crabbedyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
crabbed: [13] Because of their tendency to deploy their pincers at the slightest provocation, and also perhaps because of their sidelong method of locomotion, crabs seem always to have had a reputation for being short-tempered and perverse. Hence the creation of the adjective crabbed, which literally means ‘like a crab’. Its meaning has subsequently been influenced by crab the apple, famous for its sourness. (The semantically similar crabby is a 16th-century formation.)
mantleyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
mantle: [13] Mantle comes via Old French mantel from Latin mantellum ‘cloak’, a word of uncertain (possibly Celtic) origin. Related forms to find their way into English from other languages include mantilla [18] (a Spanish diminutive of manta ‘cape’, which came from Latin mantus, a shortened form of mantellum) and mantua, a term used in the 17th and 18th centuries for a woman’s loose gown, which arose from the association of modern French manteau with the name of the Italian city of Mantua, once famous for its silks. And the mantel [15] of mantelpiece is a variant spelling of mantle.
=> mantel
AtalantayoudaoicibaDictYouDict
in Greek mythology the daughter of king Schoeneus, famous for her swiftness, Latin, from Greek Atalante, fem. of atalantos "having the same value (as a man)," from a- "one, together" + talanton "balance, weight, value" (compare talent).
Brie (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
type of soft cheese, 1848, from name of district in department Seine-et-Marne, southeast of Paris, famous for its cheeses. The name is from Gaulish briga "hill, height."
Canopus (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
bright southern star, 1550s, ultimately from Greek Kanopos, Kanobos perhaps from Egyptian Kahi Nub "golden earth." The association with "weight" found in the name of the star in some northern tongues may reflect the fact that it never rises far above the horizon in those latitudes. Also the name of a town in ancient lower Egypt (famous for its temple of Serapis), hence canopic jar, canopic vase, which often held the entrails of embalmed bodies (1878).
Cumaean (adj.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1731, from Latin Cumae (Greek Kyme), ancient city on the Italian coast near Naples, founded by Greeks 8c. B.C.E.; especially famous for the Sybil there, mentioned by Virgil.
dun (v.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
"to insist on payment of debt," 1620s, perhaps related to dunnen "to sound, resound, make a din" (c. 1200, dialectal variant of din), or shortened from dunkirk (c. 1600) "privateer," a private vessel licensed to attack enemy ships during wartime, from Dunkirk, French port from which they sailed. The oldest theory traces it to a Joe Dun, supposedly a London bailiff famous for catching defaulters. Related: Dunned; dunning. As a noun from 1620s.
gorgonzolayoudaoicibaDictYouDict
type of blue cheese, 1878, short for Gorgonzola cheese (1866), named for Gorgonzola, village near Milan where it was made.
In the neighbourhood is Gorgonzola, celebrated in the annals of the middle ages for the victory of Frederigo Barbarossa over the Milanese, in 1158; for the capture of the chevalric and poetic king Ensius, in 1243; for the advantage gained by the Torriani over the Visconti, in 1278, and which the latter revenged in 1281; but above all, famous for its strachino a cheese of European celebrity. ["Italy and its Comforts," London, 1842]
limerick (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
nonsense verse of five lines, 1896, perhaps from the county and city in Ireland, but if so the connection is obscure. Often (after OED's Murray) attributed to a party game in which each guest in turn made up a nonsense verse and all sang a refrain with the line "Will you come up to Limerick?" but he reported this in 1898 and earlier evidence is wanting. Or perhaps from Learic, from Edward Lear (1812-1888) English humorist who popularized the form. Earliest examples are in French, which further complicates the quest for the origin. OED's first record of the word is in a letter of Aubrey Beardsley. The place name is literally "bare ground," from Irish Liumneach, from lom "bare, thin." It was famous for hooks.
The limerick may be the only traditional form in English not borrowed from the poetry of another language. Although the oldest known examples are in French, the name is from Limerick, Ireland. John Ciardi suggests that the Irish Brigade, which served in France for most of the eighteenth century, might have taken the form to France or developed an English version of a French form. ... The contemporary limerick usually depends on a pun or some other turn of wit. It is also likely to be somewhat suggestive or downright dirty." [Miller Williams, "Patterns of Poetry," Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University, 1986]
milliner (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
mid-15c., "vendor of fancy wares, especially those made in Milan," Italian city, famous for straw works, fancy goods, ribbons, bonnets, and cutlery. Meaning "one who sells women's hats" may be from 1520s, certainly by 18c. (it is difficult in early references to know whether the word means a type of merchant or "a resident of Milan" who is selling certain wares).
Monte Carlo fallacyyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
1957, named for resort in Monaco famous for its gambling casinos. The fallacy of thinking that the probability of a particular outcome rises with the successive number of opposite outcomes. Contrary to the Monte Carlo fallacy, if the roulette wheel stops on black 99 times in a row, the chances that the 100th spin will be red are still just under 50-50.
SavonarolayoudaoicibaDictYouDict
Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498), Dominican monk famous for his fierce opposition to moral license and Church corruption.
shillelagh (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
"cudgel," 1772, earlier, "oak wood used to make cudgels" (1670s), from Shillelagh, town and barony, famous for its oaks, in County Wicklow, Ireland. The name is literally "seeds (or descendants) of Elach, from Irish siol "seed."
SohoyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
district in New York city, 1969, from "South of Houston Street," but probably also echoing the name of the London neighborhood (famous for vice by early 19c.), which was so called since at least 1630s, originally "So Ho," a hunting cry (c. 1300) used in calling from a distant place to alert hounds and other hunters; the West End district was so called from earlier association of this area with hunting.
UlyssesyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
Latin name for Odysseus, from Latin Ulysses, Ulixes. Famous for wandering as well as craftiness and ability at deceit. For -d- to -l- alteration, see lachrymose.
Vichy (adj.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
in reference to collaborationist government of France, 1940, from the name of the city in department of Allier in central France, famous for mineral springs, seat 1940-44 of the French government formed under Nazi occupation and headed by Pétain. The place name is of uncertain origin.
XeresyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
Andalusian town (modern Jerez) famous for its wine; see sherry. For first letter, see xebec.