Wiktionary:Word of the day/Recycled pages/January

1. Often with initial capital: the first day of a month, particularly (Ancient Rome, historical) the first day of a month of the Roman calendar.
2. (by extension) A day for settling debts and other accounts.
3. (by extension, biblical, Judaism, obsolete) Synonym of Rosh Hodesh (“the Jewish festival of the new moon, which begins the months of the Hebrew calendar”)
4. (rare) Synonym of calendar; (figurative) an account, a record.
5. (obsolete, figurative) The first day of something; a beginning.

Happy New Year from all of us at the English Wiktionary!

1. (transitive) To abandon, to give up, to leave (permanently), to renounce (someone or something).
2. (transitive, obsolete) To decline or refuse (something offered).
3. (transitive, obsolete) To avoid or shun (someone or something).
4. (transitive, obsolete) To cause disappointment to; to be insufficient for (someone or something).

1. (idiomatic) A desire, idea, or plan that is unlikely to ever be realized; a visionary project or scheme; a daydream, an idle fancy, a near impossibility.

1. A rough and rapid method of writing by substituting symbols for letters, words, etc.
2. (by extension) Any brief or shortened way of saying or doing something.

Sir Isaac Pitman, who developed the widely used shorthand system now known as Pitman shorthand, was born on this day in 1813.

1. Synonym of coryphaeus
   1. (Ancient Greece, drama, historical) The conductor or leader of the chorus of a drama.
   2. (by extension) The chief or leader of an interest or party.
2. (ballet) A ballet dancer ranking above a member of the corps de ballet and below a soloist.

The African-American dancer, choreographer, and director Alvin Ailey was born on this day in 1931. His work fused ballet, modern dance, jazz, and theatre with black vernacular.

1. (Christianity) Synonym of Epiphany (“an annual Christian feast on the twelfth day after Christmas Day (6 January) celebrating the appearance of Jesus Christ to the Magi”).

1. (idiomatic) An apophasis used to mention another important, usually related, point: not taking into account, not to mention, without considering.

1. That causes the mind to boggle; that is beyond one's ability to understand or figure out.

1. (geography, limnology) The portion of a lake which lies below sea level.

The cryptocurrency Bitcoin was first issued ten years ago on this day in 2009.

1. (informal) A blunder, an error.
2. (baseball, slang) A fly ball that is weakly hit just over the infielders.
3. (film, informal) A filmed or videotaped outtake that has recorded an amusing accident and/or mistake.
4. (nautical) A gaff-rigged fore-and-aft sail set from and aft of the aftmost mast of a square-rigged ship; a spanker.
5. (US, dated) A radio which interferes with other radios, causing them to bloop (squeal loudly).

The American comedy television series Foul-Ups, Bleeps & Blunders, which featured bloopers from popular movies and TV programs, was first broadcast on this day 35 years ago in 1984.

1. (informal) (Very) drunk or intoxicated.

1. A dessert of custard or whipped cream enclosed in sponge cake, often in the form of ladyfingers.

French chef Marie-Antoine Carême, who is supposed to have created the dish and named it in honour of his employer Alexander I of Russia, was born on this day in 1833.

1. (darts) A woman who escorts a player to the stage at a darts event.

The final of the Lakeside World Darts Championship organized by the British Darts Organisation takes place today in 2019.

1. With a dark appearance.
2. Faintly seen in the dark.
3. (figuratively) In a morbid manner; morbidly, sinisterly.
4. (figuratively) Mysteriously; forebodingly, ominously.

1. The area that a person, an animal, etc., can see with its eyes (or each eye individually) without turning the head.

1. (dated) Now chiefly in the term bounden duty: made obligatory; binding.
2. (obsolete) Bound.

1. An unsophisticated method of committing robbery by grabbing someone's property and attempting to flee with it.

1. (formal) Of or pertaining to technical matters; mechanical.
2. (formal) Uncultured, unrefined, utilitarian.

1. (British) Common sense, initiative, resourcefulness.
2. (US) Boldness of enterprise; aggressiveness or initiative.
3. (US) Energy of body and mind, enthusiasm.

1. (transitive) To declare or find innocent or not guilty.
2. (transitive) To discharge (for example, a claim or debt); to clear off, to pay off; to fulfil.
3. (transitive) Followed by of (and formerly by from): to discharge, release, or set free from a burden, duty, liability, or obligation, or from an accusation or charge.
4. (reflexive) To bear or conduct oneself; to perform one's part.
5. (reflexive) To clear oneself.
6. (transitive, archaic) past participle of acquit.
7. (transitive, obsolete) To release, to rescue, to set free.
8. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To pay for; to atone for.

1. (countable, uncountable, historical) A mixture of aromatic substances, made into a ball and carried by a person to impart a sweet smell or as a protection against infection.
2. (countable, historical) A small case in which an aromatic ball was carried.
3. (countable) A perforated container filled with pot-pourri for placing in a drawer, wardrobe, room, etc., to provide a sweet smell.
4. (countable) An apple or orange studded with cloves used for the same purpose.

1. Confused, chaotic, disorderly, senseless.

1. A leg of lamb or mutton.
2. (fashion) Short for gigot sleeve (“a type of sleeve shaped like a leg of mutton”).

1. (literary) Foggy or misty; wintry.

1. An event held on the evening of 25th January in celebration of the Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns (born on that day in 1759), usually involving Scottish foods and recitals of his poetry.

1. (obsolete) A cassowary (genus Casuarius).
2. A large flightless bird native to Australia, Dromaius novaehollandiae.

Today is Australia Day, the national day of Australia.

1. (Judaism) A Jewish prayer of praise to God recited during services, and specifically when mourning the death of a close relative.

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which marks the Holocaust that occurred during World War II – the genocide perpetrated on Jews and other people by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.

1. (archaic or literary) Dark, obscure; murky.

1. Of or relating to Sir Stamford Raffles, a British colonial statesman known for his founding of modern Singapore and British Malaya.
2. (Singapore) Of or relating to an educational institution named after Sir Stamford Raffles.

Rafflesian n

1. (Singapore) A current or former student of an educational institution named after Sir Stamford Raffles.

On this day in 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles sailed up the Singapore River and landed on the main island of Singapore, having visited Saint John’s Island the previous day.

1. (transitive, rare or obsolete) To dissuade.

1. (British) (Excessively) cheerful and exuberant; bouncy.

The English author A. A. Milne, who created the character Tigger in his works about Winnie-the-Pooh, died on this day in 1956.