Xanadu

Mongol city founded by Kublai Khan, 1620s, Englished form of Shang-tu. Sense of "dream place of magnificence and luxury" derives from Coleridge's poem (1816).

also from 1620s

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plantation

mid-15c., plantacioun, "action of planting (seeds, etc.)," a sense now obsolete, from Latin plantationem (nominative plantatio) "a planting," noun of action from past-participle stem of *plantare "to plant" (see plant (n.)). From c. 1600 as "introduction, establishment." From 158

heuristic

"serving to discover or find out," 1821, irregular formation from Greek heuriskein "to find; find out, discover; devise, invent; get, gain, procure" (from PIE *were- (2) "to find;" cognate with Old Irish fuar "I have found") + -istic. As a noun, from 1860. Greek had heuretikos "i

concern

early 15c., of persons, "to perceive, distinguish;" also, of things, "to refer to, relate to, pertain to," from Old French concerner (15c.) and directly from Medieval Latin concernere "concern, touch, belong to," figurative use of Late Latin concernere "to sift, mix as in a sieve

Iowa

organized as a U.S. territory 1838; admitted as a state 1846, named for the river, ultimately from the name of the native people, of the Chiwere branch of the Siouan family; said to be from Dakota ayuxba "sleepy ones," or from an Algonquian language (Bright cites Miami/Illinois /

realm

c. 1300, reaume, "kingdom, domain under a sovereign, royal jurisdiction," from Old French reaume, later realme, variants (in part by influence of Old French reial "regal," from Latin regalis) of roiaume "kingdom." This is possibly from a Gallo-Romance *regiminem, "formed as

sport

c. 1400, sporten, "take pleasure, enjoy or amuse oneself," from Old French desporter, deporter "to divert, amuse, please, play; to seek amusement," etymologically "carry away" (the mind from serious matters), from des- "away" (see dis-) + porter "to carry," from Latin portare "to

mystery

early 14c., misterie, in a theological sense, "religious truth via divine revelation, hidden spiritual significance, mystical truth," from Anglo-French *misterie, Old French mistere "secret, mystery, hidden meaning" (Modern French mystère) and directly from Latin mysterium "secre

pun

"a Conceit arising from the use of two Words that agree in the Sound, but differ in the Sense" [Addison]; "An expression in which the use of a word in two different applications, or the use of two different words pronounced alike or nearly alike, presents an odd or ludicrous idea

duplicity

"deceptiveness, character or practice of speaking differently of the same thing or acting differently at different times or to different persons," early 15c., from Old French duplicite (13c.), from Late Latin duplicitatem (nominative duplicitas) "doubleness," in Medieval Latin "a

point

c. 1200, pointe, "minute amount, single item in a whole; sharp end of a sword, etc.," a merger of two words, both ultimately from Latin pungere "to prick, pierce," from a nasalized form of PIE root *peuk- "to prick." The Latin neuter past participle punctum was used as a noun, me

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updated on September 28, 2017

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Dictionary entries near Xanadu

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