Wiktionary:Word of the day/Recycled pages/November

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1

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cherub n

(biblical) A winged creature attending on God, described by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (c. 5th–6th century) as the second highest order of angels, ranked above thrones and below seraphim; similar to a lamassu in the pre-exilic texts of the Hebrew Bible, more humanoid in later texts. An artistic depiction of such a being, typically in the form of a winged child or a child's head with wings but no body. (figuratively) A person, especially a child, seen as being particularly angelic or innocent. Today is All Saints’ Day in Western Christianity.

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2

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amaranth n

(dated, poetic) An imaginary flower that does not wither. Any of various herbs of the genus Amaranthus. The characteristic purplish-red colour of the flowers or leaves of these plants. amaranth:   (chemistry) A red to purple azo dye used as a biological stain, and in some countries in cosmetics and as a food colouring. (cooking) The seed of these plants, used as a cereal.

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3

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amigurumi n

(uncountable, knitting) The Japanese art of crocheting or knitting stuffed yarn toys, typically creatures having oversized heads. (countable, knitting) Such a stuffed toy crocheted or knitted from yarn. Culture Day (文化の日, Bunka no Hi) is observed in Japan on this day to promote culture, the arts, and academic endeavour. The post-war Japanese constitution was announced on this day in 1946.

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4

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sarcophagus n

A stone coffin, often with its exterior inscribed, or decorated with sculpture. (by extension) (informal) The cement and steel structure that encases the destroyed nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine. (historical) An 18th-century form of wine cooler (“a piece of equipment used to keep wine chilled”). (obsolete except Ancient Greece, historical) A kind of limestone used by the Ancient Greeks for coffins, so called because it was thought to consume the flesh of corpses. sarcophagus v (transitive) To enclose (a corpse, etc.) in a sarcophagus (noun sense 1). The tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered on this day in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt. It was the first known largely intact royal burial from Ancient Egypt.

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5

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bonfire n

A large, controlled outdoor fire lit to celebrate something or as a signal. A fire lit outdoors to burn unwanted items; originally (historical), heretics or other offenders, or banned books; now, generally agricultural or garden waste, or rubbish. (figuratively) Something like a bonfire (sense 1 or 2) in heat, destructiveness, ferocity, etc. (obsolete) A fire lit to cremate a dead body; a funeral pyre. bonfire v (transitive) To destroy (something) by, or as if by, burning on a bonfire; (more generally) to burn or set alight. (ceramics) To fire (pottery) using a bonfire. (obsolete) To start a bonfire in (a place); to light up (a place) with a bonfire. (intransitive, rare) To make, or celebrate around, a bonfire. Today is Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night in Great Britain, on which effigies of Guy Fawkes are often burned on bonfires to commemorate the failure of the Gunpowder Plot to assassinate King James I 420 years ago in 1605.

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6

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Hansard n

(historical, also attributively) A member of a Hanse (“merchant guild”), or a resident of a Hanse town. [...] (chiefly British, Commonwealth) The official report of debates and other proceedings in the British and some Commonwealth parliaments. The English printer Thomas Curson Hansard, who printed reports of debates and proceedings in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, was born on this day in 1776.

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7

8

9

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trounce v

(transitive) To beat severely; to thrash. (transitive) To beat thoroughly, to defeat heavily; especially (games, sports) to win against (someone) by a wide margin. (transitive) To chastise or punish physically or verbally; to scold with abusive language. (transitive, British, regional) To punish by bringing a lawsuit against; to sue. [...] (intransitive, British, dialectal) To walk heavily or with some difficulty; to tramp, to trudge. (intransitive, British, dialectal) To pass across or over; to traverse. (intransitive) To travel quickly over a long distance.

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10

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sumac n

Any of various shrubs or small trees of the genus Rhus and other genera in Anacardiaceae, particularly the elm-leaved sumac, Sicilian sumac, or tanner's sumac (Rhus coriaria). Dried and chopped-up leaves and stems of a plant of the genus Rhus, particularly the tanner's sumac (see sense 1), used for dyeing and tanning leather or for medicinal purposes. A sour spice popular in the Eastern Mediterranean, made from the berries of tanner's sumac.

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11

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armistice n

A (short) cessation of combat; a cease-fire, a truce. A formal agreement, especially between nations, to end combat. armistice proper n Alternative letter-case form of Armistice (“the armistice agreement signed between the Allies and Germany on 11 November 1918 to end World War I; (by extension) the end of World War I”) Today is Armistice Day. The armistice that ended World War I was signed on this day in 1918.

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12

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World Wide Web proper n

(Internet) Usually preceded by the: collectively, all of the hypertext documents (web pages) on the Internet stored in different computers around the world that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media, and are typically retrieved by the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS). Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau coined the term in a formal proposal, published on this day 35 years ago in 1990, to build a “web” of “hypertext documents” to be viewed by “browsers” using a client–server architecture.

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13

14

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pandect n

(Ancient Rome, law, historical) Usually in the plural form Pandects: a compendium or digest of writings on Roman law divided in 50 books, compiled in the 6th century C.E. by order of the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I (c. 482–565). (by extension, rare) Also in the plural form pandects: a comprehensive collection of laws; specifically, the whole body of law of a country; a legal code. (by extension, also figuratively) A treatise or similar work that is comprehensive as to a particular topic; specifically (Christianity) a manuscript of the entire Bible. The Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I, who ordered the compilation of the Pandects (sense 1), died on this day in 565.

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15

16

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circuitry n

(countable) A specific system of electrical circuits in a particular device; (uncountable) the design of such a system. (uncountable) Electrical (or, by extension, other) circuits considered as a group. (uncountable, figuratively) The brain's neural network.

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17

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ulp interj

The sound of a person gulping in fear. [...] ulp n (computer science, mathematics) The value that the least significant digit of a floating-point number represents, used as a measure of accuracy in numeric calculations.

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18

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folio n

A leaf of a book or manuscript. A page of a book, that is, one side of a leaf of a book. (by extension, printing) A page number. The even folios are on the left-hand pages and the odd folios on the right-hand pages. A sheet of paper folded in half. A book made of sheets of paper each folded in half (two leaves or four pages to the sheet); hence, a book of the largest kind, exceeding 30 centimetres in height. A wrapper for loose papers. (accounting) A page in an account book; sometimes, two opposite pages bearing the same serial number. (law, dated) A leaf containing a certain number of words; hence, a certain number of words in a piece of writing, as in England, in law proceedings 72, and in chancery, 90; in New York, 100 words. folio v (transitive) To put a serial number on (a folio or page, or on all the folios or pages of a book); to foliate, to page. The First Folio of the English playwright William Shakespeare’s plays, regarded as one of the most influential books ever published, was entered into the Stationers’ Register on this day (on 8 November according to the Julian calendar) in 1623.

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19

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ordure n

Dung, excrement. (by extension) Dirt, filth. (by extension) Something regarded as contaminating or perverting the morals; obscene material. Today is designated by the United Nations as World Toilet Day to draw attention to inadequate sanitation facilities in countries around the world.

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20

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Nuremberg defense n (American spelling)

(ethics, international law, idiomatic) An explanation offered as an excuse for behaving in a criminal or wrongful manner, claiming that acted in this way because one was ordered by others (particularly superiors) to do so. (US law, by extension) An explanation offered as a defense to criminal or wrongful behavior, claiming that one is justified in not obeying a governmental order or a domestic law because the order or law is itself unlawful. The trials of major war criminals by the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany, after World War II began on this day in 1945, lasting till 1 October 1946.

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21

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well-boat n

(nautical) a fishing vessel designed to carry live fish in a tank or well. Today is World Fisheries Day, which was established by the World Fisheries Forum to advocate sustainable fishing practices and policies.

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22

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grace note n

(music) A musical note, indicated on a score in smaller type with or without a slash through it, played to ornament the melody rather than as part of it. Its note value does not count as part of the total time value of the measure it appears in. (figuratively) Something that decorates, embellishes, or ornaments; a finishing touch. For some Christian churches, today is the feast day of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians.

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23

24

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slimeball n

(biology) A round lump made up of or coated with slime or a slime-like substance such as mucus. (helminthology, specifically) A mucus-coated lump containing the cercariae (“parasitic larvae”) of a liver fluke (of the phylum Platyhelminthes). (originally US, colloquial, derogatory) A person who is regarded as slimy (that is, sneaky or underhanded) or otherwise undesirable.

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25

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vinous adj

Pertaining to or having the characteristics of wine. Involving the use of wine. Having the colour of red wine; vinaceous. Tending to drink wine excessively. Affected by the drinking of wine. Induced by the drinking of wine.

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26

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double life n

An existence or life that has two aspects, particularly when one of them is regarded as embarrassing, immoral, or unlawful and thus kept hidden from a person's family, friends, and work colleagues. The hidden, or more unusual, aspect of a person's life.

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27

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potluck n (also attributively)

(dated) A meal, especially one offered to a guest, consisting of whatever food is available. (by extension) Whatever is available in a particular situation. (originally Canada, US) A shared meal consisting of whatever guests have brought (sometimes without prior arrangement); a potlatch; also, a dish of food brought to such a meal. (obsolete) The last draft or portion of an alcoholic beverage in a pot or other drinking vessel.

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28

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turducken n

(US, cooking) A dish, usually roasted, consisting of a deboned turkey stuffed with a deboned duck that has been stuffed with a small deboned chicken, and also containing stuffing. Happy Thanksgiving! Today, the fourth Thursday in November in 2025, is Thanksgiving Day in the United States and some other countries.

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29

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endow v

(transitive, archaic or obsolete) To provide with a dower (“the portion that a widow receives from her deceased husband's property”) or a dowry (“property given to a bride”). (transitive) To give property to (someone) as a gift; specifically, to provide (a person or institution) with support in the form of a permanent fund of money or other benefits. (transitive) Followed by with, or rarely by of: to enrich or furnish with some faculty or quality. (transitive) Usually in the passive: to naturally furnish (with something).

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30

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laird n

(chiefly Scotland) The owner of a Scottish estate; a member of the landed gentry, a landowner. (chiefly Scotland, historical) Often in the form Laird of, followed by a patronymic: a Scottish clan chief. laird v (transitive, Scotland) Chiefly as laird it over: to behave like a laird, particularly to act haughtily or to domineer; to lord (it over). Today is Saint Andrew’s Day, Scotland’s national day.

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