English

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: Eng=lish

CIDE DICTIONARY

English, a. [AS. Englisc, fr. Engle, Angle, Engles, Angles, a tribe of Germans from the southeast of Sleswick, in Denmark, who settled in Britain and gave it the name of England. Cf. Anglican.].

 Of or pertaining to England, or to its inhabitants, or to the present so-called Anglo-Saxon race.  [1913 Webster]

English bond (Arch.) See 1st Bond, n., 8. -- English breakfast tea. See Congou. -- English horn. (Mus.) See Corno Inglese. -- English walnut. (Bot.) See under Walnut.

English, n. 

•  Collectively, the people of England; English people or persons.  [1913 Webster]
•  The language of England or of the English nation, and of their descendants in America, India, and other countries.  [1913 Webster]

  " The English language has been variously divided into periods by different writers. In the division most commonly recognized, the first period dates from about 450 to 1150. This is the period of full inflection, and is called Anglo-Saxon, or, by many recent writers, Old English. The second period dates from about 1150 to 1550 (or, if four periods be recognized, from about 1150 to 1350), and is called Early English, Middle English, or more commonly (as in the usage of this book), Old English. During this period most of the inflections were dropped, and there was a great addition of French words to the language. The third period extends from about 1350 to 1550, and is Middle English. During this period orthography became comparatively fixed. The last period, from about 1550, is called Modern English."  [1913 Webster]
•  A kind of printing type, in size between Pica and Great Primer. See Type.  [1913 Webster]

  " The type called English."  [1913 Webster]
•  A twist or spinning motion given to a ball in striking it that influences the direction it will take after touching a cushion or another ball.  [1913 Webster]

The King's English or The Queen's English. See under King.

English, v. t. 

•  To translate into the English language; to Anglicize; hence, to interpret; to explain.  [1913 Webster]

  "Those gracious acts . . . may be Englished more properly, acts of fear and dissimulation."  [1913 Webster]

  "Caxton does not care to alter the French forms and words in the book which he was Englishing."  [1913 Webster]
•  To strike (the cue ball) in such a manner as to give it in addition to its forward motion a spinning motion, that influences its direction after impact on another ball or the cushion.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

English, adj. & n.
--adj. of or relating to England or its people or language.
--n.
1 the language of England, now used in many varieties in the British Isles, the United States, and most Commonwealth or ex-Commonwealth countries, and often internationally.
2 (prec. by the; treated as pl.) the people of England.
3 US Billiards = SIDE n. 10.

Idiom

English bond Building a bond of brickwork arranged in alternate courses of stretchers and headers. English horn = COR ANGLAIS. the Queen's (or King's) English the English language as correctly written or spoken in Britain.

Derivative

Englishness n.

Etymology

OE englisc, {aelig}nglisc (as ANGLE, -ISH(1))

THESAURUS

English

Abnaki, Afghan, Afghani, Afrikaans, Ainu, Akan, Akkadian, Albanian, Aleut, Algonquin, Amharic, Andaman, Annamese, Anzanite, Apache, Arabic, Aramaic, Araucanian, Arawak, Armenian, Assamese, Austral, Avestan, Aymara, Aztec, Balinese, Baluchi, Bashkir, Basque, Batak, Bellacoola, Bengali, Berber, Bhili, Bihari, Bikol, Bini, Blackfoot, Brahui, Buginese, Burmese, Burushaski, Buryat, Byelorussian, Cantonese, Carolinian, Castilian, Catalan, Cham, Cheremis, Cherokee, Chibcha, Chin, Chinese, Chuvash, Coptic, Cornish, Cuman, Czech, Dafla, Dalmatian, Danish, Dinka, Dutch, Dyak, Edo, Efatese, Egyptian, Elamitic, Eskimo, Estonian, Ethiopic, Euskarian, Ewe, Faeroese, Faliscan, Fijian, Finnish, Flemish, Fox, French, Frisian, Fula, Fulani, Gadaba, Gaelic, Galcha, Galla, Garo, Gaulish, Geez, Georgian, German, Gold, Goldi, Gondi, Gothic, Greek, Guanche, Guarani, Gypsy, Haida, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindustani, Hittite, Ho, Hopi, Hottentot, Iban, Ibanag, Ibo, Icelandic, Igorot, Illyrian, Irish, Italian, Ivatan, Kachin, Kafiri, Kalmuck, Kamasin, Kamchadal, Kanarese, Kara-Kalpak, Karamojong, Karankawa, Karelian, Kashmiri, Kashubian, Keres, Ket, Khamti, Kharia, Khasi, Khmer, Khondi, Khosa, Khowar, Kickapoo, Kiowa Apache, Kirghiz, Kiriwina, Kodagu, Kohistani, Koiari, Kolami, Komi, Konkani, Korean, Korwa, Koryak, Kui, Kuki, Kumyk, Kunama, Kurdish, Kurukh, Kutchin, Kutenai, Ladino, Lahnda, Lampong, Lamut, Lao, Lapp, Latin, Latvian, Lettish, Libyan, Ligurian, Limbu, Lithuanian, Livonian, Low German, Lusatian, Luwian, Lycian, Lydian, Macedonian, Madurese, Magyar, Malagasy, Malay, Malayalam, Maltese, Manchu, Mandarin, Mandingo, Mangarevan, Manobo, Manx, Maori, Marathi, Maya, Meithei, Mende, Messapian, Middle English, Middle Greek, Middle High German, Middle Persian, Mishmi, Mishongnovi, Misima, Miskito, Mon, Mongolian, Mordvin, Mordvinian, Moro, Mru, Muong, Mura, Murmi, Muskogee, Naga, Nepali, Newari, Ngala, Ngbaka, Niasese, Nicobarese, Niuean, Nogai, Nootka, Norwegian, Oraon, Oriya, Oscan, Osmanli, Ossetic, Ostyak, Pahlavi, Palaic, Palau, Palaung, Pali, Pampango, Pangasinan, Pashto, Paya, Persian, Phrygian, Plattdeutsch, Polabian, Polish, Portuguese, Prakrit, Punic, Punjabi, Quechua, Romaic, Romansh, Romany, Russian, Ruthenian, Sabellian, Saharan, Sakai, Samoan, Sanskrit, Sardinian, Sasak, Selung, Serbo-Croatian, Shan, Shilha, Shluh, Siamese, Sinhalese, Slovak, Slovene, Slovenian, Sogdian, Sorbian, Soyot, Spanish, Sumerian, Susian, Swahili, Swedish, Syriac, Syryenian, Tagalog, Tagula, Tahitian, Tajiki, Takelma, Tamashek, Tamaulipec, Tavgi, Taw-Sug, Tigre, Tipura, Tocharian, Toda, Tuareg, Tulu, Tungus, Turkish, Turkoman, Uighur, Umbrian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Visayan, Vote, Votyak, Wa, Welsh, White Russian, Xhosa, Yakut, Yiddish, Yoruba, Yurak, Zenaga, Zulu, construe, render, transcribe, translate, transliterate, turn into

ROGET THESAURUS

English

Inhabitant

N inhabitant, resident, residentiary, dweller, indweller, addressee, occupier, occupant, householder, lodger, inmate, tenant, incumbent, sojourner, locum tenens, commorant, settler, squatter, backwoodsman, colonist, islander, denizen, citizen, burgher, oppidan, cockney, cit, townsman, burgess, villager, cottager, cottier, cotter, compatriot, backsettler, boarder, hotel keeper, innkeeper, habitant, paying guest, planter, native, indigene, aborigines, autochthones, Englishman, John Bull, newcomer, aboriginal, American, Caledonian, Cambrian, Canadian, Canuck, downeaster, Scot, Scotchman, Hibernian, Irishman, Welshman, Uncle Sam, Yankee, Brother Jonathan, garrison, crew, population, people, colony, settlement, household, mir, indigenous, native, natal, autochthonal, autochthonous, British, English, American, Canadian, Irish, Scotch, Scottish, Welsh, domestic, domiciliated, domiciled, naturalized, vernacular, domesticated, domiciliary, in the occupation of, garrisoned by, occupied by.