The Facts on File Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases (Writers Reference) (29 page)

exempli gratia (ekzemplee gra)Lsha)
LATIN [for the sake of example] adverb phrase for example, for instance.
"abbreviated form e.g.

exemplum (ekzemplam) LATIN [example, model] noun (plural exempla,
ekzempla) example, model; also
used to refer to a short story with a
message or moral.

exeunt (ekzeeant) LATIN [they go out,
from exire to go out] noun a stage
direction indicating that two or more
characters leave the stage. -verb two
or more characters leave the stage
(stage direction).

exeunt omnes (ekzeeant omnayz)
LATIN [they all go out, from exire to
go out] verb phrase all the characters
leave the stage (stage direction).

ex facie (eks fshee) LATIN [from
the face] adverb phrase apparently, on
the face of it.

ex gratia (eks grysha) LATIN [from
grace] adjective phrase as a favor, voluntary, gratuitory: "The company made
several ex gratia payments on the understanding that the money would not be used
to buy shares in their rivals.' -adverb phrase
as a favor, voluntarily, gratuitously.

ex hypothesi (eks hipothasee) LATIN
[from a hypothesis] adverb phrase by
hypothesis, hypothetically, supposedly.

exigeant (ekzjant), exigent FRENCH
[from Latin exigere to exact] adjec

tive exacting, demanding, requiring
immediate attention.

exit (ekzit, egzit) LATIN [he or she
goes out, from exire to go out] noun a
stage direction indicating that a character leaves the stage; also in more
general usage for any way out or
departure: "The comedian made a rapid
et from the stage, pausing only to snarl
a sharp word at his tormentors." 'verb
a character leaves the stage (stage
direction, but also in more general
usage).

ex libris (eks leebris, eks libris) LATIN
[from the books] noun phrase from
the library of (as printed on bookplates identifying a book's owner).
'abbreviated form ex lib.

exnihilo (eks neealo, eks nialo) LATIN
[out of nothing, from ex nihilo nihilfit
nothing is made out of nothing] adverb
phrase from nothing: "He believes that
God created the universe ex nihilo."-adjective phrase from nothing.

exodus (eksadas, egzadas) GREEK [exout of and hodos way] noun (plural exoduses, eksadasiz, egzadasiz)
an emigration or mass departure:
"They were part of the exodus of Jews
from Eastern Europe.."^'abbreviated form
exod.

ex officio (eks afisheeo, eks afiseeo),
ex officiis (eks afisheeis, eks afiseeis) LATIN [from the office] adverb phrase by virtue of a person's office
or position. adjective phrase by virtue of a person's office or position:
"Ten chances but you plead your own
cause, man, for I may be brought up by
a sabre, or a bow-string, before I make
my pack up; then your road to Menie
will be free and open, and as you will be
possessed of the situation of comforter ex
officio, you may take her with the tear
in her ee', as old saws advise" (Walter
Scott, Chronicles of the Canongate,
1827). '"noun phrase a person who
acts in an ex officio role. abbreviated form ex off.

exordium (egzordee5M) LATIN [introduction, from exordiri to begin]
noun (plural exordiums or exordia, egzordeea) the beginning
or introduction (usually of a piece
of writing or speech): "Mr. Varden,'
returned the other, perfectly composed
under this exordium; I beg you'll take
a chair. Chocolate, perhaps, you don't
relish? Well! it IS an acquired taste,
no doubt" (Charles Dickens, Barnaby
Rudge, 1841).

exotica (egzotika) LATIN [from exotika, from the neuter plural of Latin
exoticus exotic] noun objects or things
of an exotic or mysterious nature:
"Various items of exotica spilled out of the
suitcase."

ex parte (eks p&tee), ex-parte LATIN
[from a side] adverb phrase from or
on one side only (especially in legal proceedings). '-adjective phrase onesided, partisan.

ex pede Herculem (eks pedee herk)'oolam) LATIN [from the foot, Hercules] adverb phrase to work out the
entirety of something from a small
piece of information about it (recalling how the Greek mathematician
Pythagoras attempted to calculate the
height of Hercules form the size of
his foot).

expose (ekspzay), expose FRENCH
[exposition, report, past participle
of exposer to set out, display] noun an
exposure of sensational or discrediting facts (usually in the media);
also applied more generally of any
explanation of facts or ideas: "Full
details of their affair appeared in a
searing expose in the newspapers the
following day."

ex post (eks -oast) LATIN [from after]
adjective phrase based on fact; factual, objective. -adverb phrase retrospectively.

ex post facto (eks post fakto), ex
postfacto LATIN [from something
done afterward] adjective phrase after the fact, retrospective: "An act
done ... may be made good by matter ex
post facto, that was not so at first" (Tomlin's Law Dictionary, 1835). -adverb
phrase retrospectively.

expresso See ESPRESSO.

ex professo (eks profeso) LATIN [from
the professed thing, profiteri to
declare] adverb phrase professedly,
as claimed: "..you will have some
dfculty in understanding why the leading society of Soulanges (all the town,
in fact) thought this quasi-queen a
beauty, unless, indeed, you remember
the succinct statement recently made `ex
professo,' by one of the cleverest women
of our time, on the art of making her
sex beautiful by surrounding accessories"
(Honore de Balzac, Sons of the Soil,
1823-26).

ex proprio motu (eks propreeo motoo)
LATIN [by one's own motion] adverb
phrase voluntarily, of a person's own
accord.

ex silentio (eks silenteeo, eks silensheeo) LATIN [from silence] adverb
phrase lacking evidence to the contrary.

extempore (ekstemparee), ex tempore LATIN [from ex tempore out of the
time, ablative of tempus time] adverb
in an extemporaneous, unpremeditated, unprepared manner: "SNUG
Have you the lion's part written? pray
you, if it / be, give it me, for I am slow
of study. / QUINCE You may do it
extempore, for it is nothing but roaring"
(William Shakespeare, A Midsummer
Night's Dream, c. 1595). -adjective
extemporaneous, unpremeditated,
unprepared.

extra muros (ekstr3 P'00OS) LATIN
[beyond the walls] adjective phrase external, outside the walls. -adjective extramural concerned with the
external policies of an organization or
institution.

extraordinaire (ekstrordinair) FRENCH
[extraordinary] adjective extraordinary, remarkable, unusual: "It was
a fantastic performance by a showman
extraordinaire."

extravaganza (ekstravSganz5) ITALIAN
[from estravaganza extravagance] noun
a lavish or spectacular display, event,
show, or entertainment: "In a minute or
two afterwards he rose from his chair, paced
the room at a very rapid rate, which was
his practice in certain moods of mind, then
made a dead halt, and bursting into an
extravaganza of laughter, James,' cried he,
`I'll tell you what Byron should say to me
when we are about to accost each other..."'
(J. G. Lockhart, Life of Sir Walter Scott,
1837-38).

extra vices (ekstr5 vireez) LATIN
[beyond power] adjective phrase beyond the scope of a body's legal
authority. 'adverb phrase beyond the
scope of a body's legal authority.

ex-voto (eks voto), ex voto LATIN
[from ex voto from a vow] noun (plural
ex-votos) a votive offering or gift:
"On every picture 'Ex voto' was painted in
yellow capitals in the sky. Though votive offerings were not unknown in Pagan Temples, and are evidently among the many
compromises made between the false religion
and the true, when the true was in its infancy, I could wish that all the other compromises
were as harmless" (Charles Dickens, Pictures from Italy, 1845). 'adjective phrase
votive, according to a vow.

f See FORTE (2).

facade (fasahd) FRENCH [front] noun
the front of a building, or a false or
superficial appearance: "The indistinct
summit of the facade was notched and
pronged by chimneys here and there, and
upon its face were faintly signed the
oblong shapes of windows, though only
in the upper part" (Thomas Hardy, Far
From the Madding Crowd, 1874).

facetiae (faseesheei) LATIN [plural of
facetia a jest, witticism] plural noun
witticisms or short, typically pornographic, stories: "At the head of the
`Facetiae'in the morning's paper, Lousteau
inserted the following note..." (Honore
de Balzac, A Distinguished Provincial at
Paris, 1839).

facile princeps (fakilapkeps, fasilee
PTkM_seps) LATIN [easily first] noun
phrase clearly the first or foremost,
the leader in a particular field: "I saw a
good deal of Robert Brown, facile Princeps
Botanicorum; as he was called by Humboldt" (Charles Darwin, Autobiography,
1887).

faton de parler (fason(g) da phrlay)
FRENCH [way of speaking] noun phrase
(plural facons de parler) a manner
of speech or a formulaic phrase or
figure of speech: "Interlopers from the
wealthy end of town were immediately
ident)able by their facon de parler."

facsimile (f"aksimilee) LATIN [imperative of facere to make and simile like]
noun a faithful replica or precise
reproduction of something, often a
copy of written material transmitted
electronically: "Each utensil spoon,
fork, knife, plate had a letter engraved
on it, with a motto above it, of which this
is an exact facsimile: MOBILIS IN MOBILI
N" (Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea, 1869). 'abbreviated form fax
(faks).

facta non verba (fakta non verba)
LATIN [deeds not words] noun phrase
the time has come to take action
rather than simply talk about doing
something.

factotum (faktotam) LATIN [imperative of facere to do and totum all] noun (plural factotums) a person or
employee who has responsibility for
a range of general tasks or activities;
a person who does all his master's
work: " Dmitri! Eh, Dmitri! Gallop off to
our Moscow estate,' he said to the factotum
who appeared at his call" (Leo Tolstoy,
War and Peace, 1863-69).

fado (fahdo, fahdoo) PORTUGUESE
[fate, from Latin fatum] noun a melancholy Portuguese folk song. A fado
singer is a fadisto (male) or fadista
(female): "We went to a marvellous fado
evening on vacation in Portugal."

faience (fayons) FRENCH [after Faenza,
Italy] noun colorful tin-glazed earthenware of the type developed at the
town of Faenza, Italy, sometimes
applied to any type of glazed ceramic:
"The smile, you see, is
pefectwonderful / As mere Faience! a table ornament / To
suit the richest mounting" (George Eliot,
Middlemarch, 1871-72).

faineant (fyneeon(g)) FRENCH [third
person singular of faire to do and neant
nothing] noun a lazy person or idler:
"And then, out comes the red truth; and he
dares to tell me, to my face, that my patent
must be suppressed for the present, for fear
of disgusting that rascally coward and
faineant..." (Walter Scott, Waverly,
1814). "adjective lazy, indolent.

fait accompli (fayt akomlee, fet
akomlee) FRENCH [accomplished
fact] noun phrase (plural faits accom

plis, fayt akomlpeez, fet
5komlpeez) a deed that is irreversibly done or
settled by the time others first know
about it: "Europe adjusts itself to a
fait accompli, and so does an individual
character until the placid adjustment
is disturbed by a convulsive retribution"
(George Eliot, Adam Bede, 1859).

fajita (faheeta) MEXICAN SPANISH
[diminutive offaja sash, belt] noun a
dish of marinated beef or chicken cut
into strips and served in sauce as the
filling of a flour tortilla.

fakir (fakeer, fayker) ARABIC [poor
man] noun a Muslim or Hindu religious ascetic or mendicant monk:
"Then he occupied himself with the education of this son, and when the boy waxed
strong and came to the age of seven, he
brought him a fakir, a doctor of law and
religion, to teach him in his own house,
and charged him to give him a good education and instruct him in politeness and
good manners" (Richard Burton, "The
Tale of Three Apples," Arabian Nights,
1885-88). Also used as a negative
term for a charlatan or fake.

falafel (falahfal) ARABIC noun a ball
or patty of spiced ground vegetables
or beans, fried and typically served
with pita bread.

falsetto (folseto) ITALIAN [diminutive
of falso false] noun (plural falsetti,
folsetee) a singer with a highpitched voice, above tenor. adjective sung in an artificially high-pitched
voice, above tenor: "Someone could be
heard within dancing frantically, marking
time with his heels to the sounds of the guitar and of a thin falsetto voice singing a
jaunty air" (Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime
and Punishment, 1866).

fandango (fandango) SPANISH noun
(plural fandangos, fandangoes) a
lively Spanish or South American
dance usually performed by two
dancers accompanied by guitar and
castanets; also applied to the music
itself. Also used satirically of foolish,
ridiculous, or improper behavior or
speech.