surely, etc., which are us ed freely as emphasizers, either in relation to words or phrases (Often it wasn't actually a railway station but a special stopping place in the middle of nowhereNew Yorker, 1987) or as sentence adverbs qualifying a complete s tatement (I'd like to see those scrap books again, actually Smith , 1983 / Ì told you, I've got problems at work.' Àctually, you didn't.' Such uses are more comm on in speech, where they help with continuity and sentence balance. It is clearl y a useful if somewhat overused word.
Back - New Search actuate See ACTIVATE.
Back - New Search acumen. The 19c pronunciation as recorded in the OED was with the stress on the second s yllable. This is still the dominant pronunciation in AmE, but in BrE stress on t he first syllable is now standard.
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ad, advert are frequent colloquial shortened forms of advertisement, both dating from the m iddle of the 19c and now widespread in informal use (If you examine the adverts for personal computers you'll find that almost nowhe re do the ads promise you any kind of concrete benefitYour Computer, 1984).
Back - New Search AD should always be placedin recognition of what it stands for (anno Domini, in the year of Our Lord)before the numerals it relates to, i.e. AD 44 (not 44 AD). It is customary for convenience, however, to write `the third century AD' to correspond t o `the third century BC'. In print, AD is often put in small capitals. Note that the alternative CE (for `Common Era') is often used as a culturally neutral alternative , along with BCE (`before Common Era').
Back - New Search adamant. Its use an as adjective meaning `stubbornly unshakeable or inflexible' is surprising ly recent (1930s); as a noun meaning a hard rock or mineral it goes back to the time of King Alfred , originally as a vague term often imbued with fabulous asso ciations, and later as a synonym for `diamond'. In modern use the noun is ònly a poet ical or rhetorical name for the embodiment of surpassing hardness', and the adject ive is the principal use (His appointment had met with the adamant opposition of almost all the Fellows Sh
arpe , 1974), also giving rise to an adverb adamantly (When she mentions him at all in her diary, it is in adamantly negative termsS. Q uinn , 1988).
Back - New Search adapter, adaptor. In one's own writing it is good to reserve adaptor to the device and adapter to the meaning à person who adapts (something or to something)', but any hard-and-fast rule-stating will not be matched by the evidence, so be prepared for either for m in either meaning.
Back - New Search addenda is a plural form meaning à list of additional items'; if there is only one, addendu m is the word to use. Addenda should be treated as plural, not (except informall y, like agenda) as singular (as in a new edition with an invaluable addenda).
Back - New Search addle, addled. The usual word now is addled, and is applied (a) to eggs, and (b) figuratively, to brains (i.e. the mind). Originally, addle was a noun meaning `stinking urine or other liquid filth', although its associations have usually been with eggs and he ads, both seen as capable of àddling', hence addle-brain(ed), addle-head(ed), etc.
Back - New Search addresses. It is now customary to use as little punctuation as possible in addresses, omitt ing commas at the ends of lines and before street names, e.g.: Mr J Smith 44 Hig h Street Newtown (A postal code can be put on the same line as the town or below it.)
Back - New Search -ade. Nearly all words of two or more syllables ending in -ade are derived from French , although some are originally from other Romance languages. Most of these are n ow pronounced -ayd, not -ahd: accolade, arcade, balustrade, brigade, brocade, ca scade, cavalcade, crusade, lemonade, marmalade, masquerade, palisade, parade, se renade, tirade. A small group vary between the two pronunciations, including: es planade, fanfaronnade, fusilade, glissade, pomade, promenade, rodomontade; and a
few are always pronounced -ahd: aubade, ballade, faade.
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adequate. 1 In its meaning `proportionate to the requirements', sufficient, adequate is most c ommonly used without a complement (There is an adequate supply of food in the fl ooded area). When it has one, this is either for or to (Their earnings are adequ ate for / to their needs). It is also used idiomatically to mean `barely sufficien t': The standard rapidly sinks to a level which is, at best, adequate but at worst incompetent.
2 Arguments that adequate is an absolute are as invalid and contrary to usage as similar arguments for unique. Language is rarely as absolute as purists would l ike, and it is natural to find adequacy graded by adverbs and in terms of compar atives and superlatives (We are seeking a more adequate return on our investment s / The work done is fairly adequate / The most adequate description yet release d of the horror of the hijacking).Top
Back - New Search adherence, adhesion. Both words were adopted from French in the 17c, and come from the Latin verb whi ch also gives us our verb adhere. Adherence is now mostly used in figurative sen ses relating to beliefs, loyalties, etc., whereas adhesion has tended more and m ore to imply physical contact between surfaces, e.g. the grip of wheels on road or rail, the sticking or gluing together of two surfaces, etc. Contrary uses are also found, especially of adhesion in figurative meanings, but these no longer sound natural (He is in fact more rigid in his adhesion to his old doctrines Webb , 1952 / Others fell under his control through the adhesion to France of their ruler, the Prince-Bishop of Lige Churchill , 1957).
Back - New Search ad hoc (Latin, `to this') has been recorded in English since the 17c, principally as an a q uasi-adjective meaning `designated for a specific purpose' as in an ad hoc committee or an ad hoc appointment. It should normally be printed in italic. Although str ictly speaking it should not be qualified by reducing or intensifying adverbs su
ch as fairly or very, this is common in less formal English (The arrangement see ms extremely ad hoc to them), and in the 20c ad hoc has generated an array of st artlingly un-Latinate derivatives such as ad-hoc-ery and ad-hoc-ism (sometimes w ith medial hyphen, sometimes without).
Back - New Search adieu is pronounced dyoo. The plural is preferably adieux (pronounced with final -ooz, not adieus).
Back - New Search adjacent, adjoining. An adjacent property is normally one that is nearby without necessarily touching the one being considered in relation to it. Similarly, adjacent angles in a tri angle are separated by the length of one side of the triangle, an adjacent room can be across a corridor, and adjacent tables are next to each other, but with a space between. Adjoining invariably denotes contact, and is therefore preferabl e when this meaning is unambiguously required; as a participle it can also gover n a following noun rather like a preposition (e.g. She and Susan had rooms adjoining, so she had none of the creepy feelings one of ten gets in a strange houseM. Gervaise , 1983 / There were a lot of policemen in surrounding streets and in the park adjoining t he embassyIndependent, 1989).
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adjective. 1 GENERAL. The term adjective was itself an adjective for a hundred years before it became used as a noun for one of the parts of speech. Joseph Priestley , in The Rudiments of English Grammar (1761), was perhaps the first English grammaria n to recognize the adjective as a separate part of speech, although some earlier writers had used the term in this way. An alternative term, first used in the m id-19c, is modifier, which also covers the grey area of attributive nouns and no uns `passing into adj.' (as the OED called them), for example city in city council a nd table in table lamp. For a more detailed analysis of types of adjective, the reader is referred to a standard grammar such as Greenbaum's Oxford English Gram mar (1996), 13441. An adjective has three forms, traditionally called a positive (or absolute), e.g . hot, splendid, a comparative, e.g. hotter, more splendid, and a superlative, e .g. hottest, most splendid.
2 ATTRIBUTIVE AND PREDICATIVE. Most adjectives can be used in two positions: eit her before the noun (attributively, as in a black cat, a gloomy outlook) or afte r it, normally separated by a verb of state (predicatively, as in the cat is bla ck, the outlook seemed gloomy). A few adjectives, usually denoting status, excep tionally stand immediately after the noun (postpositive, as in the body politic, the president elect). Some adjectives are normally restricted to predicative position (e.g. afraid, aw are), and others are restricted to attributive position, either always (e.g. mai n as in the main reason / this reason is main) or in certain meanings (e.g. big as in He is a big eater / As an eater he is big, mere as in This is mere repetit ion / The repetition is mere, and whole as in Have you told the whole truth / Th e truth I have told is whole). In these examples, predicative status has to be a chieved by repetition of the noun or by the use of one (The truth I have told is the whole truth / This reason is the main one). Other adjectives that have been restricted in the past are now becoming more mob ile; for example, aware and ill are increasingly heard (often modified by an adv erb) in attributive position, as in a highly aware person and an ill woman.Top
3 COMPARISON. Adjectives of one or two syllables normally form their comparative and superlative forms by adding -er and -est, sometimes with modification of th e stem (soft, softer, softest; happy, happier, happiest). Adjectives of more tha n two syllables are normally preceded by more or most instead of inflecting (mor e frightening; most remarkable). For special effect, however, a polysyllabic adj ective will sometimes be inflected (`Curiouser and curiouser!' cried AliceL. Carroll , 1865 / One of the generousest creatures alive Thackeray , 1847/8 / The winningest coach in Southwest Conference basketball historyChicago Tribune, 1 990). See also -ER AND -EST FORMS OF ADJECTIVES. Conversely, more and most are s ometimes used, for emphasis or special effect, when inflected forms are availabl e: This was never more true than at present / That was the most cruel thing you could have said.Top
4 ÀBSOLUTE' ADJECTIVES. Some adjectives, because of their meaning and function, are called absolute or non-gradable, and are not normally used in comparative or su perlative forms and cannot be qualified by adverbs that intensify or moderate al ong a notional range such as fairly, largely, more, rather, or very: these are c lassifying adjectives such as dead, rectangular, scientific, or descriptive adje ctives with a meaning that does not permit gradability, such as equal, impossibl e, supreme, total, unique. There are exceptions to this rule, but these are norm ally obvious special cases: All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others Orwell , 1945 / His profile is most utterly perfect Gardam , 1985. Absolute adjectives can be reg ularly qualified by adverbs that denote an extreme or completeness, such as abso lutely, completely, and utterly, since these are consistent with the non-gradabl e function of the adjectives concerned: The ghosts made the place absolutely impossibleHarper's Magazine, 1884. In this s
entence, absolutely impossible is acceptable, and so is completely or utterly im possible, but fairly or rather impossible would not be.Top
5 POSITION OF ADJECTIVES. In numerous fixed expressions denoting status, an adje ctive is placed immediately after the noun it governs: e.g. attorney-general, bo dy politic, court martial, fee simple, heir apparent, notary public, poet laurea te, postmaster-general, president elect, situations vacant, vice-chancellor desi gnate, the village proper. In other cases, an adjective can follow a noun for sy ntactic reasons, i.e. as a matter of sentence structure rather than peculiarity of expression (The waiter picked up our dirty glasses in his fingertips, his eyes impassiveEnco unter, 1987), or for rhetorical effect (Before the loving hands of the Almighty cradled him in bliss eternal Williams , 1992).Top
6 HYPHENATION. There is no need to insert a hyphen between a combination of adve rb in -ly and adjective qualified by it, even when it stands in attributive posi tion: a highly competitive market / abundant recently published material / lawfu lly elected prime ministers / fully qualified lawyers. When the adverb does not end in -ly, however, a hyphen is normally required to reinforce its status: a we ll-known woman / an ill-defined topic.Top
7 COMPOUND ADJECTIVES. These have proliferated in the 20c, and are formed from c ombinations of noun + adjective (accident-prone, acid-free, child-proof, compute r-literate, machine-readable, user-friendly, water-insoluble) noun + past partic iple (computer-aided, custom-built, hand-operated), noun + -ing participle (data -handling, pressure-reducing, stress-relieving). Some formations are based on lo nger phrases (back-to-basics, in-your-face) and some of the more informal compou nds give rise to adverbial derivatives (balls-achingly, mind-blowingly). A new kind of compound adjective emerging in technical and scientific work is th e type landscape ecological principles (= the principles of landscape ecology), in which the second element of the name of the subject (landscape ecology) has b een turned into an adjective. Another example is physical geographical studies, where it would be better to say studies in physical geography.Top
8 e u s
ADJECTIVES USED identical, e.g. can say He left without -ly and
AS ADVERBS. Some adjectives have corresponding adverbs that ar fast, late, straight, and the type monthly, weekly, etc. So yo in the late afternoon or He left late in the afternoon. Adverb those in -ly often occur in close proximity
(Ì play straight, I choose wisely, Harry,' he assured me Carr , 1989). In other cases , adjectives are used as adverbs only informally, often in fixed expressions suc h as come clean and hold tight. To these may be added real and sure, which in th e UK are often taken to be tokens of informal North American speech (That was re al nice / I sure liked seeing you).Top
9 ADJECTIVES USED AS NOUNS. A typical extension in the use of some descriptive a
djectives is with the, forming plural (or occasionally singular) nouns meaning `th ose who are ', e.g. the beautiful, the deaf, the poor, the sublime, the unemployed , the unusual. Other adjectives stand as countable nouns: the ancients, the classics, collectab les, explosives, submersibles.Top
10 TRANSFERRED EPITHETS. A curiosity of English is the ways in which an adjectiv e can be made to operate obliquely, qualifying a person or thing other than the word it relates to grammatically. This is a further extension of the standard us e of adjectives to classify things in relation to their human associations; a fe male toilet means a toilet for women and a gay bar means a bar frequented by hom osexuals: Ìt's not your stupid place,' she says. Ìt's anyone's place.' Lively , 1987 [the person addressed, not the place, is stupid] / I will be sitting quietly at the kitchen table stirring an absentminded cup of c offeeChicago Tribune, 1989 [the person, not the coffee, is absent-minded]. The tr aditional name for this phenomenon is transfered epithet or hypallage.Top
Back - New Search adjudicator is spelt -or.
Back - New Search adjure see ABJURE.
Back - New Search adjust. Three new uses of this verb have entered the language in the 20c: 1 Intransitive, with or without to: to adapt oneself to something (She seemed to have adjusted to her new status with little difficultyL. Niven , 1 983 / She needs time to adjustS. King , 1979). 2 Intransitive, standing for passive: to be capable of being adjusted (The barrel can adjust right up to the neck of the lampHabitat Catalogue, 1982).
3 Transitive, with for, in the presentation of statistical information (Lenders vary as to when they adjust your repayments for tax reliefWhat Mortgage, 1986).
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administer, administrate. For many centuries, the normal word corresponding to administration and meaning `t o manage (affairs)' has been administer (The Rezzoris were minor Austrian gentry administering the outposts of empireLond on Review of Books, 1990). In recent years, however, the longer form administrat e (first recorded in the 17c) has increasingly been used as a kind of newly inve nted back-formation, and is now awkwardly challenging administer in its traditio nal meanings: The machinery of such aid is still primed by administrators eager to go out and administrateTimes, 1981 / The Sports Council has begun a major investigation into discovering new ways to administrate a drug-detecting systemTimes, 1988. Administer is, on the other hand, routinely used to mean `to give (medicine) to a patient' (I was brimming with alcoholadministered to loosen my tongueA. Price , 1982) and i s also being increasingly used in two other meanings: 1 to inflict (punishment, blows, etc.) on someone (Two others held her feet while the headmaster administered the caneB. Emecheta , 1974). 2 in medical contexts administer is used instead of minister to (an injured pers on, etc.): The fact that Ranjit is still alive today is a tribute to the ambulance attendan ts who administered to him at the sceneOxford Times, 1977 / American doctors, being vastly rich, have better things to do with their leisure time than administer to patients at weekendsTimes, 1994.
Back - New Search admission, admittance. Like many doublets, these two words have competed with each other for several ce nturies (admission first recorded in Middle English, admittance in 1589) without ever establishing totally separate roles. In the meaning corresponding to admit
= `to acknowledge or accept as true', admission is the word to use, not admittance. Where they get in each other's way is in meanings related to `the action of admit ting, letting in, to a place'. Admission is the dominant word of the two: it alone has a countable use (There are more admissions in the sciences this year), and it is the only one to have developed attributive uses (admission fee, money, off icer, ticket). Admittance hangs on determinedly, especially as the word used on notices on entrances (e.g. No admittance except on official business) but also a s an erroneous alternative in meanings where admission is required (The DTI's lack of admittance of negligence in this affair is a travesty of Just iceTimes, 1988).
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admit. 1 Admit of is now only used in the meaning `to allow as possible, leave room for' (a lways with an abstract object: The circumstances will not admit of delay / It se ems to admit of so many interpretations), and even here the construction seems o ld-fashioned. In its other meanings, admit is transitive (He admitted the injust ice of it, not He admitted of the injustice of it), and takes a that-clause as a common construction (He admitted that it was unjust).
2 The phrase admit to, meaning `to confess to, to acknowledge', is a relatively rece nt addition to the language (Senior Ministry officials yesterday admitted to a catalogue of errorsTimes, 1989 ).Top
Back - New Search adopted, adoptive. The correct use of each word is as follows: a child is adopted and its parents a re adoptive. The distinction has become eroded in recent usage, especially in ex tended uses with reference to countries, homes, etc.
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adult.
1 It is usually pronounced with stress on the first syllable in BrE and on the s econd syllable in AmE, but the distribution is uneven among educated speakers th roughout the English-speaking world.
2 Since the 1950s, changing social attitudes have caused the word adult to be us ed euphemistically with the meaning `sexually explicit', applied to certain categori es of films, magazines, etc.Top
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advance. 1 ADVANCE, ADVANCED. The meanings are different, advance being a noun used attri butively or as a modifier to mean `placed in advance; going before', as in advance c opy, advance guard, advance payment, etc., whereas advanced means `far on in devel opment' as in an advanced degree, an advanced age, an advanced young woman, etc.
2 ADVANCE, ADVANCEMENT. Advance is much the commoner word of the two in the gene ral sense of `progress, going before' (the advance of knowledge / an advance of 100 / the advance of old age / seats booked in advance, etc.). Advancement is far fro m extinct (1985/6. was another year of great advancement for Glaxo Inc. / The st ructure of the department allows for speedy advancement) but has a different mea ning, `raising to a higher position; promotion' and should not be used in the genera l sense that advance has. The advance of new ideas means their increasing effect , whereas the advancement of new ideas means encouraging and supporting them.Top
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adverb. 1 GENERAL. The term adverb covers a wide variety of words, and is the least sati sfactory of the conventional word categories applied to English. The principal a dverb uses answer the question `how?' or ìn what manner?', many of these being formed b y the addition of the suffix -ly to adjectives (e.g. carefully, quickly, steadil y, well), `when?' or `how often?' (e.g. soon, regularly, yesterday), `where?' (e.g. downstai rs, here, outside), and `to what extent?' (e.g. extremely, hardly, somewhat). For a more detailed analysis of types of adverb, and for further terminology, the read
er is referred to a standard grammar such as Greenbaum's Oxford English Grammar (1996), 14152.
2 FORMATION OF ADVERBS. The most common formation is achieved by adding -ly to a djectives, as in regularly, steadily, and quickly. Other adverbs are identical w ith adjectives (fast, well), and members of a third type are formed by adding ot her elements such as -ward(s), -ways and -wise to nouns, as in edgeways, homewar ds, and clockwise (some of these are also adjectives). In the 20c the range of a dverbs ending in -wise has increased enormously, with many new ad-hoc (and often criticized) formations, such as anthemwise and hind-foot-wise. Use of these sho uld be confined to occasions when a jocular or other special effect is called fo r.Top
3 POSITION OF ADVERBS. a Adverbs that qualify single words such as adjectives, nouns, and other adverbs generally precede them as closely as possible (often late / very large / quite a while / too modestly. b The position of adverbs in phrases and clauses follows fairly clear rules, i.e . between an auxiliary verb and a main verb (e.g. Roosevelt's financial policy w as roundly criticized in 1933 / He had inadvertently joined a lonely-hearts club ), except for emphasis or when the adverb belongs closely to what follows the ma in verb (There is little chance that the student will function effectively after he returns to China), between one auxiliary verb and the next when there is mor e than one (e.g. A car dealer who could certainly have afforded to hire someone) , and not between a verb and its object (Gradually the Chinese communists abando ned the Soviet methods / He dutifully observes all its quaint rules / They aim t o set each subject briefly into context / Did he hear her correctly?. See also O NLY, SPLIT INFINITIVE.Top
4 SENTENCE ADVERBS. Some adverbs (such as clearly, happily, hopefully, thankfull y, unhappily) refer to a whole statement, and form a comment associated more clo sely with the speaker or writer than with what is said. This can be seen by comp aring the use of unhappily as an ordinary adverb of manner (She went unhappily t o bed) with its use as a sentence adverb (She was, unhappily, too ill to leave t he house). In this use, the adverb often stands at the beginning of the sentence : Clearly, we will have to think again. Use of sentence adverbs is well established in English, and the only one that ha s given rise to controversy is hopefully, which has developed this role in the m id-20c (see HOPEFULLY).Top
5 ADVERBIAL USE OF NOUNS OF TIME. The adverbial use of days of the week (singula r and plural) and similar words, familiar in AmE and some other varieties, is no t common in current BrE: From now on gentlemen, Tuesdays and Thursdays you're going to learn to think lik e white menV. O'Sullivan , 1985 (New Zealand)/ Tuesday night, the board approved the addition of a new subsectionChicago Tribune , 1987 /
I was to be offered an option of taking her with me summers Bellow , 1987 (US).To p
6 COMPARISON OF ADVERBS. See -ER AND -EST.Top
Back - New Search adversary is stressed on the first syllable.
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adverse, averse. These two words both come from the Latin word vertere `to turn', but averse (= turni ng away) is used of people and means òpposed to', whereas adverse (= turning toward s, hostilely) is used of things and means òpposing one's interests; unfavourable' ( adverse circumstances, adverse weather conditions) or even `harmful' (the adverse ef fects of drugs): Surprisingly, the adverse effects appeared to be worse for younger drivers and w orse for men than womenToday 1992 / This proud, but humiliated, most complicated of politicians was not averse to fl atteryM. Almond , 1992.
Back - New Search advert see AD.
Back - New Search advertise is spelt -ise, not -ize.
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advertisement is pronounced with the main stress on the second syllable in RP, but often on th e third syllable (ad-v-tiyz-mnt) in many regional varieties of English.
Back - New Search advertising, language of. In a study of the use of language to influence and persuade people, the American scholar Dwight Bolinger (Language, the Loaded Weapon, 1980) describes several t echniques which advertisers share with other persuaders in manipulating language to their own ends. These may be summarized as (1) literalism, in which an asser tion is made that is literally true but will normally be understood in special w ays that the advertiser intends (e.g. Dentists recommend Colgate suggests that a ll dentists recommend it whereas only two need be found to justify the statement made), (2) euphemism, in which less favourable aspects are made to sound more a ppealing (e.g. something that is average may be described as standard and a smal l quantity of a product may be described as handy version or fun size), and unin teresting concepts are made to sound more interesting (e.g. crafted instead of m ade, ultra-pure instead of clean or fresh), (3) use of jaunty vocabulary and slo gans (e.g. Drinka pinta milka day, Every picture tells a story), and (4) the use of special syntax to associate the customer with a product (e.g. Aren't you gla d you use Dial? and Put a tiger in your tank, both of which make an assumption t o flatter and reassure the customer). See also EUPHEMISM,SLOGAN.
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advice, advise. 1 Advice is a noun (àn opinion given about future action') and advise a verb (`to giv e advice to'), in both BrE and AmE: The hardest thing is knowing where to go to get help, to get the advice and info rmation you needThe Face, 1990 / It may make sense to take professional advice on the wording of an appropriate l etterM. Edwards , 1991 / We're advising all our clients to sit tight, at the moment, and neither to buy n or to sellA. Davidson , 1989 / Ì would advise against it, sir,' said George ThomasP. Junor , 1991.
2 Both words are used in a special sense in commercial and related uses: advice here is countable and is used to mean `piece of information' (usually in the plural) or à document giving information'
(Now we're looking to encourage our customers to send remittance advices electro nicallyAccountancy, 1993), and advise means `to notify, to give information to' (The student will be advised of the name and address of the tutorTutors' Handbook 1990/91).Top
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advisedly. 1 It should be pronounced as four syllables.
2 The only surviving meaning of four given in the OED is àfter considerable thoug ht; as a result of deliberation' (It was advisedly that the terms of reference excluded the public sector.D. Lawre nce , 1988 / I used the words àn abuse of his powers' advisedlyWeekly Law Reports, 1992).Top
Back - New Search adviser, advisor. The OED makes it plain that both forms occur with equal frequency throughout the English-speaking world, despite impressions that -er is predominantly BrE and or AmE. Advisor is probably influenced by the existence of advisory; but adviser is preferable: The Service would never forgive me a mucky divorce, dearnot its legal adviser Carr , 1989 / The goose shuffled off to see if she could find some advisors Winterson , 1985.
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advocate verb.
1 In a letter written in 1798 Benjamin Franklin asked Noah Webster , the lexicog rapher of American English, to use his authority to `reprobate' this word, which was then new in the meaning `to recommend or plead in favour of', although the verb had been in use for at least a century and a half with the meaning `to act as advocat e'.
2 Fowler's view (1926) that ùnlike recommend, propose, urge, and other verbs, adv ocate is not idiomatically followed by a that-clause, but only by an ordinary no un or a verbal noun' has proved to be unsound. All three constructions are found a nd are acceptable: (noun) He had been expelled by the National Executive for continuing to advocate a political alliance with Communists Brown , 1971 / (verbal noun) I would advocate the keeping of animals at schoolA.S. Neill , 1915 / (that-clause) The UN envoy advocated that sanctions be imposed in South Africa .Top
Back - New Search -ae, -as, as plurals of nouns in -a. Most English nouns in -a are from Latin (or Latinized Greek) feminine singular nouns, which have in Latin the plural ending -ae. But some have a different Latin origin: e.g. subpoena is not nominative, comma and d rama are neuter forms, and addenda, data, and stamina are plurals, and so with t hese words plural in -ae is not possible. Other words are not from Latin at all: e.g. sofa is from Arabic and swastika is from Sanskrit. Of those words that are genuinely able to have plurals in -ae, some more technic al ones do so (algae, larvae), whereas those in general use form English plurals in -as (areas, ideas, villas) and those in both technical and general use have both forms depending on the domain of use (antennae or antennas, formulae or for mulas, nebulae or nebulas).
Back - New Search ae-, e-. There is a tendency to simplify spellings with aein BrE to e- in AmE, e.g. est hetic for aesthetic and anemic for anaemic, but both types are used.
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aeon,
meaning à long period of time', is spelt with initial aein BrE and as eon or aeon in AmE. The pronunciation in both spellings is ee-on. See also EPOCH.
Back - New Search aerie, aery (nest of a bird of prey) See EYRIE.
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aesthete, aesthetic are spelt with initial aein BrE and pronounced ees-theet and ees-thet-ik. In A mE they are often spelt esthete and esthetic, and are pronounced es-theet and es -thet-ik.
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affect, effect. 1 These two words are often confused. It should be remembered that effect is mos t common as a noun meaning à result or consequence' (In England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever Wilde ), and th at affect is most common as a verb meaning `to have an effect on' (Bodily exercise i ndirectly affects all the organs of the body / These measures chiefly affect [i. e. are directed at] drug-pushers / It will not affect [i.e. have a bearing on] h is chances of promotion). As a noun, affect survives only as a technical term in psychology. As a verb, effect means `to bring about, cause, have as a result'.
2 Affect also means `to assume (a character); to pretend to have or feel or do som ething, etc.' (As he reached the pick-up point, he should affect to slow down as if hunting fo r a car Carr , 1989). This is a different word although it is ultimately related t o the one above.Top
Back - New Search affinity. When affinity implies a mutual relationship or attraction, it is normally follow ed by between or with (The affinity between Britain and most of her former colonies/ Beckett stresses that he wrote the little book on order, not out of any deep aff inity with ProustM. Esslin , 1980). If the feeling is onesided, it is necessary t o use other words, such as sympathy, affection, feeling, etc., and these are fol lowed by for. Affinity also has technical meanings, e.g. in metallurgy.
Back - New Search affix is a grammatical term for word elements added at the beginnings or ends of words (e.g. anti-, post-, re-, -able, -ness, -tion). It is also used for elements put in the middle of words (infixes) such as Eliza Doolittle's abso-bloominglutely.
Back - New Search afflict see INFLICT.
Back - New Search aftermath. The original sense in agriculture (a second or later mowing or the crop of grass which springs up after the first mowing) is 16c (along with aftercrop and after grass) and the figurative sense is 17c. In its figurative meaning, aftermath usu ally denotes something unpleasant or unwelcome in itself or something that follo ws on an unpleasant or unwelcome event (such as war or disease), but these unfav ourable connotations are not present in the literal meaning. Examples: Depression is sometimes an immediate aftermath of completing a piece of workA. St oor , 1979 / In the immediate aftermath of Wolsey's fall from power, his advisers offered him a range of options on how to obtain the annulmentC. Durston , 1991 / The Gulf War and its aftermath have shown the crucial need for stronger and more effective world institutions capable of upholding international lawLiberal Democ rat Publications, 1992).
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afterward, afterwards. Afterward is restricted to North America (Afterward, he had a long and satisfying career with the city Welfare DepartmentN ew Yorker, 1987 / Afterward they were enormously and finally sick of each othe Munro , 1987(Canada) , whereas afterwards is the customary form in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, an d South Africa, and is an optional by-form in North America.
Back - New Search age. There are two idiomatic uses that differ between BrE and AmE: (1) BrE has for ag es, and AmE has in ages (I haven't seen her in ages Mclnerny , 1988), (2) BrE has at the age of and AmE h as at age (It all started when he got diphtheria, at age eighteenNew Yorker, 1991).
Back - New Search aged is pronounced as one syllable in (e.g.) The house has aged well, and as two syll ables in (e.g.) an aged man.
Back - New Search ageing is preferable as a spelling to aging, although both are in use.
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agenda. 1 The essential plurality of this word (= things to be done) has been worn to ex tinction by usage. Its dominant sense now is à list of items of business to be co nsidered at a meeting, etc.' and it is often used in extended or figurative meanin gs (Mrs Walton said she hadn't a spare moment. She had a busy agenda Bainbridge , 19 75 /
There is a feeling that we have got to draw up a new agenda nowMarxism Today, 198 6). It has even produced a plural in -as (Our students' ideas and agendasDaedalus, 1988). The singular agendum is purely n otional, although it is occasionally used, e.g. in the context of academic bodie s (The Estates Bursar was called on to introduce Agenda Item 3. They mean Agendum 3, thought Jake Amis , 1978).
2 The phrase hidden agenda (first recorded in 1971) has powerful and sometimes s inister connotations (Sex was the hidden agenda at these discussions Atwood , 1987 / The hidden agenda could easily appear to be that òur drama is the least important thing in the school'B. Woolland , 1993).Top
Back - New Search aggravate. The meaning `to annoy or exasperate' has existed in good sources since the early 17c ; despite this, Fowler (1926) recommended that it `should be left to the uneducate d'. The dominance of the current sense has not put paid to the original meaning, ' to increase the gravity of, and the two meanings now stand side by side in a rel atively unthreatening manner. Examples: (older sense) These misfortunes were greatly aggravated by the policies of the E nglish Government Churchill , 1958 / (later sense) Do not aggravate them, be quiet, smile nicely Carey , 1982 / Jane Fairfax aggravates her in all sorts of waysT. Tanner , 1986. The later meani ng has given rise to a common participial adjective aggravating (like annoying): e.g. It was aggravating that he had to do so many little jobs himself Wesley , 1983.
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aggravation. 1 The 20c has seen an increase in the harassment of appointed or elected officia ls and of other people in positions of authority, e.g. schoolteachers. The words most commonly used in this context is aggravation (first recorded in this meani
ng in 1939), and its colloquial equivalent is aggro (1969). In more recent use t hey have come to signify trouble or difficulty in general: Members of the public are quite able to make their own claims assisted and guide d by department officials without having these people coming in and causing aggr avationTimes, 1978 / A certain amount of agricultural aggro is a regular part of the French way of pu blic lifeTimes, 1984 / I am acutely conscious that I have been a source of aggravation to Pa recently o ver my stupid allergy to vegetablesI. Maitland , 1993.
2 Aggravation is still used to mean `making more serious or grave': e.g. It would have been a very unnecessary aggravation of his difficulties to have tw o different popes in lands which he intended to unite once moreR.W. Southern , 19 90.Top
Back - New Search aggression. Note that it has two gs.
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aggressive. 1 Note that it has two gs.
2 The commercial world of the 20c has added the meanings `self-assertive; energeti c, enterprising' to the word when it is applied to the techniques of marketing and salesmanship or to selling goods or services: We are seeking an aggressive senior level manager with excellent business acumena dvertisement in The Times, 1985.Top
Back - New Search aggressor.
Note that it has two gs and is spelt -or not -er.
Back - New Search agitator is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search ago, since. Ago is followed by that, not since, in constructions of the type It is 10 years ago that [not since] he died. Since is used without ago: e.g. it is 10 years sin ce he died.
Back - New Search agree is used intransitively (without an object) with about, on, to, upon, and with, o r with a that-clause, and transitively (with an object) to mean `to arrange or set tle (a thing in which various interests are concerned)'; there are examples of thi s transitive use in the OED from the 16c. In the 20c, another transitive use, eq uivalent to àgree to; approve' has become common in BrE. This use is sometimes disa pproved of but without any good reason, since the only difference is that one pa rty rather than several is involved in the decision. Examples: The tax inspector has agreed your allowances / The Russians have agreed a wide l ist of categoriesBookseller, 1959 / The European Commission yesterday agreed a supplementary budget for this year wh ich would use up every single European currency unit (ECU) available to the EEC budgetTimes, 1983.
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agreement. 1 Grammatical agreement (also called concord) is the correct relation to each ot her of different parts of a sentence, so that (for example) the form of the verb corresponds to its subject (The house was small, and its walls were painted whi te), and the gender and number (singular or plural) of a pronoun conforms to tha t of the person or thing it refers to (He had never been close enough to a girl to consider making her his wife). As English has lost many inflections over cent uries of use, agreement is more closely restricted to particular aspects of sent
ence structure than it is in some other languages (e.g. German).
2 Lengthy sentences in which the verb is separated from its singular subject by intervening words in the plural can cause the speaker or writer to put the verb in the plural, but this is incorrect: The consequence of long periods of inactiv ity or situations in which patients cannot look after themselves are often quite severe and long-lasting. Here there are three options: change consequence to co nsequences, change are to is, or (probably best) recast the sentence more simply , e.g. Long periods of inactivity can often have quite severe and long-lasting c onsequences. In shorter sentences, the verb is also often forced out of agreement with its su bject when a significant plural noun intervenes (note the mischief played by the word of here as elsewhere): Copyright of Vivienne's papers are in the keeping of the Haigh-Wood familyLiterar y Review, 1985 / The spread of nuclear weapons and technology are likely to make the true picture very differentDaedalus, 1991 / At least one in two churches are likely to be burgled next yearTimes, 1992. Care should be taken to ensure proper agreement in such cases.Top
3 Difficulties also occur when the form of the subject is not so obviously singu lar or plural, for example when it is a phrase (e.g. fish and chips / more than one), when it includes an indefinite such as each, every, any, or none, when it has a parenthetic addition whose grammatical status is unclear (e.g. My brother, together with a whole lot of his friends, ), when it is a single word of doubtfu l number (e.g. agenda or data), or when it is a collective noun (e.g. the govern ment, a group of people).Top
TWO NOUNS JOINED BY AND. These normally form a plural subject and require a plur al verb: Speed and accuracy are what is needed / Fish and chips are served in th e evening. But when the noun phrase is regarded as a singular unit, it can take a singular verb: Fish and chips is my favourite meal / Romeo and Juliet is showi ng at the local cinema. This can extend to concepts that are distinct in themsel ves but are regarded as a single item in a particular sentence: A certain cynici sm and resignation comes along with the poverty of Italian comedy. The conventio n is very old, with evidence dating back to Old and Middle English. Clearly ther e will be borderline cases, and then it is what sounds natural that matters: The hurt and disbelief of parents' friends and families is/are already quite real / The extent and severity of drug use in the United States has/have been a shock to the medical director. INDEFINITE PRONOUNS. In many cases, these (each, either, every, everybody, neith er, none, no one, etc.) govern a singular verb, but sometimes the context calls for a plural, especially when the sense is of collectiveness rather than individ uality: (singular) Neither of these figures illuminates the case against Trident Steel , 1985 / None of her features is particularly striking Lodge , 1962 /
(plural) Neither the government nor the tribunal, surely, want to bear responsib ilityDaily Telegraph, 1987 / None of our fundamental problems have been solvedLondon Review of Books, 1987. Se e also EACH, EITHER, EVERY, NEITHER,NONE. In the case of one of those who, the verb can be either singular or plural depen ding on whether one or those is regarded as the antecedent of who: (singular) Perhaps you were one of those fellows who sees tricks everywhere Carey , 1985 / I am one of those people who wants others to do what I think they should Bakewell , 1988 / (plural) Lily had been one of those numerous people who are simply famous for be ing famous [note that numerous plays a part in emphasizing plurality] Murdoch , 1 987 / That's one of those propositions that become harder to sustain the further they' re explored Amis , 1988. SUBJECTS WITH PARENTHETIC ADDITION. Nouns joined by other linking words or quasi coordinators (e.g. accompanied by, as well as, not to mention, together with, et c.) are followed by a singular verb if the first noun or noun phrase is singular , because the addition is not regarded as part of the grammatical subject: A ver y profitable company such as British Telecom, along with many other companies in the UK, is not prepared to pay a reasonable amount / Daddy had on the hairy twe ed jacket with leather elbow patches which, together with his pipe, was his trad e mark. WORDS LIKE AGENDA AND DATA. These are plural in form but are usually singular in sense and govern a singular verb: in The agenda is on the table, the reference is to a single item. The process can be discerned more clearly in the older word news, which has long been construed as a singular noun despite its plural form: Is there any news?. See AGENDA, DATA. COLLECTIVE NOUNS. These are, by contrast, words such as committee, government, g roup, which are singular in form but often plural in sense. In BrE, the practice is well established of construing such words either with a singular verb (when unity or collectivity is being emphasized) or with a plural verb (when individua lity or corporateness is being emphasized). Examples: (singular) Each succeeding generation of gallery visitors finds it easier to recognize Cubist subject-matt er / A group of four young men, in denim overalls, was standing close to him / ( plural) The jury retired at five minutes past five o'clock to consider their ver dict / Let us hope that the Ministry of Defence are on your side this time. It i s important to avoid a mixed style, as in The government has decided to postpone their decision. In AmE it is customary for a singular verb to be used with collective nouns: The government routinely imposes differential taxes on hotels, bars and the likeB ulletin of the American Academy, 1987. But collective nouns of the type a + noun + of + plural noun can govern a singular or plural verb: A fleet of helicopters was flying lowNew Yorker, 1986 / A handful of bathers were bobbing about in the waves Roth , 1987 /
A rich and detailed picture of a world in which a multitude of elements were int ertwinedNew York Review of Books 1989. OTHER PLURAL FORMS TREATED AS SINGULAR. (1) Titles of books, plays, films, etc. (because the words `the book etc. known as ' are implicit): Great Expectations is an account of development of identity / Star Wars has diverted some six billion do llars from the federal treasury. (2) Names of illnesses (because the words `the il lness known as ' are implicit): Mumps often occurs in adults / Measles is normally a childhood disease. 4 CLASH OF AGREEMENT. Sometimes there is a clash of agreement within a sentence, for example when the speaker or writer wants to express neutrality of gender, w here recourse to the plural is an old device: Everyone was in their shirt-sleevesF. Tuohy , 1984 / No one in their senses wants to create instability Healey , 1985 / I really resent it when I call somebody who's not home and they don't have an an swering machineChicago Tribune, 1988 / Each parent has a duty to do the best for their own childIndependent, 1996.Top
5 SUBJECTCOMPLEMENT AGREEMENT. When a subject and a complement of different numbe r are separated by the verb to be (or verbs such as become, seem, etc.), the ver b should agree with the number of the subject: (singular) The only traffic is ox -carts and bicycles / The problem is the windows / The view it obscured was pipe s, fire escapes, a sooty-walled well / (plural) The socials were a big deal to h er / The house and garden were a powerful cauldron of heat and light / The March events in Poland were a natural stage in the evolution of communism. There are some exceptions, depending on the sense in particular cases: More nurses [i.e. t he subject of more nurses] is the next item on the agenda. See also COLLECTIVE NOUN, EITHER, GENDER-NEUTRALITY, MANY, NEITHER, THERE IS.Top
Back - New Search -aholic. This suffix derived from alcoholic, meaning `someone addicted to alcohol' (late 19c) , forms words that mean kinds of addiction, and has moved into common use in the last three or four decades, principally in workaholic (1968), and also in words such as sugarholic (1965), golfaholic (1971), newsaholic (1975), and bookaholic (1982), and in more fanciful and ad hoc uses such as footballaholic (1974) and spend-a-holic (1982). It has proved to a useful and productive word element, who se progress in the language is to some extent a reflection of social pre-occupat ions.
Back - New Search aid.
The noun dates from 1940 in its meanings `material help given by one country to an other' (Christian aid, foreign aid, Marshall aid, etc.), and took on a further use as the second element in the names of occasions organized to raise money for ch aritable causes (Band Aid, Fashion Aid, School Aid, Live Aid, etc.). The use was triggered by Band Aid, the name of a rock group formed by Bob Geldof in 1984 to raise money for the relief of famine in Ethiopia.
Back - New Search aid, aide. An aid is someone who helps (in various ways), whereas an aide denotes either of two more specific functions: (1) short for aide-de-camp, a high-ranking officer in the armed services (Brigadier Monson summoned his five closest aides for a working lunchN. Barber , 1984), (2) a person employed as an assistant or ancillary worker, especially in a hospital or as a visitor to the home of an ill or elderly person (Just before he died a nurse's aide brought his dinner tray into the roomE.L. Doc torow , 1989).
Back - New Search Aids, the virus condition, is the most memorable acronym of the 20c; it is made from a cquired immune deficiency syndrome. It is now normally spelt as a word, usually with a capital initial, and rarely as AIDS. This spelling preference has been in tensified by the occurrence of several combinations such as Aids-related (comple x), Aids-free, Aids vaccine, Aids awareness, and pre-Aids.
Back - New Search aim. The verb has two principal constructions in its abstract meaning: you can aim at something (analogous with aiming at a target in the physical meaning) or at doi ng something, or you can aim to do something (The directive aims at ensuring open passage through the bordersFinancial Times, 1984 / Much imagination has gone into the project, which aims to attract half a million visitors a yearTimes, 1983). The construction with to, for long the more common option in AmE, has excellent credentials, and is modelled on the analogy of simi lar verbs such as intend, mean, plan, etc. In the passive, however, only the at construction is possible (We should aim to re-cycle half our household waste within 10 years.Independent, 1989 / The summit also agreed to aim at completing an ambitious co-operation agreement with the new governmentGuardian, 1989 /
The technology in question is aimed at improving the quality of life of the inha bitantsN. Woodall , c.1991).
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ain't. 1 Ain't is one of the most controversial words in current English, arousing pass ions that one would never have dreamt of from such a seemingly inoffensive word. `Do you hear? Don't say ain't or dang or son of a buck You're not a pair of hicks!' s a mother in a New Yorker short story. In 1942 Eric Partridge could hardly bear to include it (Ì blush to record it') in Usage and Abusage, and Webster's Third Ne w International Dictionary of 1961 included it solely on grounds of currency, ea rning widespread condemnation for not castigating it more strongly. Because soci al disapproval is so strong, no dictionary of current English will admit it to t he ranks of standard English. The reasons for this lie in the word's history.
2 Ain't is an undisputed element in Cockney speech, whether in Dickens (`You seems to have a good sister.' `She ain't half bad.'Our Mutual Friend, 1865) or in t he outrageous rantings of the television character Alf Garnet. It also features widely in the language of comic strips. The OED notes that 'the contraction is a lso found as a (somewhat outmoded) upper-class colloquialism. It has also been e spoused in intellectual circles as an affectation, which tends to confuse the is sue (I've not the spirit to pack up and go without him. Ain't I a craven Woolf , 1938 / Still working the Cape Cod and Florida cycle. And it ain't too badYale Alumni Mag azine).Top
3 The formation of ain't is irregular, which in part accounts for the stigma att ached to it. It is an 18c word, attested earlier in the form an't (e.g. in Field ing). Unlike other contractions, such as isn't, aren't, and haven't, ain't is no t a reduced form of any logical ancestor. Note, by the way, that aren't also is exceptional in being used in tag questions for am I not as well as are they not, are you not, and so on (I'm coming too, aren't I?). The logical contraction amn 't, is not in use, presumably because it would be too awkward to articulate (and might be shortened to an't or ain't?).Top
4 It is unlikely that ain't will be admitted to standard English in the foreseea ble future, if ever. For now, it stands at the door, out on the pavement, not ye t part of the language household except as an affectation or in catchphrases, at best handled with tweezers and at worst regarded as the clearest single token o f illiteracy.Top
Back - New Search air verb. In the meaning `to broadcast', this modern use (first recorded in 1943) is frequent in AmE (It aired a heartwarming TV commercial on the importance of savings institutionsW all Street Journal, 1989) but it is not often encountered in BrE (The obligation to keep records of all programmes airedEconomist, 1981 / Aired over eight consecutive nights, Roots came up roses for ABCTime, 1977).
Back - New Search ait (pronounced to rhyme with hate), an originally Old English word for an islet on a river (especially the Thames in London), is best spelt ait, rather than the al ternative eyot.
Back - New Search aitch see H.
Back - New Search la is used in English without regard to gender, despite being feminine in French (t he corresponding masculine form au is not used in this way in English). Apart fr om its use in phrases borrowed whole from French (e.g. la carte, and cookery ter ms such as la meunire, where au can of course also occur, as in au gratin), it is used as a semi-naturalized preposition, grammatically free though often appeari ng in print in Italics (There were giant landscape photocollages la David Hockne y / The BBC should give serious consideration to an autumn shuffle la 10 Downing Street).
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albeit (15c) is not an archaism, despite its sound and its formation on a subjunctive v erb (all be it that); the shorter form albe, attested from about the same date, is now obsolete. Use with a that-clause was early suppressed (Chaucer) and is no w largely redundant, although it is sometimes found in print. Hence it often beh aves more like an adverb than a conjunction. It has an archaic ring and is often used as a quasi-archaism: It is an unwelcome, albeit necessary, restraintA. Storr , 1972 / A great line of poetry, albeit by a mendacious fascist, will outlast the most sa nctified of good deedsTimes Literary Supplement, 1988.
Back - New Search albino has the plural form albinos.
Back - New Search alga is normally used in its plural form algae, pronounced al-jee.
Back - New Search alibi is properly a legal term meaning à plea that when an alleged act took place one w as elsewhere'. The earliest use of alibi (18c) corresponded to that of the Latin a dverb meaning èlsewhere': those under suspicion had to prove that they were alibi ( elsewhere). From this use it rapidly hardened into a noun: an alibi was àn instan ce of being alibi' (Since you think I murdered him, I had better produce my alibiS. Brett , 1979). I n the 20c it has developed a colloquial weakened meaning àn excuse; a plea of inn ocence' (I have an alibi because I'm going to have a babyL.P. Hartley , 1951 / The power-loom provided both the State and the employers with a cast iron alibiE. P. Thompson , 1980). This colloquial use is first recorded in American sports wr iting and then in detective fiction (naturally, or surprisingly, enough). The co rresponding sense of à person providing an alibi' has followed suit (Tom and Maureen are my alibisC. Hare , 1949) and there is even a verb, although its inflection is too awkward for widespread use (She's alibi-ed by Mrs. FitchJ. Cannan , 1958 / There's got to be someone to alibi usL. Duncan , 1978).
Back - New Search alien. From the 14c to the 19c inclusive, alien as an adjective meaning òf nature or cha racter different from' was followed by from (This uncouth style, so alien from genuine EnglishH. Reed , 1855). About the turn of the century, this construction gave way to one with to, by analogy with word s like adverse, repugnant, and opposed, rather than different. The construction with to is now routine (Thinking, and certainly brooding, were quite alien to his characterJ.C. Oates , 1980 / The implied snobbery of the remark was quite alien to the whole way in which she had been brought upA.N. Wilson , 1982). The construction with from still occurs from time to time (A reflection upon how far man has come to feel himself alien from the animal ki ngdom of which he is a memberA. Storr , 1968).
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all. 1 ALL OR ALL OF. All can be used before singular or plural nouns, and of is not needed except before pronouns standing alone (all human life / all the time / al l children / all tickets / all of them / all you people). The construction with of is comparatively recent (first recorded c.1800) and is probably due to associ ation with none of, some of, little of, much of, etc. (He will have to be all of these things Brookner , 1986 / All of the company's profits had been used to salary himB. Ripley , 1987 / At each stop, all of us visitors were greeted by a hail of celebratory statistic sNew Yorker, 1989). There is also a common idiomatic use with quantities (It must have been all of fifteen minutes of dull, homesick silence Twain , 1883 / He was all of thirty-three, solitary and unsure of himselfG. Graham , 1944).
2 When all is the subject of the verb to be followed by a plural complement, the linking verb is expressed in the singular: All I saw was fields Williams , 1985 /
In some sense, all we have is the scoresincomplete and corrupted as they often ar eNew Yorker, 1989.Top
3 See also ALL RIGHT, ALL THAT, ALL TOGETHER, ALL TOLD, ALREADY; for all but see BUT (7).Top
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all-around is an optional AmE variant to all-round (The best allaround American school / A good all-around player).
Back - New Search allay has inflections allays, allayed, allaying.
Back - New Search allegedly is pronounced as four syllables.
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allegory, fable, parable. 1 All three words denote a narrative or story that symbolizes other persons and events. Allegory flourished in medieval literature and later (Spenser's Faerie Q ueene, 15906; Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, 167884, in which the journey of the her o Christian stands for the life of the human soul; Dryden's Absalom and Achitoph el, 1681), and allegorical elements are present in much modern writing, e.g. Vir ginia Woolf's Between the Acts (1941), which by means of a village pageant prese nts à communal image of rural England, past and present'.
2 A parable is a special kind of allegory, especially in the New Testament, in w hich a moral point is made from an everyday story. A fable also makes a moral po int, but is couched in terms of fictional characters who are often made to do im possible things (e.g. animals speak).Top
Back - New Search allergy dated from the early 20c in its pathological meaning `sensitiveneness to pollen, c ertain foods, antibiotics, etc.' It is attested earlier in German (Allergie) and i s derived from Greek words allos òther, different' and ergon `work'. Its extended meani ng, involving antipathy to all sorts of things, dates from the 1940s; an early i nstance is a famous one in Auden: Before the Diet of Sugar he was using razor blades And excited soon after with a n allergy to maidenheadsFor Time Being, 1944. Allergic dates in its original mean ing from about the same time as allergy, and its extended use is recorded slight ly earlier (1937 in the OED). In recent use, allergies and being allergic have e xtended to things like change, the number 13, opera on television, negotiating w ith terrorists, colonels (1942), scissors, and other things ranging from the sin ister to the apparently harmless.
Back - New Search alley has the plural form alleys.
Back - New Search allot verb has inflected forms allots, allotted, allotting, but note allotment (one t).
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allow. 1 This verb matches admit in having a wide range of common uses, transitive and intransitive, with that-clauses, and with an infinitive complement. For several centuries it has alternated in many meanings with the phrasal verb allow of; som e of these meanings are now obsolete, but one has survived, presumably to avoid
ambiguity with allow = `permit, authorize', although it sounds old-fashioned (e.g. Jortin is willing to allow of [= accept as valid] other miraclesJ.R. Lowell , 184 9).
2 In the meanings `to acknowledge, concede', allow followed by a clause has been in continuous use since the 17c (e.g. I suppose it will be allowed us that marriage is a human society Milton , 1643 / `You know best, Captain,' Hugh Macroon allowed with grave courtesy Mackenzie , 1947). Top
3 The construction allow as how, meaning `to state as an opinion, have to admit th at' is restricted to AmE and dialect uses (She allowed as how my old friend J.J. was flying on Monday morningN. Thornburg , 1976 / He allowed as how she was faithfulT. Morrison , 1981).Top
Back - New Search allowedly is pronounced as four syllables.
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all right is still the preferred way of writing this common expression. The alternative fo rm alright, though often found in private writing and in popular journalism and magazines, is not fully accepted, despite various arguments in its favour, espec ially: (1) the need to distinguish it from the use in which all is a pronoun and not an adverb, as in He finished the crossword and got it all right, (2) the analogy of altogether, already, etc., which similarly need to be disting uished from two-word forms having other meanings, and (3) its pronunciation as a single word. None the less, all right should be used for the time being, not alright.
Examples: (all right) One advantage of the permissive society is that it's all right to li ve together before marriageWoman's Own, 1971 / It's all right for you You won't have to do the post-mortem with these guys Deigh ton , 1974 / Òh, all right', she said, `go and be damned,' Greene , 1980 / (alright) They've been bloody inscrutable alrightP. Cave , 1979 / You'll be alright, love Achebe , 1987 / If you've got the ears to know what sounds good you're going to be pretty much a lrightGuitarist, 1992.
Back - New Search all-round see ALL-AROUND.
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all that, as in not all that good, is common as a colloquial intensifier (I looked around the stock. It wasn't all that brilliant, I must admitJ. Leasor , 1969). Gowers (1965) judged that the use was `now well on its way to literary sta tus', and it is indeed now a standard construction, though still having a whiff of the conversational about it.
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all together, altogether. These are often confused, because their meanings encroach on one another. All to gether means èveryone together', and the word all is usually removable without dama ging the syntax or affecting the meaning: e.g. One victim and five suspects, all together in a sealed roomA. Morice , 1971. Alto gether is adverbial and means èntirely; in every way': e.g.
The idea of counselling in schools is not altogether newTimes, 1970 / Martinez was not altogether unknown. But the antagonism of people in Chicago is insignificant. He has another ball game in mind altogether Bellow , 1982 / Like Ruskin, he can at times write sentences which I would call `woozy'; that is to say, too dependent upon some private symbolism of his own to be altogether compr ehensible to others.W.H. Auden , 1970.
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all told. This phrase, meaning `when all are counted to included', is first recorded in 1850. Originally used in contexts that included numbers (e.g. There are 12 all told), it has now spread to unquantified contexts (e.g. All told, I enjoyed life in the army), although this is best avoided except in casual conversation.
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allude, allusion. 1 To allude to someone or something is to mention them ìndirectly or covertly', i.e . without mentioning their name, unlike refer, which means to mention them direc tly, i.e. by name. So if you refer to Julius Caesar you name him, whereas if you allude to him you identify him without naming him, e.g. `the Roman dictator assas sinated in 44 BC'. In practice, allude is often used to mean `refer' (e.g. In his surviving works, Aristotle never mentions Alexander by name nor alludes d irectly to his stay in MacedoniaR.L. Fox , 1972 / He had star quality, an element often alluded to in Arlene's circle of show-biz friends Vidal , 1978).
2 Allusion and reference should follow the same principle, allusion involving in direct mention and reference involving direct mention by name, but again in prac tice the distinction blurs at the edges (She came across allusions to her family in the papers Sackville-West , 1931 / Midway in the questioning he'd begun to notice the number of allusions to a part icular November weekend Capote , 1966 /
There were hints and allusions about his troubles to his friendsD. Halberstam , 1 979 / She was annoyed that he could make her feel so uncomfortable by his veiled allus ion to last nightA. Murray , 1993.Top
3 Beware of confusion between allusion and illusion, which means à deception or m isapprehension about the true state of affairs'.Top
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ally. 1 This is now normally stressed on the first syllable, both as a noun and as a v erb.
2 The verb has four typical constructions: (1) transitive, (2) intransitive, (3) reflexive
(Since Siegfried alone has the strength to win the Valkyrie for Gunther, they mu st ally themselves with himA. Huth , 1985), (4) passive (We hear she's currently allied with a very flakey anarchist guy Carr , 1983).Top
3 Allied is used as a general adjective meaning `relating to or belonging to allie s (or Allies, usually particular ones)' (The man made his astonishing parachute jump into allied territoryTimes 1970 / The Vice President also wants to know just what allied or U.S. initiatives Europ eans would welcome to get the stalemated talks going once againTimes, 1977).Top
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almanac is now spelt ac except in traditional titles including The Oxford Almanack and Wh itaker's Almanack.
Back - New Search alongside. Alongside has been used as a preposition with or without of for some two centuri es and both constructions are still available, although use with of is now often restricted to constructions with a verbal noun (The transport Stamboul was alongside the harbour wallD.A. Thomas , 1988 / Alongside of preaching the Gospel there are other ways in which we have to chang e the lives of these savages Hampton , 1974).
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already. 1 As an adverb (I have already paid), already is spelt as one word, and is not t o be confused with the two separate words all ready (We are all ready to start n ow).
2 Already is sometimes used in AmE and other varieties, and informally in BrE to o, to mean `yet, still' or even (in its weakened use) `now', as in the following example s: If I were a man and your ma was fiftyfive already I should still be mad for herR.Y . Stormberg , 1920 (South Africa) / Give me the watermelon alreadyD. Greenburg , 1964, / US I called you up but you weren't there alreadyJ. Platt , 1984 (South Africa). T his use is nonstandard, and should be avoided except in informal contexts.Top
Back - New Search alright see ALL RIGHT.
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also. 1 Also should be used as an adverb (Besides being an astronomer and mathematicia n, Grassi was also an architect), and not a conjunction equivalent to and or as well as (Remember your passport and money; also the tickets / He has made a good impression. He writes well and keeps to deadlines. Also, he's an agreeable pers on).
2 The normal position is with the verb (It was also held to be the cause of the milder form of the illness known as AID S-related complexNew York Review of Books, 1986 / Both wines also come in sweeter demi-sec versionWhich?, 1984 / The equipment needed can be used quite legitimately But it can also be used to h ack into other people's computersTimes, 1985). It is pedantic and against natural usage to insist on positioning also to clarify the part of the sentence it is c hiefly referring to, as in My brother also is coming [i.e. as well as my sister] , to distinguish from My brother is also coming [i.e. as well as telephoning]. T oo is a far more mobile word and serves this purpose much better.Top
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alternate, alternative. 1 Both words are adjectives and nouns and come from Latin alternus meaning èvery second' and have had closely related meanings over several centuries of usage. Now however, there is a clear distinction which needs to be observed. Alternate as an adjective means `(of two things) each following and followed by the other', as in alternate days. Alternative means àvailable or usable instead of another', as in a n alternative solution to the problem. In other words, an alternative thing repl aces something else, whereas an alternate thing exists as well as something else . In 20c AmE, alternate, with stress on the first syllable, has usurped the terr itory of alternative in its ordinary meaning (An alternate way to make these rellenos is to stuff the meat mixture into whole green chilesSan Diego Union, 1987).
2 Since the late 1960s the adjective has increasingly been used to mean `purportin g or claiming to represent an acceptable or preferable alternative to that in tr aditional use', as in alternative medicine (mainly homoeopathic or holistic), alte rnative energy (non-nuclear and not using fossil fuels), alternative fuel (and a lternative-fuel vehicles, AFVs), alternative birthing (avoiding artificial metho ds), alternative society (rejecting traditional values), alternative technology (conserving resources), alternative theatre (using nontraditional techniques).To p
3 Alternative as a noun means something that is available or usable instead of s omething else. The traditional view that an alternative must be one of two possi bilities, because the source word, Latin alter, means òther of two' is not sustaina ble, and alternative has been regularly used since the mid19c with reference to a ny number of possibilities (Mr. George Bush, the U.S. Vice-President, last night confirmed Washington's wil lingness to consider alternatives to its zero option proposals for banning inter mediate range nuclear missiles from EuropeFinancial Times, 1983 / The aim of counselling is to open up the personal world of experience in which t he person feels `stuck' so that he or she may find alternative ways of coping with t he world of events which confronts him or herCounselling, 1983). The traditional use is still found, and lies at the heart of the word, most often as the alterna tive (The alternative of `public limited company' is the abbreviation `p.l.c.'Companies Act, 1 980).Top
4 Alternate as a noun is much less common. In AmE it is often used with the mean ing àn alternative', a reserve (player), a variant (I was fourth alternate in the Miss Teenage South Carolina pageant Boyd , 1984 / The twelve jurors and six alternates in Room 318 of the United States CourthouseN ew Yorker, 1986). In BrE this meaning is not found, although it is related to on e that was in use in the 18c.Top
5 Alternate is also a verb (pronounced -neit in the final syllable), meaning`(of t wo or more things) to succeed one another in turns': In a democratic system political parties expect to alternate in officeP. Richards , 1988.Top
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although, though.
Though can always be used instead of although, but the same is not true the othe r way round. 1 Both words can be used as a conjunction introducing a subordinate clause (He did well, although he did not win an outright majorityEconomist, 1981 / Though there was a tendency for students to factionalize, there were always stud ents good about diplomacyChristian Science Monitor, 1982 / Although the defendant had undoubtedly committed an offence of failing to give f ull particulars, that was not an arrestable offenceTimes, 1984). Where they are i nterchangeable, however, although generally has a stronger concessive force, and is somewhat more usual in initial position in a sentence. 2 In the following uses, though alone is possible: (1) as an adverb in medial or final position (It is true though that one misses out on one's husband's early years of struggl eTimes, 1985). (2) in inverted constructions (Young though he is, he doesn't look it), (3) in the fixed expressions as though and even though (Anderson is a borderline New Waver who looks as though she has been out in the rain upside downWashington Post, 1982 / He was by no means a dry, boring theoretician even though he wrote extraordinari ly advanced books on dance Fonteyn , 1980).
Back - New Search alto has the plural form altos.
Back - New Search altogether see ALL TOGETHER.
Back - New Search aluminium. The BrE spelling accords well with other element names such as magnesium, potass ium, sodium, etc., whereas the AmE spelling aluminium (stressed on the second sy llable) is the one adopted by its discoverer, Sir H. Davy , in about 1812.
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alumnus (stressed on the second syllable) means a former student or pupil, and comes fro m a Latin word meaning `nursling'. It is more common in AmE than in BrE. The plural form is alumni (pronounced -niy) and the female form is alumna (plural alumnae, pronounced -nee). Rival views on the pronunciation of Latin words in English mea n that the masculine and feminine pronunciations are sometimes reversed.
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a.m. As an abbreviation of Latin ante meridiem `before noon', a.m. is pronounced as two l etters and written in the form 8.15 a.m. (or am; in AmE 8:15 a.m.). Note that 12 .00 a.m. is midnight and 12 p.m. is midday; because of the uncertainty these des ignations cause, the explicit forms 12.00 midnight or 12.00 midday are often to be preferred. The abbreviation is sometimes used informally as a noun: I arrived here this a.m.
Back - New Search amateur. The standard pronunciation is now am--t.
Back - New Search ambidextrous. Note the spelling -trous, not -terous.
Back - New Search ambience, meaning `surroundings, atmosphere', is derived from French ambiance (a form which is also occasionally used in English). It is firmly established in the language af ter a century or so of use. Both spellings are in use, although ambiance differs in having a non-naturalized nasal pronunciation of the final syllable. The corr esponding adjective ambient has developed a special meaning relating to instrume ntal electronic `New Age' music: Ambient music looks to have a future in this country as the official artform of the cyberpunksFace, 1995.
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ambiguity. 1 Ambiguity in language denotes the possibility of more than one meaning being u nderstood from what is heard or read. Intentional ambiguity can be effective, fo r example as a literary device or in advertising. Our concern here is with unint entional and misleading ambiguity that occurs in ordinary speech and writing, mo st often as a result of poor word order. The Fowlers (1906) devoted several page s to ambiguities of this kind, but their (mostly literary) examples now seem con trived and unreal, as do many of the examples given in grammar books.
2 Typical ambiguities in everyday language usually involve the association of a word or phrase with the wrong part of the sentence (The council plans to notify parents whose children are affected by post, where by post should be placed afte r parents), or the unclear application of a negative (They did not go out to wat er the plants, which can mean either they did not go out at all, or they did go out but not to water the plants; similarly with the type We did not go to the sh ops because we were expecting visitors: see BECAUSE (2)).Top
3 Ambiguity also arises from words that have more than one meaning or function, as in Visiting friends can be tiresome / the famous line The peasants are revolt ing / The Minister appealed to her supporters, and from false or unclear referen ce, as in If the children don't like their toys, get rid of them / We only have two first editions (and no other books?). In speech, ambiguity is nearly always eliminated by intonation; in writing, atte ntion to these relatively few problem areas will be enough to avoid the ambiguit ies that matter.Top
Back - New Search ambivalent, ambiguous. The terms ambivalent and ambivalence are first recorded in about 1916 in the con text of psychology, and in particular the Jungian notion of `the coexistence in on e person of contradictory emotions or attitudes towards a person or thing' (OED). C. S. Lewis distanced himself somewhat from using ambivalent when he said that `De ath is what some modern people would call ambivalent. It is Satan's great weapon a nd God's great weapon'. Ambivalent applies to feelings and attitudes, whereas ambi guous refers to more concrete things such as statements and events and their mea nings: (ambivalent) This sad state of affairs may be attributed to feckless parents or to a society which projects its standards and values in such an ambivalent wayH. Pluckrose , 1987 /
Women can be extremely ambivalent about their own ambition and aggression at wor kShe, 1989 / Examination of what is entailed and what is expected have produced ambivalent co nclusionsState of Prisons, 1991. Ambivalently is also found, often where ambiguously would be more suitable: e.g. The people who inhabit Gormenghast, ambivalently described as `figures' and `shapes', ar e poised between the two meaningsM.H. Short , 1987.
Back - New Search amen is pronounced both ah-men and ay-men.
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amend, emend. 1 Amend is the more common word, used of making adjustments to a document or for mal proposal (such as a parliamentary act), and also as a special word for `to cha nge' or `to alter' in the context of personal behaviour. Its etymological meaning is `fr ee from fault' (from Latin mendum or menda `fault, blemish'), and there is always a no tion of correction or improvement in its meaning.
2 Emend and emendation are used mainly to refer to the activity of textual schol ars in proposing changes in the reading of texts and manuscripts so as to make t hem more intelligible or remove errors.Top
Back - New Search America. To English speakers outside North America, the term America means first and fore most the USA, and North America is used to denote a larger geographical area inc luding also Canada and Mexico. The terms American and North American are used co rrespondingly as adjectives and nouns. Central America refers to the countries i n the narrow strip of land to the south of Mexico (including Guatemala, Nicaragu a, and Panama), and South America to the region to the south of the Panama Canal , including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, etc.
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American English. 1 GENERAL. Fowler in Modern English Usage (1926) did not include an entry on Ame rican English and said little on the subject, although he cast occasional aspers ions on so-called ùndesirable aliens' (such as belittle). Since then attitudes to A merican English have hardened, and the prevailing view among some who seek (or c laim) to preserve standards in English is often hostile. However, it is linguist ically misconceived and historically unjustified to regard the American influenc e on English as necessarily harmful; both varieties have been enriched by contac t with each other and with other varieties, including Australian English and Sou th African English. It should also be remembered that Canadian English (influenc ed by French) is a valid variety, and the boundaries between the Englishes of Ca nada and the USA are becoming much harder to draw precisely. American English differs from British English in several important ways, in matt ers of vocabulary, spelling and inflection, idiom, grammar, pronunciation, and p unctuation. Some of the more significant differences are due to uses that disapp eared in BrE but survived in AmE (such as the use of gotten as a past participle of get, and the use of theater and other spellings in -er), and others are due to developments in AmE after it went its own way.
2 VOCABULARY. AmE has long been a copious source of new vocabulary in BrE, and m any items are now used with little or no awareness of their origin (e.g. belittl e, commuter, OK, to snoop, to fly off the handle). Recently imported Americanism s tend to cause the most disapproval (e.g. the sentence adverb hopefully, verbal forms of nouns such as hospitalize, cultural `media' terms such as gameshow, phrase -based words such as downsizing and ongoing, and slang vocabulary such as cop-ou t and hacking), and whole areas of vocabulary development such as the political correctness movement (which has given us intellectually challenged, vertically c hallenged, and other euphemisms in which a `positive' word challenged has replaced a `negative' word handicapped). There are significant loans in the other direction: c entral heating, gay (meaning homosexual), miniskirt, and kiss of life all Britis h in origin and are now widely used in North America. Some terms are known only on one side of the Atlantic because the institutions they denote are confined to one side, e.g. duplex (in the US) and giro (in the UK). The table shows some of the more important differences of core vocabulary between the two varieties. BR ITISH AMERICAN aeroplane airplane aluminium aluminum aubergine eggplant autumn fall banknote bill biscuit (dry) cracker biscuit (sweet) cookie
bonnet (of car) hood braces suspenders brooch pin bumper (of car) fender chemist's drugstore chips (food) French fries cinema movie theater coffin casket courgettes zucchini crisps potato chips curtains drapes drawing pin thumbtack driving licence driver's license dustbin garbage can estate agent realtor first floor second floor flat apartment frying pan skillet ground floor first floor handbag purse icing frosting kerb curb lavatory washroom lift elevator lorry truck main road highway motorway expressway nappy diaper pavement sidewalk petrol gasoline or gas
potato chips French fries pram baby carriage queue line railway railroad rise (in salary raise roundabout (in road system) rotary rowingboat rowboat rubbish (domestic) trash shoelace shoestring sweets candy tap (for water) faucet tart pie traffic jam gridlock tram streetcar trolley (at supermarket or airport) cart trousers pants underground subway undertaker mortician veranda porch vest undershirt waistcoat vest wallet billfold windscreen windshield zip zipper
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3 SPELLING AND INFLECTION. Some spelling differences concern particular words an d are not applied systematically (e.g. AmE aluminum, maneuver, pajamas); these n eed to be verified in a dictionary that records both spellings (such as the Conc ise Oxford Dictionary). The principal systematic differences in BrE and AmE spel ling are:
a Simplification of the digraph vowels -ae and -oe to -e (as in ameba and estrog en; but initial ae-, as in aesthetic, still tends to dominate in AmE as well as BrE). This is beginning to make an impact on British spelling, for example encyc lopedia (much deprecated largely on grounds of intellectual snobbery). See also FOETUS. b Use of -ense instead of -ence as a noun ending (as in defense and pretense; se e also LICENCE). c Use of -er instead of -re as a noun ending in many words (as in center and the ater); but note acre, massacre, mediocre, and ogre in both varieties. d Use of -or instead of -our as a noun ending (as in color and harbor). e Reduction of -ou to -o- (as in mold). f Use of -l- instead of -ll in verbal inflection (as in instal, rivaled, travele r) and converse use of -ll- instead of -l- (as in installment, skillful). g Suppression of a final mute -e in inflection (as in milage and salable), but n ot after a soft c or g (as in changeable). h Reduction of final -ogue to -og (as in analog and catalog). i Exclusive use of -ize instead of -ise in verbs that allow both spellings in Br E, and variant use of -ize in verbs that are only spelt -ise in BrE (as in civil ize, privatize, and advertize). j Use of -z- occasionally instead of -s- (as in analyze and cozy).Top
4 IDIOM. There are occasional differences in shared idioms. Examples are: BrE ma n on the street / AmE man in the street / BrE a new lease of life / AmE a new le ase on life / BrE leave well alone / AmE leave well enough alone.Top
5 GRAMMAR. Most of the more important grammatical differences concern use of aux iliary and modal verbs (do, have, shall, will, and others such as dare): a AmE favours the type Did you go? rather than Have you been?, er than I haven't got, They just left rather than They've just e (or used) to rather than I used not to, and let's not rather (as in Let's not argue). These preferences are also found to a BrE. I don't have rath left, I didn't us than Don't let's lesser degree in
b Some BrE constructions are not available in AmE, e.g. BrE We weren't to know ( BrE/AmE We couldn't know or couldn't have known), BrE meant to (= BrE/AmE suppos ed to) as in The food here is meant to be very good. c There are differences in the way prepositions are used. For example, AmE has o ut the window and off of the floor where BrE has out of the window and off the f loor. d AmE has retained gotten, an older form of the past participle of get which has fallen out of use in BrE. It is used in AmE as well as got. See GOTTEN e AmE differs in the use of shall and should: see SHALL AND WILL, SHOULD AND WOU
LD. f For differences in the use of dare and need, see DARE, NEED. g See also MAY, MIGHT; OUGHT.Top
6 PRONUNCIATION. As with spelling, there are particular differences and systemat ic differences. Examples of the first are schedule (skin AmE, sh- in BrE) and tomato (t-may-toh in AmE, t-mah-toh in BrE). It is beyond the scope of this book to explore the pronunciation systems of both varieties in detail, but a few spe cial differences might be mentioned: a The letter r is pronounced or partly pronounced when it occurs in the middle o f a word whether or not it is followed by a vowel, whereas typically it is not i n BrE received pronunciation, as in hard and rare. b The vowel a is pronounced a as in had, not ah as in hard in words such as afte r, can't, dance, and path. c Pronunciation of short o as in box is closer to ah as in barks. d Pronunciation of yoo as in tube is closer to oo as in boob. e Pronunciation of er in words such as clerk rhymes with murk, not with mark as in BrE. f Pronunciation of final syllables in -ile (as in fertile and hostile) is -l, no t -iyl as in BrE. g Pronunciation of t following n and followed by an unstressed syllable is much less marked in AmE than in BrE (as in mental and twenty).Top
7 PUNCTUATION. American practice differs in the use of quotation marks and assoc iated punctuation (see QUOTATION MARKS) and uses a different style in dates (see DATES). Other points are noted in individual entries on punctuation marks.Top
Back - New Search American Indian, as a term for an aboriginal inhabitant of North America and parts of the Caribbe an, is less offensive than Red Indian, but Native American (see NATIVE) is even more acceptable. Indian is an ethnically erroneous name which is due to a mistak en identification of the area by European explorers in the 15c and 16c.
Back - New Search amid, amidst. Amid, recorded as a preposition and adverb before the Norman Conquest, developed
two by-forms, amides (cf. always) and amidst (cf. against, amongst). Amides has dropped out of use, and amid and amidst have survived only as prepositions. In the 1880s the OED noted that `there is a tendency to use amidst more distributivel y than amid, e.g. of things scattered about, or a thing moving, in the midst of others'. It is difficult to discern this distinction maintained in current use. Bo th words have an air of formality, especially amidst, which is much less common (496 examples in the 100m-word British National Corpus as opposed to 1,096 of am id). Typical examples: (amid) I have often stood by the Frome at Woolbridge, enjoying the mellow manor house amid its water-meadowsTimes, 1987 / `We shall enjoy strong, sustained growth and prosperity into the 1980s,' he said ami d Conservative cheersDaily Telegraph, 1989 / (amidst) He returned here for more tests amidst rumours that he had Parkinson's diseaseWashington Post, 1984 / This woman, sitting with such modest dignity amidst my students and colleagues Fr ayn , 1989. In general use, amid and amidst have tended to be replaced by among or in the midst of.
Back - New Search amoeba is the customary UK spelling (US ameba). The plural is amoebas (US amebas); amoe bae is only used in technical contexts.
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amok, amuck. The word is normally used in the phrase to run amok/amuck, meaning `to run about w ildly in a violent rage', and is an extension of a particular meaning in Malay ant hropology (Edward now wore the manic look of some animal transferred into the wrong enviro nment, as though he might run amok, or bite Lively , 1990). It also has figurativ e uses not involving physical action (With Thatcher running amok through the welfare state, lobby groups are preoccup ied defending what was once thought unassailableNew Scientist, 1991 / It wasn't his fault that her feelings seemed to be running amokE. Rees , 1992). T he spelling amok, which is closer to the original Malay amoq meaning àttacking in frenzy', is more common and preferable.
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among, amongst. 1 Among is now much more common (22,864 in the 100mword British National corpus a s opposed to 4,552 of amongst). It is the oldest form, which gave rise to the byf orms amonges (14c, no longer in use) and among(e)st (16c). There is no demonstra ble difference of meaning between the two forms, and the distribution is unclear except that amongst seems to be less common in AmE than in BrE. An older view, which Fowler (1926) followed, that amongst is commoner before a word beginning w ith a vowel, is not borne out by the evidence. Examples: (among) The giants war among themselvesJ.M. Coetzee , 1977 / There were a lot of young people among the temporary staff Fitzgerald , 1980 / Britain also has the lowest level of welfare expenditure among the countries of the European CommunityTimes, 1985 / (amongst) They fight amongst themselvesW. Wharton , 1978 / He was grateful to the Kabbels for taking account of her amongst their berserk s chemes Keneally , 1985 / They stood on the edges of the lamplight amongst the wattles by the creek Carey , 1988.
2 Among is much more often used than amongst in the expression among other thing s. This expression is strictly illogical, since among is inclusive and other is exclusive, but it is well established and usually causes no adverse comment. Per haps it gets by on the coat-tails of the Latin equivalent inter alia, also selfcontradictory but which few would venture to challenge.Top
3 For choice of among and between, See BETWEEN (2).Top
Back - New Search amoral See IMMORAL.
Back - New Search amount, number. Amount is normally used with uncountable nouns (i.e. nouns which have no plural)
to mean `quantity' (e.g. a reasonable amount of forgiveness, glue, resistance, stra w, etc.), and number with plural nouns (e.g. a certain number of boys, houses, J obs, etc.). Amount, however, is fast breaking into the territory of number, espe cially when the following plural noun is regarded as an aggregate or collection. Examples: Fame had magnified the amount of the forces1849 in OED / I have any amount of letters for you Shaw , 1893 / I expect you get a fair amount of road accidents on these winding roads Billingto n , 1988 / Billy's had a tremendous amount of problemsT. McGuane , 1989 (US) / Booksellers have less and less space for the amount of books that are being publ ishedThe Author, 1990 / The amount of bulbs she would find between the stones next springA. Huth , 1991. Note that quantity can be used with all types of nouns (a large quantity of parc els / a small quantity of sugar).
Back - New Search ampersand is the name of the symbol & used as a short form of ànd'. It was used extensively b y H. W. Fowler , both in print and in writing, and is most common in handwritten work, although the more cursive plus sign + is tending to oust it. It also occu rs frequently, often for stylistic purposes, in company names, as in Marks & Spe ncer. The word itself is a contraction of `& per se (= by itself) and', which was th e way that printers once referred to the character; the form of the symbol is pe rhaps a stylized version of Latin et ànd'.
Back - New Search ample. Fowler (1926) wrote that ample was `legitimate only with nouns denoting immaterial or abstract things' such as opportunity, praise, provision, and time. He did not accept that it could be properly used in attributive position before nouns like butter, coal, oil, and water that denote substances of indefinite quantity, alth ough it was acceptable to place it predicatively with such words, as in The coal is ample. The logic was uncharacteristically opaque, and the argument untenable . Although ample is still most often used with words such as evidence, opportuni ty, provision, scope, time, warning, etc., there is ample evidence of its use wi th material substances: It was also to be a station for the motor-car age, situated on ample land with l arge carparksJ. Richards , 1988 / The River Lea forming the eastern boundary of the metropolis provided good commu nication, ample supplies of water, and motive power for the millsJ. Marriott , 19 91 / For anyone else this might have seemed ample funds for an expeditionI. Tree , 199
1.
Back - New Search amuck See AMOK.
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an (indefinite article) See A, AN.
Back - New Search anaemia, anaemic are spelt -aein BrE and -e- or -aein AmE.
Back - New Search anaesthetic is spelt -aein BrE and -e- in AmE.
Back - New Search analogous is pronounced with a hard g. It should not be used as a general synonym of simil ar, but of comparisons involving analogy, i.e. identifiable characteristics or p rocedures in common. In practice it is most often used in technical contexts: The transmission electron microscope is analogous to a conventional light micros copeScientific American, 1971.
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analogy. 1 In language analogy is the process by which the use of words follows precedent s set by other words without going through all the stages that produced those pr ecedents. This is a fundamental aspect of the way languages develop, and applies to all aspects of usage, including word-formation, spelling, inflection, meanin g, collocation, and pronunciation. For example, the noun starvation (18c) was fo rmed on the analogy of other words such as vexation (15c); the dialect and AmE p ast form dove (from dive) was formed on the analogy of strove (from strive); the pronunciation of controversy on the first or second syllable is by analogy with types represented respectively by matrimony and monotony. The formation seascap e (and later skyscape and waterscape) was modelled on landscape, workaholic on a lcoholic, and sexist (and later ageist and others) on racist; and the use of the phrase annus horribilis (`dreadful year') by Queen Elizabeth II with reference to 1 992 was a powerful extension of the existing phrase annus mirabills (`wonderful ye ar').
2 Sometimes false analogies come into play, leading to uses that either appear e rroneous (as sometimes in the speech of children) or prevail despite the falsene ss of the analogy (as with alright, modelled on altogether). More often, the rol e of analogy is overlooked by those who criticize aspects of usage (such as the sentence adverb hopefully) in isolation.Top
Back - New Search analyse is spelt -yse in BrE and -yze in AmE.
Back - New Search analysis has the plural form analyses (pronounced -seez).
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anathema. 1 The meaning has changed over several centuries of use. Originally a Greek word meaning à thing dedicated' it then came to mean à thing dedicated to evil; an accur sed thing' and then, in the context of the Christian Church, `the act or formula of consigning to damnation', in which use it is still found with historical reference ; the plural is anathemas (e.g.
The pope had ended the Council with two final anathemas which were intimately co nnected with Anselm's situationR.W. Southern , 1990).
2 Its use as a quasi-adjective meaning àccursed' and in weakened senses ìntolerable', often followed by to, dates from the 18c: The policy they embraced was however anathema to many Conservatives, who rightly saw in it the beginning of the end of British rule in India Jenkins , 1988 / This leads very quickly to the `hoping something turns up' syndrome which is anathem a to most managersJ. Harveylones , 1988 / One proposal by itself was anathema; the two together were poisonA. Goodman , 199 3.Top
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and. 1 The simplest-looking words are often among the most complicated in use, and an d is no exception. The normal function of and is to join words, phrases, and sen tences: John and Mary are brother and sister / They dealt with the matter quickl y and efficiently / an acute and wary sense of the ordinary. In some cases it li nks parallel words that form a fixed expression that cannot normally be reversed (fish and chips, chips and fish; first and foremost, foremost and first; Romeo and Juliet, Juliet and Romeo).
2 For guidance on grammatical agreement in sentences with subjects containing an d (e.g. Fish and chips is / are my favourite meal), see AGREEMENT.Top
3 And is often omitted for contextual effects of various kinds, especially betwe en sequences of descriptive adjectives which can be separated by commas or simpl y by spaces (The teeming jerrybuilt dun-coloured traffic-ridden deafening city Lively , 1987) .Top
4 There is a persistent belief that it is wrong to begin a sentence with And, bu t the practice will be found in literature from Anglo-Saxon times onwards, espec ially as an aid to continuity in narrative and dialogue. The OED provides exampl es from the 9c to the 19c, including one from Shakespeare's King John: Arthur. M ust you with hot Irons, burne out both mine eyes? Hubert. Young boy, I must. Art
hur. And will you? Hubert. And I will. It is also used for other rhetorical purp oses, especially to denote surprise (O John! and you have seen him! And are you really going?1884 in OED) and sometim es just to introduce an improvised afterthought (I'm going to swim. And don't you dare watchG. Butler , 1983). It is however poor style to separate short statements into separate sentences when no special effe ct is needed: I opened the door and I looked into the room / I opened the door. And I looked into the room.Top
5 And all is a well-established tag added to the end of a statement, as in Isn't it amazing? He has a Ph.D. and allJ. Shute , 1992. With the nominal meaning àlso, besides, in addition', the use has origins in dialect, as can be seen from t he material from many regions given in the English Dialect Dictionary (often wri tten in special ways, e.g. ano', an'-all, an' a'). In many of the examples it se ems to lack any perceptible lexical meaning and to be just a rhythmical device t o eke out a sentence.Top
6 And also has special uses, to show progression (faster and faster), cause and effect (do that and I'll send you to bed), duration (they ran and ran), a large number or quantity (miles and miles), and addition (four and four are eight), pu rpose (where and replaces to: Try and come tomorrow). See also TRY AND.Top
7 Another special use, recorded in the OED from the 16c, is to express à differen ce of quality between things of the same name or class', as in W. S. Gilbert's lin es from the Gondoliers (1889): Well, as to that, of course there are kings and k ings. When I say I detest kings I mean I detest bad kings. To this we may add so me modern examples: There are ways to steal and there are ways to stealNew Yorker, 1988 / There is homelessness and homelessness. The word has become a shibboleth for opp osition politicians and the `caring' media The sort of homelessness which means desp air is quite different from the sort that means adventureTimes, 1991.Top
Back - New Search and/or is a formula indicating that the items connected by it can be taken either toget her or as alternatives. Its principal uses are in legal and other formal documen ts, but in general use it is often inelegant: The Press has rather plumped for the scholar as writer, and/or as bibliophileCamb ridge Review, 1959. A more comfortable way of expressing the same idea is to use `X or Y or both', and in some cases òr' by itself will do.
Back - New Search anemone. Note that the sequence of consonants is n-m-n, not (as is sometimes heard) n-n-m . The words comes from Greek anemos `wind' and is therefore akin to the English word animated and related words.
Back - New Search angle noun. This word had been used since the 1870s in the meaning `the aspect from which a ma tter is considered' (The old stagers the men who knew all the angles, who had great experience Shute , 1944), often with a defining word: the OED gives examples of statistical angle s, selling angles, and propaganda angles. Examples: For US television competition for the same audience within the same time-slot dr ives producers and planners to look for the new exploitation angle which will di fferentiate their product within the marketScreen, 1991 / He is always on the alert for a new angle, always individual in expressionArt New spaper, 1992. In more formal English, standpoint is a better word to use.
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angle verb. 1 This is a more specific word for `to fish' and means `fish with a hook and line'. In o rdinary use fish is the normal word: you would say I am going fishing tomorrow e ven if angling were technically correct.1992
2 The verb in its meaning `seek an objective by devious or calculated means' (She did angle for mee, Madding my eagernesse with her restraint Shakespeare , Al l's Well v.iii.212) is a figurative use of this word, and has no connection with the word described in the preceding entry, apart from occasional contextual ove rlaps. It is usually followed by for: Ralph had begun to angle for an invitation by reminiscing about the joys of the traditional family ChristmasA. Taylor , 1992.Top
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Anglo-. People in Scotland and Wales understandably view this combining form (as in Angl o-French, Anglo-Irish, etc.) with some distaste, but it continues to be used as the standard term. The alternative term Brito- has not acquired any general curr ency, and is restricted to certain special cases, e.g. Brito-Arctic (relating to British territory in the Arctic) and Britocentric and related words.
Back - New Search annex, annexe. in BrE the verb is annex and the noun annexe; in AmE the noun is usually also sp elt annex.
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anniversaries. The normal practice is to refer to the 10th, 20th, 30th, etc. anniversary of an event, but special names have come to be associated with the more significant an niversaries. The principal names for wedding anniversaries are silver (25 years) , ruby (40), golden (50), and diamond (60, sometimes 75). For public events the following terms are used: centenary or (AmE) centennial (100), sesquicentenary ( 150 years), bicentenary (200), tercentenary (300), quatercentenary (400: NB not quarter-), quincentenary (500), sex-centenary (600), septcentenary (700), octoce ntenary (800), millenary (1,000). In AmE, the compounds end in -centennial rathe r than -centenary. See CENTENARY.
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announcer is first recorded in 1922 to mean a broadcaster who announces programmes or read s the news. The term has given way to some more specific terms: anchorman (1958) , anchorperson (1973), host, newscaster (1930) or newsreader (1925), and present er (1967).
Back - New Search annual See PERENNIAL.
Back - New Search annul is spelt with one 1, and has inflected forms annulled, annulling. The correspond ing noun is annulment.
Back - New Search anorak, a word of Greenland Eskimo origin, has taken on a new meaning from its associati on with people waiting around in cold weather (in anoraks, supposedly) to watch trains and aeroplanes or do other things the rest of the world can sneer at. Hen ce an anorak is à boring, studious, or socially inept person with unfashionable a nd solitary interests'. Its most common application is in the field of computing, as one might expect: `Cyberspace' is no longer the preserve of techno-nerds and anoraksGuardian, 1994. Der ivatives like anorakish and anoraksia are on the way.
Back - New Search anorexic, anorectic. Both words, adjectives derived from anorexia meaning òbsessive loss of appetite', a re in use. In general use, anorexic is now more common, and is used absolutely a s a quasi-noun. Examples: He became listless, anorexic, and increasingly sleepy, refusing to eat or crawlLa ncet, 1961 / Contrary to the popular image of the disturbed teenager, the anorexic is not typ ically a product of a `broken home'S. Macleod , 1989 / Do they think I'm anorexic, or just plain thin?J. Dawson , 1990.
Back - New Search another. For one another See EACH (3).
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antagonize. 1 -ize is the preferred spelling, although -ise is common.
2 The dominant sense now is `to evoke hostility or opposition or enmity in': Not wishing to antagonise the Colonel or his Officers, I suggested a compromiseB. Millim , 1991. Its earlier meaning `to contend with, oppose' is not recorded in the Concise Oxford Dictionary (1995), although its technical meaning `(of one force e tc.) to counteract or tend to neutralize (another)' is recorded. When the letter A of the OED was being written, the current meaning was new, and it gave only a s ingle quotation of 1882. The technical meaning is still used, although it is har dly familiar: Our first object must be to antagonize the poison and at the same time uphold hi s powersJ.G. Farrell , 1973.Top
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ante-, anti-. 1 These two prefixes need to be distinguished, if only to ensure correct spellin g. The first means `before, preceding' and forms words such as antenatal (`before birt h') and antechamber (à room leading to another'). The second, which is much more comm on, means' òpposite, opposed to, against', and forms words such as anti-aircraft, a nti-American, and anti-hero (`the opposite of a hero').
2 The OED points out that the model for all these words is Antichrist and its de rivative antichristian, which along with antipope were the only examples in use before 1600. There are no anti- combinations in Shakespeare.Top
Back - New Search antenna
has the plural form antennae (relating to the sensory organs of insects) and ant ennas (relating to radio aerials).
Back - New Search anterior, meaning `before (in time or place)', is followed by to, not than (There is a certain paradoxical logic to thinking of writing as anterior to spee chParagraph, 1986).
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anticipate. 1 Here lies another of the great usage battlegrounds, where the conflict is all the more fraught for overlapping meanings that confuse the issue. The two primar y and undisputed meanings are (1) to be aware of (a thing) in advance and act ac cordingly (e.g. Lecky has anticipated what the animal liberationists are now sayingListener, 1983 ) and (2) to forestall (a person) and take action before they do (e.g. I'm sorrydo go on, I did not mean to anticipate you Carr ).
2 Fowler scornfully rejected a third meaning, to expect or foresee (e.g. Wing mirrors were selling better than they had ever anticipated Drabble , 1987 / They have every right to be there, and we do not anticipate any change in that s tatusUSA Today, 1988 / One would not expect Cleopatra to have suffered such a fate, nor did she herself anticipate itA. Fraser , 1988). This meaning is classed as `disputed' in the Concise Oxford Dictionary (1995) and is placed second, although it might now reasonably be placed first on currency grounds, because it is comfortably the dominant sen se.Top
3 Both expect and anticipate (in this meaning) can be constructed with a that-cl ause, but only expect can be constructed with to (I expect to arrive tomorrow / I anticipate to arrive tomorrow).Top
Back - New Search antisocial see UNSOCIABLE, UNSOCIAL.
Back - New Search anxious. Anxiety, ùneasiness or trouble of mind' (first recorded in a work of c.1525 by Sir Thomas More ) underlies the traditional meaning of anxious, and in the 20c the d evelopment of psychiatric concepts such as anxiety neurosis have strengthened th e belief that a morbid state of mind is involved in the terms. In the 18c, anxio us came to mean `full of desire and endeavour' and was constructed with to; the phra se anxious to please appeared in Robert Blair's poem The Grave (1743), and Lord Nelson declared in 1794 that `The General seems as anxious as any of us to expedit e the fall of the place'. Examples: No one seemed very anxious to come up with the spondulicksPrivate Eye, 1980 / She's very anxious that you should like herA.N. Wilson , 1982 / We are desperately anxious to see the Advanced Passenger Train succeedRailway Mag azine, 1982 / There are a number of men only too anxious to buy themselves a knighthood who mi ght be most attracted to a project that catches the public sympathy Rayner , 1991 .
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any. 1 USE WITH SINGULAR OR PLURAL NOUNS. Any can be used with a singular or plural n oun, or with an uncountable noun such as homework and happiness, to denote choic e from three or more people or things (for choice from two, either is used): The most basic of data security precautions for any individual or company employ ing microcomputers is the making of back-upsTimes, 1985 / This letter is addressed to you and is not being copied to any other partyDaily T elegraph, 1986 / At any moment a change in voltage can wipe out what one has writtenListener, 1985 / Any food found in passengers' luggage will be confiscated / Neither government w as behind it, nor were there any sponsors, angels, captains of commerce or indus tryLos Angeles Times, 1986. When used with a singular countable noun (i.e. one th
at has a plural, such as book or person) it is always assertive in meaning: I di d not want any book (= I wanted a particular book) as distinct from I did not wa nt any books (normally = I wanted none) and I did not want any sugar (normally = I wanted no sugar).
2 AS A PRONOUN. Any functions as a pronoun as well as a determiner: By dialling 1, 0, a three-digit access code and the area code and number, a call er can use any of eight different long distance companiesNew York Times, 1985 / If you keep ferrets don't let any escape/ It's as good an excuse as any to buy a new car.Top
3 WITH COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVES. It is better to use a comparative with any other than a superlative with any: not / the most brutal piece of legislation of any passed by this government but a more brutal piece of legislation than any o ther passed by this government. An alternative is to use all instead of any: the most brutal piece of legislation of all those passed by this government.Top
4 ANY ONE AND ANYONE As one word, anyone means the same as anybody and is interc hangeable with it (Anyone could do that / Anybody could do that). As two words, it means àny single person or thing', as in You can have any one you like (any you like would include the possibility of more than one). Examples: The virtual photon rematerializes into any one of a very large number of possibl e combinations of new particlesScientific American, 1978 / Any one of half a dozen umbrella titles would equally well match the variety of the contents of this military miscellanyTimes Literary Supplement, 1977.Top
5 OTHER ONE-WORD AND TWO-WORD FORMS. Any more is used chiefly after a negative a nd is usually written as two words in BrE (He is not lying there any more Lively , 1987), although it is found more often a s one word in other varieties and occasionally also in BrE (He wasn't a school-kid anymoreM. du Plessis , 1983 (South Africa) / You don't feel so blas anymore going out on your [firefighting] callsNew York Time s, 1984 / Britain is not that sort of country anymoreSunday Times, 1988). Anyhow is only written as one word and is a (usually more informal) alternative for anyway (Anyhow I'm carving out a career there teaching the boss's daughter to read nove ls Keneally , 1985 / Home is not the place for charm anywayLondon Review of Books, 1987). Note that an y way is spelt as two words to retain their separate meaning, as in Is there any
way I can help? and Do it any way you like. Any place and any time are also often spelt as single words in AmE: She said she would vote for him anytimeNew Yorker, 1987 / I wouldn't have wanted to know her as a child, but once a man, anytimeM. Doane , 1988 / Why didn't we ever get to go anyplace?New Yorker, 1988. The archaic adverbial form any ways survives in the Book of Common Prayer (All t hose who are any ways afflicted in mind, body, or estate) and in the Authorized Version of the Bible (And if the people of the land doe any wayes hide their eye s from the men). Otherwise it is restricted to informal AmE: So who promised thi s guy anything anyways?Top
6 AS AN ADVERB. Any is correctly used as an adverb to emphasize a comparative ad jective or adverb (They are not treated like schoolgirls any longer / He can't p lay any better / She refuses to go any further). In informal AmE, and occasional ly in BrE, it can stand alone with the meaning àt all': Were used to responsibility. Doesn't worry us any Christie , 1937 / It's not going to help any with my examsNew Yorker, 1988.Top
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apart from, aside from. Apart from has been standard in BrE from the early 17c (e.g. There are few exciting and visitable relics of [Mesolithic] human life apart fro m cavesR. Muir , 1983 / The raven, who apart from anything else was much stronger in the air than the do ve Barnes , 1989); aside from, an equivalent expression used alongside apart from in AmE since the early 19c (Aside from that, the church leadership had trouble figuring out exactly what to do about himNew Yorker, 1986) is now found from time to time in BrE contexts (Aside from abolition of exchange controls by the other major economies, the Gov ernment insists that Britain's inflation rate be brought more in line with that of her trading partnersGuardian, 1989 / Aside from the eclipses, January, February and March are key months for professi onal matters and your personal aspirationsToday, 1992).
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apartheid is correctly pronounced -tayt in standard English, not -tiyt.
Back - New Search apex. The standard plural form is apexes, although apices is sometimes found in more t echnical contexts.
Back - New Search apiece, meaning `for each one', is normally placed immediately after a direct object (After buying his brothers a pint apiece [he] had to be content with a half for himself Bragg , 1969 / The actresses have one beautiful costume apieceNew Yorker, 1987).
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a posteriori, a Latin term meaning `from what comes after', is pronounced with the initial a as in hate and the final -i as in eye. It is used to characterize reasoning or arguin g from known facts to probable causes, as in the proposition `The prisoners have w eals on their backs, so they must have been whipped'. The opposite concept is A PR IORI.
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apostrophe. Fowler (1926) gave no information on this punctuation mark at the letter A excep t a cross-reference to an entry called `possessive puzzles', which sounds rather mor e entertaining. He concentrated on a number of difficulties arising from use of the apostrophe, and the same tactic is adopted here in a place where the user wi ll be more likely to look. Each problem is headed by a typical example that illu strates it. In general, it should be borne in mind that the apostrophe denotes either (1) a possessive, or (2) omitted letters. 1 GIRL'S, GIRLS' AS POSSESSIVE. The first is singular (one girl), and the second is plural (two or more girls). 2 WOMEN'S AND CHILDREN'S AS POSSESSIVE. When the plural ends in a letter other t han s, the possessive is formed by adding 's: the children's games, the men's bo ots, the oxen's hoofs, the women's cars, etc. 3 VIDEO'S FOR RENT. This is the so-called `grocers' apostrophe', an apostrophe misap plied to an ordinary plural, particularly in words ending in -o but also in quit e harmless words such as apple's and pear's (e.g. pear's 30p a pound). It is, ne edless to say, illiterate in ordinary usage. 4 WHO'S AND WHOSE. These are sometimes confused (e.g. Who's turn is it?): see WH O'S. 5 POSSESSIVE OF NAMES ENDING IN -s. Add 's to names that end in s when you would pronounce them with an extra s in speech (e.g. Charles's, Dickens's, Thomas's, The Times's, Zacharias's); but omit 's when the name is normally pronounced with out the extra s (e.g. Bridges', Connors', Mars', Herodotus', Xerxes'). With Fren ch names ending in (silent) -s or -x, add 's (e.g. Dumas's, le Roux's) and prono unce the modified word with a final -z. 6 HERS, ITS, OURS, ETC. An apostrophe should not be used in pronouns of this typ e (e.g. a book of hers). Note that its is normally used in attributive position, i.e. before a noun (Give the cat its dinner) and should be distinguished from i t's = ìt is': see ITS, IT's. 7 MPS, THE 1990s, ETC. The apostrophe is no longer normally used in the plural o f abbreviated forms (e.g. Several MPs were standing around), although it is of c ourse used in the possessive (e.g. The BBC's decision to go ahead with the broad cast). It is used in plurals when clarity calls for it, e.g. Dot your i's and cr oss your t's. 8 I'LL, THEY'VE, YOU'RE, ETC. The apostrophe is used to form these regular contr actions with pronouns, and occasionally with nouns (e.g. The joke's on them): se e ABBREVIATIONS (2). 9 CELLO, FLU, ETC. The apostrophe is no longer needed in words that are original ly contractions but are now treated as words in their own right, e.g. cello, flu , phone, plane. Other words retain them in their spelling, usually in medial rat her than initial position, e.g. fo'c'sle, ne'er-do-well, o'er, rock 'n' roll. 10 BARCLAYS BANK, ETC. The apostrophe is rapidly disappearing in company names a nd other commercial uses, e.g. Barclays Bank, Citizens Advice Bureau. Though occ asionally disapproved of, the practice can be justified as an attributive rather than possessive use of the noun (i.e. Barclays Bank is attributive, implying as sociation with Barclays, whereas Barclays' Bank is possessive, implying ownershi
p by people called Barclay).
Back - New Search appal is the correct BrE spelling (AmE appall), with inflections appalled, appalling.
Back - New Search apparatus is normally pronounced with -rat- as in rate (not as in part). The plural is app aratuses.
Back - New Search apparent is normally pronounced with short a (as in bat); pronunciation as in parent, tho ugh once dominant, is only occasionally heard.
Back - New Search appeal. The transitive use as a legal term is AmE (e.g. Curtis had announced that it will appeal the verdictPublisher's Weekly, 1963). Th e equivalent in BrE is appeal against (e.g. The mother appealed against the cour t's decisionInternational Journal of Law & Family).
Back - New Search appear, appeared. For the type She appeared to have encouraged him, see PERFECT INFINITIVE.
Back - New Search appeasement, meaning `the process of satisfying a potential aggressor', has had unfavourable over tones since its use in the 1930s with reference to Nazi Germany, and now always carries the implication of making shameful or inadvisable concessions. As late a s the 1920s, it was used more neutrally, as in Winston Churchill's statement in relation to Turkey, Here again I counsel prudence and appeasement.
Back - New Search appendix has the plural form appendices (with reference to parts of books and documents) and appendixes (in surgery and zoology).
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apposition. 1 Apposition is the placing of a noun or noun phrase beside another noun and nou n phrase, where it shares the same grammatical function, as in A portrait of Ben jamin Disraeli, the famous statesman, in which the famous statesman, is in appos ition to Benjamin Disraeli. Words in apposition are called appositives. In this example, the appositive gives additional information, and is called non-restrict ive; in other cases, the appositive is an essential part of the expression and i s called restrictive, e.g. William the Conqueror, the author Penelope Lively.
2 Note that the appositive element can stand first when it is a descriptive titl e or identifier preceding a name, e.g. Chancellor Kohl of Germany, civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King. Originating in AmE, this practice is rapidly spre ading to BrE, especially in newspapers.Top
3 For a more detailed treatment of apposition, see Greenbaum, Oxford English Gra mmar (1996), 23033.Top
Back - New Search appraisal has now nearly ousted appraisement in non-technical language, although appraisem ent was dominant in the 19c. The derivative reappraisal is a 20c formation.
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appraise, apprise.
Like many near-sounding words with some relation of meaning, these are often con fused. Appraise means `to assess the value of (something or someone)' (e.g. When a man is stripped of all worldly insignia, one can appraise him for what he is truly worth Chaplin , 1964 / It was an interval at least long enough for him to appraise the situation Fraser , 1988). Apprise means `to inform, to give notice to' and is normally constructed wi th a personal object followed by of (e.g. He was annoyed that I had not bothered to apprise him of the upsetting news soon erP. Bailey , 1986).
Back - New Search appreciate. Its normal meaning `to acknowledge with gratitude', especially in business correspon dence (e.g. I appreciate everything that you have done to help us) and to form p olite requests (e.g. It would be appreciated if you would reply by return of pos t) is unexceptionable. More controversial is its use with how or a that clause ( e.g. I appreciate that you are disappointed by the outcome). Gowers (1965) disco uraged this use, proposing realize instead, which is sometimes the better word a lthough in some contexts the notion of sympathize is also needed.
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apprehend, comprehend. In the meanings in which they overlap, these two words denote slightly different aspects of understanding. Apprehend means to grasp or perceive a general idea o r concept, whereas comprehend means to understand an argument or statement. Both can be followed by a simple object or by a that-clause. Examples (apprehend) Neither could apprehend the nature of their relationship, and each w as flattered by it White , 1957 / She drew a breath, long enough to apprehend that he was about to step from one w orld into another Murdoch , 1962 / Their use of the word `consciousness' refers to the system of meaning through which we apprehend the worldS. Bloch , 1984 / We are slow to apprehend danger; would much rather ignore some threat to our way of life, hoping it will go awayDaily Telegraph, 1992 / (comprehend) Speak more slowly so that we can comprehend everything you say Malam ud 1966 /
To comprehend language fully, to assemble it correctly and to express it properl y is a task that has no equal in human capabilityA. Smith , 1984.
Back - New Search apprise is spelt -ise not -ize. For its meaning, see APPRAISE.
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a priori, a Latin term meaning `from what is before', is pronounced with a as in hate and with both is as in eye. It is used to characterize reasoning or arguing from causes to effects, as in the proposition `Because they were wearing handcuffs it was obvi ous that they had been taken into custody'. The opposite concept is A POSTERIORI.
Back - New Search apropos is pronounced with stress on the first syllable and the last syllable as in so. In English it is always written, despite its French origin (17c), as one word wi thout accent. Its main uses are as a preposition, with or without a linking of ( e.g. Her voice, as has been mentioned apropos that of Boudicca, was not harsh Fraser , 1988 / Apropos of nothing she declared that love must be wonderfulG. Clare , 1981). Alth ough sometimes used with to, under the influence of appropriate, this is not rec ommended.
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apt, liable, prone. 1 Apt to and liable to, followed by an infinitive, are virtually interchangeable , except that liable carries a greater notion of responsibility for the result, which is generally implied to be undesirable. Examples:
Pick up any `documentation' and you are apt to be bombarded by gibberishNew York Time s, 1982 / Your cylinder-lock (what people are apt to call a `Yale')Oxford Consumer, 1983. In th is use, apt to is tending to force out the alternative prone to, although this i s still used in relation to habits and continual actions: The one unquestionable advantage of the multiflora stock is the fact that it is less prone to throw up suckers than any of the othersN. Young , 1971.
2 Liable to and prone to, unlike apt to, can be followed by a simple object, and in this use liable to also has the meaning `subject to (a penalty)': Many of these children are chesty, prone to coldsGuardian, 1967 / The affected children themselves are liable to behavioural problems such as temp er tantrumsJournal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1980 / Anyone convicted of giving away examination papers to candidates will be liable to two years in jailDaily Telegraph, 1982.Top
3 Likely to, followed by an infinitive, is an alternative when referring to a pa rticular or immediate possibility rather than a generalized probability, and can refer to favourable or neutral circumstances as well as unfavourable ones: A plan to help young home-buyers is likely to be announced within the next weekTi mes, 1973 / Teachers who refuse to cover for absent colleagues or attend staff meetings are likely to have pay deducted from now onTimes Educational Supplement, 1985.Top
Back - New Search aquarium has plurals aquariums (general use) or aquaria (technical use).
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Arab, Arabian, Arabic. 1 These three terms refer to different aspects of Arabia and its people: Arab me ans a member of the Semitic people now inhabiting large parts of the Middle East and North Africa, and is also used as a quasi-adjective before a noun (the Arab people / Arab hopes / Arab philosophy); Arabian is an adjective having geograph
ical reference to Arabia (the Arabian peninsula / an Arabian camel / Arabian fau na); and Arabic is a noun and adjective denoting a language (Do you speak Arabic ? / Arabic literature).
2 Arabic is written with a capital initial in the expression Arabic numerals (th e numbers 1, 2, 3, etc., as distinct from the Roman numerals I, II, III, etc.). It is written with a small initial in gum arabic, a type of gum exuded by Africa n acacia trees.Top
3 The expression street Arab, first recorded in 1859, and for about a century co mmonly applied to a homeless child or other vagrant living on the streets, is no w regarded as offensive and is rarely used.Top
Back - New Search arbiter, arbitrator. Arbiter, a more literary word (16c), is now restricted to the meaning à judge or authority' as in an arbiter of taste. For the meaning à person appointed to settle a dispute', the slightly older form arbitrator (15c) is now the correct word to us e, although the meanings overlap and arbiter is still often found in this meanin g. Examples: (arbiter) She was not so much an arbiter of fashion as she was fashion itselfD. H alberstam , 1979 / The great nineteenth-century critic and arbiter of taste, John RuskinL. Hudson , 1985 / Reith was the true successor of the Victorian headmaster, rapidly establishing a range of sporting events which the BBC in its capacity as the sole arbiter of a irways deemed to be of national significanceR. Holt , 1989 / Harley then insisted that the tournament director, who is the ultimate arbiter a t professional tournaments, be summonedM. Hamer , 1991 / (arbitrator) Either party may apply to have the dispute referred to arbitration by the judge or by an outside arbitratorR.C.A. White , 1985 / If the award of the arbitrator proves unreliable the court does have the power t o set aside such an awardL. Brown , 1987 / The arbitrator may decide that The Post Office is not legally liable but that th ere are special circumstances in your favour that mean you were not really at fa ultRoyal Mail Information Leaflet, 1991.
Back - New Search arc verb,
meaning `to produce a luminous electrical discharge' is inflected arced, arcing, wit h the c hard despite being followed by an e and i respectively.
Back - New Search archaeology is the BrE spelling; archeology is AmE.
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archaism. 1 Archaisms are words and phrases that have fallen out of general use but are us ed for special effect, normally in literature. These vary in effect from the gen tly old-fashioned or jocular (e.g. erstwhile, gentlewoman, goodly, hence, lest, methinks, perchance, quoth) to the unnatural or even unusable (e.g. peradventure , whilom).
2 Archaisms are most commonly found in allusive use in literature, e.g. If Mimi's cup runneth over, it runneth over with decency rather than with anythi ng more vital Brookner , 1985 (an Old Testament allusion to Psalms 23:5) / The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together Murdoch , 1987 (a New Testament allusion to Romans 8:22). Archaic word forms also occur in titles, as in The Compleat Girl (by Mary McCarthy , 1963, in allusion to Isaak Walton's Th e Compleat Angler), Whitaker's Almanack (which preserves an older spelling of al manac), and in fixed expressions such as olde worlde and many new formations mod elled on a-changing, e.g. a-basking, a-brewing, a-wasting.Top
3 See also the separate entries for ALBEIT, NAY, UNBEKNOWN.Top
Back - New Search ardour is spelt -our in BrE and as ardor in AmE.
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are, is see AGREEMENT.
Back - New Search aren't I see BE (4).
Back - New Search argot is a term for the jargon of a special group or class of people. See JARGON.
Back - New Search arguably is first recorded only in 1890, and did not appear in the original OED; now it s eems indispensable. It is used as an ordinary adverb and as a sentence adverb (q ualifying a whole statement). Examples: Arguably, this is another kind of corruption, but it was in general a very longrange bribery, and it was invariably offered in the guise of friendshipR.M. Sunte r , 1986 Fibich was arguably worse off even than Hartmann, for he knew no one Bro okner , 1988 / Meet the man with the surname everyone knows, Giorgio Armani, who arguably adorn s more bodies worldwide than any other living designerClothes Show, 1991.
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arise. Note that arise and rise are intransitive verbs (i.e. they cannot take an object and cannot be used in the passive), whereas arouse and rouse are generally tran sitive. Its meaning `to get out of bed' has now given way to rise, except in literar y use, and its principal current meaning in ordinary speech and writing is `to com e into existence or be noticed'; usually with reference to abstract concepts such as questions, difficulties, doubts, thoughts, results, etc. See also AROUSE.
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armadillo has the plural form armadillos.
Back - New Search armour is spelt -our in BrE and as armor in AmE.
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aroma. 1 Aroma now denotes any pleasant smell, as befits a word that originally meant `sp ice' (13c to 18c), and has given rise to aromatherapy, `massage or other treatment u sing extracts and essential oils', which likewise befits the special meaning of ar oma `the distinctive fragrance exhaled by a spice, plant, etc.'.
2 The plural is aromas.Top
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around, round. 1 In general, BrE prefers round and AmE prefers around, both as an adverb and as a preposition, except in certain more or less fixed expressions or restricted c ollocations. In BrE it is usual to say all the year round, Winter comes round, T he wheels go round, Send the book round, Show me round, whereas in all these cas es AmE would normally use around.
2 Around is obligatory in fixed expressions such as fool around, mess around, si t around, etc, all around (as in All around there are signs of decay), and to ha ve been around. In some of these, about is also possible, but not round.Top
3 BrE still tends to prefer about as a preposition meaning àpproximately', although
around is also used (e.g. There are about / around 100 in all / Come about / ar ound 4 o'clock), whereas AmE generally prefers around. See ABOUT.Top
4 However, the distribution of around and round is subject to considerable varia tion in practice, as the following examples show: (around as preposition) Jesse moped around the house all day Smith , 1983 (US) / The area around WaterlooR. Elms , 1988 (UK) / They stood grouped around their luggageM. Bracewell , 1989 (UK) / (round as preposition) It stood just round the corner from his father's house Bro oks , ante 1961 / A map rolled up round a broom handle Winterson , 1985 (UK) / He looked round the table as if daring anyone to smile Lodge , 1988 (UK) / (around as adverb) Stay around till she gets backNew Yorker, 1989 / Hartmann's sunny attitude was marvellous to have around Brookner , 1988 (UK) / The devices have been around a whileUSA Today, 1988 / I went around to the front doorNew Yorker, 1989 / (round as adverb) In the end she talked me round Bawden , 1987 (UK) / The news had gotten round pretty fastNew Yorker, 1998.Top
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arouse. The relation of arouse to rouse is much like that of arise to rise, i.e. rouse i s almost always preferred in the literal sense with a person or animal as object . Arouse is chiefly used to mean `to call into being' with reference to feelings and emotions. Generally, if you rouse someone you wake them or stir them into activ ity; if you arouse them, you excite them or make them angry or suspicious: The word `theory' has always aroused suspicion amongst the English, who see themselv es as practical people and sound empiricistsB. Bergonzi , 1990 / About five o'clock we were roused by the distant thudding of an engineS. Stewart , 1991.
Back - New Search arrogate see ABROGATE.
Back - New Search artefact, à product of human art or workmanship', is the more common spelling in BrE; in AmE artifact, corresponding to pronunciation rather than etymology (Latin arte factu m, `made by [human] art'), is dominant.
Back - New Search artiste, rhyming with feast and meaning à professional performer, especially a singer or d ancer', is a separate borrowing from French and not a feminine form of artist, whi ch has the distinct meaning of someone who works in one of the fine arts. Artist e, which carries no notion of artistry, is now regarded as at best an affectatio n and at worst an insult; usually a word such as performer would do just as well . Examples: Peruvian singers, Cuban ballerinas and Swiss circus artistes are among 80 troupe s and cultural delegationsDaily Telegraph, 1992 / Distinguished people make a practice of visiting the opera, and pull rank so as to meet the artistes, especially attractive femalesR. Butters , 1991.
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as. 1 PROBLEMS WITH AS AS In this common construction, the first as is an adverb, an d the second is either a preposition or a conjunction. a When no verb follows, e.g. as good as we / as good as us, there is no problem with nouns after as because nouns do not inflect, but some pronouns do. The two patterns are as as I/we/he/she/they and as as me/us/him/her/them. (It and you ar e of course invariable.) In normal conversational English the second pattern is more usual, and the first is only used in more formal contexts or in an effort t o avoid censure from purists. It should be added that both patterns are grammati cally sound, since as can function as a preposition (as it does in as good as us ) and as a conjunction (as it does in as good as we / as good as we are). In the se cases, the first as is classified as an adverb (as good as ) b Note that choice of case can determine meaning when there might be ambiguity,
as in I don't like George as much as them [= I don't like George as much as I li ke them] / I don't like George as much as they [= I don't like George as much as they like him]. This facility is not available with nouns (e.g. I don't like Ge orge as much as Henry), and ambiguity must then be clarified either by intonatio n (in speech) or by rephrasing (in writing, e.g. I don't like George as much as I like Henry, or better, I prefer Henry to George). c Note also that in negative constructions the first (adverbial) as can be repla ced by so: not so good as us. With so, it is unusual to use the I/we/he/she/they option.
2 AS = ÌN THE CAPACITY OF'. In this use, as is a preposition, and it is used to sho w the role or function of a person or thing: I hear you are employed as a teache r / It is as a cellist that she is best known. Care must be taken to avoid false links with the as clause, as in the following examples, which at best show poor style and at worst are downright ambiguous: As a medical student his call-up was deferred Fitzgerald , 1986 / As a 32-year-old law enforcement professional, you know that I do not like being forced to release prisoners from jailChicago Tribune, 1988 [Who then is the prof essional?].Top
3 OMISSION OF AS. The preposition as is usually omitted after certain verbs whic h designate or classify people or things in certain ways, including appoint, cer tify, choose, consider, count, deem, elect, nominate, proclaim, pronounce, rate, reckon. With other verbs, the as must be included; these are: accept, acknowled ge, characterize, class, define, describe, intend, regard, see, take, treat, use . Note that consider and regard, although having much the same meaning, differ i n the matter of as: We regard you as a model pupil / We consider you a model pup il. The adverb as is sometimes casually omitted in spoken English in comparisons: Sh e used to come regular as clockwork / It was soft as butter / They were good as gold. This is not good practice in more formal or written English.Top
4 AS = `BECAUSE'. Fowler (1926) rejected the use of as = `because' when it followed the main clause, as in I gave it up, as he only laughed at my arguments; but he perm itted it when the as clause came first, as in As he only laughed at my arguments , I gave it up. This objection now sounds as dated as the examples chosen, and t he position of the clause is determined not by spurious principles of syntax but by the degree of emphasis needed for each part of the sentence.Top
5 AS, RELATIVE PRONOUN. Its use as a relative pronoun is now largely confined to the constructions same as or such as: We can expect the same number to turn up as came last year / Such repairs as have been made to the house are most accepta ble. These constructions are less common in everyday spoken English. Other const ructions with as as a relative pronoun occur only in non-standard or regional En glish, both in BrE and AmE: It's only baronets as cares about farthings Thackeray , 1847/8 /
This is him as had a nasty cut over the eye Dickens , 1865 / I don't know as I expected to take part in this debateHarper's Magazine, 1888 / There's plenty as would like this nice little flat, Mr. E Burgess , 1963.Top
6 AS AND WHEN. This now common phrase meaning `whensoever' is surprisingly recent, n ot being recorded in the OED before 1945. It is also used elliptically in inform al (especially spoken) language to mean `when possible, in due course'. Examples: He would snatch pub meals as and when he couldP. McCutchan , 1975 / All bream will devour a small fish as and when the opportunity arises and they h ave the inclination to do soG. Marsden , 1987 / (elliptical) They confirmed the existing main roads as future traffic arteries t o be widened às and when'Listener, 1965 / She can redo them and we just microwave them as and whenspoken material in Britis h National Corpus, 1992.Top
7 AS FROM, AS OF. The formula as from is used in contracts and aggreements to in dicate the date from which certain items or clauses are to take effect. This use is reasonable when the date is retrospective: The rate of payment is increased as from the 1st September last. For present and future dates the as is superfluo us: Your redundancy takes effect from today [not as from today]. Phrases of the type as of now, as of today, etc., first recorded in the work of Mark Twain in 1900, are now well established in standard English in the UK and e lsewhere. Examples: I'm resigning from the committee as of nowD. Karp , 1957 / As of today, I do not believe Tebbit has enough votes to winJ. Critchley , 1990.T op
8 AS IF, AS THOUGH. a These two conjunctions are virtually interchangeable, except that as if is som ewhat more natural in exclamations (As if I would!). b When the conjunction introduces a possibility or likelihood (often after a ver b like appear, look, seem, or sound) the normal tense is used: He speaks as though even the rules which we freely invent are somehow suggested to us in virtue of their being rightM. Warnock , 1965 / When the left wing of the Labour Party looks as if it is going to lose, it is de scribed as bananasTimes, 1980 / It is as if he has given up on America and in so doing he has given up on grappl ing with the complexity of his position and allegiancesTimes Literary Supplement, 1986.
c When the conjunction introduces a comparison based on a hypothetical or imposs ible proposition, either the past tense or the subjunctive is used, which coinci de in form except that the third person singular subjunctive of to be is were, n ot was. It is impossible to draw a meaningful distinction in current usage betwe en these two alternatives, which only exist in this case, except that the subjun ctive were theoretically denotes a stronger element of hypothesis or supposition than does the past tense was: Most of them had been out of touch with him for many years, but he spoke to them as if it was only yesterday Lodge , 1980 / As if India were not already finding batting hard enough, the crowd started perf orming what is apparently called the `human wave'Times, 1986 / His body felt as though he were trembling, but he was notB. Moore , 1987 / He devoured all, exhausted, as though his life was in dangerA.S. Byatt , 1987. An elliptical construction, with the verb to be omitted, is also possible: The tanpura player strummed the strings as if in a mesmerised state Desai , 1980. Top
9 AS PER. This preposition, meaning ìn accordance with', is more or less restricted to business correspondence and to such publications as DIY manuals (e.g. as per specification). In general use it occurs most frequently in the colloquialism a s per usual and humorous variants of it: So I took her up a cup of tea as per usual on her headache days Mansfield , 1923 / I'll stay in a pub As per usualJ. Bingham , 1970 / Some old jolly camp-fire life went on as per usual Barnes , 1989 / She knew better, didn't she. As per alwaysP. Bailey , 1986.Top
10 AS SUCH. As such, meaning ìn this capacity' or àccordingly', is an established and valid expression, but it tends to be over-used in contexts where it adds little meaning: (useful) Euro-MPs are not against the Euro-quango as suchEnglish Today, 1985 / (redundant) Today, computers do little computing as such outside of specific are as. They are more concerned with manipulative tasks such as word processingNew Sc ientist, 1987. In many cases, an expression such as in principle would serve bet ter: instead of There is no objection to the sale of houses as such, write There is no objection in principle to the sale of houses.Top
11 AS TO, AS FOR. These are called complex prepositions, and they have a useful role to play when a simple preposition like of or about is not available or has another meaning. (1) As to means `concerning' or `with regard to': It is correct as to c olour and shape / The rates of postage vary both as to distance and weight. When a simple preposition is available, as it often is after a noun, it is bette
r to use it: `Vladimir telephoned the Circus at lunch-time today, sir,' Mostyn began, leaving som e unclarity as to [use about or regarding] which `sir' he was addressing Carr , 1980 / The setting and languages leave no doubt as to [use about or concerning] its Afr icannessEnglish World-wide, 1980 / Western newspapers have been full of speculation as to whether China was playing a `Soviet card' against the United StatesChristian Science Monitor, 1982Top
12 For such as, see SUCH.Top
Back - New Search as bad or worse than / as good or better than are examples of mixed constructions in which an element, in this case the second as (as bad as, as good as) has been omitted. It is common, especially in spoken English, but it is incorrect and should be avoided. The sentence We're sure they can judge a novel just as well if not better than us (London Rev iew of Books, 1987) should be corrected to just as well as, if not better than, us (note also the punctuation).
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ascendancy, ascendant. 1 The preferred spellings are -ancy, -ant, although ascendency and ascendent are still sometimes found in print.
2 Have ascendancy over and be in the ascendant are the normal phrases, and refer to a position of power achieved, not of power being gained. Ascendant here mean s `supreme' or `dominant', not àscending'.Top
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Asian, Asiatic. 1 Both words are pronounced with -s- as in measure or as -sh-. In AmE the first is far more common.
2 In the second half of the 20c Asian (a slightly older word) has replaced Asiat ic, as noun and adjective, when the reference is ethnic, because Asiatic is thou ght to have depreciatory overtones. In BrE Asian is also used with reference to people from Asia, especially the Indian subcontinent, or their descendants, livi ng in Britain.Top
Back - New Search aside, a side. Written as one word, aside is an adverb meaning `to or on one side', as in to put as ide, to take aside, etc., or a noun meaning words in a play spoken to the audien ce out of hearing of the other characters. In the meaning òn each side' it must be written as two words, as in They are playing five a side and a five-a-side team.
Back - New Search aside from see APART FROM.
Back - New Search as per See AS (9).
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assassinate, assassination. 1 The traditional meaning of assassinate is `to kill an important person for polit ical reasons' has been extended in recent times to include any person regarded by his or her killers as a political or sectarian target, for example in Northern I reland or the Middle East. The corresponding noun assassination has followed thi s tendency. Examples:
Palestinian guerrillas sought for a second time in three months to assassinate K ing Hussein Kissinger , 1979 / A boy who, during the vicious war in Liberia, has seen first his mother and then his father, his two elder brothers and his two elder sisters, savagely assassin ated in front of his eyes by the guerrilla troopsspoken material in British Natio nal Corpus, 1993 / Assassinations of individual foreigners later escalated into massive bombingsBull etin of the American Academy, 1994.
2 In the 20c an older figurative meaning of assassinate, meaning `to destroy (some one's reputation)' has also been revived: Helping the Prime Minister in his political battle to assassinate Mr. George Bro wnGuardian, 1962. The noun is especially common in the expression character assas sination: So that was Minter's true objective: character assassination of a popular politi cianthe modern journalist's stock-in-trade.R. Goddard , 1990.Top
Back - New Search asset. Fowler (1926) called this a `false form', meaning that the true form was assets, der ived from a late Anglo-French word which came in turn from Latin ad satis meanin g `to sufficiency', while asset was the lazy writer's alternative when unwilling to choose between words such as possession, gain, advantage, resource, and other sy nonyms. Assets was originally construed as singular but after about 1800 was con strued as plural, giving rise to the singular form asset, which is now standard in a range of physical and nonphysical meanings: The Mini's greatest asset is probably its road-holdingTimes, 1975 / Mays Cottage was a period piece, completely unrestored, which in these days seem ed to be an asset Drabble , 1975 / His greatest asset was his enthusiasmToday, 1992. It is also the basis of combina tions such as asset card and asset-stripping.
Back - New Search assignment, assignation. An assignment is an allocation, and in law a legal transfer of a right or proper ty, or the document that effects the transfer. It is also a task or piece of wor k allotted to a person, in this meaning originating in AmE. The dominant meaning of assignation, which is pronounced with a hard g, is now àn appointment to meet , especially between lovers'. Its original meaning of àpportionment' is not often use d now.
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assimilation is the process by which the formation of words is influenced by existing words, and the spelling and pronunciation of word-elements are affected by the elements that follow or come before. The word cockroach, from Spanish cucaracha, achieve d its modern spelling by being assimilated in the 18c to the English words cock and roach. In spelling, in-is assimilated to il-in words such as illumination an d to im-in words such as impossible. In phonetics, an initial s can be assimilat ed to sh-when preceded by a word ending in sh or ch, as for example in lunch sco re.
Back - New Search assist has the same meaning as help, and shares the same grammatical constructions. In many contexts the two words are interchangeable, but help is usually preferable, assist being, in Fowler's term (1926), a `genteelism' to be avoided. However, assis t has connotations of formality that are sometimes needed, as in A young man who assisted him with the management of the farm Capote , 1966: who h elped him would have seemed too casual.
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assume, presume. 1 Both words can mean `suppose' and are often interchangeable in this meaning. Fowle r (1926) maintained that there is a stronger element of postulation or hypothesi s in assume and of a belief held on the basis of external evidence in presume, b ut in practice the uses are not always that distinct. Both words can be followed by a that-clause (or one with that omitted), by an object followed by a toinfini tive, or by a simple object: (assume) Throughout the book the authors assume the validity of neo-classical ec onomics as taught in the United StatesTimes Literary Supplement, 1974 / When you're young you assume everybody old knows what they're doing Amis , 1987 / This is assumed to refer to some sort of demonstration similar to April's Peking riotDaily Telegraph, 1976 /
(presume) I often hear the ungrammatical term òne pence'. / presume this is because the occurrence of a single penny is becoming a thing of the pastDaily Telegraph, 1974 / The Able Criminal may be presumed to be emotionally stable and `well-adjusted' Ambler , 1977.
2 Assume and presume also coincide in a range of meaning that may be summarized as `to take on oneself', although you generally assume roles and identities but pres ume attitudes and bearings. The intransitive use with a to infinitive is availab le only with presume. Examples: He was writing `Gerontion', a dramatic monologue in which he assumes the persona of the `little old man' Ackroyd , 1984 / He looked surprisedalmost annoyedas if a servant had presumed too great a familiar ityP.P. Read , 1981 / It is a reckless ambassador who would presume to preempt his chiefs Kissinger , 1 979.Top
Back - New Search assuming is used to mean òn the assumption that', and being participial is open to the often tiresome objection that the subject of the sentence has to be capable of assumi ng things, whereas of course the conceptual subject of the phrase is the people involved: Assuming that the museum is open on Monday, the car will pick us up at 10 a.m. There is no doubt at all about the meaning here.
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assure, assurance. These are terms used principally in the context of life insurance, although even here the verb is no longer common. You insure your life and take out life assur ance (or insurance). Both words are rapidly becoming redundant except in conserv ative business circles.
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assure, ensure, insure. These three words overlap in meaning, and all have to do with aspects of certain ty or security. Assure means `to make (a person) sure, to convince', and can be foll owed by of or a that-clause (I assure you of my love / I assured him that he had not been overlooked. It also has special uses in to rest assured (`to be comforta bly certain') and as an adjective assured, meaning `self-confident'. Ensure means to `ma ke certain, guarantee', and is followed either by a simple object or (more commonl y) by a that-clause (These measures will ensure success / Security checks at air ports will ensure that no firearms are carried by passengers). Insure is restric ted to the meaning `protect by insurance' (Are you insured? / We had better insure t he new paintings).
Back - New Search assuredly is pronounced as four syllables.
Back - New Search asterisk (). This has many special uses, the most common of which is as a marker in a text to draw attention to a footnote, or in a handwritten document to signal an additio n. It is also used, especially in older writing, to stand for letters omitted fr om coarse slang words, e.g. ct, fk. In linguistic usage, it denotes (1) a postul ated (unrecorded) form of a word, and (2) an incorrect or deprecated usage, e.g. They promised us to go.
Back - New Search asthma is pronounced ass-m in BrE, and az-m in AmE. The -this not normally pronounced in either variety.
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astronaut is first recorded, with hypothetical reference, in 1929. It is now the standard term for a person trained to travel in a spacecraft. A Russian space traveller, however, is called a cosmonaut.
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as well as. 1 This is used both as a conjunction, in which case a following pronoun agrees w ith a preceding noun or pronoun (It was obvious that he had been consulted as well as I Greene , 1965), or, more commonly, as a preposition (in which case the last example would read as well as me). It may also be followed by a verbal noun, especially when it is put at the beginning of a sentence: As well as being highly collectable they make surprisingly roomy containers for all sorts of itemsDaily Telegraph, 1980. Here usage has overtaken Fowler's prefer ence (in many cases) for a form of the verb that matches the verb used earlier i n the sentence (e.g. His death leaves a gap as well as creates a by-election). T his construction is only possible with transitive verbs; though favoured by some , it no longer sounds natural.
2 A verb following a subject that includes as well as should agree with the noun or pronoun that precedes as well as: He believes that tutor as well as pupil benefits from the arrangementOxford Today , 1990. This is because the addition (here, the phrase as well as pupil) is rega rded as a parenthesis and not as part of the main sentence (as it would be if as well as were replaced by and). See also AGREEMENT (3).Top
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asylum. 1 The word is no longer used, except with historical reference, of a psychiatric hospital, which is now typically called clinic, psychiatric unit, or simply hos pital or by its name. The principal use of asylum now is to denote the status (i n full, political asylum) sought by political refugees.
2 The plural asylums is only used in the older meaning.Top
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at 1 AT ABOUT. The OED illustrates this use (e.g. at about seven o'clock in the eve ning) with examples from 1843 onward, and occasional objections must now be set aside.
2 AT ALL. In Standard BrE, this prepositional phrase meaning ìn every way, in any way' is restricted to negative constructions, questions, and conditional statemen ts: I did not speak at all / Did you speak at all? / If you spoke at all. Its ea rlier use meaning òf all, altogether' survives in Ireland and in some BrE and AmE d ialects (e.g. John Cusack is the finest dancer at allP.W. Joyce , 1910).Top
3 AT OR IN. It is more usual to use in when permanent location or continued habi tation is involved, and is required when the place is a country or region rather than a place such as a town or city: Timbuktu is in Mali / He lives in Helsinki / The festival takes place in Salzburg in August / She grew up in Switzerland. At is more usual with reference to more transitory association, and is much more common with specific places: The plane landed at Nadi in Fiji / There is a rail way station at Leuchars. A further distinction is demonstrated by the sentences They are at St Andrews [= a member of the University] and They are in St Andrews [living in or visiting St Andrews].Top
4 WHERE IT'S AT. This colloquial expression, meaning `the fashionable scene or are a of activity', swept into AmE in the 1960s and is now common in BrE and other var ieties. It should be avoided in more formal English.Top
Back - New Search ate is normally pronounced to rhyme with bet, although pronunciation to rhyme with b ait is also common.
Back - New Search attitude.
One might say that this is now a word with attitude, in its 20c meaning àggressiv e or uncooperative behaviour', which represents a special application of one kind of characteristic attitude (in the established meaning à person's settled opinion or behaviour'): If I'm out there for months with everybody yelling at me, I'm going to cop an at titudeNew York Times, 1985. The word is still moving on, and now has a positive c onnotation, àssertiveness, style, panache': In this job, you've gotta have attitude, hang loose, ready for anythingPolice Rev iew, 1990. It should only be used in this way informally; more formally the word needs explicit clarification: for the first meaning use uncooperative attitude or even simply poor (or bad) attitude, and for the second meaning strong (or pos itive) attitude.
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attributive. 1 In grammar, attributive denotes a word, normally an adjective or noun, that is put before another word, normally a noun, to qualify or describe it in some way (eg. brown in brown shoes and table in table lamp). See further at ADJECTIVE (2 ).
2 English allows several nouns to be placed in succession, as in a museum conser vation department, and this practice is especially common in newspaper headlines , which aim at concision: sex cinema blaze man pleads guiltyIndependent, 1995 and expenses row councillor forced outEvening News (Edinburgh), 1995.Top
Back - New Search audit verb. British readers of American books and newspapers might be puzzled by the use of audit to mean `to attend (a class) informally' without working for a particular qual ification: She audited his undergraduate lectures; she waylaid him in the department office Lurie , 1974.
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auger, augur. Auger is an Old English word for a tool for boring holes. Augur, from the Latin word for soothsayer, is used occasionally to mean a prophet, but is more usual a s a verb in the expressions augur well and augur ill, meaning `to portend, to sugg est a specific outcome'. Examples: Everything augured badlythey weren't meant to be togetherE.J. Howard , 1965 / The novel augured well for a successful career in fiction-writingJ. Pope .
Back - New Search aught is an Old English word that survives only in the fixed expressions for aught I k now and for aught I care, and as such is restricted to literary or archaic use.
Back - New Search augur see AUGER.
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aural, oral. Aural means `to do with the ear' (from Latin auris ear) and oral means `to do with the mouth' (from Latin os, oris mouth). An oral examination is one done by speaking r ather than by writing; an aural examination is a medical examination of the ear. Both words are pronounced the same way, with the first syllable as in or, addin g to the confusion. See also VERBAL.
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Australian English.
1 Most of the distinctive features of Australian English concern pronunciation, vocabulary, and idiom; there are few differences in the written or literary lang uage.
2 PRONUNCIATION. The sound of Australian English is characterized principally by its vowels, which differ from those of BrE in several ways: the vowels of fleec e, face, price, goose, goat, mouth all begin with rather open, slack sounds not unlike those used in Cockney speech; the vowels of dress, strut, start, dance, n urse have a much closer and tighter sound than in BrE. In unstressed syllables, Australian -es and -ed (as in boxes and studded) have a sound like e in garden, so that boxes sounds much the same as boxers, whereas BrE has the sound of i as in pin; Australian final -y and -ie- (as in study and studied) has a longer soun d more like beat than bit. Australian English is closer to AmE in its lighter pr onunciation of t and l when occurring between vowels (as in butter and hollow).T op
3 VOCABULARY AND IDIOM. The main differences arise from the local landscape, nat ural history, and way of life, and can be seen in geographical names (e.g. bush, creek, paddock, scrub; conversely BrE brook, dale, field, forest are rare in Au stralian), in names of plants and animals, some of Aboriginal origin and borrowe d further in BrE (e.g. budgerigar, wallaby). Word formations peculiar to Austral ian English include a productive colloquial suffix -o in word such as commo = co mmunist and smoko = tea-break. Relatively few items of general vocabulary, wheth er neutral or informal in register, have come into BrE (e.g. barrack, crook = ìll , unwell', dinkum, ropeable = àngry', walkabout), and still fewer idioms (the best kn own probably being she'll be right = àll will be well').Top
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authentic, genuine. 1 Fowler (1926) tried to establish a distinction in meaning between these two wo rds, reserving authentic for the truthfulness of (for example) a book's contents or a picture's subject and genuine for the status of its alleged creator. In th e sentence The Holbein Henry VIII is both authentic and genuine, the implication is that the portrait really is of Henry VIII (and therefore authentic) and is r eally by Holbein (and therefore genuine). This distinction is difficult to maint ain in practice, and items such as documents, antique furniture, signatures, and many others are regularly described as authentic or genuine without any identif iable distinction in meaning.
2 An especially important domain in which authentic has been used in recent year s is that of èarly' music (i.e. before about 1700), where authentic instruments are
those made and played according to the principles of the period in which the mu sic was written; and so a violin (for example) can be an authentic Baroque one, although it may be of modern manufacture and therefore not genuine or original.T op
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author. 1 noun. An author is a male or a female writer; authoress is now not only largel y extinct, but regarded as depreciatory or even offensive.
2 verb. The verb is 16c, some two centuries later than the noun, and has been us ed both transitively and intransitively, although predominantly in the passive: Whenever the students thought they were evaluating the work of a man, they asses sed it as far more impressive than when they thought it was authored by a womanM. Ross , 1989. In the 20c this use of author has been greatly extended in AmE and BrE with reference to areas of activity outside the arts, such as sport and the cinema. Co-author, meaning to share authorship, is now common.Top
3 Authoring is a recent addition to the language of computing, and means `the proc ess of creating multimedia documents for electronic publishing': In order to profit from the possibilities of hypertext, teachers have to be prov ided with powerful authoring environments which allow them to create complex hyp ertexts.Literary and Linguistic Computing, 1992.Top
Back - New Search authoritarian, authoritative. These two words should be carefully distinguished as their implications are quit e different. Authoritarian is generally used of people or their actions and has the unfavourable meaning `favouring or encouraging strict obedience to authority' (w ith overtones of excess); authoritative is generally used of things that people say or write, and has the favourable meaning `recognized as true or dependable'. Exa mples: (authoritarian) In industry we have had continuing trench warfare deriving from low pay, and authoritarian and remote management.Times, 1973 / (authoritative) The most authoritative and comprehensive reference book publishe
d on the world's rare, endangered and threatened birds.Birds, 1979.
Back - New Search automaton has the plural form automata when understood collectively and automatons when un derstood individually. See LATIN PLURALS.
Back - New Search automobile. This word, together with car, is the standard term in AmE, but in BrE it is used little apart from in the name Automobile Association. In BrE limousine has conn otations of ostentation, whereas in AmE it is a normal word for a large chauffeu r-driven car or small bus such as regularly carry people to and from airports.
Back - New Search autumn see FALL.
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auxiliary verbs. An auxiliary verb is one that is used with another verb to form a particular ten se or mood, for example be in We were pleased, have in They have gone, and do in Do you mind? Sometimes more than one auxiliary verb is used to form a tense, as in We will be going and You have been warned. Some verbs, such as can, may, and would, are called modal (or modal auxiliary) verbs, and others (notably dare an d need), though less obviously auxiliary in function, are called semimodal verbs because they behave in similar ways (for example, you can say dare not and need not, which is characteristic of auxiliary verbs). See also BE; CAN; DO; HAVE; M AY, MIGHT; MODAL VERB; OUGHT; SHALL AND WILL.
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avail.
1 The noun is used frequently in the somewhat literary phrases of no avail and t o little / no avail, meaning `having little or no use or effective result', and pose s no problems.
2 There are also straightforward verb uses that are also slightly formal or lite rary in flavour, as in Words avail very little with him and His good works avail ed him nothing, and the reflexive use avail oneself of as in to avail oneself of opportunities. The reflexive construction is also found in the passive, especia lly in AmE: Individual contracts may not be availed of to defeat or delay the procedureLegal Times, 1982(US). In BrE this use should be avoided in favour of words such as us e, exploit, employ, and utilize.Top
Back - New Search avant-garde is a 15c word originally meaning `the front part of an army' (now expressed by vangu ard). It has been revived in the 20c to mean `pioneers or innovators', especially in the arts; its main uses are in the expression the avant-garde, in attributive u ses such as the avant-garde cinema and avant-garde design, and with a qualifying word such as the Berlin avant-garde. It retains a French pronunciation with a n asalized second syllable in avant.
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avenge, revenge. The principal differences to bear in mind are (1) that you avenge a person (incl uding yourself) or an act but revenge only an act or yourself (usually on someon e), and (2) that avenge is only a verb but revenge is a noun as well (in fact mo re commonly so). Differences in meaning, though proposed from time to time, are too subtle to have any practical use as guidance. Examples: (avenge) The ferocity and guile with which Absalom had avenged the rape of his s isterD. Jacobson , 1970 / That brave god will leap down from his steed when he has to avenge his father's deathK. Crossley-Holland , 1980 / Through characterization the novelist has the means to avenge himself on his ene miesP.D. James , 1993 / (revenge) It wasn't just that I could never revenge myself upon himS. Mason , 199
0 / If I were to revenge myself upon you that would be an act of despair Murdoch , 19 93.
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averse. 1 AVERSE, AVERSION. Both words are followed by to, despite arguments (notably by Dr Johnson , challenged at some length in the OED) that from should be used. Ex amples: Nor was he averse to being reminded of Calcutta Desai , 1988 / Vic wasn't averse to keeping Everthorpe guessing whether he and Robyn Penrose we re having an affair Lodge , 1988 / He had a lifelong aversion to British officialdom Carr , 1989 / Dr Mainwaring's prescription had not cured her aversion from the prospect of bec oming hopelessly senile in the company of people who knew her Amis , 1974
2 AVERSE, ADVERSE. See ADVERSE.Top
Back - New Search avid, meaning èager or greedy', is used either attributively (before a noun, commonly an agent noun such as collector or reader) or predicatively followed by for (or, no w rarely, of): Since getting the equipment two years ago, I've become an avid collector of comp act discsCD Review, 1992 / He was avid for news of how it was all going, and regretting that he couldn't be part of itJ. Spottiswoode , 1991.
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avoid, avert, evade. Avoid and evade overlap in meaning, but evade has a stronger sense of guile or t rickery in escaping from an obligation (such as paying income tax). Avert means `t o turn aside' (which is its literal meaning in averting one's gaze, etc.), and so `t o take action to prevent (something unwelcome, such as danger)'. Examples: Measles vaccine should be avoided by children who are receiving steroidsD.J. Rapp , 1970 / These rules could be evaded, but their evasion was preferable to a reign of snoo pery and an encouragement of informersA. Paton , 1981 / In striving to avert a danger he thinks he sees lying ahead he may take the very measures which are necessary to bring it aboutP.H. Kocher , 1972. There is a cor responding difference in meaning between the nouns avoidance and evasion.
Back - New Search avouch, avow, vouch. Avouch, meaning `to assure, guarantee, acknowledge' and overlapping with avow, can b e found in the Bible (AV), Spenser , Marlowe , Milton , Byron , and Thackeray , but despite these fine credentials is no longer in general use. Avow is still in use and means `to declare (a belief, one's faith, an intention, etc.)'. Vouch is re stricted to the phrase to vouch for (somebody or something), as in / can vouch f or him and / can vouch for his honesty.
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await, wait. Await is a transitive verb meaning `to wait for', and cannot be used without an obje ct: We will await the outcome is equivalent to We will wait for the outcome (but has a stronger element of suspenseful expectation); We will await and see is un grammatical. Wait is generally intransitive (and transitivized by for), but has a limited number of collocates in transitive use, as in Wait your turn and Don't wait tea.
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awake, awaken, wake, waken.
1 FORMS. Although the history of these words, and in particular of the various f orms of past tense and past participle, is highly complex (see the OED entry), i n current use awake and wake can be paired as strong verbs having a change of vo wel, and awaken and waken can be paired as weak verbs. For the first pair, the p ast forms are awoke and woke, and the participial forms are awoken and woken. Th e second pair are regular, with past and participial forms awakened and wakened.
2 MEANINGS. All four verbs can be used transitively or intransitively, but wake, awaken, and waken are more formal or literary in effect. Wake is the only one t o be followed optionally by up. Examples will clarify all these points: (awake) I awoke from a deep sleep / She awoke to the sound of driving rain / She awoke h er sleeping child / The accident awoke old fears / (awaken) They awakened at daw n / There was enough noise to awaken the dead / There is a need to awaken motori sts to the dangers of speeding in foggy conditions / The episode awakened her in terest in impressionist painting / (wake) When do you usually wake in the mornin g? / I usually wake up at seven / Will you wake me up when it's time to go? / We woke up early this morning / I woke her up when it became light / I was woken b y the wind in night / (waken) They wakened at dawn / We were wakened by the stor m / When she fell asleep nothing would waken her.Top
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aware. 1 Aware is generally predicative in use, i.e. it stands after a noun or as a com plement after a verb such as be, become, grow, seem, etc. It can be followed by of or a that-clause: I had to be aware of the balance between committed pro-marketeers and committed anti-marketeers Wilson , 1976 / The young people are well aware that they are being ripped off by these parasite s Frendz , 1971.
2 In the 20c, uses of aware either alone or attributively (before a noun) have b ecome more common in the generalized meanings `well-informed' and àlert to circumstan ces' which do not refer to particular items of knowledge: Revolutionarily aware people can't be fooled by these kinds of people Frendz , 19 71 / The painfully aware state that seems to have succeeded her earlier calm Brookner , 1985 / The people concerned are caring, concerned and awareand you haven't the faintest idea what they're talking about.Times, 1986. Use with a qualifying adverb, as in environmentally aware, is also well attested, both attributively and predicative
ly.Top
3 The noun awareness has developed a corresponding generalized meaning: Lord Scarman recognises that the awareness campaign needs forcefully to target t he governmentCity Limits, 1986.Top
Back - New Search awesome has followed the route of awful, and other words like fantastic, dreadful, treme ndous, etc., in acquiring, especially in AmE, a favourable meaning `very good or i mpressive', and this meaning is spreading into BrE alongside its traditional meani ng ìnspiring awe'. Examples: The roadside drinkers stare open-mouthed at the sight of the awesome Ford GT40Tod ay, 1992 / If the English performances in Paris and Edinburgh had been executed by New Zeal and they would be proclaimed as awesome and unstoppableRugby World and Post, 1992 .
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awful. 1 There are two main stages in the development of this word from its primary mea ning (which goes back to the time of King Alfred ) of ìnspiring awe'. First, from a bout 1800 it came to mean `very bad' (as in awful weather, an awful time); then grad ually it was reduced further in force to take on the role of a catch-all intensi fier deriving its sense from the context (as in an awful lot of money). It has a lso served as an adverb meaning the same as awfully, i.e. little more than `very' (i t's awful cold), but this use is non-standard.
2 The corresponding adverb awfully has followed the same route, and now means li ttle more than `very' (as in awfully kind of you). All these uses are best restricte d to spoken or casual written English and should be avoided in more formal conte xts.Top
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awhile, a while. Both expressions have the same origin in the word while, but it should be noted that awhile is strictly adverbial whereas a while is a noun phrase (very often p receded by for): When he reached the street-sign he stopped awhile and stood beneath it Dexter , 1 983 / I'm going away for a whileB. Neil , 1993. Confusion is aggravated by the fact tha t a while, although a noun phrase, can also have a semi-adverbial function: We h ad to wait a long while [= for a long while].
Back - New Search axe is the standard spelling in BrE and other varieties apart from AmE, which favour s ax. In BrE the verb has inflected forms axes, axed, axing.
Back - New Search axis has the plural form axes, pronounced ak-seez.
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aye. 1 The OED notes that the word meaning `yes' appears suddenly about 1575 and is commo n about 1600, but its origin is unknown. Its principal uses now are in some nort hern British varieties (especially Scottish), as a parliamentary term (The ayes have it), and in nautical language (Aye aye, sir) It is pronounced as in eye.
2 The word meaning èver', as in for aye, is a different word first recorded about 1 200. It is pronounced as in hay.Top
3 Both words are also spelt ay.Top
Back - New Search azure is a horrid word to pronounce and is best avoided altogether, but if needs must then a first (stressed) syllable as in bat and a second as in pure is the best o ption.
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* * *
babe, baby. Babe is now either a literary word, being regularly used in the Bible (Authorize d Version, but baby in the New English Bible), or a colloquial and affectionate form of address to a young woman (originally AmE but increasingly found in BrE: He looked me up and down. `Who you, babe?'A. Billson , 1993). In a recent development , babe also means (with third-person reference) a sexually attractive woman: The smartly dressed hooker swept in surrounded by a bevy of near naked film babe s.Daily Mirror, 1995. Baby is also used as a term of affection (e.g. my poor baby ) and has a special use implying feebleness or lack of courage (He's a real baby when it comes to having injections). In this meaning baby has many recent and c olourful synonyms such as chicken, funk, and (most recently) wimp.
Back - New Search bacillus is pronounced with a soft c. The plural is bacilli, with the final -i pronounced like eye.
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back.
A use that is chiefly AmE but familiar in the UK and likely to become BrE eventu ally is back of, meaning `behind, in the back of' (His computer locates a spare space back of the planeKeyboard Player, 1986). But in back and in back of are unlikely to make the transition, being markedly AmE a nd un-British (`What luck,' she muses, sliding back in [the car]. `Get in back, Herman.'B. Ripley , 198 7 / Should I or should I not go out to the swimming pool in back of my sister's cond ominium?A. Beattie , 1980).
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back-formation. 1 A back-formation is a word (often a verb) formed from a longer word (often a n oun) which appears to be a derivative of the newer word; for example, burgle (19 c) is a back-formation from burglar (which is six centuries older) and sculpt (1 9c) from sculptor (17c). Some words are revived as back-formations, such as conj ect (which occurs in Chaucer and Shakespeare); See also ADMINISTER, ADMINISTRATE .
2 Many established back-formations cause little comment; examples are diagnose ( from diagnosis), donate (from donation), laze (from lazy), legislate (from legis lation), and televise (from television), whereas others are regarded as tasteles s or inappropriate; the chief targets are enthuse (from enthusiasm) and liaise ( from liaison), which should be avoided by those anxious to impress, even though the alternatives are usually phrases such as be enthusiastic and form a liaison (although interact will often do).Top
Back - New Search backlog. The current figurative meaning àrrears of uncompleted work' is a fairly recent Amer icanism (1930s) which rapidly passed into British use. The original physical mea ning à log placed at the back of a fire' is 17c; in between is an earlier meaning à reserve supply', which extended in use to abstract things (for example, goodwill) and gave rise to the current meaning. In this meaning it is often used with a pr eceding noun, e.g. capacity backlog, orders backlog: They find a backlog of work building up, in which important but less urgent plan ning and discussing never get to the top of the pileG. Claxton , 1989 /
Jordan temporarily closes its border with Iraq to ease the refugee backlog Keesin gs , 1990 / Extra staff brought in to clear the backlog should be kept on until a thorough r eview is madeJ. King , 1993.
Back - New Search backslang is a type of slang in which words are pronounced backwards and take on a special (often derogatory) meaning, such as yob for `boy'.
Back - New Search back to basics is a 1990s political slogan invoking a return to fundamental principles of hones ty and decency, which is likely to recur from time to time. When used adjectival ly, it should be hyphened (a back-to-basics campaign).
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backward, backwards. 1 For the adverb, both forms are in use, although backward is some what more com mon in AmE and backwards in BrE: Talk ran backward from the events of the morningA. Munro , 1987 (Canada) / I walked backward to look at her in the sunE.L. Doctorow , 1989 (US) / Not knowing where he was, and trying to work his way backwardsR. Cobb , 1985(UK). In the fixed expressions bend (or lean) over backwards, backwards and forwards, and to know backwards, backward is only found occasionally outside AmE: He'll bend over backwards to please a clientM. Bail , 1975 (Australia) / An eclectic collector , he knows the showrooms backwards.Financial Times, 1983 / The door kept swinging backwards and forwards Brookner , 1984 / From the study above them came the sound of footsteps moving backwards and forwa rds across the floorR. Border , 1991 / They move backward and forward between denial and anger and depression, unable t o break out of the circle of despairG. Carmichael , 1991.
2 For the adjective, the correct form in standard English is backward: He watched her walking away without a backward glance.R. Sutcliff , 1954 / Getting involved with the blind in any way seemed like a backward step Mehta , 19 87. In addition to the directional meanings, backward has the meaning `mentally re tarded, slow to learn', although this is now disfavoured by many as being deprecia tory.Top
Back - New Search bacterium is a singular noun and its plural is bacteria. Erroneous uses of bacteria as a s ingular noun are regrettably common in newspapers: A common gut bacteria may be a major cause of rheumatoid arthritisIndependent, 19 91.
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bad, badly. 1 After the verb feel, bad is an adjective complement (meaning either `guilty, ash amed' or ùnwell') rather than an adverb: To be absolutely honest, what I feel really bad about is that I don't feel worse Frayn , 1965. After to be and most other verbs, badly is required: He is behavin g badly / They badly wanted to see the game / My brother was badly wounded in Tu nisia / The Smiths are not badly off. In these cases, bad is used only informall y or in dialect: I only came cause she's so bad offL. Hellman , 1934.
2 In a slang (principally youth slang) use originating in US Black English, bad means the very opposite of its traditional meaning, i.e. èxcellent, very good', and in this meaning even has special degrees of comparison badder, baddest: She said that part of the problem was that they often wanted to distinguish them selves by being badder than their rivals. Badder? Surely the comparative of bad is worse? But then worse has connotations of being less good at doing something.S pectator, 1993. This is a good example of how one of the most basic words can be twisted and pulled in all directions, rather as wicked and mean have been in th e past.Top
Back - New Search bade, the past tense of bid, is pronounced bad.
Back - New Search bafflegab, a term for abstruse technical terminology, was coined by Milton A. Smith , assis tant general counsel for the American Chamber of Commerce, who defined it as `mult iloquence characterized by a consummate interfusion of circumlocution and other familiar manifestations of abstruse expatiation commonly utilised for promulgati ons implementing procrustean determinations by governmental bodies.'
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baggage. 1 Baggage and luggage overlap in use, although baggage generally connotes someth ing heavier and bulkier and less easily transportable by hand. Some collocations are more or less fixed, e.g. excess baggage, baggage claim, baggage handler; an d a few British railway stations still have left-luggage offices (rarely, though occasionally, left-baggage). In the US a person who looks after the baggage of passengers on a train or at a hotel is called a baggageman. At air terminals han d baggage and hand luggage seem to be freely used in both BrE and AmE.
2 In figurative uses, baggage is always used: It's the emotional baggage I'm hauling around that's causing all the troubleShe, 1989 / She was not an intellectual; her philosophical baggage was comparatively light.K. O. Morgan , 1990 / They dispatched their excess female baggage at the Strand Gate where the Sheriff was closing in on them, and then headed across the quicksands to RyeR. Long , 19 90.Top
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bail, bale. 1 The spelling bail (ultimately from Old French bailler `to take charge of') is alwa ys used with reference to securing the release of a person with a guarantee of h is or her reappearance in court on an appointed day. Figuratively, too, a person or organization may be bailed out, or released, from a debt or other difficulty .
2 In the meaning `to scoop water out of a boat', or `to make an emergency parachute ju mp from an aircraft' the spelling bale (out) is now usual, as if the action were t hat of letting a bale (i.e. bundle, as in bale of hay) through a trapdoor, even though the word is of different origin from the noun bale (from Old French baill e, `bucket').Top
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balance. 1 The noun is about four centuries older than the verb, and has derived several figurative uses from its primary meaning of àn apparatus for weighing', as for exam ple in accounting (where the notion of balancing the books is everpresent) and i n more abstract uses such as the fragile balance between peace and war. Two cent uries ago, the word branched out from the accounting sense in the US and came to mean `something (other than money) left over' (I'll bring the balance of our things / The balance of the penalty still has to be paid). This use is not good style in unquantified contexts when a simpler word such as rest is available.
2 The word occurs figuratively in a number of fixed or semifixed expressions suc h as balance of nature, balance of power, balance of probabilities, in the balan ce, on balance, to redress the balance, to strike a balance. These are all estab lished and acceptable uses.Top
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baleful, baneful. These two rather literary words overlap in meaning, giving rise to confusion. Ba leful (from bale, `misery') means `having an evil influence' or `menacing', and is used in p articular of people's presence or appearance, whereas baneful (from bane, poison ) developed from its earlier meaning `poisonous' to `causing harm or ruin'. Examples: (baleful) The baleful presence of his father in the house was like a constant re proachR. Hayman , 1981 / Foghorns boom in still longer and lower choruses of baleful warning Banks , 1986 / (baneful) The baneful memory of that night haunted her, sometimes tormented her M urdoch , 1987. Baleful is the more likely to be needed in spoken English, especi ally with reference to looks and glances.
Back - New Search bale out See BAIL.
Back - New Search balk See BAULK.
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ball game, ballpark. 1 Ball game, an American name for baseball, has formed the core of several collo quial idioms in which it means à state of affairs', as in a whole new ball game. Be cause of its wide scope of alternative reference, it seems to fit naturally into BrE and to be understood perfectly well in other countries where baseball is ha rdly known: It was a different ball-game in those days and you bloody well know itW.J. Burley , 1991.
2 Ballpark, though even more remote culturally, has also entered BrE in the idio m in the right ballpark, meaning àpproximately correct'. Colourful though it is in casual conversation, it is certainly to be avoided in more formal contexts.Top
Back - New Search balm is pronounced bahm, and is most commonly used in its figurative meaning à healing or soothing influence or consolation' (e.g. a balm to the senses). Originally it meant a fragrant medicinal liquid exuded from certain trees.
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balmy, barmy. These two words come from two roots, although the lines of descent have become i ntertwined: balmy (meaning `deliciously fragrant') comes from balm (See that entry a bove) and barmy (as now used colloquially, meaning `stupid') comes from barm, meanin g `froth'. However, barmy is an altered form of balmy, which also had the colloquial meaning in the 19c and early 20c. Consequently they may be regarded as spelling variants; but current usage favours the distinction given above.
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baluster, banister. The OED describes banister as a corruption of the slightly earlier word baluster ; both are 17c. A baluster, though once having the meaning that banisters (plura l) now has, means a single curved or ornamental post supporting a balustrade rou nd a gallery or terrace. A banister is a single post supporting a handrail at th e side of a staircase, and is generally used, in the singular or more usually in the plural banisters, to mean the entire structure including the rail.
Back - New Search ban is a common journalistic word, ideally short for headlines, for `prohibit' or `make il legal'; as such, and because of its staccato effect in speech, it permeates everyd ay language. In earlier periods it meant `to summon' and `to curse'. In modern times, th e slogan ban the bomb (i.e. the nuclear bomb) gave it a special currency in the 1960s. Other things that have been banned or been under threat of banning includ e trade unions (Solidarity in Poland until 1984, workers at the UK'S GCHQ in Che
ltenham), ears from in the UK lk in the
English football teams playing in European competitions (for several y 1985), the publication of certain books and articles (e.g. Spycatcher in 1987), and the selling of various products such as unpasteurized mi EU and beef on the bone in the UK (1998).
Back - New Search banal, pronounced b-nahl and meaning `trite, feeble, commonplace', is a loanword that has s urvived, despite the fulmination of Fowler in 1926 (ìmported from France by a cla ss of writers whose jaded taste relishes novel or imposing jargon'), because no ot her word in English enjoys the same touch of venom: Books are filled with pictures rather than text, and with trivial content and ba nal style, to make them èasier to read'.New Scientist, 1991. The alternatives listed Fowler , including commonplace and trite, simply won't do, and nowadays we reli sh Gallicisms rather more than he did. For other words of this type, See LOANWOR D.
Back - New Search baneful See BALEFUL.
Back - New Search banister See BALUSTER.
Back - New Search banjo. The recommended plural is banjos, although banjoes is also found.
Back - New Search Bantu (plural the same or Bantus), referring to a large group of Negroid peoples of Ce ntral and northern Africa, is now offensive both as a noun and an adjective, bec ause of its irredeemable associations with the apartheid era in South Africa.
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bar, barring. 1 Bar, used as a slightly formal preposition meaning èxcept', has been in use since the 18c. In current use it is often followed by a number (or none): My sister-in-law for whom I probably care more than I care for anyone in the wor ld bar one other Lively , 1983 / The best detection expert I know, bar none Rendell , 1983. It is also used in the idiom all over bar the shouting, when an outcome is all but assured; and in giv ing the odds in racing (e.g. 33-1 bar the rest).
2 Barring, which is attested much earlier (15c), is also still used in the gener al meanings, and collocates regularly with words expressing misfortune or revers al: Barring accidents, we should win another Grand SlamRugby World and Post, 1991 / The young working-class man in industrial employment could expect his income to reach its peak in early manhood and stay constant thereafter, barring disasters such as unemployment.J. Weeks , 1992.Top
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barbarian, barbaric, barbarous. 1 These words had their origins in people's ideas about foreign languages. The G reek word barbaros, `barbarian', which is the ultimate source of all these words, me ant someone who spoke words sounding like ba ba. To the Greeks, the barbarians w ere foreigners, and principally the Persians, but the word carried no depreciato ry overtones in itself. Over the centuries the non-Hellenic, non-Roman, or non-C hristian peoples became regarded as enemies who violated and plundered the civil ized world, and this gave rise to the unfavourable connotations of the term barb arian and associated words. By an understandable process of sense-development, i n the 16c to 17c the word came to be applied to any person or group regarded as uncivilized or uncultivated, and in current use has many extended meanings, alth ough a major area of use is still historical: Enlightenment man has undoubtedly been a man of power, but he has also been a ba rbarianA. Walker , 1988 / Many survived the depredation of the barbarian incursion of the late third centu ry from which Britain was sparedG. Webster , 1991 /
She would not have minded if he had hired the Albert Hall to denounce her as a b arbarian and certainly cared nothing for his kitchen sulks and drawing-room sarc asmA.T. Ellis , 1993.
2 Since the 15c, barbaric has been applied to foreign customs, language, and cul ture that are regarded as backward or uncivilized: The noble savage turns out to be a barbaric creature with a club and a scalping knifeH.J. Laski , 1920 / In this country we can kill people on the roads and walk free, and rape women an d get away with around four years in prisonyet we have the cheek to call the Saud is barbaricToday, 1992 / Some of the subsidiary practices [in fox-hunting] such as the `blooding' of children are little short of barbaricIndependent, 1998. Another (17c) use of the word, to describe exotic objects brought from abroad, has been confined to literary cont exts such as Lawrence of Arabia's description of Arab costume as splendid and ba rbaric. In modern use, it is applied to brutal or wicked physical treatment of p eople, and is somewhat stronger and more specific than barbarous, which has a mo re general reference and is softened by its use in aesthetic as well as physical contexts: Formulating his phrases carefully in the barbarous French prose these people use dD. Bagley , 1966 / No doubt they are also the victims of a gross and barbarous fallacy Powell , 1991 .Top
Back - New Search barbarism, barbarity. Barbarism has the widest scope of reference, being applied to matters of taste a well as human behaviour, and it has a special meaning in relation to language ( See BARBARISMS). Barbarity (and occasionally barbarousness, although this is not normally needed) always refer to savage cruelty or extremely uncivilized behavi our. Examples: It has taken a woman to remind us all that there are people out there who are de termined that Northern Ireland will not be dragged down to the level of barbarit y displayed by the terroristsUlster Newsletter, 1991 / He took up a new job in Berlin on the very day in 1930 when the Reichstag electi on heralded unprecedented barbarism in EuropeNew Scientist, 1991 / I do not believe urban barbarism is about to engulf usEast Anglian Daily Times, 1 993.
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barbarisms are words that are judged to be ill-formed for various reasons, usually because they are derived from a mixture of Latin and Greek roots (e.g. television) or a mixture of Latin/Greek and English roots (e.g. breathalyser). The objection is p edantic and irrational and is largely disregarded in the blizzard of present-day word-creation. See also LOST CAUSES.
Back - New Search barbecue is a noun and a verb (and has inflected forms barbecues, barbecued, barbecuing). It is sometimes written in facetious respellings such as Bar-B-Q (and hence bar beque), which are not standard.
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barely, like hardly (See HARD (2)) and SCARCELY, should normally be followed by when, no t than, if a clause follows: Chance had barely begun to sip his drink when dinner was announcedJ. Kosinski , 1 983.
Back - New Search barman, barmaid are the BrE names for a man and woman respectively who serve drinks at a bar. Th e AmE equivalents are barkeeper (or barkeep) and bartender, although the gender distinction is less clear-cut.
Back - New Search barmy See BALMY.
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baronage, barony. The baronage is the body of barons collectively, and a baronage is a listing of them. Barony is the rank or domain of a baron.
Back - New Search baroque is a term applied to certain forms of European art, architecture, and music of t he late Renaissance and 18c. It is normally spelt with a small initial, as is ro coco, which refers to a slightly later period of art and music (e.g. Watteau and Mozart rather than Rubens and Handel), although the two terms tend to overlap i n some uses.
Back - New Search barring See BAR.
Back - New Search basal See BASIC.
Back - New Search basalt is pronounced bas-awlt.
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base, basis. The two words overlap in meaning, but broadly base is physical (the base of a co lumn, a poison with an arsenic base), while basis is figurative with a primary m eaning `that on which something depends', as in a basis for action, the basis of an argument, or doing things on a friendly basis. Expressions such as on a regular basis and on a daily basis are sometimes frowned on when simpler adverbs (regula rly, daily) are available, but the longer forms often make the point more effect ively and are well established. Base is occasionally found in figurative meaning
s too, especially in semi-fixed collocations such as customer (or client) base a nd base of support. In language, it has the special meaning of a philological ro ot (The word cairn is derived from a Celtic base).
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based. 1 BASED ON. To base one thing on another is to use the second as the basis for t he first, and it is frequently used in the passive, as in arguments based on sta tistics. Avoid using based on as an unattached conjunction, especially in initia l position as in Based on statistics, we argue that .
2 -BASED. In the 20c, the participle based is commonly used in combination with a noun, meaning `based on ', as in land-based, rule-based, science-based, technology -based, etc.Top
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basic, basal. Both are 19c words. Basic is the normal word in general contexts, and has usurpe d the role of other words such as essential and fundamental. Basal is used only in technical contexts and has a physical meaning more clearly connected with bas e: e.g. a basal ganglion is one situated at the base of the cerebrum.
Back - New Search basically has developed in the 20c from a specific meaning èssentially, fundamentally', to a more or less meaningless sentence-filler comparable to actually and really: Basically, I feel great, except for fatigueM. Ali , 1987 / Basically I see myself as a frank individual Bellow , 1988 / Basically, decay is just a processK. Russell , 1988. This should be avoided in wr itten English that aims to be precise and succinct.
Back - New Search basis See BASE. The plural form is bases.
Back - New Search bath, bathe (verbs). In BrE to bath is to have a bath (i.e. wash oneself immersed in a domes tic bath), and to bathe is to go into the sea or a river to swim. In AmE, bathe is used much more commonly in the washing sense. In both varieties, take a bath is a common alternative.
Back - New Search bathroom in BrE means a place for washing and taking a bath, and may or may not include a lavatory; in AmE it is first and foremost a lavatory: The man grew up in a town where he was unable to use the same bathroom as white residentsChicago Tribune, 1987.
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baulk, balk. 1 PRONUNCIATION. It should be pronounced bawlk (with l).
2 SPELLING. The usual BrE spelling is baulk, although balk is more common in AmE . The primary use is as a verb meaning (1) followed by at: `to hesitate, refuse to go on', as in For one thing, the government may baulk at giving the financial guaranteeNew Scie ntist, 1991, (2) followed by of: `to thwart', as in I gave her the number and hung up feeling baulked of my escapeL.R. Banks , 1987 / Fenella had the feeling that they were simply mustering their strength again; th ey had been baulked of their prey and they had retiredB. Wood , 1993. There are a few technical noun meanings, including a line in billiards and snooker and a le ngth of sawn timber; the same spelling rules apply.Top
Back - New Search BC should be placed after the numerals to which it relates, as in 55 BC. When a ran ge of dates is given, the second date should be put in full, as in 5553 BC (since 553 BC has another meaning). In printing style, BC is normally put in small capi tals. The culturally neutral BCE (`before Common Era') is also used.
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be. 1 LINKING SINGULAR AND PLURAL. Very often the subject of the verb be is singular and the complement plural, or vice versa, and in these cases the verb should ag ree with the subject: Gustave is other animals as well Barnes , 1984 / These huge biographies are usually a mistake nowadaysN. Stone , 1985. But when th e subject is a collective noun, the verb may be in the plural, following the usu al pattern with such nouns: Its prey are other small animals Attenborough , 1987. When the subject is the rel ative pronoun what, the verb is singular: What I'm really interested in is the objects in this houseNew Yorker, 1986.
2 SUBJUNCTIVE FORMS. The verb be has two residual subjunctive forms, be and were . Their use is rapidly disappearing, but there are one or two uses still left: a in an inverted construction replacing if or whether: We would much prefer to support specific projects, be they in management schools or in university laboratoriesJournal of the Royal Society of Arts, 1986 / Were this done, we would retain a separate Barwith skillTimes, 1986. b after if in hypothetical conditions: If the truth be told, I never wanted to fly away with the skygodsJ.M. Coetzee , 1 977 / If I were obliged to rough out a blueprint of the Church of the future, I would start with the need for good popular theology Priestland , 1982. However, the pas t indicative form was is often used instead of were, especially in conversationa l style:
I'd get out if I was you Gee , 1983. c in dependent clauses after verbs of advising and instructing such as demand, i nsist, suggest, etc: The Admiralty insisted that the case be clarifiedP. Wright , 1987 / In order to broaden the `target audience' of your newsletter I might suggest that su ch material be written at a lower level of readability.Underground Grammarian, 19 82; also after nouns and phrases of equivalent meaning: It is important in today's vote that the principle itself be acceptedTimes, 1985. d in certain fixed expressions such as be that as it may, far be it from me, the powers that be, etc.Top
3 THE CASE OF THE COMPLEMENT AFTER BE. The monks mmarian Dean Alford in 1864, cried out when they hat's him!' and not `That's he!'. In both speech /us/them is now virtually universal, except when in
of Rheims, as quoted by the gra saw the anathematised jackdaw: `T and writing, the type it's me/him/her a relative pronoun follows, as
It was he who would be waiting on the towpathP.D. James , 1986. See further at CA SES (2).Top
4 REDUCED FORMS. Am, is, and were are reduced to 'm, 's, and 're respectively af ter pronouns and nouns (I'm over here / She's just coming / We're late, are we?) , except when the noun ends in a sibilant sound (The church's just up the road). Aren't, used for am not in the question form aren't I as well as are you / they not, is irregular; ain't is irregular and widely deplored (see AIN'T).Top
5 ELLIPSIS OF BE. Be is often omitted, especially in informal contexts, in cases such as They are sorry for what they did and anxious to make amends / We're lea ving now and catching the 9.00 train. When be is used as an auxiliary verb and a s a linking verb in the same sentence, it must be repeated because its role is d ifferent: The bill was overtaken by the 1964 election and its postponement was w elcome.Top
Back - New Search beat is largely defunct as a participial form, except in the phrase dead-beat. Otherw ise it is confined to (especially AmE) dialect and non-standard uses: You hear on television nowadays about little children getting beat up or treated nastyNew Yorker, 1988.
Back - New Search beauteous is a literary and chiefly poetical word for beautiful, used memorably by Wordswo rth (it is a beauteous evening, calm and free) and madly by Ophelia in Hamlet: W here is the beauteous majesty of Denmark?.
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because. 1 BECAUSE, AS, SINCE, FOR. Because is a conjunction that normally introduces a d ependent clause and answers the question `why?' (or, sometimes, `how?'). It can relate d irectly to the statement made, as in / came because I wanted to see you, which a nswers the (real or notional) question `Why did you come?', or (like for) it can rel ate to the status of the proposition, as in / know he committed suicide, because his wife told me, which effectively answers the question `How do you know he comm itted suicide?' and not the question `Why did he commit suicide?'; in this sentence, t he comma has an important structural function. Because can also stand first in the sentence, as in Because we missed the train, we had to wait a long time. It is also in order to use because after an introdu ctory it is, it's, that's, this, is, etc.: It is because these Christian values are apparently being cast off by the presen t leadership of the Conservative Party that many Christians are turning to the A lliance.Church Times, 1985. As and since are often used at the beginning of a sentence, and (unlike because) tend to emphasize the main statement rather than the reason. For can only follo w the main statement, and is a coordinating conjunction, whereas because is a su bordinating conjunction.
2 AFTER NEGATIVES. Using because after a negative statement (e.g. I do not play cards because I enjoy good company, i.e. one containing a word such as not or ne ver or including a word in un- etc.) can technically cause ambiguity because it is not clear whether the reason given is an invalid one for a positive statement (i.e. I do play cards, but not because ), or a valid one for a negative statemen t (i.e. I do not play cards, and the reason is ). However, the context will often make the meaning clear: Very many people do not attend church because they are bored by ritualistic serv icesLancashire Life, 1977 / Her twin was told she was unlikely to have children because of her husband's low sperm count.Daily Telegraph, 1979. When necessary, a comma will usually remove a ny ambiguity: The graphic equalizer is not for every hi-fi customer, because it does require s
ome skill, time and patience in usageGramophone, 1976.Top
3 THE REASON IS BECAUSE . The reason for this was because I was the only one who could sign it, because th e account was in my name Elton , 1991. This construction is often rejected on gro unds of style in favour of the reason is that , since because is logically redund ant after reason. But redundancy is a regular component of idiom, and given that both constructions are common it is becoming harder to insist on the point. In the following example, it would weaken the statement considerably to replace bec ause with that: The minipill was developed for one reason alone: because it was believed to prov ide safe contraceptionNew Scientist, 1970. However, because of should be avoided in this kind of construction: The reason we have no light is because of a broken fuse should read The reason we have no light is that the fuse is broken.Top
4 BECAUSE OF. With the reservation given in the last paragraph, because of is a legitimate use in many positions in a sentence: Because of the deterioration of the sugar in the blood it was decided, after con sultation, to carry out an exchange blood transfusionGlasgow Herald, 1970 / He'd have to watch his step not to make a hash of things, because of over-anxiet yJ. Wainwright , 1976.Top
5 AT THE HEAD OF A DEPENDENT CLAUSE GOVERNING A MAIN CLAUSE, as in Because we don't explicitly ask these questions doesn't mean they aren't answere dNew Yorker, 1986. This kind of construction, though common in speech, is awkward in written English because the main clause is uncomfortably delayed, and the se ntence should be recast, e.g. These questions are still answered even though we don't explicitly ask them.Top
Back - New Search been and (been and gone and) appears in popular speech in Dickens (Pickwick Papers, 1836), and is still commo n in casual and jocular contexts, although it now sounds somewhat dated (And what's more, he's been and gone and got it printedP. Bailey , 1986).
Back - New Search begin See COMMENCE.
Back - New Search begrudge, grudge. These two words overlap in meaning, but thing (such as success) is to envy them ng is to resent the giving (by yourself hink you have a right to. Examples best anings overlap in practice: not completely. To begrudge someone some for having it, whereas to grudge somethi or someone else) of something that you t clarify the distinction, although the me
Few people begrudge the aid we send to the starving or merely under-developed re gions of the earthGuardian, 1984 / I imagine you won't grudge me a glass of brandy first Fitzgerald , 1988.
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beg the question means, strictly speaking, to question an unproved assumption that is used as the basis for an argument. For example, to say that `capital punishment is necessary because without it murders would increase' begs the question because an increase i n murders is postulated rather than proved. In general use, beg the question has come to mean (1) `bring a question to mind' (e.g. John Major's vision of Europe begs the question: `why did the prime minister all b ut sacrifice his office ratifying the Maastricht Treaty ?'Economist, 1993 and (2) àv oid a straightforward answer' (e.g. He simply begged the question by saying that the decisions he disapproved invent ed new rightsNew York Review of Books, 1987). These weakened meanings should be a voided in precise English; available alternatives are, for (1) raise (or suggest or invite) the question, and for (2) evade (or avoid) the question.
Back - New Search behalf is now used in BrE only in the phrase on behalf of (AmE in behalf of), which mea ns (1) ìn the interests of', and (2) às a representative of' (He used to make payments and pick up money on behalf of Mafia mobstersTimes, 198 2). It should not be used to mean òn the part of', as in The detail may be trivial but it betrays an astounding lack of appreciation on b ehalf of the authorTimes, 1994.
Back - New Search being as should only be used in casual conversation: Being as how you can't be married, you'd better have him christenedG.V. Higgins , 1979.
Back - New Search belittle is, to the surprise of many, an Americanism, disapproved of Fowler (1926) as an ù ndesirable alien', at least in its meaning `decry, depreciate'. This objection is a lo st cause (See LOST CAUSES); the verb is now standard in BrE and has produced a q uasiadjective, belittling. The physical meaning `to dwarf by contrast', which Fowler accepted, is no longer used.
Back - New Search belly is a standard word for the front part of the human body below the breast, despit e marked fluctuations in acceptability over many centuries of use; alternatives are abdomen (more technical and formal), stomach (more specific) and tummy (more colloquial, especially in children's use). There are many transferred uses, e.g . the underside of an animal, the underside of an aeroplane, the front part of a cello, etc.
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below, beneath, under. These three words appear to be synonymous, but many contexts call for one in pre ference to another. Beneath is somewhat more literary in use. Under in its physi cal sense is rather more literal than the other two:under the bridge means direc tly underneath it, whereas beneath the bridge suggests a wider area, and below t he bridge can also mean downstream from it. It is customary to say below par, be low the belt, to go below (in a ship), the information below, the temperature is below 20 degrees; conversely a man under 40, under one's breath, incomes under 1 0,000, under the sun, under the circumstances, under one's thumb, under sentence of death, and beneath contempt, be beneath one.
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benchmark. This is a busy word with an interesting history and some recent developments. In its original physical meaning it referred to a wedge-shaped incision made by su rveyors in a vertical surface so that a bracket could be inserted to form a benc h or support for surveying equipment at a fixed and reproducible height. By the 1880s it had developed a figurative meaning, à point of reference, a standard'; mor e recently, the rapid growth in the use of personal computers has led to the dev elopment of benchmark software designed to perform comparative tests on differen t models. This meaning has also spawned a verb: to benchmark a system is to appl y a benchmark test to it: We haven't had a chance to completely benchmark the new low-cost Mac modelsMacWor ld, 1993.
Back - New Search benefit has inflected forms benefited, benefiting, with one t not two.
Back - New Search benign is principally used in medicine to mean `not life-threatening'; its opposite is mali gnant. The word benignant, meaning `kindly' or `beneficial', has largely fallen out of u se.
Back - New Search bereaved, bereft. The verb bereave, meaning `to deprive (someone)', is normally used in the passive. W hen the meaning refers in general ways to possessions, feelings, etc., the past participle is bereft: Without her, he felt bereft as a child at a boarding schoolA.N. Wilson , 1982. St rictly, there should be a sense of being deprived; bereft of should not be used as a synonym for lacking or without (as in bereft of manners). In the context of death the form is bereaved (If it is your own mother who is bereaved, the fact that you are grieving too wi ll probably help you both a good dealE. Deeping , 1979), and this is frequently u sed adjectivally (It needs to be remembered that bereaved people stay at homeJ. Pardoe , 1991 / The bereaved have always wished to `remember' their dead, in the literal sense of re constituting form and featureR. Cecil , 1991).
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berk is a BrE slang term for a fool. It is not usually regarded as strongly offensive , despite its association, via rhyming slang Berkshire Hunt (pronounced as in Am E), with cunt.
Back - New Search berserk, meaning `wild, frenzied', is now mostly confined to the expression to go berserk. It is in origin a Norse word for a warrior who fought with wild fury. Berserk may be pronounced either b-zerk or b-serk, although the first is now more common.
Back - New Search beside, besides. Beside is only used as a preposition meaning `next to' (He heard Lee come up beside himA. Hassall , 1989), whereas besides is both an ad verb meaning àlso, moreover' (Besides, it was not the first disappointmentS. Studd , 1981) and a preposition m eaning às well as' (Besides newsstands and supermarket checkouts, books are pumped out through mail -order clubsEconomist, 1993). Beside also occurs in fixed expressions, e.g. to be beside oneself, beside the point, but it should not be used in a general way, a s in Beside their homework, they have letters to write, when besides is needed.
Back - New Search besiege like siege, is spelt -ie-.
Back - New Search bet has past and past participle forms bet and betted; both are correct although bet is preferable, and is more common in BrE and (even more) in AmE. But betted is also found (I'd have betted you wouldn't be much good at taking somebody out Amis , 1988). W hen a sum of money is specified, only bet is possible (He bet me 50 he would win) .
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bte noire is always written with the final e. The plural is btes noires, with both s's sile nt.
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better. 1 HAD BETTER. This common idiom is used in the form We had better go home or We' d better go home; the negative form is We'd better not go home and the interroga tive Hadn't we better go home?. Informally (but not in more formal contexts), th e word had is sometimes omitted: We better go home; and in some cases the preced ing pronoun too: When you're feeling censorious, better ask yourself which you'd chooseP.D. James , 1986.
2 BETTER, BETTOR. In the meaning òne who bets', bettor is more common in AmE, and b etter in BrE. Bettor has the advantage of being distinct from the comparative of good, although their distinct uses keep them out of each other's way.Top
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between. 1 GENERAL. Between is an adverb (houses with spaces between) and a preposition ( houses with spaces between them). We are concerned here with between as a prepos ition.
2 BETWEEN AND AMONG. Many people, and usage guides, cling to the idea (probably influenced by the use of between in relation to physical distance between points ), that between is used when two people or things are involved and among must be
invoked when more than two are involved. But this line is supported neither by the explanations of the OED nor by usage, which constantly refer to two or more parties: Does he sigh between the chimes of the clock?J.M. Coetzee , 1977 / Things that had happened a long time sincebetween Isaac and myself Williams , 1985 / The death of his sister had changed things between Marcus, Ruth and jacquelineA.S . Byatt , 1985 / Museums have become an uneasy cross between theatre and boutiqueNew Yorker, 1987. There are, however, cases where among is the better word to use, normally when t he underlying notion is of collectivity rather than separation: There were a lot of very young people among the temporary staff Fitzgerald , 1980 / The UN does have machinery designed to keep the peace among nationsChristian Scie nce Monitor, 1987. Conversely, between and not among is used when there only two people or things (as in the first 1985 example in the preceding paragraph), and when the people or things (of whatever number) are specified (as in the second 1985 example). Before reflexive pronouns (ourselves, themselves, etc) among and between are used interchangeably.Top
3 BETWEEN AND . Between should be followed by and, not other words such as or, as in the following examples: [This] leaves Britain with the choice between being ruined by runaway inflation or by a series of disastrous strikesDaily Telegraph, 1970 My feet got so sensitive I could sense the difference between tarvia, gravel, or concrete immediatelyIslander (Victoria, BC), 1972. Similarly, it is important to say between 1914 and 1918, or from 1914 to 1918 (also expressed as 191418), not between 191418. See also FROM.Top
4 BETWEEN EACH, BETWEEN EVERY. Constructions such as 22 yards between each teleg raph pole and pause between every mouthful are often deplored on the grounds tha t logical grammar calls for the addition of and the next to each group of words. Informally, however, this construction is typical and unexceptionable, although it is best avoided in more formal contexts. Examples: The 30-minute headway between each bus reduced to a 50-minute headwayCourier-Mail (Brisbane), 1970. The construction between every two is ambiguous as to `between two' and `between two pairs', and is best avoided.Top
5 BETWEEN YOU AND I, though found in Shakespeare (but so is between you and him, not he), is an example of hypercorrection, influenced perhaps by the purist ins istence on sentences of the type `Who's going?' Ànne and I.' (in which Anne and me is a lso possible). Since between governs both pronouns, the correct construction is between you and me, between you and us, etc.:
Tiny bit boring, between you and me Mortimer , 1962.Top
6 REPEATED BETWEEN. In long sentences, there is always a temptation to insert a second between as a reminder of what the statement is about: You need to decide between voting for a party which, against all advice, introduced the poll tax, a form of tax first used in the 14th century, and one that dislikes the rates sys tem but has no alternative to offer. Putting a second between before one that di slikes is tempting because of the length of the sentence but it would be ungramm atical, and the sentence would be better recast.Top
Back - New Search beware is of Old English origin, and except for a period from about 1600 to the late 19 c has lacked inflected forms, being used chiefly in the imperative (Beware of th e dog!) or after a modal auxiliary such as do and must (Do beware of the dog / W e must beware of impostors). Use with a direct object is found in Shakespeare (S ince I am a dog, beware my phangsThe Merchant of Venice III. iii.7 / Beware the I des of MarchJulius Caesar I.ii.20) and other poetic writing, but is not a feature of ordinary speech or writing, except allusively.
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bi-. This prefix causes much confusion in words such as biweekly, bimonthly, etc., be cause it is used to mean (for example) `twice a week' as well as èvery two weeks'. Rule s do not help because they are not universally followed; it is best to avoid the problem by using terms such as twice a week and twice-weekly on the one hand, a nd every two weeks and fortnightly on the other.
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biannual (19c) normally means `twice a year', as distinct from biennial (17c), which means ève ry two years' or `lasting two years'. Since usage is not consistent on this point, it is sometimes better to use alternatives such as half-yearly or twice-yearly inst ead of biannual and two-yearly, for biennial.
Back - New Search bias. The verb has inflected forms biased, biasing, although -ss- is also found. The p lural of the noun is biases.
Back - New Search Bible. Use a capital initial when it refers to the scriptures collectively (Read your B ible), but a small initial when it refers to a copy of the book (three bibles) o r is allusive (Wisden is the cricketer's bible).
Back - New Search bicentenary, a noun meaning `two-hundredth anniversary' and also a corresponding adjective, is pr onounced -teen- more usually than -ten-. It is the usual term in BrE, whereas bi centennial is more usual in AmE and elsewhere.
Back - New Search biceps is spelt the same in the plural.
Back - New Search bid has past tenses bade (in general meanings : We bade them farewell) and bid (in c ard games and the auction room: We bid successfully for the portrait). The corre sponding past participle forms are bidden and bid.
Back - New Search biennial See BIANNUAL.
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billion in BrE has since the 1950s come increasingly to mean à thousand million' as it alwa ys has in AmE, rather than its old BrE meaning of à million million'. In more idiom atic uses (as in I've told you a billion times) there is no precise meaning. Whe n preceded by a numeral, the plural is billion (unchanged: three billion people) , but billions is used when it is followed by of (billions of people).
Back - New Search bimonthly See BI-.
Back - New Search bin, short for waste-bin, has given rise in BrE to a transitive verb to bin, meaning `t o throw away' or (figuratively) `to reject': Who remembers the kind of middle-class good behaviour, thrift and modesty that h ave been binned along with Bromo, the Church Times and meals for one?Independent on Sunday, 1990. The inflections are binned, binning.
Back - New Search bivouac verb. has inflected forms bivouacked, bivouacking.
Back - New Search biweekly See BI-.
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black.
In the 1920s this word began to replace Negro, Negress, and, more particularly, Nigger, as a term for a person of African descent. In Britain, black can mean pe ople of South Asian as well as African origin (although it is preferable to use specific terms such as Indian, Malay, Pakistani, etc.); in AmE the term AfricanAmerican is also used. For a time it was thought appropriate to spell black with a capital initial as a racial term, but the normal preference now is for a smal l initial.
Back - New Search black, blacken verbs. Black is used when the meaning is to deliberately make something black, as in bl acking one's face, one's shoes, a person's eye, etc., in the meaning to declare something `black' (i.e. to boycott it), and in the phrasal verb to black out. Blacke n is more often used to imply an unintentional or fortuitous process (the ceilin g blackened with smoke); unlike black, it can be used intransitively (The sky bl ackened), and is more common as a participial adjective: Then you notice the blackened buildings, boarded up houses and the painted sloga ns in the housing estatesWoman's Own, 1977. Blacken also has a special figurative use,`to besmirch or tarnish', with reference to people's character, reputation, etc
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Black English is the form of English spoken by many blacks, especially as an urban dialect of the United States. The name (apart from a chance occurrence recorded in 1734), a nd the recognition of Black English as a distinctive and describable form of AmE , date from the time of the civil-rights movement in the 1960s. IT has many dist inct grammatical features (e.g. uninflected plurals and double negatives) and it ems of vocabulary, which are not imperfections but are characteristic of a creol ized form of English.
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blame verb. 1 Two constructions are now standard: to blame someone for something and to blam e something on someone. Gowers (1965) described the second as a needless variant , but such strictures are futile in the face of incontrovertible evidence of usa ge.
2 The derivative in -able retains the final e: blameable.Top
Back - New Search blanch, blench . Blanch means first and foremost `to make (something) white' (especially vegetables by dipping them in boiling water) and (intransitively) `to become pale' (from fear, shock, embarrassment, etc.); a by-form blench is also used in this sense. Confu singly, there is another (Old English) word blench, which overlaps slightly with blanch/blench in its meaning `to quail, flinch', as in Strong men blenched and broke into a sweat of embarrassment when made to dance `Ri ng-a-ring o' roses' in public outside GuildhallTimes, 1974.
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blatant, flagrant. Blatant, a word invented by Spenser, now means `glaringly conspicuous', and overlaps in meaning with flagrant but has rather less of flagrant's implications of offe nsiveness: It was a blatant lie means that the lie was obvious; It was a flagran t lie means that (when discovered) it was outrageous. The adverbial form blatant ly (unlike flagrantly) has developed a weakened meaning, especially in youth sla ng, as a stock form of intensifier like absolutely and extremely.
Back - New Search blessed, blest. As an attributive adjective (i.e. used before a noun), blessed is pronounced as two syllables: The Blessed Sacrament) / every blessed night. When used as the pa st tense and past participle of the verb to bless, it is pronounced blest (one s yllable): The bishop (had) blessed his wife and children before he died / I'm bl essed if I know. The spelling blest is now mostly confined to use in poetry and hymns.
Back - New Search bloc is a 20c loanword from French, meaning à combination of parties, governments, gro
ups, etc. sharing a common purpose'. The phrase bloc vote is now being increasingl y used instead of the traditional block vote. See also EN BLOC.
Back - New Search blond, blonde. These two forms retain a trace of the grammatical gender they have in French, si nce blonde is normally used (as a noun and an adjective) of a woman. With blond, however, the distinction is less clear-cut: a blond, or a blond person, can be a woman or a man, and blond hair can belong to either sex. Examples (BrE unless otherwise specified): Crews of tall, blond men who hardly ever spokeT. Findley , 1984 (Canadian) / His blond eye-lashes gave him a bemused look Fitzgerald , 1988 / Her blonde plaits reaching half-way down her bony back Dexter , 1989 / The little girls whispered to each other, their blond heads shining in the rathe r dark roomNew Yorker, 1990 (US) / Lugging that doll of hers, a thing with blonde shiny hairA. Duff , 1990 (NZ).
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bloody. 1 Bloody developed its meaning in BrE as à vague epithet expressing anger, resent ment, etc.' in the 18c, and rapidly became a mere intensive, especially in negativ e contexts (not a bloody one). The OED called it `foul language', and as recently as 1995 the Concise Oxford Dictionary called it `coarse slang'; but now, at the end of a millennium, it seems comparatively tame, and other words have taken on its fo rmer mantle of offensiveness: You want to use your bloody loaf, Stubbs, or we'll never win this war the way yo u're carrying on Aldiss , 1971.
2 As an adverb bloody has been used as an intensive since the later 17c in combi nations such as bloody drunk, bloody angry, and bloody ill. G. B. Shaw was entit led to expect a sharp reaction from the audience when in 1914 he caused Eliza Do olittle to exclaim `Walk! Not bloody likely.' As with the adjective, however, this u se has weakened considerably in effect, especially in the period after the secon d World War, and television characters regularly use expressions such as serves you bloody right and you bloody well do it or else. Even so, the word belongs in the realm of strong language and can still cause disapproval or offence if used too freely.Top
3 These uses are recorded in American dictionaries, but are not properly part of AmE. It is a pleasing myth that Australians use them more freely and vigorously than in other parts of the English-speaking world, and the colourful entry in t he Australian National Dictionary (1988) appears to support it, with examples of use steeped in the language of pioneering adversity and `ranging in force from mi ldly irritating to execrable': You must think yourself a damned clever bushman, talking about tracking a bloody dingo over bloody ground where a bloody regiment of newly-shod horses would sca rcely leave a bloody trackM.J. O'Reilly , 1944.Top
Back - New Search bloom, blossom. Cherry trees are said to be in blossom, roses in bloom. The difference correspon ds largely to that between trees whose blossom is a sign of fruit to come and pl ants whose flowers are a culmination in themselves. In figurative uses the disti nction is maintained; people and things blossom (or are in blossom) when they ar e full of promise and bloom (or are in bloom) when they are in their prime (as i n the bloom of perfect manhood).
Back - New Search blow verb. The regular past and past participle are blew and blown. An older form,blowed, s urvives in the fixed expression I'll be blowed, as in Well I'm [or I'll be] blow ed and I'm blowed if I will.
Back - New Search bluish is preferred, not blueish.
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boat. A boat is a `small vessel propelled on water' by various means, and includes vessels used for fishing, for cargo, or to carry passengers. A ship is a large seagoing vessel, especially when part of a navy. A submarine, however, despite its desig nation HMS, is referred to as a boat rather than a ship (if the choice has to be
made between these two).
Back - New Search boatswain is now generally pronounced boh-sn regardless of whether it is spelt this way or as bosun.
Back - New Search bogey, bogie, bogy. The latest editions of the Oxford dictionaries prefer bogey for the golfing term and the mischievous spirit, and bogie for the railway term. Bogy is classed as a variant of bogey in the second meaning.
Back - New Search bog-standard is one of those highly informal but likeable expressions that seem older than th e dictionaries would suggest. It does not appear in the OED, but finds a place i n the Oxford Dictionary of New Words (1997) and the Concise Oxford Dictionary (1 999). It is a graphic word of obscure origin (altered from box-standard?) meanin g `basic, standard', as in The rest of the furniture is bog standard caf tables and chairsTime Out, 1995.
Back - New Search boggle, boggling verb. Boggle, originally used of frightened horses, is used with and without an object : the mind can boggle at something and something can boggle the mind (or the ima gination etc.). The expression mindboggling, first recorded in Punch in 1964, pr e-dates the regular transitive use, and has been joined since the 1970s by the m ore colloquial reduced form boggling: Serious damage can mean even more boggling billsWhich?, 1990.
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bona fide, bona fides.
1 Bona fide is an adjectival and (now rarely) adverbial phrase meaning ìn good fa ith' and hence `genuine(ly)' (a bona fide tourist); bona fides is a noun phrase meanin g `good faith' and hence `honest intention'. Bona fides is singular in Latin, and is cor rectly treated as singular in English, despite its plural-looking form: His bona fides has been questioned not (notwithstanding euphony) His bona fides have bee n questioned.
2 The pronunciation is boh-nfiy-deez.Top
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bonne bouche in English means à dainty mouthful or morsel', referring to the food rather than (a s in French) its taste. Fowler (1926) conceded that it was `definitely established' and even tolerated the difference in meaning; but it is still regarded as non-na turalized and should be printed in italics.
Back - New Search bored is normally construed with by or with: How bored she was with that face!D. Devine , 1970 / He got bored with working in the scout hutL. Henderson , 1976 / Very many people do not attend church because they are bored by ritualistic serv icesLancashire Life, 1977. Use with of, sometimes heard conversationally, is nonstandard: I was conscious of all the problems of getting bored of something the minute you get itN. Fairburn , 1992 (Scottish).
Back - New Search born, borne. It is sometimes forgotten that born, relating to birth, is a past participle of the verb to bear, and that I was born on a Friday means `My mother bore me on a Fr iday'. Born is also used in figurative expressions such as an indifference born of long familiarity. In all other meanings, the past participle of bear is borne ( I have borne with this too long / He was borne along by the wind), and this form is used with reference to birth when the construction is active, or when it is
passive followed by by (the mother): She has borne no children / Of all the chil dren borne by her only one survived.
Back - New Search Borstal is a former name for British institutions for reforming young offenders. It is s till found in print in allusive use, but the correct terms to use now are detent ion centre and youth custody centre.
Back - New Search botanic, botanical. Both forms have been in use since the 17c. Botanical is more common in general u se, although botanic occurs in traditional names such as the Botanic Garden in O xford and the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh.
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both. 1 GENERAL. Both, when modifying a single item, refers to two things or persons ( both houses / both women); when, as both and , it couples two items, each of thes e may be singular (both the woman and the man) or plural (both the women and the men), although care must be taken to avoid misunderstanding if the first item i s plural, as in the example just given.
2 POSITION. Both is a mobile word and can be linked to particular pairs of sente nce elements: They work both by day and by night / He both loves and hates his b rother / The work is both rewarding and enjoyable / I hope to be both a writer a nd a musician. When there are more than two items involved, the word both should be omitted: / want to be a writer, a musician, and a painter.Top
3 AS PRONOUN. Both can also function as a pronoun, optionally followed by of: I will try to see both / I will try to see both of the condidates / I will try to see both of you; when used with a personal pronoun both must follow it: I will t ry to see you both / You both look worried.Top
4 AWKWARD CONSTRUCTIONS. Because both is so flexible in use, its intended meanin g can be unclear in some uses:
a we both won a prize can mean either (1) `we both won one prize between us', or (2) `we won a prize each'. It is better to use each or to rephrase with a word such as Joint, as appropriate: We each won a prize / We won a joint prize. b You will see a tree at both ends of the road is not so much ambiguous as count er-intuitive, since the tree can only be in one place. Rephrase as you will see a tree [or trees] at each end of the road. c Books are useful both for pleasure as well as for learning is a sequence to be avoided: both should always be paired with and: Books are useful both for pleas ure and for learning. Note also the repetition of for: see the next item. d Her speech was both detrimental to understanding and to peace needs to be reph rased so that the two elements governed by both match each other: Her speech was detrimental to both understanding and peace or Her speech was detrimental both to understanding and to peace; compare Her speech was both detrimental to unders tanding and damaging to peace. This applies especially to use of the definite or indefinite article: Both the man and woman should be corrected to Both the man and the woman. e He was acting on both our behalfs is better expressed as He was acting on beha lf of us both. f We find them both equally responsible is a common construction in speech, but both is strictly redundant, and should be omitted in more formal writing: We fin d them equally responsible.Top
Back - New Search bottleneck, meaning a holdup or constriction in traffic, dates from the late 19c, and is now used more widely of obstructions in processes of various kinds. Care should be taken to avoid unsuitable elaboration of the image, as in curing or ironing out a bottleneck, and strictly speaking a bottleneck cannot be big or extensive or e ven major.
Back - New Search bottom line is a term in accounting for the line in a profit-and-loss account that shows the final figure. It has developed a figurative meaning `the decisive factor or objec tive', which should only be used informally: The bottom line is that we all love music and want to play itNew Musical Express, 1992. When the term is used in financial contexts it can be unclear whether the meaning is literal or not: The bottom line could eventually mean demands for higher council tax billstelevis ion broadcast, 1993. In such cases it is better to use alternatives such as cons equence, crux, issue, upshot.
Back - New Search bounden survives only in the somewhat dated and affected phrase bounded duty.
Back - New Search bowsprit is pronounced with bow- as in low.
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brackets. The term is used generally of the punctuation marks (), [], {}, <>, although the first set is properly called parentheses, the second square brackets, the third curly brackets or hooked brackets, and the fourth angle brackets. The mark rese mbling a curly bracket, used to link items on more than one line, is called a br ace.
Back - New Search brand-new is the correct spelling, not bran-new. The term originally meant `fresh like a bra nd [= burning torch] from a furnace'.
Back - New Search bravery, bravado, bravura. Bravery is a general word for `being brave' or `brave actions' (as a virtue), whereas br avado means òstentatious courage or boldness', often concealing fear or reluctance: It was a gesture of bravado rather than a serious business proposition Branson , 1989. Bravura is a florid or showy style of playing in music, and does not have a general meaning.
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breach, breech. The spelling of these two words is often confused. Breach is a noun and verbmean ing à break' or `to break' (as in a breach of contract, to breach the enemy's defences) , whereas breech means `the back or lower part of something', and is applied princip ally to part of a rifle, the buttocks (now only in breech birth, when a baby is born bottom first), and (in the plural breeches, pronounced brich-iz), to a type of trousers.
Back - New Search breakdown can mean, in addition to its meaning in relation to machines, human health, and aspects of human behaviour, àn analysis of statistics or information': The breakdown of expenses is relatively detailed in some cases but not in othersJ . Green-wood , 1989. Care should be taken to avoid possible confusion when the w ord might be under stood in more than one way: Management should first examine the data produced to ascertain whether any varia nce from the breakdown is due to site conditions or mismanagementA. Upson , 1987.
Back - New Search breakthrough, originally a military word and formerly a vogue word in its figurative use, is n ow commonplace. It is spelt as one word, is commonly qualified (especially in jo urnalism) by words such as new and major, and is regularly followed by in, as in a breakthrough in cancer research.
Back - New Search breech see BREACH.
Back - New Search brier, briar. Both spellings are used of two distinct words, meaning respectively a prickly bu sh and a type of wood (or a pipe made from it). The preferred spelling for both words is brier.
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bring, take. The essential difference between these two words corresponds to that between com e and go, and is intuitive to a native speaker: bring implies movement towards, and take movement away from, the person speaking: Take your bike and bring me a newspaper. When the standpoint of the speaker is unstable, there is a choice: Sh all I bring the camera? is spoken in terms of the destination and Shall I take t he camera? in terms of the starting point. In other varieties of English, and in some dialects, the pattern differs.
Back - New Search Brit is a colloquial term (early 20c) for a British person, especially when abroad. I t varies in offensiveness from the (more usually) affectionate (Lots of Brits ar ound this year) to the hostile (Brits out!).
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Britain, Great Britain, the British Isles, England, etc. 1 Use of these terms causes confusion. Great Britain refers to the largest islan d in the group, which is divided between England, Scotland, and Wales. Political ly, it means these three countries (since the Act of Union of 1707), and exclude s Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. Britain is an info rmal term with no official status; it often means the same as Great Britain but can also include Northern Island.
2 The British Isles is a geographical term for the group of islands including Gr eat Britain and Northern Ireland and also the smaller islands around them, such as the Isle of Man and the Scottish islands. The United Kingdom is a political t erm, in full the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and inclu des these countries but not usually the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.Top
3 England strictly refers to a single political division of Great Britain, but i t is commonly substituted for (Great) Britain, especially in AmE. This causes so me offence in Scotland and Wales, and should be avoided in BrE. The same is true of the corresponding ethnic designation English used instead of British.Top
4 There is, surprisingly, no convenient general term for a citizen of the United Kingdom: Briton is normally confined to historical (or jocular) reference, and Britisher is AmE.Top
Back - New Search Briticism is the term for a language feature that is peculiar to BrE, not Britishism.
Back - New Search Britosee ANGLO-.
Back - New Search Britpop is a colourful and useful informal term for the British pop music scene, but sho uld be used with care as its scope of reference has become more specific in the 1990s.
Back - New Search broadcast verb, by analogy with cast, is unchanged in its past form and past participle: The pro gramme will be broadcast on Saturdays.
Back - New Search brocoli is spelt with two cs and, despite its plural origin in Italian, is treated as a singular mass noun in English: The broccoli is in the green dish.
Back - New Search brochure, pamphlet. The two words used to be more or less synonymous, but have gone separate ways: a brochure is a glossy leaflet used in advertising, whereas a pamphlet is a small unbound printed booklet, normally meant to be informative rather than promotion al. Brochure is stressed on the first syllable in BrE and on the second in AmE.
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broker, as a Stock Exchange term, was replaced in the UK in 1986 by broker-dealer (which reflects increased responsibilities), although broker will still be found in in formal use.
Back - New Search brother-in-law means (1) one's wife's or husband's brother, (2) one's sister's husband, (3) one 's sister-in-law's husband. The plural is brothers-in-law.
Back - New Search browse. Grazing animals, rather than people browsing in books, provide the grammatical a nalogy for the new transitive meaning in computing, `to read or survey (data files )': The handy viewer lets the user browse the disc reading documents, viewing images , and unzipping program filesCD-ROM World, 1994.
Back - New Search brunette, is the standard form in BrE, and is invariably used of a woman. In AmE brunet is occasionally found, with the same restriction in use.
Back - New Search buffalo has the plural form buffaloes.
Back - New Search buffet, meaning refreshments, is pronounced buh-fay or (especially in buffet car) buf-ay . In AmE the stress is on the second syllable, pronounced the same way.
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is more acceptable as a swear-word than it used to be, at least in BrE. Uses suc h as bugger me, bugger-all, and I'll be buggered (if), are all commonly heard on radio and television, although they remain highly informal and should not norma lly be used outside the domain of casual conversation. The word remains somewhat more offensive in AmE.
Back - New Search bulk, as a noun preceded by the and denoting magnitude or size, is correctly used with of and a singular noun, as in the bulk of the book / the bulk of his land / the bulk of the clergy. It should not be used in this way with ordinary plural noun s: The great bulk of Guyanese Indians are Hindus or MoslemsGuardian, 1972, although collective plurals are more acceptable: In 1940 the bulk of the people were subliterate or illiterateR.A. Crampsey , 1973 .
Back - New Search bunch as a collective noun in abstract senses (a bunch of people / a bunch of question s) varies widely in its degree of informality from simple metaphor (A bunch of w eary runners crossed the line at last) to near-slang, often affected by the word it collocates with (The government is behaving like a bunch of bandits).
Back - New Search bur, burr. Bur is recommended for à clinging seed-vessel or catkin' and burr for à rough edge' an d associated meanings.
Back - New Search bureau has the plural form bureaux (pronounced -z) in BrE, although bureaus is more com mon in AmE.
Back - New Search burgle, burglarize. Burgle is a BrE back-formation from burglar; burglarize, although the regular wo
rd in AmE, is treated with the same disapproval on this side of the Atlantic as burgle once was.
Back - New Search burnt, burned. These two forms for the past tense and past participle of burn are largely inter changeable, but burned is more common as the active past (She burned her hand on the kettle / She has burned her hand); in the passive, burnt is more adjectival (emphasizing the result), and burned more verbal (emphasizing the action): The cottage was burnt down last week / The cottage was burned down by vandals.
Back - New Search bus is now spelt without an apostrophe. As a noun it has the plural form buses, and as a verb it has inflected forms buses, bused, busing.
Back - New Search business, busyness. Business means òne's affairs or concern' and associated meanings. For a noun meanin g `the state of being busy', use busyness.
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but. 1 GENERAL But is a preposition and conjunction, and is used contrastively: (prep osition) Everyone seems to know but me / (conjunction) Everyone seems to know bu t I don't. In more modern usage, as the OED and Fowler (1926) have both recogniz ed, the roles of but as a conjunction and preposition have become inextricably c onfused, and this fact gives rise to some vexed problems of usage. These are des cribed in the following paragraphs, each headed by a typical example of the prob lem.
2 Everyone but she [or her?] can see the answer. Fowler explored this problem in some depth, and concluded that but in this meaning is more a conjunction than a preposition, and therefore the case of a following pronoun is variable. When th e phrase introduced by but is associated with the subject of the sentence, the p ronoun should be treated as subjective (i.e. No one saw him but I) and when the phrase is associated with the object, the pronoun should be treated as objective
(i.e. I saw no one but him). When the association is not as clear-cut as this, the case of the pronoun is determined by the position of the but-phrase in the s entence: when the but-phrase is in the subject area, the pronoun should be treat ed as subjective (i.e. Everyone but she can see the answer) and when the but-phr ase is in the object area it should be treated as objective (i.e. Everyone can s ee the answer but her). Usage is unstable when the verb is intransitive: Everyon e knows but her is somewhat more natural than Everyone knows but she).Top
3 I disagree. But what do you think? The widespread public belief that but shoul d not begin a sentence seems to be unshakeable. But it has no foundation in gram mar or idiom, and examples are frequent in good literature: All animals have sense. But a dog is an animal. Locke , 1690 / But this rough magic I here abjure Shakespeare , Tempest, 1610 / Of course they loved her, the two remaining ones, they hugged her, they had ming led their tears. But they could not converse with her Murdoch , 1993. The initial position of but, as with and, is a matter not of grammar but of style.Top
4 Who knows but that the whole course of history might [or might not?] have been different? When this construction is used with a negative or (especially) in a question, there is always a temptation to make the second part of the sentence n egative. It is usually better to rephrase: Who knows: the whole course of histor y might have been different?Top
5 But your answer, moreover, is unacceptable. A further contrasting word, such a s however, nonetheless, moreover, etc., should not be used in a clause introduce d by but. If the second word is needed (i.e. if moreover is the right word to us e), omit but: Your answer, moreover, is unacceptable. Note, however, that but st ill is a standard idiom, especially informally: It's late but still you did want me to stay.Top
6 He is not upset but he is relieved. The repetition of he is, when this is the same person as at the first mention, is normally redundant: He is not upset but relieved. However, it is often added in conversation, with rhetorical emphasis o n the second is.Top
7 IDIOMS. But is used in a number of fixed idioms: a ALL BUT. By the end of the war this attitude had all but disappearedP. Wright , 1987. b CANNOT (HELP) BUT. The insertion of help is not attested before the late 19c b ut is now common: The frailty of man without thee cannot but fallBook of Common Prayer, 1549 / She could not help but plague the ladH. Caine , 1894 /
She could not help but follow him into the big department storeB. Rubens , 1987. c BUT WHAT. It's no telling but what I might have gone on to school like my own children hav e Smith , 1983 (US). This use is now old-fashioned, and limited to informal and n on-standard uses. d RHETORICAL USE. Ah, but who built it, that we tiny creatures can walk in its arcades? Drabble , 1 987. This use is not normally found in everyday English.Top
Back - New Search buzz word see JARGON, VOGUE WORDS.
Back - New Search by prep. By has so many functions that care should be taken to avoid ambiguity of the kin d typified by the sentence, more hilarious than truly ambiguous, He was knocked down by the town hall. It is better to use another preposition such as close to or in front of Fowler warned against the use of too many bys (in different sense s) in one sentence, as in (not his example): Send stories by reporters by fax by the end of Friday. Such sequences are more likely to occur in more hurried form s of spoken English.
Back - New Search by, by-, bye. These three forms have different functions. By is a preposition or adverb (Come by / By the river); by- is a prefix meaning `secondary, subordinate' (forming words such as byroad and bylaw, now often spelt as one word; in some cases, a variant spelling bye- is also found (e.g. byelaw), but this is best avoided); and bye is a noun meaning `something additional or left aside' (e.g. in cricket and golf). The idiom by the by (in which the second by is a variant of bye) means `by the way, i ncidentally'.
Back - New Search Byzantine is spelt with a capital initial when the reference is historical or cultural (th e Byzantine Empire) and with a small initial when the meaning is ìntricate, compl
icated' (byzantine intrigues). There are several pronunciations in use; those reco mmended are biz-n-tiyn and biz-an-tiyn.
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* * *
cable has until recently been a mainly countable noun (a cable / this cable) meaning a length of thick rope or wire, or a telegram. With the arrival of cable televisi on, its use as an uncountable noun (AmE, now also BrE) has been reinforced: I'm watching a movie on cableL. Block , 1982.
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cacao is a seed pod (or its tree) from which cocoa and chocolate are made, and should not be confused with the word cocoa itself. Cocao comes from a Nahuatl (Native C entral American) word.
Back - New Search cachet is pronounced kash-ay and means (1) a distinguishing mark or seal, (2) prestige, (3) a capsule of medicine.
Fowler wrote that it `should be expelled' from the language, and it therefore joins the band of his LOST CAUSES.
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cachou is a lozenge for sweetening the breath, and should be distinguished from the nut (and tree) cashew, especially as they are both pronounced kash-oo.
Back - New Search cactus. In general use the plural is cactuses, in botany it is often (but not always) ca cti.
Back - New Search caddie, caddy. Caddie (originally Scottish) is a golf-attendant; caddy is a container for tea.
Back - New Search cadre means (1) a group of servicemen (pronounced kah-d), (2) a group of political act ivists (often pronounced kay-d).
Back - New Search Caesarian, Caesarean. The first spelling is now more usual, and the initial c is sometimes written sma ll.
Back - New Search caesura, meaning à cut or division', is a term in prosody, both Classical and Old English, a nd refers to the division of a metrical foot between two words. In Old English ( e.g. Beowulf) it is marked in print by an extra space between the words. In late r English verse it is chiefly noticeable in long metres such as that of Tennyson
's Locksley Hall: Till the war-drum throbb'd no longer, // and the battle-flags were furl'd.
Back - New Search caf is occasionally spelt without an accent but should be spelt with one. It should be pronounced kaf-ay, not (except as a joke) kaff or kayf.
Back - New Search cagey is more recent than people realize (first recorded 1909) and is an Americanism. This is a better spelling than cagy, which is also found.
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calculate. 1 The meaning `to suppose or reckon', without any reference to working something out , is regional American in origin (19c, eg. I calculate it's pretty difficult to git edication down at Charleston) and is not standard in any variety of English. None the less it does occur: Many executives calculate that their best interests lie in not conforming to fac tory regulationsS. Box , 1992. See also RECKON.
2 The corresponding adjective is calculable.Top
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calendar, meaning a list of days and months, is spelt this way. Calender (with -er) is a p ress for paper or cloth, and COLANDER is a strainer.
Back - New Search calends, the first month of the ancient Roman calendar, is spelt with a c- not a k-.
Back - New Search calf. Both words (the animal and the part of the leg) have the plural form calves.
Back - New Search calibre is pronounced kal-i-b. The American spelling is caliber.
Back - New Search caliph is pronounced kay-lif and is spelt with a c-. Other spellings have fallen out of use.
Back - New Search callus means à hard thick area of skin or tissue', and should be distinguished from callou s, which is related to it but now much more often means ùnfeeling, insensitive'.
Back - New Search calorie, originally a unit of heat (from Latin calor, `heat'), in the 20c has stepped out of the physics laboratory into general use as a measure of the energy value of food . The general public have adopted what physicists call the large calorie (i.e. t he amount needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water through 1C).
Back - New Search cambric, meaning a fine white linen, is pronounced kam-brik, or sometimes kaym-brik.
Back - New Search camellia is spelt with two l's, despite its pronunciation k-mee-li-.
Back - New Search cameo has a plural cameos. In its meaning à small character part in a play or film', it i s used mainly attributively, as in cameo part, cameo role, etc.: Rather than play these zonking great parts I will try to find some dazzling litt le cameo rolesTimes, 1976.
Back - New Search campanile, a bell-tower, is Italian, and is pronounced kamp-nee-li.
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can noun. Can is the word generally used in BrE for the container when the contents are li quid (a can of beer / a can of soup). When the contents are solid, tin is more u sual (a tin of beans / a tin of peaches) but can is used for this too in AmE.
Back - New Search can verb. The verb can is classed among the MODAL VERBS, and has a wide range of uses, exp ressing (1) possibility, (2) ability, (3) permission (where it overlaps with may ). Examples: (1) POSSIBILITY Anyone can make a mistake / Manned spacecraft can n ow link up with other spacecraft in outer space / He can be very trying. (2) ABILITY His four-year-old son can already ride a bicycle / Murray could read more than forty languages. (3) PERMISSION No one can play the organ without the consent of the vicar / Can I speak to your supervisor, please? In more formal or polite contexts, may is pr
eferable and more usual, e.g. May I have another sandwich, please?. However, in the past tense, could has replaced might, e.g. At that time only rectors could [ = were entitled to] receive tithes. In some cases, can is not interchangeable wi th may, e.g. I'll drop in tomorrow, if I can.
Back - New Search canard means àn unfounded rumour or story' and is pronounced either kan-ahd or kan-ahd.
Back - New Search candelabrum, because of its Latin origin, has the plural form candelabra, but candelabra has taken on a new life as the more common singular form for the word meaning à large branched candlestick or lamp-holder', and has its own plural candelabras: four silver candelabras Scott , Ivanhoe.
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cannon. 1 This word for a large gun is now confined, apart from its historical reference , to a shellfiring gun in aircraft (a use first recorded in 1919). Historically the word is used both as an ordinary noun (with plural cannons), and as a collec tive (as in Tennyson's Cannon to the right of them, Cannon to the left of them, etc.).
2 Cannon should be carefully distinguished in spelling from canon, meaning (1) à rule' and (2) à member of a cathedral chapter'; confusion can be unfortunate.Top
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cannot
is usually written as one word, although can not occurs from time to time in let ters, examination scripts, etc. The contraction can't is fairly recent (around 1 800) and does not occur (for example) in Shakespeare. Can't is often articulated even when cannot is written.
Back - New Search canoe verb. has inflected forms canoes, canoed, canoeing.
Back - New Search canon see CANNON.
Back - New Search cant now usually means ìnsincere pious or moral talk': shameful surrender to the prevalent cant and humbug of the ageDaily Telegraph, 19 92. Its older (18c19c) and often derogatory meaning, `the secret language or jargon used by certain classes or professions', is confined to historical novels and sch olarly discussion of language.
Back - New Search can't see CANNOT.
Back - New Search canto, a division of a long poem, has the plural form cantos (recommended) or cantoes.
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canvas, canvass. 1 Canvas with one s means `coarse cloth'. The plural is canvases and as a verb (`to co ver or line with canvas') it has inflected forms canvasses, canvassed, canvassing.
2 Canvass with two s's is a verb meaning `to solicit votes' and a noun meaning `the so liciting of votes'. Its inflections retain the double s (canvasses, canvassed, etc .).Top
Back - New Search capercaillie is a Scottish Gaelic word for a wood-grouse. This is now the normal spelling (fo rmerly also capercailzie, the z representing y in older Scots orthography), and the pronunciation is cap--kay-li.
Back - New Search capita, caput see PER CAPITA.
Back - New Search capital, capitol. Capital, the most important town or city of a country or region, is to be distin guished from Capitol, which is (1) the hill in Rome where the geese saved the da y, and (2) the American legislative building in Washington DC (and other similar buildings in the USA).
Back - New Search capitalist is now normally stressed on the first syllable, although you still occasionally hear it stressed on the second.
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capitals. Capital letters are used to signal special uses of words, either (1) to mark a s ignificant point in written or printed matter (especially the beginning of a sen tence), or (2) to distinguish names that identify particular people or things fr om those that describe any number of them. Practice varies when people and thing s do not always fit neatly into one or other of these two categories. This artic le deals with the elementary uses first, and then with the less straightforward ones. 1 BASIC USES. Capital letters are used almost invariably (1) to begin a new sent ence (or a quotation within a sentence), (2) as the first letters of proper name s and personal names (New York / John Smith), (3) in certain special cases by co nvention, e.g. the personal pronoun I. These elementary rules cause little diffi culty, but beyond them practice and usage become unstable, and different publish ing houses have varying sets of rules about them. 2 OTHER USES. Prefixes and titles forming part of names referring to one person: the Duke of Wellington, Sir Bob Geldof, Her Majesty the Queen, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, His Excellency the American Ambassador. When the reference is general, i.e. to many such people, a capital is not used: every king of England from William I to Richard II (where king is a common noun like monarch or sovere ign). Titles of office-holders when these refer to a particular holder: I have a n appointment with the Mayor / He was appointed Bishop of Durham; but not when t he reference is general or descriptive: He wanted to be a dean / When I become k ing. Recognized and official place-names: Northern Ireland (but northern England , which is simply descriptive), Western Australia, South Africa, New England, th e Straits of Gibraltar, Plymouth Sound, London Road (when it is an address; but Take the London road, i.e. the road to London, which is descriptive). Names of e vents and periods of time: the Bronze Age (and, e.g., Bronze-Age Crete), the Mid dle Ages, the Renaissance, the First World War (but the 191418 war is generally r egarded as descriptive). Archaeological and geological eras are now generally of ten written with a small initial: chalcolithic, palaeolithic. Names of instituti ons, when these are regarded as identifying rather than describing: Christianity , Buddhism, Islam, Marxism, the (Roman) Catholic Church, the House of Lords. The word State has a capital initial when it is meant to refer to the institution a s a whole, so as to distinguish it from the ordinary use of the word; similarly Church is an institution (disestablishment of the Church) whereas church is a bu ilding or local body (go to church / the church down the road). Abbreviations an d initialisms are usually spelt with capitals, whether they refer to institution s or are more generic (BBC, MPs); but acronyms, which are pronounced like words and tend to behave like words, often become wholly or partly lower-case (Nato, r adar, Aids). Names of ships and vehicles: The Cutty Sark, HMS Dreadnought, / the US bomber Enola Gay. Note also a Boeing, a Renault / a Spitfire, which are trad emarks: see next section. Proprietary names (trademarks): Anadin, Cow & Gate, Kl eenex, Persil. A capital initial should strictly also be used when the reference is generic (e.g. can you lend me a Biro), but in practice this is more common i n the regulated world of published print than in general writing. Words derived from proper names: Christian (noun and adjective), Macchiavellian, Shakespearian . But a small initial is used when the reference is remote or conventional, or m erely allusive: arabic letters, french windows, mackintosh, wellington boot; and when the sense is an attribute or quality suggested by the proper name: chauvin istic, herculean, titanic. Verbs follow the same rule: bowdlerize, galvanize, pa steurize. The guide in this area is the extent to which the name on which the wo rd is based is present in the meaning used, as it clearly is with Shakespearian but not with titanic (which is undoubtedly used by many who are unaware of the m ythological Titans). Medial capitals. The uses we have discussed so far all conc ern the first letters of words. Use of capitals within words is confined exclusi vely to commercial usage, and has no other purpose or effect than to highlight o
r distinguish the name: CinemaScope, InterLink.
Back - New Search capping, as in rate-capping, is a modern UK political term of some potency, increased wit h the replacement of local rates by the notorious community charge (poll-tax) in 198990, and no less so with its further replacement by the council tax in 1993. A more welcome development is its use with reference to fixed mortgage rates. As a result of all these changes, capping is now often used as a word in its own r ight: How can capping lead to accountability? Hansard , 1992.
Back - New Search caption. Fowler called this `rare in British use, and might well be rarer'. Despite this disa pproval (see LOST CAUSES), it is now a common word on both sides of the Atlantic , meaning (1) a title below an illustration and (2) a heading to a newspaper article or book chapter. Despite this meaning, it c omes from Latin capio `to take', and has no direct connection with Latin caput, `head'.
Back - New Search carafe was once the normal Scottish term for a crystal jug for serving water. Fowler cl assed the Victorian English use (a waterbottle with a tumbler placed over it) as a genteelism, but its 20c meaning, an open-necked container for serving wine, i s unexceptionable.
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carat, caret. Carat (AmE karat) is a measure of the purity of gold; caret is a mark () for sho wing an insertion in printing or writing.
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caravanserai is pronounced with stress on -van- and the final syllable rhyming with eye. It m eans an inn for travelling merchants or pilgrims in the Middle East (first noted by the geographer Hakluyt in 1599), and is of Persian origin. Several other spe llings are now thankfully extinct.
Back - New Search carburettor. This is the standard spelling in BrE, as distinct from AmE carburetor (with one t).
Back - New Search carcass, the dead body of an animal, is the preferred form (rather than carcase) and has the plural form carcasses.
Back - New Search care. The modern colloquial expression I couldn't care less dates from the 1940s (OED: the first example is of a book title). More recent is the AmE expression I coul d care less, which has more or less the same meaning. The stress pattern is diff erent: normally on couldn't in the first and on the pronoun I in the second, whi ch suggests an awareness of the switch and in some measure accounts for the syno nymy of two apparently opposite constructions.
Back - New Search careen is originally a nautical word (recorded by the geographer Hakluyt in 1600) refer ring to the tilting or turning over of a ship, either at sea or in dock for repa irs. In AmE careen has developed the meaning `hurtle or rush headlong': A lot of Russians careening along the road on liberated bicyclesH. Roosenburg , 1 957 / The van careened across the road, almost running into the ditchB. Moore , 1987. I n this use it has been influenced by the similar-sounding but unrelated word car eer, which is the standard word for this meaning in BrE.
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caret see CARAT.
Back - New Search cargo has the plural form cargoes.
Back - New Search Caribbean is spelt with one r and two b's. In BrE the main stress is on the third syllable ; in AmE and in the Caribbean itself, it falls either on the second or the third syllable.
Back - New Search caries is pronounced kair-eez (two syllables).
Back - New Search carillon, meaning a set of bells, has various pronunciations in the OED and its derivative dictionaries. The dominant one is probably k-ril-yn, although kar-il-yn is also given. A French pronunciation, more common in the 19c, is now hardly heard.
Back - New Search caring, in its meaning `compassionate' as in caring society and the caring professions, has come to acquire strong political overtones since the Thatcher years of spending cuts in the social services, and it is now difficult to regard or use it neutral ly. The Sunday Telegraph reported in 1985 that `the word caring in the context of the Tory Party meant that Mrs Thatcher intended to lower her voice another octav e'.
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carousal, carousel. 1 Carousal is pronounced k-rou-zl and means a good time with drinking.
2 Carousel is pronounced ka-r-sel, and means (1) a tournament, (2) a merry-go-ro und, and (3) a moving (and usually circular) conveyor-belt system for delivering passengers' luggage at airports.Top
Back - New Search carrel is a private cubicle for study in a library (20c) and is a revival of a much ear lier use denoting a small enclosure or study in a monastery in medieval England, a meaning which died out with the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16c.
Back - New Search cartel in its modern use referring to a price-fixing business arrangement is pronounced kah-tel, influenced by the German word Kartell. In its earlier use referring to the exchange of prisoners, its stress was on the first syllable.
Back - New Search Carver, carver. These are two words meaning types of chair. A Carver (with capital C) is in AmE a chair with arms, a rush seat, and a back having horizontal and vertical spindl es. It is named after J. Carver , the 17c governor of Plymouth Colony. A carver (small c) is in BrE the principal chair of a set of dining chairs, intended for the person who carves.
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case. 1 There are two distinct nouns: a The one meaning àn example of an occurrence': In this case they are wrong. From t
his use there have developed several idiomatic phrases (in case, in any case, in some cases, in the case of) as well as several more concrete meanings, notably in law (the case for the prosecution) and medicine (seven cases of cholera). The re is also the grammatical meaning, which seems to have little to do with the ot hers but is connected etymologically. The word dates from the 13c in English and is derived ultimately from Latin casus, `falling', hence òccurrence'. b The one meaning `receptacle or container etc.': Put the cases in the car. The orig in of this word is Latin capsa (with the same meaning), and it also dates from t he 13c in English. Although this word has given rise to several technical meanin gs, e.g. in masonry and printing, it has been far less productive of idioms.
2 Most people use these words without difficulty and probably without any awaren ess that there are two separate words. Usually they do not get in each other's w ay, but beware of using a phrase with case, especially in the case of, when it i s not needed: In every case except that of France the increase has been more rap id than in the case of the U.K. [where In every country except France the increa se has been more rapid than in the U.K. is preferable]. Fowler gave many example s as evidence of what he called `flabby writing', but such a strong reaction is less justified today when the idiom seems dated and in decline.Top
3 The idiom in case is also a conjunction: Take your umbrella in case it rains. In AmE, it can also mean ìf' (i.e. it is a shortening of the phrase in the case tha t): In case it rains I can't go [= If it rains I can't go]. Coming at the beginn ing of a sentence, this use can cause initial confusion to speakers of BrE.Top
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cases. 1 Cases are the functions of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in sentences, as re flected in their endings or some other aspect of their form. The chief cases we are concerned with are: SUBJECTIVE (or nominative): the function of subject of a verb or sentence (e.g. house in The house was on fire). OBJECTIVE (or accusative): the function of object, after a transitive verb or pr eposition (e.g. book in Give me the book and Look in the book). Of less concern in English are GENITIVE (or possessive): the function of possess ion or ownership (e.g. Jane's and my in Jane's umbrella is in my car). DATIVE: the function of reference or relation (e.g. me in Give me the book). Most English speakers now think of cases chiefly in connection with other, more inflected, languages such as Latin and German. In English, case-endings and case
-forms, which were once a feature of nouns (stan, stanes, stane meaning `stone'), ha ve become restricted over many centuries to plurals and possessives of nouns (bo oks, children, boy's, girls', etc.) and to the pronouns (me, whom, ours, etc.). One consequence of this disappearance of cases is that English speakers may have partially lost an instinctive power to recognize case distinctions. Another way of looking at it is that the reduction process is continuing.
2 The concept of case helps to clarify certain problems of English usage: a What happens after the verb be. Since the subject and the complement of be are historically in the same case (i.e. be does not take an object), it is I and it is he (or she) are grammatically sounder than it is me and it is him (or her). However, usage is changing and it is becoming more and more difficult to sustain It is / (and still worse, It is only we) in speech without risking affectation. In writing, greater care is often needed. Many writers tend to prefer the subjec tive forms, especially when the pronoun is followed by a relative clause beginni ng with who or that: If I were he, I should keep an eye on that young manC.P. Snow , 1979 / This time it was I who took the initiativeR. Cobb , 1985 / That might very well be he at this moment, causing the doorbell to chime Amis , 1 988. But notice the difference in reported, especially informal, speech: Too much of a bloody infidel, that's me Keneally , 1980 / `So ' says Jasper. `That's him, the old fraud' Lively , 1987 / Can this be me? Driving a car?New Yorker, 1988. VERDICT: In less formal English the objective (It is me) is acceptable and often preferable (Can this be I? offends euphony and even common sense). In more form al English the subjective is preferable except where this produces awkwardness. b WHAT HAPPENS AFTER AS AND THAN. A problem arises because these function partly as prepositions and partly as conjunctions, and their roles are not clear-cut. In broad terms when as or than are felt to be prepositions the objective case is used (as lucky as me), and when they are felt to be conjunctions the subjective case is used (as lucky as I, with am understood). Examples: He was as apprehensive as I about our meetingJ. Frame , 1985 / I hope you have a more cheerful Christmas than we Waugh , 1955 / He was eight years older than I Hailsham , 1990 / He seems to be as lonely as me, and to mind it more Lodge , 1991 / I wanted you to be wiser than me, better than meP. Hillmore , 1987. VERDICT: There is a marked tendency towards using the objective case in more rec ent writing, with the subjective sounding more formal and often decidedly oldfas hioned (as in the Waugh and Hailsham examples). See also AS (1), THAN (1). c WHAT HAPPENS AFTER BUT. The objective form is preferable, though in practice b oth types occur:
(subjective) No one understands it, no one but IJ.M. Coetzee , 1977 / (objective) `Who knows about this?' `Nobody but me and a couple of guys here on the pl atform know for sure.'M. Machlin , 1976. See also BUT (2). d WHAT HAPPENS AFTER NOT. Since this is more common in speech, the objective cas e is common: `Who did this thing?' `Not me.' In writing, the subjective occurs more freq uently: It must be he who is made of india-rubber, not I Carter , 1984. (This is an exten ded example of the use after be discussed in 2a above.) e WHO AND WHOM. This is one of the most contentious pronoun issues of our age. W hom seems to be on the decline; but it is incorrectly used as much as who (hyper -correction again): Do you know whom it was that came last night? (where whom is the complement of be and not the object of know). The issue is more fully discu ssed in the article WHO AND WHOM. f CASE-SWITCHING. Change of case in pronouns within the same sentence is a commo n feature of English, and often goes unnoticed. Examples: Me, I don't trust cats Keillor , 1989 / Me thinking I'd probably got some filthy fever in spite of the jabs Barnes , 1989 / We sat down on either side of the radiogram, she with her tea, me with a pad and pencil Winterson , 1985 / It's not you who should be asking for pardon, but me who should be down on my kn eesM. Dobbs , 1989.Top
Back - New Search cashew see CACHOU.
Back - New Search casino has the plural form casinos.
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casket.
In America and some other English-speaking countries outside Britain, casket is used as an alternative for coffin. The exchangeability of the two words is illus trated by newspaper reports of the funeral of the Philippine ex-president, Ferdi nand Marcos , in October 1989: (caption) Imelda Marcos kisses the casket contain ing the body of her late husband; (text) Mr. Marcos' coffin was borne by 10 pallbearersChicago Tribune. In BrE, a c asket is a container for funerary ashes.
Back - New Search cast verb. This Old Norse word has competed for centuries with Anglo-Saxon throw, and its c redentials include an array of 83 meanings in the OED. In current usage, however , it often sounds archaic or rhetorical, influenced by the New Testament He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone John 8:7, and is lar gely restricted to a range of familiar phrases and idioms, such as cast an eye o ver, cast lots, and cast aside. In ordinary contexts, throw is the more natural word.
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cast noun, caste. 1 Cast is derived from the verb and has a number of special meanings, including the actors of a play or film, an object made in metal, and its use as in a perso n of a moral cast, plus a host of curious technical meanings (e.g. in hawking).
2 Caste, referring to class divisions in India, is now the established spelling, although cast is much more common before 1800. It is derived from Spanish and P ortuguese casta, `race, lineage', and is related to chaste.Top
Back - New Search caster, castor. The two forms represent several words and overlap in usage: caster is the only s pelling for a few technical meanings; castor (a different word) is the only spel ling for the oil; and both are used for the sugar (which is named after the type of pot it was put in) and for the small swivelling wheel on the feet of furnitu re. Although you are never wrong if you use castor for the principal meanings, c
aster is recommended for the sugar, and castor for the small wheel.
Back - New Search casualty. The main current meaning is now à person killed or injured in a war or accident'. T he historically earlier meaning of the mishap itself is less common, although th e two are sometimes hard to distinguish, e.g. There were many casualties in this war.
Back - New Search catachresis means àgainst usage' and is a grammatical term referring to the improper use of wor ds. Typical examples in everyday language are the use of infer to mean imply (bu t see INFER, IMPLY) and the use of refute to mean repudiate. Examples of literar y (and therefore acceptable) catachresis include Dylan Thomas's phrase once belo w a time.
Back - New Search catacomb. Now pronounced kat--koom; but kat--kohm is heard in AmE.
Back - New Search catch verb. Catch you later, now also shortened to catch you, stands alongside see you (late r) as a phrase of farewell: `Yeah, catch you, mate,' said Stephen, and slid out the doorF. Kidman , 1988.
Back - New Search catchphrase is a term (mid-19c) for a phrase that catches on quickly and that is often used without direct allusion to its first occurrence (when this is known). Examples a re: Not tonight, Josephine (associated with Napoleon but more likely a Victorian music hall invention), for my next trick (from magicians' patter), and more rec ently nice one, Cyril (from a 1972 TV advertisement) and have a nice day (1970s, originally AmE, exact origin disputed). Many more examples are given in Eric Pa rtridge's Dictionary of Catch Phrases (1977). More recent catchphrases include e conomical with the truth (1986, used by the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Richard Armst rong ), get a life (early 1990s), level playing field (1980s, originally AmE), a nd move the goalposts (1980s). See also CLICHS.
Back - New Search catch-22, from the title of a novel by Joseph Heller (1961), is used mainly in the phrase a catch-22 situation, which strictly does not mean any dilemma or difficulty but one `from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent c onditions'.
Back - New Search category. Fowler (1926) insisted tersely that category `should be used by no one who is not prepared to state (1) that he does not mean class, and (2) that he knows the dif ference between the two'. It seems that the word may belong in the category of Fow ler's lost causes, since it is doubtful if the distinction is maintained in gene ral (as opposed to philosophical) usage. Examples: She placed them in two categories: the honest imbeciles and the intelligent imbe ciles Manning , 1960 / Certain men at Vauxhall's were placed in a special category to preserve their hi gher rate of paySpare Rib, 1977 / Generally speaking there are two categories of small boy the studious, eyes-down -in-a-book type and the outdoor scuffed shoes clothes-in-a-mess varietyMorecambe Guardian, 1978.
Back - New Search cater verb. There are two typical constructions, with for (which is more usual), and with to (perhaps influenced by pander, and more common in AmE). There is no real distin ction in meaning between the two, except that use of to with a personal object s eems less natural, at least in BrE: The following suggested items can be obtained from shops which cater for local C hinese communitiesChina Now, 1978 / Gingerbread caters for all categories of single parentsTimes, 1980 / He feels cheated because society does not cater to his irrational wishes Bettelhe im , 1960 / Unlike other corporate hospitals, ours is just a diagnostic centre which caters to everybodyBusiness India, 1986.
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catholic is a word of Greek origin meaning ùniversal' and òf universal human interest', and ret ains this meaning in English when spelt with a small initial (as in science is t ruly catholic). When spelt with a capital initial it refers to the Roman Catholi c Church, although historically its range of reference is wider than this, embra cing all Churches claiming to be descended from the ancient Christian Church. Al though the meaning is clear in (for example) Catholics and Protestants, use Roma n Catholic when there is any room for uncertainty.
Back - New Search cavalcade is derived from Latin caballus `horse', and was brought into English via French with meanings associated with marches or processions on horseback. The association w ith horses was rapidly discarded, and in the 17c any procession came to be calle d a cavalcade. Noel Coward used the word as the title of a play in 1931, and cla imed to have revived it in the process. The final element -cade forms the (irreg ular) basis of the word motorcade, used for a procession in motor vehicles and f irst recorded in AmE in 1913.
Back - New Search caveat is pronounced kav-i-at, and means à warning or reservation': Any discussion of legal action must be preceded by a caveat on costsM. Binney , 1 991 / Bearing in mind some caveats below, it is possible to predict the relative diffi culty of a writing taskNational Curriculum, 1989. In more formal and technical wr iting, caveats are entered, issued, put in, etc.: Catherine Destivelle issued a similar caveat from the floor about the situation in the AlpsClimber and Hill Walker, 1991.
Back - New Search cease. This 14c loanword from French is slowly yielding to stop (as cast has to throw) except in a few set phrases (notably cease-fire and without cease) and where `we s ubstitute it for stop when we want our language to be dignified' (Fowler , 1926). Fowler thought that cease ought to be allowed to go into honourable retirement, but it appears to have plenty of active life left for special uses. It is also c apable of being followed by a to-infinitive, often producing a better effect, wh ereas stop to do something has its own special meaning (`pause to' or `make a special effort to'). We could not, for example, substitute stop for cease in the following sentence without virtually reversing the sense: Turner in a long and awesomely prolific career never ceased to observe and comme nt on natureDaily Telegraph, 1973.
Back - New Search ceiling has been used by government departments and administrators since the 1930s to me an àn upper limit' (as in a ceiling on prices), and is sometimes contrasted with fl oor, which is a lower limit. As with target, care needs to taken not to couch it in contexts that are incongruous: a ceiling can be reached, for example, or rai sed or lowered or adjusted, or can be high or low or unrealistic, but it cannot (without absurd effect) be extended or exceeded or increased. It is also unwise to associate it with words that are also associated with it in its literal use, such as suspend.
Back - New Search cello is the normal word for violoncello, and it is spelt without an initial apostroph e. The plural is cellos. If the full form has to be used, note the (Italian) spe lling violon-.
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Celsius is a particular scale of temperature based on a hundred degrees from freezing to boiling, and is named (like Fahrenheit) after an 18c scientist. Note that centi grade is a generic term for any such scale, and has been displaced by the more e xact Celsius in weather reports and general usage.
Back - New Search Celt, Celtic are pronounced with initial k-, except for the name of the Glasgow football club , which is pronounced s-.
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censer, censor, censure.
1 A censer (from an Anglo-French root related to incense) is a vessel for burnin g incense; a censor (from a Latin word meaning `to assess') is an official who decid es on the suitability of films, plays, etc. for public performance.
2 As a verb, censor `to act as censor of', should be distinguished from censure `to cr iticize harshly'.Top
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centenary is pronounced sen-teen--ri. It is the usual term in BrE (as both noun and adject ive) to denote a hundredth anniversary. In AmE and elsewhere, centennial is more usual. For forms based on centenary denoting longer periods (bicentenary, sesqu icentenary, etc.) see ANNIVERSARIES.
Back - New Search centigrade see CELSIUS.
Back - New Search centre around, centre round, influenced by verbs of motion such as gather and move, is now a common construct ion for the meaning `to have (something) as a centre; to be mainly concerned with', criticism on the grounds of illogicality notwithstanding. Examples: That strange figure around whom this account properly centresW. Sansom , 1950 / There is the added enticement of a plot centred around a real historical eventLis tener, 1983. To be completely safe, use centre on, base on, or revolve (a)round.
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centrifugal, centripetal are stressed on the third and second syllables respectively. Their meanings are complementary: centrifugal relates to movement away from a centre and centripeta l to movement towards a centre. Centrifugal occurs more often, and this may acco unt for the change in stress, which was formerly also (somewhat awkwardly) on th e second syllable.
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century. 1 The end of a millennium makes everyone aware of the difficulty of reckoning wh en a century (let alone a millennium) truly begins and ends. In arithmetical ter ms, the 21st century should be reckoned as beginning on 1January2001, since 2000 is strictly the last year of the 20th century (and 2nd millennium). But who is going to wait until the end of the year 2000 before celebrating the millennium? In popular usage, a new century begins on 1 Jan. of the year ending in -00, and this is unlikely to change however loudly purists may protest.
2 Nonetheless, in formal reckoning each century (the 5th, the 16th, etc.) contai ns one year beginning with the number that names it, and this is the last (or, i n the case of BC dates, the first), and 99 years beginning with a number that is lower by one, so that 763, 1111, 1300, and 1990, belong to the 8th, 12th, 13th, and 20th centuries respectively.Top
Back - New Search ceremonial, ceremonious. Ceremonial, meaning `with or concerning ritual or ceremony', is a neutral descriptiv e adjective (as in ceremonial occasions / ceremonial dress / for ceremonial reas ons). Ceremonious, meaning `having or showing a fondness for ceremony', is a more ev aluative and judgemental word. The difference can be seen by contrasting ceremon ial entry with ceremonious entry: the first is an entry marked by normal ceremon y, whereas the second is an affectedly elaborate or grand entry. Examples: Lord Mackan has had a busy programme of special ceremonial events on top of his normal Household choresSunday Express, 1981 / On the far side of the hearth the headman was sitting with his legs crossed, his back very straight, ceremoniously smoking a hookahM. Connell , 1991. Ceremonial is also used as a noun, meaning `proper formalities': He had had to fight for everything he had done, fight the people who wanted to w rap him up safely and wheel him out for a bit of ribbon-cutting and ceremonialP.
Junor , 1991.
Back - New Search certainty, certitude. Leaving aside special meanings in philosophy, both words imply the absence of do ubt about the truth of something, but certitude is a more subjective feeling whe reas certainty is, strictly speaking, verifiable. In practice, however, certitud e is falling out of use, and certainty is taking over its functions. Examples: (certainty) He was filled with certainty, a deep, sure, clean conviction that en gulfed him like a floodR.P. Warren , 1939 / He never had the absolute certainty that one day he'd get the boatR. Ingalis , 19 87 / (certitude) An obsession with statistics as the sole ground of certitude in a ch anging worldEncounter, 1964 / We craved certitude and order, and Oxford gave us both Mehta , 1993.
Back - New Search cervical means `relating to the neck' (as in cervical vertebrae) or `relating to the cervix (or neck of the womb)'. The term has emerged from the domain of laboratories with the advent of nationwide cervical screening and cervical smears. Its pronunciation in general use, serv-i-kl, is being influenced by the preference in medical circ les for s-viy-kl.
Back - New Search chagrin. The dominant standard pronunciation of the noun in BrE is shag-rin, and in AmE s h-grin. The adjective derived from it is spelt chagrined, pronounced the same wa y with the addition of a final -d.
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chairman, chairwoman, chairperson, chair. The term chairman, which combines connotations of power with grammatical gender bias, is a keyword in feminist sensitivities about language. Chairwoman dates fr om the 17c, but (as the OED notes) it was hardly a recognized name until the 19c
, and even then it did not solve the problem of how to refer neutrally to a chai rman/ chairwoman when the gender was unknown or irrelevant. Two gender-neutral a lternatives have emerged in the 20c: chairperson and chair, both first attested in the 1970s, although chair was already in use to mean `the authority invested in a chairman': I was recently challenged for using `chairman' to describe my position. My accuser w ent on to assert that I was being insensitive to the work of the Equal Opportuni ties Commission by not using `chairwoman', `chairperson', or `chair'. Scully , Times, 1988. hair seems to be more popular than chairperson, partly because it seems less con trived and partly because it is more malleable in meaning, whereas chairperson r equires the impossibly cumbersome derivative chairpersonship. Chairperson tends still to be used as an alternative for chairwoman rather than for chairman or ch airwoman. See also -PERSON.
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challenged has established itself in the 1980s and 1990s as a combining element forming pol itically correct alternatives to potentially sensitive or offensive descriptions of people, as in cerebrally challenged (= stupid), intellectually challenged (= backward), physically challenged (= disabled), and vertically challenged (= sho rter than average). Most of these, however, are not used outside the more extrem e realms of the PC movement, especially when alternatives are available that are less depleted of semantic relevance (e.g. children with special needs for and b ackward for educationally subnormal and backward).
Back - New Search chamois is pronounced sham-wah, with plural spelt the same and pronounced sham-wahz. Whe n it means chamois leather, it is normally pronounced sham-i and sham-iz.
Back - New Search champagne should strictly speaking be used only of a sparkling white wine from the Champag ne area of France, although it is loosely used of other similar wines.
Back - New Search changeable is spelt with an e in the middle to preserve the soft sound of the g.
Back - New Search chap, meaning `man, boy', is a 16c shortening of chapman meaning `pedlar'. It originally meant à buyer, customer', and only acquired its present-day colloquial meaning in the 19 c.
Back - New Search chaperone, meaning `someone who accompanies a young unmarried woman', is the recommended spelli ng, not chaperon. It is pronounced shap--rohn.
Back - New Search char is short for charlady and charwoman, and as a verb has inflected forms charred, charring. Other terms such as cleaner (in offices) and daily help (in private ho uses) are now more usual, and char has a decidedly period flavour about it.
Back - New Search character. Fowler (1926) argued that character should not be used (1) as an alternative to forming abstract nouns in -ness, -ity, etc., e.g. Every housing site has its own unique characterCountry Life, 1972 [instead of uni queness], and (2) in the construction of a character (with an adjective before c haracter), e.g. Of completely different character was the imported Moorish furniture which first made Liberty's reputationE. Joy , 1972 [instead of Completely different was ]. Th ese economies should be kept in mind in more formal written contexts, although c haracter is well established in more general usage as an alternative for quality or nature.
Back - New Search charge noun. In charge of has two constructions: A can be in charge of B, and B can be in the charge of A (with an inserted the now usual) or in A's charge (in which case th e is implicit). In all cases, A is given authority over B. Examples: She didn't think it unreasonable to put Sebastian in Rex's charge on the journey
Waugh , 1945 / Until they are 12 months old, the hound puppies are in the charge of the walkers who keep them at their homesLeicester Mercury, 1984 / I was recently put in charge of six other copywriters, two of them menNew York Ti mes, 1980. However, the construction in charge of will be found with the meaning ìn the charge of' (as distinguished above) in writing of the earlier part of the 2 0c, and in these cases only the context can prevent ambiguity: The young prince was doing lessons at Ludlow in charge of the Queen's brother, L ord Rivers Tey , 1951.
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charisma. 1 This is originally a Greek word meaning `gift of grace'. It acquired its current m eaning à gift or power of leadership or authority' when the sociologist Max Weber u sed it in this way (in German) in 1922. It has been used widely in association w ith major political figures, including J. F. Kennedy , Mikhail Gorbachev , and N elson Mandela , and is now used as a synonym for ìnfluence' or àuthority' or even àttra ction' or `charm' in various contexts, impersonal as well as personal: Spacecraft sent there in recent years have dispelled legends and added reams of sound, ordered data, yet the charisma of Mars remainsSan Francisco Examiner, 1976 / She presents well, has charm, charisma and vitality, but comes across as severel y intellectualBusiness 1991 / Despite promo pics that make them look like 12-year-olds, their `charisma' is more D avid Cassidy styleNew Musical Express, 1976.
2 The adjective charismatic, in addition to its religious meanings (as in the ch arismatic movement), has developed in line with charisma, and there is also an a dverb charismatically: He had a charismatic quality about him that had long made him one of Europe's mo st eligible bachelorsA. MacNeill , 1989 / She blossomed from a precocious teenager into a charismatically attractive woman with towering talent.S. Stone , 1989.Top
Back - New Search charlatan,
meaning à person falsely claiming special knowledge', is pronounced shah-l-tn.
Back - New Search chastise is spelt -ise, not -ize.
Back - New Search chteau should be spelt with a circumflex on the a, although many newspapers print it wi thout because they lack this character in their font sets. The plural is chteaux, pronounced with a final -z.
Back - New Search chauvinism is still used in its original meaning, associated with the eponymous Napoleonic veteran Nicolas Chauvin, of èxaggerated or aggressive patriotism'. In English (thou gh not in French) it has developed a range of extended uses signifying other kin ds of excessive loyalty or prejudice, including economic chauvinism, white chauv inism, female chauvinism, and, most famously, male chauvinism (first recorded in 1970). Male chauvinism and male chauvinist are so well established now that the y are often used in the simple forms chauvinism and chauvinist usually without a ny danger of ambiguity because the context is all.
Back - New Search cheap, cheaply adverbs. Cheap has one meaning, àt a low price', and regularly follows the verb as closely a s possible: Picture-books seem to end up by being sold off cheap as remaindered volumesCountr y Life, 1981. Cheaply has this meaning and also means ìn low esteem': The small Renault is underpowered and rather cheaply builtM. Harris , 1980. A reg ular idiom is to come cheap (or occasionally cheaply): A gondolier doesn't come cheapbut punting down the canals is the very best way to exploreBest, 1991 / The brothers enjoyed the hedonistic pleasures of the big city's pleasures that d id not come cheaplyR. Long , 1990.
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check, cheque are the AmE and BrE spellings respectively for an order written on a bank accoun t. In AmE, check is also the word for BrE bill (in a restaurant).
Back - New Search checkers is the AmE name for the game in BrE called draughts.
Back - New Search cheerful, cheery. For the ordinary meanings `full of cheer, cheering, gladdening', cheerful is the usu al word, and can be applied to a person or a person's appearance or disposition, as well as to utterances and activities (e.g. a cheerful conversation / cheerfu l cries / a cheerful time) and occasionally places (a cheerful room). It also oc curs in the informal fixed expression cheap and cheerful, meaning `simple but prac tical', and is used more generally with the notion of tolerant good humour (e.g a cheerful acceptance of the inevitable). Cheery, which Dr Johnson called à ludicro us word', is more colloquial, is suggestive of high spirits, and is used to descri be a person, mood, voice, etc.
Back - New Search cheers, long established as a salutation used before drinking, has developed a meaning i n BrE noted by the Times columnist Philip Howard : By a remarkable transition from the pub to the sober world at large outside chee rs has become the colloquial synonym in British English for `thanks'Times, 1978. In a sense halfway between these two, cheers also means `goodbye'.
Back - New Search cheque is the standard BrE spelling for the word in its banking sense. See also CHECK, CHEQUE.
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chequered is the standard BrE spelling for the word in its literal meaning `having a pattern of alternately coloured squares' and in its figurative meaning ùneven, of varied f ortune', as in a chequered career.
Back - New Search cherub has a plural cherubim, pronounced cher--bim when referring to angelic beings, an d cherubs when referring to adorable children. The adjective cherubic is pronoun ced chi-roo-bik.
Back - New Search chide, meaning `scold', in current usage has a past tense and past participle chided, altho ugh these forms have been unstable (with chid, chode, and chidden also recorded) over the word's thousand years of history.
Back - New Search childish, childlike. Both words tend now to be used to describe the behaviour of adolescents and adul ts rather than children. Childish has developed a generally depreciatory meaning `having the immature characteristics of a child', whereas childlike has the favoura ble meaning `having the good qualities associated with a child'. Examples: His childlike curiosity about life was held in check by childish timidityM. Holro yd , 1974 / John observing his daughter, saw her now as more grown-up, less childish Murdoch , 1976 / She habitually wore an expression of childlike wonderR. West , 1977.
Back - New Search chimera, a word for a mythological being and with figurative meanings, is the recommended spelling, not chimaera. It is pronounced kiy-mee-r.
Back - New Search Chinese, Chinaman.
Chinese is the standard word, both as a noun (with plural the same) and an adjec tive, for people and things relating to China. Chinaman, the form recommended Fo wler (1926), has developed unfavourable overtones and is no longer in ordinary u se.
Back - New Search chiropodist, meaning `someone qualified to treat the feet', was regarded by the OED as a factitio us (i.e. artificial) formation, since the significance of the element chir- (not certainly from the Greek word for `hand') was unclear. Time has healed the etymolog ical wounds and the term is now in ordinary use, as is the corresponding noun ch iropody.
Back - New Search chock-full is now the dominant form, having triumphed over variants such as choke-full and chuck-full. These spelling difficulties have been aggravated by uncertainty as t o the origin of the element chock, which also occurs in chock-a-block (with the same meaning).
Back - New Search chop, cutlet. A chop (17c) is a slice of meat (usually pork or lamb) cut from the loin, usuall y including a rib. A cutlet (early 18c) is a neck-chop of mutton or lamb, or a s mall piece of boneless veal for frying. A nut cutlet is a portion of meat substi tute, often made from nuts and shaped like a cutlet, for vegetarian use.
Back - New Search chorale is derived from German Choral(gesang) and means a stately hymn tune. In AmE it a lso means a choir or choral society. The final e was added to reinforce the pron unciation with stress on the second syllable (k-rahl); compare locale and morale .
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chord, cord.
1 Although we are dealing here with three English words, their histories are ver y much intertwined, and their ultimate origin is in the Latin word chorda which has several meanings. To begin with, there are two distinct words spelt chord: ( 1) in music, a group of notes sounded together to form the basis of harmony (thi s is a shortening of accord respelt with an initial ch-), and (2) a technical word in mathematics and engineering, meaning a straight line joi ning the ends of an arc, the wings of an aeroplane, etc. (this is a 16c refashio ning of cord after the initial ch of the Latin source). The idiom to strike a ch ord relates, somewhat surprisingly, to the second of these meanings.
2 The word cord = string, rope, etc., and in spinal cord, umbilical cord, vocal cord, etc., is descended, via Middle English and Old French corde, from Latin ch orda in its meaning à string of a musical instrument'. The anatomical sense is some times spelt chord, but this spelling is not recommended.Top
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Christian name. In a multicultural society such as Britain and the USA have become, this term sh ould be avoided in favour of the culturally neutral first name or forename. In A mE given name is also used.
Back - New Search chronic is used of a disease that is long-lasting (as opposed to acute), and has the sam e implication of continuing severity when used of other circumstances. An acute problem is intense but brief, whereas a chronic problem is severe and likely to persist: Richard Wallace bought no furniture, not wishing, perhaps, to add to the already acute problems of storage spaceD. Mallett , 1979 / Traffic congestion has become so chronic in Britain's cities that vehicles trave l at an average speed of just 8 mphBack Street Heroes, 1988. The word is also use d colloquially as a term of mild disapproval, especially in the phrase something chronic.
Back - New Search chrysalis has a plural chrysalises in general use or chrysalides (four syllables with stre ss on the second) in technical usage.
Back - New Search chuffed has the general colloquial meaning `pleased, delighted': You were pleased at the time. Chuffed in fact. Scott , 1977. In some local uses i n the UK the word also means the exact opposite, `displeased, disgruntled': Dont let on they're after you, see, or she'll be dead chuffed, see?C. Dale , 196 4. The explanation seems to be that the two meanings reflect different uses of t he dialect word chuff, which means `proud, conceited' in some parts of the country a nd ìlltempered, surly' in others.
Back - New Search chute is the standard spelling in the meanings (1) a sloping channel or slide, and (2) a parachute.
Back - New Search cicada is pronounced si-kah-d, although si-kay-d is also heard.
Back - New Search cigarette is normally stressed on the third syllable in BrE and on the first syllable in A mE. Even in BrE, however, the stress can fall on the first syllable when the rhy thm of the sentence seems to prefer this (as in Cigarettes are dear).
Back - New Search cinema has prevailed over kinema, which was still an option when Fowler wrote (1926); h e also defended the shortening against the claims of the full form cinematograph . Today, in BrE one goes to the cinema to see a film; in AmE one goes to the mov ies or to a theater to see a movie. In Australia and New Zealand, one goes to th
e pictures or a picture theatre to see a film. However, movie is spreading fast into BrE and other varieties, and will undoubtedly take over in the end (In many ways this movie heralded a new dawn in gritty British film-makingRadio T imes, 1998). Motion pictures, or the motion-picture industry, is used of the bus iness world of film-making in all varieties of English.
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cipher is the recommended spelling, not cypher.
Back - New Search circumcise is spelt -ise, not -ize.
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circumstance. The debate about the merits of in the circumstances and under the circumstances has continued for most of the 20c. The pedantic view is that since circumstances are, etymologically speaking, around (circum) us, we must be in them and not un der them; but Fowler rightly rejected this argument as puerile and observed that under the circumstances ìs neither illogical nor of recent invention (1665 in OE D)'. The OED further noted that `mere situation is expressed by in the circumstances , action affected is performed under the circumstances', a subtle distinction that is useful as a general guide: Never, under any circumstances, solder connections to the tags with them already on the cartridgeHi-Fi Sound, 1971 / As a writer, and collector of unusual information, I would be interested to hear from people who have seen the `little people' or any strange, apparently non-human beings, under any circumstances whateverStornoway Gazette, 1973 / In very special circumstances, you might be pressured into parenthoodProceedings of the Classical Association, 1977 / As from today, M[inimum] L[ending] R[ate] will cease to be posted except in very unusual circumstancesDaily Telegraph, 1981. Choice is also affected by the prese
nce of an adjective or other qualifier for circumstances: in present circumstanc es, in straitened circumstances, under these circumstances, under no circumstanc es, etc., are all idiomatic constructions.
Back - New Search city is applied in many Englishspeaking countries to any large town, and the official use of the term varies from country to country. In Britain it is properly used of a town that is declared to be a city by royal charter and has a cathedral. As a result cities vary greatly in size and population: Edinburgh (population 400, 000), Oxford (population 100,000) and Wells (population 8,000) are all cities, a s is the City of London, which is the business centre of the capital although no more than one square mile in area and having a resident population of less than 6,000.
Back - New Search clad see CLOTHE.
Back - New Search claim verb. There are several areas of difficulty with this word. The first concerns claim + that, and the second claim + to. The third concerns the expression to claim res ponsibility. 1 CLAIM + THAT. In this construction, claim should not be used as a mere synonym for allege, assert, declare, maintain, say, etc., but should contain an element of argued contention: He claimed that adding VAT to domestic fuel and power would help create a greene r and cleaner world by stimulating the use of more energy efficiency measuresEnvi ronment Digest, 1990 / The Sun claims that the Stonebridge council estate in north London ìs Britain's t inderbox where Los Angeles-style riots could explode at any time'New Statesman, 199 2. 2 CLAIM + TO. Fowler objected to the use of this construction when the subject o f claim is not the same as the subject of the infinitive; so I claim to be hones t is acceptable but I claim this to be honest is not. Passive constructions such as Their oyster farm is claimed to be the only one of its kind in EuropeTimes, 1975 would also be rejected on the same principle. The weight of current usage, howev er, has all but overturned this rule, and it is principally on grounds of style that alternative constructions using assert, contend, maintain, etc., might be p referred.
3 CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY FOR. In news reports, it is often said that a particular group claimed responsibility for (an attack, bombing, etc.). The objection is th at the use of claim implies something laudable or desirable, whereas a terrorist attack is neither. To avoid these sensitivities, it is advisable to use an alte rnative expression such as admit responsibility or declare that (they were respo nsible).
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classic, classical. 1 Classical is the customary word when reference is to the arts and literature o f ancient Greece and Rome (a classical scholar / classical Greek / architecture of classical proportions), and also to serious or conventional music, i.e. that of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, etc. (although it applies more strictly to t he 18th century, after the Baroque period and before the onset of Romanticism). Classical has come to be widely used in marketing circles to denote anything of traditional design: Classical desk lamp with swivelling green metal reflector cowl on a brass stemHab itat Catalogue, 1982
2 Classic means òf acknowledged excellence' (the classic textbook on the subject) o r `remarkably typical' (a classic case of cerebral palsy). In general use, it has co me to mean little more than `significant, noteworthy': Most home workers are women a classic case of powerless employeesGuardian, 1973 / The Nixon-Gandhi conversation thus turned into a classic dialogue of the deaf Kis singer , 1979. The Classic races in Britain are the five main flat races, namely the Two Thousand and the One Thousand Guineas, the Derby, the Oaks, and the St Leger.Top
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clauses. 1 A clause is a group of words normally containing a verb and its subject. A mai n clause makes sense by itself and can constitute an entire sentence, e.g. The t rain arrived at 6 o'clock. Alternatively, a sentence can be made up of more than one main clause linked by a conjunction, e.g. The train arrived at 6 o'clock an d the passengers got out. A subordinate clause is one that qualifies a main clau
se, e.g. The train arrived at 6 o'clock when it was already dark or The train ar rived at 6 o'clock in order to let the passengers out. A clause can have the sta tus of another part of speech; for example it can be an adverb (as in the senten ce just given), an adjective (The train which left London this morning arrived a t 6 o'clock), or a noun The train arrived at what we thought was 6 o'clock. A re lative clause is one beginning with who, which, or that that gives extra informa tion, as in the second example above. Relative clauses can be restrictive (or de fining), as in the same example (`Which train? The one from London') or non-restrict ive, as in The train, which left London this morning, arrived at 6 o'clock (in w hich the fact of leaving London is incidental information and not essential to t he meaning).
2 There are various ways of analysing clauses and sentences. The most important abbreviations used are S (subject), V (verb), O (object), C (complement), and A (adverbial), as in My son [S] considers [V] the price [O] quite reasonable [C] i n the circumstances [A]. For a fuller description, and more complex examples of notations, see Greenbaum, Oxford English Grammar, 31155.Top
Back - New Search clean, cleanly. Clean has been an adverb meaning `completely, outright' since Old English and is sti ll used as one, as in The bullet went clean through his shoulderblade. Cleanly i s an adverb of manner, and is often used figuratively: His ability, when he is wrong-footed, to extricate himself cleanly from the resu lting messObserver, 1978. Note also the adjective cleanly (pronounced klen-li), w hich means `habitually clean': The athlete's dancing vector, the spirit's need, And muscle's cleanly dictionA. H echt , 1977. This meaning will probably be more familiar in its derivative form cleanliness, which is proverbially next to godliness.
Back - New Search clear, clearly. The grammatical situation is similar to that in the preceding entry, with clear available as an adverb in two principal meanings, (1) `completely' (They got clear a way), (2) ìn a clear manner, with clear effect' (They spoke out loud and clear). In this last use, it should be pointed out that clear, like loud, is used as a sem i-adjective; but it is usually reckoned to be an adverb, as it is in a number of fixed expressions such as keep clear, stand clear, stay clear, and steer clear. Clearly is an adverb of manner, and can sometimes be used instead of clear in m eaning (2): They spoke out loudly and clearly / The author writes clearly and co ncisely. It is also used figuratively, often as a sentence adverb: It clearly has the advantage of keeping all the lines from getting crossed and e stablishing the priorities of policyTimes, 1973 / Clearly a more sensible definition of randomness is requiredScientific American,
1975.
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cleave. There are two words, both from Old English, with this spelling. One is a mostly literary word for `cut', and has inflected forms (past) cleaved, clove, or cleft, an d (past participle) cleaved or cloven. The adjective is cloven in cloven-footed and cloven hoof, and cleft in cleft palate and in a cleft stick. It is chiefly i n these fixed expressions that the word is generally known. The other word means `to stick, adhere', and inflects more regularly (past) cleaved, (past participle) c leaved. It occurs chiefly in the Authorized Version of the Bible (where a past f orm clave is also found): The Nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaued to the roofe of their mouthJob 29:10.
Back - New Search cleft see CLEAVE.
Back - New Search clench, clinch. Clinch is a 16c variant spelling of clench, and has since been regarded as a sep arate word. We clench our teeth, fingers, and fists; and we clinch an argument, bargain, or deal. Lovers clinch when they embrace closely, and so do boxers and wrestlers when they embrace too closely. A remark or statement that decides an a rgument is (informally) a clincher. Usually nails are clinched (not clenched) to make a clinkerbuilt (or clincher-built) boat.
Back - New Search clever see LOST CAUSES.
Back - New Search clew see CLUE.
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clichs. 1 A clich is a phrase that has become meaningless with overuse; for example, it i s now meaningless to wish someone a nice day because a once sincere intention ha s become an empty clich. The French word clich means a stereotype printing block, which produced the same page over and over again.
2 Fowler's entry in this topic (1926) was less than six lines long, and quoted o nly two examples: a minus quantity (as in Clothing among them was a minus quanti ty) and the order of the day (as in Engine troubles were the order of the day). Since then, the list of fixed expressions that are commonly regarded as clichs ha s grown, and everyone has their own favourites from those they condemn in the us age of other people. Anthony Burgess mocked clichs in Inside Mr Enderby (1963): H e was, however, on the whole, taking all things into consideration, by and large , not to put too fine a point on it, reasonably self-sufficient. The list can be extended with the following, among others: at the end of the day, at this momen t in time, conspicuous by one's absence, explore every avenue, in this day and a ge, keep a low profile, leave no stone unturned, on the back burner, over the mo on, put your money where your mouth is, sick as a parrot, situation (as in crisi s situation), level playingfield, not my cup of tea, take on board, until such t ime as, you name it.Top
3 Despite a vigorous defence by Nicholas Bagnall (A Defence of Clichs, 1985), the y are normally condemned or ridiculed on grounds of style. Christopher Ricks wis ely observed (1980) that `the only way to speak of a clich is with a clich'.Top
Back - New Search client has extended its range of use dramatically in recent years. It means, essentiall y, `someone who buys the services of a professional person', such as a lawyer or acc ountant; and a prostitute traditionally has clients. Someone who buys something from a shop is a customer, doctors have patients, and hotels and restaurants hav e patrons (but takeaways are regarded as shops and have customers). In the more competitive world of privatized public transport, passengers are often referred to as customers or sometimes clients; this usage is entirely contrived. There is some shift of usage in the social services, in the interests of neutral descrip tion: a social worker, for example, will now claim to have clients rather than t he more judgemental cases or patients.
Back - New Search climactic, climatic, climacteric. Climactic means `forming a climax' (For the climactic battle sequence Lucas gathered all the old war movies he coul d find and spliced together their aerial-combat footageTime, 1977); climatic mean s `relating to climate' (The Tamworth [pig] can adapt itself to a wide range of climatic conditionsJourna l of the Royal Society of Arts, 1977); and climacteric is a noun meaning `the peri od of life when fertility and sexual activity are in decline'.
Back - New Search climate developed its figurative meaning `the prevailing trend of opinion or public feelin g' as early as the 17c, despite its modern ring. Examples: The whole climate of thought will be different Orwell , 1949 / We must take account of the intellectual climate of the time Crystal , 1971 / The social security structure of individual countries depends heavily on their p olitical climateAccountant, 1972.
Back - New Search cling, after a period of instability, has now rejected the past form clang, and has set tled for clung as both the past tense and past participle.
Back - New Search clone is derived from Greek kln `twig, slip', and came into use at the beginning of the 20 c as a technical term in botany and biology. In addition to its now generally fa miliar original use, it has developed figurative meanings relating to close rese mblances of various kinds between people and things: Isn's he rather too much of a Benn clone?Observer, 1983 / Amstrad [is] leading the cut price clones attacking IBM personal computers on pr iceMarketing, 1986.
Back - New Search close, shut verbs.
Close has a greater implication of formality and politeness than does shut, whic h often sounds merely peremptory. Close the door suggests an invitation, whereas Shut the door is a more sraightforward command. Closed is also used in a number of fixed expressions: a closed book, a closed shop, behind closed doors, a clos ed society.
Back - New Search close, closely. The adjective close merge; into an adverb in uses such as come close, lie close, run close, stick close, etc., especially in figurative uses: No other car comes close for combining brilliant responsiveness with precise con troladvertisement in Scientific American, 1973 / Opera and large gatherings ran each other close for first place among her dislik esJ. Aiken , 1977. The adverb closely dates from the 16c and is used as an adverb of manner or degree, often in nonphysical contexts: Any programme of cuts would have to be closely vettedTimes, 1975 / The only language closely related to Sinhalese is MaldivianLanguage, 1972.
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clothe has two past and participial forms: clothed (the normal word) and clad. Clothed is suitable for most contexts (except when the less formal word dressed is calle d for), whereas clad is reserved for special uses: (1) as a literary word, and (2) with a qualifying word as in ill-clad, insufficiently clad, etc., and in fig urative uses such as ice-clad, ivy-clad, etc. These uses also have a strong lite rary flavour.
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clue is the normal spelling in the group of meanings to do with signs or evidence. Cl
ew, which is a variant of the same word, is now principally used as a nautical t erm meaning `the lower or after corner of a sail'.
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co-. is a prefix of Latin origin, and is used to form words that include the meaning `t ogether, in common'. Spelling practice varies with regard to use of a hyphen: some words (especially when the second element begins with a vowel) include it, wher eas others are written as one word. The diaeresis () that formerly punctuated wor ds as in coperate, is now largely disused. Recommended spellings are follows: coagulate coextensive co-opt coalition cohabit coordinate co-author (noun and verb) cohere copartner coincide co-pilot coaxial coition co-respondent (in divorce case) co-determination co-latitude co-driver co-occur co-signatory (to an agreement etc.) co-education co-occurrence coefficient co-op co-star co-equal cooperate co-worker coeval cooperation uncooperative coexist cooperative uncoordinated coexistent
Back - New Search coastal see LOST CAUSES.
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coccyx, meaning a bone at the base of the spine, is pronounced kok-siks. The plural is c occyxes or (more rarely) coccyges (kok-si-jeez).
Back - New Search cocoa see CACAO.
Back - New Search coffin see CASKET.
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cogent. To be cogent, an argument has to persuade or convince; to be coherent (see next entry) it only has to make sense.
Back - New Search coherent, cohesive. Both words come form a Latin root related to our word cohere, but their meanings are different. Coherent means `logical and consistent' and is applied to speakers a nd their arguments. See also COGENT. Cohesive means `tending to stick together' and is generally used either physically (as with liquid mixtures, for example) or in abstract contexts: Tephra serves as an insulating material, and constitutes an important component of cementNational Geographic, 1972 / The demand for socially cohesive categories of Nature and ReasonT. Eagleton , 197 6.
Back - New Search cohort. A cohort (cohors) of the Roman army was an infantry unit equivalent to one-tenth
of a legion, and typically consisted of about 500 soldiers. In the plural it ha s often been used as a literary word for àrmy', as in Byron's reference to Sennache rib (1815): And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold. As well as a techn ical meaning in demography, the word has in the 20c developed a meaning (origina lly AmE) àn assistant, colleague, accomplice', probably influenced by the coinciden ce of the first element with the prefix co-: Mr Stratton consented to partake together with his cohort of a sandwich and a gl ass of milkA. Cross , 1967 / The impending trial of Bobby Seale, chairman of the Black Panther movement, and his eight cohorts in New HavenSunday Times, 1970 / Brock and Emma had one wall, Bob, Johnny and their cohorts the other wall and ce ntre aisle Carr , 1979. The incongruity of this use is masked by its frequent appe arance in the plural, and the singular even appears to be a kind of backformatio n. Language becomes vulnerable when the specific historical significance of word s is so easily forgotten.
Back - New Search coinages are words and meanings used for the first time. Words created for the physical s ciences (such as gas and radar) are often publicly coined (for example, in a jou rnal), so that the moment and sources of their creation are recorded; but this i s rarely the case with more general vocabulary unless this too is invented for a special purpose (as with charisma and robot) and still less so with slang and c olloquial English, even when these are phrase-based. Coinages tend to be based o n analogy (e.g. software from hardware), on compounding (e.g. lunatic fringe, sm art card), on blending words (e.g. motel from motor and hotel, edutainment from education and entertainment), on use of prefixes and suffixes (e.g. reflagging, privatization), and on phrases, real or notional (e.g. gobsmacked). See also NEW WORDS.
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colander, meaning à kitchen strainer', is spelt this way, although cullender will be found in older writing. See also CALENDAR.
Back - New Search Cold War, for the years of suppressed hostility between the USSR and the West after 1945, is spelt with capital initials. The concept disappeared with the collapse of com munism in Eastern Europe from about 1989, but it is still referred to historical
ly.
Back - New Search coleslaw is spelt cole-, not cold-. This element is from Dutch kool `cabbage'.
Back - New Search colic has a derivative adjective colicky (with k to harden the sound).
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coliseum, colosseum. Both are variants of the same word, derived from the ancient name (colosseum) of the Flavian amphitheatre in Rome, which in turn was named after a large statue (or colossus) of Nero which stood nearby. The form Coliseum is used of theatres and music halls and, especially in America, of theatres and large buildings used for sport or exhibitions.
Back - New Search collaborate, collaborator. The primary meaning of the verb, `to work in conjunction with someone else', can sti ll be used despite the sinister overtones it acquired when used of cooperation w ith the enemy during the second World War. This is true also of the agent noun c ollaborator: Prof R G Mason and his collaborators at Imperial College used a new electromagne tic distance-measuring instrumentPhysics Bulletin, 1970.
Back - New Search collapsible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
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collectable, collectible. Fowler (1926) said that the first is better, and this is still true. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
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collective noun. 1 A collective noun is one that is singular in form and denotes a number of indi viduals, for example audience, choir, committee, flock, multitude. Apart from th e names of individual animals, birds, etc. (deer, grouse, sheep, trout) and name s for groups of them (a pride of lions, a gaggle of geese, etc.), and names of i nstitutions, firms, and teams (BBC, Marks & Spencer, Tottenham Hotspur, etc.), t here are some 200 collective nouns in common use in English.
2 The principal question of usage with collective nouns is whether they should b e treated as singular or plural. In BrE, the practice is well established of con struing them either with a singular verb to emphasize unity or with a plural ver b to emphasize individuality. The point is more fully discussed at AGREEMENT (3) . It is particularly important to maintain consistency within a statement, avoid ing, for example, a singular verb with a plural pronoun following, as in When th e jury retires to consider their verdict.Top
3 When a collective noun is followed by of + plural noun or pronoun (as in a num ber of people), there is a general preference for a plural construction: A large number of conductors want to hear the great artistsDdalus, 1986 / A handful of their members have been agents of MoscowLondon Review of Books, 1987 ; but again a singular is used when collectivity rather than individuality is th e main point: A decade ago there was only a handful of bioethicists in the countryBritish Medic al Journal, 1978.Top
4 Names of institutions and political entities, e.g. the United States, the Unit ed Nations, the Vatican, the Commons, Congress, are always treated as singular w hether the form of the name is singular or plural (e.g. The United States has demanded a more open JapanDdalus, 1987 / The CEGB finds it 25 per cent cheaper to buy in French electricityDaily Telegraph , 1987).Top
5 Names of animals, birds, and fish that are the same in the singular and plural are treated as singular or plural (or as a singular mass noun) accordingly: Fiv e bison were grazing in a shaded part of the valley / Trout will for some time s till be a premium fish, selling at about 1 each.Top
6 For collective nouns of the type a pride of lions etc., see proper terms.Top
Back - New Search college has many long-established meanings: (1) a body of officials, membership of which is a privilege or honour, e.g. College of Cardinals, College of Arms, College o f Physicians, etc., (2) an establishment for further education, normally part of a university as at Oxford, Cambridge, London, and elsewhere. In wider educational circles, college has been traditionally used in the names of some of the ancient public schools ( notably Eton and Winchester). In more recent times, its has come to be applied t o a broad group of educational and professional institutions: business colleges, teacher-training colleges, sixth-form colleges, secretarial colleges, military and naval colleges, colleges of agriculture, etc. One consequence of this is tha t general phrases such as being at college now need further elaboration.
Back - New Search collide, collision. There is no basis for the assertion sometimes made that these two words should b e restricted to circumstances involving an impact between two moving objects. A vehicle can be said to collide with a tree, a bollard, or any other fixed object as well as with another vehicle, whether moving or not. In factual reporting, h owever, hit is often a more straightforward choice: [They] died when their car hit a tree between Penzance and Land's End yesterdayTi mes, 1990.
Back - New Search collocation is a term in descriptive linguistics for the customary association of words with other words. A bystander is usually said to be innocent, consequences are often far-reaching, and politicians are cautiously optimistic. Other aspects of collo cation include the function words needed to complete the sense of other words (e .g agree + with or to) and the typical order of words, as in fish and chips and spick and span, neither of which can normally be reversed.
Back - New Search colloquial is a term used in dictionaries and books on language to describe the less formal vocabulary and grammar of everyday speech. In some dictionaries, informal is us ed instead (as being less judgemental), although the implications for usage are the same. Slang denotes a greater degree of informality, and typically involves a stronger element of metaphor or imagery. See SLANG.
Back - New Search collude, collusion. Both words involve a notion of fraud or dishonesty. It is correct to speak of de alers colluding, or acting in collusion, in insider dealing on the stock exchang e; but it would not be correct to refer to authors colluding to write a book (th e correct word would be collaborating).
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colon. 1 The colon is the punctuation mark that is least used and least well understood in ordinary writing (as distinct from printing). The principal difference betwe en it and the semicolon lies in the relation of what precedes and follows each i n the sentence. A semicolon links two balanced or complementary statements, wher eas a colon leads from the first statement to the second, typically from general or introductory statement to example, from cause to effect, or from premiss to conclusion.
2 The respective roles of semicolon and colon are shown by the following example punctuated in two ways: It was a beautiful day; we played cricket on the green. / It was a beautiful day: we played cricket on the green. In the first version, the two statements about the weather and playing cricket are equally balanced a nd might alternatively be separated by and or written as two distinct sentences separated by a full stop. In the second version, the colon makes the second stat ement much more explicitly a consequence of the first.Top
3 A colon is also used to introduce a list: The following will be needed: a pen, pencil, rubber, and ruler. Note that the colon should not be followed by a dash , although this practice is more common in older printing.Top
4 In AmE, a colon follows the initial greeting in a letter (Dear Ms Jones:), whe re in BrE a comma is customary. A colon also separates hours and minutes in nota tion of time in AmE (10:30 a.m.).Top
Back - New Search colossal. In its physical sense òf immense size', colossal dates from the early 18c, and was not listed by Dr. Johnson (1755). The first use in its figurative meaning `remarka ble, splendid' is attributed to Mark Twain : I do not suppose that any other statesman ever had such a colossal sense of humo ur, combined with the ability to totally conceal itAmerican Claimant, 1892. This use, which verges on the colloquial, should be used sparingly: Spending has been held back in part because of a colossal blooper by the House W ays and Means CommitteeTime, 1972.
Back - New Search colosseum see COLISEUM.
Back - New Search colour. In BrE the customary spellings of words related to colour are colourable (= spec ious, counterfeit), colourant (= colouring substance), colourful, colourist (= a painter in colour), and colourless, but coloration (= a colour scheme), colorif ic (= producing colour), colorimeter (= a measuring instrument), and decolorize (= remove the colour from). In AmE all have -or-, not -our-.
Back - New Search coloured, written with a capital C, in South Africa denotes a person of mixed descent, and in the plural denotes a racial group as officially defined under the former apa rtheid laws. Its use by white people in Britain and elsewhere meaning `non-white' is now rare.
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meaning a writer of a newspaper column, is pronounced with the n expressed.
Back - New Search combat is normally pronounced with stress on the first syllable as both noun and verb. The same applies to the derivatives combatant and combative. The verbal inflecti ons are combated, combating.
Back - New Search combining forms. This term, which may well have been used first by the OED editors, denotes a wor d form that is only used in combination with other elements. The normal linking vowel is -o (e.g. Anglo-, electro-) or -i (alti-, horti-). Combining forms can a lso occur at the ends of words (e.g. -imeter, -ology).
Back - New Search come is one of several verbs (others include go and try) which can be followed by and instead of to (Come and see). It can also be followed by a participle in -ing ( Will you come swimming tomorrow?). Occasionally, and usually for rhetorical effe ct, it is followed by an infinitive without to: We can sell this house, you can come live with us Smith , 1983 (US) / Come let us say a prayer together Gardam , 1985 (UK).
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come-at-able, meaning àccessible', is recorded from the 17c, but is less common than GET-AT-ABLE. Also found are comeat-ability and uncome-at-able.
Back - New Search comedian. In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (1601), Olivia asks the disguised Viola, come to
woo her on behalf of Orsino with a lover's speech ready to deliver, Àre you a com edian?', meaning Àre you a comic actor?'. At a slightly earlier date (1581), the word is recorded in the meaning `writer of comic plays'; together these constitute the e arliest records of the word. Its current meaning, applied both to men and women, is à humorous entertainer on stage, television, etc.' A feminine form, comdienne, i s recorded from about 1860, but is not much favoured now except with historical reference. In the meaning `writer of comedies', comedian is mostly used of the ancie nt writers Aristophanes, Menander, Plautus, and Terence, to distinguish them fro m the tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.
Back - New Search comic, comical. These two words overlap in meaning, but comic is the more common of the two and is the only one with the purely descriptive meaning `relating to or in the nature of comedy', as in comic actor and comic opera. Comical is a more evaluative word, meaning `funny, causing laughter', as in comical appearance and a comical situation; comic can also have this meaning but is often taken to imply intention rather t han effect. The following examples demonstrate the different perspectives of the se words in this meaning: Both brothers laughed out loud at the deliberately comic delivery of his English phrases as they shook handsA. Grey , 1983 / In reality, the relationship was a strained and sometimes comical mismatch, a 50 -year-long saga of crossed purposesDaily Telegraph, 1992 / He wiped his head, looking almost comical in his shorts and sandalsN. Barber , 19 92 / Olson suggested that the truly comic element in the tale is an ironic oneJ. Hines , 1993.
Back - New Search comity, pronounced kom-i-ti, means `considerate behaviour towards others': Those participating in conversational encounters have to have a care for the pre servation of good relations by promoting the other's positive self-image, by avo iding offence, encouraging comity, and so onH.G. Widdowson , 1990. It has a speci al meaning in international law, occurring often in the semi-fixed expression co mity of nations (or peoples, etc.), of `the mutual recognition by nations of the l aws and customs of others': The court accepted the need to pay healthy respect to the principles of comityD. McClean , 1992 / It is important when considering applications under the Convention that it shoul d be borne in mind that these are matters which affect the comity of nationsWeekl y Law Reports, 1992. It should not be used in the weaker meaning à group of natio ns that are well disposed to one another', although this is often found in print, e.g.
There were voices which spoke for Russia in the comity of civilised people other than those of ministers and Tsars Ustinov , 1983.
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comma. There is much variation in the use of the comma in print and in everyday writing . Essentially, its role is to give detail to the structure of sentences, especia lly longer ones, and to make their meaning clear by marking off words that eithe r do or do not belong together. It usually represents the natural breaks and pau ses that occur in speech. The principal uses are as follows: 1 To separate adjectives coming before a noun: a cold, damp, badly heated room / a ruthless, manipulative person. The comma can be replaced by and between a pai r of adjectives to make a stronger effect: a ruthless and manipulative person. T he comma is omitted when the last adjective has a closer relation to the noun: a distinguished foreign politician / a dear little baby. 2 To separate the main clauses of a compound sentence when they are not sufficie ntly close in meaning or content to form a continuous unpunctuated sentence, and are not distinct enough to warrant a semicolon. A conjunction such as and, but, yet, etc., is normally used: The road runs close to the coast, and the railway line follows it closely. It is incorrect to join the clauses of a compound sente nce without a conjunction (the so-called `comma splice'): I like swimming very much, I go to the pool every day. (In this sentence, the comma should either be repla ced by a semicolon, or retained and followed by and.) It is also incorrect to se parate a subject from its verb with a comma: Those with the lowest incomes and n o other means, should get the most support. (Remove the comma.) 3 A comma also separates complementary parts of a sentence, and can introduce di rect speech: Parliament is not dissolved, only prorogued / The question is, can this be done? / He then asked, `Do you want to come?'. 4 An important function of the comma is to prevent ambiguity or (momentary) misu nderstanding: In the valley below, the houses look very small (The valley is not below the houses) / Mr Douglas Hogg said that he had shot, himself, as a small boy (Mr Hogg shot things other than himself). 5 Commas are used in pairs to separate elements in a sentence that are not part of the main statement: There is no sense, as far as I can see, in this suggestio n / It appears, however, that we were wrong / There were, to be sure, at least f our pubs in the village. They are also used to separate a relative clause from i ts antecedent when the clause is not a restrictive or identifying one (see CLAUS ES): The book, which was on the table, was a gift. (Without the comma, the relat ive clause would serve to identify the book in question rather than give extra i nformation about it: The book which / that was on the table was a gift). A singl e comma usually follows adverbs (such as already, however, moreover) in initial position in a sentence: Already, the sun was shining / Moreover you were late ho me from school. 6 Commas are used to separate items in a list or sequence. Usage varies as to th e inclusion of a comma before and in the last item; the style recommended here i
s to include it (the so-called Òxford comma'): We ordered tea, scones, and cake. Ot her practice is to include it only to avoid ambiguity: We ordered tea, bread and butter, and cake. 7 Omit the comma between nouns in apposition (e.g. my friend judge Leonard / her daughter Mary), but retain it when the noun is a parenthesis (e.g. His father, Humphrey V. Roe, was not so fortunate) 8 Commas are used in numbers of four or more figures, to separate each group of three consecutive figures starting from the right (e.g. 14,236,681). Omit the co mma when giving house numbers in addresses (44 High Street), and in dates (27 Ju ly 2001).
Back - New Search commando has the plural form commandos.
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commence, begin, start. 1 Commence is a more formal Latinate word for begin or start. Fowler's advice (1 926) was to use begin and its derivatives except when these seem incongruous (wh ich is in fact rare); occasions when commence is more appropriate include offici al announcements, statements of historical importance, and suchlike. It is there fore a sound rule to use begin in all ordinary contexts unless start is customar y (e.g. The engine started at once / They usually start work at 9.30 / The game started on time), and to reserve commence for more formal occasions, such as the law (to commence an action), warfare (Hostilities commenced on 4 August), and t he domain of ceremonial (The procession will commence at 2 p.m.)
2 Constructions available to commence are more limited than to begin; in particu lar begin can more readily be followed by a to-infinitive, whereas a verbal noun is now more natural after commence: They began to eat or They began eating but They commenced eating. However, commence + to will be found in older writing. De finitely to be avoided is a mixed style of to + verbal noun: Then he commenced to coming by our placeM. Golden , 1989.Top
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is an unsurprising back-formation from the noun commentator. It is first recorde d as a rare word from the late 18c in the general sense `to comment', and was revive d in its current use in sports broadcasting in the 1950s.
Back - New Search commercialese is the special language of business correspondence. Sir Ernest Gowers , in his 1 965 revision of Fowler's Modern English Usage, regarded commercialese as àn artif icial jargon', and quoted in his support a committee report on the teaching of Eng lish from as early as 1921. Gowers would be pleased to know that most of the mor e arcane terminology, such as ult. (= ultimo, last month), prox. (= proximo, nex t month), and duly to hand (= received) has since largely disappeared, although one or two phrases still linger in the correspondence of more conservative busin ess people.
Back - New Search commercial traveller, first recorded in 1807, has now given way to sales representative (informally sa les rep) as a term for an agent who sells a company's goods or services in an ar ea.
Back - New Search commiserate was a transitive verb for about three centuries: She did not exult in her rival's fall, but, on the contrary, commiserated herH. A insworth , 1871; but under the influence of condole with and sympathize with, it is now construed with with (despite the disapproval of Fowler , modified somewh at by Gowers ): We commiserated with one another on our various hurtsK. Hulme , 1984.
Back - New Search commissionaire, meaning a uniformed door-attendant, is spelt with two ms and one n.
Back - New Search committee can take a singular or plural construction, depending on the sense. If the empha sis is on collectivity or unity, it is treated as singular; if the emphasis is o
n the individuality of its members, it is treated as plural. Examples: The committee proposes an Official Information Act to cover leakage of informati onTimes, 1972 / The local party's General Management Committee will vote for their choice next M onday eveningWandsworth Borough News, 1977 / An international committee on viral names has been looking into the problemCapita l Gay, 1986. The status of singular or plural is unclear when the verb is in the past or constructed with an auxiliary verb such as will or may, and plural numb er is often clarified by resorting to an expression such as the members of the c ommittee: Key members of the Committee concluded that only the existence of a `mole' or `sleeper' could explain the many leaks and failures of the 1950s and 1960sObserver, 1981. S ee AGREEMENT (3).
Back - New Search common see MUTUAL.
Back - New Search communal is pronounced with stress on the first syllable.
Back - New Search commune is stressed on the first syllable as a noun, and on the second as a verb.
Back - New Search compact is stressed on the second syllable as a verb and predicative adjective. As a nou n (meaning àn agreement' or à case for face-powder') and as an attributive adjective, the stress is normally on the first syllable, except that it is variable in comp act disc.
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comparable is pronounced with main stress on the first syllable. Its uses with to and with correspond to the meanings given at COMPARE, with a marked preference in current usage for to: This heroin is comparable in quality to that being sniffed by U.S. troops in Vie tnamR. Parkes , 1973.
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comparatively, like relatively, has been used since at least the early 19c as an intensifying ( or `downtoning') adverb, even where actual comparison is not involved: He had had comparatively little to do with womenP. Newton , 1972 / It was a comparatively shabby office Euram Marketing gave a distinct impression of watching the penniesG. Markstein , 1981. These uses are justified on the groun d that there is usually implicit comparison of some kind, even if it is as vague as `compared with others'. Fowler (1926) restricted his comment to the use of a com paratively few (with indefinite article), but Gowers (1965) extended the disappr oval to the type Casualties were comparatively few, arguing that no comparison, not even an implicit one, is made. This distinction, however, is impossible to s ustain, since few behaves like an ordinary descriptive adjective in being gradea ble: if one allows very few the objection to comparatively few falls.
Back - New Search comparatives see ADJECTIVE (3), -ER AND -EST FORMS.
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compare with, compare to. 1 In general usage, these two constructions tend to be used interchangeably; AmE generally prefers to when there is a choice, whereas in BrE the choice is more evenly divided. A broad distinction in principle should be kept in mind, namely that compare to is used to liken two things whereas compare with is used to weig
h or balance one thing against another. When Shakespeare in his famous line asks Shall I compare thee to a Summers day?, he is likening, even though in the end he shows his beloved to be more lovely than a summer's day.
2 This broad distinction can be seen in the following modern examples, although the use of to in the 1976 example violates it: American Opinion compared the familiar peace symbol to an antiChristian `broken cr oss'Time, 1970 / (likening) He did not individually compare other women with her, but because she was the first, she was equal in his memory to the sum of all the othersJ. Berger , 1972 / (balancing) Compared to war-reporting of the Spanish war Journey to a War is sup erficial and uninformativeS. Hynes , 1976 / (balancing) Salim's flight to London can be compared to the Romeward journey in VirgilLondon Review of Books, 1979 / (likening) The company produced a creditable performance, particularly when comp ared with the results of many of its competitorsDaily Telegraph, 1992 (balancing) .Top
3 When a subordinate clause or phrase is introduced by the participial form comp ared, the preposition is either to or with, although here usage is moving in fav our of to: The church looked dimly mysterious compared with the glare of the passageP.D. Jam es , 1986 / Compared to Ward's witch-hunters, Profumo is an almost blameless character in th e storyLondon Review of Books, 1987 / This was a modest sum compared to what other people spent Wolfe , 1987.Top
4 In BrE, though not in AmE, with is obligatory when compare is used intransitiv ely, because the balancing rather than the likening notion predominates: His achievements do not compare with those of A. J. AyerSunday Times, 1988 (UK) / Ham and bamboo shoots do not compare to those made at Ying'sNew York Times, 1977 / This compares with an average life expectancy in 1975 of 69.1 years for males an d 75.2 years for femalesC. Ungerson , 1991. See also COMPARABLE, COMPARISON (2).T op
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comparison. 1 For comparison of adjectives, see ADJECTIVE (3).
2 Comparison as the noun equivalent of compare is normally followed by with, not to, and this applies also to the expression by or in comparison: By comparison with some of the 20 million tons a year North Sea finds it is a dr op in the oceanDaily Telegraph, 1974 / It doesn't bear comparison with the contact you can get with a live theatre audi enceS. Brett , 1977.Top
Back - New Search compass points. Use capital initials for north, south, east, and west when these are part of rec ognized names, e.g. North London / South America / the East End. The same applie s to northern, southern, etc., when these have specific geographical reference, as in Western Australia and Northern mythology. In general reference, use small initials: an easterly wind / southern parts of the country. See CAPITALS (2) C.
Back - New Search compendium has plurals compendiums (preferred) and compendia.
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competence, competency. 1 Fowler (1926) remarked that `neither has any sense in which the other cannot be used', and noted that the first form is gaining ground. This assertion remains gen erally valid, and in the meantime competence has won out in the currency battle over competency.
2 Competence was given a special meaning in language learning by Noam Chomsky in 1962: competence for him means what a speaker of a language knows implicitly, a s distinct from performance, which is what the same person actually uses in lang uage production.Top
Back - New Search complacent, complaisant have the same pronunciation apart from -s- in the first and -z- in the second. B oth are derived from the Latin word complacere `to please'. Complacent means `calmly c onfident' and normally has unfavourable connotations, i.e. `too easily satisfied; sm ugly self-confident': A quarter of a century later, the conventional wisdom of British mandarins looks complacent, self-serving, ill-informed, and outmodedIndependent, 1989. Complaisa nt means `politely deferential' or `too willing to please': He went north to join his apparently complaisant wife for Christmas and Liza wen t to CornwallP. Street , 1990. It is no longer much used in ordinary speech and w riting (obliging and acquiescent are more common alternatives).
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complement is a term in grammar for a word or phrase added to a verb to complete the predic ate of a sentence. (In the examples that follow, the complement is in bold type. ) The most common form of complement is the type that follows a verb of state su ch as be, look, seem, etc.: I am his brother / She looked lovely / You seem to b e unhappy / They remained out of reach. A complement can also relate to the obje ct of a sentence rather than its subject (He called his mother a fool), and the term is sometimes extended to include words and phrases that complete the sense of other words, e.g. adjectives (fond of chocolate) and prepositions (over the m oon).
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complement, compliment, complementary, complimentary. 1 Complement and compliment each function as noun and verb; in pronunciation the y are largely indistinguishable except that in the verbal function compliment ha
s a fuller -i- sound in its second syllable and both words have a more distinct -ment sound in the third syllable. Both words are derived from Latin complere `to fill up'; complement means `something that completes' and should be distinguished from supplement which means `something that adds to'. A compliment is à spoken or written expression of praise'.
2 The derivative adjectives have corresponding meanings. Complimentary means èxpr essing a compliment' and has the additional meaning `given free of charge' (e.g. compl imentary tickets). Complementary means `completing' or `forming a complement' (Each of these regions is characterized by a broad range of complementary produc tsM. Hudson , 1977), and has a number of special uses, e.g. in the expression com plementary medicine, recorded from the 1980s.Top
Back - New Search complex is a term in psychology (à group of repressed feelings or thoughts which cause ab normal behaviour or mental states'), usually with some qualifying word, e.g. infer iority complex, Oedipus complex, that has permeated everyday language in non-tec hnical meanings. Examples: Both of them had a complex about economy and living within a budget McCarthy , 19 54 / The roadmen went and got into a muddle with their flags One of them apparently g ets a power complex every time anyone puts a red flag into his handC. Aird , 1973 .
Back - New Search complexion is spelt -xion, not -ction.
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complex prepositions. Complex (or compound) prepositions consist of two or more words together having the function of a preposition, e.g. according to, apart from, in accordance with , with regard to. Fowler (1926) objected to their overuse in journalism, `stuffing up the newspaper columns with a compost of nouny abstractions'. He had a point, b ut they cause little trouble today and should only be avoided, as a matter of cl
ear style, when something more simple is available: e.g. about or concerning wil l often do in place of with regard to. Others, such as away from and out of, are straightforward and necessary, since away and out (unlike in) do not function a s prepositions by themselves.
Back - New Search compliment, complimentary see COMPLEMENT.
Back - New Search compose see COMPRISE.
Back - New Search composite is now pronounced kom-p-zit, not -ziyt.
Back - New Search compound is pronounced with stress on the first syllable as a noun and on the second as a verb. To compound a felony in law is to condone it in exchange for some conside ration, and does not mean `to make (it) worse'. Note also that compound meaning à lar ge enclosure' is an entirely distinct word derived via Portuguese and Dutch from M alay kampong.
Back - New Search compound prepositions see COMPLEX PREPOSITIONS.
Back - New Search comprehend see APPREHEND.
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comprise. 1 Comprise is often confused with compose, consist, and constitute. All four wor ds are used to describe how parts make up a whole, but they start from different ends of the equation. Comprise has the whole as its subject and its parts as th e object, e.g. The top floor comprises three bedrooms and a bathroom. Consist of takes the same perspective, and one could equally say The top floor consists of three bedrooms and a bathroom, although it is more usual to use consist of with reference to ideas and concepts rather than physical things. It would be incorr ect to reverse the construction with comprise in the form Three bedrooms and a b athroom comprise the top floor. The correct words to use here are compose, const itute, or (more informally) make up. See also INCLUDE.
2 It is even less correct to confuse comprise with consist and adopt a hybrid co nstruction comprise of or be comprised of. Examples of correct uses: The main installation at Dartford comprises three IBM central processors support ing some 350 terminals located throughout the UKComputers in Personnel, 1982 / Love comprises among other things a desire for the well-being and spiritual free dom of the one who is loved Spark , 1984 / A good society is a means to a good life for those who compose it Russell , 1993. Examples of incorrect uses: Internally, the chloroplast is comprised of a system of flattened membrane sacsNa ture, 1970 / Seven boys comprised the choir Keillor , 1985 / The Saxe-Coburg inheritance is comprised of the ducal palace and three castlesDai ly Telegraph, 1991 / Rivers in this area are mainly comprised of domestic and industrial effluent, an d many have been fishless in living memoryK. Hawkins , 1993.Top
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computerese. 1 The language of computer terminology has become familiar to the English-speaki ng world in the last twenty years or so as the technological revolution has impi nged on the lives of most people both at work and in their homes. Since much of
the development in this field has been led by the USA (IBM, Microsoft, etc.), En glish has become the electronic lingua franca much as it has been the internatio nal medium of communication in air travel and other domains. Most recently, the rapid expansion in use of the Internet (or World Wide Web) has produced a vocabu lary of its own, both at technical level and in everyday slang. Much of the tech nical jargon is based on initialisms of three or more letters, such as http (= h ypertext transfer protocol), isp (= internet service provider), and www (= World Wide Web, used in website addresses).
2 Other terminology is based on or adapted from words that belong to the basic c ore of English: one buys hardware and installs software on it, and occasionally freeware; one's desk becomes a workstation; many computer programs are manipulat ed by using a mouse to make choices from a menu; computer symbols are icons; and a location on the Internet is a site, which is accessed by means of a home page , and the data is explored by browsing or surfing (usually with a browser). One communicates by e-mail (= electronic mail) as distinct from snail mail (= the or dinary postal service), sends aggressive messages by flaming (a revival of an ol d meaning) and breaks into other people's systems by hacking. Medical analogy is invoked to alert users to the dangers of computer bugs and viruses, some of whi ch may be macro-borne (= communicated by copying an infected macro program). Wha t is most interesting from the point of view of language is how little of this v ocabulary has developed extended meanings in other contexts, leaving the world o f computer jargon a closed environment, borrowing words from everyday language a nd signally failing to return them.Top
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concave means `having an outline or surface like the interior of a circle or sphere', wherea s convex means `having an outline or surface like the exterior of a circle or sphe re'.
Back - New Search concensus is incorrect; the correct spelling is CONSENSUS.
Back - New Search concern noun. In the meaning ànxiety, worry', concern is normally followed by about, at, or over, or by a that-clause:
Concern has been expressed at the manner in which the whole operation has been p ut together and actionedRescue News, 1985 / `Big-band' Mozart; smooth, rich, warm, mellow and played with love and fastidious co ncern over the tiniest detailCD Review, 1992 / He expressed concern that someone had somehow managed to circumvent the safeguar dsNew York Times, 1986. When purpose is involved, a to-infinitive is usual (The concern to analyse `real' data in `real' situations is revealing in this respectLang uage & Communication, 1984), and when the meaning is `personal interest or involve ment', it is more often followed by for: (It is only a shame that this outcome will have been brought about by market for ces and legislation rather than by any innate concern for dog welfareShe, 1989).
Back - New Search concerned. The idiomatic expression as far as is/are concerned is well established and norm ally unexceptionable, but Gowers (1965) indicated where economy of style suggest ed alternatives; for example, The punishment does not seem to have any effect so far as the prisoners are concerned would be better expressed as The punishment does not seem to have any effect on the prisoners. Such economies are worth bear ing in mind.
Back - New Search concessive. A concessive clause or phrase is one that is typically introduced by a conjuncti on such as although, but, or though, or by a preposition such as despite or in s pite of, and expresses a sense that is contrary to what is expected in the rest of the statement: Two letters in Portuguese were sent me to translate, although I knew no Portugue se Greene , 1980 / He did well, although he did not win an outright majorityEconomist, 1981 / His poems though self-absorbed are not self-admiringJ. Carey , 1981 / Gomba clinched the deal despite a last-minute attempt by a trade union consortiu m to make a counter-bidFinancial Times, 1983.
Back - New Search concord see AGREEMENT.
Back - New Search concur, meaning `to express agreement', has inflected forms concurred, concurring. It is nor mally used absolutely, or followed by with (a person, idea, etc.) and/ or in (a matter), or followed by a that-clause: If the doctor desires to treat the patient, he is often in a strong position to persuade such a relative to concurI. Kennedy , 1988 / A later internal annual review of Birmingham's Partnership concurred with some o f these findingsP. Lawless , 1989 / Modern biblical scholars concur that the letter ascribed to Jude is of too late a date to have been written by any contemporary of JesusR. Leigh , 1992 / I hope you will feel able to concur in my view that this is not an issue which c an be postponedResponses in Crime (Windlesham), 1992.
Back - New Search condemn has a silent final -n, but this is pronounced in its derivatives condemnable, co ndemnation, and condemnatory.
Back - New Search condole see CONSOLE.
Back - New Search conduct is pronounced with stress on the first syllable as a noun and on the second syll able as a verb.
Back - New Search confederacy, confederation see FEDERATION.
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has inflected forms conferred, conferring. In the meaning `consult' it is normally f ollowed by with (a person) and/or about or over (a matter). The derivative adjec tive is spelt conferrable.
Back - New Search confidant, confidante, stressed on the first syllable or (in the case of confidante) on the first or la st syllable, mean à close friend in whom one confides', and refer respectively to a male or female and a female. They are alterations of an earlier form confident (stressed on the first syllable), and were probably attempts to imitate the Fren ch pronunciation of the final syllable -ent, -ente.
Back - New Search confine is pronounced with stress on the first syllable as a noun and on the second as a verb.
Back - New Search conflict is pronounced with stress on the first syllable as a noun and on the second as a verb.
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confusable words. 1 Words are most often confused because they are alike in form (or spelling) and in some aspect of meaning, as with fortunate and fortuitous, or prevaricate and procrastinate. Some sets are confused simply in spelling, although the meanings and even the parts of speech differ (e.g. the verb forbear and the noun forebea r). In some cases, the confusion is in one direction only: infer is used controv ersially to mean imply but the same is not true the other way round. In some cas es, the overlap is so marked that distinction in actual usage is virtually impos sible, as with sensual and sensuous. Some word sets have a long history of inter action and meaning overlap (e.g. admission and admittance), whereas in other cas es a later word encroaches on an earlier word that, despite being originally dis tinct, is close to it in form and meaning (e.g. biennial on biannual; childlike on childish). Some sets consist of words that originally had the same meaning bu t diverged with time (e.g. continual and continuous; ensure and insure), whereas others consist of words whose relation in meaning has been unstable (e.g. disin
terested and uninterested).
2 Confusability is a matter of language production and language understanding, s ince in some cases the writer/speaker will be unsure of which word to use, causi ng ambiguity or doubt from the outset, and in others the uncertainty will begin with the reader/ hearer, either because of ignorance or because the context allo ws more than one interpretation. The following table shows sets of words that ar e commonly confused or used in place of each other, with date of entry of each w ord (in the part of speech, though not necessarily in the precise meaning, at is sue) into English (or ME in the case of Middle English, i.e. before about 1470; and OE in the case of Old English, i.e. before 1150) and a brief summary of the primary meaning. The selection is representative but by no means exhaustive, and other sets will be found in this book. For further information on the words given, see the individual entries. WORD DAT E MEANING WORD 2 DATE MEANING adherence Me (to belief etc.) adhesion 15c sticking admission Me (general meanings) admittance 16c right to be admitted adverse Me unfavourable averse 16c opposed affect Me cause change in effect 16c bring about allusion 16c indirect reference illusion ME deceptive appearance alternate 16c one after another alternative 16c available instead altogether OE entirely all together ME everyone together ambiguous 16c (statements etc.) ambivalent 20c (feelings etc.) amend ME change emend ME alter (text etc.) appraise ME assess value of apprise 17c inform avoid ME keep away from evade 15c avoid by guile baleful OE menacing baneful 16c causing harm baluster 17c (in balustrade) banister 17c (in staircase) biannual 19c twice a year biennial 17c every two years censor 16c act as censor of censure 16c criticize harshly childish OE (immature qualities) childlike 16c (good qualities) coherent 16c logical and clear cohesive 18c sticking complacent 17c too confident complaisant 17c too willing to please condole 16c express sympathy colsole 17c give comfort to continual ME repeated continuous 17c going on without a break council OE administrative body counsel ME advice etc.
credible ME believable credulous 16c too ready to believe decided 18c unquestionable decisive 17c conclusive decry 17c belittle descry ME catch sight of definite 16c clear and distinct definitive ME decisive, authoritative deprecate 17c disapprove of depreciate ME lower in value discomfit ME disconcert discomfort ME make uneasy discreet ME circumspect discrete ME distinct disinterested 17c impartial uninterested 17c not interested draft 16c preliminary sketch etc. draught ME air current etc. elusive 18c difficult to find illusory 16c deceptive in appearance etc. enormity ME (act of) wickedness enormousness 17c large size ensure ME make sure insure ME take out insurance on euphemism 16c milder term euphuism 16c affected style of writing evince 16c make evident evoke 17c draw forth (feelings) exceptionable 17c open to objection exceptional 19c unusually good flaunt 16c display ostentatiously flout 16c disregard (rules etc.) forbear (verb) OE desist from forebear (noun) 15c ancestor forego OE go before forgo OE go without forever 18c continually for ever ME eternally gourmand ME glutton gourmet 19c food connoisseur homogeneous 17c of the same kind, uniform homogenous 19c of common descent illegal 17c against the law illicit 16c not allowed imply ME strongly suggest infer 15c deduce, conclude impracticable 17c not able to be done impractical 19c not practical inapt 17c not suitable inept 16c clumsy, unskilful incredible ME not believable incredulous 16c unwilling to believe ingenious ME well thought out ingenuous 16c innocent, honest interment ME burial internment 19c being interned its 16c (possessive pronoun) it's 17c = it is luxuriant 16c lush luxurious ME comfortable and rich
masterful ME domineering masterly 16c highly skilful militate 16c have force (against) mitigate ME make less severe observance ME keeping a law or custom etc. observation ME perception, remark occupant 16c person in a vehicle etc. occupier ME person living in a property official ME having authorized status etc. officious 15c aggressive in performing duty perquisite ME extra privilege etc. prerequisite 17c something needed in advance perspicacious 17c having insight, perceptive perspicuous 15c clearly expressed pitiable ME deserving pity pitiful ME causing pity, contemptible precipitate 17c headlong precipitous 17c abruptly steep prevaricate 16c act evasively procrastinate 16c defer action purposely 15c intentionally purposefully 19c resolutely refute 16c prove to be false repudiate ME reject, disown regrettable 17c causing regret, undesirable regretful 17c feeling regret sensual ME gratifying the body sensuous 17c gratifying the senses titillate 17c excite pleasantly titivate 19c adorn, smarten tortuous ME twisting, devious torturous 15c causing torture, tormenting
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Back - New Search congeries pronounced kon-jeer-iz, is a collective name for à disorderly collection', and is s ingular despite its plural-looking form: Whitehall, that congeries of government offices that takes in, for example, the Liverpool regional office of the Department of the EnvironmentTimes, 1985. The pl ural is also congeries.
Back - New Search conjugal is pronounced with stress on the first syllable.
Back - New Search conjunction. A conjunction is a word such as and, because, but, for, if, or, and when which i s used to connect words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. Coordinating conjuncti ons join like with like: The room is large and bright / She would have to go bac k and look for it / You can come in but you cannot stay long / Would you like te a or coffee?. Subordinating conjunctions join a subordinate clause to a main cla use: / shan't go if you won't come with me / As we're early let's have a drink / I was late because I missed the train. Pairs of conjunctions such as either or and neither nor are called correlative conjunctions: He must be either drunk or mad / I neither know nor care. Some conjunctions are used in BrE but not in AmE; these are whilst (I would like to thank many friends and colleagues for their encouragement whils t I was writing this bookR. Jackson , 1981), now (Now the tourist season's starting it's better to have someone there, like a car etaker Murdoch , 1980), and nor (His septic tank did not work, and nor did most others in the villageEastern Even ing News (Norwich), 1976), but nor (I am not a trained architect but nor was Sir Edwin LutyensSunday Times, 1985). T he more important conjunctions are treated in separate articles: see AND, BECAUS E, BUT, FOR, etc.
Back - New Search conjure is pronounced kun-j in the meaning `to perform magical tricks' and kn-joo in the mea ning `to beseech'.
Back - New Search conjuror is the recommended spelling, not conjurer.
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connection is now the dominant spelling, although connexion (preferred Fowler ) will be fou
nd in older printing styles. Fowler also wrote at length against what he regarde d as the excessive use of in connection with, which he castigated as à formula th at every one who prefers vigorous to flabby English will have as little to do wi th as he can'. Certainly, when a simple preposition such as by or about or into wi ll do instead, it should be used: Inquiries in connection with the vandalizing of a local schoolU. Curtiss , 1979 ( use into instead).
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connote, denote. Both words mean broadly `to signify' but that is where the correspondence ends. A wo rd denotes its primary meaning; it connotes attributes associated with the broad primary meaning. So the word spring denotes the first season of the year, but c onnotes fresh growth, renewal, young love, and so on.
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consensus. Note the spelling, not concensus. It means `general agreement', and is often used (1 ) in collocations with of: consensus of authority, evidence, opinion, etc. (alth ough consensus of opinion is strictly tautological), and (2) in more recent usag e, in attributive uses such as consensus view, consensus politics, etc.
Back - New Search conscientious is spelt -tious, not -scious.
Back - New Search consequent, consequential. Consequent is used either attributively or with on or upon and means `resulting, f ollowing in time', with an element of causation that is not present in the purely temporal word subsequent: He does not mention the decline in control consequent upon self-employmentTimes,
1973 / Australian ratings terms have been revised to incorporate the introduction of co lour TV and consequent multi-set use in many homesTV Times (Brisbane), 1977. Cons equential has two principal meanings: (1) òf the nature of a consequence or seque l' (Conservative MPs are hoping that she will take the opportunity of the consequen tial changes in the junior ranks to bring in some new facesTimes, 1986) and (2, d espite Fowler's objections) òf consequence, significant' (He considered his notebooks far more consequential than his published proseTimes Literary Supplement, 1989).
Back - New Search conservative, in the meaning `moderate, cautious, low', as in a conservative estimate, is one of F owler's LOST CAUSES. He regarded it as a ridiculous `slipshod extension' and rejecte d it outright. But it is now well established in the language and is unexception able.
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consider, in the meaning `to regard as being', occurs in three typical constructions, two that are accepted and a third that is disputed: (1) with a noun or adjective complem ent in apposition to the object: I consider her a friend / I consider her friend ly, (2) with to be inserted between the object and its complement: I consider her to be a friend / I consider her to be friendly, and (3) more controversially, influenced by words such as regard and treat, with con sider followed by as: I consider her as a friend / I consider her as friendly. S ee further at AS (3). Construction (2) is especially common in reflexive use (co nsider oneself to be ), and (3) is the least common.
Examples: The patient improved considerably but could not be considered as curedM. Balint , 1968 / The baby was considered to be at high riskLancet, 1977 / The village boys considered it a privilege to enjoy a stroll with him in the eve ningsM. Das , 1987. Note, however, that as can have a different syntactic functio
n, associated with the object and not with consider, and these uses are acceptab le: Cologne Opera and San Francisco Ballet have both inspected the theatre and are c onsidering it as [= in its capacity of] a venueTimes, 1980. See also CONSIDERING.
Back - New Search considerable, meaning `much; a lot of' is used in BrE only of abstract things, such as attention, concern, difficulty, discussion, doubt, evidence, experience, improvement, inter est, pain, pleasure, range, similarity, sums of money, thought, time, work. In A mE it is used in this meaning of concrete things as well, especially mass nouns such as grain, salt, etc. BrE achieves this by using a formula such as a conside rable amount (or quantity) of: Rodney Lad carried off a considerable amount of Kittitian property, leaving the local whites in an unpatriotic moodCountry Life, 1973.
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considering has been used for centuries as a preposition and conjunction meaning `taking into account (that)'. Like GIVEN and GRANTED, it is grammatically independent of the su bject: It's odd that one boasts considering that no one is ever taken in by it Woolf , 1 921 / He looks round his palace of a house with sniffly and quite unfair resentment, c onsidering its comfortNew Yorker, 1974. There is also an absolute use, which shou ld only be used informally: These were years of disappointment for Nash, in what was, considering, a remarka bly successful career in writingNew York Times Book Review, 1990. See also PARTIC IPLES 3, 4.
Back - New Search consist is followed by of or in. Consist of means `to have as its parts or elements' (in phy sical and abstract contexts): Testing consists of checking that the students can carry out the task by the cri teria detailed in the objectivesTeaching Clinical Nursing, 1986 /
Otherwise her wardrobe consisted only of three or four shabby black skirts and f our or five shapeless black sweaters Carter , 1993; see further at COMPRISE. Cons ist in means `to have as its essential features': This defence consists in establishing that the derogatory wordsor at least their stingwere trueJournal of the Royal Society of Arts, 1977. The two meanings can eas ily overlap, as can the notion of a thing's constituents and its characteristics : Kim's Game consists in enumerating as many as possible of a miscellaneous assemb lage of objects briefly glimpsed shortly before Innes , 1972.
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console. 1 Console is pronounced with stress on the first syllable as a noun (= panel, ca binet, etc.), and on the second syllable as a verb (= `to comfort'). The words have different origins: the noun from Latin solidus `solid' (cf. consolidate) and the ver b from Latin solari `to soothe'.
2 The verb console means `to comfort' and takes an object: David has us to console himA. Price , 1976. It should not be confused with the le ss common word condole, which means `to express sympathy', and is followed by with: The priest came to condole with Madeleine Roberts , 1993.Top
Back - New Search consort is pronounced with stress on the first syllable as a noun, and on the second as a verb.
Back - New Search consortium has a plural consortiums or (occasionally) consortia.
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conspicuous. The phrase conspicuous by its (or one's) absence is a clich. See CLICHS.
Back - New Search constable should be pronounced kun-, not kon-.
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construct, construe are related words (from Latin struere `to build') which are both used to denote gram matical function. A word is construed or constructed with (e.g.) on when on is i ts regular complement, e.g. insist on and rely on (the OED abbreviates this to `co nst. on'). You can also construe (but not construct) a sentence when you analyse i ts grammar in order to determine its meaning; this sense also has a more general application equivalent to ìnterpret': He asked his interrogators to specify anything he had written or said which coul d be construed as anti-SovietR. Owen , 1985.
Back - New Search constructive in general use means `helpful, positive', as in constructive criticism. In this mean ing it is the opposite of destructive. In legal language it is often applied to `w hat in the eye of the law amounts to the act or condition specified' (OED), and is current in the phrase constructive dismissal, whereby an employer so alters an employee's conditions as to make continued employment impossible.
Back - New Search construe see CONSTRUCT.
Back - New Search consummate is pronounced kon-syuh-mayt, with the stress on the first syllable, as a verb an
d knsum-t, with the stress on the second syllable as an adjective (meaning `comple te, perfect').
Back - New Search consumption, in the meaning à disease causing wasting of the tissues', has been replaced in the 20c by more specific clinical names, especially by tuberculosis or TB.
Back - New Search contact verb. The meaning `get in touch with' originated in the US in the early 1920s and was gree ted with open hostility by purists for several decades. It is now established in AmE and BrE, although some older people who remember the controversy continue t o avoid it. The stress pattern is unstable; most often the stress is on the firs t syllable, but the normal pattern of stress on the second syllable for the verb (and first for the noun) is beginning to establish itself.
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contagious. A contagious disease is one transmitted by physical contact, as distinct from an infectious disease, which is transmitted by micro-organisms in the air or in wa ter. In figurative use, contagious is used of welcome and unwelcome things (e.g. corruption, folly, guilt, panic, and suffering, as well as laughter, shyness, a nd vigour), whereas infectious is restricted to things that are welcome or pleas ant (e.g. enthusiasm, good humour, laughter, sense of fun, simple delight, virtu e, zeal).
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contemporary, contemporaneous. 1 Contemporary has two main meanings: (1) `living or occurring at the same time', bo th as an adjective (often followed by with) and as a noun (often followed by of) : Austen Layard, a contemporary of Wallace who had discovered the ancient city of
NinevehL. Blair , 1988 / The finest novelists contemporary with him, particularly George Eliot and Hardy, are drawn to describe similar interiors for related, although slightly differen t, reasonsP. Tristam , 1989, and (2) èxisting or done at the present time' (as in co ntemporary literature) and hence ùp-to-date, modern' (as in contemporary ideas / co ntemporary furnishings). The risk of ambiguity is largely theoretical, although it might occur in a sentence such as music performed on contemporary instruments , where it is not clear whether contemporary refers to the time of the music or the time of the performance.
2 Contemporaneous (17c) is an adjective restricted to the first meaning, and is available when all risk of misunderstanding needs to be eliminated. It is found surprisingly often, especially in historical contexts: Built in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, they are contemporaneous with many of the great Gothic cathedrals of EuropeS. Stewart , 1991 / Workers experienced an absence of light and air that made conditions even in con temporaneous London and Paris seem favourableS. Lash , 1990.Top
Back - New Search contemptible, contemptuous. Contemptible in current use means `deserving contempt': And above all there is Harold Wilson, `piggyeyed', deceitful and contemptibleIndepend ent, 1989, whereas contemptuous means `showing contempt': He has a fine independence of outlook and a contemptuous disregard for whatever is smart or fashionable among opinion-formersPrivate Eye, 1977.
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content. 1 Content is pronounced with stress on the second syllable as a verb (see 2), ad jective, and noun (meaning à contented state': see 3), and on the first syllable as a noun (meaning `what is contained': see 4).
2 Content oneself with (not by) is the right form of the phrase that means `not go beyond (some course of action)', when followed by a verbal noun: Supporters of this option claim it reinstates the spectacle of democracy, while
critics content themselves with painting out that it is currently used in Icelan d, Bosnia, and parts of TurkeyNew Statesman, 1992.Top
3 Content and contentment both mean à contented state', but contentment is the more usual word, with content found chiefly as a poetical variant in the expression to one's heart's content.Top
4 Content and contents both mean `what is contained' in physical and abstract senses . There is little difference in meaning; content is more usual when the thing in question is a mass noun (and obligatory when preceded by a defining word, e.g. protein content), and contents is more usual when a number of countable items is involved, but exceptions are not hard to find: Questions like the protein content of bacon butties and the vitamin rating of co rned beef sarniesTimes, 1980 / The whisky bottle was still in play, though its contents had not shrunk catastro phicallyM. Hatfield , 1981 / She took out the sink-tidy, with the rubbish from breakfast, and slapped the con tents into the dust-binR. Barnard , 1981.Top
Back - New Search contest is pronounced with stress on the first syllable as a noun and on the second syll able as a verb.
Back - New Search Continent. In the UK the Continent (capital C) still invariably means `the mainland of Europe' as distinct from the British Isles, as a geographical and cultural designation n ot affected by Britain's membership of the European Union. A continental breakfa st (small c) is a light breakfast of bread, rolls, coffee, etc., and a Continent al Sunday (capital C) is one observed more as a day of public entertainment (as held to be customary on the continent of Europe) than as a day of religious obse rvance (as held to be customary in Britain).
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continual, continuous.
1 Continual is the older word (14c), and once had all the meanings it now (since the mid-19c) shares with continuous (17c). Fowler (1926) expressed the current distinction somewhat cryptically as follows: `That is -al which either is always g oing on or occurs at short intervals and never comes (or is regarded as never co ming) to an end. That is -ous in which no break occurs between the beginning and the (not necessarily or even presumably long-deferred) end.'
2 Continuous is used in physical contexts (such as lines, roads, etc.) and is pr eferred in technical contexts (e.g. continuous assessment / continuous stationer y / continuous wave). The other principal use is with reference to time: continu ous here means `going on uninterrupted' whereas continual means `constantly or frequen tly recurring'. The following examples show how difficult it is to keep the two me anings apart: The correspondence between the two men was continuous throughout the next few mo nthsV. Brome , 1978 / The continual underfunding of the Royal Shakespeare Company was endangering its ability to retain its talented staffDaily Telegraph, 1981 / The 1840s were years of continuous self-education for Philip Henry GosseA. Thwait e , 1984 / The house and garden had seen their best days, and the decline was now continual , from season to seasonR. Frame , 1986 / His son was a continual source of amusement and delight to himE. Blair , 1990. No te that other words are sometimes preferable, e.g. (in place of continual) const ant, habitual, intermittent, recurrent, repeated, and (in place of continuous) c easeless, constant, incessant, unbroken, uninterrupted. Note also that constant can be used to mean both continual and continuous.Top
3 Of the corresponding adverbs, continually (14c) is older by far than continuou sly (17c). Here, for some reason, the current distinction is clearer to see; con tinually can be defined as `repeatedly; again and again' and continuously as `without interruption': This lost energy must be continuously supplied by the enginesC.E. Dole , 1971 / He said that the business of the court was being continually held up by irreleva nciesJ.B. Morton , 1974 / The black coat had lost its warmth and he shivered continuallyJ.M. Coetzee , 1983 / The synchronization was continuously monitored during the flight by checking the on-board clockNature, 1972. In the following example, continuously seems to be w rongly used for continually: The Chinese officials also continuously stated that they could put a stop to inf lation at any timeP. Lowe , 1989.Top
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continuance, continuation, continuity. 1 Continuance (14c) is much less common than continuation (also 14c). It is used when the context requires the meaning à state of continuing in existence or oper ation' (i.e. a fact) rather than `the act or an instance of continuing' (i.e. a proces s), which calls for continuation. Examples: The step-up in the air war might even jeopardize the continuation of the talks t hemselvesNewsweek, 1972 / It is absurd for continuance of nonreturnable bottle production still to be allo wedTimes, 1973 / Tiering [of dresses] is a continuation of the peasant theme that has been with u s for what seems like a long, long timeDetroit Free Press, 1978 / Confusion has arisen about their desperate continuance of the struggle which was manifestly lost Fraser , 1988.
2 Continuity means `the state of being continuous' or (more concretely) àn unbroken s uccession (of a set of events)': Each shipment of wood parts will have a continuity of qualityHouse and Garden, 19 72 / A group of three large house mounds was chosen for excavation to examine the seq uence and continuity of occupationTimes, 1973. It has a special meaning in the ci nema and broadcasting, denoting the process whereby separate shots or recordings are linked together to form a continuous sequence with consistent details.Top
Back - New Search continue should not be followed by on (adverb), although this is sometimes found in infor mal writing: I continued on down the streetA. Bergman , 1975. Use either continue (without on) or a verb of motion (such as go, move, etc.) with on. This use of the adverb sh ould be distinguished from the preposition on, which has a linking role and is q uite acceptable: The sensible thing to do would have been to continue on my wayR. Perry , 1973.
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continuous, continuously see CONTINUAL, CONTINUOUS.
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continuous tenses are tenses (or more strictly, aspects of tense) of the types I am staying, they were going, etc., as contrasted with the simple tenses I stay, they went, etc. T hey are also known as progressive tenses.
Back - New Search contract is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and on the second syllable as a verb, except that in the phrasal verb contract in (or out) the str ess is more variable.
Back - New Search contractable, contractible see -ABLE, -IBLE.
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contractions see ABBREVIATIONS (2).
Back - New Search contractual is the correct form, not (on the analogy of procedural, structural, etc.) contra ctural.
Back - New Search contralto has a plural contraltos, not (as in Italian) contralti.
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contrary. 1 The position of the main stress has fluctuated over the centuries, and the OED notes that poets from Chaucer to Spenser and Shakespeare placed it on both the first and the second syllable according to need. In current English, the stress is now placed on the first syllable for the adjective and the noun, except in th e meaning `perverse, obstinately self-willed', in which the stress is on the second syllable, probably under the influence of the nursery rhyme beginning Mary, Mary , quite contrary.
2 The phrase on the contrary is properly used only in a statement intensifying a denial of what has just been stated or implied: You say that war is inevitable; on the contrary I think the outstanding differences between the two countries c an be settled by negotiation. On the other hand denotes a differing (not necessa rily opposite) point of view, and is often paired with on the one hand.Top
3 The phrase to the contrary is used in AmE in the meaning of on the contrary (s ee 2), but in BrE is used only as a mid-sentence or end-of-sentence adverbial as in There is plenty of evidence to the contrary.Top
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contrast.
1 Contrast is pronounced with stress on the first syllable as a noun and on the second syllable as a verb.
2 In current use, the verb is normally constructed with with or and, and is used transitively and intransitively: Her sudden energy contrasted with Henry's sudden exhaustionJ. Frame , 1970 / Data is sometimes contrasted with information, which is said to result from the processing of dataJ. Chandor , 1970 / Some anthropologists have sought to contrast the `guilt cultures' of Western Europe with `shame cultures'A. Giddens , 1977.Top
3 The noun can be followed by to, with, or between, and is also used in the fixe d expressions by contrast and in contrast (to or with): In contrast with ordinary grasshoppers, most of which live on the ground, the lo ng-horned grasshoppers do more climbingL.E. Chadwick , 1972 / Gloria would have been able to detect few noteworthy points of contrast between sexual arousal and rabies Amis , 1973 / In contrast, the heaviest elements of the same groups are metallic or semimetall icD.M. Adams , 1974 / Marx, by contrast, has a single-cause theory: all the evils of society arise fro m private propertyP. Johnson , 1977 / The presence of scientists will also allow `hands-on' experiments to be tried out, i n contrast to previous life-science experiments in space which were fully automa tedNature, 1978.Top
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contribute. The standard pronunciation is with the main stress on the second syllable, altho ugh pronunciation with stress on the first syllable is increasingly heard.
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controversy. The stress is always placed on the first syllable in AmE and normally in BrE too , although a variant with stress on the second syllable is becoming increasingly common, despite the strictures of purists. Early stress on words of more than t hree syllables is unusual in English (excellency, matrimony, and presidency are others), and so the shift is not surprising. The argument sometimes heard that a link vowel should not be stressed is confounded by words such as archaeology an d helicopter.
Back - New Search conundrum is a 16c word of unknown origin, perhaps a facetious invention. It has a plural conundrums.
Back - New Search converse is pronounced with stress on the first syllable as an adjective and noun (= the opposite), and on the second syllable as a verb (= to have a conversation).
Back - New Search convert is pronounced with stress on the first syllable as a noun and on the second syll able as a verb.
Back - New Search convertible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search convex. See CONCAVE.
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convict is pronounced with stress on the first syllable as a noun and on the second syll able as a verb.
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convince. The use followed by a to-infinitive with the meaning `to persuade' is recorded from the 1950s and is still disapproved of by many, although it is now common, especi ally informally: The miners tried to convince their colleagues to join thembroadcast on BBC World Service, 1991.
Back - New Search cookie, not cooky, is the established spelling in its various meanings: in AmE à biscuit' a nd (slang) a person (as in tough cookie), in Scottish à plain bun'.
Back - New Search coomb is the usual form (rather than combe) in Britain for a valley or hollow on the s ide of a hill or a short valley running up from the coast. In place-names, howev er, -combe is more usual, as in Ilfracombe, Winchcombe, etc.
Back - New Search cooperate is now the preferred spelling, without a hyphen and without a diaeresis on the s econd o. See co-.
Back - New Search cope. The traditional construction followed by with has been in common use since the 1 6c:
Like many religious professionals, I cope with festivals, but I can't really enj oy themL. Blue , 1985. Absolute uses without with have been recorded since the 19 30s: It wasn't as if Marcia was an invalid or unable to cope, even if she was a bit e ccentric Pym , 1977.
Back - New Search copula in grammar is a verb, such as be, become, feel, get, etc., that links the subjec t and complement of a sentence, as in He is a pilot / She felt annoyed / They lo ok hungry / Will it turn cold?. Such a verb is also called a copular verb.
Back - New Search cord see CHORD.
Back - New Search co-respondent, meaning à person named in a divorce case', should be distinguished from corresponde nt. See co-.
Back - New Search corn means `wheat or oats' in BrE, and `maize' in AmE.
Back - New Search corporal, corporeal. Both words are now largely restricted to particular uses. Corporal means `relating to the human body' and is found chiefly in the expression corporal punishment (be ating, spanking, etc., now effectively banned in schools in the European Union). In other uses, bodily or personal is more usual. Corporeal means `bodily, physica l, material, as distinct from spiritual': Apart from his existence as a corporeal omnipotent first cause, all else about G od was a matter of faithR.S. Woodhouse , 1988.
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corps, corpse. Corps, meaning `body of people', is pronounced like core in the singular and like co res in the plural. It should be distinguished from corpse, meaning `dead body', whic h is pronounced kawps.
Back - New Search corpus, meaning à collection of writings', has a plural corpora, although corpuses is incre asingly found. In the domain of language and linguistics it is used to refer to a collection of texts of all kinds, written and spoken, which are read and analy sed by a computer program designed to produce statistics and sort the material i nto accessible forms, usually as a screen concordance of consecutive lines with the word being studied (the keyword) in the centre of each line. The best known corpora in current use are the British National Corpus, the Cobuild Corpus (Coll ins-Birmingham University International Language Database), and the Survey of En glish Usage (at University College London).
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corpus delicti means literally `the body of a crime', and refers to all the facts and circumstances that together constitute a breach of the law. In lay use, it means the concrete evidence of a crime, especially the body of a murdered person.
Back - New Search corrector, meaning à person who points out faults', is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search correlative is each of a pair of words used to link corresponding parts of a sentence, e.g. both and , either or . Correlatives that involve a subordinate clause include hard ly when and if then .
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correspond. If one thing is similar or analogous to another, or related closely to it, it is said to correspond to it: Gandhi's concept of Religion corresponds to his concept of TruthG. Richards , 199 1. If one thing is in harmony or agreement with another, it is said to correspon d with or to it: There were two bedrooms to correspond with the rooms downstairsD.H. Lawrence , 19 21 / The broadcasting service should be conducted by a public corporation and its sta tus and duties should correspond with those of a public serviceR. Negrine , 1992. If two people exchange letters, they are said to correspond with one another: Though it is not known how the two friends met, they were corresponding with eac h other by 1945F. Spalding , 1991. In all these meanings, correspond can also be used absolutely, without to or with: My brother Michael and I corresponded about socialism and religion Benn , 1979. I t is also common as a participial adjective corresponding: For the corresponding period in the previous year 818 men had been accommodated, plus 22 women and one childB. Cashman , 1988.
Back - New Search corrigendum, meaning `something that should be corrected', is normally used in its plural form co rrigenda.
Back - New Search corrupter, meaning à person or thing that corrupts', is spelt -er, not -or.
Back - New Search corset, in its meaning à closelyfitting undergarment worn by women', should be used in the singular, although Somerset Maugham is not the only writer to have used it in th e plural: She did not put on her corsets again, but rolled them upCakes and Ale, 1931. The derivative forms are spelt corseted and corseting (one t).
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cortge, meaning à funeral procession', is printed in roman type with a grave accent on the e. It is pronounced kaw-tayzh.
Back - New Search cortex, meaning `the outer part of a bodily organ' (as in cerebral cortex, referring to the brain), has the plural form cortices.
Back - New Search 'cos is a reduced form of because, first recorded in 1828 and only used to represent informal speech: `They'll be good if I tell them, Mister.' `Then why aren't they?' `'Cos I tell 'em to be b ad.' Waugh , 1942 / They wouldn't take me 'cos I'd had a touch of TBM. Butterworth , 1974.
Back - New Search cosmonaut see ASTRONAUT.
Back - New Search cosset, meaning `to pamper', has inflected forms cosseted, cosseting.
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cosy, as an adjective meaning `comfortable' and a noun meaning à cover for a teapot', is spel t cosy in BrE and in other varieties except AmE, which prefers cozy. To cosy up to someone is a new phrasal verb, originally AmE, meaning `to ingratiate oneself ( with)', and is informal.
Back - New Search cot. There are two words with this spelling. The word meaning à small bed for a child' i s Anglo-Indian; cot death is a recent formation (1970) for the unexplained death of a baby while asleep (the AmE form is usually crib death). The (mainly litera ry) word meaning à small shelter; a cottage' is Old English, and is used in combina tions such as sheep-cot.
Back - New Search cote, pronounced like coat, is another form of the Old English word cot given in the p receding entry. It is most commonly used in dovecote, meaning à shelter for doves', and also occurs occasionally in other forms such as sheepcote and swine-cote (t hese being hyphened).
Back - New Search couch, meaning àn upholstered piece of furniture' differs from a sofa in having only one r aised end and in being designed for lying on as well as sitting on. It also has special (and often evocative) uses as in psychiatrist's couch, on which the recu mbent patient tells all. It is also a poetic word for a bed, but in ordinary use is essentially different from a bed: I've made a bed up for you on the couch Amis , 1973.
Back - New Search couch, a type of grass, is pronounced kooch.
Back - New Search could modal auxiliary. 1 See CAN. It functions as (1) the past tense of can, as in We could see for mil es, (2) as a conditional equivalent to would be able to, as in I could take you in the car if you like, and (3) as a more tentative form of can in questions see king permission: Could I have another cake?. The negative form is could not. 2 COULD OF. This is an illiterate alteration of could've = could have, and occur s in the writing of children and some adults.
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council, counsel, 1 These are now distinct words and only distantly related. A council is an admin istrative body or meeting, and its members are councillors. Counsel is advice gi ven formally and often professionally; counsel or a counsel is a barrister or ot her legal adviser. A counsellor is someone who gives professional advice, especi ally on personal and social matters; in AmE counselor is also a courtroom lawyer .
2 Note that in Britain a member of the Privy Council, the body of advisers appoi nted by the Queen, is a Privy Counsellor.Top
3 Only counsel can be used as a verb, meaning `to give advice to'; it has inflected forms counselled, counselling.Top
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countable nouns, also called count nouns, are nouns that form plurals, e.g. ship, crisis, fellowt raveller, kindness (= a kind act). They differ from uncountable (or non-count or uncount) nouns, which do not form plurals, e.g. adolescence, heating, richness, warfare; and from mass nouns, which form plurals only in the sense of à type of ' or à quantity of ', e.g. bread, medicine, wine. Some words are countable in one mea ning and uncountable in another, e.g. ice, iron, paper.
Back - New Search counterpart means `the equivalent of a person or thing in another place or system'. It can refer to many aspects of similarity but principally has to do with function and behav iour, and is always preceded by a possessive word: Southern schools are now more integrated than their northern counterpartsTimes, 1
974 / With the same power at his elbow as his Continental counterpart the British car assembly worker produces only half as much output per shiftM. Edwardes , 1983.
Back - New Search counter-productive should be spelt with a hyphen. It is a modern word (first recorded in 1959) whic h has mushroomed in use to describe any action or series of actions having the o pposite of the desired effect: This sort of `reds under the bed' scare could only be counter-productiveTimes, 1972.
Back - New Search count nouns see COUNTABLE NOUNS.
Back - New Search countrified, countrify, meaning `rural' and `to make rural', should be spelt this way, not countryfied, countryf y.
Back - New Search coup, meaning à sudden and successful move', or àn illegal seizure of power' (in full coup d 'tat), is pronounced koo. The plural is coups, pronounced kooz.
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couple. 1 Couple, as in à couple of ', needs to be used and understood with care, as it ret ains its original meaning of `two' alongside its more informal meaning à few'. A couple of girls will usually mean two girls, no more or less, whereas a couple of hour s may mean two hours or three hours or an indeterminate period of time.
2 Couple is a singular noun that can be used with a singular or plural verb. A p lural construction is usual when couple means `two married people or partners' or wh en it is followed by of and a plural noun (see COLLECTIVE NOUN): Palimony, the term for sharing money after an unmarried couple have split upTime, 1980 / A couple of expressions have only come my way in the last month or soGuardian Wee kly, 1981.Top
3 Couple has developed attributive uses in the constructions (1) a couple more ( + plural noun): `How's your work?' `Nearly done. A couple more days.' Gee , 1992 (NZ), and (2) more contr oversially, and principally in AmE, couple (+ plural noun): In the next couple months we got to know each other like real buddies Keillor , 1 989. This last use sounds decidedly alien to British ears, at least for now.Top
Back - New Search coupon should be pronounced koo-pon, not with a quasi-French nasalized second syllable.
Back - New Search course see OF COURSE.
Back - New Search courteous, courtesy are pronounced with initial kert-.
Back - New Search courtesan is pronounced kort-zan, with stress on the last syllable.
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courtier is pronounced with initial kort-.
Back - New Search court martial is spelt as two words as a noun (plural courts martial). As a verb it is spelt w ith a hyphen, and it has inflected forms court-martialled, court-martialling.
Back - New Search covert, meaning `secret, disguised', is pronounced like cover, although the AmE pronunciatio n like over is gaining ground in BrE and elsewhere.
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cowardly. Fowler (1926) criticized the use of cowardly to describe people and their action s in cases where àdvantage has [merely] been taken of superior strength or positi on', and where a word such as cruel or unchivalrous might be more appropriate. The increase of international terrorism in the last few decades has tended to bring the word into more frequent use in exactly the way Fowler described, with refer ence to acts that are reprehensible and brutal, but not cowardly, which implies a lack of courage. But perhaps cowardice in this usage lies in attacking those w ho are defenceless from a position of safety instead of fighting on equal terms, in which case the extension in meaning is justified.
Back - New Search cozy see COSY.
Back - New Search crabbed, meaning ìrritable' or `hard to decipher', is pronounced as two syllables.
Back - New Search craft has been revived as a verb in the language of advertising (a beautifully crafted antique-pine replica) and in literary and other criticism (performances crafted out of a shared language).
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crape, crpe. Crape is used for a band of black silk or ornamental silk worn as a sign of mour ning, and crpe is used for other gauzelike fabrics having a wrinkled surface and in crpe paper.
Back - New Search crash. Since the 1950s, crash has been used attributively (before a noun) to denote som ething such as a course or programme that is done or undertaken urgently or quic kly, e.g. a crash course in Russian or a crash diet. In this use, crash seems to be unaffected by possible associations of collision and violence (or indeed of computer failure), though a crash course in driving skills might come dangerousl y close to suggesting them.
Back - New Search crayfish, a 16c alteration of an earlier word crevis (or crevisse), is the usual word in B ritain for a small lobster-like freshwater crustacean. Americans call them crawf ish, and Australians and New Zealanders tend to abbreviate the word to cray (as in cray-fishing and cray-pot).
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credence, credit, credibility. 1 In general use,credence means `belief, trustful acceptance', and is used mainly in
the expression to give (or lend) credence to, which means `believe, trust': The radicality of these changes had lent credence to the set of beliefs describe d aboveDdalus, 1979.
2 The phrase to give credit to once meant much the same as to give credence to, i.e. `to believe', but in current use it is more likely to be used in the form to gi ve a person credit for (something), meaning to ascribe some good quality to them : You chaps do tend to give the rest of us credit for perceptions about your work that we don't always have Wain , 1953.Top
3 Credibility shares some of the meaning of both credence and credit in that bel ief lies at the heart of its meaning, but it is used rather to mean `the condition of being credible or believable': The empirical basis of theory is fundamental to its reliability and its validity and, in the end, its credibilityP.H. Mann , 1985. This meaning, now largely conf ined to special domains such as religion and philosophy, has been overshadowed b y an extended meaning `reputation, status': It was clear to the [American] President that his credibility was on the line with the leaders in HanoiGuardian. 1970 / By then, however, the fatal damage to the Prime Minister's credibility will have been doneToday, 1992. Such credibility is regularly enhanced, established, gaine d, lost, maintained, and so on. The overlap between the older and the newer meaning can be seen in the following example: A major French archaeological discovery that was declared fraudulent by many pre historians in the 1920's has now regained credibility as a result of dating stud ies conducted at three independent laboratoriesScientific American, 1975.Top
4 Two special uses of credibility that have arisen recently are credibility gap, meaning àn apparent difference between what is said and what is true' (Official American statements are no longer taken on trust . The phenomenon is ca lled the `credibility gap'Guardian, 1966) and, in BrE, street credibility (often redu ced informally to street cred), meaning àcceptability among fashionable young urb an people' (Springsteens street credibility is the core of his effectiveness. His striking working-class imagery is within everyone's experienceWashington Post, 1980).Top
Back - New Search credible, creditable, credulous.
Credible means àble to be believed', with reference to people or statements: I stand on the balcony, apparently musing on this very credible story, but reall y wondering how soon we can step back insideR. James , 1989 / Was it credible that Elise should have a car accident that involved no other veh icle, no jay-walking pedestrian, no treacherous roads?K. Kingston , 1993. It also has an extended meaning `convincing, having substance', comparable to that of credi bility: The Secretary of State repeated several times that we need such a scale of weapo nry to provide what he calls a credible deterrentHansard, 1992. Creditable means `b ringing credit; deserving praise': The company produced a creditable performance, particularly when compared with t he results of many of its competitorsDaily Telegraph, 1992. Credulous means `too re ady to believe, gullible': It could be argued that the very incomprehensibility of the modern world has mad e us even more credulousJ. Empson , 1989.
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creole. A creole is a language formed from the contact of a European language (especiall y English, French, or Portuguese) with another (especially African) language. Un like a PIDGIN, which is an improvised language used mainly by traders who do not have a language in common, a creole is more developed and can be a mother tongu e. The term creole is applied to a wide range of languages, including the origin al languages spoken by black slaves in the US; English-based creoles such as Kri o (in Siera Leone), Guyanese, and Gullah; Frenchbased creoles in Haiti and the I vory Coast, and Portuguese-based creoles in Brazil and Cape Verde.
Back - New Search crpe see CRAPE.
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crescendo,
1 A crescendo, which in Italian means `growing' (from Latin crescere `to grow'), is orig inally a term in music for a gradual increases in loudness or force, or a passag e played in this way. From this it developed an extended meaning referring to ot her cumulative increases in force or effect: His second-in-command at the Embassy was unrattled by the crescendo of disaster to the allied causeJ. Colville , 1976. In the 1920s, and apparently first in AmE, it developed further to mean the result rather than the process of increasing, and has been widely used as a synonym for peak or climax, notably in phrases suc h as reach (or rise to) a crescendo: It was in relation to the annual increment arrangements of the civil service pay system that your attack reached its crescendo of unfairnessEconomist, 1975. The newer use lies in disputed territory, and is likely to prevail as the more commo nly required meaning, despite the availability of alternatives such as apogee, c limax, culmination, peak, pinnacle, and summit.
2 The plural is crescendos. Crescendo is occasionally used as a verb meaning `to i ncrease in loudness or intensity', and has inflected forms crescendoes, crescendoe d, crescendoing.Top
Back - New Search cretin, now pronounced kret-in, was originally used to mean (in current terminology) à pe rson who is deformed and mentally retarded as the result of a thyroid deficiency' and is etymologically related to the word Christian. Its dominant meaning in gen eral use now (first recorded in the 1930s) is à fool, one who behaves stupidly'. Th is use is widely regarded as offensive.
Back - New Search crevasse, crevice are both derived from a Latin root crepare meaning `to break with a crash'. A crevas se is a deep open crack or fissure in a glacier; in AmE it is also used to mean a breach in a river embankment. A crevice is a narrow cleft or opening, usually one in the surface of anything solid such as rock or a building.
Back - New Search crick, rick. Both words are commonly used of strains or sprains of the neck, back, joints, et c. Crick appeared earlier (15c as a noun, though not until 19c as a verb); rick is apparently of dialect origin and is first recorded as a verb in about 1800 an d as a noun in the mid-19c. A variant form wrick has now fallen out of use.
Back - New Search cringe, meaning `to shrink back in fear', has inflected forms cringed, cringing.
Back - New Search cripple, meaning à person who is permanently lame' is now regarded as offensive. Use disable d person instead.
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crisis. 1 The word is derived via Latin from a Greek root meaning `turning point', and shoul d strictly refer to a moment rather than a continuing process, so that uses such as a prolonged crisis are arguably self-contradictory. However, a word as usefu l as crisis will not allow itself to be strait-jacketed in this way, and many ex amples of the disputed use will be found: The continuing and ever occurring crisis in the inner-cities, where large number s of people are trapped in a cycle of povertyBlack Panther, 1973 / Pakistan, despite its gas resources, has an ongoing energy crisisD. Hedley , 1986 . Some element of change should be present in the meaning (The death of his father triggers off a crisis for him too, producing a temporar y breakdown, dismissal from his job, separation from his wife, the lotTimes, 1970 ); and the word should not be used as an enfeebled synonym of words such as diff iculty, dilemma, problem, and quandary (Scott Lithgow were desperate for staff throughout the crisisEconomist, 1975 / The crisis at strike-torn Leyland deepenedBelfast Telegraph, 1977 / To make matters worse a crisis in the Council came to a headW. Green , 1988).
2 Crisis is often used with a defining word, either an adjective or an attributi ve noun as in economic crisis, energy crisis, food crisis, identity crisis, refu gee crisis, etc. It has also come to be used with the redundant addition of situ ation, a use that should be avoided: Unless catchment areas are re-drawn Lord Williams's school will go through a cri
sis situation for at least five yearsOxford Times, 1978.Top
3 The plural crises is often found in uses that are contrary to expectation on a strict evaluation of the word's meaning: Three simultaneous crises that seemed worrisomely different from those of the pa stNewsweek, 1973.Top
Back - New Search criterion, meaning à principle or standard by which something is judged', has a plural criteri a. This plural form is often taken to be singular, a use that is not standard: Any call coming in could be answered , that's all the criteria isconversation reco rded in British National Corpus. The following examples illustrate correct uses of the singular and plural: The Ottoman Empire was a multinational state, the criterion of differentiation a mong its subjects was religion and not nationalityA. Mango , 1971 / Some possible criteria for this area of work are listed belowJ. Thorpe , 1989. In order to render criteria effectively singular, a collective such as set can be used: However, we may wish to use a different set of criteriaA. Lawton , 1991.
Back - New Search criticism in everyday use means `finding fault', although strictly criticism can be favourable as well as unfavourable. The sense is more neutral in terms such as literary cr iticism and textual criticism.
Back - New Search critique is pronounced with stress on the second syllable, and means à critical essay or a nalysis'. Fowler (1926) said of the noun that `there is some hope of it dying out', an d offered the alternatives review, criticism, and notice. Nonetheless, critique remains in use, albeit in contexts that justify Fowler's implied accusation of p retentiousness: This melange of stroboscopic graphics, jingles and one-liner critiquesArt Line, 1 989.
Back - New Search crochet, meaning a type of handicraft, is pronounced kroh-shay as a noun and a verb. The verb has inflected forms crocheted, crocheting, with the t remaining silent in b oth.
Back - New Search crocus, the flower, has plural forms crocuses (several flowers) and crocus (used collect ively). Croci is limited to technical contexts.
Back - New Search crow verb, meaning `to make the sound of a cock' and `to boast', has past forms crowed (more usual) and crew (only in the first meaning, often in allusion to the cock in the New T estament account of Christ's betrayal). The past participle is always crowed.
Back - New Search crown. When the Crown is used to mean `the office of the monarch', it should be treated as grammatically neuter and not as the gender of the king or queen: The Crown can o nly act on the advice of its [not her or his] Ministers.
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crucial. 1 Crucial means `decisive, critical', and is often used as a more effective and more expressive alternative for important or significant: There are four crucial stages in cheesemakingJ.G. Davis , 1976 / I understand that you must edit letters, but the crucial point on avoiding sexis t language was omittedToday's Horse, 1991.
2 The same thing has happened to the adverb crucially, which is sometimes used a
s a synonym of ìmportantly', and even of `very' or èxtremely': At this juncture, two crucially fundamental questions now emergeGuardian, 1989 / Crucially, he promised to undertake an immediate and fundamental review of the t axParliamentary Affairs, 1991.Top
Back - New Search cruel has the forms crueller, cruellest in BrE and crueler, cruelest in AmE.
Back - New Search crumby, crummy. When the reference is to actual crumbs, as in a crumby loaf or a crumby tableclo th, use crumby. When the meaning is `dirty, squalid; inferior, worthless', use crumm y.
Back - New Search -ction see -XION.
Back - New Search cubic, cubical. Cubical means only `shaped like a cube', whereas cubic has other meanings as well, a s in cubic equation, cubic measure, cubic metre, etc., and also the meaning `cubeshaped' in technical applications such as cubic alum.
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cui bono? This Latin phrase literally means `to whom (is it) a benefit?', i.e. in English `who s tands to gain (from an act or circumstance)?', with the implication that this pers on is responsible for it. As Fowler (1926) pointed out, it does not mean `to what purpose?' or `what is the good?'.
Back - New Search cul-de-sac is pronounced kul-d-sak and should be printed in roman type.
Back - New Search cullender see COLANDER.
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cult. 1 In the meaning à particular form or system of religious worship', especially with reference to ritual and ceremony, cult dates from the 17c. In the 19c, archaeol ogists applied the term to primitive practices which they did not think worthy o f the name religion; hence cult acquired unfavourable connotations and is object ed to by many whose activities are now described by it.
2 Cult has also developed extended meanings: (1) à devotion or homage to a person or thing', as in the cult of beauty and the Wordsworth cult. (2) in the 20c, à popular fashion followed by a specific section of society':
The eastern cult for junk food may be having a remarkable effect on the health a nd appearance of japan's youngstersTimes, 1986. In a further extension, cult is c ommonly used attributively (before a noun) to denote something that has a specia l following, as in cult drama, cult film, cult object, etc.Top
Back - New Search cultivable, cultivatable are both used in the meaning `capable of being cultivated'; the first is more comfor table and was preferred Fowler (1926).
Back - New Search cultivated, cultured are both used to mean `having refined tastes and manners and a good education', but they part company in other meanings. Cultivated distinguishes a crop raised in a garden from one growing wild; and cultured is used of pearls (also called cultu re pearls) formed under controlled conditions.
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culture. 1 Here is a word that has had mixed fortunes in the 20c, and means all things to all men. There are about 10,000 examples of it (including the plural form and c ompounds such as culture-bound) in the 100-millionword British National Corpus ( language database) in diverse meanings generally related to the OED's definition `the civilization, customs, artistic achievements, etc., of a people, especially at a certain stage of its development or history'. In many of these examples cultu re is used generically and not in relation to any particular people or time: For him spiritual and political ideas were becoming more and more inseparable in his concern with `culture' as a wholeR. Crawford , 1990. In others it has very speci fic reference, and is often preceded by a defining adjective or noun: Unofficial sources report that the two organisations aimed to research and devel op Mongol cultureAmnesty, 1992.
2 The word has also developed more limited reference within a broader `culture', as in drugs culture, pop culture, youth culture, etc.: The miners' strike revealed the range of new movements and organisations which h ave been arenas for the development of working-class culture and working-class c onsciousnessT. Lovett , 1988 / It was, nonetheless, a film that tried to solicit an understanding of the emergi ng drug cultureJ. Parker , 1991 / Pop music and its link with youth culture should be an important field of study in media educationAction, 1991.Top
3 After 1914 culture came into contact with the German word Kultur, and from it assumed, in British eyes, connotations of arrogance and supposed ethnic superior ity; and it was mocked by some who tended to distort the spelling (culchah, etc. ) to indicate that the acquisition of cultured ways implied an absurd degree of affectation or vulgarity. In the 20c, significant combinations of the word have
been culture shock, meaning `the feeling of disorientation experienced by a person suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture or way of life', culturespecific, mea ning `peculiar to a particular cultural environment', and culture vulture, meaning à person eager to acquire culture'. In 1956, the novelist and essayist C. P. Snow la unched a topic of discussion that is likely to last indefinitely by coining the resonant phrase the two cultures to denote the arts and sciences as being someho w alien to one another. For so seemingly calm a word, the currents and conflicts it produces are paradoxical.Top
Back - New Search cum. This Latin preposition meaning `with', apart from its use in Latin loan-phrases such as cum grano salis (`with a grain of salt'), has been used for several centuries in place-names such as Horton-cum-Studley. Its principal use since the 19c has bee n as a combining word used to indicate a dual nature or function, as in kitchencum-dining-room (usually with hyphens). The productive nature of this use can be seen in numerous examples, e.g.: ` Do you work there?' `Yes, as a sort of administrator cum priest.'J. Higgins , 1985.
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cumulative, accumulative are both used in the meaning `formed or increasing by successive additions', althoug h cumulative is now more usual (as in cumulative arguments, effect, evidence, fo rce, etc.). Accumulative is however still found, and by virtue of its form has s tronger associations with the process of accumulating: Explanations of whatever kind are not universal answers, merely part of a progre ssive and accumulative act of learning and knowingG. Watson , 1991.
Back - New Search cuneiform, meaning àncient wedge-shaped writing', is now normally pronounced as three syllable s in BrE, i.e. kyoo-ni-fawm, and as four in AmE, i.e. kyoo-nay-i-fawm.
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cupful. In the plural, care should be taken to distinguish cupfuls from cups full. A cup ful is a measure, and so three cupfuls is a quantity regarded in terms of a cup; three cups full denotes the actual cups, as in three cups full of water.
Back - New Search cupola, meaning à rounded dome on a roof', is pronounced kyoo-p-l+. The plural is cupolas.
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curb, kerb. In BrE, curb is a noun meaning à check or restraint' and a verb meaning `to restrain'. As a noun it also means à strap fastened to a bit on a horse', and à fender round a hearth'. In AmE, curb has these meanings and is also à stone edging to a pavement ( sidewalk)', which in BrE is spelt kerb.
Back - New Search curio is a 19c familiar abbreviation of curiosity, and means à rare or unusual object o r person'. The plural is curios.
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curriculum, meaning à course of study', has a plural curricula. A curriculum vitae (abbreviated to CV or c.v.) is a brief account of a person's education and professional expe rience. The plural is curricula vitae (curricula vitarum is pedantic), although CVs gets round this awkwardness.
Back - New Search curtsy, meaning a woman's or girl's formal greeting, is spelt curtsy not curtsey. Its pl ural is curtsies, and as a verb it has inflected forms curtsies, curtsied, curts ying.
Back - New Search cute started out in the 18c as a shortened form of acute in the meaning `quick-witted, clever'; for a while it was often written with an apostrophe, and will be found th at way in Dickens. This meaning has died out in BrE but is still a feature of Am E. In AmE, beginning in the 1830s, a new informal meaning emerged, àttractive, ch arming, pretty (often in a mannered or amusing way)'. It is now very common in AmE as a general term of approbation rather analogous to nice, and can refer to act ivities and practically anything else as well as people and things: Yes, Lisa runs a little gym in the West Palm. We all go there to work out. Isn't that cute?P. Booth , 1986. In BrE, this use is much more self-conscious, and is generally limited to babies and other small things with quaintly attractive char acteristics.
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cybernetics. 1 The term was introduced in 1948 by Norbert Wiener , meaning `the theory or of communication and control in living organisms or machines'. The word was ed from the Greek word kubernetes `steersman'. It spread rapidly to refer to ms treated as if they were machines, to observed similarities between neural ivity and the electronic devices of modern communications, and so on. study deriv organis act
2 A by-product of the word is the use of the first element cyber- in a wide rang e of computer terms: a cybercaf is a caf equipped with terminals to access the Int ernet, cyberphobia is an abnormal fear of computers, cyberpunk is a style of sci ence fiction, and cyberspace is the environment of virtual reality, a hallucinat ory illusion of being elsewhere as created by special equipment controlled by a computer program.Top
Back - New Search Cyclops,
a mythological one-eyed giant, is pronounced siy-klops, and its plural is Cyclop es, pronounced siy-kloh-peez.
Back - New Search Cymric, meaning Welsh, is pronounced kim-rik.
Back - New Search cynic, cynical. Cynical egrity' as in a to the is the adjective form used in the meaning `doubting human sincerity or int and has developed a further meaning `disregarding normal rules or standards', cynical foul, a cynical tackle, etc. Cynic is used with direct reference Greek philosophers who bore this name.
Back - New Search cynosure, meaning à centre of attraction or admiration', is pronounced sin--syoo or siyn-syoo . Its earlier meaning `guiding star' related to its use as the name of a constellati on, and the current meaning is immortalized by Milton's phrase The Cynosure of n eighbouring Eyes in `L'Allegro' (1632).
Back - New Search cypher see CIPHER.
Back - New Search czar see TSAR.
Back - New Search Czech is now the settled (Polish) form of the adjective relating to Czechoslovakia (no w two States, the Czech Republic and Slovakia).
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* * *
dado meaning the lower part of the wall of a room, or the plinth of a column, has a p lural dados.
Back - New Search dais meaning à low platform', is pronounced as two syllables, day-is.
Back - New Search dampen was once regarded as an Americanism, but is now established as a variant of damp (verb) in BrE, especially in figurative uses: Everyone ignored the snow that had failed to dampen the impact of John F. Kenned y's brilliant oratory Archer , 1979 / In that way, she argued, speculation about the marriage would be dampened rather than intensifiedToday, 1992 / (literal) Most weights of watercolour paper are dampened and stretched before pa intingThe Artist, 1993.
Back - New Search dangling participles see PARTICIPLES (3).
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dare verb. 1 Dare is an example of a so-called semi-modal auxiliary verb, because, like the modal verbs can, may, should, etc., it is used in certain special ways, but unl ike these fully modal verbs it can also behave like an ordinary verb. Its specia l characteristics are (1) use with a so-called `bare' infinitive without to (I'm not sure that I dare answer), (2) use in the negative and in questions without do ( I dare not answer / Dare I answer?), although in practice interrogative forms ar e normally confined to how dare you, he, they, etc., as discussed in 6 below, (3 ) a third person singular form dare without addition of s (He says he dare not a nswer). Note that in all these uses dare is an auxiliary verb followed by an inf initive without to.
2 Dare is also used as an ordinary verb, with or without a following to-infiniti ve, forming negatives and questions with do, and having a third person singular form dares: They would not dare to come / Do you dare to contradict me? / I don' t dare to answer / He dares to answer / Tell me if you dare. In practice, not al l these options are used, and some constructions sound more natural than others. For example, I don't dare to answer is perfectly grammatical, but I dare not an swer is more idiomatic, at least in everyday English. In the present tense, dare behaves as a modal verb much more often than as an ordinary verb.Top
3 As a modal verb, dare is sometimes used in the past without inflection. Though formerly condemned (by the OED among others) as `careless', the practice is common in writing as well as speech: `Yes, yes,' she stuttered, then `thank you', as an afterthought. She dare not look at hi s faceM. Duckworth , 1960.Top
4 It is also noticeable that dare occurs more frequently in negative constructio ns and in questions, or preceded by if. As we have seen, the negative form can b e dare not or do (etc.) not dare; and dare not is contracted to daren't in infor mal use (I daren't answer). The past dared not is rarely if ever contracted to d aredn't.Top
5 Further examples follow of dare used as a modal verb and as an auxiliary verb: (modal) He hates only because he dare not loveJ.M. Coetzee , 1977 / I dare not speak these dreams to any person Keillor , 1986 / No one dared defy the group by going out at the last moment McEwan , 1986 / (ordinary) Marcus wouldn't dare to tell a lie like that unless it was trueR. Hill , 1970 / I did not dare to look downB. Rubens , 1985 /
How do they dare to be different?New Yorker, 1987 (This construction is needed to avoid the special meaning of how dare they?)/ She no longer dared to go into these shadowy apartments Brookner , 1988.Top
6 There are two other special uses of dare: (1) in the phrases how dare you (etc .)? and don't (you) dare, both normally followed by a bare infinitive (How dare he dismiss Duke Ellington as a mere `tunesmith'!Gramophone, 1976 / How dare you come in without knocking?R. Dahl , 1984 / Now you sit down there and don't you dare even look at anybody till I get back Am is , 1988), and (2) in the phrase I dare say (or I daresay, as one word), meanin g ìt is probable', normally followed by a that-clause (often with omission of that) (I daresay I'll come back to it, in the fullness of time Lively , 1987).Top
7 Finally, there is the use of dare with an object, meaning `to challenge or defy someone (to do something)', followed by a to-infinitive: He looked round the table as if daring anyone to smile Lodge , 1988.Top
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dash. 1 There are, in formal printing at least, two types of dash: the en-rule () and t he em-rule (). An en-rule is twice the length of a hyphen, and an em-rule is twic e the length of an en-rule. Most word-processing programs are able to distinguis h the two lengths of rule, but in ordinary writing no distinction is usually mad e (and many people are not even aware of one).
2 The shorter en-rule has two principal uses: (1) to separate a range of dates, as in pages 346 and the 193945 war, and (2) to join the names of joint authors and suchlike, as in the TempleHardcastle p roject and LloydJones, 1939 (as a citation; Lloyd-Jones, with a hyphen, would be a single double-barrelled name).
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3 The longer em-rule is the more familiar in everyday use, and corresponds to wh at most people understand by the term dash. Its principal uses are: (1) a single dash used to introduce an explanation or expansion of what comes before it (It is a kind of irony of history that I should write about the French Revolutio n in the very country where it has had the least impactI mean England, of courseEn counter, 1990), and (2) a pair of dashes used to indicate asides and parentheses , forming a more distinct break than commas would (Helen has only seen her father once in her adult life anduntil her flight from G rassdaleher brother is a virtual stranger to herJ. Sutherland , 1996). The use of a dash to stand for a coarse word (e.g. f) in reported speech is much less common than it used to be, because public acceptance of these words spelt out is that much greater.Top
Back - New Search dastardly like COWARDLY, is often used in a manner described by Fowler (1926) as inappropr iate because it describes actions that, however reprehensible and brutal they ma y be, at least require boldness and courage. Acts of terrorism, however despicab le, should not be described as dastardly.
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data. 1 Fowler , writing before the computer age, declared uncompromisingly that `data i s plural only', and pointed to the singular datum, which he conceded even then to be comparatively rare. For much of the time, data is used in contexts in which a conscious choice between singular and plural is not necessary: Written sources provide systematic periodic data that can show trends and provid e other relevant factsJ. Waters , 1989. In some technical contexts (such as sense -data in philosophy), in which the information is regarded as several items, the plural is still usual; but in general use there is a marked tendency towards th e singular after about 1970, under the influence of computing (see below), and m ost examples of the plural have to be sought from an earlier date: It is no wonder if some authors have gone so far as to think that the sense-data have no spatial worth at all James , 1890 / Most of the data concerning shock and vibration on airplanes are classified Macdu ff and Curreri , 1958 / The data come from fairly high doses of radiationScientific American, 1972.
2 After about 1970, the primary meaning of data passed to the domain of computin g, in which the information concerned is normally regarded as a unit, so that da ta is treated as singular and used with words such as its, this, and much, rathe r than their, these, and many (which now sound pedantic and even precious in thi s connection). This tendency is having a major impact on more general use. If th e sentence in the quotations of 1958 and 1972 above were written today, the verb s would almost certainly be is rather than are and comes rather than come. Examp les of singular use: They have done little to analyse and interpret this dataComputer Weekly, 1971 / Data is stored on a diskas minute patches of magnetismP. Laurie , 1985 / Everything that is happening to Mount St Helens is a `classroom' experience for geol ogists and scientists scrambling to gather as much data as they canNew Scientist, 1980 / This data is open to a variety of interpretationsT. Harris , 1993. The plural, ho wever, also continues to be used to emphasize the plural implications of the wor d data: The dataare mapped so that each class has, as far as possible, an equal number of countriesP.M. Mather , 1991.Top
Back - New Search datable is spelt this way, not dateable. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
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dates. The recommended style for BrE is 5 June 2001, with no comma between the month an d year. However, many newspapers, as well as American practice generally, prefer the style June 5 2001 or June 5, 2001. In numerical notation, there is an impor tant difference of practice on the two sides of the Atlantic: 5/6/01 means 5 Jun e 2001 in Britain and 6 May 2001 in North America.
Back - New Search daughter-in-law
means one's son's wife. The plural is daughters-in-law.
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day, month, week, year are singular in expressions such as a three-day week and a two-month term.
Back - New Search day and age. The phrase in this day and age is a clich. It slid into the language in the 1940s , although a film called This Day and Age, released in 1933, is not certainly th e source. It should be avoided in favour of more straightforward terms such as n owadays or at the present time.
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deis a highly active suffix in current English, forming verbs and their derivative s. Notable 20c examples (with date of first record indicated) include: debrief ( 1942), decaffeinate (1927), decertify (1918), decommunize (1980), de-emphasize ( 1938), de-escalate (1964), denet (1962), deregulate (1964, with deregulation 196 3). Note that a hyphen is usual when the second element begins with an e; in oth er cases it is optional.
Back - New Search dead letter in general use, is properly a rule or regulation that is no longer observed; for example, capital punishment is a dead letter when it remains on the statute boo k although it is not used. The term should not be applied to aspects of life tha t have simply passed out of fashion, such as steam engines and cinema organs.
Back - New Search deaf mute
is now regarded as derogatory because it implies an incapacity to communicate. I t is safer to use neutral terms such as profoundly deaf.
Back - New Search deal noun. The phrase a deal, used for a good deal or a great deal, is now mainly confined to informal or dialectal use (The decision saved him a deal of trouble). A great deal and a good deal should not be used to mean à large number' of countable thing s (A great deal of people have complained); in these cases use a great many.
Back - New Search Dear as part of a formal greeting at the beginning of a letter, was introduced in the 15c in various formulas. Dear Sir and Dear Madam have become the most formal ty pes, with Dear Mr Jones and Dear Mrs/Miss/Ms Jones serving as more socially neut ral alternatives. Increasingly people are using the full name as in Dear John Sm ith or Dear Jane Smith, or (especially in circular letters) a descriptive name a s in Dear Customer or Dear Colleague, in order to avoid the need for a title, wh ich is a welcome tendency.
Back - New Search dear, dearly. You love someone dearly (i.e. very much), whereas you buy or sell something, or something costs you, dear or dearly.
Back - New Search dearth rapidly extended its meaning from its 13c restriction to food, to refer to a sca rcity of anything: Unable to find what she needed in `romantic' novels, Letty had turned to biographies , of which there was no dearth Pym , 1977.
Back - New Search dbcle pronounced day-bah-kl, should properly be spelt with accents in place, although it is often written and printed without them.
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debar, disbar. Debar means `to exclude from admission or a right', as in They were debarred from en tering, whereas disbar has the more specific meaning `to deprive (a barrister) fro m the right to practise'. Both words double the r in inflection.
Back - New Search debatable is spelt this way, not debateable. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search debouch is pronounced di-bowch to rhyme with pouch.
Back - New Search debris is usually spelt without an accent, and is pronounced deb-ri, although d-bree is normal in AmE.
Back - New Search debut is usually spelt without an accent, and is pronounced day-byoo.
Back - New Search debutant, debutante are pronounced deb- or dayb-, and are normally spelt without accents. A debutant is a male performer, and a debutante a female performer, appearing in public fo r the first time. The other meaning of debutante, a young woman making her socia l debut, is passing into history.
Back - New Search deca-, deci-. In the metric system, deca- means multiplied by 10, so that a decalitre is 10 li tres, and deci- means divided by 10, so that a decilitre is a tenth of a litre o r 100 ml.
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decade. The preferred pronunciation is dek-ayd, although di-kayd, sounding like decayed, is increasingly heard.
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deceptively. 1 His voice was deceptively innocent, and she was led right into the trapE. Rees , 1992. Was his voice innocent or not? The answer seems to be that the appearance was of innocence whereas the reality was of something more sinister, and decepti vely is therefore being used in the same way as apparently or misleadingly. This balance of meanings is more obvious when deceptively is used with words such as appear, seem, etc.: Bill, who rarely played more than five minutes in any game because of a heart co ndition, was one of that rare breed who made the art of football look deceptivel y simpleM. Gist , 1993.
2 But deceptively does not readily accompany an adjective that denotes something unfavourable or unwelcome, in the way that the more neutral word apparently doe s. When the appearance is unfavourable and the reality is favourable deceptively still seems to accompany the favourable adjective, as in the following example which is an echo of familiar estate agents' jargon: Manoeuvring down the narrow steps into the boat, and turning into the airy and d eceptively spacious lounge, Birbeck was greeted by Branson and Al ClarkM. Brown , 1989. In this case, the lounge is claimed to be spacious (favourable) but appea rs not to be (unfavourable, i.e. the reverse of the balance found in the earlier examples), but it is understandable that no one in these circumstances would wa nt to say that the room is (for example) deceptively cramped. Here, the analogy
is with surprisingly (which strengthens the meaning of the adjective) rather tha n with apparently (which reduces it). This second type of use is idiomatic rathe r than suspect, but for those who prefer a stronger element of logic in their la nguage an alternative word such as surprisingly or unexpectedly might be prefera ble.Top
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decided, decisive. 1 Both words have to do with decision and decision-making, and their meanings ov erlap; but there are clear differences. When used of people, decided means `having clear opinions' and decisive means àble to decide quickly'; when used of circumstanc es, decided means `definite, unquestionable' and decisive means `deciding an issue, co nclusive'. There are contexts in which both words can be used, but the implication s are different: a decided victory is one that is overwhelming, whereas a decisi ve victory is one that (whether overwhelming or not) has a definite effect on th e course of a war. A manager is decided when he or she has a definite opinion on a subject, and is decisive when he or she makes decisions promptly and effectiv ely.
2 The corresponding adverbs are decidedly (= unquestionably, undeniably) and dec isively (= with conclusive effect).Top
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decimate has changed its meaning because the old one is no longer needed. Historically, d ecimate means `to kill one person in ten', and had its origin in military punishment s. As the need for this meaning diminished, a new one emerged, the now familiar one `to kill or destroy a large number or proportion of (people or things)': In killing MOSS, they'd used sufficient ammunition to decimate a small armyR. Per ry , 1979 / The forest has largely gone, decimated by a forest industry that is just now ass aulting the final remainsDdalus, 1988 / The populations of dolphins and porpoises in the Black Sea have been decimatedM.
Donoghue , 1990.
Back - New Search decor is usually spelt without an accent, and is pronounced dek-aw.
Back - New Search decoy has an unstable stress pattern as both a noun and a verb, with both syllables va riously stressed.
Back - New Search decrease is pronounced with stress on the first syllable as a noun and on the second syll able as a verb.
Back - New Search decry, descry are related in origin but now have widely different meanings. To decry something is to belittle or disparage it (She also decries the double standard that dictates what men can do, women can'tN ew Musical Express, 1992); to descry something is a somewhat literary word meani ng to catch sight of it in the distance (Her thoughts were brought to an abrupt end, as she descried two figures on thei r way up the pathJ. Ashe , 1993).
Back - New Search deducible, deductible. Deducible means àble to be deduced or inferred'; deductible means `that may be deduct ed from or taken off a total'. See -ABLE, -IBLE
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deduction, induction. Deduction is the inferring of particular instances from known or observed eviden ce; induction is the inferring of a general rule from particular instances.
Back - New Search deem is a fairly formal word, often used in legal contexts, for `judge, consider', and is followed either by a complement without as or by a to-infinitive: He was a senior policeman, and as such deemed to be unflappableB. Mather , 1973 / In Ireland what a man said was deemed more important than what he didTimes Litera ry Supplement, 1980.
Back - New Search deep, deeply. Deep is used as an adverb both literally (With the horses provided you could trek deep into the forestDrive, 1972) and fig uratively (He was soon deep in studies ofthe biology of unicellular organismsMicroscopy, 197 3 / Johnny was standing with his back to the window, his hands thrust deep into his pocketsE. Nash , 1993). Deeply is normally used only as an intensifying adverb in combinations such as deeply aware, deeply satisfying, etc., and when the meanin g is `profoundly, thoroughly': It is the deeply moving, contemporary story of a young man who wouldn't surrende r to the SystemOttawa Journal, 1973 / Powell himself was said to be deeply bothered by thatNew Yorker, 1977 / They had kissed and caressed, but it was deeply frustratingD.M. Thomas , 1990.
Back - New Search defect should be pronounced with stress on the first syllable as a noun (= fault, imper fection) and on the second syllable as a verb (= to go over to an enemy or rival ).
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defective, deficient. Defective means `having a defect (= fault)', whereas deficient means `having a deficie ncy (or lack)'. So eyesight, components, goods, logic, mechanisms, etc., can all b e defective if they are not working properly; and courage, diet, funds, protein, the water supply, etc., can all be deficient if there is not enough of them. Ne ither word is used any longer in professional contexts relating to mental abnorm ality.
Back - New Search defence is the spelling in BrE, defense in AmE.
Back - New Search defer has the forms deferred, deferring; deference (= respect, with stress on the firs t syllable); deferral and deferment (postponement, both with stress on the secon d syllable).
Back - New Search deficient see DEFECTIVE.
Back - New Search definite article see THE.
Back - New Search definite, definitely have useful roles as emphasizing words, and should not be dismissed too readily as superfluous: His expression was bland, unreadable, but there was a definite glint in his eye that made her pulse begin to raceE. Richmond , 1991 /
And pickled onions had definitely been a bad ideaS. Shepherd , 1988. Since the 19 30s, definitely has come into widespread use informally as a strong affirmative reply meaning `certainly, indeed': ` Would they recommend that the experiment is repeated another year?' Òh, definitely.'Su nday Times, 1959. See also ABSOLUTELY.
Back - New Search definite, definitive both refer to things that are said or written. Definite means `clear and distinct', whereas definitive means `decisive, unconditional, final' and normally refers to an answer, verdict, treaty, etc. A definitive text, book, etc., is a printed work t hat is regarded as the best authority on its subject and likely to remain so. On ly definitive has connotations of authority and conclusiveness: a definite no is a firm refusal, whereas a definitive no is an authoritative judgement that some thing is not the case.
Back - New Search deflection is now the normal form in BrE and AmE, not deflexion.
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defuse, diffuse. It is surprising how often diffuse (correctly = to disperse) is used for defuse in its figurative meaning `to remove tension or potential danger from (a crisis, e tc.)'. Examples of this wrong use are: An early cut in base rates, which would diffuse the dispute between the Chancello r and the Prime MinisterTimes, 1988 / The Scott report is a time-bomb stealthy politicians and officials are trying to diffuseGuardian, 1995. Since this mistake occurs most often in newspapers, we mi ght suspect that close writing deadlines are the culprit here.
Back - New Search degree. In Sheridan's The Rivals (1775), we find Assuredly, sir, your father is wrath to a degree. This means `your father is very cross'; the use survives in more florid m
odern English and was accepted by Fowler (1926) `however illogical it seems'. But am biguity now arises because to a degree also means `to some extent' as well as `to a gr eat extent' and the context does not always determine which is meant: W. J. Bryan was to a degree exceptional even in the USAP. Wiles , 1969. Confusion is avoided by qualifying the word degree in some way, as in to a large degree / to a certain degree / to some degree / to an amazing degree etc. A frequent (ch iefly informal) phrase now is to the nth degree (a loan from mathematics).
Back - New Search deify, deity are now frequently pronounced day- as well as the traditional dee-, causing rais ed eyebrows in more conservative circles. The Deity (= God), is spelt with a cap ital initial.
Back - New Search dj vu meaning in French àlready seen' and hence àn illusory feeling of having experienced a situation before', is recorded first (1903) in the language of psychology and sp read rapidly and widely in general use. The parallel phrases relating to other s enses, dj entendu (= heard, 1965) and dj lu (= read, 1960) still sound somewhat affe cted.
Back - New Search deliberative now means only (1) àppointed for the purpose of deliberation or debate', (The political bureau was now to consist of 400 members and would be a deliberat ive rather than an executive body Keesings , 1990), and (2) ùsing deliberation' (Some problem-solving will take the form of a deliberative weighing of consequen cesM. Leahy , 1991).
Back - New Search delimit see LIMIT.
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delusion, illusion overlap in meaning because both are to do with things wrongly believed or though t for various reasons. There is, however, a distinguishing principle: a delusion is a wrong belief regarded from the point of view of the person holding it (and has special uses in psychiatry, as in delusions of grandeur), whereas an illusi on is a wrong belief or impression regarded externally. Delusion, unlike illusio n, has a corresponding verb, delude, and the action of this verb is sometimes im plicit in the choice between delusion and illusion. The following examples will help to clarify these points: (delusion) He suffered from the delusion that everything smelled of cats Koestler , 1947 / That was the way delusions started, thinking there was anti-Jewish feeling when there wasn'tP.H. Newby , 1968 / Amorous delusions concerning a lecherously attentive neighbour and her kindly but pre-occupied husbandDaily Telegraph, 1970 / (illusion) In the world as we know itfreedom is largely an illusionJ.M. Roberts , 1975 / The illusion must be maintained that this was a purely Polish debate with no int rusion being made by the Soviet UnionJ.A. Mitchener , 1983 / Alfred Crowther loved his first-born child, but he had no illusions about himB.T. Bradford , 1986.
Back - New Search de luxe is written as two words in BrE and pronounced dluks or (less often), dlooks. In AmE it tends to be written as one word, and variously pronounced.
Back - New Search demand. You demand something from or (less commonly) of someone (She demanded ten pounds from him), and you make a demand on someone for something (There were constant demands on her for her comments).
Back - New Search demiis a less productive prefix than it used to be, being overshadowed by semi- and half- (and occasionally hemi- for words of Greek origin). It survives in a numbe r of English words, some of them loanwords from French, e.g. demigod, demi-monde , demi-pension, demisemiquaver, demitasse. Demijohn (a size of bottle) is probab ly a corruption of French damejeanne (= Lady Jane).
Back - New Search demo is an informal shortening of demonstration in two meanings, (1) à public march or gathering in support of some cause', and (2) à practical explanation of something, e.g. a machine works'. In its common computing application, demo is often used at tributively (before a noun) to mean `demonstrating the capabilities of', as in demo software / demo tape.
Back - New Search demur meaning `to raise scruples or objections' has inflected forms demurred, demurring. I t is normally used in negative contexts and without a complement (When we asked them they did not demur), although it is occasionally followed by at or to (They did not demur at my suggestion).
Back - New Search denote see CONNOTE.
Back - New Search denouement meaning `the final unravelling of a plot in a story, etc.', is usually printed in ro man type without an accent.
Back - New Search dentures was originally a genteelism (first recorded in 1874) for false teeth, but is now standard in more formal use.
Back - New Search depart is now used intransitively (without an object) either without any complement or followed by from (a point of departure) or for (a destination). Its use with an object is restricted to the formal or literary phrase depart this life, meaning `t o die', but in AmE is more common in general use (They departed the house at noon)
, being recorded in uses by J. K. Galbraith , Robert Craft , and others.
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depend. 1 Depend in its main meaning is followed by on or upon: It was quite wrong to come to depend too much upon one's children Fitzgerald , 19 79 / As grandfather grew olderhe seemed to depend increasingly on my companyJ. Simms , 1982. It is also commonly used in the informal expression you can depend on it/t hat etc.: I'll have a damn good tryYou can depend on thatA. Price , 1982.
2 The slightly archaic meaning `to hang down', which is the word's etymological mean ing, is still used in some literary contexts: From a beam crossing the low ceiling depended a mobile, the property of Parker Bo wen , 1968, but is not a feature of normal usage.Top
Back - New Search dependant, dependent. Dependant in upport', and g or someone form for the BrE is a noun meaning à person who relies on another for financial s dependent is an adjective meaning `depending or conditional on somethin else' (with several special meanings). In AmE dependent is the usual noun.
Back - New Search dependence, dependency. Dependence is à state of depending'; dependency can also mean this but is more usua lly `something, especially a country or province, that is dependent on another'. The distinction has been somewhat blurred by the recent term dependency culture, me aning à way of life determined by being dependent on state benefits'.
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depositary, depository. A depositary is a person or authority to whom something is entrusted, a trustee. A depository is (1) a storage place for furniture, books, etc., and (2) a sourc e (normally a book or suchlike, occasionally a person) of wisdom or knowledge.
Back - New Search depot pronounced dep-oh, is printed in roman type with no accents.
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deprecate, depreciate. 1 The two words are similar in form and in current use overlap somewhat in meani ng, but their origin is different. Deprecate is from Latin deprecari `to prevent b y prayer' and its primary current meaning is `to express disapproval of (a person or thing)': When news of this `record' multiple birth emerged last weekend, few dared to depreca te itSunday Times, 1987. Depreciate is from Latin depretiare `to lower in value' and currently means (1) without an object, `to become lower in value or price' (Experience has shown me that their cars are more reliable and depreciate lessMai l on Sunday, 1985), and (2) with an object, `to undervalue, to disparage' (Before this Wilde depreciated pity as a motive in art; now he embraced itR. Ellm ann , 1969). It is in this last meaning that the overlap in meaning occurs, the intruder normally being deprecate in place of depreciate: Dealers have felt a need to deprecate their own firms' values, to disassociate t hemselves from themA. Davidson , 1989 / A talent that results in giving exquisite pleasure to collectors of memorabilia is to be admired, not deprecatedM.J. Staples , 1992. As a result depreciate is be ing more and more confined to its financial meaning in relation to currencies, s hare values, etc.
2 This intrusion on the part of deprecate is reflected in the derivative adjecti ves self-deprecating and self-deprecatory meaning `disparaging oneself', and the nou n self-deprecation, where the meanings are closer to depreciate than deprecate: Bartonsmiled, and then his face changed again, the old, self-deprecating expressi on over it Hill , 1971 / Sadly he declined, saying in a charmingly self-deprecatory way that he doubted h e had any views worth hearingL. Kennedy , 1990 /
Markby chuckled, his customary air of self-deprecation returningA. Granger , 1991 . These forms and uses are now fully established, although self-depreciation is also occasionally found.Top
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deprivation meaning `depriving or being deprived (of something)', is pronounced dep-rivay-shn, w ith stress on the third syllable. It should be distinguished from privation, whi ch means `lack of the comforts or necessities of life'.
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de rigueur is pronounced dri-ger, is non-naturalized in English and is printed in italics.
Back - New Search derisive, derisory. Although their meanings have coincided since their first appearance in the 17c, in current use they are for the most part kept separate, derisive meaning `scoffin g, scornful' as in derisive laughter and derisive remarks and derisory meaning `ridi culously small or insignificant' as in a derisory pay offer and a derisory contrib ution.
Back - New Search descendant, descendent. In BrE descendant is the noun and descendent is the adjective, but in AmE either form is used in both cases.
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description. Fowler (1926) discouraged the use of description as an alternative to kind and s ort in expressions such as crimes of this description, but the use has become we ll established and often seems appropriate if sometimes a little old-fashioned: That's the first flying machine of any description that has ever landed on MuckB. Moore , 1972.
Back - New Search descriptive. As applied to language, the term denotes a concept of grammar as describing actu al practice rather than laying down theoretical rules. See PRESCRIPTIVE.
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desert, dessert. There are two unrelated words spelt desert: one, with stress on the first syllab le, is the barren area of land, and the other, with stress on the second syllabl e, is what one deserves, as in get one's just deserts. The verb desert, meaning `t o abandon' and stressed on the second syllable, is related to the first of these w ords. Finally dessert, with two s's and stressed on the second syllable, is a word for `the sweet course of a meal'.
Back - New Search deserter is spelt -er, not -or.
Back - New Search deservedly is pronounced as four syllables.
Back - New Search desiccated from Latin siccus meaning `dry', is spelt in this way, not dessicated.
Back - New Search desideratum meaning `something lacking or needed', is pronounced -ah-tm or -ay-tm and has the pl ural form desiderata.
Back - New Search designer has been since the 1960s a vogue word first used in the fashion world to denote articles bearing the name of a famous designer and therefore prestigious and exp ensive. In this use designer is used attributively (before a noun), as in design er dress, jeans, shoes, etc. The word then spread into much wider use to signify anything regarded as fashionable or specially made, with all sorts of figurativ e applications: He remembered thinking to himself; so it's finally happeneddesigner industrial ac tion Lodge , 1988 / The Home Secretary turned on `designer violence' on the [television] screenTimes, 1988 / Designer stubble of the George Michael ilk has also run its bristly courseGuardia n, 1989. A designer drug is a synthetic compound made to simulate an existing il legal `recreational' drug, and a designer dyke is a glamorous Lesbian: Gay girls have become rather fashionableand the opportunity to write about `lipstic k lesbianism' and `designer dykes' has not gone unseizedDaily Telegraph, 1995.
Back - New Search despatch see DISPATCH.
Back - New Search desperado is pronounced des-p-rah-doh, and has the plural form desperadoes.
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despicable.
Pundits and usage gurus since Fowler (1926) have been urging us to pronounce des picable with the stress on the first syllable, but unsurprisingly usage has swun g in favour of a more comfortable pattern with the stress on the second syllable .
Back - New Search despise must be spelt -ise, not -ize. See -ISE.
Back - New Search dessert see DESERT.
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destruct. 1 This is a back-formation from destruction, formed as a specific alternative to destroy to denote a calculated action, originally with reference to space missi les that were malfunctioning, then in other military or related contexts, and la ter in figurative uses. The normal past tense is destructed. Like all so-called è rgative' verbs, it can be used transitively (with an object) and intransitively (w ithout an object): At this point it was destroyed (or `destructed' as the official explanation puts it) by remote controlTimes, 1958 / This was the prevalent left view until Thatcher's third term destructed, and Lab our triumphalism had one last goNew Statesman, 1992. It is also used as a noun, n ormally in attributive position (before another noun), as in destruct system.
2 The reflexive form self-destruct appeared in the 1960s, and follows the same g rammatical functions of destruct. It is also used figuratively: Watergate came from within. The system itself has begun to self-destructGuardian, 1973.Top
Back - New Search destructible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
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dtente should be spelt with an accent and printed in italics.
Back - New Search deter has inflected forms deterred, deterring, and also doubles the r in the derivativ e forms deterrence and deterrent (both pronounced with -ter- as in ten).
Back - New Search deteriorate should be pronounced with all five syllables articulated. Pronunciation as if it were deteriate is often heard but should be avoided. A similar problem occurs w ith temporary and other words.
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determiner. A determiner is a word that goes before a noun and determines its status in some way, such as a, the, this, all, and such. A predeterminer occurs before another determiner (all the time) and a postdeterminer occurs after another determiner (The only one).
Back - New Search detract, distract.
Both words are used transitively (with an object) followed by from; but their me anings are different. Detract, which (more than distract) is also used without a n object, means `to take away (a part of something), to diminish': The tape element involved in the production of a disc record detracts very littl e from the overall quality these daysJ. Earl , 1971. Distract means 'to divert th e attention of with a person, the mind, etc. as the object: These days find Paris in a sort of limboThere is, it is true, the Tour de France to distract us in the weeks aheadListener, 1972. Detract sometimes encroaches on distract, especially in the expression detract attention from, which was an acce pted usage in the early 19c but should now be avoided in favour of distract atte ntion from.
Back - New Search devil's advocate is someone who argues against a proposition or belief in order to test it. It sh ould not be used to mean someone who supports a bad or wicked cause. Its origin lies in the Roman Catholic official (in Latin advocatus diaboli) who tests the c ase for canonization of a candidate for sainthood by preparing and arguing the c ase against it.
Back - New Search devise must be spelt -ise, not -ize. See -ISE.
Back - New Search devoid meaning `lacking', is followed by of and comes after the word it refers to: The Council is devoid of any powersradio broadcast, 1976 / The language is nearly devoid of metaphorObserver, 1980.
Back - New Search devolve is a verb of reviving fortunes in the age of political devolution. Its three pri ncipal uses are as follows: (1) you devolve powers, authority, etc., on or upon someone, (2) power, authority, etc., devolves on or upon someone, and (3) a right, benefit, etc., devolves to (or occasionally on) someone.
The word appears frequently in the form devolved to refer to a body or its power s when these have been devolved by a national government: Our increasing dependence on tourism calls for highly devolved decision-making He rald , 1986 / Public support for the national question is at an historic high, with 50% of Sco ts favouring a devolved assembly and 30% of Scots wanting a separate parliamentMa rxism Today, 1986. The back-formed verb devolute is occasionally found instead o f devolve.
Back - New Search dexterous is preferable to dextrous. Both are pronounced dek-strs.
Back - New Search diabolic, diabolical. Diabolic is used primarily with direct reference to the devil (as in Byron 's Sata nmerely bent his diabolic brow an instant, 1822), whereas diabolical is used main ly in its extended meanings `bad, disgraceful, awful': Asked our postman about communications between Tunisia and England. He said they were `diabolical'S. Townsend , 1982 / From my point of view that pitch was dangerous. In fact, it was diabolicalObserve r, 1986. However, diabolical is sometimes used in the first sense, especially wh en the rhythm of the sentence is improved by it.
Back - New Search diagnose is properly used to mean `to make a diagnosis of' with the disease or problem as the object. Now, however, it is increasingly used with a person as object, usually followed by as with a verb participle: He was diagnosed as having an anxiety neurosisBritish Medical Journal, 1984 / A baby who was incorrectly diagnosed as having died before birthT. Stuttaford , 1 990. At present, however, this use does not extend to things: you can diagnose c lutch trouble in a car but you can't yet diagnose a car as having clutch trouble .
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has the plural form diagnoses (pronounced -gnoh-seez).
Back - New Search diagram verb, meaning `to represent by means of a diagram,' has the forms diagrammed, diagramming, diagrammatic. In AmE the verbal forms are often diagramed, diagraming.
Back - New Search dial verb has inflected forms dialled, dialling in BrE and dialed, dialing in AmE.
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dialect is the language form of a particular region, and varies from the standard langua ge in matters of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Some dialects are also related to social class and ethnic origin. The dialects of the United Kingdom ar e recorded in Joseph Wright 's magnificent but now dated English Dialect Dictionar y (18961905) and in A Survey of English Dialects (19628) edited by Harold Orton an d others. There is also a Linguistic Atlas of England (1978), edited by Orton an d others, and numerous monographs and glossaries published by local dialect soci eties. Although words and uses that are grammatical within a dialect do not norm ally enter the standard language, there are some common words and phrases that h ad their origins in dialect, as is shown in the table below. Care should be take n to avoid confusing a dialect with a variety: Scottish English, for example, is a variety and not a dialect. Some common words and idioms of dialect or local origin WORD DATE ORIGINAL MEANI NG beach 16c shingle, pebbles binge 19c (as verb) = to soak bleak 16c pale, colourless cack-handed 19c cack = excrement clever 16c nimble-handed, adroit elevenses 18c elevens = morning meal feisty 19c ficety (US) = aggressive
old-fashioned (as in an old-fashioned look) 20c knowing, precocious pal 17c Romany = brother poke (as in a pig in a poke) ME bag, sack tab ME short broad strap etc. wilt 17c become limp, droop
Bleak and clever are recorded at an earlier date in meanings that are historical ly unconnected to the later ones. ME = Middle English
Back - New Search dialectal, dialectic, dialectical. In the 19c all three words were used to mean `belonging to a dialect', but only dial ectal now serves this purpose. Dialectic is a form of philosophical argument by question and answer, and dialectical is the adjective derived from it.
Back - New Search dialogue is a conversation between two or more people. The first element has nothing to d o with di- meaning `two', but is derived from Greek dia- meaning `through, across'. It i s now often used of the talking process involved in negotiations and discussions , for example between one country and another or between trade unions and manage ment. In AmE it is frequently spelt dialog.
Back - New Search diarrhoea is spelt in this way in BrE and diarrhea in AmE.
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dice is in origin the plural of die (as in the die is cast, meaning `the decisive step
has been taken'). Dice are also the small cubes bearing 1 to 6 spots on each face, used in games of chance; this form is also used for the singular (He had a dice in his pocket).
Back - New Search dichotomy means à division into two' (from Greek dicho- meaning àpart' and -tomos meaning `cutting') . The word has long-established meanings in technical domains such as logic, ast ronomy, and the life sciences; in the 20c it has moved into general use to mean à difference or split' (e.g. a dichotomy of opinion) and often implies a contrast o r a paradoxical circumstance: By a dichotomy familiar to us all, a woman requires her own baby to be perfectly normal, and at the same time superior to all other babies Wyndham , 1957 / The coffee-table featured a couple of Shakespeare texts and a copy of Time Outan intriguing dichotomy Amis , 1973.
Back - New Search dictate is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun (as in the dictate s of conscience) and with the stress on the second syllable as a verb (as in dic tate a letter).
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didn't ought may be the result of a collision of the strange behaviour patterns of two modal verbs, do and ought, but its origins are in dialect and it features in literatur e only as a (sometimes stereotypical) representation of rustic or poorly educate d speech: And I hope none here will say I did anything I didn't ought. For I have only don e my duty Innes , 1942 / You didn't ought to have let that fire out Golding , 1954.
Back - New Search die noun see DICE.
Back - New Search die verb. When used with a complement, the normal uses are to die of a disease, old age, e tc., to die from (or occasionally of) a wound, neglect, etc., and to die for (a cause). The modern (originally AmE) idiom to die for, meaning òutstandingly good' a nd often used attributively (before a noun), is informal only: Excellent Vietnamese fare, including to-die-for softshell crabsPost (Denver), 199 5.
Back - New Search dietitian meaning an authority on diet, is the recommended spelling, not dietician.
Back - New Search differ is widely used without any complement: While their aims and activities differ slightly, all are clubs in the sense of r ecruiting membersR. Brown , 1993. It can be followed by from in the meaning `to be unlike': These languagesdiffer from the Polish dialects discussed aboveLanguage, 1975 / Most British school and college mathematics classrooms do not differ much from t hose of a hundred years agoD. Pimm , 1988. When it means `to disagree (with someone )' it is either used independently (We agreed to differ) or followed by with, but this use is becoming much less common as disagree takes over from it: Dissanayake had subsequently differed with the President on such issues as the ha ndling of the withdrawal of Indian troops from Sri Lanka Keesings , 1990.
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different. 1 Fowler wrote in 1926 that insistence `that different can only be followed by fro m and not by to is a superstition'. It is in fact a 20c superstition that refuses to go away, despite copious evidence for the use of to and than dating back to w ell before 1700. First of all we should recognize that for much of the time diff
erent, when used predicatively (after a verb) is used without any complement at all: But tonight would have been differentA. Wells , 1993. We may then put than aside for a moment and concentrate on different from and different to. The argument in favour of from is based on the relation of different to differ (which is follow ed by from in this meaning); but this is an artificial construction based on the principles of Latin and not English grammar, and is contradicted by the varying practice of accord (with) and according (to). English works by analogy, and her e the influence comes from words that have the same function, such as comparable , equivalent, and similar.
2 There are indeed occasions when from is inelegant and to is more natural, espe cially when different is separated from its complement (e.g. by an adverbial phr ase), as will be seen from following examples which illustrate both uses: (from) Casual shacking up was quite different from holy matrimonyM. Underwood , 1 980 / The Anglo-American approach to copyright was thought to be different from the ap proach taken by France and other European countriesNew Yorker, 1987 / He's no different from my brother, in the end Gordimer , 1988 / What makes chenille different from other carpets is that it's the product of two distinct processesE. Blair , 1990 / (to) He looked no different at first to other boys Margaret had knownM. Leland , 1986 / I found that a meadow seen against the light was an entirely different tone of g reen to the same meadow facing the lightScots Magazine, 1986 / They don't seem to be any different to usChicago Tribune, 1989 / Sound waves are very different to water waves but the length of a sound wave cha nges with its frequency in the same wayJ. Downer , 1989.Top
3 Different than is a more complex issue. It is better established in AmE than i n BrE, especially when different is followed by a comparative clause: It used to be they'd play at different times than on the U.S. stations, but not any moreGlobe & Mail (Toronto), 1977 / This discrepancy is intriguing because most scallops have a very different mode of life than other speciesBulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 19 87. BrE looks more strongly askance at this construction than it does on differe nt to, and the objection can be better justified on grounds of style than the ob jection to to can be justified on grounds of grammar. It is natural to want to a void an awkward relative construction such as we find in Joyce Cary's much discu ssed sentence I was a very different man in 1935 from what I was in 1916; for so me the answer is I was a very different man in 1935 than I was in 1916, but a li ttle lateral thinking might steer us right round the problem by suggesting an al ternative: I was not the same man in 1935 as I had been in 1916. One should not presume to rewrite Joyce Cary , but this kind of solution might do better for th ose who simply want to stay clear of linguistic mantraps.Top
4 The case for to and than is more compelling, as occasional alternatives to fro m, when different is used in an adverbial phrase such as in a different sense, a nd when they follow the adverb differently, where from can become uncomfortably cumbersome: Sebastian was a drunkard in quite a different sense to myself Waugh , 1945 / A false sense of security which makes drivers behave quite differently on motorw ays than on ordinary roadsDaily Telegraph, 1971 / The lepidopteran proboscis is very differently constructed from that of the Dipt era & , 1973.Top
5 Note that different is commonly found in everyday use as a convenient synonym for more austere words such as distinct, separate, various, etc.: Children's perceptions of their sexual roles are built up from many different so urcesN. Tucker , 1981 / After four or five different activities have been described, you read the list o f activitiesR. McCall , 1992 / For sociology graduates there are career opportunities in many different areasEdi nburgh undergraduate prospectus, 1993. If the exact meanings of the other words given above are needed, use them; otherwise this use of different is a useful on e.Top
Back - New Search differential is a noun and adjective with several technical and general meanings. As an adjec tive it is used principally in combinations such as differential rates of intere st, which are not just different rates of interest but rates based on quantifiab le differences (such as the type of investment). In the same way, a differential is a determining factor based on some difference, and is not the difference its elf. Examples: (noun) Differentials do exist between blue- and white-collar workers, but they a ppear to be narrower than in most Western companiesB. Eccleston , 1989 / (adjective) As a result the effects of differential mortality rates for men and women are exacerbatedC. Ungerson , 1991. It should not be used to mean simply `dist inguishing' or `making a difference', as in A small event like mother-in-law coming to stay can have a differential impact o n newly marriedsJ. Mattinson , 1989
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differently abled is a politically correct alternative for disabled. See POLITICAL CORRECTNESS.
Back - New Search diffuse see DEFUSE.
Back - New Search diffusible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search digest is pronounced with stress on the first syllable as a noun (meaning à summary') and with stress on the second syllable as a verb (meaning `to absorb (food) in the bod y').
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digraph is a combination of two letters which together represent a single speech sound, e.g. dg in judge and ea in head. Certain digraphs are printed as ligatures, in w hich the two letters are joined, e.g. .
Back - New Search dike see DYKE.
Back - New Search dilatation, dilation
mean `making or becoming wider' (from Latin latus meaning `wide'). Dilatation is the nor mal word in medical contexts, whereas dilation is more usual in general use. The verb is dilate.
Back - New Search dilatory meaning `given to or causing delay', is pronounced dil--t-ri. The same stress patter n applies, rather more awkwardly, to the derivative forms dilatorily and dilator iness.
Back - New Search dilemma is now more usually pronounced with the first syllable rhyming with die. The cor rect meaning is à choice between two undesirable alternatives' and has its origin i n rhetoric and logic, where it relates to a special kind of argument involving t wo unfavourable choices. It should not be used as a mere synonym of difficulty, problem, and similar words, although overlap in meanings will often blur the dis tinction. Examples: (correct) The dilemma is logically insoluble: we cannot sacrifice either freedom or the organization needed for its defence Berlin , 1949 / It is possible to raise only one cheer for user charges as a means of avoiding t he dilemma of cutting public services or increasing taxesTimes, 1976 / (questionable) Every pontoon player will understand the dilemma of the Tory chie fs. They are undecided whether to stick or twist on a relatively modest hand of cardsGuardian, 1972 / He was caught in a dilemma, a choice between doing a show or going on a much-nee ded vacationD. Halberstam , 1979 / Three corridors: one to the left, one ahead, one to the right`Dilemma. Left, right or centre?' Bogarde , 1980. A moral dilemma is a choice between two morally questio nable courses of action, and its use is fairly self-determining: Hewarned present and future White House aides to be on the alert formoral dilemmas that may arise while serving a PresidentTime, 1977.
Back - New Search dilettante meaning `someone with superficial or affected knowledge of a subject', is spelt with one l and two ts, and has plural forms dilettanti or dilettantes.
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dingo a wild Australian dog, has the plural form dingoes.
Back - New Search diocese is pronounced diy--sis, and the plural dioceses is pronounced either diy--seez o r (less commonly) diy--si-siz.
Back - New Search diphtheria the bacterial disease, is spelt with -ph- and should be pronounced dif-, not dip -.
Back - New Search diphthong meaning a speech sound in which the articulation changes from one vowel to anoth er, as in coin, loud, pain, spoke, etc., is spelt with -ph- and should be pronou nced dif-, not dip-. Diphthongs are a common feature of English pronunciation.
Back - New Search direct, directly. Because direct is an adverb as well as an adjective, it gets in the way of direc tly, which is an adverb only. Directly is used (1) before an adjective (They wer e directly responsible for the accident), and (2) to mean ìmmediately', both of tim e and position (I'll come directly / Directly after this, he was taken away / Th e house is directly opposite). Direct is usual when it means `by a direct route' or `w ithout any intermediary' (Some flights go direct from Heathrow to Los Angeles / Yo u can buy them direct from the manufacturer). In informal contexts, directly can be used as a conjunction meaning às soon as, the moment after' (She came directly I called).
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direct object. In grammar, a direct object is the noun or pronoun or phrase that is directly af
fected by the action of a transitive verb. In the sentence They bought a new hou se, a new house is the direct object of the verb bought. See also INDIRECT OBJEC T, INTRANSITIVE AND TRANSITIVE VERBS.
Back - New Search dirigible meaning `capable of being guided', is spelt -ible not -able. It is also used as a no un, meaning à dirigible machine'. See -ABLE, -IBLE
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disis an active prefix which continues to form nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verb s, with the meaning `not' or `the reverse' with reference to the meaning of the word it is attached to. Notable 20c formations included disaffiliation (1926), disarming ly (1901), disincentive (1946), disinformation (1955), disquieten (1921). Note t hat disfunctional is a variant of dysfunctional (formed on the prefix dys- meani ng `bad, badly') and is not connected with this prefix dis-.
Back - New Search disassemble see DISSEMBLE.
Back - New Search disassociate meaning `to end an association with', was passed over by Fowler (1926) but was descr ibed by Gowers (1965) as a needless variant of dissociate. It is still found non etheless, especially when the reversal of associate is emphatic: Any other woman would have disassociated herself, gone where she wasn't known, c hanged her nameA.L. Barker , 1987 / The Foreign Office at once issued a statement disassociating the Government from the ideaSpectator, 1988.
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should be pronounced as three syllables (di-zah-strss), not as four (di-zah-st-r s).
Back - New Search disbar see DEBAR.
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disc, disk. The normal spelling in BrE changed from disk at the time of the original OED (18 96) to disc by the time of OED2 (1989); in AmE it has remained disk. In computer terminology, however, the American spelling is dominant everywhere (as in hard disk, disk drive, etc.), but in other technical applications, including compact disc and disc camera, it is spelt with a c, not k.
Back - New Search discernible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search disciplinary is pronounced with stress on the first or third syllable, depending partly on it s position in a sentence.
Back - New Search disco is a shortened (and now standard) form of discothque, meaning à club or party with recorded pop music for dancing'. The plural form is discos, and as a verb, meanin g `to dance at a disco', it has the forms discoes, discoed, discoing.
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discomfit, discomfort. Discomfit in current English means `to thwart the plans of' (its original meaning) o r `to embarrass or disconcert'. In its weaker second meaning, in which it occurs mos t often in the form discomfited, it overlaps with the unrelated word discomfort, which means `to make uneasy', and in the normal flow of speech it is not always pos siblefor speaker or hearerto distinguish them. Examples: (discomfit) I should have corrected her, but, discomfited, missed the right moment Lurie , 19 69 / Widger was not wholly without Schadenfreude at seeing his informative colleague discomfited for once Crispin , 1977 / He turned away from her, discomfited at her glanceL. Appignanesi , 1992 / (discomfort) His Section's Mediterranean operations, where his cheerful courage discomforted the Germans and Italians, are dealt with in later chaptersJ. Ladd , 1979 / The show, entitled `Banality', was eerie, discomforting, and seemed to offend nearly everyoneThe Face, 1990.
Back - New Search discontent meaning `lack of contentment', is pronounced with the stress on the last syllable. S hakespeare's famous opening lines from Richard III, Now is the winter of our dis content Made glorious summer by this sun of York, have provided one of the most prolific of modern political clichs, winter of discontent, first used with refere nce to industrial unrest in Britain in 19789.
Back - New Search discount is pronounced with stress on the first syllable as a noun, and with stress on th e second syllable as a verb.
Back - New Search discourse is pronounced with stress on the first syllable as a noun, and with stress on th e second syllable as a verb.
Back - New Search discover, invent. To discover something is to find something that was hidden or not known; to inve
nt something is to devise it by human effort: Halley discovered a comet and Gali leo invented a telescope. Information as well as physical things can be discover ed, and in this case a that-clause is common: They discovered that they had been underpaid for months. Similarly, excuses, stories, etc., can be invented, altho ugh a that-clause is not permissible.
Back - New Search discreet, discrete have the same origin in the Latin verb discernere meaning `to sift', but their meani ngs are very different. Discreet means `circumspect in speech or action', can be use d of people or things, and is common as an adverb discreetly: A public telephone stood in one corner of the discreetly lit foyerR. Busby , 1971 / I noticed a few discreet establishments that looked as unauthentic, or as authen tic according to your viewpoint, as New York's massage parloursTimes, 1972. Discr ete means `distinct, separate': Notwithstanding the vagueness of its aims, social work became sanctified as a di screte discipline under the Social Services Act of 1970Times Literary Supplement, 1980.
Back - New Search discus has the plural form discuses.
Back - New Search discussible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search disenfranchise, disfranchise meaning `to deprive of a vote', have both been in the language for several centuries . At present disenfranchise is the more common of the two. Both verbs should be spelt -ise, not -ize. See -ISE.
Back - New Search disguise verb is spelt -ise, not -ize. See -ISE.
Back - New Search disinformation a more sinister equivalent of propaganda, is first attested in 1939 in relation to a German `Disinformation Service'. Since then it has usually been applied to the activities of various intelligence groups during the cold war: One technique of the Central Intelligence Agencyis disinformationThe Agency has ex pensive facilities for producing fake documents and other means for misleading f oreignersNew Republic, 1975.
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disingenuous meaning ìnsincere, having secret motives', is the opposite of ingenuous meaning ìnno cent, honest', and is applied to people and their actions: The somewhat disingenuous slogan of `ban the bomb' Macmillan , 1971 / I should be disingenuous if I pretended not to be flattered Golding , 1982 / Every feminist critic has encountered the archly disingenuous question: `What exac tly is feminist criticism?'B. Bergonzi , 1990 / Ì thought Amy wasn't here much,' said Theodora disingenuouslyD.M. Greenwood , 1991.
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disinterest. 1 The noun is 17c and has two current meanings corresponding to those of the mor e commonly used word DISINTERESTED. These are (1) impartiality, (2) lack of inte rest. A third meaning, `something contrary to one's advantage', is now virtually obs olete. The first meaning is found in earlier writing (We here see Morris working, with entire disinterest, at his workSaturday Review, 1896), but the second is now far more common, despite the controversy attached to the corresponding meaning of disinterested (The general reactionwas a mixture of curiosity, disinterest, fear, and embarrass mentM. Morse , 1965 /
He misread my quietudeas either agreement or disagreement. It was neither. Pure, unadulterated disinterest Achebe , 1987 / Despite British radio's disinterest in new he music press, I believe real talent will At present the best course is to avoid the the more explicit phrase lack of interest is occasionally found but is not generally music, and the reduced influence of t eventually get throughN. York, 1991). word in this meaning, either by using or by rephrasing. (A form uninterest current:
She had no ideawhether all men went through periods of uninterest Faulks , 1989.)
2 The verb disinterest, meaning `to rid of interest or concern' is marked `now rare' in the OED but there are signs of its revival: I try to disinterest myself from politics Huxley , 1923.Top
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disinterested 1 The use of disinterested to mean ùninterested', although not a problem to Fowler (1926), is a keyword in current debates about correct usage. Those who rage most furiously are not always aware, however, that the word has changed its principa l meaning several times during the nearly four centuries of its existence. It be gan by meaning `not interested', then about 1650 developed the meaning ìmpartial, unb iased', and has more recently tended to revert to its older meaning. These meaning s reflect the different meanings of interest, as differently used in They showed no interest in the idea and They have an interest in the business.
2 The alternative word uninterested has had an opposite history, originally mean ing ìmpartial' and later meaning `not interested', although it shows no sign of returni ng to its earlier meaning. The problem then lies with disinterested. Informed op inion is divided into those who believe that a useful distinction, between disin terested = impartial and uninterested = not interested, is being eroded, and tho se who are content to let disinterested serve as a synonym of uninterested as lo ng as other words are available for the other meaning (impartial, neutral, objec tive, unbiased, unprejudiced).Top
3 The following examples of disinterested show the strong presence of both meani ngs in current usage: (= impartial) Many competent and disinterested experts on world poverty often stress the steri lity of the East-West confrontationEncounter, 1981 /
She could imagine the coroner's disinterested voiceJ. Bedford , 1984 / But of course none of the observers of twelfth-century England was disinterested Fraser , 1988 / The doctor ran her hands round again, with the same disinterested precision Maitl and , 1990 / The giant palms lining the road inspected me disinterestedly as I coasted along trying to find the Alcade ApartmentsP. Chester , 1990 / (= not interested: note t hat in this meaning disinterested is often followed by in, on the analogy of uni nte.rested) Washington ensured that he would appear to be what in fact he was, a republican gentleman disinterested in powerTimes Literary Supplement, 1988 / Many women complain of feeling chronically tired, tied to the home, unattractive , disinterested in sex and generally overwhelmed during early parenthoodJ. Mattin son , 1989 / She remains stubbornly neat and unadorned, disinterested in fashionS. Johnson , 1 990 (Australia).Top
4 The recommendation must be to restrict disinterested to the meaning ìmpartial' an d to use alternative words when necessary to avoid possible misunderstanding. Un interested remains the standard and recommended form in the meaning `lacking inter est': I wouldn't say thathe was totally uninterested in both of us Greene , 1980 / He gavea certain impression of being uninterested in people except at an agreeabl y superficial levelD. Fraser , 1982 / To viewers who are uninterested in politics, it was worse than the World CupObser ver, 1990.Top
Back - New Search disk see DISC.
Back - New Search dislike verb. The normal construction is with an object, which can be a noun (We dislike moder n art) or a verbal noun (They dislike being absent). It is non-standard to follo w dislike with a to-infinitive, although this is sometimes found: She was hounded by a fear of imminent poverty that made her dislike to spend any money at allB. Guest , 1985.
Back - New Search dismissible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search disorient, disorientate. Both verbs have a long history (disorient being first recorded in 1655, disorien tate in 1704) and both are still in use meaning `to confuse (someone) as to wherea bouts'. In most contexts disorient, being shorter, is preferable. The noun is diso rientation.
Back - New Search disparate is in regular use in two main meanings, (1) èssentially different or diverse in k ind' (disparate creeds / disparate modes of thought) and (2) ùnequal' (people of disp arate ages / countries of disparate size). The first meaning is the more common, although they tend to overlap. Disparate can qualify a singular (usually collec tive) noun or a plural noun: Most of the conglomerates which were made up of a disparate collection of busine sses have failedD. Oates , 1989 / Machines can keep the disparate parts of such a system co-ordinated much better than men canEconomist, 1991.
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dispatch is the preferred form, not despatch (which was first recorded, probably in error , by Dr. Johnson ).
Back - New Search dispel means `to drive away in different directions, to disperse', and is used literally (d ispel clouds / dispel fog etc.) and with generalized abstract nouns (dispel fear
/ notions / dispel suspicions). It is not idiomatic to use dispel with an entit y preceded by a or an that cannot be regarded as divisible (dispel an accusation / dispel a rumour); in these cases alternatives such as rebut, refute, etc. sho uld be used.
Back - New Search dispensable is spelt -able, not -ible. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search dispenser is spelt -er, not -or.
Back - New Search dispersal, dispersion are both used to mean `dispersing, spreading', but in non-technical meanings dispers al refers more to the process and dispersion to the result. The following exampl es show the difference of emphasis: More efficient dispersal of sulphur dioxide at source cannot be regarded as an a cceptable long term solutionI.M. Campbell , 1977 / Unlike the dispersals of the teacher-training college libraries,those from the ol der Universities are frequently discussed and the causes and problems are widely realisedW.J. West , 1992 / In Yugoslavia,there is a wide dispersion of incomes between different regions.H. L ydall , 1989 / It is wrongto poison the sea with materials whose dispersion is difficult to cont rolEconomist, 1993.
Back - New Search disposable is spelt -able, not -ible. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search disposal, disposition. In general, disposal is the noun corresponding to dispose of (= get rid of) and disposition corresponds to dispose (= arrange). So the disposition of the furnit
ure refers to the way the furniture is laid out, whereas the disposal of the fur niture refers to its removal. Disposal also occurs in the fixed expression at on e's disposal, and disposition has the special meaning `temperament, natural tenden cy'.
Back - New Search disputable is now normally pronounced with the stress on the second syllable.
Back - New Search dispute is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable both as a noun and as a ver b. A tendency to stress the noun on the first syllable, especially by northern t rade-union leaders in the 1970s and 1980s has not established itself in standard English.
Back - New Search dissect means `to cut into pieces', not `to cut into two'; in other words, it is formed on the p refix dis-, not di-. The pronunciation is therefore di-sekt, not diy-sekt, altho ugh the second is often heard, probably under the influence of bisect.
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dissemble means `to pretend; to disguise or conceal' and should not be used to mean `to take apa rt' as if it were a shorter form of disassemble. Example of correct use: One of nature's innocents. He couldn't dissemble if he triedP. O'Donnell , 1971.
Back - New Search dissociate is first recorded in 1623, slightly later than its variant disassociate, and is now the more favoured form. It is followed by from and is often used reflexively (with oneself etc.):
The mother immediately dissociated herself from this conversationV. Glendenning , 1989 / He is at pains to dissociate Reagan's party from the one he helped steer to vict ory in 1968New York Review of Books, 1990.
Back - New Search dissoluble, dissolvable are both pronounced with the stress on their second syllables. Dissoluble is the general word meaning `capable of being separated into elements or atoms' and dissol vable is normally restricted to its meaning àble to be dissolved in liquid'.
Back - New Search distensible means `capable of being distended or stretched'; the alternative form distensible is now obsolete.
Back - New Search distil is now spelt with one l in BrE and with two ls in AmE. The inflections in both v arieties are distilled, distilling, and the noun derivatives are distillation, d istiller, and distillery.
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distinct, distinctive. 1 Both words are related to the verb distinguish, but distinct means essentially `separate, different' (The word has several distinct meanings) or ùnmistakable, deci ded' (She has a distinct impression of being watched), and is closer to distinguis hable, whereas distinctive means `characteristic, identifying' (The bird has distinc tive black and white wing markings) and is closer to distinguishing. Distinct is often followed by from (Holiness is distinct from goodness), and this construct ion is common in the prepositional phrase as distinct from.
2 Examples of both words: (distinct) Scrambling, as distinct from fell walking and rock climbing, is a Cinderella of a sportGuardian Weekly, 1978 /
It was a comparatively shabby officeEuram Marketing gave a distinct impression of watching the penniesG. Markstein , 1981 / Software designers have used two distinct methods in their attempt to provide th e perfect packageMicro Software Magazine, 1982 / I can still hear her distinct, rather emphatic, very self-assured speechR. Cobb , 1983 / (distinctive) Everyone who knew the Temple School will remember the distinctive smell of Freddie's office Fitzgerald , 1982 / Her main `discovery' was the way in which Marx had challenged all previous political traditionsD. May , 1986 / Smooth, wedge-shaped styling makes for a distinctive appearanceTimes, 1980.Top
Back - New Search distinctly as in distinctly interesting, belongs to the outer realms of Fowler's LOST CAUSE S as a 1920s vogue word he much despised, less on linguistic grounds than becaus e of the condescending attitude it revealed in the user, especially when used in combination with an otherwise complimentary word such as fine or majestic. Fowl er had a point, and he would probably find confirmation of his opinion in more r ecent use, which often coyly distances the user from what is being said: That night the singing was distinctly husky and out of tuneJ.B. Morton , 1974 / He had a distinctly Arabic look about him, slicked-down black hairN. Thornburg , 1976 / Religious references to the Virgin Mary behaving in a way that is distinctly vamp irish have been glossed overN. Tucker , 1981.
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distribute should be pronounced with the stress on the second syllable, although stress on the first syllable is increasingly heard.
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in grammar means `referring to each individual of a number or class'. Distributive a djectives and pronouns are words such as each, every, either, neither. A distrib utive plural is one that corresponds to individuals separately rather than joint ly, as in They wear gowns on formal occasions, meaning each person wears one gow n. In such contexts a singular noun is often idiomatic, and one could equally sa y They wear a gown on formal occasions.
Back - New Search distributor is spelt -or in all its meanings, not -er.
Back - New Search distrust, mistrust are largely interchangeable both as nouns and as verbs, although distrust is mor e common. Examples: (distrust) He was labelled as a diehard and a bigot, when he actually distrusted the diehar ds and was himself distrusted by the bigotsJ. Ramsden , 1978 / Just as quickly came the deep bitter distrust of all white peopleM. Darke , 1989 / (mistrust) He didn't mistrust her exactly, there was just something he couldn't get to the bottom of Pilling , 1987 / Pornography and a fear of rape play a huge part in girls' mistrust of their own bodiesJ. Dawson , 1990.
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ditransitive. A ditransitive verb is one that appears to have two objects, as in He gave the b aby a bottle (= He gave a bottle to the baby; although suppression of a preposit ion is less clear when pronouns are involved as in He gave her a bottle and in i diomatic uses such as He gave the girl a kiss) and They envied him his good fort une.
Back - New Search diurnal
is not an ordinary synonym of daily but has special technical meanings (especial ly in medicine and the life sciences) opposed to nocturnal: Melatonin controls diurnal and seasonal adjustments of activity in many speciesNa ture, 1970 / During the last two hundred years, the European continent has seen a period of i ntensifying persecution of the diurnal birds of preyM. Bijleveld , 1974.
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dive verb. In BrE the standard past tense is dived. In the 19c dove occurred in British and American dialect use and it remains a regular use alongside dived in northern p arts of America and in Canada. It appears to have been first used in print by Lo ngfellow (1855): Straight into the river Kwasind Plunged as if he were an otter, Dove as if he were a beaver. A modern American example: The plane ducked and dove, the lights went outNew Yorker, 1989.
Back - New Search diverse, divers. Both words once shared the meaning now confined to diverse, i.e. `varied, unalike', qualifying singular and plural nouns, as in Why is it so diverse, so varied in its character?J. Houston , 1990 / Can a single author cover the diverse techniques of physical biochemistry?New Sci entist, 1991. Divers now means `several, sundry' without the notion of variety: Evelyn Underhill (author of divers fat books on mysticism)D. Davie , 1991.
Back - New Search divest. The traditional uses of divest as a somewhat formal word meaning `to undress' and, i n the reflexive form divest oneself of, `to dispossess oneself of', have been joined since the 1950s, first in AmE, and then elsewhere, by the financial meanings `to sell off (a subsidiary company)' and `to cease to hold (an investment)'. The correspon ding noun is divestment: A 1966 decree requiring Von's Grocery Stores to divest a certain number of requi red storesresulted in divestment of its forty least profitable outletsNew York Law Journal, 1973 /
She advises American people to divest their investments in South AfricaChristian Science Monitor, 1986.
Back - New Search divisible is the current word meaning àble to be divided', not normally dividable.
Back - New Search divorcee is the established word in either gender for someone who has been divorced. The French forms divorc and divorce are also used for a man and a woman respectively, and are useful when a gender-specific term is needed.
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do verb. 1 GENERAL. Do is one of the most productive and complex verbs in English, althou gh a great deal of its use comes naturally to speakers of English as a first lan guage. Essentially, do has two functions: (1) as an ordinary verb (I am doing my work), and (2) as an auxiliary verb forming tenses and aspects of other verbs (I do like sw imming / What do you think?).
2 AS AN ORDINARY VERB. Do is used as an ordinary verb, with or without an object , in a vast range of meanings connected with activity of all kinds. The followin g examples are typical but not comprehensive: I'll see what the children are doi ng (= carry out, perform) / Shall we do a casserole? (= make) / She did chemistr y at university (= studied) / The garden needs doing (= deal with, attend to) / Have you done your teeth? (= clean) / Do as I do (= behave, act) / The school is doing Macbeth this year (= perform) / We did 100 m.p.h. (= reach, achieve). The re are also many colloquial uses which are best kept for informal conversation, e.g.: We'll do the art gallery tomorrow (= visit) / They were done for shoplifti ng (= prosecuted); and idiomatic expressions (It'll do no harm / A hat does noth ing for me / This will do us fine etc.)Top
3 AS AN AUXILIARY VERB. In this role, do serves several key functions in relatio n to other verbs:
a Forming negative statements (either as do not or as don't) and questions in wh ich the main verb is a plain infinitive without to: They do not want to come / I don't like it much / Do they want to come? / Don't you like it much? / Do they not want to come? b Forming stronger or more emphatic positive statements: I do like your garden / If you do come, you can stay with us / We did enjoy ourselves / Do remember the shops are closed tomorrow. c Forming constructions in which the subject follows the verb (inversion): Never did he want to try that again / Only after a long wait did he get to see the do ctor / So angry did this make him that he had to leave the room. d In so-called `tag questions': They don't like dancing, do they? / We met at the pa rty, didn't we? e In constructions in which do (or do so) stands for a main verb to avoid having to repeat it (called a substitutive function): My wife likes travelling much mo re than I do / We said we'd buy one if you did too / We get on well and have don e [so] for years / `He said I could doss down here.' `He couldn't have done.' Note that uses of do following another auxiliary verb, as in the last example, are less co mmon in AmE (which prefers We get on well and have for years). f There is also the emphatic construction, not recorded before the 18c, in which do (normally does or did) stands at the head of a subordinate phrase: She likes the old books, Dickens and Jane Austen, does my old lady Amis , 1988 / He does have a sense of humour does Mr Marr Williams , 1992. This use is clearly conversational and should not be used in more formal contexts.Top
4 DON'T HAVE = HAVEN'T GOT. Don't have and do you have are more usual in AmE tha n the corresponding BrE haven't got and have you got, as in the following pairs of examples: (AmE) I don't have any money / (BrE) I haven't got any money / (AmE ) Do you have the time? / (BrE) Have you got the time? Don't have is spreading i nto other varieties of English but still retains its American flavour: We don't have any beer. Just red wine.New Yorker, 1986 (US)/ But you don't have a carM. Duckworth , 1986 (New Zealand)/ We don't have that kind of thing in my house, manA. Brink , 1988 (South Africa)/ `Don't you have central heating?' Clare askedF. King , 1988 (UK). Question: Have you got a room for the night? Answer: Yes, we do. This apparently illogical use of do, replacing have as the auxiliary verb, arises because the q uestion, implicitly answered is Do you have a room for the night? It is a common pattern in AmE, and causes less surprise to British speakers now than formerly, since it has also become a feature of BrE. Note, finally, that Fowler's argumen t (1926) for rejecting do have and don't have in uses referring to particular in stances (i.e. Do you have a newspaper? [at this moment] as opposed to Do you hav e sugar [habitually]?) was one of his weaker propositions and ignored the force of American usage.Top
5 CONTRACTED FORMS. The contracted forms don't (= do not), didn't (= did not), a nd doesn't (= does not), though not recorded in print before the 17c, are now cu stomary in the representation of speech, and are gradually spreading into less f ormal business English, although it is best to avoid them in descriptive prose a nd in any writing intended for recipients not known to the writer.Top
6 I DON'T THINK. This is so idiomatic that its slight illogicality, once the cau se of disapproval, now goes unnoticed. When you say I don't think I've ever met anyone like you, you mean to say I think I've never met anyone like you; but the second alternative, though possible, is far less natural in ordinary conversati on.Top
7 NON-STANDARD USES. There are three non-standard uses of do which should be men tioned: a done = did. This is common in regional and uneducated speech in Britain and el sewhere: I think it done him good Twain , 1873 / I never done anybody any harm Listener, 1969. b don't = doesn't: He don't do much work. This is generally regarded as illitera te. c done (= have already) is confined to American dialect: I don't know what you need with another boy. You done got fourE.T. Wallace , 1945 .Top
Back - New Search do noun. The plural form is dos or do's.
Back - New Search do (the musical note). Use DOH.
Back - New Search dock in BrE is an artificially enclosed body of water for the loading, unloading, and repair of ships; in the plural it means à dockyard'. In AmE, however, a dock is a
ship's berth or wharf.
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docudrama is a word first recorded in AmE in 1961 for a dramatized documentary film, and i t has since spread into BrE as, no doubt, will other docu- words such as docusoa p (1990) and docutainment (1983; see also INFOTAINMENT).
Back - New Search dodo has the plural form dodos.
Back - New Search dogged is pronounced as one syllable when the meaning is as in He was dogged by misfort une and as two syllables (dog-id) when the meaning is as in He is a dogged fight er (= tenacious, determined).
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doh is the preferred spelling for the musical note, not do.
Back - New Search doily meaning à napkin', is spelt like this, not doiley or doyly. It is named after a 17c London draper called Doiley.
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doll's house is the normal form in BrE, but dollhouse is more usual in AmE.
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Domesday or in full Domesday Book, is the record of the lands of England made on the orde rs of William I in 1086. It is pronounced with the first syllable as in doom, an d is a Middle English variant of the word doomsday meaning `the day of the Last Ju dgement' (because the book was to be a final authority).
Back - New Search dominate, domineer. Dominate means primarily `to exercise control or influence over' and is used transit ively (with an object). Domineer is a more judgemental word meaning `to behave in an arrogant and overbearing way' and is often used with over or in the adjectival form domineering: The term ballbusteris a graphic, forceful expletive, typically applied to a domin eering femaleVerbatim, 1975.
Back - New Search domino has the plural form dominoes.
Back - New Search donate meaning `to give (money etc.) voluntarily', is a back-formation from donation and sp read rapidly from American to British usage: She could donate certain organs to assist in research or spare-part surgery Pym , 1977 / The Silver Wink, donated by Prince Philip, is awarded to the winner of an annual elimination tournament [in tiddlywinks] for universitiesF.R. Shapiro , 1979.
Back - New Search doomsday see DOMESDAY.
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double entendre means à word or phrase open to two interpretations, one usually risqu or indelicat e'. The equivalent term in French is double entente, which is also occasionally us ed in the same sense in English.
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double negative. 1 He never did no harm to no oneThe Archers (radio broadcast), 1987. This, and othe r double negative constructions, can easily be found in all varieties of English used throughout the world. It is commonly associated with poorly educated East London English and Black English spoken in the US: I don't take no money from no white folksChicago Tribune, 1990.
2 It surprises many people, for whom double negatives are self-evidently wrong, to know that they were once an integral feature of standard English, and are to be found in Chaucer, Shakespeare, and other writers up to the 17c. For reasons t hat are no longer discoverable, the logic then changed: instead of compounding e ach other, a sequence of negatives came to be regarded as self-cancelling; in ot her words, an arithmetical argument replaced a linguistic one. Thereafter, playw rights put double negatives into the conversation of vulgar speakers, and 18c gr ammarians roundly condemned them.Top
3 In current English, a type of double negative is used with intentional cancell ing effect, as a kind of figure of speech as in It has not gone unnoticed (= It has been noticed). On the other hand, double negatives used to reinforce each ot her are taken as sure signs of a poor education and are rarely tolerated in norm al speech. However, since attitudes have changed remarkably in the past on this issue, they may well change again.Top
4 Double negatives also occur, especially in speech, in uses of the type You can 't not go (= you cannot consider not going, i.e. you have to go), in which not g o is effectively a unified concept expressed in a verb phrase.Top
Back - New Search double passive see PASSIVE 2B.
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double possessive. This is a construction such as a friend of my father's and an admirer of hers, i n which the possessive state is indicated by of and the possessive form of the n oun father or pronoun hers. It is well established in English alongside the simp ler form (a friend of my father), and is useful in avoiding ambiguity by disting uishing between (for example) a picture of the king (= an actual portrait of the king) and a picture of the king's (= a picture owned by the king). Use of the d ouble possessive is normally limited to nouns and pronouns denoting people, and so you would not normally say (for example) an admirer of the British Museum's. The use is also less idiomatic with nouns, as distinct from pronouns, when the r elationship implied by of is not fully possessive, as in an admirer of my mother (= someone who admires my mother) as compared with an admirer of my mother's (= an admirer my mother has). But you would always say an admirer of hers and not an admirer of her.
Back - New Search double subject. This is a name for a construction in which a noun subject is followed by a suppo rting pronoun, as in Longfellow's The skipper he stood beside the helm. The OED describes this use as `common in ballad style and now in illiterate speech'. Example s: From time to time I clean. Mrs Pollypot she don't like cleaning. Wesley , 1983 / My cousin he didn't go to college Williams (citing a second-language learner), 19 87.
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doubling of final consonants in inflection. The table below explains the differing practice in English shown by the forms ho tter, enrolled, offered, targeted, in which the root word (hot, enrol, offer, ta rget) ends in a single consonant. Practice can also differ with the same word in BrE (e.g. traveller) and AmE (e.g. traveler). A key factor is the position of t he stress in each case, and it is therefore useful to distinguish between words of one syllable and words of more than one syllable. The inflections and suffixe s which affect the spelling in these ways are: -ed and -ing (in verbs); -er and -est (in adjectives); -er (forming agent nouns such as traveller); and -y (formi ng adjectives such as rickety or adverbs such as initially). 1 WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE. Words ending in a single consonant double the consonant when adding any of the suffixes given above: VERBS beg begged begging beggar clap clapped clapping dab dabbed dabbing squat squatted squatting squatter throb throbbed throbbing rub rubbed rubbing
An exception is bus (verb, = take people by bus), which has forms bused, busing. ADJECTIVES fat fatter fattest fatty glad gladder gladdest wet wetter wettest
When the final consonant is w, x, or y this is not doubled: VERBS tow towed towing vex vexed vexing toy toyed toying
When the final consonant is preceded by more than one vowel (other than u in qu) , the consonant is not normally doubled: VERBS boil boiled boiling boiler clean cleaned cleaning cleaner squeal squealed squealing squealer ADJECTIVES clean cleaner cleanest cleanly loud louder loudest loudly
2 WORDS OF MORE THAN ONE SYLLABLE. Words ending in a single consonant double the consonant when the stress is placed on the final syllable: VERBS allot allotted allotting begin beginning beginner occur occurred occurring occurrence prefer preferred preferring preference [sic]
Note the change of stress in preference, which affects the spelling. But the sam e exception as above applies to w, x, and y: VERBS guffaw guffawed guffawing relax relaxed relaxing array arrayed arraying
Words that are not stressed on the final syllable do not double the consonant un less it is an l: VERBS audit audited auditing auditor ballot balloted balloting benefit benefited benefiting bias biased biasing
bigot bigoted blanket blanketed blanketing budget budgeted budgeting carpet carpeted carpeting chirrup chirruped chirruping cosset cosseted cosseting crochet crocheted crocheting ferret ferreted ferreting fillet filleted filleting focus focused focusing gallop galloped galloping gossip gossiped gossiping hiccup hiccuped hiccuping leaflet leafleted leafleting market marketed marketing offer offered offering picket picketed picketing plummet plummeted plummeting profit profited profiting ricochet ricocheted ricocheting rivet riveted riveting rocket rocketed rocketing target targeted targeting thicken thickened thickening trumpet trumpeted trumpeting visit visited visiting visitor vomit vomited vomiting
Exceptions in BrE: input inputting
output outputting kidnap kidnapped kidnapping kidnapper worship worshipped worshipping worshipper
In AmE the forms are usually kidnaped, worshiping, etc. In BrE words ending in t in the above list are the ones most likely to appear wi th a doubled consonant (under the influence of fitted, fitting), i.e. budgetted, leafletting, etc. Focus also sometimes inflects focussed, focussing. However, i t is best to keep to the basic rule in these cases too. Words ending in -l normally double the l regardless of where the stress is place d in the word: VERBS annul annulled annulling appal appalled appalling cancel cancelled cancelling channel channelled channelling chisel chiselled chiselling counsel counselled counselling counsellor dial dialled dialling dishevel dishevelled dishevelling enrol enrolled enrolling extol extolled extolling fulfil fulfilled fulfilling grovel grovelled grovelling groveller impel impelled impelling initial initialled initialling instil instilled instilling label labelled labelling level levelled levelling leveller libel libelled libelling marshal marshalled marshalling model modelled modelling
panel panelled panelling quarrel quarrelled quarrelling revel revelled revelling reveller rival rivalled rivalling shovel shovelled shovelling travel travelled travelling traveller tunnel tunnelled tunnelling ADJECTIVES cruel crueller cruellest
Exceptions: VERBS appeal appealed appealing conceal concealed concealing reveal revealed revealing parallel paralleled paralleling
In AmE the final -l is not usually doubled: BRE AME (always) (usually) cancel cancelled canceled cancelling canceling cruel crueller crueler cruelly cruelly [sic] dial dialled dialed dialling dialing duel duelling dueling jewel jeweller jeweler jewellery jewelry [sic] label labelled labeled
labelling labeling marvel marvelled marveled marvelling marveling travel travelled traveled travelling traveling traveller traveler
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doubt. verb 1 I doubt whether he'll come and I doubt if he'll come are the standard construc tions when doubt is used in the affirmative to mean `think it unlikely'. When doubt is used in the negative to mean `think it likely', a that-clause is normal: I don't doubt that he'll come. The logic behind this difference is that when doubt is in the affirmative it implies uncertainty in the following clause (which is consis tent with use of whether or if), where as when it is used in the negative it imp lies probability in the following clause (which is more consistent with that).
2 This rationale lies behind the objection many people have to the increasing 20 c use of doubt in the affirmative followed by a that-clause or by an object clau se without a conjunction. This is commonly regarded as an Americanism, but it is attested in BrE use at the end of the 19c. Examples: (with that) Schiller doubted that a poetic measure could be formed capable of holding Goethe 's planB. Taylor , 1871 / I doubt that the White House is responsible for this rash of tittle-tattle Cooke , 1981 / I doubt that the okapi which diedwould agree with Mark Twain that `Wagner is not as bad as he sounds'Independent, 1994 / (with object clause) He doubted Ferrari would sue himNew Yorker, 1986 / I doubt there was anything really wrong with him Brookner , 1992.Top
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doubtful, dubious. 1 The constructions that follow doubtful correspond to the pattern outlined for doubt above, with whether and if still dominant but a that-clause now increasing ly common: It is doubtful that in the right-to-life controversy the rights of the unborn ch ild will be inviolateA.E. Wilkerson , 1973 / It is doubtful whether the Peloponnesian detachment was dispatched during the ac tual celebration of the Olympic gamesClassical Quarterly, 1976 / Murray was doubtful as to whether this would be enoughN. Tranter , 1987 / Even if Amelia McLean had made more ambitious claims, it is doubtful whether any one would have listened to herS. Reynolds , 1989 / It was doubtful if Midge would ever again sleep in their old bedroomD. Rutherford , 1990 / It seems doubtful that such an item would have been produced much after c.1550J. Litten , 1991.
2 Doubtful and dubious overlap in meaning but they should not be confused. Doubt ful implies uncertainty about facts, whereas dubious implies suspicion about val ue or genuineness. Both words can be used of people or situations, but dubious i s not normally followed by any of the constructions described above in relation to doubt and doubtful. The following examples (in addition to those already give n) will clarify the differences between doubtful and dubious: (doubtful) We're always a little doubtful about statements that have to be force d out of witnesses by revealing the extent of our prior informationR. Hill , 1987 / Àre you sure?' she said doubtfullyT. Pratchett , 1990 / If your tap water is of doubtful quality then you must be prepared to remedy the situation or use rain water insteadPractical Fish-keeping, 1992 / Then meeting Sophie's anxious gaze, she said briskly, `Now don't look so doubtful.'M. Bowring , 1993 / (dubious) We still had the dubious privilege of representing two `resting' actorsM. B abson , 1971 / Dreaming of luxury, of the quick buck dubiously acquiredR. Barnard , 1980 / Christine was a little dubious about Judith using brown eyeshadow, worrying that her eyes might end up looking bloodshotShe, 1989 / The right of people to know the human cost was overruled on the dubious grounds that this information could help the enemyAction, 1991.Top
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doubtless, no doubt, undoubtedly, doubtlessly. 1 Fowler (1926) rightly noted that doubtless and no doubt convey probability rat her than certainty about what follows, so that They are doubtless [or no doubt] guilty and No doubt he [or He doubtless] meant well connote no more than strong belief and reassurance respectively. If real conviction is intended, it is impor tant to use undoubtedly or without (a or any) doubt, as is shown by substituting them in the example already given: They are undoubtedly [or without doubt] guil ty.
2 Doubtlessly, for long made unnecessary by the adverbial role of doubtless, is beginning to reappear, at least in the US: The current argumentdoubtlessly offers a cogent and easily understood explanation for the current deadlock in East-West relationsWashington Post, 1984.Top
Back - New Search dour meaning `severe, stern', is pronounced in BrE to rhyme with tour and not with sour, although the second pronunciation is common in AmE and Australian English.
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douse, dowse. Three verbs are involved here: (1) douse, pronounced like the noun house, meanin g `to doff (a hat etc.)', (2) douse, pronounced like the first one and possibly related to it, meaning `to p lunge into water', and (3) dowse, pronounced like the verb house, meaning `to use a divining-rod to searc h for underground water or minerals'.
Back - New Search dove see DIVE.
Back - New Search downis a productive 20c prefix forming verbs, e.g. downface (first recorded in 1909) , downgrade (1930), download (in computing, 1980), downplay (1968), downpoint (1 946), downscale (1945), downsize (1975), downturn (1909; also as a noun, 1926). Many of these are reversals of existing phrasal verbs (e.g. play down, scale dow n), but by no means all of them are (e.g. there is no form size down and turn do wn normally has a different meaning).
Back - New Search down-market an adjective denoting the inferior end of the market, is so well established tha t it is surprising to find that its first record in the OED dates from no earlie r than 1970.
Back - New Search downsize meaning `to reduce in size or scale', is first recorded in the 1970s with reference to the manufacture of smaller and more economical motor cars. In the US in the e arly 1980s it rapidly acquired its now primary meaning, in the euphemistic jargo n of business management, of reducing the personnel of an organization by redund ancies and other drastic measures: Decline in demand for certain products and other factors `make it imperative to do wnsize the business'Washington Post, 1983. It behaves like a so-called ergative ver b in being used as an intransitive with the object made the subject: New York hospitals `will downsize'New York Times, 1986.
Back - New Search downstairs, downstair. Downstairs is the normal form for both the adjective (the downstairs lavatory) a nd the adverb (go downstairs). Downstair is occasionally found as an adjective, but not as an adverb.
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down to, up to. 1 When referring to people and their actions, down to suggests obligation or res ponsibility whereas up to suggests opportunity. If you say It is up to them you imply that they have a choice about how to act, whereas if you say It is down to them you imply that they are responsible for acting or having acted in some way . Examples: The boom in Gucci and Pucci andLacoste `names' on clothes, bags and other ornamentati on is all down to the YuppiesSunday Telegraph, 1985 / It all came to a head when we lost 30 to Derby and, if I'm honest, all three goal s were down to meToday, 1992. The origin of this use is possibly connected with t he phrase put down to, which has a similar meaning: My remarksshould be put down to my own lack of sympathy with the scientistic visi on which Thomas upholdsTimes Literary Supplement, 1980 / If that change can be put down to one man it is Bob Brett, who took over coachin g dutiesin February last yearTennis World, 1992.
2 Down to and up to are used interchangeably in the meaning ùntil' (up to the 19th century or down to the 19th century), except that the viewpoint is slightly diff erent, up to being essentially forward-looking and down to retrospective.Top
Back - New Search downward, downwards. The only form for the adjective is downward (in a downward direction), but downw ard and downwards are both used for the adverb, with a preference for downwards in BrE: She ferreted in her bag; then held it up mouth downwards Woolf , 1922 / Every time he looked downward he grew dizzyJ.M. Coetzee , 1983 / The fact that commissioners' careers only seem to go downwards after they leave Brussels has a negative effect on moraleEuroBusiness, 1989.
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dowry, dower. The two words have a common origin (via French) in Latin dare `to give', but now mea n different things: a dowry (the more common word) is the property or money brou ght by a bride to her husband, and a dower is a widow's share of her husband's e state.
Back - New Search dowse see DOUSE.
Back - New Search dozen is a collective noun used in two ways, (1) as dozen, preceded by a numeral, mean ing a unit of twelve (two dozen eggs), and (2) as dozens, in informal use, meani ng `very many' (We made dozens of mistakes).
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drachm is a British unit of weight or measure formerly used in pharmacy, equivalent to one-eighth of an ounce (60 grains), or one eighth of a fluid ounce (60 minims) i n liquid measure. The abbreviation is dr. See also DRAM.
Back - New Search drachma the monetary unit of Greece (ancient and modern), has the plural form drachmas.
Back - New Search draft, draught. Draft, originally a phonetic respelling of draught, is used for (1) a preliminar y sketch or version (She made a first draft of her speech), (2) a written order for payment by a bank, (3) a military detachment. A draftsman is someone who dra fts documents. Draught is used in all other common meanings (game of draughts, a current of air, a ships' displacement, beer on draught, a dose of liquid medici ne, a draught-horse). In AmE, draft is used for all these meanings and the game
of draughts is called checkers.
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dram is (1) a small drink of spirits, and (2) another spelling of DRACHM.
Back - New Search drank see DRINK.
Back - New Search drawing should not be pronounced with an intrusive -r- as if it were spelt drawring.
Back - New Search dream. For the past tense and past participle dreamt and dreamed are both used: dreamed is pronounced dreemd (and occasionally dremt) and dreamt is pronounced dremt. D reamt appears to be somewhat more common in BrE than in AmE; and dreamed tends t o be used more for emphasis and in poetry.
Back - New Search drier noun see DRYER.
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drier, driest, drily
are the comparative (= more dry) and superlative (= most dry) forms, and the adv erb form, of dry.
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drink. Notwithstanding a great deal of change over centuries of use, the standard forms in current use are drank for the past tense (They drank tea) and drunk for the past participle (They had drunk tea). See also DRUNK, DRUNKEN.
Back - New Search drink-driving is the form in BrE for the legal offence of driving a vehicle with an excess of alcohol in the blood; in AmE it is drunk-driving. The corresponding forms for th e offender are drink-driver and drunk-driver.
Back - New Search driving licence is the form in BrE, and driver's license is the form in AmE.
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drunk, drunken. In general drunk is used predicatively (after a verb: He arrived drunk) and drun ken is used attributively (before a noun: We have a drunken landlord). There is sometimes a slight difference in meaning, drunk referring to a particular occasi on and drunken suggesting habit. Drunken also qualifies nouns for circumstances and events as well as people (A drunken brawl ensued). Drunk is used as a noun, meaning à person who is drunk'.
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see DRIER, DRIEST, DRILY.
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dryer is the preferred spelling for the noun meaning à machine or device that dries clo thes, hair, etc.', not drier.
Back - New Search dual. Fowler (1926) described dual and (with better reason) dualistic as `words of the l earned kind', and warned against using them when alternatives such as double, two, and twofold were available. The danger was illusory, however, and dual causes n o difficulty. In practice it has tended to form fairly fixed compounds, for exam ple dual carriageway (first recorded in 1933), dual control (1913), dual nationa lity (1961), dual personality (1905), and dual-purpose (adjective, 1914).
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due to. 1 The use of due to is one of the key topics of discussion in debates about corr ect usage, along with infer/imply and the split infinitive. As an adjective mean ing òwing, payable, attributable, (of an event etc.) intended to happen or arrive' and so on, due + (optional) to causes little difficulty, and the following examp les are unexceptionable: Pay Caesar what is due to Caesar, and pay God what is due to GodNew English Bible , 1961 / Incorrect speed is generally due to a worn idler wheelReader's Digest Repair Manu al, 1972 / It was due to start at four o'clock, but didn't begin until twenty past Trevor , 1976 / Part of her happiness, her unaltered sense of her own superiority, was due to a sense of virginity preserved Brookner , 1988. In all these uses, due is an adject ive with a complement formed by the preposition to or by a to-infinitive, and th ey are compositional rather than idiomatic.
2 A problem arises when due to is used as a fixed prepositional phrase, on the a nalogy of owing to (which no one objects to in this way, for some reason), in wh ich there is no noun or pronoun antecedent that due can be regarded as qualifyin g and no linking verb such as be or become. The purist view of the matter is tha t There was a delay due to bad weather is acceptable because due qualifies delay , whereas The train was delayed due to bad weather is unacceptable because due i s grammatically unattached. (In some cases, it should be noted, the sentence can be construed either way, underlining the weakness of basing judgements about us age on close grammatical analysis: Out in the countryside, two million people are at risk of starvation, due to the failure of the harvestIndependent, 1996.) At present it is prudent to avoid this use of due to and to use alternatives such as owing to, because of, or on accou nt of. However, due to is in strong pursuit of owing to and will undoubtedly bec ome standard in the 21c, if only because analogy is a powerful force and due to has the considerable advantage of convenience over its more awkward rival.Top
3 Examples of the disputed use: Due to the incidence of Christmas and New Year statutory holidays it has been ne cessary to rearrange certain collection daysAlyn and Deeside Observer, 1976 / Michaelhated mathematics at school, mainly due to the teacherTimes Educational Sup plement, 1987 / In the past 25 years the population has trebled due to the building programEast Y orkshire Village Book, 1991 / Cocaine smuggling charges against a well-known actress were dropped in 1988 due to legal bunglingScottish Daily Mail, 1998.Top
4 DUE TO THE FACT THAT. In this expression the fact that is used to turn a prepo sitional phrase into a conjunction. It can be awkward in use, and is often avoid ed by substituting because: That this slippage is so slight is due to the fact that [substitute because] the other Enterprise staff have worked a great deal of extra timeAnnual Report, 1993 . In some cases, however, this substitution does not work well, especially when there is a strong link between due and an antecedent noun, as in the following e xamples: The success of the tampon is partly due to the fact that it is hidden Greer , 197 0 / Part of this frisson is undoubtedly due to the fact that woman as a whole has bee n seen as a pacifying influence throughout their history Fraser , 1988.Top
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dumb. 1 Dumb now has such strong connotations of stupidity and low intelligence that i ts original meaning, `not able to speak', is often regarded as offensive. To be safe , it is better to use neutral terms such as speech-impaired.
2 The ailing fortunes of dumb as a verb have been revived by the emergence in th e late 1990s of a new phrasal verb dumb down, meaning `to make more simple or less intellectually demanding'. It has an irresistible immediacy of meaning and nuance : Your headline `Lords defy Straw over cannabis' is another illustration of how subedit ors in search of a story dumb down serious debateGuardian, 1998. A new noun dumbd own (no hyphen, for simplicity) is eagerly awaited.Top
Back - New Search dumbfound, dumbfounded meaning `to nonplus, nonplussed', are formed on dumb and confound and should be spel t with a -b-.
Back - New Search dunno a phonetic representation of I don't know, is first recorded in 1842 and is wide ly used in fiction and drama in illiterate or highly informal speech:
`Now it's back the way it used to be.' `Why?' `Dunno, sweet. Do not know.'New Yorker, 1986.
Back - New Search dustbin is the normal word in BrE for a rubbish bin, although dustman has largely been r eplaced by refuse collector. Neither dustbin nor dustman is used in AmE or in ot her varieties of English.
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see NETHERLANDS.
Back - New Search duteous, dutiful. Both words mean òbserving one's duty' and date from the 16c; Shakespeare used both, though with a preference for duteous. Dutiful is now standard.
Back - New Search dutiable See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search dwarf. The traditional plural in BrE is dwarfs, although dwarves is increasingly found, perhaps under the influence of J. R. R. Tolkien , who used it regularly. In gen eral use meaning à person of abnormally small stature', alternative terms such as p erson of restricted growth, though more awkward, are now preferable.
Back - New Search dwell in the meaning `live, reside', is largely limited to literary contexts or special ef fect. The past and past participle is dwelt, not dwelled.
Back - New Search dye verb meaning `to colour with dye', has the forms dyes, dyed, dyeing, to avoid confusion w ith the forms of die (dies, died, dying).
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dyke, dike. In the meaning èmbankment', dyke is the preferred form. This is also true of the di
fferent (slang) word dyke, meaning à lesbian'.
Back - New Search dynamo has the plural form dynamos.
Back - New Search dynast, dynasty are pronounced din- in BrE and diyn- in AmE.
Back - New Search dysentery is pronounced in BrE as three syllables, and in AmE as four syllables, with stre ss on the first in both cases.
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* * *
each. 1 SINGULAR OR PLURAL. Each is treated as singular when it stands by itself as a pronoun, when it comes before a singular noun (each house), and when it is follo wed by of and a plural noun (each of the houses): Each group is responsible for its own quality controlA. Francis , 1986 / Each of the two key fobs has its own snap fasteningSunday Express, 1981 / Almost all accidents start with a simple error on the part of the pilot that lea ds to a chain of events, each of which makes the situation worseD. Piggott , 1991 /
What the treaty did not do was to make the two kingdoms of France and England on e; they were to remain separate, each with its own legal and administrative iden tityC. Allmand , 1991. When each follows and qualifies a plural noun or pronoun, it is treated as a plural since it is the noun or pronoun and not each that dete rmines the singular or plural status of the sentence: They each carry several newspapers, a whole crop of the day's papers and the Sun days Stoppard , 1976 / In the last four beats of the third bar the voices each have slight differences in note-lengths and the placing of syllablesR. Smith , 1986.
2 EACH AND EVERY. This is regarded as a clich and is best reserved for special ef fect as in Sylvia Plath's allegory of the fig-tree representing life: I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the restTh e Bell Jar, 1963.Top
3 EACH OTHER. The belief that each other refers to two people or things and one another to more than two is a superstition already rejected by Fowler (1926). Hi storical usage shows that there is no basis for such a restriction, and many con trary examples can be found from good writers: (each other referring to more tha n two) We took off in a motorcade traveling at a speed of close to 100 miles per hour w ith cars tailgating each other Kissinger , 1982 / Everybody knew each other or about each other Brookner , 1983 / KHAD, The Russians themselves, foreign governments, the competing Afghan politic al parties in exileall spy on each otherNew Yorker, 1987 / (one another referring to two) He and Gussy were evidently very fond of one anot herA.N. Wilson , 1978 / There is no such thing as complete harmony between two people, however much they profess to love one another Gordimer , 1987.Top
4 For the differences between each and every, see EVERY.Top
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early on is first recorded in BrE in 1928 and only later in AmE. It is a kind of back-for
mation from earlier on, itself modelled on later on (first recorded 1822). Early on and earlier on are both now common in both BrE and AmE: The BBC recognised early on that there was money to be made from selling archive programmes on videoNew Scientist, 1983 / Early on, he puts a coin in a newspaper vending-machineNew Yorker, 1987 / Earlier on, religion had supplied a drug which most of the clergy were quite rea dy to administerV.G. Kiernan , 1990.
Back - New Search earn has a past and past participle form earned (They earned 200 a week / earned incom e), although earnt is found from time to time in newspapers, reflecting its pron unciation and by analogy with learnt: Ray and Alan Mitchell once worked gruelling hours and earnt good money as contra ct plumbers in LondonIndependent, 1992.
Back - New Search earth is spelt with a capital initial (Earth) when it is regarded as a planet of the s olar system. Like Mars, Venus, etc., it is then used without the (but note the p lanet Earth).
Back - New Search earthen, earthly, earthy. Earthen is used only in the physical sense `made of earth' (either soil, or clay as in earthenware): No city or government wants to build earthen structures or allow them to be buil t New Scientist, 1971. Earthly has two meanings, (1) denoting the earth or human life on earth, as distinct from heavenly (They set themselves the difficult task of disentangling this cosmic dust from t he earthly sortEconomist, 1991) and (2) as an intensifying word in informal use i n negative contexts (A trainee is no earthly use in here at allM. Frayn , 1969). Earthy means (1) òf o r like the earth or soil', (2) figuratively, `somewhat coarse or crude': My friend Lindsey said I was consumed with earthy desires and unable to reach th e higher planesS. Rowbotham , 1985 / In one direction only a little earthy bank separates me from the edge of the oce anR. Sale , 1991 /
I'd been the typical first-year art-school person, entrenched in one style that was really landscapeyall earthy colours and shapesCountry Living, 1991.
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east, eastern, easterly adjectives. What is said here applies equally to north, south, and west, and their correspon ding forms. East denotes physical position (on the east side of town) and is spe lt with a capital initial (East) when forming part of a recognized name (New Yor k's East Side), whereas eastern denotes regional and cultural association (easte rn forms of art). Easterly is used chiefly of a wind blowing from the east (an e asterly wind / from an easterly direction), and also of movement towards the eas t or a position achieved by this movement (We took an easterly course / the most easterly part of the constellation).
Back - New Search eastward, eastwards. The only form for the adjective is eastward (in an eastward direction), but east ward and eastwards are both used for the adverb, with a preference for eastwards in BrE: Traffic snarled eastwards along Brompton Road at a snail's paceG.F. Newman , 1970 .
Back - New Search easy is established as an adverb in fixed expressions such as take it easy, have it e asy, go easy on, easy does it, and stand easy. Otherwise its use as an adverb is non-standard, though common informally in BrE as well as AmE: We'd get a confession out of him easy as blinkingR. Rankin , 1993. The main use o f easily is in the meanings `by far, by a wide margin', as in The home team won easi ly, and `very probably' (It could easily rain).
Back - New Search eatable, edible. Eatable means `fit to be eaten' and is normally applied to food, whereas edible mean s `suitable for eating' and is often contrasted with what is poisonous or harmful (e .g. edible mushrooms / edible snails).
Back - New Search ebullient is pronounced with the second syllable as in bulb, not as in bull.
Back - New Search echelon. Gowers (1965) regarded the meaning à level or rank in an organization or in socie ty' as a slipshod extension of the original English meaning à military formation of parallel rows'. Both meanings are in use, but the extended meaning is by far the more common. The word is derived from French (ultimately from chelle meaning `ladde r'), and it has developed in the same way in that language too.
Back - New Search echo has the plural form echoes. As a verb, it has inflected forms echoes, echoed, ec hoing.
Back - New Search ecology has spread rapidly in the 20c from technical to general use to mean `the study of the interaction of people with their natural environment'. An earlier spelling oec ology, reflecting its origin in the Greek word oikos meaning `house' (the same root as in economy), is hardly ever used. Ecology has also produced the prolific pref ix eco-, as in eco-catastrophe (1969), eco-correct (1994), eco-friendly (1989), ecopolitics (1973), eco-terrorist (1988), etc.
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economic, economical. 1 These are both adjectives answering to the word economy: economic in the meani ngs `relating to economics' and `frugal, characterized by good economy', and economical in the meaning `sparing in the use of resources'. An economic cost is one that is pr actical and makes good business sense, whereas an economical cost is one that is modest and not excessive.
2 The phrase economical with the truth, meaning `saying just as much as is needed or relevant', is a political clich of our times, recalling earlier notions of Burke and others that ìn the exercise of all virtues, there is an economy of truth'. In its present form it alludes to events of 1986, when the British Cabinet Secretar y Sir Robert Armstrong , giving evidence during the `Spycatcher' trial (in which the British government sought to prevent the publication of a book of that name by a former MI5 employee), referred to a former statement in the following way: It contains a misleading impression, not a lie. It was being economical with the tr uth. Phrases such as this are not easily forgotten, and allusive references abou nd, e.g.: The world is full of minimisers: civil servants are economical with the truth, e ngineers want to cut down the weight of aircraft, bees use as little wax as poss ibleNew Scientist, 1994.Top
Back - New Search ecstasy is spelt -asy, not -acy. The drugs meaning is first recorded in the US in 1985 a nd is often spelt with a capital initial (Ecstasy).
Back - New Search ecu, ECU. Both forms are in use for the European currency unit, although the first is like ly to prevail when the currency is established. Pronunciation differs between ek -yoo and ayk-yoo.
Back - New Search ecumenical meaning `relating to the whole Christian world', is spelt ecu- and not (as formerly) oecu-. The root is Greek oikoumen `the inhabited world'. The first syllable is pron ounced either ek- or eek-.
Back - New Search -ed and -'d. The adjectival form -'d is often added instead of the more usual -ed when the ro ot word ends in a fully pronounced vowel, e.g. subpoena'd, shanghai'd. Practice varies, however, and forms such as antennaed, concertinaed, and shampooed are co mmonly found.
Back - New Search -ed see -T AND -ED.
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-edly. 1 The suffix occurs in a number of familiar words such as advisedly, allegedly, assuredly, deservedly, and unreservedly, of which some date back to the 14c but most date from the 17c to 19c. In a lengthy article, Fowler (1926) listed these along with many highly abstruse and idiosyncratic forms that were unlikely to su rvive, such as admiredly, ascertainedly, harassedly, incensedly, and statedly, s ome of which were not even entered in the OED. There are also a few 20c forms, i ncluding painedly, unashamedly, and (not mentioned by Fowler ) reportedly.
2 Normally -edly is pronounced as two additional syllables, even when the -ed el ement is not separately pronounced in the root words; this is true of all the wo rds listed in the first sentence of the previous paragraph. That is to say, advi sedly, assuredly, and deservedly are pronounced as four syllables, and fixedly a nd markedly as three. Formations from adjectives follow this rule only when -ed is pronounced as a separate syllable in the adjective, as in cold-bloodedly and high-handedly (four syllables), but not in frenziedly, hurriedly, and sham-faced ly (three syllables).Top
3 A few awkward cases remain. One wonders how Browning would have pronounced sta rchedly in his Red Cotton Night-Cap Country (1873); and how D. H. Lawrence would have pronounced painedly in his England, My England (1921); and indeed how the OED editors articulated to themselves the forms admiredly, depressedly, laboured ly, and veiledly when they set them down as part of the language. Many of these, however, are used too rarely to cause any real problem.Top
Back - New Search educable, educible. Educable is the adjective formed from educate, and educible the adjective formed from educe (= bring out, develop). See -ABLE, -IBLE.
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-ee is an active suffix originally drawn from Old French words denoting the recipien t of a grant or the like, as in lessee and patentee. In more recent formations, -ee denotes (1) the recipient of an action, often corresponding to an agent-noun in -er or -or (addressee, amputee, employee, trainee), (2) in a few cases, a pe rson who performs an action or is associated with it (attendee = a participant a t a conference or meeting, escapee, refugee, standee = a standing passenger). A few are peculiar to AmE, e.g. enrollee and retiree. The -ee in bootee and a few other words is a separate suffix of obscure origin; that in goatee, jamboree, ma rquee, and settee, is yet another (or possibly more than one).
Back - New Search -eer is a suffix first recorded in the 17c, replacing an earlier (French) form -ier. One of its first occurrences is in mountaineer (first used in Shakespeare's The Tempest, 1610, in the meaning òne who lives in the mountains'). In more recent use, it has taken on disparaging connotations, as in pamphleteer (1642), profiteer ( 1912), racketeer (1928), and marketeer (originally 1832 in a neutral sense, now a person engaged in marketing in the sense of `product promotion'). There are many d erivatives in -eering, e.g. buccaneering (1758), electioneering (1760), privatee ring (1664), and associated verbs, some of them independently formed (e.g. elect ioneer, 1789) and others as back-formations (e.g. mountaineer, 1892).
Back - New Search effect noun and verb see AFFECT.
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effective, effectual, efficacious, efficient. 1 All these words mean `having an effect' of some kind, but with different applicati ons and shades of meaning. Effective means `having a definite or desired effect' tha t is actual rather than theoretical: The toothbrush is undoubtedly the most effective weapon in the fight against bac terial plaqueDaily Telegraph, 1971 / She is most effective as a live performer of her own materialNew Yorker, 1975. Ef
fectual means `capable of producing the required result or effect', independent of a personal agent, and is often more theoretical than actual: The rich ought to have an effectual barrier in the constitution against being ro bbed, plundered, and murdered, as well as the poorA. Arblaster , 1987 / The rim of my hat, while effectually shading my eyes, did not obstruct my visionJ . Davidson , 1991. A person cannot be described as effectual although he or she can be described as ineffectual, i.e. `lacking the ability to produce results': The Rangers' problems stemmed from the habit thatthe team's general managerhad of hiring ineffectual cronies to coach the clubNew York Times, 1979.
2 Efficacious applies only to things, and means `producing or sure to produce the required effect': It is perhaps dubious to argue that a prayer or worship becomes more efficacious if more people Join inS. Lamont , 1989 / How can I persuade them, when they go to the bar, that a Perrier or a tonic wate r might be just as efficacious as alcoholic liquor?S.J. Carne , 1990. Efficient r efers to a person's or thing's capacity to do work and produce results with mini mum effort and cost: You police spies don't seem to be a very efficient bunch, letting an old man be drowned while you are supposed to be keeping a watch on himG. Sims , 1973 / Older systems can be improved with modern, efficient components and controls can be added to improve fuel economyIdeal Home, 1991. In recent use, efficient is so metimes preceded by an attributive noun that defines the scope of the efficiency : Why not spend some of that money on improving public transport schemes more energ y efficient, safer and less polluting?C. Wheater , 1990.Top
Back - New Search effete is a 17c word originally meaning `worn out by bearing offspring' (from Latin fetus) with reference to animals. It rapidly developed the transferred meaning `(of a mat erial substance) that has lost its special quality or virtue', and by the late 18c was being applied to persons or systems that had lost their effectiveness. In t he 20c it has come to be applied to effeminate men, though not, despite its etym ology, to women who are or look as if they are past child-bearing age: `Do you mind if I sit down?' asked the young man in effete, accented EnglishR. Kee , 1991. It is still commonly used of ineffective institutions: Somehow the whole fabric of society is softening, becoming effeteR. Harrison , 19 91.
Back - New Search e.g. is short for Latin exempli gratia and means `for example'. It should be distinguishe d from i.e., from Latin id est, which means `that is to say'. In other words, e.g. i llustrates whereas i.e. explains.
Back - New Search ego has the plural form egos.
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egoism, egotism. 1 Both are 18c words for `preoccupation with oneself' in various ways. There is no e tymological difference to affect their meanings, and the intrusive -t- in egotis m is unexplained. When Fowler wrote about these words (1926), egotism was the mo re popular form, and his prediction that egoism would oust it has not been fulfi lled. It is useful to maintain a distinction: egotism is the general word for ex cessive self-centredness, whereas egoism is a more technical word in ethics and metaphysics for theories which treat the self as the basis of morality and sense -perception. In an extended meaning, egotism also means self-seeking conceit, wh ereas egoism is a more straightforward preoccupation with the self and an excess ive use of I. The meanings are however so close that they will not stay apart in ordinary usage, nor will those of the corresponding personal designations egois t and egotist (although strictly an egoist is someone who subscribes to a type o f morality based on the importance of the self and an egotist is a self-seeker) and of the adjectival forms egoistic / egoistical and egotistic / egotistical.
2 Some examples follow: (egoism and its derivatives) I have never gone out of my way for man, woman, or child. I am the complete egoi st Sackville-West , 1931 / How much of us will be recognisable in the pages of the history books of 2066? T his egoist's niggle spiralled up into my mindNew Statesman, 1966 / He can retain his insights into another person, and use them in choices of means , without abandoning his longterm egoistic ends for the altruistic goals to whic h he briefly felt himself drawnA.C. Graham , 1985 / He [sc. C. S. Lewis ] writes about it in unforgettably dramatic terms and with t he sublime egoism (to use the word purely, with no pejorative sense) of a man al one with GodA.N. Wilson , 1990 /
Hutcheson thought of himself as defending the reality of moral distinctions, and the genuineness of a morally good benevolence which was not egoistically basedT. L.S. Sprigg , 1990 / (egotism and its derivatives) Nothing so confirms an egotism as thinking well of oneself Huxley , 1939 / He was continually talking about himself and his relation to the world about him , a quality which created the unfortunate impression that he was simply a blatan t egotistH. Miller , 1957 / To justify or to condemn them in public is a squalid piece of egotism when it wi ll hurt the livingC. Lewis , 1960 / I had always thought him to be egotistical and attention-seekingD.M. Thomas , 199 0 / It amazed her that she'd ever believed herself in love with him, that she'd delu ded herself into seeing his arrogance and his egotism as positive qualitiesS. Mar ton , 1993.Top
Back - New Search egregious. Of its two opposed meanings, `remarkably good, distinguished' (as in Marlowe's egreg ious viceroys of these eastern parts in Tamburlaine) and `remarkably bad', only the second is now in use, although it is also used to mean èxceptional, unusual' more n eutrally. The word comes from Latin grex meaning `flock', and originally meant `toweri ng above the flock', i.e. `prominent'. Modern examples: (with bad overtones) His habit of surrounding himself with stooges and sycophants inevitably led to t he debacle after an egregiously fraudulent electionWashington Post, 1960 / It may well be the case that an egregious idiocy has formed the basis of a polit ical tradition Twentieth Century British History, 1991 / I have waited a long time to catch The Economist out on an egregious factual err orEconomist, 1993 / (neutral) The inside is unified and austere, apart from an egregious baroque rer edos, with a barrel vault, [etc.] Sturrock , 1988 / He was truly egregious but a kind man and a good skipperDictionary of National Bi ography, 1993.
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eighties.
This information is put here because eighties occurs first alphabetically, but i t applies equally to nineties, twenties, thirties, and so on. These words, wheth er denoting decades or the years of a person's life, are spelt without an initia l apostrophe, i.e. eighties, not 'eighties.
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either. 1 PRONUNCIATION. The pronunciations iy-dh and ee-dh are about equally common.
2 PARTS OF SPEECH. Either functions in two ways: as an adjective or pronoun, and as an adverb or conjunction. In all these uses, it means essentially òne or othe r of two'; when more than two alternatives are involved an alternative word (such as any) or construction is often needed, at least in more formal contexts. (This aspect is discussed further in section 3 below.) a ADJECTIVE AND PRONOUN. Either means òne or the other of two' (Either book will se rve the purpose / Either of you can go) or èach of two' (We sat down on either side of the table). b ADVERB AND CONJUNCTION. The basic meaning is às one possibility or alternative', and is normally balanced by or (You may have either tea or coffee / Either come in or go out, but don't just stand there). The position of either and or should be such that the grammatical structures are correctly balanced, as in Either I w ill go with John or I will stay here with you but not in Either I will go with J ohn or stay here with you. It is also used with a negative, normally at the end of a clause or sentence (She didn't want to come, either / There is no time to l ose either).Top
3 EITHER WITH MORE THAN TWO. The essential duality of either is shown by the fol lowing example: We either rely on our children to translate for us or we can try to catch upillus trated London News, 1980. If the number of alternatives is extended to more than two, opinion is divided about the elegance and even the acceptability of the re sults; in general a greater tolerance is necessary in conversational English, bu t in formal English it is advisable to restrict either to contexts in which ther e are only two possibilities. In the case of the adjective and pronoun use, eith er should be replaced by any when a choice from more than two is involved (Any o f the books will serve the purpose). It should be noted, however, that any can m ean one or more than one, and so any one should be used when this is the meaning (Answer any one of the following three questions).Top
4 SINGULAR OR PLURAL AFTER EITHER. Normally either governs a singular verb (Has either of you seen my pen? / Either John or Peter has got it), but with the type either of (+ plural) a plural construction is sometimes used to emphasize the p
lurality of the statement as a whole, especially in inverted questions when the verb comes first (Have either of you two ladies received an anonymous letter?A.E.W. Mason , 1924). Notional and grammatical agreement are in conflict in informal uses such as Eit her John or Jane avert their eyes when I try to take their photograph. When one of the alternatives is singular and the other plural, normal usage is to make th e verb agree with the one closer to it (Either the twins or their mother is resp onsible for this). See also NEITHER.Top
Back - New Search ejector is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search eke out. Fowler (1926) wanted to limit the use of this phrasal verb to refer to things th at can be made to last longer or go further, i.e. a supply: `you can eke out your income or a scanty subsistence with odd jobs or by fishing, but you cannot eke o ut a living or a miserable existence.' The use which he rejected has nonetheless b een standard since the 19c, and it is futile to object to it: Some runaway slavescontrived to eke out a subsistence Darwin , 1845 / He lived with his parents until their death, and thereafter eked out a marginal living as a messenger Sacks , 1985.
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elder, eldest, older, oldest. 1 Elder and eldest mean the same as older and oldest but they are much narrower in their range of use, being applicable only to people and only as nouns or attr ibutive adjectives (before nouns). You can say his elder brother / her sister is the eldest / John is my eldest son / but you cannot say John is elder than Paul / Which one is eldest? / Who has the elder car? In these cases, older or oldest has to be used, as it can also in the cases where elder and eldest are legitima te.
2 Elder has special uses in elder hand (in cards), elder (= senior) partner, and elder statesman, and (as a noun) is the title of lay officers of the Presbyteri
an Church.Top
Back - New Search elector is spelt -or not -er.
Back - New Search electric, electrical. In most contexts electric is the natural choice, especially to describe a device that works by electricity (electric blanket / electric kettle). Electrical is r eserved for contexts in which the meaning is, more generally, `relating to or conc erned with electricity', as in electrical engineering.
Back - New Search elegant variation is the name Fowler (1926) gave to a celebrated article, nearly six columns long, on misguided avoidance of repetition which leads the user into stylistic traps that are anything but elegant, such as using women and ladies, cases and instanc es, or have, possess, and own in parallel uses in the same sentence, for example The total number of farming properties is 250,000; of these only 800 have more than 600 acres; 1,600 possess between 300 and 600 acres, while 116,000 own less than eight acres apiece. Another kind of variation is represented by the sentenc e We much regret to say that there were very regrettable incidents at both the m ills. Although he found fault with Thackeray (careering during the season from o ne great dinner of twenty covers to another of eighteen guests). Fowler's main t argets were `minor novelists and reporters'. A modern type of elegant (or not so ele gant) variation occurs frequently in journalism, and involves the substitution o f a general description for a specific name, for example: Today Mother Teresa an nounced she is so moved by the plight of the Romanian children she is going to d o something about it. The Nobel Peace prize winner will open a mission in Buchar est to care for the children.
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elegy, eulogy. An elegy was originally a lament for the dead, of which literary examples are Mi lton's Lycidas (1637) and Shelley's Adonais (1821). In the course of time, it ca me to mean any sorrowful poem or one written in the metre associated with elegie
s, as in Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (1751). A eulogy was origi nally a speech honouring a dead person, and has come to mean more generally anyt hing formally written or spoken as a personal tribute.
Back - New Search elemental, elementary. Elemental refers primarily to the forces of nature and in particular to the anci ent belief in the `four elements' of earth, water, air, and fire, as in elemental fi re / elemental forces / elemental spirits / etc. Elementary, on the other hand, means `rudimentary, introductory', as in elementary school / elementary mathematics / etc. In modern physics, elementary means `not able to be decomposed', as in elemen tary particle.
Back - New Search elevator is the word used in AmE and sometimes elsewhere for what in BrE is called lift. However, Americans as well as Britons use the word ski-lift for the device that carries skiers up a slope.
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elicit, illicit. Confusion arises occasionally because both words are pronounced the same way (ilis-it). Elicit is a verb meaning `to draw out or evoke (an answer, admission, etc .)' whereas illicit is an adjective meaning ùnlawful, forbidden'.
Back - New Search eligible, illegible. These are more likely to be confused in casual speech than in considered writing . Eligible means `fit or entitled to be chosen' (eligible for a pension) or `desirable , suitable' (an eligible bachelor). Illegible means `(of writing) not clear enough t o read'.
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ellipsis. 1 MEANING. Ellipsis is the omission from a sentence of words which are normally needed to complete the grammatical construction or meaning. It occurs most often in everyday speech, in expressions such as Told you so (= I told you so) and So unds fine to me (= It or that sounds fine to me), and also occurs regularly in a ll kinds of spoken and written English.
2 IDIOMATIC ELLIPSIS. Ordinary English grammar normally calls for the omission o f certain elements, especially when they might otherwise be repeated from a prev ious occurrence in the same sentence. Examples are the definite article (He hear d the whirr and click of machinery), the infinitive marker to (I was forced to l eave and give up my work at the hospital), the subject of a verb (I just pick up wood in a leisurely way, stack it and slowly rake the bark into heaps), and the verb itself after to (Knowledge didn't really advance, it only seemed to ) or a fter an auxiliary verb (We must and will rectify the situation). More complex fo rms of ellipsis occur in literature, often for special effect: Henriques knew they would eat his tongue for wisdom, his heart for courage and f or fertility make their women chew his genitalsN. Shakespeare , 1989. Other examp les are given by S. Greenbaum , Oxford English Grammar (1996), 778.Top
3 UNACCEPTABLE TYPES. The extent to which English allows words to be omitted in these ways is determined by what can reasonably be supplied by the hearer or rea der from the rest of the sentence, without causing ambiguity or confusion. Ellip sis is not possible when the omitted word is not identical in form and function to its role where it is present, as in No state has or can adopt such measures, in which the word to be supplied is adopted, not adopt. Nor is it permitted when there is a change from active to passive in an omitted verb, as in Our official s ought to manage things better than they have been, in which the word to be sup plied is managed, not manage; nor again when the construction changes, as in The paintings of Monet are as good or better than those of van Gogh, which should r ead are as good as or better than those of van Gogh. Less obviously wrong, but b est avoided, are cases where number (singular/plural) changes, as in Fowler's ch aracteristically gruesome example The ring-leader was hanged and his followers i mprisoned (with ellipsis of were).Top
4 OMISSION OF THAT IN RELATIVE CLAUSES. See THAT 3B.Top
5 ELLIPSIS IN NON-STANDARD SPEECH. Ellipsis of auxiliary verbs such as can, do, and have is a feature of non-standard speech in AmE: Well how you expect to get anywhere, how you expect to team anything?E.L. Doctoro w , 1989 / Watergate, man. Where you been?M. Doane , 1988.Top
6 PUNCTUATION MARK. Ellipsis is also used to mean a punctuation mark consisting
of (usually) three full points to mark either a pause or the intentional omissio n of words (for example in quoting). When the omission comes at the end of a sen tence, it is normal to add a fourth point to mark the full stop.Top
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else. 1 The usual possessive forms are anybody else's, someone else's, etc., and not ( for example) anybody's else, although this was used until the mid-19c: They look to me like someone else's, to be frank Lively , 1987 / English feudalism was like anyone else'sLondon Review of Books, 1988.
2 In questions, else invariably follows an interrogative pronoun, as in What els e did he say? Postponement of else to the end of the sentence, as in What did he say else?, although possible up to the early part of the 20c, is no longer gram matical.Top
3 Thus use of else as a conjunction to mean òtherwise, if not', which is common in literature since the Middle Ages, now seems archaic but is still found in inform al speech: Fortunately it [sc. a staircase] was not spiral, else I would have succumbed to vertigoB. Rubens , 1985.Top
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elusive, illusory. The confusion here has been greatly reduced by the virtual disappearance from th e scene of the forms elusory and illusive. This leaves elusive as the adjective from elude, meaning `difficult to grasp (physically or mentally)', and illusory as t he adjective corresponding to illusion, meaning `deceptive, not real or actual'. Exa mples of each: Preparations are now complete and they set off in a few days' time to try and ca
pture that elusive denizen of the deepthe Loch Ness MonsterStornoway Gazette, 1971 / I must warn you that paper profits are often illusoryD. Westheimer , 1973.
Back - New Search e-mail short for electronic mail, is a term that has become rapidly familiar with the a dvance of technology over the last ten years or so. It is often spelt with a hyp hen, presumably to afford some extra status to the prefix e, although this has n ot shown much sign yet of forming other words of this kind. Its grammatical beha viour follows that of mail, i.e. it is a noun and a verb; you can e-mail message s and you can e-mail people.
Back - New Search embargo has the plural form embargoes.
Back - New Search embarrass, embarrassment are spelt with two rs and two s's.
Back - New Search embed is spelt em-, not im-.
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emigrant, immigrant, migrant. 1 An emigrant is someone who leaves his or her home country to live in another c ountry; and an immigrant is one who comes to live in a country from abroad. The same person is therefore an emigrant on going through the exit gate at a port or airport and is an immigrant when given permission to take up residence in the c ountry of arrival. The corresponding verbs are emigrate and immigrate. (Note one m in emigrant etc. and two ms in immigrant etc.)
2 A migrant is either (a) a migrating animal or bird, or (b) in Australia and Ne w Zealand, an immigrant. An migr (French = having emigrated) is a political emigra nt, originally one from France during the French Revolution.Top
Back - New Search emote is a back-formation meaning `to express emotion'. It is first recorded in America in 1917, and has been largely restricted to the language of ballet and theatre cri tics and to photography: The female sitter had to emote in some way, either by dressing up or by gazing w ith drooping head into a bowl of flowersAmateur Photographer, 1970 / How are you going to get up and emote in front of an audience?L.S. Schwartz , 198 9.
Back - New Search emotional, emotive. Emotional and emotive both mean `connected with or appealing to the emotions', but e motional is the word more often used in the neutral sense `relating to emotions' whe reas emotive has a stronger sense of `causing emotion': In this oppressive society women need the care and emotional support of other wo menA. Wilson , 1988 / The whole subject of removing children from their parents was no less emotive fo r them than for other members of the communityR. Black , 1992. Emotional, but not emotive, also means èasily affected by emotion' with reference to people (All of us get elated and emotional as we stroll through a pine grove on a hot s ummer day when the old trees fill the air with their pungent fragranceP. Heselton , 1991). Emotive is more commonly used of words or behaviour that tends to arou se emotions, and often qualifies words such as issue, language, topic, etc. (He was just firing a smokescreen of emotive words and phrases Lyall , 1982), whe reas emotional describes feeling and actions that involve emotion in themselves (From a good script will emerge a film in which every scene carries an emotional chargeJ. Park , 1990). However, the considerable overlap in meaning is shown by the fact that the two words could be exchanged in the last two examples without causing any major difference to the way they are understood.
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empathy. 1 This is originally a term used in psychology and aesthetics meaning `the power o f identifying oneself mentally with (and so fully comprehending) a person or obj ect of contemplation'. In general use it tends to replace sympathy or feeling for when these words are sometimes more appropriate; sympathy can be felt without th e element of personal experience that is implied by empathy: Seeing our sadness, our empathy with the pain she was surely suffering, she said , `What's wrong with you all?'A. Davis , 1975 / It was a hard life, and Byron recounts it with empathy and gusto Burgess , 1986. It also gained some currency from educationists who established a fashion for te aching history by getting pupils to feel empathy for (or empathizing with) peopl e of other ages, as an antidote to preoccupation with political history. But all that has changed again.
2 The corresponding adjective is either empathic (probably the more usual form) or empathetic.Top
Back - New Search employee has replaced employ (feminine employe) as the dominant form in BrE for someone who is employed. In AmE the alternative form is employe, pronounced as three syllab les and usually stressed on the second.
Back - New Search emporium is a formal word for a large retail store or a centre of commerce. The principal plural form is emporia, although emporiums is increasingly found.
Back - New Search empower, empowerment Empower is a 17c verb meaning `to give power or authority to'. In the 1970s it acqui red a new meaning, `to make (someone) able to do something', implying the freedom to adopt moral values and principles of one's choice as advocated by members of th e New Age movement and others. A person who is self-empowered is able to act ind ependently of the constraints imposed by conventional values: These self-empowered individuals are motivated by teamwork and developing broade r skills rather than just achieving conventional statusIndependent, 1995. The cor
responding nouns are empowerment and self-empowerment.
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-en adjectives. The practice of adding -en to nouns denoting a substance, as in golden, silken, and woollen, dates from Old English. From the earliest time, however, and especi ally from the 16c, there has been a tendency to use the corresponding noun attri butively (before another noun), as in a gold [not golden] brooch and silk [not s ilken] curtains. By this process, forms in -en have been enabled to develop figu rative meanings, so that we are now much more likely to encounter brazen impuden ce than brazen rods, leaden skies rather than a leaden roof, and a silken touch rather than silken curtains.
Back - New Search enamel has the forms enamelled, enamelling in BrE and enameled, enameling in AmE.
Back - New Search enamour is commonly used in the form be enamoured of, or sometimes be enamoured with, us ually in negative or ironic contexts: I am not so much enamoured of the first and third subjects Dickens , 1866 / Not all feminists were so enamoured with such tacticsF. Mort , 1987 / He was also not enamoured of the music, although he later found it much more enj oyableM. Hodkinson , 1990. The US spelling is enamor.
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en bloc meaning às a whole', was adopted into English in the later 19c, and is now normally regarded as naturalized, i.e. printed in ordinary Roman type.
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enclose is the correct form for the word meaning `to close in, include, etc.', not inclose.
Back - New Search encomium meaning à formal expression of praise', has the plural form encomiums or occasional ly encomia.
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encrust meaning `to cover with a crust', is preferable to incrust.
Back - New Search encyclopaedia, encyclopedia. This word is first recorded in English in the 16c, and was adopted from a late L atin word which in turn was based on a supposedly corrupted form of a Greek term meaning `general education' in the arts and sciences. The form encyclopedia is now very common in book titles, especially of books of general information as distin ct from books on special areas of knowledge, where the older form encyclopaedia is still holding its own.
Back - New Search endeavour is the spelling for the noun and verb in BrE, endeavor in AmE. See FORMAL WORDS.
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ended, ending. Figures for the period ending / ended 31 December. In referring to periods of ti me, ended is used to denote the terminal date when the time is in the past, and ending when the time is in the future or (in current use) in the past; so ending is never wrong. The word used of the initial date is always beginning, never be gun.
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endemic, epidemic. An endemic disease is one that is regularly or only found among a particular peo ple or in a particular region, whereas an epidemic disease is a temporary but wi despread outbreak of a disease. Epidemic, but not endemic, also functions (more usually) as a noun. Both words have extended meanings in relation to things othe r than diseases: It is among managerial and professional workers that sponging, skiving and malin gering is epidemicNew Society, 1975 / Recurrent energy crises are endemic in African agricultural societiesG.T. Nurse , 1985.
Back - New Search end of the day. At the end of the day is one of the less attractive 20c clichs. It is first recor ded in 1974 and means no more than èventually, when all's said and done': But, at the end of the day, it is an amateur sport and everyone is free to put a s much or as little into the game as he choosesB. Beaumont , 1982.
Back - New Search endorse in its modern marketing meaning `to give one's approval to (a product)' was labelled by the Concise Oxford Dictionary in 1914 as `vulgar in advertisements'. Its origina l meaning is `to write on the back of (a document)', from Latin dorsum `back', with vari ous applications in law and commerce. In the 19c it came to mean `to support (an o pinion)', from which the use in advertising developed.
Back - New Search end product, end result.
These have both been criticized for containing an element of redundancy, since b oth a product and a result must necessarily come at the end, but they are well e stablished. End product was first used in chemistry by Rutherford to describe à s table, non-radioactive nuclide that is the final product of a radioactive series' (OED).
Back - New Search enforce is the correct spelling, not inforce (which however survives in reinforce). Its typical grammatical objects are such things as a law, an action, a person's wish , etc. Occasionally an older construction is found with a person as object follo wed by a to-infinitive, on the analogy of force (Are the companies legally enforced to complete the forms?radio broadcast, 1978).
Back - New Search enforceable is the correct spelling, not enforcable.
Back - New Search England, English see BRITAIN.
Back - New Search English worldwide. English is used as a first language by an estimated 350 million people, and as a second language by over 400 million people (estimates vary widely.) There are m any varieties and styles of English in different parts of the world; see the sep arate entries for AMERICAN ENGLISH, AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH, BLACK ENGLISH, DIALECT, ESTUARY ENGLISH, STANDARD ENGLISH. The diversity of English is reflected in the title of a recent (1998) book by Tom McArthur , The English Languages (plural).
Back - New Search enhance means `to improve or intensify (something already good)' and is used typically with reference to achievements, reputations, values, etc. It is not used with a perso n as object; The book enhanced his reputation is correct, but The publication of his book enhanced him is not.
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enjoin. 1 Enjoin has meanings connected with commanding and issuing instructions, and is typically used in three constructions: (1) you enjoin a person to do something, (2) you enjoin something on a person, and (3) you enjoin that something should happen.
Fowler (1926) wrote that the first of these ìs not recommended', but his reasons we re not convincing even then and this construction is now too common and useful t o be objected to: The church had enjoined the faithful to say an Ave Maria Unsworth , 1985.
2 In an almost opposite meaning, in use in legal language since the 16c, enjoin means `to prohibit or forbid'; in this meaning it can refer to a person or thing, an d is followed by from: The Al-Fayed brotherssought to enjoin the Observer from publishing the results of its continuing enquiriesObserver, 1986 / Because the Times by now had been enjoined from publicationBulletin of the Americ an Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1989.Top
Back - New Search enjoy continues to be used with reference to things that are the complete opposite of enjoyable (such as ill health or a poor reputation), despite its identification as a `catachrestic' (incorrect) use in the OED: Despite the jokey reputation that middle-class British hotels enjoy, they compar e very well indeed for comfort with their European and US counterpartsHomes & Gar dens, 1970 / The Japanese Prime Ministerenjoys an even lower popularity-ratingthan President Ni xonListener, 1974. This use is no more than an apparently illogical development o f meaning characteristic of all languages, and it is well established.
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enormity, enormousness. 1 Both words are derived from Latin e norma meaning òut of the ordinary', and both originally had meanings associated with wicked and criminal aspects of abnormali ty. Enormity (15c) is older than enormousness (17c), and its first recorded mean ings are à breach of the law, a crime'. Both words have also been used unexceptiona bly at different times to mean what enormousness now means, `very great size', but b y the end of the 19c enormity was confined again to its special meaning, `great wi ckedness', as in The enormity of the crime shocked everyone, and to its concrete u se as in The regime inflicted many enormities on its opponents. This distinction continues to be defended by many advocates of careful usage in most contexts.
2 Because enormousness is such an awkward word, and alternatives such as hugenes s and immensity are not much better, enormity is beginning to compete with it ag ain (especially in AmE) in contexts that have nothing to do with wickedness, dep ravity, and suchlike, but these uses are likely to attract disapproval: A wide-angle lens captures the enormity of the Barbican Centre, London's new art s complexTimes, 1982 / The enormity of such open spaces momentarily alarms her Johnson , 1990 (Australia ) / Menzies was wilting under the enormity of the workD. Craig , 1991.Top
3 In the examples that follow, enormity is used correctly according to the crite rion given above: Hanging would seem quite a lenient sentence considering the enormity of his crim e in those harsh old daysR. Long , 1990 / I did not know then that one frequently fails to live up to the enormity of deat h Brookner , 1990 / The enormities of the Hitler regime and the Holocaust opened up many fields of r esearch into the workings of mindsJ. Lawson , 1991. There is a practical point to be made, that generalized use of enormity, given its special meaning, can lead to ambiguity in contexts such as We all recognize the enormity of their achievem ent, when the achievement in question might anyway be open to different interpre tations. However, meanings legitimately overlap in sentences such as the followi ng: She tried to be a strength for her daughter, but was overwhelmed by the enormity of what was happening to them allR. Black , 1992.Top
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enough, sufficient, sufficiently. 1 Enough functions as both an adjective and an adverb, whereas sufficient requir es modification as sufficiently. As an adjective (or modifier), enough will norm ally serve, but sufficient is more idiomatic when a more qualitative point is be ing made. For example, in the sentence It was not sufficient for the tribunal merely to establish by whose hand informa tionwas improperly leakedDaily Telegraph, 1971, sufficient implies a stronger elem ent of disapproval of the inadequacy than would be the case if enough had been u sed. Enough also has two grammatical characteristics that are not shared by suff icient: (1) enough cannot be used with mass nouns denoting quantity, such as num ber, supply, etc., preceded by the indefinite article; you can say a sufficient number but not an enough number, and (2) enough can be placed postpositively (after the word it qualifies), as in The y have money enough for a holiday and They do not have a large enough house, whi ch places a greater emphasis on the commodity or attribute in question
2 Choice between enough and sufficiently when they are used as adverbs is normal ly determined by the degree of formality needed, sufficiently being the more for mal. The main grammatical difference between them is that enough is placed after the word it qualifies when this is an adjective or another adverb: He was not f irm enough and She did not sing well enough but He was not sufficiently firm and She did not sing sufficiently well. There is no difference in use when they qua lify verbs or clauses: They are not working enough and They are not working suff iciently.Top
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enquire, enquiry, inquire, inquiry. The forms in en- and in- have long been largely interchangeable. At present the in- forms are dominant in all meanings in AmE, whereas in BrE there is a tendenc y to prefer the in- forms for official or formal types of investigation and (to a lesser extent) the en- forms for routine or general types of information-seeki ng. The differences in BrE are seen in these typical collocations: (formal inves tigation) inquiry agent / judicial inquiry / a committee to inquire into child a
buse / (general information-seeking) / I enquired after her health / There were several enquiries about the job / Try directory enquiries.
Back - New Search enrol is spelt with one l and is inflected with two ls in enrolled, enrolling, enrolle r, but there is only one l in enrolment. In AmE, there are two ls in all these f orms, including enroll itself.
Back - New Search ensure see ASSURE.
Back - New Search enterprise is spelt -ise, not -ize.
Back - New Search enthral is spelt with one l and is inflected with two ls in enthralled, enthralling, but there is only one l in enthralment. In AmE, there are two ls in all these forms , including enthrall itself; and there is a variant inthrall.
Back - New Search enthuse is a 19c back-formation meaning `to show enthusiasm' or `cause enthusiasm in', and is us ed with and without an object; you can enthuse people, enthuse over something, o r simply enthuse. Although regarded with disfavour by those for whom verb back-f ormations are second-class words, it is here to stay, and serves a useful purpos e.
Back - New Search entitled means `having a right or claim to' and should not be used as a synonym of liable (to a penalty), as in Germany suffered bitterly and was entitled to suffer for what she had done. Here was entitled to should be replaced by deserved to.
Back - New Search entrench meaning `to establish firmly', is spelt en-, not in-.
Back - New Search envelop, envelope. Envelop (with stress on the second syllable) is the form for the verb, meaning `to wrap up, surround, etc.', and it inflects envelops, enveloped, enveloping. Envelo pe (with stress on the first syllable, now normally pronounced en- rather than o n-) is the form for the noun, meaning à container for a letter, etc.'.
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-en verbs from adjectives. 1 There are about fifty verbs ending in -en (e.g. cheapen, harden) which have be en formed from adjectives. The table given below shows that this process of verb formation was at its most productive in Middle English and in the early modern period up to about 1700. There is only one possible pair before the Norman Conqu est (11c), namely the Old English antecedents of fast and fasten, but the relati on of these two words to one another is not at all straightforward. The table al so shows representative examples of (1) adjectives (such as blind) which functio n as verbs without adding -en, (2) adjectives which have two verb forms in curre nt use (such as smooth), (3) adjectives (such as hot, long, and strong) which re sort to cognates (heat, lengthen, and strengthen), and (4) adjectives (such as c old) which have no corresponding verb form at all. Dates refer to forms in the p receding columns, and are of the formation of the word, whether or not in the me aning(s) now current.
2 Other verbs, such as enfeeble, enlarge, and enrich (all ME), were formed by ad ding the prefix en- rather than the suffix -en.Top
3 Nearly all the -en verbs which came into existence in the 16c and 17c joined o r replaced words that were spelt in the same away as the adjective. For example, deep already existed as a verb in the Anglo-Saxon period, and deepen did not jo in it and compete with it until the 16c.Top
4 By 1700 the productive power of the suffix had largely disappeared. The 18c pr
oduced only broaden, madden, and tighten; the 19c only coarsen, quieten, smarten , and tauten; and the most recent is neaten (1898). ADJECTIVE VERB 1 DATE VERB 2 DATE VERB 3 DATE black black ME blacken ME bright brighten OE broad broaden 18c cheap cheapen 16c coarse coarsen 19c cold damp damp ME dampen 16c dark darken ME dead deaden 17c deaf deafen 16c deep deepen 16c fast fasten OE fat fatten 16c flat flat 16c flatten 17c foul foul OE fresh freshen 17c glad gladden ME good hard harden ME hot hot OE heat OE lame lame ME less lessen ME light (= not heavy) lighten ME light (shining) light OE lighten ME like liken ME long lengthen ME loose loose ME loosen ME mad madden 18c
moist moisten 16c neat neaten 19c quick quicken ME quiet quiet ME quieten 19c red redden 17c ripe ripen ME rough rough 15c roughen 16c sad sadden ME sharp sharpen ME short shorten ME sick sicken ME slack slacken 16c smart smarten 19c smooth smooth ME smoothen 17c soften soften ME stiff stiffen 15c still still OE stout stouten 19c straight straighten 16c strong strengthen ME sweet sweeten ME taut tauten 19c thick thicken ME tight tighten 18c tough toughen 16c weak weaken ME wet wet OE white whiten ME wide widen 17c worse worsen ME
Top
Back - New Search environs meaning `the surrounding area of a place', is a plural noun and should be pronounced in-viy-rnz, with the same pattern as in environment.
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envisage, envision. 1 Envisage is an early 19c loanword from French, meaning at first `to look in the face of' and then (its current meaning) `to have a mental picture of (something yet to happen)'. Fowler (1926) dismissed it as an ùndesirable Gallicism' and recommended as alternatives the words face, confront, contemplate, recognize, realize, view, and regard. Gowers (1965) added imagine, intend, and visualize to the list of w ords for which envisage was à pretentious substitute'. None of these will always qu ite serve, however, and only some of them can be substituted for envisage in its common construction followed by a verbal noun (We do not envisage leaving just yet).
2 Neither Fowler nor Gowers noticed the arrival, first in Britain (1921) and the n more assertively in America, of the closely synonymous word envision, meaning `t o see or foresee as in a vision'. The evidence of current use shows that envision is strongly favoured in AmE and envisage in BrE, but the division is not absolut e. Examples: (envisage) The best scenariothat we can envisage is one in which all those who wa nt to do formal work will have an opportunity of doing two or three days a weekjo urnal of the Royal Society of Arts, 1980 / So mother envisaged us all here, gathered round staring down in this ghastly way Lively , 1989 / Mr King spokemore diplomatically, emphasizing that he did not envisage any ìmmedia te' change in force levelsTimes, 1990 / (envision) They envision themselves wearing beretsand crawling about the rubble, throwing Molotov cocktailsMelody Maker, 1968 / His blackest hypochondria had never envisioned quite so miserable a Catastrophe S trachey , 1921 /
He did not envision any basic change in the social structure or the standard of livingBulletin of the American Academy, 1989 / It may be only the stuff of newspaper editorials, of course, to envision a strat egy in which the United Nations takes decisive actionSunday Times, 1990.Top
Back - New Search eon is an American spelling of AEON.
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epic. 1 Epic is a term traditionally applied (first as an adjective, later as a noun) to narrative poems that celebrate the achievements of the heroes of history or l egend, such as the Iliad, the Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, Milton's Paradise Lost, the Chanson de Roland, the Old English elegiac poem Beowulf, and the Hindu Mahbh rata and Rmyana. The name normally applied to Old Norse narrative poems of this kind is saga.
2 The word has been extended in more recent usage to refer to any major literary work, theatrical performance, or (especially) film, which has some claim to be regarded as exceptional in terms of its length, subject matter, or scale of trea tment: I want very much to see the Birth of a Nation, which is said to be a really grea t film, an epic in pictures Huxley , 1916 / Talking of films, Meier is still working on his wild, underground epic, Snowball , as well as producing a new Hollywood movie called MM Face, 1992. It has also go ne full circle in acquiring a new adjectival meaning `great, heroic' in various appl ications when used attributively (before a noun): The Communists' Red Army had just completed its epic Long March from the Southea st to its new headquarters at YenanTime, 1977 / In his epic landscape of Jerusalem executed in April of 1830, Roberts draws the Holy City in silhouetteR. Fisk , 1991 / Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank came face-to-face for the first time in 25 months si nce their epic world title fightToday, 1992.Top
Back - New Search epidemic see ENDEMIC.
Back - New Search epigram, epigraph. Both words come from the same Greek roots meaning `to write (or written) on'. Epigra m is slightly earlier (16c) and has two principal meanings in current use, (1) a short poem with a witty or ingenious ending, and (2) a terse or pungent saying. A third meaning, a dedicatory or explanatory inscription on a building, tomb, c oin, etc., is now obsolete and is supplied by epigraph, which also means a short quotation or pithy sentence put at the beginning of a book, chapter, etc., as a foretaste of the leading idea or sentiment to be found in the work.
Back - New Search episcopalian means `belonging or referring to an episcopal church', i.e. a church founded on the principle of government by bishops. It refers primarily to the Anglican Church i n Scotland and the US, which has elected bishops; in this context it is spelt wi th a capital initial, Episcopalian.
Back - New Search epistle refers primarily to the letters of the New Testament, e.g. the Epistle of St Pau l the Apostle to the Romans. It is sometimes used ironically or whimsically to m ean a letter of any kind: The whole tenor of the epistle is that of one elite talking to another without r eference tothose who have paid YukIt, 1970.
Back - New Search epithet. An epithet is an adjective indicating some quality or attribute (good or bad) wh ich the speaker or writer (or the verdict of history) regards as characteristic of a person or thing, eg Charles the Bold, Ethelred the Unready, Philip the Good , William the Silent, and many figures (Alexander, Alfred, Peter, Pompey, etc.) called the Great. An epithet can also be a noun used as a significant title or a ppellation, e.g. William the Conqueror, Vlad the Impaler. In more casual use, ep ithet simply means `description' or `name':
The epithets of liar, racist and worse hurled at the vice president just won't s tickWashington Times, 1988.
Back - New Search epitome pronounced as four syllables (i-pit--mi), is derived from a Greek word literally meaning `to cut into'. It has two main meanings in English, (1) a person or thing t ypically representing a quality or class (Little did he dream when he designed the polka dot that one day it would become the epitome of fashionNew Yorker, 1970), and (2) a summary or shorter version of something written (The bookis not intended to be popular. No doubt a lively epitome will one day be made for general reading Waugh , 1956).
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epoch. 1 An epoch is the beginning of a distinctive period in the history of something or someone, whereas an era is a period of history characterized by particular ci rcumstances or by a particular series of events. A period is a more general term for a distinct portion of time in relation to a person's life or to human histo ry and an aeon is an immeasurable length of time often used in more rhetorical c ontexts. In geology, the three terms epoch, era, and period have special meaning s: era denotes the largest unit of time, a period is a division of this, and an epoch is a subdivision of a period.
2 The adjective epoch-making is first recorded in the 19c (Coleridge had used ep och-forming in 1816), and is now widely used to mean `remarkable, significant' as we ll as (more appropriately) `historic': Not an epoch-making or path-breaking bookTimes Literary Supplement, 1973 / This was an epoch-making moment in the history of Egypt, like the day a dam burs tsN. Barber , 1984.Top
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eponym, eponymous. 1 An eponym is a person after whom something is named, such as a building, an in stitution, an organization, a machine, a product, or a process. Examples include : Alzheimer's disease, from Alois Alzheimer, 18641915, German neurologist; Braill e, from Louis Braille, 180952, French inventor; diesel, from Rudolf Diesel, 185819 13, German engineer; mackintosh, from Charles Macintosh, 17661843 (with a change of spelling); Morse code, from S. F. B. Morse, 17911872, American inventor; sandw ich, from the 4th Earl of Sandwich, 171892.
2 The adjective eponymous is used in the following way: Beowulf is the eponymous hero of the Old English poem of that name; Emma is the eponymous heroine of the novel Emma by Jane Austen ; and Robinson Crusoe is the eponymous hero of The Li fe and Strange and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe .Top
Back - New Search equable, equitable. Both words come from Latin aequus meaning èqual', but their meanings are different. Equable means èven and moderate, regular' and is typically used with words such as climate, disposition, and temperament. It denotes avoidance of extremes as well as avoidance of change. Equitable means `just, fair' (usually with reference to sev eral parties involved), and is typically used with words such as agreement, sett lement, and solution.
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equal. 1 As a verb, equal has inflected forms equalled, equalling in BrE and equaled, e qualing in AmE.
2 As an adjective, equal is l to the sum of the squares rect object without to (The es on the other two sides). ith'
followed by to (The square on the hypotenuse is equa on the other two sides), whereas the verb takes a di square on the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squar Equal to also has the meaning `fit for, able to deal w
(I hope I shall be equal to the challengeP. Street , 1990); when it is followed b y a verb this should be a verbal noun, not an infinitive (They are not equal to performing [to perform] the task).Top
3 Ellipsis (omission) of to should be avoided in phrases such as equal to or gre ater than, as in Their budget must be equal to or greater than the minimum total cost of supplyin g the expected outputB.C. Smith , 1988. See ELLIPSIS.Top
4 Equal is often regarded as an absolute that cannot be qualified by words such as very, more, rather, etc. However, this rule does not apply to all its meaning s, and it is legitimate to say, for example, They wanted a more equal allocation of resources, in which equal means `fair' as much as `divided equally'. There is also G eorge Orwell's famous line All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than othersAnimal Farm, 194 5, which is often recalled allusively in uses such as the following: All victims are equal. None are more equal than others. Le Carr , 1989.Top
Back - New Search equally. Fowler (1926) condemned the use of equally as (They are equally as good) as an ìl literate tautology', preferring either (They are equally good) or (They are as goo d). Another unexceptionable possibility, which goes some way to providing the se ntence balance that equally gives, is They are just as good.
Back - New Search equilibrium is pronounced with the first syllable either ek- or eek-. The plural form (not o ften needed) is equilibria or equilibriums.
Back - New Search equip has inflected forms equipped, equipping. The noun form is equipment.
Back - New Search era see EPOCH.
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-er and -est forms of adjectives and adverbs. 1 GENERAL. This article deals with the forms of the comparative and superlative of adjectives and adverbs, either by inflection (larger, largest; happier, happi est) or by using more and most (more usual; most unfortunately). It also deals i n outline with the rules for using the various forms available. See also the art icles on ADJECTIVE and ADVERB.
2 ADJECTIVES THAT HAVE -ER AND -EST FORMS. The adjectives that take -er and -est in preference to (or as well as) more and most are: a words of one syllable (fast, hard, rich, wise, etc.). b words of two syllables ending in -y and -ly (angry, early, happy, holy, lazy, likely, lively, tacky, etc.) and corresponding negative forms in un- when these exist (unhappy, unlikely, etc.). Words ending in -y change the y to i (angrier, earliest, etc.). In some cases only the -est form is used (e.g. unholiest but mo re unholy). c words of two syllables ending in -le (able, humble, noble, simple, etc.). d words of two syllables ending in -ow (mellow, narrow, shallow, etc.). e some words of two syllables ending in -er (bitter, clever, slender, tender, et c., but not eager). In some cases only the -est form is used (e.g. bitterest but more bitter). f some words of two syllables pronounced with the stress on the second syllable (polite, profound, etc., but not antique, bizarre, secure, etc.). g other words of two syllables that do not belong to any classifiable group (e.g . common, cruel, pleasant, quiet); some words can take -er and -est although the forms sound somewhat less natural (e.g. awkward, crooked). Adjectives of three or more syllables need to use forms with more and most (more beautiful, most interesting, etc.).Top
3 ADVERBS THAT HAVE -ER AND -EST FORMS. The adverbs that take -er and -est in pr eference to (or as well as) more and most are: a adverbs that are not formed with -ly but are identical in form to correspondin g adjectives (e.g. runs faster, hits hardest, hold it tighter). b some independent adverbs (e.g. often and soon). Adverbs in -ly formed from adjectives (e.g. richly, softly, wisely) generally do not have forms in -er and -est but appear as more softly, most wisely, etc. The phrase easier said than done is a special case, in that there is no equivalent
use as an adverb of the simple form easy.Top
4 CHOICE OF FORMS. With adjectives and adverbs of one syllable it is usually les s natural to use more and most when forms in -er and -est are available, althoug h there are exceptions that are not readily explained: The job was harder than t hey thought sounds less idiomatic in the form The job was more hard than they th ought, but We felt gladder after seeing the children sounds equally idiomatic in the form We felt more glad after seeing the children. With adjectives of two sy llables it is often possible to form comparatives and superlatives both by -er a nd -est forms and with more and most. For example, the sentences He was most unh appy when he was on his own and He was unhappiest when he was on his own are bot h idiomatic, although the first but not the second can mean èxtremely unhappy' as w ell as `most unhappy (of all)', in accordance with the different meanings of most.To p
5 USAGE WITH AND WITHOUT THE. Comparative and superlative forms are used as adje ctives without the, and comparatives can be followed by than (e.g. John is talle r than his mother). They are also used as quasi-nouns (or absolute adjectives) p receded by the (e.g. John is the tallest of the children). Superlatives have a s pecial function, without the, to express strength of meaning in uses such as Dar kest Africa and to speak with deepest emotion.Top
6 SUPERLATIVES IN COMPARISON OF TWO. The comparative forms are meant to compare two persons or things and superlative forms more than two, and it is normally un grammatical to use the superlative in the role of the comparative, as in The lar gest of the two, although this is commonly found in spoken and written English. Use of the superlative is however idiomatic in certain fixed expressions, such a s Put your best foot forward / May the best man win / Mother knows best, in whic h the comparison may effectively be of two but the idiom is sufficiently general ized to weaken strict duality.Top
7 LITERARY USES. Some unconventional and ungrammatical formations are found as s tylistic devices in literature, e.g. Shakespeare's easiliest, freelier, proudlie r, wiselier, Charles Lamb's harshlier, kindlier, proudlier, Tennyson's darklier, gladlier, looselier, plainlier, George Eliot's neatliest, and Lewis Carroll's c uriouser. See also ADJECTIVE (3). Other formations are occasionally used for com ic effect, e.g. admirablest, loathsomer, peacefulest, wholesomer. Such devices b elong to the category of special usage that makes exceptions to normal grammatic al rules.Top
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-er and -or.
These suffixes form agent nouns denoting either a person or a thing that perform s the action denoted by the word's stem; this is sometimes a word in its own rig ht and sometimes not, e.g. dispenser, farmer, maker, porter, sailor, suitor. In theory, -er can be added to any English verb to form an agent noun; but in pract ice both -er and -or forms are used, sometimes as active English suffixes and so metimes as elements borrowed with the word as a whole (e.g. doctor from Old Fren ch doctour from Latin doctor). Choice between the two suffixes is purely histori cal and does not have any principled distinction. Note however that some agent n ouns exist in two forms, e.g. adviser and advisor (the second probably influence d by advisory). When -er is added to verbs ending in a consonant + -y, the y is normally changed to i, as in carrier, occupier, etc. Exceptions are flyer, which is now more usu al than flier, and drier, which alternates with dryer.
Back - New Search -er and -re (noun and verb endings) see -RE AND -ER.
Back - New Search eraser is spelt -er, not -or. See -ER AND -OR.
Back - New Search ere pronounced like air and meaning `before', has been in continuous use as a prepositio n and conjunction from the Old English period. Now it is only used for archaic e ffect or in poetry, but it refuses to disappear altogether: And time seemed finished ere the ship passed by Muir , 1925 / I would give you a gift ere we go, at your own choosingJ.R.R. Tolkien , 1954 / In that cluster of villages, London by name, Ere slabs are too tall and we Cockn eys too few Betjeman , 1958 / No thriftful scrutiny was drawn When, ere creation's mighty dawn, Thou plannedst man's abodeP. Falvury , 1968.
Back - New Search ergative is a term for a type of verb of action or movement in which the object of the ve rb can become the subject of the same verb used intransitively (without an objec
t), as in They closed the door / The door closed. There are many verbs of this t ype, including change, close, cook, finish, move, open, shut, slide. Some langua ges, such as Eskimo and Basque, have a special case for nouns used as the subjec t of ergative verbs.
Back - New Search erotica meaning èrotic literature and art' is a plural noun, and any verb it governs should be plural (Erotica are much in evidence in the world of videos), although it is often treated as a singular mass noun: None of Minton's erotic drawings have resurfaced, even today when erotica has be come much sought afterF. Spalding , 1991. In many uses number is not explicit: Above the pulp-linelies the world of erotica, of sexual writing with literary pre tensions or genuine claims Steiner , 1967.
Back - New Search err meaning `to do wrong', is pronounced as in her. Errant, meaning `doing wrong', is pronou nced with the first syllable as in merry.
Back - New Search erratum meaning àn error (in printed matter)' is pronounced i-rah-tm. It is a singular noun , with a plural errata. Errata should not be used as a singular noun on the anal ogy of agenda; if a singular is needed, a phrase such as list of errata is prefe rable.
Back - New Search ersatz is a German loanword meaning à substitute or imitation' and is first recorded in En glish in 1875. It is still used, often in attributive position (before a noun, e .g. ersatz coffee / an ersatz culture), and is pronounced in a somewhat non-natu ralized manner as er-zutz or er-sutz.
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erstwhile is a word that dates from Old English, and is still occasionally found, mainly a s an adjective meaning òf old, former': Many erstwhile Green Line travellers were doubtless driving their own carsK. Warr en , 1980.
Back - New Search escalate is a 1920s back-formation from escalator (first recorded in 1900), and has burst the bounds of meaning that a word for a moving staircase might be expected to i mpose. Not surprisingly, escalate is now rarely used in its first meaning `to trav el on an escalator'. By the 1950s, it had come into regular use to mean `to increase or develop rapidly by stages', chiefly in the context of military and political c onflict. Typical examples from that time (the first intransitive, the second tra nsitive, i.e. with an object) are: The possibility of local wars èscalating into all-out atomic wars'Manchester Guardia n, 1959 / Using tactical nuclear weapons which would be likely to escalate hostilities int o a global nuclear warEconomist, 1961. In more recent use, escalate continues to be used in such contexts but has extended beyond them: Only a tiny percentage of cannabis-smokers escalate to heroinListener, 1967 / The police more often came under physical attack and began to respond with a ste adily escalating counter-violenceLiberty and Legislation, 1989 / Her previous calm gave way to terror that escalated until it threatened to overw helm herE. Blair , 1990 / Ìraq is not interested in escalating the situation or creating any crisis,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programmeToday, 1992.
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escape verb and noun. There are three significant 20c uses, the first two of the verb and the third of the noun: 1 In intransitive use (without an object), to describe astronauts overcoming gra vity and leaving the earth's atmosphere: A spaceship will escape from Earth at 11.2 kilometres a secondJournal of the Brit ish Interplanetary Society, 1949.Top
2 In transitive use (with an object), to mean `to escape from (a place)', both of as tronauts as in the previous paragraph and in other contexts, such as escape from a convent in the following example: It transpires she may have escaped Santa Clara to look for a well-known terroris tN. Shakespeare , 1989. This is a revival of an older use and shows an obvious re lation to more standard transitive uses as in escaping danger, arrest, criticism , suspicion, and other unwelcome circumstances.Top
3 In computing, escape is a noun denoting a function (and keyboard key) that end s an operation or affects a following sequence of commands in some way. For anyo ne who has fallen into any of the engulfing traps that computer technology can l ay for the unwary, the notion of escape provides a potent image.Top
Back - New Search escapee is first recorded in use by Walt Whitman , who refers to southern escapees in a memoir (18756) of his experiences as a hospital visitor during the American Civil War. It has come in for much adverse criticism from those who think that escape r (on the analogy of deserter) is the form called for, but the word is establish ed and is supported by other forms such as refugee. It also accords well with th e active use of the past participle (which is passive in form), as in an escaped prisoner. See -EE.
Back - New Search escort is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and on the second as a verb.
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Eskimo has the plural form Eskimos, but Eskimo also is used as a collective. The Eskimo term Inuit (the plural of inuk meaning `person') is preferred by the people themsel ves.
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especial, especially, special, specially. 1 There is no longer any great difficulty with especial because special has all but driven it out, although it is still used occasionally to refer principally t o exceptional personal qualities or attributes as in your especial charm. The ad verbs specially and especially present a much bigger problem, because each conti nues to the usurp the role of the other quite extensively. Essentially, the diff erence is this: especially means `chiefly, much more than in other cases' and can qu alify adjectives and adverbs as well as verbs, whereas specially means `for a spec ial or specific purpose' and qualifies verbs, participial adjectives formed from v erbs (as in specially made), and occasionally (when it encroaches on especially, as described at 3 below) adjectives.
2 The following examples show this distinction: (especially) The sumo wrestlers are not especially tall, but they are especially bigC. James , 1978 / Ancient woodsare especially important for wildlifeTimes, 1982 / Insist on listening to some music, preferably piano music that shows up wow and flutter especially wellListener, 1982 / The transfer of Britain's most sophisticated technologies (especially in laser a nd) will have appalling effects on the British economyCity Limits, 1986 / (specially) This fine piano was made specially for usChicago Tribune, 1977 / I gathered these specially in bud, because I thought it would be nice to see the m open out in the warmth of the houseD. Madden , 1988 / A poll, specially commissioned by London Weekend Television, examined the attitu des of different age groups to wealth distributionF. Field , 1989.Top
3 The meanings of the two words come closest when qualifying an immediately foll owing adjective, as in the following examples in which each word is virtually in terchangeable for the other, although especially is still the more correct: It's a pretty anonymous mark. Not one I'm specially proud of, either Lively , 199 1 / The function of the criminal law, as we see it, isto provide sufficient safeguard s against exploitation or corruption of others, particularly those who are speci ally vulnerable because they are young, weak in body or mind or inexperiencedT. . , 1992 Specially more usually encroaches on especially, but sometimes especiall y is the offender: These Pakistani garments are created especially for the wearer by a joint effort
of the women of the family.A. Wilson , 1988.Top
Back - New Search espresso a name for strong black Italian coffee (from a word meaning `pressed out'), is spelt with initial es- not ex- (a variant erroneously influenced by English express).
Back - New Search Esq. This abbreviation is a 16c shortening, as a written form of address, of esquire, which originally denoted à young aspirant to knighthood who attended and served a knight', and was later extended to refer to other classes of men including peers , lawyers, and so on. By the mid-20c Esq. had become a courtesy designation, pri ncipally in correspondence, with no significance as to rank. When Esq. is used, it follows the name and replaces any prefixed title (Mr, Dr, Capt., etc.) that w ould otherwise be used. With one exception (US lawyers addressing themselves), i ts use is restricted to Britain, and even here it is dying out as other conventi ons come into use.
Back - New Search -esque is a suffix forming adjectives, and corresponds to French -esque or Italian -esc o (from the medieval Latin ending -iscus). In English it occurs in words derived from Italian and French, e.g. grotesque, picaresque, picturesque, and is an act ive suffix added to personal names to form adjectives meaning ìn the style of', e.g. Audenesque, Disneyesque, Schumannesque. (It will be noticed that such words wou ld only awkwardly make alternative forms in -ian).
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-ess. 1 This suffix forms nouns denoting female persons or animals, and was adopted in Middle English from the Old French form -esse (from late Latin -issa). The firs t wave of -ess words in English (countess, duchess, empress, hostess, mistress, princess, etc.) were all imported in their entirety from French. From this begin ning, -ess rapidly became an active suffix added to words that already existed i n English, e.g. Jewess (14c, Wyclif), patroness (15c), poetess (16c, Tyndale); a nd it supplanted the older native female suffix -ster, which now survives only i
n spinster. These words were formed by substituting -ess for -er in words such a s adulterer / adulteress, or by adding -ess to the stem of words such as author / authoress. In some cases, a feminine form predated a corresponding masculine f orm; for example, sorceress (14c, Chaucer) is attested before sorcerer (1526, Ty ndale). Some words required modification or refinement, producing (for example) governess in place of the earlier governeresse and ambassadress instead of the ( unrecorded) alternative ambassadoress.
2 The OED records over 100 words in -ess formed from Middle English to about 185 0, some merely fanciful or now obsolete (e.g. entertainess, farmeress, vicaress) but others still in regular use (e.g. ambassadress, heiress, mayoress).Top
3 In the 20c, the feminist and politically correct movements have had a devastat ing effect on the fortunes of many -ess words, and have effectively brought the life of -ess as an active suffix to an end. Those regarded as especially offensi ve are (on racial grounds) Jewess and Negress, and (on gender grounds) occupatio nal terms such as actress, air hostess, authoress, manageress, poetess, propriet ress, stewardess, waitress, all of which have yielded to gender-neutral alternat ives, either the traditional masculine forms (actor, author, manager, poet, prop rietor, waiter) or specially devised forms (flight attendant, waitperson). Other words continue unchallenged, among them abbess, adulteress, adventuress, ambass adress, duchess, goddess, governess, heiress, murderess, postmistress, princess, songstress. Some of these are unalterable titles, others are not simply female equivalents of the masculine form (e.g. an ambassadress is the wife of an ambass ador; a mayoress is the wife of a mayor, and in both cases a female office-holde r would be called by the -or forms), and others are encountered too rarely (or o nly in special contexts such as fiction) to cause disquiet.Top
4 A further limitation on the use of many -ess forms is that they cannot be foll owed by of to identify them in relation to a work or achievement; instead of the authoress of Persuasion you have to say the author of Persuasion. It is possibl e, however, to say the goddess of love, in which of plays a somewhat different r ole.Top
Back - New Search Essex. This name of one of the English Home Counties conjures up, in the expressions Es sex man and Essex girl, a 1980s image of the brash, amoral, self-made right-wing young businessman lacking all refinement and cultural interest, and his promisc uous, materialistic girlfriend: Essex man lies unheeded and unloved in the gutter of political historyEconomist, 1995 / An alarming tale of Essex girl jokes and sexual innuendoIndependent on Sunday, 19 95. It remains to be seen how long these names, which are closely tied up with t he materialistic political climate of the 1980s, continue in use.
Back - New Search -est (forming superlatives of adjectives and adverbs) see -ER AND -EST FORMS.
Back - New Search Establishment. The Establishment (with a capital E) means `the group in society exercising author ity or influence, and seen as resisting change' and, by extension, àny influential or controlling group' as in the literary establishment. This concentration of a pr eviously somewhat vague range of meaning was due largely to an article by the jo urnalist Henry Fairlie published in The Spectator in 1955, where he defined the term as referring not only to `the centres of official powerthough they are certain ly part of itbut rather the whole matrix of official and social relations within which power is exercised'. The term Establishment had been applied earlier to the ecclesiastical system also known as the established Church, i.e. the Church of E ngland and the corresponding churches in other parts of the United Kingdom.
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estate. 1 The meaning of estate in the term three estates of the realm is a historical o ne, àn order or class forming part of the body politic'. The three estates are the Lords Spiritual (i.e. the heads of the Church), the Lords Temporal (i.e. the pee rage), and the Commons. The terms dates from the 15c, and has been used of simil ar institutions in other countries. A misuse, noted by the OED, which identifies the three elements as the Crown, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons, is first recorded as early as 1559. A fourth estate, the newspaper press, was ad ded (possibly by Edmund Burke ) in the early 19c.
2 Estate meaning à landed property' is first recorded in the late 18c. In the 20c t his has been supplemented by a meaning well noted by C. S. Lewis in his Studies in Words (1960): When I was a boy estate had as its dominant meaning `land belongi ng to a large landowner', but the meaning `land covered with small houses' is dominant now.Top
3 Estate car is a general term in BrE for a kind of car that has the internal ac commodation extended into the rear with a door at the back. The equivalent term in AmE is station wagon.Top
Back - New Search esthete, esthetic are American spellings of AESTHETE, AESTHETIC.
Back - New Search estimable means `worthy of esteem, admirable'. Estimatable is the form required for the meanin g `capable of being estimated', although it does not seem to be much used (there is one occurrence only in the 100-million word British National Corpus).
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estimation. 1 Fowler described the use of estimation in the phrase in my estimation (= in my opinion) as ìlliterate', a verdict which is negated by several centuries of use in this meaning: The dearest of men in my estimationE.W. Lane , 1841 / It was about this time that Martin took a great slump in Maria's estimationJ. Lon don , 1909.
2 Estimation, in addition to the meaning just discussed, is the process of formi ng a judgement or calculation, as distinct from estimate (noun), which is the re sult of the process, i.e. (1) an approximate decision about cost, size, value, e tc., or (2) the cost or size itself, as in The total estimate comes to 500.Top
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Estuary English is the name for a variety of informal and allegedly classless English spoken in
the area of the Thames Estuary, i.e. London and parts of the Home Counties (nota bly Essex). The term was coined in 1984 by a London scholar named David Rosewarn e . As well as peculiarities of vocabulary (such as cheers for thank you and mat e for friend), the most recognizable features of Estuary English are phonetic: t he replacement of t by a glottal stop in words such as butter and water, the rep lacement of l by a sound like w in words such as full and ball-game, and other f eatures described more fully in books such as Paul Coggle's Do You Speak Estuary ? (1993).
Back - New Search et al. is an abbreviation of Latin et alii (= and other people) or et alia (= and other things), and is used to avoid listing a long sequence of names, only the first or the first few being given, as in Smith, Jones, et al. It is regularly used in bibliographical citation for works having several authors, and is printed in ro man or italic type according to the particular style in use. It is appropriately used for references to people; for other categories etc. is preferable.
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etc. 1 This is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase et cetera meaning ànd other things of the same kind', and is pronounced et set--r or et set-r, despite the temptation to articulate the first syllable ek on the analogy of words such as ecstasy and excellence.
2 It means ànd so on' or ànd the rest', and can refer to people or things or both. Pra ctice varies regarding the punctuation that precedes and follows etc., but in ge neral it is best to treat it as if it were ànd so on', i.e. precede it by a comma w hen it comes after two or more items already separated by commas (We need pencil s, paper, etc.), but not when it comes after a single item or two items without a comma (We need paper etc. / We need some pencil and paper etc.). It should be followed by a comma when a comma would be used in the case of ànd so on' (We need p encils. paper, etc., as well as a desk to work on).Top
3 Since etc. includes ànd' in its element et, it is illiterate to write and etc. (o r & etc.). The form &c, though once common (and used by in ordinary writing), is now out of fashion.Top
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ethics, morals. 1 Both terms are concerned with the practice of right and wrong. The Concise Oxf ord Dictionary (1995) defines ethics as `the science of morals in human conduct'; wh at this means is that morals forms the basis of abstract principles whereas ethi cs are the application of these principles in human activity, especially in spec ific areas of activity such as law and medicine (professional ethics).
2 Of the corresponding adjectives, ethical describes what is right or wrong in t erms of an accepted code of behaviour, whereas moral describes what is right or wrong in principle, as affecting human behaviour generally: The various moral systems of the world may include many of the same moral ideasG. A. & A.G. Theodorson , 1970 / They believe in the moral superiority of primitive over civilised manDaily Telegr aph, 1972 / It is neither easy nor ethical to perch with notebook or video camera over spont aneous scenes of human mating or aggressionNew Scientist, 1983 / Condoning surrogacy as a solution is surely not justified on either ethical or p ractical groundsFinancial Times, 1985. Moral also occurs in a few fixed expressio ns such as moral certainty (= strong probability), moral courage, moral majority , and moral support, and here means `having a psychological effect associated with confidence in a right action'.Top
Back - New Search ethnic is now principally used to denote a section of a community having distinct racia l, cultural, religious, or linguistic characteristics not shared by the rest of the community. Ethnic is typically used to describe clothing, dance, music, and other customs that distinguish such people: The Radio Authority has helpfully decreed that classical music, light orchestra and non-amplified jazz, folk, country and ethnic music aren't popTimes Educationa l Supplement, 1991 / Vegetarian dishes in various ethnic cuisinesMexican, Thai, Indian, Italian, Japan ese, Middle Eastern, etc. New Musical Express, 1991. An ethnic minority (first re corded in 1945) is a section of a community that forms a minority within a large r community, for example Sikhs, Muslims, and West Indian people in Britain. In a further development of the term, people are described as being (for example) et hnic Turks when they are of Turkish origin but living in a country other than Tu rkey; in recent times we have heard a great deal about ethnic Vietnamese in Camb odia and ethnic Albanians in Serbia:
The ethnic Albanian ministers had been tendering their resignations one by one s ince late March Keesings , 1990.
Back - New Search ethnic cleansing. This unfortunate euphemism, highly reminiscent of the final solution and other e xpressions to do with the suppression of peoples, is first recorded in 1991 in c onnection with events in Yugoslavia that have continued through the 1990s. It me ans `the mass expulsion or extermination of people from a minority ethnic or relig ious group within a certain area': The area has a large number of towns and villages, many emptied of Muslims and C roats in three years of ethnic cleansingTimes, 1995.
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ethnic names and stereotypes. 1 SLANG NAMES FOR PEOPLE. These range from the neutral or affectionate (Brit = s omeone British, Mick = an Irishman) via the category of often though not always derogatory (Limey (in America) = someone British, Yank (in Britain) = an America n) to the invariably offensive (dago = Spaniard, Yid = Jew). Across this range m uch depends on the relationship between the user of the term and the hearer. Mos t offensive of all in current use are Nigger for a black-skinned person (so offe nsive that pressure groups in the US want to see it removed from dictionaries) a nd Paki for a person from Pakistan or the Indian subcontinent generally. The ori gin of some terms is obscured or forgotten; many have to do with trivialized con ceptions of supposed habits (Frog = Frenchman, from the practice of eating frog' s legs in France, Kraut = German, from the eating of sauerkraut in Germany, etc. ), others are fanciful formations (Pommy (in Australia) = English immigrant, fro m pomegranate as a word-play on immigrant), and others again develop folk etymol ogies (e.g. wog = foreigner, supposedly an acronym of westernized (or wily) orie ntal gentleman but more likely a shortening of golliwog). Some are of unknown or igin (e.g. kike, AmE = Jew). A fuller account of this topic will be found in the Oxford Companion to the English Language (1992), 3814, from which much of this m aterial is drawn.
2 STEROTYPES. Ethnic stereotypes have long featured as a component of idiom in m any languages, and these often have more to do with popular conception than hist orical truth. Increased sensitivity to unfavorable ethnic description in the 20c has led to a strong disapproval of many terms, such as street Arab and young Tu rk. Most notorious of all has been the use of Jew as an opprobrious term for à me an or grasping person', a historical use which arose from the association of Jews with medieval money-lending and was duly recorded in successive editions of the Concise Oxford Dictionary but dropped (on grounds of lack of currency) from the ninth edition (1995).Top
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-ette is a suffix corresponding to an Old French form -ette and is found in English (m ostly from the 19c) in four types of noun, either as an active suffix or as part of a word adopted from French: 1 diminutive words, e.g. chemisette (= a small chemise, 1807), cigarette (= smal l cigar, 1842), novelette (= a short novel, 1820), pipette (= a small pipe, 1839 ), statuette (= a small statue, 1843). Formations of the 20c include kitchenette (= a small kitchen, 1910), launderette (which is not just a diminutive but mean s a special kind of self-service laundry, 1949), diskette (= a small computer di sk), superette (= a small supermarket, chiefly AmE and Australian, 1938). In som e words, such as launderette and serviette (originally Scottish, and reintroduce d into standard English in the 19c: see U AND NON-U), -ette is not strictly a di minutive, but is best considered in this category. 2 feminine words, a usage launched in a spectacular way with the word suffragett e (1906), a female supporter of, and active campaigner for, women's right to vot e. No word of this kind coined since has had the same resonance. The American sc holar H. L. Mencken (writing in 1921) noted the appearance of a string of epheme ral formations including conductorette and farmerette, but the only one to attai n any permanent currency was usherette (1925): What the hell are you holding that torch for as if you were a bloody usherette?A. N. Wilson , 1990. This, together with undergraduette (1919, and see below) and m ajorette (AmE, in drum majorette, 1938), represent a distinct anticlimax after a promising start. A trickle of trivial words continued in the post-war years, un til the suffix was taken up by male chauvinist magazine writers in the 1980s to form depreciatory and often hostile terms for women such as bimbette, hackette, snoopette, undergraduette (a revival of the 1919 word), whizzette, and even woma nette. 3 names of fabrics, some but not all imitations of something else, e.g. muslinet te (1787, the first recorded), leatherette (1880), flannelette (1882), stockinge tte (1824, now more usually written as stockinet), and winceyette (1922, a light weight cotton fabric for nightclothes, from wincey, itself an alteration of wool sey in linsey-woolsey). 4 names of commercial foods. American newspapers in the 1990s have been carrying advertisements for Clubettes (= bite-size crackers), Creamettes (= a type of pa sta), Croutettes (= a stuffing mix), and Toastettes (= a kind of tart). The mode l for these tradenames is possibly the word croquette (first recorded in 1706), a term borrowed from French and meaning à fried breaded roll or ball of mashed po tato or minced meat'.
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etymology. 1 Etymology is the study of the history and derivation of words, and an etymolog y is the history of a particular word. Most dictionaries of concise size and lar ger give detailed accounts of a word's sources, which can be from other English words (e.g. newspaper) or from other languages (e.g. kiosk via French from Persi an). Some words borrowed from other languages have been assimilated to English-l ooking forms; for example Spanish cucaracha has given us cockroach by assimilati on with the English words cock and roach (see ASSIMILATION).
2 The vast majority of English words (apart from those made from existing Englis h words) are derived from Old English (Anglo-Saxon), from Norse languages, or fr om a late form of Latin via French words that came into English after the Norman Conquest in 1066. A succinct account of the main sources of English words is gi ven in the Concise Oxford Dictionary (1995), ix-xii, to which the reader is refe rred for further information. It is disappointing for many people that the origi ns of some quite familiar and important words remain obscure or unknown. The his tories of boy and girl are unknown before Middle English, dog has no identified Germanic cognates, many informal or slang words, such as bamboozle, caboodle, ca gey, clobber, gimmick, jiff, and posh, have no verified origins, despite spuriou s claims made for some of them (such as the supposed `port outward starboard home' o rigin of posh), and some words that appear to be made up of distinctive elements , for example contraption and theodolite, are also doubtful or unknown in origin .Top
3 Certain words, possibly including some of those in the last paragraph, are ono matopoeic, i.e. they represent a sound with which their meanings are associated, such as clang, plonk, and thwack; and a few words that are less obviously conne cted with sounds, such as blizzard and jumble, also belong to this class.Top
4 The word etymology itself comes from a Greek word etymon meaning `true'. However, the etymology of a word represents its original meaning rather than its true mea ning in any judgemental sense. Appeals to etymology to defend the use of words a gainst change in meaning (as for example with DECIMATE), though commonly made, a re usually futile, since few words in the core vocabulary of English now mean wh at they used to mean, as the complex history of nice demonstrates.Top
Back - New Search eulogy see ELEGY.
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euphemism is the use of a milder or vaguer word or phrase in place of one that might seem too a harsh or direct in a particular context, and a euphemism is such a word or phrase. The most productive subjects for euphemism are bodily functions, sexual activity, death, politics, and violence. Euphemisms in these and other areas of language use are given in the table below. WORD OR PHRASE COMMON EUPHEMISMS lavatory bog (slang), comfort station, convenience, little boys' room, little ho use, loo, restroom (AmE), washroom (AmE), water closet (WC) urinate have a tinkle (slang), pass water, relieve oneself, spend a penny, take a leak (slang) have sexual intercourse with prostitute make love to, sleep with call girl, fall en woman, street-walker die depart this life, give up the ghost, kick the bucket (slang), pass away, pas s on kill do way with, remove, take out, terminate redundancy downsizing, rationalizing, restructuring, slimming down
Examples of phrasal euphemism are collateral damage (= accidental destruction of non-military areas), ethnic cleansing (= mass expulsion or extermination of eth nic minorities), final solution (= Nazi extermination of European Jews), friendl y fire (= killing of soldiers on one's own side), helping the police with their inquiries (= under interrogation and imminent arrest), pacification (= evacuatio n and destruction of villages in war), and (facetiously) tired and emotional (= drunk).
Back - New Search euphuism (not to be confused with euphemism: see the preceding entry) is an affected or h igh-flown style of writing or speaking, originally applied to work of the late 1 6c and early 17c written in imitation of John Lyly's Euphues (pronounced yoo-fyo o-eez 157880). The name is derived from Greek euphues meaning `well-endowed by natu re'.
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Eurasian is a term (noun and adjective) first used in the 19c for a person of mixed Europ ean and Asian (especially Indian) parentage.
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Euro-. 1 Euro-, shortened to Eur- before certain vowels, is one of the more productive combining forms of the 20c, as a linguistic reflection of far-reaching political and economic developments across Europe. The form is first used in the 1950s in hyphened combinations such as Euro-African and Euro-American, and in the instit utional names Eurovision (1951, a network of European broadcasting organizations ) and Euratom (1956, = European Atomic Energy Community). The first generalized words are Euro-dollar (1960, a dollar held outside the US, though not necessaril y in Europe), the disparaging Eurocrat (= European bureaucrat, 1961), and the no t much more favourable Eurocentric (= regarded in European terms, 1963). The fir st uses related to Europe (or Western Europe) generally, and this meaning contin ues in formations such as Euromissile (1979) and Eurostrategic (1977), whereas m any terms that arose in the 1960s and since refer more specifically to the Europ ean Community (now Union) in relation to the UK's potential and later actual mem bership, especially the notorious Eurosceptic (1986) and its antonym Europhile, both used as adjectives and nouns, and other irreverent formations including Eur obabble (1986, in a US source) and Eurojargon.
2 Like many prolific combining forms, Euro- has succeeded in detaching itself an d going into orbit as a word in its own right: The Euro terrorists announcedthat they had set up a `Western European Revolutionary offensive' Evening Standard, 1987 / The name Britannia had been dropped from the deal because its nationalistic conn otations could have obvious drawbacks in a pan-Euro ventureEuropean Investor, 199 0. It remains to be seen what will be the linguistic consequences of choosing Eu ro (or euro) as the name for the new common currency of the European Union.Top
Back - New Search evade see AVOID.
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evasion, evasiveness. Evasiveness is the quality a person has of being evasive, whereas evasion is the process or result of this quality, or an instance of it: He has been in the trenches too long not to be a master at mixing sincerity with evasivenessRolling Stone, 1977 / Never before can so many decent, explicit words have utterly altered their meani ng to conceal an evasion or untruthSunday Times, 1977. Evasion has a special mean ing in relation to legal obligations, and differs from avoidance in denoting ill egality: He'd been had up for offering bribes to council employees: the whole story had b een ridiculous, tales ofcall girls and twenty-pound notes, of tax evasion and por no-movies Drabble , 1977. See also AVOID.
Back - New Search eve means `the evening or day before' (as in Christmas Eve) and, in figurative use, also means `the time just before an event' (as in the eve of the election). In the follo wing examples, eve is literal in the first two phrases, is figurative in the thi rd, and may be either in the last two: On Christmas Eve / on the Eve of St Agnes / on the eve of great developments / on the eve of the battle / on the eve of d eparture. The meaning in particular cases is often clear from the context.
Back - New Search even is normally placed immediately before the word or phrase that it qualifies: Doct ors must pursue costly and even dangerous investigations / She is talking even m ore loudly / He even enrolled in a business studies course. In some cases even q ualifies an entire subordinate clause: Even if my watch is right we shall be lat e. When even qualifies a verb formed with an auxiliary or modal verb (can, do, h ave, might, etc.), it is placed between the auxiliary verb and the infinitive (H e had even managed to laugh at it / I did not even bother to read it) and this i s also the case when even qualifies the complement of the verb: It might even co st 100. In informal contexts involving negatives, even sometimes comes at the end of a sentence: They didn't want anything to eat, or a drink even.
Back - New Search evenness is spelt with two ns.
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event. 1 In the event of is a somewhat awkward prepositional phrase used in BrE to mean ìf such-and-such (should happen)'. It is followed by a noun or verbal noun: The 12 members of the Basle central bankers' club have made reciprocal arrangeme nts to make short-term loans to each other in the event of any currency coming u nder severe pressureTimes, 1968 / Every manned space flighthas a backup crew, to replace the prime crew in the even t of illness or deathR. Turnill , 1970. The expression has picked up some bad vib es from its extended form in the unlikely event, familiar to air travellers from its euphemistic reference to danger: In the unlikely event of a landing on wate r.
2 In AmE, and in the language of law and business also in BrE, the phrase is in the event (that), used as a conjunction: A metal tubular structure over the cockpit which protects the driver in the even t the car overturnsPublications of the American Dialect Society, 1964. / Parties should consider at the outset the payment of their advisers' fees in the event that the transaction abortsD.J. Cooke , 1993.Top
Back - New Search eventuality, eventuate. Both words date from the 18c and have had their fair share of criticism. Eventua te was derided by De Quincy (1834) as `Yankeeish' and by Dean Alford (1864) as ànothe r horrible word', and Fowler (1926) castigated both as `flabby journalese', leaving a string of `characteristic specimens' to speak for themselves. It is undeniable that result or come about, or sometimes simply happen, are often preferable alternati ves: It had been intended to have educated Saudi women dealing with the public at the exhibition, butthis had not eventuatedTimes, 1986 / Many of the things we worry about never eventuateD. Rowe , 1987. Eventuality has been less fiercely attacked, although it is often a mere synonym for circumstanc e, event, or possibility: Although he had been ordered not to destroy it, Harmel was prepared for the even tualityC. Ryan , 1974 / Of course, different situations demand different reactions and one cannot plan f or every eventualityP. Mann , 1982.
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ever. 1 AS INTENSIFIER. In informal conversation ever is sometimes used as an intensif ier immediately after an interrogative word such as who, what, why, etc.: Who ev er can that be? / What ever did you say to him? / Why ever should you think that ? These uses should be distinguished from the one-word forms whoever, whatever, etc., which are relative pronouns: I'll do whatever you want. See WHATEVER, WHAT EVER; WHOEVER, WHO EVER.
2 DID YOU EVER? This expression is informal only, and has a distinct Victorian r ing: Ànd where is she now?' Ìn a studio.'`Did you ever!' said Mrs. FanshawPeel City Guardian, 2 / Cody! Out there is the middle of nowhere, by sheer coincidence, Cody Tull!`Well did you ever.'A. Tyler , 1982.Top
3 EVER SO. An older use after if or though with the meaning àt all, in any degree' now sounds archaic and has almost disappeared: Though Sir Peter's ill humour may vex me ever so, it never shall provoke me Sheri dan , 1777. It is now overshadowed by the same phrase used (since the mid-19c) i n positive contexts as an intensive meaning `vastly, immensely': Its the greatest idea, and I'm ever so gratefulJ. Leland , 1987 / He's done ever so well out there. He's a fashion photographer, has his own studi o. Lodge , 1991. This use is largely restricted to conversational English.Top
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every. 1 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EACH AND EVERY. Both words denote all the people or things in a group, and both normally govern a singular verb (for some exceptions see E ACH). But each is a pronoun (as in I'll take three of each) as well as an adject ive (or determiner), whereas every is only an adjective (or determiner); you can not say I'll take three of every, although you can say I'll take three of every kind. Each can refer to two or more items, whereas every can only refer to three
or more. The meaning is also slightly different in that each regards the people or things concerned separately, whereas every regards them collectively.
2 TYPICAL USES OF EVERY. Every is used (1) with singular countable nouns to deno te three or more (It would be quite impossible to prosecute every motorist / The new version is better in every way / The company has a training day for every n ew employee / They have every right to be here), (2) with some abstract uncounta ble nouns referring to a feeling or attitude (We have every sympathy for their c ase / I have every confidence in you), (3) with nouns of time to form adverbial phrases denoting frequency (She comes every day / We get an extra day off every three weeks / We see them in town every now and then), (4) with numbers to denot e distribution (They investigate one case in every ten / The police were stoppin g every third car). When a possessive pronoun precedes a noun, every comes betwe en them: She'll look after your every need.Top
3 EVERY SINGLE, EVERY OTHER. Single serves as an intensifier after every (I was able to hear every single word), and other denotes alternate items in a group (E very other house had a garage).Top
4 EVERY ONE. As two words, every one can refer to people or things, and each wor d retains its distinct meaning (When we cut up the apples, every one of them was rotten). Written as one word, everyone refers only to people: see EVERYONE.Top
Back - New Search everybody has been written as one word since the 19c, and alternates with everyone with no difference in meaning. Both words take a singular verb, but pronouns in the con tinuation of the sentence are often plural to denote neutrality of gender: Everybody seems to recover their spirits Ruskin , 1866 / Everybody has a right to describe their own party machine as they choose Churchil l , 1954 / `There's a bus waiting outside the terminal to take everybody to their hotels,' said Linda Lodge , 1991. See AGREEMENT (4).
Back - New Search everyday is written as one word when it is used as an adjective in attributive position ( before a noun): They were wearing everyday clothes. As an adverbial phrase, ever y day is written as two words: She goes shopping nearly every day.
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everyone as an indefinite pronoun meaning the same as everybody, is now regularly spelt a s one word. This convention is surprisingly recent (20c); the OED (in 1894) pref erred every one (two words), while Fowler (1926) presented a spirited argument i n favour of the linked form everyone. As with everybody, everyone takes a singul ar verb but can be followed by a plural pronoun or possessive in the continuatio n of the sentence to denote neutrality of gender: Everyone then looked about them silently, in suspense and expectationW.H. Mallock , 1877 / Everyone was absorbed in their own businessA. Motion , 1989 / The classical allegories look like surreal school outings in which everyone got to take their clothes off, and then was sorryM. Vaizey , 1991. See AGREEMENT (4). Unlike every one written as two words (see EVERY (4)), everyone refers only to people.
Back - New Search everyplace is a modern AmE synonym of everywhere: Although, like everyplace else, the White Elephant had engaged a corps of colleg e studentsSaturday Review, 1976.
Back - New Search every time used as an adverbial phrase and conjunction, should be written as two words: It happens every time / Every time they come, there's an argument. It is sometimes found as one word, but this is incorrect: Everytime I see a new line on my face, I'm also hysterically thinking it's all o verThe Face, 1990.
Back - New Search evidence verb. This verb, meaning `to serve as evidence of' or `to attest' (The closer links with the London company were evidenced by the acquisition of L
GOC-type buses and equipmentK. Warren , 1980) and, more loosely, `to indicate' (Everything he was and did evidenced distinction Gordimer , 1990), is decidedly a wkward and is not often found in everyday use. Other more comfortable words are available (e.g. attest, demonstrate, exhibit, indicate, show) and are usually pr eferable.
Back - New Search evilly the adverb from evil, is spelt with two ls.
Back - New Search evince is used mainly in formal English (or, as Fowler put it, by `those who like a fulldress word better than a plain one') to mean `to show or make evident (a quality or feeling)'. One might add that it is usually found in the company of other full-dre ss words: Nobody he passed evinced the slightest interest in him or seemed to constitute a ny kind of threatJ. Leland , 1987 / They constantly evince a smug hermeticism that is graceless and slightTimes, 1987 .
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exused as a prefix meaning `former', causes no difficulty when it is attached to singl e words (ex-convict / ex-president / ex-lover). Fowler's objection to its use wi th noun phrases (ex-Lord Mayor / ex-Prime Minister) as `patent yet prevalent absur dities', is uncharacteristically pedantic, and the eye easily accommodates most ex pression of this kind. In more awkward cases, especially where further hyphenati on is involved, former is always available (a former trade-union leader). Ex- ha s a special use in ex-directory, meaning `not listed in a (telephone) directory', in ex-dividend, meaning `before payment of a dividend', and in ex-VAT, meaning `before V AT has been added'.
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exalt, exult. The two words are not related and have different meanings which can be confused because of their closeness of form. Exalt (pronounced ig-zawlt) means `to praise h ighly', and is often used in the participial form exalted, meaning `grand, noble', wit h reference to status, ideals, etc.: No nd ed rm member of your Government should consider his position to be more important a exalted than that of the Paramount ChiefRand Daily Mail, 1917. Exult (pronounc ig-zult) means `to feel great joy or triumph', and is common in its adjectival fo exultant:
Alice could hardly prevent herself from openly exulting Lessing , 1986 / As the camera pulled back on the last shot and credits were shown on the screen, the tension in the studio relaxed, replaced by an exultant moodS. Conran , 1992. The meanings come very close in the corresponding nouns, exaltation = expressio n of praise, and exultation = expression of joy.
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exceedingly, excessively. Both words came into use in the late 15c. Exceedingly (16c in its current meanin g) means `very, extremely', and is now used only with adjectives and adverbs (most o ften well): His room was exceedingly coldP. Fitzgerald , 1982 / Judd was doing exceedingly well as an air cadetC. Lorrimer , 1993. Excessively ha s a much stronger meaning `too, by too much', and is used with verbs as well as adje ctives and adverbs: She may exercise excessively, spending hours each day in the gymnasium Abraham & Llewellyn-Jones , 1984 / In Enid Blyton's work, this excessively simple world picture is carried to extre mesN. Tucker , 1981.
Back - New Search excellent can be qualified by quite or most, which are adverbs with absolute meaning, but not by very or more, which are grading adverbs: The quite excellent British Museum Press, which is managing to produce some twen ty scholarly titles this seasonArt Newspaper, 1992.
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except. 1 Use as a conjunction is now archaic, as in the famous passage in Psalms (AV, 1 27:1): Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vaine that build it (in m ore modern translations this is rendered Unless the Lord builds the house ).
2 Except should not normally be used by itself to mean èxcept that' or `but', although this is common informally and in conversation: The day he turned 18, Trojan moved into his own council flat in Caledonian Road. Except he didn't like itThe Face, 1987.Top
3 Except for, as in They all came except for James, is also somewhat informal, a nd is best avoided when except alone will do: They all came except James. At the beginning of a sentence, however, except for is needed: Except for James, every one brought a gift with them.Top
Back - New Search excepting is correctly used as a preposition instead of except when it follows not (or ano ther negative) or always: His comprehensive knowledge of the Lakes stood above that of all the men of his time, not excepting WordsworthJ. Sloss , 1984. An alternative, though less usual, construction is Wordsworth not excepted. Examples of uses in which except would be preferable are: Faith had left all her jewellery, excepting mother's pearl and ruby eternity rin g, to Dorothea Shottery Hill , 1969 / These processes, excepting that of population growth, are largely unexploredP. Bl aikie , 1987.
Back - New Search exception. The proverb the exception proves the rule means `the existence of an exception sho ws that a rule exists in those cases that are not exceptions'. It should not be us
ed to mean `the exception becomes the rule', although this is often found.
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exceptional, exceptionable. 1 These adjectives relate to different meanings of exception. Exceptional means ù nusual, not typical', i.e. `forming an exception' in a favourable sense: Schizophrenes are often held to be people of exceptional charmD. Cory , 1977 / You could get an exceptional trade-in price for your old carSunday Express, 1980. Exceptionable means `to which exception may be taken', i.e. òpen to objection': Prince later wrote to Gould when he was in Australia, complaining that Alfred Ne wton had been `far, far too complimentary' about Lear's part in the publication, 'pa rticularly when we know that most of the subscribers are of the opinion that his plates are almost the only exceptionable part of your workI. Tree , 1991. It is more often used in the negative form unexceptionable, meaning `not open to objecti on, perfectly satisfactory'.
2 In the following examples, exceptionable seems to be used in error for other w ords, exceptional in the first example, and acceptable in the second: The establishment Whigscame to argue that resistance was only allowable in except ionable circumstances, such as those of 1688T. Harris , 1993 / The three point nine million pounds was effectively a minimum exceptionable leve l and it was within this figure they required the one point six million on minor works and footways to be increased to two million poundsrecord of meeting, 1992. Top
Back - New Search excessively see EXCEEDINGLY.
Back - New Search exchangeable is spelt with three es.
Back - New Search excise is spelt -ise, not -ize. As a noun and verb in the `tax' meaning, it is pronounced w ith the stress on the first syllable; as a verb meaning `to remove by cutting' it is pronounced with stress on the second syllable.
Back - New Search excitable is spelt without an e in the middle.
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exclamation mark. In ordinary writing, the exclamation mark (!) should be used sparingly, and in p articular should not be used to add a spurious sense of drama or sensation to wr iting that is otherwise undramatic or unsensational, or to signal the humorous i ntent of a comment whose humour might otherwise go unrecognized. There are a num ber of established uses: 1 To mark a command or warning: Go to your room! / Be careful!. 2 To indicate the expression of a strong feeling of absurdity, surprise, approva l, dislike, regret, etc., especially after how or what: What a suggestion! / How awful! / Aren't they odd! / What a good idea! / They are revolting! / I hate yo u!. 3 To express a wish or feeling of regret: I'd love to come! / If only I had know n!. 4 To indicate someone calling out or shouting: Outside Edith's house, someone kn ocked. Èdith!' / `You're only shielding her.' `Shielding her!' His voice rose to a shriek. Many literary uses can be found in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. The foll owing are a few representative examples: I weep for Adonaishe is dead! O, weep for Adonais! Shelley , 1821 / Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is Highland, And we in dreams behold th e Hebrides!J. Galt , 1829 (translated in Blackwood's Magazine)/ Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!S.F. Adams , 1841 / Oh, to be in England Now that April's thereWhile the chaffinch sings in the orcha rd bough In Englandnow! Browning , 1845 /
Fools! For I also had my hour; One far fierce hour and sweetG.K. Chesterton , 190 0 / What a queer thing Life is! So unlike anything else, don't you know, if you see what I mean.P.G. Wodehouse , 1919 / Six days of the week it [sc. work] soils With its sickening poisonJust for paying a few bills! That's out of proportion Larkin , 1955.Top
Back - New Search excusable is spelt without an e in the middle.
Back - New Search executive in general use denotes one of three branches of government of which the other tw o are the legislative and the judicial. In the UK, it also denotes a rank of civ il servant above administrative and clerical, and in the UK and US it means a hi gh officer with important duties in a business organization. In attributive use (before a noun) executive has developed a meaning used in marketing to describe anything promoted as suitable for use by executives, i.e. luxurious or exclusive : You can quaff from èxecutive bars'in èxecutive suites' and top up from èxecutive ice mac hines' on èxecutive floors'We have luxuriated over èxecutive menus' (smoked salmon is an xtra with the èxecutive breakfast'), and I once gratefully pocketed my `complimentary executive gifts'. Lambton , Listener, 1989.
Back - New Search executor meaning an official appointed to carry out the terms of a will, is pronounced wi th the stress on the second syllable. It should be distinguished from executione r, an official who carries out a sentence of death.
Back - New Search exercise both as a noun and a verb, is spelt -ise, not -ize, and has only one c.
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exhaustible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search exhaustive, exhausting. Both words are derived from the verb exhaust, but relate to different meanings. Exhaustive relates to the meaning ùse up the whole of' (as in exhausting a supply) and means `thorough or comprehensive': We have all read the Steering Committee's exhaustive reportD. Meiring , 1979. Exh austing relates to the meaning `to tire (a person)' and means èxtremely tiring' or `drain ing of strength': Hes known as the studio's resident Romeo, with a social life and a string of gi rlfriends which must be exhausting rather than exhilaratingLeicester Chronicle, 1 976.
Back - New Search exigent, exiguous. Both words are related to Latin exigere in its two meanings `to enforce payment of' and `to weigh exactly'. Exigent corresponds to the first of these meanings and means èxacting' or ùrgent': He was a man whose personal life, though occasionally exigent, never became a si ren songA.S. Byatt , 1988 / The exigent journalist Lynn Barber, in her collection of interviews Mostly Men, singles him out as the sole male representative of a type she describes as `nice, straightforward, feet on the ground'.She, 1989. Exiguous corresponds to the second meaning and means `very small, scanty': She gulped it down, paid the exiguous dispensing fee, and left the premisesE.R. T aylor , 1991 / The description of the facts is somewhat exiguousWeekly Law Reports, 1992.
Back - New Search exit. In stage directions the correct style is Exit Macbeth (when one person leaves th e stage) and Exeunt Banquo and Fleance (when more than one person leaves). The t wo forms are the third person singular and third person plural present tense of the Latin verb exire `to go out'.
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-ex, -ix. Naturalized Latin nouns ending in -ex and -ix vary in their plural forms, someti mes (as English words) adding -es and sometimes (as Latin words) changing the en ding to -ices. The following table lists the most important words and their plur al forms. SINGULAR PRINCIPAL MEANING PLURAL apex highest point (technical) apexes apices appendix supplement in book (medical) appendices appendixes codex manuscript in book form codices cortex outer part of an organ cortices duplex apartment on two floors (AmE) duplexes helix spiral curve helices ilex tree or shrub ilexes Index list in book (technical) indexes indices matrix mould, grid structure, etc. matrices or matrixes murex mollusc murices radix number or symbol radices silex quartz or flint no plural simplex thing in its simplest form simplexes vertex highest point vertices or vertexes vortex mass of whirling fluid vortices or vortexes
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ex officio is a Latin phrase meaning `by virtue of one's office or status' (The principal is ex officio a member of the board of governors). It is spelt with a hyphen when use d attributively (before a noun, as in an ex-officio member of the committee).
Back - New Search exorcize meaning `to expel (an evil spirit or influence)' is preferably spelt -ize, although -ise is common.
Back - New Search exoteric, exotic. Both words are derived ultimately from Greek ex meaning òutside'. Exoteric is the o pposite of esoteric, and means ìntended for people generally'; exotic means `coming f rom or associated with a foreign country', often with connotations of the remarkab le or bizarre, as in exotic dances.
Back - New Search expandable, expansible are two forms of the derivative of expand. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search expect was the object of much criticism during the 19c when it was used to mean `to suppo se, surmise', as in I expect you'd like a drink. Fowler , however, regarded it as a natural extension of meaning and wrote (1926) that ìt seems needless purism to resist it'. This view has been supported by the weight of usage, especially in spo ken English.
Back - New Search expedience, expediency. Both forms are in use in the meaning `fitness, suitability, advantage', although exp ediency is much more common. The rhythm of the sentence often determines which i s used: The present mentality on the island emphasises short cuts, expedience and disdai n for professional standardNew Scientist, 1991 / At the time there was a case to be made for the new policy satisfying the demand s both of expediency and humanityK. Tidrick , 1992.
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expiry, expiration. The primary meaning of expiry is `the end of the validity or duration of something', as in on expiry of the lease at the end of the month. It is also a rather forma l or euphemistic word for `death'. Expiration can have these meanings, although much more often it means `the act of breathing out', which expiry cannot be used to mean . Both words are derived from Latin expirare meaning `to breathe out'.
Back - New Search expletive is pronounced ik-splee-tiv, with the stress on the second syllable, for both the noun (meaning àn oath or swear word') and the adjective (meaning `filling out a sent ence, line of verse, etc.').
Back - New Search exploit is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun (meaning à bold or daring feat') and with the stress on the second syllable as a verb (meaning `to take selfish advantage of').
Back - New Search export is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and with the stres s on the second syllable as a verb.
Back - New Search expos meaning à revealing of something discreditable', is pronounced as three syllables a nd is printed in roman type with an accent on the final e. The accent is sometim es omitted in AmE.
Back - New Search exposition is sharply distinguished in meaning from expos. Its main meanings are (1) an expl anation or interpretation of something difficult, (2) an explanatory article or treatise, and (3) a public exhibition.
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ex post facto is a legal phrase meaning `with retrospective action or force', as in increasing its guilt ex post facto / ex post facto laws. Strictly speaking, as Fowler (1926) n oted, the spelling should be ex postfacto (meaning òn the basis of the later enac tment'), but the phrase has been written as three words since the 17c.
Back - New Search expressible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search exquisite. The position of the stress has been moving over the last two centuries from the first syllable, which used to be the rule, to the second, which is now very comm on. Neither Fowler (1926) nor Gowers (1965) made any comment, but there are many who continue to prefer the older stress pattern despite its awkwardness.
Back - New Search extant used to mean just èxisting', so that heresy, fashion, roads, etc. could all be exta nt. Now, it means `continuing to exist', i.e. having withstood the ravages of time, so that ancient texts, fossils, old churches, etc. are the kinds of thing now de scribed as extant.
Back - New Search extempore pronounced as four syllables, means `spoken or done without preparation', and can be used as an adverb or an adjective. It is preferable to the cumbersome alternati ves extemporaneous(ly) and extemporary / extemporarily. Impromptu means much the same, conveying perhaps a greater element of spontaneity.
Back - New Search extend. Fowler (1926) and others have castigated the use of extend fer' in expressions such as extend a welcome. Fowler wrote e has done its development in America, and has come to use wspapersa bad record'. Few would object to its use today, to mean `to give, to of that èxtend in this sens full-grown via the ne which is common:
Sincere thanks were extended to all those who contributed to the success of the exhibitionMiddlesborough Catholic Voice, 1992 / An open invitation is extended to Mr Amos to attend meetings of the Village Asso ciation committeerecord of meeting, undated.
Back - New Search extendable, extendible, extensible are three equally legitimate forms derived from the verb extend. See -ABLE, -IBL E.
Back - New Search extenuate means `to lessen or reduce the seriousness of (guilt or an offence)' and usually occ urs in the participial form extenuating: Poverty and desperation are extenuating factors in Bangladesh, but not in the Un ited StatesNew Yorker, 1973 / The law itself, framed as it is in terms of strict liability, is not concerned w ith any niceties which might be provoked by extenuating circumstancesK. Hawkins , 1993.
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exterior, external, extraneous, extrinsic. 1 The four words are related, and all have meanings based on outside. Exterior a nd external both refer to the outside of things in contrast to the inside (Most manufacturers describe their exterior wall paints as masonry paintDo It You rself Magazine, 1991), and medicine is for external use when it is applied to th e outside of the body; but exterior is generally physical only, whereas external is also applied in abstract or figurative meanings (Changes in staff, changes in curriculum and increasing external demands making planning a chancy businessM. Sullivan , 1991); the external world is the world be yond one's perception. As a noun, however, exterior has the abstract meaning `the outward or apparent behaviour or demeanour of a person': How about your pal Ivan? Does he have sensitive feelings under that Neanderthal exterior?D. Ramsay , 1973 / Bob, who hides a sparky humour behind a grizzled exterior, said tenants who were taking his beers were doing it on a `belligerent, sod-the-brewer basis'Whats brewin
g?, 1991. External is used as a noun generally in the plural to mean `the outward aspects or circumstances': The place has all the appropriate externals, chimneys choked with ivy, windows w ith jasmine, wormeaten shutters, mossy thatchP. Tristam , 1989 / Eventually he found all forms of religion involving èxternals' and ordinances unsat isfying Dictionary of National Biography, 1993.
2 Something that is extraneous is introduced or added from outside and is foreig n to the object or entity in which it finds itself. Uses are both physical and a bstract: Several other insects attach extraneous objects or material to themselves, but f or very different reasonsM.T. Birkhead , 1989 / The best public artis architectural art, the enrichment of buildings at which the Victorians excelled rather than extraneous pieces of sculpture and other items dotted around the streetsDaily Telegraph, 1992 / A moment later any extraneous thoughts were driven from his mindI. Watson , 1993. Extraneous points are irrelevant matters brought into a discussion to which the y do not properly belong. Something that is extrinsic is not an essential and in herent part of the thing in question, and is often contrasted with intrinsic: Motivation may be considered as either intrinsic or extrinsic; intrinsic motives include those of exploration and curiosity, and extrinsic those of status and s ocial approvalB. O'Connell , 1973 / Your personal belongings may be frugal and of little extrinsic value, but when t hey are lost or stolen, the cost of replacement can be surprisingly highS. Merede en , 1988.Top
Back - New Search extol meaning `to praise enthusiastically', is spelt -ol in BrE and has inflected forms ex tolled, extolling. In AmE extol and extoll (with the same inflections) are both in use.
Back - New Search extraordinary is normally pronounced ik-straw-di-n-ri as five syllables, not six, the a being merged into the following or to form one syllable.
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extraterritorial meaning `situated or having force outside a country's territory', has prevailed over the variant form exterritorial.
Back - New Search extrinsic see EXTERIOR.
Back - New Search extrovert meaning òutgoing and sociable' (also used as a noun to denote such a person), is no w usually spelt extro- (on the analogy of introvert and controvert), although ex tra- is the better (and slightly earlier) formation, and the one used by Jung wh en writing in English.
Back - New Search exult see EXALT.
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-ey and -y in adjectives. The normal suffix used to form adjectives from nouns is -y, as in dusty, earthy, messy. Nouns ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel normally d ouble the consonant: fatty, funny, nutty. Some adjectives are formed from verbs rather than nouns: chewy, fiddly, runny. When the root ends in -e this is normal ly suppressed: bony, chancy, crazy, hasty, nosy, shady, etc. Some adjectives, ho wever, are formed with -ey: 1 Those formed from nouns ending in -y: clayey, skyey. Note that cagey (also cag y) and phoney (also phony) are both of unknown etymology, and do not belong to t his category. Fiddly is formed on the verb fiddle, not the noun.Top
2 Those formed from nouns ending in -ue: bluey, gluey.Top
3 Holey, meaning `full of holes', is spelt -ey to distinguish it from the adjective holy = sacred.Top
Back - New Search eye verb has inflected forms eyes, eyed, eyeing.
Back - New Search eyot (an islet) see AIT.
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eyrie meaning `nest of a bird of prey', is the preferred spelling, not aerie, aery, or eyr y. The word is probably derived via medieval Latin from an Old French word aire meaning `lair of wild animals'.
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* * *
fabulous originally meant `mythical, legendary', but already in the 17c its meaning was exten ded to refer to anything astonishing or incredible, whether or not it belonged t o fable or legend. The word enjoyed a revival in America and Britain in the 50s and 60s in the weakened sense `marvellous, wonderful', and spawned a shortened form
fab. Fab now sounds dated, but fabulous is still very much in use in this meanin g: Miss Mitchell, looking, one must admit, fabulous, played down her frenzyCambridge Review, 1959 / She stretched her stockinged toes towards the blazing logs. `Daddy, this fire's si mply fab.'Times, 1963 / Trueman puffed at a cigarette and said he looked fabulousA. Ross , 1963 / That's a fab idea. I think I willB.T. Bradford , 1983 / He thought she looked fabulous, just like a dreamR. Ingalis , 1987. The principal usage of these words has always been with young people, and is likely to remain so despite the more recent appearance of much racier words.
Back - New Search faade meaning the outward aspect of something (both physical and abstract), should be spelt with a cedilla, although the word is otherwise fully naturalized.
Back - New Search face up to meaning `to confront, accept bravely' (normally with a non-personal object), was fir st noted in America and Britain in the early 1920s, and at first provoked great criticism, Eric Partridge (1942) objecting to it as à needless expression, the re sult of the tendency to add false props to words that can stand by themselves'. Th e fury has long subsided, and the expression is listed in the Concise Oxford Dic tionary (1990) without any limiting label. Examples of recent use: He won't face up, can't face up, to them being goneK. Hulme , 1984 / Why don't you simply face up to the past? Ishiguro , 1986 / These are problems which it is a major responsibility of government to face up t oParliamentary Affairs, 1991.
Back - New Search facile pronounced fas-iyl, means èasy, smooth, effortless' with reference to people or wha t they do, and there is always a derogatory implication of something too easily achieved and of little value. A facile speaker is one for whom speaking comes ea sily and who therefore speaks glibly (rather than persuasively), and a facile ta sk is one that is easily done but hardly worthwhile. If these connotations are n ot intended, a synonym such as (with reference to people) able, accomplished, fl uent, etc. or (with reference to achievements) effortless, fluent, natural, etc. , should be used instead.
Back - New Search facilitate meaning `to make easy or feasible' should have as its object a task or operation (in cluding a verbal noun in -ing), not a person: The more expensive short-wave receivers include additional features which facili tate accurate tuningBBC Handbook, 1962 / They often used hypnosis to facilitate recallA. Storr , 1979 / The door kept open between them to facilitate communicationR. Cobb , 1983.
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facility, faculty. 1 Facility (from Latin facilis meaning èasy') means èase or ready ability to do some thing, aptitude': Firstborn children have greater verbal facility, and there is evidence that they have more successful relationships with their teachersJournal of Genetic Psychol ogy, 1973. It also has a concrete meaning which has proliferated greatly in the 20c, of `something that provides an amenity or service', used in the singular or plu ral and referring either to the provision of an amenity (as in the third example ) or to the amenity itself: Other recreational facilities include two lighted tennis courts, a swimming pool and a jogging trailPhiladelphia Inquirer, 1976 / What about gays, one asks, and will there be facilities for them to relate signi ficantly to each other?Sunday Telegraph, 1980 / The channel will also have the facility for shopping from the armchair at the to uch of a switch, now termed `teleshopping'Times, 1983 / Other features include sound facilitiesWhich Micro, 1984 / You don't need a generously proportioned tub to fit a spa or whirlpool bath faci lityDo It Yourself, 1990. A common use is in finance and banking, to denote an ar rangement such as a loan or overdraft: If you want credit, a bank facility is usually better value than even a good dea ler can offerOpera Now, 1990.
2 Faculty means àn aptitude or ability to do something' in the sense of an inborn o r inherent power rather than a proficiency developed (for example) by practice.
The faculty of language is the natural ability of humans to speak, whereas a fac ility for language is an individual's particular skill in speaking.Top
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fact. 1 The expression the fact that has long had an important function in enabling cl auses to behave like nouns: Some studies give attention to the fact that non-smokers cannot avoid inhaling s moke when breathing smoky airG. Richardson , 1971 / The fact that I am gay is written down in black and whiteGay News, 1978 / Ethnic minorities will hopefully be tempted into the force by the fact that a bl ack and female PC is given a starring role in the filmGuardian, 1984 / The fact that Nixon was willing to make his chastisement public suggests that th e President at least understands `the parameters of the problem'Time, 1970. When stan ding at the head of a sentence (as in the second and fourth examples), the words the fact can sometimes be omitted without harming grammatical integrity, but a degree of emphasis or focusing is lost. On the other hand verbs that can be comp lemented by a that-clause do not need to be linked by the fact that, so that the sentence We acknowledge the fact that mistakes have been made can be rephrased as We acknowledge that mistakes have been made, and They convinced him of the fa ct that it was right can be rephrased as They convinced him that it was right. T he phrases owing to the fact that and despite the fact that can normally be repl aced by because and although respectively, thereby producing a more economical a nd clearer structure. For due to the fact that see DUE TO (4).
2 Fact is used in a number of idioms: in fact, as a matter of fact, in point of fact, the fact is, etc. These often serve to assist the rhythm and continuity of speech, but can easily become overused and redundant in written material.Top
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factious, factitious, fractious. Factious means `characterized by faction or dissension', as in factious quarrelling,
whereas factitious means `contrived, artificial', as in factitious reasoning; the w ords are related in their connection with Latin facere `to do' but there is no overl ap in meaning. Fractious has nothing to do with either but is sometimes confused with factious; it means ìrritable, peevish', as in a fractious child. See also FIC TIONAL, FICTITIOUS.
Back - New Search factor aside from its technical senses, means à fact or circumstance that contributes to a result', and the notion of cause lies at the heart of its use, as in Gladstone' s sentence (1878) The first factor in the making of a nation is its religion. A modern example of its proper use is: Other factors can alter the Earth's climate from millennium to millennium and de cade to decadeC. Tudge , 1991. In recent years, however, factor has become widely used in a weakened meaning `consideration, aspect, feature' with little or no notio n of causality: A very important factor in the teaching of tennis is the value of practice once the lesson is overTennis World, 1991. A new use dating from the 1980s involves a preceding noun as a defining word (e.g. the Falklands factor) to denote an event which is considered to have a significant effect on the fortunes or politics of a country, political party, etc.: With the Libyan Legacy taking over from the Falklands Factor, the only question about Thursday's local elections is the extent of Labour's gainsObserver, 1986. T he feel-good factor is a feeling of material security in society; it is slowly y ielding to the feel-bad factor. The flagging fortunes of factor as a verb have been boosted with the evolution o f the phrasal verb factor in, meaning `to include (a factor) in an assessment, pla n, etc.': All the political and military variables should be factored in before Israel dec ides on a responseLos Angeles Times, 1991. It is chiefly used in AmE but is rapid ly spreading to British use, and factor out is also occasionally found.
Back - New Search faculty see FACILITY.
Back - New Search faeces meaning èxcrement', is pronounced fee-seez and is spelt with -aein BrE but -e- in AmE. The corresponding adjectival forms are faecal and fecal (pronounced with a hard c).
Back - New Search fag, faggot. In BrE a fag is a colloquial word for (1) a piece of drudgery or a wearisome or unwelcome task, (2) a cigarette, and (3) a junior pupil at a public school who r uns errands for a senior. In BrE a faggot is a ball or roll of seasoned chopped meat that is baked or fried, and in BrE and AmE it is a bundle of sticks or twig s bound together as fuel. In AmE both fag and faggot are slang words for a male homosexual.
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faint, feint. Both words come from the same Old English root. Faint is used as an adjective me aning ìndistinct, pale' or `feeling dizzy', as a noun meaning à loss of consciousness', an d as a verb meaning `to lose consciousness'. Feint is used as a noun meaning à sham a ttack or blow as a diversion', as a verb meaning `to make a feint', and (since the 19c ) as an adjective denoting faint lines on ruled paper.
Back - New Search fair, fairly adverbs. Fair is used in its ordinary meaning ìn a fair manner' in several fixed expressions , e.g. to bid fair, to play fair, fair between the eyes. In dialect use and in s ome non-British varieties it is used to mean `completely, fully, really', as in It f air gets me down. It should be remembered that fairly has several meanings: (1) in a fair manner (He treated me fairly); (2) moderately, to a noticeable degree (The path is fairly narrow / a fairly goo d translation); (3) utterly, completely (He was fairly beside himself).
In some contexts it is difficult to know (as with quite) whether the meaning is 2 or 3, although in speech intonation can clarify which is meant.
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fait accompli
pronounced fayt -kom-plee, means à settled arrangement or circumstance that canno t be altered'. It is normally printed in italic type.
Back - New Search faithfully. For Yours faithfully, see LETTER FORMS.
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fall and autumn are used on both sides of the Atlantic as the name for the third seas on of the year, although in everyday use autumn is standard in BrE and fall in A mE. Fall is a shortening of the phrase fall of the year or fall of the leaf, and was in British use from the 16c until about 1800. The word autumn dates from th e 14c, and comes from Latin autumnus, but the ultimate origin is obscure.
Back - New Search false analogy see ANALOGY.
Back - New Search falsehood, falseness, falsity. The three words, all to do with departure from the truth or what is true, have a considerable overlap in meaning and are sometimes interchangeable. Falsehood is the intentional telling of an untruth, and a falsehood is a lie or untruth. Fal seness and falsity are both used more broadly to mean `deceitfulness or unfaithful ness' or an instance of either. Examples: A half-truth was a falsehood, and it remained a falsehood even when you'd told i t in the belief that it was the whole truth Huxley , 1939 / As it had always been, truth and falsehood were inextricably intertwined in that statementS. Naipaul , 1980 / The engagement had probably not been a complete falsity, a piece of acting Carpen ter , 1982 / Reason cannot decide the truth or falsity of what is revealed in such cases, but
can decide whether the revelation is genuineR.S. Woolhouse , 1988 / The biggest danger in diplomacy is falseness, dishonesty and lack of credibilityD . Freemantle , 1988 / Speaking for a generation of American and British intellectuals, Seldes condemne d American movies for their `falseness' but saw that it was `the falseness of the McKi nley era'P. Stead , 1989 / His falsity and hollowness are not just the opposite of the true and the wholeso me, but threaten to undermine itJ. Dollimore , 1991.
Back - New Search famed is a literary word meaning `made famous', and is found (for example) in Shakespeare and Byron , often followed by for (the cause of the fame): The English, for example, were famed for their assumptions of innate superiorityJ . Wormald , 1991 / Many in and after the Second World War were to ponder the strange, radical geniu s of famed humility of social origin and ambiguous political stanceG. Watson , 19 91 / Once famed as `Baghdad by the Bay' in the days when such an appellation was a compli ment, San Francisco has gone the way of many major U.S. citiesDaily Telegraph, 19 92. It is not a mere synonym of famous, although it is often found with that mea ning, especially in newspaper writing: In her famed speech on election night 1987,she announced that `we've got a big job to do in some of those inner cities'B. Pimlott , 1991 / John Parkinson offers a tribute to a famed astronautNew Scientist, 1991.
Back - New Search fan, fanatic, fanatical. Fanatic is common as a noun meaning à person having excessive or misguided enthus iasm for something'; as an adjective it has largely given way to fanatical: He was a fanatical worker, often doing thirteen or fourteen hours a dayA. Thwaite , 1984. The abbreviated form fan, meaning à keen supporter', occurs in an isolated use in AmE as early as 1682, though not again until the late 19c when it became part of the ritual language of baseball, and then passed into general use in Am E, BrE, and elsewhere in the 20c in the senses à supporter, an admirer' (of a perso n or thing). Fan mail is first recorded in 1924, fan letter in 1932, and fan clu b in 1941, and other combinations are in use, including fanzine (= fan magazine) , first recorded in 1951.
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fantastic. 1 Fantastic is one of the most popular 20c colloquial terms for èxcellent, very e njoyable'. It is first recorded with this meaning in the 1930s and is now used in all sorts of contexts: Oh, Val, isn't it fantastic? It's amazing, isn't it? Allingham , 1938 / `This is my favourite place,' Jeremy shouts to her above the music, `fantastic girls h ere, really alive and witty'M. Wandor , 1978 / In the March issue of the Clothes Show Magazine, Wella offered our readers the f antastic opportunity to win a complete hair makeoverClothes Show, 1991 / Then suddenly I get a call saying, `We are going on the road,' so I was in and it wa s fantasticGuitarist, 1992. The adverb fantastically is also common as a general intensifier: He's fantastically good-looking Murdoch , 1989 / `We are doing fantastically well,' insisted a spokeswomanToday, 1992.
2 Both fantastic and fantastically meanwhile continue to be used in their more l iteral meanings connected with fantasy and imagination, albeit somewhat compromi sed by the newer meanings: We gazed in wonderment at the fantastic shape of the small island of Tindholmur as we passedB. Tulloch , 1991 / De Quincey frequently dreamt of a fantastically elaborate and labyrinthine build ingR. Castleden , 1993.Top
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fantasy, phantasy. 1 The OED, echoed by Fowler (1926), tried to assert a distinction between these two spellings, the first reflecting the Greek spelling and the second the more i mmediate French source of the word, `the predominant sense of the former being capr ice, whim, fanciful invention, while that of the latter is imagination, visionary notion'. In modern use there is no such distinction, and fantasy prevails in all me anings.
2 The use of fantasy in attributive position (before a noun) is relatively recen t. Fantasy world dates from 1920, and C. Day Lewis appears to have been the firs t to use fantasy life (but his hyphen is not now usual): It is said that an only child develops a particularly vivid fantasy-lifeBuried Da y, 1960. In the 1980s came a new development with the invention, first in Americ a and then in Britain, of a game called fantasy football, in which participants choose an imaginary team made up of real-life players; the actual performance of these players determines the fortunes of the fantasy team and ultimately the wi nner of the game. It will be interesting to see what impact this use has on the word fantasy.Top
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far. 1 FAR FROM + NOUN. This is a common way of expressing denial or rejection of a p roposition: The American dream seems as far from reality as my Communist dreamGuardian, 1986. Its function as metaphor is more strongly evident in the variant form far remov ed from: The trial will seem far removed from the red-light districts and suburbs where S utcliffe struckObserver, 1981.
2 (SO) FAR FROM ING. This construction, first recorded in the 17c, is used to rej ect or deny one proposition and assert another. The use of so was still current in 1926, when Fowler cited the example So far from `running' the Conciliation Bill, the Suffragettes only reluctantly consented to it. So is still used for emphasis , but in general use it has tended to drop out of the construction: Far from there being any noticeable improvement in the quality of relationships as practised among freaks, I would say there has been a distinct deteriorationInk , 1971 / The crowd of students far from being calmed by the duplicated communication which the registrar had delivered had become wild and agitatedJ. Mann , 1975.Top
3 FAR-FLUNG. This quite modern word (first recorded in 1895) calls to mind Kipli ng's Recessional (1897): God of our fathers, known of old, Lord of our far-flung battle-line. Fowler (192 6) wrote of ìts emotional value as a vogue-word. The lands are distant; they are not far-flung; but what matter? Far-flung is a signal that our blood is to be st irred.' The far-flung Empire has been replaced by less stirring concepts, but the
rich flavour of the adjective remains as a reminder of past grandeur.Top
4 AS FAR AS / SO FAR AS. When used in contexts referring to physical distance, a s and so were once freely interchangeable: I can take you as far as York or I ca n take you so far as York. In current use, as far as is used, and the option wit h so is obsolete. In adverbial clauses of the type as far as is concerned or as far as goes, the verbs is (or are) concerned and goes (or go) should not be omit ted: Young girls must be made to realise that boys of the same age have a `tiger in the ir tank' as far as sexual desire goesNew Zealand Tablet, 1971 / The old pals act will operate as far as the press is concernedT. Heald , 1975. Th e expression as far as I am concerned is commonly used as a kind of emotional di sclaimer: It makes me a bit sick actually and they can keep their mag as far as I am conce rnedGuardian, 1973 / I started out with some idea of serving the community and bunk like that, and no w the community can get on with it as far as I'm concernedJ. Bingham , 1975. See also IN SO FAR AS.Top
5 GENERAL USES. Far is regularly used before comparatives and before too + adjec tive: The people of Garston have suffered far too long from the planning blight that h as caused serious deterioration in the areaLiverpool Echo, 1976 / Hard disks are made to a far higher degree of precision, using an aluminium plat ter that is extremely finely groundTimes, 1982 / It turns out to be a far more interesting car to drive than its Japanese clonesAu stralian Financial Review, 1984. It also occurs in many idioms, far and away, fa r be it from me, far and near, go too far, so far so good, etc., for which a lar ge modern dictionary should be consulted.Top
Back - New Search farrago meaning à confused mess or muddle', comes from a Latin word meaning `mixed fodder' (fro m far = corn), and is normally used in abstract senses. The plural from is farra gos in BrE and farragoes in AmE.
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farther, further. 1 GENERAL. Further is the older form, being recorded in Old English and probably related to our word forth, while farther is a Middle English variant of further ; from this stage the two words came to be used as the comparative of far, and b y the 17c had entirely replaced the other Middle English forms farrer and ferrer . Farther is related only coincidentally in form to far, although this coinciden ce seems to have influenced its use. It is never wrong to use further and furthe st, whereas farther and farthest are restricted in use, and in cases where there is a choice further and furthest still tend to be more common.
2 USE OF FARTHER, FARTHEST. The principal role of farther is in expressing physi cal distance, corresponding more closely to the notion of `more far' and `most far': The gulls rose in front of him and floated out and settled again a little farthe r on Woolf , 1922 / And now the prince is scouring the farthest reaches of the globe for his brideJ.M . Coetzee , 1977 (South Africa) / Most DIY owners find that five to ten miles is the farthest they want to travelTo day's Horse, 1991. This apparent preference may be carried over into uses that r epresent degree rather than physical distance, but within the context of a wider distance metaphor: `Why, Lord, no honey!' I told her. Ìt's the farthest thing from my mind.' Smith , 1983 ( US)/ Kasparov simply saw farther, `much, much farther', than the machineNew York Times Mag azine, 1990.Top
3 USE OF FURTHER, FURTHEST. Further and furthest are more usual when the meaning is one of degree rather than physical distance: He found English currency confusing and the driver sought to confuse him further Waugh , 1961 / It seeks the furthest extension of the educationally valuable among the massesEnc ounter, 1987 / In the case of her friendship with Flaubert she went one decade further and beca me a mother-substituteEconomist, 1993.Top
4 OTHER EVIDENCE. The following examples show that the pattern is not totally co nsistent, with further (in particular) being used in ways associated with farthe r and (less so) vice versa: This was the lower fountain, furthest from the houseA.S. Byatt , 1987 / `You get a lot farther using your nose than your palate,' Patty says about wine-tast ingNew Yorker, 1987 /
The New Delhi station which did appear, somewhat further away, was a functional monstrosity in concrete and steelJ. Richards , 1988 / One, Lewis Holt, actually worked in Fleming's laboratory, and took the purificat ion a stage farther than any of the previous workersM. Weatherall , 1990 / The ferryman pointed to a thatched, low-roofed timbered hut further along the sh orelineP.C. Doherty , 1991. Overall, the evidence shows a somewhat stronger prese nce of farther and farthest in AmE, but American usage guides do not normally re flect this tendency in their guidance.Top
5 SPECIAL USES. There are some uses that are exclusive to further: a When used as a sentence adverb: Further, shameful as it might be to admit it, the idea of the play had started t o interest him rather Amis , 1958 / Further, firms' employment policies may be discriminatory even when they appear not to beJ. Urry , 1993. b When it is an adjective meaning àdditional' or an adverb meaning àdditionally' or àls o': He wrote for booklets containing further particulars of almost every device he s aw advertised Bowen , 1949 / Dundee's modern shopping precinct has now been further decorated with paint-spra yed gang slogansScotsman, 1973 / The apartment was further defended by a police lockJ. Aiken , 1975 / The person in custody is required to appear again at a police station at a certa in time for further questioningDaily Telegraph, 1976 / Brush with the beaten egg white and bake for a further 5 to 10 min until they're crisp and goldenIdeal Home, 1991. c In certain fixed expressions in which further is an adjective, e.g. further ed ucation. d In the formal expressions (1) further to, used especially in business correspo ndence to refer to matters raised previously: Further to our letter of 20 August , and (2) until further notice. e In the compound adverb furthermore. f As a verb meaning `to favour or promote (an idea, scheme, etc.)': No city has done more than Coventry since the war to further the cause of intern ationalismTimes, 1973 / There has been greater emphasis by unions upon legislative enactment to further their general objectivesR. Bean , 1992.Top
Back - New Search Fascism, Fascist. When Fowler wrote in 1926, Mussolini had not long been established in power, and the future of these words, and their Italian counterparts fascismo and fascista , was uncertain. He suspended judgement on their anglicization `till we know wheth er the things are to be temporary or permanent in England'. The concepts are still very much with us, the English words are still pronounced in an Italian manner with the central consonant as sh (fash-izm / fash-ist), and the Italian forms ar e not used at all except in the special contexts of Italian history.
Back - New Search fatal, fateful. Both words have to do with the workings of fate, and their complex histories, fu lly explored by the OED, have often intertwined. Fowler (1926) wrote a fond defe nce of the special meaning of fateful, `having far-reaching consequences', which (un like fatal) might be good or neutral as well as bad: In summing up 1934 we can see, in the light of what was to come, that it was a f ateful yearJ.F. Kennedy , 1940 / The fateful sequence of events had started with a malfunction in the main pumps supplying cooling water to the reactor's coreC. Aubrey , 1991. Fatal means `causing death' (as in fatal accident), and can refer to inanimate things and situations a s well as to those able to suffer actual death: Even when your trump suit is solid, it may still be fatal to touch it too earlyCo untry Life, 1976 / The existence of these private but non-fee-paying schools will have a deeply dep ressing, if not fatal, effect on other schools in the areaM. Warnock , 1989 / Until he faces up to his own fatal flaws, he has no hope of conquering themToday, 1992. The closest synonyms to fatal in this meaning are catastrophic, disastrou s, ruinous.
Back - New Search father-in-law means one's wife's or husband's father. The plural is fathers-in-law.
Back - New Search fathom a unit of measurement of depth, is unchanged in the plural when preceded by a nu mber, i.e. six fathom deep but several fathoms deep.
Back - New Search fatwa. A fatwa (from Arabic fat `to instruct by a legal decision') is a legal ruling given by an Islamic religious leader. It came dramatically to western attention in 198 9 when by such a ruling Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini called for the death of the wr iter Salman Rushdie for publishing The Satanic Verses (1988), which many Muslims considered blasphemous. Fatwa is already undergoing extensions of meaning, and is erroneously used to mean `sentence of death' (which, in the case of Rushdie , it means only in effect). The plural in English contexts is fatwas, and the use of a verb form is also recorded: Unlike many writers and artists, Chahine hadn't been fatwaed, but he felt threat ened neverthelessNew Yorker, 1995.
Back - New Search faucet is a late Middle English word meaning à tap for drawing liquor from a barrel or c ask'. In BrE it survives in technical uses (often combined with spigot), but in do mestic use it has given way entirely to tap. In AmE, faucet is in widespread use for an ordinary water tap, but its distribution is uneven, with spigot in use i n the south and cock and tap also in use.
Back - New Search fault verb. To fault, meaning `to blame, find fault with', has been criticized as an awkward ver balization by some 20c usage guides, especially in America, though not by Fowler (1926), nor by Gowers (1965) who declared supportively that it was enjoying a r evival. The use dates from the 16c and is now fully established: Martita wasn't too keen on Fay Compton I gathered (though she couldn't fault her perfect diction) Guinness , 1985.
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fauna, flora, meaning respectively the animal life and plant life of a particular time or regi on, are derived from the names of Roman goddesses and are singular (uncountable) nouns. The plural forms, though rarely needed, are faunas and floras (occasiona lly faunae and florae).
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faux pas meaning à minor blunder or indiscretion', is pronounced foh pah and is printed in i talic type. The plural form is the same, pronounced foh pahz.
Back - New Search favour, favourable, favourite are the normal BrE spellings, as distinct from favor, favorable, favorite in AmE .
Back - New Search fax is first recorded in 1948 as a shortened form of facsimile (process, etc.) and q uickly established itself in the standard language as a noun and verb, especiall y during the 1980s when fax machines came into widespread use. The word has been accepted much more readily than pix (= pictures) and sox (= socks), presumably because no comfortable alternative exists, facsimile transmission being too tech nical and awkward for ordinary use.
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fay, fey. Fay is a literary word for fairy. Used attributively (before a noun), it has the meaning `fairylike': When she made formal use of figures in her landscapes, they were somewhat manner ed, almost fay childrenListener, 1962. Fey is an unrelated word of great antiquit y originally meaning `fated to die soon', a meaning it still has in Scottish English . In due course it came to denote a kind of frenzied excitement associated with impending death, and in extended use it means `strange, otherworldly; elfin, whims ical': Shes got that fey look as though she's had breakfast with a leprechaunD. Burnham , 1969. In this last meaning it makes close contact with fay, but properly used fey still has implications of imminent death and the supernatural, whereas fay inhabits the land of dreams. In speech, of course, there is no explicit distinct
ion.
Back - New Search faze means `to disconcert, disturb' and is used informally in mainly negative contexts: It is a pretty daunting prospect going on stage for forty minutes but it does no t seem to have fazed herS. Stone , 1989 / The one thing I am not going to do is look remotely fazed or ruffledE. Galford , 1993. It is in origin a 19c AmE variant of the ancient verb feeze `to drive off, t o frighten away' and has nothing to do with the ordinary verb phase, although this spelling is sometimes used in the US.
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fearful, fearsome. 1 Fearful means `full of fear; frightened, apprehensive', usually with reference to something specific, and is normally followed by of or by a clause introduced by that or lest: There are parochial or communal parties which are fearful of absorption into lar ger unitsEconomist, 1981 / Eisenhower's official policy was to remain aloof, fearful that any direct interv ention would make Castro a martyrN. Miller , 1989 / He became very fearful of cars, buses and stairs, eventually shutting himself in his room, with the curtains drawn, for 14 monthsGuardian, 1989 / She stood outside looking up at a creamy moon, fearful lest some bat might fly i nto her hair Barnes , 1990. It is also used with reference to feelings and circum stances that are characterized by great fear: His mother had brought him up to hold priests in fearful reverenceG. McCaughrean , 1987, and in the weakened meaning ùnpleasant', with reference to things and situa tions: In fact it had been very hard-bought, some of the winnings, taking fearful tolls of nerve, straining every atom of him Freeling , 1972 / On the Left Bank, with a fearful expenditure of lives, the German all-out offens ive had bought possession of two hills of secondary importanceA. Horne , 1993.
2 Fearsome means àppalling or frightening, especially in appearance':
Ichiro continued to regard me with the most fearsome look Ishiguro , 1986 / Rhododendrons have become a fearsome forest weed, preventing the growth of other plantsOutdoor Action, 1989 / Despite their fearsome reputation, however, killer whales have never been known to attack humans without the provocation of a bullet or harpoonM. Donoghue , 1990 .Top
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feasible. The key to the use of this word, and the problems associated with it, lies in it s relation to the different meanings of possible. Feasible has three main uses, two unexceptionable and one controversial, all associated with different aspects of possibility: 1 With reference to ideas, projects, etc., `capable of being done, practicable': Changes became feasible over a period of time Wilson , 1976 / There was no question that a tunnel was technically feasible, but I wanted to kn ow what the economics would beN. Fowler , 1991 / Clearly, it is not feasible to have cameras covering the whole of the track. Hans ard , 1992.Top
2 With reference to people and things generally, `capable of being used or dealt w ith successfully': The sixties should see them [sc. labour-saving devices] put into commercial prod uction in sufficient quantity to make them financially feasibleSunday Times, 1960 / The new semi-automated test could at last make massive screening programmes for cervical cancer economically feasibleNew Scientist, 1991. These first two meanings are often hard to distinguish, although essentially the first refers to actions and processes whereas the second refers to what is bein g dealt with or considered; they are given separately in the OED but are combine d in the Concise Oxford Dictionary. Perhaps only compilers of dictionaries attem pt to see a difference.Top
3 With reference to a theory, proposition, etc., àble or likely to be the case': Had he not assumed the initiative it was feasible she would have given a reason
to keep them outL. Grant-Adamson , 1989. This third, and controversial, meaning c omes closest to being a synonym of possible (in its meaning àble to be the case' ra ther than àble to be done') or probable, and Fowler urged strongly that when these words can be substituted without affecting the meaning they should be. The examp les he gave, unattributed but probably from newspapers, were: Witness said it wa s quite feasible [better possible] that if he had had night binoculars he would have seen the iceberg earlier and We ourselves believe that this is the most fea sible [better probable] explanation of the tradition. Each case must be treated on its merits, but when the context requires the sense of likelihood or probability (as in the 1989 example above) rather than practic ality it is prudent to test first whether possible or probable might not be the more satisfactory word (this will occur most often in constructions of the type It is feasible that ), and to use feasible only if both the other words seem unna tural or unidiomatic.Top
Back - New Search feature verb. Fowler (1926) warned against the extension of the meaning `to give special promine nce to' which he identified as originating in cinema announcements. He cited an un attributed example of 1924: Boys' school and college outfits, men's footwear and undergarments, as well as , are also featured, and urged the use of display or e xhibit instead. But his words went unheeded, and the verb feature is now in regu lar use both transitively (with an object, as in the example just given) or intr ansitively (without an object): I was to have my name featured for the first time at the top of the bill Chaplin , 1964 / Libraries and the youth service feature prominently in many of the local authori ty cutsTimes, 1976 / Student concerts featuring him as composer and pianistR. Hayman , 1981.
Back - New Search February should be pronounced with both rs fully articulated. It is now common, especiall y in AmE, to hear the word pronounced as if it were Febuary (and it is occasiona lly spelt that way too, which is a great deal worse).
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federation, confederation, confederacy.
Federation and confederation are the more precise constitutional terms, a federa tion being a union of federal states and a confederation being a union of states in alliance. Confederacy is a looser term for an organization of states such as the southern states of the US which seceded from the Union in 18601, thus precip itating the American Civil War.
Back - New Search feedback developed its meaning in general use, ìnformation about something from the people that have used it or been involved in it', in the 1960s: They would like feedback from the last issue, articles from individuals and grou ps giving a socialist-feminist analysis of activitiesWomen's Report, 1976 / The aim of marking isto give constructive feedback so that the students' work ste adily improvesElectronic Publishing, 1991. Earlier technical uses in electronics and biology date from earlier in the 20c.
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feel verb. 1 Feel is followed by an adjective to denote the nature of a feeling, whether ph ysical or emotional: I'm feeling cold / They began to feel afraid. For to feel b ad, see BAD (1).
2 Occasional, but misguided, opposition has been expressed to the use of feel in the intuitive meaning `to think, believe, consider' or, as the OED puts it, `to appre hend or recognize the truth of (something) on grounds not distinctly perceived; to have an emotional conviction of (a fact)'. The use goes back to Shakespeare (Garlandswhich I feel I am not worthy yet to wearHenry VIII iv.ii.91, and has been current ever since in standard use. Modern examples: But perhaps it was a little flat somehow, Elizabeth felt. And really she would l ike to go Woolf , 1925 / If Pascal had been a novelist, we feel, this is the method and the tone he would have used Greene , 1969 / Many gays either were in therapy or felt they should beE. White , 1980.Top
Back - New Search feel-good, feel-bad. We have had the feel-good factor and feel-goodism since 1977, when the New York Times reported that the latest aberration in the American pursuit of happiness i s the feel-good movement. The word had been used earlier in Dr Feelgood, a term for a physician who provided short-term palliatives rather than effective cures. In the 1990s, the term feel-good factor came increasingly to be associated with material prosperity as a political and social factor. The antidote to all this is the feel-bad factor, which dates from the early 1990s: We're all so insecure about our short-term contracts and our feel-bad factors th at we're terrified of appearing keen to leave the officeGuardian, 1995. No other set of words encapsulates so well the swinging emotional moods of peoples in the nineties.
Back - New Search feint see FAINT.
Back - New Search fellow in its meaning `belonging to the same class or activity' used attributively (before a noun), is sometimes hyphened and sometimes written as a separate word: fellow citizen or fellow-citizen. The modern tendency is to spell such combinations as two words except when the second element is an agent noun (as in fellow-travelle r) or when the combination is a verb (to fellow-travel).
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female, feminine. 1 GENERAL. Female is used as an adjective, contrasting with the etymologically u nrelated word male, to designate the sex of humans and animals that can bear off spring and to designate plants that are fruit-bearing. Feminine is used only of humans and has two additional meanings: (1) denoting characteristics or qualitie s associated with women, and (2) contrasted with masculine and neuter, denoting a class of grammatical gender . Both words also have technical meanings in various domains.
In broad terms female is used principally to indicate the sex of a person, anima
l or plant, whereas feminine is used of characteristics regarded as typical of w omen, i.e. beauty, gentleness, delicacy, softness, etc. See also WOMANLY, WOMANI SH.
2 FEMALE AS A NOUN. Female has a long history in the meaning à female person'; à wom an or girl', but despite this several 19c usage guides advised against the use on the grounds that it was unsuitable to apply the same term to animals and human b eings. The OED (in 1895) said of female used as a synonym for woman that `the simp le use is now commonly avoided by good writers, except with contemptuous implica tion'. This observation holds good in our gender-sensitive age, and it would be di fficult to contemplate female being used in this way without some degree of disp aragement being intended or understood: He had no option now but to speak to his landlady in the morning about letting t his homeless female have his bed for the nightM.J. Staples , 1992. The use is bes t reserved for use in natural history and for occasions when a general or neutra l term is needed (for example, in technical writing) to include both woman and g irl, or to avoid the social distinctions still sometimes inherent in woman and l ady: More than 55 females, from babies to elderly women, have been killed during the first year of the UprisingSpare Rib, 1989 / Young white females are by far the most common users of crisis and suicide preve ntion facilitiesK. Hawton , 1990.Top
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feminine designations. For most agent nouns and nouns indicating occupation no distinction is made betw een masculine and feminine: clerk, cook, councillor, counsellor, cyclist, doctor , lecturer, martyr, motorist, nurse, oculist, palmist, president, pupil, secreta ry, singer, teacher, typist, etc. A few, such as actress, hostess, and usherette , exist in feminine forms; forms in -mistress corresponding to the masculine -ma ster (e.g. postmistress, schoolmistress) have fallen out of use. There is still some expectation that some occupations will be held by a man (e.g. chef) and tha t others will be held by a woman (e.g. secretary), but these barriers are fallin g fast. In practice, if there is a need to be specific about the gender of an oc cupational or agent noun, a feminine noun such as woman, lady, or girl is someti mes used (woman driver, lady doctor, etc.), although this too can offend sensiti vities because corresponding male designations are only occasionally used in con texts in which the occupation has strong female associations (male nurse, male t ypist, etc.). The circumstances of these uses illustrate well the tensions betwe en linguistic convention and social progress. See also -ESS, -ETTE, -MAN, -PERSO N, -TRIX, -WOMAN, GENDER NEUTRALITY.
Back - New Search feminineness, feminism, femininity. These are the only survivors from a whole host of 19c formations which also incl uded feminacy, feminality, feminility, and femininitude (the last a nonce-word u sed in 1878). Feminineness and femininity have much the same meaning, `the fact or quality of being feminine', whereas feminism rapidly developed a special meaning à dvocacy of the rights of women on the grounds of equality of the sexes', a meaning which it has retained with increased force in the later part of the 20c.
Back - New Search feral, ferial. Both words are usually pronounced with the first syllable as in ferret rather th an fear, although the second form is occasionally heard. Feral means `wild' (from La tin ferus `wild') and is commonly applied to animals in a wild state after escape fr om captivity. Ferial (from Latin feriae `holiday') is an ecclesiastical term denotin g a day not appointed for a festival or feast.
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ferment, foment. 1 Ferment is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and with the stress on the second syllable as a verb.
2 As verbs, ferment and foment are often confused because they are pronounced ap proximately the same way and their uses overlap in their figurative meanings. To ferment means literally `to effervesce or cause to effervesce' (from Latin fervre m eaning `to boil') and figuratively `to excite or become excited'; and so it can be trans itive (with an object) or intransitive: you can ferment trouble or trouble can f erment. Foment means literally `to bathe with warm or medicated liquid' (from Latin fomentum meaning `poultice') and figuratively `to instigate or stir up' (especially trou ble). Foment is only transitive: you can foment trouble but trouble cannot fomen t. Examples: Gladstone's complaint in 1874 that the opposition fomented by the Daily News had been òne main cause' of the weakness of his late government was, of course, a simp lismTimes Literary Supplement, 1977 / Such protestations ferment a running sore which breeds contempt for the authorit iesNonesuch (Bristol), 1991 / He hosted the meetings where the rebellion was fomented which ousted Mrs Thatche r from powerToday, 1992.Top
Back - New Search ferrule, ferule. Ferrule, also spelt ferrel, is the ring or cup used to strengthen the end of a w alking stick or umbrella, and is derived from Latin ferrum meaning ìron'. A ferule, also spelt ferula, is a flat implement formerly used for beating schoolchildren , and is derived from Latin ferula meaning `giant fennel'.
Back - New Search fertile. The standard pronunciation now is -tiyl in BrE and -t[schwa]l in AmE.
Back - New Search fervent, fervid. Both words mean àrdent, intense' with reference to speech, feelings, etc. There are two significant difference in their use: (1) fervent but not fervid is also use d of people (a fervent supporter of free entrance to museums), and (2) fervent has positive connotations whereas fervid can sound depreciatory, rat her like the difference between warm and feverish as applied to feelings.
Examples: (fervent) There is no doubt that trade unionists were fervently hostile to the actions of FrancoK. Laybourn , 1990 / Every available wall space was covered with graffiti and fervent slogansT. Strong , 1990 / That they shared, along with all other participants in the crusade, a fervent de votion, a conviction that their sins would be forgiven, is certainJ. Dunbabin , 1 991 / (fervid) While a fervid interest in sex overpowered other girls, she listened to their co nfidences unmovedC. Brayfield , 1990 / I'm afraid your rather fervid imagination is running away with youE. Rees , 1992 / As in every war men confronted with death who had forgotten, or never knew how, began to pray fervidlyA. Horne , 1993.
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fervour is spelt -our in BrE and fervor in AmE.
Back - New Search -fest is a new suffix derived from the German word Fest meaning `festival, celebration'. I t occurred first in AmE in the late 19c in the word gabfest meaning à gathering f or talking' and spread rapidly to produce other words such as talk fest, shooting fest, liquor fest, etc. It has also spread to BrE in formations such as discofes t, filmfest, funfest, rockfest, etc.
Back - New Search festal, festive. Both words are derived from the Latin words festum meaning `feast' and festus meanin g `joyful', and mean ìn the nature of a feast or festival'. Festive is much the more co mmon, and is the one generally chosen when the meaning is `cheerful, joyous, celeb ratory': A room can look festive and jolly without being overwhelmed by lots of gaudy dec orationsIdeal Home, 1991. Festal lies somewhat closer to its etymological connect ion with festivals: It was eaten with a spoon and served on festal days as part of the main courseGoo d Food, 1992. The festive season is a way of describing Christmas, and festive a lso occurs with words such as air, atmosphere, mood, and occasion.
Back - New Search fetal see FOETUS.
Back - New Search fte should be spelt with the circumflex in place, although it has disappeared in man y forms of computer setting.
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fetid meaning `stinking', is normally pronounced fet-id, occasionally feet-id. The spellin g fet-, rather than foet-, is now dominant.
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fetish. 1 Fetish, meaning à thing evoking special respect' (and more precise meanings in an thropology and psychology), is now pronounced fet-ish. The word is a 17c adoptio n of French ftiche, and was originally an African object or amulet having magical power, although the word itself is not of African origin.
2 Fowler (1926) extended the use of fetish as a term for `current literary rules m isapplied or unduly revered'. These included the SPLIT INFINITIVE, insistence on f rom after DIFFERENT, aversion to putting a PREPOSITION at the end of a sentence, and the idea that two consecutive metaphors are necessarily `mixed' (see METAPHOR A ND SIMILE (2)). To these may now be added the use of HOPEFULLY as a SENTENCE ADV ERB, insistence that NONE is always singular, and insistence that AGENDA, DATA, and other such words are always plural. (Capital letters indicate items that wil l be found as other entries in this book.)Top
Back - New Search fetus see FOETUS.
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few. Few may be used with or without preceding a, although the sense is slightly diff erent. There were few seats left means there were not many (and is negative in i mplication), whereas There were a few seats left means that some were still left (and is positive in implication). 2 For comparatively few, see COMPARATIVELY.Top
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fewer, less. 1 As a general guide, fewer is used with plural nouns (fewer books) and collecti ve nouns (fewer people) and indicates number, whereas less is used with singular nouns and indicates amount (less money / less happiness). However, there is an extensive no man's land between these two positions. To begin with, less can be idiomatically used with plural nouns when these denote something closer to an am ount than a numerical quantity, as with distances, periods of time, ages, and su ms of money: less than 5 miles to go / less than six weeks / children less than three years old / less than 100. Supermarket checkouts are correct when the signs they display read 12 items or less (which refers to a total amount), and are mi sguidedly pedantic when they read 12 items or fewer. School examiners often invi te candidates to write a summary of a passage of prose in fifty words or less. I n some borderline cases it is more idiomatic to use less when fewer would put an unwelcome emphasis on the numerical quantity rather than the cumulative effect of the total: unashamedly rejoiced in having had in his house at one time no less than five No bel Prize Winners Drabble , 1987. But less should be avoided when it qualifies an otherwise unqualified plural noun: I shall care about less things Fitzgerald , 1980 / We had been given less mento perform a holding actionPaintball Games, 1989.
Back - New Search fey see FAY.
Back - New Search fianc, fiance. The first is masculine and the second is feminine. Both words are pronounced fion-say.
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fiasco has the plural form fiascos.
Back - New Search fiat. The legal term, meaning àn authorization or order', is pronounced fiy-at. The make of car (Fiat) is pronounced fee-at.
Back - New Search fibre is the spelling in BrE and fiber in AmE.
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fictional, fictitious. Fictional means òccurring in fiction', i.e. in a piece of literature, whereas ficti tious means ìnvented, unreal; not genuine'. So Oliver Twist is a fictional name whe n it refers to Dickens's character, and a fictitious name when someone uses it a s a false or assumed name instead of their own. Similarly, events are fictional when described in a work of fiction, and fictitious when invented in ordinary li fe.
Back - New Search fiddle. As a verb, fiddle is more in demand to convey the meaning of cheating than of pl aying the violin, and it is mainly as a noun that the musical sense survives. So the situation is still as described Gowers (1965): À violinist will speak of his instrument as a fiddle, but not of his playing as fiddling or of himself as a f iddler.'
Back - New Search fidget as a verb has inflections fidgeted, fidgeting.
Back - New Search field. In the meaning àn area of operation or activity, a subject of study', field tends t o be overused, and it is advisable to be aware of available synonyms. The most c ommonly needed are (for fields of study) sphere, subject, area, discipline, doma in, (for areas of operation or responsibility) area, province, department, line, speciality, responsibility, (sometimes) territory. These also need to be use wi th care, for fear of avoiding the hackneyed only to adopt an alternative that is precious or stilted, as can happen with department and territory, or still wors e mtier, for example.
Back - New Search fifties see EIGHTIES.
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figure. 1 Both the noun and the verb are pronounced fig- in BrE but fig-y in AmE. The de rivative forms figural, figuration, and figurine have the -y-sound in both BrE a nd AmE; but figurative (fig--r-tiv) lacks it in BrE.
2 As a verb, figure is used, especially in AmE and often with out, to mean `work o ut, calculate, think'. To figure on something is to plan it or take it for granted , and in AmE something figures when it makes sense or seems likely. All these us es are informal only.Top
Back - New Search figure of speech is any of several recognized linguistic devices used to make language lively or more colourful, such as METAPHOR and SIMILE.
Back - New Search fillers
are words such as actually, you know, in fact, really, and I mean, and pause mar kers such as er and um, that have little or no meaning and are merely used to he lp maintain a flow, and sometimes improve sentence balance, in conversational En glish. Their routine use is quite legitimate, and everyday discourse would be un natural without them.
Back - New Search finable meaning `liable to a fine', is spelt this way, not fineable.
Back - New Search final clause in grammar, is a clause that states a purpose, especially when introduced by a f ormula such as to, in order to, in order that, so as to, in the hope that, etc.: He turned on the plane's radio, in order to hear the traffic controllerNew Yorker , 1972 / The Labour administration massaged the basis of the calculation of the exchange rateso as to make the situation appear betterDaily Telegraph, 1982 / Clerks double-book their barristers in the hope that one of the cases will be se ttled before getting to courtEconomist, 1983 / In order to fully understand an alarm reaction it is useful to think back many t housands of years to the time of the cavemanS. Enright , 1990.
Back - New Search finale meaning the last part of something, is pronounced as three syllables (fi-nah-li) .
Back - New Search finalize as a synonym of complete New Zealand, then in the ed by usage pundits such it often has a stronger ete or finish: or finish, came into use in the 1920s in Australia and US and, in the 1930s, in Britain. It was widely denounc as Partridge and Gowers as an unnecessary addition; but sense of effective conclusion than is conveyed by compl
Arrangements have also been finalized for the establishment of a ranching scheme at JaldesaInside Kenya Today, 1971.
Back - New Search fine toothcomb see TOOTHCOMB.
Back - New Search finger. The fingers are now usually numbered without including the thumb, so that the fi rst finger is the index finger, the second finger is the middle finger, the thir d finger is the ring finger, and the fourth finger is the little finger. In the marriage service, however, the ring finger is called the fourth, not the third.
Back - New Search fiord see FJORD.
Back - New Search fire verb meaning `to dismiss from a job', has its origins in AmE in the 1880s, when it was al so used as a phrasal verb to fire out. Fowler (1926) entered both forms without much comment apart from mentioning their American origin; by the time Gowers wro te (1965), only the simple verb fire was used, and he noted that it was `still an American colloquialism, though making headway among us at the expense of the ver b to sack'. As it turns out, fire stands alongside sack as one of two words used r egularly and unexceptionably in informal English.
Back - New Search firm adverb is used mainly in two fixed expressions, to stand firm and to hold firm to. In a ll other contexts the natural adverbial form is firmly: The bracket was firmly f ixed to the wall.
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first.
1 When used with a number, first (like last) normally precedes it, as in the fir st three cars. This practice dates from the 16c, when first came to be regarded more as an adjective than as a noun; before that time, it was common to say the two (or three, etc.) first . In current use, the order the three first cars would suggest three cars that came first in three races, and not the three cars that came first, second, and third in the same race.
2 In listing a sequence of points or topics, there is a convention that the firs t item is introduced by first, not firstly, although the continuation can be sec ondly, thirdly, fourthly, etc. The reason for this is that first early on had a role as an adverb, and the use of firstly, though established by the 17c, was fe lt to be an unnecessary affectation. Today this rule seems little more than a su perstition, and various sequences are in use: first, secondly ., thirdly; firstly, secondly, thirdly; firstly , second, third Of these, the first two options are both acceptable, but the third should be avoided.Top
Back - New Search first name see CHRISTIAN NAME.
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firth is the standard spelling for an estuary or inlet of the sea. In the past (notabl y in the work of Cowper and Tennyson), it was changed by a process called METATH ESIS to frith, but this form is no longer in normal use.
Back - New Search fish. The plural form is normally fish (nets full of fish / They caught seven fish yes terday); but fishes is sometimes used to emphasize a plural rather than a collec tive concept and to denote kinds of fish: feed the fishes / food fishes like cod and flounder. In biblical allusions, fishes is used rather than fish: five loav es and two small fishes.
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fit verb. In BrE the past tense and past participle are fitted in all meanings: The dress fitted well / The dress fitted her well / We've fitted a new lock to the front d oor. In some parts of the US, fit also is used in the first two of these three m eanings: His head fit snugly into his collar like a shell into a canisterD. Pinckney , 199 2 / Many questions were put; none fitBulletin of the American Academy, 1994.
Back - New Search fix. The meanings of the verb, which is first recorded in the 15c, and the noun, not recorded until the early 19c, do not correspond very well. 1 noun. The earliest meaning of the noun is à difficulty, predicament, dilemma', wh ich is originally AmE but was soon used in BrE as well, for example in a letter written by Charlotte Bront in 1839: It so happens that I can get no conveyanceso I am in a fix. This meaning remains common in BrE, although it still has a slight American flavour: Since she had vowed to remain celibate, she was in rather a fix when her father planned to marry her to the King of SicilyB. Cottle , 1983 / The patient will indeed be in a fix from which he may find it hard to extricate himselfC. Rycroft , 1985. From the 1930s in the US, a dose of a narcotic drug cam e to be called a fix-up and then a fix, and this use (only fix) spread into BrE in the 1950s with the increased circulation of hard drugs such as heroin: A weird scene where the dope peddlers gather to beat up Johnny, who gets more in to debt with each `fix'Oxford Mail, 1958 / He needed her as a drug addict needs his fix Murdoch , 1985. From this drugs mean ing other figurative meanings soon developed: Many people seem addicted to exercise and get depressed if they don't get their daily fixGuardian, 1984 / For them conventional war has been lived throughand they think nuclear weapons ar e a cheap fix to deter itGreen Magazine, 1990. A quick fix is a hasty remedy that deals with a difficulty in the short term; the expression is recorded first in a hyphened adjectival form from the 1950s: Quick-fix reflectors and diffusers, heavy duty bi-pin lampholdersArchitectural Re view, 1959 / The most recent `quick-fix', suggests the committee, is desaltingNew Scientist, 1966 / He is urged to make quick-fix tax cuts and get the economy movingNational Observe r (US), 1976. 2 verb. There are three uses of the verb, all American in origin and one still e
xclusively so, that call for comment. (Also to fix up.) `To prepare (food or drink ).' You must fix me a drink, Fanny Trollope said in her Domestic Manners of the Am ericans (1839); and Bret Harte , an American writer, wrote in a work of 1891, Mo ther'll fix you suthin' hot. The use is familiar in BrE, but is still regarded a s an Americanism: When I am quite exhausted, go and cook a meal, fix a drink Bawden , 1981. (Also t o fix up.) `To mend or repair (something broken or not working).' This meaning is fi rst recorded in AmE in the late 18c, and has spread to other varieties of Englis h: Other men would have fixed that fuse in a few secondsNews of the World, 1990. The informal American expression to be fixing to (do something), meaning `to be about to or preparing to' (do it), first recorded in 1716, is still hardly ever encount ered outside the US: If you're after Lily, she come in here while ago and tole me she was fixin' to g it marriedE. Welty , c.1980.
Back - New Search fixation was used from the 17c with the general meaning `the action of fixing'. Its current m eaning of òbsession, fixed idea' is a legacy of the use in Freudian psychosexual th eory: Don has this very definite fixation that I am going to bang up ournew carE.J. Barr , 1973 / He adds his voice to those condemning the modern fixation on fitness at the expe nse of honing cricket skillsWisden Cricket Monthly, 1992. It also has technical u ses in chemistry and medicine.
Back - New Search fixedly is pronounced as three syllables. See -EDLY.
Back - New Search fixedness, fixity. Both are 17c words with a range of meanings to do with abstract senses of fixing and being fixed, but fixedness is now used much less often than fixity: Beaten into a fixity of revolutionary purpose, the peasants will have no more of itTimes Literary Supplement, 1984 / A film that seemed able to contemplate death ends up by denying even the fixedne ss of characterIndependent, 1990 / What distinguishes perversion is its quality of desperation and fixityNew York Ti
mes, 1991.
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fjord is the recommended spelling for the Norwegian sea inlet, not fiord.
Back - New Search flaccid. The recommended pronunciation is flak-sid, not flas-id.
Back - New Search flagrant see BLATANT.
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flair meaning àn instinct for what is excellent, a talent', was adopted into English from French in the late 19c. It should be distinguished from the unrelated noun and verb flare meaning à dazzling flame of light' etc., which is 16c and of unknown ori gin.
Back - New Search flamboyant is now used mainly in abstract senses `showy, ostentatious'. It was adopted in the e arly 19c by architects to denote decoration marked by wavy flamelike lines. It i s connected in origin with the French word flamber meaning `to burn'.
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flamingo has plural forms flamingos (preferred) or flamingoes.
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flammable meaning èasily set on fire', was revived in modern use (in BrE by the British Stand ards Institution) and used together with the noun flammability in place of infla mmable and inflammability (which have the same meaning) in order to avoid the po ssibility that the in- forms might suggest a negative meaning `not easily set on f ire'. The negative forms now recommended are non-flammable and non-flammability.
Back - New Search flannel has inflected forms flannelled, flannelling in BrE and flaneled flaneling in AmE . Flannelette, a napped cotton fabric imitating flannel, is spelt -l- in both va rieties.
Back - New Search flare see FLAIR.
Back - New Search flat, flatly. The dominant adverbial form flatly is always used figuratively, as in flatly con tradicting and flatly refusing. Flat is used in fixed expressions such as flat b roke and turn something down flat, and to mean èxactly and no more' as in two minut es flat. Flat is only semi-adverbial, and mainly adjectival, in uses such as The ladder was standing flat against the wall.
Back - New Search flatways, flatwise both mean `with the flat side (and not the edge) uppermost or foremost'. Both forms have been in use from the 17c, but flatways is now dominant, especially in AmE:
Just cut in half flatwise, apply the topping and slip into a 450 F ovenWashington Times, 1989.
Back - New Search flaunt, flout. The two words are unrelated. To flaunt means `to display ostentatiously': Women should have it both waysthey should be able to flaunt their sexuality and b e taken seriouslyE. Wurtzel , 1998. To flout means `to show contempt for (a rule, t he law, etc.)': Countries engage in covert activities because they do not want to flout s openlyEncounter, 1987. The confusion, apart from the similarities of be due to the notion of conspicuousness common to both actions, and it orthy that flaunt is used mistakenly to mean flout but the reverse does r: the rule sound, may is notew not occu
By flaunting these rules, Hongkong and Shanghai have challenged the Bank's autho rityDaily Telegraph, 1981 / The union continued its campaign against Sunday trading, targeting shops which f launted regulationsTimes, 1989.
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flautist, flutist. Flutist is the older term (17c) for a player of the flute, and is still preferre d in AmE. Flautist was adapted from the Italian word flautista in 1860, and is n ow the more usual form in BrE.
Back - New Search flavour is spelt -our in BrE and flavor in AmE. In BrE the derviatives (flavouring, flav oursome, etc.) are also spelt -our except flavorous.
Back - New Search fledgling is the recommended spelling, not fledgeling.
Back - New Search flee meaning `to run away, escape' is most often used in its past tense fled. Flee has a somewhat literary or romantic flavour: The fourteenth Dalai Lamahas lived in exile in the Indian Himalayas since 1959, w hen Khamba rebels persuaded him to flee from LhasaTimes, 1973.
Back - New Search fleshly, fleshly. The distinction in current use is much the same as between earthy and earthly. F leshly relates to flesh in its physical sense and means primarily `plump, fat' (e.g. fleshy hands / fleshy fruit), whereas fleshly relates to the allusive senses of flesh, and means `carnal, sensual, sexual' (e.g. fleshly desires / fleshly thoughts ).
Back - New Search fleur-de-lis a heraldic lily, is spelt this way for preference rather than fleur-de-lys or fl ower-de-luce (which occurs in AmE). It is pronounced fler-d-lee, and the plural is fleurs-de-lis, pronounced the same way.
Back - New Search flier see FLYER.
Back - New Search floatation see FLOTATION.
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floor, storey.
In Britain the storey at ground level is called the ground floor. A single-store y house is one with a ground floor only; a two-storey house has a ground floor w ith a first floor above it; a three-storey house has a second floor above the fi rst, and so on. In America, the floor at ground level is called the first floor; the British first floor is the second floor, and so on. Cellars, basements, and mezzanine floors are not counted in either reckoning.
Back - New Search flora see FAUNA.
Back - New Search floruit pronounced flor-oo-it, is a Latin third-person singular verb in the past tense m eaning `he or she flourished'. In English it is used with a following designation of date to indicate when a writer, painter, etc., is believed to have been alive a nd working, e.g. floruit 1750.
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flotation is now the dominant spelling for the word meaning `the process of launching or fin ancing a business or commercial enterprise'. It has replaced the earlier form floa tation, on the analogy of words such as flotilla, flotsam, etc.
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flotsam and jetsam. The traditional distinction between goods found afloat at sea (flotsam) and good s found on land after being cast ashore (jetsam) is not historically straightfor ward and is now largely theoretical since the words are invariably used together . Jetsam (late 16c) is recorded slightly earlier than flotsam (early 17c), and i s a form of jettison meaning `to throw overboard'. Flotsam is derived from an AngloFrench word related to float.
Back - New Search flounder, founder. These two words are easily confused because their form and meanings are both clo se. The physical meaning of flounder is `to struggle in mud or while wading' and hen ce `to stumble or move clumsily' and from these meanings developed the abstract sens e `to perform a task badly or without knowledge; to be out of one's depth'. The corr esponding meanings of founder are (physical) with reference to a ship, `to fill wi th water and sink' and (abstract) with reference to a plan, scheme, intention, etc ., `to come to nothing, to fail'. In the abstract senses, where the confusion mostly lies, it is therefore normally people who flounder and plans and relationships (and suchlike) that founder. In practice the use of both words in their physical meanings as part of a larger metaphor (as in the 1980 example that follows) ten ds to blur the boundaries between literal and metaphorical use. The following ex amples will help to clarify the differences between flounder and founder: (floun der) The family physician bucks the case to a psychosomaticist, who flounders in jarg onTime, 1971 / His early and unexpected death was a cruel setback which left the College flound ering in indecision over the choice of a suitable successorE. Cotchin , 1990 / `You'll feel better later on,' he flounderedH. Forrester , 1990 / (founder) I wanted to leave EnglandI did not intend to be aboard when that partic ular Titanic finally foundered in a sea of bureaucracyK. Hagenbach , 1980 / Without help, the marriage may founder, thus providing another dire example to ro mantic young people that àrranged marriages are best'P. Caplan , 1985 / While these approaches may have a grain of truth in them, they founder in the ev idence of women's actual political activityJ. Urry , 1993.
Back - New Search flu a 19c shortening of influenza, is used (with or without the) as often as the ful l form, except in more formal contexts. The older form 'flu (with initial apostr ophe) has dropped out of use.
Back - New Search flunkey a (usually derogatory) term for a liveried servant or (in extended use) a today, is the preferred spelling, not flunky. The plural is flunkeys.
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flutist see FLAUTIST.
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fly. 1 The noun is used as a collective in special names for various small flies or a phids that trouble gardeners, such as fruit fly and greenfly. These accordingly function as singular nouns (with plural -flies) and collective plurals: It is easy to see that would-be DIY funeral undertakers would be as welcome as a swarm of greenfly at the Chelsea flower showJ. Spottiswoode , 1991.
2 The perfect form of the verb can be is (or are) flown as well as has (or have) flown when the meaning is èscape'.Top
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flyer, flier. Flyer is the preferred spelling in all meanings of this agent noun formed from t he verb fly. Flier is more common in AmE.
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fob off. There are two ways of using this phrasal verb, either with the person or the thi ng as the object. You can fob someone off with something (or just fob someone of f, with no further complement stated), or you can fob something off on someone; in both cases someone is deceived into accepting something inferior or unwelcome . The first construction seems to be more common:
She tried to fob him off tactfully at first, but then he became brutalD.M. Thomas , 1990 / Do not allow yourself to be fobbed off without getting the information you needG. Brandreth , 1992 / They were instructed to fob them off with promises in order to get them back to work as quickly as possibleM. Almond , 1992 / There is no `mass audience' of uncritical couch potatoes ready to be fobbed off with any old rubbishEast Anglian Daily Times, 1993 / (on construction) Aghast at the roll-call of drunks, aduiterers and pederasts th at Central Office had fobbed off upon him, [etc.]J. Paxman , 1990.
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fo'c'sle is a much reduced form of forecastle, the forward part of a ship where the crew has its quarters. In both spellings the word is pronounced fohk-sl.
Back - New Search focus. The noun has plural forms focuses in general use and foci (foh-siy) in technical use, and the verb has inflected forms focuses, focused, focusing, although some printing styles prefer forms with -ss-.
Back - New Search foetid see FETID.
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foetus, fetus. Medical usage in Britain and the US favours fetus, following the word's origin i n Latin fetus òffspring'. In AmE this spelling is preferred generally, but foetus s
till prevails in non-medical use in BrE. Because this preference is largely base d on a misconception that the -e- spelling is some kind of Americanism, the -oespelling is likely to continue obstinately in use, but in the fullness of time the cards are stacked in favour of fetus. Meanwhile, the corresponding adjective is fetal in AmE and medical usage and foetal in general BrE use.
Back - New Search fogey, fogy. This occurs mainly in the expressions old (and now also young) fogey. Fogy was f ormerly the dominant spelling; Thackeray and Charles Kingsley , for example, wro te about old fogies, implying a singular form fogy. But with the more recent arr ival of the young fogey (à young person with conservative tastes and attitudes'), t he spelling with -ey (plural -eys) is now more common.
Back - New Search foist has meanings similar to FOB OFF, but it is not followed by off and is not used i n this meaning with a person as its object; you can foist something on someone b ut you cannot foist someone (off) with something: I'm not about to foist something on the public just for the sake of releasing so methingRecord Mirror, 1982. An older use with a person or thing as object followed by in or into, meaning `to introduce surreptitiously' is now found only rarely. It was once a favourite of sc holars referring to the introduction of false readings into texts; Bulwer-Lytton wrote in 1936 of interpolationssupposed to be foisted into the Odyssey.
Back - New Search folio has the plural form folios.
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folk as an ordinary word for people in general is tending to fall out of use in BrE, except in northern parts of the country and occasionally elsewhere to denote a g reater degree of affection than the word people does: Even folk who know little about Scotland have probably heard of the TrossachsScot
tish World, 1989 / What Ursula brought home every week made all the difference to the old folk Lodge , 1991. It also survives strongly in certain specific uses: 1 As the last element of compounds and fixed expressions, or qualified by an adj ective, as in menfolk, north-country folk, townsfolk, womenfolk. In general use, however, even these are beginning to sound somewhat jocular or precious.Top
2 In the plural (usually folks) to mean òne's parents or relatives'. That really messes us up if my folks try to get hold of meL. Duncan , 1978 / The folks wouldn't like it too muchR.J. Conley , 1986. Folks is also used as a li ght-hearted form of address to an audience by public entertainers, and this is s ometimes imitated for special effect by journalists and writers: Yes, folks, in 1990, 2,245 people were murdered in the city of New York Levin , 1 991.Top
3 In the singular as an elliptical form of the term folk music (see 4 below).Top
4 In attributive combinations in which folk is joined to a second word, some of the combinations being loan translations from German, e.g. folk-dance, folk-danc ing, folk memory, folk music, folk-singer, folk-song, folk-tale, folk-ways; and especially in folklore.Top
Back - New Search folk etymology is à popular modifying of the form of a word or phrase in order to make it seem t o be derived from a more familiar word'. Examples are cockroach (from Spanish cuca racha), sparrow-grass (a dialect and colloquial name for asparagus), and hiccoug h (a later spelling of hiccup under the mistaken impression that the second syll able was related to cough).
Back - New Search following has long been used as a participial adjective either qualifying a noun, as in fo r the following reasons, or by itself as a quasi-noun, as in The following are m y reasons. From this has developed a use of following as a quasi-preposition ind ependent of any noun: Used car prices are going up, following the BudgetObserver, 1968. This use was no t a problem for Fowler (1926) but Gowers (1965) condemned it in cases where the
connection between the two events is `merely temporal' and the preposition after wou ld serve. In the example just given, there is a strong element of consequence, a nd so the use of following is perhaps justified, but this is not so in the examp le that follows, in which after could have been used with no loss of meaning: Members are invited to take tea in the Convocation Coffee House following the me etingUniversity announcement, Oxford, 1991. In some cases there is even a possibi lity of ambiguity with other meanings of following: Police have arrested a man f ollowing extensive inquiries.
Back - New Search font see FOUNT.
Back - New Search foot. The normal plural form feet alternates with foot when used as a unit of measurem ent: She is six feet / foot tall / a plank ten feet / foot long. When such a phr ase is used attributively (before a noun), a hyphen is normally placed between t he numeral and foot, as in a 12-foot dinghy. When the number of inches is also g iven, foot is more common than feet: He is six foot eight.
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for. 1 As a coordinating conjunction introducing a clause that gives a reason or expl anation, for has two features of use not shared by because and since: (1) it can not come at the beginning of a sentence but must follow a main clause: He picked his way down carefully, step by step, for the steps were narrowG. Green e , 1988, and (2) it is normally preceded by a comma, except occasionally when t he sentence is short: it was gloomy and damp, for the sun could hardly shine through the tops of the t reesNew Yorker, 1989 / I wanted a setting for my own little life, for I did not think that I should kno w too many people Brookner , 1990 / (comma omitted) He did not cry any more for it did not helpD. Matthee , 1986. In most uses, for is rather more formal in effect than either because or since.
2 In AmE for is used to introduce a subordinate clause after certain verbs: I didn't intend for you to find outJ. Mclnerney , 1985 / I can't afford for that bike to break downNew Yorker, 1986. In BrE other construc tions would be used instead: for example intend would be followed by a that- cla use.Top
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for- and fore-. The prefix for- occurs in a number of words formed in Old English, such as forbi d, forgive, and forsake. It is not an active prefix in the sense of being used t o form new words. Fore-, on the other hand, is a prefix native to English and is widely used to form verbs and nouns from existing words in the general meanings `before, in front' with regard both to space and to time, e.g. forearm, foreshorten , foretell. Special care should be taken to distinguish between words that exist in both for- and fore- forms; see the separate entries for FORBEAR, FOREBEAR; F ORGO, FOREGO.
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forbear, forebear. 1 Forbear is a verb (pronounced with the stress on the second syllable) meaning `t o abstain from, go without' and is usually followed by to + infinitive or from + v erb in -ing: He did not enquire after their progress and Nutty forbore to mention itK.M. Peyto n , 1988 / Naturally he couldn't forbear from upsetting me Self , 1993. Its past form is for bore and its past participle is forborn.
2 Forebear is a noun (pronounced with the stress on the first syllable) meaning à n ancestor': Henry Carew had chosen the Church as some of his forebears had doneT. Hayden , 19 91 / The main myth being punctured is the old erroneous view that humanity evolved gra
dually over the aeons from an ape forebearNew Scientist, 1991. Forebear is also u sed figuratively: Heseltine may not prove as co-operative as his DTI forebearsMarketing Week, 1992. The situation is complicated somewhat by the fact that most dictionaries allow forbear as a variant of forebear, but the advice here is to maintain the distinc tion.Top
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forbid. 1 The past tense is forbade, although forbad is occasionally used and cannot be said to be wrong. The pronunciation of forbade is f-bayd or (as if it were forba d) f-bad.
2 Forbid can be followed by a noun (often a verbal noun): Cars are forbidden on the beach / We decided to forbid smoking altogether. When forbid has a personal object it is normally followed by to + infinitive: I forbid you to go / We were forbidden to go. A construction with object + from + verb in -ing is also found, on the analogy of prevent and prohibit: He overcame the barrier known as the `colour line' which effectively forbade blacks from boxing whitesE. Cashmore , 1982 / Current laws forbid a company from operating a reactor even after it has been bu iltNew Scientist, 1991. Fowler (1926) regarded this construction as ùnidiomatic' but it has been in use since the 16c and is likely to remain so since the analogies are powerful. This construction is occasionally used with omission of from (The petition asked the king to forbid villeins sending their children to schoolS .J. Curtis , 1948 / She'd far rather have enjoyed the company of her contemporaries and, in fact, Co lonel Goreng didn't forbid her consorting with them Mo , 1991), but this can be r egarded as non-standard. (In the 1991 example, consorting may be a verbal noun q ualified by possessive her).Top
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forceful, forcible.
1 Fowler (1926) identified the difference in meaning as follows: `while forcible c onveys that force rather than something else is present, forceful conveys that m uch as opposed to little force is used or shown; compare forcible ejection with a forceful personality.' He then went on to say that the more important considerat ion than difference in meaning was the need to use one (forcible) as the natural regular word and reserve the other (forceful) for `poetical or other abnormal use'. His conclusion was that otherwise, `we shall shortly find ourselves with a pair o f exact synonyms either of which could well be spared instead of a pair serving different purposes'. In practice, the two words are kept apart fairly comfortably, and Fowler's prescriptions and predictions were wide of the mark; neither is th e òrdinary' word any more than the other. The principal use of forceful is in the m eaning `vigorous, powerful', whereas forcible means primarily `done by or using force'. Forceful can be used of people as well as actions, whereas forcible is used only of actions.
2 Examples: (forceful) It might be easier to start again from scratch, crystallizing a lifetime's exper ience into a hundred forceful pages? Murdoch , 1976 / He was strong and his resources of stamina enabled him to play just as forcefull y in the final ten minutes of a game as in the first tenS. Studd , 1981 / She said she tried to push him off, but he was too forcefulIndependent, 1989 / John McLeish, himself a forceful character, felt as if he had been put through a wringerJ. Neel , 1991 / (forcible) He favoured the forcible sterilization of criminals, diseased and ins ane persons, and `worthless race-types'J.R. Baker , 1971 / Section 47 of the National Assistance Act 1948 allows for the forcible removal f rom their own homes of elderly people who are not mentally illO. Stevenson , 1990 / They will wish to see sovereign rights and self-government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of themW. Jackson , 1990.Top
Back - New Search forceps. The plural is the same.
Back - New Search fore. To the fore was originally a Scottish and Anglo-Irish phrase meaning àt hand, ava ilable, surviving'. It came into English literary use during the 19c, and in curre
nt standard English means ìnto view, to the front'. A person is said to have come t o the fore when he or she has become prominent in some way.
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forebear see FORBEAR.
Back - New Search forecast is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable both as a noun and as a verb . As a past form and past participle, forecast (identical to the form of the pre sent tense) has more or less ousted forecasted.
Back - New Search forecastle see FO'C'SLE.
Back - New Search foregather see FORGATHER.
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forego see FORGO.
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foregoing means `preceding, previously mentioned' and is used as an adjective corresponding to the verb forego = to precede, especially in writing to refer to points made in earlier parts of the text: if the foregoing representation of Jesus Christ can be accepted, it would be the end of the mysticism surrounding himW.E. Gale , 1988 / All the foregoing are drawn from documents employed by the author in various stu diesJ. Campbell-Kease , 1989.
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foregone means `previous, completed' and is used mainly in the expression foregone conclusion , meaning àn easily foreseen or predictable result': The privatisation of the BBC and the race downmarket of ITV would then be a fore gone conclusionListener, 1984.
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forehead. The pronunciation faw-hed, reflecting the word's spelling, is now much more usua l than fo-rid, which was once favoured and is still recommended by some dictiona ries.
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foreign words and phrases. Fowler (1926), in an article entitled `foreign danger', warned that `those who use wor
ds or phrases belonging to languages with which they have little or no acquainta nce do so at their peril'. He was thinking primarily of so-called `non-naturalized' ex pressions that are customarily put in italics in printed matter so as to alert t he reader to the presence of something unusual. Some of these expressions tend t o retain the grammatical behaviour of the languages from which they were borrowe d, notably in the formations of plural forms, so that the plural of curriculum v itae (see CURRICULUM), for example, can cause some initial difficulty (it has to be curricula vitae, unless one resorts to CVs). Further difficulty is caused by uncertainty as to whether a word is naturalized or not; REFERENDUM has the plur al form referenda if it is not naturalized and referendums if it is (and for tho se in doubt about this one, naturalized forms ultimately, and rightly, prevail). Problems also occur when the meaning in English changes from that in the source language, or when mistaken meanings are applied, as with CUI BONO?. For other e xamples of foreign words and phrases, see the separate entries for items in bold italics throughout the book, including BTE NOIRE; BONNE BOUCHE; CORPUS DELICTI; DE RIGUEUR; DTENTE; DOUBLE ENTENDRE; EX OFFICIO; FAIT ACCOMPLI; FAUX PAS; IBID.; INGNUE; INTER ALIA; JEU D'ESPRIT; LAISSEZ-ALLER; LAISSEZ-FAIRE; MATRIEL; MODUS OPE RANDI; MODUS VIVENDI; PETITIO PRINCIPII; PICE DE RSISTANCE; PIED--TERRE; PIET; PIS A LLER; POST HOC, ERGO PROPTER HOC; RAISON D'TRE; REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM; SINE QUA NO N; ULTRA VIRES.
Back - New Search forename see CHRISTIAN NAME.
Back - New Search forensic means `connected with courts of law'(from Latin forum meaning `public square' where amon g other things judicial business was done), and should not be used as a general word for `technical, scientific'. Forensic evidence means èvidence presented in conne ction with a legal trial' and is usually, though not necessarily, medical or techn ical evidence; a forensic scientist is a scientist employed by a police departme nt. Informally, forensic is also used elliptically to mean à forensic department or unit': Perhaps the boys at forensic had made a gaffM. Maguire , 1976.
Back - New Search for ever, forever. This is written as two separate words in BrE (but often as one word in AmE) when the meaning is `for all future time'(He said he would love her for ever) and as one word when the meaning is àlways, continually' (They are forever complaining).
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foreword, preface. Preface is the traditional word (first recorded in the 14c) for the author's int roductory remarks at the beginning of a book, normally dealing with the practica lities of the book's development and making due acknowledgements rather than int roducing its content (which in some cases in done by an Introduction). Foreword is a 19c word (originally used as a term in philology) for an introductory secti on of a literary work, and practice has varied between use of this term and Pref ace. More recently, publishers have sometimes favoured the inclusion of both a F oreword (usually written by a distinguished or authoritative person other than t he author) as well as a Preface written by the author. In such cases, the Forewo rd is placed first.
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for free, for real. These two phrases, originally Americanisms, are regularly used in BrE, often in a jocular manner and with quotation marks in print: Two pilots have in fact done the Job `for real'both Sqn Ldr Marshall and Flt Lt Dave Fischer have put Harriers down on the deck of HMS BulwarkRAF News, 1977 / I'd love a research assistant, but you have to pay for them. And most people wan t me to do things for free!C. Tickell , 1991.
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forgather is the recommended spelling for this word meaning `to assemble, meet together' rathe r than foregather, which is also found by association with the prefix fore- (see FOR- AND FORE-). It is a 16c Scottish loanword from Dutch vergaderen used in th e same sense.
Back - New Search forge has a derivative form forgeable, with an e in the middle.
Back - New Search forget has the inflected form forgetting and the derivative form forgettable, both with -tt-.
Back - New Search forgive has a derivative form forgivable, without an e in the middle.
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forgo, forego. Both words are pronounced with the stress on the second syllable. Forgo means `to go without, abstain from' forego means `to go before, precede' and occurs principally in the forms FOREGOING and FOREGONE (see the separate entries for these, and FOR - AND FORE-).
Back - New Search forgot as a past participle used instead of forgotten, is limited to archaic and dialec t language, and to use in some forms of AmE.
Back - New Search forlorn hope now means only à faint hope, an enterprise which has little hope of success' but it s form has nothing to do with the English word hope. It was a 16c adaptation of Dutch verloren hoop, literally meaning `lost troop', and in English originally meant à picked body of men detached to lead an attack'. The current figurative use, firs t recorded in 1641, has driven out all memory of the original meaning.
Back - New Search formality, formalism.
The first is the ordinary noun corresponding to formal: formality is primarily t he observance of rules and conventions, a formality is something that has to be done by convention (often with implications of superfluousness: The interview wa s a mere formality), and formalities are customary procedures. The word in all t hese uses often has a dismissive tone. Formalism, first recorded in 1840, has me anings based on the notion of èxcessive adherence to prescribed forms' and is used in various technical applications in theology, mathematics, linguistics, and the arts.
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formal words. Fowler (1926) aptly identified words `that are not the plain English for what is m eant' and characterized choice between different words for the same thing in terms of the clothes we choose: `we tell our thoughts, like our children, to put on the ir hats and coats before they go out.' The examples he gave now sound dated (`We thi nk of our soldiers as plucky fellows, but call them in the bulletins valiant tro ops'), but the message is as vivid as ever. Peruse is more formal than read, purch ase than buy, luncheon than lunch, endeavour than try, evince than show; and pur loin is more formal (or, often, more jocular) than steal. As is the case with mo st of these, formal words can be turned on their heads and made to look silly in trivial or jocular use. Different modes of writing and speaking call for differ ent levels of vocabulary. At one extreme there is the language of legal document s, business, and academic monographs; at the other there is the language of ever yday conversation, with a broad range of styles in between. The language of broa dcasting and journalism, in particular, has become a great deal less formal in r ecent years, to such an extent as to cause unease among those who mistakenly ide ntify formality, or the lack of it, with standards of English.
Back - New Search format is pronounced faw-mat, and as a verb has inflected forms formatted, formatting. The verb dates from the 1960s and is mostly used in the context of computing.
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former, latter 1 These two words are used contrastively (as the former and the latter) to refer to the first and second respectively of two people or things previously mention
ed; in this role they are used attributively (before a noun) or, more usually, a bsolutely (with no noun following). Former has an important and extremely common additional meaning, for which latter has no corresponding meaning, `having been p reviously but no longer', as in the former Miss America / his former employers / T he former East Germany. When another adjective or qualifier is present, former n ormally comes after it to ensure association with the noun: In England the death of a 71 year-old former process worker at ICI is being inve stigatedNature, 1974.
2 For the meaning of former contrasted with latter, there are several points of usage to consider: a In their contrastive uses, former and latter are more often used without a fol lowing noun: The relationship between capitalist and non-capitalist modes is one of exploitat ion, in which the former creams off the surplus from the latterT. Cubitt , 1988. They are occasionally used attributively (No one mentioned the latter point and only four teachers the formerD. Pimm , 198 8), but care needs to be taken in these cases to avoid possible ambiguity with t he `having been previously' meaning of former: the sentence I am sure the former vie w will prevail needs its context to clarify whether it is an earlier view or the first of two views that is intended. b Former (in particular) and latter should only be used in writing when they are close to their antecedents, so that the reader is not forced to search back ove r earlier passages in order to establish the identity of the persons or things r eferred to. c When more than two people or things are involved, former and latter should not be used; either first and last should be used, or the sentence should be rephra sed: Though her bibliography includes Hecht, Snyder, and Daiches, she omits the latte r's first name [correct to Daiches' first name]Modern Language Notes, 1957. d When former and latter refer to something in the plural, they are regarded as plural in turn: The former describe events which are possible if not mundane, while the latter a re metaphorsJ. Empson , 1989.Top
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formidable. The standard pronunciation is with the stress on the first syllable, although th
e word is often heard with the stress on the second syllable.
Back - New Search formula. In general contexts the plural form is formulas, and in chemistry and mathematic s it is formulae, pronounced -lee. Formulae is more common in general use in AmE than in BrE.
Back - New Search for real see FOR FREE.
Back - New Search forsake meaning `to give up, go without' is spelt for- not fore-, and has inflected forms fo rsook, forsaken. See FOR- AND FORE-.
Back - New Search forte. There are two distinct though related words with this spelling. One (pronounced faw-tay or faw-ti) comes directly from Latin fortis meaning `strong' and means à pers on's strong point'. The plural, if needed, is fortes. The other (pronounced faw-ti ) comes via Italian forte and is an instruction in music to play a passage loudl y or strongly. It is also used as a noun meaning such a passage, and the plural is again fortes.
Back - New Search forth. The phrase and so forth is a less common and somewhat more literary alternative for and so on, used after the enumeration of items that could be continued furth er. There is no difference in meaning, despite the associations of assertiveness that forth has in expressions such as go forth and set forth.
Back - New Search forties see EIGHTIES.
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fortuitous 1 The OED and all reputable dictionaries show this to be a word with only one me aning, `caused by chance, accidental'. Addison wrote in the Spectator in 1712 that t he highest Degree of [wisdom] which Man can possess, is by no means equal to for tuitous Events. It is first recorded in the 17c, and was used for nearly three c enturies without difficulty. But about 1920 it started to get in the way of the older (Middle English) word fortunate, which is also connected with the working of chance and more specifically with the good effects of chance. (Whether this c onfusion was due to a double association with fortunate and propitious cannot no w be determined; but propitious is sometimes the word called for rather than for tunate.) In an example given by Fowler (1926), the word required is fortunate bu t the word used is fortuitous: I must say I should not have expected so fortuito us a termination of a somewhat daring experiment. This encroachment is restricte d to events and circumstances; with reference to people, fortunate remains unthr eatened so far: I was fortunate in being on the spot to take this photographCountry Life, 1971.
2 Modern examples of fortuitous used to mean `fortunate' or `fortunately coincidental' a re: Ellen Orford in the poem is a middle-aged woman and it was fortuitous for me tha t I was about the right age [to sing the role] Cross , 1983 / King successfully persuaded them to lend the collection for the exhibition A move which proved fortuitous for the future of the national music collectionIndepende nt, 1995. An unwelcome effect of this confusion is that it is not always possibl e to know which meaning is intended in a particular use of fortuitous, since in many cases an event can happen equally by plain chance or by good chance: The choice was not altogether fortuitousM. Freeland , 1990 / I had already made up my mind to join the South African tour when it happened, s o it was fortuitous in a wayToday, 1992. Fortuitous is too useful in its primary meaning for this uncertainty to be acceptable, and care should be taken not to u se it when fortunate or a similar word such as propitious is the word intended. In the following examples, fortuitous is used in its proper sense: His presence was not fortuitous. He has a role to play; and you will see him aga inA. Brink , 1979 / Quite fortuitously, Morse lights upon a set of college rooms which he had no ori ginal intention of visiting Dexter , 1983 / In some instances death is caused fortuitouslyM. Jefferson , 1992.Top
Back - New Search forum has the plural form forums.
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forward, forwards. 1 For the adjective, the correct form in standard English is forward: It has four forward gears and reverse controlled by a speed-sensing governorDaily Telegraph, 1971 / Already clouds of steam were rising, obscuring the forward viewD. Rutherford , 19 90 / The aggressor's own forward momentum even strengthens the force of the counter-b low against himP. Lewis , 1991. In addition to its directional meanings, forward has the meaning `bold in manner, precocious' Any child who requested a book by title he at once designated as `forward' or `lippy'R. R oberts , 1971.
2 For the adverb, choice between the two forms is even less clear-cut than in th e case with backward and backwards. The OED (in 1897) attempted to distinguish f orward as having a meaning that èxpresses a definite direction viewed in contrast with other directions', but doubts about this were expressed already by Fowler (1 926, but evidently writing in about 1917). In some fixed expressions forward is either preferred or obligatory: backwards and forwards (preferred), come forward (obligatory), look forward (to; obligatory), put forward (= propose; obligatory ). In some other meanings there is a preference for forward: >`to the front, into prominence' (Hugh stepped forward. Ìt's me, don't be frightened.' Wesley , 1983 / Her mind refused to bring any such memory forwardE. Jolley , 1985 (Australia) / Then Nigel Carew drew his sabre and thrust it into the hand of his youthful son and pushed him forwardT. Hayden , 1991), ìn advance, ahead' (Civilian volunteers from the town carried sacks of grenades forward to the men in actionJ. Ladd , 1979), ònward so as to make progress' (Rossi expressed surprise that the Commission was àpparently no further forward t han in 1984'C. Rose , 1990 /
He had continually to be looking at his watch and calculating whether they were forward enoughG.E. Evans , 1993), `towards the future, continuously onwards' (The overall feeling is that the Jockey Club is genuinely concerned with helping the industry move forwardIndependent, 1989).Top
3 The most common occurrence of forwards is in meanings denoting straightforward movement towards the front: A control stick adjusted the airflow from the fan, to make the craft hover or go forwardsMotoring Which?, 1970 / Certain single-celled organisms are propelled forwards in the waterNew Scientist, 1971 / Then he leaned forwards and touched Colin's forearm McEwan , 1981 / It was Amelia who came forwardsK. Newman , 1990 / The opponent sees the opening and moves forwards to sweep or punch youD. Mitchell , 1991. In all these examples, however, forward would be at least as natural (e xcept perhaps in the 1990 example, in which the use of forwards emphasizes the p hysical action not always present in the expression come forward); in general fo rward occurs significantly more often as an adverb than does forwards, both in B rE and in AmE.Top
Back - New Search foul, foully. The normal adverb from foul is foully (pronounced with both ls): Jerome had done foully, but not so foully as he himself and all here believed Pet ers , 1993. The older form foul survives in the quasi-adverbial expressions foul -mouthed and to fall foul of.
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fount, font. These are the traditional British and American spellings respectively of the ter m meaning à set of printing type of one size or face'. Font is now also used in BrE , and is rapidly ousting fount. Both words are only remotely connected with foun t meaning `fountain, source' (see next entry) and font meaning à basin for water in a church'.
Back - New Search fount, fountain. Fount is a shortening of fountain (compare mount and mountain) and is mainly use d in poetry and for special effect. It also occurs with the meaning `source, origi n' in phrases such as the fount of all wisdom, knowledge, etc.
Back - New Search fowl. The collective use of the singular form is now largely restricted to compounds s uch as guineafowl and wildfowl.
Back - New Search foyer meaning `the entrance hall in a theatre, etc.', is pronounced foy-ay.
Back - New Search fracas meaning à noisy disturbance', is pronounced frak-ah in BrE and fray-ks in AmE. Its plural form is also fracas, pronounced frak-ahz and fray-ks respectively.
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fraction in general use means à very small part': Teaching loads at white schools often are only a fraction the size of those at b lack schoolsSaturday Review (US), 1971. This use is idiomatic despite the pedanti c objection occasionally heard that a fraction can be nine-tenths as much as one -tenth. In some cases, however, the point is reinforced by an adjective such as small or tiny: The tax deduction for having a company car is a tiny fraction of its real valueGu ardian, 1979. See also PERCENTAGE.
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fractious see FACTIOUS.
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fragile, frail. 1 Fragile is pronounced fraj-iyl in BrE and fraj-l in AmE.
2 Fragile is normally used of things being easily broken, whereas frail is norma lly used of people being infirm or in poor physical condition: The lectern at the Guildhall is a classic example of one that looks beautiful bu t is too small and fragile to useH. Thomas & L. Gill , 1989 / After Charlotte's death in 1943, the villagers all noticed how extraordinarily f rail and sunken Shaw lookedNational Trust Magazine, 1990. There is an overlap in meaning created by the figurative use of both words in the sense `weak, easily ove rturned': OPEC last week managed to preserve its fragile unityObserver, 1985 / The drinking, drug-taking and the high-pitched battles soon toppled the frail st ructure of their romanceJ. Rose , 1990 / Our international institutions are frail, fragile and tend to be powerlessD. Adam son , 1990. In general, fragile tends to be used more often than frail in this m eaning, whereas frail alone has the meaning `morally weak, easily yielding to temp tation'.Top
Back - New Search fragmentary should be pronounced with the stress on the first syllable.
Back - New Search framework. Sir Ernest Gowers (1965) was greatly offended by what he saw as the overuse of t he expression within (or in) the framework of, meaning broadly ìn the context of'. Presumably he grew tired of reading it in successions of official Civil Service
memos and reports, and he devoted a lengthy article to discouraging its use; but his judgement that ìt has become so trite that the very sight of it may nauseate the sensitive reader' is personal rather than objective. It is also listed among the `clichs and modish and inflated diction' in the Oxford Guide to English Usage (19 94). It is true that effective images like this one can lose power through const ant use, but it is difficult to find evidence of excessive use in the case under review, and it is hard to fault examples such as the following: The exercise of justice is only possible within the framework of established ins titutions which command respect Scruton , 1980 / The qualities that make a good diplomata willingness to work within the framework of civilised courtesiesM. Binyon in Times, 1991.
Back - New Search Frankenstein in Mary Shelley's Gothic tale, is the name of the creator of a monster and is no t the monster itself. In allusive use since the late 19c, however, the word has been used as if it referred to the monster and not its creator: There are now growing indications that the Nationalists in South Africa have cre ated a political Frankenstein which is pointing the way to a non-White political revivalDaily Telegraph, 1971 / Indoctrinated mass organizationscould, critics charged, easily prove a Frankenste inSoldier of Fortune, 1990. The allusions in these case should be to a Frankenste in's monster.
Back - New Search frantically is the correct form of the adverb from frantic, not franticly.
Back - New Search free gift is recorded from 1909 and has persisted in use in advertising and marketing circ les, despite its evident tautology.
Back - New Search freeman, free man. A free man is a man who is free in general senses (literally or metaphorically). A freeman is (1) a person who is granted the freedom of a city, or (2) in histo rical uses, a person who is not a slave or serf.
Back - New Search free rein meaning ùnrestricted scope for action' is spelt this way, not free reign (as if it were connected with reign = rule). The following example should be corrected acc ordingly: If they are given free reign to invest and produce they will growNew Yorker, 1987 .
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French words and phrases used in English. 1 English has been receptive to words and phrases from French for several centur ies. The process has been continuous although there are two periods of special i mportance: the years after the Norman Conquest (11c), and the time of the French Enlightenment (18c) when movements in science and philosophy exposed gaps in th e vocabulary of English (much as the French computing industry and media are abs orbing English words at the moment). Many words from these periods have now been fully assimilated into English and behave like English words with no hint of fo reignness (e.g. button, glory, ounce, place, prime, uncle, etc.). In the 19c, mo ral and other sensitivities sought refuge in the alien flavour of French in expr essions such as affaire de cur (first recorded in English in 1809), crime passion nel (1910), and mnage trois (1891), and in the domains of art, literature, food, and wine French was felt to have an appropriacy corresponding to perceived natio nal stereotypes.
2 The process of assimilation into English is illustrated by the noun abandon, m eaning `surrender to natural impulses', which entered the language early in the 19c. It was first printed in italics as a foreign word and pronounced in the French manner with a nasalized final syllable. By the early 20c it was printed in ordin ary roman type as an English word (in James Joyce's Ulysses, for example), and a bout the same time, or a little later (after Daniel Jones's English Pronouncing Dictionary of 1917), it acquired the anglicized pronunciation that is now famili ar, aided by the pre-existence of the fully assimilated verb. Hundreds of French loanwords had a similar history between the time of their adoption into English and their complete assimilation, and others are in the process of doing so. In the assimilation process, accents constitute the most persistent features of the original language when these are present. Even the most fully assimilated words , such as caf and faade, tend to retain their accents, probably as an orthographic support for a still partly French pronunciation. Pronunciation in fact, as thes e two words show, is usually the least reliable guide to the degree of a word's assimilation.Top
3 The table below lists a selection of French words and phrases to illustrate fo ur levels of adoption into English: A = printed in italic type and pronounced in
a French manner (with some modification, e.g. in the articulation of r, the int roduction of the indeterminate schwa sound () for unaccented vowels, and the eli mination of nasalized sounds); B = Gallicisms mainly confined to literary or sch olarly use; C = printed in roman type but retaining some features of the French pronunciation; D = fully anglicized and printed in Roman type. WORD / PHRASE APP ROXIMATE MEANING DATE CATEGORY affaire de cur love affair 19c A merveille wonderfully 18c B arrire-pense ulterior motive 19c B au fond basically 18c B au pied de lettre literally 18c B baroque of 17c and 18c art 18c D billet-doux love letter 17c C bizarre strange 17c D blas indifferent 19c C brunette brown 16c D cachet sign of prestige 17c D caf coffee house 19c C camembert cheese 19c C cartel association of manufacturers 16c D charlatan sham, fraud 17c D clairvoyant one who foresees 17c D crime passionnel crime of passion 20c A dj vu already seen 20c C clair cake 19c D enfant terrible unconventional person 19c A escargot edible snail 19c C esprit de corps team spirit 18c A esprit de inspiration too late 20c B l'escalier gigolo paid escort or lover 20c D laissez-faire non-interference 19c A mayonnaise thick sauce 19c D mnage trois household of three 19c A
nom de guerre name assumed in war 17c A nom de plume pen-name 19c C pice de most remarkable item 18c A rsistance point d'appui strategic point 19c B sobriquet nickname 17c C soi-disant so-called 18c B son et lumire sound and light effects 20c A touch word used to concede a point 20c C tour de force feat of skill 19c C tournedos cut of beef 19c C
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Back - New Search frequentative. Frequentative verbs express repeated or continuous action and are formed with ce rtain suffixes, in English principally -er and -le. Examples are chatter, clambe r, flicker, flitter, glitter, slumber; crackle, dazzle, paddle, sparkle, wriggle .
Back - New Search fresco meaning a type of wallpainting, has plural forms frescos (preferred) and frescoe s.
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friar, monk.
A friar is a member of a mendicant (i.e. living on alms) or originally mendicant religious order of men, especially the Augustinians, Carmelites, Dominicans, an d Franciscans, who live among the people and do good works. A monk can include t hese, but properly denotes a member of a religious community living apart under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
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Friday (and other days of the week). Friday, being the first day of the week alphabetically, is chosen to make this p oint, which also applies to the other six. The suppression of on in adverbial re ferences to days of the week (See you Friday / He normally eats fish Fridays) is spreading to BrE from America, but the process is not complete and the use rema ins informal in Britain, especially in the singular. Only an American would say or write that something `happened Friday' instead of `happened last Friday', or to give a real example: Noriegasaid Monday the U.S. Southern Command in Panamathreatens the Central Americ an nationUSA Today, 1988.
Back - New Search friendlily is available as an adverb from friendly but because of its awkwardness it is rar ely used: The womenstill addressed him friendlily Trevor , 1980 / All this was friendlily presented Jenkins , 1991. The phrasal alternative in a fr iendly way (or manner) often serves better.
Back - New Search frier see FRYER.
Back - New Search frith see FIRTH.
Back - New Search frock was originally a male garment, especially the mantle of a monk or priest. Discar ded by men, the word came back into favour in the 19c as a synonym of gown or dr ess for women or girls. Fowler described it as a vogue word used èspecially for a dress regarded from the decorative point of view'. It is still in use but has a d istinct period flavour and can be disparaging or facetious. A recent (1998) adve rtisement for a sports car shows the car with a supermodel in an elegant designe r dress standing beside it. The caption reads òur latest modeland Claudia Schiffer in a frock'.
Back - New Search frolic verb has inflected forms frolicked, frolicking.
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from. Avoid the mixture of styles shown in the type He was chairman of the board from 19791985. This should be expressed either He was chairman of the board from 197919 85 or He was chairman of the board from 1979 to 1985. See also BETWEEN (3).
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from whence, from hence. 1 Although widely disapproved of on the grounds that from is redundant, from whe nce has a long and distinguished history of use in questions (From whence these Murmurs, and this change of mind Dryden , 1697) and in indirec t questions or as a conjunction introducing a relative clause (No man can say from whence the greater danger to order arisesF. Harrison , 1867) . The phrase with from continues to be used in modern literature: When they show the captive a picture of the City of London, that he may know fro m whence they come, he displays no interest Lively , 1991 / Dark clouds had gathered over the hills to the north, from whence came the lucky
changeling folk in times long pastS. Koea , 1994 (New Zealand). The modern uses have mostly to do with people's origins and can be justified stylistically as ar chaisms (cf. Thys felowe, we knowe not from whence he ys Tyndale , 1526). In general use, if w hence has to be used, it is best used without from; but of course the problem ca n be avoided altogether by rephrasing in a way that is in any case more natural in modern English:so that he can know where they come from.
2 The OED gives numerous examples, dating from the 14c to the 19c, of the use of from hence. A typical 19c example is From hence I was conducted up a staircase to a suite of apartmentsW. Irving , 182 0. In the 20c this use is best avoided.Top
Back - New Search fruition has only an indirect connection with fruit, but the false association led it ast ray in the 19c. Its current meaning `fulfilment, the realization of aims'(especially in the phrase come to fruition) dates from then; before that it meant ènjoyment'(f rom the Latin deponent verb frui `to enjoy'), a meaning which is still listed in dic tionaries of current English though hardly much used.
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fryer is the preferred spelling for the agent noun meaning à person or thing that fries', not frier.
Back - New Search frying-pan is the usual term in BrE, but in AmE it alternates with frypan and skillet.
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-fs, -ves. Nouns ending in -f and -fe have plural forms as shown in the table below: NOUN FS PLURAL -VES PLURAL VERB FORM beef beefs (= kinds of beef) beeves (= oxen) belief beliefs calf calves calve, calved dwarf dwarfs dwarves (see entry) dwarf, dwarfed elf elves half halves halve, halved handkerchief handkerchiefs hoof hoofs hooves (see entry) hoof, hoofed knife knives knife, knifed leaf leaves leaf, leafed life lives live, lived loaf loaves loaf, loafed oaf oafs proof proofs prove, proved roof roofs rooves (see entry) roof, roofed scarf scarfs scarves (see entry) self selves sheaf sheaves sheave, sheaved shelf shelves shelve, shelved staff staffs staves (music) staff, staffed thief thieves thieve, thieved turf turfs turves (see entry) turf, turfed wharf wharfs wharves wife wives wolf wolves wolf, wolfed
Back - New Search fuchsia the plant, is correctly spelt this way (after the 16c German botanist Leonhard F uchs), not fuschia, although this is sometimes erroneously used (and encouraged by the word's pronunciation, fyoo-sh).
Back - New Search fuel verb has inflected forms fuelled, fuelling in BrE and fueled, fueling in AmE.
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-ful is a suffix forming nouns that denote amounts, as in cupful, handful, mouthful, etc. In many cases these nouns develop meanings that are remote from the word th at forms the first element; for example, a handful means à small number' as well as àn amount that can be held in the hand' The plurals of these words is cupfuls, han dfuls, mouthfuls, etc.
Back - New Search fulcrum is pronounced fuhl-krm or ful-krm and has plural forms fulcra or fulcrums.
Back - New Search fulfil is the BrE spelling; in AmE it alternates with fulfill. The inflections in both varieties are fulfilled, fulfilling.
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survives as an adverb only in the phrases full well at I mean) and full in the face (as in The ball hit uses (e.g. full early, full fain) are now somewhat espeare's Full fathom five thy Father lies (Tempest ly, quite' and refers to the number.
(as in You know full well wh him full in the face). Other literary or archaic; in Shak I.ii.399), the meaning is `ful
Back - New Search fullness is spelt with two ls, but the form fulness occurs in 19c and earlier printed wor ks.
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full stop. 1 The principal use of the full stop (also called point, full point, and period) is to mark the end of a sentence that is a statement (as in this sentence). Thi s applies to sentences when they are not complete statements or contain ellipsis (see SENTENCE), as in the opening of Dickens's Bleak House (18523): London. Mich aelmas term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln's Hall. Impl acable November weather. If the sentence is a question or exclamation, the mark used is the QUESTION MARK or EXCLAMATION MARK, which include a full stop in thei r forms.
2 The full stop is also used to mark abbreviations and contractions, although th is use is diminishing, partly as a matter of printing style and partly because m any abbreviations have become more familiar and no longer need identification. T he distinction between abbreviations (e.g. I.o.W = Isle of Wight) and contractio ns (e.g. Dr = Doctor), though arguably a useful one, has been rapidly eroded by this process, so that shortenings of various kinds are printed and written witho ut full stops, e.g. BBC, DPhil, etc, ie, IoW, Mr, Ms, pm (= post meridiem), St ( = Saint or Street), etc. The style recommended here is somewhat more conservativ e than this, dropping full stops in initialisms that are all capital letters (e. g. BBC, NNW = north-north-west, TUC), in many contractions (Dr, Mr, etc.), and i n acronyms that are pronounced as words (e.g. Anzac, Nato), but retaining them i n lower-case initialisms such as a.m., e.g. and i.e., in mixed styles such as D. Phil. and M.Sc., and in shortened words such as Oct. (= October) and Tues. (= Tu esday). The important point, however, is to achieve consistency within a particu lar piece of writing or printing. Some shortenings have a greater need of full s tops to avoid possible ambiguity with other words in some contexts, e.g. a.m. (= ante meridiem), no. (= number).Top
3 If an abbreviation with a full stop comes at the end of a sentence, another fu ll stop is not added when the full stop of the abbreviation is the last characte
r: Bring your own pens, pencils, rulers, etc. but Bring your own things (pens, p encils, rulers, etc.).Top
4 Full stops are routinely used between units of money (11.99, $27.50), before de cimals (10.5%), and between hours and minutes (10.30 a.m.; AmE 10:30 a.m.).Top
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fulsome. 1 The first meaning of fulsome was `copious, abundant', but it had lost this along w ith other meanings by the 16c and acquired an unfavourable sense èxcessive, cloyi ng', especially with reference to praise or flattery. This meaning has remained th e dominant one until the second half of the 20c, when fulsome began to be used i n favourable meanings, so that fulsome praise meant high or lavish praise rather than excessive or nauseating praise. This new use, more common in AmE but incre asingly found in BrE too, should be avoided, because the adverse meaning is stil l much in use and there is a danger of unfortunate misunderstanding. Examples of the erroneous use: That very fulsome tribute to Mrs Shirley Williams by the PMradio broadcast, 1979 / I got a very fulsome apology from the President of Iraq Reagan , quoted on NBC Ne ws, 1987. An example of the correct use is: Walks surefootedly through the minefield that separates fulsome idolatry from co ndescending anecdotal chitchatTimes Literary Supplement, 1977.
2 Fulsome is also occasionally used to mean `full-figured', with reference to a woma n's figure, by fashion writers who analyse the word as consisting of full + -som e as in handsome, wholesome, etc.: I am warned that these particular cassocks will only fit either the exceptionall y petite or the handsomely fulsomeDaily Telegraph, 1985.Top
Back - New Search fun first recorded in 1700 and stigmatized by Dr Johnson as a `low cant word'(i.e. ephem eral jargon), has long hovered on the brink of adjectival status (It was really fun) and more recently has taken a step further in informal attributive uses suc
h as We had a fun time or That would be a fun thing to do. It still has a way to go, however, since it cannot yet be qualified by intensifying adverbs such as v ery or extremely (use of great instead gives away the noun's disguise), and lack s the comparative and superlative inflections that a single-syllable adjective n ormally has (although more fun as in This sounds more fun is legitimate; funner and funnest are beginning to appear in youth slang in AmE).
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function. 1 The noun has a number of technical meanings in mathematics and (now) in comput ing, and has acquired general meanings that caused Fowler (1926) to categorize i t as a POPULARIZED TECHNICALITY. As a noun, it is often used somewhat pretentiou sly in meanings for which other words would serve as well: (1) role, duty, or re sponsibility (This function is now discharged by departmental select committeesH. Calvert , 19 85), (2) use or purpose (Identify the main functions of a hedge before deciding its compositionGardeners' World, 1991), (3) action, activity, or performance (He was embarrassed about the nature of his illness and reluctant to discuss his bowel function with anyoneJ. Merchant , 1989), (4) capacity, facility, or operat ion (especially with a preceding word: In some countries major social consumption fu nctions are controlled by the central government and social investment functions by local governmentsP. Dunleavy 1987), or (5) party or gathering (It was not the kind of function to which Nat was accustomed to go, but his fath er's employerpressed a ticket on him Raphael , 1960).
2 As a verb, function often substitutes unnecessarily for more workaday words su ch as act, operate, think, or work: Excessive heat may make us feel `stupid' and unable to function mentallyU. Markham , 1991. The phrase to be a function of is a direct borrowing from mathematics, and usually means little more than to be caused by: This suggests that, in part, the housewife's dissatisfaction with her work is a function of downward social mobilityA. Oakley , 1990.Top
3 There is a place for function as a formal and technical word, but in general u se the alternatives suggested above are usually worth considering.Top
Back - New Search functional. In addition to its special meanings in medicine and psychology, the primary mean ings of functional are (1) `designed or intended to be practical rather than attra ctive', a synonym of utilitarian, and (2) `having a function, working'. In the 1990s t he word has been used in the second meaning to describe a type of food, originat ed in Japan, that contains health-promoting additives instead of the conventiona lly harmful ones: Functional foods are sometimes wrongly referred to in the media as `miracle foods' i mplying they are something of a panacea, negating the need for a healthy dietGroc er, 1996.
Back - New Search funerary, funeral, funereal. Funerary is the standard adjective in the neutral meaning òf or used at a funeral or funerals', as in funerary ashes, funerary urn, etc. It dates from the late 17c and has replaced funeral, which was originally an adjective but became predomin antly a noun from the 16c onwards (in uses such as funeral expenses and funeral rites it is a noun used attributively and not an adjective). Funereal, which is first recorded in 1725, has a special judgemental meaning àppropriate to a funera l', either `deadly slow'(like a funeral procession) or `gloomy, dreary, dismal': Her mother and brother had departed to the kitchen from where Wexford could hear their muted whisperings and the funereally careful clink of cups Rendell , 1981 / Karl nodded and began to walk slowly up the steps, Erika by his side, moving at a funereal paceP. Carter , 1986 / Even with Donald there, Aileen thought, the place had a funereal silence about i tC.F. Roe , 1992.
Back - New Search fungus has the plural form fungi, pronounced fung-giy or fun-jiy, although funguses is sometimes used, especially to mean `types of fungus'. The adjectival forms are funga l and fungous, and fungus itself is sometimes used attributively (before a noun, as in a fungus disease).
Back - New Search funnel verb has inflected forms funnelled, funnelling in BrE and funneled, funneling in AmE.
Back - New Search funny is used in two primary meanings: (1) amusing, comical (as in a funny joke), (2) strange, hard to explain (as in a funny look).
Since the 1930s, as first recorded in a novel by Ian Hay , meaning (1) has come to be called funny-ha-ha and meaning (2) funny-peculiar.
Back - New Search furore meaning àn uproar, an outbreak of fury' is pronounced as three syllables. The word is spelt furor in AmE and pronounced fyoo-raw.
Back - New Search further, furthest see FARTHER.
Back - New Search fuse. There are two distinct words: (1) the one meaning à device for igniting a bomb' is 17c from Latin fusus `spindle', and (2) the one meaning à device or component for protecting an electric circuit' is 19 c, derived from the earlier verb meaning `to melt'.
The first of these words, but not the second, is usually spelt fuze in AmE.
Back - New Search -fy. This suffix forming English verbs corresponds to French -fier and Latin -ficare. It occurs from the 15c onwards in words either borrowed whole from French or mo delled on French forms (e.g. beautify, classify, horrify, pacify), and is also a n active suffix occasionally forming new (often somewhat jocular) words such as bullify (18c = to make into a bully), Frenchify (16c), and ladify (17c). These w ords have inflections in -ifies, -ified, -ifying. When there is a choice of spel
ling between -ify and -yfy (as with countrify/-yfy and ladify/-yfy) the spelling in -ify is preferable. A small group of words end in -efy (e.g liquefy, stupefy ) and inflect -efies, -efied, -efying.
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* * *
gabardine. This is the recommended spelling for the word meaning à smooth durable cloth' or a raincoat made from it. The form gaberdine is used with historical reference to t he smock worn by almsmen and beggars, and by Jews on the Elizabethan stage, as i n Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice I.iii.111 (Shylock): You call me misbeliever, cut-throat, dog, And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine.
Back - New Search Gaelic, pronounced gal-ik or gay-lik, denotes any of the modern Celtic languages spoken in Ireland (Irish Gaelic), Scotland (Scottish Gaelic), and the Isle of Man (Manx ). There are two main varieties that were ancestors of these languages: Brythoni c (or P-Celtic), also the indigenous language of Wales and Cornwall and taken by Britons to Brittany, and Goidelic (or Q-Celtic), which spread from Ireland into the Isle of Man and Scotland.
Back - New Search gala is normally pronounced gah-l but the traditional pronunciation, as recorded in t he OED (1899) and as used in the Durham Miners' Gala, is gay-la. Both pronunciat ions are in use in AmE. The plural form is galas.
Back - New Search gallant is pronounced gal-nt in the ordinary meaning `brave', and g-lant in the special mean
ing àttentive to women, amorous' and the related noun `lover or paramour'. Fowler thoug ht that these two uses were, even then (1926), `perhaps moribund', but they persist, usually in fictional or romantic contexts rather than in everyday language.
Back - New Search galley has the plural form galleys.
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Gallicisms. Fowler (1926) used this term to describe what he called `borrowings of various kin ds from French in which the borrower stops short of using French words without d isguise'. That is to say, they are words that have been assimilated in various way s, or in some cases translated, into English. While acknowledging their establis hed contribution to English vocabulary, he gave a warning not to use them as a k ind of affectation derived from their foreignness. There are three principal typ es of Gallicisms; Fowler was thinking especially of the third: 1 French words which have been adapted to suit the ordinary conventions of Engli sh by dropping accents or substituting English endings, e.g. actuality (from Fre nch actualit) and redaction (from French rdaction). See also FRENCH WORDS AND PHRA SES USED IN ENGLISH. 2 Mismatches, i.e. words that do not mean in English what they mean in French; f or example, papier mch is literally `chewed paper' and does not exist in this meaning in French (the equivalent is carton-pte), duvet in English means à continental qui lt' but in French means à sleeping-bag', and cagoule, which in English means à windpro of outdoor garment with a hood', in French means a monk's hood or à child's balacla va'. Some food terms have different meanings in the two languages: fromage frais, which is now widely seen in British supermarkets, is what in French is called fr omage blanc, fromage frais being a fresh unmatured type of cheese. 3 Loan translations, i.e. expressions adopted from French in a more or less lite rally translated form, e.g. gilded youth (from French jeunesse dore), jump (or le ap) to the eyes (French sauter aux yeux). marriage of convenience (French mariag e de convenance), and that goes without saying (French cela va sans dire).
Back - New Search gallop meaning `to go at a fast pace', has inflected forms galloped, galloping.
Back - New Search gallows has been treated since the 16c as a singular noun, with a (rarely used) plural g allowses. Gallows humour means `grim and ironical humour'.
Back - New Search galore, meaning ìn plenty', comes after the word it qualifies (bargains galore in our sprin g sale). It is derived from Irish go ler meaning `to sufficiency, enough'.
Back - New Search galosh, meaning à waterproof overshoe', is normally used in the plural galoshes. This spell ing is preferred to the variant golosh.
Back - New Search gambit, in its generalized meaning àn opening move in a conversation, meeting, set of neg otiations, etc.', is a technical term taken from chess (see POPULARIZED TECHNICALI TIES), where the meaning is àn opening in which a player sacrifices a piece or pa wn to secure an advantage'. In the extension of meaning, the notion of sacrifice h as largely disappeared: Liza was attractive and her response to some of his occasional conversational ga mbits on the way home had been interesting and unusualP. Street , 1990 / These questions are often opening gambits for a negotiation of some sortP. Davies , 1991.
Back - New Search gambol, meaning `to skip or frolic playfully', has inflected forms gambolled, gambolling. In AmE the forms gamboled, gamboling are also used.
Back - New Search gamut. In music, gamut properly means `the note G at the pitch now indicated by the lowes t line of the bass staff'. From this it was extended eventually to mean `the whole s
eries of notes used in medieval or modern music', and this has given rise to the g eneralized meaning `the whole series or range or scope of anything' which chiefly oc curs in the expression run the gamut (= experience the whole range of): The audience for science fiction now runs the gamut from the high school `trekkie' t o the serious literary scholarbook catalogue, 1983. The word is formed from medie val Latin gamma (= the note G) + ut, the first of six arbitrary names forming th e hexachord (ut; re, mi, fa, sol, la); these were said to be taken from the init ial letters of a sequence of Latin words in the office hymn for St John the Bapt ist's day.
Back - New Search gantry is spelt in this way when it refers to any of various structures supporting a cr ane, set of railway signals, space rocket, etc. In the meaning à wooden stand for barrels', it is also spelt gauntry and pronounced gawn-tri.
Back - New Search gaol, gaoler, see JAIL, JAILER.
Back - New Search gap is widely used as the second element of expressions denoting à divergence in view s, sympathies, development, etc.' Those recorded in the OED include credibility ga p (first recorded in 1966), dollar gap (1948), export gap (1952), generation gap (1967), missile gap (1959), and technology gap (1967).
Back - New Search garage. The standard pronunciation in BrE is ga-rahzh, although some speakers say ga-rij or (with the stress on the second syllable) ga-rahzh. The dominant pronunciatio ns in AmE are ga-rahzh and ga-rahj.
Back - New Search garrotte is the customary spelling for the word (verb and noun) to do with killing by str angulation. In AmE the dominant spelling is garrote (with inflections garroted, garroting), although other forms are also found.
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gas. The plural of the noun is gases, but the verb has inflected forms gasses, gassed , gassing. Gas, short for gasoline, is the most usual word in AmE for BrE petrol , and permeates BrE in colloquial expressions such as step on the gas.
Back - New Search gaseous. The dominant pronunciation in standard English is gasi-s; gay-si-s is now only r arely heard.
Back - New Search gasoline is the AmE term for what in BrE is called petrol, a volatile liquid obtained fro m petroleum. This spelling is preferred to gasolene, but the word is normally us ed in its shortened form gas. See GAS.
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-gate is a suffix taken from the name Watergate, a building in Washington DC containin g the headquarters of the Democratic Party, which was the centure of a break-in and political scandal in 1972. The suffix is used in various combinations to den ote an actual or alleged scandal that is in some way comparable. Examples are Da llasgate (1975), Koreagate (1976), Irangate (1986, referring to secret US sales of arms to Iran), and most recently Monicagate (1998, referring to a sexual scan dal involving Monica Lewinsky and President Bill Clinton ). These formations are a godsend to journalists wishing to instil the breath of scandal into short eye -catching headlines.
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a loanword from French meaning à rich cake', has the plural form gateaus, or occasi onally gateaux.
Back - New Search gauge is spelt in this way, not guage.
Back - New Search gauntlet. There are two distinct words here: (1) à stout glove' used in the expression throw down the gauntlet (= accept a challenge), from an Old French diminutive of gant meaning `glove', and (2) used in the phrase run the gauntlet (= undergo a punishment or ordeal), assi milated from an earlier form gantlope, of Swedish origin. The second word is som etimes spelt gantlet in AmE
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gay. 1 There is no historical case for homosexual ownership of `gay'. So can we have our wo rd back, please. Johnson , 1995. This typifies the reaction of many people to thi s major change, occurring from the mid-20c but with occasional earlier evidence, in the use of a basic English word. At this time, the homosexual community made it clear that they wanted to be called gay instead of homosexual or any of the other derogatory names including fag, faggot, fairy, homo, pansy, and queer. The first substantial evidence is from the 1950s: In a way it was an odd threesome. It occurred to me that Esther rather hung roun d our two gay boysE. Lambert , 1951. The historical basis for this use of gay is sometimes sought in earlier meanings: (17c) àddicted to social pleasures and diss ipations' (as in gay dog and gay Lothario) and (19c) `(said of a woman) leading an i mmoral life, living by prostitution'. But these older and hardly favourable meanin gs constitute dubious precedents, and in all probability the connection was impr essionistic rather than analytical. Whatever the case, the new meaning looks her e to stay, and dictionaries of current English tend to list it first of the seve ral meanings of gay. There are a number of points to be made in defence of the n
ew meaning: it is useful to have a word that is not offensive; the traditional m eaning of gay was in any case acquiring something of a period flavour; and there are plenty of synonyms available: merry, jolly, cheerful, happy, high-spirited, lively, and others that can be found in a good thesaurus.
2 Gay is also used in the meaning ìntended for, used by, or associated with homos exuals' (as in gay bar and gay politics), and as a noun: What about gays, one asks, and ficantly to each other?Sunday , the noun gay usually denotes d gays (usually in that order) : will there be facilities for them to relate signi Telegraph, 1985. Unlike the adjectival use, however male homosexuals only, and the phrase lesbians an is used to show clearly that both sexes are meant
Venues and services staffed by lesbians and gays are invaluable in maintaining a sense of communityP. Lincoln & T. Kaufmann , 1991 / One end result has been an increase in the extent to which gays and lesbians hav e been subjected to physical violenceJ. Dollimore , 1991. The gay gene is a slang term for DNA sequences which can predispose an individual to homosexuality.Top
3 It should be mentioned that, despite all the inhibitions reviewed above, the t raditional meaning of gay is still alive and well for some writers: She had lived a very gay life in London, when she was on the stage Bawden , 1991 / But she disobeyed him, brought the baby out, and he had never found her so gay, so welcoming Warner , 1992.Top
Back - New Search gazebo, pronounced ga-zee-boh and meaning à small glass building designed to give a wide view', has the plural form gazebos. The word is 18c, and is thought to be a fancif ul formation on gaze, as if it were a Latin future verb meaning Ì will gaze (at t he view)'.
Back - New Search geezer is a (now somewhat dated) slang term for a person, usually a man. It is a late-1 9c adaptation of guiser meaning `mummer', reflecting a dialect pronunciation.
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gelatin, gelatine. Gelatin (pronounced jel--tin) is the customary form in chemical use, and in AmE in all uses, but gelatine (pronounced jel-a-teen) is common in BrE in contexts t o do with the preparation of food.
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gender. 1 Since the 14c the word has been primarily a grammatical term denoting groups o f nouns in terms of their being masculine, feminine, or neuter. In the earliest form of English (Old English or Anglo-Saxon, c. 740 to 1066), nouns fell into th ree classes, masculine, feminine, and neuter: stn (stone) was masculine, giefu ( gift) was feminine, and scip (ship) was neuter. The definite article and most ad jectives varied to accord with the gender of the accompanying noun, as they stil l do in other languages. By the end of the 11c, this system was lost. In modern English grammatical gender exists only in the singular personal pronouns he, she , it, his, hers, its, etc., and in some feminine endings such as -ess, -ette (im ported from French), and -ine.
2 Although nouns associated with female and male persons and animals are general ly feminine or masculine as appropriate, grammatical gender and sexual gender do not have a complete correspondence in any language, which accounts for some of the anomalies that can cause offence in our modern gender-sensitive age (e.g. in referring to vehicles as she).Top
3 The evidence in the OED shows that the term gender was also used as a term mea ning `the sex of a person', although the OED editors (1899) marked this as `now only j ocular'. Since the 1960s this meaning has come back into regular use, especially a mong feminists, to emphasize `the social and cultural, as opposed to the biologica l, distinctions between the sexes' (OED2, 1989). This revival, which is a useful o ne, has given rise to many new compound expressions, including gender gap, gende r identity, gender language, gender model, gender role, and gender-specific; and academic disciplines now include the field of gender studies.Top
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gender-neutrality.
1 In English, explicit grammatical gender is chiefly confined to the third-perso n singular personal pronouns, he, she, it, his, hers, its, etc. From earliest ti mes until about the 1960s it was unquestionably acceptable to use the pronoun he (and him, himself, his) with indefinite reference to denote a person of either sex, especially after indefinite pronouns and determiners such as anybody, anyon e, each, every, etc., after gender-neutral nouns such as person, individual, and speaker, and in fixed expressions such as every man for himself and one man one vote. The feminist movement has greatly intensified sensitivities in this area, and alternative devices often have to be found. When a gender-neutral pronoun o r determiner (i.e. one that is free of grammatical gender) is needed, the option s usually adopted are he or she (or his or her, etc.), or the plural forms they, their, themselves, etc.: Each client should take the advice of their estate agent, who will take into acc ount the style of the property, [etc.]Real Property Guide (Edinburgh), 1995 / Anyone who involves themselves in such issues does so for their own salvationBig Issue, 1998. (This use of plural pronouns is not new, but a revival of a practic e dating from the 16c.) An alternative strategy is to rephrase the sentence, for example by couching the whole thing in the plural; by this device the 1995 exam ple above becomes Clients should take the advice of their estate agents , althoug h the loss of singular focus can sometimes blur the sense (as, perhaps, in this example).
2 Artificial devices, including the use of composite forms such as s/he, hesh, w self, etc., have not found general currency, partly because they are difficult t o articulate and are only possible in writing. A reflexive pronoun themself is o ccasionally found and is likely to become more common, but at present it is nonstandard: It is not an actor pretending to be Reagan or Thatcher, it is, in grotesque form , the person themselfI. Hislop , 1984 / Someone in a neutral mood can devote themself solely to problem solvingIndependen t, 1995.Top
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genealogy, meaning `(the study of) a person's line of descent', is derived from a Greek word ge nea meaning `race, generation'. The existence of so many words ending in -ology (arc haeology, psychology, sociology, etc.) and the influence of its own derivative w ord genealogical (with a stressed -o-), traps some people into pronouncing genea logy as if it too ended in -ology, and even into spelling it that way.
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generator is spelt -or in all its meanings, not -er.
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genie, meaning à spirit of Arabian folklore', is pronounced jee-ni and has the plural form genii, pronounced jee-ni-iy. See also GENIUS.
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genius, meaning à person of great intellectual power', has the plural form geniuses, not ge nii, which is the plural of GENIE.
Back - New Search gent (= gentleman). Apart from its use in commercial circles (e.g. gents' outfitters) and (in the UK) the colloquial euphemism the Gents, meaning a men's lavatory, t his shortening is mainly used to indicate sociability, courtesy, etc., e.g. He's a perfect gent.
Back - New Search genteel. Its primary meaning is àffectedly or ostentatiously refined or stylish', but it is often used ironically to mean òf or appropriate to the upper classes'.
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genteelism. Fowler (1926) described genteelism as `the substituting, for the ordinary natural word that first suggests itself to the mind, of a synonym that is thought to be less soiled by the lips of the common herd, less familiar, less plebeian, less v ulgar, less improper'. It is euphemism taken a stage further by virtue of the inap propriate social context into which the substitute word is placed. Fowler's list included items that would now be considered normal or even preferable, such as assist for help, close for shut, mirror for looking-glass, and stomach for belly . Others, such as anent for about and domestic for servant, have fallen out of u se or are no longer socially relevant. A few might be thought valid as genteelis ms: e.g. carafe for water-bottle, edifice for building, endeavour for try, expec torate for spit, inquire for ask, lingerie for underclothing, peruse for read, p erspire for sweat, and sufficient for enough. To these may be added dentures for false teeth, desire for want, hard of hearing for deaf, lounge for sitting-room , and retire for the night for go to bed. See also U AND NON-U.
Back - New Search genteelly, the adverb from genteel, is spelt and pronounced with two ls.
Back - New Search gentle. The phrase the gentle art, which was used with clever irony by the American pain ter James McNeill Whistler in his title The Gentle Art of Making Enemies (1890), had already become a clich by the time Fowler wrote (1926). As well as being use d allusively in titles, e.g. The Gentle Art of Singing (1927), it occurs in gene ral contexts: Grant took full advantage of the lunchtime lull in traffic, and in derestricted areas excelled himself in the gentle art of speed with safety Tey , 1936 / Hype is an American word for the gentle art of getting a tune into the pop chart s without actually selling any recordsSunday Times, 1968. The gentle art is also an affectionate name for the sport of angling.
Back - New Search gentleman. The word gentleman, formerly a term indicating social class, has largely fallen out of use in this meaning with the gradual erosion of class distinctions. It su rvives as a form of address (usually as ladies and gentlemen), in the phrase gen tleman's agreement (an informal agreement not binding in law) and as a term of g eneral polite reference, especially in public (I have a question from the gentle man in the second row). The designation gentlemen is still occasionally seen on signs for public lavatories, but men is more usual. The feminine form gentlewoma n, meaning à woman of good birth or breeding' has almost entirely fallen out of use
except as an archaism.
Back - New Search genuflection, meaning à bending of the knee', is the preferred spelling, although genuflexion is also in use.
Back - New Search genuine is pronounced jen-yuh-in in BrE. In AmE the pronunciation jen-yuh-iyn is widespr ead (sometimes for humorous effect) but non-standard.
Back - New Search genus, the term for a taxonomic grouping in biology, is pronounced jee-ns. The plural i s genera, pronounced jen--r.
Back - New Search geographic, geographical. Both forms have a long history, geographic being first recorded in 1630 and geog raphical in 1559. The longer form is dominant in BrE, but geographic alternates with it more frequently in AmE.
Back - New Search geometric, geometrical. As with the preceding words, the longer form is about a century older than the s horter one (1552 and 1630 respectively). In this case, the shorter form is domin ant in fixed collocations in BrE (geometric mean, geometric progression, geometr ic tracery, etc.), but in general contexts the choice seems to depend on the rhy thm and balance of the sentence. In AmE geometric seems to be more usual both in fixed collocations and in general contexts.
Back - New Search German words used in English. English has been steadily adopting words from German for several centuries, alth ough there are fewer loans of phrases than there are from French. There are some
times changes of form (e.g. kaput) or changes of meaning (e.g. spiel). The table below shows the more important loans, with their dates of first appearance in p rint and their meaning, together with an indication of whether they have been na turalized in English (i.e. are printed in roman type and regarded as English wor ds) or non-naturalized: WORD MEANING DATE NATURALIZED angst guilty anxiety 1944 yes blitz sudden attack 1939 yes echt authentic 1916 no edelweis Alpine plant 1862 yes ersatz artificial, imitation 1875 yes kaput broken, not working 1895 yes kindergarten children's nursery 1852 yes kitsch garish or gaudy art 1926 yes poltergeist mischievous ghost 1848 yes quartz mineral 1765 yes rucksack type of bag 1866 yes schadenfreude enjoyment of another's misfortune 1895 no spiel glib talk 1896 yes ur- original, earliest 1880s yes waltz dance 1781 yes
Back - New Search gerrymander meaning `to manipulate election districts unfairly', is originally a US word formed from the name of Elbridge Gerry , governor of Massachusetts in 1812. His name wa s pronounced with a hard initial g, and the word was at first pronounced likewis e, but pronunciation with a soft g (j-) is now standard in both AmE and BrE.
Back - New Search gerund see VERBAL NOUN.
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gesticulation, gesture. 1 Gesture is a somewhat older word (15c) than gesticulation (16c), and both are related to Latin gestus meaning àction'. In current use they overlap in their meani ngs to do with movement of the body or parts of the body as a mode of expression , and it is the degree of animation that governs the choice, gesticulation indic ating a much more theatrical movement of the arms or body. The extended meaning of gesture, à friendly action intended to evoke a positive response', first came in to English as recently as the early 20c: The gift of your Medal of Honour to a British comrade in arms is a gesture of fr iendly sympathy and good will which we will not forgetTimes, 1921 / Flowers didn't occur to Sneed until he had arrived at the hospital, and there th e gesture was pointlessG.F. Newman , 1970.
2 A 20c neologism that extends this use is gesture politics, defined as `political action which concentrates primarily on publicity value and influencing public o pinion'. It is normally used with connotations of disapproval: There is no room for gesture politics. If we want to open debate about the futur e and our constitution, that is fineDaily Mail 1995.Top
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get. 1 RANGE OF USE. Get is one of the most frequently used and most productive words in English. Often it has virtually no meaning in itself and draws its meaning a lmost entirely from its context, especially in idiomatic uses such as get to bed , get dressed, get home, get the flu, get a letter, get a new hat, get going, ge t rich, get one's feet wet, get a train, and so on. It will be seen from these e xamples as an all-purpose substitute for a whole range of verbs including arrive , become, buy, catch, collect, obtain, receive, etc. Get also has a highly produ ctive role in forming idiomatic phrasal verbs such as get along, get at, get awa y, get away with, get back, get by, get down to, get on, get out, get over, get through, get together, etc.
2 SUPPOSED OVERUSE. The view that get is an overused word and should be avoided in good English is a superstition. It was not a problem for either Fowler (1926) or Gowers (1965), whose entries on this word dealt with different aspects of it
s use. There are some uses that should be recognized as informal, e.g. We got al ong fine might be better expressed as We were on good terms in more formal conte xts and What are you getting at? as What are you suggesting [or implying]?, but there is no advantage in I received a letter this morning over I got a letter th is morning nor in She's gone to collect her post over She's gone to get her post . Many idiomatic phrases involving get, such as get away with and get down to, a re effectively neutral in terms of register and can be used in virtually any con text.Top
3 HAVE GOT = POSSESS. This was one of the issues that Fowler and Gowers dealt wi th, as mentioned above. Fowler wrote that `have got for possess or have is good co lloquial English but not good literary English', and Gowers suggested that `the intr usion of got into a construction in which have alone is enough originated in our habit of eliding have. I have it and he has it are clear statements, but if we elide we must insert got to avoid the absurdity of I've it and the even greater absurdity of he's it.' In negative contexts and questions, BrE have (or had) not g ot and have (or had) you got? is as common as (and somewhat less formal than) do (or did) not have, and do (or did) you have?, but the second alternative is the usual form in AmE.Top
4 The neologism get a life, meaning `to start living a fuller or more interesting existence', is informal only: The aristocracy is having to make some hard decisions: whether to pretend that t he twentieth century never happened or to jump ship, join the middle class and g et a lifeTatler, 1993.Top
5 See also GOT, GOTTEN.Top
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get-at-able, meaning àccessible, attainable', is recorded from the late 18c, and is now more com mon than the older form COME-AT-ABLE.
Back - New Search geyser. The pronunciation in both its main meanings (`hot spring' and `heating apparatus') is no w gee-z, although giy-z is also used for the `hot spring' meaning. In America and Ne w Zealand, where the `heater' meaning is not used, the pronunciation is uniformly gi
y-z.
Back - New Search ghastlily, the adverb from ghastly, is best avoided as being too awkward to say.
Back - New Search ghetto has the plural form ghettos.
Back - New Search ghoul, meaning (1) àn evil spirit' and (2) à person morbidly interested in death', is pronoun ced gool.
Back - New Search gibber, gibberish are pronounced jib--.
Back - New Search gibbous, meaning `convex, protuberant', especially with reference to the moon, is pronounced gib-s.
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gibe, jibe. The first spelling is recommended for the verb meaning `to jeer, mock'. See also (th e sailing term) GYBE.
Back - New Search gigolo, meaning à woman's paid escort or lover', is pronounced zhig--loh or jig--loh, and h as the plural form gigolos.
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gild, meaning `to cover thinly with gold', has a past participle gilded (The porcelain is gilded by a magma of gold), but the adjectival form is either gilt (gilt tooling / gilt-edged securities) or gilded (gilded youth). This word should be distingu ished from the noun guild (with u), meaning à medieval association of craftsmen o r merchants'.
Back - New Search gild the lily, meaning `to try to improve what is already as beautiful as it can be', is a not quit e accurate quotation from Shakespeare , King John iv.ii.11: To gilde refined Gol d, to paint the Lilly; To throw a perfume on the Violet, [etc.].
Back - New Search gill. The word for `the respiratory organ in fishes' is pronounced gil, and the word for à unit of liquid measure' is pronounced jil.
Back - New Search gimmick, a word of unknown origin meaning à trick or device, especially to attract publici ty or trade', entered AmE in the 1920s, appearing first in glossaries and then in writers such as James Thurber (1948). Few other words have shared the speed with which it has passed from being a slang word to being a part of normal English.
Back - New Search gingerly
is now used primarily as an adverb meaning ìn a careful or cautious manner' (He descends gingerly from the cabNew Yorker, 1990); formerly it meant èlegantly, daintily'. Its use as an adjective meaning `showing great care or caution' is now less common than it once was.
Back - New Search gipsy see GYPSY.
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gird. The normal past tense and past participle of the verb meaning `to encircle or secu re with a band or belt' is girded, but girt has been in use as recently as the 19c and is still used as an archaism, especially in adjectival compounds such as se a-girt.
Back - New Search girl is falling out of use as a term applied to adult women, partly under pressure fr om the feminist movement and partly because some of the institutions with which the word is associated in this use have become obsolete, for example the employm ent of female domestic servants (who were called girls whatever their age). Howe ver, the use remains active in several contexts: in referring to a regular femal e companion as a girl or girlfriend; in titles of books and films (e.g. Kingsley Amis's Take a Girl Like You, 1960, and Helen Gurley Brown's Sex and the Single Girl, 1962), in the lyrics of popular songs (e.g. Diamonds are a girl's best fri end, Leo Robin , 1949; Thank you girl, Lennon & McCartney , 1964), in the expres sions glamour girl, cover girl, page three girl, etc., and in the plural use of the girls to refer to a group of young women friends, analogous to the boys. In general use, however, woman or young woman are to be preferred. See LADY, WOMAN.
Back - New Search girlie has been used as an adjective since the 1920s to refer colloquially to entertain ment and magazines that include pictures of naked or scantily dressed young wome n. It is spelt girlie, not girly.
Back - New Search girt see GIRD.
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given, given that. These are used as a preposition and conjunction (introducing a subordinate claus e) respectively with the meaning `(it being) granted or assumed (that)'. The history of their use shows them to be free of the need to be attached to a particular s ubject, and so they are not so-called ùnattached participles' (see PARTICIPLES (3), (4)). In the following modern examples, given is grammatically free of the subj ect of the main clause in each case: (preposition) He didn't think that, given her ambitions and temperament, she wou ld enjoy itA. West , 1984 / Given the world around us, that would be unhelpful, to say the leastTimes, 1992 / (conjunction) Given how busy the Spanish monarchs were in the 1480s, it's a wond er they gave Columbus any notice at allChicago Tribune, 1988 / Given that the government shies away from a graduate tax, student loans are the next best way of ensuring that students who benefit from higher education foot s ome of the billEconomist, 1991.
Back - New Search given name see CHRISTIAN NAME.
Back - New Search glacial, glacier. The standard pronunciations in BrE are glay-shl and glas-eer respectively; in Am E they are glay-shl and glay-shr.
Back - New Search gladiolus
is pronounced gla-di-oh-ls, and the plural form is gladioli, pronounced gla-di-o h-liy.
Back - New Search glamour is spelt -our in BrE and either -our or -or in AmE. The word is originally Scott ish, and was brought into general literary use by Walter Scott about 1830. It is an alteration of the word grammar (or more strictly, of the old form gramarye) with the meaning òccult learning, magic, necromancy'. It then passed into standard English and meant à delusive or alluring charm'; nearly a century later, in the 193 0s, it acquired its main current meaning, first in AmE and then in BrE and elsew here, relating to the charm or physical allure of a person (usually a woman).
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glance, glimpse. A glance (which can be followed by at, into, over, or through) is a brief look (He cast a doting glance at his wifeM. Underwood , 1973 / Karen and Jill exchanged glances of not-quite-mock despairM. Babson , 1975), wher eas a glimpse (which is usually followed by of) is what is seen by taking a glan ce rather than the glance itself (The automatic roof light gave me a quick glimpse of two men, then the driver re ached up to switch it offA. Ross , 1970). There is a corresponding difference in the use of the verbs: He glanced down at the face of his gold RolexW. Wager , 1970 / Under the best conditions it might be possible with glasses to glimpse the red s upergiant star AntaresDaily Telegraph, 1973.
Back - New Search glasses is the usual term in both BrE and AmE for what are also called in BrE (though no t in AmE) spectacles. In AmE eyeglasses is often used in the same meaning, but t his has long fallen out of use in Britain.
Back - New Search glassful.
In the plural, care should be taken to distinguish glassfuls from glasses full. A glassful is an amount contained in a glass, and three glassfuls (e.g. of water ) means three times this amount, though not necessarily held in three glasses. T hree glasses full (of water) means three different glasses each full of water. N ote that there is no form glassesful. See also CUPFUL.
Back - New Search glimpse see GLANCE.
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global has developed its meaning from the original simple meaning `spherical, round' to àllinclusive' in abstract senses (19c) and, more recently, `world-wide, involving the w hole world', as in global warfare and the global village (coined by Marshall McLuh an in 1960 to denote the effective shrinking of the world by virtue of advanced communications), and especially in global warming, a term that became establishe d in the 1980s to mean àn increase in the temperature of the earth's atmosphere t hought to be caused by the greenhouse effect'. In computer technology from the 196 0s onwards, global means òperating on the whole of a file or program', so that a gl obal change made to an item is one that affects every occurrence in that item.
Back - New Search glue verb has inflections glues, glued, gluing; the adjective is gluey.
Back - New Search glycerine is spelt -ine in BrE and -in in AmE. In technical writing glycerol (same meaning ) is used.
Back - New Search gn-. English words beginning in gn- are pronounced with the initial g silent, i.e. gn
at and gnostic are pronounced nat and nos-tik respectively. Exceptions are the f ood-term gnocchi (a 19c loanword from Italian), which is pronounced nyo-ki, and the animal name gnu (from a South African language), which is sometimes pronounc ed nyoo as well as noo.
Back - New Search gnaw. The past tense and past participle are gnawed. Gnawn is sometimes found in print and is given in dictionaries, but it has an archaic or poetic ring: From crock of bone-dry crusts and mouse-gnawn cheese de la Mare , 1921.
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go. 1 The noun has the plural form goes.
2 There are five uses of the verb that call for comment: a IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING. This is a naturalized Gallicism (see GALLICISMS), from French cela va sans dire. Native English equivalents are needless to say, of co urse, and others, which some people prefer. b GO + BARE INFINITIVE. The construction go + infinitive without to was the prim ary construction until the 17c, occurring many times in Shakespeare (e.g. He is walked up to the top of the hill. I'll go seek him1 Henry IV II.ii.10). Alt hough this construction survives in AmE (e.g. I'll go put your lovely flowers in water Updike , 1986), in BrE it is now confine d to a few fixed expressions such as let him go hang (for all I care). In BrE th e current constructions are go + and + infinitive or go + to-infinitive: Let's go and see that film at the localK. Benton , 1976 / You go to buy a car, offering your Old Faithful in part-exchangeDrive, 1977 / She said she would go and turn the sprinkler off herselfNew Yorker, 1986. c GO + AND. The combination go + and + infinitive often has special meanings, e. g. (1) `to be so foolish, unreasonable, or unlucky as to': You herd cattle all day, you come to despise them, and pretty soon you have gone and shot one Keillor , 1990, and (2) as an instruction in the imperative: It's late, child Go and get some sleepJ.M. Coetzee , 1977 (South Africa).
d GO = SAY. The use in question here is illustrated by the following example: Butch and I were discussing this problem, and Butch goes, `But you promised you'd do it.' Then I go, `Well, I changed my mind.'Chicago Tribune, 1989. Go is always used i n this way with past reference (though very often in the present tense, as here) . It may be regarded as an extension of the meaning that refers to a thing makin g a sound, as in cows going moo and bells going dong, and a transitional stage b etween names of sounds and reported speech can be discerned in the evidence give n by the OED (Additions Series II, 1993): He was roused by a loud shouting of the post-boy on the leader. `Yo-yo-yo-yo-yoe,' w ent the first boy. `Yo-yo-yo-yoe,' went the second Dickens , 1836 / She was a dear little dickey bird, `Chip, chip, chip,' she wentIllustrated Victorian Songbook, 1895. The extended use in reported speech is especially common in scho ol and youth language, and is also heard in conversational adult use. e GO FOR IT. In 1987, the (American) cox of the Oxford boat in the University Bo at Race wore a shirt with the slogan Go for it displayed on the back, thereby si gnalling the arrival in Britain of this popular American phrase of the 1980s: I told her about Scott [sc. a boyfriend]. Eileen said, `Go for it, Andrea!'New Yorker , 1986. It may be seen as an extension of the meaning of go illustrated by uses such as I could go for you in a big way, i.e. `be enthusiastic about, be enamoured of'.Top
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gobbledegook. 1 The term, though not the concept, was unknown to Fowler (1926); Gowers (1965) knew it, but like Fowler put his material in an entry called jargon. Gobbledegoo k (or gobbledygook) is the extensive use of unintelligible jargon in printed inf ormation that is intended for a general readership. Jargon within particular fie lds of study, such as computing or linguistics, is quite legitimate; it becomes gobbledegook when ordinary people not experienced in those domains are expected to understand it. The term is first recorded in America in 1944, and was probabl y coined as a representation of a turkey-cock's gobble.
2 The following passage from an American policy document about transport plans ( as reported in a Chicago newspaper of 1995) shows gobbledegook in its most poten t form: While EPA [the Environmental Protection Agency] will solicit comments on other options, the supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking on transportation conformity will propose to require conformity determinations only in the metrop olitan planning areas (the urbanized area and the contiguous area(s) likely to b ecome urbanized within 20 years) or attainment areas which have exceeded 85 perc ent of the ozone, CO, NO2, PM-10 annual, or PM-10 24-hour NAAQS within the last three, two, one, three, and three years respectively. Doubtless the statement ma
de good sense to members of the EPA, and its accuracy is not in question. The fa ult lies in its inability to make any more than laborious sense to the general p ublic to whom it was addressed.Top
3 Dr James Le Fanu , medical correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, reported (in 1995) a much more worrying case of the result of a cervical smear test sent to a patient in the following form: The results of your test showed early cell chang es (mild dyskaryosis suggesting CIN I) and wart virus changes. The patient was a dvised to have a repeat test in six months, but no further explanation was offer ed. She turned to Dr Le Fanu , and he translated it for her as follows: There ar e some funny-looking cells (`dyskaryosis') which may or may not indicate the very ea rliest signs of precancerous change (`suggesting CIN I') which almost always returns to normal with no treatment. However, when associated with evidence of infectio n with the wart virus, it is slightly more likely to progress up through grades CIN II and IIIat which point something may need to be done, hence the need for a further test in six months' time. Dr Le Fanu concluded that until those responsi ble for sending such reports to women include a translation of what they mean, `te ns of thousands of women every year will continue to be unduly and unforgivably frightened'.Top
4 Other areas of information that are vulnerable to gobbledegook include law, so cial services, welfare, taxation, banking, local government, and technical subje cts. In some domains, especially law, complex language arises from a need to ach ieve detailed precision and to avoid the ambiguity or uncertainty that can resul t from using everyday language. Efforts are being made to improve the clarity of public documentation, and have been furthered by the work of writers such as Ge orge Orwell , Sir Ernest Gowers (The Complete Plain Words, 1954 and later editio ns), and others, by writers of several manuals entitled Plain English for Lawyer s, and by the work of the Plain English Society (see M. Cutts , The Plain Englis h Guide, 1995).Top
5 See also JARGON, OFFICIALESE, PLAIN ENGLISH.Top
Back - New Search gold, golden. Of these old ring gurative / golden adjectives, gold is used more often to denote something made of gold (g / gold watch), whereas golden is used of colours and in abstract and fi meanings referring to wealth generally (golden hair / golden retriever goose / golden handshake).
Back - New Search golliwog, meaning à black-faced brightly dressed soft doll with fuzzy hair' was first used as Golliwogg, the name of a doll character in books by the American writer B. Upto
n from 1895. It is now regarded as offensive, because of its stereotypical racia l allusions.
Back - New Search good survives as an adverb only in non-standard AmE, e.g.: I'm looking after the place good Gee , 1994. The use in feel good (which is curre nt in BrE and AmE) is adjectival, not adverbial: I didn't feel too good the next dayS. Wall , 1991.
Back - New Search goodbye is spelt as one word and (as a noun) has the plural form goodbyes. The AmE varia nt good-by has the plural form goodbys.
Back - New Search good will, goodwill. Good will means `the intention and hope that good will result' (and is hyphened in a ttributive position, i.e. before a noun as in a good-will gesture); goodwill is `t he established reputation of a business etc. as enhancing its value'.
Back - New Search gossip has inflections gossiped, gossiping; the adjective is gossipy.
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got. The past and past participle of get is as productive of idiom as the verb as a w hole. Some noteworthy uses are informal and verge on the non-standard: a Use with to-infinitive, meaning `to have an opportunity to': This was considered a bonus for me, because I got to sit in the frontF. Kidman ,
1988 (New Zealand) / We got to see exactly what happens to the green when we were taken out on the fl oor of MRQNew Yorker, 1989. b Elliptical for have got = possess: What you got in that jar, Alvie?M. Eldridge , 1984 (Australia) / I can't get my head around it, Sharon. Suddenly I got three fathersTimes, 1987 / Right now, we got nine cops in the Miami police department being tried for murde rThe Face, 1987 (US speaker). c Got to, elliptical for have got to = must: We just got to live. Isn't that so?A. Fugard , 1980 (South Africa, black speaker) / `We got to help these people,' he says, àny way we can.'Newsweek, 1990. d Use of got to be to mean `came round to being': It got to be 11 p.m. We left the way we had comeNew Yorker, 1989.
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gotten. 1 Few uses mark out the Americanness of a person more readily than their natural use of got and gotten as alternative past participles of get. (These uses are a lso spreading to Australia and New Zealand, as some of the examples given below will show.) Gotten is no longer used in Britain (except in ill-gotten), although it was once in regular use. In AmE, it is used only when the meaning is `have (or has) obtained or acquired', i.e. when it denotes coming into possession; when the meaning is `have (or has) in one's possession', i.e. when it denotes the fact of po ssession now, got is used. The difference can be seen by comparing the two sente nces We have gotten an apartment in Manhattan, which means we have recently acqu ired it, and We have got an apartment in Manhattan, which means we have one avai lable to us (as well as a house in Boston, for example). BrE uses got in both ca ses, with consequent ambiguity in some cases. Examples: An army friend had gotten us tickets for a Tchaikovsky extravaganza Roth , 1979 / Have you gotten your paper the last couple of Sundays?New Yorker, 1986.
2 Gotten is also used when the meaning is `have (or has) become, come, developed, etc.', i.e. when a notion of progression is involved: Has my reputation in town gotten that bad?T. Winton , 1985 (Australia) /
Been sewn up for a long time and the locals have gotten used to the ideaT. Winton , 1985 (Australia) / `You have gotten close to the whirlpool,' Fleda saidJ. Urquhart , 1986 / This last year and a half I've gotten to fill out a lot of forms Updike , 1986 / People in the USA have gotten much healthier in the past 30 yearsUSA Today, 1988 / It had gotten too quiet in the neighbourhoodT. McGuane , 1989 / They may have finally gotten rid of Sir Robert [Muldoon] from under their feet, [etc.]NZ Herald, 1991.Top
3 Got, not gotten, is used in the expression have (or has) got to = must; for ex ample, if you say I have gotten to leave this evening you mean you have made arr angements to leave, not that you are obliged to leave.Top
Back - New Search gourmand, gourmet. The older of these two historically unrelated loanwords from French is gourmand, which came into English in the 15c, first as an adjective meaning `greedy, fond o f eating' and later as a noun denoting such a person, which remains its primary me aning. In the 18c it developed the meaning that gourmet (early 19c) was to have, i.e. à judge of good eating'. In current use, gourmand is confined to its original noun meaning and gourmet continues to be used in the one meaning it has always had. Gourmet, unlike gourmand, is also used attributively (before a noun), as in gourmet food and gourmet meal.
Back - New Search government. Note the n in the middle of this word, which should be pronounced as well as wri tten.
Back - New Search Governor-General. The recommended plural form is Governors-General, although Governor-Generals is also found.
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graceful, gracious. Both words are derived from Latin gratia meaning `the quality of being pleasing', bu t their meanings are different. Graceful means `having or showing grace or eleganc e' and is generally used of physical appearance and movement (a graceful bow / gra ceful dances / graceful lines). Gracious means `showing grace, kindly, courteous' an d refers to things that people say and do rather than their physical attributes (a gracious response / gracious acknowledgement). It also has the meaning `charact erized by elegance and wealth' (gracious wealth). The adverb graciously occurs oft en in the meaning `courteously, kindly': Òh, aye,' said Jock graciously, `he's magic with that mashie.'Scotsman, 1976.
Back - New Search gradable adjectives are adjectives that can vary in the intensity of their meaning, have comparative and superlative forms, and can be qualified by adverbs such as very, too, fairl y, etc. Greedy, large, patient, and rich are all gradable, whereas dead, female, married, and rectangular are non-gradable or absolute adjectives. See ADJECTIVE (4).
Back - New Search graduate verb. There is no problem with the ordinary intransitive meaning (without an object), as in He graduated from Yale in 1994 and She graduated last year. The newer AmE use with the name of the university or college as kind of adverbial with from om itted (He graduated Yale in 1994, compare He teaches school, in which at is omit ted) is more controversial, and is not standard in BrE. Note that in AmE graduat e can refer to completion of a high-school course as well as of a university deg ree.
Back - New Search graffiti is in the 1990s a plural word requiring a plural construction, but its use is ra pidly on the move. Its singular is graffito, which is hardly used. Before the 19 60s graffiti was mainly used by art historians and archaeologists to refer to dr awings or writing scratched on the walls of ancient buildings (notably at Pompei i). Spray-can daubings since the 1960s have brought the word dramatically into g eneral use, with the result that graffiti is now commonly used as a mass noun li ke confetti: That haunting graffiti inscribed on the approaches to Paddington stationTimes, 19 80 / Ì don't need drugs,' the T-shirt graffiti proclaimsObserver, 1981. Some writers on u sage express a hope for the resurgence of a singular form graffito, but even thi s would not cater for the mass use and graffiti is likely to go the way of confe tti, spaghetti, not to mention data and media and suchlike. For now, however, gr
affiti should be treated cautiously as the plural noun it originally is.
Back - New Search grammar is the system by which words are used together to form meaningful utterances. It denotes both the system as it is found to exist in the use of a language (also called descriptive grammar) and the set of rules which form the basis of the sta ndard language, i.e. the variety of a language that is regarded as most socially acceptable at a given time (also called prescriptive grammar). See STANDARD ENG LISH.
Back - New Search grammatical agreement, concord see AGREEMENT.
Back - New Search grammatical gender see GENDER.
Back - New Search gram, gramme. The shorter form is now usual for the metric unit of mass. The abbreviation is g (without full point).
Back - New Search gramophone, a late-19c word formed by inversion of the older word phonogram (compare AmE pho nograph), is now old-fashioned except with historical reference, having been rep laced by record-player and largely superseded anyway by the development of the C D player. In modern systems, the equipment for playing vinyl records is often ca lled a record deck or simply a deck.
Back - New Search grand compounds. Grand, which is derived via French from Latin grandis meaning `full-grown', is used in combination with other words to form words denoting (1) rank (grand duke), (2
) family relationships involving a gap of more than one generation (grandmother) , and other items involving large size or status (grand slam). Most of these com pounds are now spelt either as one word (especially the relationships) or as two , although some of the relationship terms are also written with a hyphen. The fo llowing table shows the principal items: ranks grandma grand master (chess) grand duchy grandmother Grand National grand duchess grand nephew grand opera grand duke grand niece grand piano family relationships grandpa Grand Prix grand aunt grandparent grand slam (sport, bridge) grandchild grandson grandstand grandad grand uncle grand total granddaughter miscellaneous grand tour grandfather grand jury grand unified theory (physics)
Terms denoting family relationships are spelt with a capital initial (e.g. Grand ma) when used as a form of address in letters etc.
Back - New Search granny, an affectionate name for grandmother, is spelt -y, not -ie, although the choice is more open in Scotland. It is spelt with a capital initial (Granny) when used as a form of address in letters etc. The plural form is grannies.
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granted. 1 Like CONSIDERING and GIVEN, granted can be used as a preposition and (as grant ed that) conjunction that is grammatically free of the subject: And, granted the initial assumptions I think it stands the testA. White , 1965 / Granted that Americans are not interested in Atlantic union, the emotional value
to them of European union is enormousListener, 1961. There is also an absolute u se, which should only be used informally: Granted, it was not hard to interest a security man, who apart from a regular so ldier had the most boring job on earth Keneally , 1985 / I somehow don't see life in an ordinary manner, not even this sere and monotonou s existence in Africa granted, it browns me off sometimes, but I do pretty well on the wholeI. Young , 1990. See also PARTICIPLES (3), (4).
2 The common expression take for granted can be followed by a simple object or b y a that-clause (often with a preceding it): It was taken for granted that the astronauts would be brought down in the Bermud a `recovery area' at 12.22 a.m. Listener , 1965 / He took it all for granted, and would never have a clue just how blessed he wasF. Cooper , 1991 / Economists have taken it for granted that creditors will in practice need to get most of the benefit from debt reliefEconomist, 1991 / If she missed his letters for a few days, she would probably stop taking him for grantedF. Pitt-Kethley , 1991.Top
Back - New Search gratis, meaning `free of charge', is pronounced grah-tis or gray-tis in BrE and grat-is in A mE.
Back - New Search gratuity is a somewhat pretentious word for `tip', and is usually found in printed form on re staurant menus and bills. It also refers (without the same pretension) to a boun ty given in certain circumstances to servicemen and servicewomen when they are d ischarged.
Back - New Search gray is a common AmE variant of grey.
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greasy is pronounced gree-si in its literal meaning `smeared with grease' and gree-si or gr ee-zi when applied to an unctuous or smarmy person.
Back - New Search Great Britain see BRITAIN.
Back - New Search Grecian. The adjective Grecian has steadily retreated before the word Greek, and is now i diomatically restricted to describing architecture, facial outline (especially G recian nose) and a soft low-cut slipper. It is no longer used at all as a noun. Otherwise Greek is the natural word (Greek alphabet / Grecian language). A third form, Greekish, was largely obsolete by the end of the 19c.
Back - New Search greenhouse effect. This important but often misunderstood term is defined by the Concise Oxford Dic tionary (1995) as `the trapping of the sun's warmth in the lower atmosphere caused by high levels of carbon dioxide and other gases more transparent to incoming s olar radiation than to reflected infrared radiation.' See also global warming, und er GLOBAL.
Back - New Search greenness, the quality of being green, is spelt with two ns.
Back - New Search grey is the dominant form in BrE, although gray is also used in AmE. In an unusually long note the OED (1901) recorded that àn enquiry by Dr. Murray in Nov. 1893 elic ited a large number of replies, from which it appeared that in Great Britain the form grey is the more frequent in use, notwithstanding the authority of Johnson and later English lexicographers who have all given the preference to gray'.
Back - New Search grid, griddle, gridiron. It would be natural to assume that grid was the original word, griddle (à circula r iron plate that is heated by a fire or by other means for baking, toasting, et c.') a diminutive of it, and gridiron (à cooking utensil of metal bars for broiling or grilling') a compound form based on it. However, the OED shows that griddle an d gridiron were the original terms (both 13c) and that grid is a recent (19c) ba ck-formation from gridiron.
Back - New Search grievous, meaning `severe, causing grief or suffering' (as in grievous bodily harm), is someti mes wrongly pronounced as if it were grievious, and even spelt this way.
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griffin, griffon, gryphon. A griffin (also spelt many other ways, e.g. griffon and, e.g. by Lewis gryphon) is à fabulous creature with an eagle's head and wings and a A griffon is (1) a small dog like a terrier, and (2) a large vulture. uses represent variants of the same word, which is derived from Greek erring to the fabulous creature. Carroll , lion's body'. All three gryps ref
Back - New Search grill, grille. In BrE a grill is a device for cooking food, and the food itself. A grille is a metal grid protecting the radiator of a motor vehicle; this too is sometimes spe lt grill.
Back - New Search grimace, meaning à distortion of the face' or `to make a grimace', is most commonly stressed (es pecially when a verb) on the second syllable, as gri-mays. First-syllable stress , as grim-as, is also used, especially in AmE.
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grimy, meaning `covered in grime, dirty', is spelt grimy, not grimey. The comparative and s uperlative forms are grimier, grimiest.
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groin, groyne. The groin is the part of the body between the belly and thigh; a groyne (AmE gro in) is a low wall or timber framework built out from a seashore to prevent beach erosion.
Back - New Search grotto has the plural form grottoes.
Back - New Search ground, grounds. Both the singular and the plural are used in the expressions on the ground (or g rounds) that, and grounds is more common in the expression grounds for (complain t etc.): Occupations that various insurance companies consider to be grounds for rejectio n of applications for auto insurance included paperhangers, sports coaches and a ssistants, travelling salesmen, and doctorsNew Yorker, 1975 / The Post Office tried to register the name Viewdata for its product but this was refused on the ground that it was too all-embracing a titleGuardian, 1979 / Fundamentalist Jews are limbering up to oppose the plan on the grounds that it w ill depict scenes from the New Testament as well as the OldDaily Telegraph, 1985.
Back - New Search group names of animals (e.g. a pride of lions) see PROPER TERMS.
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grovel, meaning `to behave obsequiously', has inflected forms grovelled, grovelling, and in AmE also groveled, groveling.
Back - New Search groyne see GROIN.
Back - New Search gruelling, meaning èxtremely arduous or demanding', is spelt with two ls in BrE and also as gr ueling in AmE.
Back - New Search gryphon see GRIFFIN.
Back - New Search guano, meaning `fertilizer made from bird dung', is pronounced gwah-noh, and has the plural form guanos (in the sense `types of guano').
Back - New Search guarantee, guaranty. The two words have close meanings relating to the fulfilment of a legal obligati on. Guarantee is used for the verb, and also for the noun when the obligation re lates to the quality of a product or service, whereas guaranty is a noun only, i s mostly restricted to legal and commercial contexts, and refers primarily to un dertakings to pay a debt if the person or party primarily responsible defaults.
Back - New Search guarantor is a person, bank, etc., that gives a guarantee or guaranty.
Back - New Search guerrilla is the recommended spelling in English for the word meaning à member of an indepe ndent fighting force', not the common variant guerilla. It is pronounced g-ril-, l ike gorilla (the animal).
Back - New Search guess. The informal use of I guess meaning Ì think it likely, I suppose' developed in Amer ica in the late 18c from the standard use of the phrase meaning ìt is my opinion or hypothesis (that)'. The Americanness of the informal use has been marked throug hout the 19c and much of the 20c, and it still has the flavour of an Americanism , but it is now widespread throughout the English-speaking world: No, I guess I don't look at him very much Vidal , 1955 / Martha. You remember them now? George. Yes, I guess so, Martha Albee , 1962 / I guess it takes a long time to grow upM. Sarton , 1978 / I guess you're supposed to think to yourself that you're in a gardenR. Ingalls , 1985. Use of I guess as a tag at the end of a statement is characteristic of AmE : He would have been watching the returns in the Senate elections I guessA. Broinow ski , 1973.
Back - New Search guest has developed a wide range of uses in which payment may or may not be involved ( as it is with paying guests and guest workers). The development of attributive u ses (before a noun) that go well beyond the core meaning of guest may be seen in guest artist, guest beer, guest speaker, guest star, guest worker, guest writer , and others.
Back - New Search guild see GILD.
Back - New Search guillemot,
the name of a bird, is pronounced gil-i-mot.
Back - New Search gulf, bay. In their meanings to do with the sealine, bay is the ordinary word, whereas gulf is chiefly reserved as a name for a large or notable stretch of sea (as in the Persian Gulf which is also known as the Gulf) and implies a deeper recess and a narrower width of entrance.
Back - New Search gullible, meaning èasily fooled or cheated', is spelt -ible not -able.
Back - New Search gunwale, meaning `the upper edge of a ship's side', is pronounced gun-l.
Back - New Search gusseted, meaning `having gussets' (in meanings connected with clothing and architecture), is spelt with one t, not two.
Back - New Search guts, meaning `courage or determination', is more forceful and less neutral than either of these words. It is now only slightly informal, although it is more so in idioma tic expressions such as hate a person's guts and work one's guts out (in which g uts has a more literal meaning within a broader metaphor).
Back - New Search guttural is a non-technical term denoting a consonant produced in the throat or by the ba ck of the tongue and the soft palate, for example k and hard g.
Back - New Search guy, in informal use, means à (primarily male) person' in BrE and (especially in the phr ase you guys) à person (of either sex)' in AmE. In BrE it is fast replacing chap, w hich now sounds dated. This use with reference to people established itself in N orth America towards the end of the 19c and has made steady progress in Britain and other parts of the English-speaking world, especially Australia and New Zeal and. Examples: You guys all belong in the same ballparkObserver, 1970 / I'm just as romantic as the next guy, and always was Lennon , 1980 / She was a regular guy, a good sport and a fine actressquoted in American Speech, 1983 / I could see John by the bar talking to some guysNew Yorker, 1989.
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gybe noun and verb. This sailing term is spelt gybe in BrE and jibe in AmE. See also GIBE.
Back - New Search gymnasium. The preferred plural form is gymnasiums, although gymnasia is widely used. In Ge rmany and Scandinavia the word (pronounced gim-nah-zi-m) also means à school that prepares pupils for university entrance'.
Back - New Search gynaecology, meaning `the physiological study of women', is pronounced with a hard initial g. The spelling is -aein BrE and -e- (gynecology) in AmE.
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gypsy, gipsy. The term has both ethnic and general reference: either to a member of dark-skinn ed nomadic people of Hindu origin and associated with Egypt (hence the name) or a person who adopts the same mode of life. The recommended spelling is gypsy or (to emphasize ethnic status) Gypsy. The OED gave priority to gipsy, but this spe lling is far less usual now.
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* * *
h. 1 The sound of h (aitch) at the beginning words such as have and house and in th e middle of words such as ahead and behave is known technically as a voiceless g lottal fricative. In Britain, the presence or absence of this sound in speech is one of the key factors in the social evaluation of an individual's use of langu age or, as the OED expressed it, it `has come to be regarded as a kind of shibbole th of social position'. Dropping initial h, in particular, is associated with the working-class and poorly educated speech of East London, so that there is no dif ference between the sounds of (for example) hedge and edge, hill and ill, and hi gh and eye.
2 Dropping one's aitches may be a sign of uneducated speech, but standard speake rs do not always notice that certain function words (e.g. has, have, had), prono uns, and possessives tend to lose their initial h sounds when these occur in uns tressed positions in rapid speech, e.g. She shoved him into her car, in which hi m is articulated as im and her as er. Until the beginning of the 20c, words cont aining the letters wh (e.g. what, whistle, nowhere) were regularly pronounced wi th the h sound intact by most RP (received pronunciation) speakers in England as well as other parts of Britain and America. But the Concise Oxford Dictionary ( 1995) and most other dictionaries of current English give an unaspirated w sound in their phonetics for all this class of words, reflecting the fact that the as piration of wh has largely disappeared from spoken standard English in England, so that there is no audible difference between the sounds of (for example) whale s and Wales, where and wear, and whit and wit.Top
3 The use of an instead of a as the form of the indefinite article before words
beginning with an unstressed but lightly aspirated h (e.g. an habitual complaint / an historic occasion) is in decline: see A, AN (2).Top
Back - New Search habitu, meaning à habitual visitor or resident', is now printed in roman type and pronounce d in an anglicized manner as h-bit-yoo-ay. The plural is habitus, pronounced h-bi t-yoo-ayz.
Back - New Search hackneyed, meaning `made commonplace or trite by overuse', is spelt -eyed. For hackneyed phrase s, see CLICHS.
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had. 1 HAD BETTER. See BETTER (1).
2 HAD HAVE. This occurs with unreal (or unfulfilled) propositions in the past, c onstructed either with if (or an equivalent construction) as in the sentence If I had have known, I would have said something or with a verb expressing an unful filled intention, such as wish: I wish you'd have kept quiet. Though now associa ted with dialect and informal usage, the construction can be traced back in prin t to the 15c, e.g. Had not he have be [= been], we shold never have retorned Malory , 147085. In a discussion of this issue in the journal English Today (1986), Professor Frank Palmer commented that `there is a problem with past unreal, because it needs to m ark past tense twice, once for time and once for unreality'. Another correspondent pointed out the type had + a- + verb as shown in the first part of a sentence i n Galsworthy's Strife (1909): If we'd a-known that before, we'd not a-started ou t with you so early, which is distinct from the substitution of of for have in A merican regional use: It was four o'clock in the morning ten, and if we'd of raised the blinds we'd of seen daylight. Fitzgerald , 1925. The upshot is that constructions of this type, of which had have is the most common in BrE, should be avoided in more formal s peech.Top
3 HAD RATHER. The type I had rather is as idiomatic as, though much less common than, I would rather, and in its contracted form I'd rather is indistinguishable . In historical terms it was formed on the analogy of the now archaic type I had liefer meaning Ì should hold it dearer': I had rather err with Plato than be right with Horace Shelley , 1819 / I had rather gaze on a new ice age than these familiar things Winterson , 1985.To p
Back - New Search haemo-, hemo-. This combining form derived from Greek haima meaning `blood' occurs in words such as (BrE) haemoglobin, haemophilia, haemorrhage, etc. In AmE they are written hemo. Note the two rs in haemorrhage.
Back - New Search hair-brained is an erroneous variant (first recorded in 1581 and still found) of hare-brained , meaning `rash, wild'.
Back - New Search hairdo, meaning `the style or styling of a woman's hair', is informal only. The plural form is hairdos.
Back - New Search hale is the spelling in the expression hale and hearty. It comes from an Old English word hal meaning (and related to) `whole'.
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half.
1 Half functions as a noun or pronoun (the first half of the year / I've still g ot half), an adjective (a half share) or predeterminer (i.e. placed before anoth er determiner such as the, half the audience), and an adverb (He'll come half wa y / I'm half inclined to agree).
2 When half is followed by a singular noun (with or without of between), the ver b is also singular, and when the noun is plural the verb is plural: Half of the country is employed in agriculture / Half the people like the idea / Half that a mount is enough. Occasionally, by the principle of `notional agreement', the type ha lf (of) + collective noun can correctly be used with a plural noun: Nearly half (of) the population lose at least half their teeth before they reach the age of 40.Top
3 In some phrases concerned with quantities, measures of time, etc., the positio n of half is variable in relation to the following a or an, e.g. I'll have half a pint (no hyphen) or I'll have a half-pint (with a hyphen). In most cases, howe ver, the type half a year, half a million dollars, etc., is more usual. Repetiti on of the article, as in It took a half an hour, is non-standard.Top
Back - New Search hallo see HELLO.
Back - New Search Hallowe'en is spelt with an apostrophe and pronounced hal-oh-een.
Back - New Search halo has the plural form haloes.
Back - New Search handful has the plural form handfuls. See -FUL.
Back - New Search handicap as a verb has inflected forms handicapped, handicapping.
Back - New Search handkerchief. The recommended plural is handkerchiefs, not handkerchieves.
Back - New Search handsome is applied equally to men and women who are, as Dr Johnson put it, `beautiful with dignity'. In current use there is a tendency to use the term of women only when t hey are middle-aged or elderly.
Back - New Search hanged, hung. In standard usage, the past tense and past participle of hang is hanged with ref erence to capital punishment and hung in other meanings. So curtains and picture s are hung but a convicted murderer is (or was) hanged. The distinction can be t raced back ultimately to the existence of two separate words, one Old English an d the other Old Norse. Hung is occasionally used in the meaning of hanged, espec ially in regional and dialect use.
Back - New Search hangar, hanger. A hangar is a large shed for housing aircraft; a hanger (in full coat-hanger) is a light frame with a hook for hanging clothes. Both are pronounced hang-, witho ut the middle g sounded.
Back - New Search hanger-on, meaning àn unwelcome follower or dependant', has the plural form hangers-on.
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hara-kiri, meaning `Japanese ritual suicide' is spelt with a hyphen.
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harass. There are two pitfalls with this word meaning `to trouble or annoy repeatedly' and i ts derivatives harassing, harassment, etc. One is the spelling, with only one r (unlike embarrass); the other is the pronunciation, which should be ha-rs with t he stress on the first syllable, although h-ras with second-syllable stress is s preading rapidly from AmE to BrE and will probably prevail in the end.
Back - New Search harbour is spelt -our in BrE and harbor in AmE.
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hard. 1 HARD AND HARDLY. The normal adverb from hard is hard, as in They are working h ard and Don't hit it so hard. Hardly has a special use, meaning `scarcely' (as in We hardly know them) and ònly with difficulty' (as in She could hardly speak).
2 HARDLY WHEN AND HARDLY THAN The standard construction is hardly when : Hardly had the two children been freed when they [sc. a rescue team] were on the spot, having covered the ground in a snowtractorCountry Life, 1971. The construc tion with than, though increasingly common and perhaps suggested by the analogy of no sooner than , is non-standard: Hardly had the chalky jet stream dissipated above the horizon than it was time f or another jet-away get-away to points westAmerican Square Dance, 1991.Top
3 CAN'T HARDLY. Since hardly already has a negative or restricting force, use of another negative (as in I can't hardly believe it) is incorrect:
Mom just loaded us with fried chicken and I can't hardly walkNew Yorker, 1988 / No, Swedon can't write anything. He can't hardly write his own pawn-tickets Fitzg erald , 1990.Top
Back - New Search hard words. is a semi-technical term for what it immediately suggests, long and difficult wo rds that are often derived from Latinate rather than English sources, such as re barbative (= repellent) and nugatory (= futile, trifling). The first English dic tionaries devoted much space to hard words, explaining words of foreign origin i n terms of native English words. The following list is drawn from Robert Cawdrey 's Table Alphabeticall of 1604: agnition acknowledgement Latin gnoscere `to know' carminate to card wool Latin carmen à card for wool' combure to burn up Latin comburere `to burn up, consume' deambulation a walking abroad Latin ambulare `to walk' enarration exposition or commentary Latin narrare `to relate'
All these words are now obsolete. The following, from the New Shorter Oxford Eng lish Dictionary (1993), are still in use: claustration enclosure, confinement La tin claustrum ènclosed space' coriaceous like leather Latin corium `leather' edulcorate purify Latin dulcis `sweet' evasible able to be evaded French (as table) idoneous apt, suitable Latin idoneus àpt' infraction act of breaking an agreement Latin frangere `to break' straticulate arranged in thin layers Latin stratum `laid down' tergiversation equivocation, betrayal Latin tergum `back' and vertere `to turn' velleity a mere wish Latin velle `to wish'
Back - New Search hare-brained,
meaning `rash, wild', is spelt hare-, not hair-.
Back - New Search harem, an Arabic word denoting the women living separately in a Muslim household, is sp elt this way in English. It is usually pronounced hah-reem, although pronunciati on with the second-syllable stress is also heard. In AmE the stress is on the fi rst syllable, which is pronounced either as in hair or as in hat.
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have. 1 For the type No state has or can adopt such measures, see ELLIPSIS (3).
2 In a sentence of the type Some Labour MPs would have preferred to have wound u p the Session before rising, the present infinitive is preferable, i.e. Some Lab our MPs would have preferred to wind up the Session before rising, although the perfect infinitive is sometimes found when the past nature of the unperformed ac tion is being emphasized. Examples: Fish, who had decent feelings, would have preferred to be pawed in privacyJ.I.M. Stewart , 1975 / I would have preferred to have seen an accompanying annotated sketch so that the plant zonations could be easily recognisedBirds, 1981.Top
3 HAVE TO AND or continuing tes immediate . In the past
HAVE GOT TO. In the meaning `must', have to normally denotes habitual necessity (I have to wear contact lenses) whereas have got to deno or temporary necessity (I've got to catch a train in half an hour) tense, had to is much more usual than had got to:
In addition to his normal day's work in the library, he had to care for a comple te invalid, shop on the way home, and then translate demanding tomes until one o r two o'clock in the morningD. Murphy , 1979 / He knew that in order not to lose control irretrievably of his life he had to ho ld on to his job Boyd , 1981. The only available perfect and pluperfect forms are have had to and had had to: They like the feeling that they have had to fight other men for possession. That is what it is all about, really Brookner , 1984 / Turning the other cheek was for girls who hadn't had to give blow jobs to tramps
in exchange for a few pieces of candyP. Booth , 1986.Top
4 For don't have = haven't got and do you have = have you got, see DO (4).Top
5 For had have, see HAD (2).Top
Back - New Search haver, meaning `to hesitate', is originally Scottish. This meaning spread south of the bord er in the 20c, but in its other meanings `to talk foolishly' and (as a plural noun h avers) `nonsense' it is still anchored in the north.
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he. 1 For he or him after the verb be, see CASES 2A.
2 For the expression he or she, see GENDER-NEUTRALITY.Top
Back - New Search heading, headed. In BrE the expression meaning `to be going in a particular direction' is to be headi ng for (in physical and figurative contexts, e.g. heading for trouble). In AmE t o be headed for is also common and this form is beginning to appear in BrE and o ther varieties of English: You're bloody cheerful for a bloke that's headed for a number one reaming [= rep rimand] from the COJ. Charlton , 1976 / They were headed for the perilous North Channel if they survived the wolfpacksD. Grant , 1980 / Deng Xiaoping barreled on down the capitalist road last weekbut he might be heade d for a collisionBulletin (Sydney), 1984 /
They were all headed for Ralph's houseNew Yorker, 1991.
Back - New Search headline language see JOURNALESE.
Back - New Search headquarters can legitimately be used either as a singular (a large headquarters in Paris) or as a plural (The firm's headquarters are in Paris). The singular more often den otes the physical premises and the plural the institution in its broader sense.
Back - New Search head up. This phrasal verb has passed rapidly from AmE to British use, and means `to take c harge of (an enterprise or group of people)'. There is not a great deal of differe nce in meaning between head up and the simple verb head, except that head up has stronger implications of taking charge as distinct from being in charge.
Back - New Search heaps.
There was heaps of time Wesley , 1983 represents the normal colloquial idiom when the word following heaps of is a singular or mass noun (and the same is true of loads of, lots of, masses of, and similar expressions). But when the following noun is plural the verb should be plural too: `Heaps of people do say it [sc. `blood y']. Even on television.' `But not on schools programmes.' C. Storr , 1971. Note that he aps is plural in all cases when it is being used literally rather than idiomatic ally: Great heaps of cumulo-nimbus cloud were boiling up Francis , 1970.
Back - New Search heave. The past tense and past participle is heaved in its ordinary meanings `to lift, ha ul, throw, etc.' and `to utter (a sigh)', and hove (i) when the meaning is `come into vi ew'
(She hove around the Minister's flank with the effect of an apparition Keneally , 1980), and (2) in nautical usage (The ship hove to / The anchor was hove up).
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hectic. 1 The meaning arly 20c) and h. Hectic was t accompanied that is now the dominant one, `busy and confused', is fairly recent (e has developed in the same way as the figurative meaning of feveris originally an adjective or noun referring to the kind of fever tha consumption
(For like the hectic in my blood he rages Shakespeare , Hamlet iv.iii.80); its ph ysical use declined with the decline in occurrence of the disease itself, but fe vers are still with us. An early figurative use occurs in Kipling: Didn't I say we never met in pup-pup-puris naturalibus, if I may so put it, with out a remarkably hectic day ahead of us?Traffics & Discoveries, 1904. Modern exam ples follow (note that hectic often comes before a period of time): At times, though, in these hectic weeks of organization, it seemed we should nev er make our deadline for packing all our gear ready to go to India Bonington , 19 71 / It might be that you are having a hectic day at work and you feel that things ar e getting to you, or you might be stuck in a traffic jam with your pulse racingS. Spindler , 1991 / After the hectic activity of summer, I look forward to doing more relaxed boatin g and fishing trips in early autumnB. Tulloch , 1991.
2 The adverb from hectic is hectically: Hectically she scrabbled for something constructive to sayR. Ash , 1993. Note als o that hectic is still occasionally used in its medical sense: The hectic face on the thin neck rose too sharply out of the collar of a silk bl ouse Brookner , 1990.Top
Back - New Search hegemony, meaning `political leadership of a group of states', is pronounced hi-jem--ni or higem--ni, with the g either hard or soft and with the stress on the second syllab le.
Back - New Search hegira, the term denoting Muhammad's departure from Mecca in AD 622 and used for dates i n the Muslim era, is pronounced hej-i-r in BrE and in AmE more commonly ha-jiy-r . The spelling hejira is occasionally found.
Back - New Search he, him see cases 2A.
Back - New Search heifer, meaning à cow that has not born a calf', is spelt this way.
Back - New Search heinous, meaning èxtremely wicked', is pronounced hee-ns.
Back - New Search heir. An heir apparent is an heir whose claim cannot be set aside by the birth of anot her heir. An heir presumptive is an heir whose claim may be set aside if another heir with a stronger claim is born. Heir apparent is often used now of a person regarded as likely to succeed to the position held by the head of a political p arty, business organization, etc.
Back - New Search helix, pronounced hee-liks and meaning à spiral or coiled curve', has the plural form heli ces, pronounced hel-i-seez, or occasionally helixes.
Back - New Search Hellene, Hellenic
are the noun and adjective respectively referring to the people and culture of G reece, ancient and modern. They are normally used in the context of the history, literature, and archaeology of Greek lands. Hellene is pronounced hel-een and H ellenic is pronounced he-len-ik or he-lee-nik.
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hello, hallo, hullo. There is a bewildering array of spellings and stress patterns with this greeting word; or they would be bewildering if anyone ever worried about them. In speech , the stress alters instinctively, and to list the variations would be as pointl ess as counting the hairs of one's head. The spelling preferred is hello; hallo is more common in BrE than in AmE; and hullo is now the least usual, despite bei ng the first recorded (in 1864). The noun has the plural form hellos (etc.); and the verb (meaning `to say hello') has inflected forms helloes, helloed, helloing.
Back - New Search helmeted, meaning `wearing a helmet', is spelt -eted.
Back - New Search help verb. Help is one of the oldest words in English, going back to the time of King Alfre d (9c). It has two principal meanings in current English: `to assist' (Can I help yo u?) and `to prevent' (I can't help it). The connection between these two apparently unrelated sets of meanings lies in the use of help in the context of dealing wit h disease and misfortune, in which the interrelated notions of providing help an d of preventing suffering are more clearly perceptible. (For a fuller account, s ee the OED entry, one of the most interesting and complex in the language.) Ther e are three issues to explore with help, the first two connected with the àssist' m eaning and the third with the `prevent' meaning: 1 CANNOT HELP BUT. This use is illustrated by the example She could not help but notice that all the passengers on the bus were pensionersS . Mackay , 1984. The construction used here is common, and is a fusion of two ot her typical constructions: She could not but notice and She could not help notic ing . It is preferable to use either of these constructions in more formal contex ts, although the fused construction is common informally and is likely to become more so. 2 MORE THAN [OR AS LITTLE ETC. AS] I CAN HELP. This idiom is illustrated by the examples Don't sneeze more than you can help and Sneeze as little as you can hel
p. Fowler , in an uncharacteristically weak and rambling article (1926), found t his construction indefensible and corrected the examples to Don't sneeze more th an you must and Sneeze as little as you can. These emendations are unexceptionab le in themselves, but correcting idiom on the grounds of logic is a futile exerc ise. 3 HELP + TO-INFINITIVE. The construction help someone to do something (as in He helped me to dig out my driveway) has been shortened since the time of Shakespea re to help someone do something (He helped me dig out my driveway). Shakespeare used both constructions, omitting to when help is itself preceded by to: The day will come that thou shalt wish for me To help thee curse this poisonous bunch-backed toad i.iii.247. The reluctance to repeat to accounts for some but no t all of the following modern examples, which are taken from several varieties o f English: (to omitted) The purpose is as much to help the actors discover their roles as t o work out cinematically-effective movesDaily Telegraph, 1970 / Our every deed must help make us acceptableTimes, 1986 / I had helped her carry it to her bedroom Keillor , 1986 (US)/ One of my housemates offered to help me move inNew Yorker, 1986 / Mandy helped him choose something for ClaireC.K. Stead , 1986 (New Zealand) / When he is done he instructs Ria to help him pull the wire tightS. Johnson , 1990 (Australia) / (to included) It may help us to conceive of our predicament if we imagine [etc.] Ddalus ,1986 (US) / The levees were helping to aggravate the problem they were meant to solveNew York er, 1987 / (to repeated) An interpersonal relationship in which one person (the counselor) attempts to help another (the counselee) to underst and and cope with problemsEnc yclopedia of Psychology, 1972 (US) / If a male employee asks for time off to stay at home with his sick wife to help to look after her and the kids, the affiliative manager agreesHarvard Business Re view, 1976 / She allowed Pearl to help her to stack up her hair Murdoch , 1983. There does not seem to be any distinction in preferences between AmE and BrE or the other majo r varieties of English.
Back - New Search hence. For the use of from hence, see FROM WHENCE, FROM HENCE.
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hendiadys pronounced hen-diy--dis, is derived from a Greek phrase meaning òne by means of t wo'. It is a figure of speech in which a single complex idea is expressed by two w ords connected by a conjunction (usually and). for example nice and easy, good a nd ready.
Back - New Search he or she see GENDER-NEUTRALITY.
Back - New Search her should not be used as the subject of a clause in standard English, although the use is found in some regional and dialect usage: Her and Kitty didn't have much to do with each other anymoreN. Virtue , 1990.
Back - New Search here. The type this here friend of mine and these here bicycles is confined to uneduca ted speech, but here placed after the noun is standard: your friend here / these bicycles here.
Back - New Search here is, here are. The normal agreement rules apply in most cases, i.e. Here is [or Here's] my tick et and Here are my tickets. However, in spontaneous discourse a sentence such as Here's some flowers for you is idiomatic and acceptable.
Back - New Search hereby, herewith. These two formal words are the strongest survivors of a group of words that also includes herein, hereof, hereto, heretofore, and hereunder, and even they are r estricted to the contexts of legal and business correspondence or to humorous im itations of them: I hereby promise never to smoke again / Herewith I enclose a c heque to cover my subscription. The other words are mainly confined to legal lan guage and are rapidly being forced out in the interests of PLAIN ENGLISH.
Back - New Search hero has the plural form heroes.
Back - New Search heroin, heroine. Both words are pronounced the same way, her-oh-in. The first is the drug and the second is the principal woman in a novel, play, etc. Despite their closeness of form and pronunciation, they manage to stay out of each other's way.
Back - New Search hers. This possessive pronoun, as used in The blame is not mine but hers, is written w ithout an apostrophe. Hers is wrongly used in the following example and should b e replaced by her: Hers and my children got together for a party. (The error is obvious if the sentence is simplified by the removal of and my.)
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herself, himself, itself. These pronouns have two primary roles, (1) as reflexives (He was talking about h imself / Mary was looking at herself in the mirror / He made himself a cup of co ffee), and (2) as emphatic words in apposition to a noun or pronoun (The supervi sor herself called / The lock itself is still working). Himself is still used as a gender-neutral pronoun despite the weakening of this role with the simple pro noun he, probably because the alternatives available for he are more complex whe n applied to himself: None of us was willing to commit himself to a clearcut opinionR. Linder , 1955 / In this way the casual viewer is liable to come away with the impression that he re is an anti-Semite attempting to denazify himselfDaily Telegraph, 1970 / This problem faced by the teacher who sees himself as deliverer of prepacked inf ormation is admirably expressed by Cook H. Pluckrose , 1987 / The investigator himself may not know whether these effects have occurredA. Ashwo rth , 1992.
Back - New Search hesitance, hesitancy, hesitation. All three words are first recorded in English in the early 17c, and the story si nce then has been one of advancement for hesitation and of sharp retreat for the other two, especially for hesitance although this occurs occasionally. There is a residual distinction between hesitancy and hesitation; the first denotes a te ndency, whereas the second denotes a fact or action (and occurs in the plural): (hesitancy, hesitance) He understood the hesitancy of many landlords to rent to male rather than female studentsDaily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.), 1973 / An examination of the client's hesitance, however, indicates that he is not at a ll sure about the terminology and that he may simply be echoing the wording of t he chargeJ. Citron , 1989 / He was reluctant to begin and his hesitancy made her look questioningly at himT. Hayden , 1991 (hesitation) He had driven the Deputy Director half mad with his hesitation, his recycled arguments for accepting and not acceptingD. Bloodworth , 1978 / Women have trouble communicating in a `male' language and the result is hesitations, false starts, and so onD. Cameron , 1992. Hesitation but not hesitancy is used i n the idiomatic phrases not have a moment's hesitation and without hesitation: When Granpa asked me what I wanted for my fifteenth birthday I replied without a moment's hesitation, `My own barrow.' Archer , 1991 / When in 1974 I was flattered by an invitation to make a T V appearance as the Di mbleby lecturer, I accepted without hesitationA. Goodman , 1993.
Back - New Search hew, a literary word meaning `to chop or cut', has a past form hewed and past participles hewn or hewed.
Back - New Search hiccup has inflected forms hiccuped, hiccuping. The spelling hiccough, formed by false association with cough, has nothing to recommend it.
Back - New Search hierarchic, hierarchical. Hierarchical is more common, but the choice of form seems to depend on the rhyth m of the sentence rather than on any other factor.
Back - New Search high, highly. High is used as an adverb to mean `far up, aloft' and in figurative uses in which al lusion to physical height is the metaphor: Most surfaces were piled high with ma gazines / The junior executive is aiming high / Feelings were running high. High ly is used to mean (1) `very, extremely' before adjectives and participial adjective s (It was highly amusing / a new wave of highly talented intellectuals), and (2) as an intensifier with verbs such as praise, speak, think, etc. when denoting f avourable opinion (She spoke highly of her tutor / I think quite highly of the l atest efforts). Note also the phrase high and low, as in He searched high and lo w for the lost ring.
Back - New Search hike, meaning àn increase (in prices, wages, etc.)' is fairly recent (first recorded in 1 931) and has spread rapidly from AmE, especially to the informal language of Bri tish journalism: The oil industry is still accommodating itself to its new size following the 197 9 price hikeD. Hedley , 1986 / An announcement by Argentina's President Carlos Menem rescinding a planned three fold hike in the duties on paper imported for book production was greeted with d elight by hundreds of publishersBookseller, 1993 / Football fans hit by big ticket price hikeheadline in Independent, 1998.
Back - New Search him should not be used as the subject of a clause in standard English, although the use is found in some regional and dialect usage: Him and Carol lived too high, kept buying stuff they couldn't nohow afford Capote , 1965.
Back - New Search him or her see GENDER-NEUTRALITY.
Back - New Search himself
see HERSELF.
Back - New Search hindsight. At first used to mean `the backsight of a rifle', since the later part of the 19c it has been used in an abstract sense `wisdom or knowledge after the event', especiall y in the phrase in (or with) hindsight: With hindsight, it was probably the best thing that could have happened to him, otherwise he would no doubt have ended up as a Bomber PilotJ. Beech , 1989 / In hindsight, if I had been aware of the exact nature of the Foreign Legion, I w ould have been much more hesitant about joiningC. Jennings , 1990.
Back - New Search hinge. The present participle is better spelt hingeing to clarify the sound of the soft g.
Back - New Search hippo, hippopotamus. The respective plural forms are hippos and hippopotamuses.
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his. For his or her see GENDER-NEUTRALITY. For the use of his to refer back to one, s ee ONE.
Back - New Search hisself is non-standard for himself, and arises from the tendency to regard self as a no un and to place possessive pronouns and adjectives in front of it (e.g. his very self).
Back - New Search historic, historical. Both words are used to mean òf or concerning history, belonging to the past rathe r than the present', but historical is the more objective word denoting something that happened in the past, whereas historic describes not simply what belongs to the past but what has an important role in the past, i.e. it means `famous or imp ortant with regard to history'. A historical treaty is one that took place (as opp osed to one that is fictitious); a historic treaty is one that is of great impor tance in history (as opposed to one that is insignificant). Historic is often us ed with reference to buildings and monuments: The president of the Historic Houses Association plays down too much euphoria ov er the Chancellor's proposed substitution of inheritance tax for capital transfe r taxDaily Telegraph, 1986 / After visiting the Hayward Gallery I spent a half-hour just gazing along the riv er line, the historic buildings sharp in the clear, cold, sunny airD.M. Thomas , 1990. When the meanings are confused, it is usually historic that is used when h istorical would be more appropriate: Extinct volcanoes are those that have not erupted in historic time, whereas acti ve volcanoes have been seen to eruptM.A. Summerfield , 1991 / It may involve the use of relevant historic documentsR. Brooks , 1993.
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historic present is a term used of narrative that is put in the present tense for dramatic effect , although it is describing events in the past. For example: She had no notion of how welcome she would be. But Raymond opens the door before she can touch the bell, and he hugs her around the shoulders and kisses her twi ceA. Munro , 1989.
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hither, meaning `to or toward this place', is an ancient word that existed in Old English. I n current English it is restricted, except for formal or archaic uses, to a numb
er of fixed phrases: hither and thither or hither and yon (= in various directio ns), and come-hither, used adjectivally to mean ènticing, flirtatious', as in a com e-hither look.
Back - New Search HIV. Since the abbreviation stands for `human immunodeficiency virus', the word virus i s strictly redundant in the phrase HIV virus, although this is now established u sage.
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hoard, horde. A hoard is a large stock or store of money or accumulated objects (in archaeolog y, for example); a horde is a large collection of people or animals, and is used in the singular or plural, often disparagingly: A horde of football fans attempt to lure into their bedrooms a pair of tarts by arrangement with the pimpish day porterDaily Telegraph, 1976 / By shooting a gun numerous times and flashing a sun-gun, we persuaded hordes of bats to fly round the caveListener, 1976.
Back - New Search hoe verb has inflected forms hoes, hoed, hoeing.
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hoi polloi. The normal construction is the hoi polloi, meaning `the masses, the common people'. The fact that hoi in the original Greek expression (literally `the many') already me ans `the' is therefore ignored; objection to this now seems pedantic, is countered b y the weight of usage (Dryden , Byron , and others, not to mention W. S. Gilbert ), and itself ignores the need for naturalness in English, since omission of th e would usually be awkward. Examples:
(with the) Nothing like a yacht to ensure your privacy and not having to mix wit h the hoi polloi Archer , 1991 / As trains and coaches and carriage excursions organised by Thomas Cook were deem ed to be for the hoi polloi, the party had decided to take their own carriagesA. Myers , 1991 / (without the) Seat-holders were let in through side doors while hoi polloi had t o come in through the front in the hope of getting what they couldJ. Munson , 199 1.
Back - New Search hoist, meaning `to raise or haul up', has past and past participle forms hoisted. Historica lly hoist is a participial form of an earlier verb hoise (with the same meaning) , and it survives in this form in the expression hoist with one's own petard, me aning literally `blown up by one's own bomb' and hence àdversely affected by one's ow n bad schemes for others'.
Back - New Search holey, meaning `full of holes', is spelt -ey to distinguish it in writing and print from th e adjective holy meaning `sacred'.
Back - New Search Holland see NETHERLANDS.
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home. 1 As an adverb, home has many idiomatic uses as in come home and go home, see so meone home, drive a nail (or point) home, etc. When the meaning is ìn his or her home' the British preference is to use at home (He stayed at home / Is Jane at hom e?) whereas AmE prefers home by itself (He stayed home / Is Jane home?).
2 As a noun, home means `the place where one lives', and when referring to the build
ing is distinguished from house in designating residential function as well as p hysical existence: The well secured home probably includes an entry-phone, grilles, and an alarmFina ncial Times, 1982. It is usual to say in the privacy of one's own home rather th an one's own house, and estate agents tend to prefer home as having a more perso nal sound. In AmE, home is used much more freely where in BrE house would be use d: In Beverly Hills and Bel Air, we saw the homes (never called houses) of Jane Wit hers, Greer Garson, and Barbra StreisandGuardian, 1973.Top
3 As a verb, used chiefly of pigeons and in the phrasal verb home in on, home ha s inflections homed, homing.Top
Back - New Search homely. The connotations of this word as applied to a person (usually a woman) are favou rable in BrE, in which it means `simple, unpretentious' and disparaging in AmE, in w hich it means ùnattractive, dowdy'.
Back - New Search homo-, homoeo-. These two prefixes are derived from the Greek words homos meaning `same' and homoios meaning òf the same kind', and this difference in meaning is reflected in the Engl ish words formed on them, e.g. homosexuality denotes sexual attraction towards t he same sex and homoeopathy denotes treatment of disease by using small doses of drugs that have the same kind of effect as the disease itself. Words in homo- a re pronounced either hom- or hohm-, whereas words in homoeo- are more usually pr onounced hom-. In AmE, homeo- is the more usual spelling.
Back - New Search homogeneity, meaning `being of the same kind', is better pronounced -ji-nee-i-ti than -ji-nay-i-t i, i.e. with the stressed syllable having the sound of bee, not bay.
Back - New Search homogeneous, homogenous. Homogeneous is pronounced with the stress on the third syllable and means òf the same kind':
The most common way of grouping was to sort the children by ability and to make the groups as homogeneous as possibleR. Alexander , 1992. The word homogenous (st ressed on the second syllable) was formerly used in biology to mean `having a comm on descent', but has been largely superseded by homogenetic, so as to become a loo se cannon colliding frequently with homogeneous: The community was not homogenous, but made up of a multitude of different groups with different attitudes and beliefsGuardian, 1989. Homogeneous is still the cor rect word to use. The adjective homogenized, denoting milk that has been treated so that the cream does not separate, is related in form but not in meaning.
Back - New Search homograph, homonym, homophone. Homonym is a generic term for a word having the same spelling or sound as anothe r word but a different meaning. Homonyms are either homographs, words written th e same way (e.g. bat denoting either an implement or an animal and entrance mean ing either à way into a place' or `to beguile') or homophones, words pronounced the sam e way but (usually) not spelt the same way (e.g. pair and pear, hoard and horde, right and write).
Back - New Search homosexual, pronounced either hom- or hohm-, is still the term used in more formal contexts, although gay is become more widely used and is often heard (for example) in new s broadcasts.
Back - New Search Hon. is an abbreviation of (1) honourable, especially in parliamentary contexts (The Hon. Member for Lincoln) and as a courtesy title given to sons and daughters of members of the nobility and to civic dignitaries such as the Lord Mayor of Londo n (the correct form is with the first name in full, e.g. The Hon. James Brown), and (2) honorary, as in The Hon. Secretary. For full details see Debrett's Corre ct Form or other manuals dealing with forms of address.
Back - New Search honeyed is recommended in preference to honied.
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honorarium, meaning a voluntary payment made for professional services instead of a formal f ee, is pronounced with the third syllable as in air. The plural form is honorari ums (preferably) or honoraria.
Back - New Search honour, honourable are spelt -our in BrE and honor, honorable in AmE.
Back - New Search hoof has a plural from hooves (more usual) or hoofs.
Back - New Search hope. Apart from the expression to live in hopes, the use of the plural noun in phrase s such as to be in hopes, in the hopes that, etc., is more characteristic of AmE than of BrE: He never said a kind word to them, and they worked like dogs in hopes of hearing one Keillor , 1989. The normal BrE equivalent is in the hope of (or in the hope that): Clerks double-book their barristers in the hope that one of the cases will be se ttled before getting to courtEconomist, 1983.
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hopefully. 1 This (now controversial) adverb has been used since the 17C as a straightforwa rd adverb of manner: As lovers do, as lovers will, they travelled hopefully to Paris Gee , 1985 / Out on the corridor, Nurse Bodkin was hovering hopefully near a suspended piece of mistletoeE. McGrath , 1990. According to the evidence of the OED, the controve rsial use of hopefully as a sentence adverb sprang up, after an isolated use in 1932, in the 1960s, first in AmE and almost immediately in BrE:
We asked her when she expected to move into her new apartment, and she answered, `Hopefully on Tuesday.'New Yorker, 1965 / The cost of developing a new `Dash 50' series of engines, that hopefully will power Lockheed's èxtended range' jet, is put at around 75 millionDaily Telegraph, 1970 / I want a bigger range to choose from and hopefully this role will help meS. Stone , 1989.
2 Like thankfully, hopefully stands apart from the routine sentence adverbs clea rly, frankly, happily, luckily, normally, sadly, unfortunately, etc., because th e rationale of its formation differs and it cannot be resolved grammatically int o a phrase such as in a hopeful way or to a hopeful extent. The argument based o n ambiguity, however, is less compelling; sentences of the type They are working hopefully towards a solution of the problem will normally be clear enough eithe r from intonation (in speech) or from context. For more on this issue in its con text, see SENTENCE ADVERBS.Top
3 The recommendation must be to use these meanings of hopefully and thankfully w ith caution; they are here to stay but strong rearguard actions continue to be f ought over them. And hopefully, in particular, can sound irritating.Top
Back - New Search horde see hoard.
Back - New Search horrid. Horrid may be seen as the least emphatic in a series of adjectives meaning `disagr eeable' which proceed with increasing severity to horrible and horrifying. Horrend ous and horrific, once stronger still than any of these, have lost much of their power through overuse in popular fiction, film, and broadcasting. In older lite rature, references to horrid spears, mountain peaks, thickets, etc., reflect a n ow obsolete meaning `bristling, shaggy, rough'.
Back - New Search hospitable should be pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, although second-syll able stress is common.
Back - New Search hospitalize, meaning `to send or admit (a patient) to hospital', first recorded in 1901, is regar ded with some suspicion in BrE, but is standard in AmE.
Back - New Search host verb. This is first recorded in the 15c, and is not a modern verbalization of the noun . For this reason, objection to the use of host meaning `to act as host or compre o f (a television show)' is somewhat misconceived, although it is often prudent to u se readily available alternatives such as present, introduce, or compre.
Back - New Search house see HOME.
Back - New Search how come? This colloquial American phrase, meaning `how is it (or did it happen) that?', was f irst noted in the mid-19c, and still has strong North American associations, alt hough no one in Britain would fail to understand it: ` How come you're still thin?' she asked with amusementA. Munro , 1989.
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however. 1 When ever is being used as an intensive after the interrogative adverb how, as in How ever did you do it?, the two words should always be written separately.
2 However, in the meaning `nevertheless', has many possible positions in a clause. I f it is put at the beginning, it should be followed by a comma: I should be angry if the situation were not so farcical. However, I had a certai n delight in some of the talk Golding , 1980. This use should be distinguished fr om however used at the beginning of a sentence as an ordinary adverb meaning `no m
atter how', which is not followed by a comma: However confident he may be that he has outgeneralled a woman, a man likes to ha ve reassurance on the point from a knowledgeable third partyP.G. Wodehouse , 1973 . In mid-sentence, however is preceded and followed by commas. The choice of pos ition depends on the word being emphasized, which is normally the one that comes immediately before however: Parry, however, had had an alibi which Mr Wilkes is confident that he has brokenD aily Telegraph, 1984 / Even with the stimulatory measures, however, the deficit does not seem likely to be excessive in the years to comeTimes, 1981. It is preceded by a comma when it occurs at the end of a sentence: The presence of a girl in a group of tipsy young men keeps them in check, howeve rLancashire Life, 1978.Top
3 There are two erroneous uses to guard against: (1) however as a simple substit ute for but: They came for dinner, however they left before ten and (2) a sentence allowed to run on when however should have a capital letter and s tart a new sentence: Resources for doing so are not available, however, the matt er will be reviewed at a later date
.Top
Back - New Search hullo see HELLO.
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human, humane, humanitarian. 1 The notion that human should only be used as an adjective and that human being should be used for the noun is found in some older usage books (though not Fowl er , 1926) but is not supported by the weight of usage. Many examples of human a s a noun will be found in OED2, to which may be added: There rose before his inward sight the picture of a human at once heroic and sic k Golding , 1954 /
Behind the mental subterfuges by which humans escape from reality lies a deep se nse of inadequacy English , 1989 / The human got in and, still holding the box with exaggerated care, placed it on its kneesT. Pratchett , 1992.
2 As an adjective, human is used predominantly as a classifying word in non-judg emental contexts, qualifying words such as body, eye, life, mind, nature, race, rights, and voice. The difference between human and humane in their judgemental meanings is that human denotes a generalized quality that distinguishes (actual or ideal) human behaviour from that of non-humans, whereas humane denotes a qual ity as it affects treatment of other people: (human) When he pushed the postern closed behind him she stepped back into the g ateway, eyeing him with very human cautionJ. Byrne , 1993 / (humane) This is only a temporary solution and there have been many attempts to organise more humane working systemsW.T. Singleton , 1989 / Most academic criminologists had tended to regard the advances of rehabilitation in the penal process as being a beneficial and humane trendB. Roshier , 1989. No te, however, that humane is used with reference to animals as well as people: There is a range of attitudes including the position of those who can accept wha ling in principle if it can be made more humane in practiceAnimal Welfare, 1992 / They believe in a humane rearing system for livestock, which is mindful of the n eeds of the animal in questionC. Wheater 1990.Top
3 Another adjective to be considered in this context is humanitarian, a 19c word that was originally a noun used in theological contexts. From the 1850s it has had the adjectival meaning `practising humanity or humane action', and it is a commo n word in modern contexts of international aid and support: Reports from Jordan indicated that Iraqi businessmen fearful of incurring penalt ies were no longer prepared even to transport food and essential humanitarian su pplies to Iraq Keesings , 1990.Top
Back - New Search humankind. First recorded in the 17c as an occasional variant of mankind, humankind has gat hered strength in the 20c, largely because it serves well as a gender-neutral te rm for the human race: One single specieshumankindis putting the Earth at riskBBC Wildlife, 1990.
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humour is spelt -our in BrE and humor in AmE, and the same distinction applies to the d erivative humourless / humorless. Humorous and humorist, however, are spelt the same way in both varieties.
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hybrid formations are words made up of elements belonging to different languages. They vary widely in the degree of irregularity they represent, from the routine addition of Engl ish prefixes and suffixes to stems from French (bemuse, besiege, genuineness) or vice versa (breakage, disbelieve, readable) to the merging of major word elemen ts with different origins, as with bureaucracy (18c, from French bureau and Gree k -kratia `rule'), coastal (19c, from English coast and the Latin-derived suffix -al : see LOST CAUSES), gullible (19c, from English gull `to deceive' and the Latin-deri ved suffix -ible), speedometer (20c, from English speed and the Greek-derived co mbining form -ometer), and television (20c, from Greek tele- `far' and vision a word of Latin origin). Some so-called blends and portmanteau words are in effect hyb rids, e.g. breathalyser (20c, from English breath and Greek-derived analyse) and workaholic (20c, from English work and alcoholic, a word derived via French fro m Arabic). In a language as eclectic in its origins as modern English the format ion of such hybrids is natural and inevitable, and it is difficult to discern a sustainable principle behind the occasional objections that are made in the lett er columns of the broadsheet newspapers to formations of this kind.
Back - New Search hyena is spelt -e-, not (as formerly) -ae-, and has the plural form hyenas.
Back - New Search hygiene, hygienic are spelt -ie- and pronounced respectively hiy-jeen and hiy-jee-nik. The Greek w ord from which these words are ultimately derived is the first word (an adjectiv e) of hugiein techn; àrt of health'.
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hyper-, hypo-. These prefixes are derived from Greek prepositions huper and hupo meaning òver, a bove' and ùnder, below', respectively. In English, hyperthermia means àbnormally high body temperature' and hypothermia means àbnormally low body temperature'; hypertensio n means àbnormally high blood pressure' and hypotension means àbnormally low blood p ressure'. Both prefixes are usually pronounced in the same way (hiy-p), and the me aning may have to be clarified by the context in which they are used. In other w ords the prefix does not correspond so closely to sense; for example, hypochondr ia means èxcessive anxiety about one's health' (suggesting hyper- rather than hypo) and is derived from a Greek word meaning `the soft parts of the body below the r ibs', where such feelings were thought to arise. Hypercritical duly means èxcessive ly critical', but hypocritical and hypocrisy (pronounced hip-, not hiyp-) are deri ved from a Greek word hupokrisis meaning àcting a part, pretence'.
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hyperbole, pronounced hiy-per-b-li, is a figure of speech involving an exaggerated statemen t that is not meant to be taken literally, e.g. a thousand apologies. It should not be confused with hyperbola, pronounced hiy-per-be-l, a term in geometry.
Back - New Search hypercorrection is a modern (20c) term for the application of a grammatical rule, especially in sensitive areas of usage, in a case where it is not appropriate. Examples are (1 ) the use of a pronoun form I, he, etc., instead of me, him, etc., e.g. It is ti me for you and I to have a talk on the analogy of It is time you and I had a tal k, and (2) use of as instead of like as a preposition, e.g. He talks as a fool, influenced by the preference for as when used as a conjunction: He talks as a fo ol talks.
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hyphen. In print, a hyphen is half the length of a dash; unlike the dash, it has the pur pose of linking words and word elements rather than separating them. Beyond this apparently simple rule, in the world of real usage, lies chaos (Fowler's word, 1926), especially when use of the hyphen is governed by contextual discretion ra
ther than clear-cut rules. The following paragraphs describe the main uses of th e hyphen, beginning with the more routine and ending with the least straightforw ard: 1 To join two or more words so as to form a single expression, e.g. ear-ring, ge t-at-able, and words having a grammatical relationship which form a compound, e. g. load-bearing, punch-drunk. The routine use of the hyphen to connect two nouns to form a compound word is diminishing in favour of one-word forms, especially when the elements are of one syllable and present no problems of form or pronunc iation, as in birdsong, eardrum, and playgroup, and in some longer formations su ch as figurehead, nationwide, and even (despite the clash of vowels) radioisotop e, which is entered in this form in the OED. However, a hyphen is often necessar y to separate two similar consonant or vowel sounds in a word, e.g. breast-strok e, co-opt, fast-talk, sword-dance, Ross-shire. In the area of choice between spe lling as one word with hyphen and as two words, the second option is now widely favoured, especially when the first noun acts as a straightforward modifier of t he second, as in filling station and house plant. Different house styles in publ ishing and journalism have different preferences in many of these cases. 2 To clarify the meaning of a compound that is normally spelt as separate words, when it is used attributively (before a noun): an up-to-date record / the wellknown man; but the record is up to date / The man is well known; also (with no a mbiguity) prettily furnished rooms. 3 To join a prefix to a name or designation, e.g. anti-Christian, ex-husband. Th ere is no satisfactory way of dealing with the type ex-Prime Minister, in which the second element is itself a compound, except to rely on the tendency of reade rs to use their knowledge of the world to choose the natural meaning, i.e. `former Prime Minister' (which makes sense) rather than `Minister who was once Prime' (which is nonsense). A second hyphen, e.g. ex-Prime-Minister, is not recommended. 4 To avoid ambiguity by separating a prefix from the main word, e.g. to distingu ish re-cover (= provide with a new cover) from recover and re-sign (= sign again ) from resign. 5 To represent a common second element in all but the last word of a list, e.g. two-, three-, or fourfold. 6 To clarify meanings in groups of words when the associations are not clear or when several possible associations may be inferred. This is the area of usage th at involves the greatest initiative and discretion on the part of the writer, an d it is also the area to which Fowler devoted most of his attention. The best wa y of offering guidance is to give examples in which careful hyphenation prevents misunderstanding: The library is reducing its purchase of hard-covered books / Twenty-odd people came to the meeting / The group was warned about the dangers o f extra-marital sex / There will be special classes for French-speaking children . 7 The hyphen is also used in printing to divide a word that comes at the end of a line and is too long to fit completely. The principle here is a different one, because the hyphen does not form a permanent part of the spelling. Printers hav e sets of rules about where to divide words; for example, between consonants as in splen-dour and between vowels as in appreci-ate, and words of one syllable sh ould not be divided at all, even quite long ones such as queues and rhythm.
Back - New Search hyphen, hyphenate, verbs.
Both words mean `to spell (a word or phrase) with a hyphen'. This book uses hyphen, following the practice of the successive OED editors C. T. Onions and R. W. Burc hfield , although hyphenate is more common in general usage.
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hyposee HYPER-.
Back - New Search hypocritical, hypercritical see HYPER-, HYPO-.
Back - New Search hyponym, hypernym. In linguistics, a hyponym of a given term is a more specific term in the same do main; e.g. spaniel is a hyponym of dog, and bag, box, and cup are hyponyms of co ntainer. A hypernym is a more general term, so that dog is the hypernym of spani el, and container of bag, box, and cup. Because the two words can sound the same in speech, the alternative term superordinate is often used instead of hypernym .
Back - New Search hypothecate, hypothesize. The correct word for `to form a hypothesis' is hypothesize, and it is used with or w ithout an object or with a that-clause: Quick to learn, quick to grasp concepts and to hypothesize, they need the best m inds to provide appropriate support and challengeJ. Spink , 1989 / It was then decided to hypothesize a particular market situation for a single pr oduct lineC. Tomkins , 1991 / I hypothesise that if I move and turn the lamp in a particular way I will get th e result I wantW.T. Singleton , 1989. Hypothecate, which is sometimes wrongly use d in this meaning, correctly means `to give as a pledge or security' (from Greek hup othk; `deposit') especially in the context of taxation in which the money raised is used for a special purpose:
An alternative scheme for financing the NHS involves the removing of finance fro m general taxation and the introduction of a health stamp or hypothecated taxP. H ardy , 1991.
Back - New Search hypothesis, meaning `something proposed as a basis for reasoning', has the plural form hypothese s, pronounced -seez.
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* * *
I. 1 I, the first person pronoun representing the speaker (or writer), is a shorten ing of earlier forms ic, ich, ik, etc., and has been written as a capital letter at least since the development of printing imposed uniformity in the 15c.
2 Popular preoccupation with the correctness (or hypercorrectness) of `John and I' ( rather than `John and me') as an answer to questions such as Who do you mean? has le d to an absurd proliferation of the use of I where me is correct because the pro noun is governed by a verb or preposition. The best known case, between you and I, is discussed at the entry for BETWEEN (section 5). Other types are shown by t he following examples: I think she disapproved of Beth and I, just quietlyS. Johnson , 1990 (Australia) / `What is it?' asked Lemprire. `Part of you and I,' said SeptimusL. Norfolk , 1991 after seeing you and I lingering over a late breakfastChicago Tribune, 1991. The fallacy of these uses can readily be seen by isolating the pronoun and removing the noun it is paired with in each sentence, e.g. I think she disapproved of I, just quietly.Top
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i before e. The traditional spelling rule ì before e except after c' should be extended to incl ude the statement `when the combination is pronounced -ee-', as in believe, brief, f iend, hygiene, priest, siege, and in ceiling, deceive, conceit, receipt, receive , etc. The extension to the rule is necessary in order to take account of words such as beige, freight, neighbour, sleigh, veil, vein, weigh (all pronounced -ay -), eiderdown, feisty, height, heist, kaleidoscope, sleight (all pronounced -iy), and words in which the i and e are pronounced as separate vowels, e.g. holier , occupier. This leaves caffeine, protein and seize as the most important except ions to the rule as qualified.
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ibid. is a shortening of Latin ibidem ìn the same place' and is used principally in print ed matter to indicate a reference to a source already mentioned.
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-ible see -ABLE, -IBLE.
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-ic, -ical adjectives. 1 There are three main situations: (1) cases where only an adjective ending in ic is available (e.g. alcoholic, basic, dramatic, linguistic, patriotic, public)
, (2) cases where only an adjective ending in -ical is available (e.g. chemical, p ractical, radical), and (3) cases where adjectives ending in -ic and -ical are available, often with a d ifference in meaning (e.g. classic / classical, comic / comical, economic / econ omical, historic / historical) but sometimes with no difference in meaning (e.g. geographic / geographical, problematic / problematical)
. Pairs that represent a difference in meaning are discussed as separate entries . When there is no difference in meaning, choice is often determined by consider ations of idiom and sentence rhythm. Assertions relating to regional distinction s (e.g. that -ic forms are more common in AmE) lack adequate statistical support .
2 With one exception, all these adjectives, whether they end in -ic or -ical or both, form adverbs in -ically (basically, dramatically, geometrically, practical ly, etc.). The exception is public, which has an adverb form publicly.Top
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-ics. 1 There are a few names of arts or of branches of study that end in -ic, of whic h the most important in general use are logic, magic, music, and rhetoric. Other wise the normal ending for terms of this kind is -ics: acoustics, classics, econ omics, ethics, mathematics, obstetrics, physics, and many others. (In some cases a singular noun exists with a different meaning: a classic is something of ackn owledged fame or quality, an ethic is a set of moral principles, and a statistic is an item of statistical data.) Although these are plural forms, they take sin gular verbs when they are the name of a subject and a plural verb when they are used generally: compare Economics is her main interest and The economics of the foreign aid are extremely complex.
2 Another class of nouns in -ics corresponds to adjectives in -ic or -ical, e.g. heroics, hysterics, tactics, and these are treated as regular plurals, e.g. Her oics are out of place.Top
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idea. Idea is followed by of + noun (or verbal noun) when the meaning is `notion, concep t' (It's not my idea of having a good time) and by a to-infinitive when after a co nstruction with the verb be (The idea is to get the ball in the hole).
Back - New Search ideology was first used in the later 18c in the meaning `the science of ideas', and has since filled a much-needed role as a term free of religious and spiritual connotation s to denote à system of ideas forming the basis of an economic or political theor y', as in capitalist ideology.
Back - New Search idiom in the context of language has two principal meanings: (1) the manner of express ion that characterizes a language, and (2) a group of words that has a meaning not deducible from the individual words
. The first can therefore be seen as the sum total of all the instances of the s econd. Examples of idioms in the concrete second meaning are over the moon, unde r the weather, might as well, and hard put to it. The adjective idiomatic draws on both these meanings in denoting what is natural and customary in the use of a language; as Fowler recognized (1926), `grammar and idiom are separate categories', so that a mode of expression can be idiomatic or grammatical or both or neither . Fowler's various examples are still valid and useful: It was not me and There is heaps of material are idiomatic but ungrammatical, The distinction leaps to t he eyes and a hardly earned income are grammatical but unidiomatic, He was promo ted captain and She all but capsized are both grammatical and idiomatic, and You would not go for to do it is neither.
Back - New Search idiosyncrasy, meaning àn individual's particular habit or mode of behaviour', is derived from the Greek words idio- òwn, peculiar', sun `together', and krasis `mixture' and so its etymolog ical meaning is à peculiar mixing together'. It is wrong to spell it -cracy, as if it were connected with words such as democracy and autocracy.
Back - New Search i.e. is short for Latin id est and means `that is to say'. It should be distinguished fro
m e.g., from Latin exempli gratia, which means `for example'. In other words, i.e. e xplains whereas e.g. illustrates.
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-ie, -y. 1 These suffixes are used in pet-names and diminutives. There is often a free ch oice between -ie and -y, except that -y is always used in the pet-names baby, da ddy, ducky, granny, hubby, mummy, and sonny, and in the diminutives bunny, fatty , kitty, nappy, and teddy, and -ie is always used in the diminutives bookie, gir lie, goalie, and nightie, and is the preferred form in a number of words associa ted with Scotland (beastie, kiltie, laddie, lassie, etc.). In other cases (deari e / deary, goalie / goaly, nightie / nighty, etc.), it is largely a matter of in dividual preference or of a particular printing style. Spellings of individual w ords will be found in the current edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary. The plural forms of all these words end in -ies.
2 Spelling of personal names (Jamie, Katie, Molly, Sally, Willie, etc.) is not a matter of choice but of the form favoured by the bearer of a particular name.To p
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if. 1 If is followed by the subjunctive form were (instead of was) when the conditio n it introduces is hypothetical or impossible to fulfil, as in If I were younger , I'd travel the world. Was is used (1) informally in such cases (If I was young er, I'd travel the world), and (2) to indicate past tense in which the condition is capable of fulfilment (If I was younger, I wasn't any wiser). Use of the sub junctive form be (instead of am, is, or are) is now decidedly old-fashioned: If this be true, all is not lost. See SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.
2 If and whether are both used to introduce noun clauses as in Tell me if / whet her you can come, but whether is regarded as somewhat more formal and is prefera ble in avoiding possible ambiguity (in the sentence just given, a possible inter pretation, though not the natural one, when if is used is Ìf you can come, tell m e (some other thing)'.Top
3 If and though are both possible in constructions of the type a cheap, if / tho ugh risky method, although again there is sometimes a small risk of ambiguity in the use of if.Top
4 If is sometimes used in a clause without any continuation, either as a way of making a strong assertion or as a polite request. This use is normally limited t o conversation: Well, if that isn't the best thing I've heard since I was home Mackenzie , 1919 / Ì've got to leave this morning, so if you'll make out my bill, please?' Dexter , 198 3 / `There's your tea. Drink it.' Ìf I could have another lump of sugar.' Greene , 1988.Top
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if and when.
If and when the law catches up with them, I hope it has it in for themPunch, 1967 . This phrase (along with as and when and unless and until) almost belongs to th e category of the Fowlers' LOST CAUSES, but not quite. They wrote of it in The K ing's English (1906), `this formula has enjoyed more popularity than it deserves; either when or if by itself would almost always give the meaning', and gave several ex amples to support their case, making an exception of the following quotation fro m Gladstone: If and when it was done, it was done so to speak judicially, in whi ch the force of both if and when is needed. Significantly, this was their only e xample in the past tense; all the other examples referred to future time. While it is true that if alone (when there is doubt) or when alone (when there is no d oubt) would often serve, there are contexts in which a point needs to be made wi th regard both to the likelihood of occurrence and to the time of it: Many drugs will be given if and when needed, probably with no obvious rhythmJ.M. Waterhouse , 1990. The expression is especially popular with lawyers because at the very least it makes the same point doubly effective.
Back - New Search ignoramus, meaning àn ignorant person', has the plural form ignoramuses. It was originally a l aw term from the Latin word meaning `we do not know', and so the ending has nothing to do with Latin nouns in -us.
Back - New Search -ile. Many nouns and adjectives ending in -ile (docile, domicile, facile, fertile, fra gile, missile, mobile, sterile, virile, etc.) are pronounced -iyl in BrE and -l in AmE. The main exceptions are automobile and imbecile, which are usually prono unced -eel in both varieties, and profile, which is pronounced -iyl in both vari eties, as (with some variation) are the statistical terms decile, percentile, an d quartile.
Back - New Search ilk is a word that arouses passions when it is used to mean `kind or sort': Fifteen years a faithful husband, that was his ilk Bellow , 1987. Ilk arrived at this meaning by a strange route: originally it meant `same' (Old English ilca), but was pushed aside in this role by the arrival in the Middle English period of sam e (from Old Norse). In Scotland from the 15c, the phrase of that ilk emerged wit h the meaning òf the same place, territorial designation, or name', to denote the n ames of landed families, e.g. Guthrie of that Ilk = Guthrie of (a place also cal led) Guthrie. The Scottish use was rapidly misunderstood south of the border and by the 18c the word ilk had acquired the meaning `family, class' and hence `kind or s ort', and we are back at the point where we started. Although there is much eviden ce of the spread of the popular use, it should be borne in mind that it can soun d absurd to anyone (not necessarily Scottish) who is familiar with the word's hi storical usage. Examples: Her husband's employment was not of the ilk of the typical man on the job on the coastA. Kennedy , 1986 (New Zealand)/ Rambo and Rocky and their ilk are the mere tip of a vast icebergEncounter, 1987 / I'm being flippant. Irresponsible in the well-known propensity of my ilk Amis , 1 988.
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ill, sick. Ill and sick share responsibilities in peculiar ways, and are not always interch angeable. To begin with, ill is more usually predicative (placed after a verb, a s in She was ill), whereas sick occurs naturally in attributive position (before a noun, as in She was a sick woman) as well as predicatively (as in She was sic k), and in compounds such as sick leave and sick room). Ill is used attributivel y only in the broader sense òut of health' (He was an ill man when I last saw him),
in the extended meanings `faulty, unskilful' (ill judgement / ill management), in i dioms and proverbs (do an ill turn to / It's an ill wind that blows nobody any g ood). It also occurs adverbially in compounds (ill-behaved / ill-considered). In BrE, to be sick and to feel sick have the special meanings `to vomit' and `to be incl ined to vomit', and to underline the anomalies of the two words a person can look ill and then report (or go) sick. In varieties of English other than BrE, the ov erlaps in meaning and usage vary considerably, and in some varieties there is li ttle difference other than the more formal nature of the word ill. In AmE, the m eaning `vomiting' is normally supplied by the phrase sick to (or at) one's stomach.
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illegal, illegitimate, illicit, unlawful. The different meanings of these words correspond to the meanings of legal, legit imate, licit (now rarely used), and lawful. Something is illegal when it is in a ll circumstances against the law, illicit when it is in some circumstances again st the law or prohibited in some way, and illegitimate when it is contrary to cu stom or common justice as well as (or instead of) contrary to the law. Unlawful is a somewhat oldfashioned word for illegal and refers to divine as well as huma n law. See further at LEGAL, LAWFUL.
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illegible, unreadable. In current use what is illegible is not clear enough to be decipherable (as in i llegible handwriting), and what is unreadable can be physically read but is too dull to be worth reading or too difficult to be understood.
Back - New Search illicit see ELICIT; ILLEGAL.
Back - New Search illiteracies. This was a term used Fowler (1926) to denote examples of à kind of offence agains t the literary idiom that is not easily named' and identified its chief habitat as
the correspondence columns of the newspapers. The instances he gave included ag gravating (= annoying), between or instead of between and , however for how ever in the type However did you find out?, like used as a conjunction (If I could th ink like you do), frequent use of split infinitives (Am ready to categorically a ffirm), think to (= remember to, as in I did not think to tell them,), and indiv idual to mean `person'. In 1965 Gowers added three more instances: between you and I , likewise used as a conjunction (Its tendency to wobble likewise its limited po wers of execution), and neither with a plural verb (For two reasons neither of w hich are noticed by Plato ). Some of these illiteracies may still be so called, notably, as explained elsewhere, between you and I (see BETWEEN (5)) and however for how ever. In other cases, time has moved on, and the Concise Oxford Diction ary gives many of the castigated uses with the much milder warning `colloquial' or `di sputed' rather than ìlliterate'.
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illiterate, innumerate. Illiterate (16c) means ùnable to read or write' or `poorly educated'; innumerate (20c) means `having no knowledge of or aptitude for the principles of mathematics'. The co rresponding positive forms literate and numerate date from about the same times, although numerate is attested much earlier (15c) in a now obsolete meaning `numbe red, counted'.
Back - New Search illusion see DELUSION.
Back - New Search illusive, illusory see ELUSIVE.
Back - New Search image is an old word (13c) derived from Latin imago meaning `copy, in all its meanings suggests a real or mental picture. Since as been used by marketeers, advertisers, and (more recently) ors to mean à concept or impression created in the minds of rticular person, product, institution, etc.': likeness, picture' and the late 1950s it h political spin-doct the public about a pa
The first task of the public relations man, on taking over a business client, is
to `re-engineer' his image to include something besides the production of goodsJ.K. Galbraith , 1958 / In contrast to the image of police work as exciting and dangerous , patrolling wa s invariably boring and somewhat aimlessI. Marsh , 1992 / It is important, too, that close attention is paid to image building (e.g. banks and insurance companies must be seen to be stable, reliable institutions, but w ith a friendly, non-intimidating attitudean image which banks in particular have spent a lot of money fostering over the past decade.G. Lancaster , 1992.
Back - New Search imaginable, meaning àble to be imagined', is spelt without an e in the middle.
Back - New Search imaginary, imaginative. Imaginary means èxisting only in the imagination, not real', whereas imaginative me ans `having or showing a high degree of imagination'. Both words can be applied to p eople as well as things; an imaginary person is one who does not really exist (e .g. is fictitious), whereas an imaginative person is one who is creative or inve ntive.
Back - New Search imbalance is a surprisingly recent word (19c), first used as a technical term in ophthalmo logy and now used generally in many contexts: The imbalance in the world's financial system has become grotesqueTimes, 1969 / The marked increase in the average salary reflects both the imbalance of supply and demand for health workersScientific American, 1973 / Teaching implies an imbalance of knowledge, otherwise it would not be necessaryB. Bergonzi , 1990.
Back - New Search imbroglio, an originally Italian word meaning à confused or complicated situation', has the pl ural form imbroglios.
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imbue see INFUSE.
Back - New Search imitate has a derivative form imitable meaning àble to be imitated'.
Back - New Search immanent see IMMINENT.
Back - New Search immediately has been used informally since the early 19c, especially in BrE, as a conjunctio n equivalent to immediately after: I starting writing `Jill' immediately I left Oxford Larkin , 1983 / Immediately I heard the front door I switched off his computer Williams , 1992.
Back - New Search immigrant see EMIGRANT.
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imminent, immanent. The more common word imminent, derived from the Latin word minre `to threaten', mean s àbout to happen' and has connotations of threat or danger. Immanent, derived from the Latin word manre `to remain', means ìndwelling, inherent' and is chiefly used in t heology to denote the divine presence throughout the universe.
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immoral, amoral. Both words are applied to people, to people's actions, and to standards of behav iour. Immoral means `morally wrong, wicked', whereas amoral means `having no morals', i. e. òutside the scope of morality' and is strictly neutral in meaning, although in p ractice both words are used judgementally. Examples: (amoral) Children are first amoral then enter a pre-moral stage, when social and authoritarian factors are the main restraintsM.E. Wood , 1973 / For someone who appeared so gleefully wicked and amoral, Cleo seemed surprisingl y dim when it came to character judgmentC. Storm , 1993 / (immoral) This view takes into account the general view that crime is or ought t o be those actions which are considered so immoral or damaging that they should be subject to punishmentJ.D. Rogers , 1987 / Simon criticised Jesus for allowing such an immoral woman to touch himR. Cooper , 1990.
Back - New Search immovable is spelt without an e in the middle, and the usual meaning is ùnyielding, unwilli ng to change one's mind'.
Back - New Search immune is followed by to or from. When the reference is to disease or some other form o f harm or danger, to is more usual, and when from is used it is more often in th e context of legal liabilities, but these distinctions are far from clear-cut an d both constructions are found regardless of context, with to somewhat more comm on than from: (to) Each country will be concerned to maintain the invulnerability of its subma rine-based strategic missiles, which are essentially immune to attack from landbased weaponsScientific American, 1972 / A situation could arise where harmful bacteria, having become immune to disinfec tants, survive to cause illness which cannot be treated by antibioticsR. North , 1985 / They came from a variety of schools and backgrounds and it is difficult to belie ve that their pupils are more immune to racial prejudice than those mentioned ab oveD. Pimm , 1988/ (from)
Those who have a commitment to the Christian faith are not thereby immune from d epressionM. Batchelor , 1988 / The laws affecting the common land were supervised by Down Drivers, themselves n ot immune from prosecutionM. Lister , 1988 / Real diamonds have a quite distinctive, soapy texture to the surface and are imm une from water Forsyth , 1989.
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immunity, impunity. In non-medical contexts immunity means `freedom or exemption from an obligation, p enalty, or unfavourable circumstance' and like immune can be followed by to or f rom: Balder was a son of the most senior god, Odin, and one version of the legend say s he was blessed with the gift of immunity from harmH. Hauxwell , 1989 / A common question is whether people should be tested before vaccination for exis ting immunity to HBV and/or after inoculation to determine whether the vaccinati on was successfulThe Embalmer, 1993. Impunity has the more limited meaning èxempti on from punishment or from the injurious consequences of an action', is not follow ed by to or from, and is used chiefly in the phrase with impunity: In our dreams we can do with impunity things we would like to do in real life bu t cannotmake love with a Hollywood sex symbol or murder our bossJ. Grant , 1990.
Back - New Search impact. The literal meaning of the noun is `the action of one body coming forcibly into co ntact with another', and refers to physical collision. The figurative meaning `stron g effect or influence' is justifiable when there is a corresponding figurative not ion of a collision (the impact of Christianity on social justice), but it is que stionable when the meaning is no more than èffect, impression' (the impact of new p olicing methods on the crime figures). The verb, which is pronounced with the st ress on the second syllable, is older than the noun in its physical meaning (`pres s closely into or in something'). Intransitive uses began to appear in the 20c, an d in 1962 it was reported in a work called Basic Astronautics that a Soviet spac e rocket had impacted onto the Moon's surface. About the same time figurative us es began to proliferate, corresponding to the figurative meaning of the noun: The Magazine is not the place for consideration of national or international eve nts except in so far as they impact on OxfordOxford Magazine, 1956. There has bee n continued opposition to these uses, both in Britain and in America. When there is so much hostility, it is prudent to use more familiar synonyms, such as effe ct, influence, and impression for the noun and affect, influence, or have an eff ect on for the verb.
Back - New Search impassable, impassible. Impassable means `that cannot be traversed' and refers to roads, stretches of countr yside, etc. Impassible means ìncapable of feeling emotion' or ìncapable of suffering injury', and is pronounced with the second syllable as in passive rather than as in pass.
Back - New Search impasse, meaning à deadlock, or position from which progress is impossible', is pronounced m any different ways, but the recommended pronunciations are am-pahs and am-pas.
Back - New Search impeach in BrE means `to charge with a crime against the State, especially treason', and in AmE means `to charge (the holder of a public office) with misconduct'. What it does not mean is `to dismiss from office'.
Back - New Search impel has inflected forms impelled, impelling.
Back - New Search imperial, imperious. Imperial means `relating to an empire or emperor' and hence `characteristic of an empe ror, supreme in authority'. Imperious is a more judgemental word and means òverbear ing, domineering'.
Back - New Search imperialism. This word is first attested in the 19c, when it reflected the British politics o f the time and denoted what was seen as the benevolent spirit or principle of em pire. In the 20c, it came to be used disparagingly, first by the Communist bloc with reference to the US and the Western powers generally, and then conversely t o refer to the imperial system or policies of the USSR in the countries over whi
ch it held sway. Imperialism now seems to be a largely historical concept, altho ugh the word is still used in political writing of the continuing or potential i mperial policies of certain countries.
Back - New Search imperil, meaning `to put at risk, to endanger', has inflected forms imperilled, imperilling i n BrE and imperiled, imperiling in AmE.
Back - New Search impersonal verb. In current English this term is restricted to verbs used in the third person sin gular with indefinite it as subject, e.g. it is snowing, when it rains.
Back - New Search impinge, meaning `to have an effect (on)', has a present participle impingeing, with e to pre serve the soft sound of the g.
Back - New Search implement, as a verb, is a useful word used first in Scotland in the sense `to put (a treaty, agreement, etc.) into effect', a meaning it still has in general usage. In the 20 c its use has been greatly extended to cover any kind of idea, policy, proposal, suggestion, etc., as a general synonym for carry out, effect, fulfil, and other words. Although objections are sometimes raised to this use, it is well establi shed and is often a better word than any of these synonyms might at first seem t o be. It also has the advantage of a ready noun form implementation.
Back - New Search imply see INFER.
Back - New Search import. The noun is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, and the verb with
the stress on the second syllable.
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important, importantly. Both words have a special elliptical use dating from the 1930s, in which one or other stands by itself (or qualified by more, most, etc.) as a kind of sentence adverb: Perhaps more importantly, income not applied to exclusively charitable purposes is not exempt from taxationTimes, 1972 / But, more important, a linked policy can be encashedsurrenderedbefore maturity dat eDaily Telegraph, 1973 / But most important of all, we begin by giving you the training you needScientific American, 1973 / More important, Mr Deng gave China a new revolutionary vision in the decade of r eform from 1978Economist, 1991 / The reason is twofold: he has an unassuming nature, but more importantly, his ac hievements are the fruits of hobbiesNew Scientist, 1991. The use of (more etc.) i mportantly is sometimes criticized on the grounds that (more etc.) important (el liptical for what is more important) is adequate, but both words are commonly us ed in this way and importantly conforms more closely than important does to the regular type of sentence adverb.
Back - New Search impostor is the recommended spelling, not imposter.
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impracticable, impractical. These two words have related meanings to do with the impossibility of doing some thing, and correspond to the positive forms PRACTICABLE, PRACTICAL. Impractical is a relatively recent (19c) word and means the same as unpractical, i.e. `not pra ctical or realistic'; it can also be used of a person, with the meaning `lacking the ability to do practical things', and usually has a general application. Impractic
able means `not able to be carried out, not feasible', and is more usually applied t o particular cases. In practice, however, the two words are close enough in mean ing to run the frequent risk of getting in each other's way: In the end the scheme was abandoned as impracticableJ.F. Lehmann , 1960 / As his arms were full of books it would have been impracticable for him to waveJ. I.M. Stewart , 1974 / I have always been ridiculously impractical I cannot repair a fuseF. Howerd , 197 4 / Her plans were so impractical that someone like me was necessary to point this o ut Brookner , 1987.
Back - New Search impresario, meaning àn organizer of public entertainments', has the plural form impresarios.
Back - New Search imprint is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and on the second syllable as a verb.
Back - New Search improbable see PROBABLE.
Back - New Search impromptu, as a noun meaning àn extempore speech or performance' or à short piece of instrument al music', has the plural form impromptus.
Back - New Search improvable, meaning àble to be improved', is spelt without an e in the middle.
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improvise is spelt -ise, not -ize.
Back - New Search impunity see IMMUNITY.
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in. 1 Use of in instead of for with reference to past time (We have not spoken in mo re than a year) has spread from AmE to BrE. It is used in contexts that are expl icitly or implicitly negative, and as such is a revival of an older English use: To Westminster Hall, where I have not been in some months Pepys , 1669. More rece nt examples are: Mark had never been near his house in a year Mackenzie , 1924 / The first bridge across the Bosphorus in 2,300 years is now being builtDaily Tele graph, 1971.
2 In meanings to do with place, in certain contexts AmE uses on or at where BrE uses in: a store on Fifth Avenue / They are all in school now.Top
3 See also the separate entries for INASMUCH AS, IN ORDER THAT, IN SO FAR AS, IN THAT.Top
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in- and un-. 1 Both prefixes are used to make negative forms of adjectives and nouns; in- is
Latin in origin and is no longer active in making new words, whereas un- is Engl ish in origin and is a living prefix. Historically, some words have existed in b oth in- and un- forms, but one or other of them normally drops out in the end, s o that (for example) unability gave way to inability in the 18c, although unable and not inable is the corresponding adjective. Other mismatches occur with the pairs imbalance / unbalanced, uncomprehending / incomprehensible, indigestible / undigested, indisputable / undisputed, indistinguishable / undistinguished, uns eparated / inseparable, instability / unstable, and others.
2 Choice between un- and in- forms in not normally a problem for native speakers of English, with occasional exceptions such as inadvisable (= not advised) / un advisable = (of a person) not open to advice, inarguable / unarguable (both in u se), incommunicative / uncommunicative (both in use), inconsolable / unconsolabl e (the first now preferred), indecipherable / undecipherable (both in use), inhu man (= brutal, unfeeling) / unhuman (not human), insupportable (= intolerable) / unsupportable (= indefensible), and others.Top
3 Note that in- is not used to form negative forms of verbs, whereas un- is (und o, unmask, unsettle, etc.).Top
Back - New Search inapt, inept. These two words are often confused because they overlap in their basic meanings ì nappropriate, unsuitable' and ùnskilful'. Inapt tends to mean rather the first of the se, and applies only to actions and circumstances, whereas inept means rather th e second, is much more common, and applies to people as well as actions: In this respect, the oft-quoted cathedral metaphor is not inaptJ. Richards , 1988 / She believes it would be politically inept to cut such training programmes at a time when the jobless total is rising fastToday, 1992 / Nicholas was inept at all forms of promiscuity except gossipEsquire, 1992. So if you say that a person's reply is inapt and inept, you mean that it was both inap propriate and clumsily expressed.
Back - New Search inartistic see UNARTISTIC.
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inasmuch as is a rather formal and awkward expression meaning `to the extent that, in so far a s' or more simply ìn view of the fact that, since'. The preferred style is two words (as here) rather than four, since this underlines the unity of the expression. E xamples: (first meaning) Inasmuch as she could be pleased, the idea of this marriage plea sed herC. Blackwood , 1977 / These provisions apply only inasmuch as trade between Member States is affectedD. I. Bainbridge , 1993 / (second meaning) Inasmuch as Gray was Perdita's father, he was to be treated wit h a reasonable degree of respectB. Guest , 1985 / He predeceased Sir Nelson, which made my task a little easier, inasmuch as it wa s not necessary for me to carry out complicated inquiries in IndiaE.V. Thomson , 1992.
Back - New Search in back of see BACK.
Back - New Search inchoate means ùndeveloped' or `just begun' and is derived from the Latin word choare `to begin': It was obviously necessary that we should continue our still inchoate discussion over a drinkD.M. Davin , 1975 / She is not allowed to express her real, if inchoate, feelings for Robert MarlinT. Tanner , 1986. It should be distinguished from incoherent, which means `lacking l ogic or consistency', and chaotic, which means `having no order, utterly confused', bo th of which words tend to be used in similar contexts.
Back - New Search incidentally is spelt this way and not (as the pronunciation in rapid speech might suggest) i ncidently. Its usual role is as a sentence adverb marking a new stage in speech (or sometimes writing) and it does not always carry its full weight of meaning às an unconnected remark', the following matter often being a continuation of what w ent before:
The man who shot her, incidentally, is called Lord Lichfieldjust one of the names dropped thuddingly at every opportunityDaily Telegraph, 1976 / Incidentally, thanks to Tommy Hands, I nearly became a landlord myselfA.J.P. Tayl or , 1983.
Back - New Search incident, incidental adjectives. Incident has been almost entirely replaced as an adjective in the 20 c by incidental, so that a sentence such as Those in the highest station have th eir incident cares and troubles now sounds decidedly dated. This freeing of inci dent from its older role as an adjective has coincided with its greatly increase d use as a noun with the meaning à particular episode or distinct event receiving general attention', a use in which it can refer to a wide range of events from th e most important (terrorist attacks, leakages of radiation from nuclear power st ations, and so on) to the most minor or trivial (domestic arguments, demonstrati ons at meetings, traffic mishaps, etc.). In police use it has a special applicat ion reflected in the compound forms incident book, incident room, etc., in which incident is not an adjective but the noun used attributively.
Back - New Search incise, meaning `to cut into, engrave', is spelt -ise, not -ize. The noun derivative is inci sor (usually meaning a front tooth), not -er.
Back - New Search incline is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun (meaning à slope') an d with the stress on the second sylable as a verb (as in be inclined to).
Back - New Search inclose is not the correct form: see ENCLOSE.
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include, comprise.
Like comprise, include has the whole as its subject and its parts as the object. The difference is that comprise generally denotes the whole set of parts wherea s include can be selective, so that if a house comprises two living rooms, two b edrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom, there are six rooms in all, whereas if the h ouse includes these rooms there may be others as well. Include is often used to single out a particular item or subset, in which case comprise is again inapprop riate: The Serbian forces attacking Sarajevo are units of the former Federal arm y: they do not include regiments still stationed in Zagreb. See also COMPRISE.
Back - New Search including. There is evidence, both in BrE and in AmE, of including used with a prepositiona l phrase introduced by a word such as by, in, to, etc.: Copies of this notice are being distributed on a wide scale including to oversea s establishmentsradio broadcast, 1990 / We find free speech under assault throughout the United States, including on som e college campuses,International Herald Tribune, 1991 / Pensions disappeared [when my partner died] and I faced a huge tax billincluding on a half share of our house, which we owned jointlyIndependent, 1998.
Back - New Search incognito, when used as a noun meaning either à secret identity' or à person with a secret iden tity', has the plural form incognitos.
Back - New Search incommunicado, meaning `having no communication with others', is spelt with two ms.
Back - New Search incomparable, meaning `matchless, without an equal', is pronounced with the stress on the second s yllable.
Back - New Search in connection with
see CONNECTION.
Back - New Search inconsequent, inconsequential. The two words overlap considerably in meaning. Both are used to mean `not followin g naturally; lacking logical sequence', but when, for example, an argument is a di sconnected one it would normally be described as inconsequent, whereas inconsequ ential would imply that it is of no importance.
Back - New Search inconsiderateness, inconsideration. Both words mean `thoughtlessness towards others', but the phrase lack of considerati on is more common and less awkward than either.
Back - New Search inconsolable is now preferred to unconsolable. See IN- AND UN-.
Back - New Search increase is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun, and with the stre ss on the second syllable as a verb.
Back - New Search incrust see ENCRUST, which is the preferred form.
Back - New Search incubator, meaning à device for keeping a baby at a constant temperature', is spelt -or not -e r.
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incubus, meaning à male demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women' and h ence à nightmare', has the plural form incubuses.
Back - New Search inculcate means `to urge or impress (an idea, fact, etc.) on someone' and is derived from the Latin word inculcare `to stamp with the heel' (Latin calx). It has the fact or idea as its object, optionally followed by in, on, or upon: What Solzhenitsyn writes about ideological rituality, about the harmful waste of millions of people's time and efforts on this chatter that inculcates twaddle a nd hypocrisy, is indisputableTimes, 1974 / I have tried to inculcate in my pupils an attitude of intelligent lazinessGuardia n, 1989. Use with the person as object, on the analogy of indoctrinate, is also found but is not generally considered standard: They will also try to inculcate you with a spurious respect for a `culture' which no t only fails to distinguish between what is good and what is profitable [etc.]Pun ch, 1992.
Back - New Search incur, meaning `to suffer or experience', has inflected forms incurred, incurring.
Back - New Search indecipherable see IN- AND UN-.
Back - New Search indefinite article see A, AN.
Back - New Search indent is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and with the stres s on the second syllable as a verb.
Back - New Search index. In general use the plural is normally indexes, but in mathematical and scientifi c contexts it is indices.
Back - New Search Indian. In BrE an Indian is first and foremost a native or national of India. In the Ame rican context its use arose from the mistaken belief of Columbus and other voyag ers who reached the east coast of America in the 15c and 16c that they had reach ed India by a new route. Indian and Red Indian are now regarded as old-fashioned and inappropriate, and more reminiscent of stereotypical images of the Wild Wes t than of contemporary America. American Indian, or preferably Native American, should be used instead.
Back - New Search indict, meaning `to accuse formally', is pronounced in-diyt, and the same pronunciation appl ies to its derivatives indictable and indictment.
Back - New Search indigestible is spelt in-.
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indirect object. 1 In grammar, an indirect object is a person or thing named as the recipient of the direct object of a transitive (or more strictly, DITRANSITIVE) verb. In the sentences I gave my sister a book and I gave her a book, my sister and her are t he indirect objects. It will be seen that in this type the indirect object usual ly precedes the direct object. When both direct and indirect objects are pronoun s, the reverse order is sometimes found (I gave it her back).
2 An alternative to this ditransitive construction is to use a preposition (usua lly to or for) before the indirect object with the indirect object then followin g the direct object (I gave a book to my sister /I handed the book to her / I ha nded it to her).Top
3 Verbs other than those of giving can have indirect objects, e.g. Tell me the t ruth (in which me is the indirect object) / He cooks his wife a hot meal every e vening (in which his wife is the indirect object). See also DIRECT OBJECT, INTRA NSITIVE AND TRANSITIVE VERBS.Top
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indirect question. An indirect question is a question put into reported form. For example, What do they want to do? is a direct question and its indirect form is I asked them what they wanted to do. When the direct question calls for an answer `yes' or `no', the indi rect form is introduced by if or whether: (direct) Do you want to go for a walk? / (indirect) I'll ask them whether they want to go for walk. It should be noted that indirect questions follow the word order of statements and are not followe d by a question mark; it is wrong to say, for example, I asked them what did the y want to do? or Tell me how old are you?
Back - New Search indirect speech see REPORTED SPEECH.
Back - New Search indispensable is spelt -able, not -ible. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search indisputable is pronounced with the stress on the third syllable. See also IN-, UN-.
Back - New Search indissoluble, meaning ùnable to be dissolved', is pronounced with the stress on the third syllabl e.
Back - New Search indistinguishable is spelt -able, not -ible.
Back - New Search individual. When used as a noun, individual should denote a single person in contrast with a group of people or with society as a whole: the role of the individual in the c ommunity / She continues to treat them as individuals. It is less satisfactory, and can often sound quaint or affected, when used simply as a synonym for person , and in this use it is normally restricted to jocular or disparaging contexts: There was an odd individual standing by the door / Individuals arrived in their own cars.
Back - New Search indivisible, meaning ùnable to be divided', is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search indoor, indoors. The adjective is indoor (indoor games) and is a shortening of an earlier form wi thin-door. Indoors is an adverb (Let's go indoors now) and represents an earlier form within doors.
Back - New Search induction see DEDUCTION.
Back - New Search industrial action
is an established term (first recorded as recently as 1971 in the OED) denoting various kinds of industrial protest including strikes, working to rule, overtime bans, etc. The word action, paradoxical though it may seem, refers to the activ ity of protest and has a precedent in the term political action (late 19c).
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inedible, uneatable. Inedible means `not suitable for eating', whereas uneatable refers to food and means `not fit to be eaten' because of its condition rather than its nature.
Back - New Search ineffective, ineffectual. Ineffective means `not producing any effect' and normally refers to actions or proce sses. Ineffectual often refers to people, and means `lacking the ability to produc e results'. The distinctions are more fully discussed at EFFECTIVE.
Back - New Search inequity, iniquity. These two words are related in form, meaning, and derivation. Inequity is the op posite of equity and means ìnequality, unfairness, injustice': The city cannot do what is most needed: join its suburban neighbours in a region al government that evens out the huge inequities in school financing and municip al servicesEconomist, 1993. Iniquity means 'gross injustice, wickedness': It is easy for a well-fed Englishwoman like myself to shake with anger about the futility of war, to protest about the iniquity of racial prejudiceM. & L. Hoy , 1991. In some uses I suspect that iniquity has been used when inequity was meant , but it rarely happens the other way round: I suggest this iniquity be removed as soon as possibleDaily Telegraph, 1992.
Back - New Search infamous see NOTORIOUS.
Back - New Search infectious see CONTAGIOUS.
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infer, imply. 1 The only point noted by Fowler (1926) was that the inflected forms of infer ar e inferred and inferring, and this is thankfully still true (but note inferable or inferrable, with one r or two, and inference with only one r). Fowler made no comment on the meaning of infer, and it was left to Gowers (1965) to add a shor t note to the effect that `the use of infer for imply is sadly commonso common that some dictionaries give imply as one of the definitions of infer without comment'. The Concise Oxford Dictionary (1995) labels this meaning `disputed' and gives as th e primary meanings of the two words: (infer) `to deduce or conclude from facts or reasoning', (imply) `to suggest the truth or existence of (something not expressly a sserted), to insinuate or hint'. The problem lies in the fact that deduction and s uggestion can often be seen as part of the same process. It is nearly always inf er that encroaches on imply (but see paragraph 3 below for clarification of `nearl y'), and the OED puts the issue in its historical context by giving examples datin g from the 16c onwards.
2 The following examples show in three groups the correct meanings of both words and then the disputed meaning of infer: (imply correctly used) Vast stretches of abandoned concrete underfoot imply that someone once had plans for this landNew Yorker, 1986 / I wouldn't want to imply that lead is the most important factor in children's in telligenceradio broadcast, 1987 / (infer correctly used) You would have been able to infer from the room alone the nature of those who lived in itD.M. Davin , 1979 / No reference to any living person is intended or should be inferred Bellow , 1987 / (infer used for imply) I can't stand fellas who infer things about good clean-li ving Australian sheilasPrivate Eye, 1970 / These were the ones who had made a slightly sulky entrance (inferring rebellion) , and had then proceeded to sit on the floorM. Bracewell , 1989.Top
3 The only domain in which imply is used where infer might be expected is in leg al language, in which the inference and the conclusion are regarded as part of t he same process, as the following extract shows: When a possessory interest in p
roperty is conveyed, a court may imply from the circumstances that the parties a lso intended to grant or reserve an easement as well despite their failure to sa y so in the deed. Otherwise, it is infer that has broken the bounds of logic and is on the loose in the arena of idiom.Top
Back - New Search inferable see INFER (1).
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inferior is not a true comparative (like lower, for example) and is followed by to, not t han: When we are together there's no competition; neither of us feels better than or inferior to the otherJ. Dawson , 1990. When used attributively (before a noun), i t means òf poor quality' rather than `less good'. I have had to put up with inferior accommodation, lousy food and paltry pocket m oneyM.L. Hoy , 1991.
Back - New Search inferno has the plural form infernos.
Back - New Search infinite, infinitely are derived from the Latin word infinitus meaning `without limit' (Latin finis ènd'), a nd this is the proper meaning of these words in English. In practice, however, t hey tend to be used in the weaker senses `very great' and `very much'; this use is accep table in informal English but is best replaced in more formal contexts by altern atives such as extensive, vast, substantial, considerable, immense, enormous, or in some cases even simply great or huge (or their adverbial equivalents). Examp les: The infinite variety of Chinese food, with classic dishes such as Peking duck an d shark's fin soupCountry Life, 1973 /
It seems to me infinitely more absurd not to want to see the best in this line t hat civilisation has to offerChurch Times, 1976. When smallness of size or number is meant, infinitesimal and infinitesimally are preferable, when one of the sim pler words given above will not do: Brailsford judged it more harshly: à blind alley which won't bring us even infini tesimally nearer to peace.'J. Hinton , 1989 / She worked crouching down, and the infinitesimal pace of her labours made her fe el like an ant, toiling away earnestly at a microscopic taskJ. Rogers , 1990.
Back - New Search infinitive. The infinitive of a verb is its simplest uninflected form, and the form that app ears as the headword in dictionaries. When used in sentences, there are two basi c kinds of infinitive: (1) the bare infinitive, identical to the form just menti oned, which is used with auxiliary verbs such as can, may, shall, should, will, would, etc., with the so-called semi-modal verbs dare, help, and need, and after idiomatic expressions such as had better (I had better wait), (2) the to-infinitive, in which the base form is preceded by the particle to, wh ich is used with verbs such as expect, have, hope, want, etc., in expressions of purpose (To call attention, ring the bell), in idiomatic expressions such as to be honest, to put it mildly, so to speak, etc., and to form noun phrases which can be the subjects of other verbs (To err is human)
. When a second infinitive follows a to-infinitive, this is often expressed as a bare infinitive without another to: I want to go to the library and get a book.
Back - New Search inflammable, inflammatory. Inflammable has the same meaning, i.e. èasily set on fire', as flammable, which is now preferred in official advisory contexts: see FLAMMABLE. Inflammatory means `te nding to cause inflammation (of the body)' and figuratively (especially in the con text of speeches, leaflets, etc.) `tending to cause anger'.
Back - New Search inflatable, which since the 1950s has been used as a noun as well as an adjective, is spelt without an e in the middle.
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inflection. 1 Inflection is the process by which words change their form by the addition of suffixes or other means in accordance with their grammatical role. Inflection of nouns usually involves the addition of -s or -es to form plurals (book / books, church / churches); of verbs, the addition of -s or -es, -ed, and -ing to form third-person present-tense forms (want / wants), past tenses (wanted), past part iciples (wanted), and present participles (wanting); and of adjectives, to form comparative and superlative forms, the addition of -er and -est, sometimes with modification of the stem as in happier, happiest.
2 In the context of phonetics, inflection means `modulation (i.e. adjusting the to ne or pitch) of the voice'.Top
3 The alternative spelling inflexion applies to both meanings, but it is conside red old-fashioned and Oxford style prefers inflection.Top
Back - New Search inflexible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
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inflict, afflict. Both words are concerned with the suffering of unpleasant circumstances, but the y have different constructions. Inflict has the unpleasantness as object, and af flict the victim: It was he who had inflicted an appendectomy of doubtful necessity on Harry forty -two years agoR. Goddard , 1990 / And finally there are abstract fears which afflict a great manythe `might be' fearsWom an, 1991. Afflict is often used in the passive, followed by with or by: Most commanders would have been afflicted with convenient deafness at that momen t, but Davout rounded on the speaker at onceR. Butters , 1991 /
The obvious fact that people of comfortable circumstance live peacefully togethe r and those afflicted by poverty do not goes largely unnoticedNew Statesman, 1992 .
Back - New Search inform is a formal equivalent of tell and is generally limited to official contexts. It is followed by of or a that-clause (The police informed them of their rights / An announcement informed us that the train was about to arrive), but (unlike tel l) does not have the instructional meaning followed by to (Please inform them to wait outside).
Back - New Search informant, informer. An informant is a neutral term for someone who gives information, especially abo ut language, culture, etc. to a linguist or anthropologist. An informer is someo ne who gives information against another person to the authorities, and it has s inister or unfavourable overtones.
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infotainment, first recorded in the US in the 1980s, means `broadcast material that seeks to inf orm and entertain'. It belongs to a group of media-related portmanteau words of th e late 20c: see also DOCUDRAMA.
Back - New Search infringe, meaning `to violate (a rule or law)', has inflected forms infringed, infringing. In current use it is used both transitively (with an object, e.g. The players were penalized for infringing the off-side rule) and intransitively followed by on or upon, with the more general meaning èncroach on, threaten': The measure threatens to infringe upon and restrict our right to travel in certain countries.
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infuse. When using the word in its physical meaning, you can infuse (a plant, herb, etc. ) in a liquid in order to extract its properties, or (by a linguistic process th at Fowler called òbject-shuffling') you can infuse (a liquid) by inserting somethin g in it. The figurative meanings of infuse behave in corresponding ways: you can infuse (a quality or attribute) into a person or thing or you can infuse (a per son or thing) with a quality or attribute. Examples: Joanna Trollope's latest delicious novel focuses on two men, lifelong friends of sixtysomething, whose younger women infuse them both with seemingly eternal vig ourShe, 1989 / He did his best to infuse good humour into his voiceH. Forrester , 1990. Imbue co uld be used in the second construction with the same meaning: A girl imbued with such qualities would be very special and extremely dangerousR. Hamilton , 1993.
Back - New Search -ing forms. The suffix -ing is added to verbs to form VERBAL NOUNS (Smoking damages your hea lth) and PARTICIPLES (The house had a smoking chimney).
Back - New Search ingenious, ingenuous. These two words are distantly related and both have undergone a major shift in m eaning. Ingenious came into English via French from a Latin source derived from ingenium `cleverness'; it originally meant ìntellectual, talented', but the meaning gra dually weakened and its current sense is less complimentary and even depreciator y, `(of a person) clever, showing aptitude for devising curious devices' and `(of a de vice or machine) cleverly contrived': There were the ingenious hand-made toys, the shadow-puppets manipulated on stick sH. Trevelyan , 1971 / I see that some ingenious person has videotaped my television series Aldiss , 198 0. Ingenuous, by contrast, is derived from Latin ingenuus `freeborn' and originally meant `befitting a free man, noble in character', eventually weakening in sense to m ean òpen, frank, candid': She smiled ingenuously and the openness of her face seemed to ease his bad tempe r a littleS. Wood , 1993 / Mr Getty arrived half an hour late with the ingenuous excuse that he had miscalc ulated how long it would take him to walk from the Ritz to Boodles Club in St Ja mes's StreetArt Newspaper, 1992. The noun ingenuity was originally a derivative o f ingenuous but was usurped by ingenious in the 16c, so that in current use inge nuity corresponds to ingenious, and ingenuousness corresponds to ingenuous. See
also DISINGENUOUS.
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ingnue, meaning àn innocent or unsophisticated young woman', is first recorded in English i n Thackeray's Vanity Fair (1848). It is still usually printed in italics (someti mes without the accent) and pronounced in a French manner.
Back - New Search ingrained is the normal spelling for the word meaning `deeply rooted, inveterate' or (in physi cal senses) `deeply embedded'.
Back - New Search ingratiate, a 17c Latinate loanword, is now normally used reflexively (with oneself etc.) in the meaning `to render oneself agreeable to someone, to bring oneself into favour with someone': The child glared at me so fiercely that I tried to ingratiate myself by asking w ho was her favourite composerM. Dibdin , 1991. The non-reflexive use is not stand ard: He was going to pretend that his limp was cured, and that would ingratiate him w ith Matta, help him set his trapR. Campbell , 1993. (A better alternative in this example would be commend him to.) Ingratiate occurs frequently in the adjectiva l form ingratiating: He was a typical British Council smoothie, with a fatuous grin and an ingratiati ng manner Kirkup , 1991.
Back - New Search inherent is pronounced with the second syllable as in either heron or here, with a prefer ence for the first of these.
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inheritor, meaning à person who inherits', is spelt -or, not -er. It can be used of both a man and a woman.
Back - New Search inhuman, inhumane. The difference in meaning between these two words corresponds to that between hu man and humane (see HUMAN, HUMANE). Inhuman means `lacking the qualities proper to human behaviour; cruel, brutal', whereas inhumane denotes a lack of feeling or co mpassion as it affects treatment of other people. Both words can be used of peop le, actions, or attitudes. Examples: (inhuman) The West German branch of Amnesty International called for an investig ation into inhuman torture of political prisonersAthens News, 1973 / Claudia could see that locking up a Masai for a crime he did not understand was cruel and inhumanJ. Cartwright , 1993 / (inhumane) They have, after all, been traditionally concerned with restricting t he use of weapons which are considered indiscriminate or inhumaneJ. Dewar , 1986 / He was by no means an inhumane individual; he was a loving father, he was faithf ul to his wife for many years and to his mistress until deathE. Acton , 1992.
Back - New Search initial, as a verb meaning `to mark or sign with one's initials', has inflected forms initial led, initialling in BrE and initialed, initialing in AmE.
Back - New Search initialisms see ABBREVIATIONS (3).
Back - New Search initiate, meaning `to instruct (a person) in some piece of knowledge', has the person as objec t and not the item of knowledge. You can initiate someone in something but you c annot initiate something into someone. The correct word for the second construct ion is instil.
Back - New Search -in-law is added to the name of a relation to denote relationship by marriage (mother-in -law, son-in-law, etc.). Plurals are formed by adding -s to the main element, e. g. mothers-in-law. In-laws is used colloquially to refer to such relations gener ally; it is only idiomatic in the plural.
Back - New Search innings. In cricket, innings is both singular (the first innings) and plural (the best of his three innings). In AmE, the word used in baseball has a singular form innin g and a plural form innings.
Back - New Search innuendo, meaning àn indirectly disparaging hint or remark', has the plural form innuendoes. The word is derived from a Latin gerund (verbal noun) meaning `by nodding at', i.e. `b y pointing to, by meaning'. In English it was originally used in legal contexts to introduce an explanatory aside or comment, rather like i.e., meaning `that is to say'; then it came to be used as a noun denoting the aside itself, from which the current meaning developed.
Back - New Search innumerate see ILLITERATE.
Back - New Search inoculate, meaning `to inject with a vaccine', is spelt with one n. See also VACCINATE.
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in order for.
This allows a looser construction than IN ORDER THAT and avoids attendant proble ms with the mood and type of the following verb: In order for this to work, the change from symmetry to broken symmetry must have taken place very slowly inside the bubble Hawking , 1988. This construction shou ld be distinguished from the expression in order meaning àcceptable, allowable as a procedure', which can be followed by for: Is it in order for us to ring up your father and ask him to dine? Marsh , 1977.
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in order that. 1 Historically, in order that has been rather more restricted in terms of the gr ammatical construction that follows than has the rather less formal alternative so that. Fowler , writing in 1926, regarded use of the subjunctive (in order tha t nothing be forgotten) as archaic, use of the modal verbs may and might as the regular construction (in order that nothing might be forgotten), the use of shal l and should as permissible in some contexts (in order that nothing should be fo rgotten), and the use of can, could, will, and would as ùndoubtedly wrong' (in orde r that nothing can be forgotten / in order that nothing would be forgotten / etc .). It is doubtful whether Fowler was correct in terms of usage even in his own day. Today, with electronic language data available to check our intuitions abou t language, the facts are (1) that the subjunctive is increasingly used and is t herefore by no means archaic, and (2) the modal verbs, including can and could, shall and should (though rarely will and would), as well as may and might, are f reely used when the context calls for them, although the could, should, and woul d forms are more common in each pair, and (3) that in order to avoid these probl ems many people are resorting to the alternative in order for to (see 4 below).
2 Examples of usage over the last sixty years or so will put the grammatical ran ge in perspective: (may, might) Stabilisation of wages is an urgent necessity in order that the ind ustry might enjoy continued peaceWorld's Paper Trade Review, 1922 / A suitable block-and-tackle is essential in order that the boat may be hauled fa r enough up the shore to be safe from `rafting' iceDiscovery, 1935 / The cutting of benefits to mothers who do not give the names of their children's father in order that they may be made financially accountableRouge, 1990 / He always insisted upon a certain reserve in order that the artist might give `ful l measure' on the stageDancing Times, 1990. (can, could) The motor should be wound up fully for each record played, in order that the tur ntable can rotate at its normal and even speedP.A. Scholes , 1921 /
The Telematics Programme looks at users' needs and requirements in order that en tire networks can talk to each other ready for 1992Practical Computing, 1990 / In order that the oligomer could be deprotected easily, `PAC amidities' were used in the synthesisNucleic Acids Research, 1990. (shall, should) What factor must be present in order that the implicate should be dependent in b eing on the implicansD.J.B. Hawkins , 1937 / In order that he shall be said to make a moral judgement, his attitude must be ùn iversalisable'A.E. Duncan-Jones , 1952. (do) I can only hope that such methodology will be adopted by teachers new to media w ork in order that learning about the media does not become a bookcover here and a story-board there with little attempt at a coherent conceptual contextTimes Edu cational Supplement, 1990. (subjunctive) It is necessary to overcome this stability in order that a chemical reaction tak e placeChemical Reviews, 1952 / In order that he be regularly scared by Authority, he should present himself eve ry six months to the Service's Legal AdviserJ. Le Carr , 1989.Top
3 Use of the subjunctive is often awkward in negative constructions because the modal verb do is not available, but negative examples are found: Paulin vacillates in his claims in order that he not have to meet the responsibi lities of arguing any of them outLondon Review of Books, 1990. This use is regula r in AmE.Top
4 When the subject of the purpose clause is the same as that of the main clause, the alternative and simpler expression in order to is available (see IN ORDER T O). When it is not the same (as in most of the examples given above), the looser construction in order for to has become much more common (see IN ORDER FOR).Top
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In order to. This expression of purpose, which is in origin a complex preposition, has been i n use since the 16c. In current use it is formed with a to-infinitive to mean `wit
h the purpose of (doing), with a view to': Rozanov had taken a sharp right-hand turn in order to avoid going along the road Murdoch , 1983 / The SDP wants to reform the unions in order to bring them back inTimes, 1986. Use of the simpler preposition to instead of in order to is often preferred when th e rhythm and emphasis of the sentence allow it, and this is sometimes less forma l in effect: The path takes an unscheduled turn to miss a big treeC.K. Stead , 1986 / We both came here to get other people out of trouble Brookner , 1986. The presenc e of a different kind of to-infinitive in the vicinity (as in the 1986 Times exa mple) may sometimes be a factor in preferring the longer form in order to.
Back - New Search input, now pronounced with the stress on the first syllable both as a noun and as a ver b, has defied the linguistic obsolescence that might have been apparent to the O ED editors and assumed a new life in the domains of statistics, psychology, elec tronics, and (especially, since the late 1940s) computing. In all these, the ess ential meaning is (for the noun) ìnformation or data put into a system' and (for th e verb) `to enter (information or data) in a system'. The past and past participle f orms of the verb are either input or inputted, and the present participle is inp utting.
Back - New Search inquire, inquiry see ENQUIRE.
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insanitary, unsanitary. Insanitary is more usual word in BrE and means `not sanitary' in the sense `dirty, unh ealthy'; both forms are used in this meaning in AmE. Fowler (1926) proposed a more neutral meaning for unsanitary, i.e. `lacking and not needing provision for sanit ation' without implications for health.
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meaning ìn less than (a period of time)' as in It'll be finished inside of three da ys, is a colloquial expression first recorded in AmE in the 1830s. It has made i ts way into other varieties of English, and is now heard informally in BrE, thou gh its Americanness is still apparent. A related though now dated expression fou nd in BrE is for the inside of, which has the somewhat different meaning `for the most part of': At first Isabel had only meant to stay away for the inside of a weekL.P. Hartley , 1955.
Back - New Search insidious, invidious. Since both words involve doing or threatening harm, their closeness of form caus es them to be commonly confused. Insidious (from Latin insidiae àmbush') means `proce eding inconspicuously but harmfully' (An insidious form of sexism pervades most biographies of famous women, a tenden cy to treat women's work as peripheral to their livesMs, 1973), whereas invidious (from Latin invidia ènvy') means `likely to excite resentment or indignation' (I hope it is not invidious to single out here the museums for mentionOxford Univ ersity Gazette, 1984). So insidious has more to do with the process and invidiou s more to do with its effect.
Back - New Search insightful, meaning `showing insight or understanding', is first recorded in a work by John Gals worthy in 1907. Since then it has become an omnipresent word of catch-all praise in many kinds of writing in which the writer, one may suppose, has no precise i dea of the compliment he or she is paying: She created a film which was memorable, intriguing and moving, a warm and insigh tful reconstruction of a vanished ageListener, 1982 / It was a wonderful insightful exhibitionModern Painters, 1988. The problem with t his overused word is that it depends so heavily on insight, which fails to suppo rt it with any corresponding force of meaning.
Back - New Search insignia, meaning `badges or distinguishing marks of office', is in origin a plural of Latin i nsigne, although this form is rarely used in English. Insignia may be used eithe r as a plural noun or as a singular (mass) noun, e.g. either Their insignia were worn on their coats or Their insignia was worn on their coats. It should not be used as a countable noun, i.e. preceded by an or used in the plural: They wore an insignia on their coats / They wore insignias on their coats.
Back - New Search insist takes several constructions in current English in the meaning `to assert as a dema nd': you can insist on something (or on doing something), you can insist that some thing be done (subjunctive, with that optionally omitted, or with should as an a lternative), or you can simply insist (with no complement). Examples: Tony insisted that she accompany him to a meeting of the Literary SocietyA.S. Bya tt , 1985 / And I, maliciously, insisted he take the most comfortable chair Lively , 1987 / Henry had not wanted to bring Louisa on the expedition but she had cried to go, and the adults insisted that she not be left behindL. Clarke , 1989 / The family received me very warmly and Signora Ugolotti insisted that I should h ave something to eatW. Newby , 1991. When insist means àssert as a fact or truth', i t is followed by a that-clause with an ordinary indicative (i.e. not subjunctive ) verb: The girls insist that it is their fundamental right to wear their scarves at all timesGuardian, 1989.
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in so far as, meaning `to the extent that', should be written as four words, although it is also f ound in the form insofar as and occasionally in-so-far as; but in all forms the as is detached: Enforcement, insofar as salaries are concerned, is costing nothingTimes, 1969 / The exercise of reviewing his life was proving monstrous in so far as it reveale d the places in which it had gone irredeemably wrong Brookner , 1988. It is a rat her formal phrase, and can often be replaced by as far as or recast with little loss of meaning in a simpler construction with since or because (as in the 1988 example just given).
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insoluble, unsolvable.
Insoluble relates to the meanings of dissolve as well as solve, and therefore re fers to difficulties, questions, and problems that cannot be answered as well as to substances that cannot be absorbed in liquid. Unsolvable is more limited in range, corresponding only to the first of these meanings.
Back - New Search inspector is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search install is spelt with two ls and has inflected forms installed, installing. The noun is instalment in BrE and installment in AmE.
Back - New Search instantly, instantaneously. Instantly means ìmmediately' and refers to the point at which something happens, wh ereas instantaneously means ìn an instant' and refers to the (imperceptibly short) period of time that something takes: He pressed the override switch and the computer came instantly to lifeA. Haig , 1 974 / Her throat had been slashed viciously, and she must have died almost instantaneo uslyR. Long , 1990. The result can often be the same, but the difference of empha sis is worth bearing in mind.
Back - New Search instigate properly means `to bring about by excitement or persuasion, to foment or provoke', a nd usually refers to an antisocial or discreditable action: a radical association that instigated campus riots that succeeded in closing dow n a number of universities over a period of months in 1969New Yorker, 1975 Becaus e of its similarity of form to institute, it is sometimes wrongly used in the ne utral meaning `to start, set up': Departments should ensure that all staff are made aware of their obligations und er the legislations, and instigate appropriate actions to ensure complianceUK Tre asury circular, 1991. With so many synonyms available, instigate is best restric ted to its traditional role.
Back - New Search instil is spelt with one l in BrE and as instill in AmE. The inflected forms are instil led, instilling in both varieties. The nonphysical meaning is `to introduce (a fee ling, idea, etc.) into a person's mind': They believed, quite wrongly, that to instil a sense of guilt into me would ulti mately be for my goodR. Hitchcock , 1989. It should not be used with the person a s object, tempting though this sometimes is in passive use: During the war my mother and brother and I went to Norfolk, and there I was inst illed with a love of the countrysideSunday Express, 1986. In this construction, t he alternatives imbue, infuse, and inspire are available. See INFUSE.
Back - New Search instinct see INTUITION.
Back - New Search instinctive, instinctual. The normal adjective from instinct in everyday use is instinctive, which can ref er to people and animals or to their behaviour and actions. Instinctual is used mainly in technical contexts such as psychology and psycholinguistics, and is mo delled on other forms such as conceptual and habitual, which seem to afford it a n extra authority not shared by the more generalized word instinctive.
Back - New Search institute, institution. Both words are used with reference to organizations and societies set up to purs ue some specific literary, scientific, legal, or social purpose, and choice usua lly depends on the form already used for a particular name. The earliest institu te mentioned in the OED is the Mechanics' Institute (established in 1823), and t he earliest institution is the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution (founded in 1798). Famous recent examples include the Women's Institute (first established i n Canada in 1897 and then extended to other countries in the early 20c) and the British Standards Institution (the UK national body on standards, established in the 20c). In the generalized meaning `something established by law or custom', as a pplied for example in the UK to the monarchy, the Grand National, the last night of the Proms, etc., (though no longer to capital punishment and the Workhouse, which featured in Fowler's 1926 list), institution is the only word used.
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instructor is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search insubstantial has ousted unsubstantial for the word meaning `lacking substance or solidity'.
Back - New Search insufficient is a useful word because enough has no corresponding negative form, but not enou gh is often more natural and usually less formal-sounding. Another alternative i n some contexts is inadequate, which can refer to quantity as well as quality.
Back - New Search insupportable, unsupportable see IN- AND UN-.
Back - New Search insurance see ASSURE, ASSURANCE.
Back - New Search insure see ASSURE, ENSURE.
Back - New Search intaglio, an originally Italian word meaning àn engraved design or gem', is pronounced in-tah -li-oh or in-tal-yoh and has the plural form intaglios.
Back - New Search integral
is both a noun (used in mathematics) and an adjective (meaning `forming a whole' or `n ecessary to the completeness of a whole'). As a noun it is pronounced with the str ess on the first syllable; as an adjective it may be pronounced with the stress on the first or the second syllable, although the first is often preferred.
Back - New Search integrate essentially means `to make whole' and is widely used of bringing separate or dispara te elements together to form a unity. Since the late 1940s it has been used to r efer to the social absorption of distinct groups, especially ethnically or cultu rally different peoples or disadvantaged elements. In this meaning it is used bo th transitively (with an object) and (less often) intransitively: Those children who came knowing some English integrated wellNew Statesman, 1966 / Old people, sick people and isolated people need access to a telephone if they a re to be fully integrated with the rest of societyNature, 1972 / From these beginnings developed the startling and revolutionary notion that in r esidential areas traffic and people should not be segregated but instead should be integratedR. Rolley , 1990. The noun integration has developed a corresponding meaning, and those who favour it are known as integrationists: In the work of black authors who are integrationists a tacitly separatist or eth nically independent element appears frequently Scholar , 1971.
Back - New Search intelligent, intellectual. As adjectives, these words both refer to the capacity of people to think. A pers on is intelligent who has quick understanding and an ability to apply thought pr ocesses effectively. (It is sometimes contrasted with clever, which is more conc erned with the manipulation of thought for its own sake than with its useful app lication.) A person is intellectual (or an intellectual, for it is also a noun) who thinks and acts predominantly to serve the pursuit of knowledge and the appr eciation of fine things in literature and the arts, and is less concerned with t he mundane and material aspects of life. However, the notion of the intellectual unable to slice bread or drive a car has to be regarded as a somewhat dated (or never valid) stereotype.
Back - New Search intelligentsia is a singular noun meaning `the class of intellectuals regarded as possessing cult ure and political initiative'. The form of the word is Russian, and it was origina lly applied disparagingly in pre-revolutionary Russia. In a weakened sense, it a lso means `people doing intellectual work'.
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intend. 1 Intend is followed in standard usage by a to-infinitive (We intend to go / We intended you to go), by a verbal noun (We intend going), or by a that-clause (We intended that you should go). In the passive, it is followed by for in the mean ing `be meant or designed for' (These are intended for children). Non-standard const ructions include the type He didn't intend for Wales to lose, which should be ex pressed as He didn't intend that Wales should lose, and the informal AmE type Do n't pick up a magazine unless you intend on buying it, which should be expressed as Don't pick up a magazine unless you intend buying [or intend to buy] it.
2 The participial form intended, meaning `the person one intends to marry', now soun ds a dated and precious genteelism. It may be too late for a natural word to eme rge (fianc(e) is an overt loanword, lover is too explicit and may not always be a ppropriate, and friend is a patent evasion) now that social attitudes have broad ened the terminological base well beyond the conventions of marriage.Top
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intense, intensive. In the broad meaning èxisting in a high degree, extreme' as applied to feelings and qualities, intense is the word to use. (It also applies to people, in the sense àpt to feel strong emotion'.) Intensive, which used to share aspects of the non-pe rsonal meaning of intense, is now reserved for the special meaning `directed to a single point or objective, thorough, vigorous': The country has suffered from intensive over-planningTimes, 1977. Special applica tions include the terms intensive care (of medical treatment, in this form from the 1960s) and labour-intensive (`needing a large workforce', 1950s).
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intensifier
in grammar is a class of adverbs that amplify or add emphasis to a gradable adje ctive (i.e. an adjective with a meaning capable of a range of force), such as ex tremely, greatly, highly, and very. Some adjectives are also classed as intensif iers, for example complete as in a complete fool, single as in not a single word , sure as in a sure sign, and whole as in a whole month.
Back - New Search intensive see INTENSE. It is also an older term for INTENSIFIER.
Back - New Search intention is followed either by of + verbal noun or by a to-infinitive, the first of these being somewhat more common and the second influenced by the verb intend: I have no intentionno present intentionof standing for Parliament Macmillan , 1979 / He went to Cambridge to read Natural Science, with the intention of becoming a g eologistH. Carpenter , 1981 / He has given notice of his intention to turn up this evening Amis , 1980 / It was probably all the worry over his unfeeling attitude, his intention to evic t her, that had rekindled the dream in the first placeA. Murray , 1993.
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inter, intern. Inter (with the stress on the second syllable) means `to bury (a corpse)' and has in flected forms interred, interring. Intern means `to arrest and confine (an alien) in time of war'. See also INTERMENT, INTERNMENT.
Back - New Search inter-, intra-. Inter- is a combining form meaning `between, among' (intercity / interlinear) or `mutu ally, reciprocally' (interbreed / intermix), whereas intra- forms adjectives and m eans òn the inside, within' (intramural / intravenous).
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inter alia is Latin for àmong other things'. Since alia is neuter plural it does not normally refer to people. The Latin equivalent would be inter alios, but this is never us ed. The English alternative among others does not have this restriction and is p referable in general use.
Back - New Search interceptor, meaning à person or thing (especially an aircraft) that intercepts', is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search interchange is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and with the stres s on the third syllable as a verb.
Back - New Search interchangeable is spelt with an e in the middle to preserve the soft sound of the g.
Back - New Search intercourse. The use of this word as short for sexual intercourse (first recorded in 1798 but not common before the 20c) has made it difficult to use it in its general meani ng `communication or dealings between individuals, nations, etc.', and a sentence su ch as the following from Elphinstone's History of India (1841) might now be subj ect to misunderstanding: The intercourse between those princes was highly charac teristic of Asiatic despots. Even the phrase social intercourse, unambiguous tho ugh it is in print, can cause uncertainty when heard in the run of ordinary conv ersation.
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interdependence, interdependency. Both forms are in use with no difference in meaning, but interdependence is more common.
Back - New Search interest is now normally pronounced in-trist or in-trest, with the first e unpronounced. The same applies to the derivative words interested, interesting, etc.
Back - New Search interestingly is recorded as a SENTENCE ADVERB from the 1960s, and is now common: Interestingly, what exercises Lord Chalfont is not the existence of nuclear weap ons, an existence which, he says, cannot be repealed Amis , 1987.
Back - New Search interface. The use of this word was transformed between the publication of the original OED entry in 1901 and that of the updated entry in OED2 in 1989. To the earlier edi tors it meant simply à surface lying between two portions of matter or space, and forming their common boundary'. In the 1960s, two disciplines adopted it for thei r own special use and effectively rivalled each other in their efforts to propel it into vogue use: the computer industry and that special branch of sociology k nown as communications theory, represented especially by the Canadian critic and theorist Marshall MacLuhan (The Gutenberg Galaxy, 1962). Now, an interface was, on the one hand, àn apparatus designed to connect two scientific instruments, de vices, etc., so that they can be operated jointly' and, on the other, à point where interaction occurs between two systems, processes, subjects, etc'. Its vogue stat us was assured when it was applied ever more widely to the relations between bus iness development and marketing systems, lecturers and students, unions and mana gement, and other areas of public life: The issue of insanity as a defense in criminal cases is at the interface of medi cine, law and ethicsScientific American, 1972. McLuhan was also responsible for t he first use of interface as a verb, meaning `to come into interaction with', first recorded in 1967, and a corresponding use in computing soon followed. There are signs that the onslaught from this word has abated somewhat in the 1990s, leavin g it to be used more effectively in technical domains. This is fortunate, when m ore familiar (and usually more precise) alternatives, such as (for the noun) bou ndary, contact, link, liaison, meeting point, interaction, and (for the verb) co mmunicate, have contact with, interact, are readily available to cater for the g eneral meanings.
Back - New Search interior, internal. The differences in meaning and usage between these two words correspond to those between exterior and external (see EXTERIOR, EXTERNAL.). Interior is a noun as well as an adjective and refers in physical senses to the inside of things in co ntrast to the outside, whereas internal is primarily an adjective and is also ap plied in abstract or figurative meanings: The courageous, determined and almost unique efforts of former Police Commission er C.S. to root out internal graft backfiredHongkong Standard, 1977 / Politicisation of religion means the internal transformation of the faith itselfL istener, 1978. With reference to the body, internal injuries are those sustained by the inside organs, and medicine for internal use is meant to be swallowed. T he word is also used occasionally as a noun in the plural to mean ìntrinsic quali ties' and in various technical applications.
Back - New Search interlocutor, meaning à person who takes part in a dialogue or conversation', is spelt -or, not er, and is pronounced with the stress on the third syllable.
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interment, internment. Interment means `the burial of a corpse', whereas internment means `the confinement of aliens in time of war'. See also INTER, INTERN.
Back - New Search intermezzo, as used in the contexts of music and drama, has the plural form intermezzos.
Back - New Search intermission, meaning àn interval between parts of a play, film, etc.', is American in origin but is now as widely used in BrE as the traditional word interval.
Back - New Search intermittent, meaning òccurring at intervals', is spelt -ent.
Back - New Search in terms of.
When John Major emerged as a possible candidate to lead the Conservative party, one was struck by his engaging artlessness in terms of classDaily Telegraph, 1991 . The Oxford philosopher Michael Dummett (1993) awarded this complex preposition the distinction of being `the lowest point so far in the present degradation of t he English language', when used as an all-purpose connector as in the example just given. Extreme though this opinion may be, the use it condemns is a far departu re from the original (18c) use of the phrase as an expression of a precise mathe matical relation. In its now predominant generalized use, in terms of should sta te a particular specifying relation: The impact of Ibsen did much to revitalize the degenerate English theatre and fo rce it to think in terms of living ideas and contemporary realitiesJ. Mulgan & D. M. Davin , 1947 / Justifying space in terms of material wealth is as ridiculous as saying that man went to the Moon merely to be able to return with velcro zips and non-stick fry ing-pansNew Scientist, 1991. When the meaning intended is as vague as ìn relation to', `concerning', or even òf'(as in the example given at the beginning), these expressio ns are preferable.
Back - New Search intern is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable as a verb (see INTER) and w ith the stress on the first syllable as a noun (also spelt interne, meaning à rec ent graduate in medicine' or à person working as an apprentice in one of the profes sions', principally American use).
Back - New Search international community. This expression has found favour in recent years with politicians and journalist s, and one can see why. It is a convenient catch-all phrase invoked when interna tional support for a policy or action is needed (or, more often, assumed), much as `public opinion' is invoked in domestic politics. In neither case is any specific attribution or verification possible; yet both empty phrases sound impressive. The earliest evidence in the OED dates from the late 1950s and shows the express ion to have originated in legal language:
Could the papacy be property regarded as a member of the international community of the law of nations?R.A. Graham , 1959. Recent examples: Pretoria sees the Eminent Persons Group as a useful channel of communication wit h the ANC and the international communityFinancial Times, 1986 / The way in which Saddam Hussein still behaves is unacceptable to us, to the Unit ed Nations and to the international community, and we shall continue to keep pre ssure on him Hansard , 1992.
Back - New Search internecine. Dr Johnson had a hand in changing the use of this word, which its Latin origin s hows to mean `characterized by great slaughter'. He mistakenly understood the prefix inter- to denote reciprocal or mutual action and defined internecine as èndeavou ring mutual destruction', thereby setting the word on the way to its primary curre nt meaning. Despite the objections of the more fervent purists, who invoke the w ord's pre-Johnsonian credentials, it is used in its later meaning with reference to physical war and killing and has developed an extended or trivialized meanin g applied to the battles of the boardroom and other areas of business and public life: The electorate finally gagged on their traditional roughage of internecine strif eTimes, 1974 / He was on edge, engaged in flaming rows, head-blasting music mayhem and internec ine squabbling with his garage band compadres Crazy HorseNew Musical Express, 199 1.
Back - New Search Internet has a capital I.
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internment see INTERMENT.
Back - New Search interpersonal,
once the preserve of psychologists, has crept into the language of the curriculu m vitae, in which no applicant's credentials are adequate without an endorsement of his or her interpersonal skills, i.e. the ability to deal effectively with o ther people. It is also widely used by sociologists to refer to the ways in whic h people treat each other in everyday life: The social workers in their study appeared to be more aware than the psychiatris ts of the relevance of interpersonal and family problemsK. Hawton , 1990.
Back - New Search interpretative, interpretive. The preferred form for this word meaning `serving to interpret or explain' is interp retative, on the analogy of authoritative, qualitative, and quantitative: You may be wondering why I am rabbiting on about interpretative processes when t he theme of this article is how to build a bracket clockPractical Woodworking, 19 90. However, interpretive is also found, perhaps reinforced by the tendency to a rticulate both words in this way in rapid speech: Chinese culture has undergone major interpretive phases in recent decades Ddalus , 1991.
Back - New Search interregnum, meaning àn interval when normal government is suspended', has the plural form inter regnums.
Back - New Search intestinal, meaning `relating to the intestines', is pronounced with the stress on the second sy llable (in-tes-ti-nl, preferably) or on the third syllable (in-tes-tiy-nl, incre asingly in BrE).
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in that, which is difficult to analyse grammatically, is effectively a conjunction, but i t is not easy to find in dictionaries. Shakespeare used it: Let him die, in that he is a Fox2 Henry VI III.i.257. Fowler (1926) regarded it a
s obsolescent (becoming obsolete) and warned against the misuse that idiomatic e xpressions are liable to on their way out of the language. But Fowler's judgemen t was at fault, and the examples he gave were not typical of usage, and so he wa s tilting at windmills. The expression still has a place at the core of everyday usage and means rather more than is conveyed by because: They work like disks in that they can be partially erasedManagement Computing, 19 90 / The vessels are unusual in that they have no engine roomShips Monthly, 1991.
Back - New Search in the circumstances see CIRCUMSTANCE.
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into, in to. 1 Into is written as one word when the meaning is unified in expressing motion t owards or to within a destination (He walked into a tree / She put her hand into his). However, when in and to retain their separate roles, it is important to w rite them as separate words, usually when to is not connected with in but is par t of a following to-infinitive or refers forward to a noun or phrase: People dro pped in to see them / He accompanied her in to dinner / They were listening in t o our conversation.
2 The recent (1960s) use of into meaning ìnvolved in or knowledgeable about' (usual ly as a transitory interest), is informal only: First I was into Zen, then I was into peace, then I was into love, then I was in to freedom, then I was into religion. Now I'm into moneyNew Yorker, 1971.Top
Back - New Search intra-. see INTER.
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intransitive and transitive verbs. A verb is transitive when it `takes an object', i.e. it has a following word or phra se which the action of the verb affects (They lit a fire), and is intransitive w hen it does not take an object (We arrived at noon). Some verbs are always or pr edominantly transitive (assurre, bury, deny, put); others are always or predomin antly intransitive (especially verbs of motion such as arrive, come, go, etc.); and others are sometimes transitive and sometimes intransitive (for example, mov e is transitive in the sentence Go and move the car and intransitive in the sent ence The car moved down the road, and cook is respectively intransitive and tran sitive in the sentences I like to cook and I'm going to cook the breakfast). Som e verbs appear to have two objects, which in traditional grammar are called dire ct and indirect: in the sentence They gave her an apple, apple is the direct obj ect (= what they gave) and her is the indirect object (= the person who got the apple). See also DIRECT OBJECT, DITRANSITIVE, INDIRECT OBJECT.
Back - New Search intransitive past participles. Most past participles are of transitive verbs and, when used as adjectives, deno te an action performed on the noun or phrase they qualify; for example, the phra se a polished table denotes the state of the table as having been polished. Howe ver, some verbs that are intransitive nonetheless form past participles which ar e used as adjectives, as in an escaped prisoner (= a prisoner who has escaped), a failed writer (= a writer who has failed), fallen leaves (= leaves that have f allen), and a grown man (= a man who has grown up, not a man who has been grown) . In these cases the nouns or phrases they qualify are the subjects rather than the objects of the corresponding verbs. See PARTICIPLES.
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intrigueverb. 1 The inflected forms are intrigued, intriguing.
2 The predominant current meaning is `to arouse the curiosity of; to fascinate'. Whe n Fowler wrote (1926) this was a fairly new sense (first attested in the 1890s) and the need for what he regarded as an affected Gallicism puzzled him when an a pparent wealth of synonyms, including fascinate, mystify, interest, and puzzle, perplex (he could also have mentioned absorb, captivate, enchant, and enthral), was already available. But none of these has quite the same element of the mildl y sinster or elusive that intrigue draws from its other meanings, past and prese nt (principally the still current one `to carry on an underhand plot'). Like some of
the synonyms mentioned, intrigue is commonly used in its participial form intri guing. Examples: Even more intriguing than the sociology of fashion is its psychologyObserver, 197 4 / We are in turn sympathetic, intrigued, shocked, entertainedbut oh the yearning fo r the world she magically conjuredA. Huth , 1992.Top
Back - New Search intrinsic means ìnherent, essential, belonging naturally' and is the opposite of extrinsic: The study of portraits on coins is as much about the political factors that infl uenced them as about their intrinsic or moral interestA. Burnett , 1991. See EXTE RIOR (2). The corresponding adverb is intrinsically.
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intrusive r is the insertion of the sound of an unwritten r between one vowel sound and anot her, as in draw-r-ing for drawing and umbrella-r-organization for umbrella organ ization. Though much criticized, it is common even in received pronunciation and follows the pattern of linking r in words ending in an r that is only sounded w hen a vowel follows, as in far away (see LINKING R).
Back - New Search intuit, an 18c back-formation from intuition, means `to know or deduce intuitively', and is a mainly literary or technical word: Maud decided she intuited something terrible about Cropper's imagination from al l thisA.S. Byatt , 1990.
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intuition, instinct. The two words overlap in meaning, and the OED indeed uses intuition in one of it s definitions of instinct. Both refer to intellectual activity and both denote p rocesses in which knowledge is apprehended without using any process of reasonin g. An important difference, however, is that intuition is confined to humans whe reas instinct is attributable to the animal world at large. In extended meanings , intuition means ìmmediate insight' into a fact or feeling (as in the notorious ph rase a woman's intuition), and instinct means ùnconscious skill' (an instinct for g etting the best deal); these meanings too refuse to stay apart. Examples: (intuition) A student's intuition moves far more swiftly than can an instruction manual, and I believe that self-tuition is the finest form of educationR. Smith , 1986 / Whatever that small voice of intuition was telling her about her destiny, common -sense decreed that the Prince already had a full hand of potential suitorsA. Mor ton , 1993 / (instinct) Blythswood Square, once home of the infamous poisoner Madaleine Smith , and latterly, numerous other ladies with hearts of loose change and the instin cts of a blushing tarantulaE. Chisnall , 1989 / Running out was totally unprofessional, but she had acted purely on instinctJ. Ev ans , 1993.
Back - New Search Inuit see ESKIMO.
Back - New Search invalid is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable as an adjective (meaning `not valid') and with the stress on the first syllable as a noun (meaning à person affe cted by disease or injury').
Back - New Search inveigle. The recommended pronunciation of this verb meaning `to entice or persuade by guile' is in-vay-gl rather than the alternative in-vee-gl.
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is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search inventory, meaning àn official list of goods etc.', is pronounced in-vn-t-ri in BrE and in-vntaw-ri in AmE.
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inversion. In grammar, inversion is the process by which the normal order of words, with th e subject followed by the verb and then by the object or complement (if any) as in We play football on Saturdays is broken by putting the subject after the verb (as in questions: Do you play football on Saturdays?) or by putting the complem ent (or part of it) first in the sentence, often for emphasis (On Saturdays, we play football). Other regular forms of inversion, usually requiring little consc ious effort by native speakers, occur as follows: 1 In direct speech, the subject and the verb (say, cry, shout, etc.) that identi fy the spoken words are optionally inverted: `Hey!' shouted Mrs. House, who sat inside with her jumpsuit around her kneesNew Yorke r, 1992. 2 After negatives placed in initial position for emphasis, the subject and verb are routinely inverted: Yet never before had I seen anything so scarlet and so blackJ.M. Coetzee , 1990. 3 After initially placed so followed by an adjective, the subject and verb are i nverted: He had hardly been aware, so nervous was he, of what he had been saying Carey , 1 988. 4 In a sentence in which a statement is followed by a reinforcing form of do: She enjoyed a laugh, did Lilian Drabble , 1987. 5 In declarations beginning with an adverb, when the subject of a following intr ansitive verb is a noun: Here comes the train but Here they come. 6 In condition clauses with omission of if or whether. Were this done, we would retain a separate Bar with skillTimes, 1986 / Statistically, afterworldsbe they Christian, Greek, Pharaonicmust be populated alm ost entirely by children Lively , 1987.
7 In certain types of comparison involving a statement after than: Poland's power structure included neither more nor fewer Jews than did the power structure in Rumania or in Hungary Ddalus , 1987. 8 Words are placed first for special effect in poetry and rhetorical writing: His soul proud science never taught to stray Pope / Trusting she had been, she who had been reared in the bosom of suspicion Drabble , 1987. This has spilled over into more informal usage, in which the effect is a wkward rather than striking and should be avoided except in conversation: Great literature it's not, but it's short, pithyThe Face, 1987.
Back - New Search inverted commas see QUOTATION MARKS.
Back - New Search investigator is spelt-or, not -er.
Back - New Search investor is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search invincible, meaning `that cannot be defeated', is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search invisible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
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invite noun (with the stress on the first syllable). This is a good example of a word that h as been in more or less continuous use since the 17c but has not attained the ac ceptability afforded to its rival, invitation. Dr Johnson must have known it but did not include it in his Dictionary (1755), nor did Charles Richardson in 1863 . It was admitted with a `colloquial' label to the OED (1901) and its failure to gai n respectability was noted by Fowler (1926), who commented that ìt is less recogn ized as an English word than bike'. Seventy years on, things have hardly changed , and the general consensus seems to be that as a noun invite belongs to the inf ormal or even comic realms of language use: The four detectives didn't await an invite into the houseG.F. Newman , 1970 / He scoffs, indicating the dodgier invites entreating his attendance at this or t hat launchSunday Express Magazine, 1987 / He knows a particularly good printer who did the invites for his cousin's weddin gPrecision Marketing, 1989.
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involve. 1 This heavily used word has extended its meaning from the notion of envelopment or entanglement (it is derived from the Latin word involvere meaning `to enwrap') t o less precise forms of connection, as in What does the work involve? and No oth er vehicle was involved (in police descriptions of one-vehicle accidents). Resis tance to this natural development in meaning belongs to the domain of LOST CAUSE S.
2 The laced e and cases
participial form involving used as a quasi-preposition is often better rep by a simpler word: A collision took place involving a private motor vehicl a lorry (use between) / There was no reduction last year in the number of involving cruelty to horses (use of).Top
Back - New Search inward, inwards. The only form for the adjective is inward (the inward route), but inward and inw ards are both used for the adverb, with a preference for inwards in BrE: Our instructor starts us on snowplough turns (with the tips of the skis pointing inwards)Observer, 1978.
Back - New Search iodine, the chemical element and the antiseptic made from it, is pronounced either iy--d een or iy--din. In AmE it is also pronounced iy--diyn.
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-ion, -ment, -ness. These three suffixes are all used to form nouns; -ion and -ment represent Latin elements via Old French and are normally added to verbs to form nouns of action (abridgement, excision) or state (contentment, vexation), whereas -ness is an Ol d English form, is normally added to adjectives to form nouns of state (bitterne ss, happiness) or instances of a state or quality (a kindness), and is the most active suffix in forming new words. Regarding -ion and -ment, the choice is larg ely determined by the forms already existing in Old French, although some nouns were formed on existing English verbs (e.g. acknowledgement, amazement, fulfilme nt). Some verbs have given rise to more than one form, usually with a difference in meaning (e.g. commission and commitment from commit, excitation and exciteme nt from excite).
Back - New Search Iranian is pronounced i-ray-ni-n in BrE, and i-ray-ni-n, i-rah-ni-n, or iy-ray-ni-n in A mE.
Back - New Search irascible, meaning ìrritable, hot-tempered', is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
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iridescent, meaning `showing gleaming colours, rainbow-like', is spelt with one r, being derived
from the Latin word iris (stem irid-) meaning `rainbow'.
Back - New Search iron curtain. The phrase had its origin in the 18c with reference to a safety device lowered i n theatres between the stage and the auditorium. Its figurative use referring to any impenetrable barrier evolved in the early 19c and it acquired its classic m eaning in the 20c when used of the East-European sphere of influence exercised i n the postwar years by the Soviet Union. The locus classicus (though not the fir st use, which was in 1920) was a speech given by Winston Churchill in the US in 1946: From Stettin, in the Baltic, to Trieste, in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Although the term has developed various allu sive uses (I don't want the United States to appear like an Ìron Curtain' to the VietnameseFre edomways, 1967) the dismantling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the collapse of t he Soviet Union has caused it to lose its potency except as a vivid historical r eminder.
Back - New Search ironic, ironical, ironically. For the adjective, choice between ironic and ironical seems to be determined lar gely by sentence rhythm. Both words properly mean òf the nature of irony', i.e. imp lying the opposite of what is literally or normally meant by a word, look, etc.: She gave an ironical laugh as she looked at Guy Manning , 1977. In this sentence ironical shows that the laugh was marking something other than the usual humour. Both words, however, are now increasingly used to mean simply òdd, strange, para doxical', and the same is true of the corresponding adverb ironically: It is paradoxical, ìronical' as people say today, that the constitution should best ow this power on someone who laments constitutionitis in othersObserver, 1987 / It is ironic that such a beautiful orderly house should be the setting of our me ssy little farceS. Mason , 1990 / Ironically the bombing of London was a blessing to the youthful generations that followedI. & P. Opie , 1969 / Ironically enough, the Israeli role in both remains crucialSanity, 1991. These us es, which are surely established despite frequent criticism of them, perhaps con tain an echo of the concept of dramatic irony, in which an audience is made awar e of an act or circumstance that affects the action on stage (or screen) in a wa y that is unknown to one or more of the participants in the drama.
Back - New Search iron out is a common phrasal verb, American in origin and used informally to mean `to remov
e (difficulties etc.)'. As the physical image is still fairly near the surface, it is prudent to avoid contexts that might sound incongruous. Gowers (1965) pointe d out the absurdity of ironing out bottlenecks, and to this may be added the fol lowing from the computer age: The new computer was delivered last week. Ironing out the bugs will probably tak e until the new yearGuardian, 1971.
Back - New Search irony. In the ordinary use of language irony means primarily àn expression of meaning by use of words that have an opposite literal meaning or tendency'. When we look out of the window at the pouring rain and exclaim `What a lovely day!', we are using a trivial form of irony. Literary forms of irony include (1)dramatic irony, in whi ch an audience is taken into the writer's confidence and is made aware of more t han the participating characters know, and (2) so-called Socratic irony (after t he Greek philosopher Socrates, who used it), in which a participant in a discuss ion falsely purports to be ignorant of a matter in order to elicit a particular response from the other participants. A fuller historical account of irony in la nguage will be found in the Oxford Companion to the English Language (1992), p. 532.
Back - New Search irreducible, meaning `that cannot be reduced', is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search irrefutable, meaning `that cannot be refuted', should be pronounced with the stress on the second syllable, although pronunciation with stress on the third syllable is gaining g round.
Back - New Search irregardless is in origin probably a blend of irrespective and regardless. It is sometimes fo und in humorous contexts and is non-standard.
Back - New Search irrelevance, irrelevancy. Both words are in use and there is no distinction in their meaning, but irreleva
nce is more common.
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irreparable, irrepairable. Irreparable, meaning `that cannot be recovered or made good', is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable, and is used of circumstances and relationships, typically qualifying words such as consequences, loss, harm, and damage. The wor d used to describe physical objects, machines, etc., that cannot be repaired is irrepairable (or unrepairable, not repairable, beyond repair), pronounced with t he stress on the third syllable as in repair; but irreparable damage is the norm al expression whether or not the damage is physical: These people were supposed to be making us fit and instead they were doing irrep arable damage to my heart and lungsJ. Herriott , 1977./ The strikers had defied a decree to end the strike, which he said was causing ir reparable damage to the economy Keesings , 1990.
Back - New Search Irreplaceable, meaning `that cannot be replaced', is spelt -able and with an e in the middle to pre serve the soft sound of the c. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search irrepressible, meaning `that cannot be restrained', is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search irresistible, meaning `that cannot be resisted', is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search irrespective of. This expression is variously regarded by grammarians as an adjective plus a prep osition, an adverbial phrase (alternative to irrespectively of, which is also fo
und though much less often), or a complex preposition. The difficulty of classif ication arises because of the detached way in which the expression is used, unde rmining the status of irrespective as an adjective: People sometimes judge actions to be right irrespective of their consequencesA.J. Ayer , 1972 / The beginner in chess, who tries to follow his plans irrespective of his partner 's countermoves, will soon go down in defeat Bettelheim , 1987.
Back - New Search irresponsible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search irreversible, meaning `that cannot be changed or undone', is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -I BLE.
Back - New Search irrevocable, meaning `that cannot be changed or recalled', is pronounced with the stress on the s econd syllable.
Back - New Search irridescent is an erroneous spelling of IRIDESCENT.
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is. 1 For general points of usage see BE. Some common and interesting idiomatic uses of is are given here.
2 For is after a compound subject, as in Fish and chips is my favourite meal, se e AGREEMENT (3). For problems of agreement between subject and complement when o ne is singular and the other is plural, as in More nurses is the next item on th e agenda, see AGREEMENT (5).Top
3 IS WHAT OR IS HOW FOLLOWING A STATEMENT. One never knows with these lefties, is what I always sayA. Brink , 1988 / You step up to him and you cart him all over the park, is what you doS. Fry , 199 0. This use, as the contexts of these examples show, is highly informal.Top
4 IS NOTHING TO DO WITH. This construction, as an alternative to has nothing to do with, was defended by Fowler (1926) as the more natural choice in everyday sp eech `when we are not in the mood for weighing words in the scales of grammar', is f ound in the 19c (This is nothing to do with your lifeH.S. Merriman , 1896), but is less common th an the construction with have in current use to judge by the evidence in the Bri tish National Corpus and in the OED.Top
5 IS. Let anyone repeat, as often as he pleases, that `the will is the will' Locke , 1690 / A man's a man for a' that Burns , 1790 / Home is home though it is never so homely Lamb , 1823. These older literary uses are echoed in 20c occurrences: A job's a job, that was the thing Gee , 1985 / She worried about Colin's wrist in the cast but a trip out was a trip out, and t he day mustn't be spoiledN. Virtue , 1990. Occasionally the word is is repeated ( echoing Gertrude Stein's Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose, is a rose Sacred Emily, 1913) : There is only one art form common to all sorts and conditions of people: the p oster A hoarding is a hoarding is a hoardingGuardian, 1970.Top
6 POSTPONED AND REPEATED IS. This somewhat informal use dates from the early 19c : He's a sad pickle, is Sam!M. Mitford , 1828 / Yes, he is true to type, is Mr Heard Knox , 1932.Top
7 IS ALL.
No one's interested, is allM. Doane , 1988. This idiomatic expression, used for e mphasis at the end of a sentence, sounds dialectal but is found in standard (esp ecially American) works of fiction.Top
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-ise as a verbal ending is sometimes optional as an alternative to -ize (baptise, pri oritise) and is sometimes obligatory because of a word's origin (advertise, comp romise, exercise). See more fully at -IZE.
Back - New Search island, isle. The two words are etymologically unconnected. Island is derived from an Old Engl ish word gland, which is a combination of g (itself meaning ìsland') and land; isle is a reduced form of insula, the Latin word for ìsland'.
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-ism and -ity. These noun-forming suffixes are derived via Old French from the Latin noun endin gs -ismus and -itas. The suffix -ism forms nouns of action based on verbs or adj ectives (baptism, criticism, heroism), and has a number of special meanings: (1) a political or religious movement or system of thought (atheism, Buddhism, real ism), (2) a pathological condition (alcoholism, Parkinsonism), (3) a special feature or peculiarity of language (Americanism, Gallicism), (4) a basis of prejudice or discrimination (a 20c development first apparent in racism, and more recently in sexism, ageism, speciesism, etc.)
. The suffix -ity has the special role of forming abstract nouns from comparativ e forms (inferiority, majority) but in general has the more limited meaning à qua lity or condition, or an instance of it' (authority, humility, purity). Some words
have produced nouns (with different meanings) in both -ism and -ity (liberalism / liberality, modernism / modernity, realism / reality, etc.).
Back - New Search issue verb. The use reflected in the sentences They issued them with passports and (perhaps more typically) They were issued with passports is military in origin and in its general application (on the analogy of provide and supply) was disapproved of b y Fowler (1926). It has nonetheless become well established during the 20c, at l east in BrE although it occurs less often in AmE (People in Russia's second city are issued with coupons which entitle them to ba sic foodstuffs at subsidized state pricesChicago Tribune, 1991).
Back - New Search -ist is a suffix forming nouns and adjectives corresponding to various kinds of noun in -ism (atheist, Buddhist, evangelist, racist, sexist), nouns denoting a person engaged in some activity or pursuit (archaeologist, balloonist, cyclist, econom ist). Some words have an alternative form in -alist (agriculturalist / agricultu rist, educationalist / educationist) and in these cases both forms are correct.
Back - New Search italics. Italics are a style of sloping type, like this, and are used for a number of spe cial purposes, principally: TITLES OF BOOKS, FILMS, WORKS OF ART, ETC.: David Copperfield, Gone with the Win d, Mona Lisa. TITLES OF LONG POEMS: Paradise Lost. NAMES OF NEWSPAPERS ETC.: Daily Express, Radio Times. NAMES OF SHIPS AND VEHICLES: Ark Royal, Concorde. FOREIGN WORDS AND PHRASES: amour propre, ne plus ultra (see FOREIGN WORDS AND PH RASES). FOR EMPHASIS: Òh, come on, it can't be that bad.' For other uses see Hart's Rules, 238. In writing, italics are shown by underlinin g.
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itch verb. Itch is recorded with the transitive meaning `to cause to itch' from the 16c, but in BrE is now usually informal only, although it is still standard in AmE. Some ex amples are poetic: The thick super-salty water of the Mediterranean, which tires and itches the nak ed eyeR. Campbell , 1951 / The dice already itch me in my pocket MacNeice , 1951. Another transitive meaning , mainly down-market AmE, is `to scratch (a part of the body)', as in Don't itch your legChicago Tribune, 1991.
Back - New Search -ite. The adjectival ending is derived chiefly from Latin past participles in -itus. T he length of the Latin i varied, but no longer directly influences the pronuncia tion in English (definite with short i and recondite with long i were not so in Latin, for example). The -ite in anthracite, dynamite, Jacobite, etc., is a diff erent form, and is always pronounced with a long i.
Back - New Search it is I, it is me see CASES 2A.
Back - New Search itself see HERSELF.
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its, it's. Its is the possessive form of it (The cat licked its paws) and it's is a shorten ed form of it is (It's raining again) or occasionally it has (I don't know if it 's come).
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-ize, -ise in verbs. 1 SPELLING. The primary rule is that all words of the type authorize/authorise, civilize/civilise, legalize/legalise, where there is a choice of ending, may be legitimately spelt with either -ize or -ise throughout the English-speaking worl d (except in America, where -ize is always used). Oxford University Press and ot her Publishing houses (including The Times until recently) prefer -ize; Cambridg e University Press and others prefer -ise. The reason there is a choice is that the -ize ending, which corresponds to the G reek verbal ending -izo (whether or not the particular verb existed in Greek in the same form), has come to English in many cases via Latin and French sources, and in French the spelling has been adapted to -ise. A key word showing the line of descent is baptize, which answers to Gk and Latin baptizo; the French have op ted for baptiser, and a large proportion of English writers and publishers have followed suit by writing the word as baptise. People are generally aware of the choice, but often mistakenly regard the -ize ending as an Americanism; and they find it especially hard to countenance in words which do not have corresponding nouns in -ation but other forms in which the letter s features, such as criticiz e (criticism), hypnotize (hypnosis), and emphasize (emphasis). It is important to note that there are some words in which there is no choice: t hey have to be spelt with -ise because they come from words in which the relevan t elements are -cise, -mise, -prise, -vise, or other forms unconnected with -izo /-iso. The most important of these words are given in the table below: VERBS THA T MUST BE SPELT WITH -ISE advertise despise improvise advise devise incise apprise dis(en)franchise merchandise arise disguise prise (open) chastise enfranchise revise circumcise enterprise supervise comprise excise surmise compromise exercise surprise demise franchise televise
The AmE spelling of analyse, catalyse etc., as analyze, catalyze, etc., is also a separate matter: see -YSE, -YZE.
2 STATUS OF SUCH VERBS. The oldest English verb in -ize is baptize (13c), mentio ned above. Other examples over the centuries are authorize (14c), characterize ( 16c), civilize (17c), fossilize (18c), and terrorize (19c). Apart from the spell ing question, there is a widespread belief that there are too many new verbs of this kind. Objections have been raised to finalize and prioritize and (with more reason) hospitalize and permanentize. Forms not attested before 1950 include, i n addition to those given in the table below, a whole lot of forms beginning wit h re- including resensitize and retribalize, and noun derivatives such as instit utionalization and privatization. However, these words represent a small proport ion of new words and meanings in English, even among verbs, and it is significan t that fewer than ten words in -ization or -ize are entered in each of the two e ditions (1991 and 1997) of the Oxford Dictionary of New Words, out of a vocabula ry total of 2000 items in each. There are many opportunities for ad hoc or nonce formations, and some examples are given in the table. All have their uses on oc casions and will come and go as needed without becoming part of the permanent st ock of language. Words in -ize, -ization, or -izer recorded after 1950. Nonce and ad hoc forms are marked with an asterisk WORD COMMENT OR SOURCE annualize capsulize computerize condomize Newsweek, 1987 denuclearize disasterize funeralize recorded as obsolete in the 17c and now revived invisibleize Iris Murdoch, 1991 liquidizer a machine marketization modularize operationalize peripheralization privatize psychedelicize 2 citations in the OED rehospitalization remobilize ruggedize `to make rugged' technologize texturize
transistorize common in the 50s and 60s trivializer a person weaponization
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3 VERDICT. English has always been highly productive in forming new verbs to rep resent actions and processes related to social and material developments. Many o f these have used suffixes such as -ize and -ify. Some of the 20c newcomers will drop by the wayside; others will survive into the 21c and beyond, despite the o ccasional creasing of brows. Together they provide significant linguistic insigh ts into social change.Top
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* * *
jacket verb, meaning `to cover with a jacket', has inflected forms jacketed, jacketing, with one t.
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jail, jailer is now more common than gaol, gaoler in BrE and is the dominant spelling in AmE. It is the preferred spelling, except in historical contexts in which the gaol-f orms might be more appropriate.
Back - New Search Jap, a colloquial shortening of Japanese, is used as a noun and adjective with strong derogatory overtones. It is less common now than it was in the postwar period, and there are signs that it is falling into disuse.
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jargon. 1 HISTORY OF THE TERM. The OED gives several meanings for jargon, all except one mostly derogatory in connotation. The prevailing current senses of the word are (1) `words or expressions used by a particular group or profession', and (2) ìncompr ehensible talk, gibberish', with the second regarded as arising conceptually out o f the first, although this is not how the meanings evolved historically. The exc eption just mentioned is the meaning `the inarticulate utterance of birds', which is the oldest sense, is found in Chaucer, and as the OED notes `has been revived in modern [i.e. 19c] literature', e.g. by Longfellow : With beast and bird the forest rings, Each in his jargon cries or singsReturn of Spring 6. Both meanings given above developed (apart from an isolated Middle Eng lish use of the second) in the 17c; there is a good example in the notice `Booksel ler to Reader' published with Swift's Tale of a Tub (1704): If I should go about t o tell the reader, by what accident I became master of these papers, it would, i n this unbelieving age, pass for little more than the cant or jargon of the trad e.
2 JARGON IN THE RIGHT PLACE. Every profession and sphere of activity develops it s own jargon to enable its members or participants to communicate effectively wi th one another; medicine, law, gastronomy, sociology, and (most recently) comput ing are well-known examples. The following example is drawn from a work of liter ary criticism: The view of the text has been seriously challenged in recent years, mainly by st ructuralist and semiological schools of criticism. According to these, the text has no within, beneath or behind where hidden meanings might be secreted. Attent ion is instead focused exclusively on the processes and structures of the text a nd on the ways in which these produce meanings, positions of intelligibility for the reader or the specific effects of realism, defamiliarisation or whateverT. B ennett , 1982. It will be seen from this example that jargon consists of ordinar y words used in special ways as well as specially devised words (such as defamil iarisation). Jargon often arises from a need for precision, when terms that woul d be acceptable in general contexts are not precise enough in specialized use, c ombined with a need for concision in order to avoid having to repeat lengthy exp ressions that are likely to recur in a piece of writing. When the archaeologist Colin Renfrew calls the driving out of a people from their normal territory a co nstrained population displacement, he is using a term devised to summarize an ar
gued proposition without having to repeat lengthy explanations each time.Top
3 JARGON IN THE WRONG PLACE. Examples are given in the entry for GOBBLEDEGOOK of jargon misused, when it is intended to be intelligible to the public at large o r to people who are not members of the profession or activity concerned. In the Plain English Guide (1995), Martin Cutts quotes the following example of jargon used by a housing association in letters to its tenants explaining why moderniza tion work has been delayed: Find attached a draft programme for the anticipated commencement date on your property and we anticipate that the work will take thr ee or four days to complete. Your next contact will be by the contractor who wil l contact you individually about a week prior to the start at your house. If you anticipate any problems with access arrangements or require any further informa tion, please do not hesitate to call [etc.]. Cutts rewrites this section of the letter as follows, removing the jargon and simplifying the structure to produce a version that is not only much clearer but more reassuring to the reader when r eassurance is the intention of the letter: I attach a programme which shows the likely starting date for work on your property. We expect the work will take thr ee or four days to complete. You will hear next from the contractor who will con tact you about a week before work at your house begins. Please call if you think the contractor will have any problems with access to your house, or if you need any more information.Top
Back - New Search jehad see JIHAD.
Back - New Search jejune is pronounced ji-joon. It properly means `meagre, scanty; dull or uninteresting' and is used primarily of ideas or arguments. It is derived from the Latin word jeju nus meaning `fasting', and originally meant `without food' in English. The writer Kingsl ey Amis has famously defended the traditional meaning of jejune against users of a newer meaning `puerile, childish, nave', which arose towards the end of the 19c by a somewhat bizarre association with juvenile: Mother seemed jejune, at times, with her enthusiasms and her sense of missionM. H oward , 1982. Although this use is quite common, it should be avoided in favour of readily available alternatives such as childish, infantile, or juvenile, and innocent, guileless, ingenuous, or nave.
Back - New Search jetsam see FLOTSAM AND JETSAM.
Back - New Search jettison in current use is a verb meaning `to discard' and refers to physical things as well as abstract (e.g. ideas). Its origins are as a noun in maritime law, meaning `the action of throwing goods overboard, especially to lighten a ship in distress'. Its verb inflections are jettisoned, jettisoning.
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jeu d'esprit, meaning à witty or humorous trifle', is pronounced zher des-pree and is printed in italics. It has the plural form jeux d'esprit (pronounced the same).
Back - New Search Jew. The use of Jew in its opprobrious meaning à person who is mean or drives a hard b argain', and the corresponding verb to jew, are thankfully disappearing from the l anguage, although occasional uses are found in print. These uses, first recorded in the time of Shakespeare , have caused deep offence and have been the cause o f great embarrassment to historical lexicographers who have had to record them. Robert Burchfield , the OED editor, has described the problem in a study of cont roversial vocabulary which appeared in Unlocking the English Language (1989), 831 08.
Back - New Search jewel has inflected forms jewelled, jewelling, and the derivative form jeweller. In Am E the usual forms are jeweled, jeweling, and jeweler.
Back - New Search jewellery should be pronounced joo-l-ri, not joo-l-ri (as in foolery). The form jewelry is usual in AmE and is sometimes used in BrE.
Back - New Search Jewess, though in use since the 14c, now has derogatory overtones (for racial reasons an d because of gender sensitivity) and should be avoided, although Jewish people a re said to use it among themselves.
Back - New Search jibe see GIBE; GYBE.
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jihad, meaning à holy war undertaken by Muslims against unbelievers', is pronounced jee-ha hd, and is preferably spelt this way rather than jehad.
Back - New Search jiu-jitsu see JU-JITSU.
Back - New Search jockey has the plural form jockeys as a noun, and as a verb (used especially in the exp ression jockey for position) has inflected forms jockeys, jockeyed, jockeying.
Back - New Search jollily. jolly adverbs, Jolly is used as a colloquial substitute for very (A jolly good idea / You know jolly well). The adverb meaning ìn a jolly manner' is jollily, although awkwardness of articulation reduces its use when in a jolly manner (or way) is available in stead.
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journalese. Some words and uses are peculiar to the language of newspaper articles and, more especially, newspaper headlines. Examples are probe for ìnvestigation' or ìnvestiga te' (Hong Kong missing millions probe), quiz for ìnterrogate' (Police quiz councillor s over expenses fraud), package for `deal' (Steel bosses offer new pay package), and swap for `transfer' in the medical sense (Baby heart swap drama). Combinations of n ouns in headlines (as in the last example), use of the present tense, and use of a to-infinitive to denote future time, are common features: Councillor planning action over go-go girl affair claimEvening News (Edinburgh), 1994 / Sex cinema blaze man pleads guiltyIndependent, 1995 / Premier to defy unions over 3.60 minimum wageDaily Mail, 1998. Puns, as the most c oncise form of written humour, feature prominently in headlines, e.g. Hirst's sheep give Britain art failureIndependent, 1998 (reporting an opinion pol l which found that the `pickled sheep' art of Damien Hirst was among least liked by British visitors to art galleries).
Back - New Search journey has the plural form journeys.
Back - New Search judgement, judgment. Both spellings are in use, and both are correct. Judgement is more common in gen eral use in BrE, but judgment is dominant in legal contexts and in AmE.
Back - New Search judging by, judging from. Both forms are used with the meaning ìf we are to judge by ' at the head of a clause and only loosely connected grammatically to the main clause: Untidy housewives abound, judging by all the so-called slatterns, trolly-mogs, s lovens and tosspotsP. Wright , 1974 / Judging from her voice, she had been cryingM. Nabb , 1989 /
Fen for the most part seemed absorbed in his own thoughts, which, judging by his expression, did not please himA. Murray , 1993.
Back - New Search judicial, judicious. These two words, both derived from the Latin word judex meaning `judge', are easily confused although their current meanings are distinct. Judicial means `relating to judges or legal processes' (a judicial inquiry / judicial separation), whereas ju dicious means `sensible, prudent; sound in judgement' in general contexts (judicious use of time / a judicious plan of action). A judicial decision made by a judge is one in accordance with the law, whereas a judicious decision (whether made by a judge or some other person) is one that is wise and discerning when all facto rs are taken into account.
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ju-jitsu, the Japanese system of unarmed combat, is preferably spelt this way, not jiu-jit su.
Back - New Search jumbo has the plural form jumbos.
Back - New Search junction, juncture. A junction is a point at which two or more things are joined, and usually refers to physical objects. It has the special meaning of à point at which roads or rai lway lines meet or cross'. Juncture occurs principally in the expression at this j uncture, which properly denotes a coincidence of events producing a critical or dramatic moment but in practice tends to mean simply àt this moment, now': The United States came to Vietnam at a critical juncture of Vietnamese historyF. Fitzgerald , 1972 / At this juncture, the opposing demands of two distinct worlds were visited upon herC.G. Wolff , 1977 / Liz hoped that at this juncture Shirley would go to bed Drabble , 1987.
Back - New Search junta, a Spanish loanword meaning à political or military clique taking power after a co up or revolution', is now pronounced in an anglicized way as jun-t. The plural for m is juntas.
Back - New Search juror, a member of a jury, is spelt -or. A male juror is sometimes called a juryman and a female juror a jurywoman.
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just adverb. 1 When it means à little time ago', just is used differently in BrE and AmE. In BrE the usual construction is with a perfect tense formed with have: I have just ar rived home, but in AmE the verb is normally a simple past form: I just arrived h ome. Care needs to be taken to avoid misunderstanding, since just can also mean ò nly, simply' as in They are just good friends. So a sentence such as BrE I have ju st seen my brother and, even more, AmE I just saw my brother can mean either Ì ha ve recently seen my brother' or Ì have seen my brother and no one else' (or, perhaps, Ì have seen my brother and have done nothing else'). In speech, intonation will us ually clarify the meaning, but in written English the difficulty may need to be resolved by rephrasing.
2 The phrase just now has several meanings, and the primary meaning can change f rom one part of the English-speaking world to another. The principal possibiliti es are (1) with past reference, à short time ago' (What was it you were saying just now, child?E. Jolley , 1985 / When I returned to the house just now I sensed that somethingunusual had occuredS. Craven , 1993), (2) with a present continuous tense, àt this moment' (Just now I'm going with a Catholic, who lives down in ArmaghF. Kippax , 1993), ( 3) with a simple present, àt this time, right now', common generally with a negativ e (She cannot afford to think about her mother just nowJ. Neale , 1993) but charact eristically Scottish in positive use (But it's not just me, it's the whole of Scotland just nowM. Gray , 1989), (4) wi
th a future tense in South African and Indian English, `very shortly, in a little while' (The men on cell duty will do that just nowA. Sachs , 1966 (South Africa)).Top
Back - New Search juvenile has a neutral meaning `relating to or associated with young people' (juvenile crime) and a derogatory meaning ìmmature' (Behaving in a juvenile way).
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keep. The construction keep + object + from + -ing verb is idiomatic in current Englis h: His hands held flat over his ears as if to keep his whole head from flying apart Amis , 1978. The intransitive use of keep + from + -ing verb is recorded in the OED but is now mostly confined to AmE: Maria cut the wheel to the left, to keep from hitting the cansT. Wolfe , 1987.
Back - New Search kerb is the standard BrE spelling of the word meaning `stone edging to a pavement or ra ised path'. In AmE it is spelt curb: see CURB.
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kick. 1 The word kick has provided some powerful metaphors over the years. In recent u se, the image of starting a motorcycle by the downward thrust on a pedal (a kick -start) has been vividly applied figuratively to mean àn impetus given to get a p rocess started'. It is now more commonly used as a verb, `to get (a process) started': With lots of new ideas this high profile branch is an excellent place to kick-st art your careeradvertisement in The Grocer, 1996.
2 A rather less appealing image, taken from the macho language of American busin ess management, is the term kick-ass, used as an adjective to mean `rough, aggress ive, powerful': His point is that `the old kick-ass way of managing' is counter-productiveTimes. 1991 . Best avoided, except in direct reference to those who get their own kick from this sort of thing.Top
Back - New Search kid, in its informal meaning `child' (He's only a kid / He came with his wife and kids), has a long history, being first recorded in the 17c, but is still only suitable for more informal use. The verb to kid, meaning `to trick or tease', is early 19c an d possibly derived from this noun; it has the same level of informality.
Back - New Search kidnap has inflected forms kidnapped, kidnapping in BrE; in AmE the forms kidnaped, kid naping are also used.
Back - New Search kidnapping see ABDUCTION.
Back - New Search kidney has the plural form kidneys.
Back - New Search kilo has the plural form kilos.
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kilometre is spelt -metre in BrE and -meter in AmE. The word is better pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, in line with other words for measures such as kil ogram and millimetre, although pronunciation with the stress on the second sylla ble, on the (less secure) analogy of words such as barometer and speedometer, is increasingly common and is standard in AmE and other non-British varieties.
Back - New Search kimono, meaning `long loose Japanese robe', has the plural form kimonos, or occasionally (as in Japanese) kimono.
Back - New Search kin is now a rather old-fashioned term for one's relatives or family. It is mostly u sed in the fixed expressions next of kin and kith and kin.
Back - New Search kinda see KIND OF.
Back - New Search kindly, as used to introduce a formal request (You are kindly requested to refrain from smoking / Kindly refrain from smoking), now has a dated sound to it, and it is n
ever quite clear who it is who is being kind (a point Fowler noticed in 1926). A modern alternative, often seen for example on notices in restaurants and taxis, uses the style Thank you for not smoking, which is thought to be more effective in its direct assumption of compliance.
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kind of, sort of. 1 These expressions mean much the same, and share the same grammatical problems. (The issues raised here seem to occur less often in practice with the third alt ernative, type of.) There is less of a problem when kind of is preceded by a or the, which are invariable, but difficulties arise with this, that, these, and th ose. When followed by a singular noun, the correct form is (e.g.) this kind [or sort] of house, not this kind [or sort] of a house. When it is followed by a plu ral noun, many purists insist on making kind or sort plural as well, e.g. these kinds [or sorts] of houses. To say this kind [or sort] of houses is ungrammatica l, but an alternative style these kind [or sort] of houses has been in use since the 14c. Although this too is ungrammatical on a normal interpretation and was questioned by the OED, its rationale lies in regarding kind of as an adjectival phrase qualifying the following noun (in this case, houses), with the demonstrat ive pronoun these or those also qualifying houses rather than qualifying kind (o r sort). This type is now very common in colloquial contexts: She was used to these kind of smells in the night-time bedclothesM. Duckworth , 1 960 / These sort of people are only interested in lining their pocketsJ. Leland , 1987. Alternatives are these kinds (or sorts) ofandof this kind (or sort): The pressure here is to consider the circumstances which do, in fact, coerce peo ple in these sorts of waysM. 1989 / The present tax rules can in practice effectively discourage demergers of this k indTimes, 1980.
2 In AmE, kind of a is often used informally where in BrE it would be a kind of: We're kind of a middle-aged Sonny and CherWashington Post, 1973.Top
3 Kind of and sort of also occur as adverbial phrases in informal contexts, espe cially in AmE: All these rich bastards driving up the property values have kind of made it impo ssible for everyone elseNew Yorker, 1987 / He just sort of glanced at the photos and then carried on talkingN. Watts , 1990. Top
4 The uses shown in paragraphs 2 and 3 are characteristically American and shoul d not be used in more formal speech or writing. An even more informal written fo rm is kinda, which represents the sound of kind of in rapid speech: That little chap must have been really desperate to take that kinda crap Davis , 1989 / There was this real weirdo in here, rifling about the desks, wearing some kinda disguiseS. James , 1993. Again the association is chiefly American, and is non-st andard.Top
Back - New Search knee-jerk is a popularized technicality taken from the physical meaning à sudden involuntar y kick caused by a blow on the tendon just below the knee when the leg is hangin g loose'. It is now popular among politicians, broadcasters, etc., especially in t he phrase knee-jerk reaction, as an adjective meaning ìnstant and barely consider ed': The [motor] industry's knee-jerk support for road construction and its oppositio n to tighter air pollution standards have not endeared it to the publicTimes, 199 1 / The Braer disaster produced a knee-jerk reaction among many hoping to improve sa fety standards at sea Anglian , 1993.
Back - New Search kneel. The past and past participle form knelt is now more common than kneeled in all v arieties of English: Some of the recruits knelt to pray before retiring, presumably for strength Burge ss , 1987.
Back - New Search knife. The plural form of the noun is knives, but the inflected forms of the verb are k nifes, knifed, knifing.
Back - New Search knit.
The past tense and past participle form of the verb in its main meaning is knitt ed (a knitted scarf). In figurative meanings, knitted and knit are both used (Sh e knit/knitted her brows / a close-knit group).
Back - New Search knock up. Care needs to be taken with this phrasal verb, which in BrE means `to wake by knoc king on the door' and in AmE means `to make pregnant'.
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know. The expression you know, inserted parenthetically in a sentence in speech, somet imes has real meaning, e.g. in introducing extra information that the hearer is likely to know already, but generally it is a meaningless sentence-filler like I mean: People get the wrong idea, thinking we might be, you know, glamorous or brillian t or somethingSunday Times, 1974.
Back - New Search know-how, meaning `technical expertness or practical knowledge', is first recorded in print in AmE in 1838, but did not come into widespread use until about a century later. It is now established in both Britain and America, and is acceptable in all but the most formal contexts.
Back - New Search knowing.
We won't lunch till late, knowing her Wesley , 1983. This use as an unattached pa rticiple is well established and unexceptionable.
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is spelt with an e in the middle.
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Koran, the sacred book of Islam, is normally spelt this way in English contexts, althou gh the form Quran or Qur'an, a closer transliteration of the Arabic original (me aning `recitation'), is also found.
Back - New Search kosher, meaning `fulfilling the requirements of Jewish law', is pronounced koh-sh.
Back - New Search kowtow, meaning `to act obsequiously', is pronounced with each syllable to rhyme with cow, a nd is no longer spelt ko-tow.
Back - New Search kudos, meaning `glory, renown' (usually in connection with a particular event or achievemen t), is a (19c) singular noun derived from a Greek noun with the same meaning. It s occasional use in the 20c as if it were plural, with even a singular back-form ation kudo, is non-standard verging on the illiterate: This did not win Mr. Eisenhower many kudos in the pressWall Street Journal, 1963 / A kudo to Life for a fine story on baseball's spring trainingLife, 1963.
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lab is an established and acceptable short form of laboratory in all but the most fo rmal contexts.
Back - New Search label verb has inflected forms labelled, labelling in BrE and labeled, labeling in AmE.
Back - New Search laboratory is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable in BrE and with the stress on the first syllable (and the final syllable like Tory) in AmE.
Back - New Search labour is the standard spelling in BrE, whereas labor is the standard form in AmE.
Back - New Search lack verb. The use with for meaning `to be short of something' in negative contexts seems to ha ve originated in the 19c: If you are inclined to undertake the search, I have so provided that you will no t lack for means Haggard , 1887 / Here's hoping he'll never lack for friends Twain , 1892 / You get a lower standard of trim, but you don't lack for much in the way of esse ntial equipmentWhich? Car Buying Guide, 1987 / Ì can see by those here present that Samuel did not lack for friends,' said the pri est who now filled the place of Father MichaelP. Bryers , 1993.
Back - New Search lackey, meaning àn obsequious parasite', has the plural form lackeys.
Back - New Search lacquer verb has inflected forms lacquered, lacquering.
Back - New Search ladleful has the plural form ladlefuls.
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lady, woman. The division of usage between these two words is complex and is caught up in iss ues of social class. In George Meredith's Evan Harrington (1861), the heroine. R ose Jocelyn , is rhetorically asked, Would you rather be called a true English l ady than a true English woman, Rose?, and it is still the case that lady denotes social standing and refinement and is the female equivalent of gentleman, where as woman is the normal word that is generally neutral in tone but in some contex ts can sound over-direct or discourteous (Which of you women is Mrs Jones?). As well as its use as a title, lady is used in certain fixed expressions, such as l ady of the house, the Ladies (or Ladies', a women's public lavatory), a lady's m an, and others, and in the form of address ladies and gentlemen. In AmE, though less in BrE, lady has developed an informal meaning rather like dame, both as a form of address (Where are you going, lady?) and in third-person reference (She' s some lady). Lady is still used with words denoting a profession (lady doctor), but in this use is beginning to sound affected and is fast giving way to woman (woman doctor). See also FEMININE DESIGNATIONS. It should finally be mentioned t hat the feminist movement generally disfavours lady as being socially and histor ically loaded, and prefers the more neutral woman despite its occasional bluntne ss of tone. This preference is likely to influence the future of the words' usag e considerably.
Back - New Search laid, lain
Laid is the past and past participle of lay, whereas lain is the part participle of lie. See LAY, LIE.
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laissez-aller, -faire, -passer. The first means ùnconstrained freedom', the second àbstention by people in authority from interference in the actions of individuals', and the third à pass or permit'. A ll three are normally printed in italics.
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lama, llama. The form with one l is the Tibetan or Mongolian Buddhist monk, whereas the form with two ls is the South American animal. For obvious reasons, care should be ta ken in remembering which is which.
Back - New Search lamentable, meaning `deplorable, regrettable', is correctly pronounced with the stress on the fi rst syllable, not the second (though either is acceptable in AmE).
Back - New Search lamprey, the eel-like fish, has the plural form lampreys.
Back - New Search landward, landwards. As an adjective, landward is the correct form in all varieties of English (a lan dward breeze). As an adverb, landwards is the dominant form in BrE (sail landwar ds), whereas both forms are used in AmE. In Scottish use, landward as an adverb is used to mean `towards the country as opposed to the town'.
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large, largely. Large is used as an adverb with the verbs bulk and loom and in the phrase by and large. Otherwise largely is the normal adverb and means `to a large extent' (His fa ilure was largely due to laziness).
Back - New Search largesse is now the dominant form for this word meaning `generosity' or `money given freely', not largess as recommended by Fowler in 1926.
Back - New Search larva has the plural form larvae, pronounced lah-vee.
Back - New Search lasso is pronounced la-soo in BrE and las-oh in AmE. The plural form of the noun is la ssos and the verb has inflected forms lassoes, lassoed, lassoing.
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last. 1 When used with a number, last (like first) normally precedes it, as in the las t three cars. See FIRST (1).
2 In listing a sequence of points or topics, lastly (or finally) is preferable t o last, especially when the preceding items are introduced with numbers ending i
n -ly: first (or firstly) , secondly , thirdly , lastly For the choice between firs t and firstly, See FIRST (2).Top
Back - New Search last but not least. When Antony in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (III.i.190) greets Caesar's assassins , he takes their hands in the order Brutus, Cinna, Casca, and Trebonius, and say s to Trebonius: Though last, not least in love, yours, good Trebonius. Though used here (and els ewhere in Shakespeare ) to good effect, this phrase is now a clich and should be avoided except in the few cases when it has real meaning.
Back - New Search late, former, one-time, sometime All these words are used occasionally (the first two a little more than that) to describe the earlier status of a person or thing. A late husband is one that is no longer alive, whereas a former husband (or ex-husband) is one that is no lon ger a husband (but is more likely than not still alive). Sometime is used more o f the official function a person or thing has had, for example a building may be the sometime headquarters of the KGB; former and one-time are also possible her e and would be more usual in everyday language. See also ERSTWHILE; FORMER, LATT ER.
Back - New Search later on see EARLY ON.
Back - New Search lath, lathe. A lath, pronounced lahth, is a flat strip of wood. The plural is laths, pronounc ed lahths or occasionally lahdhz. A lathe, pronounced laydh, is a machine for sh aping wood or metal, and has the plural form lathes, pronounced laydhz.
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Latin plurals Plurals of Latin words used in English are formed according to the rules either of the source language (apex/apices, stratum/strata) or of the borrowing languag e (gymnasium/gymnasiums, arena/arenas). In some cases more than one form is in u se, sometimes with a usage distinction (appendix/appendices/appendixes, formula/ formulae/formulas) and sometimes with no clear distinction (cactus/cacti/cactuse s). Words ending in -is usually follow the original Latin form (basis/bases, cri sis/crises) for reasons of euphony, and the same rule operates in other cases (n ucleus/nuclei). A more alien form is the plural -mata of words ending in -ma in the singular (lemma/lemmata, stigma/stigmata). There are occasional surprises; f or example we might expect the plural of crux to be (Latin) cruces but it is in fact more often (English) cruxes. There is a trap for the unwary with Latinate n ouns ending in -us which cannot form plurals in -i for formal grammatical reason s: hiatus (a fourth-declension noun in Latin with a plural hiatus), ignoramus (a first-person plural verb in Latin, not a noun), octopus (a Romanized form of a Greek word octopous), vademecum (cum being a preposition meaning `with'). The table below shows the types of plural that the more commonly used Latin words have in English; when there is more than one both are shown: SINGULAR FORM LATIN-TYPE PL URAL ENGLISH PLURAL addendum addenda alga algae apex apices apexes appendix appendices appendixes aquarium aquaria aquariums arena arenas automaton automata automatons basis bases cactus cacti cactuses codex codices compendium compendia compendiums corrigendum corrigenda crematorium crematoria crematoriums crisis crises crux cruces cruxes desideratum desiderata encomium encomia encomiums focus foci focuses formula formulae formulas
genus genera gymnasium gymnasia gymnasiums helix helices helixes index indices indexes lemma lemmata lemmas matrix matrices matrixes maximum maxima maximums memorandum memoranda memorandums miasma miasmata minimum minima minimums momentum momenta momentums moratorium moratoriums nucleus nuclei oasis oases radix radices referendum referenda referendums stigma stigmata stigmas stratum strata thesis theses vortex vortices vortexes
Further information will be found in the separate entries for some of these word s.
Back - New Search latish, meaning `somewhat late', is normally spelt without an e in the middle. See MUTE E.
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latter is now used only in the phrase the latter, which contrasts with the former to re fer to the second of two previously mentioned items so as to avoid lengthy repet ition. See FORMER, LATTER.
Back - New Search laudable, laudatory. The essential difference is that laudable means `deserving praise' whereas laudatory means èxpressing praise'. So an action or attitude that is laudable calls for a la udatory response.
Back - New Search lavatory, the standard word in the early part of the 20c for a receptacle for urination an d defecation (and the room containing it), has tended to give way to alternative s such as loo (the usual middle-class word) and toilet (still non-U but the word mostly used in official contexts, on notices, etc.). See also U AND NON-U; TOIL ET.
Back - New Search laver, meaning èdible seaweed', is pronounced lah-v.
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lawful see LEGAL.
Back - New Search lawman, lawyer. Lawman is an informal lay term for a law-enforcement officer, often with histori
cal reference, whereas a lawyer is a professional person practising law as a sol icitor or barrister.
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lay, lie. These two words cause confusion even to native speakers of English because their meanings are related and their forms overlap. Lay is a transitive verb, i.e. it takes an object, and means `to place on a surface, to cause to rest on something'; its past form and past participle are both laid (examples: Please lay it on the floor / The teacher laid the book on the desk / They had laid it on the floor). Lie is intransitive, and means `to rest or be positioned on a surface'; its past for m is lay (i.e. identical with the present form of the other verb), its present p articiple is lying, and its past participle is lain (examples: Go and lie on the bed / She went and lay on the bed / He is lying on the bed / The body had lain in the field for several days). The principal mistakes in the use of these verbs are using lay for lie, laid for lay (past of lie), and lain for laid: We are going to lay [read: lie] under the stars by the seaSun, 1990 / Standing in a semicircle, we had lain [read: laid] all our uniforms and possessi ons at our feetC. Jennings , 1990 / He chose a place between two snoring servants and laid [read: lay] down to sleep , oblivious to the figure watching him from the shadowsP.C. Doherty , 1991.
Back - New Search lay-by, meaning in BrE àn area by the side of an open road where vehicles may stop', has th e plural form lay-bys.
Back - New Search lb. an abbreviation for pound (weight) is derived from Latin libra `pound'. The plural f orm is lb. or lbs.
Back - New Search leadership. The established meanings `the position of a leader' and `the ability to lead' have been joined in the 20c by the meaning `group of leaders':
A dinner for the heads of the Senate Committees and the Leadership on both sides and their wivesL.B. Johnson , 1964 / Following an LDP conference, the party leadership announced on Sept. 19 that it planned to break away from the coalition which had backed Aquino Keesings , 1990.
Back - New Search leading question. In law, a leading question is one which suggests an expected answer to the witne ss, and the use of such questions is strictly controlled by Judges' Rules. In ge neral use the term is often extended to mean a `loaded' or `searching' question, i.e. on e that will lead to other matters: Following the end of the First World War, the leading question in the mining ind ustry was whether or not the state would return the coal mines to their pre-war ownersK. Laybourn , 1990.
Back - New Search lead, led. Lead is the present tense of the verb meaning `to go in front', `to take charge of', etc ., and its past form is led. A common mistake is to use lead for the past form a nd pronounce it led in speech, probably on the false analogy of read: His idea was the one that lead to the solution of the mascara mysteryChicago SunTimes, 1990.
Back - New Search leaf. The noun has the plural form leaves, and the verb has inflected forms leafs, lea fed, leafing (He was leafing through a book).
Back - New Search -leafed, -leaved. Both forms are in use in combinations such as broad-leafed/-leaved and four-leaf ed/-leaved, but there is a preference for -leaved in current use.
Back - New Search leaflet. As a verb, meaning `to distribute leaflets to', leaflet has inflected forms leaflete
d, leafleting.
Back - New Search leak verb. The transitive meaning `to disclose (secret information) intentionally' is, apart fr om an isolated example of 1859, a 20c use, although the practice is doubtless a lot older. It is related to, if not a development of, the phrasal verb to leak o ut, which is first recorded in 1863.
Back - New Search lean verb. The past form and past participle are in BrE either leaned (pronounced leend or lent) or leant (pronounced lent) and usually leaned in AmE. Examples: Georgia Rose leaned forward and blew out every one of her candles Smith , 1983 (U S) / Syl smiled back at me and leaned across and took my handA.T. Ellis , 1987 / His tone was weary, and he leant his head down on one hand Murdoch , 1993.
Back - New Search leap verb. The past form and past participle are in both BrE and AmE either leaped (pronoun ced leept or lept) or leapt (pronounced lept). Examples: I can't say that wretch I leaped in after was much of a loss to the human raceP. Bailey , 1986 / She had leapt on board the boat like a boyNew Yorker, 1994.
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learn verb. 1 The past form and past participle are in BrE either learned (pronounced lernd or lernt) or learnt (pronounced lernt); learned is more usual as the past form a nd, in AmE, as both past form and past participle. Examples: So, what was learned from this experience?Essays & Studies, 1987 /
A point that none of my bright young officers seem to have learnt at schoolB.L. B arder , 1987 / Ideally, you should treat each child as an individual, with his own list of word s to be learntM. Torbe , 1988 / She learned that the vessel had come, and was glad, for she said that the young man would speak for her Dunnett , 1989.
2 The use of learn to mean `to teach', though unexceptionable to writers of earlier ages such as Caxton, Spenser, Bunyan, and Johnson (1755), fell into disfavour ar ound 1800 and appears in non-standard contexts in 19c literature: If she knows her letters it's the most she doesand them I learned her Dickens , 18 65.Top
Back - New Search learned is pronounced as one syllable when it is the past and past participle of learn, and as two syllables (ler-nid) when it is an adjective meaning `having or showing much knowledge'.
Back - New Search learning difficulties. This term became common in the 1980s to describe a wide range of abnormalities i ncluding Down's syndrome, dyslexia, and the complaint known as attention deficit disorder. In emphasizing the difficulty experienced rather than any perceived d eficiency, it is considered less discriminatory than mental handicap and related terms, and is the standard term in official contexts in the UK.
Back - New Search lease on life. In BrE the idiom is take a new lease of life, whereas in AmE it is take a new le ase on life.
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least.
1 Least of all means èspecially not' and should only be used in negative contexts: I am not going to try to play the role of prophet, least of all JeremiahListener, 1973.
2 Use less, not least, when contrasting two things: The latter aircraft was the less pleasant to flyE. Brown , 1983 (an example that is exemplary with regard both to less and to latter).Top
Back - New Search leave, let. Leave is well on its way to forcing out let in certain idiomatic uses, especiall y in leave/let be (Will you leave/let me be? I'm trying to work), leave/let go ( Please leave/let go of the handle), and above all in leave/let alone when it mea ns `to refrain from disturbing, not interfere with' (I'll leave/let you alone to get on with it now). Leave alone is the only possibility when the meaning is `not to have dealings with' (I wish you'd leave the matter alone), and let alone is still dominant in the meaning `still less, not to mention' (They never buy a newspaper, le t alone read one).
Back - New Search leftward, leftwards. The only form of the adjective is leftward (a leftward glance). For the adverb, leftward and leftwards are used both in BrE and AmE (turn leftward/leftwards).
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legalese is a fairly recent term (first recorded in 1914) for the complicated technical l anguage used in legal documents. Legal language has become complex and difficult for the lay person to understand because of a need to be both precise and compr ehensive in the points made; nonetheless, there is now a vigorous campaign in pr ogress, led (in the UK) by the Plain English Campaign and (in the US) by the Pla in English Forum and others, to simplify legal language in everyone's interests. These intentions are hardly new. Nearly 200 years ago, Thomas Jefferson , third president of the US, railed against statutes `which from verbosity, their endless tautologies, their involutions of case within case, and parenthesis within pare
nthesis, and their multiplied efforts at certainty, by saids and aforesaids, by ors and ands, to make them more plain, are really rendered more perplexed and in comprehensible, not only to common readers, but to the lawyers themselves' (quoted in D. Mellinkoff . The Language of the Law, 1963). Tom McArthur , a well-known writer on language, reports in the Oxford Companion to the English Language (199 2), 595, that ìn 1983, an English court ordered a law firm to pay 93,000 damages f or unintentionally misleading a client by using obscure legal language in a letter of advice'. Martin Cutts , in the Plain English Guide (1995), devotes a chapter t o lucid legal language, and gives examples of complex language re-written in a s impler form. As well as indicating complexities of grammatical structure, he poi nts to words and phrases that notoriously cause difficulty to those not versed i n the law: aforesaid, be empowered to, failure to comply with, forthwith, hereto fore, in the event of, pursuant to, the said, thereto, and many others.
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legal, lawful, legitimate, licit. 1 All four words share the basic meaning `conforming to the law'. Something is legal when it is authorized by the law of the land, legitimate when it conforms to cu stom or common justice, and lawful (a more old-fashioned word) when it conforms to moral or divine law. Legal is the only choice in the neutral descriptive mean ing `relating to the law' (as in legal language), and legitimate alone has the meani ng `born of married parents'. Licit, which means much the same as lawful, is the lea st used of all these words, although illicit is somewhat more common. See also I LLEGAL.
2 For legitimate as a verb, See LEGITIMATE, LEGITIMIZE.Top
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legible, readable. In current use legible means `clear enough to be decipherable' (as in legible handwr iting); readable can also have this sense but more often means `well written and i nteresting to read'.
Back - New Search legislation, legislature.
Both words date from the 17c. Legislation is the process of making laws, and the legislature is the body (or group of bodies) that makes them.
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legitimate, legitimize. 1 As a verb, legitimate is pronounced with the last syllable as -ayt and means `to make legitimate or legal'. It competes in both BrE and AmE with legitimize, which is the only form used in the meaning `to make (a child) legitimate': My companion had up his sleeve something that would legitimate his employing my Christian nameJ.I.M. Stewart , 1974 / Had the baby been a boy, he would have seriously considered legitimizing the uni onE. Pizzey , 1983 / You forget the very people who legitimize your authority Achebe , 1987.
2 For legitimate as an adjective, See LEGAL.Top
Back - New Search leisure is pronounced lezh- in BrE and leezh- in AmE.
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lend. 1 See LOAN. Use of lend for borrow (May I lend your pen?) occurs in some British dialects but is non-standard.
2 Use of lend as a noun occurs in British dialect use and colloquially in New Ze aland, but is non-standard:
Could you give me the lend of a bob? Sargeson , 1946 (New Zealand)/ Just ringing this feller to ask if I could have a lend of his gunJ. Howker , 1985 (UK).Top
Back - New Search length should be pronounced with the g fully articulated, not as in tenth.
Back - New Search lengthways, lengthwise. For the adjective only lengthwise is used: The driver was sleeping in a doubledup lengthwise position. For the adverb both forms are available: a hollow tube s plit lengthways/lengthwise.
Back - New Search lese-majesty, meaning `treason' or àn insult to a sovereign or ruler', is pronounced leez maj-is-ti. The French form lse majest is also used in English, and its pronunciation is close r to the French. The term no longer has any legal force in English, having been replaced by treason.
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less. 1 For less and fewer, See FEWER.
2 For much less, See MUCH MORE, MUCH LESS.Top
3 LESS AND LESSER. Less is a comparative form of little, and is used with singul ar mass nouns to mean the opposite of more; less butter / less noise. It cannot be used with plural nouns (in which case FEWER is used), nor with a preceding a or an (in which case an alternative such as lower or smaller is used: I want to pay less rent but I want to pay a lower rent). Lesser is a so-called double comp
arative and means `not so great (i.e. important or significant) as the other or ot hers'; it is preceded by a or the (a lesser man than him / the lesser evil). It is not used to refer to physical size or number; in these cases use smaller, lower , etc.: (a smaller car / a lower price).Top
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-less. 1 This suffix dates back to Old English and is used to form adjectives from noun s (doubtless, endless, powerless). It has also been added to verbs with the mean ing `not affected by the action of the verb', although few of this type survive (cou ntless, dauntless, numberless (possibly from the noun), tireless). As a living s uffix it can now only be added to nouns.
2 A hyphen is used when the suffix is added to a noun ending in -ll (wall-less, will-less), but not when added to one ending in a single l (soulless, tailless). Top
Back - New Search lessee, lessor. The lessee is the person who holds a property by lease, and the lessor is the pe rson who lets a property by lease.
Back - New Search lesser See LESS (3).
Back - New Search lest, despite its slightly archaic flavour, lives on in the language and is one of the mainstays of the subjunctive in English: I shall say nothing about alcohol lest I be pilloried by publicans Critchley , 19 87. An alternative construction, especially after verbs of fearing or apprehensi
on, is with should: I can see you're in a fever lest slick Ben and his moll should get back before y ou make your getaway Marsh , 1962 / And she also felt slightly nervous lest the large house should suddenly disgorge many other hidden residents Drabble , 1988. Use of the indicative is already evi dent, and often sounds perfectly natural (the subjunctive is identifiable only i n the third person singular anyway): He would never have repeated the story lest it weakened our war effortA.N. Wilson , 1977.
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let. 1 A pronoun that follows let in exhortations should be in the objective case (me , him, her, etc.) and not the subjective (I, he, she, etc.), since it is the obj ect of let. Mistakes occur most often when there are two pronouns joined by and or when the pronoun is followed by a clause with who: Let you and I say a few wo rds about this unfortunate affair (read Let you and me ) / Let he who did this be severely punished (read Let him who ).
2 The type let us (or let's) + infinitive is well established in English (Let's hold more chat Shakespeare , 1588). More colloquial forms occur, especiall y in AmE: Let's you and me duck out of hereJ. Macdonald , 1950, but these are considered no n-standard. When let is used to introduce a firm request, rather than a casual s uggestion, the two words should be written separately: Let us try once more.Top
3 The negative form of let's is let's not or (in BrE) don't let's. In AmE, let's don't is used informally.Top
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letter forms.
1 Many of the more formal formulas for writing letters that were noted by Fowler (Your obedient servant, Yours respectfully, etc.) have disappeared even from bu siness letters and the letter pages of the more traditional broadsheets newspape rs. So too has the practice of addressing colleagues by their surnames only (Dea r Jones). The standard forms of opening are: (1) to individuals Dear Mr Smith / Mrs Jones / Ms Brown, or (more informally) Dear John / Jane. The corresponding c onclusion is normally Yours sincerely (with capital Y), or, in the case of peopl e the writer knows well, With kind regards, With best wishes, or some variant or combination of these; (2) in personal correspondence more intimate forms such as My dear John, My dear est Jane, My darling Jim, etc, are used, with an appropriate conclusion such as Yours ever, All love, etc.; (2) in business and other more formal contexts, Dear Sirs / Sir / Madam, with th e conclusion Yours faithfully or (somewhat less formally) Yours truly
2 For forms of address in special cases such as bishops or members of the nobili ty, readers should consult the latest edition of a work such as Debrett's Correc t Form.Top
Back - New Search leukaemia is the spelling for the disease in BrE, and leukemia in AmE.
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level. 1 The phrase at level is well established and has a useful role to play: No work is at present supported at international level on oil seeds such as sunf lower, safflower and rapeseedNature, 1974 / The Treasury took the lead in setting up official inter-departmental committees, some at permanent-secretary level Wilson , 1976.
2 Level playing field is a vogue use of the 1980s and 1990s referring to a spher e of activity that offers no advantage to any particular side. It has achieved t
he status of clich in record time, and the verbal plays are already being rammed down our throats, especially by journalists with column-inches to fill: That is not a level playing field. It is not even just a home-field advantage. I t is like asking their competitors to play ball in a swampWashington journalism R eview, 1990.Top
3 For the verb, the inflected forms are levelled, levelling in BrE and leveled, leveling in AmE.Top
Back - New Search leverage. The first syllable is pronounced leev in BrE and lev in AmE.
Back - New Search liable, likely See APT.
Back - New Search liaise, liaison. The noun liaison, pronounced li-ay-zon in BrE and in various ways in AmE, became fully anglicized early in the 20c, replacing its nasalized final syllable with a normal one. Since the early 20c, it has had the meaning àn illicit sexual relat ionship'; curiously the verb liaise has not developed a corresponding meaning but is restricted to military and business contexts and is a key word in management jargon in the sense `cooperate or have direct dealings': The coordinating nurse on each shift `liaises' with the admissions office regarding bed availabilityProfessional Nurse, 1992.
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libel, slander. 1 Libel is a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation , whereas slander is a malicious false statement that is spoken about a person. In popular usage the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but the differenc
e should always be borne in mind. The legal issue has become more complicated in recent years now that uncertainty exists about how far the word published can b e extended to cover email, Internet websites, and other forms of electronic (as distinct from print) media of communication.
2 As a verb, libel has inflected forms libelled, libelling in BrE and usually li beled, libeling in AmE.Top
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licence, license. In BrE, the noun is spelt licence and the verb license (and so licensed premises , licensing hours, etc., although licenced is occasionally seen and can be justi fied on the ground that it is formed from the noun rather than the verb). In AmE , both the noun and the verb are spelt license.
Back - New Search lichee See LYCHEE.
Back - New Search lichen. The dominant pronunciation of the plant name is liy-kan (as liken), although lic h-n is also heard in BrE (though not in AmE).
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lich-gate, meaning à roofed gateway to a churchyard', is spelt lich-, not lych-. It is derived from the Old English word lc meaning `corpse', because the gateway was formerly use d at burials for sheltering a coffin until the clergyman's arrival.
Back - New Search licorice See LIQUORICE.
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lie See LAY, LIE.
Back - New Search lie, = tell an untruth, has inflected forms lies, lied, lying.
Back - New Search lien, meaning à right over another's property to protect a debt charged on that propert y', is pronounced lee-n or leen.
Back - New Search lieutenant is pronounced lef-tennt in BrE (but with the -f- sound usually omitted when refe rring to the navy) and loo-ten-nt in AmE. The -f- sound in BrE may be due to a ( pre-19c) reading of Old French lieu as liev or lief.
Back - New Search life. The plural is lives except that the art term still life has the plural form stil l lifes.
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life cycle. The term is first recorded in 1873 in its biological meaning `the series of change s in the life of an organism', and this is the only meaning given in the current e dition (1999) of the Concise Oxford Dictionary. During the course of the 20c, ho wever, it has developed extended meanings, and in the 1940s the anthropologist M argaret Mead wrote of the modern man: Here he is, only in middle age, and his life is over no new fields to conquer So while he is not out of a job the very nature of the life-cycle in America is su ch that he feels like an old manMale and Female, 1949. The term is now found in t he context of other human activities involving origin, development, change, and eventual decline and death, such as business and economics: In principle the task of the project manager is to up of people to complete a project life cycleS.A. l development of meaning when a cycle of events is taken not to use the term in contexts in which the ord such as process would do. plan, organize and lead a gro Bergen , 1990. This is a natura involved, but care should be simple word life or another w
Back - New Search life insurance See ASSURE, ASSURANCE.
Back - New Search lifelong, livelong. Lifelong (19c) is a combination of life and long, and means `lasting or continuing for a lifetime' (his lifelong companion). Livelong, pronounced liv-long, is a muc h older word (15c) and is a combination of lief, meaning `dear beloved', and long. I t is a literary word used as an intensive or emotional form of long in describin g periods of time (e.g. the livelong day).
Back - New Search lifestyle. The term will be familiar to modern readers in the meaning given in the Concise Oxford Dictionary (1995): `the particular way of life of a person or group', althoug h it has a much older, specialized meaning introduced to the language of psychol ogy by the neurologist Alfred Adler in the 1920s. In recent years it has been ab sorbed into marketing jargon to mean `the sum total of the behaviour patterns and likes and dislikes of particular customers or a section of the market' and has dev eloped an attributive or adjectival use (i.e. coming before a noun): The latest lifestyle choice for the vibrant elderly is the `retirement village'Indepe ndent, 1995. In some contexts, way of life, or even just life, seems preferable to a word that has become so bogged down in promotional hype. The derivative wor d lifestyler, meaning `someone with a special lifestyle' has an ephemeral ring but i s occasionally found:
The centre is built on a hilltop amid a broadleaf wood and is home to a communit y of proselytising alternative lifestylersHoliday Which?, 1991.
Back - New Search ligature, in printing, is a pair of letters printed in a joined form, e.g. . See DIGRAPH.
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light. 1 The phrase in the light of, meaning `having regard to, considering', is more often heard in the form in light of in AmE: In light of what you've told us, we have decided to leave earlier.
2 In BrE the past tense and past participle of the verb are usually both lit (We lit the fire when it grew dark / He had already lit his pipe / The streets are all well lit), but lighted is also used when the use is adjectival and there is no qualifying adverb (She had a lighted cigarette in her hand). In AmE, lighted is often used in contexts where lit would be normal in BrE: She lighted a candle and turned off the lampNew Yorker, 1987.Top
Back - New Search lightning, lightening. Lightning is the spelling with reference to electrical flashes in the sky (thund er and lightning), whereas lightening is a form of the verb lighten (the lighten ing of burdens). Lightning is originally a contracted form of lightening.
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like.
1 LIKE AS A CONJUNCTION. Like is used as a preposition in the sentence Please tr y to write like me and as a conjunction in the sentence Please try to write like I do. In the second sentence, like is used instead of as, and this use seems st ill to be one of the cardinal issues by which a person's awareness of what is co rrect or incorrect grammar is judged. Fowler (1926) wrote that èvery illiterate p erson uses this construction daily; it is the established way of putting the thi ng among all who have not been taught to avoid it'; and Evelyn Waugh wrote of his close friend and fellow writer Henry Green in the 1940s that ònly one thing disco ncerted me The proletarian grammarthe likes for ases, the bikes for bicycles'. Nonetheless, there is plenty of good evidence for this use. The OED gives exampl es from Shakespeare , Southey , William Morris , and other good writers. In more recent usage, like is often used as a conjunction in three principal ways; (1) with the verb repeated or a form of do replacing it (They didn't talk like other people talked Amis , 1981 / I'm afraid it might happen to my baby like it happened to JeffersonNew Yorker, 19 87 / The retsina flowed like the Arno did when it overflowed in 1966Spectator, 1987), (2) in AmE and Australian English, though less in BrE, to mean às if' or às though' I wanted him born and now it feels like I don't want himE. Jolley , 1985 (Austral ia) / She acts like she can't help it Smith , 1987 (US), (3) replacing as in fixed or s emi-fixed expressions such as as I said: Like you say, you're a dead woman Wesley , 1983 / Like I said, I haven't seen Rudi for weeks Keneally , 1985. Clearly, like continues to assert its right to be regarded as a conjunction, and there is little doubt that this right will be recognized in time. For the prese nt, the advice has to be: when as (or as if or as though) can be substituted for like, use these alternatives, which are absolutely safe: They didn't talk as ot her people talked / Now it feels as if I didn't want him.
2 LIKE AS A PREPOSITION. There is, thank goodness, normally no problem with this use, in which like governs a noun or noun phrase and not a clause: The Pope was confined like a prisoner in the VaticanR. Strange , 1986. A minor di fficulty arises occasionally when like is used to mean `such as', since it is not al ways clear whether the person or thing specified is included. For example, the t itle of Kingsley Amis's novel Take a Girl Like You (1960) could be taken to mean à girl, for example, you' or à girl resembling you'. To resolve the ambiguity, the bo ok would have to be called Take a Girl such as You, which it understandably isn' t.Top
3 USE OF LIKE AS A FILLER. In this use, like is added parenthetically to a state ment. This is conversational only, and even then is often disapproved of as nonstandard: Hayley was pleased. `That's him. He's, like, got her hypnotized.' Gee , 1990.Top
4 LIKE IN IDIOMATIC PHRASES. This category includes phrases such as like always, like anything, like fun, like mad. These again belong only in informal conversa tional style: They wept like anything to see Such quantities of sand Carroll , 1872 / Skate was with him like alwaysM. Doane , 1988.Top
Back - New Search like verb. I should like is normal in BrE and I would like in other varieties, although in practice the contracted form I'd like is common, especially in speech. These for ms are followed either by a to-infinitive (I should like to come too) or by an o bject followed by a to-infinitive (They would like us to come too). The past for m is should (or would) have liked to, and in this case the normal to-infinitive should follow, e.g. I should have liked to come too, not I should have liked to have come too (but I should like to have come too is also possible). The constru ction like + for + object + to-infinitive is largely confined to AmE: I'd like very much for you to meet himNew Yorker, 1988.
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-like. In occasional or less familiar formations, and when the first part ends in -l, a hyphen is used (cat-like, eel-like), but more established combinations are spel t as one word (childlike, lifelike, statesmanlike).
Back - New Search likeable is the preferred form, not likable.
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likely. 1 As an adverb, likely needs the support of a qualifying or intensifying word su ch as more, quite, or very (They've quite likely left by now / It's more likely a toadstool), whereas in AmE it often stands alone: It is possible to predict that within a few years the microfiche likely will mov e into the study and homePublishers' Weekly, 1971.
2 For use of apt, liable, and likely, See APT.Top
Back - New Search likewise, like also, is used as an adverb and not a conjunction in standard English: Go an d do likewise / They likewise prefer reading. In uses where it might be a conjun ction, it normally needs the support of a genuine conjunction such as and: A hea ted window, and likewise rear wipers, are essential. It is, however, permissible for likewise to stand at the head of a sentence, where its role is still mainly adverbial: St Paul's Cathedral is one of the most easily recognizable sights of London. Likewise the Eiffel Tower is one of the most easily recognizable sights of Paris.
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-lily. Few adjectives in -ly form adverbs in -lily because they are too awkward to use. As Fowler noted (1926), ìt is always possible to say in a masterly manner, at a timely moment, and the like, instead of masterlily, timelily'. Some adjectives in -ly retain the same form for the corresponding adverb, e.g. kindly. A few forms in -lily exist, all adjectives in which -ly is part of the stem rather than an a djectival ending: holily, jollily, sillily, wilily.
Back - New Search limey, limy. Limey is the adjective corresponding to the fruit called lime, whereas limy rela tes to the caustic alkaline substance. Limey (with a capital initial letter) is an AmE slang term for a person from Britain, and arose from the enforced consump tion of lime-juice in the British navy.
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limit, as a verb, has inflected forms limited, limiting. Limit means `to put a limit on', i .e. `restrict', whereas delimit means `to determine the boundaries of', and is used with reference to territories, frontiers, etc.
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lineament, liniment. Lineament, pronounced as four syllables with the first three like linear, means à distinctive feature of the face', and is normally used in the plural. Liniment (t hree syllables) is an embrocation.
Back - New Search lingo, a colloquial word for a language or the special vocabulary of a language, has th e plural form lingos.
Back - New Search liniment See LINEAMENT.
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linking r is the sounding of a normally silent r when a vowel sound follows, as in a pair of gloves and pour out the tea. This is quite correct, but See INTRUSIVE R.
Back - New Search liquefy, meaning `to make liquid', is spelt -efy, not -ify. Its inflected forms are liquefies , liquefied, liquefying.
Back - New Search liqueur, the strong sweet alcoholic spirit, is spelt with two us.
Back - New Search liquidate, liquidize. Liquidate is the word used in business contexts and in the sense èliminate by kil ling'. Liquidize is a more recent word meaning `to make liquid' (in physical senses) a nd is now principally used in the context of the kitchen liquidizer which blends ingredients and makes pures.
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liquorice is the BrE spelling, and licorice the AmE spelling, of the word denoting a black root extract used as a sweet.
Back - New Search lira, the chief monetary unit of Italy, has the plural form lire, which in English is pronounced in the same way as the singular.
Back - New Search lit See LIGHT.
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litany, liturgy. A litany (from Greek lit `prayer') is a prayer couched in the form of a sequence of petitions. It has a figurative use in expressions such as a litany of curses or woes. A liturgy (from Greek leitourgia `public service, public worship') is a prescr ibed form of worship, embracing many individual prayers and petitions.
Back - New Search litchi See LYCHEE.
Back - New Search literally. Few words have the capacity to cause such mirth: My grandfather, King George VI, who had literally been catapulted onto the thron e Edward as quoted in Private Eye, 1998. There will always be occasions when this type of hilarity is best avoided; on the other hand, a little linguistic reflec tion will reveal a logical rigour behind a much derided use. 1 The literal (16c) meaning of literally is ìn a literal sense': This was a china warehouse indeed, truly and literally to be called so Defoe , 17 19. It is still used in this way, with reference to the meaning of individual wo rds (with the word mean often explicitly present) and to the broader sense in wh ich phrases and sentences are to be understood: He was literally too tired to moveJ. Gores , 1972 / The cracker in Georgia cracker literally means a person who still cracks cornS.B. Flexner , 1982. 2 In the course of time, literally became caught up in the language of metaphor, in which English abounds, and we find this type of use: Every day with me is literally another yesterday for it is exactly the same Pope , 1708. From this it is a short step for the word to become an intensifier conta ined wholly within metaphor: For the last four years I literally coined moneyF.A. Kemble , 1863. In other exam ples we can see the word half in and half out of the realm of metaphor: Crabs and lobsters are literally to be found crawling round the floor waiting fo
r an orderGood Food Guide, 1973 (the creatures are physically crawling around the floor but are, we may assume, only metaphorically waiting for an order). 3 This historical development explains how the word has apparently reversed its meaning; in fact it has done no such thing but has been absorbed into the metaph or; once understood as part of the verbal image and not as external to it, the u se makes good linguistic sense. It is doubtful though whether this rationale wil l satisfy those who see the developed meaning of literally as sloppy and inappro priate (which it rarely is) or as ludicrous (which it sometimes appears to be): Most of the buildings on the corniche have literally been face-liftedBlitz, 1989 / They [sc. supermarkets] can literally play God, even to the point of sending foo d back to the genetic drawing board for a redesignGuardian, 1995. 4 In another very common type, literally introduces a fixed expression or clich t hat has some particular (often punning) relevance to the context: We have lived in a wonderful variety of houses, including a leaking gothic horro r of a Victorian rectory in deepest Sussex that was literally falling to piecesMe dau News, 1980 / There is a catastrophic ìmplosion' followed by a shock-wave which literally blows t he star apart in what is called a supernova outburst Moore , 1990 / Today, Cerezo's letter to the villagers is literally carved in stone; a six-foot -high marble and stone replica stands opposite 13 rough wooden crosses, marking the spots where the villagers fellNew Statesman, 1992. 5 The conclusion is: avoid using literally when the effect might be distracting or comic; but it can be used to good effect in cases where it reinforces a stron g verbal image.
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litotes, pronounced liy-toh-teez or li-toh-teez, is a figure of speech in which an assert ion is made by means of understatement or denial of an opposite, as when St Paul declared that he was à citizen of no mean city' (Acts 21:39). Typical modern examp les include not bad (= very good), not uncommon (= quite frequent), and it was n othing (as a statement dismissing one's own achievement). Litotes is therefore t he opposite of HYPERBOLE or overstatement.
Back - New Search litre is the BrE spelling for the metric unit, and liter the AmE spelling.
Back - New Search liturgy See LITANY.
Back - New Search liveable is the preferred form, not livable.
Back - New Search -lived See LONG-LIVED; SHORT-LIVED.
Back - New Search livid. The meaning that is more familiar today, `furiously angry', is a recent one not reco rded before the 20c. The earlier (17c) meaning, still in use, is òf a bluish lead en colour; discoloured by bruising': A huge, livid, recently healed scar ran along the right side of his faceP. Abraha ms , 1985.
Back - New Search living-room See SITTING-ROOM.
Back - New Search llama See LAMA.
Back - New Search -l-, -llMuch confusion is caused by differing spelling practice in BrE and AmE in verbs
of two syllables pronounced with the stress on the second syllable, e.g. enthral l/enthral and fulfil/fulfill. Practice varies even within each variety of Englis h; the following table lists the recommended spellings: BRE AME annul annul appal appall befall befall distil distill enrol enroll enthral enthrall extol extol fulfil fulfill install install instil instill
The recommended spellings for nouns in -ment are: BRE AME annulment annulment enrolment enrollment enthralment enthrallment extolment extolment fulfilment fulfillment instalment installment instilment instillment
For the spelling of inflected forms of verbs in -l (appal, appalled, appalling, etc.) See DOUBLING OF FINAL CONSONANTS IN INFLECTION.
Back - New Search Lloyd's, Lloyds. The name of the London society of underwriters is spelt Lloyd's (also Lloyd's li st, Lloyd's Register), whereas the name of the bank is Lloyds Bank (no apostroph e).
Back - New Search loadstar, loadstone See LODESTAR, LODESTONE.
Back - New Search loaf. The plural form of the noun is loaves; the third person singular of the verb is loafs.
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loan verb. In 19c British English, loan was a standard alternative for lend, but by the tim e Fowler wrote (1926) loan had been largely driven out by lend, although it has continued in use in AmE. In current use loan is mostly confined to non-British v arieties of English: Delaney told him he could loan him $50 a week Keneally , 1985 (Australia) / The problem was how to stretch the small amount of money he had been loaned by H err Pfuehl Desai (India). But it is used in BrE too in the context of making some thing valuable (such as a work of art) available by a formal arrangement to an i nstitution for a period: It is part of the Christ Church plate in the treasury showcase, which also displ ays many items loaned by parishes within the dioceseChrist Church Oxford: A Pitki n Guide, 1991 (an alternative, more pleasing to some, is on loan from). In norma l contexts, however, loan is a so-called `needless variant' of lend.
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loanword is a word adopted, normally with little change in form, from another language. E xamples in English are blitz (from German) and locale (from French; see below).
Back - New Search loath, meaning àverse, reluctant', as in loath to comment, is spelt loath, not loth, and i s pronounced lohth (like both). It should be distinguished from the verb loathe meaning `to hate', which is pronounced lohdh. The adjective loathsome, meaning `hatefu l, repulsive', is derived from loathe and is pronounced lohdh-sm.
Back - New Search locale, meaning à scene or locality, especially with reference to an event or occurrence taking place there', was adopted in the 18c from French in the form local and resp elt in the 19c by writers such as Walter Scott to indicate that the stress lay o n the second syllable (loh-kahl).
Back - New Search locate is an 18c Americanism that still has a transatlantic flavour, especially in its intransitive use (without an object) as in Numerous industries have located in t he area. In BrE, this use is more common in the form relocate, also originally a n Americanism (19c): I am advising your colleague to relocate McCrum , 1991. In both varieties, to be located is a synonym for `to be situated' (The supermarket is located in the norther n outskirts of the city), but again its American sound can cause disquiet among British language purists.
Back - New Search locum tenens. To avoid having to pronounce the second word at all (tee-nenz is the preferred o ption), this term for à deputy standing in for a doctor or cleric' is best shortene d to locum (pronounced loh-km). The plural then is locums. The plural of the ful l form is the somewhat unusable locum tenentes.
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lodestar, lodestone
are the preferred spellings, not load-.
Back - New Search loggia, a word of Italian origin meaning àn open-sided gallery or arcade', is pronounced lo j-, and has the plural form loggias.
Back - New Search lonelily, though good enough for Matthew Arnold (The weird chipping of the woodpecker Rang lonelily and sharp, 1852), is too awkward for everyday use, and is best replace d by the type ìn a lonely fashion'. See -LILY.
Back - New Search long. The conjunction as long as has two main meanings: (1) `during the whole time that' ( You can stay as long as you like), and (2) `provided that, only if' (You can stay as long as you help me)
. In the second meaning, it is more likely to be preceded by a comma (You can st ay, as long as you help me), and the shortened form long as is occasionally foun d in informal reported conversation: Ìt's all right,' he said, `long as you are here' Greene , 1938.
Back - New Search longevity, meaning `long life', is pronounced lon-jev-i-ti, not long-gev-i-ti.
Back - New Search longitude. The recommended pronunciation is lon-ji-tyood rather than long-gi-tyood. Beware of pronouncing it, let alone spelling it, longtitude.
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long-lived is pronounced long-livd in BrE and long-liyvd in AmE.
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look. 1 NON-STANDARD USES. There are various idiomatic uses of look that are confined to particular parts of the English-speaking world and are not part of standard E nglish: for example look you as a way of attracting attention, found in Shakespe are (Why, look you, how you storm!The Merchant of Venice 1.iii.140) and still used in Wales, looky here (an AmE variant of look here), and the colloquial AmE (20c) f orm lookit used with the meaning `Look!' or `Listen!'.
2 LOOK + TO-INFINITIVE. I shall hereafter look to be treated as a person of respectabilityT. Huxley , 190 0. This type, meaning `to expect', has been in continuous use since the 16c but is b eginning to sound dated and is falling into disuse. Still in regular use is a fo rm of this in which the continuous tense is used (am looking, etc.) and the sens e is more of hope or intention than of expectation: I am looking to the government to help to solve the problemoral source, 1987 / The home team will be looking to get a result against the visitors next SaturdayT imes, 1988. In a third type, look + to-infinitive means `to look as if, to appear': The owl looked to be encircled by six cloaked hitmenJ.E. Maslow , 1982. Although there is a theoretical risk of ambiguity here, this does not seem to occur in pr actice.Top
3 LOOK + ADVERBS AND ADJECTIVES. The meaning we are concerned with here is àppear , seem'. Uses with an adverb complement (as in Shakespeare's The skies looke griml y) are now virtually extinct. A possible exception is the phrase to look well (= to appear to be in good health), but even here well is virtually an adjective. Uses with adjectives are normal, as in to look black, blue, cold, elderly, fooli sh, small, stupid, etc.Top
4 LOOK LIKE + CLAUSE You look to me like you was made out of old wichetty grubs White , 1961 (Australi a) / Looks like your child's birthday is news again this yearGuardian, 1973. For this construction, See LIKE (1).Top
Back - New Search loom large See LARGE, LARGELY.
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loose, loosen. Both words involve removal of restraints, physical or otherwise. The difference is that loose releases or sets free whereas loosen only makes more loose (or les s tight). To loose a prisoner from his bonds is to set him free; to loosen his b onds is to make them less tight although he remains a captive. Unwelcome things are loosed on people when people have to endure them: Another miserable heritage of Watergate has been the bilge loosed on the public by psychopathic jargoneers and belly-achersNew York Law Journal, 1973. See also L OSE.
Back - New Search Lord's, the name of the London cricket ground, is spelt with an apostrophe.
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lose. The verb lose is occasionally written as loose, especially by writers in a hurry . The verb loose has a quite different meaning, and has enough problems of its o
wn (See LOOSE, LOOSEN).
Back - New Search lose out, meaning `to be unsuccessful', is recorded in AmE from the mid-19c and is now common in BrE as well. It has various shades of meaning, and is not simply a synonym fo r lose. Followed by on, it means `not to get a fair chance in': Like most birds she didn't want to lose out on a nosh-upA. Draper , 1970. Followe d by to, it means `be defeated or worsted by': The popular press, thrown off balance and uncertain of its role, lost out to the heavies and the provincialsAuthor, 1971.
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lost causes. Each generation has its own preoccupations about language, and the transitory na ture of some of these tends to be overlooked. Some issues of current concern are listed at the entry for FETISH; these include the split infinitive, the ending of a sentence with a preposition, use of the sentence adverb hopefully, and the use of from after different. None of these concerns has any firm basis in gramma r or language structure; the split infinitive, for example, is a 19c superstitio n. In the 18c, Dr Johnson disliked words that he classified as `low words' (he did n ot use the term `slang') such as bogus, coax, joke, flog, prim, rogue, snob, and spr ee; all these are now accepted items of general vocabulary. Among Fowler's stric tures that we may now regard as lost causes are: agenda (use agendum for the sin gular), belittle (= disparage, an undesirable alien), cachet (should be èxpelled as an alien'), data (plural only), caption (in the sense `title or heading': `rare and m ight well be rarer'), category (use class), clever (= well-read or studious, `much m isused, especially in feminine conversation'), coastal and tidal (badly formed bar barisms), conservative (= moderate, cautious in estimating), distinctly (as in d istinctly interesting), malnutrition (à word to be avoided'), negotiate (= tackle s uccessfully, an ìmproper' sense), and suchlike (= the like, `now usually left to the uneducated'). See also IF AND WHEN. More recently, strictures on the use of decima te and involve, on the pronunciation of multi-syllable words such as controversy and formidable, and on newer words of mixed origin (such as television), have a ll joined the band of lost causes. To regard them in this way is a recognition o f the force of language change, rather than a concession to declining standards.
Back - New Search lot. The phrases a lot of and lots of (a lot of time / lots of people) are common and highly versatile, being used freely with singular (mass) nouns and plural nouns
. In positive contexts, a lot of is idiomatic (There is a lot of time) and lots of is informal; in negative contexts, much or many or a great deal of are usuall y better alternatives in more formal contexts (We do not have much time).
Back - New Search loud, loudly. Loud is occasionally used as an adverb, especially in semi-fixed expressions suc h as loud and clear (I can hear you loud and clear: loudly and clearly could als o be used here, but would sound less natural). In other contexts it is used info rmally, but loudly is the better choice: She spoke loud enough for the whole cla ss to hear.
Back - New Search louvre, meaning `(one of) a set of overlapping slats for ventilation', is spelt in this way in BrE and louver in AmE.
Back - New Search lovable is the preferred spelling, not loveable.
Back - New Search love. In literature of the 16c to 19c, the expression to make love to means `to court, t o be amorous towards' (`Whos had the impudence to make love to my sister!' cried Harry Meredith , 1861), w hereas in modern literature it means `to have sexual intercourse with'. This more sp ecific meaning arose during the 20c, and has driven out the older meaning much a s the sexual sense of intercourse has driven out, or at least compromised, all i ts other uses. Regard for the date of writing is therefore important on encounte ring the expression in print.
Back - New Search lovelily, despite a long history (first recorded c.1300) and use by great writers (So lovelily the morning shone Byron , 1813), now seems too awkward for everyday use, and is best replaced by the type ìn a lovely manner'. See -LILY.
Back - New Search lovey, a colloquial form of address to a loved one or (in more recent use) to a theatri cal colleague, is spelt in this way, not lovy.
Back - New Search low, lowly. Low is an adjective (a low ceiling) and adverb (to aim low / to lie low). Lowly is an adjective meaning `humble, modest' (of lowly station); its use as an adverb is now largely confined to poetry.
Back - New Search lunch, luncheon. Lunch is now the standard word for a midday meal, and luncheon seems affectedly formal (although it is used, perhaps not surprisingly, in the commercial term lu ncheon voucher).
Back - New Search lunge, meaning `to make a sudden movement forward', has the participial form lunging, not l ungeing, which means èxercising a horse with a long rope (or lunge)'.
Back - New Search luxuriant, luxurious. These two words, both connected with the word luxury (in turn derived from the L atin word luxus meaning àbundance'), have got in each other's way since the 17c. No netheless, their meanings are distinct, as R. M. Ballantyne recognized in two us es in his Coral Island (1858): The trees and bushes were very luxuriant / Altoge ther this was the most luxurious supper we had enjoyed for many a day. Essential ly, luxurious, the more general word, means `rich or abundant in luxuries or comfo rts' whereas luxuriant has the specific meaning `rich or abundant in foliage or vege tation'.
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-ly forms adverbs (boldly, quickly; see ADVERB (2)) and adjectives (goodly, kindly). Some adjectives form adverbs in -ly in addition to being used as adverbs themse lves, always with distinctions in meaning (e.g. dear / dearly, direct / directly , hard / hardly, right / rightly, tight / tightly). See the entries for these wo rds, and for other aspects see -EDLY; -LILY.
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lychee (pronounced liy-chee), the name of a Chinese fruit, is spelt this way rather tha n lichee or litchi, although these forms are dominant in AmE (and are pronounced lee-chee).
Back - New Search lych-gate See LICH-GATE.
Back - New Search lyric, lyrical. Lyric is the adjective to use when referring to a type of poetry that expresses the poet's feelings in set forms such as an ode or sonnet (lyric poet / lyric ve rses). A lyric is a poem of this kind, and in modern use lyrics (plural) denotes the words of a popular song. Lyrical is occasionally used for the adjective lyr ic (as in Wordsworth's title Lyrical Ballads, 1798), but predominantly means ùsin g language appropriate to lyric poetry', and is therefore more allusive and descri ptive. It is also used in the expression wax lyrical, meaning `to talk in enthusia stic terms about something'.
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* * *
macabre is pronounced m-kah-br, although it tends to sound like m-kah-b, with the last r lost, in rapid speech.
Back - New Search Macchiavellian, a noun and adjective denoting a politically devious schemer, is spelt with a cap ital initial letter and two ls.
Back - New Search machination, meaning `scheming, laying plots', is pronounced mak-i-nay-shn or mash-i-nay-shn.
Back - New Search machismo, meaning à show of masculinity', is at an early stage of naturalization into English and its pronunciation varies between m-chiz-moh and m-kiz-moh.
Back - New Search macho is a shortened form of machismo, and is mostly used as an adjective meaning `showi ly masculine, virile'.
Back - New Search mackintosh, the waterproof coat, is spelt with a k, although the inventor's name was Charles Macintosh. The shortened form mac is often used instead.
Back - New Search Mac-, Mc-.
In English dictionaries and lists of names, it is usual to order all names spelt with these prefixes as if they were spelt Mac-, so that a user who is unsure of the spelling does not have a lengthy search. A typical sequence is therefore Ma ccabees, McCarthyism, mace, macle, McNaughten rules, macram. In American practice , however, it is more usual to place names beginning with Mc- at their literal p lace in the sequence, i.e. after words in mac- and any in mb-, so that McCarthy might appear more than twenty pages further on than Macdonald.
Back - New Search mad. The primary meaning of the adjective, `suffering from mental illness', has been in c ontinuous use since Old English, although it is no longer a part of medical usag e. Its extended meaning `foolish', as in a mad undertaking, is also Old English, the meaning àngry' (common especially in AmE) is 14C, and the idiomatic uses as in lik e mad and mad about football both date from the 17c.
Back - New Search madam, madame. The English form madam is a now somewhat formal or affectedly courteous form of address to a woman (Dear Madam / Madam Chairman / Can I help you, madam?). When addressing royalty, the shorter form ma'am is used. Madame, pronounced m-dahm, i s the right form of address to a woman from any foreign nation (not necessarily French), and is also a term (should one be needed) for a woman brothel-keeper.
Back - New Search maelstrom, an originally Dutch word meaning à state of great confusion', is pronounced mayl-st rm.
Back - New Search maestro, meaning à distinguished musician or artist', is pronounced miy-stroh, and has plura l forms maestri (miy-stri) or maestros.
Back - New Search Mafia, pronounced maf-i-, is spelt with a capital initial when it refers to the organiz ed international body of criminals in Sicily, southern Italy, and the US; a memb er of the Mafia is a Mafioso (maf-i-oh-zoh), plural Mafiosi (maf-i-oh-zi). The f
orm mafia, with small initial, is used in the extended meaning àny group exerting a sinister hidden influence' (as in the literary mafia).
Back - New Search Magdalen, Magdalene. The names of the colleges in Oxford (Magdalen) and Cambridge (Magdalene) are pro nounced maw-dlin. In the full biblical name Mary Magdalene (= of Magdala in Gali lee), Magdalene is pronounced mag-d-lin or mag-d-lee-ni. The form magdalen, pron ounced mag-d-lin, is used in the meanings à reformed prostitute' or à home for refor med prostitutes'.
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Magi, as in the three Magi, is pronounced may-jiy. It is the plural of magus (may-gs), which denotes a member of a priestly caste in ancient Persia.
Back - New Search magic, magical. The two words compete with one another in all the main senses, `relating to magic', `p roduced by or as if by magic', and `wonderful', although magic is used exclusively in certain fixed expressions such as magic lantern and magic square. When used in i ts descriptive role, magic still behaves more like a noun than an adjective; oth erwise, magic and magical are largely interchangeable, however close or remote t he connection with magic and related phenomena: in the evenings, when the afterglow makes the whole valley magicJ. Ashe , 1993 / She had not been kissed for over two years and it was magicalP. Wilson , 1993 / The waters here are magically calm and peacefulB. King & A. Chambers , 1993. In t he second half of the 20c, magic has come to be used informally both in attribut ive position (before a noun) and by itself as a term of enthusiastic approval (W e had a magic time / It's magic!).
Back - New Search magma, meaning `fluid material under the earth's surface', has the plural form magmas (no l onger magmata).
Back - New Search Magna Carta is the usual spelling now for the famous English charter of 1215, although Magna Charta, once the dominant form, is still sometimes found, especially in AmE. Go wers (1965) reported that ìn a Bill introduced in 1946 authorizing the Trustees o f the British Museum to lend a copy to the Library of Congress, Charta was the s pelling used. But when the Bill reached committee stage in the House of Lords, t he Lord Chancellor (Lord Jowitt ) moved to substitute Carta and produced conclus ive evidence that that was the correct spelling. The amendment was carried witho ut a division; so Carta has now unimpeachable authority.' It should be mentioned t hat Charta and Carta are both valid forms in Latin.
Back - New Search magneto, a shortened form of magneto-electric machine, has the plural form magnetos.
Back - New Search magus see MAGI.
Back - New Search major is commonly used, especially in journalism, to mean ìmportant, significant', withou t any notion of comparison inherent in the word's origins. A political leader in variably gives a major speech, a reference book is published in a major new edit ion, and major accidents occur regularly on main roads and motorways. This use i s too well established for it to be condemned, but major is better used when the element of comparison is present, so that a major work is important relative to other lesser works, a major road is contrasted with a minor one, and so on.
Back - New Search major-general has the plural form major-generals.
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majority We are concerned here with three related uses, two of them relatively straightfo rward and one that gives rise to a difficulty: 1 MAJORITY = À SUPERIORITY IN NUMBERS', especially in political contexts, `the amount by which a winning vote exceeds the next': The amendment was passed by a large ma jority / The labour candidate's majority was increased by 15%. The verb followin g this use is always singular. (Note that in AmE, majority means the amount by w hich the winning vote exceeds all the others, i.e. what in BrE is called an over all majority; for the meaning given above plurality is used.) 2 MAJORITY = `THE GREATER NUMBER OR PART'. Any future Prime Minister to whom the donnish majority was prepared to give an h onorary doctorate would be one whose policies found favour with themTimes, 1985 / The vast majority have now come to terms with their destinyEncounter, 1987. The v erb following this use can be either singular or plural, depending on whether co llectivity or individuality is the stronger notion. 3 MAJORITY OF + PLURAL NOUN. The vast majority of Luxembourgers speak Letzeburgesch at homeGuardian, 1972 / A majority of them come from the Scheduled CastesTimes of India, 1972 / It is clear from opinion polls that the very large majority of people in Scotlan d wish to remain part of BritainTimes, 1976 / The majority of school buildings are dilapidated and decayingEncounter, 1987. The verb following this use is invariably plural, and the noun following majority o f should always be plural; uses with singular nouns (the majority of the work / the majority of the time) are unidiomatic unless these are words such as group, population, etc. which denote a collection of individuals: Gillray, in common with the vast majority of his public, did not want to take th e Jacobin sideM. Billig , 1991 / The majority of the working population in the 1960s, around two-thirds of the la bour force, was employed in service occupationsJ. Allen , 1988.
Back - New Search malapropisms. Fowler (1926) was right to point out that malapropisms, or `the use of a word in m istake for one sounding similar', occur occasionally, as `single spies, not in batta lions, one in an article, perhaps, instead of four in a sentence', unlike the utte rances of the eponymous Mrs Malaprop in Sheridan's The Rivals of 1775 in which t hey come thick and fast. Two modern examples: One, a head of English, could not explain the function of an intransigent [inste ad of intransitive] verb and advised me to `forget it'letter in Sunday Times, 1988 /
When she heard our Gloucester house was haunted, she uttered the immortal line, 'You'll have to get the vicar in to circumcise [instead of exorcise] it'J. Cooper , 1991.
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male, masculine, manly. 1 Both male and masculine entered the language from Old French in the 14C and ra pidly took on distinct roles. Male is used as an adjective and noun, contrasting with the unrelated word female, to designate the sex of humans, animals, and pl ants that can beget offspring by insemination or fertilization. Masculine is use d only of humans and has two additional meanings: (1) denoting characteristics o r qualities associated with men, and (2) contrasted with feminine and neuter, denoting a class of grammatical gender. Both words also have technical meanings in various domains. In broad terms male is used principally to indicate the sex of a person, animal or plant, whereas m asculine is used of characteristics (once, and to some extent still) regarded as characteristic of men, especially physical strength, vigour, competitive assert iveness, etc. Manly (13C, originally referring to humans generally but now only to men) also has this meaning but is more positive and complimentary than mascul ine. As a noun, male does not carry the unfavourable implications of female, but is still best restricted to uses relating to the animal world. See FEMALE, FEMI NINE.
2 Two 20c uses of male, both largely promoted by the feminist movement, are in t he terms male chauvinist (first recorded in 1970), meaning à man who is prejudice d against women', and male menopause (1949), meaning à crisis of potency, confidenc e, etc., said to afflict men in middle life'.Top
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malicious, malign, malignant, malevolent. 1 All four words are connected with doing harm or evil (from Latin malus), but t here are important differences. Malicious means ìntending to do harm' and is associ ated with people (or occasionally animals) and their actions: The dog that destroys Gabriel Oak's sheep is over-enthusiastic, not malicious Dra
bble , 1976. Malignant is used principally in medical contexts of life-threateni ng diseases and tumours; its more general meaning, `feeling or showing intense ill will', is still found (He would have a sensation of something malignant about to crush himG. Watson , 1 991) but is now overshadowed by the technical use. The shorter form malign is us ed mostly of things that are evil in their nature or effects (She was no longer the victim of chance, of a malign fateW.J. Burely , 1989); it has also been used in the medical sense as an opposite of benign but has largely given way to malignant. Malevolent means `wishing harm to others' and refers rather to general disposition than to particular actions or conduct: Trees were brooding presences, soughing incantations. Every bush hid an invisibl e force, frequently malevolentW. Mcllvanney , 1975. Malevolent is often used of l ooks and sounds: He had a nervous twitch which jerked at a muscle at the corner of his thin-lippe d mouth and a malevolent stareA. Granger , 1991.
2 The corresponding nouns are malice (or maliciousness, which has more specific reference), malignancy, and malevolence. The noun malignity is derived from mali gn and has enjoyed substantial usage over several centuries in the meaning `wicked ill will or hatred', which it still has although it is used much less than former ly: His self-sufficient malignity [is] seemingly motiveless until the last pages of the book, when a tattooed number is noticed on his arm, and a casual remarkÌ spent the war in Belsen'G. Watson , 1991.Top
Back - New Search mall, in the meanings à sheltered walk or promenade' and àn enclosed shopping precinct', is increasingly heard in Britain in the form mawl (already familiar in America, Aus tralia, and elsewhere), rather than mal. But mal is still obligatory in the Lond on place-names The Mall, Chiswick Mall, and Pall Mall.
Back - New Search malnutrition belongs firmly to the list of Fowlerian LOST CAUSES. À word to be avoided,' wrote F owler in 1926, as often as underfeeding will do the work. Alas for Fowler , unde rfeeding has not done its work, although the related form underfed is still goin g strong as an alternative for malnourished. It is interesting, though, that we are so ready to use the technical term in general contexts.
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man has been used for centuries in the generalized meaning à human being (regardless of sex)', and is embedded deep in idiom and verbal imagery: Man cannot live by bre ad alone / Every man for himself / Be one's own man / etc. It is no use protesti ng that the gender phenomenon represented here is linguistic and not sexual, whe n changing social attitudes (shared by men as well as women) see it as an unacce ptable outward sign of male dominance. There are alternatives available, though none of them is quite without awkwardness: person or one for man in the countabl e sense (One cannot live by bread alone), and humanity or humankind for man in t he uncountable sense (Humankind cannot live by bread alone). As these examples s how, however, it will be many years before such contrived substitutions will sou nd natural, and they probably never will. But in everyday language there is no r eason not to respect gender sensitivities in language. See also SEXIST LANGUAGE.
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-man, as a suffix in occupational words such as chairman and craftsman, is normally re stricted now to male contexts in accordance with changing attitudes to the word MAN. When the person concerned is a woman, forms in -woman or -person, or some o ther gender-neutral term such as police officer for policeman and firefighter fo r fireman, are now commonly used instead.
Back - New Search manage has inflected forms managed and managing, and a derivative form manageable.
Back - New Search manageress see -ESS.
Back - New Search maneuver
is an AmE variant of MANOEUVRE.
Back - New Search mango, the fruit, has plural forms mangoes (preferred) or mangos.
Back - New Search mangy, meaning `having mange' or `squalid, shabby', is spelt this way, not mangey.
Back - New Search -mania. The rapid turnover of occasional and ephemeral words formed with this suffix was noted by the OED and has continued in the 20c with forms such as Beatlemania, O lliemania (Oliver North, central figure in the US Iran Contra scandal of the lat er 1980s), and technomania. Corresponding forms in -maniac also continue to be f ound.
Back - New Search manifesto has the plural form manifestos.
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manikin, meaning à dwarf', àn artist's dummy', or àn anatomical model', is spelt this way, not man nikin or manakin. A dressmaker's model is a mannequin.
Back - New Search Manila is the spelling for the capital of the Philippine Islands. The hemp and paper ar e both spelt manila, although manilla is sometimes found.
Back - New Search manipulate. The adjective derivatives are manipulable (`capable of being manipulated'; not manip ulatable) and manipulative (ìnclined to exploit unscrupulously').
Back - New Search mankind is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable when the meaning is `the huma n species' and with the stress on the first syllable when the meaning is `male peopl e, as distinct from female'. In the first meaning, humankind is now often used ins tead. See SEXIST LANGUAGE.
Back - New Search mannequin see MANIKIN.
Back - New Search manner. The phrase to the manner born is now commonly used to mean `naturally at ease in a given situation'. This use is informal only; the phrase is taken from Shakespeare , Hamlet I.iv.17, where it means `destined by birth to follow a custom or way of l ife'.
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manoeuvre has inflected forms manoeuvred, manoeuvring. The spelling in AmE is maneuver, wi th inflected forms maneuvered, maneuvering.
Back - New Search man-of-war
has the plural form men-of-war.
Back - New Search manpower see SEXIST LANGUAGE.
Back - New Search manqu. In the meaning `that might have been but is not', manqu is placed after the noun it r efers to: a poet manqu.
Back - New Search mantel, mantle. Mantel is originally a variant of mantle, both forms are derived from the Latin word mantellum meaning `cloak', and both have meanings to do with covering. Mantle h as several uses, including `cloak' (usually as worn by women) and the figurative mea ning `responsibility or authority' (especially regarded as passing from one person t o another). Mantel has one meaning, usually in the longer form mantelpiece or ma ntelshelf, à shelf over a fireplace'.
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many. 1 Many, like much, tends to sound more formal in positive contexts (They have ma ny friends) than in negative ones (They do not have many friends). In conversati on and less formal written English, a lot of (or, even more informally, lots of) is used instead in positive contexts.
2 The type many a, though notionally plural, always entails a singular construct ion: Many a prostitute, whether she calls herself a hostess, or a common whore, imagi nes that she is exploiting the male sex Greer 1970.Top
Back - New Search Maori is pronounced as two syllables (mow-ri) and has the plural form Maoris in genera l usage, although Maoris themselves have been urging non-Maoris in New Zealand a nd elsewhere to use their own pronunciation of the name with three syllables (ma h-aw-ri) and to adopt their plural form Maori, the same as the singular. The plu ral form is more likely to succeed than the pronunciation, since the two-syllabl e form is more natural to most speakers of English.
Back - New Search marathon, the name of the long-distance race and, by extension, a word for any lengthy or difficult task or undertaking, is derived from the name of the famous battle fou ght between Greeks (mainly Athenians and Plataeans) and Persians on the east coa st of Attica in 490 BC. The length of the race (26 miles 385 yards or 42km 352m) is based on a relatively late tradition that the Athenian Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens after the battle with news of the Greek victory, whereas the primary source for these events, the 5C BC historian Herodotus, records that Ph eidippides ran to appeal for support before the battle from Athens to Sparta (in southern Greece), a distance that represents a much more remarkable achievement .
Back - New Search marchioness see MARQUESS.
Back - New Search margarine. After a battle royal fought throughout the 20c between those who pronounce it wi th a `soft' -j-sound (as in the shortened form marge) and those who favour a `hard' -g-s ound (as in Margaret), the first of these is now completely dominant, despite Fo wler's objection (1926) that this was `clearly wrong'. He based his view partly on t he authority of the OED (which in its 2nd edition of 1989 still puts the `hard' form first) and partly on the fact that the only other words in which g is `soft' before a vowel other than e or i are gaol (and its derivatives) and mortgagor.
Back - New Search marginalize. To the editors of the OED around the turn of the century, this meant no more tha n `to write marginal notes upon', and they marked it `rare'. Since then it has been so t ransformed that the 1991 edition of the Oxford Dictionary of New Words described it (or, more precisely, its derivative marginalization) as òne of the main socia
l buzz-words of the eighties'. Increased awareness of the rights of underprivilege d groups and minorities has given the word its new lease of life in the meaning `t o treat (a person or group of people) as marginal and therefore unimportant'. The use of marginal reflected here is itself a 20c development, first in the sociolo gical meaning `partly belonging to two differing societies or cultures but not ful ly integrated into either' and then in the more general meaning òf minor importance , insignificant'. Examples: Society, taking its lead from the media and its politicians, begins to reject a whole class and marginalizes them in the job marketC. Phillips , 1987 / Until recently, children's books were regarded as marginal, less than serious as literatureJ. Briggs , 1989 / It is not yet clear that the church's long years of marginalisation in our natio nal life have been endedIndependent, 1990 / You work with what are often called `marginalized' people, such as African-Americans and people of colorBomb, 1992.
Back - New Search markedly see -EDLY.
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marquess, marquis. Both words are pronounced mah-kwis. A marquess is a ween a duke and an earl, and a marquis is a foreign duke and a count. A marquise, pronounced mah-keez, rquis or a woman holding the rank of marquis in her the wife or widow of a marquess, or a woman holding own right. British nobleman ranking bet equivalent ranking between a is the wife or widow of a ma own right. A marchioness is the rank of marquess in her
Back - New Search marriageable is spelt with an e in the middle.
Back - New Search marshal.
The verb has inflected forms marshalled, marshalling in BrE, and usually marshal ed, marshaling in AmE.
Back - New Search marten, martin. A marten is an animal like a weasel, whereas a martin is a bird of the swallow f amily.
Back - New Search marvel. The verb has inflected forms marvelled, marvelling in BrE, and usually marveled, marveling in AmE.
Back - New Search marvellous is the spelling in BrE, but marvelous is more usual in AmE.
Back - New Search Mary. The plural form is Marys (as in the two Marys).
Back - New Search masculine see MALE.
Back - New Search massacre is spelt this way in BrE and AmE, and has inflected forms massacres, massacred, massacring.
Back - New Search massage
is pronounced mas-ahzh or mas-ahj in BrE, and m-sahzh in AmE. The agent nouns ma sseur and masseuse are pronounced with the stress on the second syllable in both BrE and AmE.
Back - New Search massive has become an overused word in contexts that have little to do with mass: A massive punt downfield from [goalkeeper] ParkesTimes, 1975 / Yet another massive stage project, now previewing at the Aldwych, where it offic ially opens on June 19Times, 1980. In many cases alternatives such as immense, en ormous, substantial, powerful, impressive, or even huge or large, should be cons idered. In extended and figurative uses, massive is best reserved for contexts i n which an image of vast size is appropriate: Riot police looked on impassively as a massive crowd of mourners gave the clenched fist Marxist saluteTimes, 1977 / The most important area on which to concentrate was the massive amount of water required by the production of textilesDaily Telegraph, 1992. But use one of the a lternative words when the image is unreal or forced: Women have massive amounts of love invested in fathers, lovers and sons, and man y of these women despise the systems their own men may be helping to sustainB. Ca nt , 1988.
Back - New Search masterful, masterly. Although both words have at some time in their history shared all the meanings i nvolved here, they have settled down in more recent usage in such a way that mas terful conveys meanings to do with dominance and power whereas masterly connotes skill and fine qualities: His mentor was band leader Joe Loss. `When Loss used a stick the bounce and freedo m within a beat was masterly.'Gramophone, 1978 / Òh, I do like the way you talk to the waiters, so masterful,' sighed EstherS. Mackay , 1984. Fowler (1926) noted with regret that masterful was too often used for m asterly (though not the other way round), and this is still the case: Johnny Hodges, Duke Ellington's masterful alto saxophonistDaily Telegraph, 1970 / There are just enough such slippages in this generally masterful book to suggest that Fish still has room for further self-revisionTimes Literary Supplement, 199 0. We also find masterfully now and then doubling as an adverb for masterly, whi ch lacks a singleword equivalent: For over twenty years, Hugo had masterfully deployed the metaphor of the waveA. M artin , 1991. The distinction is important since the two words are not so distin ct in meaning that ambiguity can always be avoided.
Back - New Search mat see MATT.
Back - New Search materialize is first recorded in 1710 and its first meaning was transitive (with an object): to materialize an idea was to realize it and to materialize a spiriti was to ma ke the spirit appear. Its intransitive use, now more familiar, dates from the la te 19c, still in the context of spiritualism: The ghosts gave dark sances and manifested and materializedHarper's Magazine, 1884 . But in current use the sense has been generalized so much that it means little more than `happen' or `become available': Plans do not always materialise in the anticipated way Pym , 1982 / The alimony her ex-husband was supposed to pay never materializedR. Deacon , 1988 . This use is acceptable in all but the most formal contexts.
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matriel meaning `material and equipment used in warfare (as distinct from personnel)', has n ot been fully naturalized in English and is printed in italics with an accent (a lthough the accent is often omitted in Services' documents).
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matey, an informal word meaning `sociable', is spelt with an e, not maty.
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math is the AmE abbreviation for mathematics; in BrE it is maths.
Back - New Search mathematics is treated as a singular noun when it is the name of a subject (Mathematics is n ot my favourite activity) and as a plural noun when it means `the process of calcu lating' (The mathematics of the problem are quite complex).
Back - New Search maths see MATH.
Back - New Search matine literally means `morning' in French, but it now invariably means ìn the afternoon' (in French and English) when used to distinguish an afternoon film or theatre perfor mance from an evening performance. The accent is often dropped, especially in Am E.
Back - New Search matrix, meaning à mould in which something is shaped' (and other technical meanings), is pr onounced may-triks and has the plural form matrices (may-tri-seez) or matrixes.
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matt, meaning `dull, without lustre', is spelt matt BrE and either mat or (more usually) m atte in AmE.
Back - New Search maty see MATEY.
Back - New Search mausoleum, meaning à grand tomb' (after that of the 4C BC king of Caria, Mausolus), has the pl ural form mausoleums.
Back - New Search maximum. The plural, though not often needed, is maxima, or informally maximums.
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may, can see CAN.
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may, might. 1 With reference to present or future possibility, may and might are both used, but with may the possibility is more open and with might it is more tentative or remote: (may) The ACLU may have a strong caseEconomist, 1980 / The cyclists may use up to 6,000 calories during a raceTimes, 1983 (might) The news that the Met season might have to be cancelled is an annual threatListen er, 1980 /
Some players get a `buzz' from the game [of Space Invaders] and that might explain w hy they become addictedTimes, 1983 / What is a little surprising is that even the programme's adult representatives c laim they don't quite know what a bonk might beToday, 1986.
2 With reference to possibility in the past, may have leaves it open whether an event or circumstance was actually the case, whereas might have implies that it was not, and is explicit that it was not when the statement is part of an unfulf illed condition introduced by if or by inversion (as in the 1983 Daily Telegraph example below): (may have) It may have been an awful night but the meat and potato pies were bril lGuardian, 1983 / Police say they're anxious to trace a car and a van which may have been used by the gangtelevision news broadcast, 1993 / (might have) `You might have been killed yourself.' `Not much chance; the raid had alr eady gone past us.'A. 1983 / Had the Liberal Yellow Book been published in 1920 our history might have been d ifferentDaily Telegraph, 1983 / Once he might have answered differentlymight have said that the two things were d ifferent in kindbut now he was not so certainD. , 1990. It is incorrect to use may have when the possibility it expresses is clearly not an actual one: If some of the resources squandered this morning had been used more wisely, we m ay have been able to take steps to save his lifeScotsman, 1989.Top
3 There are a few idiomatic uses of might and might have that are worth noting: You might have said something! (= you should have said something) / Might I sugg est ? (= a polite, now somewhat old-fashioned alternative for May I ?). Might hav e is occasionally used with future reference, again with a suggestion of unlikel y fulfilment: By tomorrow, the weather might have changed.Top
Back - New Search maybe, an adverb meaning `perhaps', is such a familiar part of current standard English tha t it comes as a surprise to know that it fell out of use in the 19c to an extent that caused the OED to label it àrchaic and dialect'. It has a somewhat informal a ir about it, admittedly, but it is used in a wide range of contexts, written and spoken, especially in AmE, and shares all the grammatical flexibility of perhap s: Maybe a shotgun was all he hadA. 1987 / If you quote the Liberal opposition saying that they did, aren't you implying th
at they didn't? Maybe?London Review of Books, 1987. Note that may be is spelt as two words when it is a combination of the modal verb may and the verb be: compar e Maybe she's joking (or She's maybe joking) and She may be joking.
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me. 1 For idiomatic uses of me, see I. For the types as good as I/me and better than I/me see CASES 2B.
2 Informally, me commonly replaces I at the head of clauses when linked to a nou n by and: Me and the teacher are going to race tonight from the school to the storeJ. Crace , 1986. It would be awkward to say I and the teacher, and the alternative the t eacher and I, though less awkward, has a formal sound that makes it less likely to occur in casual conversation. This use of me seems generally more acceptable than corresponding uses of her, him, us, and them.Top
Back - New Search meagre is spelt this way in BrE, and usually meager in AmE.
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mean. 1 In the meaning `to intend', mean can be followed by a to-infinitive (when the spea ker intends to do something: I meant to go), by an object + to-infinitive (when the speaker intends someone else to do something: I meant you to go) and, more f ormally, by a that-clause with should (I meant that you should go). Use of mean for + object + to-infinitive I meant for you to go) is non-standard.
2 I mean is legitimately used to introduce an explanation of what has just been said:
He was a marvellous butler. I mean, if you went there he'd welcome you in the mo st graceful and polite and proper wayNew Yorker, 1986. In conversation it is incr easingly heard as a sentence-filler, rather like you know (see KNOW): Ònly very nice?' he asked woefully, Òh, it's great! I mean, it's fantastic!'Los Angeles Times, 1987. This use is informal only but, as so often, there are borderline us es that blur distinctions: I wasn't interested in him. I mean, when you shoot juice, you lose the other thi ngH.C. Rae , 1972 / I publish, I mean I have had published, a few what we used to call slim volumes of verse, um, poetry, you know Hampton , 1974. It is all too easy to point to ext remes that no one would consider standard (You know, like, uh, hey, man, I mean, cool, huh?L. , 1992); the real difficultie s lie in the greyer areas of usage.Top
3 In the passive, to be meant has for long had the sense `to be destined (by provi dence), to have special significance': When I need you, you are here. You must see how meant it all is Murdoch , 1974. T his use has been joined by another passive use in which meant followed by a to-i nfinitive means little more than `supposed, thought, intended': For today he was meant to be having dinner with Stephanie at the Dear FriendsA.N. Wilson , 1986. This altered meaning is now so familiar that its relative newnes s (mostly 20c) can cause surprise.Top
Back - New Search meaningful. The journalist and literary critic Philip Howard wrote in 1978 that òngoing situa tions and meaningful dialogues are two popular pieces of jargon at present', and t hey still are. Meaningful is essentially the opposite of meaningless, i.e. `having meaning', as in a meaningful utterance. But meaning has other meanings, which are reflected in other uses of meaningful, especially ìmportant, significant, notewo rthy', so that things such as talks, tests, results, work, and even relationships can be called meaningful. There is some justification for using the word when th e notion of something having meaning is present: Chris and Jayne turned to each other with raised eyebrows and meaningful looksP. 1983. But alternatives such as important, significant, and effective should be c onsidered when it is importance rather than meaning that is the issue: If your new employer has offered to provide you with facilities for updating, ma ke sure that this is included in your contract of employment, and that it is bac ked up with meaningful support and supervisionA. , 1990.
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meaningless fillers. This is a term used to describe phrases such as um, er, I mean, and you know, wh ich are inserted spontaneously as asides into conversation in order to fill paus es and maintain the flow of speech.
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means. 1 When the meaning is `financial resources', means is treated as plural: Their means are somewhat limited. When the meaning is à way or method' it can operate as a sin gular noun (when preceded by a determiner such as a, any, or every) or as a plur al noun (when preceded by a plural-marking word such as all, many, several, etc. ): Several means are available for indexing numbers not obtainable with standard pl ain indexingL.E. Doyle , 1961 / They remained for her a means, and not an end, a bargaining power rather than a blessing Drabble , 1967 / Derek and I drove down there and shut off the whole barn, preventing all means o f getting in or outJ. , 1991. When means is preceded by the, the following verb c an be either singular or plural, depending on the sense intended: Throughout my boyhood the normal means of passenger transport, if something more than a bicycle was required, was the cab Grimond , 1979 / Moreover, the means by which this end is achieved are remarkable Foot , 1986.
2 The dual role of means in the `way, method' sense is a survival or folk memory of an earlier time, when both the singular mean and the plural means were used. The singular use has dropped out, but the construction, attached to the plural, has survived.Top
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meantime, meanwhile. 1 As a solitary adverb, meantime has largely given way to meanwhile, but is stil l occasionally found: Meantime, melt the remaining butter in a saucepan Smith , 1978. It is most often used in the phrase in the meantime, which is now normally written as three words instead of four: The telephone will redial the number you last called, even if you've hung up in t he meantimeWhich?, 1987. Conversely, meanwhile is most often used by itself, and only occasionally in the variant phrase in the meanwhile: The animals Mrs Murray cares for are always returned to the wild if possible. Me anwhile, they stay at her study centreTimes, 1986 / In the meanwhile, I'll just lie here, flat on my back, fingering my perfect bone sJ. , 1992.
2 In recent use, meanwhile is commonly used in journalism and (especially) broad casting as a means of resuming a main theme after a digression or aside: Meanwhile, as we say in the trade, Motherwell go bottom [of the League table] Lyn am , in a television broadcast, 1987. The use may owe its origins to the catchph rase Meanwhile, back at the ranch, used originally in captions to silent Western films and later as a voice-over in films with sound. This phrase too is common allusively in a wide range of contexts: Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I have been browsing through the press coverageGuar dian, 1986 / Meanwhile back in the Commons, Mrs Thatcher tried to resist questions by saying the issues were sub judiceToday, 1987.Top
Back - New Search measles is normally treated as a singular noun, although occasionally it is used as a pl ural, sometimes preceded by the: The measles have left him feeling weak.
Back - New Search medal has derivative forms medalled, medallist in BrE, and usually medaled, medalist i n AmE.
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media, in its modern meaning `newspapers and broadcasting regarded collectively', is proper ly treated as a plural noun: The media impel a Prime Minister to seek stardom at the expense of the CabinetNew Yorker, 1977. It is increasingly used, especially by the media themselves, as a singular mass noun like agenda and data, but this use is not yet standard and s hould be avoided: That's what the media's for: to be useful in positive waysThe Face, 1992. Above a ll, never write a media or the medias. The word is often used in attributive pos ition (before a noun): The shock-horror world of the media menTimes Literary Supplement, 1980.
Back - New Search medicine. The recommended pronunciation is as two syllables, i.e. med-sin, although a thre e-syllable form, med-i-sin, is common in Scotland and the USA and elsewhere.
Back - New Search medieval is the recommended spelling, not mediaeval. It is pronounced me-di-ee-vl with fo ur syllables, although me-dee-vl or mi-dee-vl, with three syllables, is common i n AmE.
Back - New Search Mediterranean is spelt with one d, one t, and two rs, as its derivation from the Latin words m edius `middle' and terra `land' reminds us.
Back - New Search medium. In the spiritualist sense, the plural is mediums, and in the meaning `means of mas s communication' the plural is MEDIA, which has its own pattern of behaviour. In a ll other meanings (e.g. àn agency or means of doing something'), mediums and media
are both used.
Back - New Search mega-, a prefix meaning `great', continues to be used in scientific and technical applicati ons, often with the specific meaning `denoting a factor of one million' (as in the c omputing unit megabyte). In the 20c it has taken on a much more informal role in words such as megastar and megahit, and has become detached in the form mega, m eaning èxcellent' or (as an adverb) èxtremely' (mega famous).
Back - New Search meiosis, pronounced miy-oh-sis, is a figure of speech involving an emphatic understatemen t made for effect, as when something outstanding is described as `rather good'. A li terary example occurs in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, where Mercutio refers t o his mortal hurt (at the hands of Tybalt) with the words Ay, ay, a scratch, a s cratch (III.i.93). A special form of meiosis involving negatives is called LITOT ES.
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melted, molten. As adjectives, melted is the normal word (melted butter / melted ice / melted sn ow). Molten is used only of materials melted at extreme heat (molten lava / molt en lead).
Back - New Search membership.
Her acceptance of this role has given enormous pleasure to the membershipB. , 1990 . The use of membership to mean `members collectively' (e.g. of a trade union) was n oted Gowers (1965) as `now rife and corrupting other words'. Its use is normally res tricted to official or reporting contexts, and in general use membership most co mmonly retains its traditional meanings `the status of being a member' (I must renew my membership) or `the number of members in an organization' (Membership is down by 15% this year).
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memento, meaning à souvenir', should not be converted into the dubious formation momento. Th e plural form is mementoes.
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memo, a shortening of memorandum and now the more usual form in general use, has the p lural form memos.
Back - New Search memorabilia, meaning `souvenirs of memorable events, people, etc.', is a plural noun, and should not be treated as singular: We've got railway memorabilia and we're very proud of itBest, 1991.
Back - New Search memorandum has the plural form memoranda (recommended) or memorandums. In general business use in the meaning ìnformal note or message', MEMO is more often used.
Back - New Search mnage, a somewhat literary word meaning `the members of a household', is printed in roman t ype with the accent retained. The pronunciation is semi-naturalized, with the fi nal consonant retaining its French form, so may-nahzh.
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mendacity, mendicity. Mendacity (from Latin mendax `lying') means `habitual lying or deceiving', whereas mendi city (from Latin mendicare `to beg') means `the practice or habit of begging'. The words are ultimately related in having a common ancestor in the Latin word mendum mea ning `fault'.
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-ment see -ION, -MENT, -NESS.
Back - New Search mental. The use of mental in expressions such as mental hospital and mental patient, rec orded from the end of the 19c, has been replaced in the 20c by psychiatric.
Back - New Search mentality, in its meaning `mental character or disposition', is now nearly always used with unf avourable connotations, although this was not always so: I hate the triviality of journalism, you know, the sort of fluttering mentality that fills up the page Carpenter , 1978 / A kind of unacknowledged underground mentality had permeated all kinds of places Miller , 1987.
Back - New Search merchandise is spelt -ise (and normally pronounced -iyz) for both the noun and the verb. In AmE, the verb is often spelt with a final -ize.
Back - New Search meretricious, derived from Latin meretrix `prostitute', means `showily but falsely attractive':
She could view with contempt those of her fellow tourists who, after the Aegean, could excite themselves over the meretricious charms of Venice Liddell , 1986. I t should not be confused with meritorious and other words connected with merit.
Back - New Search merit as a verb has inflected forms merited, meriting.
Back - New Search msalliance (non-naturalized) normally means à marriage with a person of a lower social posit ion', by contrast with the naturalized word misalliance, which is used of any unsu itable alliance, including an unsuitable marriage. Both words entered the langua ge in the 18c.
Back - New Search Messrs., originally a contraction of French Messieurs `gentlemen', was formerly common as a p lural form of Mr in business and commercial use (e.g. Messrs. Berkeley, Stratton & Co.), but has now fallen into disuse in most parts of the English-speaking wo rld, except in certain professions, notably law. There are certain technical lim itations on its use that need to be guarded against; for example, it is not used with Limited Companies. If in doubt, consult Debrett's Correct Form or a simila r manual on form.
Back - New Search meta-. In recent use this prefix has been borrowed from the term metaphysics and applie d to other words with the meaning òf a higher or second-order kind': a metalanguage is language used to describe language, meta-history is the study of the princip les governing historical events, and meta-mathematics is concerned with the stru cture and formal properties of mathematics. This is a development that seems lik ely to continue.
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metal, mettle.
1 Both are in origin the same word. In the 16c mettle began to move apart as a s eparate word used only in figurative meanings, of which the dominant one still c urrent is àrdent or spirited temperament; spirit, courage', as in the expressions s how one's mettle and be on one's mettle.
2 The verb metal has inflected forms metalled, metalling in BrE, and usually met aled, metaling in AmE.Top
Back - New Search metallurgy, the science of metals, is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable in B rE, and with the stress on the first syllable in AmE.
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metaphor and simile. 1 The difference between these two figures of speech, which together constitute a major element of English idiom, is largely one of form. A simile is a fanciful comparison couched in a form introduced by as or like, for example Byron's line The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, whereas a metaphor directly e quates the image with the person or thing it is compared to: Achilles was a lion in the fight. Many figurative uses of words (e.g. the mouth of a river, a blank et of fog, music to one's ears) and many idioms (e.g. get the green light, have one foot in the grave, take the rough with the smooth) can be seen as metaphors.
2 A type of metaphor that always arouses derision is the mixed metaphor, in whic h two incompatible images are combined: He has been made a sacrificial lamb for taking the lid off a can of worms / In coal mines, mice are used as human guinea pigs. (both examples from recent letters pages of The Times). A similar if less vivid kind of absurdity can be caused by combining figurative uses in which the corresponding physical senses merge to present an alternative picture, as in ta king concrete steps (cited Gowers ) and grass-roots consumers. In the hurly-burl y of rapid speech, such disasters are bound to occur, but they can be avoided in more considered or formal language use when there is time to reflect on what is being said.Top
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metathesis, pronounced with the stress on the second syllable, is a term for the transpositi on of sounds or letters in a word, sometimes as a feature of a word's developmen t (e.g hasp from Old English hpse) and at other times as an erroneous process (e. g. anenome for anemone).
Back - New Search meter is the normal spelling in BrE and AmE for the measuring or recording instrument, and is the AmE spelling of the words in BrE spelt metre (unit of length and rhy thm in poetry).
Back - New Search meticulous is derived from the Latin word metus `fear', and in the 16c and 17c it had a corresp onding meaning `fearful, timid'. Then the word went out of use only to reappear in t he early 19c in a completely different sense, òver-careful about details'. This was the meaning known to the Fowler brothers when they wrote The King's English at the turn of the century, and they didn't much care for it, classing it among the `stiff, full-dress, literary, or out-of-the-way words'. Between then and now, it lo st (almost completely, but not always quite) its connotations of excess, and set tled down in the meaning it now has, `careful, punctilious, precise'. If it differs at all from these synonyms, it is perhaps from a vestigial shadow of this strang e past rather than any real distinction in meaning: Utz has planned his own funeral with meticulous care Chatwin , 1988 / Very many tedious hours were spent on the dull and routine tasks of listing, plo tting on graphs, meticulously checking and classifyingI. , 1990.
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metonymy is a figure of speech in which an attribute or property is used to refer to the person or thing that has it, e.g. the White House for the American presidency an d the Crown for the British monarchy. In the proverb The pen is mightier than th
e sword, pen and sword, by a process of metonymy, represent the written word and warfare respectively. See also SYNECDOCHE.
Back - New Search metope, a term in architecture for a square section from a Doric frieze, is generally pr onounced met-ohp (two syllables), or occasionally but increasingly rarely, met-p ee (three syllables).
Back - New Search mettle see METAL.
Back - New Search mews, meaning à set of buildings around an open yard', is usually called a mews and is tr eated as a singular noun. (The word is originally the plural of mew meaning à cag e for hawks'.) It is often used attributively (before a noun) to describe a buildi ng that is part of a mews: He intended to make the mews house his operational headquartersM. , 1974.
Back - New Search mezzanine, a low storey between two others (usually between the ground and first floors), i s pronounced met-s-neen or mez-s-neen.
Back - New Search mickle, muckle. These are merely variants of the same word meaning à large amount', and so the prov erb Many a mickle makes a muckle is, in its usual form, a meaningless corruption . The correct form is Many a little (or occasionally pickle = `small amount') makes a mickle, which is recorded from the 13C. The corrupted form is first attested i n the works of George Washington (late 18c).
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continues to be a highly productive prefix, with the following among many forms first recorded in the 20c: microclimate, microdot, microearthquake, microevent, microfilm, micro-oven, microsurgery, microsystem, microwave. A fuller list will be found in OED2.
Back - New Search mid, meaning `middle of', is normally joined by a hyphen to the following word, as in mid -century / mid-fifteenth century. Note that when the century is in attributive p osition (before a noun), two hyphens are needed: a mid-fifteenth-century church. Note that mid-air is spelt with a hyphen whatever its position in the sentence, despite Fowler's preference (1926) for mid air.
Back - New Search middling, middlingly. Middling has been used as an adjective in various senses since the 15c, but is n ow more commonly found as an adverb, a use attested from the 18c. In this role i t competes with middlingly, which is recorded from the same date and was used by Dr Johnson in his definition of the word indifferently. Modern examples of each are: He was middling tall and thin Francis , 1981 / Ivan llyich, who has a middlingly successful legal career and has become a judge , A.N. Wilson , 1988.
Back - New Search midst is now most commonly used in the phrases in the midst of or in our (etc.) midst, meaning àmong, in the middle of'. Typical contexts are both physical and abstract: There was something sinister about this place, unhusbanded and yieldless in the midst of the abundant land all aboutR. , 1974 / In the midst of all the politico-religious dissension [in Ulster], one tends to overlook the general social problemsD. , 1978.
Back - New Search midwifery. The dominant pronunciation in BrE is mid-wif-ri (three syllables) or mid-wif--ri (four syllables), although mid-wiyf--ri (with the second syllable as in wife) i s also heard in AmE.
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might see MAY, MIGHT.
Back - New Search migraine. The usual pronunciation in BrE is now mee-grayn, although now miy-grayn is also heard and is standard in AmE.
Back - New Search mil, a unit of measurement equal to one-thousandth of an inch (0.00254mm), is spelt w ithout a full point.
Back - New Search mileage, with two es, is the recommended spelling, not milage.
Back - New Search milieu, a somewhat literary word for one's environment or social surroundings, is pronou nced mil-yur. The preferred plural form is milieux (pronounced mil-yurz).
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militate, mitigate. The two words are sometimes confused (usually mitigate is used for militate) bec
ause both meanings are connected with having a reducing effect and their forms a nd rhythm are close. Mitigate is transitive (i.e. it takes an object) and means `t o make less intense or severe', whereas militate is intransitive and (followed by against) means `to have a contrary force or effect'. The following examples show the correct use of militate then mitigate, followed by an incorrect use of mitigate for militate: The housing styles, narrowness of the streets and the location of the district v is-a-vis the rest of the city all militate against Neustadt becoming an environm entally attractive area overnightR. , 1990 / A great yellow sun like a runaway balloon shone from a deep blue sky, and a cool ing breeze from the lagoon mitigated the heatL. , 1992 / Parents are expected to make `sensible arrangements' that will not mitigate against t he child's best interestsL. , 1992. Mitigate is frequently used in the form mitig ating with words such as circumstance, effect, factor, etc.: The offence with which you are charged is so serious that despite your personal mitigating factors a non-custodial sentence cannot be justifiedtelevision news br oadcast, 1993.
Back - New Search millenarian see MILLENNIUM.
Back - New Search millenary, an adjective (and, less often, a noun) denoting a period of 1,000 years, is usua lly pronounced with the stress on the second syllable, although pronunciation wi th the stress on the first syllable is also heard and is the dominant form in Am E.
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millennium, a period of 1,000 years, is spelt with two ls and two ns. The plural is millenni ums (preferred) or occasionally millennia. For the problems of reckoning when a new millennium begins, see the remarks at CENTURY. Whatever the arguments put fo rward on the basis of strict reckoning, the natural celebratory point for a new millennium is at the end of the year 1999, 2999, and so on, and not the year fol lowing. The adjective millenarian, meaning `relating to the millennium' or `believing in the millennium' (in the theological sense of Christ's second coming), is parado xically spelt with only one n, being derived not from Latin annus `year' but from mi
lleni, the distributive form (meaning èvery thousand') of mille `thousand'.
Back - New Search million. When preceded by a numeral or a quantifying word such as many or several, the pl ural is million (unchanged: twenty million people), but millions is used when it is followed by of (millions of times). With few, the plural is idiomatically mi llion, not millions, even when followed by of (a few million of them).
Back - New Search mimic. The inflected forms of the verb are mimics, mimicked, mimicking.
Back - New Search mind verb.
Mind you, if you think she behaved strangely, you should have seen me Amis , 1984 . This absolute use of the verb mind, calling attention to or emphasizing what t he speaker is saying, is recorded in the OED from the early 19c (Coleridge, Brow ning, etc.), along with the shorter form mind (without you): Well, all right, but you aren't to do anything, mind Lessing , 1988. This use is conversational or informal only.
Back - New Search mine, historically an alternative to my in uses such as mine ease and O lady mine! and still used occasionally in this way in jocular use (mine host), is in general u se limited to its role as a pronoun, either after of (a friend of mine) or after a verb (This one is not mine).
Back - New Search mineralogy, the study of minerals, is spelt -alogy, not -ology. (Compare GENEALOGY.)
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minimum. The plural, though not often needed, is minima, or informally minimums.
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miniscule is fast establishing itself as an adjective in its own right with the meaning `ver y small, minute', although as a corruption (influenced by the prefix mini-) of MIN USCULE it is regarded as non-standard: Riborg showed her a photograph album, with herself by a fjord in a miniscule bik iniJ. , 1991. There is a case to be made for allowing miniscule to have its way a nd leaving minuscule to its own more technical devices, but since this is not th e accepted procedure at present the best advice is to avoid the word altogether in this meaning and use any of several available synonyms such as minute, tiny, microscopic, diminutive, etc.
Back - New Search minister, In its ecclesiastical sense, minister is the term to use for a member of the cle rgy, especially in the Presbyterian and Nonconformist Churches. It also has a mo re hierarchical meaning, reflecting the word's origin in Latin minister meaning `s ervant' (from minus `lesser'), denoting a church official who assists the higher order s (e.g. deacon or subdeacon) in discharging their duties. Care should be taken b efore using the term as a simple synonym for priest.
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minority. 1 Minority has meanings at the other end of the scale of magnitude from MAJORITY , and is likewise treated as a singular noun except when used with of and a plur al noun, in which case it too is plural: Only a minority of Germans (around a third of the population according to Americ an surveys carried out in 1945) were prepared to concede that the war was lostI. , 1989. In one respect, however, minority has gone its own way, namely in its wi despread 20c use referring to any relatively small group of people who differ fr om others in the society of which they are a part in race, ethnic origin, langua ge, religion, political persuasion, sexual orientation, or other matters that gi
ve rise to questions of social treatment or discrimination: Flaubert always sides with minorities, with `the Bedouin, the Heretic, the philoso pher, the hermit, the Poet' Barnes , 1985 / Among specific measures provided for in the convention were the launch of at lea st one radio station and a television network broadcasting in minority languages Keesings , 1990. In this meaning minority has acquired some flexibility of use, giving rise to apparently paradoxical collocations such as growing or increasing minority (i.e. increasing in numbers and therefore becoming less rather than mo re truly a minority).
2 Running parallel to this, but in an opposite direction as regards meaning, has been the 20c use of minority as a quasi-adjective meaning òf or for a minority', o ften with a favourable sense as in minority interests or minority tastes (genera lly = more exclusive or intellectual): Drummond once told me that Radio 3 broadcasts to about 30 minority tastes, each of which is characterised by its intense dislike of the other 29Daily Telegraph, 1992. An early exponent of the idea of minority culture was the Cambridge academ ic F. R. Leavis , whose influential book Mass Civilization and Minority Culture was published in 1930. It is noteworthy that this use of minority, in relation t o culture, implies an element of superiority or privilege, whereas the other 20c use of minority, in relation to social position, implies one of inferiority or deprivation.Top
Back - New Search minus, in the meaning `lacking, without', has been used informally since the mid-19c. The F owler brothers, doubtless affected by their experiences at the front in the Firs t World War, illustrated this use in the first edition of the Concise Oxford Dic tionary with the gruesome example He came back minus an arm; arm was changed to dog in a later edition.
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minuscule is originally a technical term in palaeography for a type of small letter, and t hen the cursive script developed from it. In attributive use (before a noun) it denotes this type of writing, and in extended use it has acquired the general me aning `very small' but it always seems somewhat awkward in generalized meanings: The facilities here were minimala cracked wash-basin, one minuscule bar of soap, and one off-white towel Dexter , 1992. Not surprisingly, in this meaning the word
has come under the influence of the prefix mini- to produce the altered (and no t yet accepted) form MINISCULE (see separate entry).
Back - New Search minutiae, meaning `minor details or trivia' is pronounced mi-nyoo-shi-iy and is a plural noun. The singular from minutia is hardly ever used.
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misis a prefix with the meaning `badly, wrongly'. Words formed with it do not need a hy phen, even when the stem begins with an s: misbehave, miscarriage, miscount, mis manage, misshapen, misspelling, misspent, etc.
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misanthrope. A misanthrope is a hater of fellow human beings; a person who hates women is a m isogynist. The corresponding concept nouns are misanthropy and misogyny; hatred of men is misandry. How significant it is that misanthrope dates from the 16c an d misogynist from the early 17c, whereas misandry is recorded only from the 1940 s (and misandrist is not yet recorded at all) must be left for others to determi ne.
Back - New Search mischievous. The erroneous pronunciation and spelling of this word as mischievious (four syll ables) is one of the most commonly cited indications of poor use of language, an d should be avoided.
Back - New Search misdemeanour
is spelt -our in BrE and misdemeanor in AmE.
Back - New Search mislead has the form misled as its past tense and past participle.
Back - New Search misogynist, misogyny see MISANTHROPE.
Back - New Search misquotations. Many catchphrases and allusive expressions are based on altered forms of literar y quotations. The proverb Every dog has his day is based on a 16c adage translat ed from the Dutch humanist Erasmus (1500) and was given currency by a line spoke n by Shakespeare's Hamlet: Let Hercules himself do what he may, The cat shall mew, and dog will have his da y Shakespeare , Hamlet, v.i.286. The idiom to escape by the skin of one's teeth is an altered form of the Authorized Version of Job 19:20: I am escaped with the skin of my teeth. Idiom and allusion go their own way in language; however, it is important to give the correct form when the allusion is given as a quotation. The following table lists the correct forms of some of the more common literary extracts, with the popular versions alongside: QUOTATION POPULAR FORM SOURCE In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread by the sweat of one's brow Bible, Genesis 3:19 I am escaped with the skin of my teeth to escape by the skin of one's teeth Bibl e, Job 19:20 To gild refined gold, to paint the lily to glid the lily Shakespeare, King John A goodly apple rotten at the heart rotten at the core Shakespeare, Merchant of V enice But yet I'll make assurance double sure doubly sure Shakespeare, Macbeth Tomorrow to fresh woods and pastures new fresh fields and pastures new Milton, L ycidas They kept the noiseless tenor of their way the even tenor Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard A little learning is a dangerous thing a little knowledge Pope, Essay on Critici sm
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft a-gley the best-laid plans Burns, `To a Mouse' Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink And not a drop to drink Colerid ge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner I have nothing to offer but blood, toll, tears and sweat blood, sweat, and tears Winston Churchill, Hansard, 1940
Back - New Search Miss is used as the title of a girl or unmarried woman, or of a married woman who has retained her maiden name. The title MS (see separate entry) has since the 1950s been increasingly used as an alternative with reference to women regardless of marital status.
Back - New Search misshapen, misspelling, misspent see MIS-.
Back - New Search mitigate see MILITATE.
Back - New Search mitre is spelt in this way in BrE, and usually miter in AmE.
Back - New Search mixed metaphor see METAPHOR AND SIMILE (2).
Back - New Search mnemonic,
pronounced ni-mon-ik, is a device, usually a rhyme or sequence of words, used to help remember some fact or group of facts, e.g. the initial letters of the mnem onic Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain give the order of the colours of the sp ectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet).
Back - New Search mobile see MOVABLE.
Back - New Search moccasin, a name of a snake and a type of soft leather shoe, is the recommended spelling, with two cs and one s.
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modal verbs. Modal (or, more fully, modal auxiliary) verbs are used to express the mood (in t he linguistic sense that distinguishes statements, commands, suppositions, quest ions, and so on) of other verbs. The principal verbs of this type are can, could , may, might, must, ought, shall, will. These verbs behave in special ways, of w hich the most important are (1) that they can form questions and negatives witho ut the use of do (Can I go? / You may not leave), and (2) their third-person sin gular forms do not add -s (She will / It must). A group of other verbs that shar e some of these features, such as dare and need, are sometimes called semi-modal . Note that be, do, and have, which behave somewhat differently, are not classed as modal verbs but as ordinary auxiliary verbs.
Back - New Search model as a verb has inflected forms modelled, modelling in BrE and usually modeled, mo deling in AmE.
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modus operandi, meaning à plan or method of working', is pronounced moh-ds op--ran-diy, and is prin ted in italic type.
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modus vivendi means à way of living or coping', most often (in law) an arrangement by which parti es to a dispute can carry on pending a settlement. It is pronounced moh-ds vi-ve n-diy, and is printed in italic type.
Back - New Search mogul is the spelling in the sense àn important or influential person'. In its historical meaning with reference to the 16C19C rulers of northern India, the form Mughal s hould be used.
Back - New Search Mohammed, Mohammedan. The preferred spellings are MUHAMMAD, MUHAMMADAN.
Back - New Search mold see MOULD.
Back - New Search molt see MOULT.
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molten see MELTED.
Back - New Search moment. The phrase at this moment in time is a modern clich (see CLICHS).
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momentarily means `for a moment, briefly' in BrE: One MP wondered momentarily if he had wandered into the Lords by mistakeTimes, 197 5. In AmE it has this meaning and also the meaning àt any moment, imminently': Miss Loren had been delayed in traffic but would arrive momentarilyNew Yorker, 19 70. These features of usage are comparable to PRESENTLY.
Back - New Search momently in current English has much the same meanings as those given for MOMENTARILY, al though its use is confined to literary contexts: She believes Alix will be there, and indeed momently she is Drabble , 1987 / You acknowledged, however, momently, that at least what I claim is trueA.S. Byatt , 1990.
Back - New Search momento is an erroneous variant of MEMENTO.
Back - New Search momentum. The plural, though not often needed, is momenta, or informally momentums.
Back - New Search Monday see FRIDAY.
Back - New Search monetarism, monetarist, monetary. These are pronounced with the first syllable as mun-in BrE and as mon-in AmE.
Back - New Search moneyed, meaning `wealthy', is spelt -eyed, not monied.
Back - New Search mongol, mongolism, mongoloid, terms formerly used for sufferers of what is now called Down's syndrome, are con sidered offensive and should be avoided.
Back - New Search Mongoloid, referring to peoples including those of east Asia and south-east Asia, is one of a set of terms used by 19c anthropologists to classify human races. They are no w outdated and potentially offensive, and the names of specific peoples or natio nalities should normally be used.
Back - New Search mongoose, the small animal like a civet, has the plural form mongooses.
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moneys. The natural plural in the meaning `sums of money' is moneys, but monies took hold in 19c accounting circles and has penetrated into ordinary usage: Certain monies had been put aside for them Brookner , 1988. Nonetheless, moneys i s preferable.
Back - New Search monk see FRIAR.
Back - New Search monkey. The noun has the plural form monkeys, and the verb has inflected forms monkeys, monkeyed, monkeying.
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monologue, soliloquy. Both words (the first Greek and the second Latin in origin) denote a single pers on's act of speaking or thinking aloud; soliloquy generally refers to dramatic u tterances without consciousness of an audience, whereas monologue primarily mean s speech that is meant to be heard and is used especially of the discourse of a talker who monopolizes conversation, or to describe a performance or recitation by a single actor or speaker.
Back - New Search month see DAY.
Back - New Search mood is a term in grammar that identifies utterances as being statements, expressions
of wish, commands, questions, etc. It is a variant of the word mode, and has no thing to do with the more familiar word mood. In English, moods are expressed by means of an auxiliary verb (can, may, etc.) called a MODAL VERB, or by the SUBJ UNCTIVE MOOD.
Back - New Search moot. A moot point or moot question is a debatable or undecided one. The word is from Old English (from a verb mtian meaning `converse') and should not be confused with m ute meaning `silent'.
Back - New Search moral, morale. When Fowler wrote in the years following the First World War, morale, in the mea ning `mental attitude or bearing', was a word at the forefront of consciousness, but there was uncertainty as to form between morale (an early 19c respelling preser ving the sound of the French word and distinguishing it from the other meanings of moral) and the spelling moral, reintroduced towards the end of the 19c for th is meaning on the grounds that morale was artificial and not the form of the wor d in this meaning in French. In the fullness of time, the form morale, together with its French-like pronunciation, which Fowler recommended, has prevailed, and few today will realize that there was ever a problem. However, the story afford s a colourful glimpse of the interaction between two great languages.
Back - New Search moratorium, meaning à temporary suspension or prohibition', has the plural form moratoriums.
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more. 1 For more and most used in the comparison of adjectives, see ADJECTIVE 34. With adverbs, more and most are normally used when the adverb is formed with -ly from an adjective, e.g. more richly, more happily: see -ER AND -EST FORMS. The use o f double comparatives, e.g. They are more happier now, though once a feature of English style (and used for example by Shakespeare ), has fallen out of use and is considered illiterate.
2 MORE THAN ONE. This phrase, though plural in form and meaning, conventionally takes a singular verb: More than one doctor attends each patient. However, if the number following than is higher than one, or if the phrase is couched in the form more + plural noun + than, then the whole phrase moves into the plural: More than two doctors attend each patient / More doctors than one attend each pa tient. The same happens if more than one is followed by of and a plural noun or pronoun: More than one of the doctors attend each patient.Top
3 MANY MORE. Care needs to be taken to avoid the ambiguity of constructions in w hich many more is followed by an adjective. In the sentence Many more important tasks had to be done, it is unclear whether more belongs with many or with impor tant, i.e. whether all the tasks were important or only the additional ones. In speech, intonation usually clarifies the intended sense, but confusion can be ca used when this kind of construction appears in written form.Top
4 n e g
THE the The for
MORE. More is preceded by the in certain idiomatic uses. The is optional i type She is the more intelligent of the two, and obligatory in the set typ more, the merrier, and when preceded by all (It is all the more interestin being new).Top
5 For more important and more importantly, see IMPORTANT, IMPORTANTLY.Top
Back - New Search mores, pronounced maw-reez and meaning `characteristic customs of a place or people', is th e plural of the Latin word mos `custom'. It is treated as a plural noun in English: It is in the context of specific family strategies and patterns that sexual more s developed and were transformedJ. , 1992.
Back - New Search Mormon is the popular name for a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Sai nts, a millenary religion founded in 1830 at Manchester. It is spelt with a capi tal initial letter.
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morphology is the study of the structure and form of words. It includes both inflection (ho w words change their forms according to grammatical function, e.g. come, comes, came, etc.) and derivation (how one word is formed from another, e.g. unhelpful from helpful and helpful in turn from help).
Back - New Search mortgage. Note the spelling with -t-. The lender in a mortgage contract is called the mort gagee, and the borrower the mortgager (or in legal work, mortgagor).
Back - New Search Moslem. The preferred and more usual spelling is MUSLIM.
Back - New Search mosquito has the plural form mosquitoes.
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most. 1 For more and most used in the comparison of adjectives, see ADJECTIVE 34. With adverbs, more and most are normally used when the adverb is formed with -ly from an adjective, e.g. most richly, most happily: see -ER AND -EST FORMS. The use o f most with an already superlative form of adjective, e.g. She is the most cleve rest, though once a feature of English style (occurring in Shakespeare and elsew here), is considered illiterate in current usage. When the comparison is between two people or things, more, not most, should be used: This is certainly the more interesting of your two proposals.
2 As a noun, most + of is treated as singular or plural according to the number of the following noun or pronoun: Most of his story is true / Most of them have nothing to say.Top
3 The combination most + adjective often has an intensifying rather than superla tive role: She is a most remarkable woman. / This was the most wicked crime.Top
4 For most important and most importantly, see IMPORTANT, IMPORTANTLY.Top
5 Dewey knew no fear, would just roar on into most any species of difficultyT.R. Pe arson , 1991. In this meaning, in use since the 16c first in Scotland and now ch iefly in UK dialects and in AmE, most is a shortening of almost and therefore a distinct word, though often treated together with the main meanings of most in d ictionaries.Top
Back - New Search mother-in-law means one's wife's or husband's mother. The plural is mothers-in-law.
Back - New Search Mother's Day. In Britain, this is another name for Mothering Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent , traditionally a day for honouring mothers with gifts. In America, Mother's Day is on the second Sunday in May.
Back - New Search motif is a mid-19c loanword from French with special meanings that distinguish it from motive, an earlier (14c) loanword from French. A motif is chiefly used to mean a dominant theme or distinctive feature in a literary work, and in music a melod ic or rhythmic figure from which a longer passage is developed.
Back - New Search motivate, motivation. Motivation has a special meaning in psychology which the OED defines as `the consc ious or unconscious stimulus for action towards a desired goal provided by psych ological or social factors; that which gives purpose or direction to behaviour'. B oth it and the corresponding verb motivate have entered the language of business
and industrial personnel management to denote the factors that induce employees to work well: The really crucial skills, to the head-teacher charged with the responsibility o f taking a school into this new territory, will be those of motivation, leadersh ip and team-buildingT. , 1991. From here it is a short step to over-generalized u ses in which both words are little more than synonyms for cause (verb and noun) or reason: The principal motivation for this comparison is to help decisions about the allo cation of health care resourcesBritish Medical journal, 1975 / The farming achievements of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were a lso motivated by the need for more foodJ. , 1989.
Back - New Search motto has the plural form mottoes.
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mould. There are three separate words spelt this way in BrE: a hollow container for mak ing a shape, a fungous growth, and loose friable earth. All three have correspon ding verbs. In AmE the spelling in all meanings is mold.
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moult is the spelling in BrE for the verb meaning `to shed feathers or hair etc.' and for the corresponding noun. In AmE the spelling is molt.
Back - New Search mouse. The plural in the traditional meaning is mice, but mouses is commonly heard in t he computing world for the hand-held device which controls the movement of the c
ursor on the screen. The verb mouse meaning `to hunt mice', used with reference to c ats, is sometimes pronounced mowz.
Back - New Search moustache (with stress on the second syllable) is the normal spelling in BrE, but mustache (with stress on the first syllable) is more usual in AmE.
Back - New Search mouth is pronounced mowth as a noun (but plural mowdhz), and mowdh as a verb (also -mo wdhd in combinations such as foul-mouthed).
Back - New Search mouthful has the plural form mouthfuls. See -FUL.
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movable, mobile. Movable generally denotes that something can be moved by applying an external fo rce to it, whereas mobile means that it has the ability to move or be moved as a special characteristic. A mobile phone is designed to be carried about, and a m obile shop is built into a vehicle so that it can be transported. Mobile is also used with special meanings as a noun (a decorative hanging structure, and = mob ile phone). Movable has a special meaning in law to denote property that is rega rded as personal to the owner rather than as a permanent fixture. Note that mova ble is normally spelt in this way, although moveable is the form often used in l egal contexts.
Back - New Search mow. The past of the verb is mowed. The past participle is mowed or mown (He has mowe d / mown the grass), but when used as an adjective mown is the only form used (M own grass).
Back - New Search MP (= Member of Parliament) is now normally used without full points. The plural is MPs (no apostrophe) and the possessive forms are MP's (singular) and MPs' (plur al).
Back - New Search Mr, Mrs are now normally used without a full point: Mr and Mrs J. Smith.
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Ms, despite the derision that greeted its early uses in the 1950s (at first in Ameri ca and soon after in Britain), is now established as a useful and practical titl e applied to a woman irrespective of marital status (Ms J. Smith). It is normall y used without a full point. Although it was originally devised out of concern f or social equality and promoted especially by the feminist movement, it has prov ed a blessing to everyone, men and women alike, in avoiding the need to research into or divine the personal circumstances of female addressees. There is, howev er, a snag: it is awkward to pronounce, mz and miz being the normal forms, neith er of them satisfactory.
Back - New Search much. For the complementary uses of much and very, see VERY.
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much more, much less, still more, still less. The principles, much more the practice, need a good deal of scrutiny. I didn't e ven see him, still less talk to him. Much more (or still more) is used when the
grammatical form of the sentence is positive, and much less (or still less) when it is negative. Uncertainty arises when the form is positive but the sense is n egative, as with adjectives in un- and words like difficult. In the sentence It is difficult to establish all the facts, much less to reach a conclusion, much m ore is strictly needed, not much less, but the result is awkward and an alternat ive such as let alone is often preferred.
Back - New Search muchly, once a serious adverb, is now only used humorously: She stepped away from him as though evading her share in the pleasure. `Thank you muchly,' he said.M. , 1988.
Back - New Search mucus, mucous. Mucus is the noun for a slimy substance secreted by a gland, and mucous is the c orresponding adjective (as in mucous membrane).
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Muhammad, Muhammadan. The name of the founder of Islam is now spelt Muhammad in English, not Mohammed. The word for a follower of Islam (and the corresponding adjective) is Muslim; M uhammadan (a term often used in the past) is now considered offensive by Muslims themselves in suggesting that Muhammad and not Allah is the object of worship.
Back - New Search mulatto, meaning à person of mixed white and black parentage', has the plural form mulattos. The word is no longer actively used but is found in the works of earlier writer s such as Defoe, Thackeray, and Stevenson. Half-caste still survives but is ofte n regarded as depreciatory if not offensive; person of mixed descent, though mor e unwieldy, is usually preferred.
Back - New Search mullah,
meaning à Muslim learned in Islamic law', is spelt in this way.
Back - New Search mumps, the illness, is usually treated as a singular noun (Mumps is common in young chi ldren), and is sometimes used informally or locally with the (When I was sick with the mumps, Atwood 1989).
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municipal is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable.
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muscle, mussel. Muscle is the fibrous body tissue, mussel the bivalve mollusc.
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Muslim, pronounced muhz-lim, is the preferred spelling for a follower of Islam (and the corresponding adjective), not Moslem or other older forms. Note that MUHAMMADAN is no longer acceptable in this meaning.
Back - New Search mussel
see MUSCLE.
Back - New Search must. The use of must informally as a noun meaning `something that must be done or had, or that should not be missed', dates from the 1890s in American use. In the earlie r part of the 20c, it was often written in inverted commas as being not quite pu kka in serious or supposedly serious contexts, and this practice still sometimes occurs: A film and a song made the he idiom has moved a stage his is a `must' book), and rb, not a noun: The latest Trevi Fountain a `must' for touristsGuardian, 1973. Now, t further in being used attributively (before a noun: T in the phrasal adjective must-have (in which must is a ve must-have fashion accessory).
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mute e. The letter e is mute or silent at the end of words such as excite, move, sale, a nd rare. In adding suffixes to these words, the question arises whether the fina l e should be retained (as it is in changeable) or dropped (as it is more usuall y, e.g. in excitable and latish). Choice is partly a matter of convention from w ord to word and partly determined by principles, the most important of which are that final -e is retained when a suffix is added (1) when e preserves the soft sound of a preceding consonant (as in change), (2) when the presence of the e di stinguishes the root from another word (e.g. route (= to send by a particular ro ute) gives routeing to distinguish it from forms of the verb rout), and (3) when the suffix begins with a consonant (as in judge / judgement (although judgment is also used) and change / changeling). The following table illustrates the comm onest types, and some of the examples represent others (in some cases many other s) of the same type: acknowledge acknowledgement (occasionally acknowledgment) age ageing blue bluey change changeable, changeling, changing dye dyeing excite excitable gauge gaugeable glue gluey hinge hingeing
hire hireling judge judgement (occasionally judgment) late latish like likeable, likely love lovable, loving mouse mousy move movable notice noticeable rare rarer rate rateable route routeing sale saleable whole wholly
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mutual. 1 That done, our day of marriage shall be yours, One feast, one house, one mutual happiness. Shakespeare , Two Gentlemen of Verona, v.iv.1701. Until the 19c, mutual was used with little difficulty in two main meanings: (1) that reflected in Val entine's words just quoted from Two Gentlemen, i.e. `common, shared by several', and (2) another, slightly older, meaning defined as èxperienced or done by each of tw o or more parties with reference to each other'
, i.e. more or less equivalent to the much more awkward word reciprocal; this me aning is also found in Shakespeare : A contract of eternal bond of love, Confirmed by mutual joinder [= joining] our handsTwelfth Night, v.i.1545. Although the OED gives copious evidence ses of the type our mutual friend (first recorded in 1658, i.e. long before ens used it as a title), our mutual acquaintance, our mutual opinion, etc., 19c grammarians decided on the basis largely of their Latin view of grammar of y for phra Dick the and
meaning that while `the mutual love of husband and wife' is correct enough, à mutual friend of both husband and wife' is `sheer nonsense' (Henry Alford , Dean of Canterbur y, 1864). (How `sheer nonsense' can be used of something that is readily understood itself makes no sense.)
2 The state of affairs now, at the turn of the 21c, is that most usage guides wa rn against the use of mutual to mean `common, shared' when there is no element of re ciprocal action or feeling, i.e. not just shared but acting in both directions ( and usually involving no more than two parties). But meaning is not that contain able, and is not always obligingly resident in individual words. Mutual is the k ind of word that draws its meaning from its surroundings: On the whole even Marwan was pretty laissez-faire about a girl and a boy talking about subjects of mutual interest Williams , 1993 (the interest may not be two-w ay but the talking is.) Furthermore, anyone who insists on using common instead of mutual is not living in the real world: common has acquired so much ancillary meaning from the other work it has to do that it will almost invariably change or weaken the sense. So the recommendation must be twofold: (1) use common or jo int (or, often better, in common or jointly) if it fits without any of its other meanings getting in the way and has the force of meaning needed, especially in cases where it may be significant that the action is not two-way (They all had p roblems in common), (2) otherwise use mutual, whether there is explicit reciproc al action or not: Wilde and Yeats reviewed each other's work with mutual regardR. Ellmann , 1986 / No camaraderie exists between mother and daughter, no sympathy born out of mutua l sufferingJ. Berman , 1987.Top
3 The difference in usage between mutual and reciprocal was succinctly summed up by Fowler as follows: `Mutual regards the relation from both sides at once: the m utual hatred of A and B; never from one side only: not B's mutual hatred of A. W here mutual is correct, reciprocal would be so too: the reciprocal hatred of A a nd B; but mutual is usually preferred when it is possible. Reciprocal can also b e applied to the second party's share alone: B's reciprocal hatred of A. Recipro cal is therefore often useful to supply the deficiencies of mutual.'Top
Back - New Search myriad, a somewhat literary word meaning àn indefinitely great number' (from a Greek word m eaning `ten thousand'), is treated like billion and million in relation to a followi ng noun, i.e. you can say either a myriad stars or myriads of stars. A third con struction, a myriad of stars, is also found. Examples: Acting as a walking/talking A-Z, directing traffic, dealing with accident victim s and domestic disputes are several of the myriad activities that absorb police personnelM. Brogden , 1991 / Crystals are made of myriads of layers of atoms (or equivalent), and each layer builds upon the layer below Dawkins , 1991 /
The conditions are made up of a myriad of separate agreements, some going back t o the 1920sA. Ferner , 1988.
Back - New Search myself has two main roles: (1) as a reflexive pronoun in which the object of the action is the same as the speaker (I managed to restrain myself / I was put in a room by myself), (2) as an emphatic pronoun reinforcing the simple pronoun I (I began to feel gui lty myself)
. It should not be used as the subject of a verb, although this is sometimes fou nd especially in compound subjects joined by and: It wasn't that Peter and myself [read: Peter and I] were being singled out Weldon , 1988. Nor should it be used as the object of a verb when the action is not re flexive and me would do as well: Palme Dutt's nervousness communicated itself to Isaac and myself [read: to Isaac and me] Williams , 1985.
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naff. The phrasal verb naff off, a euphemistic substitute for fuck off, first appeared in print in Keith Waterhouse's novel Billy Liar (1959), and Waterhouse himself insists that it was originally conscript service slang as an acronym of `nasty, aw ful, fuck it'. It was brought into prominence in 1982 when Princess Anne used it t o get rid of bothersome photographers. The adjective naff, which has a range of meanings roughly corresponding to ùnfashionable, tasteless, inept', is unrelated to the verb.
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nave, also written naive (without accent), is originally the feminine of the French wo rd naf, which is no longer used in English. It has never been fully naturalized i n English and is generally pronounced in a quasi-French way nah-eev or niy-eev. The corresponding noun is navety or navet.
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name. 1 The elliptical construction name of, short for by the name of, is now common i nformally: Keep your eyes peeled for a customer on his own, name of Sheldrake Lodge , 1991.
2 The idiom you name it, used informally as a colourful equivalent of ètc.', is fir st found in print in the 1960s, and is now well established: Whatever they choose to say, Directors, DG, Higher Command, War Cabinet, Prime M inister, you name it, I'm not sending my units back into Europe Fitzgerald , 1980 .Top
3 The idiom to name someone or something after (or for) someone or something els e has settled down in the 20c as name after in BrE and name for in AmE: Wellington, who, as we all know, has a boot named after himPrinting world, 1976 / Each chapter is named for the element it recallsNew Yorker, 1987. The American us e occasionally creeps into British contexts, but one is always aware that it is not entirely natural there: In a city [sc. Melbourne] named for a British prime minister, in a state named f or a British queen,Sunday Times Magazine, 1988.Top
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napkin
is preferred by Fowler (1926), Nancy Mitford , and others to serviette, which th ey judged to be a genteelism or `non-U'.
Back - New Search nappy, a shortening of napkin, is the BrE term for what in AmE is called a diaper (pron ounced diy--p).
Back - New Search narcissus. The plural form of the plant name is narcissi, pronounced nah-sis-iy, rather tha n the more awkward narcissuses.
Back - New Search nary. The colloquial or dialect expression nary a (= not a) was exclusively American u ntil the 20c, when it began to appear in British works: You can wander around the cavernous vaults of the Law Courts in the Strand these days and come across nary a personNew Society, 1973.
Back - New Search nasal in phonetics denotes a sound produced with the breath passing through the nose, e.g. m, n, ng, or French en, un.
Back - New Search nationalize, naturalize. These two words are close enough in form and meaning to cause occasional bother. Nationalize means `to take (an industry etc.) into state ownership', whereas natura lize means `to admit (a foreign person) into citizenship of a country' and also `to ad opt (a foreign word or custom)'. The respective nouns are nationalization and natu ralization.
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native. 1 In many of its meanings, native is uncontroversial: native speaker, native of Liverpool, native oak are typical examples of uneventful usage. The danger signa ls start to sound when the word is used to mean àn original inhabitant of a count ry', because of the notions of cultural inferiority that the word conveys. A write r called J. C. Furnan , writing in 1950 and quoted in the OED, typified the ster eotype implicit in native usually as follows: greedy for beads and alcoholic drinks. Suspect of cannibalism. Addicted to drumb eating and lewd dancing. More or less naked. Sporadically treacherous. Probably polygamous and simultaneously promiscuous. Picturesque. Comic when trying to spe ak English or otherwise ape white ways. In uses that are clearly humorous, there is less objection to native: New York in the summer was too hot even for the natives. Otherwise, it is better to use more neutral terms such as aboriginal or original inhabitant.
2 The adjective is less pejorative. The indigenous peoples of North America have been called Native Americans since the 1950s without causing offence, although American Indians is also used.Top
Back - New Search natter, meaning `to chatter idly', is largely confined to BrE. It seems to be an alteration of an earlier dialectal word gnatter, which is of uncertain origin but like natt er bore the meaning `grumble'.
Back - New Search nature. The phrase of a nature, with an adjective before nature, should be used sparingl y and only when the adjective by itself will not serve for some reason. For exam ple, a theologian of an enigmatic nature could easily be rephrased as an enigmat ic theologian. In other cases, kind or type could be used more effectively than nature: These results, minor as they are, are of a nature that has not been achieved in any other use of the computer for style analysis in musicComputer & Humanities, 1 970.
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naught, nought. Naught is an archaic or literary word meaning `nothing' and it survives chiefly in p hrases such as come to naught or set at naught. In BrE nought is the term for th e digit o (zero in AmE). The game called noughts and crosses in BrE is known as tick-tack-toe in AmE.
Back - New Search nausea. The recommended pronunciation is naw-zi-.
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nauseated, nauseating, nauseous. 1 In Britain nauseated and nauseating (as parts of the verb nauseate) occasional ly mean respectively àffected by nausea' and `causing nausea' in the physical sense but more often mean `disgusted' and (especially) `disgusting': (nauseated) Aung San was nauseated by his persisting with the corrupt practices which had disfigured pre-war parliamentary politicsH. Tinker , 1987 / She had some brightly coloured blouses and dresses hanging in the cupboard, and the mere sight of them made her feel shaky and nauseatedC.F. Roe , 1990 / (nausea ting) He opined that Band Aid was diabolical and that Geldof was a `nauseating character'M. Middles , 1988 / He woke up to the nauseating smell of burning skin and a roaring soundFlyPast, 19 91 / What a nauseating little Miss Perfect you areR. Goddard , 1993. Nauseous is used (1) to describe things that cause physical revulsion or feelings of disgust (But that doesn't mean I have to be involved in this kind of nauseous businessR. Harrison , 1991) and (2) to mean `suffering from nausea' (She suddenly felt nauseous, and went to the sink and heaved uncontrollablyQ. Wil der , 1993).
2 In America, nauseated until recently only meant `physically suffering from nause a', and nauseous strictly meant `causing nausea'. However, this distinction has become
blurred, and nauseous is now commonly used in the same way as the physical mean ing of nauseated: The water isn't as cold as I figured, but when the bottom of my pajama-leg gets wet, I get a little nauseousTransatlantic Review, 1977 / Was the President nauseous when he slumped to the floor, or was there any vomiti ng?New York Times, 1992. Meanwhile the `causing nausea' sense of nauseous is being re placed by nauseating.Top
Back - New Search naval, navel. Naval is the adjective relating to navy, and navel is the rounded knotty depress ion in the centre of the belly (also in navel orange etc.). The two words are un related.
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nay is still in use as a somewhat rhetorical (and often affected) way of expressing the meaning ànd more than that ': One could not but notice how theatrical, nay operatic, the whole adornment of th e church wasOxford Magazine, 1991. As a noun, nay means principally à no vote' in pa rliamentary divisions.
Back - New Search n see NE.
Back - New Search near, nearly. Near has almost fallen out of use as an adverb meaning àlmost', and nearly serves t his purpose: He was nearly dead with fright. An exception is near-perfect: Gunnell, captain of the British women's team, showed exactly how it should be do ne with what turned into a near-perfect performanceDaily Mirror, 1992.
Back - New Search nearby, near by. When used as an adjective before a noun, it should be written as one word (at a nearby hotel), but as an adverb normally as two (at a hotel near by).
Back - New Search necessarily. The dominant pronunciation in BrE, which has been influenced by American practic e, is with the stress on the third syllable; a first-syllable stress is often ad vocated by older speakers but whether they always use it themselves is questiona ble.
Back - New Search necessaries, necessities. Both words are well attested in the meaning `the basic physical requirements of li fe, including food, warmth, and shelter': I gathered up what few necessaries I could quickly lay my hands ontobacco and pap ers, coffee, a can to cook in, and a couple of tin cupsR.J. Conley , 1986 / He needed to do some shopping for cleaning materials and other basic necessities and decided to goB.M. Gill , 1989.
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ne, n. Ne is the feminine form of the French adjective meaning `born' and is traditionally u sed to identify the maiden name of a married woman: Mrs Ann Smith, ne Jones. In o ther cases it is used to denote the original name of a woman who has changed her name; in this use it also appears in the masculine form n to refer to a man who has done this and even to non-human name changes: Diana Dors, ne Diana Mary Fluck / Norman Charles, n Charles Norman Diggs / The Morning Star, n Daily Worker.
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need verb. 1 Like dare, need can behave in two ways: as an ordinary verb and as a modal aux iliary verb sharing some of the characteristics of the main modals including can , may, might, should, etc. As an ordinary verb, need is regular and can be follo wed by a simple object (We need more bread), a verbal noun (The cupboard needs c leaning), or a to-infinitive (They need to see for themselves). As a modal verb, it has certain grammatical restrictions: (1) it is only used with a so-called `ba re' infinitive without to (I'm not sure you need answer), (2) it is only used in the negative and in questions without do (You need not an swer / Need I answer?), (3) the third person singular form is need without addition of s (He says she ne ed not answer). Note that in many cases the modal use can alternatively be expre ssed by need as an ordinary verb, e.g. He says she does not need to answer, but the sense is then more one of neutrally stating a fact whereas the modal use nor mally expects a type of response (i.e. he does not want her to answer).
2 Some contextual examples follow: (modal use) The Landlady need never knowJ. Frame , 1985 / But need she lie? Was he just a boy?M. Leland , 1985 / It need not only be children who can enjoy guessing gamesSpectator, 1988 / (ordinary use) The K2 tragedy shows that much more needs to be done to bring hom e the lessonTimes, 1986 / She acted as if Strawberry needed to be cuddledNew Yorker, 1988.Top
3 In its use as an ordinary verb in the meaning `stand in want of', need can be foll owed by either a verbal noun (which is more common in speech) or a passive to-in finitive (The car needs washing / The car needs to be washed). A third type, The car needs washed, is primarily Scottish: I walked round the cottage to see what needed doneC. Burns , 1989.Top
Back - New Search needs, originally an adverb meaning òf necessity, necessarily', survives in the somewhat l iterary phrase needs must: If needs must, I'll spin them a yarn about you being one of my long-lost sonsP. B ailey , 1986. The phrase alludes to the old proverb Needs must when the devil dr
ives (and its variants).
Back - New Search ne'er is a literary (chiefly poetical) shortening of never, in regular use since the 1 3C but now rarely used except in the compound ne'er-do-well meaning à good-for-no thing'.
Back - New Search negative, an emphatic form of no used for clarity, has been extended since about the 1950s from the language of radio communication into general use: Àny result of my application for the return of my typist?' `Negative,' said Mr Oates Wau gh , 1961.
Back - New Search nglig, nglige. Both spellings are in use in English, and the accents are sometimes dropped. In the meaning à woman's light dressing-gown', the preferred form is nglige. The pronunc iation of both forms is neg-li-zhay.
Back - New Search negligible is spelt -ible, not negligeable.
Back - New Search negotiate is one of Fowler's LOST CAUSES. In 1926 he strongly attacked its use in what he called ìts improper sense' of `tackle successfully' as in negotiating bends, obstacles, etc., a use that is now well established.
Back - New Search Negro, Negress. Negro needs to be used with great caution, and Negress is no longer in favour at all (except among American Blacks themselves). The standard terms are now black
(or Black) and (in America) African-American. The plural of Negro is Negroes.
Back - New Search Negroid, referring to the peoples of central and southern Africa, is one of a set of term s used by 19c anthropologists to classify human races. They are now outdated and potentially offensive, and the names of specific peoples or nationalities shoul d normally be used.
Back - New Search neighbourhood. It is inadvisable to use the clumsy expression in the neighbourhood of (a sum or figure) when roughly or about would serve as well.
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neither, 1 PRONUNCIATION. Both pronunciations, niy-dh and nee-dh, are about equally commo n.
2 PARTS OF SPEECH. Neither functions in two ways: as an adjective or pronoun, an d as an adverb or conjunction. a ADJECTIVE AND PRONOUN. Neither means `not the one nor the other (of two things)': Neither child knew the answer / Neither wanted to stay / Neither of them is righ t. When more than two items are involved, no is preferable for the adjective and none for the pronoun, although neither tends to be used informally especially f or the pronoun. Normally neither governs a singular verb, but with the type neit her of (+ plural) a plural construction is sometimes used to emphasize the plura lity of the statement as a whole: Neither of them are suitable. b ADVERB AND CONJUNCTION. Neither is regularly paired with nor, linking two subj ects. If both subjects are singular and in the third person, the verb should nor mally be singular: Neither its chairman, Sir Frederick Dainton, nor its chief executive, Kenneth Co oper, is planning any dramatic gesturesTimes, 1985. But a plural verb is also att ested historically and is still often found, especially when the essential plura lity that is always present in neither comes to the fore: Neither search nor labour are necessary Johnson , 1759 /
But neither Baker nor Bush are needed for thatNewsweek, 1991. As an adverb, neith er can be used with nor to link more than two items: Buildings made of some translucent and subtly incandescent material, neither gla ss nor stone nor steel Lively , 1991. Neither is used as a quasi-conjunction in c onstructions of the informal type He's had no breakfast. Neither did he want any , in which it is a substitute for nor.Top
3 CHANGE OF NUMBER AND PERSON WITH NEITHER NOR Complications occur when the numb er (singular or plural) of the two subjects is different. If either of the subje cts (especially the second) is plural, the verb is normally plural: Neither the Conservative figures nor the evidence of Labour's recovery since 198 3 produce any sense of inexorable movement in political fortunesTimes, 1985. A mi xture of persons is more difficult, and can normally only be resolved by rephras ing, so that (e.g.) Neither you nor I am/are/is the right person becomes You are not the right person, and neither [or nor] am I.Top
4 POSITION OF NEITHER AND NOR. The position of neither and nor should be such th at the grammatical structures are correctly balanced, as in This suits neither o ne purpose nor the other but not in This neither suits one purpose nor the other .Top
5 NEITHER FOLLOWED BY OR. Although the OED gives plenty of literary evidence for neither followed by or rather than nor (e.g. / can neither tell how many we kill'd, or how many we wounded Defoe , 1719), in cur rent usage this is considered incorrect and should be avoided.Top
6 NEITHER REPLACING NOR. When nor follows a negative statement (not necessarily one with neither) and introduces a different grammatical subject, it can be repl aced by neither: Becky is killed accidentally. The police don't care much; neither does Henry's w ifePublishers Weekly, 1974.Top
Back - New Search nem. con., short for Latin nemine contradicente, means `with no one dissenting' (from a vote or decision). It does not mean the same as unanimously since it can also include a bstentions, which unanimously does not.
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neologisms see NEW WORDS.
Back - New Search nerve-racking is the preferred spelling in BrE, although AmE also allows nerve-wracking.
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-ness see -ION, -MENT, -NESS.
Back - New Search net. In the commercial meaning `not subject to deduction', the spelling is net, not nett.
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Netherlands, Low Countries, Holland, Dutch. The Netherlands is the official name for the Kingdom of Holland; Holland (strict ly only a part of the Netherlands) is used informally. The term Low Countries in cludes Belgium and Luxembourg as well as the Netherlands. Dutch is used as a nou n and adjective for the language and people of the Netherlands, and in certain f amiliar phrases such as Dutch courage (= false courage got from alcohol) and go Dutch (= pay individually).
Back - New Search neurosis has the plural form neuroses, pronounced nyoo-roh-seez.
Back - New Search never. As a negative adverb, never refers primarily to repeated or continuous non-occur rence over a period of time: They never answer letters / It never rained at all last month. It should only be used informally to refer to one occasion, when a s imple negative would be equally appropriate: I phoned you but you never rang bac k [better, you didn't ring back]; it is used with similar meaning in a number of fixed expressions such as never fear and well I never. It is also used idiomati cally as an emphatic negative with reference to future time: You'll never catch the train now. The emphatic form never ever (sometimes with a comma between them ) is also restricted to informal contexts: She continued, a little too vehemently, Ì've never, ever been bored' Gee , 1985.
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nevertheless, nonetheless. Both words mean ìn spite of that' and are interchangeable. They are both now normal ly written as one word.
Back - New Search news.
News is what a chap who doesn't care much about anything wants to read Waugh , 19 38. News, though earlier a singular or plural noun, has been treated since the e arly 19c as singular: Here is [not are] the news.
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new words (also called neologisms). It is always tempting, as much in the history of the l anguage as in political and social history, to identify tendencies with centurie s, but language change is a continuous process, and what is significant is the s ocial and technological factors that have produced change. In the later part of the 20c, the most significant social and historical developments that have given rise to new words and meanings are as follows (necessarily a selective list wit
h fairly crude divisions in which some items belong in more than one category): SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: airglow, astrochemistry, cardphone, cash machine, cellph one, chaos theory, dark matter, digital compression, electronic banking (and man y other electronic phenomena), genetic engineering, home shopping, meme, mobile phone, smart card, Switch (method of payment), tone dialling, voicemail COMPUTING: access (verb, as in accessing data; this has spread into general use) , boot (verb, noun), browser, bulletin board, bundle, CD-ROM, chipset, cut and p aste, cyberspace, dataglove, dialogue box, directory, download, e-mail (= electr onic mail), flaming, -friendly (as a suffix as in user-friendly), hacking, helpd esk, home page (on the World Wide Web), hypertext, information superhighway, Int ernet, laptop, logon, millennium bug, motherboard, the Net, newsgroup, plug-andplay, scroll bar, search engine, shareware, software, standalone, surfing, upgra deability, virtual reality, virus, (World-Wide) Web, zip. [It will be noticed th at most of these words are extended uses of modifications of basic items of core vocabulary.] ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: biodiversity, CFC (= chlorofluorocarbon), global warming, greenhouse effect, greenhouse gas, ozone depletion, ozone-friendly, zero-emissio n vehicle POPULAR CULTURE: babe (= attractive young woman), bad hair day (= day when every thing goes wrong), body piercing, crack (= cocaine), Ecstasy, lifestyle (first r ecorded in the 1930s and adopted in marketing jargon in the 1980s), lipstick Les bian, recreational drug, smart drug POLITICS AND SOCIETY: abuse (as in child abuse, narcotics abuse), acquaintance r ape, cardboard city (area of homeless people), cash for questions, challenged (P C term for a disability, as in mentally challenged, physically challenged, etc.) , change management, charisma, charm offensive, dependency culture, differently abled, double whammy, downshifting, downsizing, empowerment, Essex man, feel-goo d (factor), feminism (a 19c word that has exploded in use in the 20c), feng shui , fundholder, gap year (between school and university), gesture politics, glass ceiling (barrier to personal advancement), granny dumping, home shopping (by mea ns of a telecommunications link), homophobia, human resources (= personnel), job seeker, leaderene (coined by the satirical magazine Private Eye to refer to Mrs Thatcher), league table (of schools' performance), living will, loyalty card, mi ssion statement (= statement of a company's business principles), nanny state, n arcoterrorism, National Lottery, negative equity, New Age, New Labour, New Lad, outsourcing, pindown (treatment of children in care), pink pound, political corr ectness, power dressing, pro-active, ram-raiding, Reaganomics, reskilling, road rage, safe haven, serial monogamy, sexism (and other words in -ism, e.g. ableism , fattism, sizeism), sleaze, social chapter, speed bump, spin doctor (= senior p ublic relations officer to a politician), stakeholder economy, stressed out, sub sidiarity, surrogate mother, teleworking, Thatcherism INTERNATIONAL POLITICS: collateral damage, ethnic cleansing, Euroscepticism (and other Euro- words), fatwa, friendly fire, intifada, killing field (= place of m ass slaughter), peace dividend, peace process, safe haven, velvet revolution HEALTH AND MEDICINE: Aids (and Aids-related), attention deficit disorder, BSE (= bovine spongiform encephalitis), CJD (= CreutzfeldJakob disease), community care , dyspraxia, frozen embryo, functional food, interleukin (proteins), keyhole sur gery, kinesiology, mad cow disease, ME (= myalgic encephalomyelitis), post-traum atic stress disorder, Prozac (antidepressant drug), RSI (= repetitive strain inj ury), SAD (= seasonal affective disorder), safe sex, sick building syndrome, tra ns-fatty acid, water birth MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS: DAT (= digital audio tape), electronic publishing, inf
otainment, miniseries, multimedia, soundbite, supermodel FOOD AND DRINK: alcopop (= alcoholic soft drink), ciabatta, decaf (= decaffeinat ed coffee), fajitas, foodie, functional food, nacho, tiramisu, tortilla LEISURE: adventure game, Aga saga (= type of novel concerned with middle-class r ural characters), arcade game, bungee jumping, CD (compact disc), edutainment, f antasy football, gangsta (dancing), golden goal, grunge (rock music), home cinem a, jungle (music), karaoke, performance poetry, quality time, rollover, scratch card, snowboarding GENERAL SLANG AND INFORMAL USES: anorak, attitude (= idiosyncratic attitude or o utlook), dweeb, geek, gobsmacked, item (= romantic relationship), nerd, oick, sa ddo, spazz out, techie, wannabe (= someone with an ambition). It will be noticed how many of these are terms of personal abuse addressed to or used of people CATCHPHRASES: back to basics (misconceived slogan for a return to honest princip les), been there, done that (assertion of experience), economical with the truth , get a life, level playing field, move the goalposts, you name it.
Back - New Search next. As an adjective meaning ìmmediately following', next normally precedes the noun it is governing (next time / the next three), but in denoting time it can follow th e noun (on Friday next / in July next). Care needs to be taken in referring to a future day of the week, since usage differs. Generally, next Friday means the c oming Friday of the same week, but if this is being said on a Thursday it might mean the Friday of the following week, since the immediately following Friday wo uld then be referred to as tomorrow. In Scotland and parts of northern England, next Friday always means the Friday of the coming week, and to denote Friday of the same week this Friday would be used. If there is likely to be any doubt, it is better to be specific in some way, e.g. by adding the date or by saying, for example, Friday of this week or Friday week as appropriate.
Back - New Search nice. The word nice is the great cause clbre of meaning change in English. In medieval a nd Renaissance literature, nice (derived from Latin nescius meaning ìgnorant') has a wide range of generally unfavourable meanings such as `foolish, stupid' and `wanton, loose-mannered', and in some cases it is not possible to be sure which meaning wa s intended. The meanings to do with precision and fine distinctions (as in a nic e point) arose in the 16c, and are still in use, but they are now swamped by the generalized favourable use of nice to mean àgreeable, pleasant': Talk to her in your best, professorial manner, make her think how nice and kind you are Bawden , 1989 / All her furniture is second-hand and rather niceJ. Rose , 1990 / I have three children of my own now and I thought it would be nice to surprise t hem with the sugar mice on the tree, and also the chocolate cat Cookson , 1990. T here is no doubt that nice is greatly overused in this meaning, and critics have
some reason to call it a `lazy word' (i.e. inducing laziness in its users). Many sy nonyms, often more apposite and stronger in meaning, are available (good, pleasa nt, enjoyable, fine, agreeable, satisfying, etc.) and it is often better to use them, but in conversation nice has established itself too well and too idiomatic ally for cautionary advice to have any real point: I thought the shoulder of lamb would be much nicer and it looked nice and fresh!c onversation recorded in British National Corpus, 1992.
Back - New Search nicety is pronounced niy-st-ti, as three syllables. Its primary meaning is à subtle dist inction or detail' whereas niceness corresponds more generally to the meanings of nice.
Back - New Search niche. The usual pronunciation is neesh, in the French manner, although the anglicized form nich is also heard. In business jargon, niche (always pronounced neesh, of course) means à special section of the market' to which the marketing effort for go ods or services may be specifically directed, and in this use the word has devel oped a range of attributive uses (i.e. before another noun) such as niche market , niche product, and niche player (= a firm which exploits a niche): The move completes the group's strategy of becoming a niche player in the new se curities market after the big bangTimes, 1986.
Back - New Search niece is one of the most commonly misspelt words in English.
Back - New Search nigger. The word is highly offensive when used by a white person with reference to a bla ck, but it can apparently be used without offence (along with a respelt version nigga) by one black person referring to another, perhaps as a deliberate reclama tion of the term by those who have suffered from it. Various phrases based on it , such as nigger in the woodpile and work like a nigger, have largely fallen out of use in ordinary language except in historical contexts.
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-nik, a suffix derived from Yiddish and Russian and added to words to denote a person or thing associated with that word, has made some headway since it was given an initial boost by the Russian sputniks in the 1950s. First there was beatnik (195 8, still the most celebrated and substantial of these words), then no-good-nik ( 1960), protestnik (1965) and peacenik (1965), both arising from opposition to th e war in Vietnam, computernik (1966), and refusenik (1975, = a Jew refused permi ssion to leave the Soviet Union). Apart from beatnik, they all have an ad hoc fl avour about them.
Back - New Search nimby, an acronym for `not in my back yard', was first used in the 1980s to refer to people who objected to the siting of something unpleasant in their own neighbourhood, without being opposed to its introduction in principle (as long as it was locate d somewhere else). The word, unlike others of the same kind, has endured.
Back - New Search nineties see EIGHTIES.
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no. 1 No is used (1) as an adjective or (in the terminology of some linguists) negat ive determiner, with both singular and plural nouns, as in no house / no childre n / and no food, (2) as an adverb, as in They were no wiser, (3) as an interject ion, as in `Did you hear that?' 'No, I didn't`, and (4) as a noun (with plural noes), meaning à denial' or à vote of no', as in We won't take no for an answer and The noes have it (meaning a parliamentary motion has been defeated). It is not often real ized that there are two words involved here: the first meaning comes from a Midd le English word related to none, while the other meanings are of Old English ori gin.
2 In the first meaning, no can be used to form a negative statement instead of n ot, e.g. There are no wasps at this time of year instead of There aren't any was ps at this time of year. But note the difference in implication between He is no t a teacher (= he is something other than a teacher) and He is no teacher (= he is not suited to be a teacher).Top
3 The idiom whether or no is an established though now somewhat dated alternativ e for whether or not, and tends to be found in the pages of romantic fiction: For whether or no she had been instrumental in the making of that despicable wil l, it was her presence here that had caused it to be madeE. Bailey , 1993.Top
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nobody, no one. Like anybody and anyone, these are largely interchangeable, but no one is writte n as two words because noone would be too awkward. In a use such as No one perso n was responsible, no and one retain their separate meanings instead of jointly forming a pronoun. Note that a possessive word referring back to no one (pronoun ) is often a plural one: No one likes to have their word doubted: see GENDER-NEU TRALITY.
Back - New Search noisome means `harmful, noxious' and has nothing to do with the word noise. It comes from a Middle English word nay, related to annoy.
Back - New Search nominative is a grammatical term denoting a noun or pronoun that is the subject of a verb o r sentence, e.g. house in The house stood on a hill. See CASES.
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nom de plume, pseudonym. A nom de plume (also in translated form pen-name) is a name assumed by an author to appear on the title-page of a book; a pseudonym is an name assumed more gene rally although this too is normally applied in authorial contexts.
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nonis a prefix that makes negative forms (usually with a hyphen) of nouns and adjec tives (mainly), e.g. non-aggression, non-alcoholic, non-event, and non-union. In another more recent type nonis added to a verb to form a word meaning `that doe s not ', e.g. non-iron, non-skid. Non- is regularly used to form adjectives that ar e neutral in meaning when a form in un- or in- also exists with a special (norma lly unfavourable) meaning, as with non-professional (= not professional in statu s) as distinct from unprofessional (= not conforming to professional standards); others of this type include non-effective, non-essential, non-human, non-natura l, and non-scientific.
Back - New Search nonchalance, nonchalant. These are pronounced as English words, i.e. non-ch-lns and non-ch-lnt.
Back - New Search non-count nouns see COUNTABLE NOUNS.
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none, which is not a shortening of no one but a descendant of an Old English pronoun, may be followed by a singular or a plural verb, depending on the sense. When ind ividuality is being emphasized, or when none refers to something that cannot be plural, a singular form is used: A fear which we cannot know, which we cannot face, which none understandsT.S. Eli ot , 1935 / She is rather difficult to describe physically, for none of her features is part icularly striking Lodge , 1962 / None of this was a matter of treacheryP. Wright , 1987. When collectivity is the
dominant notion, a plural form is used: None of our fundamental problems have been solvedLondon Review of Books, 1987 / Though she had many affairs, none were lighthearted romancesNew Yorker, 1987.
Back - New Search nonesuch see NONSUCH.
Back - New Search nonetheless see NEVERTHELESS.
Back - New Search non-flammable see FLAMMABLE.
Back - New Search nonpareil, meaning `something or someone unrivalled or unique', is most commonly pronounced non -p-rayl, although other pronunciations are also heard.
Back - New Search nonplus, meaning `to perplex', has inflected forms nonplussed, nonplussing, and in AmE also n onplused, nonplusing. In a recent development, nonplussed has come to mean ùnpert urbed' (Òut of power?' asked McCoy, trying to appear nonplussedD. Kramer-Rolls , 1990 (US), the very opposite of the accepted meaning, probably by association with the pre fix non-, which implies a negative meaning.
Back - New Search nonsense. Uses of nonsense as a countable noun (i.e. preceded by a or in the plural) have
become common in the 20c, especially in BrE: I knew you'd make a nonsense of it so I told Wallis to be ready to take overL. Co oper , 1960. / I could only pray that the pathologist wouldn't come up with a time of death tha t made a nonsense of the alibi I was handing himV. McDermid , 1992.
Back - New Search non sequitur, meaning à conclusion that does not logically follow from the stated premiss or ar gument', is now normally printed in roman type.
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nonsuch, nonesuch. Nonsuch (pronounced nun-such) is now the more usual form in both its main meanin gs, à person or thing that is unrivalled' and à plant with black pods'.
Back - New Search non-U see U AND NON-U.
Back - New Search non-white. Despite objections of cultural bias in assuming that `white' is somehow normal and `no n-white' a departure from it, this is a standard term when general reference is ne eded.
Back - New Search no one see NOBODY.
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no place, meaning `nowhere', is still largely confined to AmE: You're going no place until Herb gets hereM. Pugh , 1969. It is sometimes written as one word.
Back - New Search no problem is recorded from the 1960s as an informal reply of assurance. The English playwr ight John Osborne missed the point (perhaps deliberately) when he wrote a few ye ars ago: Last week, on doctor's orders, I telephoned a pathology factory to organise a bl ood test. `No problem.' How can they possibly know until I've had it? But I do hope they're rightSpectator, 1992. It was the organization of the blood test, and not its outcome, that (at that stage at least) presented no problem, idiomatically i f not actually.
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nor. 1 For the use of nor after neither, see NEITHER. Note that nor can be repeated t o introduce a third or further item: The comment that receives the heartiest agreement concerns neither the war, nor the earthquake, nor the crime rateObserver Magazine, 1992.
2 Nor is sometimes used when there is no negative present or implied in the prec eding clause: Horned head-dresses have been found but they belonged to an earlier period. Nor did Viking warriors have decorated shieldsIndependent, 1998.Top
Back - New Search normality, normalcy. In BrE normality is the usual word, and normalcy is regarded with disfavour alth ough both words date from about the same time (mid-19c):
The morning passed slowly, uneventfully, and with a beguiling normality Brookner , 1989. In AmE and in some other varieties, both words are used with about equal frequency: partly in order to tidy up, tidy the room and return it to normalcy Desai , 1988 (India).
Back - New Search north, northern, northerly see EAST.
Back - New Search northward, northwards. The only form for the adjective is northward (in a northward direction), but nor thward and northwards are both used for the adverb, with a preference for northw ards in BrE: The advancing Allied armiesforced themselves northwards from the toe of italyR. Pe rry , 1979.
Back - New Search nosy, meaning ìnquisitive', is spelt this way in preference to nosey.
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not. 1 Not is used to form negative statements and questions, and is attached both to individual words and to whole clauses by means of their verbs, normally requiri ng the use of an auxiliary verb such as do or have: We do not want to go / not u sually / Not another one!. For the use of not with so-called `modal' verbs such as c an, may, and `semi-modals' such as dare and need, see MODAL VERB.
2 NOT WITH ONLY. Fowler (1926), in one of his more colourful images, wrote that `n ot only out of its place is like a tintack loose on the floor; it might have bee n most serviceable somewhere else, and is capable of giving acute pain where it is'. It is important to keep not only attached to the item to which it relates, so that in the sentence Katherine's marriage not only kept her away, but at least
two of Mr. March's cousins (C. P. Snow ), a stress on her will clarify the meani ng in speech, but in writing the sentence needs to be rewritten as Katherine's m arriage kept not only her away, but When not only is followed by but also (or som etimes just but), the placing of the two elements again needs to be correctly ba lanced: Those who can not only read and count, but can operate data processing machines as well are said to be `computerate'Times, 1981 / On January 25, 1959, [Pope] John announced not only the convening of the Council but also a synod for the diocese of RomeP. Hebblethwaite , 1984. In the followin g example, the positioning is so seriously awry as to be distracting: At present, businessmen are allowed to pass along to customers not only their in creases in costs, but also to tack on their standard profit marginsTime, 1972 (th e correct order is are allowed not only to pass along to customers ).Top
3 NOT WITH AN INFINITIVE. The usual position of not when attached to a to-infini tive is before the to: He promised not to do it again / She tried not to think a bout it any more. Occasionally, and usually for a strong negative effect, not sp lits the infinitive, but this should be regarded as a literary device best avoid ed in normal writing and speech where the effect is more awkward: My advice to any woman who earns the reputation of being capable, is to not demo nstrate her ability too much Spark , 1988.Top
4 NOT IN THE TYPE NOT UNGRATEFUL, NOT UNNOTICED, ETC. This device, known as meio sis, is very common in English and even Fowler (1926), though he disliked it, re cognized that it is well established: The presence of one of the vans in the area had not passed unnoticed by the alert crew of a Berkshire County Police wireless prowl carN. Lucas , 1967. Note that t his type, with the second word positive in form and only negative in implication , is not the same as an explicit double negative, such as They didn't notice not hing, which is more generally condemned in current usage.Top
5 NOT REPEATED IN A SUBORDINATE CLAUSE. I shouldn't wonder if it didn't turn to snow. This type, in which not is wrongly placed in a subordinate clause as a mer e echo of a negative in the main clause, should be avoided, although it is somet imes heard in informal speech. The correct form is I shouldn't wonder if it turn ed to snow.Top
Back - New Search noticeable is spelt with an e in the middle.
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notorious, infamous. Both words refer to fame achieved by means that are disapproved of, but notoriou s stresses the fame achieved whereas infamous is more concerned with the nature of the act: A notorious property developer was spooning sago pudding into his faceD. Jordan , 1973 / The scene of one of Drachenfels' most infamous atrocities, this chamber has been shunned by most of the few who have penetrated the CastleC. Sargent , 1992.
Back - New Search nought see NAUGHT. In expressing the figure nought out loud in a sequence of digits, Br E normally uses ò' (as if it were the letter) whereas in AmE `zero' is more usual.
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noun. A noun is a word that names a person or thing. Common nouns name persons or thin gs which are not peculiar to one example, i.e. are of a general nature (bridge, girl, sugar, unhappiness), whereas proper nouns name persons or things of which there is only one example (Asia, Concorde, Dickens). Concrete nouns refer to phy sical things (bread, woman), and abstract nouns to concepts (greed, unhelpfulnes s). Some nouns are concrete and abstract in different meanings, e.g. cheek is co ncrete when it refers to part of the face and abstract when it means ìmpertinece'.
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noun and verb differences. The following table lists differences of stress, pronunciation, and spelling whe n the same word is used as a noun and a verb, for example compound, escort, prac
tice / practise, record, and use. Differences are marked by the letters s (= dif ference of stress, normally first syllable for the noun and second for the verb) , p (= pronunciation, e.g. between yoos and yooz for the noun and verb use), and sp (= spelling, e.g. between belief and believe). NOUN VERB DIFFERENCE abuse abuse p accent accent s advice advise sp bath bathe sp belief believe sp breath breathe sp calf calve sp close close p cloth clothe sp commune commune s compound compound s concert concert s conduct conduct s conflict conflict s conscript conscript s consort consort s contest contest s contract contract s contrast contrast s convert convert s convict convict s decrease decrease s defect defect s dictate dictate s digest digest s discord discord s discount discount s discourse discourse s
escort escort s excuse excuse p export export s extract extract s ferment ferment s grief grieve sp half halve sp house house p import import s imprint imprint s incline incline s increase increase s indent indent s inlay inlay s insert insert s insult insult s licence license sp life live sp loss lose sp misuse misuse p mouth mouth p practice practise sp produce produce s proof prove sp record record s reject reject s relief relieve sp sheath sheathe sp shelf shelve sp strife strive sp
suspect suspect s teeth teethe sp thief thieve sp transfer transfer s use use p wreath wreathe sp
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no way.
He said he wouldn't start up a gang todayno way.New Yorker, 1975. This 20c America nism is now common in casual BrE speech, although its transatlantic origin is al ways near the surface: I wrote back and said no way did I think that she ought to go into the unitD. Cou lby , 1987. An intermediate stage can be seen in the expression there is no way (that): The Doctor realises that there is no way the two teachers could have achieved al l thisJ. Bentham , 1986.
Back - New Search nth. The popularized extension of the expression to the nth degree from the language of mathematics to general usage in the meaning `to the utmost' has continued despite Fowler's disapproval of it (1926): Leonard could be fastidious to the nth degree in completing his own workhe has al ways said that he works òne word at a time'L.S. Dorman , 1990.
Back - New Search nubile. The original Latin meaning of nubilis, `(of females) of an age suitable for marria ge', has given way in the 20c to the meaning `sexually attractive', making the earlier
sense somewhat awkward to use, except with intentional ambiguity.
Back - New Search nuclear should be pronounced nyook-li-, and not as if it were spelt nucular, although th is is occasionally heard, in AmE (famously by President Eisenhower in the 1950s) rather more than in BrE.
Back - New Search nucleus has the plural form nuclei, pronounced nyook-li-iy.
Back - New Search number is a grammatical term denoting the status of words as singular or plural. See AG REEMENT.
Back - New Search number of. The expression a number of + plural noun, as in a number of people, normally tak es a plural verb in both BrE and AmE, because the plural noun is regarded as the `head' of the noun phrase and therefore as the real subject: A number of books by ballerinas have been published latelyNew Yorker, 1987. By co ntrast, the expression the number of + plural noun, in which the head of the phr ase is number and not the noun, takes a singular verb: The number of MPs has increasedDaily Telegraph, 1987.
Back - New Search numeracy, a term denoting competence with basic mathematical concepts, was coined in 1959 on the analogy of literacy by a UK committee on education reporting in that year . The corresponding adjective is numerate.
Back - New Search numerals.
In general, numerals are used in more factual or statistical contexts and words are used (especially with numbers under a hundred) in more descriptive material: I have lived in the same house for twelve years / The survey covers a period of 12 years. Words are used in idiomatic expressions such as I must have told you a hundred times / Thousands of people swarmed through the gates. Separate object s, animals, ships, persons, etc., are not units of measurement unless they are t reated statistically: The peasant had only four cows / A farm with 40 head of ca ttle. With numerals consisting of four or more figures, commas should be used to divide off the thousands, e.g. 3,096 / 10,731. In specifying ranges of numbers, use the least number of figures possible, e.g. 1314 / 314 / 19236. But dates BC sh ould be written in full: 432431 BC (since 43231 BC and 4321 BC represent different ranges). More detailed information will be found in Hart's Rules for Compositors and Readers.
Back - New Search nursling is the preferred spelling, not nurseling.
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* * *
-o. 1 Plurals of nouns ending in -o cause difficulty in English because there are fe w convenient rules for choosing between -os (as in ratios) and -oes (as in heroe s). What rules there are can be briefly summarized: a When a vowel (usually i or e) precedes the final -o, the plural is normally -o s (trios, videos), probably because of the bizarre look of -ioes etc. b Names of animals and plants normally form plurals in -oes (buffaloes, tomatoes ). c Words that are shortenings of other words invariably form plurals in -os (demo s, hippos). d Alien-looking words and comparatively recent loanwords form plurals in -os (bo leros, placebos).
e Multi-syllable words tend to form plurals in -os (generalissimos, manifestos). f Proper names form plurals (used allusively) in -os (Neros, Romeos).
2 In other cases, practice varies from one house style to another, and the table below gives a consensus of informed usage. SINGULAR PLURAL alto altos banjo banjos buffalo buffaloes cargo cargoes casino casinos concerto concertos or concerti contralto contraltos do dos or do's dodo dodos domino dominoes dynamo dynamos echo echoes ego egos embargo embargoes fiasco fiascos flamingo flamingos fresco frescos gigolo gigolos go goes grotto grottoes hairdo hairdos halo haloes hero heroes hippo hippos innuendo innuendoes kilo kilos
libretto librettos mango mangoes manifesto manifestos memento mementoes memo memos mosquito mosquitoes motto mottoes Negro Negroes no noes peccadillo peccadilloes photo photos piano pianos piccolo piccolos potato potatoes proviso provisos radio radios rhino rhinos, or (collective) rhino salvo (= firing of guns) salvoes silo silos solo solos soprano sopranos stiletto stilettos tiro tiros tobacco tobaccos tomato tomatoes torpedo torpedoes verso versos veto vetoes volcano volcanoes zero zeros
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Back - New Search O, Oh. The recommended practice is to use O when a name being addressed or invoked foll ows (O Death, where is thy sting?) and Oh as an independent exclamation (Oh, how do you know that?).
Back - New Search oaf has the plural form oafs.
Back - New Search oasis, pronounced oh-ay-sis, has the plural form oases, pronounced oh-ay-seez.
Back - New Search obeisance means `homage, submission', and is pronounced oh-bay-sns.
Back - New Search object verb. The stress is on the second syllable (b-jekt), and the word is often followed by to + noun (which can also be a verbal noun): Would the lady object to my lighting a pair of candles? Dickens , 1865 / He also objected strongly to what he called your jack-boot methods when you inte rviewed Mrs HurdR. Simons , 1968 / I have never smoked and I object to being poisoned by other people's indulgenceLi verpool Echo, 1993. The same construction is used with the noun objection: We have no objection at all to helping in what she calls her `psychological warfar e'M. Babson , 1974.
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objective genitive. An example of this is the boy's murder, in which the genitive form boy's denotes not possession (as in the boy's dog, which is the usual function of a genitive) but the object of the noun murder.
Back - New Search object, objective nouns. Both words have the meaning `something sought or aimed at' and in practice they are often interchangeable, although object is more common when followed by a qualify ing construction, e.g. one with in or of (and is exclusively used in the express ion object of the exercise): Its report is a living document which will gradually influence public opinion. T hat was the object of the exerciseSpectator, 1958 / His main objective was to pile up a huge personal fortune Bellow , 1987.
Back - New Search objector is the preferred spelling for `someone who objects', not objecter.
Back - New Search oblivious. The historical meaning of oblivious is `forgetful, unmindful', followed by of: Never before has a great painter been completely oblivious of the style, or styl es, of his time Clark , 1949. This meaning survives, but another meaning, ùnaware of, unconscious of', which evolved during the 19c, is now more common, despite obj ections to it raised by the OED editors (who labelled it èrroneous', changed to `form erly regarded as erroneous' in OED2) and by Fowler (1926). In this meaning it is f ollowed by of or (more often) to: I stayed indoors all day for several days, oblivious to the damp heat of Falmout hC. Lewis , 1960.
Back - New Search oboe has the plural form oboes, and the player is an oboist, pronounced oh-boh-ist.
Back - New Search obscene. In a century that has tried repeatedly to define the meaning and implications of obscenity in relation to literature, the performing arts, and (above all) the c inema, the word obscene has gathered strength in its other main meaning, `highly o ffensive or repugnant' as a moral condemnation of social circumstances such as pov erty and wealth, violence, human exploitation, etc. Some examples follow: Something in the very robustness of Germany's economy seemed to the terrorists a nd their sympathizers profoundly obsceneTime, 1977 / The idea of these old women being walled up and told what to do by a superstitio us parson was (Tibba allowed herself the modernism) obsceneA.N. Wilson , 1982 / His pay was branded ùtterly obscene' amid calls for him to quit and drop his name f rom the companyDaily Mirror, 1992.
Back - New Search observance, observation. These two words correspond to different branches in meaning of the verb observe (`to see or notice' and `to follow or adhere to'). Observance is the word normally used in connection with respecting rules, carrying out duties and obligations, and pe rforming formal customs and rituals, whereas observation is the equivalent in th e more physical senses of seeing and perceiving, has the special countable meani ng à remark or comment', and is used in special combinations such as observation ca r (on a train, chiefly AmE) and (military) observation post. Examples: To act on or defy a socially established rule has effects on all who benefit or suffer by its observanceA.C. Graham , 1985 / Edinburgh can offer ethnically-based social facilities and opportunities for mee tings for several forms of non-Christian religious observanceundergraduate prospe ctus, 1993 / I didn't try to go into details on the phone, but said that we were going to nee d some police observationJ.R.L. Anderson , 1980 / The playgroup leader will usually offer her observations as part of the parents' contribution to the StatementW. , 1992.
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has been used since the 16c as a transitive verb, often in the passive with obse ssed as a quasi-adjective: Modern society is obsessed with romanticizing ancient societiesTimes, 1980. In th e later part of the 20c a new intransitive use has emerged, first in AmE and mor e recently in BrE, in which obsess means `to be preoccupied or unduly worried (abo ut something)' and is usually followed by about or over: The only way to go about judging your work is not to obsess too much over itTimes , 1998.
Back - New Search obsolete, obsolescent. Both words are derived from Latin obsolescere meaning `to fall into disuse'. Somethi ng (either physical, such as a piece of machinery, or conceptual, such as a cust om or idea) is obsolete when it is outdated and no longer used. It is obsolescen t when it is falling out of use, i.e. is becoming obsolete but is not yet actual ly so.
Back - New Search obtain is a formal and often pretentious word, and no one should be afraid of using the perfectly respectable word get in most contexts.
Back - New Search occasion. When it means `reason, grounds', the usual construction is with for + noun (or verba l noun) or with a to-infinitive: Yesterday was Schubert's birthday suitable occasion for a SchubertiadTimes, 1977. When the meaning is òpportunity', it is followed by a to-infinitive: I have had occasion recently to re-read Goethe's Theory of ColoursNature, 1971. H owever, it will be seen from these examples that the two strands of meaning are not always distinct.
Back - New Search occur has inflected forms occurred, occurring, and the noun derivative is occurrence ( with two rs, often misspelt).
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octopus has the plural form octopuses. The pseudo-Latin form octopi, except when used jo cularly, is misconceived, since the Greek stem is octopod- (giving the rightly r ejected form octopodes in English).
Back - New Search -odd. The hyphen is important in uses such as twenty-odd people (= roughly twenty), to avoid ambiguity.
Back - New Search odour, a slightly genteel word for `smell', is spelt -our in BrE and odor in AmE. The corre sponding adjective is odorous in both varieties.
Back - New Search oe-, e-. There is a tendency to simplify spellings with -oe- in BrE to -e- in AmE, e.g. e strogen for oestrogen and ameba for amoeba, but both types are used.
Back - New Search -oes (forming plurals of nouns) see -o.
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of. 1 The preposition of is one of the key words in structuring phrases and sentence s in English, and it is sometimes possible to make a slip in usage that can give the wrong meaning. Fowler (1926) devoted a long article to this topic and gave citations from newspapers which illustrated various problems associated with its use. These usually occur in extended sentences and consist of either adding an of where it is not wanted (or where another preposition is called for) or leavin g out an of where it is needed to clarify the sense. This entry deals with these
topics in more summary form, with examples taken from a wide range of sources.
2 The most usual context in which of is wrongly inserted is at a point in a long sentence in which it is meant to refer back to an earlier part of the sentence but is in fact the wrong choice, influenced by the occurrence of another of clos e by which has nothing to do with it: He will be in the best possible position f or getting the most out of the land and of using it to the best possible advanta ge (the preposition wanted is for not of) / It could be done without unduly rais ing the price of coal, or of jeopardizing new trade (the second of is redundant) . In other cases, a repeated of is not incorrect but is unnecessary: A series of problem contracts and of bad debts does not explain the situation / On the one hand there are the conventional rules of good manners and of correct behaviour.T op
3 In other cases, however, of must be repeated to avoid misunderstanding: He has mapped the development of the animal's nervous system and of its behaviour (of repeated to establish a link with development). It should also be repeated in co nstructions with both when the position of both requires a balanced sequence: Th ere are teachers with low standards who think a mere pass at whatever grade is a feather in the cap both of themselves and of their pupils (alternatively, one c ould put a feather in the cap of both themselves and their pupils, but in this c ase the result would be awkward).Top
4 The other principal error lies in omitting an of where this is called for to c larify the meaning: The banning of meetings and the printing and distribution of leaflets stopped the agitation (of should be put in before the printing to show that the part after the first and is still governed by the word banning).Top
5 The informal type of an evening, of a Sunday afternoon, etc. (All the intellect of the place assembled of an evening Carlyle , 1831), is begin ning to sound literary or archaic, except in dialect use. In AmE, this type is o ften expressed in the form evenings, Sunday afternoons, etc., without any prepos ition (She plays cards Thursdays).Top
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of course has a useful role as a term of insistence meaning às was to be expected', in which the hearer's or reader's prior knowledge or agreement can reasonably be assumed. Fowler (1926) rightly urged caution in the use of the phrase às the herald of an out-of-the-way fact that one has just unearthed', e.g. Milton of course had the i
dea from Tacitus. Some modern examples are: Of course, there are a number of other phenomena, such as lightning and reflecti ons of sunlight off tumbling satellites and orbiting debris, that can also give flashes in the sky Hawking , 1988 / We were approached by Tom Lloyd, a young solicitor from Carmarthen with a passio n for historic buildingsparticularly, of course, those of WalesM. , 1991.
Back - New Search offence. This is spelt -ence in BrE, and offense in AmE.
Back - New Search offer. The verb has inflected forms offered, offering.
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official, officious. The main meanings of official are ìn the nature of an office' (Their official dutie s) and àuthorized or confirmed by someone in authority' (The official attendance wa s over 10,000). By contrast, officious is a judgemental word meaning àsserting au thority aggressively or intrusively', and is most commonly used of a person or the actions of a person: Officious meter maids checking overparked carsL. Egan , 1977.
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officialese. The term is first recorded in 1884 and was used by Sir Ernest Gowers (1965) as t he heading of an article that explored the `style of writing marked by peculiariti es supposed to be characteristic of officials', i.e. pompous and opaque bureaucrat ic language. (Fowler had no entry on this topic in 1926.) An example given by Go wers concerned Anglo-American talks on the development of folding-wing aircraft,
and was taken from a London evening newspaper: The object of this visit is a po oling of knowledge to explore further the possibility of a joint research effort to discover the practicability of making use of this principle to meet a possib le future NATO requirement, and should be viewed in the general context of inter dependence. Gowers distinguished this kind of language, characterized by verbosi ty and circumlocution, from legalese, which though sometimes equally difficult t o understand is characterized by concision and is dictated by the need to ensure that what is said will stand up to challenge and scrutiny in courts of law. See further at LEGALESE; PLAIN ENGLISH
Back - New Search officious see OFFICIAL.
Back - New Search off of. This complex preposition is found in Shakespeare (A [= I] fall off of a tree2 Henry VI II.i.98), and occurs in colloquial speech i n AmE: The night Wayne came at Randolph with a hammer to pull him off of MaryM. Golden . 1989. It is, however, non-standard in current British English.
Back - New Search offspring, meaning à person's or animal's child or young' has the same form in the plural: A person is a Jew if he or she is the offspring of a Jewish mother or has been c onverted to the Jewish faithJ.R. Baker , 1974 / So these offspring shared in the eventually growing prosperity of the regionE. Ge llner , 1983.
Back - New Search often. In current English this is more usually pronounced with the t silent. The compar ative forms oftener and oftenest are permissible, although more often and most o ften are more commonly used.
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OK. Although its origin is still the subject of much scholarly discussion, the most likely explanation is that it was derived in the 1830s from the initial letters of the American dialect form orl korrect (= all correct) and rapidly acquired hi storical associations that gave it wider currency but do not constitute its true origin (e.g. as an election slogan of Òld Kinderhook' (Martin Van Buren ), the Dem ocratic presidential candidate in 1840). No longer regarded as an Americanism, i t is possibly the only English word that is universally recognized by speakers o f other languages throughout the world. The alternative form okay is especially useful as a verb (= to say OK to, to authorize), allowing more comfortable infle cted forms (okays, okayed, okaying) than OK does.
Back - New Search older, oldest see ELDER, ELDEST.
Back - New Search Olympiad, Olympian, Olympic. An Olympiad is an old term for a period of four years between Olympic Games (use d principally in ancient dating), and a particular celebration of the ancient Ol ympic Games (and is occasionally also applied in the same sense to the modern ga mes). Olympian in current use refers to Mount Olympus and to the gods of Olympus . Olympic is used principally of the games of ancient times and their modern rev ival; these are called Olympic Games or (for the modern games) Olympics.
Back - New Search omelette is the usual spelling in BrE, whereas omelet is more common in AmE.
Back - New Search omit has inflected forms omitted, omitting.
Back - New Search on. In AmE, on is idiomatic in two uses in which BrE uses a different preposition: My father had a dry-goods store on Gesia StreetI.B. Singer , 1983 (BrE in) /
On weekends she would play disk jockey like that for hoursNew Yorker, 1987 (BrE a t).
Back - New Search on account of see ACCOUNT.
Back - New Search -on-demand. On demand has been in use for many years to denote something that is available t o those who want it when they want it, and in recent years has been used notably in the context of abortion (He proved himself out of touch over the economy and by opposing abortion on dem andToday, 1992). Its consolidation into a combining form has burgeoned in the con text of the telecommunications industry, where we have video-on-demand, fax-on-d emand, news-on-demand, etc.: Clever and savvy use of telecommunications, such as toll-free 800 numbers and fa x-on-demand, can give your company a cutting-edge imageCompuServe Magazine, 1995.
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one. 1 When the phrase one of those who is used, it is normally preferable to follow it with a plural verb (regarding those rather than one as the antecedent), excep t when particular emphasis is being placed on the individuality of one, in which case a singular verb is called for: (plural verb) She was one of those women who make an enchanted garden of their c hildhood memories Brookner , 1990 / (singular verb) `Don't you think,' said Bernard, `that Hawaii is one of those places that was always b etter in the past?' Lodge , 1991.
2 The use of one to mean àny person', Ì', or `me' is often regarded as an affectation, alt hough English does not always have a ready alternative. It is probably true to s ay that the more one is associated with Ì' or `me', the greater the affectation: This performance commanded attention; at times it brought one's blood to a boilCh icago Tribune, 1988. When it genuinely means àny person' (including only incidental ly the speaker), it seems a good deal more natural:
You must realize that there are risks that one doesn't take Gordimer , 1987. When one is used in this way there is a difference of usage between BrE and AmE when the sentence is continued with a further pronoun having the same reference. In AmE one is followed either by another one (or one's) or by a third-person pronou n he or she (or, to avoid gender problems, occasionally they), or by his or her or their, whereas in BrE another one (or one's) always follows: (AmE) I like to believe one can be honest and sincere and committed in what he's doingChicago Sun-Times, 1988 / (BrE) If one has no base on which to formulate probing questions, can one actual ly give informed consent?Ddalus, 1986.Top
Back - New Search one another see EACH (3).
Back - New Search ongoing. First recorded in 1877, this adjective gained such widespread currency in the 19 50s and later that it quickly attracted criticism as a vogue word, and, especial ly in the phrase ongoing situation, as a clich on a par with at the end of the da y and in this day and age. Other combinations, such as ongoing operation, ongoin g process, and ongoing relationship, are more acceptable: He says he wouldn't have got anywhere without Move On, who helped him secure a f lat and are now giving vital, ongoing supportBig Issue, 1998.
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only. The position of only is one of the major unresolved topics of discussion in Engl ish usage. The upshot is that logical position, i.e. association with the word t o which only most closely refers, is not always consistent with naturalness, whi ch generally favours a position between the subject and the verb. Fowler (1926), in a long article on the subject, made a case for allowing ìllogical' positioning in a sentence such as He only died a week ago, which is a great deal more natura l and stylistically satisfactory than He died only a week ago. Equally acceptabl e are the following examples of actual usage: I was made to attend a Catholic businessmans luncheon (where I only got wine by
roaring for it) Waugh , 1958 / Those days, you only applied to one collegeNew Yorker, 1986 / He says he only took the job because the neon sign always cheered him up Barnes , 1991. In written English, the logical position of only should be respected when serious (rather than notional or theoretical) ambiguity would otherwise result, especially in contexts such as legal language in which precision is more import ant than a pleasing style: The public interest is properly served only where companies pursue the tradition al goal of profit maximisationJ.E. Parkinson , 1993. In general usage, the most n atural position of only is where it always has been, between the subject and its verb, and invariable insistence on logical position sacrifices naturalness to p edantry.
Back - New Search on to, onto. On to is recorded in continuous use as a complex preposition from the late 16c, and the one-word form onto from the early 18c. In modern use both forms are foun d; onto has become more common in recent years but has still not achieved the do minance enjoyed by into (which goes back to Old English): French windows opened from the breakfast-room on to the terrace and large walled garden Lively , 1981 / The blue sky threw its light down onto the fields belowL. Norfolk , 1991. Note th at in some uses on is used as a full adverb and needs to be spelt separately: Th ey drove onto the beach means `they parked the car on the beach', whereas They drove on to the beach (with the sentence falling into two parts between on and to) me ans `they continued their journey until they reached the beach'. Care also needs to be taken to retain the identity of on in phrasal verbs when these are followed b y to: It was some time before she cottoned on to what he meant.
Back - New Search onward, onwards. The only form for the adjective is onward (resuming their onward journey), but o nward and onwards are both used for the adverb, with a preference for onwards in BrE: He'd subscribed to all sorts of causes, from the Spanish Civil War onwardsA. Pric e , 1981.
Back - New Search op. cit. is a shortening of the Latin phrase opere citato meaning ìn the work already cite d'. It is used in text to refer back to earlier references, normally preceded by t he name of the author in the form `Bloomfield, op. cit., pp. 545'.
Back - New Search operate has derivative forms operable (àble to be operated on', especially in medical conte xts) and operator.
Back - New Search opportunity. The expressions have (or take, etc.) the (or an, every, etc.) opportunity are fo llowed either by a to-infinitive or by of + verbal noun: I was eager to snatch at every opportunity to get myself established as a writer , film-maker, what-have-you, in an effort to find a clearly defined career Boning ton , 1973 / He takes the opportunity to castigate the creeping hypocrisy and social climbing which had always called forth his most bitter satireTransactions of the Yorkshir e Dialect Society, 1978 / The primary school kids have the opportunity of working with micros in their nor mal classroom activitiesListener, 1983. For is normally used when an ordinary nou n follows: Happily there was no opportunity for soddishness about whom I should go withD. Cr aig , 1970.
Back - New Search opposite. As an adjective denoting position, opposite ly opposite to each other); it is also used on without to (Two people directly opposite followed by of (The effect was the opposite is followed by to (Two people direct with the same meaning as a prepositi each other). As a noun, opposite is of what they intended).
Back - New Search optimal, optimum. Both words entered the language in the late 19c and are used in the meaning `best or most favourable (in given circumstances)' and therefore mean rather more than s imply `best': He positioned himself so that he had optimum sight lines down the side streetI. M elchior , 1975 / Pursuing policies that would be optimal in a first-class world when one actually lives in a third-best world can be highly inefficientDdalus, 1979.
Back - New Search opus. When denoting a musical composition and in the phrase magnum opus, the recommend ed pronunciation is oh-ps, with a long . The plural is either opera (op--r) or o puses (oh-p-siz).
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or. 1 When or separates two singular nouns, the following verb should be in the sing ular: A paint or steel company or a salt or coal mine was no place for the later Herr Baumgartner's widow Desai , 1988. (When both nouns are plural the verb is of cour se also plural.) The following example is acceptable informally, but strictly or should be replaced by and, or the plural complement replaced by a singular one ( is a typical method): A cassette recorder or disk system are typical methodsChoosing and using Your Hom e Computer, 1984. When one of the nouns is singular and the other plural, the ve rb normally agrees with the one nearer to it, and the same applies to mixes of p erson as in she or we, you or your brother, etc.: The child or its parents sign the form / Were you or your brother there?.
2 For or after either see EITHER 2B, and after neither see NEITHER (5).Top
Back - New Search oral see AURAL.
Back - New Search orator is spelt -or, not orater.
Back - New Search oratorio has the plural form oratorios.
Back - New Search orbit. The verb has inflected forms orbited, orbiting.
Back - New Search order see IN ORDER FOR; IN ORDER THAT; IN ORDER TO.
Back - New Search orderly is used only as an adjective (They behaved in an orderly fashion), not as an adv erb. Since the notional adverb orderlily is too awkward to use, in an orderly wa y is the only alternative.
Back - New Search ordinance, ordnance, ordonnance. An ordinance is àn authoritative order', ordnance is 'a branch of government servic e dealing with military stores and materials, and ordonnance is à plan or method of literary or artistic competition' or àn order of architecture'. Ordnance Survey is an official UK survey organization, originally under the Master of Ordnance, th at produces largescale detailed maps of each region of the country.
Back - New Search orient, oriental. Both words now sound dated and have an exotic 18c or 19c aura more associated wi th the world of empire and romantic adventure than with factual description. In ordinary writing it is often better to use more neutral terms such as eastern or (East) Asian (or terms that specify particular counties). The noun orient is tr aditionally spelt Orient with a capital initial letter when referring geographic ally or politically to countries, whereas practice varies between orient and Ori ent when it is used in general (often literary) reference to the east. That is t he rule normally stated, but it is often difficult to be sure of the distinction :
She was a blonde. They have a great time in the Orient, scarcity valueG. Black , 1972 / Flaubert left Europe a Romantic, and returned from the Orient a Realist Barnes , 1985 / The need to give punters the opportunity to additionally sample delights from th e orient hardly seems necessaryGuardian, 1989 / The orient has three species of tarsiersC. Willock , 1991. The adjective oriental , meaning èastern' with reference to a part of the world, is normally spelt with a small o.
Back - New Search orient, orientate, verbs. Both words are used (especially in the adjectival forms oriented and orientated) with the same meaning `to place in a particular way in relation to the points of the compass' and `to establish one's bearings': (orient) Man needs relations with other people in order to orient himselfR. May , 1953 / In a youth-oriented society for a woman to grow old means to run the risk of bei ng ignoredA. Hutschnecker , 1981. / (orientate) It was very much a London orientated magazineN. Sherry , 1987 / Kant's own philosophy was undeniably orientated towards problems that lay at the heart of the philosophical enterpriseP. Gardiner , 1988. These examples show how commonly the words are used in abstract or figurative contexts, and as the seco nd element in combinations preceded by a noun (youth-oriented, London orientated ). There is no meaningful criterion for choosing between them, except that orien t is shorter and therefore less cumbersome in some contexts.
Back - New Search originator is spelt -or, not originater.
Back - New Search ornament. The noun is pronounced aw-n-mnt, whereas the verb has a more distinct -ment soun d in the third syllable.
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orthopaedic, denoting the branch of medicine concerned with treating deformities of the bones and muscles, is spelt -paedic in BrE and -pedic in AmE. The corresponding noun orthopaedics (AmE orthopedics) is normally treated as singular.
Back - New Search -os (forming plurals of nouns) see -o.
Back - New Search ostensible, ostensive. Ostensible means àpparent but not necessarily real' or `professed': Despite their ostensible commitment to revolution, they played an ambivalent and ultimately counter-revolutionary roleE. Acton , 1992. It is often used in the ad verbial form ostensibly: Ostensibly the visit was designed to mark the 20th anniversary of the normalizat ion of relations between China and JapanKeesings, 1990. Ostensive, a much rarer w ord, means `directly demonstrative' and is normally used in technical contexts with words such as definition (meaning a definition that shows what it describes, e.g . a definition of the term italics printed in italics): If one attempts to teach a dog by way of ostensive definition, it invariably res ponds by sniffing one's fingerA.F. Chalmers , 1992. To complete the picture, oste ntatious, which is less likely to be confused with the other two, means `pretentio us and showy'.
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other. 1 For each other, see EACH (3).
2 OTHER THAN. When other is used as a pronoun or adjective, use of other than is straightforward and causes no comment: I'd never known anything other than hard timesD. Dears , 1974. Objections are rai sed when other in this phrase is forced into the role of adverb (which it does n ot otherwise have), and Fowler (1926) regarded it as ùngrammatical and needless' wh en a genuine adverb, otherwise, is available; so in the following example he wou ld have urged use of otherwise than in place of other than:
Other than at football matches or on coach journeys, people sing less spontaneou sly than in previous generationsT. Portsmouth , 1992. However, the grammar of oth er than is not always so clear-cut, as the following example shows: I married her but it never even occurred to me that our marriage would be other than a marriage in name onlyA. Roudybush , 1972. Is other here an adjective linke d to marriage or an adverb linked to be? (The answer is a bit of both.) In AmE, this use goes unnoticed; in BrE it is increasingly common and generally unexcept ionable, and often more idiomatic than the awkward alternative otherwise than, b ut readers should be aware of the caveat attached to it in more pedantic circles .Top
Back - New Search otherwise.
Professor Southern gave us some stimulating reflections about the aims, developm ent, and achievements (or otherwise) of the Honour School of Modern HistoryW.A. P antin , 1972 / It's the balance of foods you eat that is healthy or otherwiseWhich?, 1989. Fowle r (1926) castigated this use of or otherwise to mean òr the opposite (of a given noun, adjective, or adverb)' and urged rephrasing (e.g. achievements or failures, healthy or unhealthy), but these alternatives clearly do not convey the same sen se of antithesis. In any case, the language has moved on, and the type condemned by Fowler is now in standard use.
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ought. In current use the verb ought is followed by a to-infinitive: You ought to have a cooked breakfast, these cold mornings Lodge , 1988. Since it is a modal verb, it forms a negative directly with not and forms a question by p lain inversion: Things are being permitted that ought not to be permittedGuardian, 1972 / If Canada should disintegrate what ought the U.S. to do?Wall Street Journal, 1990 . In the past, ought does not inflect, and the tense is expressed by the verb fo llowing it: I remembered that I ought to have put Sal out. She barks rather a lot Crispin , 1 977. See also DIDN'T OUGHT.
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our, ours. 1 A difficulty arises when our is used in conjunction with another qualifying wo rd as in The Italian and our troops or Our and the Italian troops. Here a better alternative is The Italian troops and ours, but not Ours and the Italian troops .
2 In clauses introduced by which of us, a following pronoun should normally be i n the third person, relating to which rather than to us: Which of us would wish to be ill in his kitchen, especially when it is also the family livingroom?. If gender-neutrality is required, his or her (or informally their) has to be used.T op
Back - New Search ourself. The standard reflexive form of we and us is ourselves (as in We are going to enj oy ourselves), but a form ourself is recorded from the 14c onwards in uses corre sponding to we used of a single person (I loved your father, and we love ourself Shakespeare , Hamlet, iv.vii.40) and is occasionally found in modern English in contexts in which we stands for people in general or a group regarded collectively: She tells us things about ourself Amis , 1991 / We see ourself as the biggest club in Britain, with a stadium to matchToday, 1992 . However, this use is not regarded as standard. See also THEMSELF.
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out. 1 In current use out, unlike in, is primarily an adverb (We went out), and to fo rm a preposition it normally needs the addition of of (We went out of the house) . Use of out as a direct preposition without of is non-standard in BrE, although it is found in AmE and some other varieties:
Now he looked past Bacon, out the bay window behind himT. Wolfe , 1987 (US) / I drove out the gates and left them open behind me, swinging in the windS. Koea , 1994 (New Zealand).
2 As a verb, out goes back to Old English in various meanings, `to drive out or ex pel', `to disable', `(of news or information) to become known', `to disclose or speak out', a d others. In the 1990s, the last meaning developed a new application in the cont ext of the gay rights movement, namely `to reveal the homosexuality of (a prominen t or famous person)': She 96. an to ose òuts' dozens as bi [= bisexual]instead of exclusively straight or The process is called outing, and a person who does it is sometimes outer or outist. These uses are likely to develop meanings in other do with exposing the private circumstances of individuals when this with a particular cause to promote.Top gayThe Face, 19 known as contexts suits th
Back - New Search outdoor, outdoors. Outdoor is an adjective (outdoor games), whereas outdoors is an adverb (The conc ert was held outdoors) or noun (the great outdoors).
Back - New Search outfit. The verb has inflected forms outfitted, oufitting, and a derivative form outfitt er, in both BrE and AmE.
Back - New Search output. The past tense and past participle of the verb are either output (preferably) or outputted (occasionally). The present participle is outputting.
Back - New Search outside of. Outside, unlike out, functions equally well as an adverb and preposition. Noneth eless, outside of is used, especially in AmE, in two main meanings: (1) èxterior to, outside': People in show business refer to those outside of it as `civilians' MacLaine , 1987,
and (2) `with the exception of': Outside of an unfortunate sermon in which he confused the words for charity and diarrhea he never put a foot wrong with his hostsW. Sheed , 1985.
Back - New Search outstanding has two primary meanings which are open to ambiguity: (1) `remarkable or conspicuo us (among others of its kind)' (the outstanding performance of the evening), and (2) `not yet settled or completed' (three outstanding matters to discuss). In practi ce, however, context and (in speech) intonation are likely to render ambiguity t heoretical rather than actual.
Back - New Search outta is a representation of a slang (especially Black AmE) use of out of, and is foun d in non-standard language such as descriptions of rock music: Well-formed soul-with added beatsstraight outta South LondonNew Musical Express, 1 995.
Back - New Search outward, outwards. The only form for the adjective is outward (the outward journey), but outward an d outwards are both used for the adverb, with a preference for outwards in BrE: The small circles of desert around waterholes and settlements join up and spread outwards, until a new desert has been createdObserver, 1977.
Back - New Search outwit has inflected forms outwitted, outwitting.
Back - New Search outwith is a Scottish preposition meaning òutside, beyond', and along with wee (for `small') is the first non-English English word that visitors to Scotland notice (and someti
mes adopt): Do you live outwith the city? / We can discuss that outwith the meet ing. It is a transposition of without, corresponding to its physical meanings (s ee WITHOUT (1)).
Back - New Search over.
The national view is a graphic composite of local reports across the country fro m over 50 (Oops! Make that `more than' 50) reporting stationsChicago Sun-Times, 1989. Objection to the use of over to mean `more than' followed by a numeral arises only in America and mainly in newspapers, and it does not seem to apply to designatio ns of age, so that an American can say I am over 50 without fear of censure. In BrE all these uses go unchallenged.
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overall. 1 PRONUNCIATION. When the word is a noun (singular overall or plural overalls) t he stress is on the first syllable; when an adjective it normally falls on the f irst syllable and when an adverb on the third, but the stress is variable in con text.
2 PARTS OF SPEECH. As a noun, an overall (in BrE) is a coat-like piece of clothi ng worn over ordinary clothes to protect them against stains etc., and overalls (plural) are protective trousers or dungarees or a combination suit worn by peop le doing manual work. As an adjective, overall is always used in attributive pos ition (i.e. before a noun), as in the overall effect. As a adverb, overall norma lly qualifies a whole sentence, as in Overall, the performance was excellent.Top
3 OVERALL MAJORITY. An overall majority is the amount by which the largest numbe r of votes, parliamentary seats, etc., exceeds all the others added together.Top
Back - New Search overflow, as a verb, has the past form and past participle overflowed.
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overlay, overlie. 1 The addition of the prefix over- makes both verbs transitive (i.e. take an obj ect) and therefore they do not entirely correspond to the grammatical functions of lay and lie. The past tense and past participle of overlay is overlaid, and o f overlie are (past) overlay and (participle) overlain. The primary meaning of o verlay is `to cover (one thing) with another' as in overlaying a surface with a coat ing or in smothering a child by lying on top of it (overlie is also used in this meaning and is somewhat more common). Both words are used in geology to mean `(of a stratum) to lie over (another)'.
2 Overlay (with stress on the first syllable) is also a noun, whereas overlie is only a verb.Top
Back - New Search overly. The use of overly in place of the prefix over-, e.g. overly confident instead of over-confident, is still regarded as an Americanism although it is well establi shed in British usage: That same novel is now with Macmillan. I am not òverly' hopeful Pym 1977 / Fitzpatrick's male adversary is an impassioned, overly emotional manTimes, 1985 / She is not overly cheerful about the future of British dramaM. Geare , 1993. It i s interesting to note how frequently overly is used in the context of feelings o r emotions.
Back - New Search overseas is now the usual word for the adverb (He was sent overseas) and the adjective (o verseas postage rates). Oversea, formerly used as an adjective, has largely fall en out of use.
Back - New Search oversight.
Care needs to be taken to distinguish the two primary meanings, (1) `supervision': There must be a representative of Scotland in the United Kingdom Cabinetwith a ge neral oversight over the economy and the framing of Scotland's budget Home , 1976 , and (2) à failure to notice or do something' (the more common meaning, correspond ing to overlook rather than oversee): `By a quite exceptional oversight,' said Rufus, Ì don't just happen to have any pictu re postcards of the Acropolis about me at present' Vine , 1987 / This procedure avoids possible oversight, and is a record that the answers have been consideredR.M. Coates , 1991. In some cases the meaning may not be so clear, e.g. Congressional oversight has proliferatedTime, 1977. Normally, however, the contex t will clarify which meaning is intended.
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overtone, undertone. Both words denote an extra layer of meaning or significance seen in a word or st atement. An overtone, which is also commonly used in the plural overtones, sugge sts subtle additional meaning (and corresponds roughly to the meaning it has in music, i.e. à tone above the lowest in a harmonic scale'): The prevailing tone of the book is highly satirical, with strong overtones of sl apstick forceR.L. Wolff , 1977. An undertone is rather an unexpressed or underlyi ng feeling (and again roughly matches the musical meaning à subdued tone of sound') : Earlier this month it was announced that Loch Morar, too, would be screened for a monster, already christened with suitably Tolkienesque undertones, as MoragNatu re, 1970.
Back - New Search ovum, meaning àn egg cell', is pronounced oh-vm and has the plural form ova.
Back - New Search owing to see DUE TO.
Back - New Search ox has the plural form oxen.
Back - New Search oxymoron is a figure of speech which brings together words of opposite meaning for specia l effect, e.g. a cheerful pessimist and harmonious discord. The word is derived from Greek words for `sharp' and `dull'.
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* * *
pace, from the Latin word pax `peace', means `by the leave of' and is used in more formal (esp ecially academic) writing to refer to someone whose opinion has been considered and rejected: Tolstoy is not, pace Albert Sorrel and Vog in any sense a mystic Berlin , 1978. It is pronounced pah-chay or pay-si, and to avoid momentary confusion with the Engl ish word pace, is normally printed in italics.
Back - New Search package. The figurative meaning à set of proposals or arrangements considered as a whole', c ommon in combinations such as package deal and package holiday, is a 20c develop ment first in AmE and more recently in BrE: The mass audience is merely given packages of passive entertainment McLuhan , 196 7 / Reassured, the package tourists sink into their seats Symons , 1973.
Back - New Search paid see PAY.
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pair. 1 Used as a collective noun, pair is treated as a plural when it denotes two sep arate items and as a singular when it denotes a unit: so a pair of gloves, sciss ors, scales, shoes, trousers, etc. are singular whereas a pair of bachelors, dog s, idiots, rock-climbers, etc. (all taken from collocations occurring in OED2) w ould normally be plural. Examples: (singular) On the front of the radiator grille was mounted a pair of very large Cibie spotlights that dwarfed the standard headlampsM. Booth , 1980 / To draw a heavy plough through wet clay soil, a pair of oxen yoked together was usedM. Graham-Cameron , 1984 / In addition to the various gripping wrenches, a pair of general-purpose pliers i s always usefulD. Holloway , 1992 / (plural) The next pair of readings are concerned with what has perhaps been the single most salient political issue in British education in the twentieth centur yM. Fude , 1989 / A pair of Pyracantha coccinea are placed strategically, one on either side of a cottage front doorGardener, 1992.
2 However, the rule is not altogether rigid, and contrary examples can be found which do not seem ungrammatical: When you've lived on subsistence for two years what do you do when your shoes we ar out, when you get a 100 fuel bill, when the washing machine breaks down, when a pair of children's shoes cost you more than you'd spend on your own?B. Campbell , 1985 / One pair of ruby earrings are especially importanttelevision news script, 1993. I n referring back to a `singular'pair, the plural is normally used because it refers not to pair but to the following (plural) noun: She handed me a pair of Japanese thongs. I slipped them on and felt the skin bet ween my first two toes protestH. Engel , 1981. The standard plural form for more than one pair is (for example) two pairs of shoes, although two pair of shoes is used informally and in dialect use.Top
3 The phrase pair of twins is generally understood to mean a single set (the mor e usual word in the context of twins), not two sets: She gave birth to a pair of male twins, one of which was a stillborn with no mal formationsLancet, 1977.Top
Back - New Search pajamas see PYJAMAS.
Back - New Search palaeo-. Words of the type palaeography, palaeolithic, etc., are normally spelt with -aein BrE, although the AmE form paleo- is beginning to influence British practice .
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palindrome, from a Greek word meaning `running back again', means a word or group of words that reads the same when the letters are reversed. Noon, level, and radar are all pal indromes, as is the often quoted sentence Able was I ere I saw Elba (fancifully attributed to Napoleon). A word palindrome is a sentence which reads the same wh en the words in it are reversed, e.g. Stout and bitter porter drinks porter, bit ter, and stout.
Back - New Search pallor, meaning `paleness', is spelt -or in both BrE and AmE.
Back - New Search palpable. The literal meaning, `that can be touched or felt', is encountered in medical contex
ts (a palpable swelling), and is familiar from Shakespeare's line in the duel sc ene at the end of Hamlet: A hit, a very palpable hit. The figurative use, convey ing the idea of something so strongly present to the mind or senses that it can almost be physically felt, is the dominant one nowadays: The tensionfriendly tensionin the room was palpableAtlantic, 1991. Because palpable has a strong literary tone and can sound affected or pretentious, in everyday l anguage alternatives such as clear, glaring, and obvious are often better choice s.
Back - New Search panacea, from medy g. a d in Greek words meaning àll-healing', denotes not just a remedy but a universal re and is therefore not appropriate in the context of particular illnesses, e. panacea for measles. It is most commonly used in negative or ironic ways an social rather than medical contexts:
Better communication is no panacea for every industrial disputeTimes, 1974.
Back - New Search panel has inflected forms panelling, panelled, and in AmE also paneled, paneling.
Back - New Search panic has inflected forms panicked, panicking, panicky.
Back - New Search pants. In BrE pants (plural noun) means ùnderpants', whereas in AmE it means `trousers or sl acks'. The distinction can cause problems: I heard an American student at Cambridge University telling some English friends how he climbed over a locked gate to get into his college and tore his pants, a nd one of them asked in confusion, `But how could you tear your pants without tear ing your trousers?'N. Moss , 1973. In attributive use (i.e. before another noun), p ants tends to be used in general contexts in both BrE and AmE, and pant or pants in fixed combinations such as pant suit: I took a jackknife out of my pants pocketR.B. Parker , 1974 / Then we went downtown and bought pant suitsL. Ellmann , 1988.
Back - New Search paparazzo, a freelance photographer who pursues celebrities to get photographs of them, is spelt with one p and two zs. The plural (more often used) is paparazzi.
Back - New Search papier mch, a kind of paper pulp, should be spelt with the two accents as shown, but is othe rwise regarded as naturalized.
Back - New Search papyrus, is pronounced p-piyrs, and in the meaning à document written on papyrus' has the pl ural form papyri, pronounced p-piy-riy.
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paradigm. 1 is pronounced with the last syllable as in dime. In technical use it denotes a model or pattern of some kind; in linguistics, it means à representative set of inflections of a noun or verb', and so the paradigm of come is come (base form), c omes (third person singular present), came (past tense), come (past participle), coming (present participle). In general use it has acquired the status of a vog ue word in contexts where example or pattern might be more straightforward choic es: The television set is the paradigm of consumer culture, with its disarming passi vity prone to desires divorced from actionF. Zweig , 1976.
2 The corresponding adjective paradigmatic is pronounced -dig-mat-ik, with the g fully articulated.Top
Back - New Search paradise.
Of the many adjective forms that have developed from this word, the most common in current use are paradisal and paradisiacal. Not surprisingly, paradise itself is often found to be less awkward in this role, and is used in certain fixed co mpounds such as paradise crane and paradise duck.
Back - New Search paraffin is spelt with one r and two fs. The equivalent term in AmE is kerosene.
Back - New Search parallel has inflected and derivative forms paralleled, paralleling, parallelism, paralle logram. The final -l is not doubled.
Back - New Search parameter. In technical use, a parameter is a measurable factor that contributes to determi ning a system or event. In the 20c it has developed rapidly into the kind of wor d that Fowler (1926) described as a `popularized technicality', many instances of wh ich he deplored, especially when simpler alternatives are available. In popular use, a parameter is à constant element or factor, especially serving as a limit o r boundary', and is best demonstrated by examples: There are parameters to these recollections which may not be immediately apparen t: the world of learning and the warD.M. Davin , 1975 / Lewis's refusal to accept her standards, her parameters, she regarded as threate ning Brookner , 1989. A wide choice of alternatives is available to those who fee l uneasy about using parameter in this way: for example criterion, factor, eleme nt, scope, boundary, limit, term, term of reference.
Back - New Search paraphernalia originally denoted the personal property (Greek parapherna `things set apart [from a dowry]') that a married woman was legally entitled to regard as her own. Over s everal centuries of use in English it has acquired the general meaning `miscellane ous belongings'; it is still normally treated as a plural noun although occasional singular use is attested from the 18c (a whole paraphernalia of plums, 1845). S ome modern examples follow: Paraphernalia in his flat included Indian clubs and an adapted table to which bo ys were tiedIndependent, 1989 /
Painting paraphernalia aboundObserver Magazine, 1993.
Back - New Search parasitic, parasitical. Both forms are in use as adjectives derived from parasite (normally in its figur ative meaning): This parasitic castle life had left my funds comparatively intact Fermor , 1986 / These works hold a parasitical relationship to existing courses of cultureOxford Art Journal, 1988.
Back - New Search paratroops, meaning `troops equipped to be dropped by parachute', is a plural noun. The force is called a paratroop regiment, and a member of this is a paratrooper.
Back - New Search parcel. The verb has inflected forms parcelled, parcelling in BrE, and in AmE usually pa rceled, parceling.
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parenthesis. 1 Parenthesis is a term denoting an aside or extra remark that is added to a sen tence; it is normally marked off by brackets, commas, or dashes, and the rest of the sentence is grammatically complete without it. Parentheses can be single wo rds, phrases, or whole clauses: In Italian, a language he had been told was the same as Rumanian, he asked to be directed to the British Legation Manning , 1960 / He and Moira (then a milkman's pretty daughter) grovelled together long and effe ctively enough to cause the eventual birth of their son Rick Winton , Shallows, 1 985 / On Thursday I come back from work to an empty houseKate is spending the night at a girlfriend's house againand the stillness and solitude calm me down Lambert , 19 89.
2 Parentheses (plural) are, in printing terminology, round brackets. See BRACKET S.Top
Back - New Search pariah, meaning à social outcast', is pronounced p-riy- to rhyme with Isaiah.
Back - New Search parley, meaning à discussion of peace terms', has the plural form parleys, and as a verb ha s inflected forms parleys, parleyed, parleying.
Back - New Search parliament, parliamentary. Both words are spelt with an a in the middle, but are pronounced with the -ia- a s a single syllable.
Back - New Search parlour is spelt -our in BrE and parlor in AmE.
Back - New Search parlous was described by Fowler (1926) as à word that wise men leave alone', and the curren t edition (1999) of the Concise Oxford Dictionary marks it as àrchaic or humorous'. This is a sad fate for a long-serving word, originally formed as a variant of p erilous and for many centuries used side by side with it in the same range of me aning. It can be safely used in the expression in a parlous state (or condition) even in only moderately formal English: He was altogether in a parlous state: the weather was bad, there was no water in the flat; he did not care to go out at nights and was seeing fewer peopleP. Ackr oyd , 1988.
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parricide, patricide. Both words come from the Latin word pater meaning `father', but in current use parri cide is the killing of a parent or other near relative whereas patricide is more specifically the killing of one's father. They are used to denote the crime or the person who commits it.
Back - New Search parson has a general informal meaning in current English, denoting a member of the cler gy up to the level of rector. It was once a more formal term for a holder of a p arochial benefice but the meaning broadened considerably from the 16c onward.
Back - New Search partake is followed by in or (especially with reference to food) of, and the notion of s haring should always be present. To speak of partaking of a boiled egg if one is eating it all is to take the word beyond its proper limits.
Back - New Search part and parcel. This expression, meaning àn essential part of something', retains an older meaning of parcel that has otherwise not survived, namely à constituent or component part' (as in Swinburne's Till the soul of man be parcel of the sunlight).
Back - New Search Parthian shot. A Parthian shot is the same as a parting shot, i.e. a final remark or glance mad e on leaving. The allusion is to the supposed custom of the ancient Parthian hor semen of confusing their enemy by hurling spears into their ranks while in (real or feigned) flight. The earliest citation for Parthian shot in the OED is as la te as 1902, although there is one for Parthian glance from 1875 and the allusive use is dated back to the 16c in less fixed expressions. The first example of pa rting shot is from the end of the 19c: With this parting shot Nancy flung into the house Caine , 1894.
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partially, partly. 1 The meanings of these two words overlap in ways that make it difficult to deci de between them in any principled way, although certain patterns in their use ca n be identified. Partially (15c) is somewhat older than partly (16c) but their m eanings have run in parallel except that for some of its history partially has m eant ìn a partial or biased way', i.e. the opposite of impartially.
2 Fowler (1926) attempted to make a distinction in principle between partially a nd partly by defining partially as contrasted with completely (i.e. = to a limit ed degree) and partly as contrasted with wholly (i.e. = as regards a part and no t the whole). His illustrations based on this criterion were It is partly wood / This was partly due to cowardice and a partially drunken sailor / his partially re-established health, which in all cases show idiomatic uses that are not read ily replaced by the alternative word. So if we say, for example, The room is par tly panelled, we mean that only part of the room is meant to be panelled, wherea s if we say The room is partially panelled, we mean that the panelling has still to be completed.Top
3 Fowler's rubric still works up to a point, but the meanings shade into each ot her and current usage reflects this: (partially) I partially solved my money problems by being paid ten shillings to play regularly at the Black Horse Burgess , 1987 / A partially built shopping centre, for instance, will adversely affect the tenan t's businessR. Walker , 1993/(partly) Her untidy blonde fringe partly covered her eyesJ.G. Ballard , 1988 / The door to Suzy's bedroom was wide open and her partly clothed body was spreade agled on the bedT. Barnes , 1991.Top
4 Further observations can be made from observations of current usage: a Partly is used when it is balanced by a further partly or is followed by some other link phrase such as but also, and many instances of its occurrence fall in this category: She was shaking all over, partly because she was so angry with Oliver and partly because she was so afraid Bawden , 1989 / Maria jeered caustically, driven partly by masochism but also by a need to lash outJ. Bauling , 1993. But partially occurs occasionally in this role:
In practice there were innovations, partially because of the perceived need to r educe the influence of headmen, and partially because British officials naturall y governed on the basis of their own training and inclinationsJ.D. Rogers , 1987. b Partly is more often the choice when it qualifies an adjective or participial adjective that is also qualified in some other way: Her dislike of him was of course partly based upon a sense that he disliked her M urdoch , 1980 This is partly attributable to the increased opportunity for away travel which h as increased the contact between rival groups of supportersD. Waddington , 1992. c Partially, rather than partly, is normally used to qualify words describing ph ysical deficiencies such as blind and deaf: Any generally available additional provision for deaf or partially blind or dist urbed children, and others such as dyslexic children, was not special educationa l provisionS. Johnstone , 1992. d Both words are used to qualify key words such as because, due to, explain, on account of, responsible, true, etc.Top
5 In sum, Fowler's rule and the other observations will serve if a rule is neede d; but usage is inconsistent and the alleged distinctions in meaning do not alwa ys work in practice.Top
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participles. 1 There are two kinds of participle in English: the present participle ending in -ing as in We are going, and the past participle ending in -d or -ed for many v erbs and in -t or -en or some other form for others, as in Have you decided? / N ew houses are being built / It's not broken.
2 Participles are often used to introduce subordinate clauses that are attached to other words in a sentence, e.g. Her mother, opening the door quietly, came in to the room / Hearing a noise I went out to look / Born in Rochdale, he spent mo st of his life in the area. Participles in initial position, as in the last two examples, are acceptable grammatically but when overdone can produce a poor styl e, especially when the participial clause bears little relation to the main one: Being blind from birth, she became a teacher and travelled widely.Top
3 A worse stylistic flaw occurs with so-called ùnattached', `misrelated', or `dangling' par ticiples, when the participle does not refer to the noun to which it is grammati cally attached, normally the subject of the sentence: Recently converted into ap artments, I passed by the house where I grew up. (No one will imagine that the s peaker had been converted into apartments, but that is what the grammatical stru cture suggests, producing poor style.) Some examples of unattached participles f ollow: Being a vegan bisexual who's into Nicaraguan coffee picking and boiler suits, yo u could safely assume that I vote LabourPrivate Eye, 1988 / Driving near home recently, a thick pall of smoke turned out to be a bungalow we ll alightOxford Times, 1990. In sum, unattached participles seldom cause real amb iguity, but they jar and can distract the reader, and are to be avoided.Top
4 Certain participles, such as considering, assuming, excepting, given, provided , seeing, speaking (of), etc., have acquired the status of prepositions or conju nctions, and their use in a grammatically free role is well established: `Speaking of money,' said Beryl, `do you mind my asking what you did with yours?'A. Munro , 1987.Top
Back - New Search particular. In its meaning `considered as distinct from others', particular plays a useful ident ifying or emphasizing role: For this particular show there is an audience and they arrive at 7.30 p.m.Guardia n, 1970. In other cases, it can be superfluous: It is entirely up to you to find these faults, if they exist, and to report them before the particular guarantee periods expireG. Collard , 1990.
Back - New Search particularly. It is particularly important to pronounce this as five syllables, and not as if it were spelt par-tic-u-ly.
Back - New Search partisan, meaning à zealous supporter of a cause' or à guerrilla in wartime', is normally pronou nced in BrE with a -z- sound and with the stress on the last syllable, but in Am E a first-syllable stress is often preferred. It is also used as an adjective me aning `loyal to a cause, biased'.
Back - New Search partly see PARTIALLY.
Back - New Search parts of speech. The traditional parts of speech (also called word-classes) that have been in use for English since the 16c are noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, prepositi on, conjunction, and interjection. Some of these are subdivided; for example pro nouns can be demonstrative (this, those, etc.), personal (he, she, we, etc.), po ssessive (his, theirs), or relative (who, which). These categories were taken ov er from those used to describe Latin grammar and often barely suit the word func tions and sentence structure of English. The concept of àdverb', for example, embra ces words that are far apart in both function and meaning (ever, fast, only, saf ely, thankfully, well, etc). Other words are often described in special ways, su ch as a and an (indefinite article, determiner), the (definite article, determin er), much (quantifier). For general purposes, however, the traditional names rem ain in use despite their inadequacies, and they are used in this book rather tha n the more specialized terms that have been adopted in modern linguistics. The m ain parts of speech listed above have separate entries, to which the reader is r eferred for further information.
Back - New Search party as a synonym for `person' occurs in informal contexts as a kind of extension of the legal use (the injured party / the party of the first part), but should not be u sed in more formal usage: June had taken Imogen from her`What a stout little party'and settled down for the inte rview with Imogen on her knee Trollope , 1990.
Back - New Search passed, past. Passed is the past tense and past participle of the verb pass: We passed a polic e car / The time has passed. The related adjective, preposition, and adverb are all past: for the past three hours / We drove past a police car / She hurried pa st. The form past is also a noun: living in the past.
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has the plural form passers-by.
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passive. 1 The passive voice is illustrated by the sentence Brazil were beaten by France in the final, in which the object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb and the subject is expressed as an agent introduced by the preposit ion by. Passive verbs are formed with the verb be, and other verbs are used to f orm so-called `semi-passives' in which the past participle of the verb is at least p artly adjectival (e.g. He got changed / They seem bothered).
2 Other forms of the passive include: a IMPERSONAL CONSTRUCTIONS WITH IT. It is believed that no action should be take n / It is felt that your complaint arises from a misunderstanding. Sir Ernest Go wers , who as a senior civil servant no doubt saw many such examples in correspo ndence that came his way, wrote (1965) that `the impersonal passive is a construct ion dear to those who write official and business letters'. Ìt is reasonable enough in statements made at large,' he continued, giving the example It is understood t hat the wanted man is wearing a raincoat and a cloth cap, `but when one person is addressing another it often amounts to a pusillanimous shrinking from responsibi lity' (as in the examples given at the beginning of this paragraph). b DOUBLE PASSIVE. This occurs with verbs such as attempt, begin, desire, endeavo ur, propose, threaten, and others involving constructions with a passive infinit ive, as in The order was attempted to be carried out / No greater thrill can be hoped to be enjoyed. Clearly these types are often extremely awkward in not corr esponding to a comparable active form (They attempted the order to be carried ou t / We hope no greater thrill to be enjoyed), and a fully active construction sh ould be used whenever possible: They attempted to carry out the order / We can h ope to enjoy no greater thrill; in some cases the sentence can be rephrased, e.g . There was an attempt to carry out the order. Other verbs, such as expect, inte nd, and order, which are grammatically more versatile, will allow a double passi ve construction; we can say, for example, They ordered the deserters to be shot, and therefore the double passive form The deserters were ordered to be shot is acceptable. c THE TYPE SHE at the subject verb, whereas a watch); but WAS GIVEN A WATCH. This use was once questioned on the grounds th of the passive verb should correspond to the object of the active in this case she corresponds to an indirect object (They gave her it is now a part of the language and beyond such objection.Top
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pastel, pastille. A pastel is an artist's crayon or a light shade of a colour, whereas a pastille is a small sweet or lozenge.
Back - New Search past master, meaning à person having special skill in an activity', is spelt with past, not (as formerly) with passed, although the allusion is to someone who has `passed' the nece ssary training and qualification to achieve that status (originally in the conte xt of freemasonry).
Back - New Search pastor is used, especially in AmE, as the term for or title of a member of the clergy i n charge of a nonconformist church.
Back - New Search past tense. Three noteworthy special uses of the past tense of verbs are: 1 A continued action or state in indirect speech can be expressed either by the past or by the present: Did you say you had [or have] a house to let? / How did you find out that I was [or am] the owner? 2 A past is used in forms of enquiry about another's wish or attitude: Did [or d o] you want to come in? (The time reference arguably differs here according to t he tense: either `Did you want to come in a moment ago, when you knocked?' or 'You k nocked, so do you now want to come in?) 3 The hypothetical past tense is used in sentences of the type It's time we left for the station, and in unfulfilled conditions of the type If you tried harder, you'd probably succeed.
Back - New Search pt, meaning à rich meat or fish paste', is pronounced pat-ay, and is spelt with the two accents to distinguish it from pate (pronounced payt, = head) and pte (pronounce d paht, = the paste of which porcelain is made).
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patent. In the meaning à government authority giving a right or title', the normal pronunci ation is pat-nt, although pay-tnt is sometimes used. For the adjective meaning `cl ear, obvious' (and in the corresponding adverb patently), and in the compound pate nt leather, pay-tnt is used. In AmE, pat-nt is more usual in these meanings as w ell.
Back - New Search pathetic, in its modern informal meaning ìnadequate, feeble', has compromised the primary (an d by no means derogatory) meaning àrousing pity or sadness' to the extent that a st atement such as The play opens with a pathetic speech is likely to be understood the wrong way. Regard for context needs to be borne in mind when using or encou ntering this word.
Back - New Search patio, meaning à paved area adjoining a house', has the plural form patios.
Back - New Search patricide see PARRICIDE.
Back - New Search patriot. The pronunciations pat-ri-t and pay-tri-t are about equally common in BrE. In th e derivative words patriotic and patriotism, pat- is more common. In AmE, pay- i s the usual form for all these words.
Back - New Search patrol as a verb has inflected forms patrolled, patrolling in both BrE and AmE.
Back - New Search patron
is pronounced pay-trn, but the derivative words patronage and patronize both hav e initial pat-. In AmE, initial pay- is usual for all three words.
Back - New Search pavement means à paved way for pedestrians' in BrE (corresponding to AmE sidewalk) and in pa rts of the American east coast, and the hard surface of a paved road elsewhere i n America.
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pay. The past tense and past participle of the verb are both paid.
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PC, pc is now as likely to stand for political correctness as police constable, Privy C ounsellor, or personal computer.
Back - New Search peaceable, peaceful. In general, peaceable means `disposed to peace, not quarrelsome' and refers primaril y to people or activities: The visitor from beyond the planets would obtain the impression that the Earth i s a very peaceable placeNew Scientist, 1991. The adverb peaceably occurs almost a s often as the adjective: On the whole they lived peaceably and had lots of fellowship togetherW. Green , 1 988. The more common word peaceful means `characterized by peace, tranquil' and the notion is more actual than potential: The meal was peaceful, but when it was over the doors burst open and in surged a crowd of painters and models who hadn't been invitedJ. Rose , 1990. The meanings overlap rather more with the adverb peacefully:
The siege ended peacefully and Yacoub was later charged with taking hostages and with illegal possession of a firearmKeesings, 1990.
Back - New Search peccadillo, meaning à trifling offence', has the plural form peccadilloes (preferred) or peccad illos.
Back - New Search pedagogy, meaning `the science of teaching', is pronounced ped--gog-i (with a hard second g) o r ped--goj-i (with a soft second g). The soft sound is used in the adjective ped agogical. In pedagogue, however (now mainly used disparagingly of a pedantic or dogmatic teacher), the g is hard, ped--gog.
Back - New Search pedal as a verb has inflected forms pedalled, pedalling in BrE, but usually pedaled, p edaling in AmE.
Back - New Search pedantry. Fowler (1926) observed that the term ìs obviously a relative one; my pedantry is your scholarship, his reasonable accuracy, her irreducible minimum of education, and someone else's ignorance'. He referred to articles in his book and left the r eader to decide where on the scale of pedantry his work belonged. Fowler was rar ely pedantic but his readers often were, and read into his statements things tha t Fowler never intended. Some examples of pedantic attitudes to usage will be fo und in the following entries (not an exhaustive list, and the reader may be able to add others): ALSO (2) (position of also), BARBARISMS (objections to mixed fo rms such as television), CIRCUMSTANCE (objection to under the circumstances), CU RRICULUM (plural form curricula vitarum), DATA (data as invariable plural), EX(Fowler's objection to the type ex-Prime Minister), FEWER, LESS (the type 12 ite ms or fewer), FRACTION (a fraction not necessarily a small quantity), HOI POLLOI (use of the hoi polloi), ONLY (position of only), OTHER (2) (use of other than for otherwise than), PER CAPITA (use of per caput), TARGET (doubled targets are easier, not harder, to hit).
Back - New Search pedlar, peddler.
The dominant BrE spelling has changed, along with a change in principal meaning, from pedlar, the traditional form for the itinerant seller of small items, to t he AmE spelling peddler, associated especially with the selling of drugs and inf luenced by the verb peddle (itself a back-formation from pedlar). The developmen t is somewhat circular but the result is that pedlar is falling out of use as th e itinerant seller that the word used to denote disappears from the streets.
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pee. Since the introduction of decimal currency in Britain in 1971 the spelling pee h as come into use to represent the pronunciation of the initial letter of penny: May I trouble you for forty-two pee? Rendell , 1974. Lack of precedent is the onl y argument available to those who condemn this pronunciation and insist on the t raditional (but partly anachronistic) forms penny and pence.
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peewit is the preferred spelling for the name of the bird, not pewit.
Back - New Search penchant, meaning àn inclination or liking', is pronounced p-sh, in a French manner with nasali zed vowels.
Back - New Search pencil as a verb has inflected forms pencilled, pencilling in BrE, and usually penciled , penciling in AmE.
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pendant, pendent, pennant. The noun pendant means à hanging jewel or ornament' or in nautical use à short rope hanging from the head of a mast'; the adjective pendent means `hanging or overhangin g' and has a few technical uses. A pennant is a tapering flag, especially one flow n at the masthead of a ship.
Back - New Search pending is used (1) as an adjective meaning àwaiting a decision or completion' (A new editi on of the book is pending), and (2) as a preposition meaning `during, throughout t he process of' (A final decision cannot be taken pending his trial).
Back - New Search peninsula is a noun meaning à piece of land almost surrounded by water' (The Spanish peninsul a) and peninsular is the corresponding adjective (The Peninsular War).
Back - New Search pen-name see NOM DE PLUME.
Back - New Search pennant see PENDANT.
Back - New Search penny. The plural for separate coins is pennies (He had four pennies in his pocket), an d for a sum of money is pence (an increase of 50 pence). See also PEE. In North America a one-cent coin is often called a penny (with plural pennies).
Back - New Search pension, meaning à French or European boarding house', is pronounced p-sy, in a French manner with nasalized vowels, and is normally printed in italic type to distinguish it from the naturalized word pension.
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people, persons. Both words have been in use for several centuries to denote the plural of person , the difference usually being explained in terms of people referring to a group of which the exact number cannot be determined or is irrelevant and persons to a number of individuals who are countable or regarded separately: A great many people feel that a hug can make their dayChicago Tribune, 1991 / It is morally certain that a number of persons signed confessions to crimes of w hich they were innocentK. Lindsay , 1980. However, this distinction is not watert ight, as the following examples show: Persons may squat in buildings by reason of inability to find other accommodatio nOxford Companion to Law, 1980 / It now numbers some 40 people, as well as the jersey cows, the Aberdeen Angus bu ll, the horse, three ponies, and a handful of fecund goats and breeding sowsCount ry Living, 1991. To judge from the recent evidence, the distinction is based as much on context as on meaning, with people used as the general word and persons used in more formal contexts (e.g. law). It may not be a red herring to note tha t the plural persons also occurs in compound forms such as barpersons and chairp ersons.
Back - New Search per. It is a sound general rule not to use this Latin word when an English equivalent exists and is idiomatic: it is better, for example, to say The salary is 25,000 a year rather than The salary is 25,000 per year, and We will send the goods by p arcel post rather than We will send the goods per parcel post. Per is best reser ved for use in official contexts, in Latin phrases such as per annum, and in for mulaic expressions such as miles per hour and kilometres per gallon. For as per, see AS (9).
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per capita means `by heads' and has largely replaced the more strictly correct form per caput (`f or each head') as the normal way of saying `for each person or head (of population)'. Fowler (1926) regarded this use of per capita as à modern blunder, encouraged in some recent dictionaries', but its use is now standard: During the same period, per capita consumption rose 15 percent in terms of const ant prices Ddalus 1990. Per caput is also still found, but is much less common and often has a pedantic tone: It may be argued that per-caput cigarette consumption is not a good measure of c igarette consumption in young womenLancet, 1976.
Back - New Search per cent is normally written as two words in BrE but as one word (percent) in AmE. In att ributive use (i.e. before a noun), it is normally written with a hyphen in BrE: a 12 per-cent increase. The type per cent of is normally treated as singular if t he noun is a collective or mass noun and as plural if the noun is an ordinary pl ural: Fifteen per cent of the electorate has yet to make up its mindDaily Telegraph, 19 87 / Some 90% of children belong to the Pioneers in East BerlinEncounter, 1987. In AmE , but not in BrE, percent is also used as a noun, an alternative to percentage ( a large percent of the population).
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percentage. Since a percentage can be a quantity of any size, and even (unlike part) more th an the whole, it is best to qualify it with adjectives such as small, tiny, or l arge, or by the adverb only, as appropriate: a large percentage of books publish ed in the USA / all but a small percentage . See also FRACTION.
Back - New Search peremptory means àdmitting no denial or refusal' and not (perhaps by confusion with perfunctor
y) àbrupt, sudden'. A peremptory decision is not one that has been hastily reached but one that is definitive. The word is normally pronounced with the stress on t he second syllable, although an older first-syllable stress survives in legal us age.
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perennial, with reference to plants, means `lasting several years' by contrast with annual whic h means `lasting for one growing season'.
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perfect. 1 In its primary meaning `complete, not deficient', perfect is an absolute and canno t logically be qualified by words such as more, most, and very. (This is a philo sophical point, not a matter of grammatical correctness.) As the OED notes, howe ver, perfect is òften used of a near approach to such a state [of complete excell ence], and hence is capable of comparison'. Such uses are found in literature from the 14c onward, including Shakespeare's Our men more perfect in the use of arms2 Henry IV ,iv.i.153. In modern use, perfect is used more often than not in weake ned meanings and is therefore amenable to qualification: What figure is more perfect than the sphere William , 1965 / Maybe not purity but he seemed so perfect and so unreal, in a way Chinua , 1987.
2 Perfect is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as an adjective an d with the stress on the second syllable as a verb.Top
Back - New Search perfectible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
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perfect infinitive. This is the type to have been, to have said, etc., and occurs most commonly afte r the verbs appear and seem: She appeared to have encouraged him / That seemed t o have been an isolated incident. In each case the reported event occurred befor e the time of the statement itself. If the event and the reporting occur at the same time, a present (or present continuous) infinitive is used instead: She app eared to be encouraging him / That seemed to be an isolated incident. For the ty pe would have liked (or preferred) to have been, see HAVE; LIKE (verb).
Back - New Search perimeter, unlike parameter, is rarely used in figurative meanings, but occasional uses are found, usually in the context of broader metaphors: The perimeter of her own life was shrinkingJ. Urquhart , 1986 (Canada).
Back - New Search period. For the meaning with reference to time, see EPOCH. For the punctuation mark, see FULL STOP.
Back - New Search periodic, periodical. Periodic is an adjective only, and is largely restricted to technical and scient ific contexts, especially in the expressions periodic acid, periodic decimal, pe riodic function, and periodic table. In non-technical language periodical is the commoner choice for the meaning àppearing or occurring at regular intervals' (A pe riodical oil change is recommended), and is also used as a noun (= a newspaper o r magazine issued at regular intervals).
Back - New Search permanence, permanency. The more usual choice in current use for the meaning à state of being permanent' is permanence, but permanency is also occasionally used in this meaning and more e specially in the meaning `something that is permanent':
A stranger is not a permanency. One can easily shed a stranger. Greene , 1988.
Back - New Search permissible, permissive, permitted. Permissible is spelt -ible and means àllowable', having potential force rather than the actual force conveyed by permitted. Permissive means `tolerant or liberal in morals' as in the phrase the permissive society.
Back - New Search permit is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and with the stres s on the second syllable as a verb. The verb has inflected forms permitted, perm itting.
Back - New Search pernickety, meaning `fussy, fastidious', is a 19c word of Scottish origin which has spread to al l English-speaking areas. In AmE, the form persnickety is also used.
Back - New Search per pro see P.P.
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perquisite, prerequisite. A perquisite is an incidental benefit attached to a person's job or employment, and is more often used in the shortened form perk. A prerequisite is something r equired as a condition before something else can be done: Sponsorship is not a prerequisite for any of our courses but we are happy for st udents to arrange sponsorship if they wish to do souniversity prospectus, 1993.
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persistence, persistency. Both words came into English in the 16c and they remain largely interchangeable, although in current use persistence is commoner: Agelessly silent, with a reptile's persistencyD.H. Lawrence , 1921 / By sheer persistence he'd achieved what at first seemed inaccessibleE. North , 19 87.
Back - New Search person. For the plural persons, see PEOPLE.
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-person. 1 The use of -person as a gender-neutral suffix denoting occupations instead of -man began in the 1970s with chairperson (see CHAIRMAN), and has spread rather m ore slowly than might have been expected, possibly because of a reluctance to ad opt forms that are more socially acceptable but are linguistically more awkward or cumbersome. The table below lists some typical formations, some having an eph emeral appearance and others likely to achieve some permanence: WORD DATE anchorperson 1976 barperson 1976 chairperson 1971 craftsperson 1976 draughtsperson 1976 Englishperson 1977 everyperson 1978 henchperson 1973 newspaper person 1976 salesperson 1971 spokesperson 1972 waitperson 1980
2 The substitution of person for man in other ways, e.g. in personhandle and per sonpower, and in gingerbread person, is at present showing no sign of being take n seriously, although this may change.Top
Back - New Search persona. In 20c usage, persona (in origin the Latin word for an actor's mask) has acquire d two special meanings and a generalized one that draws on both: (1) a character deliberately assumed by an author in his or her writing, (2) in Jungian psychol ogy, the set of attitudes adopted by an individual to fit himself or herself for an appropriate social role, (3) an aspect of the personality as shown to or per ceived by others: James Spicer, his military persona now well to the fore, ignored the question an d picked up the phoneM. Hamer , 1991 / Writer Brian Clark gave me the persona of a middle-class, middle-aged profession al with a wife problem and for a time it became my trademarkToday, 1991. The psyc hological resonance of these uses makes persona a more powerful word than (say) identity, and the development is a useful one.
Back - New Search personage, personality. A personage is à person of distinction or high rank', and is sometimes applied with irony or humour to someone who is self-important rather than important: No longer was I a nondescript of the slums; now I was a personage of the theatre Chaplin , 1964 / Royal personages officially come of age at eighteenS. Weintraub , 1987. A persona lity is à celebrity or other person who is a focus of attention', and is used espec ially with reference to stars of the television and film world: Tell us about some of the overseas personalities you have metJ.M. Coetzee , 1990. The term personality cult has been used since the 1950s to mean `the extreme adul ation of an individual, especially a leader or celebrity, in terms of his or her personal characteristics': Hollywood was devising the `star system', the big solo buildup, the personality cult of the silent screenGuardian, 1971.
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personally. The uses of personally illustrated by The decision was made by the president per sonally (= by the president and no one else) and He took the criticism personall y (= in a personal manner) are unexceptionable. Doubts arise when personally is used to mean `for myself, for my part', as in Personally, I don't approve of such be haviour. This use is best restricted to informal contexts. In many cases it can be simply omitted, or replaced by for my part.
Back - New Search personnel. The word is pronounced with the stress on the third syllable, and refers to the human resources of an organization or institution, originally in the armed force s and later in the business world. It is often used attributively (i.e. before a noun), e.g. personnel carrier (in military contexts), personnel officer (in bus iness contexts), or is qualified in some way, e.g. military personnel and traine d personnel. Used by itself it also means à personnel department' (I'd better check with Personnel), and it occasionally occurs with a preceding numeral to denote a number of personnel: one copy to every 25 personnel.
Back - New Search persons see PEOPLE.
Back - New Search perspective. The 17c meaning `mental point of view or way of regarding something', perspective ha s developed a special use with on followed by the name of a subject or intellect ual domain: Perspectives on Thomas Hobbes (book title, 1989).
Back - New Search perspicacious, perspicuous. Fowler (1926) snootily urged the use of simpler alternatives by `those who are nei ther learned nor pretentious'. Perspicacious means `having mental penetration or dis cernment, discerning', and its corresponding noun is perspicacity. Perspicuous, on the other hand, means `clear to understand' (with reference to people and statement s), and its noun is perspicuity. It is the nouns that are confused rather than t he adjectives, and the following examples of correct uses may help to distinguis h them in the reader's mind: He went through the photographs. But it didn't take much perspicacity to tell th at some were missing Rendell , 1983 / Wagner's theory had gained in complexity, but not, perhaps, in perspicuity, from
its new influencesS.M. Silk , 1981. Suitable alternative words are (for perspica city) perception, perceptiveness, acuteness, and shrewdness, and (for perspicuit y) clarity, lucidity, and lucidness.
Back - New Search persuade see CONVINCE.
Back - New Search persuasion. The meaning `belief or conviction', as in a person of no particular persuasion, has developed into a much weaker sense `kind or sort', as in no one of the male persuasi on. The OED labels these uses as `slang or burlesque', and in current use the intent ion is still usually humorous or jocular.
Back - New Search peruse is a formal word meaning `to read thoroughly', and is often mistakenly used to mean `t o read cursorily, to glance over': For me, it had all the wearisome unfunniness of back numbers of Punch perused in the dentist's waiting-roomTimes Literary Supplement, 1980.
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perverse, pervert, perverted. 1 Perverse and perverted, both derived from the Latin root pervertere `to turn awa y' (from what is normal or correct), are easily confused. Perverse means `stubbornly unreasonable' (usually of people but also of circumstances): No doubt I am perverse, but I found the film sensationalist, spurious and totall y unbelievableA. Walker , 1988 / Amazingly, perversely, and rather to her regret (a flat battery would have been a cast-iron excuse to abort the visit) the engine fired Lodge , 1988. Perverted m eans `departing from right opinion or conduct' and is commonly used with reference t o abnormal or deviant sexual behaviour: I've seen blokes in hot countries go clean round the oojar because of the perver ted practices of native women Aldiss , 1971.
2 Pervert is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun (= a per son who is sexually perverted) and with the stress on the second syllable as a v erb (= to corrupt, lead astray).Top
Back - New Search petal has a derived form petalled in BrE, but petaled is also used in AmE.
Back - New Search petite, meaning àttractively small' (usually with reference to a woman), is now usually spe lt in roman type as a naturalized word.
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petitio principii means `begging of a principle' and denotes a logical fallacy in which a conclusion i s taken for granted in the premiss. See BEG THE QUESTION.
Back - New Search petrel, petrol. The first is a bird, the second a fuel (AmE gasoline). They are both pronounced the same way, pet-rl.
Back - New Search pewit see PEEWIT.
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phantasm, phantom, In current usage phantom primarily means à ghost' or à mental illusion', whereas phant asm means à visual illusion' or à vision of an absent person'.
Back - New Search phantasy see FANTASY.
Back - New Search pharaoh, an ancient Egyptian king, is spelt -aoh, not -oah.
Back - New Search pharmacopoeia, meaning àn official directory of drugs', is spelt -poeia in BrE and -poeia or -peia in AmE. The pronunciation in both cases is fah-m-k-pee-.
Back - New Search phenomenal. The modern generalized meaning èxtraordinary, remarkable' (A spokeswoman said the response from members yesterday was `phenomenal'Guardian, 197 9) is now the dominant one, although it retains little of the notion of its mean ing in technical (especially philosophical) contexts, in which the meaning is `per ceived by the senses'.
Back - New Search phenomenon. The primary meaning now is àn extraordinary or remarkable person or thing' rather t han à fact or occurrence that is perceived', although this meaning runs it a close second. The plural form is phenomena, which is sometimes treated erroneously as a singular noun: Footsteps are heard all over the building causing surprise and apprehension and expectancy in those visitors who have heard about the phenomena but haven't expe rienced it [correct to haven't experienced them]W.B. Herbert , 1992.
Back - New Search Philippines, the chain of islands in south-east Asia, is spelt in this way, with one l and tw o ps. The inhabitants are called Filipinos.
Back - New Search Philistine. A Philistine (with a capital initial letter) is a member of an ancient Semitic p eople of Palestine. A philistine (with a small initial letter, usually) is a per son who is hostile or indifferent to culture.
Back - New Search -phile is more common than -phil in current usage in words (usually nouns and adjective s) denoting a fondness for something or someone, such as bibliophile, Francophil e, etc.
Back - New Search phlegm, meaning à viscous substance discharged by coughing', is pronounced flem. The g is a lso silent in the adjective phlegmy, but is pronounced in phlegmatic (fleg-mat-i k), meaning `stolidly calm and unemotional'.
Back - New Search phone is a well-established shortening of telephone, used chiefly in spoken English.
Back - New Search phoney, an informal word meaning `sham, fake' (adjective and noun), is of uncertain origin a nd not traced in print before 1900. Its currency was greatly boosted by the use of the term phoney war to refer to the relative inaction in the early months of the Second World War. Phoney is the preferred spelling, although phony is also u sed.
Back - New Search phonograph is now disused in BrE as a term for a type of gramophone, but is still used in A mE for any type of gramophone or record player (before the development of the co mpact disc).
Back - New Search phosphorus, phosphorous. Phosphorus is the noun for the chemical element, and phosphorous is the adjectiv e meaning `containing phosphorus'.
Back - New Search photo is a well-established shortening of photograph, used chiefly in spoken English. Its plural form is photos, and it is commonly used in attributive position (i.e. before a noun), as in photo call, photo finish, and photo opportunity.
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phrasal verbs. 1 A phrasal verb is a combination of verb and adverb or preposition (or both) su ch as come about, draw up, put up with, and work out. Phrasal verbs formed with adverbs can be either transitive (i.e. take an object, as in He drew up a chair) or intransitive (as in A taxi drew up). Phrasal verbs formed with prepositions are of course transitive (I must go through some papers). Phrasal verbs of all t ypes have meanings that cannot be directly deduced from the individual words, an d in some cases they have several meanings and grammatical patterns. For example , run up has four distinct meanings in the sentences She ran up the road, She ra n up to meet them, She ran up debts, and She ran up the flag. In the first examp le, up is a preposition (governing road), whereas in the other three examples it is an adverb, and in the last two the objects debts and flag are governed by th e verb ran.
2 When the object of a phrasal verb is a pronoun, it normally comes between the verb and a following adverb, e.g. He took up my references but He took them up. This separability can occur with nouns as well, though not in all cases: I'll ge t down the book can be converted to I'll get the book down, whereas She heads up a team, cannot be converted to She heads a team up, although down and up are bo th being used as adverbs in these cases. Whether or not more transparent combina tions such as They came down the stairs or She went into the house should be cla
ssed as phrasal verbs as distinct from verbs with routine complementation is sti ll the subject of disagreement among grammarians, and this applies also to the e xtended type The witch turned him into a toad, in which both the verb and the fo llowing preposition have their distinct grammatical objects.Top
3 Phrasal verbs range from the informal to the neutral but are hardly ever forma l in register. They form a highly productive area of current English, with recen t new formations including dumb down (= make simpler), factor in (= include in a n assessment or survey), freak out (= lose one's temper), and scroll up (on a co mputer screen). All these are informal in use.Top
4 Some phrasal verbs produce noun derivatives of the type breakdown, copout, fee dback, and tie-in, the reversed form typified by backdrop and outcome, or both ( breakout and outbreak). These also vary in register from the neutral (breakdown, breakout, feedback, outbreak) to the informal (copout, tie-in).Top
5 For a fuller discussion of this topic see Tom McArthur in The Oxford Companion to the English Language (1992), 7726.Top
Back - New Search physician, doctor, surgeon. The normal word for a medical practitioner in general contexts is doctor (abbrev iated as a title to Dr). Physician is familiar from the proverb Physician, heal thyself (Luke 4:23) and has the same range of meaning as doctor but is not in ge neral use. In current British use, a doctor in general practice is distinguished as a general practioner (or GP). In AmE, Doctor is also used for a qualified de ntist or veterinary surgeon; and in all English-speaking countries Doctor and Dr are used (as titles only) to refer to a person who has a doctorate in a non-med ical subject (e.g. Doctor of Philosophy). A surgeon is a person who is qualified to practise surgery, and in Britain (except Scotland) is addressed as Mr, not D r.
Back - New Search physiognomy, physiology. Physiognomy (pronounced with the g silent) is `the cast or form of a person's feat ures', whereas physiology is `the science of the functions of living organisms and t heir parts'.
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is normally pronounced pee--nist with the stress on the first syllable in BrE an d pi-ah-nist with the stress on the second syllable in AmE.
Back - New Search piano. The plural form of the noun is pianos.
Back - New Search piazza, meaning àn open square or market place', is normally pronounced in the Italian mann er, pi-at-s, and in English contexts has the plural form piazzas. In AmE the pro nunciation is more often pi-az-, and it has the special meaning `the veranda of a house'.
Back - New Search picaresque is used to describe a type of fiction concerned with the adventures of a rogue ( from Spanish picaro meaning `rogue'). The type is represented in 18c English literat ure by Defoe's Moll Flanders (1722), Fielding's Tom Jones (1749), and other clas sic works, but the first record of the use of the term in English is by Sir Walt er Scott in 1829.
Back - New Search piccolo, the smallest flute, has the plural form piccolos.
Back - New Search picket. The verb has inflected forms picketed, picketing.
Back - New Search picnic. The verb has inflected forms picnicked, picnicking.
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pidgin. A pidgin is a simplified language containing vocabulary and grammatical elements from two or more languages, and is used mainly by traders who do not have a lan guage in common. It differs from a CREOLE in being improvised for a special purp ose as distinct from being the mother tongue of a speech community. The word pid gin is probably a Chinese corruption of the English word business, which is refl ected also in the idiom that's your pigeon (= that's your affair or business).
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pie. What is the difference between a pie and a tart? On both sides of the Atlantic, a pie can contain meat, fish, or fruit, with the filling entirely enclosed by pa stry, whereas a tart is more likely to be open on top and with a sweet filling s uch as jam or custard. In Britain a mince pie is a small individual pie filled w ith mincemeat (a mixture of dried fruit and spices). It is worth remembering tha t in earlier writing pies and tarts could be much more varied in kind, e.g. jam tart, strawberry tart, eel tart, veal tart, etc., besides goose pie, pigeon pie, eel pie, pumpkin pie, etc.
Back - New Search piebald, skewbald. A piebald horse or other animal is one having irregular patches of two colours, especially black and white. A skewbald animal has irregular patches of white and another colour (other than black).
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pice de rsistance, meaning `the most important or remarkable item', is printed in italic type with the accents as shown. The plural form (not often needed) is pices de rsistance, pronou nced in the same way as the singular form.
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pied--terre, meaning à small house or apartment kept for occasional use', is pronounced pyaydahtair and is normally printed in italic type with the accent as shown. The plural form is pieds--terre (with the same pronunciation).
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piet, a representation of the dead Christ held by his mother, is pronounced pi-ay-tah and printed in italic type with an accent on the a.
Back - New Search pigmy see PYGMY.
Back - New Search pilau, a type of Middle Eastern or Indian spiced dish of rice, is normally spelt in thi s way in BrE, but pilaf or pilaff in AmE. These forms also occur, however, in Br E.
Back - New Search pilfer, meaning `to steal (something trivial)', has inflected forms pilfered, pilfering.
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pilot. The verb has inflected forms piloted, piloting.
Back - New Search pinch. The idiom at a pinch, meaning ìf absolutely necessary', is the BrE form; in AmE it has the form in a pinch.
Back - New Search piquant, meaning àgreeably pungent' or `pleasantly stimulating', is pronounced pee-knt.
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pis aller, meaning à course of action followed as a last resort', is pronounced peez al-ay and is printed in italic type.
Back - New Search pistachio, a type of nut, has the plural form pistachios.
Back - New Search piteous, pitiable, pitiful. All three words are recorded from Middle English and share the basic meaning àrou sing pity' and are to some extent interchangeable (as in The abandoned children we re a piteous sight), although pitiful is the most versatile and piteous is the l east common. Piteous and pitiable can both convey the meaning `deserving pity', and pitiable and pitiful convey the meaning èvoking mingled pity and contempt'. Pitiful alone is used in the meaning àbsurdly small or insignificant', as in The state pen sion has been reduced to a pitiful sum. Examples: A pitiful tube squirts water to a height of a couple of feetJ.D.R. McConnell , 19 70 /
How she had suffered for him, for her poor pitiable ridiculous father Drabble , 1 987 / `What did I do this time?' Helen looked piteous Binchy , 1988 / His blindness now struck her as utterly pitifulM. Forster , 1988.
Back - New Search pity. The type Pity you can't come tomorrow is an acceptable conversational shortening of it is a pity that.
Back - New Search pizazz, a slang term meaning `verve, sparkle', has many variant spellings, of which the one given seems the most common.
Back - New Search placebo, meaning à pill or medicine given for psychological effect', is pronounced pla-see-b oh and has the plural form placebos.
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plaid, pronounced plad, is a length of fabric worn over the shoulder as part of the cer emonial dress of members of the pipe bands of Scottish regiments. It should be d istinguished from tartan, which is a woollen cloth with a pattern of different c oloured stripes crossing at right angles, each pattern being associated with a p articular clan. A plaid can be made from tartan cloth.
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Plain English.
1 The expression plain English, meaning Ènglish that is clear and easy to underst and', goes back to the 15c, and was the term often used in the titles of the first dictionaries that appeared during the 17c; Robert Cawdrey , for example, descri bed the contents of his 1604 Table Alphabeticall as listing hard words `with the i nterpretation thereof by plaine English words'. The current UK Plain English campa ign was started in the 1970s and grew out of the consumer movement and the deman d for fair dealing. It may be seen as belonging to the tradition of the work don e by Sir Ernest Gowers in publications such as Plain Words (1948, later The Comp lete Plain Words, 1954 and later editions) and in the material he added to the s econd edition of Fowler's Modern English Usage (1965). A similar movement exists in the US, including the Plain English Forum set up in the 1980s.
2 Plain English insists on clarity as well as accuracy and wages war on convolut ed, obfuscating language typified by the use of such words as aforesaid, in the event of, incumbent on, and thereto. It argues that inflated statements such as Encashment of a foreign currency may incur a processing fee may be stated more e ffectively as We may charge you for changing your foreign money. In some context s, however, the need for precision can require the use of special terminology; t his aspect is discussed in the entries for LEGALESE and OFFICIALESE. See also Ma rtin Cutts, The Plain English Guide (1995).Top
Back - New Search plain sailing, meaning à straightforward situation or course of action', is an early 19c alteratio n of the original (late 17c) phrase plane sailing, which denoted a system of mea suring short nautical distances by assuming that the earth's surface is a plane and not spherical.
Back - New Search plait. The noun and verb are both pronounced plat.
Back - New Search plan. The verb is followed either by to or (especially in AmE) by on: The government plan to close them and redeploy their workersTimes, 1986 / Do you plan on staying with Muriel forever?A. Tyler , 1985.
Back - New Search planetarium has the plural form planetariums, or occasionally planetaria.
Back - New Search plaster. The verb has inflected forms plastered, plastering.
Back - New Search plastic is now normally pronounced with the first syllable as in plan. The adjectival fo rm is plasticky.
Back - New Search plateau has the plural form plateaux, pronounced in the same way as the singular.
Back - New Search plateful has the plural form platefuls.
Back - New Search platonic, referring to spiritual as distinct from erotic love, is spelt with a small initi al p. When the reference is directly to Plato (as in Platonic dialogue), it is s pelt Platonic with a capital initial letter.
Back - New Search platypus has the plural form platypuses.
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player has extended its meaning from being a participant in a game of sport or fun to b eing a participant in a different type of game, namely commercial politics. This use originated in the US and has spread rapidly into BrE, although it is largel y restricted to the domain of business journalism: Other players include the Ford Motor company, which has been talking about selli ng its mortgages through car showroomsEconomist, 1986.
Back - New Search plc, PLC. Both forms are used for the abbreviation of Public Limited Company, a status int roduced in the UK in 1980.
Back - New Search plead. The past tense and past participle in standard BrE are both pleaded, but pled an d plead (pronounced pled) are used as well as pleaded in America, Scotland, and some dialects in the UK. In legal usage, an accused person can plead guilty or n ot guilty, but cannot plead innocent, which is an informal expression only.
Back - New Search please. The use of please by itself, as in Will you come in, please?, is a reduced form of may it (so) please you. It was first recorded in the 17c, but was not used by Shakespeare , whose shortest form isplease you.
Back - New Search plebiscite, referendum. Plebiscite is pronounced pleb-i-sit in BrE and usually pleb-i-siyt in AmE. The t erm is most commonly used of a direct vote of a State's electors on a fundamenta l matter, and is not used with reference to the UK. A referendum is the referral of an important specific issue to the electorate for a general vote, and is use d in the UK.
Back - New Search plectrum has the plural form plectrums or (in technical use) plectra.
Back - New Search plenteous, plentiful. The normal word in current English is plentiful, but plenteous will be found esp ecially in literary works of the 19c and earlier.
Back - New Search plenty is essentially a noun, and is used either by itself or with of + following noun (plural, or singular mass noun): We have plenty / You will find plenty of books / There is plenty of time. Use of plenty as an adjective without of is found in regional forms of English but is not standard: Although there are plenty other ideals that I should prefer Stevenson / Leopard Society in Sierra Leone. They kill plenty people Greene , 1969. Use of pl enty as an adverb meaning `very, clearly, more than usually' is restricted to non-st andard AmE: He seems plenty dead to meR. Silverberg , 1985 / I frowned at my mother plentyNew Yorker, 1990.
Back - New Search pleonasm is a term meaning `the use of more words than are necessary to give the sense'. An e xample in ordinary (as distinct from literary) usage is to see with one's eyes.
Back - New Search plethora, meaning àn oversupply, an excess', is pronounced pleth--r and is a singular noun.
Back - New Search plough is the normal BrE spelling, but plow is used in AmE.
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plunder as a verb has inflected forms plundered, plundering.
Back - New Search plurals of nouns. English nouns normally form their plurals by adding -s, or -es if the singular f orm ends in -s, -x, -z, -sh, or soft -ch (as in church but not loch). Words in y form plurals in -ies (policies) unless the ending is -ey in which case the plu ral form is normally -eys (monkeys); but see MONEYS. Difficulties occur mainly w hen the singular form is unusual and does not allow ready application of the nor mal rules or when the word is of foreign origin (or both). Nouns in -f and -fe a re given in the entry -FS, -VES, nouns of the type cupful at the entry -FUL, and nouns in -o in the entry -o; plurals of some Latin nouns in English are given i n the entry LATIN PLURALS. For plurals of abbreviated forms (such as MP) see ABB REVIATIONS (3). The following table lists other plural forms that cause difficul ties of various kinds. IRREGULAR PLURALS child children foot feet goose geese louse lice man men mouse mice tooth teeth woman women ANIMAL NAMES THE SAME IN THE PLURAL bison bison cod cod deer deer grouse grouse salmon salmon sheep sheep squid squid swine swine NOUNS IN PLURAL FORM ONLY: TOOLS bellows
binoculars clippers forceps gallows glasses goggles pincers pliers scissors shears spectacles (= glasses) tongs tweezers NOUNS IN PLURAL FORM ONLY: ARTICLES OF CLOTHING braces breeches briefs flannels jeans knickers leggings pants pyjamas (US pajamas) shorts slacks suspenders tights trousers COMPOUND NOUNS Attorney-General Attorneys-General
brother-in-law brothers-in-law commander-in-chief commanders-in-chief court martial courts martial daughter-in-law daughters-in-law father-in-law fathers-in-law Governor-General Governors-General lay-by lay-bys man-of war men-of-war mother-in-law mothers-in-law passer-by passers-by Poet Laureate Poets Laureate sister-in-law sisters-in-law son-in-law sons-in-law stand-by stand-bys The forms Attorney-Generals, Governor-Generals, and Poet Laureates are also used
Back - New Search plus is used primarily as the oral equivalent of the arithmetical sign + (Three plus four is seven). In the 20c it has gone from strength to strength as a quasi-prep osition with the meaning `with the addition of, and also' (e.g. A cup of Epp's cocoa and a shakedown for the night plus the use of a rug and ove rcoat doubled into a pillow Joyce , 1922). A more controversial use from the 1960 s (first in America) makes plus a conjunction or adverb (with a comma following) meaning ànd furthermore, and in addition': (conjunction) You can fly an aeroplane and command a ship. Plus you ride horsesNe w Yorker, 1987 / Ìt's certainly a challenge. Plus it's a little overwhelming, but it's exciting,' sa ys NicoleDaily Mail, 1998 / (adverb) I'll quit romanticizing him. Plus, he never got to go on any road tripsB. Ripley , 1987. These uses occur frequently in advertisements (e.g. 20% off everythingplu s no deposit) but should not be adopted in more formal writing.
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p.m. As an abbreviation of Latin post meridiem àfter noon', p.m. is pronounced as two le tters and written in the form 8.15 p.m. (or pm; in AmE 8:15 p.m.). The abbreviat ion is sometimes used informally as a noun: We arrived here this p.m. See also A .M.
Back - New Search pocket as a verb has inflected forms pocketed, pocketing.
Back - New Search pocketful has the plural form pocketfuls. See -FUL.
Back - New Search podium, meaning à raised platform or base' (e.g. for a speaker or orchestral conductor), ha s the plural form podiums or (occasionally) podia.
Back - New Search poetess is now rarely used except with historical reference, as for example to the Greek lyricist Sappho (6c BC). Occasionally it is used when the sex of the poet is in some way significant and when the noun is already qualified by an adjective, ma king `woman poet' unwieldy: He paused in his writing only to listen to a rather attractive Finnish poetess r eading a sequence about her marital problemsD.M. Thomas , 1990. In general, poet is now regularly used of both female and male writers of poetry. See -ESS.
Back - New Search poetic, poetical. In general, poetic is the more common word, but choice is often dependent on per sonal preference or on sentence rhythm. There are, however, a few fixed expressi ons, e.g. the poetical works of, poetic justice, poetic licence.
Back - New Search Poet Laureate. The plural is Poets Laureate, although Poet Laureates is often used.
Back - New Search pogrom, meaning àn organized massacre', is pronounced pog-rm. It is of Russian origin, firs t applied to the massacre of Jews and later applied more generally.
Back - New Search point in time. The expression at this point (or moment) in time, meaning `currently, now', is a mod ern clich that is more often heard in speech, or in reported speech, than seen in print. See CLICHS.
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point of view is largely interchangeable with standpoint and viewpoint. The reference of all t hree is general; when the use refers to an opinion on a specific matter view (al one) or opinion is often a better choice: Their point of view is largely traditi onal but They take a largely traditional view on this question.
Back - New Search polemic, polemical. Polemic is a noun meaning à controversial discussion' or à verbal or written politic al attack'; the corresponding noun is either polemic or (more usually) polemical.
Back - New Search policeman, policewoman. Both terms are tending to be replaced by the gender-neutral term police officer. In the UK, an officer holding the rank of constable is a police constable (PC) or woman police constable (WPC).
Back - New Search policy. There are two separate words with this spelling: (1) meaning à course or principl e of action' derived ultimately from the Greek word polis `city', and (2) meaning à contract of insurance' derived ultimately from the Greek word apodeix is èvidence, proof'.
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political correctness. The term political correctness (often abbreviated to PC) arose in the 1980s, fir st in America and soon afterwards elsewhere. It deals with many areas of social interaction; in language it is concerned with avoiding or replacing words and us es that cause offence or are seen as discriminating against certain sections of society, e.g. by being racist or sexist or in other ways, and extends to the avo idance of terms that may be regarded even coincidentally as offensive, such as b lack in black economy and blind (to) meaning ùnwilling to recognize (a fact)', and to other words that offend various groups, e.g. deaf people, homosexuals, racial groups, women, and old people. The political correctness movement is also devot ed to promoting an alternative terminology that seeks to assert a more positive aspect to negative or undesirable qualities, such as deficiency achievement for failure, differently abled for disabled, non-waged for unemployed, and many comp ounds formed with -challenged (intellectually challenged, vertically challenged, etc.: see CHALLENGED). Although the basic intentions of political correctness h ave attracted widespread sympathy, its more extreme forms have been met with der ision or even hostility. A Sunday Times leader of 1991, for example, warned that Àmerican politics is being corrupted and diminished by the doctrine of Political Correctness which demands rigid adherence to the political attitudes and social mores of the liberal-left, and which exhibits a malevolent intolerance to anybo dy who dares not comply with them'. See also SEXIST LANGUAGE.
Back - New Search politic, political. The normal adjective in general meanings is political. Apart from its use in the fixed expression body politic, politic is confined to the meaning `judicious, exp edient' (with reference to an action) and `prudent, sagacious' (with reference to a pe rson) and is normally used after a verb (such as be) rather than attributively ( before a noun). The corresponding adverbs are politicly (from politic, but not o ften needed) and politically (from political). Politic is also found as a verb m eaning `to engage in politics' (usually with disparaging overtones), and its inflect ed forms are politicked, politicking.
Back - New Search politics is treated as a singular noun when it means `the art or science of government' (Poli tics is a popular subject at many universities) and normally as a plural noun wh en it means à particular set of ideas, principles, etc.' (What are your politics?).
Back - New Search polity means (1) à form or process of civil government or constitution', and (2) à society or country as a political entity'. It should not be confused with policy, in its m eaning à course or principle of action'.
Back - New Search polytechnic, a term for an institution of further education, has largely fallen out of use in the UK since 1992, when polytechnics were legally entitled to call themselves u niversities.
Back - New Search pond is used jocularly to mean the sea, especially the Atlantic as separating Britain and America: Jackie Collins, born British, wrote huge, earnest tomes which even started to fe ature safe-sex warnings when she took up residence across the pondJ. Burchill , 1 993.
Back - New Search poof, a derogatory slang term for a homosexual or effeminate man, is also written poov e (and pronounced accordingly). The plural forms are poofs and pooves.
Back - New Search poorly is both an adverb (They all performed poorly) and an adjective (= unwell, Her hu
sband had been poorly for months). As in this example, the adjective is normally used after a verb (such as be), rather than in attributive position (before a n oun).
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popularized technicalities. This was Fowler's term (1926) for technical terms that are adopted into general use, and the one he named as being then most in vogue was ACID TEST. Some popula rizations (e.g. leading question) involve a change in meaning and are therefore usually more controversial. A range of examples from various domains, some known to Fowler and others more recent, are given in the table below. WORD TECHNICAL DOMAIN DATE OF POPULARIZED USE allergy medicine mid-20c asset law 17c chain reaction chemistry mid-20c chronic medicine 19c clone genetics late 20c complex psychology early 20c devil's advocate religion 19c feedback physics mid-20c fixation psychology early 20c function mathematics 18c leading question law 20c nth degree mathematics 19c parameter mathematics early 20c persona literary criticism early 20c protagonist drama mid-20c quantum leap or jump physics mid-20c syndrome medicine mid-20c
Back - New Search popular music, pop music. The two terms are not interchangeable. Popular music is a generic term for music of all ages that appeals to popular tastes (e.g. one can refer to nineteenth-ce ntury popular music, the popular music of Greece, etc). Pop music is a more spec ific term for the commercialized popular music of the later half of the 20c, esp ecially the 1950s and 1960s, and has in turn largely given way to the phenomenon of rock music and other special forms.
Back - New Search pore, pour. The verb pore means `to think closely about (a subject)' and is chiefly used in the phrasal verb to pore over (a book etc.). It is sometimes mistakenly written as p our, perhaps by false analogy with `pouring attention' over something.
Back - New Search porpoise is pronounced paw-ps, not with the second syllable as in poise.
Back - New Search portfolio has the plural form portfolios.
Back - New Search portico has the plural form porticoes (preferred) or porticos.
Back - New Search portmanteau words are words formed by merging or blending two or more other words, e.g. brunch (br eakfast + lunch), motel (motor + hotel), and smog (smoke + fog). Modern formatio ns of this type are often used for items of social concern or popular culture, e .g. blaxploitation (black + exploitation), docudrama (documentary + drama), edut ainment (education + entertainment), ginormous (giant + enormous), sexcapade (se x + escapade).
Back - New Search Portuguese (with two us) is the singular and plural form for the noun meaning a native or n ational of Portugal, and also the corresponding adjective.
Back - New Search position verb.
Uniformed constables had been positioned to re-direct trafficJ. Wainwright , 1979 . The use of position as a verb, meaning `to place in position', has met with some c riticism, usually from those who object to any verb made relatively recently fro m a noun (in this case early 19c). But position has a useful role (in physical a nd abstract contexts) that is not fulfilled by place, put, or pose.
Back - New Search position of adverbs see ADVERB (3). Fowler's classic article on this subject in Modern English Usage (1926) was originally published in SPE [Society for Pure English] Tract xv (192 3), and is now mainly of historical interest.
Back - New Search possessive see APOSTROPHE.
Back - New Search possessive pronouns and determiners. For various points concerning these, see GENDER-NEUTRALITY; HIS; OUR, OURS; THEY , THEM, THEIR.
Back - New Search possessive with gerund. For the type She does not like my (or me) smoking in bed, see VERBAL NOUN.
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POSSLQ, a shortening of `person of the opposite sex sharing living quarters', is a coy term for a live-in partner that is surprisingly common, and it is often heard as an a cronym in the form pos-lk.
Back - New Search postdeterminer see DETERMINER.
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post hoc, ergo propter hoc means àfter it and therefore because of it', and refers to the fallacy of assuming that if event A is followed by event B, event B is caused by event A. (On Sunday we prayed for rain, and on Monday it rained. Therefore our prayers were answere d.)
Back - New Search posthumous, meaning òccurring after death', is pronounced pos-tyuh-ms, i.e. with the h silent.
Back - New Search postmaster general. The customary plural is postmasters general. The use is now often historical, th e office having been abolished in the UK in 1969.
Back - New Search potato has the plural form potatoes.
Back - New Search potence, potency. For the meaning `power, the quality or state of being potent', potency is the usual word, and this is also used in the context of the male ability to achieve sexual erection or orgasm. Potence is used in a number of technical applications but n ot in general contexts.
Back - New Search potter, meaning `to occupy oneself in a desultory but pleasurable way', is normally used wit h about or around. Its inflected forms are pottered, pottering. In AmE the usual spelling is putter.
Back - New Search poverty, poorness. Poverty is the usual noun corresponding to poor in its meanings to do with lack of wealth or lack of things regarded like wealth (e.g. poverty of inspiration). Poorness is more usual in meanings to do with quality or evaluation (e.g. the po orness of his performance).
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p.p. The formula traditionally stands for per procurationem meaning `through the agency (of)', and is used in business correspondence when one person is signing on behal f of another: A p.p. B. In this case, A is the person writing the letter and B i s the person signing it on behalf of A. However, p.p. is also understood to mean per pro, i.e. `for and on behalf of', and in this case the formula is often used in reverse order, with A as the signatory and B the writer. American usage wisely avoids this ambiguous convention altogether, preferring a more explicit annotati on such as `signed by A in B's absence', and this practice has begun to influence Br itish use.
Back - New Search -p-, -pp-. For the inflection of words such as trap, gallop and kidnap, see DOUBLING OF FIN
AL CONSONANTS IN INFLECTION.
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practicable, practical. Practical usually has a general application, denoting what is possible in practi ce as distinct from theory, and can also describe a person (ìnclined to action ra ther than speculation, able to make things work well'), whereas practicable means à ble to be carried out, feasible', is more usually applied to a particular instance under consideration, and occurs much less often in attributive position (before a noun): Where it makes sense and is practicable, the pupil may be moved up or down a key stage for the subject in questionW. Swann , 1992 / I need to be practical but would like to look feminine as wellClothes Show, 1991 / Woodblock has been used for a beautiful, yet practical, floor coveringIdeal Home, 1991 / He said that the American system, where the debtor pays the advice agency which then deducts a levy before paying the creditor, was the most practicalCredit Mana gement, 1992. The negative forms are discussed at the entry for IMPRACTICABLE, I MPRACTICAL.
Back - New Search practically. The earlier (17c) meaning ìn a practical way' (try to deal with the problem as prac tically as possible) has been overwhelmed since the 18c by the meaning that is n ow the dominant one, `virtually, almost': sitting through exams with practically nothing to show for them afterwards Sutcli ff , 1983.
Back - New Search practice, practise. In standard BrE, practice is used for the noun and practise for the verb, wherea s in AmE practice is the dominant spelling of both noun and verb.
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pre-. This prefix is often joined to the word it qualifies without a hyphen, e.g. prea rrange, predetermine, preoccupy. But when the word begins with e or i, or when t he formation coincides with another word, it is usual to insert a hyphen, e.g. p re-eminent, preignition, pre-position (to distinguish it from preposition).
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precede, proceed. Note that precede, meaning `to go before', is spelt -cede, whereas proceed, meaning `t o go ahead', is spelt -ceed.
Back - New Search precedence, precedent. In BrE, both words are pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, but in AmE the stress is sometimes put on the second, as it is in precede. Precedence m eans `priority in time, order, or importance', whereas a precedent (countable) is à d ecision that may be taken as a model for future action'. The use of precedent as a n adjective meaning `preceding in time or order' is now rare.
Back - New Search preciosity, preciousness. Preciosity is now virtually restricted to the meaning òver-refinement in art or l anguage, especially in the choice of words', leaving preciousness as the noun corr esponding to the general meanings of precious.
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precipitate, precipitous. 1 The two words overlap in meaning and were used interchangeably from the 17c to
the 19c. Precipitous has a physical meaning `sheer like a precipice': There was a precipitous wooden stair to the ground floorA. Craig , 1990. In its a bstract sense it is concerned with the over-rapid progress of an action and reta ins the notion of steep descent, and is therefore often found in the company of words such as decline (A number of factors might be responsible for such a precipitous declineA. Wilent z , 1989), whereas precipitate is concerned rather with the inception of an acti on and means rather `hasty, rash, inconsiderate' or `headlong, violently hurried': His precipitate action was clearly calculated to make life harder rather than ea sier for the PLO as he abandoned responsibility for civil servants in the West B ank.D. McDowell , 1990. It is in this second set of meanings that the two words c ome closest, since any action that is precipitate in its inception is likely to be precipitous in its performance or consequences.
2 Of the corresponding adverbs, precipitously encroaches on precipitately, espec ially in AmE: I left precipitously because I didn't want to work there any longerA. Cross , 198 6 (US) (precipitately is wanted) / Angus had precipitately fled on learning that the king was loose and in vengeful moodJ. Burke , 1990.Top
Back - New Search prcis (= summary). The accent of the French original should be retained in the English form of the word.
Back - New Search preciseness, precision. Both words have the same general meaning `the condition of being precise, accuracy', but precision is the more natural choice and is used in attributive position (b efore other nouns) as in precision bombing, precision timing, etc.
Back - New Search predeterminer see DETERMINER.
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predicate. Predicate and predict are distantly related but their meanings are distinct. The primary meaning of predict is `to foretell', whereas the primary use of predicate i s followed by on in the meaning `to found or base (on a principle or assumption)': Crime predicated on sexual disorder I distrustListener, 1977. When base or found would do as well (as in the example given) it is better to use one of them: The emotion was predicated on one particular hope: that one day the high purpose s would be recognized, and the actors JustifiedA. Wroe , 1991.
Back - New Search predominantly, predominately.
The huts are predominantly in valleys near rivers, and invariably the local area was swarming with mosquitoesR. Sale , 1991 / The music was predominately '60s and '70s pop, but that didn't seem to bother th e inimitable Bookseller , 1993. Both words mean às the most important factor or e lement, mostly, largely' and both have long histories, although predominately was rare before the 19c and predominantly remains the more common of the two.
Back - New Search preface see FOREWORD.
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prefer. 1 The inflected forms of the verb are preferred, preferring, but other derivativ es have a single -r- (preferable, preferably, preference, preferential, preferme nt).
2 When the subject of prefer is the same as that of a following subordinate verb , the normal construction is with a to-infinitive or with a verbal noun: I prefe r to stand or I prefer standing. When the following verb is in the negative, the to-infinitive is the usual option: I prefer not to live and work in the same roomC.K. Stead , 1986. When a second pe
rson or thing intervenes as subject of the subordinate verb, the normal construc tion in BrE is with noun (or pronoun) + to-infinitive: I'd prefer you to stay. A n alternative is that + clause, which is the more usual choice in AmE: I'd prefe r that you stay. (A further, less formal, alternative is the type I'd prefer it if you stayed.)Top
3 When prefer is followed by a pair of alternatives, these are separated by to: I prefer whisky to brandy / I prefer swimming to jogging. Clearly in these cases a construction with a to-infinitive would lead to a clash of to's and is not po ssible: I prefer to swim to to jog, but an alternative is to use rather than: I prefer to swim rather than to jog (but not I prefer to swim than to jog).Top
Back - New Search preferable is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable. Because it is already a com parative form, it should not be preceded by more, although it may be followed by far, greatly, or much: Since it was fed with steaks served in goldplated bowls, the creature presumably regarded a dog's life in Romania as greatly preferable to its existence in Brit ainM. Almond , 1992.
Back - New Search prefix. In grammar, a prefix is a word or element added at the beginning of another word to adjust or qualify its meaning, such as ex- (ex-husband), non- (non-smoking), and super- (supermodel).
Back - New Search prejudice, in the on the e, not llowed . meaning `bias' or `partiality', is followed by against or in favour of, but not ( analogy of hostility, objection, etc.) to: a prejudice against eating lat a prejudice to eating late. In its meaning ìrrational dislike', it can be fo by towards: the hostility and prejudice that exists towards homosexuality
Back - New Search premature. In BrE this is pronounced prem--tyuh- or prem--tyuh-. In AmE the first syllable
is often pronounced pree-.
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premier. 1 In BrE the normal pronunciation is prem-i-, with the first syllable short. In AmE the dominant pronunciation is pr-mee-, with the stress on the i.
2 The main meaning of the noun is à prime minister or other head of government'; in Canada it denotes the chief executive officer of a provincial government (with a capital initial letter when used as a title, e.g. Premier Robert Bourassa).Top
3 As an adjective premier is enjoying a period of great popularity on both sides of the Atlantic in the meaning `first in order of importance, order, or time': Hypersonic flight has become the premier area for aerospace research in the Unit ed StatesMechanical Engineering, 1991. In football, Premier Leagues have emerged in England, in Scotland, and now (conceptually) in Europe.Top
Back - New Search premire is now fully established as a noun meaning `the first performance or showing of a play or film', and as a verb meaning 'to give a premire of (The film will be premire d next week). The BrE pronunciation is prem-i-air, with the first syllable short , and in AmE it is normally pr-mee-, with the stress on the i.
Back - New Search premise, premiss. A premiss (usually pronounced prem-is) or (rarely) premise is a previous stateme nt from which another is inferred; the plural is premisses or premises. In the p lural, premises also means à house or building with its grounds'. As a verb, premis e (pronounced like the noun or to rhyme with surmise) means either `to say or writ e by way of introduction' or `to assume from a premiss'.
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prepared to. In its generalized meaning `willing to', prepared to has gone the same way as ready to; in neither case is any element of preparedness or readiness necessarily invo lved, especially when it is used in the negative: I am not prepared to wait any longer. Sir Ernest Gowers , in The Complete Plain Words, warned that `such phrases as these are no doubt dictated by politeness, and therefore deserve respect. Bu t they must be used with discretion', and in the second edition of Modern English Usage (1965) condemned such examples as I am prepared to overlook the mistake as `wantonly blurring the meaning of prepare'. But his argument that the expression sh ould be reserved for cases in which there is some element of preparation, as in I have read the papers and am prepared to hear you state your case, was based on an unworkable distinction which ignored the role of idiom in such matters. What ever influence Gowers may have had in Whitehall, it has not touched the rest of the world, where prepared to and not prepared to are regularly used in the simpl e meanings `willing to' and ùnwilling to': e.g. If non-executives are to carry out their duties properly, they must be prepared to blow the whistleIndependent, 1991.
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preposition. 1 A preposition is a word such as after, in, to, and with, which usually stands before a noun or pronoun and establishes its relation to what goes before (the m an on the platform / came after dinner / What did you do it for?). The superstit ion that a preposition should always precede the word it governs and should not end a sentence (as in the last example given) seems to have developed from an ob servation of the 17c poet John Dryden , although Dryden himself did not always f ollow the rule in his own prose. It is not based on a real appreciation of the s tructure of English, which regularly separates words that are grammatically rela ted.
2 There are cases when it is either impossible or not natural to organize the se ntence in a way that avoids a final preposition: a In relative clauses and questions featuring phrasal verbs: What did Marion think she was up to? Barnes , 1980 / They must be entirely reliable and convinced of the commitment they are taking o nTimes Educational Supplement, 1987 / Budget cuts themselves are not damaging: the damage depends on where the cuts ar e coming fromSpectator, 1993. b In passive constructions: Even the dentist was paid forNew Yorker, 1987.
c In short sentences with a to-infinitive or verbal noun: There are a couple of things I want to talk to you aboutF. Knebel , 1972 / Hand-turned treen are a joy to look atDaily Telegraph, 1980.Top
3 CONCLUSION. In many cases, especially in more formal writing, it is preferable to avoid placing a preposition at the end of a sentence where it might look str anded. In many other cases, and in conversational English generally, it is impos sible to contrive the sentence in such a way as to avoid a final preposition wit hout producing awkwardness or unnaturalness, and it is inadvisable to try.Top
Back - New Search prerequisite see PERQUISITE.
Back - New Search presage. The noun is pronounced pres-ij, with the stress on the first syllable, and means à portent or presentiment'. The verb can be pronounced the same or as pri-sayj, wi th the stress on the second syllable, and means `portend' or `give a warning of'.
Back - New Search prescience, prescient. The usual pronunciations are pres-i-ns and pres-i-nt, with the first and second syllables both short.
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prescribe, proscribe. A single letter distinguishes two words of very different meaning. A prescribed book (for example) is one that is chosen for a course of study, whereas a proscr ibed book is one that is forbidden or banned. Prescribe also has an important me aning used in medicine and more widely: `to recommend or provide (a remedy or cour se of action)': He prescribed a change of air and a long rest.
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prescriptive. The term is fairly recent (1930s) with reference to language, and denotes a conc ept of grammar as laying down (or `prescribing') rules rather than observing and des cribing the language in use (this latter concept being called descriptive).
Back - New Search present is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun, and with the stre ss on the second syllable as a verb.
Back - New Search presenter see ANNOUNCER.
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presently. There are two meanings which serve well to illustrate the interactions of Britis h and American English. The older meaning àt the present time, now' dates from the 15c, is still the dominant meaning in AmE, but has been largely overtaken in BrE by the second sense ìn a while, soon'. These two meanings are shown by the example s that follow: Dr Otto von Habsburg abandoned claims to the monarchy in 1961 and is presently a member of the European ParliamentTimes, 1989 / Her feet hurt and she was thirsty. Presently she set off to walk back to her lod gings Mantel , 1986. In recent usage, the older meaning has started to reappear m ore significantly in BrE, doubtless under continued American influence. Although this use is often criticized, it has excellent historical credentials and the c ontext usually makes the choice of meaning clear. See also MOMENTARILY.
Back - New Search present tense. The natural and most frequent use of the present tense is in contexts of present time, whether actual (The door is open) or habitual (The door is always open / Paris is the capital of France). It is also used of past events in certain conte xts, such as newspaper headlines (Clinton says he is sorry) and in narrative (se e HISTORIC PRESENT).
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prestige. 1 The word originally meant ìllusion, conjuring trick' and hence `deception', and acqui red its current favourable meaning `reputation derived from status or achievements' in the 19c, the link being the element of magic common to both meanings. It is s till pronounced pres-teezh in an only partly naturalized way; the OED (1909) rec orded an anglicized form (pres-tij) but this has not survived.
2 Prestige occurs frequently in attributive position (i.e. before another noun) in such combinations as prestige car, prestige suite (in a hotel), prestige loca tion, etc., to denote something of superior quality, especially in the jargon of advertising.Top
Back - New Search prestigious. This older meaning `deceptive, illusory', relating to the older sense of PRESTIGE, h as given way to its current meaning `having a great reputation or influence' to the extent that the earlier use has been largely forgotten. The newer meaning is fir st recorded in a novel by Joseph Conrad : ` You have had all these immense sums What have I had out of them?' It was perfectly true. He had had nothing out of them nothing of the prestigious or the desirabl e things of the earthChance, 1913.
Back - New Search presume see ASSUME.
Back - New Search presumptuous. The form presumptious, though formerly (15c19c) valid, is now erroneous.
Back - New Search pretence. The usual AmE spelling is pretense.
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pretty. 1 Pretty is used as an adverb with the meaning `fairly, moderately', as in The perfo rmance was pretty good / He did pretty much as he liked. The adverb correspondin g to the usual meaning of pretty is prettily: She always dresses so prettily.
2 It is also used ironically (i.e. with a meaning opposite to the normal) as an adjective in such uses as A pretty mess you have made of it and Things have come to a pretty pass.Top
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prevaricate, procrastinate. Because their meanings, or these two words are often cari meaning literally `to rocrastinate (derived from might prevaricate in order distinguished. Examples: at least the implications of their meanings, overlap, confused. To prevaricate (derived from Latin praevari walk crookedly') is `to speak or act evasively', whereas to p Latin cras meaning `tomorrow') is `to put off or delay'. You to procrastinate, but the senses should be carefully
She prevaricated, wanting the story verified or denied before sharing it with hi mL. Grant-Adamson , 1989 / Coleridge never arrived, and early in January the now beleaguered Southey decide
d that his endlessly procrastinating friend must be brought back from LondonT. Ma yberry , 1992.
Back - New Search prevent. When prevent is followed by an object + verbal noun, the usual construction now is (for example) prevent him going or prevent him from going, rather than preven t his going, which (though considered formally more correct by some) is falling out of use. Examples of each type: Two women climb up the iron bars, which are meant to prevent people or animals f alling under the tramJ. Berger , 1972 / Cushla was only just quick enough to grab Colin's arms to prevent him from belti ng Restel across the headN. Virtue , 1990 / His shoes were locked up to prevent his running away Fitzgerald , 1986. When prev ent is used in the passive, the construction with from is the normal option: Tanks are being prevented from entering the center of the cityNew Yorker, 1989.
Back - New Search preventable is the preferred spelling, not -ible. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search preventive, preventative. Both words are in use as adjectives meaning `serving to prevent', especially in medi cine, and also as nouns denoting a substance or procedure that does this. Preven tive is the commoner by a long way, understandably in view of its more comfortab le form: Preventive medicine may be more effective if problem-based learning programmes a re established in place of the traditional methods of educationPhysiotherapy, 199 0 / Ask about ivermectinthe heartworm disease preventive you give your dog once a mon thOutdoor Life, 1990 (US). When preventative occurs it is more usually in general ized contexts qualifying words such as action and measure rather than (for examp le) medicine: When we hear talk of a `preventative strike' we must translate that term into what i t really means: a surprise attackV. Mollenkott , 1987 (US).
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priest. In its Christian context a priest is an ordained minister of the Roman Catholic or Orthodox Church, or of the Anglican Church (above a deacon and below a bishop ), authorized to perform certain rites and administer certain sacraments. Women who are ordained ministers of the Anglican Church are also called priests. The t erm priestess is used only of a female priest in non-Christian religions.
Back - New Search prima donna, meaning `chief female singer' of a company or à temperamentally self-important person', has the plural form prima donnas.
Back - New Search prima facie, meaning `based on a first impression' (as in prima facie evidence), is usually prono unced priy-mfay-shi in BrE, although there are several alternative forms in AmE.
Back - New Search primarily. In BrE, under American influence, the stress is increasingly heard on the second syllable, rather than (more awkwardly) on the first.
Back - New Search primeval is now the dominant spelling, not primaeval.
Back - New Search principal, principle. The spellings are occasionally confused even by the wariest users of English. (T he usual mistake is to use principle for the adjective principal.) Principal is an adjective and noun and essentially means `chief' (my principal objection / Meet t he principal of my college), whereas principle is a noun only and means à fundame ntal law or truth' (Is there a principle behind your argument?) or (in the plural) `rules of conduct' (They seem to have no moral principles).
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prioritize, meaning `to establish priorities for (a list of items)', is first recorded in 1968, and is often cited as an example of unwelcome verb formations in -ize. It is non etheless a generally useful word, despite its associations with the world of bus iness and management jargon: Government resources have been constantly diminished by the need to prioritize d efenceThe State of Prisons, 1991 / Butlins offered a comfortable exoticism, prioritizing pleasure for allS. Ewen , 1 991.
Back - New Search prior to is an alternative for before that is normally appropriate only in formal context s, where it conveys the extra meaning às a necessary preliminary to': Candidates mu st deposit security prior to the ballot. In general use it is often pretentious and unnecessary.
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prise, meaning `to remove or open gently or with difficulty', is the normal form in BrE, bu t in AmE pry (a 19c shortening) and prize (probably arising from confusion with the third-person form pries) are more often found: The hoard of money was prised out of Blue Rabbit and hidden at the back of his f ootball-boot locker Trollope , 1990 / The girl pried the lid from the showbox Drury , 1992 (US).
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pristine. 1 The usual pronunciation now is pris-teen, although the stress varies between t he two syllables (and is often placed on the second in AmE).
2 The primary meaning of pristine is that present in Latin pristinus which meant àncient, original' in a favourable sense: The translators have happily preserved for us the pristine simplicity of our Sax on-English Disraeli , 1841. It is a short step from the notion of ìn its original newness' to `new as if original' and hence simply `pure or clean as new', the meaning acqu ired by the word in the 20c. Although objected to by language purists, the devel oped meaning is well established alongside the original meaning: Thinking of the sour blackened brick of the place (scoured clean to a pristine r ust once more) Lively , 1991 / The living room was as pristine as I'd ever seen itF. Cooper , 1993.Top
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privacy. In BrE, the pronunciation priv--si, with a short first syllable, has largely rep laced priy-v-si, although the second is still heard and is the usual one in AmE and in other parts of the English-speaking world.
Back - New Search privation see DEPRIVATION.
Back - New Search privilege. Note the spelling with two is, not privelege.
Back - New Search prize see PRISE.
Back - New Search proactive
is a vogue word, formed on the analogy of reactive, that came into prominence in the 1970s, and is used to mean `creating or controlling a situation by taking the initiative', usually in the context of business administration: a new kind of management able to take risks, manage change, and be more proactiveF inancial Times, 1984. The back-formation (or parallel formation, perhaps) pro-ac t may raise eyebrows: This versatility is allowing us to proact rather than react to changing market c onditionsIndustry Week, 1986.
Back - New Search probe noun. The meaning that has come to the fore in the 20c, especially in the language of newspapers, is the one given first in the 1995 edition of the Concise Oxford Dic tionary, i.e. à penetrating investigation'. Its appeal to journalists lies largely in its brevity and consequent suitability for use in headlines. In older edition s of the Concise Oxford, which listed meanings in historical or logical order ra ther than in order of current frequency, the first meaning given was à blunt-edge d surgical instrument used for exploring wounds etc.', and from this developed the use with reference to devices used in space exploration.
Back - New Search problematic, problematical. Both forms are used in BrE and AmE with no discernible difference in meaning, bu t problematic is slightly commoner.
Back - New Search proceed see PRECEDE. Note that procedure is spelt with only one e in its second syllable .
Back - New Search process. The familiar noun and verb are both pronounced proh-ses. The other verb process, meaning `to walk in procession', is a back-formation from the noun procession and i s pronounced proh-ses.
Back - New Search pro-choice
see PRO-LIFE.
Back - New Search procrastinate see PREVARICATE.
Back - New Search produce is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable as a verb, and with the str ess on the first syllable (prod-yoos) as a noun (meaning `goods produced, especial ly in agriculture').
Back - New Search proffer, meaning `to offer (a gift or service)', has inflected forms proffered, proffering.
Back - New Search program, programme. The standard spelling in BrE, except in computer language, is programme, and in AmE it is program. In the context of computing, program is used in both AmE and BrE, and as a verb has inflected forms programmed, programming in BrE (with the variants programed, programing also available in AmE). Historically, the spellin g program is better established in BrE, but it was replaced in the 19c by the Fr ench form programme, which however did not establish itself in the US.
Back - New Search progress. In BrE the noun is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, and the ver b (= make progress) with the stress on the second syllable. In the transitive me aning `to cause (work etc.) to make progress', however, the word is usually pronounc ed with the stress pattern of the noun. In AmE the stresses are normally the sam e, but the word is pronounced with a shorter first syllable, prog- rather than p rohg-.
Back - New Search progressive tenses
see CONTINUOUS TENSES.
Back - New Search prohibit. In current usage, prohibit can be followed either by a noun or pronoun denoting the thing prohibited (The law prohibits the export of livestock without a licenc e) or by a noun or pronoun denoting the person prohibited, followed by from + ve rbal noun (A new law will prohibit you from exporting livestock) It is no longer possible to use a to-infinitive (as it is with forbid): A new law will prohibit you to export livestock.
Back - New Search project. In BrE the normal pattern is proj-ekt with the stress on the first syllable for the noun, and pr-jekt with the stress on the second syllable for the verb. In ot her English-speaking countries (though not in AmE) a pronunciation with long fir st syllable (proh-) is also found.
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pro-life, pro-choice are used as adjectives, primarily in AmE but increasingly in BrE, to denote resp ectively those who are opposed to the practice of abortion and those who think m others should be left to make a choice in the matter. The terms are also applied in other areas of medical practice involving matters of life and death, such as sustaining life-support systems for those who are severely handicapped or unlik ely to make a recovery.
Back - New Search prolific is derived from the Latin word proles meaning òffspring', and is properly applied t o someone or something that produces either offspring or something compared to o ffspring such as writings, works of art, etc. Like many adjectives in English (e .g. generous, thoughtful), it is often transferred from the producer to the thin g produced (e.g. a prolific output as well as a prolific writer), and objections to this use that are sometimes made are hard to justify, although alternatives such as abundant and numerous are available to those who are inclined to be caut ious in such matters:
McGonagallhad just had his prolific collection of bizarre poems translated into R ussian, Chinese, Japanese and ThaiTimes, 1977.
Back - New Search promiscuous. The sense relating to sexual behaviour is now so dominant that we need to be rem inded of an older meaning `casual, random' in more general contexts that is found in Dickens and other literary contexts: I walked in just to say good mornin', and went, in a promiscuous manner, up-stai rs, and into the back roomPickwick Papers, 1837.
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prone. 1 for prone to see APT.
2 In its meaning `lying face down', prone contrasts with supine, which means `lying fa ce up'.Top
Back - New Search pronounceable is spelt with an e in the middle.
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pronouns. 1 A pronoun is a word used to refer to (and instead of) a noun or noun phrase th at has already been mentioned or is known, especially in order to avoid repetiti on, e.g. We invited the Jones family to our party because we like them and When Jane saw what had happened she laughed. Pronouns include the familiar forms I, w e, he, she, it, they, you (plus their object forms me, us, him, her, it, them, y
ou); the possessive pronouns (also now called possessive adjectives or possessiv e determiners) my, your, his, her, its, our, their (and the group mine, yours, h is, hers, its, ours, theirs, which are normally used predicatively, i.e. after a verb as in The responsibility is ours); the reflexive pronouns myself, yourself , etc.; the demonstrative pronouns this, that, these, those; the relative pronou ns that, which, who, whom, whose; the interrogative pronouns what, which, who, w hom, whose; the indefinite pronouns all, any, both, each, either, none, one, eve rybody, everyone, nobody, no one, somebody, someone; and the so-called èxtended' pr onouns whatever, whichever, whoever, whosoever, each other, one another.
2 When a pronoun refers back to a person or thing previously ant that the gap is not so large that the reader (or hearer) ty relating the two, and that ambiguity is avoided when more ht be the antecedent, as in the following exchange in a play y is deliberate): Septimus:
named, it is import might have difficul than one person mig (where the ambiguit
Geometry, Hobbes assures us in the Leviathan, is the only science God has been p leased to bestow on mankind. Lady Croom: And what does he mean by it? Septimus: Mr Hobbes or God? Stoppard , 1993.Top
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pronunciation. 1 Note that the correct spelling of this word is pronunciation, not pronounciati on, and it is pronounced accordingly.
2 The British pronunciations given in this book follow the so-called `received sta ndard' based on the forms used by educated speakers in southern England, although it is recognized that other forms of pronunciation are equally valid. American p ronunciations, when given, follow the pattern identified as `General American', i.e. `the range of United States accents that have neither an eastern nor a southern c olouring' (J. C. Wells , Accents of English (1982) Vol. I, p.10).Top
3 For disputed or controversial aspects of pronunciation acing of the main stress), see the entries at APARTHEID, , CONTROVERSY, DECADE, DESPICABLE, DISTRIBUTE, FOREHEAD, OMETRE, MUNICIPAL, PRIVACY, SUBSIDENCE. See also ACCENT, ES.Top
(many to do with the pl CONTRIBUTE, CENTRIFUGAL FORMIDABLE, HARASS, KIL NOUN AND VERB DIFFERENC
4 Significant systematic changes in pronunciation that have occurred in the 20c include (under AmE influence) the placing of the stress in adverbs ending in -ar ily on the -ar instead of earlier in the word (as in necessarily, primarily, etc
.), the simplification of the final syllable of nouns in -ein and -ies (e.g. pro tein, rabies, scabies) to a single sound (-een and -eez instead of -ee-in and -i -eez as formerly), and a change from -ee- i-ti to -ay-i-ti in words of the type deity, homogeneity, spontaneity, etc.Top
Back - New Search propaganda, meaning àn organized programme of information in support of a cause or political policy', is not (despite its appearance) plural in origin but a singular noun take n from the modern Latin title Congregatio de propaganda fide `congregation for pro pagating the faith' (originally a committee of Catholic cardinals), in which propa ganda is a form of a verbal adjective. In current use, the sense is always derog atory.
Back - New Search propel has inflected forms propelled, propelling.
Back - New Search propellant, propellent. The noun propellant, meaning à thing that propels' (especially a rocket fuel or the agent in aerosol sprays), is the more familiar word. Propellent is an adjective meaning `capable of driving or pushing forward'.
Back - New Search propeller is the only spelling in BrE for the revolving set of blades on a ship or aeropla ne; in AmE propellor is also used.
Back - New Search proper noun see NOUN.
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proper terms. This is the technical name for terms denoting groups of animals and birds, such as flight (of swallows) and pride (of lions), and occasionally people. Some, suc h as herd, have more general application (e.g. to cows, sheep, and elephants), w hile others are peculiar to one context and are largely fanciful inventions that have been passed from one antiquarian writer to another without any real author ity in usage (e.g. a siege of herons and a knob of waterfowl). The table below l ists these in alphabetical order of the animal or bird concerned. Those marked w ith an asterisk () are recorded in special lists of proper terms that were popul ar in the 15c, notably, the Book of St Albans attributed to Juliana Barnes (1486 ). ITEM TERM apes shrewdness asses herd or pace badgers cete bears sloth or sleuth bees hive, swarm, drift, or bike birds flock or flight boar sounder boys blush buffalo herd or gang cats clowder or glaring cattle herd or drove chickens brood or peep colts rag or rake cooks hastiness coots covert cranes herd curlew herd deer herd or mob dogs pack or kennel doves flight, dole, or piteousness ducks (on water) raft, bunch, or paddling; (in flight) team elephants herd
elk herd or (AmE) gang ferrets business finches charm or chirm fish shoal flies cloud foresters stalk foxes skulk geese gaggle or (in the air) skein, team, or wedge giraffes herd goats flock, herd, or (dialect) trip grouse pack or covey hares husk or down hawks cast hermits observance herons siege horses team; (breeding) stud or haras hounds kennel, pack, cry, or mute insects flight or swarm kangaroos mob or troop kittens kindle ladies bevy lapwing desert larks exaltation or bevy leopards leap lions pride magpies tiding mallard sord or sute (= suit) martens richesse merchants faith moles labour
monkeys troop mules barren nightingales watch nuns superfluity partridges covey peacocks muster pedlars malapertness (= impertinence) penguins rookery pheasants head or (dialect) nye pigeons kit (flying together) pigs herd plovers stand, wing, or congregation porpoises herd, pod, or school prisoners pity pups litter quail bevy or drift racehorses string ravens unkindness roes bevy rooks parliament or building seals herd or rockery; pod (= small herd) sheep flock or herd; (dialect) drift or trip sheldrake dropping snipe wise or walk sparrows host starlings murmuration swallows flight swans game or herd; wedge (in the air) swine herd; sounder (tame), drift (wild) waterfowl bunch or knob
whales school, herd, or gam; pod (= small school) widgeon company or trip wildfowl bunch, trip, or plump; knob (less than 30) wolves pack or rout women gaggle (derisive) woodcock fall wrens herd
Back - New Search prophecy, prophesy. Prophecy, pronounced profi-si, is the noun, and prophesy, pronounced profi-siy, is the verb.
Back - New Search proportional, proportionate. Both words mean ìn due proportion, comparable', and are used almost interchangeably , except in certain fixed expressions such as proportional parts and proportiona l representation. Otherwise, when proportional occurs it tends to be in more for mal and technical contexts: By 1979 all the beds and hospital places, which were provided up to the prescrib ed national levels proportional to the catchment population, had been openedD. To mlinson , 1991 / Clinton needed 270 electoral votes from among the 50 states to secure victoryeach state carries a number of votes proportionate to its populationToday, 1992.
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proposition. 1 The noun proposition has various well-established meanings arising from its ba sic sense of `something proposed', e.g. a scheme or proposal, a statement in logic t hat is subject to proof or disproof, and a formal statement of a theorem or prob lem in mathematics. A more generalized meaning, àn enterprise or undertaking', was regarded by Fowler (1926) as an intrusive Americanism which he wanted to see aba
ndoned in favour of alternatives such as proposal, task, undertaking, enterprise , etc. Clearly this advice has not been heeded, and it would be difficult to sus tain such an objection now in the face of the overwhelming evidence of usage. No te that proposition is normally used with reference to the viability or likely s uccess of the thing in question: `Call this a store?' he would say. `Call this a paying proposition?'A. Tyler , 1980 / Tinkering with the possibilities becomes an enticing propositionD. Shekerjian , 1 990.
2 The use of proposition as a verb arose in America in the 1920s in two main mea nings: (1) to present (someone) with a proposition, and (2) to request sexual favours from
. The second meaning is now usually the one that comes first to mind: In Hyde Park, that black whore had propositioned him as he walked from work towa rd the TubeNew Yorker, 1975.Top
Back - New Search proprietor is the standard spelling, not -er.
Back - New Search proscribe see PRESCRIBE.
Back - New Search prosecutor, a person who prosecutes, especially in a criminal court, is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search prospect is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun, and with the stre ss on the second syllable as a verb (as in prospecting for gold, etc.).
Back - New Search prospectus. The plural form is prospectuses. The form prospecti is not only pedantic but ign orantly pedantic, since in Latin prospectus is a fourth-declension noun with a p lural form prospectus (which is not used in English).
Back - New Search prostate, prostrate. The prostate (or prostate gland) is a gland surrounding the neck of the bladder in male animals. Prostrate is an adjective and verb: the adjective is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable and means `lying horizontally', especially in the figurative sense of being overcome by grief or some other strong feeling, a nd the verb is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable and means `to thr ow (oneself) on the ground in submission'.
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protagonist. 1 This is a good example of what Fowler (1926) called a `popularized technicality', i.e. a term used in a special domain (in this case, ancient Greek drama) and ext ended into general use with consequent (and controversial) shifts in meaning. In its literary use, protagonist meant `first actor', i.e. the chief character in a pl ay (often also the name by which the play is known, as with Sophocles' Oedipus R ex and Euripides' Orestes). The protagonist was accompanied by a deuteragonist a nd sometimes by a tritagonist, representing dramatic roles of second and third i mportance.
2 One consequence of all this for the use of protagonist in English is that ther e is strictly only one protagonist in any given situation. Another is that to sp eak of a chief protagonist or leading protagonist is tautological, since a prota gonist is by definition the leading personage. The second point is cogent, but t he first has little validity outside the context of ancient drama, beyond which the word had already progressed by the 19c: If social equity is not a chimera, Marie Antoinette was the protagonist of the m ost execrable of causesJ. Morley , 1877. The objection sometimes heard, that only one person can truly be `first', belongs to the realm of philosophy, not language. We may therefore refer to the protagonists, the chief characters in a piece of l iterary fiction or the leading figures in various walks of life, as well as to t he protagonist: The two protagonists, the cuckoo and the nightingale, present a series of antith
etical statements about the power of love, in which the cuckoo finally gains the edgeDictionary of National Biography, 1993 / Many commentators believe that the superpower divide has its source in ideology, thus making impossible any long-term co-operation or peace between the protagon istsS. Smith , 1991.Top
3 A further development in meaning represents a more serious departure from the word's origins, and is illustrated by this example: There is a tendency of protagonists of the computational theory of mind to boast that they are restoring the Aristotelian emphasis on cognition and thoughtR. Tal lis , 1991. Here, protagonist (perhaps influenced by the coincidence of the word 's form with the common prefix pro-) has come to mean àdvocate or proponent' rather than `leading figure' (one may involve the other, but we are concerned here with me aning and not implication). In this meaning, alternatives such as advocate, prop onent, or supporter are normally preferable, although it is true that they do no t convey quite the same sense of innovation and personal involvement. Whatever w arnings are uttered now, the new meaning, given its genuine overlap with the old er one, will undoubtedly become dominant in the end. For now, however, the advic e must be one of caution.Top
Back - New Search protean, meaning àble to change form, versatile' (after the ancient mythical figure Proteus) , is normally pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, and is spelt wit h a small initial p.
Back - New Search protector is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search protg meaning à person under the patronage or tutelage of another', should be printed wit h the two accents in place.
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protest. 1 The noun is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, and the verb wit h the stress on the second syllable.
2 Anatoly Karyagin, who has been imprisoned for protesting the use of psychiatry f or political purposesNew Yorker, 1987. This transitive use of the verb, with the object of the protest as the grammatical object, is a 20c development that is wi dely accepted in AmE but has not yet become established in BrE, although it is b eginning to appear: The ruin of Belfast's Black Mountain protested by the local communityIndependent, 1991.Top
Back - New Search protester is spelt -er, not -or.
Back - New Search protractor, the instrument used in geometry, is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search provable is spelt without an e in the middle.
Back - New Search proved, proven. The two forms relate to two different verbs derived from Old French prover (ulti mately from Latin probare). In standard BrE, proved is the normal past tense and past participle of the verb prove (They proved their point / Their point was pr oved). Proven survived as a past participle in dialect use and is current in the Scottish legal term not proven (usually pronounced proh-vn) and occasionally in general use in Britain generally (pronounced proo-vn), especially in attributiv e position (i.e. before a noun):
His love of precise dates and proven facts Shakespeare , 1989. In AmE, proven is at least as common as proved both as a past tense and as a past participle.
Back - New Search provenance, provenience. Provenance (pronounced with the stress on the first syllable) is the BrE word, a nd provenience (pronounced pro-vee-ni-ns) its AmE equivalent, meaning `place of or igin of a manuscript, work of art, etc.' and in more general applications.
Back - New Search provided that, providing that. The form provided is often preferred, and that may be omitted in both cases: In summer he will show visitors around the chapel provided he likes their faces and they are not wearing shortsLinguist, 1992 / It works well enough providing I keep my blanket around me Winterson , 1987.
Back - New Search proviso has the plural form provisos.
Back - New Search prox. is an abbreviation of Latin proximo (mense) meaning òf the following month' and is still used occasionally in more formal commercial correspondence following a day (e.g. the 7th prox.) to denote a date in the month following.
Back - New Search prudent, prudential, prudish. While prudent is a judgemental word meaning `circumspect, judicious', prudential is merely descriptive in identifying actions and attitudes that have to do with pru dence, e.g. prudential motives are motives determined by considerations of prude nce. To complete the picture, prudish is an entirely distinct word and means àffe cting extreme modesty or propriety in sexual matters'.
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pry see PRISE.
Back - New Search PS is an abbreviation of postscript and is used to add an additional point at the e nd of a letter, after the signature. Further additions are preceded by PPS, PPPS , and so on, although no one normally writes more than two except in jest.
Back - New Search pseudonym see NOM DE PLUME.
Back - New Search psychic, psychical. Although psychical is the older word (attested in 1642 in the OED), psychic (183 6) is now more common and has a wider range of meaning, most notably `connected wi th or having occult powers'. In more neutral senses to do with the mind or the sou l, psychical is sometimes used to avoid these occult associations, e.g. in the e xpression psychical research.
Back - New Search psychosis has the plural form psychoses.
Back - New Search ptomaine, denoting a kind of compound formerly associated with food poisoning, is pronounc ed toh-mayn, with the initial p silent.
Back - New Search publicly is the correct form of the adverb from public, not publically.
Back - New Search pucka see PUKKA.
Back - New Search pucker, meaning `to gather into folds', has inflected forms puckered, puckering. See also PU KKA.
Back - New Search pudenda, pudendum. Both forms are used to refer to the female genitals; the first is plural and the second singular in construction.
Back - New Search puisne is pronounced like puny and is derived from French puis n meaning `born afterwards', hence ìnferior'. A puisne judge is a judge of a superior court inferior in rank to chief justices.
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pukka, meaning `genuine', is derived from a Hindi word pakk meaning `ripe, substantial'. This s pelling is preferred to pucka.
Back - New Search pulley. The noun has the plural form pulleys, and the verb (meaning `to work with a pulley') has inflected forms pulleys, pulleyed, pulleying.
Back - New Search pun. Punning, `the humorous use of words to suggest different meanings', has been a featu re of language at least since the time of Aristotle, who approved of them in som e kinds of writing. Some famous historical examples include the description by P ope Gregory I (6c) of English slaves as Non Angli, sed angeli (`not Angles, but an gels') and, from a much later date (1843) the reputed message of Sir Charles Napie r to the British War Office reporting his conquest of the Indian province of Sin d with the single Latin word peccavi (Ì have sinned'). About 3,000 puns occur in th e works of Shakespeare , among them Mercutio's dying words in Romeo and Juliet ( III.i.98; modernized spelling): Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a gra ve man. An intentionally dreadful pun can be found in a mock epitaph of Byron, d ated 1807, for John Adams , a carrier of Southwell, who died of drunkenness: For the liquor he drank, being too much for one, He could not carry off,so he's now carri-on. In modern usage, puns occur frequently in casual conversation and are much loved by writers of newspaper headlines: see JOURNALESE.
Back - New Search punctuation see the individual entries for APOSTROPHE, BRACKETS, COLON, COMMA, DASH, EXCLAMA TION MARK, FULL STOP, HYPHEN, QUESTION MARK, QUOTATION MARKS, SEMICOLON.
Back - New Search pundit is a general term meaning à learned expert or teacher' (often slightly disparaging in tone and giving way to guru in more favourable contexts), but Pandit is the f orm used when prefixed to the name of a learned Hindu (e.g. Pandit Nehru). Both forms are derived from a Sanskrit word meaning à learned man'.
Back - New Search punter. Our choice of venue is usually the Mermaid Restaurant, where punters can dine al fresco at white plastic tables, rain or shine, in season or outDaily Telegraph, 1992. This meaning of punter, à customer or client', developed in the 1960s from an older meaning à gambler; a backer of horses', i.e. a customer of a bookmaker, by w ay of several underworld slang meanings including àn accomplice in a crime', à victi m of a swindle', and then à client of a prostitute'. In the 1980s it became a more sa lubrious vogue word, and it is still going strong, having attained enough respec tability to be used in more highbrow contexts: For the punters, it may not be all bad: alternative bookings [at Covent Garden] could include leading foreign dance and opera companiesBBC Music Magazine, 1999. The older meanings continue to be used, as do two other words having the form pu nter: `someone who propels a punt on a river' and `someone who punts a football'.
Back - New Search purchase, both as a noun and as a verb, is a formal word not normally used in general cont exts (especially conversation). By contrast buy as a noun is somewhat informal ( a good buy), and so English lacks a word of neutral register for the meaning `the act of buying' or `something bought', and has to resort either to rephrasing or to cir cumlocutions such as acquisition or investment.
Back - New Search pure, meaning à smooth cream of fruit or vegetables', is spelt with two es and with an ac cent on the first e.
Back - New Search purple has a derived form purplish, with no e.
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purport. 1 The word is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and wit h the stress on the second syllable as a verb.
2 The verb's most common construction in current English is with a to-infinitive , as in He had seen `what purported to be a saucer phenomenon'R. Ferguson , 1991 / Almost all the conditions and diseases that over-the-counter drugs of the past c entury were purported to relieve are still prevalent todayAddictive Diseases, 197 7 / The Family Court of Australia held in contempt a layman who falsely purported to be a lawyerD. Pannick , 1992. The use of purport followed by a that-clause, thou gh recorded in the OED, has been largely superseded by a construction with an in tervening verb, of the type purport to show (or confirm) that: She accepts without question research which purported to show that most women de spised each otherM. Whitford , 1989.Top
3 In the 1977 example above, purport is used in the passive, and in the 1992 exa mple it is used with a person as the subject. Both these uses were frowned on by Fowler (1926), who regarded suppose ( were supposed to relieve ) as a more suitab le choice in the first case and claim ( falsely claimed to be ) in the second; in other cases allege and profess are also possible. Despite Fowler's objections, t hese uses have become established and cause little adverse comment today.Top
Back - New Search purposely, purposefully. Purposely is the older word (15c) and means òn purpose, intentionally' ((Lindsey straightened her shoulders, purposely avoiding his gazeJ. Evans , 1993) , whereas the more recent word purposefully (19c) corresponds to the adjective p urposeful and means `with a strong purpose, resolutely': Beatrix was carrying a wicker basket over one arm and as he watched she set off purposefully down the driveD. Simpson , 1987. A third word, purposively (20c), me ans `for a particular purpose', and is more usual in technical contexts: Socialism would have to be built by active human beings working purposively and creativelyJ. Dignan , 1992. Occasionally purposively is used when purposefully is probably meant: `Gerrart-of-it!' said the larger of the two, moving purposively towards me Self , 199 3.
Back - New Search purveyor, meaning à supplier' (normally in commercial contexts), is spelt -or, not purveyer.
Back - New Search put, putt. Put (pronounced like the verb) is used in athletics (shot-put), whereas putt (pr onounced like gut) is the term used in golf.
Back - New Search putrefy, meaning `to go rotten', is spelt -efy, not putrify.
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pygmy is derived from a Greek word pygm meaning `the length of the forearm' and largely for this reason the spelling with y is preferable to the form pigmy.
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pyjamas is the standard spelling in BrE, but in AmE it is pajamas. It is a plural noun i n ordinary use (Where are my pyjamas?), but takes a singular form when used attr ibutively (i.e. before a noun, as in pyjama jacket and pyjama suit).
Back - New Search pyramidal, meaning `having the form of a pyramid', is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable.
Back - New Search Pyrrhic, used of a victory won at too great cost to be of use to the victor, is named aft er Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus who defeated a Roman army at Asculum in 279 BC bu t sustained heavy losses and was unable to exploit his success.
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* * *
qua pronounced kway or kwah, is a somewhat formal word, with the air of philosophy a nd logic about it, derived from the Latin relative pronoun qui, and is used in E nglish with the meaning `considered as' or ìn the capacity of' when a person or thing c an be regarded in different ways or from different aspects, normally in the sequ ence À qua B' where B defines A more closely: Dressed in an Armani suit and espadrilles, he plays a cop qua existential heroLit erary Review, 1989. In practice qua is used more flexibly, for example in the fo rm À qua A' (with the same noun repeated) and in sentences lacking the first noun a ltogether, as the following 20c examples show: Look at the sky What is there so extraordinary about it? Qua sky Beckett , 1956 / I don't think that `Hard Times' is a particularly good novel qua novel, whatever it may be as a social documentBroadcast, 1977.
Back - New Search quadrennium meaning à period of four years', has the plural form quadrenniums. The Latin word f rom which it is derived is quadriennium, but the first i has been lost under the influence of other words of this type such as decennium and millennium.
Back - New Search qualm meaning à misgiving or uneasy doubt', is pronounced kwahm, not any longer kwawm.
Back - New Search quantum leap and the older form quantum jump, meaning à sudden large increase', are one of the m ore striking examples of 20c POPULARIZED TECHNICALITIES.
Back - New Search quarrel. The verb has inflected forms quarrelled, quarrelling in BrE, and usually quarrel ed, quarreling in AmE.
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quarter. 1 Practice varies in the hyphenation of quarter in compounds, and the following forms are recommended: quarter day, quarterdeck, quarter-final, quarter-hour (bu t a quarter of an hour), quarter-light, quartermaster, quarter sessions.
2 The BrE designation of time as a quarter to ten is normally expressed in AmE a s a quarter of ten, and BrE a quarter past ten in AmE as a quarter after ten.Top
3 The word of is optional in expressions of the type for a quarter (of) the pric e.Top
4 The inflected forms of the verb are quartered, quartering.Top
Back - New Search quarto has the plural form quartos.
Back - New Search quasiis used in combination with a following noun to denote things that are seemingly or only partly entitled to the name, e.g. a quasi-conjunction, quasi-independen t. The recommended pronunciation is kway-ziy rather than kwah-zi.
Back - New Search quatercentenary pronounced kwat-, means à four-hundredth anniversary' and is derived from the Latin word quarter meaning `four times'. It is a common error to treat the word as if it began with quarter-.
Back - New Search quattrocento pronounced kwatroh-chen-toh, denotes the style of Italian art of the 15c, i.e. 1 40099.
Back - New Search queer. The word was first used as an adjective and noun meaning `homosexual' in the 1920s. Although it is still generally regarded as derogatory or offensive when used by heterosexual people, it has been adopted in recent years by homosexuals refering to themselves, especially in terms such as queer-bashing and queer rights. See GAY.
Back - New Search question see BEG THE QUESTION, INDIRECT QUESTION.
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question mark. 1 The principal use of the question mark (?) is to indicate a direct question: A re they leaving tomorrow? / What time is it? It is also used when the question i s put in the form of a statement: They told you that? / Surely it's the same one ? / I wonder if you can help me? It should not be used in indirect questions in which the question is reported rather than expressed (He asked what time it was) , but should be used in tag questions of the kind She's much taller now, isn't s he?.
2 A question that makes a formal or polite request does not always have a questi on mark: Would passengers on platform 2 please proceed to platform 5.Top
3 A question mark is conventionally placed before a word about which there is so me doubt, e.g. uncertain locations on maps and uncertain dates (Thomas Tallis , ?150585).Top
Back - New Search questionnaire is spelt with two ns and is normally pronounced with an initial syllable kwest-r ather than kest-.
Back - New Search queue. The verb has inflected forms queues, queued, queuing.
Back - New Search quiet, quieten. As a verb, quiet has been used transitively (with an object) since the 16c in th e meaning `to make (someone or something) quiet', and is still in use in this sense: The unexpectedness of this departure from the routine at first disquieted but th en quieted us allM. Lindvall , 1991. Since the 18c, and especially in North Ameri ca, it has also been used intransitively: When I switched to opiates at least I quieted downNew Yorker, 1992. The alternati ve verb quieten appeared (often with down) in the 19c in both transitive and int ransitive uses; because quiet was available, it was regarded by Fowler (1926) as a `superfluous word', but in more recent usage the stigma has mostly disappeared, l eaving quieten now the more common choice than quiet: The youth revved the engine, then quietened it down to the soft ticking-overJ. Wa inwright , 1973 / Arnica also helps to calm and quieten the upset childHealth Shopper, 1990 / Her travelling companions had quietened, as if someone in authority had arrivedK. Newman , 1990.
Back - New Search quiet, quietness, quietude. The most commonly used of these nouns is quiet, which denotes a state of silence or tranquillity (the quiet that precedes a storm / a period of peace and quiet) . Quietness is more the condition of being quiet as applied in a particular inst ance (the quietness of a congregation at prayer), and quietude is a literary alt ernative for quietness (Their two and one-half acres retain a bucolic quietudeAngeles (US), 1991).
Back - New Search quincentenary see ANNIVERSARIES.
Back - New Search quit has the past tense and past participle quitted or (especially in AmE) quit.
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quite. 1 Quite is a highly mobile word with a wide range of uses qualifying adjectives and adverbs (quite heavy / quite often), singular nouns (quite a lot), and verbs (We quite understand / I'd quite like to). It causes difficulty because it has two branches of meaning which are not always distinguishable, especially in prin t which lacks the support of voice intonation. In idiomatic uses, the sense inte nded is not always clearly one or the other but varies on a scale between them. The two meanings are (1) the older `stronger' meaning `completely, entirely' (You are a humourist Quite a humourist Austen , 1816), which remains the dominant sense in AmE but tends to be restricted to set expressions in BrE (e.g. / I qui te agree), and (2) the `weaker' meaning `rather, fairly' which emerged in the 19c and is now the dominant meaning in BrE (The music was at times quite loud / We quite l ike what you have done).
2 When quite qualifies adjectives and adverbs, there is a broad distinction in u sage in that the weaker meaning normally occurs with so-called `gradeable' adjective s (those that can be qualified by more, very, somewhat, etc.) such as cheap, goo d, bad, heavy, interesting, large, small (and where appropriate the correspondin g adverbs cheaply, well, badly, interestingly, etc.), whereas the stronger meani ng occurs with non-gradeable or àbsolute' adjectives that denote all-or-nothing con cepts such as different, enough, excellent, impossible (and the adverbs differen tly, enough, excellently, impossibly). So quite good will normally mean `fairly go od' whereas quite different will normally mean èntirely different'. However, this dis tinction is not watertight, and examples can readily be found (especially with a dverbs) which either leave the choice of meaning unclear or suggest a meaning so mewhere between the two extremes (as more idiomatic uses often tend to): I can get by quite happily in NavajoT. Allbeury , 1973 / The actual writing style of agony columns has changed quite noticeably over the yearsP. Makins , 1975.Top
3 The use of quite with a verb is much more common in BrE than in AmE, and can h ave either the stronger meaning (I quite agree = I agree entirely / We quite und erstand = we understand completely) or the weaker meaning (They'd quite like to come = they'd rather like to come). The choice of meaning is entirely dependent on the type of verb being used.Top
4 When preceded by a negative (not, never, etc.), quite has the stronger meaning : jazzed up drinks aren't quite our styleadvertisement in Country Life, 1972 / A bona fide kook who is never quite able to get in gear till he finally dies pad dling his canoe across the AtlanticPublishers Weekly, 1973 / Who hadn't quite made up their minds about what should be done with Hitler and M ussolini and the NipsIslander (Victoria, B.C.), 1973 / We should not be quite so narrow-minded, blinkered and xenophobic about the rest of the worldHansard, 1992.Top
5 The combination quite a (or an) followed by a noun (without an adjective betwe en) is an Americanism that has extended into BrE and can refer to quantity or qu ality (or both): The Eiffel Tower is quite a piece of Meccano: there are more than 18,000 structu ral components in the 985 ft high towerGuardian, 1972 / Occasionally he collects quite a crowd as he sits there cross-legged and expound s his philosophy Jhabvala , 1975. When an adjective or adverb comes between quite a (or an) and the noun, quite tends more towards the weaker meaning: The death of Wyatt's father in 1818 left him quite a wealthy manDictionary of Nat ional Biography, 1993. But compare the following, in which the order a quite + a djective (or adverb) suggests a stronger, more positive meaning: The items are programmed in a quite interesting wayGramophone, 1977.Top
6 The use of quite as a reply expressing agreement or confirmation is a characte ristic of BrE: `No takers,' I said. `Quite. By the way, I'm sorry to say quite all the time but my work lies amongst Americans and they expect Englishmen to say it.'K. Bonfiglioli , 1976 .Top
7 It is clearly better to regard quite as operating in the realm of idiom rather than of distinct word sense, and as drawing on a range of meaning that varies s ubtly between the extremes of the traditionally distinguished `stronger' and `weaker' me anings.Top
Back - New Search quota has the plural form quotas.
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quotation marks. 1 The main use of quotation marks (also called inverted commas) is to indicate d irect speech and quotations. In writing it is common to use double quotation mar ks ( ), and in printing practice varies between the double and single style (`'). Sing le marks are commonly associated with British practice (as in the Oxford and Cam bridge styles) and double marks with American practice (as in the Chicago style) , but the distinction in usage is not always so clear-cut.
2 The main rules of practice in BrE follow, with indications of any variant prac tice in AmE: a In direct speech and quotations, the closing quotation mark normally comes aft er a final full stop: She said, Ì have something to ask you.' It should come after any other punctuation mark (such as an exclamation mark) which is part of the ma tter being quoted: They shouted, `Watch out!' (the final full stop is omitted after an exclamation mark in this position) / Did I hear you say `Go away!'?. b When the quoted speech is interrupted by a reporting verb such as say, shout, etc., the punctuation that divides the sentence is put inside the quotation mark s: `Go away,' he said, ànd don't ever come back.' c If a quoted word or phrase comes at the end of a sentence or coincides with a comma, the punctuation that belongs to the sentence as a whole is placed outside the quotation marks: What is a `gigabyte'? / No one should `follow a multitude to do evil', as the Scripture says. In AmE, however, it is usual to place quotation mark s outside the sentence punctuation (and note the more characteristic double quot ation marks): No one should follow a multitude to do evil, as the Scripture says. d When a quotation occurs within a quotation, the inner quotation is put in doub le quotations marks if the main quotation is in single marks (or vice versa, esp ecially in American practice): BrE `Have you any idea,' he asked, `what a gigabyte is?' / AmE Have you any idea, he asked, what a `gigabyte' is?.Top
Back - New Search quote
has a derived form quotable.
Back - New Search Qur'an is now a frequent spelling in English of KORAN.
Back - New Search q.v. is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase quod vide (= which see) and is used to in dicate a reference incorporated into running text, e.g. Events of the following year were dominated by the General Strike (q.v.).
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* * *
rabbit. The verb (= hunt rabbits or, usually as rabbit on = talk excessively) has inflec ted forms rabbited, rabbiting.
Back - New Search race. In its meaning relating to divisions of humankind, race is used imprecisely, and should be restricted to the major divisions characterized by distinct physical features. For other groupings, more appropriate alternatives are nation, people, and community.
Back - New Search racism, racialism.
These two 20c words are used interchangeably in the meaning `belief in the superio rity of a particular race'; racialism is somewhat older, and is closer in form to nationalism (on which it was modelled), but in current usage racism is far more common.
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rack in the phrase rack and ruin means `destruction' and is normally spelt in this way in BrE, although it is originally a variant of the older form wrack (which is stil l sometimes used). Rack is one of nine nouns and seven verbs with this spelling, and has no historical connection with the more familiar forms, e.g. à framework for holding things'. The verb rack as used in to rack one's brains and racked with guilt is also sometimes spelt wrack.
Back - New Search radiator is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search radio. The noun has the plural form radios, and the verb has inflected forms radioes, r adioed, radioing.
Back - New Search radius. The recommended plural is radii (pronounced ray-di-iy), not radiuses.
Back - New Search rage. The word has been in use as a noun since the 14c, but it is perhaps a sign of th e times that a special use has developed in the 1980s and 1990s relating to rand om violent behaviour by frustrated individuals, especially on public roads and m otorways. Some of the reported incidents of road rage have led to severe injury and even death. In a more sinister development, we find references to rage in ot
her contexts, such as cycle rage, golf rage, lane rage (in swimming pools), trol ley rage (in supermarkets), and air rage (in aircraft). This is certainly one to keep an eye on.
Back - New Search railway, railroad. The usual word in BrE is railway, and in AmE railroad. Railroad is used in both varieties as a verb meaning `to coerce into a premature decision'.
Back - New Search raise, rise nouns An increase of salary is called a rise in BrE and a raise in AmE.
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raison d'tre means à purpose or reason that accounts for or justifies or originally causes a t hing's existence'. As a loanword it is normally printed in italic type in English contexts. The plural form is raisons d'tre.
Back - New Search rancour meaning `malignant dislike', is spelt -our in BrE and rancor in AmE.
Back - New Search rapport meaning `harmonious relationship', is pronounced with the stress on the second sylla ble and the final t silent, despite having been fully naturalized by the beginni ng of the 20c.
Back - New Search rarefy
meaning `to make or become less dense or solid', is spelt -efy, not rarify.
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rarely, seldom. It is acceptable to say rarely if ever or seldom if ever but not (except informa lly) rarely ever or seldom ever; We rarely if ever go out / We rarely ever go ou t. In the second example, hardly ever or scarcely ever could be substituted.
Back - New Search rateable is the preferred spelling, not ratable.
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rather 1 Rather is common in BrE as a so-called `downtoner', i.e. an adverb that reduces th e effect of the following adjective, adverb, or noun, as in It is rather expensi ve, You were driving rather fast, and He's rather a fool. With nouns, the sequen ce is rather + a + singular noun, and the construction is not possible in the pl ural, so instead of They're rather fools you have to say They're rather foolish. When rather qualifies an adjective followed by a noun, two sequences are possib le: rather a large glass or a rather large glass; the plural construction is rat her large glasses.
2 The phrase rather than has two main meanings which shade into each other: (1) ì n preference to', and (2) ìnstead of'.
When a noun follows there is little difficulty: I suggested beer rather than win e. With other parts of speech certain difficulties arise: a With pronouns, the case of the pronoun following rather than is normally the s ame as the word preceding rather than: I wanted to see her rather than him / She , rather than he, decided to come.
b With verbs, an -ing form is used after rather than when the meaning tends towa rds ìnstead of': When she voiced her grievances quietly and calmly, rather than screaming them, h er family paid attention to her for the first timeM. Herbert , 1989. When the bal ance is between individual words and not phrases or clauses. the forms used befo re and after rather than tend to match: This is the first time during a downturn in the economy when training by compani es has increased rather than decreased Hansard , 1992 / In the video Jones is, in the main, observing rather than advocating the ruthles s antics of the hard menDaily Mirror, 1992. c When the meaning is more to do with preference and rejection than with paralle l alternatives, and so especially after the verb prefer itself, an infinitive (w ith or without to) is more natural after rather than: Better to part with what they must now, rather than lose more laterM. Shadbolt , 1986 / Many Vietnamese soldiers preferred to kill themselves rather than be capturedInde pendent, 1989 / He began to realize, too, what hardship she had suffered rather than ask his fam ily for moneyC. West , 1989. (For prefer see also PREFER (3).) d A mixed style, with an infinitive before and a verbal noun after rather than, is less natural in contexts based clearly on preference rather than alternatives : What they are saying is that it is better to give way and let them have what the y want rather than standing up for the rule of law.R. Muldoon , 1986.Top
3 After a comparative form such as better, more, etc., than and not rather than is the preferred construction, although rather than is sometimes more natural wh en the two parts of the construction are far apart in the sentence: It is better to give way and let them have what they want rather than standing u p for the rule of lawR. Muldoon , 1986.Top
4 The expression would rather (and its contracted form as in I'd rather etc.) is complemented by than + infinitive (without to): A college would rather fall below its intake targets and lose revenue than take in sociology studentsR. Holland , 1977. For had rather, see had (3).Top
Back - New Search ratio
has the plural form ratios.
Back - New Search ravel. The verb has inflected forms ravelled, ravelling in BrE and usually raveled, rav eling in AmE. The usual meaning is `to entangle or become entangled', but ravel out has the opposite meaning, the same as disentangle or unravel.
Back - New Search raze is now the standard spelling for the verb meaning `to destroy or tear down' (as in T he building was razed to the ground), not rase.
Back - New Search re meaning `with regard to, concerning', is a piece of commercialese that is best suite d to business language. In everyday writing it is a convenient abbreviation that is less troubling when it stands at the beginning of a statement, especially in the rapidturnover world of faxes and e-mails where it fits nicely: Re your invi tation, yes I'd like to come. The strictures of Fowler (1926) and A. P. Herbert (1935) were not of the real world.
Back - New Search re-. Words formed with the prefix re- are generally unhyphened (rearrange, regroup, r eopen, reuse, etc.) except when the second element begins with an e (re-enter, r e-evaluation, etc.) or when the combination needs to be distinguished from anoth er word with the same spelling, e.g. re-collect = collect again (recollect = to remember) and re-sign = sign again (resign = give up one's job). Other words in this last category include re-count, re-cover, re-creation, re-form (and re-form ation), re-serve, re-soluble, re-solve, re-sort.
Back - New Search reaction. In the later part of the 20c reaction has been used to mean little more than `firs t impression' or ìnitial response': Most people's reaction to the Oz trial and sentences has been what one might cal l a gut-reactionListener, 1971. To do the word justice, it should involve some el ement of reacting to something that affects the person having (or asked to have)
the reaction, rather than simply to passive hearing or reading of information. But the weakened meaning is well established, especially in the world of radio a nd television interviews: What is your reaction to the extension of VAT to domes tic fuel?
Back - New Search readable see LEGIBLE.
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real. 1 As an intensifying adverb real is a characteristic Americanism and even in AmE is informal: You look real nice today, CarlaNew Yorker, 1987. The standard adverb in most cont exts is really.
2 As an adjective real tends to be overused in an intensifying role equivalent t o adjectives such as `significant, important, strong': It may be too late to halt the brain drain and decline in morale unless the Gove rnment shows a real commitment to researchDaily Telegraph, 1992 / The Clinton team had no real defence plans when it took office, beyond a vague d etermination to cut spendingEconomist, 1993. In such contexts a more exact word, such as strong in the first example and significant in the second, can be more e ffective.Top
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-re and -er. 1 One of the great dividers separating the spelling of BrE and AmE is that many nouns are spelt with a final -re in BrE but with a final -er in AmE (in many cas es preserving an earlier English spelling from which BrE has since departed): ca libre / caliber, centre / center, fibre / fiber, litre / liter, louvre / louver,
manoeuvre / maneuver, mitre / miter, ochre / ocher, reconnoitre / reconnoiter, spectre / specter, theatre / theater. In BrE metre (= a metric measure) is disti nguished from meter (= a measuring device) whereas in AmE both words are spelt m eter.
2 In other cases, however, the AmE spellings are the same as the BrE, usually be cause an -er form might affect the pronunciation, e.g. acre, lucre, massacre, me diocre, nacre, and ogre.Top
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reason. 1 The construction after the reason is can be with that or because: One reason was that the Kuwaitis wouldn't give anyone a visa, except female prin t journalistsPhotography, 1991 / The reason I like the Beatles is because they remind me of Chuck BerryQ, 1991. Se e the longer review of this question at BECAUSE (3).
2 The combination reason why followed by a clause is recorded from the 13C and i s a standard construction: Is there any good reason why we should have news bulletins, local and national, every hour on the hour, chat shows and wall-to-wall discussion programmes?Listene r, 1984. Objections occasionally heard are based on a spurious view of logic in language (i.e. why is already contained in reason) and cannot be regarded as sou nd. However, when reason, why, and because all occur in succession, the borderli ne into redundancy is crossed and the result is patently poor style: The reason why First Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev is the first Soviet leader to p romote such close cooperation with the U.S. is because [use that] he bears the m ap of the U.S. on his foreheadletter in Chicago Times, 1989.Top
Back - New Search rebel is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and with the stres s on the second syllable as a verb. The verb has inflected forms rebelled, rebel ling in BrE and AmE.
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rebound, redound. 1 Rebound is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and with the stress on the second syllable as a verb.
2 The image with the verb rebound is of something bouncing back, and with redoun d it is of a tide or wave flooding back (from Latin unda `wave'). When circumstances rebound on someone they have a harmful effect on the person or people responsib le for them: The allegation may rebound on the party making itJ. Kendall , 1992. In some uses, however, the rebounding can be directed elsewhere: The strategy of encouraging, supporting and protecting deliberate non-payers is deeply flawed, as it will rebound on the most vulnerableMarxism Today, 1990. When a circumstance redounds to someone's advantage or credit, it contributes to it: Each piece of field research aims at achieving a `scoop' which will redound to the a nthropologist's credit, and the more interesting and exciting the raw data the b etterI.M. Lewis , 1992. Although contrary examples of redound occur occasionally, the distinction between the notions of harm (rebound on) and advantage (redound to) generally holds good and is worth observing.Top
Back - New Search rebut has inflected forms rebutted, rebutting.
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receipt, recipe. In current English the meanings of these two words are distinct and ficulty, but readers of Victorian or earlier literature should bear a receipt could then be what we now know as recipe (à formula and paring food'), while both a receipt and a recipe could mean what we scription (in the medical sense). cause no dif in mind that method for pre now call a pre
Back - New Search receive is a key word supporting the rule of spelling ì before e except after c'. See I BEF ORE E.
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received pronunciation (RP), received standard are names given to the form of speech associated with educated speakers in the s outhern counties of England and used as a model for teaching English to foreign learners. This system is the basis of the guidance given on pronunciation in thi s book, while it is recognized that other speech patterns and types exist. The A merican equivalent is called General American. See PRONUNCIATION.
Back - New Search recess. The dominant pronunciation of both the noun and the verb is with the stress on t he second syllable, but the noun is increasingly heard with the stress on the fi rst syllable.
Back - New Search recherch meaning `rare or exotic', is partly naturalized and is normally printed in roman typ e with the French accent retained.
Back - New Search recipe see RECEIPT.
Back - New Search reciprocal.
The reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another. See EACH (3).
Back - New Search reciprocal, mutual. see MUTUAL.
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reckon. 1 The inflected forms are reckoned, reckoning.
2 The use of reckon without any element of calculation or consideration as in I reckon it's time to go now has a tinge of the American south about it, although it was a standard use in literary English as recently as the 19c (I reckon, said Socrates, that no one could accuse me of idle talkingJowett trans lating Plato, 1875). It is noteworthy that a word considered not so long ago as satisfactory for translating the conversation of Socrates should now be regarded as unacceptably informal for normal use, and one is left wondering whether the fortunes of the word in this meaning will change again and for the better. See a lso CALCULATE.Top
Back - New Search recognize, recognition. Both words should be pronounced with the g fully articulated.
Back - New Search recommend. In addition to its familiar constructions with a direct object + to-infinitive ( I recommend you to control your temper) and with a that-clause (We recommend tha t you stay at the local hotel), recommend is one of a class of verbs, once dwind ling but now showing signs of recovery, that allows the subjunctive to be used, the effect being one of formality rather than archaism: One of the observers from the International Commission of Jurists had recommende d she be approached Gordimer , 1990.
Back - New Search reconnaissance is now full naturalized and is pronounced ri-kon-i-sns.
Back - New Search reconnoitre is the BrE spelling, and reconnoiter the spelling in AmE.
Back - New Search record is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and with the stres s on the second syllable as a verb.
Back - New Search recount, re-count. The verb recount (with the stress on the second syllable) means `to tell in detail , narrate'. Re-count (with hyphen) is both a verb (with the stress on the second s yllable) meaning `to count again' and a noun (with the stress on the first syllable) meaning à fresh count'.
Back - New Search recourse see RESOURCE.
Back - New Search recrudescence means in medical use `the breaking out again of a disease', and in generalized use s hould be restricted to contexts in which something harmful or unwelcome recurs. Fowler (1926) noted that the word was becoming fashionable as a simple synonym f or `revival' or `reappearance' among journalists in his day. He called this a `disgusting use' and we can see what he means when we come across such absurd uses as the foll owing: Both works, however, may be thought to share a secret, and a set of clues, which bear witness to the recrudescence of a hippy magicK. Miller , 1989.
Back - New Search recto meaning `the right-hand page of a book', has the plural form rectos. The left-hand p age is called the verso.
Back - New Search rector. In the Church of England, the title is used of an incumbent of a parish where al l tithes were formerly paid to the incumbent, as distinct from a parish with a v icar as incumbent, where the tithes formerly passed to a chapter or religious ho use. The word has a different meaning in some other churches, and is also used f or the head of some schools (especially in Scotland), universities, and colleges .
Back - New Search recur has inflected forms recurred, recurring.
Back - New Search Red Indian, redskin. These terms are now considered offensive and have fallen out of use in favour of American Indian and (preferably) Native American.
Back - New Search reducible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
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reductio ad absurdum is a method of proving the falsity of a premise by showing that the logical cons
equence is absurd. An example is that if eating less makes one healthier, the lo gical conclusion is to eat nothing.
Back - New Search redundancy.
`She is lively and vital enough to be a member of a terrorist gang.' `Lively and vital ,' said Harvey, `lively and vitalone of these words is redundant.' Spark , 1984. English idiom is characterized by redundancy, or apparent redundancy, and it is misguid edly pedantic to pick holes in discourse that includes it. Examples of idiomatic repetition of words or ideas include HIV virus (the V in HIV already means `virus') , the hoi polloi (hoi = `the'), LCD display (the D in LCD already means `display'), safe haven (a haven is by definition safe), and armed gunman (a gunman is by definit ion armed).
Back - New Search refectory. The recommended pronunciation is with the stress on the second syllable, althoug h in some religious houses the stress is placed on the first.
Back - New Search refer. The inflected forms are referred, referring. The derivative adjective is spelt e ither referable (one r; pronounced with the stress on the first syllable) or ref errable (two rs; pronounced with the stress on the second syllable).
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referendum. The recommended plural is referendums, although referenda is common.
Back - New Search refill is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and with the stres s on the second syllable as a verb.
Back - New Search reflection is now the dominant form, although reflexion is the older.
Back - New Search reflector is spelt -or, not -er.
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reflexive verbs are the type constructed with myself, herself, ourselves, etc., in which the sub ject of the verb and the object are the same person or thing, as in We enjoyed o urselves and Make yourself at home.
Back - New Search reform. The verb reform (with the stress on the second syllable) means `to improve by remo ving faults'. Re-form (with hyphen) means `to form again'.
Back - New Search refrigerator is spelt -or and without a d in the middle, although the popular shortening of t he word is fridge.
Back - New Search refuse. The noun, meaning `waste material', is pronounced with the stress on the first sylla ble, whereas the verb, meaning `to withhold consent for', is pronounced with the str ess on the second syllable.
Back - New Search refutable should be pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, although a second-sy llable stress is increasingly common.
Back - New Search refute means `to prove (something) false by argument', and the element `by argument' is importa nt; it should not be used simply as an alternative for deny or repudiate, which imply straightforward rejection without argument. In the first of the following examples refute is used appropriately, whereas in the second it is not: The criticisms that Ruskin saw architecture only twodimensionally, and that he n ever seems to have looked at a building structurally, are refuted with ample quo tationsJournal of the Royal Society of Arts, 1979 / I refute Mr Bodey's allegation that it is our policy not to observe publication datesBookseller, 1980.
Back - New Search regalia meaning `the insignia of royalty' has become extended in use to non-royal contexts s uch as that of civic dignitaries. In both cases it is a plural noun.
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regard. 1 Regard is used in a number of complex prepositions, as regards, in regard to, with regard to, as well as the form regarding; all have more or less the same me aning, although the first three are more common at the beginning of sentences.
2 In its meaning `to consider, judge', regard is regularly followed by as + noun or adjective, with regard itself either active or passive: We regard recording as an essential element in the actual teaching processLanguag e for Life, 1975 / job security is more generally regarded as unquantifiableFinancial Times, 1975 /
Canon Watson was regarded by many as the leader of the charismatic movement in t he ChurchDaily Telegraph, 1984. This construction differs from that for consider, which is normally followed by a direct complement without as or by the infiniti ve to be: see CONSIDER.Top
Back - New Search regime is fully naturalized in terms of spelling, but is still pronounced in a French m anner.
Back - New Search register office is the official form in the UK of the term for a State office for conducting civ il ceremonies and recording births and deaths. Registry office is also widely us ed, but it is unofficial only.
Back - New Search regress is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and with the stres s on the second syllable as a verb.
Back - New Search regret has inflected forms regretted, regretting, and a derivative form regrettable.
Back - New Search regretful, regrettable. Regretful means `feeling regret' and applies to a person, whereas regrettable means `c ausing regret' and applies to an action: He did not crave recognition, but was understandably regretful about his lack of itE. , 1982 / Now let us come to the point: are you willing to overlook this-this regrettable incident and try again?M. Forster , 1990. The corresponding adverb regretfully (= in a regretful way) is commonly misused for regrettably (= as is to be regrette d): Regretfully, that is no ground for leniency towards him-New Statesman, 1976.
Back - New Search regularly should be pronounced with all four syllables articulated, not as if it were spel t reguly.
Back - New Search reign, rein. The simple nouns are not often confused, but the idiom give free rein to (= allo w full scope to) is sometimes used in the form give free reign to (as if it mean t `give free rule to'?), especially in AmE: They say that if they are given free reign to invest and produce they will grow richerNew Yorker, 1987.
Back - New Search reject is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and with the stres s on the second syllable as a verb.
Back - New Search rejoin, re-join. The verb rejoin (with the stress on the second syllable) means `to say in answer'. R e-join (with hyphen) means `to join again'.
Back - New Search relate. The verb has a long history, being first recorded in Caxton. In the 20c it has a cquired a jargon-based meaning `to have an attitude of personal sympathy towards': Group formation such as takes place in the classroom tends to be adult-centred a nd dependent upon the varying ways children relate to the teacherChildhood Educat ion, 1950 / Married people can still relate [sc. to people outside the marriage]Guardian, 197 1.
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relation, relationship, relatives. As nouns, relation and relative both mean à person related by blood or by marriag e', and both are idiomatic in the plural. (For some reason, however, relation is t he normal choice in the explicit context of wealth: He resented the mother who had inconsiderately died and left him a poor relation Symons , 1978.) The state of a person's connection with relations or relatives i s his or her relationship, which is also used in the wider context of people's d ealings with one another: How difficult and unnatural are in-law relationships!Daily Telegraph, 1970 / You need to consider the quality of the relationship which exists between your s on and the teachers, your son and his peers, and between you and the teachersWher e, 1972. In modern use, relationship has a sexual connotation which should alway s be borne in mind when using this word: She can't forgive me for leaving and I've had to accept that our relationship's finally overWoman, 1991. Relation is often preferred to denote the way things (es pecially concepts and ideas) relate to each other (There seemed to be little relation between charge and geographical location, ex cept in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the cost of water was lowA.H. Little , 1975), is the normal choice in meanings to do with activities and procedures, as in the expression business relations, and is the only choice in fixed expres sions such as in relation to and bear some (or no etc.) relation to.
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relative clauses. 1 A relative clause is a clause that is connected to a main clause by means of a relative pronoun such as who, which, whose, or that. In the preceding sentence, the part from that to the end is a relative clause with the word clause as its antecedent. There are two types of relative clause, called `restrictive' and `non-rest rictive'. A restrictive clause gives essential information about the noun or noun phrase that comes before, as in She held out the hand that was hurt, in which `the hand' is defined or identified as `the one that was hurt'. By contrast, in the senten ce She held out her hand, which I clasped in both of mine, the information in th e relative clause introduced by which is additional information that could be le ft out without affecting the core structure or meaning of the sentence, and this type is called a non-restrictive clause.
2 The relative pronoun that or which can be omitted when it introduces a restric tive clause, especially when it is the object of the verb in the relative clause and occasionally (but more informally) when it is the subject: It reminded him of the Exhibition he was going back to Fitzgerald , 1977 /
It was your geography caused the doubt Stoppard , 1993. Choice between that and w hich in clauses of these types is discussed at the entry for THAT (3).Top
Back - New Search relatively like COMPARATIVELY, is widely used as a `downtoning' adverb meaning `fairly, somewhat', without any real notion of relativity or comparison: The natural question to pursue is whether the Chinese state has been able to mai ntain control in this relatively open geopolitical regionDdalus, 1993.
Back - New Search relevance first recorded in the 18c, has almost completely ousted the alternative form rel evancy.
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reliable has, surprisingly, been in common use only since about 1850, and was once object ed to on the ground that it ought to mean àble to rely' and not, as it does, àble to be relied on', since rely cannot by itself take an object, as most verbs forming passive adjectives in -able can (bearable, believable, curable, etc.; but note d ependable, recorded from the 18c). See also UNACCOUNTABLE.
Back - New Search remit. The noun, meaning `terms of reference', is pronounced with the stress on the first s yllable or (less often) on the second, and the verb, meaning `to send (money)', is p ronounced with the stress on the second syllable. The inflected forms of the ver b are remitted, remitting.
Back - New Search Renaissance
is spelt with a capital initial letter when it refers to the period of revival i n classical forms of art and literature in the 14c to 16c. In this meaning it is commonly used in attributive position (before another noun: A whitestone Italian Renaissance mansion on Sixty-third StreetR. Doliner , 1978). In the general context of any `revival', it is spelt with a small initial letter: A renaissance occurred in 1969 when Adler proved that bacteria have specific che moreceptorsNature, 1975. The anglicized form renascence is an unnecessary affecta tion.
Back - New Search rendezvous. The plural is spelt the same, but is pronounced with the final syllable as -vooz .
Back - New Search repairable, reparable. Repairable is the normal choice with reference to physical repair (There is a reasonable chance that the tyre will be repairablePolice Review, 1972 ), whereas reparable (pronounced with the stress on the first syllable), refers to abstract things, especially losses, and except in the negative form irreparab le has an archaic flavour, as intentionally in the following example: The loss is reparable, but your lives are greater worth Peters , 1993.
Back - New Search repeat, repetition. The 20c use of repeat in broadcasting, meaning à radio or television programme th at has been transmitted before', with its attributive use as in repeat showing, re peat fee, etc., has tended to put repetition in the shade even in the meaning `the act of repeating' (as distinct from à thing repeated'), which is the meaning histori cally more closely associated with repetition than with repeat: Members of the powerful 1922 Committee executive told Mrs Thatcher there must be no repeat of the dispute between Downing Street and Mr Lawson over the Exchange Rate MechanismTimes, 1989. Repeat is also common in attributive position in medi cal contexts, with the meaning `further or repeated': Strangely, it was decided that a repeat investigation was not required and I was allowed to go on caring for the patient throughout her stayA. Morton-Cooper , 19 90.
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repel has inflected forms repelled, repelling.
Back - New Search repellent, repulsive. Repulsive is the stronger of the two words, implying physical recoiling rather t han just a feeling of disgust: I was given some repulsive food which, by the end of the second day, I trained m yself to eat Aldiss , 1991 / He had a genuine liking for Lehmann, whose exacting, aristocratic and somewhat d ictatorial manner some found repellentF. Spalding , 1991. For repellent the spell ing -ent is preferable to -ant for both the adjective and the noun.
Back - New Search repertoire, repertory. These are essentially the same word, being the French and English equivalents of Latin repertorium meaning àn inventory or catalogue'. A repertoire is a stock of d ramatic or musical pieces which a player or company regularly performs; repertor y also has this meaning and in addition denotes a type of theatre involving regu lar changes in the choice of plays performed during a season. In this meaning it is often used attributively, as in repertory theatre, repertory actor, etc., an d is common in the shortened form rep.
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replace, substitute. 1 The typical construction is to replace A with B (or, in the passive, B is repl aced by A), or B can simply replace A, whereas with substitute it is to substitu te B for A or to substitute B without any continuation (more usually in the pass ive: B is substituted). (In all cases, A is the person or thing `going out' and B th e one `coming in'.) Examples: (replace) The credit card holder can be replaced with a document holder or a roll of paper tape, for other data capture purposesNew Scientist, 1972 / It is nice to see `stewardess' and `steward' gradually being replaced by the general ter m `flight attendant'Scientific American, 1982 / Rugby nightmares replaced nightmares about witches, which had been the basis of my bad dreams for several yearsC. Jennings , 1990 (substitute)/
Visibility on the course, however, was too poor to permit the senior relay and a three-mile race was substitutedLiverpool Echo, 1976 / As land becomes scarce, farmers rely more on additional fertilizer to expand out put, in effect substituting energy in the form of fertilizer for land in the pro duction processD. Adamson , 1990.
2 The use of substitute for replace is a more usual error than the reverse: During this period of contraction, both passenger and freight services were with drawn at an alarming rate, being substituted by short-lived bus services and roa d freight transportBishop's Castle Railway Society Journal, 1990. When a football commentator reports that a player is being substituted, he is referring to the outgoing player and means replaced, but the choice is determined by the dominant influence of the noun substitute by which the incoming player is known.Top
Back - New Search replaceable is spelt with an e in the middle to preserve the soft sound of the preceding c.
Back - New Search replicate. The 20c use in the meaning `to reproduce, imitate, or copy exactly', orginally in te chnical contexts but spreading into general use, is an extension of a word that has been in use since the 16c in other meanings. It is best avoided when more st raightforward alternatives are available, such as duplicate, be modelled on, imi tate, etc.
Back - New Search reportage pronounced rep-aw-tahzh in a semi-French way, now usually means `the reporting of events for the press or broadcasting': His study of the Hyde Park orators might have been taken as a masterly piece of reportageLondon Review of Books, 1979. Its older meanings `repute' and `gossip' have fall en out of use.
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reported speech or indirect speech, is the reporting of what someone has said with a `reporting' ver b such as said, replied, cried, etc. In reported speech, the actual words spoken are usually changed with regard to the subject and tense of the verb to suit th e viewpoint of the person now reporting, and quotation marks are not used, so th at what appears in direct speech as (for example) `They have a few points to add,' s he remarked, in reported or indirect speech becomes She remarked that they had a few points to add. See also INDIRECT QUESTION.
Back - New Search reprehensible meaning `deserving censure', is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search reprieve both verb and noun, is spelt -ie-, not -ei-.
Back - New Search reproducible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search reputable meaning òf good repute', is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable.
Back - New Search request. The noun is commonly followed by for (a request for more time). The verb, unlike ask, cannot be used in constructions of the type We requested them for more tim e; the correct sequence is either We requested more time from them or We request ed them to give us more time.
Back - New Search require.
The construction with a to-infinitive, as in I require to know your names, is no t idiomatic in BrE but is known in other varieties of English. The type Do you r equire tea? is chiefly confined to BrE.
Back - New Search research. In BrE the noun and verb are both traditionally pronounced with the stress on th e second syllable, but first-syllable stressing of the noun (ree-serch), influen ced by American practice, is increasingly heard, especially on radio and televis ion.
Back - New Search resistible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search resoluble, resolvable. Both words are in use in the meaning àble to be resolved', but resolvable is common er.
Back - New Search resort, re-sort. The verb and noun resort (pronounced ri-zawt) has a wide range of meanings. Re-s ort (with hyphen and pronounced ree-sawt) is a verb meaning `to sort again or diff erently'.
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resource, resort, recourse. 1 The three words all have to do with finding help or support and are chiefly di stinguished from one another by the typical phrase patterns in which they operat e. These are given in the table below. resource a simple resource, at the end of one's resources, a person of many reso urces, to fall back on one's own resources
resort as a last resort, in the last resort; (verb) to resort to, without resort ing to recourse to have recourse to, without recourse to, one's usual recourse
2 In general, resource denotes what one adopts for help or support whereas recou rse denotes a process or avenue of finding support. There is an area of possible confusion in the overlap between to resort to (especially in the past, to have resorted to) and to have recourse to: More than 100 governments had resorted to torture or the maltreatment of prisone rs Keesings, 1990 / How many times has one ever had recourse to a term like anadiplosis?J. Culpepper , 1992. One normally resorts to things in extreme circumstances and has recourse to them more routinely.Top
Back - New Search resource is pronounced either ri-zaws or ree-saws, the first being more usual in BrE and both being used in AmE. The same patterns apply in the plural form.
Back - New Search respect. As well as respecting, there are several complex prepositions all meaning `regardi ng, as concerns': in respect of, in respect to, with respect to. The first two are more formal in character, and are normally found in business correspondence.
Back - New Search respective, respectively are useful words when two or more items need to be distinguished (in the order i n which they occur, when they are named separately) in relation to what follows in the sentence: MEPs are paid the same as national MPs in their respective countriesWhich?, 1984 / Iraq and Syria have been ruled by small minorities (Sunni Arabs and Alawite offi cers respectively)International Affairs, 1991. In the first of these examples, th e presence of respective shows that the national MPs are paid at different level s depending on their countries, and in the second the presence of respectively s
hows that the Sunni Arabs ruled in Iraq and the Alawite officers in Syria (and n ot a combination of both in both countries). In other cases, respective (in part icular) is redundant or replaceable by a simpler word such as own or various: The parade dispersed, the Commandos returning to their respective units, and soo n the village green was quietB. Millin , 1991.
Back - New Search respite is pronounced either res-pity or res-pit.
Back - New Search responsible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search restaurateur meaning à restaurant owner', is spelt -ateur with no n.
Back - New Search restive, restless. Despite its form, restive is close in meaning to restless, but conveys a stronge r implication of disruptive consequences: The picket's mood turned restive, apprehensiveNew Society, 1977. It is also used in the special context of a horse that refuses to move forwards.
Back - New Search result. They tried hard to awtelevision news e but a favourable seems to have its get a result but rain stopped play and the game ended in a dr broadcast, 1993. The use of the noun to mean not just an outcom outcome, familiar now in the language of sports commentators, origin in plural uses going back to the 1920s:
Take some of those pamphlets with you to distribute aboard ship. They may bring results. O'Neill , 1922.
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rsum pronounced rez-yuh-may, means à summary' in BrE, and in AmE (often with the first a ccent or both accents omitted) has the additional meaning à curriculum vitae'.
Back - New Search reticent is developing the meaning `reluctant to act', which is somewhat more developed than its standard meaning `reserved, reluctant to speak': Not everyone is as reticent as London's civil servants about moving to DocklandsT imes, 1992. This meaning is likely to become established, although at present it is non-standard.
Back - New Search retiral meaning `retirement from office', is largely confined to Scottish use: Young person required for civil engineering stores to fill vacancy due to retira ladvertisement in Lochaber News, 1978.
Back - New Search retrieve is spelt -ie-, not -ei-.
Back - New Search rev verb. The inflected forms are revved, revving.
Back - New Search reveille pronounced ri-val-i, is the current spelling for the word meaning à morning awake ning' (especially in service life).
Back - New Search revel.
The verb has inflected forms revelled, revelling in BrE and in AmE also reveled, reveling.
Back - New Search revenge verb see AVENGE.
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reverend, reverent, reverential. 1 In its general meaning, reverend means `deserving reverence', and is most often fo und in clerical contexts even when it is not a formal title, whereas reverent me ans `showing reverence' in wider contexts: He also formed close links with the network of local Puritan ministers whom he d escribed in his will as `my reverend and pious friends'Dictionary of National Biograp hy, 1993 / There was a reverent silence, broken only by the hissing of the gas-jets in the wall-bracketsP. Ling , 1993. Reverential means `characterized by reverence', and the main difference in meaning between it and reverent is that reverent describes a feeling or attitude and is judgemental whereas reverential denotes a connection with reverence and is informational: When she walked into a village the Africans would often clap their hands in a re verential wayW. Green , 1988.
2 Reverend, abbreviated Revd (no full stop) or Rev., is most commonly found as a title applied to certain members of the clergy.Top
Back - New Search reversal, reversion. Reversal is the noun corresponding to the verb reverse, and means primarily `the c hanging (of a decision)', whereas reversion corresponds to the verb revert, as in The style represents a reversion to classical Japanese tradition.
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reversible is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search review, revue. A review is à general survey or assessment of something' and has many special appli cations, including a published criticism of a book, play, etc. A revue is a thea trical entertainment consisting of a series of short acts or sketches. In this m eaning the word is sometimes spelt review, but since this form coincides too clo sely with the meaning mentioned above and can cause confusion, this spelling is not recommended.
Back - New Search rhetorical question is an assertion put in the form of a question without expecting an answer, e.g. Who do they think they are?
Back - New Search rhino has the plural form rhino (collective) or rhinos (individual).
Back - New Search rhyming slang is a type of slang of cockney origin in which a word is replaced by words or phr ases which rhyme with it, e.g. apples and pears (= stairs), plates of meat (= fe et), and trouble and strife (= wife). The rhyming words are sometimes arbitrary (as in the first example) and sometimes significant (as in the other examples).
Back - New Search rhythmic, rhythmical. The two forms are virtually interchangeable, choice normally being determined by personal preference or the flow of the sentence. However, it is usually prefera ble to be consistent within a single piece of writing.
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ribbon, riband. Ribbon was originally a variant of the older form riband (pronounced like ribbon with a d at the end) and is now overwhelmingly the dominant form. In general us e riband is normally confined to heraldry and to sports prizes, notably the Blue Riband for the fastest sea crossing between Southampton and New York in the 192 0s and 1930s.
Back - New Search rick meaning à sprain' or (as a verb) `to sprain', is spelt rick rather than wrick. Both for ms seem to have their origin in dialect.
Back - New Search rickety meaning ìnsecure or shaky', is spelt -ety, not -etty.
Back - New Search ricochet. The inflected forms of the verb are ricocheted (pronounced rik--shayd) and ricoc heting (pronounced rik--shay-ing).
Back - New Search rid. The past tense and past participle are now normally rid rather than ridded, but ridded occurs occasionally in active constructions such as He ridded the stable of flies. Rid must be used in constructions of the type I thought myself well ri d of him.
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right, rightly. 1 Right is used as an adverb meaning ìn the right way, in a proper manner' with a n umber of verbs, notably do right, go right (as in Nothing went right), guess rig ht, spell something right, treat someone right. In general, however, and especia lly when the adverb precedes the verb or qualifies an adjective, rightly is the
more natural choice: One of them was rightly furious as the escaper had whipped his overcoatA. Miller , 1976 / Frayn has not forgotten the underdog The shrinking violet (as he rightly recogni zes) is the most dangerous plant in the glades of privilegeListener, 1976 / Many a skate park, rightly, refuses admittance unless skaters wear protective he lmets and padsTimes, 1977. Rightly is commonly used with so to express approval f or something described by a preceding word or clause: She was angry, and rightly so.
2 Right is also idiomatic in the meanings `directly, immediately' or `completely' in phr ases such as right away and right now, and in uses such as I'll be right with yo u and Turn it right off.Top
3 In an older use now considered archaic in BrE (but still in use in regional Am E), right means `very, extremely' without any notion of rightness in the judgemental sense: I was right glad to see your writing again Coleridge , 1800 / Miz Wilkes is right sensible, for a woman Mitchell , 1936. In BrE it remains in s tandard use only in certain titles and forms of address, such as Right Honourabl e and Right Reverend.Top
Back - New Search rightward, rightwards. The only form of the adjective is rightward (a rightward glance). For the adverb , rightward and rightwards are used both in BrE and in AmE (turn rightward / rig htwards).
Back - New Search rigour is spelt -our in BrE and rigor in AmE. The corresponding adjective is rigorous i n both varieties. Note also the spelling rigor in the medical sense (à sudden fee ling of cold and shivering') and in the Latin phrase rigor mortis, the stiffening of the body after death.
Back - New Search ring.
There are two unrelated verbs with different inflections. The one to do with bel ls has a past form rang and past participle rung, whereas the one to do with cir cles and bands has ringed in both forms.
Back - New Search riot. The verb has inflected forms rioted, rioting.
Back - New Search rise see ARISE.
Back - New Search risky, risqu. Risky is the general word meaning ìnvolving risk', whereas the French loanword risq u means `slightly indecent' (especially with reference to humour) and therefore riski ng shock.
Back - New Search rival. The verb has inflected forms rivalled, rivalling, and in AmE usually rivaled, ri valing.
Back - New Search rivet. The verb has inflected forms riveted, riveting.
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road, street. 1 According to a law of Henry I of England (110035), a street `was to be sufficient ly broad for two loaded carts to meet and for sixteen armed knights to ride abre
ast' (Ekwall, Street-Names of the City of London, 1954). The history of road and s treet and of other terms such as lane, avenue, crescent, gate, place, row, terra ce, rise, and vale, is extremely complicated, with fine distinctions between (fo r example) a wide lane and a narrow street. In current usage, a street is normal ly a paved way in a town or city, whereas a road is a way (paved or not) in a vi llage or in open country. In certain fixed expressions there is inconsistency of choice, since one-way street follows the distinction just given but no through road does not (necessarily).
2 Names attached to particular roads and streets are established by custom, alth ough it is possible to refer to something called `Street' generically as a road and something called `Road' as a street. Note also that a division of the carriageway of a major road (especially a motorway) is called a lane, as the frequent instruct ion on road signs to `keep in lane' reminds us.Top
Back - New Search roast, roasted. Meats and things associated with them are normally described as roast: roast bee f, roast lamb, roast meat, roast potatoes, etc. (but a roasted chicken and a wel l-roasted joint are also possible), whereas nuts are normally called roasted: ro asted chestnuts, roasted peanuts, etc. (roast chestnuts is also possible but les s often roast peanuts). The past participle used as a verb is always roasted: Th ey had roasted a chicken for lunch / pork roasted in a lemon sauce.
Back - New Search rob is used chiefly to mean `to steal from'; its object is either a place (rob a bank) o r a person, optionally with of followed by the thing stolen (robbed her of her j ewels). An older use with the thing stolen as the object of rob (He robbed money from the till) is no longer standard.
Back - New Search rodeo has the plural form rodeos.
Back - New Search roguish meaning `like a rogue', is spelt this way.
Back - New Search role meaning àn actor's part' and related senses, is normally spelt without an accent, a lthough rle is also valid.
Back - New Search romance should be pronounced with the stress on the second syllable. Pronunciation with first-syllable stress is non-standard.
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Romania is the official spelling of the country name. Other forms such as Roumania and R umania will be found in older writing.
Back - New Search Roman numerals. are used less often than formerly, but still appear on older clock faces, on the preliminary pages of books, and following the copyright symbol in the credits o f cinema films and television productions. In January 1990, the Oxford Dictionar y department received many queries about how the new year should be written in R oman numerals, as the answer (MCMXC, as everyone now knows) needed some thought. The main principle is that a sequence of letters having the same value or decre asing in value represents positive values, whereas a smaller value preceding a l arger is subtracted from the larger (i.e. M = 1,000 + CM = 900 (1,000100) + XC = 90 (10010) = 1990). (1999 is MCMXCIX, not MCMIC and still less MIM, as has been s uggested, because a smaller value is followed by a higher value at the next avai lable level; for those who reject the subtraction principle altogether as a late and inauthentic compromise, 1999 must be written MDCCCCLXXXXVIIII.) With the tu rn of the millennium, things get easier (MM). The table below gives the main val ues for each of the letters used (lower case and capitals). units i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi, vii, viii, ix I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX tens (up to 40) x, xx, xxx, xl (occasionally xxxx) X, XX, XXX, XL (occasionally XXXX) 50 l L tens (60 to 90) lx, lxx, lxxx, xc (occasionally lxxxx) LX, LXX, LXXX, XC (occasi
onally LXXXX) hundreds (up to 400) c, cc, ccc, cd (occasionally cccc) C, CC, CCC, CD (occasion ally CCCC) 500 d D hundreds (600 to 900) dc, dcc, dccc, cm (occasionally dcccc) DC, DCC, DCCC, CM ( occasionally DCCCC) 1,000 m M
Back - New Search rondo a term in music, has the plural form rondos.
Back - New Search roof. The standard plural form is roofs, but rooves is often found, causing dismay in some circles (Almost daily now I am troubled by the sound of `rooves'. Is there no hope of a cure ?letter in Times, 1986). Rooves, with its softer sound, may well win out in the e nd, but for now it is better to use roofs.
Back - New Search room is pronounced with either a long or a short vowel sound, but the longer is more common.
Back - New Search roomful has the plural form roomfuls. See -FUL.
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root, rout. The OED records two verbs spelt root (and pronounced like boot), and no fewer th an ten verbs spelt rout (and pronounced like bout). An overlap occurs in the mea ning `to poke about', which can be either root about or rout about, each pronounced in its own way. Choice depends largely on regional identity. Of the many other m eanings of these words, root for (= encourage by applause) is mainly confined to American slang but is occasionally heard in Britain.
Back - New Search rosary, rosery. A rosary is a set of prayer beads, and is also used to mean a rose-garden alongs ide the newer (19c) form rosery, although rose-garden is now the usual term.
Back - New Search rotary, rotatory. Both are 18c formations and each has a wide range of uses, but in current use ro tary is much commoner.
Back - New Search rottenness is spelt with two ns.
Back - New Search rough, roughen. Rough is used as a verb chiefly in the expressions to rough it (= do without bas ic comforts), to rough out (= to make a sketch of), to rough up (= to attack). O therwise the verb from rough, meaning `to make or become rough' is roughen: `Yes,' she agreed, her voice rougheningE. Richmond , 1991 / A faint stubble roughened his chin and just beneath his jawline was a small cres cent-shaped scarL. Wilkinson , 1992.
Back - New Search round see AROUND.
Back - New Search rout see ROOT.
Back - New Search rout, route verbs. The -ing forms of these two verbs are respectively routing and routeing.
Back - New Search rowing boat is the normal term in BrE, and row-boat (or rowboat) in AmE.
Back - New Search rowlock meaning à device on a boat for holding an oar', is pronounced rol-k. The equivalent term in North America is oarlock.
Back - New Search royal we see WE 2B.
Back - New Search RP see RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION.
Back - New Search -r-, -rr-. Words of one syllable containing a single vowel a, e, i, o, or u double a final r when a suffix is added (bar, barred, barring; fur, furry; stir, stirred, stirr ing; but pour, poured, pouring). Words of more than one syllable double the r wh en the stress is on the final syllable (confer, conferred, conferring; incur, in curred, incurring) but retain a single r when the stress is earlier in the word (enter, entered, entering; offer, offered, offering). Verbs in -fer form adjecti
ves in -ferable (with one r) with the stress on the first syllable (preferable; but transferable has the stress on the first or the second syllable) or in -ferr able (with two rs) with the stress on the second syllable (conferrable), or both (referable, referrable).
Back - New Search rubbish is used in BrE to mean `household refuse'. The corresponding term in AmE, and in som e other non-British varieties, is garbage or (in some contexts) trash, and a dus tbin outside Britain is a garbage can or trash can.
Back - New Search rucksack a pack for carrying on the back, should be pronounced ruk-sak, although its use is diminishing in favour of the more home-grown form backpack.
Back - New Search rule the roost meaning `to have full control or authority', is first recorded in about 1400 in the unexplained form rule the roast, which lasted until the 19c when roast was repla ced by roost, thereby at least producing a clear image.
Back - New Search Rumania see ROMANIA.
Back - New Search rumbustious a chiefly BrE word meaning `lively or noisy', is spelt -ious, not -uous.
Back - New Search rumour is spelt -our in BrE and rumor in AmE.
Back - New Search runner-up has the plural form runners-up.
Back - New Search Russian. In its ethnic and political reference, Russian (noun and adjective) has become e ven more complex to define since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The 1 995 edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary gives the following options for the noun: (1) a native or national of Russia, the Russian Federation, or the former Soviet Union, (2) a person of Russian descent.
(In the 1999 edition, the references to the Federation and the Soviet Union have been dropped.) When the term is found in print, the historical context is all-i mportant.
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* * *
's. For the possessive forms 's and s', see 'S AND S' AND ÒF' POSSESSIVES.
Back - New Search sabre is spelt this way in BrE, and saber in AmE.
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sac a French loanword, is used in English in medical and biological contexts to deno te a bag-like cavity, enclosed by a membrane, in an animal or plant.
Back - New Search saccharin, saccharine. Saccharin is a noun denoting a sugar-substitute, and saccharine is an adjective meaning (literally) `sugary' or (figuratively) ùnpleasantly over-polite or sentimenta l'.
Back - New Search sack. The expressions to sack (someone) or to give (someone) the sack, meaning `to dismi ss' and to get the sack, meaning `to be dismissed', are all still informal only despit e a history of use since the 19c, possibly as a loan translation of the French p hrase donner son sac.
Back - New Search sacrilegious meaning `violating what is regarded as sacred', is formed from the noun sacrilege an d is spelt with the first i and the e in the order shown, not (by confusion with religious) the other way round.
Back - New Search sad has developed a new meaning `pathetically inadequate or unfashionable' and is applie d to people or their actions. It is easy to see how this arose from the traditio nal meanings of the word, but it is informal only, and the derivative form saddo for à pathetic person' is confined to BrE.
Back - New Search sadly is a somewhat overused alternative to the sentence adverb unfortunately, and has lost some of its force: The Headmaster of Winchester College asks: Ìs there any other ancient cathedral c ity in Western Europe with so much fast, heavy, long-distance traffic planned to run so near?' Sadly, the answer is `Yes, York'Times, 1973 /
Sadly, his collection was sold and dispersed throughout the world after his deat hLancashire Life, 1978.
Back - New Search saga. The traditional use of the term saga to refer to medieval Norse narrative poems, especially those written in Iceland, dates from the early 18c and continues unt roubled by more recent extensions of meaning, first to long novels or series of novels that recount family histories over several generations (for example, Gals worthy's Forsyte Saga) and then, in the 20c, to any long or complicated sequence of events, real or imaginary: `Found her! Where?' Ìn Marseilles. Told me about it for two hours over dinner. It's a saga.'H. Wouk , 1978.
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said. 1 Said is used as an adjective in legal contexts to refer to something mentioned earlier: And you ceased to be the tenant and occupant of the said premises in the summer of 1915, did you not?P. Ling , 1993, 1972. Its extension into ordinary usage is n ormally jocular: Marks are awarded for wiggling one's chiffon-clad bottom to the said musicPunch, 1992.
2 Inversion of the normal order he said, they said, etc., is a standard stylisti c device in reporting direct speech, especially when the speaker is identified b y name rather than by a pronoun: Ì shall go directly,' said Judd. Ì should not like to be marked out in any way.' Mantel , 1989. More debatable, however, is the journalistic convention of using invers ion as an eye-catching feature at the beginning of a sentence, e.g. Said a Minis ter: Àmerican interests are not large enough in Morocco to induce us to '. See INVER SION (1).Top
Back - New Search sailor, sailer.
The spelling is sailor when referring to a person, and sailer when referring to a ship in relation to its performance, e.g. a slow sailer.
Back - New Search Saint when preceding a name, is spelt with a capital initial letter, and is shortened to St (no full stop in BrE though one is normal in AmE). The plural is SS or Sts , as in SS / Sts Peter and Paul.
Back - New Search sake. The standard forms are for for old times' sake, with g noun. Practice varies in ss' (or goodness) sake. In appearances' sake, for Christ's (or God's etc.) sake, a singular or plural possessive form for the precedin for conscience' (or conscience's) sake and for goodne AmE, sake is sometimes used in the plural form sakes:
`Shush, for God's sakes!' warned my motherL.S. Schwartz , 1989.
Back - New Search saleable is the recommended form, although salable is used by some printers and publisher s.
Back - New Search salubrious, salutary. Both words are derived from the Latin word salus meaning `health'. Salubrious essent ially means `giving health' and hence also `pleasant, agreeable' (The Prince of Wales bestowed a polite eye upon her, then turned to the rather m ore salubrious prospect of his favourite savouryA. Myers , 1992), whereas salutar y means `producing healthy effects' and hence `beneficial', usually in an admonitory con text in association with words such as effect, lesson, and reminder (Those incidents are a salutary reminder of the dedication of police officers to protecting the public Hansard , 1992).
Back - New Search salvo. There are two words, (1) à firing of guns together', plural salvoes (preferred) or salvos, and
(2) à reservation or excuse', plural salvos.
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same. 1 Same (or the same) was once commonly used as a pronoun in literary English (But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved Matthew 24:13 (Au thorized Version, 1611)), but is now largely confined to legal and business cont exts: The cross motion for an order for renewal of plaintiff's motion for alimony pend ente lite is denied, no sufficiently persuasive ground in support of same having been demonstratedNew York Law Journal, 1973. In general use the effect is usuall y jocular or pseudolegalistic, except in uses of the type My wife ordered lemon sole and I had the same.
2 When same is connected to a following word or phrase, the usual link word is a s: Your car is the same make as mine. When a clause follows, as may be replaced by that: I've bought the same make of car as you have got or I've bought the sam e make of car that you have got, and as a relative pronoun that may even be omit ted in the normal way: I've bought the same make of car you have got. In more fo rmal contexts, however, as should be used.Top
Back - New Search sanatorium is the customary word in BrE for an institution for treating invalids, but in Am E it alternates with sanitarium (but the variant sanatarium is erroneous).
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sanction. 1 The dominant current meaning of the noun is à penalty for disobeying a law or r
ule' and is usually found in the plural, as in the phrase economic sanctions. This older meaning goes back to legal terminology of the 16c and 17c. A second, more recent (18c), meaning is àpproval or encouragement given to an action', and it sit s happily beside the other one despite being virtually opposite in sense.
2 In the case of the verb, the historical order of senses is the other way round , with àuthorize, approve' as the earlier and ìmpose sanctions on' as the later, altho ugh this second meaning is not often used: Georgina Dufoix, the only politician so far sanctioned for allowing the Palestin ian guerrilla chief into FranceIndependent, 1992.Top
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's and s' and òf' possessives. 1 The use of 's and s' to form respectively singular and plural possessive forms of nouns (a woman's hat / their friends' house / the dog's dinner) is a surviva l in an altered form of Anglo-Saxon inflections (normally -es) that have otherwi se disappeared from English. (For rules see APOSTROPHE (1), (2).) Their use is c ommoner with nouns that represent humans or animals, as in the examples just giv en; in other cases the alternative construction with of is more usual: the petal s of the flower / the windows of the house. There are, however, notable exceptio ns to this general rule: a nouns denoting time or space: a day's journey / a stone's throw / at arm's len gth. b in a number of fixed expressions (in which the possessive noun is often in eff ect personified): at death's door / out of harm's way / in his mind's eye / for heaven's sake. c nouns denoting vessels or vehicles: the car's wheels / the ships' masts / the plane's engines. d names (or common nouns) for countries and large places: Russia's tourist indus try / London's homeless / the region's wildlife. In all these cases there is pro bably an element of personification, making the nouns concerned `honorary' living th ings.
2 Apparent exceptions also occur in uses that are not really possessives at all but denote a looser relationship: the soil's productivity / the painting's disap pearance. (Compare uses in relation to people, such as Napoleon's defeat / John' s concentration.)Top
3 Conversely, the type of construction with of known as a `partitive genitive', e.g. a glass of water / a dose of salts, cannot be expressed with a form in 's a wat er's glass / a salts' dose).Top
4 It should be noted that some `s and s' forms with human or animal nouns cannot be converted into of forms, usually because the relationship is not simply possessi ve: the man's reward / the writer's criticism / the boys' explanation / Sophie's revelation.Top
5 For the type a friend of my father's, see DOUBLE POSSESSIVE.Top
Back - New Search sanguine, sanguinary. Both words are derived from the Latin word sanguis (stem sanguin-) meaning `blood'. Sanguine originally meant `blood-coloured' but now primarily means òptimistic, confid ent' from an earlier association of blood (one of the four bodily `humours') with this type of temperament. By contrast, sanguinary has retained its more physical mea nings àccompanied by blood' and `bloodthirsty'.
Back - New Search sari is the dominant spelling for the traditional item of dress worn by Indian women, rather than saree. The plural form is saris.
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sat used for sitting, is largely associated with local or dialect usage, but evidenc e of its use is more widespread than this might suggest: I can't help thinking of that Tim sat there juddering his leg up and down Amis , 1988 / Now, I'm sat in a nice car, my husband at my sideA. Duff , 1990 (New Zealand). Th is use remains marginally non-standard nonetheless.
Back - New Search Saturday see FRIDAY.
Back - New Search saut meaning `lightly fried', is spelt in this way. The verb has inflected forms sautd (on e e only), sauting.
Back - New Search savannah a grazing plain in subtropical regions, is spelt in this way in BrE but more oft en as savanna in AmE.
Back - New Search save as a conjunction (in combination with that) or preposition equivalent to except or but has a more formal or literary ring to it: There was little chance of seeing her save as a sari-shrouded figure on the occa sion of her marriageM.M. Kaye , 1978 / He had no answersave that British scientists had been reorganised so often in rec ent years that it was time for stabilityNew Scientist, 1991.
Back - New Search saw meaning `to cut with a saw', has the past form sawed and past participle sawn or (oc casionally) sawed. As an adjective referring to a shotgun, sawn-off is the only form used.
Back - New Search Saxonism is a semi-technical term for a word of Anglo-Saxon rather than Latin origin, e.g . hundred as distinct from century. Over the centuries since the Norman Conquest the Latinate stock of vocabulary has increased greatly, and recent years have s een a special recourse to words of Latin and Greek origin to give what is regard ed as an appropriate importance to great new discoveries such as television (of
mixed Latin and Greek origin) and computers. At various times there have been mo vements to encourage the use of Anglo-Saxon words, typified in the 19c by the ef forts of the English poet William Barnes to promote words such as bodeword inste ad of commandment and gleecraft instead of music. Fowler , however, was not amon g these Saxonizers, noting (1926) that `the wisdom of this nationalism in languagea t least in so thoroughly composite a language as Englishis very questionable'.
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say. 1 In ordinary use say occurs as a noun only in the expression have a say (or var iants of it such as have a bigger say).
2 The use of say as an imperative in uses such as Let's meet soonsay next Friday is an established idiom.Top
Back - New Search sc. is short for Latin scilicet (= scire licet, òne may understand or know') and is use d with the meaning `that is to say' to introduce an explanation of a difficult or un clear term, e.g. the policy of the NUT (sc. National Union of Teachers).
Back - New Search scallop pronounced skol-p, is the preferred spelling for the name of the mollusc, not sc ollop. The verb (meaning e.g. `to decorate with scallop designs') has inflected form s scalloped, scalloping.
Back - New Search scallywag a word of unknown origin, is normally spelt in this way in BrE, but in AmE other forms such as scalawag and scallawag are also used.
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scaly meaning `covered in scales', is spelt in this way, not scaley.
Back - New Search scampi meaning `large prawns', is a plural noun (of Italian origin), but is sometimes treat ed as singular in the sense à dish of scampi'.
Back - New Search scant, scanty. Both words have meanings to do with smallness or insufficiency. Scant is of Nors e origin and came into English as several parts of speech including noun and ver b as well as adjective. In current use it is only an adjective and even then its use is largely confined to certain set combinations such as scant attention and scant regard. It is only used in attributive position (i.e. before a noun), whe reas the related adjective scanty can also be used after a verb and has more gen eral scope, although it tends to be used with reference to concrete rather than abstract nouns (e.g. a scanty lunch / scanty clothing / property in London is sc anty).
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scarcely. 1 The standard construction is scarcely when : Scarcely had he begun when Claver-house ordered him to riseA. Boyle , 1990. The c onstruction with than, though increasingly common and perhaps suggested by the a nalogy of no sooner than , is non-standard: But scarcely had he begun to investigate these new, if somewhat less adventurous , hunting-grounds, than the entire party was `summoned back to Hobarton by Sir Joh n'I. Tree , 1991. A construction with a following comparative adjective or adverb i s however acceptable: There could scarcely be a less promising environment for an amphibian than the d esert of central Australia Attenborough , 1988 / In Wilson's eyes the condition of the British seaman was scarcely better than it had been half a century earlierA. Marsh , 1989.
2 Scarcely, like barely and hardly, has a negative force without being grammatic ally negative, and another negative should be avoided in the same sentence unles s it is in a following subordinate clause: There is scarcely an aspect of the race that is not rife with meaningNew Yorker, 1989.Top
Back - New Search scarf. The word for a piece of outdoor clothing has the plural form scarves, whereas fo r the unrelated word meaning à joint or notch in timber, metal, etc.' it is scarfs.
Back - New Search scarify pronounced with the first syllable as in scab, is a semi-technical word meaning `t o scratch or make incisions in', and has nothing to do with the verb scare. A verb scarify, pronounced like scare and formed on the analogy of terrify, meaning `to scare or frighten', has been in existence since the 18c but is regarded as colloqu ial or even non-standard.
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scenario. 1 The pronunciation is normally si-nah-ri-oh in BrE and si-nai-ri-oh in AmE. The plural form is scenarios.
2 The word came into English from Italian in the late 19c as a term for the outl ine plot of a play, ballet, novel, etc., and was extended to the world of film i n the early 20c. From the 1960s a new meaning exploded into use, and the word no w commonly refers to any supposed or imagined series of events, or even to a sta tic situation: How then do we decide which class to assign a couple to where he is a builder an d she is a secretary (not that uncommon a scenario)?R. Symonds , 1988 / But in the worst-case scenario, if the heir to the throne cannot hold his marria ge together, there could be no throne left for him, or his eldest son, to inheri tToday, 1992. This use of scenario is often regarded with suspicion, but it is ha rd to see why when so many other comparable figurative uses (such as scene) pass without comment. In its right place, when the imagined events or circumstances
form a related sequence and are therefore comparable to the elements of a storyline, the word is a useful one.Top
Back - New Search scene used figuratively in expressions such as a scene of mayhem, is part of the stand ard language. More informal are uses of the type not my scene and the jazz scene , originally associated with youth slang but now used more generally.
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sceptic, sceptical. A sceptic ments and ceptic is n AmE the (pronounced skep-tik) is someone who doubts accepted opinions or judge differs from a cynic, whose doubts concern human values and motives. S also an adjective, but the more common adjectival form is sceptical. I words are spelt skeptic and skeptical.
Back - New Search sceptre is spelt -re in BrE and scepter in AmE.
Back - New Search schedule. The dominant pronunciation in BrE is shed-yool, but the American form sked-yool is beginning to exert an influence, especially among younger speakers.
Back - New Search schism meaning `the division of a group into opposing sections', is now commonly heard as s kizm in place of the older form sizm recognized by the OED (1910).
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schist a term in geology for a type of layered rock, is pronounced shist.
Back - New Search scholar should be used to mean a learned person or the holder of a scholarship (at a sch ool or university), not as a substitute term for a school pupil.
Back - New Search school, shoal. The two words are of the same Middle Dutch origin and are used with the same mea ning of large numbers of fish and other sea animals swimming together. They are unrelated to the more familiar word school, which is derived from Latin schola.
Back - New Search scion meaning à descendant of a (noble) family', is pronounced siy-n.
Back - New Search scissors is treated as a plural noun in its basic meaning (The scissors are in the drawer ), but has a singular use in certain sports, where it is usually elliptical for a longer phrase such as scissors movement or scissors pass (The ordinary scissor s is the least effective of the four styles).
Back - New Search scone is mostly pronounced skon in BrE, but skohn is also heard, especially in souther n England, and is the dominant pronunciation in AmE. Scone, a village in central Scotland which was the site of a palace where the kings of Scotland were crowne d, is pronounced skoon.
Back - New Search score
= 20. A score of + plural noun is normally treated as a plural, the plural noun being regarded as the `head' of the noun phrase: A score of customers were waiting a t the door.
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Scotch, Scots, Scottish. 1 The favoured terms are a Scot or Scotsman or Scotswoman for a person from Scot land, Scottish as the general adjective relating to Scotland, and Scots for any of the dialect forms of English spoken in (especially Lowland) Scotland (to be d istinguished from Scottish English which is a variety of standard English). Scot s is also used in certain expressions such as Scots law and the Scots Guards.
2 The adjective and noun Scotch, though regularly used by Burns and Scott , fell out of favour in the 19c and is now confined to certain fixed expressions such as Scotch broth, Scotch eggs, Scotch mist, and Scotch whisky. Outside the UK, an d especially in America, Scotch is likely to occur more often.Top
Back - New Search scrimmage, scrummage. Scrimmage is the more general word for à rough struggle or brawl' and is a technica l term in American football, whereas scrummage (more usually shortened to scrum) is the term used in rugby football.
Back - New Search seance a term for a spiritualist meeting, is now normally spelt without an acute accent on the first e.
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seasonable, seasonal.
Seasonal means òccurring at or associated with a particular season' (the seasonal m igration of geese), whereas seasonable is a more judgemental word meaning `suitabl e for the season or time of year' (There was a seasonable crispness in the air).
Back - New Search second. The pronunciation is with the stress on the first syllable in all uses except th e verb meaning `to transfer to another use or employment', when the stress falls on the second syllable.
Back - New Search second hand is normally spelt as two words in uses such as heard at second hand, and is hyph ened when used as an adjective (a second-hand car) or adverbial phrase (They alw ays buy second-hand).
Back - New Search secretary should be pronounced as four syllables with the first r fully articulated, not a s if it were spelt seketerry or sekretry.
Back - New Search sect is a word of Middle English origin denoting a party or faction holding views oth er than those of the majority (especially in a religious body). Historically it has been applied by Anglicans to various non-conformist groups (e.g. Methodists and Quakers) and it is now used of various groups, always with unfavourable conn otations.
Back - New Search seeing is commonly used as a kind of conjunction, often followed by that, with the mean ing `because, considering that': He was the kid-brother whom I helped as far as I could, seeing that we had no mo therB. Cobb , 1971. The forms seeing as and seeing as how occur in informal conte xts.
Back - New Search seem. For the type seems to have been, see PERFECT INFINITIVE.
Back - New Search seldom see RARELY.
Back - New Search self. Except in commercial contexts (a cheque drawn to self), self is now used as a su bstitute for myself or oneself only in jocular or informal contexts or in more c asual styles of writing: A.A. [sc. Alcoholics Anonymous] requires memory, the acknowledgement of actions' effects on self and others, then apology and atonementB. Holm , 1985.
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selfis a highly productive prefix forming compounds of various types, in most of whi ch self- acts as the object on which the action or attribute signified by the se cond element operates, e.g. self-betrayal (= betrayal of oneself), self-awarenes s (= awareness of oneself), self-addressed (= addressed to oneself), etc. In oth er uses self is an agent, e.g. self-educated (= educated by oneself), self-evide nt (evident in itself), and self-service (= service by oneself). Occasionally th e second element is sufficient by itself and selfis arguably redundant, as in self-assured, self-conceited, and self-confident, but the prefix serves a reinfo rcing role and most of this type are idiomatic.
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semiis the most active and versatile of the prefixes meaning `half' (the other two being
demi- and hemi-) in forming compounds, often with adjectives and verbal partici ples as the second element (semi-automatic, semi-detached, semi-skilled, etc.) a nd occasionally nouns (semi-circle, semi-final). Semi- and demi- are Latin in or igin, whereas hemi- is Greek.
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semicolon. The semicolon is the least confidently used of the regular punctuation marks in ordinary writing, and the one least in evidence to anyone riffling through the p ages of a modern novel. But it is extremely useful, used in moderation. Its main role is to mark a grammatical separation that is stronger in effect than a comm a but less strong than a full stop. Normally the two parts of a sentence divided by a semicolon balance or complement each other as distinct from leading from o ne to the other (in which case a COLON is usually more suitable): Most of his tools are old, handed down from his father and grandfather and uncle s; here they are, handle upward, in tubs of oil and sand to stop them rusting Mor rison , 1993. It is also used as a stronger division in a sentence that already contains commas: What has crippled me? Was it my grandmother, frowning on my childish affection a nd turning it to formality and cold courtesy; or my timid, fearful mother, in aw e of everyone including, finally, me; or was it my wife's infidelities, or my ow n? Lambert , 1989.
Back - New Search senator is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search senior citizen.
She is a retired person, a senior citizen, you might say Pym , 1977. Senior citiz en is a modern euphemism (first recorded in the 1930s) for an elderly person or old-age pensioner, and is more politically correct because it refers positively to status rather than negatively to age. It is now widely used in official conte xts.
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sensational. The original meaning `relating to sensation or the senses', first attested in the mi d 19c, has been all but driven out by its extended meaning `causing or intended to cause an exciting or startling effect' (i.e. causing a sensation in the correspon ding sense): Watergate was such a sensational piece of skulduggeryTimes, 1980.
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sensible, sensitive. 1 The primary meaning of sensible is `having (common) sense', i.e. the opposite of f oolish, and of sensitive èasily offended or emotionally hurt'. In these uses they h ardly get in each other's way. Where they overlap is in meanings to do with reac tions involving the senses or feelings: you are sensible of something when you a pprehend it with emotional consciousness and are sensitive to something when you react to it with strong emotional feeling, the words `consciousness' and `feeling' char acterizing the difference between the two. However, sensible of now sounds old f ashioned, and a more likely choice of words might be conscious of or aware of, a lthough these admittedly denote intellectual rather than emotional perceptions.
2 The nouns sensibility and sensitivity are harder to keep apart. Sensibility co rresponds to sensible (in its familiar meaning) much less closely than sensitivi ty does to sensitive, and chiefly denotes (often in the plural) a person's delic ate finer feelings: Walter was a little hurt at this since he did most of the cooking at their place , but Zimmerman was too upset to worry about Walter's sensibilities Elton , 1992. Sensitivity has a wider range of meanings concerned with physical or emotional reactions of various kinds: My reference to it was simply a tease, and all the more tempting given Victor's known sensitivity on the point Climber and Walker , 1991 / It is difficult to see how we can have sensitivity to plants and rivers, trees a nd ecosystems if we have no sensitivity to the caged animalAnimal Welfare and the Environment, 1992.Top
Back - New Search sensitize, not the arguably more correct form sensitivize, is the standard word in meanings to do with making things sensitive, normally in physical senses (in photography , for example).
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sensual, sensuous. 1 Sensual is the older word (15c), and originally described feelings that involv ed the senses as distinct from the intellect. As it became more closely associat ed with aspects of physical indulgence characterized by the expression sensual p leasure (principally sexual but also to do with food), sensuous came into use (f irst apparently by Milton in 1641) to take over the meanings that sensual had on ce had in relation to aesthetic rather than carnal sensations.
2 In current usage, this distinction holds good for those who want a rule: (sens ual) Modigliani appreciated Kisling for what he was, a sweet-natured, high-spirited, sensual young manJ. Rose , 1990 / The Hindu god of love, Kama, is the husband of Rati, the goddess of sensual desi reP. Allardice , 1990 / (sensuous) All the sensuous elements of the previous years have been banished; colour has b een reduced to a severe combination of browns, dull greens and greysJ. Golding , 1988 / The passage exemplifies the distancing effect of simile, and the more sensuous e ffect of metaphorE. Black , 1993.Top
3 But in the hurly-burly of general usage the meanings are too close, and sensuo us has begun to go the way of sensual, especially in modern popular fiction: He looked forward to this drink, the first of the day, with a sensuous desire Vin e , 1987 / There was something extremely sensuous about having a man dry her hair, especial ly this manA. Murray , 1993. Although the complex subtleties of sense perception cause meanings to merge into one another, it is prudent to remember the basic di stinction when using these words, so that sensuous can retain its full force of meaning in uses that are primarily to do with aesthetics, for example in the con text of music or poetry: Cesti's great gift was for melody: sensuous and eminently singableG. Abraham , 19 85.Top
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sentence. 1 Many users of this book will have been taught that a sentence is a group of wo rds that makes complete sense, contains a main verb, and when written begins wit h a capital letter and ends with a full stop (or a question mark if it is a ques tion or an exclamation mark if it is an exclamation). This is a good working def inition, and rather than pick holes in it we might more profitably add certain r iders to it:
2 A sentence can contain ellipsis, i.e. a verb and other words can be understood or suppressed: It had been a good party. An unforgettable party, actually. And still wasA. Huth , 1992. (Ellipsis of it had been in the second sentence and it in the third.) Gr ammarians may argue about whether these are all true sentences, but for practica l purposes it is sensible to regard them all as qualifying for the term, if only to make straightforward discussion about language structure possible.Top
3 There are three basic kinds of sentence. A simple sentence normally contains o ne statement: It has been a good party. A compound sentence contains more than o ne statement, normally joined by a conjunction such as and or but: It has been a good party and we enjoyed it / It has been a good party but l've known better. A complex sentence contains a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses, s uch as a relative clause introduced by which or who: It has been a good party, w hich we enjoyed very much.Top
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sentence adverb. 1 Certain adverbs, such as actually, basically, clearly, frankly, interestingly, normally, regrettably, strictly, and usually, have the special role of qualifyi ng entire statements rather than individual words. Some of these are adverbs of time and frequency and retain a closer connection with the verb despite being se parated from it: It is normally very difficult to get a new sport accepted for the OlympicsNew Yor ker, 1984. The others have a more independent role in referring not to the conte nt of the statement but to an external consideration, such as the opinion of the speaker, even though they may not be explicitly expressed as such:
Regrettably, most overseas hotels are not well equipped for disabled holidaymake rsholiday brochure, 1990 (= as is to be regretted) / Clearly therefore, we suggest, this points to a `mole' within British Telecom Preste l headquartersTimes, 1984 (= as is clear). This phenomenon is commonly associated with 20c usage, but examples of earlier date are recorded.
2 The examples given so far are mostly unexceptionable, but controversy arises w ith thankfully, regretfully, and, above all, hopefully: Hopefully, our experience will be of use to themIndependent, 1989. This may be be cause, unlike the others, there is no phrasal basis corresponding to it is clear that (for clearly) or to be frank (for frankly), since ìt is to be hoped that' is passive whereas hopeful is àctive' (i.e. the person so described does the hoping). See HOPEFULLY.Top
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separate. Note the spelling with two as, unlike desperate. The verb is pronounced sep--ray t, and the adjective sep--rt.
Back - New Search sepulchre is spelt -re in BrE and sepulcher in AmE.
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sequence of tenses. This refers to the pattern of tenses in a sequence of verbs within a sentence. I f a simple statement such as I'm afraid I haven't finished is put into indirect speech by means of a reporting verb such as said, thought, etc., the tense of th e reported action changes in accordance with the time perspective of the speaker : He said he was afraid he hadn't finished. However, the tense of the reported v erb can stay the same if the time relative to the speaker is the same as that re lative to the person reported: She likes beans can be converted either to She sa
id she liked beans or to She said she likes beans, and I won't be here tomorrow can be converted either to He said he wouldn't be here tomorrow or to He said he won't be here tomorrow.
Back - New Search sergeant, serjeant. The normal spelling in the context of the police and the army is sergeant; serje ant is usually restricted to the titles of certain ceremonial offices, such as t he serjeant-at-arms with reference to the British parliamentary or civic officia l.
Back - New Search series is spelt the same both as a singular and as a plural noun.
Back - New Search serviceable is spelt with an e in the middle, to preserve the soft sound of the c.
Back - New Search serviette see NAPKIN.
Back - New Search sesquicentenary see ANNIVERSARIES.
Back - New Search sett is still a common variant spelling of set in the meanings (1) a badger's burrow and (2) a paving-block.
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seventies see EIGHTIES.
Back - New Search several is an adjective and pronoun. As an adjective, it is only used with plural counta ble nouns (several people but not several furniture) and is more positive in imp lication than a few. However, unlike a few, several cannot be qualified by an ad verb such as quite or only.
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sew, sow verbs. Sew means `to form stitches with a needle and thread' and has the past form sewed an d the past participle sewn or sewed. Sow means `to plant (seed)' and has the past fo rm sowed and the past participle sown or sowed.
Back - New Search sewage, sewerage. Sewage is waste matter carried by sewers, and sewerage is a system of sewers.
Back - New Search sexcentenary see ANNIVERSARIES.
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sexist language. Roughly since the 1970s, certain established uses of language have come to be re garded as discriminatory against women, either because they are based on male te rminology or because women appear to be given a status that is linguistically an
d socially subsidiary. Specific aspects of this will be found at the entries for -ESS, GENDER-NEUTRALITY, -MAN, MS, -PERSON. Since the 1980s, many official styl e guides (including Judith Butcher's Copy-editing, third edition, Cambridge, 199 2) have included advice on how to avoid sexist language. In 1989 the General Syn od of the Church of England debated a report on the need to introduce non-sexist language into the liturgy, and in the same year a revised version of the Bible substituted one for man in such contexts as Happy is the man who does not take t he wicked for his guide. It is in the realm of idiom that male-biased language w ill most likely persist, since it is difficult to reconstruct without awkwardnes s or affectation such compound words and phrases as manpower, maiden voyage, eve ry man for himself, and the man on the Clapham omnibus.
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shall and will. 1 The customary rule is that to express a simple future tense shall is used afte r I and we (In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today Hansard , 1992) and will in other cases, whereas to express intention or w ish the reverse applies (We will give people a new right of access to open country, create new national parks and step up protection for special sitesIt's time to get Britain working ag ain (Labour Party), 1992); but it is unlikely that this rule has ever had any co nsistent basis of authority in actual usage, and many examples of English in pri nt disregard it. In general, the rule applies more strongly to I than to we.
2 Furthermore, the distinction is often difficult to establish, especially in th e first person when the speaker is also the performer of the future action and i ntention is therefore implied at least partially. Will and (occasionally) shall are used as auxiliary verbs to refer to future action or state, but other, more natural, ways of expressing this are commonly preferred, such as am going to: I'm going to teach him people are more important than money Gee , 1992.Top
3 When shall and will are used in conversation, they are normally contracted to 'll, especially after pronouns, leaving the difference between the two words irr elevant: They'll cook and clean for a week before a partyNew York Times, 1976 / I'll remember this sodding day until the day I die Bogarde , 1980.Top
4 Shall has been largely driven out by will in all parts of the English-speaking world other than England. It survives mostly in first-person questions or sugge
stions (Shall I help you to try again?B. Jagger , 1986 / `Shall we take our drinks to the bedroom?' she said softlyJ. Francome , 1990), in leg al language (The landlord shall maintain the premises), and in the contracted negative form shan't (`Have no fear I shan't throw in the towel, I promise you.'M. Russell , 1979), but shan't is not used in American English. In the English of England (not of B ritain), shall half survives in such (now old-fashioned and affected) uses as Yes, you shall take some eggs back to your auntC. Harvey , 1992 (a command or ass urance) and Shall you come tomorrow? (seeking information rather than making a r equest), but will (or sometimes can) is just as common, especially in speech, an d is more natural.Top
5 There is not much doubt that will will win, and shall shall lose, in the end.T op
Back - New Search shambles. The word now most commonly used to mean à mess or muddle' has a colourful history. It started life in Old English in the singular form shamble meaning à stool or fo otstool', came to refer to a table or stall for the sale of meat, and was then app lied (in the plural, shambles) to the slaughterhouse from which the meat came. F rom the 16c it meant any scene of blood and carnage. The modern meaning arose as recently as the 1920s, and is still disliked by many because it debases a power ful word. In these last two senses shambles is normally treated as a singular no un, usually in the form a shambles (The house was a shambles or The house was in a shambles).
Back - New Search shamefaced meaning `showing shame', is a 16c alteration of an older word shamefast, meaning `bash ful', and should be spelt as one word. The adverb shamefacedly should be pronounce d as four syllables.
Back - New Search shampoo. The verb has inflected forms shampoos, shampooed, shampooing.
Back - New Search shanghai meaning `to kidnap for naval service', inflects awkwardly in English, but the recomm ended forms are shanghais, shanghaied, shanghaiing.
Back - New Search shan't see SHALL AND WILL (4).
Back - New Search sharp is used as an adverb only in expressions such as at 10 o'clock sharp (= exactly) and He pulled up sharp (= abruptly). In other meanings of sharp, the correct fo rm of the adverb is sharply (Prices dropped sharply / She spoke to them sharply) .
Back - New Search shave. The verb has a past form and past participle shaved, but the adjectival form is normally shaven, as in clean-shaven.
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she. 1 For she or her after the verb be, see CASES 2A.
2 For the expression he or she, see GENDER-NEUTRALITY.Top
Back - New Search s/he.
A child's sexual orientation is determined before s/he enters schoolAmerican Educ ator, 1978. This written representation of `he or she' as a gender-neutral pronoun i s generally limited to the domain of reports and dead-pan English. Because it ca nnot be articulated, it is unlikely to penetrate further into the realms of stan dard usage. See GENDER-NEUTRALITY.
Back - New Search sheaf has the plural form sheaves. The verb meaning `to make into sheaves' is sheave.
Back - New Search shear, sheer. Shear is a verb meaning `to remove by cutting' or `to cut the wool off (a sheep)', and h as the past form sheared and the past participle shorn or (in the context of met al-cutting) sheared. Sheer is an adjective describing a steep cliff or ascent an d is also used in expressions such as sheer luck.
Back - New Search sheath is pronounced sheeth (like teeth) in the singular and sheedhz (like seethes) in the plural.
Back - New Search sheep is the same in the singular and plural.
Back - New Search sheikh pronounced shayk or sheek, is the preferred spelling of the word for an Arab chi ef or leader.
Back - New Search shelf has the plural form shelves, and the corresponding verb is shelve. The compound
form shelf-ful should be written with a hyphen for clarity, and its plural is sh elf-fuls.
Back - New Search show, shew. The normal spelling is show. Shew is used in Scottish law and in citations from the Bible and Prayer Book.
Back - New Search shibboleth. The primary meaning in current English is à custom or phrase that distinguishes a particular class or group of people', either one approved of or one deprecated in others (Apparently, to wear a hat in the cafeteria was a student shibbolethI. Young , 19 90), and is an extension of the biblical meaning of a Hebrew word used by Jephth ah as a testword by which to distinguish the fleeing Ephraimites (who could not pronounce the sh sound) from his own men the Gileadites.
Back - New Search shine. The normal past forms and past participle are shone, but shined is used in AmE a nd in both varieties in the meaning `to make (something) shine': The car is a red Mercedes, newly shinedS. North , 1989 (UK) / It occurred to me that this was not a reflection from his glasses or his crown, no matter how much they shinedD. Pinckney , 1992 (US).
Back - New Search shingles the disease, is normally treated as a singular noun (Shingles sometimes follows a bad case of measles), but it can be plural when the emphasis is on the resulti ng blisters rather than the illness itself (The shingles were extremely painful) .
Back - New Search ship see BOAT.
Back - New Search shire. In England, the shires are traditionally the foxhunting areas of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, and the former county of Rutland. Since the reorganization of local government in 1972 and 1986 the term shire county has been applied to the 39 counties outside metropolitan areas which have county councils, as distinct from London and the six metropolitan counties.
Back - New Search Shoe. The verb has inflected forms shoes, shoeing, and (past tense and past participle ) shod.
Back - New Search shop verb. In BrE the verb is used intransitively (i.e. without an object) in its meaning `to buy things at shops', whereas in AmE it is also used transitively with the meanin g `to examine or buy goods at (a store)': One man who had shopped the entire store complained that he hadn't found what he was looking forS. Marcus , 1974. The informal transitive use `to inform on (someon e)' is chiefly BrE.
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short-lived is pronounced shawt-livd in BrE and shawt-liyvd in AmE.
Back - New Search short, shortly adverbs. The roles of these two words are fairly clearly separated. Short usually means `be fore the expected time or place, abruptly' (We cut short the celebration / They pu lled up short), whereas shortly is most often used to mean `before long, soon' (She is expected to arrive shortly).
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should and would. 1 As with shall and will, should has been largely driven out by would as an auxi liary verb, but there is the added consideration that should also (in fact more often than not) denotes obligation or likelihood (Now I think we should bring down the curtain on this little episode, and go to bedA. Browning , 1992 / The main advantage of digital mobile phones is that you should be able to have m ore of themEconomist, 1993).
2 As an auxiliary verb, would is more usual than should when stating a condition or proposition and is the only choice when asking a question (They would like t o stay / I would think so / Would you bring the children?). Should is sometimes used in the first person (singular and plural) for statements and propositions, especially in the English of England (`/ should like one of these,' says Claudia Lively , 1987) and in tentative statement s of opinion (I should say that there is not only increasing public awareness of the problems of smoking and its longterm consequences to the health of smokers, but [etc.] Ha nsard , 1992), and is always used in inverted constructions expressing a conditi on: St Bernards had placed a fee on this transfer should he go to a Football League clubN. Sands , 1991.Top
3 Would has to be used when referring to unfulfilled conditions and hypotheses (Ordinarily, I would have chosen an empty table Aldiss , 1991) and to habitual ac tion in the past (These he would produce with a flourish during our Wednesday- and Sunday-evening sessions Self , 1993), and to express the future in the past (Horrified, she realised she would have to write and thank everyoneP. Street , 19 90).Top
4 In conversational English, the contracted forms I'd, you'd, etc., are often us ed in simple statements instead of the full forms, so that the should / would di stinction is not an issue (Better ask yourself which you'd chooseP.D. James , 1986 /
I'd be delighted to join you Amis , 1988), but in meanings to do with obligation or likelihood (see paragraph 1) the full form should has to be used.Top
Back - New Search should of. This erroneous form of should have arises in all English-speaking countries beca use the contracted form should've is indistinguishable from it in speech. It is often associated with the speech of children or poorly educated adults: Well, you should of buyed some cigarettes for yourself so it's your own faultS. M ackay , 1984.
Back - New Search shovel. The verb has inflected forms shovelled, shovelling in BrE, and in AmE usually sh oveled, shoveling.
Back - New Search show. The past tense is showed (I showed it to them), and the past participle is norma lly shown (Have you shown it to them?) but occasionally showed: Mr Marr hadn't shown up at any of the places where he should have been Williams , 1992.
Back - New Search shrilly meaning ìn a shrill manner', is pronounced shril-li, with both Is fully articulated .
Back - New Search shrink has a past tense shrank and a past participle shrunk, but shrunken is the normal adjectival form in both physical and abstract senses: She was a thin sickly child with a tremendous head of dark curly hair, a tiny sh runken face and enormous eyesS. Stewart , 1991 /
Eliot discussed the shrunken sense in which `culture' was applied to the artsR. Crawf ord , 1990.
Back - New Search shrivel has inflected forms shrivelled, shrivelling, and in AmE usually shriveled, shriv eling.
Back - New Search shy. The adjective has comparative and superlative forms shyer and shyest, and deriva tive forms shyly, shyness.
Back - New Search sibling is a kind of popularized technicality, a word reintroduced by anthropologists in the early 20c and useful now as a gender-neutral term for `brother or sister': Small groups drifted through the classroom: mothers and fathers, large numbers o f childrenEdward's pupils along with older and younger siblings Lively , 1990. The word is also common in the expression sibling rivalry: Moses shows more than a hint of sibling rivalry in his attitude to his brother A aronC. Raphael , 1972.
Back - New Search sic the Latin word for `so, thus', is added in round or square brackets after a quoted w ord or phrase about which some doubt might be expected in the reader's mind, bec ause of a misspelling (which the quoting writer does not want to correct) or som e other oddity of use: Mr Foot started work to settle the miners [sic] dispute even before kissing hand s with the QueenOED2 citing The Guardian, 1974, drawing attention to rather than silently correcting a missing apostrophe. It should not be used as a superciliou s comment on the quoted writer's style or supposed looseness of grammar, as in t he following example: / probably have a different sense of morality to [sic] most peopleChicago Tribune, 1994, quoting Alan Clark .
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sick see ILL.
Back - New Search sickly is an adjective meaning `weak in health', and is not used as an adverb.
Back - New Search siege is spelt -ie-, as is besiege.
Back - New Search sienna the pigment and its colour of yellowish-brown (raw sienna) or reddish-brown (bur nt sienna) is spelt with two ns despite being derived from the name of Siena in northern Italy.
Back - New Search sieve a device for separating solids from liquids, is spelt -ie-, and pronounced siv.
Back - New Search signal. The verb has inflected forms signalled, signalling in BrE, and in AmE usually si gnaled, signaling.
Back - New Search signatory is now the usual spelling (not signatary) for the noun meaning à party or state t hat has signed an agreement', and the corresponding adjective.
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significant other is a coy term for a live-in partner and normally occurs in facetious contexts. S ee also POSSLQ.
Back - New Search silken see -EN ADJECTIVES.
Back - New Search sillabub see SYLLABUB.
Back - New Search sillily though formally correct, is too awkward for normal use and is usually replaced b y the phrase in a silly way or by other one-word adverbs such as foolishly or st upidly.
Back - New Search silo has the plural form silos.
Back - New Search similar is followed by to: It seemed to me that she was acknowledging an emotion similar to my ownC. Rumens , 1987.
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simile
is a figure of speech consisting of a direct comparison using a construction wit h as as , or with the first as omitted: Soft as rain slipping through rushes, the cattle came Blunden . Some similes belo ng to a stock type, e.g. (as) drunk as a lord, (as) fit as a fiddle, etc. See al so METAPHOR AND SIMILE. Others are constructed with like, e.g. Her skin is like honey.
Back - New Search simplistic is first recorded in its modern meaning as recently as the late 19c. It differs from simple in implying a simplicity that is excessive or misleading rather than direct and useful: She's quite right It is simplistic to speak of malice Stoppard , 1976. To preserv e this useful distinction, care should be taken not to use simplistic when simpl e itself is adequate.
Back - New Search sincerely. For Yours sincerely, see LETTER FORMS.
Back - New Search sinecure meaning à position that requires little or no work but provides profit or honour', is normally pronounced siy-ni-kyoo-, with the first syllable like sign.
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sine qua non is normally pronounced see-nay kwah nohn, although other pronunciations are hear d. It means àn indispensable condition or qualification'.
Back - New Search sing.
The past form is sang and the past participle is sung, although sung is found fo r the past tense in literature of the 18c and 19c.
Back - New Search singeing meaning `burning lightly', is spelt like this to distinguish it from singing (formed from the verb sing).
Back - New Search Sinhalese is the recommended form of the noun and adjective associated with Sri Lanka, rat her than Singalese, Singhalese, and other variants.
Back - New Search sink. The verb has the past tense sank (but formerly and occasionally still sunk) and the past participle sunk. The adjectival forms sunk and sunken are not readily d istinguished: sunken is often used to mean `submerged' (a sunken ship), `fallen in, ho llow' (sunken cheeks, sunken eyes), and often `below the normal level' (sunken garden) . Sunk is the form normally chosen for technical expressions such as sunk fence, sunk key, and sunk panel, although in these cases too sunken is sometimes used. In general use sunken is the more common choice for attributive uses (i.e. befo re nouns).
Back - New Search sinus has the plural form sinuses. In Latin the plural is sinus, not sini.
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siphon is the recommended form for the noun and the verb, not syphon.
Back - New Search sister a senior female nurse, usually in charge of a hospital ward. The equivalent term in AmE is head nurse.
Back - New Search sister-in-law means (1) one's wife's or husband's sister, (2) one's brother's wife, (3) one's brother-in-law's wife.
The plural is sisters-in-law.
Back - New Search sit see SAT.
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sitting-room, living-room. These are the standard terms in current use for the main room of a house equippe d for comfort. Lounge is `non-U' (see U AND NON-U) when applied to a room in a priva te house, and drawing-room is now old-fashioned.
Back - New Search situate meaning situated, survives in legal language and occasionally in the language of estate agents' descriptions, in the UK and beyond: The premises situate at Lukashya turn-off, Mungwi RoadTimes of Zambia, 1977. It h as no place in general usage.
Back - New Search situation is a useful noun for expressing the meaning à set of circumstances, a state of af fairs', especially when preceded by a defining adjective, e.g. the financial situa tion, the political situation, etc. It is less useful, indeed often redundant, w hen a noun precedes: crisis situation adds nothing to crisis and bankruptcy situ ation adds nothing to bankruptcy because both words implicitly denote situations in themselves. On the other hand, hostage situation is a convenient short way o f saying à situation in which hostages have been taken' because hostage is not alre ady a `situation' word.
Back - New Search sixties see EIGHTIES.
Back - New Search sizeable with an e in the middle, is the recommended spelling.
Back - New Search skeptic, skeptical see SCEPTIC, SCEPTICAL.
Back - New Search ski. The noun has the plural form skis, and the verb has inflections skis, skied (pro nounced skeed), skiing (pronounced skee ing). Words ending in -i (in this case f rom Norwegian) are always awkward in English, and some people prefer to use the forms ski'd and ski-ing rather than try to force the word into an uncomfortable English pattern, but these look if anything even more ungainly.
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skier, skyer.
A skie (pronounced skee-) is a person who skis, whereas a skyer (pronounced skiy -) is a high hit in cricket.
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skilful, skilled 1 Skilful is spelt in this way in BrE, and usually skillful in AmE.
2 Skilled is the word to use when referring to types of work (also semi-skilled, unskilled), and is classificatory in function, whereas skilful is evaluative an d can refer to people and their achievements (a skilful painter / a skilful pain ting).Top
Back - New Search skill-less should be spelt with a hyphen to avoid the awkward collision of three ls.
Back - New Search skyer see SKIER.
Back - New Search slack, slacken. Both words have been in use since the 16c, and remain interchangeable in many me anings. There are, however, some areas of preference: slacken is generally more dominant in the sense `to make or become slack (or slacker)': a breeze, demand, one' s energy, one's pace, a rope, the tide, all slacken, and we slacken our efforts, our grip, our opposition. In the meaning `to be lazy or idle' slack is used, but on ly in progressive tenses: She thought I was slacking but not She thought I had s lacked.
Back - New Search slander
see LIBEL.
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slang, 1 The term slang is first recorded in the 1750s, but it was not used by Dr Johns on in his Dictionary of 1755 nor entered in it as a headword (he used the term l ow word, with implications of disapproval). Nonetheless, the notion of highly in formal words or of words associated with a particular class or occupation is ver y old, and this type of vocabulary has been commented on, usually with disfavour , for centuries. More recently, the development of modern linguistic science has led to a more objective assessment in which slang is seen as having a useful pu rpose when used in the right context.
2 Drawing the line between colloquial language and slang is not always easy; sla ng is at the extreme end of informality and usually has the capacity to shock. I n English slang often has associations of class or occupation, so that many slan g words have their origins in cant (the jargon of a particular profession, e.g. bogus, flog, prig, rogue), criminal slang (broad = female companion, drag = inha lation of tobacco smoke, nick = to steal), racing slang (dark horse, no-hoper, h ot favourite), military slang (bonkers = crazy, clobber = beat or defeat, ginorm ous = huge), and most recently computing slang (hacking = breaking into networks , surfing = browsing on the Internet). Other words stay largely within their ori ginal domain of usage, such as drugs slang (flash = pleasant sensation from a na rcotic drug, juice = a drug or drugs) and youth slang (blatantly = definitely, w icked = excellent).Top
3 Slang words are formed by a variety of processes, of which the following are t he main ones: a established words used in extended or special meanings: flash and juice in the previous paragraph, awesome = excellent, hooter = nose, take out = kill. b words made by abbreviation or shortening: fab from fabulous, pro from professi onal, snafu (= situation normal: all fouled up). c rhyming slang: Adam and Eve = believe, butcher's (hook) = look. d words formed by compounding: airhead = stupid person, couch potato = person wh o lazes around watching television, snail mail = ordinary mail as opposed to ema il. e merging of two words: `portmanteau' words such as ditsy = dotty + dizzy, ginormous = gigantic + enormous. f backslang, in which the spelling or sound of other words are reversed: yob fro m boy, slop from police.
g reduplications and fanciful formations: heebie-jeebies, okey-doke. h words based on phrases or idioms: bad-mouth = to abuse, feel-good as in feel-g ood factor, in-your-face = aggressive, drop-dead = extremely (beautiful etc.), m ust-have = essential, one-night stand = brief sexual encounter. i loanwords from other languages: gazump, nosh, shemozzle from Yiddish, kaput fr om German, bimbo from Italian (= little child). j words taken from dialect or regional varieties: manky = dirty, from Scottish; dinkum = genuine, right, Australian and New Zealand.Top
4 Slang uses are especially prevalent in areas in which direct language is regar ded as taboo or unsocial, such as death (to kick the bucket, to hand in one's no sebag, to snuff it), sexual functions (to have it off, to screw), and excretion (to dump, to sit on the throne).Top
5 Slang is by its nature ephemeral, and relatively few words and uses pass into standard use. Examples of these include bogus, clever, joke, and snob (all class ed by Dr Johnson as `low words'). Conversely some words that were once standard have passed into slang (e.g. arse, shit, tit).Top
6 The first work to record English slang was published as B.E.'s Dictionary of t he Canting Crew in 1699. Modern works include Eric Partridge's famous Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (edited by Paul Beale , 1984), The Slang Th esaurus (edited by Jonathon Green , 1986), and The Oxford Dictionary of Modern S lang (edited by John Ayto and John Simpson , 1992).Top
Back - New Search slate verb. There is an important difference between its meanings on the two sides of the At lantic. In BrE it means `to criticize severely', whereas in AmE it usually means `to n ominate' or `to designate or schedule' (as in slating a meeting). The context will nor mally clarify which sense is meant, but care is needed in interpreting newspaper headlines such as Summit meeting slated.
Back - New Search slavish is spelt without an e.
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slay meaning `to kill', has the past tense slew and the past participle slain. In BrE it has a literary flavour, but it is an ordinary word for violent killing in AmE, a ppearing in newspaper headlines such as Serial killer slays seven, which sometim es get carried over into British newspapers as well.
Back - New Search sled, sledge, sleigh. All three word are derived from Dutch and are used for vehicles that carry peopl e or goods over snow. In BrE sledge is the normal word for vehicles of various s izes pulled by people or animals (toboggan, a native American word, is also used for the type used for sport on slopes). Sled is used mainly in North America fo r a large vehicle pulled by animals, and sleigh for the larger type of vehicle d rawn by horses or reindeer.
Back - New Search sleight as in sleight of hand, is pronounced like slight. It is the noun equivalent of t he adjective sly, as height is of high.
Back - New Search slimy is spelt without an e.
Back - New Search sling has the past tense and past participle slung.
Back - New Search slink has the past tense and past participle slunk.
Back - New Search sloe-worm
see SLOW-WORM.
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slogan was originally a Gaelic word for a warcry, but the dominant meaning now is the l ess specific one à watchword or motto' (ban the bomb, business as usual) or à short catchy phrase used in advertising' (Persil washes whitest).
Back - New Search slough. The noun meaning `bog or swamp' is pronounced to rhyme with now. The separate word ( noun and verb) to do with an animal's skin is pronounced to rhyme with stuff. In AmE, the first noun is often written slew and pronounced sloo.
Back - New Search slovenly is used as both adjective and adverb; the form slovenlily would be too awkward a nd is not used.
Back - New Search slow, slowly. In current English the normal adverb for general purposes is slowly (We drove sl owly down the road / She slowly closed the door). Literary uses of slow as an ad verb died out in the 19c (As the stately vessel glided slow beneath the shadow Byron , 1812), and in curre nt usage it is confined to the expression go slow, to compounds such as slow-act ing and slow-moving, and to occasional informal uses (It was easy to drive slow and look into lighted uncurtained windowsL. Ellmann , 1988). The comparative and superlative forms slower and slowest are however regu larly used as well as more slowly and most slowly: Neurotransmitters make the heart beat faster or slowerScientific American, 1974 / I tried to keep one thingthe footin focus throughout, because it seemed to be movi ng slowestPhotography (Argus), 1990.
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slow-worm a small legless lizard, is the dominant current spelling (formerly also sloe-wor m). The word is unconnected with either sloes (the fruit) or the adjective slow.
Back - New Search slur. The verb has inflected forms slurred, slurring.
Back - New Search slush, sludge, slosh. Sludge is usually applied to something relatively thick and less liquid, e.g. to wet clinging mud or slimy deposits, whereas slush more typically describes thaw ing snow or melting ice. Slosh (in its related uses) is a verb meaning `to move wi th a splashing sound'.
Back - New Search sly. The adjective has comparative and superlative forms slyer and slyest, and deriva tive forms slyly, slyness.
Back - New Search smell verb. The form for the past tense and past participle in BrE is smelled or smelt; in A mE smelled is usually preferred. When the verb is used intransitively, the quali ty of the smell is normally expressed either by a phrase introduced by of or by an adjective, and not an adverb: His jacket smelt of horses and tobacco and general malenessA. Fraser , 1975 / As she stooped lower her breath, caught in all the black veils, smelled terrible Keane , 1988. A comparative construction with like is also possible: This smells like a poncey brothelL. Henderson , 1970. When an adverb is used it i s normally an intensifying adverb (His jacket smelled strongly of horses / it sm elled extremely putrid), and this applies when smell is used absolutely with the
meaning `to smell badly, to stink': The prison cell smelt abominably.
Back - New Search smite has the past tense smote and a past participle smitten. In its physical meaning `t o hit', smite is falling into disuse in ordinary contexts, but to be smitten is st ill going strong in its figurative meaning `to be infatuated or obsessed' (He was sm itten by her beauty).
Back - New Search smog formed from smoke + fog and first recorded in 1905, is one of the most enduring portmanteau words of the 20c.
Back - New Search smoky is spelt without an e.
Back - New Search smoulder meaning `to burn slowly', is spelt in this way in BrE and usually smolder in AmE.
Back - New Search snaky meaning `winding or sinuous', is spelt without an e.
Back - New Search sneak verb. Its origins are shrouded in mystery (despite earlier similar forms in Old Englis h and other Germanic languages) as it emerges full clad in the works of English playwrights around 1600: A poor unminded outlaw, sneaking home Shakespeare , 1 Henry IV, iv.iii.58, 1596. In current use it is inflected regularly, with a past tense and past participle sneaked; the bizarre form snuck, which has no precedent in other verbs in -eak a nd -eek (creak, leak, peak, peek, reek, squeak, etc.) has insinuated itself into
several varieties of English, including those of North America, but is not yet treated seriously in BrE. An odd word with an odd history, perhaps with further oddities to come.
Back - New Search snivel. The verb has inflected forms snivelled, snivelling in BrE, and in AmE usually sn iveled, sniveling.
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so. 1 The weather is so uncertain. Fowler's (1926) reservations about what he termed the àppealing so' (i.e. the use of so to appeal for agreement) had more to do with group psychology than good use of language. The use is thoroughly idiomatic in conversational English, although in more didactic contexts, such as that aesthet ically so brilliant world of Greater Greece, it sounds decidedly affected or has à certain air of silliness' (as Fowler expressed it).
2 So that is well established as an alternative to in order that, but it is ofte n used to denote result as much as intention: Police confiscated hundreds of pairs of laces from `bovver boots' so that the youngs ters wearing them could not kick anyoneDaily Telegraph, 1980. In more recent usag e, so is often used alone with the same meaning, leaving the causal connection e ven more tenuous: My father had been a minor diplomat, so as a child I had lived in France, Turkey and Paraguay Greene , 1980 (here so definitely denotes result rather than purpos e).Top
3 For do so, see DO 3E.Top
Back - New Search sobriquets
A sobriquet (preferred spelling, not soubriquet) is a nickname that has become s
o firmly attached to a particular person, place, or thing, that it is understood independently of the real name and is often used in preference to it. The table below gives a selection (some have more than one). NAME STANDS FOR Albion England alma mater one's college or university Athens of the North Edinburgh Auld Reekie Edinburgh Auntie the BBC Bard of Avon Shakespeare Beefeater Yeoman of the Guard Big Apple New York Black Country the industrial west Midlands of England Black Death the 14c plague in England Black Prince the eldest son of Edward III City of Dreaming Spires Oxford Emerald Isle Ireland Garden of England Kent Iron Duke the Duke of Wellington Jack Tar a sailor in the Royal Navy John Bull an Englishman Kiwi a New Zealander Left Bank the artistic district of Paris Maid of Orleans Joan of Arc Old Nick the devil Old Lady of Threadneedle Street the Bank of England The Pond the Atlantic Ocean sport of kings horseracing Stars and Stripes the flag of the USA Swan of Avon Shakespeare The Thunderer The Times (newspaper) Tinseltown Hollywood
Tommy (Atkins) a British soldier Uncle Sam USA Union Flag (or Union Jack) the British flag Virgin Queen Queen Elizabeth I of Englannd
Back - New Search so-called is traditionally used before a name or description to signal doubt about relevan ce or entitlement, as in this so-called work of art. In recent usage it has been applied in a way that simply calls attention to the description, or distances t he user from it, without necessarily questioning it: the so-called generation ga p (i.e. the phenomenon that people call the generation gap). In speech intonatio n normally makes the meaning clear, and in print the context does the same.
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sociable, social. These two words relate to different meanings of society, and should not normally get in each other's way. Social is a classifying word that relates to society i n the broad sense of the relation of human beings to one another (Man is a socia l animal / a social occasion). A social worker is one who deals with those in so ciety who need help, and social security is financial assistance given to them. Sociable is a judgemental word relating to the quality of human relations (corre sponding to society in the sense `companionship, good company'). A sociable person i s one who is friendly and able to deal well with social occasions, and a sociabl e evening is one marked by friendliness and good humour.
Back - New Search sociologese. The seemingly pretentious and opaque language found in some writing on sociology was an obvious target for Sir Ernest Gowers in his edition of Fowler's book (19 65). Among several examples, all unattributed, the following was typical: The te chnique here reported resulted from the authors' continuing interest in human va riables associated with organizational effectiveness. Specifically, this techniq ue was developed to identify and analyse several types of interpersonal activiti es and relations, and to provide a method for expressing the degree of congruenc e between two or more of these activities and relations in indices which might b e associated with available criteria of organizational effectiveness. But there is a difference between sociology written for sociologists (which this is) and s
ociology intended for a wider readership (if there is such a thing). For reserva tions about choosing linguistic targets from technical domains, see more general ly GOBBLEDEGOOK, JARGON, PLAIN ENGLISH.
Back - New Search sojourn. ` You seem to have acquired a very utilitarian view of universities, from your soj ourn in Rummidge,' said Professor Penrose, who was one of the very few people Roby n knew who used the word sojourn in casual conversation Lodge , 1988. The word is normally pronounced soj-n.
Back - New Search solemnness is spelt with two ns, if needed instead of the more usual solemnity.
Back - New Search soliloquy see MONOLOGUE.
Back - New Search solo has the plural form solos.
Back - New Search soluble, solvable. Substances are soluble, not solvable, but problems and difficulties are soluble or solvable. The opposites are insoluble and unsolvable.
Back - New Search sombre is spelt this way in BrE, and somber in AmE.
Back - New Search sombrero a broad-brimmed Mexican hat, has the plural form sombreros.
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some. 1 The use of some to mean `very much' or `notably such' in sentences of the type This is some party is still considered suitable mainly for informal contexts, and Churc hill's famous line in a speech in 1941, Some chicken! Some neck! (in response to a warning that England would have her neck wrung like a chicken), does not seem to have affected popular perception of it. It is also used ironically with the opposite meaning in sentences such as Some friend he is to treat you like that!
2 In AmE some is used to mean `to some extent', as in She thought about it some, in the same way that any is used to mean àt all' (You haven't aged any), and is occasi onally used with the meaning `somewhat' to qualify an adjective He's going to be some pissed off when he finds out about thisM. Machlin , 1976. T hese uses are not found in BrE.Top
3 When some is used before a number, the number should be an approximate or roun ded one: There are in Britain some two hundred and twenty known varieties of hover fly Pun ch, 1966.Top
4 The phrase some of us may be treated as a first-person or a third-person phras e depending on the degree of involvement by the speaker or writer: Some of us wa nt to change our plans includes the speaker whereas Some of us want to change th eir plans excludes or at least distances the speaker from the intended change of plans. The choice only arises when a personal or possessive pronoun or adjectiv e (here our and their) follows in the sentence.Top
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somebody, someone. 1 Both words have been in use since the early 14c and are largely interchangeabl e. Some one occurs as two separate words less often than any one (see ANY (4)), but uses of the type Some one thousand eggs have been collected should be borne in mind.
2 For clashes of agreement in sentences of the type I really resent it when I ca ll somebody who's not home and they don't have an answering machine, see AGREEME NT (4).Top
Back - New Search someday is now commonly spelt as one word in BrE as well as AmE when it is used as an in definite adverb: He likes writers and wants to be one somedayJ. McInerney , 1988. When it is furth er qualified, and therefore more compositional in character, it is written as tw o words, as in Let us meet some day soon.
Back - New Search someplace is a common alternative for somewhere in AmE, but still sounds somewhat alien in British contexts: She can get a good job herself someplace and they can get married Smith , 1983.
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somersault is now the dominant spelling for the acrobatic movement, rather than summersault .
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sometime, some time. 1 Sometime, spelt as one word, is an indefinite adverb with two main meanings: ( 1) `former', as in their friend and sometime partner, and (2) àt some time in the future', as in I'll tell you about it sometime. When some a nd time both retain their separate meaning, they are spelt as two words: Do you have some time to spare? / The job will take some time to finish.
2 Sometime is also used to mean òccasional', especially in the phrase a sometime th ing, but this use is not standard: The Federal bureaucracy has grown unwieldy and party discipline in Congress is a sometime thingNewsweek, 1980.Top
Back - New Search sometimes, some times. The common adverb sometimes is written as one word: I sometimes like my coffee b lack. Some and times are spelt as two words when they retain their separate mean ings, normally as a noun phrase: We used to have some times, in the old days.
Back - New Search something. The practice, originally in AmE and now spreading to BrE, of adding -something t o a multiple of ten to denote an age range (most often but not exclusively thirt y-something) is a convenient informal device: This comic strip collection chronicles the demands of a `thirtysomething' career wom anPublishers Weekly, 1989.
Back - New Search somewhen would be a useful word if people took it seriously, but its use has always been rare and only in the company of a better established word such as somewhere or s omehow: I shall write out my thoughts more at length somewhere, and somewhen, probably s oon Stuart Mill , 1833 /
I cherished the belief that somehow and somewhen I should find my way to OxfordJ. C. Masterman , 1975.
Back - New Search son-in-law means one's daughter's husband. The plural is sons-in-law.
Back - New Search soon. No sooner, being a comparative expression, is followed by than, not when: No sooner had a vaccine for Marek's Disease been found than Fowl Pest swept thro ugh our poultry flocksCountry Life, 1972.
Back - New Search soprano has the plural form sopranos.
Back - New Search sort of see KIND OF.
Back - New Search souffl is spelt with an acute accent on the e and is pronounced soo-flay.
Back - New Search sound. The adverb is confined to the expressions sound asleep and sleep the sounder (as in He slept the sounder for a long walk).
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soundbite meaning à short pithy extract from a recorded interview', is a media word of the 19 80s that is still going strong, along with photo opportunity and spin doctor. Al l three terms arose first in the US, and have spread rapidly to other parts of t he English-speaking world.
Back - New Search south, southern, southerly see EAST.
Back - New Search southward, southwards. The only form for the adjective is southward (in an southward direction), but so uthward and southwards are both used for the adverb, with a preference for south wards in BrE: the longer transhumant routes from the Pyrenees southwards to CataloniaTimes Lite rary Supplement, 1976.
Back - New Search sow verb see SEW.
Back - New Search spadeful has the plural form spadefuls. See -FUL.
Back - New Search spastic has been used since the 18c to refer to victims of cerebral palsy and other affl ictions causing spasmodic movements of the limbs. Its use in the 1970s and 1980s , especially by young people, in the generalized meaning ìnadequate, incompetent', with reference to people, not only is deeply offensive but has compromised the n ormal use of the word to an extent that makes it too seem derogatory now. In the se circumstances a phrase such as `suffering from cerebral palsy' is preferable for
the adjective and `person suffering from cerebral palsy' for the noun.
Back - New Search -speak. George Orwell's term Newspeak, used in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four to describ e a sinister language used for official communications, gave the English-speakin g world a new suffix that could be used to form terms for any special mode of sp eaking or writing. Examples of its wide use include Britspeak, criticspeak, gutt erspeak, netspeak (the language of television networks), and royalspeak: Ì am most grateful and touched that you have decided to name a locomotive after m e,' it [sc. a telegram] said in classic royalspeakGuardian, 1981.
Back - New Search speciality, specialty. In the primary meanings, à product, activity, or service in which a person or gro up specializes' and à special feature or skill', speciality is the word in BrE and sp ecialty in AmE: We had eaten nothing with the champagne except a small dish of potato crisps, a speciality from the island of Maui Lodge , 1991 / She considered dog issues her specialtyT. Drury , 1991 (US).
Back - New Search special, specially see ESPECIAL, ESPECIALLY.
Back - New Search species is pronounced spee-sheez, and is unchanged in the plural. Note that specie, pron ounced spee-shi, is a technical term for coin as opposed to paper money.
Back - New Search specious, spurious. Specious, like the Latin word speciosus from which it is derived, began its life meaning `having a fine outward appearance' (from Latin species òutward form'), but in the 17c acquired the unfavourable connotations that now characterize its meaning as `plausible but in fact wrong' as in a specious argument. Spurious, which is some times confused with specious, is derived from the Latin adjective spurius `false', a
nd means `not genuine, not being what it purports to be'. A specious claim is one th at is attractive but insubstantial whereas a spurious claim is one based on a fa lse premiss.
Back - New Search spectator is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search spectre is spelt this way in BrE, and specter in AmE.
Back - New Search spectrum has the plural form spectra.
Back - New Search speculator is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search speed verb. The past tense and past participle r sped past / By that time she had ing is `to break a speed limit' or to get there in time / The reform are sped when sped down the when the verb process needs the meaning is `to go fast' (The ca road) and speeded when the mean is followed by up (He often speeded to be speeded up).
Back - New Search spell verb. The form for the past tense and past participle is spelt or spelled. Spelt is mo re usual in BrE, especially in the primary meaning `to write or name the letters o f a word'; spelled is more common in AmE and in the phrasal verb spell out = to ex plain in detail.
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spelling. 1 Before the invention of printing in the 15c, English and other European langua ges lacked any regularity of spelling and usage was largely based on personal pr eference. Despite the development of rules, English remains notoriously beset by irregularities of spelling, and various proposals have been made over the years for reforms that would make spelling more straightforward in the interests of n ative speakers and foreign learners alike. These proposals have usually been bas ed on phonetic principles, so that a reformed spelling conforms more to pronunci ation, but questions of whose pronunciation forms the basis and which spellings are appropriate when more than one is available for a particular sound (e.g. ou as in count or ow as in cow) have not been resolved. Another objection is that a phonetic orthography would obscure word origins and connections, especially in groups of words in which the stress pattern changes, e.g. adore / adoration and nation / national. In any case, no machinery for reform exists, and it is unlike ly that significant change can be achieved except by the weight of ordinary usag e. (For a fuller discussion of this issue, see The Oxford Companion to the English Language, 1992, 9736.)
2 A major cause of confusion is the exceptional tolerance English has for varian t spellings. This works in unpredictable ways, so that accessary / accessory and judgement / judgment are all permitted spellings whereas accomodation is not a permitted variant of accommodation nor millenium of millennium. In this book, pr eferred spellings are given when legitimate alternatives exist and correct spell ings are identified when other occurring forms are not legitimate.Top
3 There are two broad categories of spelling difficulty: (1) systematic problems that occur in words belonging to a certain type (e.g. the formation of nouns fr om verbs in -dge, such as acknowledgement and judgement) and in the inflection o f words (e.g. the plural of nouns in -o such as potato and solo, and the -ed and -ing forms of verbs such as benefit and unravel), and (2) individual difficulties attached to particular words (e.g. embarrass with tw o rs but harass with one, and millionaire with one n but questionnaire with two) and sets of words that can be confused (e.g. desert / dessert and hoard / horde ).
The second category includes words adopted with little change from other languag es, causing problems of inflection in English (e.g. shanghai and ski).Top
4 Guidance on the more important systematic features of spelling and inflection will be found in the following separate entries: ABBREVIATIONS, CO-, CONTRACTION S, DE-, DIS-, DOUBLING OF FINAL CONSONANTS WITH SUFFIXES, -ER AND -EST FORMS, -E R AND -OR, -EY AND -Y IN ADJECTIVES, -FUL, HYBRID FORMATIONS, I BEFORE E, -IZE,
-ISE IN VERBS, LATIN PLURALS, -LESS, -LIKE, -LY, MIS-, NON-, -O, PALINDROME, PRE -, -RE AND -ER, SELF-, SEMI-, -T AND -ED, -UM, UN-, -XION.Top
5 For differences in British and American spelling, see AMERICAN ENGLISH (3).Top
6 The table below lists words in common use that cause particular spelling diffi culties. Some of these are also given as separate entries. WORD COMMENT accommodate, accommodation, etc. two cs, two ms acknowledgement -dge- preferred form acquaint, acquaintance, etc. acqacquire acqacquit acqaggressive, aggression, etc. two gs, two s's apostasy ends -asy appalling two ps, two ls artefact arte- preferred to artiasphalt not ashbail / bale see entry baulk see entry biased preferred to biassed breach/breech see entry changeable -eable chord / cord see entry commemorate two ms followed by one m committee two ms, two ts complement / compliment see entry connoisseur two ns, two s's consensus not concensus cooperate, cooperation, etc. no hyphen desiccated one s, two cs desperate two es
diphthong not dipthong dispatch preferred to despatch dissect two s's dissipate two s's, one p draft / draught see entry ecstasy ends -asy eighth two hs embarrass, embarrassment, etc. two rs, two s's enthral one l exhilarate two as fulfil one final l; AmE also fulfill gauge -au- not -uaguard, guardian, etc. -ua- not -auharass, harassment, etc. one r, two s's hoard / horde see entry idiosyncrasy ends -asy impostor ends -or install two ls instalment one l; AmE installment judgement -dge- preferred form liquefy ends -efy manoeuvre -oeu-; AmE maneuver mayonnaise two ns, one s medieval -e- preferred to -aemellifluous two ls followed by fl memento mem- not mommillennium two ls, two ns millionaire two ls, one n minuscule not miniscule (see entry) mischievous not -ievious
misspell two s's moccasin two cs, one s necessary one c, two s's occurrence two cs, two rs Portuguese u before and after g practice / practise see entry principal / principle see entry questionnaire two ns rarefy ends -efy recommend one c, two ms restaurateur no n resuscitate -s- followed by -scRomanian Rom- not Rumsacrilegious -i- followed by -eseparate two as stationary / stationery see entry supersede not -cede threshold one h unwieldy not -wieldly veterinary not vetinary wholly preferred to wholely withhold two hs
Top
Back - New Search spill. The form for the past tense and past participle is spilled or spilt: He nearly spilled his drink Updike , 1988 /
The lounge boy left too much change on the table and a puddle where he'd spilt t he Coke Doyle , 1990 / Other multinationals doubtless polluted waterways or spilt their toxicsGuardian, 1994. Although spilt was the more favoured form until the end of the 19c spilled seems to be more common in the 20c (especially in the past form), but spilt is secure in the expression (crying over) spilt milk. There is no clear evidence of a distinction in the patterns between BrE and AmE.
Back - New Search spin verb. The form for the regular past tense and past participle is spun: The other man spun towards the sound, gun extended, ready to fireA. Lejeune , 198 6 / I was spun round, and dragged backA. Billson , 1993. Before the 20c span was comm only used for the past tense but this is now a deviant form.
Back - New Search spinach. The recommended pronunciation is spin-ij, but spin-ich is usual in AmE and also occurs in BrE.
Back - New Search spin doctor someone who speaks at a senior level for a political party and gives a favourabl e `spin' (i.e. interpretation) to events, is a vogue media term of the 1980s and 199 0s: see SOUNDBITE.
Back - New Search spinney a BrE word for a small wood or copse, has the plural form spinneys.
Back - New Search spiral. The verb has inflected forms spiralled, spiralling in BrE, but often spiraled, s piraling in AmE.
Back - New Search spirit. The verb has inflected forms spirited, spiriting.
Back - New Search spiritual, spirituous. The two words now have distinct meanings, spiritual being the general word relat ing to the spirit or soul, and spirituous referring to distilled alcoholic drink s. In older writing up to the end of the 19c spirituous is sometimes found as a synonym of spiritual.
Back - New Search spirt see SPURT.
Back - New Search spit verb. The form for the regular past tense and past participle in BrE is spat, but in A mE either spat or spit is used: I was so mad I could have spitNew Yorker, 1989.
Back - New Search spitting image meaning àn exact double', is an established phrase, although it is in origin a misu nderstanding of spit and image (spit and picture also occurred), which was itsel f an extension of the early 19c phrase the (very) spit of. A transitional form s pitten image is first recorded in 1910. The older forms are also occasionally fo und: Look at this, Father, appeared last Friday on Sister Philomena, the very spit an d image of the nail marks in the palms of our Blessed Lord Mantel , 1989.
Back - New Search spiv a 20c British colloquial expression for à man characterized by flashy dress, who makes a living by illicit or unscrupulous dealings', emulates the American genius
for inventing short words (e.g. blurb, stunt) whose sound is curiously suited to their meaning. Spiv may be connected with the late 19c slang words spiffed `smart ly dressed' and spiffy `smart, spruce'.
Back - New Search splendour is spelt -our in BrE and splendor in AmE.
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split infinitive. 1 A split infinitive occurs when a word (usually an adverb) or phrase comes betw een the particle to and the verb of a so-called to-infinitive (to really love / to really and truly love). No other grammatical issue has so divided English spe akers since the split infinitive was declared to be a solecism in the 19c: raise the subject of English usage in any conversation today and it is sure to be men tioned. The term itself is first recorded as recently as the 1890s, although the controversy is somewhat older and the practice very much so. Examples occur in Middle English (though only twice in Chaucer) but it went out of fashion from th e 16c to the end of the 18c, and no examples have been found in Shakespeare (unl ess we count Sonnet 142: Root pity in thy heart, that when it grows, Thy pity ma y deserve to pitied be). During the 19c it came back into favour, with examples to be found in Fanny Burney , Thomas Hardy , and most famously in a poem of Byro n: To sit on rocks to muse o'er flood and fell, To slowly trace the forest's shady sceneAcademy, 1897.
2 Now, at the end of the 20c, the split infinitive is widely held to be an error on the grounds that the particle to and its verb belong together. The basis for this belief is highly questionable. Other separations occur, for example betwee n a verb and its auxiliary verb (I have never said so), but as a matter of style (rather than grammar) the objection can be valid, especially when the adverb ca n be placed naturally in another position or when the split is a lengthy one: We talked about how everything was going to suddenly change Williams , 1985 (defe nsible on grounds of emphasis, perhaps, but the normal order is We talked about how everything was suddenly going to change) / You two shared a curious dry ability to without actually saying anything make me feel dirty Roth , 1987 (split here for effect).Top
3 On the other hand, the split infinitive avoided, usually by putting the adverb before or after the entire to-infinitive, can lead to results that are just as
unnatural, often stylistically poor, and in some cases ambiguous or misleading: Rhys considers it unwise to attempt radically to alter taxes on large cars, as p roposed by LabourAutocar and Motor, 1990 / It should be the Government's task quietly to advocate such a comprehensive stra tegy with our American alliesTimes, 1998. In both examples the natural position o f the adverbs radically and quietly is after the word to, and in the first case the important connection between radically and the verb it qualifies (alter) is compromised. In some cases, the adverb becomes attached to the wrong verb: It was in Paris that the wartime alliance began finally to break uptelevision bro adcast, 1998. It is arguable in these cases that the adverb, or adverb phrase, h as a stronger claim to association with the verb than does the purely functional particle to. In writing it is often possible to rephrase so as to avoid the haz ard altogether, but in speech a sentence once begun has to be finished, and some times an infinitive is better split either because the rhythm of the sentence de mands it or because ambiguity might otherwise result.Top
4 When an adverb, especially an intensifying adverb such as actually, even, ever , further, just, quite, really, belongs with a verb that happens to be an infini tive, it is usually better (and sometimes necessary) to place it between to and the verb: I want to really study, I want to be a scholar Murdoch , 1987 / In face of all this Patrick managed to quite like him Amis , 1988. In some cases, an adverbial phrase is also inseparable from its verb: It allowed Fernanda Herford to slightly more than double her money Barnes , 1993. Top
5 RECOMMENDATION. The split infinitive, though recent as an object of disapprova l in the broader context of the history of English, has sufficient weight of opi nion against it to recommend avoidance when possible, and especially when it is stylistically awkward. But it is neither a major error nor a grammatical blunder , and it is acceptable and at times necessary when considerations of rhythm and clarity call for it.Top
Back - New Search spoiled, spoilt. In BrE the normal form for the past tense and past participle is spoilt, althoug h spoiled is also used and is the dominant form in AmE. As an adjective in attri butive position (i.e. before a noun, as in a spoilt child) spoilt is always used in BrE and sometimes in AmE.
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spokesperson see -PERSON.
Back - New Search sponge has derivative forms spongeable and spongeing (both with e), but spongy.
Back - New Search spontaneity is traditionally pronounced spon-t-nee-i-ti, but the alternative spon-t-nay-i-ti is becoming increasingly common.
Back - New Search Spoonerism. The Revd W. A. Spooner (18441930), ven his name to this most endearing position of letters, although those spurious, e.g. a well-boiled icicle fish (for a half-formed wish). Dean and Warden of New College, Oxford, has gi form of linguistic error involving the trans commonly attributed to him are likely to be (for a well-oiled bicycle) and a half-warmed
Back - New Search spoonful has the plural form spoonfuls.
Back - New Search spouse is a convenient genderneutral term, less formal in tone than it once was, for a married man in relation to his wife and a married woman in relation to her husba nd.
Back - New Search spring verb. The past tense is sprang or occasionally (especially in AmE) sprung. The past pa rticiple is sprung.
Back - New Search spry. The inflected forms and derivatives are spryer, spryest; spryly, spryness.
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spurt is the dominant spelling for the noun and verb to do with gushing and sudden inc rease of effort, not spirt.
Back - New Search squalor is spelt -or in both BrE and AmE.
Back - New Search squeeze verb. The past tense and past participle are squeezed. The past form squoze is non-sta ndard or dialectal, despite its use by President Ronald Reagan at a press confer ence in 1985 when commenting on a small skin cancer: I picked at it and I squoze it and so forth and messed myself up a little.
Back - New Search stadium. The plural forms are stadia (with reference to the ancient world) and stadiums ( with modern reference).
Back - New Search staff. The plural in the meanings `pole' and `body of employees' is staffs. In the music meanin g it is staffs or staves.
Back - New Search stalactite, stalagmite. A stalactite hangs down from er containing rich minerals. from deposits also caused by d stalass meaning `to drip', e in BrE but with the stress the roof of a cave, and is formed from dripping wat A stalagmite rises up from the floor and is formed dripping. Both words are derived from the Greek wor and are pronounced with the stress on the first syllabl on the second syllable in AmE.
Back - New Search stanch see STAUNCH.
Back - New Search stand verb. In BrE candidates stand for office, whereas in AmE they run for it.
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standard English. The term has been variously defined and heavily politicized, but essentially it is the form of English that is most widely accepted and understood in an English -speaking country and tends to be based on the educated speech of a particular a rea, in England the south-east (although it can be spoken in a variety of accent s). It is used in newspapers and broadcasting and is the form normally taught to learners of English. For a fuller treatment see The Oxford Companion to the Eng lish Language (1992), 9823.
Back - New Search standpoint see POINT OF VIEW.
Back - New Search state.
It is usual to spell it with a capital initial letter when it refers to politica l entities, either nations (The State of Israel / a State visit), or parts of a federal nation (the State of Virginia / crossing the State border), and when it means `civil government' (Church and State / the Secretary of State). This applies b oth to names and to general reference when necessary to avoid possible ambiguity with the general meanings of state (as in the state [= condition] of Israel). I n other contexts a lower-case initial is used (a police state / the welfare stat e).
Back - New Search stately is an adjective only (as in a stately home). The notional adverb statelily would be too awkward and is not used.
Back - New Search stationary, stationery. Stationary is an adjective and means `not moving' whereas stationery is a noun and d enotes paper and writing materials. Both words are derived from the Latin word s tare `to stand'. The relevance of this to stationary is obvious, and the connection with stationery (and stationer, a supplier of stationery) is through the medieva l Latin word stationarius which meant à bookseller', who was a fixed (as distinct f rom itinerant) shopkeeper.
Back - New Search statistics noun is treated as singular as the name of the science (Statistics is merely a form o f knowledge), and as plural when referring to items of statistical information ( The statistics of suicide are striking). The singular form statistic, denoting a single piece of information, is well established: The statistic of 22.2 unemployed to every notified vacancy in ScotlandTimes, 1973 .
Back - New Search status is pronounced stay-ts and has the plural form statuses (the Latin plural is stat s and is not used in English).
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staunch, stanch. Staunch (pronounced stawnch) is used both for the verb meaning `to restrain the fl ow of blood' (with the blood or the wound as its object) and for the adjective mea ning `trustworthy, loyal'. The variant form stanch (pronounced stahnch) is preferred in AmE for the verb.
Back - New Search stave noun. One of its meanings is the same as that of staff, a set of lines on which musica l notes are written. The plural of both forms is staves.
Back - New Search stave verb. Both staved and stove are used for the past tense and past participle. Staved of f is more usual in the meaning àverted or deferred (danger or misfortune)' and stov e in is more usual in the meaning `crushed by forcing inwards'.
Back - New Search stencil as a verb has inflected forms stencilled, stencilling in BrE, and usually stenci led, stenciling in AmE.
Back - New Search stereo as a noun has the plural form stereos.
Back - New Search stewardess denotes a female steward, especially on a ship or aircraft. Flight attendant is now the preferred term with English-speaking airlines. See -ESS.
Back - New Search sticking place, sticking point.
The phrase sticking point is first recorded in 1826, and in its common modern me aning `the limit reached of progress, agreement, etc.' not until the 1960s. The allu sion is to a line in Shakespeare's Macbeth (i.vii.60), where place is used: But screw your courage to the sticking place, And we'll not fail. The reference here seems to be to screwing up the peg of a musical instrument until it becomes tig htly fixed in its hole.
Back - New Search stigma. The plural in its special meanings (e.g. `the marks on Christ's hands and feet on the Cross') is stigmata, with the stress either on the first or on the second syll able. In the figurative sense à mark of disgrace or discredit', the plural is stigm as.
Back - New Search stigmatize meaning `to describe as unworthy or disgraceful', behaves like regard in being follo wed by as: Negro styles traditionally stigmatized as `race' musicTimes, 1977.
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stile, style. There are three words here, all derived from the Latin word stilus meaning à writ ing tool'. The two words spelt stile are (1) from Old English, meaning à set of ste ps for crossing a fence' and (2) probably from Dutch, meaning à vertical piece in the frame of a panelled door'.
The word style in its familiar meanings is spelt with a y from a false associati on with the Greek word stulos meaning `column'.
Back - New Search stiletto the knife and the high-heeled shoe, has the plural form stilettos.
Back - New Search still life the genre of painting, has the plural form still lifes.
Back - New Search stimulus has the plural form stimuli (pronounced stim-yoo-liy with the last syllable as i n lie).
Back - New Search stimy, stimie see STYMIE.
Back - New Search sting. The verb has the past tense and past participle stung.
Back - New Search stink. The past tense of the verb is stank and the past participle is stunk. Stunk is o ccasionally used for the past tense, but is not now standard.
Back - New Search stoep pronounced like stoop, is a South African word for a terraced veranda in front o f a house.
Back - New Search stoic, stoical. As an adjective, stoic is normally used attributively (i.e. before a noun, as in stoic virtues and stoic indifference), and preserves a more direct reference to the philosophy of the ancient Stoics from whom the word is derived. In predicat
ive position (i.e. after a verb) stoical is more usual, and in all its uses conv eys the more generalized allusive sense of personal restraint and self-control. A stoic indifference is the kind of indifference that the Stoics taught and prac tised, whereas a stoical indifference is indifference that is, on its own terms, concentrated and resolute. When the reference is to people rather than qualitie s, stoical has to be used: one can have stoic or stoical resolution but one can only be stoical oneself.
Back - New Search stone adverb. Combinations such as stone-cold and stone-dead, in which stone is used adverbial ly (`like a stone'), have been recorded for centuries. More recently, stone has deve loped a freer adverbial use as a mere intensive equivalent to very or completely . It is not easy to pinpoint the date of this development, but it is now common, especially in AmE: People got stone drunk and cruised through red lights Keillor , 1989.
Back - New Search stood is used for standing in non-standard uses comparable to sat for sitting, such as : My husband was stood on the opposite side of the pitsCycling Weekly, 1993. The or igins of this use are obscure and probably dialectal.
Back - New Search stop, stay. In 19c fiction people frequently stopped with friends (overnight in their house) , stopped for dinner, or stopped at home. In modern English we would use stay in stead of stop in all these cases. But the older use still survives: `She's stopping with her daughter,' the woman said. `She'll be back on Thursday.' Mantel , 1985. It is also to be seen in the phrasal verbs stop off and stop over, meani ng `to make a break in a journey' (especially a long journey), and in the noun equiv alents stop-off and stopover.
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storey, story.
For storey and floor see FLOOR, STOREY. The plural form is storeys. In AmE story is the usual form and its plural is stories; and what in BrE is a three-storeye d house is in AmE a three-storied house.
Back - New Search straight away meaning ìmmediately', is first recorded in the 17c. It continued to be used as two words until the beginning of the 20c, when (probably under the influence of the fast-fading adverb straightway) it began to be written as one word, and uses of this form are frequent: He couldn't decide whether to make for home straightaway Wall , 1991. In AmE, str aightaway is also an adjective meaning `direct' (of a course of action) and a noun m eaning à straight course or section'.
Back - New Search straight, strait. Straight is a Middle English past participle of the verb stretch and has many me anings in modern English, primarily èxtending uniformly in the same direction wit hout a curve or bend'. Strait, which has the basic meaning `tight, narrow', is used as a noun meaning à narrow passage of water connecting two seas', in the plural as in dire straits, and in combinations such as strait-laced and straitjacket (straig htjacket is also used but the better spelling is strait-).
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strategy, tactics. In war, as in politics and business, strategy is used of an overall plan of acti on embodying certain principles and objectives, and tactics is used of the detai led means adopted to achieve them. Tactics is normally treated as a plural, with tactic available as a singular form with the meaning à tactical manoeuvre or dev ice'.
Back - New Search stratum is normally pronounced strah-tm, and has the plural form strata. The use of stra ta as a singular noun (with a plural stratas) is erroneous: The earth's crust contains stratas of hot, dry rock and natural aquifersC. Wheate r , 1990.
Back - New Search street see ROAD.
Back - New Search strength should be pronounced with the g fully articulated, not as if the spelling were s trenth (to rhyme with tenth).
Back - New Search strew has a past tense strewed and a past participle form strewn (preferred) or strewe d.
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stricken a past participle of strike, survives chiefly in compound adjectives such as gri ef-stricken and panic-stricken. In compositional uses such as He has become stri cken with remorse, it sounds archaic.
Back - New Search stride. The verb has the past tense strode and the past participle stridden. The partici ple is not readily remembered, and strode is sometimes mistakenly used instead: Great strides are being strode in the cultivation of preteen female engineersThe Face, 1987.
Back - New Search strike.
The verb has the past tense struck and the past participle struck or, in certain contexts, STRICKEN (see separate entry).
Back - New Search string. The normal form for the past tense and the past participle is strung. A musical instrument with strings is called a stringed instrument, but if the strings need renewing it is restrung.
Back - New Search strive verb. The regular past tense is strove and the past participle striven, but strived is commonly used for both in AmE: We've strived to lead the way in offering you the tools you needMoney (US), 1993.
Back - New Search stubbornness is spelt with two ns.
Back - New Search stucco a word of Italian origin for a type of plaster covering walls, has the plural fo rm stuccos, and as a verb it has inflections stuccoes, stuccoed, stuccoing.
Back - New Search studio has the plural form studios.
Back - New Search stupefy meaning `to make insensible' or `to astonish', is spelt -efy (like liquefy and rarefy), not -ify (like dignify and modify).
Back - New Search stupor meaning à dazed state', is spelt -or in BrE and AmE.
Back - New Search sty. The word meaning à pen for pigs' has the plural form sties. The word for àn inflamed swelling on the eyelid' should be spelt sty, not stye, and also has the plural fo rm sties.
Back - New Search style see STILE.
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stymie is now the regular spelling of the word used in golf and in the meaning `to obstru ct or thwart', rather than stimy or stimie. The verb has inflected forms stymies, stymied, stymieing.
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subjunctive mood. 1 The subjunctive mood, one of the great shifting sands of English grammar, is a verbal form or mood expressing wish or hypothesis in contrast to fact, and usua lly denotes what is imagined, wished, demanded, proposed, and so on. In modern E nglish it is distinguishable from the ordinary indicative mood only in the third person singular present tense, which omits the final s (if he make rather than if he makes) and in the forms be and were of the verb to be.
2 The subjunctive mood was common in Old English and until about 1600, then went
into decline but has become remarkably prevalent again in the 20c, first in AmE and then in other forms of English including BrE: I was going to recommend that he be terminatedNew Yorker, 1987 / It was as if Sally were disturbed in some way and was translating this disturban ce into the habit of thought Brookner , 1986 (UK) (note the shift to indicative m ood after and) / She insisted Jane sit there Anderson , (New Zealand)/ It was suggested he wait till the next morning Ondaatje , 1992 (Canada). In many cases, an alternative construction with should can also be used: It was important that he should be included in my photographs Francis , 1980.Top
3 Typical subjunctive patterns are: a After if (or as if, as though, unless) in hypothetical conditions: Each was required to undertake that if it were chosen it would place work hereTim es, 1986. b In that-clauses following a verb connoting suggestion, wish, etc. (e.g. demand , insist, pray, recommend, suggest, wish): Fundamentalist Islam decrees that men and women be strictly segregatedListener, 1 988 / Your situation demands that either Kooti be nobbled or Whitmore nullifiedM. Shadb olt , 1986 (New Zealand). c Be or were placed at the head of a clause with the subject following in an inv erted construction: Were I to get drunk, it would help me in the fight Updike , 1986 / Statistically, afterworldsbe they Christian, Greek, Pharaonicmust be populated alm ost entirely by children Lively , 1987. d In negative constructions, not (or never etc.) is normally placed before the s ubjunctive verb (and this position identifies the subjunctive status of verbs in the first and second persons as well as the third): Again he insisted that he not be followedObserver, 1987 / One essential quality for a holiday novel is that it not be too light Raphael , 1 988. e In certain fixed expressions and phrases, e.g. as it were, be that as it may, come what may, far be it from me, God save the Queen, heaven forbid, long live t he King, perish the thought, so be it.Top
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submissible meaning àble to be submitted', is a better form than the alternative submittable.
Back - New Search subpeona a writ ordering a person to appear at a lawcourt, has the plural form subpoenas. In AmE it is sometimes spelt subpena, with the plural form subpenas. The verb h as inflections subpoenas, subpoenaed, subpoenaing.
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subsidence. The traditional pronunciation is sb-siy-dns, with the stress on the second sylla ble, but the form sub-si-dns, with the stress on the first syllable under the in fluence of residence and subsidy, is also common in standard speech.
Back - New Search substantial, substantive. Substantial is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable and substantive with the stress on the first syllable. Both words mean `having substance', but subs tantial is the word in general use to denote people or things of size, importanc e, or value (Scotland Yard said a `substantial amount of firearms and explosives' had been recov ered from the houseEast Anglian Daily Times, 1993), whereas substantive refers mo re to what something consists of (The dramatic political and diplomatic developments of 1988of more importance to the achievement of a substantive peace than anything else since 1967owed nothing to the peace processD. McDowell , 1990). Substantial discussions are lengthy and wide-ranging ones, whereas substantive discussions deal with important topics. S ubstantive often occurs in technical contexts such as law and parliamentary proc edure; for example, a substantive motion is one that deals specifically with a s ubject in due form.
Back - New Search substitute see REPLACE.
Back - New Search subtitles, supertitles, surtitles. Subtitles, printed captions that translate the dialogue in a foreign-language ci nema or television film, appear at the bottom of the screen. Supertitles or surt itles, a more recent invention, translate the text of a play or opera as it is b eing said or sung, and are usually projected above the stage.
Back - New Search subtle has a corresponding adverb subtly.
Back - New Search succeed. When it means `to be successful', succeed is followed by in + an -ing form, not (unl ike fail) by to: Some local preservation enthusiasts succeeded in getting the house listed as of architectural and historic interestE. Lemarchand , 1972.
Back - New Search succour a rather formal word meaning àid, assistance, especially in time of need', is spelt -our in BrE and succor in AmE.
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such. 1 SUCH AS AN EMPHASIZER. How can the House express its indignant rejection of football hooliganism while setting such a persuasive example of undignified and daily indiscipline?Guardian Weekly, 1986. The construction with such a followed by an adjective is establish ed and idiomatic in current English, despite occasional objections that so and n ot such should do the work of emphasizing here ( while setting so persuasive an e xample). (Compare the use of such qualifying a noun, to which nobody objects:
For God's sake, Beryl, don't be such a nitwitJ. Drummond , 1975.) In some cases s uch appears to qualify the combination of adjective and noun: It is indeed hard to see how such a gigantic work can be considered `minimal' in any wayRadio Times, 1985.
2 SUCH AS WITH FOLLOWING PRONOUN. When an inflecting pronoun follows, it is more natural to regard such as as a preposition and to follow it with me, her, him, etc., rather than I, she, he, etc. (regarding such as as a conjunction with the continuation understood as such as I am, etc.) They were not bad, for such as her Macaulay , 1920.Top
3 SUCH AS OR LIKE. Like is common when a single instance follows (a poet like Te nnyson / take a girl like you), but such as is preferable (and more idiomatic) w hen a list follows (Members of the cat family, such as the lion, the tiger, and the leopard). See LIKE (2).Top
4 SUCH AS OR SUCH THAT We are such stuff as dreams are made on. The relative pro noun that follows such in sentences of this type is as and not who, which, or th at. But such followed by that is legitimate in constructions of the following ty pes, in which that is a conjunction: Midge was such a dingbat that she went to Hawaii for a vacation during World War IIJ. Irving , 1978 / The ladies who feature with her on her home-video were such that à man would be l ucky to get out of them alive' (hysterical laughter)Listener, 1983.Top
Back - New Search suchlike.
He left the sea, having had what amounted to a nervous breakdown, àlways thinking of the other ships that went up, the bombings and suchlike'Daily Telegraph, 1971. Fowler's verdict in 1926 was that this use of suchlike ìs now usually left to the uneducated' and that the like should be used instead. In terms of current use thi s judgement is too severe, especially for everyday conversational usage.
Back - New Search suddenness is spelt with two ns.
Back - New Search suffix. In grammar, a suffix is a word or element added at the end of another word to ad just or qualify its meaning, such as -ation (confirmation, privatization), -ing (driving, soldiering), and -itis (appendicitis). Some suffixes are created artif icially from the end part of words to form similar types of word with different reference, e.g. -aholic (from alcoholic, forming workaholic etc.)
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suffixes added to proper names. 1 The suffix most commonly used to form nouns and adjectives relating to people' s names (usually writers, artists, composers, etc., or founders of dynasties) is -an or -ian, and one of the oldest formations of this type is Virgilian (first recorded in 1513). Other formations include Aristotelian (1607), Ovidian (1617), and Ciceronian (1661), and it will be seen from this short list alone that some have survived more strongly than others. Shakespearian (with an occasional vari ant Shakespearean) is not recorded before 1755. Some words made in this way have multiple reference, e.g. Alexandrian (normally referring to the city of Alexand ria or the literature or philosophy associated with it rather than to Alexander the Great). More recent formations include Beethovenian and Shavian, the latter derived from a Latinate form of the name of G. B. Shaw for reasons of euphony. E uphony often calls for use of other suffixes, such as -esque (from French, e.g. Dantesque, Schumannesque, Turneresque) and -ic (Byronic, Platonic, Pindaric, Pto lemaic), although in some cases the reason for a particular choice of suffix is less clear.
2 When -ian is added to an unaccented final syllable of a name, the syllable is normally lengthened to accommodate the addition, so that Alfred makes Alfredian (pronounced al-free-di-n).Top
Back - New Search sugar has derivative forms sugared and sugary, each with one r.
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suggest. 1 When followed by a that-clause and proposing a course of action rather than hi nting at a fact, suggest commonly generates a subjunctive verb, and the same is true of the noun suggestion: Uncle doesn't suggest that she bring a lamp from the next room Bellow , 1987 (US) / The suggestion that all HIV-positive individual be forcibly tattooedDdalus, 1989 ( US) / If you want to irritate D., then suggest glibly that she see a sports psychologi stTimes, 1990. Alternative constructions with should (He suggested that they shou ld find a scenic route), and with an ordinary tense (I suggest that he has anoth er try) are more common in BrE than in AmE, but in general this verb is one of t he great mainstays of the subjunctive mood in modern English. See SUBJUNCTIVE MO OD.
2 Note that when suggest means `state as a fact or hypothesis' rather than `propose' an ordinary tense is used: I cannot accept John Peel's suggestion that punk rockers are the only truly soci alist representatives we have leftSounds, 1977.Top
Back - New Search suggestible means òpen to suggestion' (used of a person) more often than àble to be suggested' (us ed of an idea or proposal), and is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
Back - New Search suitor meaning à man seeking to marry a (particular) woman', is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search suit, suite. The two forms are in origin the same word, and differences of usage are the resu lt of historical choices since the 17c. In modern English we speak of a suit of clothes, armour, and playing cards, as well as a lawsuit and paying suit to (i.e . courting) a woman; and a suite of rooms, furniture, musical pieces, etc.
Back - New Search sulphur and its derivatives sulphurate, sulphurous, etc., are normally spelt with -ph- i n BrE but -f-(sulfur etc.) in AmE.
Back - New Search sullenness is spelt with two ns.
Back - New Search summersault see SOMERSAULT.
Back - New Search summon, summons. Summon is a verb only, whereas summons is a noun and verb. A summons (plural sum monses) is an order to appear before a judge or magistrate, and to summons someo ne is to issue them with a summons. Summon is the ordinary word meaning `to call f ormally', as in The chairman summoned the members to a meeting.
Back - New Search Sunday see FRIDAY.
Back - New Search super-. The prefix dates from the 15c and has been prolific ever since, taking on a new lease of life in the 20c in formations such as superhighway (1925 in the physica l sense in America), superman (1913), supermarket (1933), supermodel (1977), sup erpower (1921), supersonic (1919), superstar (1925), and superstore (1965).
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supercede is incorrect; the correct spelling is SUPERSEDE.
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superior is not a true comparative (like better or greater, for example) and is followed by to, not than: The taste of an open mushroom grilled with garlic, parsley and butter is so sple ndid, and superior to snails given the same treatmentTimes, 1980. In the language of advertising, superior has the depleted meaning àbove average in quality' (a sup erior housing development / made of superior leather).
Back - New Search superlatives see ADJECTIVE (3), -ER AND -EST FORMS.
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supersede is the correct spelling for the verb meaning `to take the place of'. It is derived f rom the Latin word sedeo `sit', but the influence of accede, intercede, precede, and others (derived from Latin cedo `go') often mistakenly causes this word to be spelt supercede.
Back - New Search superstitions. A superstition in language, like any superstition, is a widely held belief with no rational basis. In English these include the beliefs that sentences should no t begin with and or but, that a preposition should not end a sentence, that none should always take a singular verb, and that infinitives should not be split. S ee also FETISH (2).
Back - New Search supervise is spelt -vise, not -vize. See -IZE, -ISE.
Back - New Search supine see PRONE.
Back - New Search supple has the adverbial form supply (two syllables) rather than supplely (three syllab les).
Back - New Search suppose, supposing. Both words are used as quasi-conjunctions to introduce an assumption or hypothes is: Supposing the plan succeeded and his wife got stuck away in a nut-houseH. Howard , 1973 / Suppose the guards were more alert, security measures more effectiveR. Ludlum , 1 978.
Back - New Search supposedly is pronounced as four syllables.
Back - New Search suppressible meaning àble to be suppressed', is spelt -ible, not -able. See -ABLE, -IBLE.
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a device for suppressing electrical interference, is spelt -or, not -er.
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sure, surely. 1 In all parts of the English-speaking world, surely is the dominant form in the meaning ìn a sure or certain manner' (slowly but surely) and in the use inviting o r presupposing agreement (Surely that can't be right). In BrE, sure is limited a s an adverb to fixed expressions such as sure as eggs is eggs and as sure as God made little apples, and to use as a form of assent in replying to a question or proposition, although this is better established in AmE: Ìs that a fact?' `Sure,' murmured ArchibaldP.G. Wodehouse , 1914 / I asked if you could finish your lunch, and they said sure, no hurry Stout , 1975 (US). (Surely is also used in this way.)
2 In other adverbial uses sure is most closely associated with AmE: Parts of it were pretty, sure Lurie , 1969 / A chemical fire. You worry about those, sure, said ClerkNew Yorker, 1988.Top
Back - New Search surmise meaning `to infer doubtfully' and (as a noun) à conjecture or suspicion', is spelt -ise , not -ize. See -IZE, -ISE.
Back - New Search surprise is spelt -ise, not -ize, as a noun and a verb. See -IZE, -ISE.
Back - New Search surveillance is pronounced s-vay-lns, with the -ll- articulated.
Back - New Search survey is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and with the stres s on the second syllable as a verb.
Back - New Search surveyor is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search survivor is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search susceptible has two principal meanings, each with its own construction. In the meaning `likely to be affected by', it is followed by to: Stinnes had reached that dangerous age when a man was only susceptible to an inn ocent cutie or to an experienced floozy Deighton , 1984 / The leopard frog is particularly susceptible to a kidney carcinomaScientific Amer ican, 1973. When it means àllowing, admitting of', it is followed by of: In the late fourteenth century, one finds Wyclif using the word `nation' (which was susceptible of a wide variety of usages), to denote men who had been bred in Eng landJ.A.F. Thomson , 1992. It should not be used as a synonym of liable to or pro ne to: Fast aircraft with swept-back wings are susceptible to dutch rollsB. Jackson , 19 76.
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suspect, suspicious.
1 Suspect is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun (the chi ef suspect) and adjective (a suspect package), and with the stress on the second syllable as a verb (They suspect something).
2 As an adjective, suspect is close in meaning to suspicious; both mean essentia lly `causing suspicion'. The chief differences are (1) that suspicious can also be u sed to describe a person (= feeling suspicion, as in They were suspicious of our intentions), and (2) that suspect has additional connotations regarding worth o r reliability (suspect farm produce).Top
3 The adverb suspiciously can mean either ìn a manner expressing suspicion' or ìn a manner causing suspicion', depending on the context: She looked at us suspiciously is an example of the first meaning and She was behaving suspiciously is an exam ple of the second. An adverb suspectly is recorded but is hardly ever used in cu rrent English.Top
Back - New Search suspender. In BrE a suspender is a clip device holding up the top of a stocking or sock, wh ereas in AmE suspenders are what in BrE are called (men's) braces.
Back - New Search suspense, suspension. The two words used to be interchangeable in several meanings, but have since gon e their separate ways. Suspense is used primarily to denote à state of anxious un certainty or expectation', and is common attributively (i.e. before a noun, as in suspense thriller) to refer to a form of writing or drama. Suspension has more p hysical and technical meanings (as in a car's suspension and a suspension bridge ) as well as the non-physical meaning `the state of being suspended from an office or position'.
Back - New Search sustain. Fowler's view in 1926 was that `sustain as a synonym for suffer or receive or get belongs to the class of formal words, and is better avoided', and its use in the c ontexts of injuries, losses, hardship, etc., is still widely disliked. Fowler wa s anxious to confine it to circumstances that involved prolonged endurance (Scarce one [of the cities] was now capable of sustaining a siege Macaulay , 1849 ), but there is a thin line dividing this kind of brave resistance from more tem porary kinds. In its other meanings, `to keep in being', `to maintain in a certain sta te', `to give support to', and others, sustain is unexceptionable.
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swap meaning èxchange' (noun and verb) is the preferred spelling, not swop.
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swat, swot. Swat is the spelling for the verb meaning `to hit sharply' and the corresponding nou n. Swot (originally a dialect variant of sweat) is a BrE colloquialism meaning `to study hard' and `someone who studies hard'.
Back - New Search swath, swathe. The word meaning à ridge of grass left after mowing' and à strip' is spelt swath (pron ounced swawth; preferred) or swathe (pronounced swaydh). The noun and verb meani ng à bandage or wrapping' and `to wrap in bandages' is spelt swathe (pronounced swaydh) .
Back - New Search sweat see GENTEELISM.
Back - New Search swell. The verb has the past tense swelled and the past participle swollen, although sw elled is sometimes used for the past participle when the reference is to a speci fied increase in size or numbers rather than to an unwelcome or harmful expansio n or swelling: Unlike the dailies, the number of titles was not swelled by relaunches and chang
es of statusC. Seymour-Ure , 1992.
Back - New Search swim. The past form of the verb is swam (She swam to the shore) and the past participl e is swum (Have you swum recently?), but the reverse will be found in older writ ing: Who, being shipwrecked, had swam naked to land Johnson , 1750 / As she sprang to meet it, with an eye that swum to thanks Tennyson , 1847.
Back - New Search swine is a normal word for pig in AmE, but in BrE is mostly used either as a collectiv e plural or (more often) informally as a singular or plural to refer contemptuou sly to a person or thing one objects to.
Back - New Search swing. In current use the past tense and past participle of the verb are swung (He swun g his leg round / The street names were swung from signs on corners), but swang will be found for the past tense in older writing: His arms dangled rather than swang Belloc , 1912.
Back - New Search swinging, swingeing. Swinging is the ordinary present participle of the verb swing, whereas swingeing means `forcible, severe' (as in swingeing tax increases), and is part of an archaic verb swinge meaning `to strike hard'.
Back - New Search swivel. The verb has inflected forms swivelled, swivelling in BrE, and in AmE usually sw iveled, swiveling.
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swop see SWAP.
Back - New Search swot see SWAT.
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syllabub a sweet dessert made of cream, is preferably spelt syll-, not sillabub.
Back - New Search syllabus has the plural form syllabuses, not syllabi.
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syllepsis (from a Greek root meaning `taking together') is a figure of speech in which a word, or a particular form or inflection of a word, is made to fit two grammatical st ructures but is formally correct only for one, e.g. She's a lovely, intelligent, sensitive woman who has and continues to turn aroun d my life in a wonderfully positive wayWoody Allen reported in Times, 1992 (to tu rn fits with continues but not with has). Constructions of this type are technic ally ungrammatical, but they occur from time to time in the more spontaneous wor ld of conversational speech. The terms syllepsis and zeugma (from a Greek word f or `yoking') are both used for the type characterized by a meaning difference in the `shared' word rather than a grammatical one: Sir Geoffrey Howe, who had arrived in a limousine, the editor of the Daily Teleg raph, who had arrived in a motor-boat, and Dave Nellist, who had arrived in an a norak Parris , 1991. There is much inconsistency in the way these two terms are a
pplied.
Back - New Search sylvan is more common than silvan as the (chiefly poetic) word for `wooded' or `rural', despite its origin in the Latin word silva meaning `wood': amid scenes of sylvan beautyA. Wainwright , 1990.
Back - New Search symbolic, symbolical. Both words mean `serving as a symbol' or ìnvolving the use of symbols', but symbolic is much more common: On the day before Easter, there is a symbolic burning of a cloth-draped wooden s tatue of JudasC. Hammerschlag , 1988.
Back - New Search sympathetic in the meaning èliciting sympathy' rather than `feeling sympathy', dates from the begin ning of the 20c. Despite Fowler's reservations (he wrote in 1926 when it was sti ll a new meaning), it has become rapidly established in standard English: Despite the sympathetic portrayal of his father in these anecdotes, Lawrence tur ned against him after the death of his motherJ. Meyers , 1990.
Back - New Search sympathy see EMPATHY.
Back - New Search symposium meaning à gathering for discussion', has the plural form symposia (preferred) or sy mposiums.
Back - New Search syndrome
pronounced sin-drohm, is originally a medical term for à set of symptoms'. Its use as a vogue word in general contexts meaning à characteristic combination of opini ons, emotions, behaviour, etc.', is as recent as the 1950s; it is generally accept able, but not when syndrome is simply a synonym for factor or aspect, i.e. a sin gle circumstance rather than a set of circumstances coming together, which lies at the heart of its meaning: The falling roll syndrome [in schools] was a problem of the greatest magnitude a nd one never experienced beforeWest Lancashire Evening Gazette, 1983.
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synecdoche pronounced si-nek-d-kee, is a figure of speech in which a more inclusive term is used for a less inclusive one or vice versa, as in England came out to bat (Eng land more inclusive for `the England team') and a fleet of fifty sail (sail less inc lusive for `ships'). See also METONYMY.
Back - New Search synonyms are words that have the same or a near meaning, such as the pair close and shut, or the trio begin, start, and commence. Some word sets of this kind arise becau se words coming into English from other languages failed to drive out those alre ady in use; for example, close is a Middle English (13c) word derived from Old F rench, and joined the existing Old English word shut. Other pairs of words have different levels of appropriacy; for example, kill is a general word whereas sla y is literary or rhetorical, and little carries connotations of affection that a re not present in the more neutral word small (compare my little house and my sm all house). Many words are loosely described as synonyms although their meanings are close rather than identical (e.g. danger and risk, entreat and implore, lea ve and depart), and few synonyms are interchangeable in all contexts.
Back - New Search synopsis meaning à summary or outline', has the plural form synopses (pronounced -seez).
Back - New Search synthesis meaning à process of bringing together or connecting', has the plural form synthese
s (pronounced -seez).
Back - New Search syphon see SIPHON.
Back - New Search systematic, systemic. The word in general use in the meaning `done according to a plan or system' is syste matic, and one can equally speak of systematic learning (i.e. following a system or set of principles) and a systematic search (i.e. one done methodically); the second is only a slight extension in meaning of the first. The much less common word systemic is mostly confined to technical uses in medicine and linguistics, and has the underlying meaning `relating to a system as a whole rather than to a part of it'.
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* * *
table verb. In BrE to table a proposal means to place it on the agenda for discussion, where as in AmE it means to put it aside for an indefinite period.
Back - New Search tableau meaning à group of figures representing a scene', has the plural form tableaux (pro nounced tab-lohz).
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table d'hte meaning à meal consisting of a set menu at a fixed price', is printed in roman type with a circumflex accent on the o.
Back - New Search tablespoonful has the plural form tablespoonfuls, but in practice the type three tablespoons o fis more usual.
Back - New Search taboo is a noun, adjective, and verb, and is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable in all three. The noun has the plural form taboos, and the verb has inf lected forms taboos, tabooed, tabooing.
Back - New Search tacky. It is a little surprising that this currently fashionable term meaning `tawdry, in poor taste' has nothing to do with the word meaning `slightly wet or sticky', but is of American origin and is an extension of a noun tacky (or tackey) that was used disparagingly to describe a weak horse or a poor white person from the southern States. It is first recorded in the newer meaning in the 1880s in uses that sou nd modern, e.g.: Two little cards (with his name printed on them in gilt. Tackey? Ugh)I.M. Rittenh ouse , 1883.
Back - New Search tactics see STRATEGY.
Back - New Search tactile, tactual. Both words mean `relating to the sense of touch', but tactile has become the more us ual choice.
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tag question. This is the grammarians' name for a question added at the end of a statement and acting as a reinforcer rather than seeking an answer, as in You will do this fo r me, won't you?/She has been to America, hasn't she?/I don't need an umbrella, do I?. In each case the verb in the main statement has been changed into an equi valent question; if the statement is positive the tag is negative, and vice vers a, although a positive tag can follow a positive statement in the type You heard it too, did you?. The use of tag questions is subject to regional variation; fo r example, in some regions (including Wales in the UK and S. Asia outside it) is n't it is used as an all-purpose tag irrespective of the form of the statement: You're going home now, isn't it?A.R. Thomas , 1994.
Back - New Search talisman meaning àn object supposedly endowed with magic powers', has nothing to do with the word man and the plural is therefore talismans. Its ultimate origin is an Arabi c word connected with the Greek word telesma meaning `consecrated object'.
Back - New Search talkative. This word is surprisingly early (15c). Fowler (1926) forbore to attack it despit e its being a `hybrid', i.e. the Latinate suffix -ative has been added to the Englis h word talk. But he pointed out that this was the only example of its kind relat ing to this suffix, and did so `with a view to discouraging imitation'. So far he ha s largely succeeded; imitation hybrids such as writative, babblative, and scribb lative are recorded in the OED, and Shakespeare used forgetive (= inclined to fo rge, not really a hybrid), but these have not lasted.
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-t and -ed. A number of irregular verbs have competing past forms and past participles in -t and -ed (e.g. leapt and leaped); the most common of these are given in the tabl e below. In some cases the length of the vowel is shortened in the -t forms (e.g . lept instead of leept for leapt). It is difficult to establish distinctions ba sed on region or meaning, but two tendencies are discernible: (1) the form in -e d is more often preferred in AmE, and (2) in BrE there is a stronger preference for the -t form when it is used as a p articipial adjective, as in The cakes are burnt as distinct from We burned the c akes
VERB -T FORM -ED FORM bereave bereft bereaved beseech besought beseeched burn burnt burned cleave cleft cleaved dream dreamt dreamed dwell dwelt dwelled earn earnt earned kneel knelt kneeled lean leant leaned leap leapt leaped learn learnt learned smell smelt smelled spell spelt spelled spill spilt spilled spoil spoilt spoiled earnt is not standard, but is increasingly found
Back - New Search tangible. The primary meaning is `perceptible by touch', but in practice figurative uses tend to be more common, in which the meaning becomes `clearly intelligible, not imagina ry or hypothetical', as in tangible evidence and tangible proof.
Back - New Search tantalize means more than just tease or torment, as is shown by the word's origins in the treatment meted out to the legendary Phrygian king Tantalus, who was forced to s tand in water which receded when he tried to drink and under branches that drew back when he tried to pick the fruit. The word is therefore best used when it re tains an element of torment caused by something offered and then withdrawn, alth
ough this cannot always be as explicit or obvious as it was for Tantalus: Foremost among their key sources was a man whom the authors still tantalizingly refuse to nameTime, 1974.
Back - New Search Taoiseach the title of the Prime Minister of the Irish Republic, is pronounced tee-shk.
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target. 1 The figurative use of target meaning àn amount or objective to be achieved' arose during the Second World War and is now more common than the primary meaning. Si r Ernest Gowers , the senior Whitehall civil servant and writer on language, gre w rapidly tired of the word: We were offered a great variety of things that we might meritoriously do to our targets. We might reach them, achieve them, attain them or obtain them; we were to feel greatly encouraged if we came in sight of the target to which we were tr ying to do whatever we were trying to do, and correspondingly depressed if we fo und ourselves either a long way behind it or (what apparently amounts to the sam e thing) a long way short of itABC of Plain Words, 1951. While care should be tak en to avoid contexts that are jarringly incongruous (such as keeping abreast of targets, perhaps), the physical image is less strong than it is (for example) wi th ceiling, and Gowers' strictures now seem somewhat obsessive. To complain, as some do, that a doubled target is larger, and therefore necessarily easier to hi t rather than harder, smacks strongly of pedantry. Used with care, target has a useful role alongside alternatives such as aim, goal, object, and objective.
2 The verb, meaning `to single out as an object of attack', has inflected forms targ eted, targeting.Top
Back - New Search tarmac. The verb has inflected forms tarmacked, tarmacking.
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tart see PIE.
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tartan. 1 see PLAID.
2 Tartan is used allusively in informal and normally affectionate compounds to d enote people or things connected with Scotland; the tartan army is the body of S cottish supporters at football games abroad, and the tartan tax is an increment on income tax that might well fund Scottish devolution.Top
Back - New Search tassel. The inflected forms are tasselled, tasselling in BrE and in AmE usually tasseled , tasseling.
Back - New Search tasty, tasteful. Tasty is now restricted to the context of food (and some transferred uses) and i s not used in the context of good taste (= aesthetic judgement), for which taste ful is the appropriate adjective. The opposite word tasteless, however, is used in all meanings, physical and abstract.
Back - New Search tattoo. The verb has inflected form tattoos, tattooed, tattooing. It can have as its gra mmatical object either the design that forms the tattoo (A heart was tattooed on her left arm) or the part of the body on which the design is put (Tattooed his cheek with a winged fist).
Back - New Search tautology is the repetition of the same idea or meaning in a phrase or sentence, as in a f ree gift (all gifts are free), a new innovation, and to return again. Some tauto logies are contained within a small group of words such as a noun phrase (e.g. f uture prospects, past history, no other alternative, the general consensus). Oth ers occur in the way sentences are put together (the tautologous words are print ed in bold): The activities of the club are not limited only to golf / There is no need for undue haste / The Cold War came to a final close in Germany yesterda y. Except when used as a literary or rhythmic device in which the effect is inte ntional, this kind of tautology is normally regarded as an error and should be a voided.
Back - New Search taxi. The noun has the plural form taxis, and the verb has inflected forms taxis, taxi ed, taxiing.
Back - New Search teaspoonful has the plural form teaspoonfuls. The phrase three teaspoons ofis also available.
Back - New Search techno-. The word technology and its main derivatives, technological etc., date from the 17c, but it was not until the 20c that the first element techno- became a format ive element in such compounds as technocracy and technocrat (both first recorded in 1919), technophobia (1965, interestingly somewhat earlier than technomania o f 1969), technofreak (1973), and technobabble (1987), all associated with comput ing and other areas of advanced technology. Other formations refer to types of s ynthesized electronic music, e.g. technopop (1980) and technorock (1983), and ha ve led to the independent word techno, used as an adjective and a noun: the energized electrobeats and keyboard surges of dance-floor technoRolling Stone , 1994.
Back - New Search teem. It sometimes causes surprise that the two apparently close meanings involved her e are of two distinct verbs. One, from an Old English word meaning `to give birth to', means `to be full of or swarming with' (as in a sea teeming with fish), and the o ther, from an Old Norse and word meaning `to empty', means `to pour or flow copiously' (
as in teeming with rain). Neither should be confused with the verb team, as used in the phrasal verb team up with.
Back - New Search teenager meaning a person aged from 13 to 19, or sometimes loosely any adolescent person, is first recorded as recently as the 1940s (first in America), although teenage is somewhat older (1920s) and teens (as in a person in his teens) is much older (17c).
Back - New Search teetotaller is spelt with two ls in BrE, but in AmE often teetotaler.
Back - New Search telederived from the Greek word tle meaning àt a distance', is one of the great formati ve elements of modern English and a genuine mirror of technological advance over several centuries. It occurred earliest in words such as telescope (first recor ded in 1648), telegraph (1794), telegram (1852), telephone (1876 in its modern s ense), telepathy (1882), and television (1907, a hybrid formed on the Latin elem ent vision). In more recent formations tele- has been even freer of etymological constraints: telecommunication was formed first in French in 1937 at a conferen ce in Madrid, telecast was modelled on broadcast and telegenic (meaning `visually attractive on television') on photogenic, and words such as teleprinter, telepromp ter, and teletext were formed simply by lumping tele- with an existing word of w hatever origin.
Back - New Search televise is a back-formation from television, and is spelt -ise, not -ize, in both BrE an d AmE.
Back - New Search temperature meaning à high or abnormal temperature' (as in Have you got a temperature?) is idio matic in modern English but mostly confined to spoken forms.
Back - New Search tempo a term in music, has the plural form tempi (preferred) or tempos.
Back - New Search temporary, temporarily. Temporary is pronounced tem-p-r-ri, as four syllables, with an additional stress on the -ar- in AmE. Temporarily has five syllables and until recently was prono unced in BrE with the stress on the first syllable, but the AmE pronunciation wi th the stress on the -ar- is now almost as common in BrE.
Back - New Search tend. There are two verbs here. One is a shortened form of attend and is used either w ith an object or intransitively with to in the meaning `to take care of, look afte r' (Shepherds tending their flocks / The thief was watching as she tended to her f ather). The other is derived from Latin tendere `to stretch' and is used with a to-i nfinitive to mean `be inclined to'(He tended to do what his parents advised).
Back - New Search tenet meaning à dogma or doctrine', is now normally pronounced ten-it.
Back - New Search tenor. The word has a strange range of meanings (a singing voice, a prevailing course o r direction, a legal term, the subject of a metaphor), all relating in some way to the Latin word tenre `to hold'. The spelling is -or in all meanings in both BrE a nd AmE.
Back - New Search tense is the location in time of the state or action expressed by a verb. English verb s properly have only two tenses, the present (I am) and past (I was). The future is formed with shall or will (I shall/will be: see SHALL AND WILL), other forms of the past are formed with auxiliary verbs (I have been / I was being), and th e past perfect is formed with the past tense of have (I had been). Choice of ten se mostly corresponds to actual time, but there are conventional uses of tenses
other than this, e.g. the HISTORIC PRESENT in narratives (see the separate entry ) and the use of the future for present as in polite requests such as Will that be all for now?. Choice of tense becomes more complex in reported speech (He sai d it is/was a nuisance): for this see SEQUENCE OF TENSES.
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terminal, terminus. 1 In BrE these words are largely interchangeable in meanings associated with the end of routes in different forms of transport, but a terminus is more likely to be a road or railway station at the end of a line and a terminal is more likely to be a complex of buildings at an airport (or in a city for connection with an airport). Terminus is not used in the airport sense but terminal is increasingl y used in the road and rail senses. In AmE terminal is used in all three senses, whereas terminus tends to refer to the location (town, city, etc.) at the end o f a route.
2 The plural of terminus is termini (pronounced ter-mi-niy).Top
Back - New Search terminate is a formal word for `stop or bring to an end', as in terminating a pregnancy, an ag reement being terminated, and a train that terminates at Paris. In general conte xts, a simpler word such as stop or end should normally be used.
Back - New Search terminus see TERMINAL.
Back - New Search terrain is best reserved for contexts in which a geographical or military assessment is being made (an uneven terrain / the peculiarities of the terrain) rather than as a simple synonym for area, ground, region, or tract.
Back - New Search terrible, terribly have gone the way of other words of this type, such as awful / awfully, dreadful / dreadfully, frightful / frightfully; that is, terrible intensifies something by definition bad (a terrible mistake) and terribly intensifies adjectives and o ther adverbs generally (terribly important / not terribly good). Colloquially, t errible is used disparagingly with neutral nouns (a terrible speaker / What a te rrible name to give a baby!). However, the adjective and adverb retain their lit eral meanings `horrifying, horrifyingly' in contexts such as a terrible cry, terribl e consequences, and terribly disfigured. By contrast, terrific when used with ne utral nouns is not disparaging but approving (a terrific meal / a terrific speak er).
Back - New Search tetchy, touchy. Tetchy means ìrritable, peevish', and is a near synonym of testy, whereas touchy me ans òver-sensitive, likely to take offence'.
Back - New Search tte--tte meaning àn intimate conversation between two people', is printed in roman type with the accents and hyphens as shown. The same spelling is used as an adjective or adverb (dined tte--tte), and the plural of the noun is tte--ttes.
Back - New Search textual, textural. The contexts normally prevent these two words getting in each other's way: textu al means `relating to text' (textual criticism), whereas textural means `relating to t exture', often in figurative contexts such as music (textural features / textural variation).
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than. 1 Than is normally used to introduce the second element in a comparison, and act s either as a conjunction (He is older than I am) or as a preposition (He is old er than me). In uses such as He is older than I, than is normally regarded as a
conjunction with the verb following I understood, but in spoken English at least the more usual choice is the type He is older than me. For this choice, see fur ther at CASES 2B.
2 Other aspects of the use of than will be found at the following entries: BAREL Y, DIFFERENT (3), HARD (2), INFERIOR, OTHER (2), PREFER (3), RATHER (2), SCARCEL Y (1), SUPERIOR.Top
Back - New Search thankfully has been used as an ordinary adverb of manner since Anglo-Saxon times, and is st ill current in this meaning: Ùntil Friday,' said Mrs Marsh, and shut the door thankfully behind her Brookner , 19 92. Since the 1960s, it has developed the additional role of sentence adverb, in which it qualifies a whole statement and reflects the opinion of the speaker ra ther than modifying anything contained within the statement: Thankfully, however, the old style has not entirely disappearedDaily Telegraph, 1 982. Though frowned on from time to time, thankfully has not attracted the venom that hopefully has; this may well be to do with the meanings of the two words a nd the associations each has (thankfully expresses relief whereas hopefully rais es doubts). For more on this issue in its context, see HOPEFULLY, SENTENCE ADVER BS.
Back - New Search thanks to.
Thanks to the rank stupidity of Steve Gillery's bride-to-be, he had to hold his stag night on Saturday morning and rush off to the ceremony during half-time in the afternoonM. Gist , 1993. This ironic use, in which thanks to is an equivalent of because of or due to, occurs in contexts where thanks are hardly appropriate , but it is attested from the 18c (and earlier in the form no thanks to), and it s credentials are therefore sound. Meanwhile the straightforward use of thanks t o continues in use: Thanks to the national radio paging system, a doctor can be alerted to an emerge ncy by a `bleep', carried about his personScientific American, 1982.
Back - New Search thank you. The standard written form of the expression of thanks is thank you (two words), although thank-you (with hyphen) and thankyou (one word) are sometimes found, es
pecially in ephemera such as junk mail and restaurant bills, and thank-you is th e correct from in attributive use (before a noun, e.g. a thank-you letter). Than ks is more informal and conversational than thank you, as are many thanks and th anks a lot.
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that is a word with many roles, and plays a major part in English sentence structure. The following are its main grammatical functions: DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN: That was what I meant DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVE: Why did you take that picture of me? DEMONSTRATIVE ADVERB: I was that angry / It didn't hurt that much RELATIVE PRONOUN: It was not the drug that had done it CONJUNCTION: He had assumed that we would want to see him 1 As a demonstrative pronoun and adjective, that normally refers to something al ready mentioned or known: (pronoun) She had not meant it so, but it could have b een read like that / How the hell did you manage that? / The witnesses, if they could be called that, continued to repeat that they knew nothing / (adjective) I f I were you, I would keep an eye on that young man / It wasn't a nature reserve , that Ark of yours. There are also a number of familiar idiomatic or formulaic uses: Something worth a lot of money, that's for sure / She had a small, pretty face, I'll give you that / She cleared her throat to speak but left it at that / I just wanted to see her, that's all. 2 Its use as a demonstrative adverb equivalent to so or very (or so very) dates from the 15c and has been slipping in and out of standard usage ever since. In c urrent English it is regarded as informal in both positive and negative contexts : `Shut up,' says Claudia Ìt's not that funny' Lodge , 1988 / You and your brother, you're not really that alike, are you?Encounter, 1989. In o ther contexts, however, it verges on the formal or at least neutral: The questioning attitude that comes naturally at student age is not that easily abolishedListener, 1987. 3 As a relative pronoun, that becomes an alternative to which (and occasionally who). Although they are often interchangeable, there are some uses that are pecu liar to each: When that is used it normally introduces a so-called `restrictive' cla use, which defines or gives essential (rather than additional) information about the noun or noun phrase that comes before: the pen that my father bought for me / the pen that is over on the table/ (in each case the that-clause defines whic h pen is meant). (See further at RELATIVE CLAUSES). In these cases the that-clau se normally follows on without a comma. Which can also be used in these examples
, but in conversational English that is more usual, and in some cases it is poss ible to omit the relative pronoun altogether and say the pen my father bought fo r me. That can also replace who (or whom), especially when the reference is nonspecific, as in The person that I saw was definitely a woman, and when there are two antecedents, one inanimate and the other human: It was the drug and not her brother that had upset her. That is also more idiomatic than which in a number of cases: (1) when which already occurs earlier in the sentence in another role (Which is the house that you bought?), (2) after indefinite pronouns such as anything, everything, nothing, and somethi ng (There is something that I forgot to mention), and (3) after a construction with the impersonal it (It is the new one that we want) . When that is the object of the verb in its clause, it is regularly omitted, es pecially in speech (There is something I forgot to mention).
Which, not that, has to be used in so-called non-restrictive clauses which give additional rather than essential information: A new edition of the book, which h as taken ten years to write, will be published this week. Which is also used whe n a preposition precedes it (Is this the book to which you are referring?); in a corresponding construction with that, the preposition has to come at the end (I s this the book that you are referring to? or Is this the book you are referring to?). 4 That is used as a conjunction to introduce a subordinate clause, principally a fter verbs of saying, feeling, believing, knowing, learning, etc.: The President admitted that he had lied / We would hate to think that they were corrupting yo u / I understand that you wanted to see me. A that-clause of this type can also occur after the impersonal it: It was natural that they should think so. Normall y the conjunction that can be omitted, especially in speech: I understand you wa nted to see me / It was natural they should think so. In inverted constructions, however, in which the that-clause comes before the main clause, that is obligat ory: That they are guilty is assumed by everybody.
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the. 1 The, called the definite article, is the commonest word in English, occurring about once in every seven words of everyday language. It can therefore come as a surprise to know that it is pronounced in three ways, depending on its role and position. In normal use it is pronounced dh before a word beginning with a cons onant (the table / the green house) and dhi before a word beginning with a vowel or a softly aspirated h sound (the apples / the other leg / the hotel). When em phasized, it is pronounced dhee (You mean the Sharon Stone?). These distinctions come naturally to most native speakers, but occasional divergences are heard, e specially over-emphasis of the in cases where the weak form is called for.
2 When two nouns are joined by and, a second the is normally omitted: the distor
tion and innuendo to which several of your correspondents have resorted. But the must be repeated to avoid ambiguity: the black and the white penguins / the Lon don and the Southampton trains. When two nouns joined by and form the subject of a sentence, they are sometimes regarded as a single concept and treated as gram matically singular: The innocence and purity of their singing comes entirely from their identificati on with the character Levin , 1985. See AGREEMENT (3).Top
3 In titles of books, plays, films, etc., The should be retained when it forms p art of the recognized title, but can be omitted when it does not fit the structu re of the sentence: Look in The Times / a new edition of The Chicago Manual of S tyle but John is a Times reporter/J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.Top
4 In BrE it is usual to add the when referring to a person by a title, as in The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, attended the meeting. The style Prime Minister Tony Blair attended the meeting is characteristic of AmE. After verbs such as become , be appointed, etc., the definite article can be omitted before titles or names of office that refer to a single person: He became Prime Minister in 1997.Top
Back - New Search theatre is spelt -re in BrE but usually theater in AmE.
Back - New Search their see THEY.
Back - New Search theirs. This possessive pronoun, as used in The house is not mine but theirs, is written without an apostrophe. In compound subjects connected by and, the correct form is (e.g.) Our children and theirs went on holiday together, not Theirs and our c hildren went on holiday together.
Back - New Search theirselves is non-standard for themselves, and arises from the tendency to regard self as a
noun needing a possessive pronoun to qualify it; this is legitimate only when a n adjective intervenes, e.g. their very selves.
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them. 1 see THEY.
2 Use of them as a demonstrative pronoun and adjective is non-standard or dialec tal in current English: Them's my sentimentsE.M. Forster , 1924 / I didn't know much about planes in them daysP. McCabe , 1992.Top
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themself. The standard reflexive form of they and them is themselves (as in The children h ave hurt themselves), but a form themself is recorded (with plural reference) fr om the 14c to the 16c, when it fell out of use. In the 1980s it was rediscovered in the search for gender-neutral pronouns, and occurs from time to time with re ference to common-gender singular noun or pronouns, without yet being generally accepted: I think somebody should immediately address themself to this problemA.T. Ellis , 1987. The plural form themselves is also used in this way, but the effect is if anything more awkward: It may be best, however, to confess to someone who will never meet her boyfriend ,just in case that third party got tremendously drunk at a party themselves, and blurted it out to someone elseIndependent, 1998. The final battle for a set of ge nder-free pronouns will probably be fought over themself, but for now beware of it.
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Use of then as an adjective as in the then President, to mean àt that time', has be en continuous since the 16c and is acceptable despite occasional objections to i t. Less acceptable, however, is the type with an adjective following then, espec ially when joined by a hyphen: Four years ago great things were expected of Japa n's then embryonic biotechnology industry. In many cases of this type, then can be omitted without any significant loss of meaning.
Back - New Search thence is a formal and literary word meaning `from there' or `from then': It is very logical to feed wind-powered energy in the form of either electricity or direct heat directly into a buffer system and thence to direct useJournal of the Royal Society of Arts, 1976. It is no longer used in everyday English.
Back - New Search thereabouts meaning `near that place' or `near that amount' (a hundred pounds or thereabouts), is al ong with thereby, therefore, and thereupon one of the few medieval compounds for med with there- to survive in modern English without any hint of archaism. The v ariant form thereabout is now less common.
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therefore. 1 This is the most resilient of the adverbs in there- and has been part of the c ore language since the 12c. It is always pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, and can be placed in various positions in a sentence, including the b eginning. In short sentences and in constructions in which therefore is associat ed with a particular word or phrase, it is not necessary to separate it with com mas: Would I please therefore oblige her by using the musical notation providedGuardia n, 1986 / The relationship of patronage was therefore complexR. Greene , 1993. When commas are used, they have the effect of emphasizing the previous word: Washington, therefore, can see distinct advantages in a one-way upward crawling pegTimes, 1970.
2 When therefore comes at the beginning of a sentence, a following comma is opti onal and depends on the flow of the sentence: You're not here as a solicitor Therefore, you're entitled to call some other soli citorJ. Wainwright , 1972 / Therefore I wear my `power suit', I call it, if I have to go to a board in the confe rence room on the top floor with senior officialsG. Kirkup 1990. When it is immed iately followed by a subordinate clause, it is more likely to be separated by a comma: Therefore, when a battery shows signs of diminishing power and range effectivene ss it makes sense to replace itB. Smithson , 1988.Top
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there is, there are. This impersonal formula is used to indicate the existence of something or someon e in a way that avoids the need to identify them more closely grammatically. The re is (or was) is used when the following noun is singular, and there are (or we re) when it is plural: There is a spider in the bath / There were three biscuits a moment ago. When the number of the following noun is more complex, choice is normally determined by what follows immediately; for example, There is a pen and three sheets of paper on the desk sounds more natural than There are a pen and three sheets of paper on the desk. Amounts regarded as a unit are also treated a s singular: There is 500 in my account (equivalent to `the sum of 500'). Use of there is, or more often there's, as an invariable formula regardless of number is ofte n found but is only acceptable informally: There's 35 branches throughout the co untry.
Back - New Search there you are, there you go. There you are is used colloquially as a dismissive expression of regret: I felt ridiculous of course, but there you areS. Wall , 1991. There you go is som etimes used in the same way, and is also a conversational formula used to draw a person's attention to something offered: Evan handed over her change. `There you go then.' Anderson , 1993.
Back - New Search thesaurus.
A thesaurus (pronounced th-saw-rs) is a dictionary organized to supply alternati ve words rather than to offer analytical explanations of what words mean. Becaus e synonymy is such a complex phenomenon, most thesauruses can be, in their natur e, as dangerous as they are useful. The plural is thesauri or thesauruses.
Back - New Search these kind of, these sort of see KIND OF.
Back - New Search thesis meaning à dissertation', has the plural form theses, pronounced thee-seez.
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they, them, their. These three pronouns have all been used since the 16c to refer back to a singula r pronoun, especially an indefinite pronoun such as anyone, everyone, nobody, so meone, etc.: One other type of sensor sets up an invisible light beam If someone walks across it, they interrupt the beamP. Niesewand , 1979 / The delicious aroma drifting across a neighbour's fence of food cooking over cha rcoal is enough to make anyone yearn for a barbecue of their ownPractical Househo lder, 1986. The value of this device has been enhanced in recent years by its va lidity as a gender-neutral option in place of more awkward conventions such as h e or she, his or her, etc. For a fuller discussion of this issue see GENDER-NEUT RALITY.
Back - New Search they're is a contraction of they are, and should be distinguished from the like-sounding forms their and there.
Back - New Search thief
has the plural form thieves.
Back - New Search thimbleful has the plural form thimblefuls.See -FUL.
Back - New Search thinness meaning `the quality of being thin', has two ns.
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think. 1 After think, that is usually omitted when a clause follows: I think you are ri ght. See THAT (4).
2 Think can be followed by a to-infinitive with the meaning `to remember': Did you t hink to lock the door?.Top
3 As a noun, think is relatively recent (early 19c) and is normally regarded as informal: I'll have a think about it.Top
Back - New Search thinkable meaning ìmaginable, able to be grasped by the mind', is not recorded before the ear ly 19c, some 450 years after its more common antonym unthinkable: A crash is a moment of panic when events are out of control and outlandish predi ctions become thinkableEconomist, 1991.
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thirties see EIGHTIES.
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this. 1 Though a less complex word than that (it is not a conjunction or a relative pr onoun, to begin with), this has three distinct roles: DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN: Thi s is what I mean DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVE: Would you like a glass of this wine? D EMONSTRATIVE ADVERB: The show is not usually this good
2 As a demonstrative pronoun and adjective, this normally refers to something or someone either present or being thought of at the time of speaking: What had I done to deserve this? / Did you leave this book behind? It can also refer back t o an immediately preceding statement when no single word can be identified as th e antecedent: Should governments do more, or ought this to be left to the privat e sector? When contrasted with that, this refers to the one immediately in mind, whereas that refers to the one mentioned before or known previously.Top
3 When used informally as a demonstrative adverb, this has a more specific refer ence to immediate experience than does the corresponding use of that: Keep in mind, however, that no existing property is this typicalReal Estate Revie w, 1972.Top
Back - New Search thither see HITHER.
Back - New Search though see ALTHOUGH. For as though, see AS (8).
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thrash, thresh. These words were once variants of the same word, but now have different spelling s and pronunciations. To thrash is to beat (physically and metaphorically as in beating one's opponents), whereas to thresh is to separate grain.
Back - New Search three-quarter, three-quarters. The noun expressing a fraction is three-quarters (with hyphen). The adjectival f orm is three-quarter (e.g. a three-quarter-length coat), and this is also the fo rm for the players in a rugby team.
Back - New Search threshold is spelt with one h (contrast withhold), and the h is optionally silent or aspir ated in speech.
Back - New Search thrice an adverb meaning `three times', was formerly in general use but is now limited to a rchaic or literary contexts.
Back - New Search thrive. The past and past participle of the verb are normally both thrived, although thr ove (past) and thriven (past participle) are occasionally used.
Back - New Search throes as in to be in the throes of, is spelt in this way, and should be distinguished from throws as a part of the verb throw.
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through. There are two important uses which are still regarded as Americanisms but are be ginning to make an impression on BrE: 1 As a preposition meaning ùp to and including', as in Monday through Friday. Briti sh speakers are aware of this use but still regard it as non-British, useful tho ugh it is: An eight-week summer program for disadvantaged children ages three through fiveDda lus, 1993.Top
2 As an adverb meaning `finished', as in Are you through yet?. AmE might well say Ar e you through with the phone?, where BrE would prefer Have you finished with the phone? (Note that in BrE, in the context of telephones, Are you through yet? wo uld normally be taken to mean `have you got a connection yet?') In AmE this use of t hrough is often followed by a verbal noun: ' I'm through eating, said my father, pushing his plate awayL.S. Schwartz , 1989.To p
Back - New Search thru is an informal variant of through in AmE: When she was little, and had stuttered thru a sentenceBlack World, 1971. It is us ed more formally in the term thruway, meaning àn expressway'.
Back - New Search Thursday see FRIDAY.
Back - New Search thus, thusly. Thus is a word with an awkward role in modern English. Used sparingly and approp riately, it is highly effective, whereas when over-used it can seem stilted and affected. It has two basic meanings, (1) ìn this way', and (2) àccordingly, therefore'.
In the first meaning, it is placed in the same position as ìn this way' would be, b ut sits more comfortably before a verb or participle: He persistently declines to extend to the Press that assistance (such as circula ting in advance scripts of major speeches, or sticking to the text of speeches t hus pre-released) which so greatly facilitates newspaper productionChurch Times, 1976. In the second meaning, it can follow the word order used with therefore, e xcept that initial position in a sentence often seems clumsy: Thus the parents, in conversation at home, are able to identify themselves with the place and people under discussionWhere, 1972. In some uses, thus combines the two meanings: He attempts to defamiliarize and deconstruct the text and thus account for its p ersuasive powerReview of English Studies, 1984. Thusly seems an unnecessary form, since thus is already an adverb, but it is used in AmE in jocular contexts: On his way home George mused thuslyBoston Journal, 1889.
Back - New Search tiara'd meaning `wearing a tiara', is preferable to the alternative form tiaraed.
Back - New Search tidal along with coastal, belongs to the list of Fowler's LOST CAUSES. His objection w as that a Latinate suffix (-al corresponding to Latin -alis) is attached to a wo rd of English origin (tide). Such objections seem absurdly puristic today.
Back - New Search tidbit see TITBIT.
Back - New Search tight, tightly. Tight is used as an adverb in combination with a number of verbs, primarily in c ommands or instructions: hold tight, sit tight, sleep tight. It also occurs as t he first element in a few compound adjectives. e.g. tightfisted, tight-fitting, tight-lipped. In general use, tightly is the normal adverb.
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tilde is a mark () put over a letter to modify its pronunciation; e.g. in Spanish (as i n the second n in nio) is pronounced -ny-.
Back - New Search till see UNTIL.
Back - New Search time. For words denoting lengths of time, see EPOCH.
Back - New Search times. When followed by an adjective or adverb in the comparative degree, times normall y denotes an increase and not a decrease, e.g. five times bigger, not five times smaller. There are occasional exceptions for special effect, but the rule shoul d be followed in everyday language.
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timpani, tympanum. Timpani is a plural noun meaning òrchestral kettledrums' (informally shortened to t imps). Tympanum is the technical term for èardrum', and has the plural form tympana .
Back - New Search tin see CAN.
Back - New Search tinker
meaning `to play about', is now normally followed by with rather than (as formerly) by at: Whatever moral doubts there may be about tinkering with nature, the biotechnolog y revolution will not be stopped in its tracksOxfam News, 1990.
Back - New Search tiptoe. The verb has inflected forms tiptoes, tiptoed, tiptoeing.
Back - New Search tirade is normally pronounced tiy-rayd, with the stress on the second syllable, in BrE, and tiy-rayd, with the stress on the first syllable, in AmE.
Back - New Search tire (of a wheel) see TYRE.
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tiro meaning à novice', is spelt in this way in BrE but more often tyro in AmE. The plur al form is -os.
Back - New Search tissue should be pronounced tish-oo rather than tis-yoo.
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titbit, tidbit. Titbit is the usual spelling in BrE and tidbit in AmE. The first element is prob ably derived from an English dialect word tid meaning `tender, nice, special'.
Back - New Search titillate, titivate. Titillate means `to ertones (especially o adorn or smarten' ten mistakenly used excite' (as in It titillated his fancy), and often has sexual ov in the noun derivative titillation), whereas titivate means `t (as in She titivated herself up for the party). Titivate is of for titillate (though the reverse mistake does not occur):
Even now twelve heartfelt pages are titivating the senses of a Dead Letter super intendent Thomas , 1933.
Back - New Search titles see CAPITALS 2A, THE (3).
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to. 1 For the type to really love, see SPLIT INFINITIVE.
2 In AmE, to is beginning to be used as an alternative for of to denote possessi on or relation: He's married and the father to a sonChicago Tribune,1989.Top
Back - New Search tobacco has the plural form tobaccos.
Back - New Search toboggan. The verb has inflected forms tobogganed, tobogganing, and derivative forms tobog ganer, tobogganist.
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today, tomorrow, tonight are still occasionally seen in their hyphened forms to-day, to-night, and to-mor row, but the regular spellings are now as whole words.
Back - New Search together see ALL TOGETHER.
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toilet. Toilet is the commonest word in BrE for what used to be called water closet (or WC) and is still sometimes called lavatory. It is the word normally used on sign s and notices when more specific reference to ladies and gentlemen (or gents) is not given. In middle-class British conversation loo (of uncertain origin) has b ecome a regularly used alternative; toilet is regarded as non-U, and lavatory is now disfavoured almost as much. In AmE, the regular terms are restroom, bathroo m, and washroom, with john as a more informal alternative. Many slang terms and euphemisms exist in both varieties (in BrE, bog, karzy, etc., and in AmE can, co mfort station, powder room).
Back - New Search token. The phrase by the same token is used to connect a statement to something said pr eviously, and means roughly `for the same reason' or ìn the same way'. Although it is u
sed less precisely than these definitions imply, there should always be some cau sal or consequential connection of this kind: I've dined out on a few stories about her. But not ones that matter. By the same token, she could have made quite a good thing about telling how she saw youthat nightD. Halliday , 1970.
Back - New Search tomato has the plural form tomatoes.
Back - New Search tome. A tome is a large heavy book, not a synonym for a book of any size.
Back - New Search tomorrow see TODAY.
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ton. A ton is a unit of weight, and a tun is a cask or wine-measure. Both are pronoun ced tun and were once the same word, but they became differentiated in the 17c. A tonne, also pronounced tun, is a metric ton equivalent to 1,000 kilograms.
Back - New Search tonight see TODAY.
Back - New Search tonsil.
The derivative forms are tonsillectomy, tonsillitis, and tonsillotomy, all with two ls.
Back - New Search tonsorial has nothing to do with tonsils, but is an adjective derived from the Latin word tonsor meaning `barber' and is used facetiously to refer to a hairdresser or hairdre ssing.
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too. 1 Too is the normal word used to qualify an adjective or adverb to denote excess : The house is too large / I spoke too soon. It should not be used to qualify a participial adjective when this could not idiomatically be qualified by very: Sh e was too tired is acceptable because tired has acquired the role of an ordinary adjective, but She was too affected by their criticisms is less satisfactory be cause affected is still regarded as part of a verb. In this case a better altern ative is She was too much affected by their criticisms or She was excessively af fected by their criticisms.
2 When too qualifies an adjective followed by a noun, the usual order is (for ex ample) too large a house rather than a too large house. In more complex sentence s it is often preferable to rephrase in order to avoid a clumsy sequence of word s with too; for example, The incident arose from a too sudden reaction to the da nger would be better expressed as The incident arose because they reacted too su ddenly to the danger.Top
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toothcomb. The expression toothcomb or (fine toothcomb) arose from a misreading of the comp ound noun fine-tooth comb (i.e. a comb with the teeth). Purists will insist on t he original form, but the altered form follows the familiar pattern of idioms th at lose direct association with their origins, and is acceptable:
A novel which has been picked over with toothcombs, in search of clues to `The Mys tery'Times Literary Supplement, 1972.
Back - New Search tormentor is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search tornado has the plural form tornadoes.
Back - New Search torpedo has the plural form torpedoes, and the verb has inflected forms torpedoes, torpe doed, torpedoing.
Back - New Search torpor is spelt -or in both BrE and AmE.
Back - New Search torso has the plural form torsoes.
Back - New Search tortoise should be pronounced taw-ts. The form taw-toyz, with the second syllable like po ise, is non-standard.
Back - New Search tortuous, torturous. Both words are derived from Latin torqure meaning `to twist', but their literal mean
ings are different. The (less common) word torturous is a derivative of the Engl ish word torture, whereas tortuous has no such intermediary noun. A tortuous rou te is one that is twisting and winding, and a torturous illness or anxiety is on e that is extremely painful. It is in their figurative uses, in which both words mean `difficult or complex', that the overlap is most noticeable. A tortuous judgem ent is one that has many complicating features, and a torturous judgement is one that is painfully difficult to make; these are two aspects of a similar outcome . Tortuous is more common in this range of meanings and is usually the better ch oice.
Back - New Search total. The verb has inflected forms totalled, totalling in BrE, and usually totaled, to taling in AmE. The derivative words are totally (adverb) and totality (noun).
Back - New Search tother originally a Middle English form (the tother) derived from wrong division of tha t other, is still used in humorous contexts in BrE, especially in the phrase tel l tother from which (= tell one from the other).
Back - New Search toupee a kind of wig covering a bald spot, is spelt in this way without any accents.
Back - New Search toward, towards in BrE towards is much the more common form for the preposition, whereas in AmE toward is more usual: We walked toward / towards the house.
Back - New Search towel has inflected forms towelled, towelling in BrE, and usually toweled, toweling in AmE.
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trade marks also called proprietary terms, such as Bovril, Hoover, Walkman, and Xerox, shoul d normally be spelt with a capital initial in writing or print, but when they ar e used as verbs it is customary to use a small initial letter since the term has then become fully lexicalized (I'll xerox the documents). When trade marks are entered as headwords in dictionaries they normally appear with a capital initial and an explicit statement of their status; nonetheless, the trade mark owners a re often hostile to their inclusion, since this can be taken to imply (although linguistically it does not) that the term has become generic and can accordingly threaten the status of the trade mark. It is an interesting area, difficult to resolve, in which actual things, the names for them, and their legal status all demand different priorities from those who use them.
Back - New Search trade union is the correct form, not trades union. The plural form is trade unions. But TUC is short for Trades Union Congress.
Back - New Search trade wind is written as two words.
Back - New Search traffic. The verb has inflected forms traffics, trafficked, trafficking. The derivative n oun meaning `someone who traffics' is trafficker.
Back - New Search tragedy originally a term for a kind of drama in which the principal character or charac ters suffer death or other misfortune, has been extended in use to refer to majo r misfortunes in real life (The governmenthad been captured by the extreme right and its budget measures wer e à tragedy for many good New Zealanders'Keesings, 1990), and then further to refer to more trivial or ephemeral setbacks, such as defeat in a sports event. The wor d is best reserved for uses in which serious misfortune is involved.
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train station first recorded in the OED as recently as 1955, seems to be taking over from rail way station in contexts where something more specific is needed than just statio n: A 24 year old man was later arrested as he arrived at Oxford train stationtelevis ion news broadcast, 1993.
Back - New Search trait meaning à person's distinguishing characteristic', is usually pronounced tray in Br E, or sometimes trayt, as it is regularly in AmE.
Back - New Search trammel has inflected forms tramelled, tramelling in BrE, and usually trameled, tramelin g in AmE.
Back - New Search tranquillity, tranquillize, tranquillizer are spelt with two ls in BrE, but usually with one l in AmE. The adverb is tranq uilly in both varieties.
Back - New Search transcendent, transcendental. The word used in general contexts to mean èxcelling, surpassing' is transcendent. T ranscendental has the basic meaning òutside experience' and is used mainly in techn ical contexts: (1) in theology, to refer to God as being outside the universe, t he opposite of immanent (see at IMMINENT), (2) in philosophy to denote the teaching of the 19c American philosopher Ralph W aldo Emerson , and (3) in the term transcendental meditation, a form of meditation derived from Hin duism.
Back - New Search transexual
see TRANSSEXUAL.
Back - New Search transfer is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun, and with the stre ss on the second syllable as a verb. The verb has inflected forms transferred, t ransferring, but the derivative words are transferable, transference, transferor , and transferee (all with one r).
Back - New Search transgressor meaning `someone who violates a rule or law', is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search tranship, transhipment see TRANSSHIP, TRANSSHIPMENT.
Back - New Search transient, transitory. Both words mean `brief, fleeting', with transient conveying rather more strongly the notion of people or things `passing through' while transitory denotes temporary sit uations that are more static: The highly transient nature of the casual labour force in hotels and catering, a nd the low attachment to work of many casualsmean that the unions' task will scar cely be an easy oneB. Casey , 1988 / In traditional critical study, questions about politics were rarely felt importa nt since politics engaged with transitory activitiesT. Healy , 1992. Transient ha s special meanings in music, philosophy, electricity, and nuclear physics, and t ransitory has a special meaning in law. The noun transience is generally prefera ble to the more cumbersome word transitoriness.
Back - New Search transistor is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search transitive verbs see INTRANSITIVE AND TRANSITIVE VERBS.
Back - New Search translator is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search transliterate means `to replace the letters or characters of a word with the corresponding lette rs in another alphabet'. Words may be transliterated into the Roman alphabet from their originals in Greek, Chinese, Japanese, and so on. The result is a translit eration, which preserves the form of the original, as distinct from a translatio n, which gives the equivalent word (often unrelated in form) in another language . For example, pteron is a transliteration from Greek, and wing is its translati on.
Back - New Search translucent see TRANSPARENT.
Back - New Search transmit has inflected forms transmitted, transmitting, and derivative forms transmitter, transmittal (but more commonly transmission). The adjectival forms transmittabl e and transmissible are both in use.
Back - New Search transparency is more usual than transparence in the general meaning `the quality or state of be ing transparent', and is the only form available in the concrete meaning à photogra phic slide'.
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transparent is the general word used to describe anything through which light can pass, so t hat what is on the other side is visible, as distinct from translucent, which de notes passage of light but not necessarily visibility (as with frosted glass, fo r example). Transparent also has figurative senses relating to mental comprehens ion rather than physical vision (e.g. Their intentions were transparent) and to political openness and accessibility to public scrutiny.
Back - New Search transpire. The origin of the word is in the Latin verb spirare `to breathe', and in its primary physical sense meant `to give off vapour' or `to perspire' (a meaning still used in the physical sciences). In the 18c it developed two abstract meanings, both looked on with suspicion: (1) `to leak out, to become known', usually with an impersonal it as subject (The two girls, it transpired, did not work in a cabaret but assisted at a gambl ing salonM. Pearce , 1992 / It transpired later that the social workers were all under instruction to have i dentificationR. Black , 1992), and (2) in the late 18c, `to happen, to occur' (What actually transpired upon the outbreak of the Civil War is lost in the mist s of timeE.G. Holland , 1986), a sense that probably arose from a misunderstandin g of the previous one. In the course of time the first of these meanings has bec ome accepted, but the second, despite its closeness in some contexts, is still w idely disfavoured (in the 19c the American writer Richard Grant White went so fa r as to describe it as a `monstrous perversion') and it should not be used except in formally.
Back - New Search transport, transportation. Transport is used both for the conveying of passengers and goods and for the veh icles used in this. Transportation, which is primarily an American word, is also used in BrE in the first of these meanings: Its chief original purpose was to facilitate transportation by road of the produ cts of the Coalbrookdale iron works, which had previously been conveyed by river and canal transportB. Bailey , 1985. The word is also used historically with ref erence to prisoners sent to penal colonies overseas.
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transsexual is the preferred form, not transexual.
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transship, transshipment are the preferred forms, not tranship, transhipment.
Back - New Search trauma. The preferred pronunciation is traw-m, but trou-m is more common in AmE.
Back - New Search travel. The verb has inflected forms travelled, travelling, traveller in BrE, and usuall y traveled, traveling, traveling in AmE.
Back - New Search treble see TRIPLE.
Back - New Search trek. The verb has inflected forms trekked, trekking. The word implies a strong elemen t of difficulty or arduousness, and as a synonym of go is used in hyperbole or f or jocular effect.
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trellis has inflected forms trellised, trellising.
Back - New Search tremor is spelt -or in BrE and AmE.
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tribe 1 Tribe is used without difficulty when the reference is historical (Balbindor was a coastal Malay of the lban tribe Aldiss , 1993), and some ancient societies had constitutional divisions normally translated by the term tribe (e .g. Athens and Rome). In modern contexts, however, the associations of empire an d implications of cultural superiority make it a controversial term when applied to communities living within traditional societies. When these are not technica lly or traditionally known by the term tribe, alternative terms such as communit y and people are usually preferable.
2 For several centuries, tribe has been used disparagingly to mean `social circle' o r `set of associates', but in recent usage this meaning has become more neutral in t one: Nick and she, they were proportioned to each other, they seemed to belong to the same tribe Rendell , 1988. On the whole, since its boundaries are clear, this us e is unexceptionable.Top
Back - New Search tricolour meaning à flag of three colours', especially the French flag of blue, white, and re d, is spelt -our in BrE and pronounced trik--l. In AmE it is spelt tricolor and pronounced triy-kul-
Back - New Search trigger.
The verb has inflected forms triggered, triggering.
Back - New Search trillion. Now that BILLION means predominantly à thousand million' in both BrE and AmE, trill ion has taken over the earlier BrE meaning of billion, i.e. à million million', in place of its own former (and more rarely needed) meaning à million million millio n'.
Back - New Search trio has the plural form trios.
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triple, treble. In general contexts (outside music, betting, etc.) the two words are largely int erchangeable as noun, verb, and adjective, but treble is somewhat more common fo r the verb (Either way, it's bound to treble his life insurance paymentsDaily Telegraph, 199 2) and triple for the adjective (I was starting to get triple vision and wondering how you did that with only tw o eyes Banks , 1990). Both words are used in the meaning `three times as many', as in treble / triple the number and treble / triple the size.
Back - New Search triptych meaning à painting or carving on three panels', is pronounced trip-tik. The second element is derived from the Greek word ptukh meaning `fold'.
Back - New Search triumphal, triumphant. Triumphal is a classifying word denoting things connected with victory, such as
a triumphal arch or a triumphal procession. Triumphant is more descriptive and m eans èxulting in a victory or success' with a wide range of applications: Ì thought so,' said Gray, with a small triumphant laugh Faulks , 1993 / The triumphant British team at the world microlight competition in Dunakeszi, Hu ngary, deserve to be congratulatedFlyer, 1991. The two words can occasionally ove rlap in context: a triumphal entry and a triumphant entry can refer to the same thing, although one that is triumphal in fact may not necessarily be triumphant in tone.
Back - New Search trivia like trivial, has an interesting history. Both words are derived in roundabout w ays from the Latin word trivium meaning à place where three roads meet', and come v ia the medieval sense of a three-part education in grammar, rhetoric, and logic as a division of the liberal arts. Trivia is treated as both a plural noun and a singular mass noun: Besides, trivia has its importance, too. Or, to put it another way, trivia have their importance tooSunday Times, 1978.
Back - New Search trolley is spelt -ey and has the plural form trolleys.
Back - New Search troop, troupe. A troop is an armoured unit of soldiers or a group of Scouts, whereas a troupe i s a company of actors or performers. Correspondingly, a trooper is a soldier in an armoured unit (and, in America and Australia, a mounted police officer) and a trouper is a member of a group of actors or performers and (figuratively) à stau nch colleague' (usually with a favourable qualifying word: I don't think you're selfish at all. In fact, Maisie, I think you're a proper tr ouper Francis , 1976).
Back - New Search trouble.
As a comedian he had trouble finding a personaNew York Times, 1974. This use, in which trouble is followed immediately by a verbal noun, is acceptable informally , but in more formal contexts it should include the preposition in:
Once you have spoken to the potential recipients you should have no trouble in g etting addressesJ. Ridgway , 1984.
Back - New Search trousers is a plural noun in ordinary use (Where are my trousers?), but takes the form tr ouser when used attributively (i.e. before a noun, as in trouser leg and trouser suit).
Back - New Search trousseau meaning `clothes collected by a bride in preparation for her marriage', has the plur al form trousseaus (preferred) or trousseaux, both pronounced troo-sohz.
Back - New Search trout is the same in the plural, except that old trout (a depreciatory slang term for an old woman) has the plural form old trouts.
Back - New Search truly. For Yours truly, see LETTER FORMS.
Back - New Search trumpet. The verb has inflected forms trumpeted, trumpeting.
Back - New Search trunkful has the plural form trunkfuls. See -FUL.
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truths. The recommended pronunciation for the plural form is troodhz, although troothz i s also heard.
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try and, try to. 1 Try, like come and go, can be followed by and + verb instead of by a to-infini tive: Try and survive, try and live with the system Seymour , 1983. This use is somewha t more informal than the construction with to, and also has the effect of placin g the weight of meaning less on try and more on the following verb (compare the balance of meaning in Try to survive). There are occasions when and has a somewha t larger share of the usage: (1) when try is already preceded by to (Jack didn't stop to try and work it outA. Masters , 1991), (2) in casual or form ulaic commands and invitations (Turn yer light out and try and get some sleep Innes , 1991 / If he'd said, let's all get together on this, let's try and solve the problem, t he problem's been going on indefinitely, he might have gained more credibilitycoun cil meeting recorded in British National Corpus, 1994), and (3) in expressions o f challenge or defiance (Just you try and stop me Barnes , 1992). But these are tendencies only, and cont rary examples are not hard to find: That girl was going to try to put the blame on her, she could tellS. Shepherd , 1 988.
2 When try is in the negative, to and and occur more interchangeably in the same types of construction (for example, in commands), but and is noticeably more in formal: Don't try and change the subject!M. Dibdin , 1989 / Don't try to deny itS. Howard , 1993 / So Herbie didn't try and jump in the car before I could lift himconversation reco rded in British National Corpus, 1991 / They should not try to be fair to other countriesNew Scientist, 1991.Top
3 The construction with and is not available after any other form of try, i.e. n ot after tries, tried, or trying
(They tried to warn us/What were you trying to tell me?/What if she tries to rin g you?/Ipaced around and tried to absorb all the details Brookner , 1986), but it is available to tenses formed by auxiliary verbs + the simple form of try (So let's not try and be too funny, eh?T. Lewis , 1992 / I might try and do that, I'll do it tomorrowconversation recorded in British Nati onal Corpus, 1992). A construction with to is also obligatory when try is follow ed by a negative proposition: Try not to hang things too close, too high, or too far apartM. Gilliatt , 1992.To p
4 CONCLUSION. From all this evidence we must conclude that choice between try to and try and is largely a matter of spontaneity, rhythm, and emphasis, especiall y in spoken forms. Generally speaking, try and is somewhat more casual in effect , and is especially idiomatic in speech, whereas there are often good reasons fo r preferring try to in more formal contexts. But usage is unstable, and is likel y to remain so.Top
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tsar, czar. Both spellings are in use for the title of the former Russian emperors, but tsar is more common in BrE and czar in AmE.
Back - New Search -t-, -tt-. For the inflection of words such as ballot and target, see DOUBLING OF FINAL CON SONANTS IN INFLECTION.
Back - New Search Tuesday see FRIDAY.
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tumour is spelt -our in BrE and tumor in AmE.
Back - New Search tun see TON.
Back - New Search tunnel. The verb has inflected forms tunnelled, tunnelling in BrE and tunneled, tunnelin g in AmE.
Back - New Search turban has an adjectival form turbaned (one n).
Back - New Search turbid, turgid. The two words are unrelated but both can describe the flowing of water in their literal meanings (turbid means òpaque and cloudy' and turgid means `swollen and overf lowing'), and both refer to styles of writing in their figurative meanings, Turgid , meaning ìnflated, bombastic' (as in turgid prose), is the more commonly used, whe reas turbid means `confused, muddled'.
Back - New Search Turcois the normal combining form of Turkish (as in Turcocentric, Turco-Russian, etc. ), not Turko-.
Back - New Search turf. The noun in its countable meaning ('a single piece of turf) has the plural form turves (preferred) or turfs.
Back - New Search turkey has the plural form turkeys.
Back - New Search turquoise. The recommended pronunciation in BrE is tur-kwoiz, but a more French-like form t ur-kwahz is sometimes heard.
Back - New Search turret has an adjectival form turreted (one t).
Back - New Search twenties see EIGHTIES.
Back - New Search -ty and -ness. Most English adjectives can form nouns by adding the active (originally Old Engl ish) suffix -ness, and these nouns denote either a state or quality (cleverness, happiness) or an instance of a state or quality (a kindness). The suffix -ty (o ften in the form -ity) represents via Old French a Latin noun ending -tas or -it as, and is very common in English (e.g. honesty, notoriety, prosperity, sanity, stupidity); some forms also denote an instance of the quality in the way that so me -ness nouns do (an ability, an ambiguity, a curiosity, a fatality, a subtlety , a variety). In most cases parallel nouns in -ness (ableness, curiousness, hone stness, etc.) are not normally used, but in other cases a form in -ty has develo ped a special meaning or a sense of remoteness from the adjective that leaves ro om for an alternative in -ness, e.g. casualty / casualness, clarity / clearness, crudity / crudeness, enormity / enormousness, ingenuity (from ingenious) / inge nuousness (from ingenuous), nicety / niceness, purity (with sexual overtones)/pu reness, preciosity (used of literary or artistic style)/preciousness, speciality / specialness. Some adjectives of Latinate origin that might have been expected to have forms in -ty in fact do not, and -ness forms are used instead, e.g. fac etiousness, massiveness, naturalness, seriousness, tediousness. Conversely there are nouns in -ty for which no corresponding adjectives exist in English, e.g. c elerity, fidelity, integrity, utility. For other noun forms see -ION, -MENT, -NE SS.
Back - New Search tympanum see TIMPANI.
Back - New Search type of see KIND OF.
Back - New Search typo meaning a typographical error, has the plural form typos.
Back - New Search tyrannize meaning `to behave like a tyrant (towards)' is used both transitively (i.e. with an object) and intransitively followed by over. Fowler (1926) rejected the transiti ve use but it is now the more common pattern: (transitive) We can use it to tyrannize ourselves, to live in the future instead of the prese ntM. Williamson , 1992/(intransitive) The priests know nothing, but pretend to know much and tyrannize over the common peopleNew Scientist, 1992.
Back - New Search tyrant. In modern use the word denotes the manner in which authority is exercised, i.e. oppressively and cruelly. In its ancient Greek context, it refers to the manner in which authority was achieved, i.e. by unconstitutional means. Once in power, a Greek tyrant might be a benevolent ruler.
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tyre, tire.
The standard spelling for a wheel's rubber covering is tyre in BrE and tire in A mE. Tire is the older spelling, and may be related to the word attire, a tyre be ing regarded as a form of `clothing' for the wheel.
Back - New Search tyro (a novice) see TIRO.
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U and non-U. The term was not known to Fowler (1926) but the idea of language use as a distin guishing feature of class most certainly was, as his article on `genteelisms' (payin g guest for lodger, serviette for napkin, etc.) shows. The term U, denoting the language of the upper class, was coined by the linguist A. S. C. Ross in 1954, a nd was turned into a kind of cult by Nancy Mitford in her book of essays entitle d Noblesse Oblige, which explored a theme already present in her earlier writing , notably in her largely autobiographical novel The Pursuit of Love (1945) where Uncle Matthew (representing her father) explodes with indignation at words such as handbag and notepaper. The table below lists words considered U and non-U ta ken from Nancy Mitford's book, plus some pairs that have come to be distinguishe d in the same way since she wrote. (See also the entry GENTEELISM.) U NON-U bag handbag bike cycle drawing-room lounge enough ample, sufficient false teeth dentures house home lavatory toilet
looking-glass mirror luncheon dinner napkin serviette pudding sweet, dessert rich wealthy scent perfume be sick be ill sofa settee sorry pardon vegetables greens writing-paper notepaper
Forms of pronunciation as well as choice of words are also a feature of U and no n-U; for example, the pronunciation of scone to rhyme with stone is often regard ed as non-U, as distinct from the U (originally northern) form that rhymes with gone, and for either iy-dh is U and ee-dh is non-U. Social exclusiveness of a potentially sinister kind lies behind what can easily be taken for a language game. Nonetheless, the spirit of fun is hard to resist, as the poet John Betjeman found in his gently satirical poem `How to Get on in Soc iety' (1954): Phone for the fish-knives, Norman, As cook is a little unnerved; You kiddies hav e crumpled the serviettes And I must have things daintily served. (four more ver ses follow)
Back - New Search uglily though formally correct, is too awkward for normal use and is usually replaced b y the phrase in an ugly way.
Back - New Search ultimatum has the plural form ultimatums.
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ult. is an abbreviation of Latin ultimo (mense) meaning òf the previous month' and is st ill used occasionally in more formal commercial correspondence following a day ( e.g. the 7th ult.) to denote a date in the month preceding.
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ultra vires meaning `beyond one's legal power or authority', is pronounced ult-r-viy-reez.
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-um. For plural forms of Latin nouns ending in -um that have been adopted into Englis h (e.g. addendum, compendium) see LATIN PLURALS.
Back - New Search umbilical is pronounced um-bil- i-kl (preferred) or um-bi-liy-kl.
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un-. The prefix un- is used to form negatives of words with two types of meaning: (1) denoting the opposite of an adjective or its derivative (uneducated, unhappines s), and (2) denoting a reversal of the action implied by a verb (undress, unlock).
Some adjectival forms in un- have a special and usually unfavourable sense (unpr ofessional, unscientific) and when a neutral classificatory form is needed nonis used instead (non-professional, non-scientific; see NON-). For the choice bet ween in- and un- forms, see IN- AND UN-.
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unaccountable.
We are here neither in the world of sheer unaccountable miracle nor in that of r epeatable experimentTheology, 1977. Unaccountable means `that cannot be accounted f or', and like reliable and a few other adjectives in -able is formed somewhat cont roversially from an intransitive verb (one that does not take an object), the li nking prepositions for and on (account + for, rely + on) being suppressed in the -able forms. See also RELIABLE.
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unartistic is sometimes used as a more neutral classificatory term instead of the more usua l (and more judgemental) inartistic.
Back - New Search unashamedly is pronounced as five syllables.
Back - New Search unattached participles see PARTICIPLES (3).
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unaware, unawares. 1 The adjective unaware is used predicatively (i.e. after a verb) and is followe d either by of or by a that-clause: She still seemed unaware of the peril that she was inM. Lide , 1991 / Quite unaware that he had a month's redundancy money coming, Cornelius finished his breakfastR. Rankin , 1993. It is occasionally used without any further comple mentation: Once having looked, he could never again be unaware Pargeter , 1989.
2 Unawares is an adverb, used especially in the phrase to catch someone (or be c aught) unawares: However, everyone comes unstuck once in a while, especially when caught unawaresS . Romain , 1989.Top
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unbeknown, unbeknownst. These alternatives for the more usual word unknown entered the language in the 1 7c and 19c respectively. They are typically used in asides in the form unbeknown to or unbeknownst to (someone), and in current use unbeknownst is more common: whose real father, unbeknownst to her, is her mother's one-time Jewish loverNew Y ork Review of Books, 1990. Both forms have a rhetorical tone but cannot now be s aid to be òut of use except in dialect or uneducated speech or in imitations of t hese' (Fowler , 1926).
Back - New Search unbiased, unbiassed. The preferred form is unbiased, although -ss- is also found.
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uncontrollable is now the dominant form, rather than incontrollable.
Back - New Search uncooperative, uncoordinated. Both words are now spelt as shown, without a hyphen and without a diaeresis over the second o.
Back - New Search uncountable nouns see COUNTABLE NOUNS.
Back - New Search under see BELOW.
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underlay, underlie. 1 The addition of the prefix under- makes both verbs transitive (i.e. take an ob ject) and therefore they do not entirely correspond to the grammatical functions of lay and lie. The form of the past tense and past participle of underlay is u nderlaid, and the forms of underlie are (past tense) underlay and (past particip le) underlain. The primary meaning of underlay is `to lay one thing under (another ) to support it' as in underlaying a floor covering with another layer of material , whereas the more common verb underlie means `to lie under (something)', especially in figurative senses (as in These motives underlie all they do).
2 Underlay (with stress on the first syllable) is also a noun, meaning `material l aid under a carpet', whereas underlie is only a verb.Top
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underneath has from earliest times been in competition with below, beneath, and under, and in current use tends to be used mainly in a physical sense, e.g. (adverb) a buil ding with a garage underneath, and (preposition) underneath the arches of the br idge. Unlike the other words, underneath is also a noun (the underneath of the v ehicle).
Back - New Search undertone see OVERTONE.
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under way. There is a choice between under way and underway, with the two-word form still m arginally preferable: / started up the bagpipes and was soon under way, marching up and down the church hallB. Millin , 1991 / Don't forget that once work is underway, you should increase your building and c ontents insurancesDo It Yourself, 1992. The reworking of the phrase as under weig h, which arose from associations of ships weighing anchor and setting sail, was common in 19c writers (including Byron, Marryat, and Thackeray) but has largely disappeared since the nautical connection is irrelevant to most contexts.
Back - New Search underwhelm.
He was fluent in speech and crashingly dull. If there was an opportunity to be u nderwhelming, he unfailingly seized itObserver, 1984 This fanciful variation on o verwhelming means ùnimpressive' (underwhelmed and occasionally the simple verb unde rwhelm are also used); it dates from the 1950s but seems much more recent. The t one is generally jocular and this should be remembered in more formal contexts.
Back - New Search undeservedly is pronounced as five syllables.
Back - New Search undoubtedly see DOUBTLESS.
Back - New Search uneatable see INEDIBLE.
Back - New Search uneconomic, uneconomical. These two words correspond to the meanings of the positive forms economic and ec onomical. Uneconomic means `not economic, not capable of being operated profitably', whereas uneconomical means `not economical, wasteful'.
Back - New Search unequal. In its meaning ìnadequate in ability or resources', unequal is used with to followe d by a noun or verbal noun (They were unequal to the task / They were unequal to completing the task).
Back - New Search unequalled is spelt in this way in BrE and usually unequaled in AmE.
Back - New Search unexceptionable, unexceptional. These two words correspond to the meanings of the positive forms exceptionable a nd exceptional. Unexceptionable means `with which no fault can be found, entirely satisfactory', whereas unexceptional means `not out of the ordinary, usual, normal'. U nexceptionable is much more common than the positive form exceptionable, whereas exceptional and unexceptional are both well recorded.
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unget-at-able meaning ìnaccessible', is informal. It is spelt with two hyphens as shown.
Back - New Search uninterest see DISINTEREST.
Back - New Search uninterested see DISINTERESTED.
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unique. 1 This is one of a handful of words that give rise to strong feelings. Its prima ry meaning is `having no like or equal, peculiar to an individual': Throughout these fluctuations of fortune, Edith's unique teaching style was gett ing more finely honedMedau News, 1986. In this meaning it is regarded (like perfe ct) as absolute in sense, i.e. something or someone is either unique or not uniq ue; they cannot be described as very unique or more unique or rather unique. (On the other hand, it is possible to be nearly or almost or perhaps unique just as it is to be nearly or almost or perhaps perfect.) This objection is philosophic al rather than linguistic, and grammar caters for the logically impossible as re adily as it does for the patently true. And is it not at least arguable that a p erson with three heads is more unique than a person with only two? Or then a per son with twelve fingers?
2 The word is derived via French from the Latin word unicus meaning `single, sole' a nd retained close links with its roots down to the 19c, when it broke loose and became conceptually an English word, marking its independence with a developed m eaning that is now the controversial one, i.e ùnusual, remarkable'. This sense is r egarded as `gradable' and is regularly qualified by very and other intensifying adve rbs: Your own slide guitar style is pretty unique; do you use glass or metal slidesGui tarist, 1992. / Some design choices become so unique that they border on the eccentric and make a property difficult to sellChicago Tribune, 1995.Top
3 Its adoption in unconvincing contexts by the world of advertising and marketin g in slogans such as Hollywood's unique night life and a unique blend of Scottis h heather honey and rare old malt whisky have done much to discredit this meanin g, which is a natural one. Indeed, as so often with this type of sense developme nt, meanings that are conventionally distinguished often shade into one another, and it is difficult to apply rules in the border areas of usage: All these diverse atmospheres merge together beautifully to create a most deligh tful and unique East Lindsey market townP. Furlong , 1989 / Gavrilov was the outright winner of Moscow's Tchaikovsky Competition where jury and audience alike were bowled over by his flame-throwing technique, by the uniq ue drive and physicality of his playingGramophone, 1992.Top
4 Meanwhile unique continues to be used in its primary meaning, often followed b y the preposition to which identifies the object of uniqueness; an achievement o r feat can be unique, so can an identifying number (which often has to be), and so can a method or technique: Lorne and I had often visited this particular cave in an attempt to film the Cel ebes Macaque, a baboon-sized monkey unique to the islandL. Blair , 1988 / Tuck stitch is one of those fabrics that almost all machine knitters recognise a t once, it is so unique in its formationMachine Knitting Monthly, 1992.Top
5 Because unique is itself ùnique' in its primary meaning this will continue to be used, and it is more common than the strength of opposition to the weakened mean ing might lead us to believe. But precise meanings are always vulnerable to drif t, and in this case we are seeing a weakening of strength (as has happened to an alogous words such as peculiar and similar), rather than the emergence of a dist inct new meaning. If a rule is needed, prudence suggests that the weakened meani ng should be used sparingly. In informal and conversational language, however, a broader range of meaning is permissible.Top
Back - New Search United Kingdom see BRITAIN.
Back - New Search unlawful see ILLEGAL.
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unless and until is an established expression which, like as and when, serves to intensify doubt about the outcome. It occurs in alternative forms such as unless or until, until or unless, and so on: Until and unless he discovered who he was, everything was without meaningD. Potte r , 1986 / Membership of the House of Commons is still the only legitimate qualification fo r real power in Great Britain and likely to remain so unless or until our nation al identity is totally submerged in EuropeSpectator, 1991.
Back - New Search unlike is an adjective (animals as unlike as the bear and the lion), and a preposition meaning `dissimilar to' (a journey unlike any other). Informally it is used as a qua siadverb in constructions involving a following preposition: Unlike with fax messages you can edit and re-use the text of e-mails once they a rrive on your computerTimes, 1998. In more formal contexts, combinations such as this can usually be replaced by alternatives such as in contrast to or as distin ct from, or unlike without in.
Back - New Search unparalleled is spelt in this way in BrE and AmE.
Back - New Search unpractical means `not practical', whereas impractical has a wider range of meaning: see IMPRACT ICABLE, IMPRACTICAL.
Back - New Search unprecedented is pronounced with its second syllable -pres- not -prees-.
Back - New Search unravel has inflected forms unravelled, unravelling in BrE and usually unraveled, unrave ling in AmE.
Back - New Search unreadable see ILLEGIBLE.
Back - New Search unrepairable see IRREPARABLE.
Back - New Search unreservedly is pronounced as five syllables.
Back - New Search unrivalled is spelt with two Is in BrE and usually as unrivaled in AmE.
Back - New Search unsanitary see INSANITARY.
Back - New Search unseasonable, unseasonal. Any difference in meaning corresponding to that of the positive forms (see SEASO NABLE, SEASONAL) has become irreparably eroded, and the two words are both used to describe circumstances (especially weather conditions) that are not appropria te to the season in which they occur:
Younger people, because of the unseasonal heat, were wearing sweaters tied round the hips Kirkup , 1991 / The weather looked heavy and thundery, as if the unseasonable warmth would soon breakK. McCallum , 1993. Unseasonable can also mean `not opportune, untimely' more ge nerally, although it rarely does.
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unsociable, unsocial. Like the positive forms (see SOCIABLE, SOCIAL), unsocial is a classifying word t hat essentially means `not suitable for society' (and has the special sense denoting hours outside the normal working day), whereas unsociable is a more judgemental word referring to people (primarily) who dislike the company of others. To comp lete the picture, antisocial is sometimes used in the same way as unsociable, bu t properly means `contrary to or harmful to the social order' (with reference to peo ple and activities) and is therefore a much stronger word with more sinister imp lications.
Back - New Search unsolvable see INSOLUBLE.
Back - New Search unstable is the standard negative form of stable, but the corresponding noun is instabili ty, not un-. See IN- AND UN-.
Back - New Search unthinkable is still used in its original meaning ùnable to be imagined or grasped in the min d': You wander in cool glades of unthinkable beautyWestminster Gazette, 1897. But far more common now is the extended and more evaluative meaning `too unlikely or unpl easant to be considered', comparable to similar shifts that have occurred with uni maginable and inconceivable: In these circumstances the removal of British troops was unthinkableC. Allen , 19
90 / Margaret Thacther give up? Unthinkable.N. Wyn Ellis , 1991. Despite Fowler's obje ctions to this use (as an expletive without the necessary àroma of brimstone') in a lengthy and ultimately futile tirade (1926), it is a natural development that r etains the essence of the original meaning and applies it in a more realistic wa y, since nothing that is postulated can be literally ùnthinkable'. Fowler knew this and saw in it the word's appeal, but common usage has taken a more practical co urse.
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until, till. 1 Till is not a shortened form of until but is the older word; the un- of until adds the element ùp to, as far as'. The two words are often interchangeable, except that until is more usual at the beginning of a sentence and can sound somewhat more formal, especially in speech: Until he got Jackson's note he had been convinced that the man was suffering fro m some sort of regular illnessC. Horrie 1988 / I am 22, but I will not be able to earn my first salary until I reach 24Independe nt, 1989 / He didn't ask any more questions but he kept himself awake till Noreen came home Pilling , 1987.
2 Up until (but not up till) is a needless variant, with the word up usually red undant and awkward: Up until the late 1970s, 98 per cent of children raised in Northern Ireland expe rienced schooling only on their own side of the divideJ. Fulton , 1991.Top
3 See also UNLESS AND UNTIL.Top
4 Until such time as can be effective in emphasizing uncertainty about the outco me, but it should not be made to serve as a more verbose alternative to the simp le word until: Such noisy groups of youngsters need to be broken down into smaller groups each controlled by a responsible competent leader or instructor until such time as th ey become mature canoeistsCanoeist, 1991.Top
Back - New Search unto is generally archaic as an alternative for to, and in current use it is normally restricted to fixed expressions such as do unto others and faithful unto death.
Back - New Search up. As well as its familiar uses as an adverb and preposition denoting a high place or position (jump up in the air / walk up the hill), up has an extraordinarily p rolific existence in a role that can go unnoticed: as a particle forming a host of phrasal verbs such as come up, eat up, get up, look up, sit up, start up, tak e up, etc. In some of these, up is merely an intensifier that does not affect th e basic meaning of the verb it is attached to: there is little difference in rea lity between eating your greens and eating up your greens except that the second is more positive. In other cases, the presence of up determines or affects the meaning in important ways: something comes up when it happens or occurs but the ordinary senses of come have no such connection; you can only look at something (i.e. look is intransitive) but you can look something up (i.e. look is transiti ve); and sitting up is almost but not quite the opposite action to sitting down. Most of these uses are based on native English words, and many of them have Lat inate equivalents that sound more formal and often less idiomatic (arise or occu r for come up, consult or refer to for look up, initiate or inaugurate for start up, accept or assume for take up, etc.). These uses of up cause amusement or am azement when people stop to think about them, but they lie at the heart of idiom and help define the Englishness of English. We should not be afraid to use them .
Back - New Search upcoming as an alternative to forthcoming, is recorded in AmE from the 1950s and is begin ning to appear in British usage: He told last week of the spectator who telephoned Selhurst Park to enquire about Wimbledon's upcoming gameSpectator, 1996.
Back - New Search up, down. In geographical terms, down means south and up means north, and so you go up to Scotland from London and down to Atlanta (Georgia) from Chicago. A conventional exception to this straightforward logic arises with capital or major cities; for example it is customary to speak of going up to London from whatever direction. In the context of railways, the up line (or up train) is the one that goes into London, and the down line (or down train) is the one that goes out of London. T his rule is not, however, absolute; from Edinburgh, for example, it would be mor e usual to talk of going (or driving or flying) down to London than up to it bec
ause Edinburgh is also a capital city and because distance makes the geographica l orientation again the primary consideration. As can be seen, usage is unstable , and there are political implications in the relative importance of places that regional sensitivities and movements for devolution are likely to intensify.
Back - New Search upgradable `capable of being upgraded or improved', is a word embodying all the resonance of an age of changing technology. It is spelt preferably without an e in the middle, and the corresponding noun is upgradability.
Back - New Search upon tends to sound more formal and emphatic than on when the two are used interchang eably: to look upon someone as a friend is a somewhat more imposing proposition than to look on them as a friend. Upon is the only choice in certain fixed expre ssions, such as once upon a time and upon my word, and in uses such as row upon row of seats and Christmas is nearly upon us.
Back - New Search upstairs, upstair. Upstairs is the normal form for both the adjective (the upstairs rooms) and the adverb (go upstairs). Upstair is occasionally found as an adjective, but not as an adverb.
Back - New Search up to see DOWN TO.
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upward, upwards. 1 The only form for the adjective is upward (in an upward direction), but upward and upwards are both used for the adverb, with a preference for upwards in BrE: The launcher consists of a small nozzle that directs a jet of water upward at an
angle of approximately 45 degreesScientific American, 1973 / James had rounded off sums downwards rather than upwards-writing 900 for an actua l 975 for exampleK.M.E. Murray , 1977.
2 Upwards of (or occasionally upward of) is first recorded in the early 18c in t he meaning `rather more than' and remains in standard use: A goblet with coloured twists would be worth upwards of 500Guardian, 1973.Top
3 The adverb upwardly occurs mainly in the expression upwardly mobile, meaning às piring to social and professional advancement'.Top
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us. 1 Us is used informally to mean `me' in invitations such as Give us a kiss and Let's have a look.
2 Us should not be used as the subject of a clause in standard English, although the use is found in some regional and dialect usage: Us country boys should sti ck together.Top
Back - New Search -US. For plural forms of Latin nouns ending in -us that have been adopted into Englis h (e.g. focus, nucleus) see LATIN PLURALS.
Back - New Search usable is spelt without an e in the middle.
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use. 1 The transitive verb meaning `to make use of' is pronounced yooz and the past form is used (yoozd). The corresponding noun use is pronounced yoos.
2 Used is pronounced yoost and followed by to in a number of special constructio ns: a Be or become or get used to + noun or verbal noun means `be (etc.) accustomed to or familiar with': She had got used to the sissy thin-blooded climate of AucklandD.M. Davin , 1986 / He still isn't used to her being old enough to driveNew Yorker, 1987. b Use to (usually in the form used to or had used to) + infinitive refers to wha t happened or existed in the past but does no longer at the time referred to: I know what you're thinking, Patrick, and I used to think it too Amis , 1988 / She had used to squat with old Mataka on the ground Spark , 1969. Negatives and q uestions are formed with do + the use form (What time did she use to return?L. Thomas , 1972 / I didn't use to curse or swear at themM. Brogden , 1991) or, with somewhat more f ormal effect, directly with not or by inversion in the manner of the semi-modal verbs dare and need (I used not to dream Bawden , 1987 / She used not to be so censorious of others' behaviourT. Barnes , 1991). The form usedn't (or usen't) is also found in casual English but is less suitable in more formal contexts.Top
Back - New Search utilize. This 19c loanword has led a precarious life for a century and a half beside the much older word use (13c). In many contexts use is adequate and preferable, but a case can be made out for utilize when the emphasis is on practicality and effe ctive exploitation: Fewer victims meant fewer death sentences and so executioners in the provinces r etired and, utilizing their professionally acquired anatomical skills, became su rgeons' assistants or animal doctorsG. Abbott , 1991.
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vacation is in North America the ordinary word for BrE holiday. In Britain it is only use d in the context of universities and the law courts. The corresponding word for Parliament is recess.
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vaccinate though technically the same as inoculate, in practice tends to be restricted to smallpox (possibly because its original association with cows, from Latin vacca `c ow', is still strong), whereas inoculate is used with reference to other diseases.
Back - New Search vacuum has the plural form vacuums in general use, but vacua is sometimes used in scien tific contexts.
Back - New Search vade-mecum meaning à hand-book or guidebook' (from modern Latin meaning `go with me'), is pronounc ed vah-di-may-km and has the plural form vade-mecums.
Back - New Search vagary meaning àn eccentric idea or action', is pronounced vay-g-ri.
Back - New Search vainness is spelt with two ns.
Back - New Search valance, valence, valency. A valance, pronounced val-ns, is a short curtain round the edge of a canopy or b ed. Valence and valency (both pronounced vayl-, the first more common in AmE and the second in BrE) are terms in chemistry relating to the power of atoms.
Back - New Search valet. The noun is pronounced val-ay or val-it in BrE, and also v-lay, with second-syll able stress, in AmE. The verb meaning `to clean the inside of (a motor vehicle)' has inflected forms valeted, valeting, pronounced val-ayd and val-ay-ing in BrE, vlayd and v-lay-ing in AmE.
Back - New Search valley has the plural form valleys.
Back - New Search valour is spelt -our in BrE and as valor in AmE. The corresponding adjective is spelt v alorous in both varieties.
Back - New Search vapour is spelt -our in BrE and vapor in AmE. Derivatives such as vapourless and vapour ish follow the spellings of the root forms, but vaporous (adjective) and vaporiz
e (verb) are spelt -or- in both BrE and AmE.
Back - New Search variance. The phrase at variance should be followed by with, not from: Michael Hamburger writes of the poet's `moral purpose at variance with his persona l needs and perceptions'New Yorker, 1976.
Back - New Search variant. In language, a variant is a legitimate form or spelling of a word that differs f rom the main one. For example, judgment is a variant of judgement.
Back - New Search variegated meaning `marked by irregular patches of colour', is pronounced vair-i-gay-tid as fou r syllables in BrE but in AmE more often as five syllables (with the middle e ar ticulated).
Back - New Search various unlike certain, is not normally used as a noun (followed by of) in BrE, although it is occasionally used in this way in AmE: Various of his colleagues offer to go with him if he is dismissedAmerican Spectat or, 1994.
Back - New Search vase. The standard pronunciation in BrE is vahz, and in AmE vays or vayz.
Back - New Search 've. This contraction of the verb have is normally added to pronouns or to modal verb s such as might and would:
I've had my eye on both of youD. Raymond , 1985 / You would've thought at least she could've cut the bubbles off Foster , 1986. Dou ble or multiple contraction is a feature of some writing that seeks to reproduce conversational language: Can't' ve been a nightmare then, can it? Barker , 1991.
Back - New Search velvet has derivative forms velveted, velvety.
Back - New Search venal, venial. These two unrelated words are sometimes confused, chiefly because they are close in form but perhaps also because their meanings both have to do with forms of t ransgression. Venal means àble to be bribed, corrupt' (from Latin venum `thing for sa le') and is used of people and their actions; venial means `pardonable' (from Latin ve nia `pardon') and refers in Roman Catholic teaching to minor or pardonable sins as d istinct from mortal sins which bring eternal damnation.
Back - New Search vendor, vender. The usual spelling for this formal and legal word meaning `seller' is vendor. In AmE , vender is also used.
Back - New Search venery. This represents two distinct words of Latin origin, both archaic but still of in terest and likely to be confused. One is from Venus, goddess of love and hence `se xual love' and means `sexual indulgence' and the other is from venari `to hunt' and means `h unting'. Both words are pronounced ven--ri.
Back - New Search venue is derived from a French word meaning à coming', which underlies all its English us es. It has several obsolete meanings to do with coming forward in attack (e.g. i n fencing) and from the 16c referred to the place where a jury was appointed to come together for a law trial. Its primary modern sense relates to coming togeth
er more generally, denoting the place where a meeting, sports event, concert, or other organized occasion takes place. A miniature social history can be made to unfold from this interesting little word.
Back - New Search veranda is now the usual spelling, not verandah.
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verbal has four meanings, all close enough to cause possible confusion: (1) `having the n ature of a verb' (verbal noun), (2) involving words rather than actual things (Opposition between these two modes of speaking is rather verbal than realB. Jowe tt , 1875), (3) consisting of words (verbal wit), and (4) involving speech as di stinct from writing (a verbal agreement). The most likely confusion is between t he third and fourth of these meanings, and it is often advisable to use oral ins tead of verbal to preclude any doubt when the intended meaning is the ìnvolving s peech' one (as in oral examination), restricting verbal to a few fixed phrases suc h as verbal agreement, verbal contract, and verbal evidence in which the meaning is established. Note also that oral occurs in several fixed expressions, such a s oral traditiony (the transmission of ancient poetry and stories by word of mou th before they were written down).
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verbal noun. 1 A verbal noun (also called a gerund) is a form of a verb ending in -ing that a cts as a noun, for example smoking in the phrase no smoking and in the sentence Smoking damages your health. It should be distinguished from (identically formed ) participial adjectives (a smoking chimney) and participles used to form contin uous tenses (The chimney is smoking).
2 Because a verbal noun is a part of a verb as well as being a noun, it can reta in some of the characteristics of verbs in its grammatical behaviour; for exampl e the forms She does not like me smoking in bed (non-possessive) and She does no t like my smoking in bed (possessive) are both established in ordinary usage, al
though the second, in which smoking is treated as a full noun, is often preferre d in more formal writing. Fowler (1906, 1926) rejected the first type as `grammati cally indefensible', since the words defy grammatical analysis (an example he gave was We need fear nothing from China [change to China's] developing her resource s), but the basis of his argument lay in Latin rather than English grammar and h as rightly been questioned since (notably by the Danish linguist Otto Jespersen , 18601943). In current use, certain patterns are discernible: a The possessive is the more normal choice when the word preceding the -ing form is a personal name or a noun denoting a person: One cannot say that Kafka's marvelling at mundane accomplishments was not genuin eLondon Review of Books, 1987 / I was now counting on my father's being able to make some provision somehow Mehta , 1987. b When the noun is nonpersonal, is part of a phrase, or is in the plural, the po ssessive is not normally used: They turned a blind eye to toffee apples going missing Winterson , 1985 / Then we had our old conversation about the house being hauntedC. Rumens , 1987 / Mrs Thatcher herself is not averse to this elegant bone being cast before her lo ngstanding tormentor Telegraph , 1987. c With personal pronouns, usage varies between the possessive and non-possessive , the possessive being more usual at the start of a sentence: Fancy his minding that you went to the Summer ExhibitionA.N. Wilson , 1978 / His being so capable was the only pleasant thing about the whole dreadful dayE. J olley , 1985 (Australia)/ There can be no question of you disturbing the clerks Carey , 1988 (Australia). d With indefinite pronouns the non-possessive form is more usual, the possessive sounding less natural: He didn't think for a time of anyone clawing at his backD.A. Richards , 1981 (Can ada)/ There are many sound reasons, then, for everyone's wanting to join in this new G old RushEncounter, 1988. e In sum, the possessive is on the retreat, but its use with proper names and pe rsonal pronouns and pronouns persists.Top
3 The to-infinitive also acts as a verbal noun (To err is human, to forgive divi ne), and choice between this and an -ing form is largely a matter of idiom. For example, one hopes to do something but one thinks of doing something, has a fond ness for doing something, and has an aversion to doings something. Care needs to be taken not to confuse these patterns, especially when more than one is used i n the same sentence.Top
Back - New Search verbatim meaning `word for word', is pronounced ver-bay-tim.
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verbs. 1 A verb is traditionally regarded as a word that describes the action or state which the sentence seeks to convey and is normally an essential element in a cla use or sentence: She locked the door / She was angry. Verbs are either transitiv e (i.e. take an object, as in She locked the door) or intransitive (as in She sm iled); these functions are described more fully at the entry INTRANSITIVE AND TR ANSITIVE VERBS.
2 Verbs are occasionally omitted from sentences, for example in radio and televi sion announcements (This report from our Washington correspondent.) or as stylis tic devices, afterthoughts, ways of avoiding repetition, etc.: Friday morning. By tube to a lecture at the London School of Economics Encounter, 1981 (in diary style) / That way, they can work out their aggressions. Once a year.New Yorker, 1987.Top
3 For other aspects of verbs and their behaviour, see AUXILIARY VERBS, MODAL VER BS, PHRASAL VERBS, REFLEXIVE VERBS, VERBS FROM NOUNS.Top
Back - New Search verbs ending in vowels and -ay etc. The following table lists routing inflections of representative verbs having cer tain awkward vowel endings in their base forms, and shows any exceptions: VERBS IN -AY allay allays allayed allaying play plays played playing playable exceptions lay lays laid laying layable
pay pays paid paying payable say says said saying sayable
VERBS IN -EY convey conveys conveyed conveying conveyable
VERBS IN -I ski skis skied skiing taxi taxis taxied taxiing
VERBS IN -IE die dies died dying
VERBS IN -O veto vetoes vetoed vetoing video videoes videoed videoing
VERBS IN -OY enjoy enjoys enjoyed enjoying enjoyable cloy cloys cloyed cloying
VERBS IN -UY buy buys bought buying buyable guy guys guyed guying
VERBS IN -Y AFTER A CONSONANT copy copies copied copying copiable deny denies denied denying deniable specify specifies specified specifying specifiable try tries tried trying triable
VERBS IN -YE dye dyes dyed dyeing dyable to avoid confusion with dying from die
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verbs from nouns. By a process called `conversion', verbs have for several centuries been formed from nouns (and occasionally adjectives), by using the same word (e.g. to question, t o knife, to quiz, to service), by adding a suffix such as -ize (prioritize, rand omize), or by back-formation in which the noun form is shortened (to diagnose, t o televise). Although objections are raised to some of these formations (especia lly the longer ones in -ize, such as hospitalize and privatize), it is an establ ished process and generally a useful one.
Back - New Search verger. The name for the church official is spelt as shown, except that the spelling vir ger is used of St Paul's Cathedral in London and Winchester Cathedral.
Back - New Search veritable featured prominently in English from the 15c to the 17c, and then fell out of us e until it was revived as a Gallicism in the 19c with an intensive meaning `deserv ing its name' (a veritable feast). In modern use it has a somewhat rhetorical or a ffected tone: So tough, you'd like us all to think, but inside you're a veritable marshmallowM. Yorke , 1973.
Back - New Search vermin is normally treated as a plural in both its meanings (`mammals and birds that are harmful to other life' and `vile or despicable people'), although it can refer to a si ngle person or animal: Suddenly the older of the two little girls said, `Why is a squirrel called vermin, Dad?'M. Bowring , 1993. There is no plural form vermins.
Back - New Search vermouth the drink, is normally pronounced with the stress on the first syllable in BrE, and with the stress on the second syllable (to rhyme with tooth) in AmE.
Back - New Search verse can mean (1) poetical composition in general (She writes verse as well as prose) , (2) a line of poetry, (3) a section of a poem also called a stanza, and (4) ea ch of the short numbered divisions of a chapter in the Bible.
Back - New Search verso meaning `the left-hand page of a book', has the plural form versos. The right-hand p age is called the recto.
Back - New Search vertebra means à segment of the backbone'; in the plural vertebrae (pronounced ver-ti-bree) it refers to the backbone as a whole.
Back - New Search vertex meaning `the highest point', has the plural form vertices (pronounced ver-ti-seez) o r vertexes.
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very, much. 1 The uses of very and much as intensifying adverbs are for the most part comple mentary. Very qualifies adjectives and adverbs (very large / very slowly), where as much qualifies past participles that are used as adjectives (a much enlarged edition / They were much criticized). There is a grey area including words that are strictly speaking past participles but have come to be treated as full adjec tives, notably words of feeling such as annoyed, pleased, tired, worried, etc., and words with a strong adjectival element such as sheltered(a very sheltered up bringing) and involved (He is very involved in charitable work). These are now m ore naturally qualified by very than by much. When the verb element is uppermost , much is preferred; we would for example speak of a much honoured dignitary rat her than a very honoured one, and we would say that alternatives are not much di fferentiated in preference to not very differentiated. At the heart of this grey area lie words such as respected, in which the adjective and verb emphasis is i nfinitely variable: if we say a much respected politician we stress the process,
whereas if we say a very respected politician we assess the effect.
2 It is worth adding that much can itself be qualified by very; consequently any of the words we have been reviewing that can be intensified by much can be more strongly intensified by very much (e.g. very much criticized / very much enlarg ed).Top
3 Some types of participial adjective are conventionally qualified by intensifyi ng words other than much and very, e.g. injured (and similar words such as burnt , scarred, etc.) is qualified by badly or seriously, bungled by badly or severel y, and outnumbered, outvoted, etc. by heavily.Top
4 In a 20c development, very is used to qualify nouns that have assumed the role of adjectives: for example, a song might be called very sixties (characteristic of the 1960s), and a building might be called very art deco (built in that styl e).Top
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-ves. For plurals such as calves, see -FS, -VES.
Back - New Search vest. In BrE, a vest is an undergarment for the top part of the body and also a garmen t worn by athletes. In AmE the first of these is called an undershirt, and vest is a term for what in BrE is a man's waistcoat and also for a short sleeveless j acket worn by women.
Back - New Search vet is an accepted shortening of veterinary surgeon and the normal word in BrE. In A mE vet and veterinarian are used in this sense, and vet also means à veteran'. The verb, meaning (1) to treat (a sick animal) and (2) to examine or check criticall y, has inflected forms vetted, vetting.
Back - New Search veto. The noun has the plural form vetoes, and the verb has inflected forms vetoes, ve toed, vetoing.
Back - New Search via meaning `by way of' (Paris to Athens via meaning `way, road', and is now y used to denote a form of transport obvious preposition by (via airmail via Venice) is originally the ablative of Latin fully naturalized in English. It is increasingl rather than the route, in place of the more / via satellite).
Back - New Search viable is a 19c loanword from French, and was first used to describe a foetus or new-bo rn child that was capable of maintaining life. Metaphorical uses developed in th e 19c, but it was not until the 1940s that it became a vogue word applied to a w hole range of ideas, plans, propositions, etc., regarded in terms of their pract icability. Sometimes the metaphor is justified, but often alternatives such as f easible, practicable, sustainable, tenable, valid, workable will do just as well .
Back - New Search vibrator is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search vice a formal term meaning ìn place of' (appointed Secretary vice Mr Jones deceased), is pronounced viy-si and is originally a form of a Latin word meaning ìn place of, in the stead of'. It is the same word as vice- in vice-chancellor, vice-president, etc.
Back - New Search vicegerent. A vicegerent (pronounced viys-jer-nt) is a person appointed to carry out the off
ice of another, for example the Pope regarded as God's representative on earth.
Back - New Search vice versa, meaning `the other way round', is pronounced viy-si ver-s. It is derived from a Lati n phrase meaning `the position being reversed', and is fully naturalized in English.
Back - New Search victuals pronounced vit-lz, is a rather old-fashioned or rustic (plural) noun meaning `food or provisions', and like all such words is sometimes used in humorous or affected contexts.
Back - New Search vie meaning `to compete for superiority', has inflected forms vies, vied, vying.
Back - New Search view is used in two common idioms, in view of and with a view to. In view of is used as an equivalent of because of or considering followed by a noun (or verbal noun ) to introduce a known or expected circumstance: He was especially anxious to co urt the Kremlin in view of the rapid cooling of the U.S.'s interest in EthiopiaTi me, 1977. With a view to is a more formal expression, is usually followed by a v erbal noun, and means ìn order to achieve': We recommend that there should be a peer review of all the departments at Chelse a with a view to phasing out those which do not come up to the standard of the r est of the universityTimes Higher Education Supplement, 1981. In ordinary languag e a construction with in order to (+ infinitive) is often preferable.
Back - New Search viewpoint see point of view.
Back - New Search vigour
is spelt -our in BrE and vigor in AmE. The adjective vigorous is spelt -or- in b oth varieties.
Back - New Search villain, villein. The two spellings are forms of a single word with two branches, originally meani ng either à low-born rustic' or à serf in the feudal system' and derived from the Lati n word villa meaning `country house or farm'. The spelling villain was associated fr om the 17c with the worsened meaning àn unprincipled scoundrel', while the other fo rm villein slipped into historical use as the feudal system was replaced by capi talism. The distinction is preserved in current usage.
Back - New Search viola. The musical instrument is pronounced vi-oh-l, and the flower vly--l. The plural form in both cases is violas.
Back - New Search violable not violatable, is the derivative form of violate.
Back - New Search violoncello is the correct spelling. not violin-. It is an Italian word, a diminutive of vio lone which is a double-bass viol. The plural form is violoncellos. Normally, how ever, the shortened form cello is used.
Back - New Search virago meaning à fierce or abusive woman', is pronounced vi-rah-goh and has the plural for m viragos.
Back - New Search virement meaning à process of transferring public funds from one account to another', was ta
ken from French in the early 20c. An anglicized pronunciation with the first syl lable as in fire is now usual.
Back - New Search Virgil is the preferred spelling of the name of the Roman poet, not Vergil (despite the Latin form Publius Vergilius Maro).
Back - New Search virile is pronounced vi-riyl in BrE, and also vi-rl in AmE.
Back - New Search virtual has taken on a brand new meaning in the computer age. By itself it is defined so me-what obscurely as `not physically existing as such but made by software to appe ar to exist', and it only begins to make sense in its most common context of virtu al reality, a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or envi ronment in which the user can participate by means of special electronic equipme nt such as a helmet with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors. Anything presented to the user in this form can be described as virtual: a virtual hand, a virtual flower, a virtual person, etc.
Back - New Search virtuoso meaning à person highly skilled in musical technique', has the plural form virtuosi , pronounced -si or -zi.
Back - New Search virus has the plural form viruses. In computing, a virus is a self-replicating program that harms other systems. It is malicious in intention, unlike a bug, which is an unintentional flaw in a program.
Back - New Search visage
a literary word meaning `face, countenance', is pronounced viz-ij.
Back - New Search vis--vis (also printed without the accent) is pronounced vee-zah-vee and is now mostly us ed as a preposition meaning ìn relation to': The state has a duty to protect its citizens from external enemies, and this can best be achieved by maximizing its power vis-a-vis other statesP. 1984.
Back - New Search viscount is a British nobleman ranking between an earl and a baron. The rank is called a viscountcy.
Back - New Search visible, visual. Visible means àble to be seen', whereas visual is a classifying adjective denoting anything to do with sight or vision. The visual arts are those forms of art that are appreciated by the eye, and a visual display unit (VDU) is a computer scree n.
Back - New Search vision. ` How do you find Weedin?' `Totally,' Dougal said, `lacking in vision. It is his fatal fla w. Otherwise quite sane.' Spark , 1960. This meaning, `statesmanlike foresight', grew o ut of a much older set of meanings to do with intellectual perception as a metap hor based on physical seeing. Fowler dubbed it a `vogue word', a status that to some extent it still has.
Back - New Search visit. To visit with someone, i.e. pay them a brief call, is now regarded as an America nism although it was current in Britain in the 19c, occurring for example in wri tings of Ruskin and George Eliot (Middlemarch, 1872).
Back - New Search visitation once a formal word for visit, is now largely confined to special meanings such a s official visits of inspection and an affliction attributed to some supernatura l agency or other. In AmE visitation also refers to the right granted by a court to a divorced parent to visit a child that is in the custody of the other paren t. It should not be used as a simple synonym for visit.
Back - New Search visitor is spelt -or, not -er.
Back - New Search visor is the preferred spelling for the various kinds of covering for the face, not vi zor.
Back - New Search vitamin is pronounced vit--min in BrE and viy-t-min in AmE and in some other parts of th e English-speaking world.
Back - New Search viva voce meaning àn oral examination', is pronounced viy-vvoh-chi. It is usually shortened t o viva (plural vivas) and this is also used as a verb (with inflected forms viva es, vivaed, vivaing).
Back - New Search viz. is a shortened form of videlicet, a Middle English word based on Latin words mea ning ìt is permissible to see'; the final z is explained as a medieval symbol stand ing for the ending -et. The abbreviation is used to mean `namely' in introducing a s pecific mention of what has been only vaguely or indirectly referred to (my only means of income, viz. my fiddle), and is often articulated as `namely', although in formally the more direct pronunciation viz is also used. Note that it differs fr om i.e. (= id est) in identifying rather than explaining.
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vogue words. In its meaning `popular use or currency', vogue dates from the 17c, but the expressi on vogue word (or term) did not come into general use until the 20c. Fowler , wh o was one of the first to use the term, defined it as a word that èmerges from ob scurity into sudden popularity'; he was generally open-minded about their usefulne ss, and it has been later critics who have tended to pour scorn on the practice of words coming into and going out of fashion. Some vogue uses arise because the y are associated with events of particular public interest (such as yomping = ma rching over heavy terrain, used by Royal Marines in the Falklands war of 1982). Others fall in the category of `popularized technicalities' (such as chain reaction, parameter, and persona). When Fowler wrote (1926), the vogue words to which he drew attention included acid test, asset, distinctly (as in distinctly colder), far-flung (which he liked, in the right place), frock (= woman's dress), intensi ve, mentality, unthinkable, and vision (= political foresight). Gowers, writing in 1965, retained acid test and unthinkable (!) and added, among others, coexist ence, overtones, psychological moment, and target. More recent vogue uses includ e designer (as in designer clothes), interface, ongoing, paradigm, parameter, sp in doctor, and syndrome. See also POPULARIZED TECHNICALITIES. The term buzz-word , meaning much the same as vogue word, is first recorded in the 1940s in America .
Back - New Search voicemail an electronic system of storing messages from telephone callers, has achieved su ch rapid familiarity that it is normally spelt as one word.
Back - New Search volcano has the plural form volcanoes.
Back - New Search volley. The noun has the plural form volleys, and the verb has inflected forms volleys, volleyed, volleying.
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volte-face meaning à sudden change of opinion or reversal of policy', is pronounced volt-fahs and is printed in roman type as a naturalized word.
Back - New Search voluntarily is traditionally pronounced in BrE with the stress on the first syllable, but th e awkwardness of this pattern has led, under American influence, to the stress b eing placed often on the third syllable (-ar-).
Back - New Search vomit. The verb has inflected forms vomited, vomiting.
Back - New Search vortex has the plural form vortexes in general use, but vortices (pronounced vaw-ti-see z) in technical contexts.
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* * *
wadi is the recommended spelling for the dry bed of a watercourse in North Africa, no t wady. The plural form is wadis.
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wage, wages. Wages is normally used in the plural (Their wages are still too low); an older s ingular construction survives only in the biblical line For the wages of sinne i s death (Romans 6:23). But wage is also used (What sort of wage are you paid?), and is the obligatory form in certain fixed expressions (wage-earner, minimum wa ge).
Back - New Search wagon, waggon. The form with one g is recommended, although the house style of some printing ho uses in Britain is the -gg- form.
Back - New Search wainscot meaning `panelling on the lower part of a wall near the floor', has derivative forms wainscoted, wainscoting (one t in each).
Back - New Search wait see AWAIT.
Back - New Search waitperson a gender-neutral term for a male or female waiter, dates from the 1980s, first i n America. The feminine form waitress is sometimes disfavoured as a sexist term but is still in wide use.
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waive means `to give up (a right ing formalities. It is not cept in phrasal verbs such ith the wave of the hand), hing of history). or claim) voluntarily', as in waiving an immunity or waiv formally confused with the more familiar verb wave ex as waive aside and waive away (= to put aside as if w which are incorrect (I cannot waive away all the teac
Back - New Search wake, waken see AWAKE, AWAKEN.
Back - New Search wallop. The verb has inflected forms walloped, walloping.
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want verb. 1 Want is of Norse origin and came into English in the 13C. The dominant meaning in current usage is `to desire or wish for' (Tom wants a computer for Christmas / W hat do you want to do now?), and a range of earlier meanings equivalent to `to lac k or need' has been reduced to a few uses as in The house wants painting and The s tandard is sadly wanting (= inadequate), in the expression to want for nothing ( or not want for anything), in advertisements (bar staff wanted), and in the nonstandard types You want to pull yourself together and You want to go straight on and turn right at the lights (= need to, should). Occasionally the two branches of meaning merge (The organization badly wants better leadership), and it is ea sy to see how the `needing' branch led to the `wishing' branch.
2 Some special and modern uses of want are: a Forms in -ed and -ing in constructions of the type We want our car washed and The roof wants mending are sometimes reversed as We want our car washing and The roof wants mended. These uses are mostly regional in BrE and are non-standard. b Want is followed by a that-clause: You want that I should lose both my lieutenants together?A. Lejeune , 1986. c Want is followed by for + object + to-infinitive, most often in cases in which want is followed by an intensifying word or phrase such as very much or so much : My mother wanted so much for my sister to have the best animalsNew Yorker, 1989. d Want is used for want to, especially in the form if you (etc.) want: It means he will be able to come in whenever he wants Williams , 1985 /
Stay home if you want Weldon , 1988. e There is ellipsis of a following verb (come, go, etc.) in the expressions to w ant in (= to be included) and to want out (= to be excluded): The Federal Reserve chairman Mr Paul Volcker has reportedly told friends that he wants outGuardian, 1984.Top
Back - New Search wantonness is spelt with two ns.
Back - New Search warder, wardress. These terms for male and female prison guards respectively have now been largely replaced by the gender-neutral term prison officer.
Back - New Search warn verb is traditionally a transitive verb with a grammatical object corresponding to th e person or people receiving the warning: She warned them of the danger / She wa rned them that it was unsafe. In the 20c an intransitive use with a following th at-clause has come into common use, with the object of the warning left unspecif ied: Arafat also warned that any Palestinian group that rejected the ideamust read its elf out of the P.L.O.Time, 1976.
Back - New Search wash up in BrE means `to wash crockery and cutlery after use', whereas in AmE it means `to was h one's hands and face'.
Back - New Search wastage should not be used as a synonym of the noun waste, but has special (often techni cal and always non-judgemental) meanings: (1) loss by natural means, e.g. wear o
r erosion, (2) an amount wasted, (3) in the phrase natural wastage, reduction in staffing by resignations and ret irement rather than enforced redundancies.
Waste has connotations of disapproval in its meaning à bad use of resources or as sets' (as in go to waste, a waste of time, etc.), but is neutral when it means `refu se, unwanted material or food'.
Back - New Search waste-paper basket is the BrE term; in AmE it is waste-basket.
Back - New Search -watch. The noun watch, meaning à state of alert', first produced a suffix (or combining fo rm) in the 1950s, and is known earlier in verbs such as firewatch (a term from t he Second World War), but it is essentially a creation of the 70s (doomwatch) an d 80s in combinations to do with animal welfare such as badger-watch, birdwatch, and whale-watch, and in other uses such as crime-watch (the name of a UK televi sion programme), hacker-watch (precaution against computer hackers) and stormwat ch. Other ad hoc uses occur, establishing -watch as a productive element within fairly narrow limits: Family-sized platters contain an entire chicken or spaghetti for eight. No reserv ations, so prepare to people-watch while you waitMinnesota Monthly, 1994.
Back - New Search Watergate see -GATE.
Back - New Search watershed originally a term in geology referring to the flow and division of river current s, has been used since the late 19c in the figurative meaning à turning-point in affairs': In the social history of twentieth-century Britain the Second World War stands o ut as a watershedH. Smith , 1986. It is often used attributively (i.e. before a n oun:
Ade became one of the more astute chroniclers of the daily preoccupations of ord inary people who were living through the `water-shed period'T. Tobin , 1973). In the UK watershed has a special meaning in broadcasting, denoting the time in the eve ning after which programmes are no longer guaranteed as suitable for viewing by children.
Back - New Search wave see WAIVE.
Back - New Search wax verb. In the meaning `to assume a specified tone or state', wax is followed by an adjectiv e, not an adverb: to wax lyrical, to wax enthusiastic, etc.: When the Roman soldiers were asked to take part in the Claudian invasion of 43, they waxed indignant Fraser , 1988. This use is primarily rhetorical.
Back - New Search way see NO WAY, UNDER WAY.
Back - New Search waylay has inflected forms waylays, waylaid, waylaying.
Back - New Search ways. In March 1994 the American Secretary of State Warren Christopher said that an ov erall peace agreement in Bosnia was a ways down the road; and Tom Wolf in his Bo nfire of the Vanities (1987) wrote I was standing out in the street a little way s. This use of the plural ways, meaning àt some indeterminate distance (in time o r place)' is related to a use (with a qualifying word) that was once standard in B rE (Falmouthis no great ways from the sea Byron , 1809) but is now confined to dialec t use.
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we. 1 The personal pronoun we has a wide range of reference, so that care is often n eeded to avoid misunderstanding. In its primary meanings it can denote any of th e following: (1) you (singular or plural) and I, (2) you and I and some others, or (3) I and some others (but not you: We are going now, but don't you hurry).
Informally, it can also mean just `you', as in the condescending form of enquiry How are we today?
2 We is also used with indefinite reference in the following conventional uses: a When a writer or speaker includes his or her readers or hearers and other unna med people in a statement or proposition: As we saw in the last chapter / What do we, as a nation, care about books? / We have to tackle the problem of inflation . b When a monarch is using the first person (the so-called royal we). This practi ce is dying out, however. Queen Victoria is credited with the remark We are not amused, but Queen Elizabeth II is noted for My husband and I and generally uses the singular form when referring to herself. (Margaret Thatcher's pronouncement We have become a grandmother, quoted in The Times of 4March1989, was blatant aff ectation.)Top
3 We is sometimes used mistakenly for us, possibly as a kind of hypercorrection, in sentences such as: Perhaps this product is best suited to we cloth-capped no rtherners. For the wrong use of us for we, see US (2).Top
Back - New Search wear, gear Wear is normally used as the second element in compounds denoting forms of cloth ing, such as footwear and underwear, but gear is used in headgear. Used by itsel f, gear (= clothing, attire) is now considered informal, although it was once us ed as a regular word in this meaning.
Back - New Search weave verb. It is worth pointing out that there are two words involved here, although their meanings overlap in figurative applications. The one meaning `to form fabric by in terlacing threads' is from Old English, and the other, meaning `to take a winding co urse', is a form of a later (13C) word taken from Old Norse. The two verbs have di fferent sets of inflection: the older word has a past form wove and a past parti ciple woven, and the later word has weaved for both. Care needs to be taken to d istinguish these in figurative uses; both words can be used but the image is dif ferent in each case: Then they got on to the little scooter and weaved down the lane Winterson , 1987 / She wove her way among the crowd, bumping into people, being bumped intoM. Ramgob in , 1986 (South Africa). (In the second example, wove may just be a slip for we aved.)
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Web is normally spelt with a capital W when it refers to the World Wide Web, an info rmation access system for the Internet. In combinations such as web page and web site, however, it tends to be spelt with a small initial letter. World Wide Web is often abbreviated to WWW.
Back - New Search wed (= marry). The form of the past tense and past participle is either wedded or we d. Its shortness makes it a popular word with headline-writers and journalists (Supermodel Claudia Schiffer has ditched her boyfriend to wed Prince Albert of M onaco, it was claimed last nightSun, 1992), but otherwise its use has become incr easingly restricted to special contexts (e.g. in a state of wedded bliss / With this ring I thee wed) and to figurative uses (This power plant is wed to a double-pivot spring strut suspensionTranspacific (U S), 1992).
Back - New Search Wednesday see FRIDAY.
Back - New Search week see DAY.
Back - New Search weir is the standard spelling for a dam built across a river. The older variant wear is now obsolete.
Back - New Search weird meaning `strange, unnatural', is spelt -ei-, not -ie.
Back - New Search well see AS WELL AS.
Back - New Search well, well-. There is much uncertainty about whether forms such as well(-)made and well(-) re ceived should contain a hyphen or be spelt as two words. The normal rule is that the combination is hyphened when it occurs in attributive position (i.e. before a noun, as in a well-made cupboard and a well-received suggestion), but not whe n it occurs after a verb (as in The cupboard looks well made and The suggestion was well received).
Back - New Search well-nigh meaning `nearly, almost wholly or entirely', has been in continuous use since the Ol d English period but is now usually regarded as literary or archaic in tone: If your country is the size of a postage stamp, your population is unsophisticat ed and your borders are well-nigh indefensible, you need luckEconomist, 1992.
Back - New Search welsh. The expression welsh on, meaning `to evade (an obligation)' or `to fail to carry out ( a promise)', dates from the 1930s, although the verb (of unknown origin) was used transitively (with a person as object) in the 19c. To avoid a direct and possibl y offensive association with the Welsh people, it is often spelt welch.
Back - New Search Welsh rabbit the dish of cheese on toast, has no obvious connection with the Welsh or with ra bbits, but has been known in this form since the early 18c (and is the name used in Mrs Glasse's The Art of Cookery in 1747). Its origin is obscure, as is the e mergence of the alternative form with rarebit, a word otherwise unrecorded.
Back - New Search werewolf should be spelt in this way rather than as werwolf and the recommended pronuncia tion is with the first syllable as in ware.
Back - New Search west, western, westerly see EAST.
Back - New Search westward, westwards. The only form for the adjective is westward (in a westward direction), but westw ard and westwards are both used for the adverb, with a preference for westwards in BrE: He climbed the lower slopes of Big Allen and stood, looking westwards Rendell , 1 988.
Back - New Search wet verb. The form of the past tense and past participle is wet or wetted. Wet is used in certain familiar contexts (He wet the bed / After they had wet their whistles [= had a drink]), but in general use wetted seems now to be more common:
Two weeks ago a heavy rain had leaked through the ceiling and wetted the boxNew Y ork Review of Books, 1987 / With her clothes wetted and her pockets full of big round stonesA.S. Byatt , 1990 .
Back - New Search wh-. Words beginning with wh- (what, where, wherever, white, etc.) are normally prono unced with the h unaspirated in Received Pronunciation in England and Wales. In general American, in Canadian, and in Scottish and Irish English they are common ly aspirated as hw-, Variation occurs in all these varieties.
Back - New Search wharf has the plural form wharves (preferred) or wharfs.
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what. 1 GENERAL. As a relative pronoun, what is an especially complex word because it can be either singular or plural and can refer both to words that have gone befo re and to words that come later in the sentence. In general it stands for a grou p of two or more words such as that which, those which, the thing (or things) th at, anything (or everything) that, etc.: What you needis some outside interest Rendell , 1974 / Some of those who take jobs in department stores or markets steal what they canTi me, 1970. It must not be used as equivalent to the simple relative pronouns that , which, or who, a use characteristic of highly informal or uneducated speech: I was the only boy in our school what had asthma Golding , 1954.
2 SINGULAR WHAT. A problem of singular or plural verb agreement arises when what is singular but looks forward to a plural noun or pronoun later in the sentence : What we need is / are clear guidelines. Fowler had a useful rule that if the s entence begins in the singular (i.e. the initial what is singular), the continua tion should also be singular; so the example just given would be expressed in th e form What we need is clear guidelines. In current use this rule is often respe cted, as the following examples show:
What really worries me is the numbers Bawden , 1987 / What bothered him was drivers who switched lanes without signallingNew Yorker, 19 89. In these cases, it is arguable that a noun phrase such as the circumstance o f or the fact of should be understood after the main verb; it is not the numbers or the drivers as such that cause the worry in the first example or the bother in the second, but the fact of what they represented or were doing.Top
3 PLURAL WHAT. A different situation arises when what is plural: / have few book s, and what there are do not help me. In this sentence, what refers back to book s, and so its plural status is clear. When what refers forward, the choice is le ss obvious: We seem to have abandoned what seem / seems to us to be the most val uable parts of our Constitution. Fowler (whose example this is) had another usef ul rule in these cases: if what can be resolved into thes that, withs standing for a plural noun that comes later in the sentence, the construction should be plur al. In the example just given, what can be resolved into the parts of our Constit ution that , and the continuation should therefore be seem (plural), not seems. I f the relative clause introduced by what comes at the head of the sentence, the same rule can be followed if what can be resolved into that which: What [= that which] is required is faith and confidence, and willingness to work. This princi ple is much less secure, however, since what in the example given (Fowler's agai n) can as easily be resolved as the things which (plural): What [= the things wh ich] are required are faith and confidence, and willingness to work. Here there is clearly a choice, and naturalness and rhythm will often be de cisive; the imp ortant point is that the choice between singular and plural should be consistent throughout the sentence, and that a singular what should not be followed by a p lural continuation: What is required are faith and confidence, and willingness t o work.Top
4 THE TYPE WHATAND WHICH When a relative clause introduced by what is followed by further relative clauses joined by a conjunction such as and or but, the what sh ould be repeated when it refers to something other than at its first occurrence: There is a definite mis-match between what universities are producing and what i ndustry is wantingDaily Telegraph, 1971. In this example, the first what refers t o one thing and the second what to another, and both are needed. But the temptat ion to use a further what (or worse, a relative which) should be resisted when t his would have the same grammatical status (as subject or object in its clause) and reference, since the first what is adequate to sustain the sense: Nobody is going to object to what is a popular measure and which will help those most in n eed should be rewritten as Nobody is going to object to what is a popular measur e and will help those most in need (or as Nobody is going to object to what is a popular measure which will help those most in need, where a popular measure bec omes the antecedent of the second which).Top
5 WHAT AFTER AS AND THAN. What should not be used after the conjunctions as and than in comparative constructions of the following type: People who have difficulty in `hearing' intonation patterns are generally only havin g difficulty in relating what they hear (which is the same as what everyone else hears) to this `pseudo-spatial' representationP. Roach , 1983 (read: the same as eve ryone else hears) /
She sometimes comes out with more than what she went in withR. Hamilton , 1993 (r ead: more than she went in with). But what should be used when it is essential t o the structure of the sentence: It was always easier to say what such a school should not be, rather than what i t should beH. Judge , 1984.Top
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whatever, what ever. 1 Whatever is written as one word when it is an indefinite relative pronoun or a djective used in statements or commands: Fiction, in whatever form, about real people is more often than not a painNew Yor ker, 1975 / Whatever you're up to during the snowy season, a wonderful warm woolly makes the perfect winter wearHair Flair, 1992. It is also used with concessive force equiv alent to `regardless of what' (Whatever Ned Kelly was really likehe can scarcely have been like Mr JaggerNew Sta tesman, 1970), and elliptically (with the continuation omitted) in informal uses such as: Her lunch-break dash to Selfridges for pantie-tights, or whateverG.F. Newman , 19 70.
2 A comma is sometimes needed to clarify the meaning when a sentence begins with a whatever-clause, especially when the verb of the main clause can be understoo d either intransitively or as referring back to whatever: Whatever they have don e, they are now leaving means `they are leaving (intransitive), regardless of what they have done', whereas Whatever they have done they are now leaving means `they a re leaving (transitive) whatever it is they have done'.Top
3 Whatever is also the correct form when used as an adverb to strengthen negativ e statements: There is no sexual element whateverDaily Telegraph, 1972.Top
4 What ever is written as two words when ever is used as an intensifying word an d the expression as a whole is equivalent to what on earth, usually in direct qu estions: `Pardon me asking, sir, but what ever happened to your pilot's licence?'J. Neale , 19
93. See EVER (1).Top
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whence, whither. Both words have centuries of history behind them and were once routine in their respective meanings `from which place' and `to which place', but in current use they are regarded as archaic or at least highly formal, although they occur occasionally in modern literature: He has also, of course, a passport which nails him for who he is and whence he c omes Lively , 1987 / I write, now, from my bed, whither Dr Felton has banished meM. Roberts , 1990.
Back - New Search whenever, when ever. Whenever is written as one word when it is a conjunction (Whenever possible he liked to make a point of talking to drug users on their ow n groundTimes, 1970) or a quasi-adverb used informally (I'll do it at the weekend or whenever). When ever is written as two words when ever is used as an intensi fying word, usually in direct questions: When ever did they arrive? See EVER (1) .
Back - New Search where-. Words still in general currency that are formed with the prefix where- include, in addition to those listed here as separate entries, whereas (used in contrasts ), wherefore (only in the whys and wherefores), wherein (supposedly formal but c ommon), and whereupon (in narration). Many others have fallen out of use or are regarded as archaic, but will be met in older writing, e.g. whereat, wherefrom, wheresoever, wherethrough, whereto, wherewith.
Back - New Search whereabouts noun. The plural form ousted the singular form whereabout in the 19c; when a verb foll ows it is more often in the plural than in the singular, but both constructions
occur regardless of the number of people or things in question: (plural) His cur rent whereabouts were not disclosed / By early Friday the whereabouts of the rai ders still were unknown / (singular) The whereabouts of the remaining two painti ngs is unknown.
Back - New Search whereby meaning `by what or which means', is one of a dwindling number of where- forms still in common use: It was Sir Keith Joseph who drew attention to the `ratchet effect' in politics, wher eby the right seems to have acquiesced in the changes the left brings aboutListen er, 1977.
Back - New Search wherever, where ever. Wherever is written as one word when it is a conjunction (One knows the type They're complete poison, a quasi-adverb used informally (A holiday in written as two words when ever is used as an ct questions: Where ever have they gone?. See wherever they goR. Barnard , 1977) or France or wherever). Where ever is intensifying word, usually in dire EVER (1).
Back - New Search wherewithal meaning `the means or resources for something', is always used with the: You don't need the intellectual wherewithal to function in society Pinker , 1994.
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whether. 1 For the choice between if and whether, see IF (2).
2 When the alternative to the whether clause is a simple negative, this can take several forms, but whether or not is now more usual than whether or no: I brooded all the way whether or not I had hit the right note Gardam , 1985 /
`Whether the report is true or not,' said Bush, Ì know I speak for all here [etc.]'Chica go Tribune, 1989. For whether or no, see NO (3).Top
3 Whether is often repeated as a clearer marker than a bare or of an alternative that forms a separate sentence, especially when the gap between whether and or is a long one: You must decide yourself whether each new Beaver [= junior Scout] should be aske d to pay for his scarf and woggle, or whether these should be provided by the Co lonyJ. Deft , 1983.Top
4 When a clause introduced by whether relates to a preceding word such as matter , issue, problem, or question, whether can follow directly or be separated by of : Senator Ervin said the issue of whether the subpoenas were continuing was à diffe rence in a teapot'Times, 1973 / And as for the matter of whether the gent's armed with the sort of foresight Phi llip K. Dick grants his `precogs', you can just make up your own mindSounds, 1977 / The whole question whether women actually are more pacific by nature is not the subject of the present book Fraser , 1988.Top
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which. 1 For the choice between that and which, see THAT (3). It is especially importan t that which, not that, should be used in so-called non-restrictive clauses givi ng additional rather than essential information: A new edition of the book, whic h has taken ten years to write, will be published this week. (Note that in this role, which is usually preceded by a comma.)
2 The use of which to introduce a clause that is grammatically a relative one bu t in fact adds new information or leads on to a new point has been recorded for several centuries but has become especially common in the 20c: He does Mr Rabinowitz's teeth which is super Williams , 1985 / (starting a new se ntence) It was as though Hungary was not another place but another time, and therefore i naccessible. Which of course was not so Lively , 1987.Top
3 Use of which with a personal antecedent is now archaic only, and is familiar m ainly from the Prayer Book: O God, which art author of peace, and lover of concordBook of Common Prayer, 15489 (modern spelling).Top
4 When a which-clause is followed by another which-clause joined by and or but, the second which must have the same grammatical status as the first. In the foll owing example the first which is the subject of its clause, whereas the second i s the object of the verb (found): In contrast Peake's use of elevated language h as a childlike quality, which is appropriate given that the protagonist, Titus, is a boy, and which I found endearing.Top
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while, whilst. 1 Both forms are used in BrE, but whilst is not much used in AmE.
2 The word is a conjunction, and its primary sense is temporal, meaning `during th e time that' (They had begun drinking while he prepared to cook) or àt the same tim e as' (She enjoyed drawing while she was being read to). Since the time of Shakesp eare , however, other uses have emerged in which while (or whilst) means àlthough' or `whereas', with concessive or contrastive rather than temporal force (While I enj oy his company, I couldn't live with him / I live in London, while my sister liv es in New York). The concessive use (in particular) has been disapproved of by s ome (including Eric Partridge in Usage and Abusage, 1942 and later), but it is s o well established that criticism is futile. Instances of possible ambiguity bet ween the temporal and concessivecontrastive types of meaning are sometimes adduce d, but they are usually contrived and unlikely to arise in practice (such as the old chestnut The Curate read the First Lesson while the Rector read the Second) . Examples: (temporal) Here father and daughter sat side by side on the window seat while he coached he r each evening in the school holidaysC. Brayfield , 1990 / (concessive) While domestic happiness is an admirable ideal, it is not easy to come byT. Tanne r , 1986 / (contrastive) Whilst Mackenzie carried on and ended up editing the Sun, Sutton began to questi on what he was doingC. Horrie 1988.Top
3 While and whilst are used elliptically, with the omission of a subject and mai
n verb such as they were (in the first example following) or he was (in the seco nd): Dinner ladies helping with playground supervision have been jostled and abused w hile trying to tackle unruly pupilsDaily Telegraph, 1983 / While still working for the restaurant in 1956, he began his franchising careerMo ney, 1985. In this type of construction while (or whilst) is usually temporal (a s in both of these examples) or concessive (as in the following example), and wh en concessive it tends to come before the main clause: More recent evidence, whilst not addressing this issue directly, tends to sugges t that this desired relationship is still importantJ. Finch , 1989.Top
4 A sentence such as the following is incorrect: While being in agreement on mos t issues, I would like to challenge one in particular. The omission is misconcei ved since the full form is while I am and not while I am being; correct while be ing to while I am in agreement or while in agreement.Top
Back - New Search whinge meaning `to grumble peevishly', is BrE. Its -ing form is whingeing, with an e to pre serve the soft sound of the g.
Back - New Search whirr meaning `to make a continuous buzzing sound', is spelt with two rs in BrE and usuall y with one r in AmE, and the corresponding noun follows suit. The verb has infle cted forms whirred, whirring in both varieties.
Back - New Search whisky, whiskey. Whisky is the usual spelling in BrE (especially with reference to Scotch whisky) and Canada, and whiskey is used of the spirit made in Ireland and the USA and i s the usual spelling generally in AmE.
Back - New Search whit a 16c word derived ultimately from an Old English form meaning à thing or creatur e of unknown origin', is commonly used in both BrE and AmE in the phrase not a whi
t or no whit (= not at all, by no means): This much ballyhooed Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is funif you're not bothered by theatre that cares not a whit for words and contains not one ghost of an ideaNew Yorker, 1991 / Ashdown's latest repositioning changes Major's position not a whitSunday Times, 1 995. Fowler (1926) and Gowers (1965) classed it among the so-called `Wardour Stree t words' (i.e. old-sounding words affectedly adopted like old-looking furniture), but it has lost most of these associations in the meantime.
Back - New Search Whit. Whit Sunday (or Pentecost) is the seventh Sunday after Easter, and Whit s the day following Whit Sunday. Whitsun and Whit are regularly used as shortenings of Whitsuntide, the weekend including Whit Sunday. Whit is in form to white, and the name is probably derived from the white robes newly baptized at Whitsuntide. Monday i informal related of those
Back - New Search white. For a time it was thought appropriate to spell white with a capital initial when it was used as a racial term with reference to light-skinned people, but the no rmal preference now is for a small initial. Unlike BLACK, white in this sense do es not have any derogatory overtones.
Back - New Search whiten is the usual form of the verb in current usage in the meanings `to make white' and `to become white', but white is used in the expression whited sepulchre (meaning à hyp ocrite', in allusion to Matthew 23:27) and in the phrasal verb white out meaning `to correct (a mistake) with white correction fluid'.
Back - New Search whither see WHENCE.
Back - New Search whitish meaning `somewhat white', is spelt without an e in the middle.
Back - New Search whizz is the recommended spelling for the noun and verb (and also in whizz-kid), not w hiz, although this too occurs.
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who and whom. 1 Who is used as a relative pronoun (The woman who saw you) and as an interrogat ive (Who is there?), and whom is, formally, its objective form (The woman whom y ou saw / Whom did you see?). In all these uses who (or whom) refers to a person or to several people, but as a relative pronoun who can informally refer to an a nimal or to an organization regarded in terms of its members (The committee, who meet on Friday,).
2 In practice, whom is in decline and is increasingly replaced by who (or that), especially in conversational English. (This is not a new development; examples can be found from Shakespeare onward.) In the examples given in the preceding pa ragraph, it would be more natural to say Who did you see?, and in the one before it The woman who you saw or The woman that you saw or The woman you saw (for th e omission of the pronoun, see RELATIVE CLAUSES (2)).Top
3 When the relative pronoun is governed by a preposition, a construction with wh om now seems formal, or even over-formal, and an alternative construction with w ho and the preposition at the end is the usual option in everyday language: (for mal) Theyargue about a man called Simpkins of whom the poet is jealousEncounter, 1987 / Lord Jenkins likened this stance to countries `who in the two world wars have waite d to see which side was winning before deciding with whom to ally themselves'Times, 1999 / (informal) What did she know of his life, who he went to bed with? Murdoch , 1993. (A mixed style sometimes occurs: There were other people whom I would have liked to speak toG. Butler , 1983.)Top
4 The same distinction of formality applies in the choice between who and whom u sed as an interrogative pronoun in questions: (formal)
Whom should we support in the present fluid situation?Bulletin of the American Ac ademy, 1990 / To whom have you complained?V. Finkelstein , 1993 / (informal) Who do you think you're speaking to?W. Mcllvanney , 1985.Top
5 Opinions about the diminishing use of whom vary widely from complete tolerance (`We have got rid of ye as the subjective form of you, so why not whom as the obj ective form of who?') to strong regret or outright disapproval. Most severely crit icized now are uses in which who replaces whom in grammatically straightforward contexts which traditionally call for whom: Christ, who went for who first?V. O'sullivan , 1985 / The stuff which was kept under wraps most of the time came flooding out in elect ions: who had fought on what side, who had killed who, who had really represente d the will of the Irish peopleIndependent, 1999. Then there are those who regard the use of whom as a sign of education and reliability: ` I don't know whom else to ask.' The elder of the two policemen, Butterworth, notic ed that she had said `whom' and decided that she was a credible witness Brookner , 19 92.Top
6 There are occasions when whom is used incorrectly (or hypercorrectly) when who is needed: The baronet whom Golitsin claimed had been the target for homosexual blackmailP. Wright , 1987. In this sentence, whom should be who, because it is the subject o f had been ( who had been the target ) and not the object of claimed. This type, w ith the insertion of a word such as claim, say, think, etc., is extremely common : He is demanding 5,000 from the elderly woman whom [read: who] he says ruined his lifeSunday Times, 1990. Note also constructions in which a whole clause introduce d by who is the object of a verb or preposition; in these cases also, who is cor rect: The staff have noisy arguments about who should siesta on the cold stone floor De ighton , 1976.Top
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whoever, who ever. 1 The same distinction applies here as to whatever and what ever, whoever being written as one word when it is an indefinite relative pronoun equivalent to `whate
ver person' used in statements or commands (Whoever wants it can have it) and when the meaning is `regardless of whom' (Whoever it is, I don't want to see them). Who ever is written as two words when ever is used as an intensifying word and the e xpression as a whole is equivalent to who on earth, usually in direct questions: Who ever are those people?. See EVER (1).
2 The objective form whomever still occurs but it can sound formal or affected i n general contexts: To impose his will on whomever he sees comfortably settled Beerbohm , 1920. In so me cases it is wrongly used: ready at once to relax with whomever came to hand Brookner , 1992 (with governs t he whole following clause; the pronoun is the subject of the clause and should t herefore be whoever).Top
Back - New Search wholly meaning èntirely, completely', is spelt this way, not wholely.
Back - New Search whom see WHO AND WHOM.
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who's is a contracted form of who is (Who's going to the party?) or who has (The perso n who's got my pen). It is occasionally used in error for whose: `Conor,' called Vaun, humping a churn of milk. `Who's turn to deliver?'J. Leland , 1987.
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Whose 1 Despite a long-established folk-belief (which Fowler deplored) that whose, whe n used as a relative, should only mean of whom and not of which, usage over seve ral centuries from the time of Shakespeare and Milton supports its use with refe rence to inanimate things as well as to people. Fowler , quoting the opening lin es of Paradise Lost (Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidde n tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the world), insisted that `good writ ing is surely difficult enough without the forbidding of things that have histor ical grammar, and present intelligibility, and obvious convenience, on their sid e', a verdict that still has the ring of good sense. The following modern examples show how awkward it can be to replace whose with a construction involving of wh ich, especially when an adjective comes between whose and the following noun (as in the 1986 example): There were pictures whose context she understood immediately McEwan , 1981 / He looked up again at the tank whose huge cannon seemed to be pointing at himP.P. Read , 1986.
2 This does not mean that of which cannot be used; when it fits comfortably in t he sentence structure, it is a legitimate and often preferable alternative: What seemed to be at risk was Mr. Gorbachev's `glasnost' policy, the essence of whic h is more opennessScotsman, 1986. It has to be used, of course, in non-possessive contexts: Important towns had their own theatres, most of which had been built in Hellenistic times.Top
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why. 1 For reason why, see REASON
2 The plural form of the noun is whys (used in whys and wherefores).Top
Back - New Search wide rather than widely is used in a number of fixed expressions such as wide apart, wide awake, and wide open, as an element in the word widespread, and in the phra
ses hit (or shoot) wide and open one's eyes wide.
Back - New Search wife has the plural form wives.
Back - New Search wilful is spelt in this way in BrE, but willful is also used in AmE.
Back - New Search will see SHALL AND WILL.
Back - New Search wimmin a phonetic spelling of women, is recorded in facetious contexts from the early p art of the 20c. It was adopted by feminists in the 1980s because it dispensed wi th the element -men: Why are these (ignorant) gay men (and sadly sometimes wimmin) stereotyping gayne ss?Pink Paper, 1990. The form has not achieved any neutral usage and must be rega rded as ephemeral.
Back - New Search wind verbs. There are two verbs here. The verb meaning `to twist, coil, etc.' is pronounced wiyn d and has the past tense and past participle wound (pronounced wownd). The uncon nected verb meaning `to exhaust the breath' is pronounced wind and has the past tens e and past participle winded.
Back - New Search windward referring to the side from which the wind is blowing, is spelt -ward as adjectiv e, adverb, and noun. The form windwards is no longer used.
Back - New Search -wise, -ways. Both suffixes were active in forming adverbs (always, sideways / crosswise, edge wise) up to the 19c, and tended to overlap (e.g. edgeways / edgewise, crossways / crosswise), but in current use only -wise is now productive in the special mea ning ìn the manner of' in ad hoc formations: Her mass of chestnut hair parted Rossetti-wise in the middle Macaulay , 1923 / dangling his arms beside his hips and rolling his head idiotwiseJ. Mclnerney , 19 85. From the 1940s, the suffix developed a further meaning às regards'; ìn respect of': Plotwise, it offers little more or less [etc.]Saturday Review, 1948 / They all keep up with me, drinkingwiseNew Yorker, 1993.
Back - New Search wish verb. The use with a simple direct object (Would you wish a little more hot water, ma'am Dickens , 1854) has been replaced in BrE by like, but is still said to be current in AmE.
Back - New Search wisteria is the usual form for the climbing plant, not wistaria. It is named after the 18 c American anatomist Casper Wistar (or Wister).
Back - New Search wit verb. This old native word for know barely survives in the phrase to wit (= that is to say, namely), in the derived forms wittingly and unwittingly, and in the first and third person singular archaic form wot (especially in T. E. Brown's often qu oted remark (1892), A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!).
Back - New Search withhold is spelt with two hs.
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without 1 Unlike the corresponding physical meaning of within (= inside), the original m eaning of without, òutside' (preposition and adverb), is no longer much used, altho ugh it will be familiar from literary contexts (There is a green hill far away, Without a city wall Alexander , 1848 / The throng without was becoming more numerous and more savage Macaulay , 1849). T he primary current uses are in the sense `lacking, not having' (I came without an um brella) and governing verbal nouns (She left without saying anything).
2 Also defunct is the use of without as a conjunction meaning ùnless', èxcept when', a lthough it still occurs in regional or dialect use and will be found occasionall y in modern fiction: I can truthfully say he never sat an exam without he was bad with his asthma Bark er , 1991.Top
3 How'd you like to make yourself a passel [= parcel] of money without hardly havi n' to do any work?D. Westheimer , 1973. The use of without + hardly, which is a c ombination of a negative and an implied negative, is non-standard. The standard expression is almost without (or in some contexts, with hardly: His eyes flickered to left and right, with hardly a turn of the headT. Barnes , 1 991).Top
Back - New Search wizened meaning `thin and shrivelled', is a Scottish word derived from Old English that has now become a general English word.
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woman see LADY, WOMAN.
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-woman. This suffix denoting female occupations is in decline as the search for GENDER-N EUTRALITY gathers pace. Policewoman has been largely replaced by police officer (or woman police constable, WPC), chairwoman, spokeswoman, and others by forms i n -person, and so on. Other compounds that remain in use generally have a cultur al or historical reference, e.g. needlewoman, servicewoman. See FEMININE DESIGNA TIONS.
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womanly, womanish. Womanly is a complimentary word applied to women and meaning `having the good qual ities of women', whereas womanish is applied to men and is usually derogatory in t he sense èffeminate, unmanly'. See also FEMALE, FEMININE.
Back - New Search womyn is a word coined by feminists to replace -men as a sequence of letters in the wo rd women. It is unlikely to achieve general currency.
Back - New Search wonder is followed by whether or if, and in more formal writing can take a subjunctive verb in the past: Hilliard wondered whether Barton were not right after all Hill , 1971 / They had never had a serious conversation, and she wondered if that were wrong Br ookner , 1992. In general contexts, however, an ordinary verb is normal:
She wondered if I was free to have dinner at her houseC. McCarry , 1977. For the type I shouldn't wonder if see NOT (5).
Back - New Search wont the surviving past participle of an obsolete verb won meaning `to accustom oneself to', is pronounced wohnt and should be distinguished from won't, the contracted f orm of will not. It is used in two principal ways: followed by a to-infinitive a s in They were wont to say, and as a noun in the type as is their wont. The form wonted, meaning àccustomed, habitual', is used before a noun, as in He showed his wonted skill.
Back - New Search won't the contracted form of will not, is the only survivor of several forms derived f rom woll (= will) not.
Back - New Search woodenness is spelt with two ns in the middle.
Back - New Search woollen, woolly are the spellings in BrE, and in AmE woolen, wooly.
Back - New Search word order see INVERSION.
Back - New Search workaday, workday. Workaday is now used only as an adjective in the meaning òrdinary, everyday'. The u sual nouns for a day on which work is done are workday and working day. In AmE, workday also means `the part of the day used for work' (as in an 8-hour workday).
Back - New Search worldly meaning `temporal or earthly', has two Is.
Back - New Search World Wide Web see WEB.
Back - New Search worsen see -EN VERBS FROM ADJECTIVES.
Back - New Search worser.
Changed to a worser shape thou canst not be Shakespeare , 1 Henry VI v.iv, 1591. This so-called `double comparative' has good literary credentials, but is not standa rd in current English.
Back - New Search worship has inflected forms worshipped, worshipping, and a derivative form worshipper in BrE, and often worshiped, worshiping, worshiper in AmE.
Back - New Search worst. The idiom if the worst comes to the worst has been standard in BrE since the lat e 16c. In AmE it usually occurs in the form if worst comes to worst.
Back - New Search worth while, worthwhile.
The traditional distinction is to use the two-word form predicatively (i.e. afte r a verb, as in The experiment was worth while) and the one-word form attributiv ely (i.e. before a noun, as in a worthwhile experiment). However, the one-word f orm is increasingly used in all contexts. Note that the correct use with a follo wing verbal noun is worth, not worth while (It was worth doing It was worth whil e doing).
Back - New Search would see SHOULD AND WOULD.
Back - New Search wrack see RACK.
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wrath, wrathful, wroth Wrath is an archaic or literary noun meaning ànger', and is pronounced rawth or rot h, or in AmE rath. Wrathful is the corresponding adjective meaning àngry'. Wroth is also an adjective, and is always used predicatively, i.e. after a verb, especia lly in the expression wax wroth meaning `to become angry'. As these words move furth er back into the remoteness of archaism, their distinctions are becoming blurred , with wroth in particular being used where wrath is needed.
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wreak is used in the expression wreak havoc (on). It is derived from an Old English ve rb meaning `to avenge'. The unrelated verb work is also used in this connection, wit h its archaic participial form wrought occasionally coming into service: Moko, the banana disease, has already wreaked havoc on the tradeTimes, 1983 / A decade of inflation had wrought havoc with its portfolio of fixed interest mor tgagesFinancial Times, 1984.
Back - New Search wreath has the plural form wreaths, pronounced reedhz or reeths. The verb, meaning `to en circle with a wreath', is spelt wreathe and is pronounced reedh.
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I had written my mother about all thisNew Yorker, 1987. The transitive use with t he recipient as the object is well known in AmE, but has disappeared in BrE, exc ept occasionally in old-fashioned commercial correspondence (Please write us at your convenience).
Back - New Search writ large.
Every project has success writ large over itAuthor, 1994. This still-popular phra se is first recorded in the 17c, and is based on a participial form of write tha t is otherwise obsolete.
Back - New Search wrong like right, exists as an adverb alongside the regularly formed word wrongly. It is mostly used with a limited number of words and means roughly ìncorrectly', or àst ray', as in We guessed wrong and I said it wrong. In these cases wrongly can also be used, but the effect can be somewhat ponderous, and wrongly comes into its ow n in the more general meaning ìn the wrong way', especially when coming before rath er than after an adjective or participle: It arrived at Heathrow as mishandled luggage, having been wrongly off-loaded in Rome from a flight from Australia to LondonDaily Telegraph, 1972. Note that in th e expression go wrong, wrong is probably not an adverb but still an adjective (a greeing with the subject as with become and other verbs).
Back - New Search wroth see WRATH.
Back - New Search wrought is an old past form and past participle of the verb work, surviving only in the term wrought iron, in the occasional variant wrought up (= worked up, i.e. agita ted, nervous), and as a form of the expression work havoc (see WREAK).
Back - New Search wry has inflected forms wryer, wryest, and derivative forms wryly, wryness.
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wych is the usual spelling in the name of the tree wych elm. It is apparently derived from a Germanic form meaning `to bend'.
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-x is used to form the plural of a number of loanwords from French that are not ful ly naturalized, for example chateau (= a castle or large house) and plateau. Oth er words tend to be treated in a more native way and form plurals in -s, for exa mple gateau. Usage is unstable in this regard.
Back - New Search Xerox a proprietary term for a make of photocopier, should be spelt with a capital X. As a verb, however, it is spelt xerox.
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-xion. A small number of nouns derived from Latin words ending in -io, -ionis have been spelt either -ction or -xion in English. Where there is a choice, current usage tends to prefer -ction (e.g. deflection, inflection), but in other cases -xion is the only ending in use (the main cases are complexion, crucifixion, transfixi on).
Back - New Search Xmas. In this abbreviated form of the name Christmas, first recorded in the 18c, the i nitial X represents a Greek chi (= ch), the first letter of the name Christ. It is a convenient shortening commonly used in newspaper headlines, on cards, and i n personal letters, but it is better to pronounce it as `Christmas' than as èx-mass' wh ich some people consider tasteless.
Back - New Search X-ray is spelt in this way as a noun and verb.
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y and i. For problems of spelling involving y and i in words, see CIPHER, GYPSY, LICH-GAT E, PYGMY, SIPHON, SIREN, STYMIE, TIRO, TYRE, WYCH.
Back - New Search Yankee. A Yankee is properly an inhabitant of New England or of the northern states of t he USA, and the name was used with this meaning during the American Civil War. O n the other hand the shortened form Yank is commonly applied to Americans genera lly. Both words are informal only, and their origin, though widely discussed, re mains unclear.
Back - New Search ye a pseudo-archaic form of the definite article the, is used commercially in names such as ye olde tea-shoppe. Though pronounced yee, its first letter represents an old runic letter called `thorn' (pronounced dh as in modern this), which in writt en form had come to resemble the letter y.
Back - New Search yeah. is the conventional spelling of the informal shortened form of yes. In print it is used only to represent a spoken form, commonly used in the phrase Oh yeah? ex pressing doubt or disbelief.
Back - New Search year. see DAY. A possessive apostrophe is needed in expressions of the type (singular) a year's imprisonment and (plural) two years' imprisonment.
Back - New Search yes used as a noun (refused to give a definite yes), has the plural form yeses.
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yet and still. 1 These two adverbs used to be more interchangeable than they are now. A sentenc e such as Mrs. Throckmorton was shot in her apartment last night, and the bullet is in her yet, in which yet denotes continuity of action up to the time in ques tion, would be acceptable, especially informally, in America (the source of this extract) and Scotland, but in the English of England still would be used instea d of yet and the word order would usually be different: and the bullet is still in her. In England, yet is used to mean ùp to this time' or ùp to then' (1) in a quest ion or after a negative (Is she 21 yet? / She wasn't yet 18 / Have they arrived yet? / They haven't arrived yet [or haven't yet arrived] / I hadn't yet decided what to do). Note the position of yet in these examples, and note that with acti on verbs the perfect tense (formed with have) or past perfect tense (formed with had) is used, but in AmE a past tense formed with do is also used informally: D id they arrive yet? In the negative examples, still can also be sometimes used, e.g. They still haven't arrived.
2 It is worth pointing out that in Scottish English a question such as Is it rai ning yet? would be ambiguous, equivalent to the English English questions `Has it started to rain yet?' and Ìs it still raining?'. In conversation, intonation would no rmally clarify, but this might need to be accentuated south of the border.Top
3 In positive contexts, yet is used as a more formal alternative to still in the following types, normally with be, have to, or a modal verb such as can: We'd b etter do it while there is yet time / I have yet to receive a reply / I can hear her yet.Top
4 See also ALREADY (2).Top
Back - New Search Yiddish words in English.
Yiddish is a vernacular language used by European Jews, based chiefly on High Ge rman with Hebrew and Slavonic borrowings, and written in Hebrew characters. Engl ish, especially AmE, has adopted many words and phrases from Yiddish in the 19c and 20c, and some of these are given in the table below. ITEM MEANING bagel hard ring-shaped ring of bread chutzpah shameless audacity
klutz clumsy or inept person kvell to boast or gloat mazuma money need it like a hole in the head can well do without it nosh food schlemiel clumsy person, fool schlep to haul or drag schmuck abusive term for a person shtoom silent What's with you? What's the matter?
Back - New Search yodel. The verb has inflected forms yodelled, yodelling in BrE, and usually yodeled, yo deling in AmE.
Back - New Search yogurt is the preferred spelling, although yoghurt (with an h) is also common. It is pr onounced yog-t in BrE, and yoh-gt in AmE and in Australia and New Zealand.
Back - New Search yoke, yolk. A yoke is a wooden crosspiece of the kind fixed over the necks of work animals. A yolk is the yellow part of an egg (and is related to the word yellow).
Back - New Search you and I. For between you and I, see BETWEEN (5).
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you know see MEANINGLESS FILLERS.
Back - New Search you name it is a clich of the 1960s, still much in vogue. It means ànd so on, and other famili ar things of the same kind': Ìve picked up rocks, glass, parts of beer canyou name it,' she saidNew Yorker, 1988.
Back - New Search you're is an informal contracted form of you are (You're sure, are you?). It needs to b e distinguished from the identical-sounding possessive word your.
Back - New Search yours. This possessive pronoun, as used in The blame is not mine but yours, is written without an apostrophe. In compound subjects connected by and, the correct form i s (e.g.) Our children and yours should have a joint party, not Yours and our chi ldren should have a joint party.
Back - New Search yourself, yourselves. Yourself (singular) and yourselves (plural) have two primary roles, (1) as refle xives (Are you talking about yourself? / Help yourselves to biscuits), and (2) as emphatic words in apposition to the pronoun you (You yourself told me so) .
Back - New Search yous, youse are regional and dialectal forms of you (plural). In Britain they are associated especially with the speech of Glasgow and Liverpool, and they occur in American , Australian, and New Zealand literature reproducing non-standard speech:
It's the least I can do for youseE. Jolley , 1985 (Australia).
Back - New Search youth has the plural form youths, pronounced yoodhz. As well as meaning à young person' ( in BrE usually a boy but in other varieties a boy or girl) and à young time of li fe' (in their youth), it has a collective sense `young people', normally preceded by t he: The youth of Australia have been saved once more from the dreaded lurgy, mar ijuanaIt, 1971. In this meaning it is commonly used in attributive position (i.e. before a noun, e.g. youth centre, youth movement).
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-yse, -yze. The BrE English form of the suffix is -yse (analyse, catalyse, dialyse, paralyse ). In AmE the normal forms are analyze etc.
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zap verb is a vogue word of the 80s and 90s meaning `to liven or revitalize', and commonly oc curs as a phrasal verb with up: A whole head of garlic is olive-oiled, oven-baked, blobbed with brie, then zappe d up with a sprig of fresh thyme on topWestern Living, 1991. An earlier meaning, `t o kill', familiar from comic strips and the world of electronic games, is still in use, as is a more recent meaning, `to switch casually from one television channel to another'. The inflected forms are zapped, zapping.
Back - New Search zenith is pronounced zen-ith in BrE and zee-nith in AmE.
Back - New Search zero. The noun has the plural form zeros, and the verb (normally used in the form zero in) has inflected forms zeroes, zeroed, zeroing.
Back - New Search zeugma see SYLLEPSIS.
Back - New Search zigzag. The verb has inflected forms zigzagged, zigzagging.
Back - New Search zinc. The adjectival form meaning `coated in zinc' is zinced.
Back - New Search zoology. The older pronunciation zoh-ol--ji, favoured by OED editors and supposedly by zo ologists themselves, has largely given way in general use to zoo-ol--ji (influen ced by the common shortening zoo). But beware of rearguard actions.
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OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Pocket Fowler's Modern English Usage
* * *
Edited by Robert Allen This Pocket edition is based primarily on Robert W. Burchfield's renowned The Ne w Fowler's Modern English Usage. Robert Allen has taken all the key elements fro m the best-selling parent work, rewriting entries to present the arguments and r ecommendations in a more accessible and digestible form, and has added completel y new topics such as American English, new words, and gender-neutrality. Clear g uidance on grammar, usage, syntax, and style for English is provided. Robert Allen is an experienced lexicographer and former Senior Editor of the Oxf ord English Dictionary and Chief Editor of the eighth edition of The Concise Oxf ord Dictionary.
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ISBN 0198608373 Oxford University Press 1999, 2002 First published 1999 E-book copyright 2003.
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Back - New Search abacus. The normal plural is abacuses.

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Back - New Search abdomen. Stress is normally on the first syllable.

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Back - New Search abductor is spelt -or, not -er.

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Back - New Search abode.

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4 BE ABOUT TO. In affirmative contexts, to be about to denotes intention: I am a

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absolve. 1 Pronunciation is now normally with -z-, not -s-.

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Back - New Search accumulative see CUMULATIVE.

ative (e.g. him, them, us): see CASES.

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Back - New Search active.

Back - New Search actuate See ACTIVATE.

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few are always pronounced -ahd: aubade, ballade, faade.

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9 ADJECTIVES USED AS NOUNS. A typical extension in the use of some descriptive a

Back - New Search adjudicator is spelt -or.

Back - New Search adjure see ABJURE.

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6 COMPARISON OF ADVERBS. See -ER AND -EST.Top

Back - New Search adversary is stressed on the first syllable.

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Back - New Search advert see AD.

Back - New Search advertise is spelt -ise, not -ize.

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advisedly. 1 It should be pronounced as four syllables.

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Back - New Search afflict see INFLICT.

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Back - New Search aggression. Note that it has two gs.

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