SLUGHORN

Etymology

Noun

slughorn (plural slughorns)

(obsolete) A battle cry. [early 16th C.]

(nonstandard, rare) A wind instrument.

Usage notes

• The sense “a wind instrument” is a construction due to Thomas Chatterton who used the term (incorrectly) in this way in his 1760s pseudo-Medieval poetry. He describes the fictional instrument in footnotes as “warlike instruments of music” (Ælla, a Tragycal Enterlude), “a musical instrument not unlike a hautboy” (Eclogue the Second), and “war trumpets” (Battle of Hastings (No. 2)). The term was then erroneously continued by Robert Browning in 1855. The use by Terry Pratchett in 1989 is a deliberate allusion to Chatterton's construction.

Source: Wiktionary


Slug"-horn`, a.

Definition: An erroneous form of the Scotch word slughorne, or sloggorne, meaning slogan.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

14 March 2025

PARASITISM

(noun) the relation between two different kinds of organisms in which one receives benefits from the other by causing damage to it (usually not fatal damage)


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Coffee Trivia

International Coffee Day (September 29) is an occasion to promote and celebrate coffee as a beverage, with events occurring in places across the world. A day to promote fair trade coffee and raise awareness for the coffee growers’ plight. Other countries celebrate this event on October 1.

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