New Word Thread

vokazu

Legend

Definition of ACMITE​


  • rare pyroxene mineral, sodium-ferric iron silicate, NaFe(Si2O6), found in feldspathoid rocks
  • a pyramid shaped crystal [n -S]
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Busking

Busking is the term that describes what a person does who performs on the street for gratuities.
This includes many sorts of performers, magicians, guitarists, jugglers, stilt walkers, acrobats...
Some, who are very entertaining can make some good money.

Before I made it to the big time, I made a living by busking along the esplanade.
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of STANIEL​


  • the kestrel (a small falcon (a bird of prey)) [n -S]


staniel​

Alternative forms​


Etymology​


From Middle English staniel (“bird of prey”), from Old English stānġilla, stānġella (“staniel, pelican”, literally “rock-crier”), from stān (“stone, rock”) + ġella (“yeller, crier”). More at stone, yell.

Pronunciation​


Noun​


staniel (plural staniels)
  1. The kestrel or windhover.

Synonyms​


 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of RUBATI​


  • RUBATO, a fluctuation of speed within a musical phrase [n]
  • having certain notes arbitrarily lengthened while others are correspondingly shortened, or vice versa
  • rubato phrase or passage
  • rubato performance
  • in a rubato manner
  • RUBATO, distorted rhythm [n]
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Lavender Marriage

I was looking up something (can't remember what) and came across this term.

Humans have existed as a distinct species for at least 50,000 years, and during
all that time a certain percentage were/are "gay"- interested sexually in others of their own
sex rather than that other one. Why anyone would have a problem with this,
I don't know- but...

In the early 1900s with movies becoming an important aspect of entertainment
and culture it became expedient for the studios to create and maintain an "image" for their
leading men and women and hide from the public the facts of their sexual orientation.

Rudolph Valentino was a leading man- famous for his romantic roles. To disguise the fact of his
"gayness" the studios arranged a marriage to Jean Aker, one of many that came to be called "lavender
marriages" that continued through the late 1950s. About this time (1910) "Lavender marriage" became a term.

The term "beard" is also associated with this sort of deception. A gay man or woman
would publically be seen with a man or woman of the opposite sex to maintain
their public persona. That other person was the "beard".
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of MALOTI​


  • LOTI, a monetary unit of Lesotho [n]
  • cupronickel coin, paper money, and monetary unit of Lesotho, equal to 100 lisente
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of TOMIAL​


  • the cutting edge of a bird's bill
  • pertaining to a tomium (the cutting edge of a bird's bill) [adj]

Definition of TOMIA​


  • the cutting edge of a bird's bill
  • TOMIUM, the cutting edge of a bird's bill [n]
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of TOUSIER​


  • TOUSY, shaggy (covered with long coarse hair) [adj]


Definition of STOURIE​


  • stoury (dusty (full of dust)) [adj]
  • dusty, also STOURY [adj]


Definition of TOURIES​


  • TOURIE, a small heap [n]


Definition of OURIEST​


  • OURIE, dingy, also OORIE, OWRIE [adj]
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of DATURIC​




  • any of several plants belonging to the genus Datura, of the nightshade family, including some species grown as ornamentals and usually having funnel-shaped flowers and prickly pods: the leaves and seeds are the source of hallucinogenic alkaloids
  • DATURA, a flowering plant [adj]
  • relating to datura [adj]



Definition of DECURIA​




  • a group of ten soldiers, also DECURY [n -S]
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Decry

Decry means to publicly denounce-
to "cry out" and condemn something as being wrong-
to express strong disapproval.
The protesters assembled to decry the abuse of human rights.
 

GeoffHYL

Professional
Tarmac

A word combination of "tar" and "macadam". Macadam is a road surfacing method invented by Scottish engineer John McAdam. Tar was added to make it less dusty, thus "tarmac". Modern tarmac uses asphalt instead of tar, and is thus more durable.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru


Definition of DECURIA​




  • a group of ten soldiers, also DECURY [n -S]
In ancient Rome a Centurion was a commander of a hundred men (or around that number).

Centurions commanded a unit of around 100 soldiers (most typically 80 soldiers) called a century or centuria. Six centuries (centuriae) made a cohort, and ten cohorts made a legion.
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of ORCHILS​


  • ORCHIL, a purple dye [n]
  • violet coloring matter obtained from certain lichens, chiefly species of Roccella
  • any lichen yielding this dye
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Brickbat

Brickbats are chunks of brick that are used as a weapon by hurling them at ones opponent.
Now days, "brickbats" is used more figuratively to mean insults, caustic criticism, vitriolic comments...

"Bouquets and brickbats" is an idiomatic term that means "praise and criticism".
In a meeting, for example, the speaker may start off getting praised for his/her remarks, but, then,
the mood could change and and the person is lambasted with brickbats.

The heckler hurled brickbats at the comedian because of his political remarks.
 

vokazu

Legend
reprobate
noun
plural noun: reprobates
  1. 1.
    an unprincipled person.
    "he had to present himself as more of a lovable reprobate than a spirit of corruption"












    Similar:
    rogue


    rascal


    scoundrel


    good-for-nothing


    villain


    wretch


    unprincipled person

    rake


    profligate


    degenerate


    debauchee


    libertine


    troublemaker


    mischief-maker


    wrongdoer


    evil-doer


    transgressor

    sinner


    roué


    vaurien

    scallywag


    bad egg

    scofflaw


    hellion


    rotter


    bounder


    cad


    ne'er-do-well


    miscreant


    blackguard


    knave


    rapscallion


    varlet


    wastrel


    rakehell


    scapegrace


  2. 2.
    archaic
    (in Calvinism) a sinner who is not of the elect and is predestined to damnation.
verb
archaic
3rd person present: reprobates
  1. express or feel disapproval of.
    "his neighbours reprobated his method of proceeding"
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru

Definition of PEZANTS​


  • PEZANT, a peasant, also PESANT, PESAUNT [n]
This got me thinking about Pez and Pez dispensers.
The product was invented in Austria around 1927 as an alternative to smoking.
Pez is a peppermint product- PfeffErminZ in German. You can see
where the name was derived. The automated dispenser came out around 1949
and held the same number of tablets (12) as do today's.
In 1947 the three-dimensional character head was introduced- a Halloween witch.

I wondered what you call a collector of Pez dispensers. 'Pez Head" is all
I could come up with.
 

vokazu

Legend
beatnik
noun
beat·nik ˈbēt-nik

: a person who participated in a social movement of the 1950s and early 1960s which stressed artistic self-expression and the rejection of the mores of conventional society

broadly : a usually young and artistic person who rejects the mores of conventional society
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of FLUERIC​


  • pertaining to a branch of mechanical engineering [adj]
  • FLUERICS, fluidics (a branch of mechanical engineering) [adj]

Definition of 'flueric'​


fluericin British English​


adjective
of or relating to fluidics


Flueric devices are fluidic devices without moving parts.

Andrew Adamatzky 2016, 'On Emulation of Flueric Devices in Excitable Chemical Medium.', PLoS ONEhttp://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5173363?pdf=render. Retrieved from PLOS CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)


Flueric devices have been widely used in industry since late 1960s and are stillemployed in automotive and aircraft technologies.
Andrew Adamatzky 2016, 'On Emulation of Flueric
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
beatnik
noun
beat·nik ˈbēt-nik

: a person who participated in a social movement of the 1950s and early 1960s which stressed artistic self-expression and the rejection of the mores of conventional society

broadly : a usually young and artistic person who rejects the mores of conventional society
I believe the term was coined by Jack Kerouac in 1948 when he was describing the mentality, the mental exhaustion
of enduring WWII and a population trying to rediscover itself- That is the "beat" part.
The "nik" part came from Herb Caen (newspaper columnist) and was a play on Russian word endings like Sputnik. I don't
believe the "beats", themselves used the term "beatnik"- it was an almost derogatory term that tended to mock
the movement (think of Maynard G Krebs on the Doby Gillis TV show).

 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Moue
A moue is a twisting, puckering or pouting of the lips.
I don't hear the word used much in ordinary conversation, but I just came across
in in a novel I started-- so here it is.
Sometimes a moue is an involuntary movement of the lips, as when upset, sometimes
it is more intentional- like a kissing or "smooching"- provocative, flirty, motion.
There was a female gymnast (1912) who acquired her 15 minutes of fame after messing up
in her vault and then making a moue expression.
Here is a video- the actual expression is shown about a minute and a half in.
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of PEH​


  • the 17th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
  • either of the consonant sounds represented by this letter
  • pe (a Hebrew letter) [n PEHS]
  • a Hebrew letter, also PE, FE [n -S]
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Fog
(psychology/therapy definition)

I just heard this term used for the first time yesterday
on some talk show.

If a persons feels criticized or verbally attacked,
rather than getting all defensive and attacking in return,
that person can diffuse the tension by using a technique called "fogging".

So, rather than counter-attack the person or completely deny any truth to their criticism-
"to fog", means to acknowledge that there is (or may be) some
truth in the criticism- and reply with things like, "Yes, I can see why you might say that. I suppose
I could have done better." Or, "I can see why you might be upset."
Or, "I can see you are angry." Or, "Obviously you are entitled to your position."

So, fogging, rather than confrontation, prevents the build up of tensions and allows those
involved to more calmy state their positions and have a more normal conversation rather
than a fight.
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of AVAST​


  • stop [interj]
  • (used as a command to stop or cease)
  • a nautical command to stop or cease
  • used as a command to stop [interj]
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of QUEAN​


  • a worthless woman, also QUEYN, QUINE, QUINIE, QUEYNIE [n -S]
  • a harlot (a prostitute) [n QUEANS]
  • overly forward, impudent woman; shrew; hussy
  • prostitute
  • girl or young woman, esp. a robust one
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of MASTIX​


  • mastic (an aromatic resin) [n MASTIXES]
  • an aromatic resin, also MASTIC, MASTICHE [n -ES]
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of SLEY​


  • a weaver's reed [n -S]
  • the reed of a loom
  • the warp count in woven fabrics
  • the lay of a loom
  • to draw (warp ends) through the heddle eyes of the harness or through the dents of the reed in accordance with a given plan for weaving a fabric
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of PERITUS​


  • A theological adviser or consultant to a council of the Roman Catholic Church
  • an expert theologian [n PERITI]
  • a type of theological expert [n PERITI]
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of AZO​


  • containing nitrogen [adj]
  • containing the azo group
  • relating to or containing the divalent group N=N united at both ends to carbon
  • containing nitrogen (a gaseous element) [adj]
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of TONNEAU​


  • rear part or compartment of an automobile body, containing seats for passengers
  • complete automobile body having such a rear part
  • waterproof cover, generally of canvas or vinyl, that can be fastened over the cockpit of a roadster or convertible to protect the interior
  • the rear seating compartment of an automobile [n TONNEAUS, TONNEAUX]
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of NOTAEUM​


  • the upper surface of a bird's trunk [n -S]
  • the back (upper surface) of an animal, esp of a bird
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of AUTOPEN​


  • machine that can automatically reproduce or imitate an autograph or personal signature with any type of pen, pencil, or marker
  • a device for imitating signatures [n AUTOPENS]



440px-CHECK_SIGNING_MACHINE_IN_TREASURY_DEPARTMENT%3B_OPERATED_BY_J.L._SUMMERS_LCCN2016868985.jpg

US Treasury Department check signing machine. Operated by J.L. Summers in 1918.

images

Autopen Model 80 - The Autopen Company




images





 
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vokazu

Legend

Definition of REGIUS​


  • holding a professorship founded by the sovereign [adj]
  • of or belonging to a king
  • (of a professor in a British university) holding a chair founded by or dependent on the sovereign
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Autoharp
A harp-like instrument that has various buttons that you press to create cords for strumming.


Autogyro
An autogyro is sort of like a hybrid between an airplane and a helicopter.
There are no wings. Instead of wings there is a rotary blade sort of like on a helicopter,
but it is not powered. There is a motor (usually in the back) that thrusts the craft forward
causing the "copter wing" lift the vehicle.


Auto-de-fe'
Is a word that came about during the (Spanish) inquisition.
Basically it means "act of faith" (Portuguese), and was a public ritual,
almost an entertainment (that rivaled bull-fights) where the Spanish Catholic
Church condemned "heretics" or non-Catholics, and put them to death or condemned them to life imprisonment.
Torture was common.

Autodidact or autodidactic
Autodidact is a word that comes from ancient Greece and means a person who is self-taught.
Jimmy Hendrix was a self-taught guitarist, as was Curt Cobain and could be called autodidacts.
 
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vokazu

Legend

Definition of FIREBOX​


  • a chamber in which fuel is burned [n FIREBOXES]
  • the box or chamber containing the fire of a steam boiler, furnace, etc.
  • the furnace of a locomotive, where coal, oil, or other fuel is burned to generate steam
  • box or panel with a device for notifying the fire station of an outbreak of fire
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of ADMIXES​


  • to mingle with or add to something else
  • ADMIX, to mix (to put together into one mass) [v]
  • ADMIX, to mix (to combine together) [v]

Definition of EOLIAN​


  • noting or pertaining to sand or rock material carried or arranged by the wind
  • borne, deposited, produced, or eroded by the wind.
  • pertaining to the wind [adj]

Definition of FOUGADE​


  • a pit filled with explosives and stones, also FOUGASSE [n -S]
 
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vokazu

Legend

Definition of OBEAH​


  • to bewitch with obia, also OBI [v -ED, -ING, -S]
  • a form of sorcery of African origin [n OBEAHS]
  • form of belief involving sorcery, practiced in parts of the West Indies, South America, the southern U.S., and Africa
  • fetish or charm used in practicing obeah
  • a system of belief among blacks chiefly of the British West Indies and the Guianas that is characterized by the use of magic ritual to ward off misfortune or to cause harm
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of GOBO​


  • a dark strip (as of wallboard) to shield a motion-picture or television camera from light
  • device to shield a microphone from sound
  • screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare
  • screen or sheet of sound-absorbent material for shielding a microphone from sounds coming from a particular direction
  • a device used to shield a microphone from extraneous sounds [n GOBOES, GOBOS]
  • a device to shield a microphone [n GOBOS or GOBOES]
 

vokazu

Legend

Definition of FULLAGE​


  • a charge for fulling cloth [n -S]


Fulling, also known as tucking or walking (Scots: waukin, hence often spelt waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate (lanolin) oils, dirt, and other impurities, and to make it shrink by friction and pressure. The work delivers a smooth, tightly finished fabric that is insulating and water-repellent. Well-known examples are duffel cloth, first produced in Flanders in the 14th century, and loden, produced in Austria from the 16th century on.

Waulking could be done with the hands and feet. In medieval Europe, it was done in water-powered fulling mills. After the Industrial Revolution, coal and electric power were used.

Felting refers more generally to the interlocking of loose wool fibers; they need not be spun and woven first.

Process​

[edit]
Fulling involves two processes: scouring (cleaning) and milling (thickening). Removing the oils encourages felting, and the cloth is pounded to clean it and to encourage the fibers to felt, so in practice the processes overlap.

Scouring​

edit
Main article: scouring (textiles)
Urine was so important to the fulling business that it was taxed in Ancient Rome.[1] Stale urine, known as wash or lant, was a source of ammonium salts and assisted in cleansing and whitening the cloth and having its fibers intertwined.

By the medieval period, fuller's earth had been introduced for use in the process. This is a soft clay-like material occurring naturally as an impure hydrous aluminium silicate. Worked through the cloth, it absorbs oils and dirt. It was used in conjunction with wash. More recently, soap has been used.

Milling​

[edit]
The second function of fulling was to thicken cloth by matting the fibres together to give it strength and increase waterproofing (felting). This was vital in the case of woollens, made from carded wool, but not for worsted materials made from combed wool. After this stage, water was used to rinse out the foul-smelling liquor used during cleansing. Felting of wool occurs upon hammering or other mechanical agitation because the microscopic scales on the surface of wool fibres hook together, somewhat like hook and loop fixings.

Manual methods​

[edit]
Manual trampling, drawing after an Ancient Roman fresco in the Fullonica of Stephanus, Pompeii. A fullonica is a fullery and laundry shop.

Originally, fulling was carried out by the pounding of the woollen cloth with a club, or the fuller's feet or hands.

In Roman times, fulling was conducted by slaves working the cloth while ankle deep in tubs of human urine.[citation needed]

There are several Biblical references to fulling (2 Kings 18:17; Isaiah 7:3 and 36:2; Malachi 3:2; Mark 9:3). In addition to this, at least one reference appears in the speeches of Lysias, written in Athens during the 5th century BC.[2]

Scotland, then a rather remote and un-industrialized region, retained manual methods into the 1700s. In Scottish Gaelic tradition, this process was accompanied by waulking songs, which women sang to set the pace.

[To be continued below]

 
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vokazu

Legend

[continuation from above]​

Mills​

[edit]
  • Fulling cloth by letting a waterfall agitate it
    Fulling cloth by letting a waterfall agitate it
  • A driving-stock fulling mill from Georg Andreas Böckler's Theatrum Machinarum Novum, 1661
    A driving-stock fulling mill from Georg Andreas Böckler's Theatrum Machinarum Novum, 1661
  • Model of a falling-stock machine, showing the set of hammers that drop in sequence to pound the cloth in the vats below
    Model of a falling-stock machine, showing the set of hammers that drop in sequence to pound the cloth in the vats below
  • 1891 illustration of a rotary fulling mill
    1891 illustration of a rotary fulling mill
From the medieval period, the fulling of cloth was often done in a water mill, known as a fulling mill, a walk mill, or a tuck mill, and in Wales, a pandy. They appear to have originated in the 9th or 10th century in Europe. The earliest known reference to a fulling mill in France, which dates from about 1086, was discovered in Normandy.[3]
There was a fulling mill established at Temple Guiting, Gloucestershire which was documented in the Domesday Book (also 1086).[4] E. A. Lewis (possibly Welsh historian Edward Arthur Lewis)[5] observed:

'Fulling mills appear in Wales early in the reign of Edward II., just at the time when fulling mills were being introduced into Lancashire.'[6]
By the time of the Crusades in the late eleventh century, fulling mills were active throughout the medieval world.[2]

The mills beat the cloth with wooden hammers, known as fulling stocks or fulling hammers. Fulling stocks were of two kinds, falling stocks (operating vertically) that were used only for scouring, and driving or hanging stocks. In both cases the machinery was operated by cams on the shaft of a waterwheel or on a tappet wheel, which lifted the hammer.

Driving stocks were pivoted so that the foot (the head of the hammer) struck the cloth almost horizontally. The stock had a tub holding the liquor and cloth. This was somewhat rounded on the side away from the hammer, so that the cloth gradually turned, ensuring that all parts of it were milled evenly. However, the cloth was taken out about every two hours to undo plaits and wrinkles. The 'foot' was approximately triangular in shape, with notches to assist the turning of the cloth.

Post-processing​

[edit]
Raising the nap, Roman fresco
After fulling, cloth was stretched on great frames known as tenters, to which it is attached by tenterhooks (whence the phrase being on tenterhooks). The area where the tenters were erected was known as a tenterground.

Cloth would also have the nap raised by napping or gigging. The surface would then be sheared smooth. The process might be repeated for a smoother finish.

Legacy​

[edit]
The names for workers who performed these tasks (fuller, tucker, and walker[7]) have become common surnames.

The Welsh word for a fulling mill is pandy,[8] which appears in many place-names, for example Tonypandy ("fulling mill lea").
 
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