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Word | Meaning | Eponym |
daguerreotype | An early form of photography much like tintype. | Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre (1789-1851), French painter and pioneering photographer. |
dahlia | A large colorful, thickly petalled flower. | Named by Carl Peter Thunberg after his close personal friend, Anders Dahl (1751-1789), an obscure Swedish botanist. |
decibel | A measure of the difference between two acoustic levels equal to 10 times the common logarithm of the ratio between the two levels; 1/10 of a bel. | Latin deci- "ten" + the surname of Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), the Scottish-born American scientist who invented the telephone. |
degauss | To make nonmagnetic; take away the magnetic properties (of), as to degauss a TV screen. | Karl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855), a German mathematician and scientist who contributed significantly to number theory, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, magnetism, astronomy, and optics. |
derby | 1. A race, especially a horse race for 3-year-olds. 2. A stiff felt hat with a round crown and narrow brim. | Both named after Edward Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby (1752-1834), founder of the English Derby. |
derrick | A tall, slender structure over an oil well used for hoisting pipes and lowering them into the well holes. | Goodman Derick, a 17th century English hangman. The word originally referred to a gallows. |
derringer | A small pistol easily concealed in the sleeve or in a lady's purse. | Henry Deringer (1786-1868), the American gunsmith who invented it. |
diesel | A type of motor engine that runs on heating oil rather than gasoline or petrol. | Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913), the German mechanical engineer who invented it. |
dionysian | Orgiastic, relating to drunken orgies; wildly emotional, irrational. | Dionysus, Greek god of wine, fruitfulness and vegetation (see also bacchanalia). |
doily | A small place mat or decorative coverlet, usually crocheted. | Mr. Doyley (first name unknown), probably a 17th century draper and dry-goods dealer on the Strand in London. |
draconian | Harsh, unfairly demanding. | Draco, a 7th century BCE Athenian law-giver known for his harsh laws and enforcement. |
dunce | Nincompoop, stupid person. | John Duns Scotus (circa 1265-1308), the Scottish theologian whose writings and philosophy were ridiculed by many during his lifetime. |
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