noun
Chiefly British Slang. (formerly) an annual dinner or party given by an employer for employees.
Beanfeast is a perfectly ordinary compound of the humble bean and feast. A beanfeast was originally an annual dinner given by employers for their employees, but the word acquired the sense “festive occasion” by the end of the 19th century. Beanfeast entered English in the early 19th century.
In August the annual outing, or, as it was called, the bean-feast, at the works took place.
Why do we come? … Simply from the primordial love of a bean-feast!
noun
an ornamental branched holder for more than one candle.
Candelabrum comes straight from Latin candēlābrum, formed from the noun candēla “a candle, taper” (from the verb candēre “to shine, gleam”) and -brum, a variant of -bulum, a suffix for forming neuter nouns for tools or places. English candle (Old English candel, condel) had already been in Old English long enough to become part of its poetic vocabulary, e.g., Glād ofer grundas / Godes condel beorht “God’s bright candle glided over the grounds” in the magnificent poem “The Battle of Brunanburh” recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (c. 955). Candelabrum entered English in the 19th century.
The menorah is an eight-branched candelabrum that is symbolic of the celebration of Hanukkah.
… I bade Pedro to close the heavy shutters of the room … to light the tongues of a tall candelabrum which stood by the head of my bed–and to throw open far and wide the fringed curtains of black velvet which enveloped the bed itself.
noun
the office, term, or jurisdiction of a sheriff.
Shrievalty, “the office, term, or jurisdiction of a sheriff,” is a rare word. Shrieve is one of many, many spelling variants of the Late Middle English compound noun shire-reeve. A shire is “the office of administration, jurisdiction of an office or county,” and a reeve is “a high official in charge of an administrative district.” Sheriff is an ordinary outcome of shire-reeve. The suffix -alty is taken from such political and legal terms as mayoralty (from mayoral and the suffix -ty, from Old French -tet, ultimately from Latin -tās, a suffix for forming abstract nouns from adjectives). The equally rare but more transparent noun sheriffalty was also formed from sheriff and -alty. Shrievalty entered English in the 16th century.
You must give up your shrievalty immediately and I will get the Shire Court to appoint a caretaker sheriff in your place until the will of the King is known.
Judges, small magistrates, officers large and small, the shrievalty, the water office, the tax office, all were to come within its purview.
adjective
in the current fashion; stylish.
The adjective modish is formed from the noun mode “fashion, current fashion” and the suffix -ish. Modish, very common in the 17th and 18th centuries, entered English in the 17th century.
It’s a work both modish and antique, apparently postmodern in emphasis but fed by the exploratory energies of the Renaissance.
Describing hairstyles is not my forte, I lack the vocabulary, but there was something of the fifties film star to it, what my mother would call ‘a do’, yet it was modish and contemporary too.
verb
Scot. and North England. to peep; look furtively.
Keek “to peep” is a verb used in Scotland and northern England. It does not occur in Old English but is related to, if not derived from, Middle Dutch and Middle Low German kīken “to look.” Keek dates from the late 14th century, first appearing in The Canterbury Tales.
I will be near by him, and when he keeks round to spy ye, I will bring him such a clout as will gar him keep his eyes private for ever.
And at that he keeks out o’ the wee back window, plainly fearing that old Hornie himself was on the tracks o’ him.
noun
a workshop or studio, especially of an artist, artisan, or designer.
The English noun atelier, not quite naturalized, comes from French atelier “workshop,” from Old French astelier “pile of wood chips, workshop, carpenter’s workshop,” a derivative of Old French astele “chip,” which comes from Late Latin astella “splinter,” a variant of astula, assula “splinter, chip,” diminutives of Latin assis, axis “plank, board.” Atelier entered English in the 19th century.
Upon his arrival she began by introducing him to her atelier and making a sketch of him.
The secret atelier is the pezzo forte of the place, a beautifully cluttered warren of objects, art pieces and ephemera.
noun
Slang. trouble; woe.
Tsuris is from Yiddish tsures, tsores. This, in turn came from Hebrew ṣarā, plural ṣarōth meaning “troubles.” Tsuris entered English in the 1970s.
Graham, I want Jack’s work in the show, don’t give me any tsuris on this.
Initially, the series only broadly winked at the reasons for Jack’s slow-burning tsuris.