Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Slay |
SlayVerb1. Kill intentionally and with premeditation; "The mafia boss ordered his enemies murdered". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "slay" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
Note: Slay \Slay\, transitive verb. [Imperative Slew; present participle Slain; present participle verb or noun Slaying.]. (Websters 1913) |
Synonyms: SlaySynonyms: bump off (v), dispatch (v), hit (v), murder (v), polish off (v), remove (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Killing | Verb: kill, put to death, slay, shed blood; murder, assassinate, butcher, slaughter, victimize, immolate; massacre; take away life, deprive of life; make away with, put an end to; despatch, dispatch; burke, settle, do for. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Slay |
| English words defined with "slay": Apodosis ♦ Slawen, Slee, Slowh ♦ To go about. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "slay": Agnes ♦ Baalis ♦ Dying Sayings ♦ Fashion ♦ Gugner ♦ Hafed, Hip and Thigh ♦ Make a hand of, Monster ♦ Red Cross Knight, rumor ♦ Wandering Wood. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "slay": Mactation ♦ SLE, Slee, suicide. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I didn't say that I'd never slay another vampire. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; writing credit: Doreen Spicer) If there's something bad out there, we'll find, you'll slay, we'll party. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; writing credit: Doreen Spicer) Slay someone! (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; writing credit: Doreen Spicer) How do you expect to slay the Huns with dust on your jump wings? (Band of Brothers; writing credit: Stephen Ambrose; Erik Jendresen) | |
Lyrics | I seen Buffy and she don't slay me (Storybook Life; performing artist: Blessid Union Of Souls) Gotta slay two or more, ma that's our motto (Put Ya Hands Up; performing artist: KISS) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Columbia Color Rhapsody No. 4505: Slay It with Flowers (1943) Papa's Slay Ride (1931) Slay T (1998) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | ![]() | Gangland bullets slay "Bugsie" Siegel. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Date | Quotation |
John Locke | 1690 | And Cain was so fully convinced, that every one had a right to destroy such a criminal, that after the murder of his brother, he cries out, Every one that findeth me, shall slay me; so plain was it writ in the hearts of all mankind. (Second Treatise of Government) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | In the future no man shall slay his fellow, the earth shall be radiant, the human race shall love. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | FASHION, n. A despot whom the wise ridicule and obey. A king there was who lost an eye In some excess of passion; And straight his courtiers all did try To follow the new fashion. Each dropped one eyelid when before The throne he ventured, thinking 'Twould please the king. That monarch swore He'd slay them all for winking. What should they do? They were not hot To hazard such disaster; They dared not close an eye -- dared not See better than their master. Seeing them lacrymose and glum, A leech consoled the weepers: He spread small rags with liquid gum And covered half their peepers. The court all wore the stuff, the flame Of royal anger dying. That's how court-plaster got its name Unless I'm greatly lying. Naramy Oof |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Slay" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 72.88% of the time. "Slay" is used about 59 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 72.88% | 43 | 52,181 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 16.95% | 10 | 111,207 |
| Noun (proper) | 10.17% | 6 | 143,867 |
| Total | 100.00% | 59 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "slay" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Slay | Last name | 2,000 | 7,062 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "slay"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | vras (assassinate, bag, bruise, bump off, damage, despatch, dispatch, do away with, drop, finish, finish off, get, hurt, injure, kill, Lynch, make away with oneself, murder, poniard, put the sword, puzzle, shoot, stab, stone to death, waste, zap), vdes gazit. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | قتل (assassinate, assassination, bag, butcher, croak, death, despatch, dispatch, do in, end, finish, fire, homicide, immolate, kill, killing, knock off, lay out, manslaughter, murder, poleaxe, procure, put down, put to death, shoot, take for a ride), ذبح (evert, kill, killing, massacre, murder, slain, slaughter, stick). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | убивам (account for, assassinate, dispose of, do in, end, finish, fix, kill, lay out, liquidate, murder, pip, polish off, pop off, pot, push off, put away, put to death, quench, remove, rub out, shoot up, snuff out, starve, strike down, wipe out, zap), шашвам, правя силно впечатление на. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 杀害 (KILL, Killed, killing, slain). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | zavraždit (assassinate, hit, kill, murder). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | dræbe (kill, liquidate). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | ombrengen (kill, liquidate), doodmaken (kill, liquidate), doden (kill, liquidate). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | mortigi (kill, liquidate). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Faeroese | drepa (butcher, dip, immerse, kill, liquidate, slaughter, soak). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | کشتارکردن (Slaughter), ذبح کردن , بقتل رساندن (Brain, Murder), باخشونت کشتن . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | surmata (kill, massacre, put to death), tappaa (kill, put to death), lyödä kuoliaaksi (strike dead). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | tuer, abattre (slaughter). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frisian | deameitsje (kill, liquidate), deadzje (kill, liquidate). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | töten (deaden, kill, kill off, killing, liquidate, slain, to kill, zap), erschlagen (butcher, kill, slain, slaughter, strike dead, strike down, to strike dead), ermorden (assassinate, kill, liquidate, murder, slain, to assassinate, to murder). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | σκοτώνω (kill, murder), σφάζω (butcher, kill, massacre, slaughter), φονεύω (despatch, destroy, dispatch, kill, murder, slaughter, slew). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | לקטול (kill), ל"מית (kill, mortify), ל"רו' (cut down, kill, murder), לרצוח (kill, murder). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | elpusztít (consume, demolish, destroy, devastate, devour, Harry, havoc, perish, to blast, to canker, to consume, to desolate, to destroy, to devastate, to do away with, to harry, to kill off, to lay waste, to prang, to ravage, to scathe, to scorch, to waste), agyonüt (brain, swat, to brain, to kill, to knock on the head, to swat). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | menewaskan (assassinate, kill, murder), membunuh (assassinate, butcher, delete, erase, kill, murder, plug, put out), bunuh (assassinate, murder). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Irish | maraigh (kill, liquidate). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | uccidere (bump off, commit suicide, despatch, dispatch, get killed, kill, kill oneself, liquidate, murder), ammazzare (kill, liquidate, pot). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 討ち果たす (to kill, to slay), 討ち果す (to slay), 討ち止める (to bring down, to kill, to shoot to death, to slay), "ち留める (to bring down, to kill, to shoot to death, to slay), "ち止める (to bring down, to kill, to shoot to death, to slay), 'ち止める (to bring down, to kill, to shoot to death, to slay), 切捨てる (to cast away, to cut down, to discard, to omit, to slay, to truncate), 切り立てる (to cut, to slash, to slay all), 切り殺す (to slay), 切り捨てる (to cast away, to cut down, to discard, to omit, to slay, to truncate), 切り伏せる (to cut down, to slay). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | きりたてる (to cut, to slash, to slay all), きりすてる (to cast away, to cut down, to discard, to omit, to slay, to truncate), きりふせる (to cut down, to slay), きり"ろす (to slay), うちはたす (to kill, to slay), うちとめる (to bring down, to kill, to shoot to death, to slay). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 학살하십시". (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Malay | membunuh (kill, liquidate), bunuh (kill, liquidate). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | sling fidderagh, marroo (aground; deceased estate, assassinate, bag game; dead, bag; dead, butcher, deceased, defunct, departed, dispatch, dud, dull, dull of pain, exterminate, extinct; extermination, flat, flat mood, flat spot, glassy, glassy as look, inanimate, kill, kill off, killed, killing, lifeless, liquidate, liquidation, mortified, muggy, murder, slaughter, slaughtered, slaughtering, slaying, sleeping, stagnant), cur gy baase (execute, exterminate, extermination, slaughter). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Papiamen | mata (kill, liquidate). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ayslay matar (bump off, butcher, close out, despatch, destroy, dispatch boat, do in, kill, liquidate, murder, quench, rub out, shoot, slaughter). (various references) ucide (assassinate, butcher, croak, destroy, execute, kill, murder, poison, slaughter, smother, spoil, strangle, suffocate), tãia (amputate, ax, axe, butcher, cancel, carve, carve out, castrate, chop, clap, cleave, clip, crop, cross, Curdle, cut, cut on the bias, Dent, dissect, engrave, excise, exscind, fell, flench, foul, grave, hew, incise, intercept, kill, measure off, notch, notch off, pare, plough, prune, quarter, resect, rip, Rive, separate, sever, shear, shorten, shut the works down, slaughter, slice, snick, split, Square, stop, strike out, switch off), omorî (annihilate, assassinate, bring down, bump, butcher, croak, destroy, dispatch, do for, do in, execute, exhaust, finish, kill, knock off, make an end of, make away with, murder, put smb. on the spot, put to death, send to glory, shift, slaughter, spoil, torment, torture), cãsãpi (butcher, slaughter), asasina (assassinate, bump off, kill, murder). (various references) убивать (assassinate, assassinating, do in, do to death, kill, liquidate, murder, put death, slain, smite). (various references) mort (murder, murdering, slaying;), marbh (dead, late, lifeless, tasteless : na mairbh, torpid, vapid), casgair (mangle, massacre). (various references) ubiti (assassinate, bag, bump off, cut down, do away, do away with, kill, make away, murder, put away, wipe out, zap), nadvladati (bear down, overpower). (various references) matar (butcher, carry off, cut down, destroy, dispose of, do in, homicide, kill, knock off, lay, liquidate, murder, postmark, pot, shoot, slaughter, swat). (various references) kiri (kill, liquidate, murder). (various references) dräpa (kill, liquidate), döda (cut down, dispatch, kill, pip, put to death, zap). (various references) öldürmek (assassinate, bump off, carry off, croak, cut down, destroy, dispatch, do away with, do in, do one's job for one, drop, erase, exterminate, get, get rid of, give smb. his quietus, ice, kill, kill off, knock off, knock out, liquidate, make away with, murder, off, put away, put down, put to death, rub out, send to glory, shoot, shoot dead, take off, take smb.'s life, waste, wipe out, zap). (various references) убивати (deaden, finish off, homicide, kill, murder, pick off, put to death, thug), вразити (startle, take aback). (various references) lladd (cut, kill, liquidate, slaughter). (various references) kinsik (kill, liquidate). (various references) -bulala (kill, liquidate). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | feri, feriam, ferias, feriatis, feriatur, feriet, ferietis, ferietque, ferio, ferire, feriret, feriretis, feris, feriunt, interficio interfeci interfectum, iugulabant, iugulantur, iugulare, iugulati, iugulatum, iugulaverunt, iugulavit, iugulemur, leto, mortificare, necare, neco, occidam, occidamus, occidas, occidat, occidatis, occidatur, occide, occidebant, occidebat, occidebatis, occidendi, occidendum, occidendus, occident, occidente, occidentem, occidentis, occidentium, occidentur, occiderant, occiderat, occidere, occiderem, occiderent, occiderentur, occideres, occideret, occideretis, occideretur, occiderimus, occideris, occiderit, occideritis, occidero, occiderunt, occides, occidet, occidetis, occidetur, occidi, occidimus, occidis, occidisse, occidissem, occidissent, occidisses, occidisset, occidisti, occidistis, occidit, occidite, occiditis, occiditque, occidunt, occisa, occisi, occisis, occisorum, occisos, occisum, occisus, trucido. (various references) |
| Old English | 450-1100 | ofslean. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Acts Chapter 11, Verse 7 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Hkousa de fwnhV legoushV moi anastaV petre quson kai fage |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Audivi autem et vocem dicentem mihi surgens Petre occide et manduca |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And Y herde also a vois that seide to me, Petre, rise thou, and sle, and eete. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | And I herde a voyce sayinge vnto me: aryse Peter sley and eate. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And I heard a voice saying to me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | And a voice came to my ears saying, Come, Peter; take them for food. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Acts Chapter 11, Verse 7 |
| Albanian | Dhe dëgjova një zë që më thoshte: "Pjetër, çohu, ther dhe ha!". |
| Cebuano | Ug nadungog ko ang tingog nga nag-ingon kanako, `Tumindog ka, Pedro; pag-ihaw ug kumaon ka.` |
| Croatian | Zaèuh i glas koji mi govoraše: 'Ustaj, Petre! Kolji i jedi!' |
| Danish | Og jeg hørte også en Røst, som sagde til mig: Stå op, Peter, slagt og spis! |
| Dutch | En ik hoorde een stem, die tot mij zeide: Sta op, Petrus, slacht en eet. |
| Finnish | Ja minä kuulin myös äänen, joka sanoi minulle: `Nouse, Pietari, teurasta ja syö`. |
| French | Et j`entendis une voix qui me disait: Lève-toi, Pierre, tue et mange. |
| German | Ich hörte aber eine Stimme, die sprach zu mir: Stehe auf, Petrus, schlachte und iß! |
| Haitian Creole | Epi m' tande yon vwa ki di m' konsa: Leve non, Pyè, touye, manje. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Lalu saya mendengar suatu suara berkata kepada saya, 'Ayo bangun, Petrus! Sembelihlah itu dan makan!' |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Dan aku dengar pula suatu suara berkata kepadaku: Hai Petrus, bangkitlah, sembelihlah lalu makan! |
| Italian | E sentii una voce che mi diceva: Pietro, lzati, uccidi e mangia! |
| Latvian | Bet es dzirdçju arî balsi man sakâm: Celies, Pçteri, nokauj un çd! |
| Maori | A ka rongo hoki ahau he reo e mea mai ana ki ahau, E ara, e Pita; patua, kainga. |
| Norwegian | Jeg hørte også en røst som sa til mig: Stå op, Peter! slakt og et! |
| Portuguese | Ouvi também uma voz que me dizia: Levanta-te, Pedro, mata e come. |
| Rumanian | Wi am auzit un glas, care mi -a zis: ,Petre, scoalq-te, taie wi mqnknkncq.` |
| Shuar | Tura chichaman antukmajai "Pitru wajakim maam yuata" Túrutun antukmajai, Tímiayi. |
| Spanish | Luego oí también una voz que me decía: "Levántate, Pedro; mata y come." |
| Swahili | Kisha nikasikia sauti ikiniambia: `Petro amka, chinja, ule.` |
| Swedish | Jag hörde ock en röst säga till mig: 'Stå upp, Petrus, slakta och ät.' |
| Uma | Ngkai ree, ku'epe to mpololitai-a, na'uli' -ka: `Petrus, mokore-moko, sumale' -ramo pai' nukoni'.' |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "slay": slayed, slayer, slayers, slaying, slayings, slays. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "slay": mislay. (additional references) | |
Words containing "slay": manslayer, manslayers, mislayer, mislayers, mislaying, mislays. (additional references) | |
| |
"Slay" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Aslaby, elay, klay, lsa, lslay, Salai, sali, Sallay, Salya, Sayf, sayy, Selaby, Selway, siloxy, sla, slac, slae, slaf, slaid, slak, slapy, slaq, slax, slaye, slaz, sledy, slei, slej, slewy, slidy, slipy, sliy, slizy, sloy, slyh, slyn, soay, solai, sqay. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "slay" (pronounced slā") |
| 3 | s l ā" | sleigh. |
| 2 | -l ā" | allay, ballet, cabriolet, chalet, clay, delay, display, filet, fillet, flay, lay, lei, ley, ole, overplay, Palais, play, redisplay, replay, souffle, underplay, valet. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: lays. | |
| Words within the letters "a-l-s-y" | |
-1 letter: als, ays, las, lay, sal, say, sly. | |
-2 letters: al, as, ay, la, ya. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-l-s-y" | |
+1 letter: acyls, amyls, aryls, asyla, clays, flays, hylas, lyase, lyssa, palsy, plays, sadly, sally, salty, scaly, shaly, slaty, slays, splay, sylva, yawls. | |
+2 letters: aliyas, aliyos, alkyds, alkyls, allays, alleys, alloys, allyls, always, asylum, ballsy, basely, bassly, belays, bialys, blasty, boylas, bylaws, classy, delays, easily, flashy, gayals, glassy, inlays, kayles, lastly, layers, layups, lyases, lysate, lyssas, lyttas, measly, mislay, nyalas, plashy, platys, playas, psylla, rashly, relays, riyals, royals, safely, sagely, salary, salify, sanely, sawfly, shaley, shoaly, slaggy, slangy, slanty, slatey, slavey, slayed, slayer, sleazy, snarly, splays, stably, stalky, stylar, suably, sylvae, sylvan, sylvas, unlays, usably, vastly, xylans, yulans. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)53 6C 61 79 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)... .-.. .- -.--. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010011 01101100 01100001 01111001 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)S l a y |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0053 006C 0061 0079 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)53786791 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Historic | 9. Quotations: Fiction 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Usage Frequency 12. Names: Frequency | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Translations: Ancient 16. Bible Trace | 17. Derivations 18. Rhymes 19. Anagrams 20. Orthography | 21. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.