# english

Pronunciation: say "ING-glish" US /ˈɪŋ.ɡlɪʃ/, UK /ˈɪŋ(ɡ)lɪʃ/

## Proper noun · English

1. The language that developed in England and is now spoken around the world, including its regional varieties and individual ways of using it.
   - Simple: The language first spoken in England and now used around the world, in all its different forms.
   - _The two delegates had no language in common except English._
   - _English borrowed thousands of words from French in the centuries after the Norman Conquest._

## Adjective · English

2. Of, from, or relating to England.
   - Simple: From England or having to do with England.
   - _The English coast is dotted with old fishing towns and crumbling piers._
   - _Her course covers English history from the Middle Ages to the present._
3. Relating to the English language, which grew out of Anglo-Saxon in England.
   - Simple: Having to do with the English language.
   - _The English translation of the novel appeared a year after the original._
   - _English spelling trips up native speakers as often as it trips up learners._
12. Of or measured in the traditional non-metric units, such as inches, feet, pounds and gallons, used in Britain and the US.
   - Simple: Measured in old non-metric units, like inches, feet, pounds and gallons.
   - _Old shipping records give each cargo's weight in English tons._
   - _The old engineering drawings were all in English measurements, so every inch and foot had to be converted for the new metric machines._
14. Among the Amish, not Amish; so called because outsiders speak English rather than a form of German.
   - Simple: Used by Amish people about people who are not Amish, because those people speak English, not a kind of German.
   - _Many Amish families hire an English driver for trips to the doctor._
   - _The Amish bishop warned the young people against spending too much time with their English friends._

## Noun · English

4. The study of the English language, its literature and writing as a school or university subject, or the material taught in it.
   - Simple: The subject at school or college where you study the English language, its books and writing.
   - _In eighth-grade English, we read three novels and a book of poems._
   - _Her English teacher encouraged her to enter the county essay contest._
5. The English words used to express something, whether the English term for a thing or idea or the English wording of a message or text.
   - Simple: The English words used to say something.
   - _The contract's terms were fair, but its English was so tangled that no one could follow it._
   - _The editor smoothed out the English of the translated speech without changing its meaning._
6. The ability to use the English language correctly and idiomatically.
   - Simple: How well someone can speak or write English.
   - _Her English improved dramatically after a year of working in Toronto._
   - _The position requires excellent written English and some Spanish._
7. The people of England, Englishmen and Englishwomen together.
   - Simple: The people who come from England, thought of as a group.
   - _The English have played cricket on village greens for centuries._
   - _Unlike many of their neighbors, the English still use miles and pints._
9. A clear, readily understood way of putting an idea in English.
   - Simple: Clear, simple words in English that are easy to understand.
   - _After ten minutes of technical talk, the engineer finally put it in plain English: the bridge was unsafe._
   - _In English, please: what does this clause actually mean for me?_
13. Among the Amish, the people who live outside the Amish faith and community.
   - Simple: What Amish people call everyone who is not Amish.
   - _Few of the English understand why the Amish will not own cars._
   - _At eighteen he left his Amish farm to live among the English for a year._

## Noun

8. Spinning motion around the vertical axis given to a ball, as in pool, billiards, or bowling. *(Canada, US)*
   - Simple: Sideways spin that a player puts on a ball, as in pool or bowling.
   - _She put left english on the cue ball to bring it off the cushion toward the corner pocket._
   - _With a little english, the bowler made the ball hook into the pocket at the last moment._
10. An unusual or unexpected slant or nuance given to the interpretation of a text or idea.
   - Simple: A new and surprising way of looking at an idea or a piece of writing.
   - _The director puts some english on the familiar fairy tale by setting it in a small-town diner._
   - _The columnist put a little english on the governor's remarks to make them sound like an endorsement._

## Verb · English

11. To translate or adapt something into English. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To change words from another language into English.
15. To make someone or something English, or to claim something for England. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To make something English, or to say that something now belongs to England.

## Noun · English

16. A size of type standardized as 14-point, falling between pica (12-point) and great primer (18-point). *(dated)*
   - Simple: An old printing name for letters that are 14 points in size.
   - _The preface is set in English, two points larger than the pica used for the main text._
   - _The printer's inventory lists two cases of English roman and one of great primer._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–7, 9, 11–16** — From Middle English Englisch, from Old English Englisċ ("of the Angles; English"), formed from Engle ("the Angles"), a Germanic tribe, plus the suffix -isċ (modern -ish). Related words include Dutch Engels, German englisch and French anglais.
**Meanings 8, 10** — Of uncertain origin. It may refer to English players bringing the technique to American billiards or bowling, or to a person with the surname English.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/english (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).