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Johnson's Dictionary Online
@sjdictionary.bsky.social
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Site features, announcements, vocabulary, observations-- from the team of the NEH-funded Johnson's Dictionary Online. RT does not imply endorsement. Also on 🧵. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com
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sjdictionary.bsky.social
Altigrade. adj. [from altus and gradior, Lat.] Rising on high.
Dict.
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/altigra...
February 11, 2026 at 12:17 AM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Mussitation. n.s. [mussito, Lat.] Murmur; grumble.
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/mussita...
February 9, 2026 at 2:15 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Protracter. n.s. [from protract.]
1. One who draws out any thing to tedious length.
2. A mathematical instrument for taking and measuring angles.
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/protrac...
February 8, 2026 at 1:00 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Tardigradous. adj. [tardigradus, Lat.] Moving slowly.
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/tardigr...
February 7, 2026 at 3:03 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
To FARCE. v.a. [farcio, Latin; farcir, French.]
1. To stuff; to fill with mingled ingredients.
2. To extend; to swell out.
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/farce_va
February 6, 2026 at 2:46 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Salpicon. n.s. [In cookery.]
A kind of farce put into holes cut in legs of beef, veal, or mutton. Bailey.
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/salpico...
February 6, 2026 at 2:45 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Asp.
Aspick. n.s. [aspis, Lat.] A kind of serpent, whose poison kills without a possibility of applying any remedy...
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/aspick_...
February 5, 2026 at 1:15 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Onycha. n.s. It is found in two different senses in scripture. —— The odoriferous snail or shell, and the stone onyx...
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/onycha_ns
February 4, 2026 at 2:30 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Dazied. adj. [rather dasied. See Daisy.] Besprinkled with daisies.

johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/dazied_...
February 3, 2026 at 1:30 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Lambative. n.s. A medicine taken by licking with the tongue.

johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/lambati...
February 2, 2026 at 2:15 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Fe'bruary. n.s. [februarius, Latin] The name of the second month in the year.

You have such a February face,
So full of frost, of storm, and cloudiness?
Shakespeare.

johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/februar...
February 1, 2026 at 12:45 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Rollypooly. n.s. A sort of game, in which, when a ball rolls into a certain place, it wins. A corruption of roll ball into the pool.

Let us begin some diversion; what d’ye think of roulypouly or a country dance?
Arbuthnot’s History of John Bull.
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/rollypo...
January 31, 2026 at 3:30 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
"I HAVE been dipping again into odd issues of Dr Johnson’s first magazine, The Rambler, which never fails to offer some worthwhile insight, and is often strikingly relevant to our life..."

www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202...
January 30, 2026 at 6:30 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Sorcerer. n.s. [sorcier, French; sortiarius, low Latin.] A conjurer; an enchanter; a magician.
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/sorcere...
January 30, 2026 at 1:45 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Aurelia. n.s. [Lat.]
A term used for the first apparent change of the eruca, or maggot of any species of insects. Chambers.
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/aurelia...
January 29, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Reposted by Johnson's Dictionary Online
storiesofbritain.bsky.social
What is a Slubberdegullion or Jabbernowl? Insults defined in Samuel Johnson’s great dictionary. Hear about these strange words in our life of Dr Johnson Podcast: tinyurl.com/r6x2d9m7 #history #literature #engllsh #dictionary #englishlanguage
January 21, 2026 at 2:03 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Vaivode. n.s. [waiwod, a governor, Sclavonian.] A prince of the Dacian provinces.

johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/vaivode...
January 28, 2026 at 2:45 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Sharp-set. adj. [sharp and set.]
1. Hungry; ravenous.
2. Eager; vehemently desirous.
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/sharp-s...
January 27, 2026 at 2:04 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
"[This conversation] looks at Samuel Johnson as the cathartic figure whose lexicographic work shaped modern English dictionaries."
lithub.com/how-to-build...
How to Build a Dictionary: On the Hard Art of Popular Lexicography
At the end of the first quarter of the twenty-first century, about 400 million people are native English speakers. With those for whom English is a second language, the number reaches far above: betw…
lithub.com
January 26, 2026 at 6:12 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
THORN. n.s. [thaurns, Gothick; ðorn, Saxon; doorne, Dutch.]
1. A prickly tree of several kinds.
2. A prickle growing on the thorn bush.
3. Any thing troublesome.
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/thorn_ns
January 26, 2026 at 1:03 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Dominical. adj. [dominicalis, Latin.] That which notes the Lord’s day, or Sunday.
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/dominic...
January 25, 2026 at 3:15 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Lismore said his favorite part of the trip was going to the house of Samuel Johnson, who Lismore said was a famous 18th century writer who wrote “probably the first true English dictionary as we think of it today.” evdiomessage.org/lismore-trip...
Lismore: Trip through Lilly Fellowship ‘impacting my practice every day’
Shown is The Radcliffe Camera in Oxford. It is a famous structure and part of the university’s Bodleian library. Submitted photo By John Rohlf, The Message assistant editor  Reitz Memorial High…
evdiomessage.org
January 24, 2026 at 5:15 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
Neatness. n.s. [from neat.]

1. Spruceness; elegance without dignity.

Pelagius carped at the curious neatness of men’s apparel.
Hooker, b. v. s. 29.

2. Cleanliness.
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/neatnes...
January 24, 2026 at 3:02 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
"Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language, published in London in 1755, carved out a role for the dictionary: to establish what would become known as Standard English. Johnson himself was aware that language is a living thing, always in flux.... www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Is the Dictionary Done For?
The print edition of Merriam-Webster was once a touchstone of authority and stability. Then the internet brought about a revolution.
www.newyorker.com
January 23, 2026 at 8:06 PM
sjdictionary.bsky.social
To Egg. v.a. [eggia, to incite, Islandick; eggian, Saxon.] To incite; to instigate; to provoke to action.
johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/egg_va
January 23, 2026 at 5:03 PM