1 The Browser’s Dictionary Of Foreign Words and Phrases T he Browser’s Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases ffirst.qxd 7/7/01 2:25 PM Page i THÁI QUANG TUÂN ffirst.qxd 7/7/01 2:25 PM Page ii T he Browser’s Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases Mary Varchaver and Frank Ledlie Moore John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York • Chichester • Weinheim • Brisbane • Singapore • Toronto ffirst.qxd 7/7/01 2:25 PM Page iii Copyright © 2001 by Mary Varchaver and Frank Ledlie Moore. All rights reserved Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or trans- mitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clear- ance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750- 4744. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158-0012, (212) 850-6011, fax (212) 850-6008, e-mail: PERMREQ@WILEY.COM. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assis- tance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. This title is also available in print as ISBN 0-471-38372-4. Some content that appears in the print version may not be available in this electronic edition. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.Wiley.com F oreword At last we are given a bright and sprightly dictionary that is not only useful but a joy to read. Veteran reference book compilers and editors Mary Varchaver and Frank L. Moore, who are known especially for their recently published Dictionary of the Performing Arts, have turned their talents to enlightening us on the meanings of foreign words and phrases we meet in our daily lives. This is not a dictionary of academic terms you might have been expected to learn in school. Nor is it a dictionary directed to travelers in foreign lands from which you are supposed to learn scores of terms about ordering your dinner in restaurants, or learning to get about in a train station, or arguing with concierges about the state of your hotel room or the high amount of your bill. It is, rather, a dictionary to help you elucidate what you come across every day in newspapers or hear on television. Its choice of terms and directness of style reflect the immediacy of everyday dis- course. Thus it is a unique and exceptionally useful addition to the genre of special dictionaries. What are its other features? First, it guides you to the correct pronunciation of foreign words, using transcriptions from ordinary English. Most other dictionaries of foreign words and expressions use elaborate phonetic symbols unfathomable to most persons, or, even worse, have no pronunciation guides at all. Second, the definitions are a model of clarity, and the mean- ings are illustrated by hundreds of sentences. Consider these entries, given in their entirety: afflatus (ah-FLAH-tus) [Latin: a breathing on] An inspiration; an irresistible understanding that comes into the mind as a fresh breeze. ͗He goes at the canvas with all the afflatus of a silkworm eating its phlegmatic way across a mulberry leaf.͘—Time, April 13, 1998. v flast.qxd 7/7/01 2:25 PM Page v vi Foreword smorgasbord (SMOR-ges-bord) [Swedish: sandwich table] A buf- fet table that presents a great variety of hot and cold dishes. By extension, any situation that offers many choices. ͗Here, in the sunny Southern Caliphate, they make up a smorgasbord of least- favored nations.͘—The New York Times Book Review, July 18, 1993. Third, the entries focus on those words that an American reader will recognize as truly foreign. Thousands of words in American English have foreign sources, such as dollar or ketchup, but their meanings have become so thoroughly absorbed into our everyday language that they are no longer classified as foreign. In this Browser’s Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases, the authors have stressed foreignness by choosing words that are relatively recent additions to the language. They have also included some older adopted words that have different or expanded meanings in current usage. I learned early on in my career as an editor and writer of ref- erence books that a really useful dictionary is one that contains the information you need, in a form you can easily use. This dic- tionary is, in short, a book you will want to keep at hand year in and year out. You will not be disappointed if you approach it with that expectation in mind. Gorton Carruth, former editor in chief of Funk & Wagnalls, coeditor of the Oxford American Dictionary, and editor of The New York Times Crossword Puzzle Dictionary flast.qxd 7/7/01 2:25 PM Page vi A cknowledgments Grateful acknowledgment is made to our agents and friends Nicholas Smith and Andrea Pedolsky, who provided the impetus for this project, and to the fine editors at Wiley & Sons: Chip Ros- setti, Mark Steven Long, and Jim Gullickson. Special thanks also to Gorton Carruth, Yola Coffeen, André Varchaver, and Nicholas Varchaver for their help and encouragement. Without the invalu- able assistance of Gabi Moore, this dictionary would not have seen the light of day. vii flast.qxd 7/7/01 2:25 PM Page vii flast.qxd 7/7/01 2:25 PM Page viii Dedicated to the memory of Frank Ledlie Moore. flast.qxd 7/7/01 2:25 PM Page ix [...]... pronouncing a strong, aspirated (h) with the tongue in position for (k), as in keel or cool ü as in French rue, German über: the sound of (e) in feet, pronounced with the lips rounded or pursed nh Indicates the heavy nasalization of a preceding vowel (The symbols n and h are not pronounced.) Nasalization means that more of the sound comes through the nose than through the mouth Thus: anh heavily nasalized... are not pronounced.) Nasalization means that more of the sound comes through the nose than through the mouth Thus: anh heavily nasalized sound of the (a) in father, as in French piquant (pee-KANH) or nuance (nü-ANHS) enh heavily nasalized sound of the (a) in cat, as in French vin (venh) or point (point) onh heavily nasalized sound of the (o) in order, as in French tontine (tonh-TEEN) or marron (mah-RONH)... (ah-manh-DEEN) [French] In French cooking, prepared or served with almonds amanuensis (ah-man-yoo-EHN-sis) [Latin, short for servus amanuensis: servant at hand] A personal secretary who writes down everything that is spoken; a literary assistant ͗More than that, she became an acolyte at the foot of the sage, an amanuensis chronicling his every word.͘—Time, August 12, 1996 ambience, ambiance (ahm-bee-ANHS)... around the neck by horsemen in the American Southwest with the wider part in back to protect the neck from sunburn bandeau (banh-DOH) [French] A headband; a narrow band of fabric, sometimes elasticized, worn over the forehead or about the hair banlieue (both singular and plural) (banh-LYEU) [French] A suburb; the suburbs A banlieusard(e) is someone living in the suburbs; a suburbanite banshee (BAN-shee)... king bestowed knighthood, later the touch of a sword on the shoulder Recently, any award, honor, or praise ͗The highest accolade honored two officers killed in the line of duty͘ accouchement (ah-koosh-MANH) [French, from accoucher: to give birth, to be delivered] Childbirth; confinement; lying-in achtung (AHKH-toong) [German] Watch out! Attention! Pay attention acme (AK-mee) [Greek: point, edge] The... medium-dry Spanish sherry amoretto (ah-mor-REH-toh) [Italian] A little amor; a cupid amor vincit omnia (ah-MOR VIN-sit OM-nee-ah) [Latin] Love conquers all Also written as omnia vincit amor ancien régime (anhs-YEHN ray-ZHEEM) [French] The old government, particularly that of France before the revolution of 1789 See also regime ͗straight talk that pierces the pretensions and propaganda of an oppressive and... 16, 1999 anima (AH-nee-mah) [Latin: breathing being] The soul or spirit; vital force In Jungian psychology, the inner person that is in contact with the subconscious ͗When asked about the source of his strong anima, he said it might have developed from his position as the only male in a family of many women.͘ anomie (AN-oh-mee) [French, from Greek: lawlessness] A social or personal condition characterized... armoire in lieu of a closet.͘ arpeggio (ahr-PEH-jyoh) [Italian] In music, the notes of a chord played in succession, with an upward or downward sweep, rather than simultaneously arrière-pensée (ah-ree-EHR panh-SAY) [French: backward thought] A mental reservation; a concealed motive arriviste (ah-ree-VEEST) [French] A person who uses any means available to realize his or her desires In current usage, one... sudden social or financial success through underhanded or dishonorable practices rather than hard work ͗They were distressed when their only child married an arriviste.͘ arrondissement (ah-ronh-dees-MANH) [French: a rounding out] The largest subdivision of a French département, made up of several cantons or smaller administrative districts A municipal district in some larger French cities, such as... [French: new art] A style of decorative art popular in the late 1880s and early 1890s c01.qxd 7/7/01 2:29 PM Page 17 ashram • au contraire 17 Lavishly ornamental, it made use of exotic and dreamlike forms, strong symbolism, and a linearity reminiscent of natural forms such as plant tendrils ͗The jewelry of designer René Lalique was considered one of art nouveau’s most elegant expressions.͘ ashram (ASH-ram) . entirety: afflatus (ah-FLAH-tus) [Latin: a breathing on] An inspiration; an irresistible understanding that comes into the mind as a fresh breeze. ͗He goes at the canvas with all the afflatus of a. poster. afflatus (ah-FLAH-tus) [Latin: a breathing on] An inspiration; an irresistible understanding that comes into the mind as a fresh breeze. ͗He goes at the canvas with all the afflatus of a. Foreword smorgasbord (SMOR-ges-bord) [Swedish: sandwich table] A buf- fet table that presents a great variety of hot and cold dishes. By extension, any situation that offers many choices. ͗Here, in the sunny