▪ I. English, a. and n.
(ˈɪŋglɪʃ)
Forms: 1 ænglisc, Englisc, 2–4 Englisch(e, 3–6 Englis(s, -ys, (3 ænglis, Engleis, -is(s)ce, 4–6 Englissh(e, -issch, -yss(h(e, -yssche, Inglis(s, -ish(e, -isshe, (4 Engliȝsch, -ijs, Engelis(sh, -ysch, Ingelis, Ynglisse, 6 Englush, Ynglyche), 4– English.
[OE. ęnglisc, ænglisc:—OTeut. *anglisko-, f. *Angli- (OE. Engle) pl., the Angles, one of the Teutonic peoples who settled in Britain in 5th c.; see Angle3.]
A. adj.
1. In early uses now only Hist. Often with ellipsis of pl. n. as in 2 d.
When the adj. first occurs in OE., it had already lost its etymological sense ‘of or belonging to the Angles’ (as distinguished from Saxons). The earliest recorded sense is: Of or belonging to the group of Teutonic peoples collectively known as the Angelcynn (‘Angle-kin’ = Bæda's gens Anglorum), comprising the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, who settled in Britain during the 5th c. With the incorporation of the Celtic and Scandinavian elements of the population into the ‘English’ people, the adj. came in the 11th c. to be applied to all natives of ‘England’, whatever their ancestry. But for a generation or two after the Norman Conquest, the descendants of the invaders, though born in England, continued to be regarded as ‘French’, so that the word English, as applied to persons, was for a time restricted to those whose ancestors were settled in England before the Conquest. In formal state documents the distinction between the ‘French’ and ‘English’ inhabitants of England survived after it had ceased practically to exist; cf. Englishry.
| c 880 ælfred & Guthrum's Treaty (Thorpe) ii, Gif man ofslaᵹen weorðe, ealle we læteð efen dyrne, Engliscne & Deniscne. a 1000 Ordinance respecting D{uacu}nsǽte (Thorpe) vi, Nah naðer to farenne ne Wylisc man on ænglisc lond ne ænglisc on Wylisc, butan, etc. a 1016 Laws of æthelred (Thorpe), Gif ænglisc man Deniscne ofslea. a 1087 Charter Will. I in Stubbs Sel. Chart. 83 Will'm kyng gret..ealle þa burhwaru binnan Londone Frencisce and Englisce. c 1205 Lay. 29404 Þat folc þæt was ænglis. Ibid. 29457 Of Englisce leoden. Ibid. 31673 Penda king is Englisc. 1809 Bawdwen Domesday Bk. 345 The English have four ploughs in the demesne. 1860 Hook Lives Abps. (1869) I. iv. 174 Since the English came into Britain. 1872 E. Robertson Hist. Ess. 215 The gradual extension of the English name in the course of the 10th century is very perceptible. |
2. a. Of or belonging to England or its inhabitants.
| c 1290 Lives Saints (1887) 73 Þe englische barones. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 193 Schyrreffys and bailȝheys maid he [Edward I]..of Inglis nation. 15.. Earl of Surrey Death Sir T. Wyat Poems (Aldine ed.) 60 A worthy guide to bring Our English youth by travail into fame. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. i. 143 Would I had neuer trod this English Earth. 1645 Fuller Gd. Th. in Bad T. (1841) 37 The English ambassador. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 707, I embarked on board an English ship which had sailed round the world. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. iv. xvii, Now every English eye, intent, On Branksome's armed towers was bent. 1842 J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. (1862) II. 125 English wools rose in price. 1852 Earp Gold Col. Australia 102 To give the English reader an idea of its present condition. |
b. In the names of various trees and plants; as
English elm,
Ulmus campestris (see
elm);
E. galingale,
Cyperus longus;
E. maidenhair,
Asplenium Trichomanes;
E. myrtle,
Ligustrum vulgare;
E. treacle,
Teucrium Scordium.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. xxiii. 346 The roote of Cy[p]erus or *English Galangal, is hoate and dry in the third degree. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. VI. 12 Order. Cyperaceæ..Sweet or English Galingale. |
| 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 157 b, Trichomanes (that is our *English Maydens heare) is supposed, etc. 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. lxix (Heading), Of English or Common Maydenheare. 1879 in Prior Plant-n. |
| 1846 Sowerby Brit. Bot., *English Myrtle, the Common privet, Ligustrum vulgare. |
| 1551 Turner Herbal i. I iiij a, Germander, whyche is also called in Cambrige shyre *Englyshe triacle, is called in Greke Chamedrys. 1670 Ray Catal. Plant. Angliæ 67 (Britten & Holl.) In agro Cantabrigiensi English Treacle dicitur. 1886 In Britten & Holland. |
c. In the names of certain diseases:
English cholera,
† English sweat: see the
ns. † English disease (
English malady),
English melancholy: the ‘spleen’.
| [1733 Cheyne Eng. Malady (1734) Pref. 1 By Foreigners..Nervous Distempers, Spleen, Vapours, and Lowness of Spirits, are, in Derision, call'd the English Malady. 1834 J. M. Good Study of Med. (ed. 4) III. 113 English Melancholy. |
d. ellipt. = ‘English people, soldiers’, etc.
(A 17th c.
Sc. writer has the
pl. Englishes.)
| 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 111 O Noble English, that could entertaine With halfe their Forces, the full pride of France. 1671 True Nonconf. 221 The violences, wherewith the Englishes, during their Domination among us, can be charged. 1711 Swift Lett. (1767) III. 181 Pray observe the inhabitants about Wexford; they are old English. 1765 T. Hutchinson Hist. Col. Mass. i. 146 Freedom might be..granted to all truly English. 1859 Knight Pop. Hist. Eng. V. 165 That terrible battle-field, which the French call Neerwinden and the English call Landen. |
e. Misc. special
Combs.:
English bond: see
bond n.1 13 a;
English breakfast, a large breakfast including cooked food,
opp. Continental breakfast;
English Canadian, an English-speaking Canadian, as
opp. to a
French Canadian; so
English-Canadian a., of, or pertaining to, English Canadians or the predominantly English-speaking parts of Canada;
English disease, (
a) (see 2 c); (
b) rickets; (
c) loosely applied to various disorders in the English economy or foreign policy; also
English sickness;
English finish, a relatively smooth machine-finish given to paper, or paper so treated;
English horn: see
horn n. 13 d;
English Miss [
miss n.2 4] a somewhat derisive term for an unmarried woman implying primness, or prudishness, etc.;
English pink [
pink n.5] (
a)
= Dutch pink, a yellow lake pigment, or shade of yellow; (
b) [
pink n.4] a pink colour (see
quot. 1963);
English rose, a typically attractive light-complexioned English girl;
English setter [
setter n.1 11 a], a breed of long-haired sporting dog,
usu. white or white with patches of colour; a dog of this breed;
English sickness (see
English disease above);
English-speaker, a speaker of English;
English springer [
springer1 8 b], a small variety of spaniel;
English Sunday, Sunday kept as a day of rest and worship, as traditionally in England;
opp. Continental Sunday;
English toy terrier, a variety of miniature terrier;
cf. toy n. 12 c.
| 1807 C. Wilmot Let. 5 Aug. in Londonderry & Hyde Russ. Jrnls. (1934) ii. 256 Cavanaugh..routed up all his House & prepared an English Breakfast. 1857 C. M. Yonge Dynevor Terrace II. v. 71 The English breakfast, which had been established..had quite vanished; each of the family had a cup of chocolate in private. 1964 P. Jones Month of Pearl v. 46 Continentals have a name for the kind of breakfast we habitually eat..the ‘English Breakfast’. It means an impossible mess of fried eggs, ham, and toast, and the biggest pot in the house full of tea. 1968 P. Loraine Dead Men of Sestos x. 134, I used to like what I believe is called an English breakfast—a great deal of bacon and egg and sausage, and then a great deal of toast and butter and that delicious bitter marmalade. |
| a 1820 G. Head Forest Scenes (1838) 307 There was an old man among them, an English Canadian, called Mr. Weller. 1886 J. G. Bourinot Intell. Devel. Canadian People iii. 80 The most widely circulated English and French Canadian papers. 1897 ― Canada xxix. 448 The spirit of conciliation and justice..has happily influenced the action of leading English and French Canadian statesmen. 1964 M. Gallant in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories (1968) 2nd Ser. 79 The English Canadians in the room agreed, glancing nervously at the French. 1967 Times 28 Feb. (Canada Suppl.) 24 Similarly, English-Canadians would be adversely affected. |
| 1871 C. E. Hackley tr. T. Billroth's Gen. Surg. Path. & Therapeutics xvi. 451 It [sc. rachitis] was often called ‘English disease’. 1939 Drummond & Wilbraham Englishman's Food viii. 182 Rickets..came to be generally known on the Continent as ‘The English Disease’ (Die englische Krankheit). 1969 Physics Bull. Apr. 132/1 British industry suffered grievously from the re-establishment of the university-industry barrier in the years that followed the war. It would be very interesting to discover why this happened, for it is, perhaps, one of the symptoms of the socalled ‘English disease’ in economics. 1970 Daily Tel. 9 Feb. 12 There can be no doubt that to a very large degree the improvement of Britain's trade figures during recent months has been due to the spreading of the ‘English disease’ over other industrial countries. 1970 B. Levin Pendulum Years ix. 149 The ‘English disease’ can be defined in a dozen different ways, and has been, but they have in common that irreducible minimum of amateurism that seems to cling to matters British. |
| 1934 Webster, English finish. 1960 G. A. Glaister Gloss. Bk. 124/1 English finish, a calendered paper with a smooth, matt surface. |
| 1817 H. C. B. Campbell Jrnl. 3 Sept. in Journey to Florence (1951) 59 Two ugly English Misses very stiff and prim. 1866 Trollope Claverings xviii. 80 [Frenchman loq.] Your English meess is so much and so grand. 1879 C. M. Yonge Magnum Bonum II. xxvi. 520 Just the insipid English Mees... You should hear what the French think of the ordinary English girl. 1928 R. H. Mottram (title) The English Miss. 1960 Housewife Oct. 34/2 You are not used to strong drink... The typical little English Miss. |
| 1703 English pink [see pink n.5]. 1835 G. Field Chromatogr. ix. 84 Dutch Pink, English and Italian Pinks, are sufficiently absurd names of yellow colours prepared by dyeing, whitening, &c. with vegetal yellow tinctures, in the manner of rose pink, from which they borrow their name. 1901 G. H. Hurst Dict. Chemicals used in Paints 147 English pink, a name given to yellow pigments prepared from Persian berries; they are similar to Dutch pinks. 1963 Times 25 May 11/6 Chrome⁓tin pink..became known on the Continent as ‘English pink’. |
| 1902 B. Hood Merrie Eng. ii. 211 Dan Cupid hath a garden Where women are the flow'rs... And Oh! the sweetest blossom That in the garden grows,—The fairest Queen, it is, I ween, The perfect English rose. 1918 ‘D. Lyall’ Eng. Rose xx. 275 The two girls kissed one another, and the English rose was received in that happy corner of Ireland's garden and found it good. 1967 D. Cilento Manipulator i. 13 Rose had..won a seven-year contract with a film company on the strength of her English rose good looks. 1968 H. R. F. Keating Inspector Ghote hunts Peacock v. 67 She was the ideal English Rose..her hair was crisply golden... Her complexion was a vigorous pink and white. |
| 1859 ‘Stonehenge’ Dog, in Health & Disease i. iv. 95 The English setter imitated the pointer; but whether it was effected by crossing with that dog is difficult to say. 1910 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 378/1 The English setter should have a silky coat with the hair waved but not curly; the legs and toes should be hairy, and the tail should have a bushy fringe. 1950 A. C. Smith Dogs since 1900 120 At the beginning of last century English Setters were often described as spaniels by old-fashioned sportsmen. |
| 1963 Economist 14 Sept. 886/2 An article [German]..called ‘The English Sickness’ [= isolationism]. 1969 Daily Tel. 18 Apr. 18 The only obvious result of so much effort..has been an abysmal economic growth rate scarcely known elsewhere to post-Keynesian economics. Humiliatingly, the English Sickness has become almost a by-word for economic inefficiency and economic failure. 1970 Sci. Jrnl. Apr. 26/1 ‘The English sickness’ is a term widely used in Europe to describe high levels of absenteeism, restrictive practices and wildcat strikes. |
| 1853 Thackeray Let. 4 Mar. in Lett. A. T. Ritchie (1924) iv. 48 A great hearty nation [sc. the U.S.] of 26 millions of English-speakers. 1894 J. J. Astor Journey in other Worlds 38 This has given the English-speakers, especially the United States, a free hand. 1961 Guardian 30 June 12/2 English-speakers [of South Africa] opposed to the excesses of nationalism. |
| 1808 English springer [see springer1 8 b]. 1922 R. Leighton Compl. Bk. Dog 186 It is only recently that the Kennel Club has officially recognized the variety known as the English Springer. |
| 1879 C. M. Yonge Magnum Bonum II. xvii. 333 The afternoon was spent in an easy-going, loitering way, more like a foreign than an English Sunday. 1903 A. Bennett Leonora iii. 79 The smooth calm of the English Sunday. 1966 Guardian 22 Nov. 1/1 The grim visage of the traditional English Sunday looks like disappearing quite soon. |
| 1907 F. T. Barton Terriers xi. facing p. 98 (caption) Typical hind⁓quarters and stern of a white English Toy Terrier. 1962 Times 10 Feb. 6/3 English Toy Terriers (Black and Tan). |
3. transf. Marked by the characteristics of an Englishman. Often in laudatory sense: Possessed of the virtues claimed as peculiarly ‘English’.
| 1539 Tonstall Serm. Palm Sund. (1823) 71 Only take an englyshe hart vnto the. 1695 Enq. Anc. Const. Eng. Pref. 6 He will find the design to be truly English, that is, sincere and honest. 1883 Phelps Eng. Style 40 A mind compact with sturdy and solid English elements. |
| quasi-adv. 1784 Cowper Tiroc. 671 His address..Not English stiff, but frank and formed to please. |
4. a. As the designation of a language (see B. 1). Hence of words, idioms, grammar, etc.: Belonging to the English language. Of literary compositions, speeches, etc.: Written or spoken in the English language.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. (Thorpe) II. 358 (Bosw.) Ic [ælfric Abbod] ᵹesett hæbbe wel feowertiᵹ larspella on Engliscum ᵹereorde. c 1000 ― in Sweet Ags. Reader 57 Ðu bæde me for oft Engliscra ᵹewrita. c 1230 Hali Meid. 5 And seið syon ase muchel on englische leodene ase heh sihðe. a 1240 Ureisun in Cott. Hom. 199 Ich habbe i-sungen þe ðesne englissce lai. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 14 Ut of latin ðis song is draȝen On Engleis speche. a 1300 Cursor M. 24 (Cott.) Sanges..Inglis, frankys, and latine. Ibid. 233 (Gött.) Þis ilke boke es translate vnto engliss tung to rede. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 140 Englysshe speche, Anglicum. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 1 b, It was put into my mynde to drawe it in the englysshe tonge. 1580 Bullokar Orthogr., There be eight vowels of differing sounds in Inglish speech. 1611 Bible Dedic., There should be one more exact translation of the Holy Scripture into the English Tongue. 1840 Macaulay Ranke (1854) II. 541/2 We now see this book take its place among the English Classics. 1847 Emerson Repr. Men, Shaks. Wks. (Bohn) I. 357 Our English Bible is a wonderful specimen of the strength and music of the English language. |
b. with limiting words as in B. 1 b.
| 1579 Fulke Refut. Rastel 763 Prayers remaine still in the Saxon or old English tongue. a 1891 Mod. An Old-English grammar. Middle-English literature. It is not a modern English word. |
B. n. 1. a. The English language. First in the adverbial phrase,
† on (now in) English. Also in phrase
the King's English,
the Queen's English,
app. suggested by phrases like ‘to deface the king's coin’. Also
attrib. as
English scholar.
In 9th c., and
prob. much earlier,
Englisc was the name applied to all the Angle and Saxon dialects spoken in Britain. The name
English for the language is thus older than the name
England for the country. In its most comprehensive use, it includes all the dialects descended from the language of the early Teutonic conquerors of Britain; but it is sometimes popularly restricted to the language since the close of the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ or fully inflected stage; sometimes to the language and dialects of England proper, as distinguished from those of Scotland, Ireland,
U.S., etc.; and sometimes to the literary or standard form of the language as distinct from illiterate or ungrammatical speech, etc.
[The use as
n. seems to have originated, not in the ellipsis of any particular word (
e.g. ᵹereord) meaning ‘language’, but in a vague
absol. use of the neuter
adj. A similar use is found in the other
Teut. langs. and in Romanic;
cf. Ger. auf deutsch,
Fr. en fran{cced}ais,
Sp. en castellano.]
| c 890 K. ælfred Bæda iii. xix, On sumre ceastre þe is nemned on Englisc Cneoferisburh. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxvii. 46 Heli, Heli, lema zabdani? þæt ys on Englisc, Min God, min God, to hwi forlete þu me? c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 103 On [sin] is icweden, Gula, þet is ȝifernesse on englisc. c 1205 Lay. 6317 Wrat þa laȝen on Englis. a 1300 Cursor M. p. 988 Resurrection 240 (Cott.) Raboni (þat is on englis maister). c 1340 Ibid. 26545 (Fairf.) Þat now in Ingelis [v.r. Cott. englis] wil I rede. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 429 Þe same sentense in engliȝsch. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys Introd. 4 Wych I purpose now to declare On ynglysh. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 1 b, The mater is spirytuall, and requyreth moche declaracion in englysshe. c 1530 Ld. Berners (title) The hystory of the moost noble and valyaunt knyght Arthur of lytell brytayne, translated out of frensshe in to englushe. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. iv. 6 Abusing of Gods patience, and the Kings English. 1704 Lond. Gaz. No. 4046/4 Maurice Roberts..a Shropshire Man, speaking very bad English. 1782 Wesley Wks. (1830) IV. 267 Why has he then bad English on every page? 1836 E. Howard R. Reefer xxxv, They..put the king's English to death so charmingly. 1869 Alford (title), Plea for the Queen's English. |
b. The ‘English’ of a special period or district, or that which appears in the writings of an individual author.
Old English: in popular use applied vaguely to all obsolete forms of the language. According to the nomenclature now generally adopted in this country, the
Old English period ends about 1100–1150, the
Middle English period about 1500, when the period of
Modern English begins. The name
Early English is often used vaguely for Early Middle English, or for Middle and Early Modern English.
| a 1225 St. Marher 23, I þe moneþ þat on ure ledene is old englisch efterlið inempnet, iulius o latin. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 7672 Yn a prouerbe of olde englys. 1340 Ayenb., Engliss of Kent. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 257 To these books of Euphues, tis said, that our Nation is indebted for a new English in them. [1822 J. Grimm Deutsche Grammatik I. i. 506 Mittel⁓englische buchstaben.] 1836 M. de Larenaudière tr. T. Wright's Lit. Anglo-saxonne en Angleterre 38 Que l'on peut appeler l'anglais intermédiaire (middle english). 1839 T. Wright Lit. & Learning under Anglo-Saxons 107 The form of our language during the twelfth and the first half of the thirteenth century is generally termed Semi-Saxon; from that period to the time of the Reformation it has received from modern philologists the name of Middle-English. 1871 H. Sweet Alfred's transl. Gregory's Pastoral Care pref. p. v, I use ‘Old English’ throughout this work to denote the unmixed, inflectional stage of the English language, commonly known by the barbarous and unmeaning title of ‘Anglo-Saxon’. 1879 ― in Trans. Philol. Soc. 1878 377 It is a relief to turn to Germany, where Old and Middle English are not regarded as ‘fringes’. 1887 Ruskin Præterita II. x, Hooker's English was the perfectest existing model. 1927 Englische Studien Nov. 75 This tendency grows stronger in later Middle English. 1933 Bloomfield Lang. i. 17 By comparing our records of Old English (say, in the writings of King Alfred) with modern English, we can see how English has changed in the last thousand years. |
c. English English, English as spoken in England as differentiated from that spoken,
e.g., in the United States of America.
| 1804 M. Wilmot Let. 30 May in Londonderry & Hyde Russ. Jrnls. (1934) i. 102 If the other side is not English English, it is just the sort of language that might make one blush for what it is. 1943 Spectator 5 Feb. 120/1 Of the two hundred million people speaking English nearly seven-tenths live in the United States, and another tenth in the British Dominions are as much influenced by American as by English English. 1958 Listener 18 Dec. 1050/1 To get round the difficulty of putting Lorca across full-bloodedly, producers have had recourse to Irish, Cockney, and West Country speech... Lorca's plays suffer in English English because we do not like to grasp his nettles. 1961 H. R. F. Keating Rush on Ultimate i. 13 ‘I never know what's Austalian and what's English... Can you call it the gen over here?’.. ‘From what I gather from the boys it's a bit dated now, but it's English English all right.’ 1966 S. Harvester Treacherous Road i. 9 Most educated Egyptians spoke English English. |
2. The ‘English’ at an author's command; means of expression in English. Also, the English word or equivalent (
for).
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 66 Allas, that I ne had Englyssh, ryme, or prose, Suffisant this flour to preyse aryght! c 1386 ― Sqr's. T. 29 Myn Englissh eek is insufficient. 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 553, I will set downe in such English as I haue in the said Legend, or Agon. 1824 Oriental Herald I. 90 Whose patience is equal to the reading of the ‘Bahar Damash’ in Dr. Scott's English? 1890 T. Hardy Melancholy Hussar in Three Notable Stories 170 Phyllis used to say that his English, though not good, was quite intelligible to her. 1926 R. Kearton Naturalist's Pilgr. vii. 74 ‘What are they mining for.., Herr Sonbergh?’ ‘Ah,’ he exclaimed, ‘I know quite well, but I cannot remember the English for it.’ 1930 N. & Q. 11 Oct. 270/1 Throughout the English is apt, for spaces, to be careless and dull. |
3. † a. An English sentence to be rendered into a foreign language.
† b. An English equivalent for a foreign word.
c. (
School slang) An English translation; a ‘crib’.
| c 1000 ælfric Gram. (Z.) 259 Ealle ðas habbað an Englisc, þeah hi for faegernysse fela synd on Ledenspræce. 1552 Huloet, Englyshe or vulgare geuen by a maister to scholers to be made in latine. 1612 Brinsley Pos. Parts (1669) 49 The Englishes of our [Latin] Prepositions. Ibid. 53 When an English is given to be made Latine, what must you do first? 1679 W. Walker Dict. Eng. Particles Pref., The first column contains some Englishes. 1862 H. C. Adams First June 66, I sometimes have half suspected him of learning his lessons with Englishes. |
d. English language or literature as a school or university subject or examination.
| 1889 F. Levander in A. Herbert Sacrifice of Education to Examination 42 The school in question was a small one... The subjects were English, Geography,..German, and Drawing. 1911 W. Owen Let. 11 Sept. (1967) 79 Have just got home from the ‘English’. Am fairly confident of a pass in this. 1926 Kipling Debits & Credits 276 Howell, a favourite in ‘English’ as well as Latin. 1950 A. Wilson Such Darling Dodos 107 Mr. Rogers said we should read Barnaby Rudge for English, it will be the last book I shall read in class at St. Bertram's. 1968 Listener 29 Feb. 275/3 The journalistic addiction of our academic intellectuals..is now the menacing disease of university ‘English’. 1970 Guardian 29 May 9/1 The UCCA clearing scheme..doesn't hold much hope if he wants to read English. |
4. ellipt. for ‘The sense expressed in plain English’, the plain sense; also,
plain, true English;
† English out; and in phrase,
in plain English: to speak plainly.
| 1645 Liberty of Consc. Pref. A iij, The plain english of the question is this: whether the Christian Magistrate be keeper of both Tables. 1647 Ward Simp. Cobler 12 The true English of all..their false Latine, is nothing but a generall Toleration of all Opinions. 1659 Scott in Burton Diary (1828) IV. 377 That is English out. 1679 Penn Addr. Prot. ii. §5 (1692) 184 This is the English of their Doctrine. 1705 Stanhope Paraph. III. 376 The plain English of what he thanks God for is in effect but Thus much. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones vii. v. (1840) 86 The English of all which is..that I am in the wrong. 1856 Emerson Engl. Traits vii. 121 When they unmask cant, they say, ‘The English of this is’, etc. |
† 5. A Flemish coin (see
quot.).
Obs.| ? a 1500 in Athenæum (1867) 7 Dec. 767 Viij mytis ys an englishe, that is the iijde parte of jd. 1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 14 A piece of flemmishe mony called an Englyshe. |
6. Printing.
a. The name of a size of type smaller than Great Primer and larger than Pica.
| 1598 Ord. Stationer's Co. in Hist. O.E. Lett. Foundries (1887) 129 Those in pica Roman and Italic and in English. 1676 Moxon Print Lett. 8 The Stem of English Capitals is 6 parts. 1824 J. Johnson Typogr. II. 78 English is called Mittel by the Germans. |
b. Old English: a form of ‘Black Letter’ resembling that used by early English printers; now occasionally employed for ornamental purposes; see
Old English A. 2.
7. Billiards.
= side n.1 14 d. Also
transf. U.S.| 1869 ‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abr. 116 You would infallibly put the ‘English’ on the wrong side of the ball. 1898 R. Hughes Lakerim Athletic Club xv. 242 Eaton would slash the ball with a stiffened wrist, an elbow swing, and a quick, hard jump into the air at the same time, to put the ‘English’ on. 1959 Sunday Times 5 Apr. 4/5 The billiard term ‘putting on the english’, which Atticus states is current parlance in American bowling circles. The story goes that an enterprising gentleman from these shores travelled to the United States during the latter part of the last century and impressed the Americans with a demonstration of the effect of ‘side’ on pool or billiard balls. His name was English. 1966 H. Nielsen After Midnight (1967) iii. 53 When Simon tried to close the door..he encountered difficulties. The officer lent a hand. ‘You have to put a little English on it,’ he explained. ‘There's a defect in the catch.’ |
C. Comb. a. Prefixed to
ppl. adjs., as
English-born,
English-bred,
English-built,
English-managed,
English-manned,
English-reading,
English-rigged,
English-speaking.
b. Forming parasynthetic derivatives, as
English-hearted,
English-minded.
c. Prefixed to other
adjs., as
† English-Indian,
† English-Irish,
† English-Popish;
† English-Saxon,
= Anglo-Saxon; also
English-French,
English-German,
English-Latin, etc., said of dictionaries in which English words are followed by their renderings into other languages.
| 18.. Lytton E. Maltrav. (1851) 6 But I am *English-born. 1880 Earle Philol. Eng. Tong. §155 A large body of French words in our language..pronounced as English-born words. |
| 1808 Bentham Sc. Reform 80 Such ingenuity is not wanting to *English-bred technicalism. |
| c 1677 List Ships in Marvell Growth Popery 61 The John and Sarah, of 120 Tun, *English Built. |
| 1848 Lytton Harold ii. i, Many of Godwin's noblest foes sighed for the *English-hearted Earl. |
| 1613 Purchas Pilgr., Descr. India (1864) 127 Our *English-Indian Societie. |
| 1700 J. Tyrrell Hist. Eng. II. 888 All the *English-Irish Knights..ran away. 1815 Scott Guy M. xlii, Three English-Irish peers. |
| 1740 J. Clarke Educ. Youth (ed. 3) 37 Such sort of *English-Latin Dictionaries. |
| 1888 Daily News 26 Nov. 2/5 This estate has always been what has been called an *English-managed estate. |
| 1799 Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1845) IV. 97 An *English-manned Frigate. |
| 1882 J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 162 Thoroughly *English-minded men such as Gardiner. |
| 1641 Sanderson Serm. II. 8 This clamouring against *English-Popish ceremonies. |
| 1907 W. James Pragmatism i. 17 Religious philosophy in our day and generation is, among us *English-reading people, of two main types. 1959 Listener 24 Dec. 1120/3 The great insufflators of artistic interest in the English-reading world. |
| 1832 Marryat N. Forster xxxvi, She is English built and *English rigged. |
| 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. Pref., The most ancient British and *English-Saxon tongues. 1695 Enq. Anc. Const. Eng. 33 As all his English-Saxon predecessors. 1777 Nicolson & Burn Westmoreland I. 309 Our English-Saxon word evil seems to spring from the same source. |
| 1829 Bentham Justice & Cod. Petit. iv. 6 Thence was created the necessity of employing these so little trustworthy trustees..as interpreters between the *English-speaking parties and the French-speaking judges. 1873 F. Hall Mod. English 146 The English-speaking people. 1883 Lowell in Daily News 5 July 6/2 We continually hear nowadays of the ‘English-speaking race,’ of the ‘English-speaking population’. 1887 Spectator 26 Feb. 300/1 Of this happy gift..Mr. Lowell has among English-speaking men almost a monopoly. 1937 Discovery June 185/1 The English-speaking nations. 1940 ‘G. Orwell’ Inside Whale 79 Dickens is scarcely intelligible outside the English-speaking culture. 1970 C. L. Cline Lett. George Meredith p. xxix, Meredith stood almost without rival at the head of letters in the English-speaking world. |
Hence
English-hood (
rare).
| 1883 Mrs. E. Lynn Linton Ione II. xxiii. 260 The English-hood of long walks in the lanes and fields. |
▸ As a count noun: a variety of English used in a particular context or (now
esp.) a certain region of the world; (in
pl.) regional varieties of English considered together, often in contradistinction to the concept of English as a language with a single standard or correct form.
| 1910H. L. Mencken in Baltimore Evening Sun 15 Sept. (title) The two Englishes. 1941 W. Barkley (title) Two Englishes; being some account of the differences between the spoken and the written English languages. 1964 Eng. Stud. 45 21 Many people side-step the recognition of a plurality of Englishes by such judgments as: ‘Oh, that's not English, that's American.’ 1978 J. Pride Communicative Needs in Learning & Use of Eng. 1 The role of literature in non-native Englishes may be focal. 1984 Eng. World-wide 5 248 An overview of some aspects of various Englishes suggesting areas of possible research. 2000 Independent (Nexis) 28 June 11 It was one of the first places to be settled in the Plantations; there's an English spoken there that's unique. |
▸
English mustard n. any of various types of very pungent (powdered or prepared) mustard originating in England, typically made using both white and brown mustard seeds and having an intense yellow colour which is usually produced by the addition of turmeric.
| 1821 W. Cobbett Amer. Gardener iv. 344 The *English mustard is, in general, a thing fabricated. 1851 London at Table i. 18 The accessories being salad, beetroot, vegetables, French and English mustard. 1923 French Cooking for Eng. Homes ii. 52 Stir in two large tablespoonfuls of French Dijon mustard and one spoonful of made English mustard. 2003 A. Insdorf Indelible Shadows (ed. 3) iv. 61 Both are undone by mouthfuls of hot English mustard, as it becomes clear that they have bitten off more than they can chew. |
▪ II. English, v. (
ˈɪŋglɪʃ)
Forms: 4
Englysch, 4–6
-isshe,
-ys(s)he, 4–
English.
[f. prec. adj.] 1. a. trans. To translate into English (a book, passage, etc.); to give the English equivalent for (a word or phrase).
| 1388 Wyclif Bible Prol. xv, To Englisshe it aftir the word wolde be derk and douteful. Ibid., I Englishe it thus. c 1430 Lydg. Chorle & Byrde (1818) 18 Out of frenssh how that hit englisshid be. 1490 Caxton Eneydos (1889) 4 For hym, I knowe for suffycyent to expowne and englysshe euery dyffyculte that is therin. 1533 More Apol. v. Wks. 854/2 Howe be it the preacher englisheth it thus. 1660 Boyle Seraph. Love xvii (1700) 106 Purchas'd for a Ransom, the Original Word English'd Redemption. 1728 Morgan Algiers I. Pref. 19 It fully excuses my not Englishing them from the Greek my own self. 1807 Ann. Rev. V. 510 All German verses can be Englished in fewer syllables. 1872 Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. lxii. 1 If we Englished the word, by our word ‘verily’. |
b. To render in English orthography.
rare.
| 1807 G. Chalmers Caledonia I. ii. vi. 284 The common word..is ruadh, or as it is englished roy. |
† 2. To render into plain English; to describe in plain terms.
Obs.| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. iii. 51 The hardest voice of her behauiour (to be english'd rightly) is, I am Sir John Falstafs. 1649 Milton Eikon. v. 44 Those gracious Acts..may be english'd more properly Acts of feare. 1671 J. Flavel Fount. Life viii. 22, I am ashamed that my pen should English what mine eyes have seen. |
3. To make English, to anglicize.
a. To adopt (a word) into the English language; to give it an English character or form.
b. To subject to English influence.
| 1824–9 Landor Imag. Conv. (1846) I. 157 Liqueur is not yet Englished. 1879 Walford Londoniana II. 99 The word ‘Comfort’ originally Norman and afterwards englished. 1880 Grant White Every-Day Eng. 21 When a foreign word has been transplanted into our speech and has taken firm root there, it should be thoroughly Englished. 1880 Browning Dram. Idylls ii. Clive 9 The man Clive—he fought Plassy..Conquered and annexed and Englished! 1934 H. G. Wells Exper. Autobiogr. II. viii. §5. 622, I think Conrad owed a very great deal to their early association; Hueffer helped greatly to ‘English’ him and his idiom. 1965 Evening Standard 10 Dec. 6/6 A New York tailor is advertising:..Let us take your Stateside suit and English it up. |