a cappella

• cappella

[ah-kuh-PEL-uh]
Adverb or adjective
Without instrumental accompaniment.
Example:
The group is famous for a cappella performances in which human voices mimic the sounds of instruments.
History:
"A cappella" arrived in English from Italian sometime around the mid-19th century. In Italian, "a cappella" means "in chapel or choir style." "Cappella" in Italian means "chapel"; the English word "chapel" is ultimately (if independently) derived from the Medieval Latin word "cappella," which is the source of the Italian "cappella" as well. Scholars once thought all "chapel style" music written before the 1600s was performed a cappella, but modern research has revealed that instruments might have doubled or substituted for some voices back then. Today "a cappella" describes a purely vocal performance.


a cup of joe

• cup of joe
• cup
• joe

a cup of coffee.
Etymology:
There is no clear origin for the use of "joe" to mean coffee; though, we have a few stories being created to explain where it came from.
1) A persistent one alleges that it derives from the ban imposed by Admiral Josephus "Joe" Daniels, Secretary of the Navy, on serving alcohol aboard US Navy ships, except on very special occasions. Coffee, it is said, became the beverage of choice and started to be called "Joe" in reference to him. The problem with this story is the dates. "Cup of joe" appears in the written record in 1930 but the order to ban alcohol - General Order 99 - was issued on 1 June 1914. It banned officers' wine messes, which had only been permitted since 1893; ships had otherwise been dry since the spirit ration was abolished in 1862. It seems hardly likely that the loss of a wine mess limited to officers on board otherwise alcohol-free ships would have led to a nickname for coffee that only started to be written down 16 years after the order.
2) Prof. Jonathan Lighter, in the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, leans towards another story: that it came from the Stephen Foster song "Old Black Joe", with the resultant mental link between "black" and "coffee". It is true that the song - written in 1860 - was extremely popular at one time, but it makes no reference to coffee, so linking the two is implausible.
3) The most probable suggestion is that it is a modification of "java" or "jamoke" for coffee, perhaps under the influence of one or other of the many expressions at the time that contained the word "Joe" - for example, "an ordinary Joe" (though "GI Joe" for an enlisted man in the US military is from the next decade). It is significant that an early example appears in 1931 in the Reserve Officer's Manual by a man named Erdman: "Jamoke, Java, Joe. Coffee. Derived from the words Java and Mocha, where originally the best coffee came from".


a dime a dozen

• dime a dozen
• dime
• dozen

Very common and inexpensive; easy to get and available anywhere, able to be bought anywhere cheaply; low priced, (dirt) cheap.
Examples:
1) He can remember when eggs were cheap - a dime a dozen.
2) Anthony thought his old Hardy Boys books were rare, but they were a dime a dozen.
History:
In 1786 the U.S Continental Congress officially named the ten-cent coin "a dime". The dime soon became a popular coin. Millions were minted. Everyone had them. Since they were so cheap, so abundant, and so common the phrase "a dime a dozen" became a natural way to describe any everyday thing that was easy to get and of small value. And "dime" and "dozen" begin with the same letter, which makes the saying catchy through alliteration.


a fool and his money are soon parted

• fool
• money
• soon
• parted
• part
• be parted

This saying means that a person who is foolish with his money won't hold on to it very long. People usually say it as a warning.
Example:
The first time Noah got paid for mowing a neighbor's yard, he wanted to rush out and buy
something - anything! But he remembered his big brother saying that a fool and his money are soon parted, and he decided to save his money for something worthwhile.

a friend in need is a friend indeed

• friend in need is a friend indeed
• friend in need
• friend indeed
• in need
• friend
• indeed
• need
• a friend in need

A person who is still your friend when you are in
trouble is a true and lasting friend.
Example:
Every day while Mr. Gainey was sick, his neighbor Charles went to his house to cook for him and read to him. Charles really proved that a friend in need is a friend indeed.
Explanation:
Some people are your friends when you are happy but avoid you when you are having
trouble. This proverb explains that a true friend is the one who sticks around when you are in need of a help, comfort, or anything else.

a miss is as good as a mile

• miss is as good as a mile
• miss
• as... as
• mile
• good

This saying means that just missing by a little bit is no better than missing by a whole lot.
Example:
"Well, at least you only lost by one point," Camilla said to her brother, Sean, the quarterback on his school's team.
"I know you're trying to make me feel better, Camilla," Sean replied, "but we still lost. Like they say, a miss is as good as a mile."

a stitch in time saves nine

• stitch in time saves nine
• stitch
• in time
• time
• saves
• save
• nine
• An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

By taking a little care early, you may save yourself a lot of trouble later.
Example:
Marie's father was reading the yellow pages.
"What are you looking for, Dad?" she asked.
"I'm looking for a chimney sweep. We need to get the chimney cleaned before too much soot builds up inside. A chimney fire can ruin a chimney or worse. A stitch in time saves nine, I always say."
Synonym:
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

a?
(SMS) eh?

ab
(SMS) ah, bless!


ab initio

• ab
• initio

[ab-uh-NISH-ee-oh]
From the beginning.
Example:
Under Pennsylvania law, a life-insurance policy that would have been issued at a higher premium if the insured had supplied the correct smoking information was void ab initio... ("The National Law Journal", March 4, 1991)
History, related words and expressions:
We'll tell you right from the beginning where "ab initio" comes from! This adverb was adopted at the end of the 16th century directly from Latin, and it translates, unsurprisingly, as "from the beginning." ("Initio" is a form of the noun "initium," meaning "beginning," which gave rise to such English words as "initial," "initiate," and "initiative.") "Ab initio" frequently appears in legal contexts, as in the example sentence. Recently, people have also begun using "ab initio" as an adjective meaning "starting from or based on first principles" (as in "predicted from ab initio calculations").


ab ovo
[ab-OH-voh]
From the beginning.
Examples:
1) I will begin ab ovo - at the very beginning. ("War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy)
2) The performers do not have to discover these techniques and processes ab ovo; they learn them from the previous generation, who learned them from their predecessors, and so on. (William L. Benzon, "Beethoven's Anvil")
3) "Would you live your life differently if you could start again ab ovo?" Rachel asked.
Etymology, more examples:
"Ab ovo" is from Latin, literally, "from the egg."
"Ab ovo usque ad mala." That phrase translates as "from the egg to the apples," and it was penned by the Roman poet Horace. He was alluding to the Roman tradition of starting a meal with eggs and finishing it with apples. Horace also applied "ab ovo" in an account of the Trojan War that begins with the mythical egg of Leda from which Helen (whose beauty sparked the war) was born. In both cases, Horace used "ab ovo" to allude to a literal egg while figuratively suggesting the meaning "from the beginning." It was this figurative meaning that found its way into English in the 16th century, when Sir Philip Sidney wrote: "If [the dramatic poets] wil represent an history, they must not (as Horace saith) beginne Ab ouo: but they must come to the principall poynt of that one action."


abacus
1. A frame holding bars strung with beads which are used to make mathematical calculations.
2. (Architecture) The uppermost part of a column.
Examples:
1) Once in a while, the numbers fall, the abacus clicks into a pattern.
2) Pillar-capitals, communicating the weight of the entablature above to the columns, consist of a plain, square slab, the abacus, above a bowl-shaped member called, from its shape, the echinos or "sea-urchin".
Etymology:
The device takes its name from the ancient Phoenician word "abak" meaning "dust"; the mathematicians of that day used to cover tables with dust in order to draw their diagrams and figure their problems.


abbreviate

• abridge

[uh-BREE-vee-ayt]
to make briefer; esp. to reduce to a shorter form intended to stand for the whole
Example:
Engineers abbreviate the words 'pounds per square foot' as 'psf.' (Mario Salvadori, "Why Buildings Stand Up")
History, related words:
"Abbreviate" and "abridge" both mean "to make shorter," so it probably will come as no surprise that both derive from the Latin verb "brevis," meaning "short." "Abbreviate" first appeared in print in English in the 15th century, and derives from "abbreviatus," the past participle of Late Latin "abbreviare," which in turn can be traced back to "brevis." "Abridge," which appeared a century earlier, also comes from "abbreviare," but took a side trip through Anglo-French before arriving in Middle English as "abregen." "Brevis" is also the ancestor of the English "brief" itself, as well as "brevity" and "breviary" ("a prayer book" or "a brief summary"), among others.


abecedarian
[ay-bee-see-DAIR-ee-un]
1. One who is learning the alphabet; hence, a beginner.
2. One engaged in teaching the alphabet.
3. Pertaining to the letters of the alphabet.
4. Arranged alphabetically.
5. Rudimentary; elementary.
Examples:
1) Lorraine Heggessey and executive producer Jeremy Mills adroitly tapped into a national obsession at exactly the right time, presenting the topic in a way that appealed to experts and abecedarians alike. (Victor Lewis-Smith, "Lords of the mobile dance", The Evening Standard, June 11, 2001)
2) While much of the work resembled abecedarian attempts of a novice choreographer, "Duet," sensitively danced by Jennifer A. Cooper and William Petroni, is surprisingly sophisticated in its careful deployment of formal thematic manipulations in the service of emotional expression. (Lisa Jo Sagolla, "Open 24 Hours Dance Company", Back Stage, September 1, 1998)
3) The approach may seem abecedarian today, but his was among the first endeavors of the sort. (Jennifer Liese, "May 1973", ArtForum, May 2003)
4) It is also quite abecedarian in that it presents introductory material apt to be known by all linguists and Semitists. (Alan S. Kaye, "Linguistics and Biblical Hebrew", Journal of the American Oriental Society, January 1, 1994)
5) Columba's poem is fittingly 'abecedarian', each stanza starts with a subsequent letter of the alphabet - a harbinger of the Scottish appetite for cataloguing, and delight in craft. (W.N. Herbert, "A rhyme and a prayer", Scotland on Sunday, December 10, 2000)
History:
The history of "abecedarian" is as simple as ABC - literally. The term's Late Latin ancestor, "abecedarius" (which meant "of the alphabet"), was created as a combination of the letters A, B, C, and D, plus the adjective suffix "-arius"; you can hear the echo of that origin in the pronunciation of the English term ("ABC-darian"). In its oldest documented English uses in the early 1600s, "abecedarian" was a noun meaning "one learning the rudiments of something"; it specifically referred to someone who was learning the alphabet. The adjective began appearing in English texts around 1665.


aberrant
[a-BERR-unt; AB-ur-unt]
Markedly different from an accepted norm; deviating from the ordinary or natural type; abnormal.
Examples:
1) The impulse toward individual expression is a recent and a possibly aberrant one in art. (Nicholas Delbanco, "From Echoes Emerge Original Voices," New York Times, June 21, 1999)
2) These characters are so wild and aberrant they are close to appearing lunatics. (Bosley Crowther, "Who's Afraid of Audacity?" New York Times, July 10, 1966)
3) But I could never accept the aberrant dictates of socialist realism which ruled out all mystery and turned literary activity into a propaganda exercise. (Mario Vargas Llosa, "Making Waves")
Etymology:
"Aberrant" comes from Latin "aberro, aberrare" ("to wander off, to lose one's way"), from "ab" ("away from") + "erro, errare" ("to wander").


abeyance

• in abeyance

[uh-BAY-unss]
1. A lapse in succession during which there is no person in whom a title is vested.
2. Temporary inactivity.
Synonym: suspension.
Example:
When Joe lost his job, house-hunting had to be put in abeyance until he could secure a new position.
Etymology, related words:
"Abeyance" has something in common with "yawn." Today, "yawn" implies sleep or boredom, but years ago it could also signify longing or desire: "Full many men know I that yawn and gape after some fat and rich benefice" (Thomas Hoccleve, 1420). The Old French word for "yawn" was "baer," which joined the prefix "a-" ("in a state or condition of") to form "abaer," a verb meaning "to expect" or "await." There followed Anglo-French "abeyance," which referred to a state of expectation - specifically, a person's expectation of inheriting a title or property. But when "abeyance" was adopted into English in the 16th century, the expectation to the property itself was applied: a property or title "in abeyance" is in temporary limbo, waiting to be claimed by a rightful heir or owner.


abide

• abidden
• abode
• abided
• abiding
• abidance
• abode
• abide by

1. a) to endure without yielding; withstand; b) to bear patiently; tolerate
Example:
John simply could not abide the full heat of summer, so he bought an air conditioner.
2. to accept without objection
3. to remain stable or fixed in a state
4. to continue in a place
History, related words, more examples:
O.E. "abidan, gebidan" - "remain," from "ge-" completive prefix (denoting onward motion) + "bidan" ("bide, remain, wait, dwell"). Originally intransitive (with genitive of the object: "we abidon his" = "we waited for him"); transitive sense emerged in M.E. Meaning "to put up with" (now usually negative) first recorded 1526.
"Abide" may sound rather old-fashioned these days. The word has been around since before the 12th century, but it is a bit rare these days, except in certain specialized uses. Even more archaic to our modern ear is "abidden," the original past participle of "abide." Today, both the past and the past participle of "abide" are served by either "abode" or "abided," with "abided" being the more frequent choice. "Abide" turns up often in the phrase "can't (or couldn't) abide." The expression "abide by," which means "to conform to" or "to acquiesce in," is also common. Related terms include the participial adjective "abiding" (which means "enduring" or "continuing," as in "an abiding interest in nature"), the noun "abidance" ("continuance" or "compliance"), and the noun "abode" ("residence").


abjure

• jury
• recant
• renounce
• forswear

[ab-JUR]
1. To renounce under oath.
2. To renounce or reject solemnly; to recant; to reject; repudiate.
3. To abstain from; to shun.
Synonyms: recant, renounce, forswear
Examples:
1) Abjure, on his knees, his heretical views that the Earth moves around the Sun. (Alan Gurney, "Below the Convergence") 2) He closed his eyes as he raised the goblet to his lips and took a small sip of the cool liquid, and then his face paled as he understood how sublime the taste of the forbidden drink was, and how easily one might become enslaved to it. There and then he resolved to abjure it totally. (A. B. Yehoshua, "A Journey to the End of the Millennium"
3) In the mid-1970's, a young European couple abjure middle-class comforts in favor of travel to India, where the wife, Sophie, grows disillusioned with Eastern spiritualism just as her husband, Matteo, is swept up in it. (Laurel Graeber, "New and Noteworthy Paperbacks," New York Times, January 12, 1997)
Etymology:
"Abjure" comes from Latin "abjurare" ("to deny upon oath"), from "ab-" ("away") + "jurare" ("to swear"). It is related to "jury" ("a body of persons sworn to give a verdict on a given matter").


ablution
[uh-BLOO-shun]
1. The act of washing or cleansing; specifically, the washing of the body, or some part of it (as in a religious rite).
2. The water used in cleansing.
Examples:
1) Worshipers, who have performed their ablutions in the basement before entering the prayer hall, individually prepare themselves for participation in the communal worship. (Jane I. Smith, "Islam in America")
2) There is ... a large fountain in the center, beneath an opening in the roof through which the sun streams down to meet the rising water, so that ablutions required of worshipers before they pray can be performed inside the building. (Mary Lee Settle, "A Sacred Spa Where Sultans Led an Empire," New York Times, July 8, 1990)
3) He went straight to the loo to begin his usual ablutions, soaping his cheeks and neck. (Brooks Hansen, "Perlman's Ordeal")
4) In fact, writing - more exactly, composing in your head - formal poetry may be recommended in solitary confinement as a kind of therapy, alongside pushups and cold ablutions. (Joseph Brodsky, "The Writer in Prison," New York Times, October 13, 1996)