31 December 2018

begum(1)

[bee-guh m, bey-]

noun

– (in India) a high-ranking Muslim woman, especially a widow.

Origin of begum(1)

1625–35; < Urdu begam ≪ Turkic begim, apparently a derivative of beg. See bey

begum(2)

[bih-guhm]

verb (used with object), be·gummed, be·gum·ming.

to smear, soil, clog, etc., with or as if with gum or a gummy substance.
Origin of begum2

be- + gum1

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for begum

Historical Examples

He had no right to try the Begums, nor did he pretend to try them.
Critical and Historical Essays, Volume III (of 3)
Thomas Babington Macaulay

What do you mean by the word rebellion, as applied to the Begums?
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. XII. (of XII.)
Edmund Burke

Now they could not be sent by the Begums in their own person.
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. XII. (of XII.)
Edmund Burke

Sheridan pleaded the cause of the Begums in what has been reckoned the finest speech ever heard in modern times.
Biographical Outlines
Anonymous

Today’s quote

I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head.

– Theodore Roosevelt

On this day

31 December – the seventh day of the 12 days of Christmas (Western Christianity).

31 December 1948 – birth of Disco star, Donna Summer. Died 17 May 2012.

31 December 1967 – Evel Knievel unsuccessfully attempts a motorcycle jump over the fountains of Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. He received concussion and numerous broken bones, which left him in a coma for 29 days.

31 December 2007 – Murder statistics in the United States reveal that murder rate is 0.055 per head of population, which is slightly less than it was in 1947, when the rate was 0.0551. The population in 1947 was 145,000,000 and there were 8,000 murders. In 2007, the population was 300,000,000 and there were 16,500 murders.

30 December 2018

ryot

[rahy-uh t]

noun (in India)

a peasant.
a person who holds land as a cultivator of the soil.

Origin of ryot

1615–25; Hindi raiyat; Persian; Arabic raʿīyah subjects, literally, flock

Dictionary.com

Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for ryots

Historical Examples

Like the ryots and the agricultural labourers, they do not show the least sign of revolt.
The New World of Islam
Lothrop Stoddard

The farmers in Egypt irrigate in the same way as the ryots of India.
The Critic in the Orient
George Hamlin Fitch

Indian ryots are quite as receptive of new ideas as English farmers.
Tales of Bengal
S. B. Banerjea

Certain deductions have to be made—some ryots may be defaulters.
Sport and Work on the Nepaul Frontier
James Inglis

It is the business of all, from the ryots to the dewan, to conceal and deceive.
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. XII. (of XII.)
Edmund Burke

Today’s quote

The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.

– Diogenes

On this day

30 December – the sixth day of the 12 days of Christmas (Western Christianity).

30 December 1896 – Death of Dr Jose Rizal, Filipino national hero. Rizal was an ophthalmologist by profession. He campaigned for reforms of the Spanish rule of the Philippines, writing numerous works critical of the Spanish government, which helped inspire the Philippine revolution. Following this Rizal was excecuted in Manila by the Spanish colonial government. Rizal was born in Calamba, Laguna on 19 June 1861.

30 December 1922 – Lenin establishes the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

30 December 1945 – birth of Davy Jones, singer with British 1960’s rock band, The Monkees. Died 29 February 2012.

30 December 2006 – Former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, hanged after being found guilty of committing crimes against humanity.

29 December 2018

squirearchy
or squir·ar·chy

[skwahyuh r-ahr-kee]

noun, plural squire·ar·chies.

the collective body of squires or landed gentry of a country.
the social, economic, and political class formed by the landed gentry.

Origin of squirearchy

First recorded in 1795–1805; squire + -archy

Related forms

squire·ar·chal, squire·ar·chi·cal, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for squirearchy

Historical Examples

Not, indeed, that the squirearchy then present were at all disposed to regret Maitland’s absence.
Tony Butler
Charles James Lever

But the baronage or squirearchy of the country were of another mind.
The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 07
Various

But the Baronage or Squirearchy of the country were of another mind.
History Of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. III. (of XXI.)
Thomas Carlyle

This lowly lad fought the forces of “Squirearchy and Hierarchy.”
The War After the War
Isaac Frederick Marcosson

Such was more or less the universal humor in the squirearchy of Brandenburg; not of good omen to Burggraf Friedrich.
The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 07
Various

Today’s quote

We have a legal and moral obligation to protect people fleeing bombs, bullets and tyrants, and throughout history those people have enriched our society.

—Juliet Stevenson

On this day

29 December – the fifth day of the 12 days of Christmas (Western Christianity).

29 December 1890 – Massacre at Wounded Knee. The last battle of the American Indian Wars was fought at Wounded Knee Creek, on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian reservation, South Dakota. The US 7th Cavalry Regiment opened fire on the Reservation, massacring around 300 people, including 200 women and children, and wounding 51. Twenty-five US soldiers died, most from friendly fire.

29 December 1998 – Six people die in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race as huge waves swamp the vessels during the 1167km race.

29 December 1998 – Former Khmer Rouge leaders apologise for the Pol Pot led genocide in Kampuchea (now known as Cambodia), which killed 1 million people between 1975 and 1979.

28 December 2018

congeries

[kon-jeer-eez, kon-juh-reez]

noun (used with a singular or plural verb)

a collection of items or parts in one mass; assemblage; aggregation; heap:

From the airplane the town resembled a congeries of tiny boxes.

Origin of congeries

1610–20; < Latin: a heap, equivalent to conger- (stem of congerere to collect, heap up, equivalent to con- con- + gerere to bear, carry) + -iēs noun suffix; cf. rabies, series

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for congeries

Historical Examples

Tim and his congeries hate the clerics, but they fear the flagellum.
Ireland as It Is
Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)

Inside the congeries of glazed houses he was somewhat at sea.
The Market-Place
Harold Frederic

I cannot imagine such a congeries of blunders as a war for the Poles.
Cornelius O’Dowd Upon Men And Women And Other Things In General
Charles Lever

To speak Johnsonically it is a congeries of inexplicable nonsense.
The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor
Stephen Cullen Carpenter

A boarding-house is a congeries of people who have come down.
Marge Askinforit
Barry Pain

Today’s quote

It is the obligation of every person born in a safer room to open the door when someone in danger knocks.

— Dina Nayeri

On this day

28 December – the fourth day of the 12 days of Christmas (Western Christianity).

28 December 1945 – the United States Congress officially recognises the pledge of allegiance to the flag, which states, ‘I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all’.

28 December 1981 – the world’s first test-tube baby is born after being conceived in a lab dish. Her name is Elizabeth Jordan Carr and she weighed 5lb 12oz.

27 December 2018

confrère

Noun

A fellow member of a profession.

‘Pooley’s police confrères’

Origin

Mid 18th century: French, from medieval Latin confrater, from con- ‘together with’ + frater ‘brother’.
Pronunciation
confrère/ˈkɒnfrɛː/

Oxford Living Dictionary

Today’s quote

Remember that what you do not yet know is more important than what you already know.

– Jordan Peterson

On this day

27 December – the third day of the 12 days of Christmas (Western Christianity).

27 December 1822 – birth of Louis Pasteur, French bacteriologist, one of the founders of microbiology. Invented the process for preventing milk and wine from causing sickness, known as pasteurisation. (Not entirely fool-proof, as over-imbibing wine still seems to cause sickness in some). Died 28 September 1895.

27 December 1923 – death of Gustave Eiffel, French engineer and architect, co-designed the Eiffel Tower. Born 15 December 1832.

27 December 1979 – Soviet Union overthrows the Afghan government, replacing President Hufizullah Amin with Babrak Karmal.

27 December 2007 – Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistani Prime Minister, is assassinated by a suicide bomber immediately after shots were fired at her. Bhutto was the first female head of an Islamic nation. The bombing killed 24 other people.

25 December 2018

dreadnought

noun

a battleship armed with heavy guns of uniform calibre
an overcoat made of heavy cloth

slang a heavyweight boxer
a person who fears nothing

Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dreadnought

Dreadnought

n. “battleship,” literally “fearing nothing,” from dread (v.) + nought (n.). Mentioned as the name of a ship in the Royal Navy c.1596, but modern sense is from the name of the first of a new class of British battleships mainly armed with big guns of one caliber, launched Feb. 18, 1906.

Examples from the Web for dreadnought

Historical Examples

The aero-sub was motionless and submerged just off the port bow of the dreadnought.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science April 1930
Various

No, Sir, do as I bid you; just bring me the dreadnought and a round hat.’
The Uncollected Writings of Thomas de Quincey, Vol. 2
Thomas de Quincey

Today’s quote

Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.

– Charles M. Schulz

On this day

25 December 1876 – birthday of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the father of Pakistan. Leader of the Muslim League calling for the creation of Pakistan. Served as Pakistan’s first Governor-General from 15 August 1947 until his death on 11 September 1948. Pakistan celebrates his birthday with a national holiday.

25 December 1914 – Soldiers from Britain, Germany, Russia and France agree to a ‘Christmas’ truce. They crossed no-man’s land and wished each other ‘Merry Christmas’ in each nation’s language.

25 December 1974 – Cyclone Tracy strikes Darwin, Northern Territory, killing 71 people and flattening 70% of the city, leaving 41,000 homeless (out of a population of 47,000). The cyclone had winds up to 240km/h, central pressure of 950 hectorpascals,

25 December 1991 – Soviet President Gorbachev resigns, declaring the Soviet presidency extinct, and hands power to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, effectively bringing an end to the Soviet Union.

25 December 2006 – death of James Brown, the Godfather of Soul. He was born 3 May 1933.

25 December 2008 – death of Eartha Kitt, American singer and actress. She played Catwoman in the 1960’s Batman TV series. Two of her more famous songs were ‘C’est Si Bon’ and ‘Santa Baby’. She was born on 17 January 1927.