The Facts on File Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases (Writers Reference) (35 page)

grand luxe (gron(g) looks) FRENCH
[great luxury] noun phrase the height
of luxury.

grand mal (gron(g) mal) FRENCH [great
sickness] noun phrase severe epilepsy.
See also PETIT MAL.

grand prix (gron(g) pi), Grand
Prix FRENCH [big prize] noun phrase
(plural grands prix, gron(g) preen)
a contest at the highest level, often
referring to international Formula
One motor racing but also applicable
to equestrianism, cycling, tennis, and
other activities: Do you remember, my
dear Madame de Camps, that in 1831
you and I went together to the Beaux-Arts
to see the exhibition of works which were
competing for the Grand Prix in sculpture?"
(Honore de Balzac, Deputy of Arcis,
1847). ''abbreviated form G.P.

grand seigneur (gron(g) send)
FRENCH [great lord] noun (plural
Brands seigneurs) a great nobleman or aristocrat, typically of French
background: "Mills hardly deigned to

answer that he didn't know anything about
his cousin's movements. A grand seigneur
combined with a great connoisseur,' opined
the other heavily" (Joseph Conrad, The
Arrow of Gold, 1919).

grand siecle (gron(g) seeykl5) FRENCH
[the great century] noun phrase (plural Brands siecles) the classical or
golden age, often referring specifically
to the reign of Louis XIV of France
(1638-1715).

Granth, Granth Sahib See ADI
GRANTH.

gran turismo (gran tyoorizmo) ITALIAN [great touring] noun phrase highperformance, high-specification (of
automobiles). '"abbreviated form G.T.

grappa (grapa) ITALIAN [Italian dialect for grape stalk] noun brandy distilled from the remains of the grapes
after winemaking.

gratin (rg_atan, grahtan) FRENCH [from
grater to grate] noun a method of
cooking in which grated cheese or
breadcrumbs is sprinkled on food and
then cooked to form a thin brown
crust: "The waiters reported that they
objected to their breakfasts, and especially to
the eggs. Thereupon (to translate the Frenchman's own way of putting it) he exhausted
himself in exquisite preparations of eggs.
Eggs a la tripe, au gratin ... and so on"
(Wilkie Collins, I Say No, 1884).

gratis (gratis, grihtis) LATIN [ablative
plural of gratia favor] adverb freely,
gratuitously: "They spoke to me with
great humanity, and said, they were sure
the captain would carry me gratis to
Lisbon, whence I might return to my own
country ..." (Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's
Travels, 1726). 'adjective free, without
charge.

gravadlax See GRAVLAX.

gravamen (gravahman) LATIN [burden,
from gravare to weigh on, oppress]
noun (plural gravamens or gravamina, gravahmana) the substance
or gist of a complaint, accusation, or
grievance.

gravida (gravada) LATIN [feminine of
gravidus, from gratis heavy] noun (plural
gravidas or gravidae, gravadee) a
pregnant woman.

gravitas (graVitas) LATIN [seriousness]
noun gravity, solemnity, or high
seriousness: "The inspector listened to
their story with suitable gravitas."

gravlax (gravlaks), gravlaks, gravadlax (gravadlaks) SWEDISH [buried
salmon] noun salmon cured with
salt, dill, and other spices.

grazioso (gratseeoso) ITALIAN [gracious] adverb in music, an instruction for a passage of music to be
played gracefully. adjective of or relating to a passage of music to be
played gracefully.

grenadine (grenadeen, grenadeen)
FRENCH [from grenade pomegranate]
noun a cordial syrup flavored with
pomegranate juice: "To make a Tequila
Sunriseyou need tequila, grenadine, orange
juice, and ice."

grimace (grimas, grimws) FRENCH
[from grimache] noun a facial expression of disapproval or disgust: "`You're
a damned rogue, says the old gentleman,
making a hideous grimace at the door as
he shuts it. But I'll lime you, you dog,
I'll lime you!"' (Charles Dickens, Bleak
House, 1852-53). -verb to make such
a face.

gringo (gLilgo) SPANISH [foreigner,
gibberish, from griego Greek, stranger]
noun (plural gringos) a foreigner in
Spain or in Spanish-speaking Latin
America, usually applied to whiteskinned non-Hispanics, especially
of Anglo-Saxon background: "The
peasants could not make up their minds
whether the stranger was the man they
had been waiting for or just another lazy
gringo down on his luck." -adjective of
or relating to a gringo or anything
foreign.

grisette (grizet) FRENCH [cheap,
unbleached cloth, as worn by French
shopgirls, from gris grey] noun (plural
grisettes) a French working girl
or shopgirl, typically coquettish in character. Also applied to such young
women who supplemented their
income with part-time prostitution:
"Still Adrienne thought herself the obliged
party, in times as critical as those which
then hung over France, in being permitted
to toil for a sum that would barely supply
a grisette, accustomed all her life to privations, with the coarsest necessaries." (James
Fenimore Cooper, Autobiography of a
Pocket-Handkerchief, 1843).

grissini (griseenee) ITALIAN [breadstick] plural noun (singular grissino,
griseeno) long, thin, crisp Italian
breadsticks.

gros point (gro Wan ) FRENCH
[large point] noun phrase a form
of embroidery in which stitches are
worked over a double-thread canvas.

grotesque (grotesk) FRENCH [from
Italian grottesco of a grotto or cave]
adjective bizarre, fanciful, distorted,
or hideous: "The effect is said to be
unspeakably absurd: and if I may judge
from a print of this ceremony which I have
in my possession; and which I am informed
by those who have visited the chapel, is
perfectly accurate; it must be infinitely
grotesque." (Charles Dickens, American
Notes, 1842).

grotto (grotO) ITALIAN [cavern] noun
a cavern, or an artificial recess or
retreat with cave-like qualities: "They
retreated by the same passage which had

admitted them to the prior's secret seat of
observation, and when they issued from the
grotto into the wood, the birds which began
to chirp, and even to sing, announced that
the dawn was advanced." (Walter Scott,
TheAntiquary, 1816).

G.T. See GRAN TURISMO.

guacamole (gwakamolee) SPANISH
[from Nahuatl ahuacatl avocado and
molli sauce] noun a Mexican dish
of pureed or mashed avocado mixed
with seasonings.

guano ( wahno) SPANISH [from Quechua huanu dung, fertilizer] noun
(plural guanos) a natural fertilizer
made from the droppings of seabirds
or bats: "Of course they might be made
into guano, and Cape Cod is not so fertile
that her inhabitants can afford to do
without this manure, to say nothing of
the diseases they may produce." (Henry
David Thoreau, Cape Cod, 1865).

guapacha (gwaphcha) SPANISH [possibly from Cuban Spanish guaposo bold
or dashing] noun a modern AfroCuban dance that is a fusion of the
cha-cha and street hiphop.

gueridon (geridan(g)), gueridon
FRENCH [after Gueridon, a traditional
character in French farces and songs]
noun a small (usually round and
often elaborately carved) ornamental
table or stand.

guerrilla (gerila, garila) SPANISH [little war, diminutive of guerra war] noun
(plural guerrillas) an irregular soldier, typically one belonging to a band
of such fighters and usually engaged in
raids and acts of sabotage behind enemy
lines. adjective of or relating to such
fighters or their campaigns and tactics:
"That aim was attained in the first place of
itself, as the French ran away, and so it was
only necessary not to stop their flight. Secondly it was attained by the guerrilla warfare which was destroying the French." (Leo
Tolstoy, War and Peace, 1863-69).

guillotine (gilateen, geeateen) FRENCH
[after French physician Joseph Ignace
Guillotin (1738-1814), who proposed the use of the guillotine during the French Revolution] noun a
decapitating machine in which the
head of the condemned prisoner is
cleanly severed by a heavy falling blade
with a diagonal cutting edge: According to the received code in such matters,
it would have been nothing short of duty,
in a politician, to bring every one of those
white heads under the axe of the guillotine"
(Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, 1850). Also used of smaller devices
designed to cut paper. -verb to cut off
someone's head (or a piece of paper,
etc.) using a guillotine.

gulag (goolag) RUSSIAN [from Glavnoe
upravlenie ispravitel no-trudovykh lagerei
chief administration of corrective
labor camps] noun a Soviet prison

camp, one of a system of such camps
set up by the Communist regime
in the USSR for the confinement of
political prisoners and other criminals: "Thousands of dissidents were carried off from their homes and sent to
a miserable death in the gulags, their
disappearance barely noticed by the foreign press."

gung-ho (gung h0) CHINESE [from
gonghe, from Zhongguo Gongye Hezuo
She Chinese Industrial Cooperative
Society, but interpreted as meaning
"work together" and adopted as a
slogan by U.S. Marines during World
War II] adjective eager, enthusiastic,
overzealous: "The colonel was very gung-
ho about their chances of victory."

Gurkha (gerka) NEPALESE [after the
Gurkha people of Nepal] noun a
member of the warlike Rajput clan
of Nepal, often referring to soldiers
from Nepal serving in the British or
Indian army: "The Gurkhas established
a fearsome reputation in the jungle campaigns against the Japanese."

guru (gooroo, garoo) HINDI [from
guru heavy, venerable] noun in Hinduism, a spiritual guide or religious
teacher, but also used in a much wider
context of any influential instructor or
popular expert: "I am no Khitai, but a
Bhotiya (Tibetan), since you must know
a lama or, say a guru in your tongue.' i1
guru from Tibet; said Kim. I have not seen such a man. They be Hindus in Tibet, then?"'
(Rudyard Kipling, Kim, 1901).

gusto (~IISt0) ITALIAN [taste, pleasure]
noun enthusiasm, vigor, vitality, relish, enjoyment, delight: "Penrod brought
the bottle down, surprisingly full after so
much gusto, but withheld it from Sam;
and the two scuffled for its possession."
(BoothTarkington, Penrod, 1914).

gutta-percha (gata percha) MALAYSIAN
[from getah sap, latex and percha scrap,
rag] noun a rubbery plastic substance
derived from the latex of various
Malaysian trees, variously used in
dentistry, electrical insulation, and
elsewhere.

gym See GYMNASIUM.

gymkhana Gimkahna) HINDI [from
gedkhana ball court] noun a festi

val of sporting contests and athletic
displays, most often a series of competitive equestrian events: "Miss Penner
did not know what magnum opus meant;
but she knew that Captain Kerrington had
won three races at the last Gymkhana."
(Rudyard Kipling, "Wressley of the
Foreign Office," 1887).

gymnasium (]imprzeeam) GREEK
[gymnazein to exercise naked] noun
(plural gymnasiums or gymnasia,
jimnazeea) an indoor sports facility suitable for a range of sports and
gymnastics: "The Zenith Athletic Club
is not athletic and it isn't exactly a club,
but it is Zenith in perfection. It has an
active and smoke-misted billiard room,
it is represented by baseball and football
teams, and in the pool and the gymnasium
a tenth of the members sporadically try to
reduce." (Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt, 1922).
-shortened form: gym.

h.a. See HOC ANNO.

habanera (habhnaira, abhnaira) SPANISH [from danza habanera dance of
Havana] noun a slow Cuban dance in
simple duple time, or the music that
accompanies it.

habeas corpus (ha),beeas korpas) LATIN
[you should have the body] noun phrase
a common law writ under which a
party may be summoned to court, or
else protected against illegal imprisonment through investigation of the
legitimacy of that person's detention:
"Trip up a policeman in such a scramble, and
he will take it in good spirit; but mention the
words Habeas Corpus,' and he'll lock you
up if he can." (Anthon), Trollope, Phineas
Finn, 1869).

habendum (habendam) LATIN [that is
to be had, from habere to have] noun (in
law) the part of a deed that gives details
of how the property is to be assigned to
the purchaser.

habitat (habitat) LATIN [he, she, or
it inhabits] noun a place or environ ment that a particular person, plant,
or animal normally frequents; often
referring to a person's domestic surroundings: "The Arctic is the natural
habitat of the polar bear."

habitue (habich),ooay, habichyooay)
FRENCH [past participle of habituer
to frequent] noun a person who
regularly frequents a particular place
or kind of place, such as nightclubs
or theaters: "Darm their nasty ways,'
said Tony to Mr. Larry Twentyman, who
was one of the popular habitues of the
hunt; they runs one a top of another's
brushes, till there ain't a 'ound living
knows t'other from which" (Anthon),
Trollope, Ayala'sAngel, 1881).

hacienda(haseeenda) SPANISH [derived
from Latin faciendus, things to be
done, gerundive of facere to do]
noun a large Spanish-style country
estate or plantation, or the main
building within such an estate: "Our
first day's ride was northward along
the seacoast. After dark we reached the
Hacienda of Quintero, the estate which
formerly belonged to Lord Cochrane." (Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle,
1839).