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

Mushroom

Definition: Mushroom

Mushroom

Noun

1. Common name for an edible agaric (contrasting with the inedible toadstool).

2. Any of various fleshy fungi of the subdivision Basidiomycota consisting of a cap at the end of a stem arising from an underground mycelium.

3. A large cloud of rubble and dust shaped like a mushroom and rising into the sky after an explosion (especially of a nuclear bomb).

4. Fleshy body of any of numerous edible fungi.

Verb

1. Pick or gather mushrooms; "We went mushrooming in the Fall".

2. Grow and spread fast; "The problem mushroomed".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "mushroom" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1550. (references)

 

Specialty Definition: Mushroom

DomainDefinition

Dream Interpretation

To see mushrooms in your dreams, denotes unhealthy desires, and unwise haste in amassing wealth, as it may vanish in law suits and vain pleasures.
To eat them, signifies humiliation and disgraceful love.
For a young woman to dream of them, foretells her defiance of propriety in her pursuit of foolish pleasures. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted ....

Literature

Mushroom (an archaic form is mushrump). (French, mousseron, a white mushroom; Latin, muscus, moss.)
"Vocatur fungus muscarum, eo quod in lacte pulverizatus interflcit muscas."- Albertus Magnus, vii. 345. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.

Slang in 1811

MUSHROOM. A person or family suddenly raised to riches and eminence: an allusion to that fungus, which starts up in a night. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Weather

A thunderstorm with a well-defined anvil rollover, and thus having a visual appearance resembling a mushroom. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Specialty Definition: Mushroom

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The term mushroom usually refers to the aboveground fruiting body (spore-producing structure) of fungi with a shaft and a cap, and in extension, referring to the entire fungi of such appearance, but is also used to refer to many visible fungi in general.


larger Crinipellis perniciosa
mushroom image

Spores released from the fan-shaped basidiocarp of
this inch-wide Crinipellis perniciosa mushroom can
infect cacao trees and drastically reduce yields
of the beans from which cocoa and chocolate products
are made.

Mushrooms are used extensively in cooking many cuisines. However, many mushrooms are poisonous, often resembling edible varieties, and eating them can be fatal. Picking your own wild mushrooms is extremely risky - far riskier than gathering edible plants - and a practice not to be undertaken by amateurs. This is due to the fact that, while there are only about 400,000 species of plants worldwide, there are an estimated 1.5 million mushroom species. Further complicating this is the lower degree of variety in easily identifiable traits between mushroom species. Mushrooms and other fungi are studied by mycologists. People who collect mushrooms for consumption are known as mushroom hunters, and the act of collecting them as such is called mushroom hunting - an activity with potentially deadly outcome that one should be well prepared for before attempting.

The main types of mushrooms are agarics, boletes, chanterelles, tooth fungi, polypores, puffballs, jelly fungi, coral fungi, bracket fungi, stinkhorns, and cup fungi. "True mushrooms" are classified as Basidiomycota (also known as "club fungi").

One common method used to assist in identification of mushrooms is the spore print.

Psilocybin mushrooms possess hallucinogenic properties and are commonly known as "'shrooms". A number of other mushrooms are eaten for their psychoactive effects, such as Fly Agaric.

Currently, many species of mushrooms and fungi utilized as folk medicines for thousands of years are under intense study by ethnobotanists and medical researchers. Maitake, shiitake, and reishi varieties are prominent among those being researched for their anti-cancer, anti-viral, and/or immunity-enhancement properties.

A nuclear weapon when detonated produces a mushroom cloud, so named because of its shape.

See also

External links

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Mushroom."

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Synonyms: Mushroom

Synonyms: mushroom cloud (n), mushroom-shaped cloud (n). (additional references)
Antonym: toadstool (n). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Mushroom

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Commonalty

Upstart, parvenu, skipjack; nobody, nobody one knows; hesterni quirites, pessoribus orti; bourgeois gentilhomme, novus homo, snob, gent, mushroom, no one knows who, adventurer; man of straw.

Plebeian, proletarian; of low parentage, of low origin, of low extraction, of mean parentage, of mean origin, of mean extraction; lowborn, baseborn, earthborn; mushroom, dunghill, risen from the ranks; unknown to fame, obscure,plebeian, proletarian; of low parentage, of low origin, of low extraction, of mean parentage, of mean origin, of mean extraction; lowborn, baseborn, earthborn; mushroom, dunghill, risen from the ranks; unknown to fame, obscure, untitled.

Newness

Modernism; mushroom, parvenu; latest fashion.

Prosperity

Upstart, parvenu, skipjack, mushroom.

Vegetable

Bush, jungle, prairie; heath, heather; fern, bracken; furze, gorse, whin; grass, turf; pasture, pasturage; turbary; sedge, rush, weed; fungus, mushroom, toadstool; lichen, moss, conferva, mold; growth; alfalfa, alfilaria, banyan; blow, blowth; floret, petiole; pin grass, timothy, yam, yew, zinnia.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Mushroom

English words defined with "mushroom": Agaricus arvensis, Agaricus campestris, Amanita caesarea, Armillaria ponderosa, Armillariella mellea, assign, attributebeef WellingtonCaesar's agaric, Cantharellus cibarius, Cantharellus cinnabarinus, cap, Champignon, chantarelle, chanterelle, Chinese black mushroom, Chinese mushroom, cinnabar chanterelle, Coprinus comatusfairy-ring mushroom, field mushroom, filet de boeuf en croute, Fischer's slime mushroom, Flybane, Fungia, Fungiform, Fuzz ballgenus Fungia, genus Pleurotus, gill, golden oak mushroom, green mushroom pimplehoney fungus, honey mushroom, horse mushroomLactarius delicioso, lamella, Lentinus edodes, Lepiota proceraMarasmius oreades, meadow mushroom, milkcap, Mushroom anchor, mushroom cloud, Mushroom spawn, Mushroom-headed, mushroom-shaped cloudold-man-of-the-woods, olive-tree agaric, orange mushroom pimple, Oriental black mushroomparasol mushroom, partial veil, pileus, Pixy stool, Pleurotus, Pleurotus phosphoreus, psilocin, psilocybinroyal agaricshaggycap, shaggymane, shaggymane mushroom, shiitake, shiitake mushroom, slime mushroom, stalked puffball, stipe, straw mushroom, Strobilomyces floccopustoadstooluniversal veilvelum, Volvariella bombycina, Volvariella volvaceawhite matsutake, white slime mushroom. (references)
Specialty definitions using "mushroom": Amanitins, Anvil RolloverCumuliform AnvilGROWTH-MEDIA MIXER, MUSHROOMLentinanmushroom grower's lung, mushroom picker's lung, mushroom worker's lung, mushroom worker's pneumonitis, mushroom-worker's lungpulmonary disease of champignon workersReishiSTEAK SAUCE MAKER. (references)
Etymologies containing "mushroom": Peziza. (references)

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Modern Usage: Mushroom

DomainUsage

Screenplays

Tomato soup, ten tins of. Mushroom soup, eight tins of, for consumption cold (Trainspotting; writing credit: Irvine Welsh; John Hodge)

Lyrics

I ate the mushroom and I dance with the queen (Sunshine; performing artist: Aerosmith)

A magic mushroom cloud of care (I Did It; performing artist: Dave Matthews Band)

And you've just had some kind of mushroom (White Rabbit; performing artist: Jefferson Airplane)

Set off the mighty mushroom roar (I Ain't Marching Anymore; performing artist: Phil Ochs)

Movie/TV Titles

The Satin Mushroom (1969)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Mushroom

DomainTitle

Books

  • Mushroom in the Rain (reference)

  • Psilocybin: Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide: A Handbook for Psilocybin Enthusiasts (reference)

  • Shiitake Growers Handbook: The Art and Science of Mushroom Cultivation (reference)

  • Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet (reference)

  • The Mushroom Lover's Mushroom Cookbook and Primer (reference)

    (more book examples)

  

Periodicals

  

Theater & Movies

  • Authorized International Edition of the Soyuzmultfilm Library (in Russian) Vol 45: The Mushroom Teremok, Bremen's Musicians, Following Bremen's Musicians, Cat Who Knew How to Sing, Cat and Boots (reference)

  • Cowboy Bebop - Mushroom Samba (Vol. 9) (reference)

    (more DVD examples; more video examples)

  

Music

  

Consumer Goods

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Mushroom

Photos:
Mushroom

More pictures...

Illustrations:
Mushroom

More pictures...

Computer Images:
Mushroom

More pictures...

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Photo Album: Mushroom

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

Time for a little fun Climbing a mushroom coral rock FATHOMER in background offshore. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.

John Magagna, NRCS Soil Conservationist, and a Pennsylvania mushroom farmer, discuss the composting process used to create a growing medium for mushrooms. Mushrooms are the largest cash crop in Pennsylvania. [Slide 97CS3110]. Credit: Bob Nichols.

Spores released from the fan-shaped basidiocarp of this inch-wide Crinipellis perniciosa mushroom can infect cacao trees and drastically reduce yields of the beans from which cocoa and chocolate products are made. Photo Scott Bauer. Credit: USDA ARS News.

Ramaria stuntzii, commonly known as the Coral Mushroom. Credit: Thom O'Dell.

Mushroom laying on what looks like a sheet. Credit: Unknown.

Medium shot of coral mushroom (Ramaria stuntzii). Credit: Thom O'Dell.

[Christmas Island, several men standing with mushroom cloud in background]. Credit: National Library of Medicine.

Plants. Mushroom in tree. Credit: Library of Congress.

Mushroom Park #1, Garden of the Gods, Col. Credit: Library of Congress.

Mushroom cloud. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Digital Photo Gallery: Mushroom
 

"Mushroom" by Julieta Rodrigue
Commentary: "Just playing around before cooking. :)."
"Mushroom" by Gary Leung
Commentary: "This picture is shot with an old Pentax camera on B&W film. I also developed this myself."

Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Mushroom

SubjectTopicQuote

Health

Preparations that have been claimed to have benefit to CFS patients include astralagus, borage seed oil, bromelain, comfrey, echinacea, garlic, Ginkgo biloba, ginseng, primrose oil, quercetin, St. John's wort, and Shiitake mushroom extract. (references)

Business

With the mushroom growth of this industry, the Government of Pakistan (GOP) is keen on improving the standard of IT education in the country. (references)

Whereas in the private sector institutions that are not registered with the UGC, growth has been 150%. The increase in the demand for IT institutions and the inability of existing in stitutions to cater to this need has resulted in the mushroom growth of private colleges giving computer education. (references)

Economic History

Japan

Their numbers are declining, as convenience stores, self-service discount stores, and "superstores" mushroom. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Usage Frequency: Mushroom

"Mushroom" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 96.19% of the time. "Mushroom" is used about 315 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 SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Noun (singular)96.19%30316,643
Lexical Verb (infinitive)3.81%12101,599
                    Total100.00%315N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Expressions: Mushroom

Expressions using "mushroom": blushing mushroom brain mushroom button mushroom chinese black mushroom chinese mushroom darning mushroom deer mushroom field mushroom Fischer's slime mushroom golden oak mushroom green mushroom pimple honey mushroom horse mushroom magic mushroom meadow mushroom miter mushroom mushroom anchor mushroom cloud mushroom coral mushroom gatherer mushroom grower's lung mushroom growth mushroom ketchup mushroom picker's lung mushroom pimple Mushroom Poisoning mushroom sauce mushroom spawn mushroom town mushroom win sauce mushroom worker's lung mushroom worker's pneumonitis orange mushroom pimple oriental black mushroom oyster mushroom parasol mushroom pine mushroom pore mushroom roof mushroom sacred mushroom sandy mushroom shaggymane mushroom shiitake mushroom slime mushroom snow mushroom sponge mushroom straw mushroom stuffed mushroom swadust mushroom viscid mushroom white slime mushroom winter mushroom. Additional references.

Hyphenated Usage

Beginning with "mushroom": mushroom-and-tofu, mushroom-coloured, mushroom-cream, mushroom-filled, mushroom-flavoured, Mushroom-headed, mushroom-hunting, mushroom-like, mushroom-painted, mushroom-shape, mushroom-shaped, mushroom-shaped cloud, mushroom-style, mushroom-worker's.

Ending with "mushroom": duck-and-mushroom, fairy-mushroom, morel-mushroom.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Mushroom

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.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

mushroom

3,293

medicinal mushroom

97

magic mushroom

1,231

magic mushroom kit

95

stuffed mushroom

310

grow mushroom

90

morel mushroom

277

lawn and mushroom

89

infected mushroom

242

psychedelic mushroom

88

growing mushroom

199

mushroom growing kit

85

cloud mushroom

192

growing magic mushroom

83

mushroom recipe

185

mushroom identification

82

mellow mushroom

183

boletus company list mushroom

81

mushroom spore

174

mushroom kit

80

mushroom picture

170

kingdom mushroom

79

mushroom field guide

164

crab stuffed mushroom

77

portabella mushroom

160

edible mushroom

70

mushroom recipe stuffed

158

hallucinogenic mushroom

66

agriculture boletus mushroom

141

magic mushroom picture

66

mushroom head

139

magic mushroom spore

65

portabello mushroom

128

poisonous mushroom

64

portabella mushroom recipe

122

agriculture common mushroom

64

wild mushroom

121

grow magic mushroom

63

portabello mushroom recipe

102

psilocybin mushroom

63
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: Mushroom

Language Translations for "mushroom"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Albanian

  

ndërtësë e re, kopelë femërore, këpurdhë (fungus, toadstool). (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏فطر (breakfast, champignon, fungus), ‏نما بسرعة كالفطر, ‏نبت فجأة, ‏تكاثر (breed, generation, increase, luxuriate, proliferate, proliferation, propagate, propagation, prosper, replicate, reproduce, reproduction, spawn, swarm), ‏إنتشر (be widespread, catch on, circulate, deploy, diffuse, emit, extend, fall out, fan, flow, outspread, percolate, permeate, pervade, prevail, propagate, radiate, reproduce, resound, run, send forth, suffuse, swarm, transpire, unfold, unroll). (various references)

   

Aymara

  

q'allampa. (various references)

   

Basque

  

perretxiko. (various references)

   

Bavarian

  

schwammal (fungus), schampignon. (various references)

   

Blackfoot

  

kakató'si. (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

събирам гъби, раста като гъба, разпространявам се бързо, ширя се, който расте бързо, гъба (agaric, fungus, sponge, toadstool), нещо наподобяващо гъба, бързо израснал човек, бързо издигнал се човек, печурка (field mushroom), парвеню (bounder, outsider, parvenu, upstart, vulgarian). (various references)

   

Catalan

  

bolet (fungus). (various references)

   

Chamorro

  

payon duendes. (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

蘑菇 . (various references)

   

Cornish

  

scavel-cronek. (various references)

   

Czech

  

zbohatlík (profiteer, upstart), rùst jako houby po dešti, jedlá houba, šířit se ve tvaru hřibu. (various references)

   

Danish

  

svamp (fungus, sponge), champignon (champignon, cultivated mushroom, edible mushroom). (various references)

   

Dutch

  

champignon. (various references)

   

Esperanto

  

fungo (fungus), agariko, ŝampinjono, ĉampinjono. (various references)

   

Faeroese

  

soppur (fungus, sponge, tuft), hundaland (fungus). (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

قارچ , سماروغ , بسرعت ایجادکردن , بسرعت رویاندن . (various references)

   

Finnish

  

sieni (fungus, fungus mushroom, sponge, toadstool), herkkusieni. (various references)

   

French

  

champignon. (various references)

   

Frisian

  

poddestoel (fungus). (various references)

   

German

  

Pilz (fungi, fungus, Mold, toadstool), Champignon (champignon, cultivated mushroom, edible mushroom). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

μανιτάρι (champignon, cultivated mushroom, edible mushroom). (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

לגדול מהר כפטריה, פטריה (agaric, fungus, mycete). (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

gomba (button, dome, fungus), gomba alakú tárgy, újgazdag (cocktail, nouveau rich, parvenu, upstart, vulgarian). (various references)

   

Indonesian

  

menjamur, jamur (fungus, mildew, toadstool), cendawan (fungus, mildew, moth, toadstool). (various references)

   

Italian

  

fungo (fungus). (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

マゼラン雲 (mac, machismo, Macintosh, Madagascar, madam killer, madame, Magellanic Clouds, maggeoli, mash, mashed potato, masochism, masochist, mass, massage, massive attack, mat, matador, match, match play, match point, match pomp, matching, material, maternity dress, -matic, matinee, Matterhorn, McCarthy, McCarthyism, McCulloch, muckraker, mug, mux). (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

マッシュルーム . (various references)

   

Korean 

  

버섯. (various references)

   

Manx

  

shalmane (champignon), fliughane (champignon, liquid). (various references)

   

Norwegian

  

sopp (fungus). (various references)

   

Occitan

  

camparòl. (various references)

   

Papago

  

okstakud. (various references)

   

Papiamen

  

djipopo (fungus). (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

ushroommay.(various references)

   

Portuguese

  

cogumelo (champignon, fungus). (various references)

   

Romanian

  

umbrelã (gingham, umbrella), parvenit (carpet knight, cocktail, nouveau riche, parvenu, squirt, upstart), creşte ca ciupercile, ciupercã de gunoi cultivatã, ciupercã comestibilã, ciupercã (toadstool, topper), bazidie, înmulţi ca ciupercile. (various references)

   

Romansch

  

bulieu. (various references)

   

Romany

  

papòohi. (various references)

   

Russian 

  

разрастаться гриб, шампиньон (champignon), гриб (boletus, darner, fungus), выскочка (beggar on horseback, cocktail, parvenu, upstart, vulgarian). (various references)

   

Sepedi

  

tlokwane. (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

pečurka (agaric, toadstoll), nicati kao gljiva, gljiva (fungus). (various references)

   

Shona

  

hwohwa. (various references)

   

Sicilian

  

funcia. (various references)

   

Spanish

  

seta (fungus), hongo (billycock, fungus), champiñon. (various references)

   

Sranan

  

todoprasoro (fungus). (various references)

   

Swedish

  

svamp (boletus, fungus, sponge), champinjon (champignon, meadow mushroom). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

mantar gibi çoğalmak, mantar (athlete's foot, blight, brand, Cork, Corky, fungal, fungoid, fungous, fungus, myco-), yayılmak (be out at grass, be rife, branch, circulate, diffuse, disperse, effuse, emanate, expand, fan, fan out, get about, get around, get round, go, grow rife, loll, lounge, outstretch, overspread, permeate, pervade, ramble, ramp, resound, scatter, splay, sprawl, spread, spread oneself, spread out, stretch, unfold), türemek (be derived, be reproduced, multiply, pullulate, spring up). (various references)

   

Turkmen 

  

kцmelek. (various references)

   

Ukrainian

  

рости як гриби, грибоподібний, гриб (fungal, fungus), збирати гриби, печериця. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Ancestral Language Translations: Mushroom

LanguagePeriodTranslations
Latin500 BCE-Modern

boletus, fungi, fungus. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Mushroom

Derivations

Words beginning with "mushroom": mushroomed, mushrooming, mushrooms. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Mushroom" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Mahroof, makhdoom, mashroom, Mochrum, moshood, Mouscron, Muhoho, Mushirul, mushrome, mushroomm, mushroomy, Mushrow. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Anagrams: Mushroom

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "h-m-m-o-o-r-s-u"

-2 letters: hommos, humors, mohurs.

-3 letters: homos, hours, humor, mohur, momus, moors, rooms.

-4 letters: homo, hour, hums, mhos, moms, moor, moos, mors, mosh, mums, mush, ohms, oohs, ours, rhos, rhus, roms, room, rums, rush, shmo, shoo, sour, sumo.

-5 letters: hmm, hum, mho, mom, moo, mor, mos, mum, mus, ohm, oho, ohs, oms, ooh, ors, our, rho.

 Words containing the letters "h-m-m-o-o-r-s-u"
 

+1 letter: mushrooms.

 

+2 letters: mushroomed.

 

+3 letters: motormouths, mushrooming.

 

+4 letters: automorphism.

 

+5 letters: automorphisms.

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.

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Synonyms
3. Crosswords
4. Usage: Modern
5. Usage: Commercial
6. Images: Slideshow
7. Images: Photo Album
8. Images: Digital Art
9. Quotations: Non-fiction
10. Usage Frequency
11. Expressions
12. Expressions: Internet
13. Translations: Modern
14. Translations: Ancient
15. Derivations
16. Anagrams
17. Bibliography


  

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