The Oxford English Dictionary is the unrivalled reference to the meaning, history and pronunciation of the English language. It defines over half a million words, and its ten volumes took 50 years to compile.

These days, the OED's lexicographers publish quarterly updates to the online edition. In the December 2011 update, they celebrated having added over 100,000 new or revised words to their online edition since it was first published in 2000. Among the 1,200 entries added and updated this time include well-known words such as earworm, death slide, and the cross-syllabic pair absotively and posilutely.

The other new words added to the OED in this update were maybe a little more obscure, but how many of them can you identify? I've listed 20 of the new words added in December 2011, and have given four possible definitions for each - can you spot the correct one?

You'll find the answers at the foot of the page, but no peeking until you've guessed them all!

1. aapa


a) a child's booster seat

b) a mobile phone

c) an older sister

d) a wind turbine

2. abacost


a) a cable tie

b) a Congolese man's suit

c) a reversed accrual

d) a Yiddish festival

3. abecedarium


a) the alphabet

b) an isotope of Einsteinium

c) a Roman conservatory

d) a shrubbery

4. abeng


a) a bugle made from a cow's horn

b) a Korean administrative area

c) a lemur

d) a swindler

5. aberglaube


a) an exosolar planet

b) nostalgia

c) superstition

d) upholstery adhesive

6. accablé


a) on-line

b) overwhelmed

c) protected

d) sufficient

7. accra


a) a Caribbean fritter

b) a rock fissure

c) a Senegalese coin

d) a snake

8. adjigo


a) a clown

b) a Polynesian raft

c) a stringed musical instrument

d) a yam

9. adlect


a) to appoint

b) to deselect

c) to judge

d) to research

10. Adyghe


a) a Caucasian language

b) a health tonic

c) a Native American tribe

d) a star in the constellation of Hydra

11. aedeagus


a) an alchemist

b) a cloud type

c) an insect's sperm-depositing organ

d) an underwater volcanic vent

12. Aegipan


a) an inhabitant of a Greek island

b) a mythical goat-like creature

c) a proprietary muscle relaxant

d) a star in the constellation of Corona Australis

13. bibimbap


a) a fur coat

b) a grain sieve

c) a Korean rice dish

d) a North American warbler

14. chermoula


a) an Australian tree

b) a divorce lawyer

c) a North African marinade

d) a South American dance

15. Dalit


a) a brand of vodka

b) A Croatian judge

c) A signalling lamp

d) an untouchable

16. Garifuna


a) an antiseptic cream

b) a Caribbean language

c) a cattle ranch

d) a cocktail

17. gordita


a) a breed of dog

b) a Mexican savoury cake

c) a teenage girl

d) a water tower

18. hendecad


a) a carpenter's tool

b) a group of eleven things

c) an incantation

d) a type of poison

19. traceur


a) a forger

b) a free runner

c) a heart monitor

d) a lightning conductor

20. turbinado


a) indigestion

b) a tropical storm

c) a variety of sugar

d) a wind turbine

1c 2b 3a 4a 5c 6b 7a 8d 9a 10a 11c 12b 13c 14c 15d 16b 17b 18b 19b 20c

Icy's Quizzes and More Archive

Icy North

16.01.12 Front Page

Back Issue Page