English

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Of or pertaining to England.

   • During the war of 1914–18 the English working class were in contact with foreigners to an extent that is rarely possible. The sole result was that they brought back a hatred of all Europeans, except the Germans, whose courage they admired.
2. 2

   English-language

   English-language; of or pertaining to the language, descended from Anglo-Saxon, which developed in England.

   • Those immigrants Anglicised their names to make them sound more English.
   • Honest, honest, English is just a language of confusions.
3. 3

   Of or pertaining to the people of England (e.g. Englishmen and Englishwomen).

   • The Uſuwrper [...] within a few miles Tanna's Fort, near the Engliſh ſettlement of Fort William.
   • Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.
4. ›+ 19 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Of or pertaining to the avoirdupois system of measure.

      • an English ton
   2. 5

      Non-Amish, so named for speaking English rather than a variety of German.

   3. 6

      Denoting a vertical orientation of the barn doors on a camera.

   4. 7

      The people of England, e.g., Englishmen and Englishwomen.

      • Cricket—a game which the English, not being a spiritual people, have invented in order to give themselves some conception of eternity.
      • The English and the ROTW have a long history of conflict, periodically interrupted for tea.
   5. 8

      The non-Amish, people outside the Amish faith and community.

   6. 9

      Facility with the English language, ability to employ English correctly and idiomatically.

      • Sorry, my English isn't very good. I wish I had better English.
   7. 10

      A particular instance of the English language, including

      A particular instance of the English language, including:

      • What's the English for 'à peu près'? It depends: how is it being used?
   8. 11

      A size of type between pica (12 point) and great primer (18 point), standardized as…

      A size of type between pica (12 point) and great primer (18 point), standardized as 14-point.

   9. 12

      Alternative form of english.

      • You are putting too much English on the ball.
   10. 13

       The language that developed in England and is now spoken in the British Isles, the…

       The language that developed in England and is now spoken in the British Isles, the Commonwealth of Nations, North America, and many other parts of the world.

       • English is spoken here as an unofficial language and lingua franca.
       • How do you say ‘à peu près’ in English?
       • She speaks English, French, and German. English is her first language.
   11. 14

       A variety, dialect, or idiolect of spoken and or written English.

   12. 15

       English language, literature, composition as a subject of study

   13. 16

       An English surname originally denoting a non-Celtic or non-Danish person in Britain.

   14. 17

       A male or female given name.

   15. 18

       A number of places in the United States

       A number of places in the United States:

   16. 19

       To translate, adapt or render into English.

       • […] severe prohibuit viris suis tum misceri feminas in consuetis suis menstruis, etc. I spare to English this which I have said.
       • Mamma is an adaptation of a French farce by Mr. Sydney Grundy, made in the time when his chief claim to recognition as a playwright lay in his ingenious aptitude for Englishing the un-Englishable.
       • Here, the poems are Englished by twelve different translators
   17. 20

       To make English

       To make English; to claim for England.

       • While the man Clive—he fought Plassy, spoiled the clever foreign game, Conquered and annexed and Englished!
   18. 21

       Spinning or rotary motion given to a ball around the vertical axis, as in pool, billiards…

       Spinning or rotary motion given to a ball around the vertical axis, as in pool, billiards or bowling; spin, sidespin.

       • You can't hit it directly, but maybe if you give it some english.
       • There was a magical way of putting English on the dice to result in a six.
   19. 22

       An unusual or unexpected interpretation of a text or idea, a spin, a nuance.

       • Some drop science, while I'm dropping english.
       • Preston Sturgis in his Sullivan’s Travels (1942) put some english on the idea in a bit about a filthy, defeated, white chaingang that is invited to a rural black church for an evening of old movies.

The neighborhood

• synonymsouthronsEnglish people
• neighborlanguage
• neighborbody English