Wiktionary:Requested articles:English/Inverse Requests

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You can use this page to make an inverse dictionary request: when you want to say something and don't know the word for it, write its definition here and maybe, if you are lucky, someone will respond and help you find the word you want.

Answers will be posted at Wiktionary:Requested_articles:English/Inverse_Requests/Answers. You can check there to see if someone has responded to your request. Note that responses may take several days, and no response is guaranteed.

If you know the word for any of these definitions, please help Wiktionary by posting it at Wiktionary:Requested_articles:English/Inverse_Requests/Answers and remove it from this page.

1. a duality or something that is at once two separate beings ex. cupid/eros
2. an adverb which is identical in meaning to itself in non-adverbial form together with an appropriate preposition. "quickly" = "with quickness", "thereabout" = "about there", "homeward" = "toward home"
3. Music which combines gregorian chant with more modern music
4. In old (for instance civil war era) photos, men often pose by sticking one hand in their coat, like they're scratching their chest. What's this called?
5. to offer assistance when one knows it's already so late that the person will say "I'm almost done"; thereby shrewdly giving the false impression of being more helpful/caring than one really is
6. a cat who lives in a public library

   Are you looking for the name of a fictional cat who lived in a library? This looks like a joke request otherwise.

7. a snake with a green belly, a sharp tail, and strips along its back
   • You can try asking at w:Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles or at w:WP:RD.—msh210 23:15, 20 August 2007 (UTC)
8. a word that only has one meaning,defined and set.and is there any?

   It is highly unlikely. Most words can be used figuratively, nouns can function as adjectives, etc. --Joe Webster 16:18, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

   isn't it reason?

9. multiple meaningful visions when come together or even overlap or intersect.

   How about binocular parallax?  :-P --Joe Webster 02:58, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

10. "syncronisity", does it apply on the time/place meet of natural phenomenas,such as an earthquick and rain,where the meaning is over our limits?

    The correct spelling is synchronicity. Wikipedia's article on synchronicity might give you the answer you are looking for. — Paul G 16:08, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

11. the best of what cannot be understood.

    compromise? Your description isn't very clear. 86.131.94.4 18:51, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

12. words like language, sex can afford duality in its sense, how can we decide what can afford this duality?
13. What is the single adjective that means "sexually precocious?" I've seen the term used when describing some child actresses. I am not referring to the nouns lolita, minx or nymphet.

    coquettish perhaps? Thryduulf 23:14, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

    Thanks, but I don't think that was it. Coquette, and its derivatives seem to apply to age-appropriate flirting, as to boys her own age. The adjective I'm looking for is when a girl makes an appeal to adults, with an adult mindset. --Joe Webster 23:17, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

    I've forwarded this question to a mailing list about erotic literature that I read, the best suggestion so far is jailbait, although our entry for this marks it as a noun only. Thryduulf 20:31, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

    The word I'm looking for is a 25-cent, franco/latin-based word. --Joe Webster 17:58, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

14. What is it called when the fat starts to come apart from a paste (e.g., tahini) and sit atop (or beneath) it? The paste is said to ___ (intransitive verb).—msh210 20:55, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

    separate is the word that first comes to my mind. Pastes, liquids, etc. that are formed of two (or more) components that need a third component to keep them together are emulsions, to make an emulsion is to emulsify. To convert an emulsion back to its ingredients is therefore to de-emulsify. Thryduulf 22:47, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

    Separate looks right (an example sentence in that entry is about sauces actually), and thanks, but somehow I don't think it's the word I was thinking of. the word I was seeking is less formal, more idiomatic, like break or fall or go (but not any of those). Anyone?—msh210 16:30, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

    crack is what I'm thinking of (I'm pretty sure that's what you do to petroleum), but I can't find supporting evidence of it being used for sauces or the like. Thryduulf 22:34, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

    'Break can work for an emulsion. When you are making mayonaisse and don't stir enough, for instance, you break the emulsion. Scott Ritchie 20:42, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

    Thanks.—msh210 18:51, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

    'Break can work for an emulsion. When you are making mayonaisse and don't stir enough, for instance, you break the emulsion. Scott Ritchie 20:43, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

15. When something merits inclusion in an encyclopaedia it is encyclopaedic. What is the equivalent word for something that merits inclusion in a dictionary? Thryduulf 23:42, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

    Found the answer is the comparatively rare dictionaric. Thryduulf 20:31, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

16. An adjective that describes itself. E.g., sesquipedelian is sesquipedelian.

    self-referential is the term I'm familiar with, but there might be another. Thryduulf 22:34, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

    autological is better, but not widely accepted as a word. 86.153.15.186 22:35, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

17. Suspicious means causing or having suspicion; sexy means causing or having sexual desire; curious means causing or having curiosity; nauseous, for many people, means causing or having nausea. Is there a word for such adjectives? (Were they verbs they'd be called ergative verbs.)—msh210 23:11, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

    References to Ergative adjectives and the Lexicalist Hypothesis (PDF) are responsible for most of the Google hits for "ergative adjectives" (I don't know the correct term, so I just took a guess at an obvious one!). My computer is in a sulk at the moment and refuses to load PDF files so I can't read it myself at the moment, but you might be interested. Other google web hits suggest that ergative adjectives are a valid class of adjectives in Georgian and possibly Arabic. Thryduulf 08:28, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

    Thanks.—msh210 18:51, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

This page is phased out. Please post all new requests and answers to the Wiktionary:Tea Room.