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

Turmoil

Definition: Turmoil

Turmoil

Noun

1. A disorderly outburst or tumult; "they were amazed by the furious disturbance they had caused".

2. Violent agitation.

3. Disturbance usually in protest.

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

Date "turmoil" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references)


Synonyms: Turmoil

Synonyms: agitation (n), commotion (n), disruption (n), disturbance (n), excitement (n), flutter (n), hullabaloo (n), hurly burly (n), stir (n), to-do (n), tumult (n), upheaval (n). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Turmoil

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

Agitation

Turbulence, perturbation; commotion, turmoil, disquiet; tumult, tumultuation; hubbub, rout, bustle, fuss, racket, subsultus, staggers, megrims, epilepsy, fits; carphology, chorea, floccillation, the jerks, St. Vitus's dance, tilmus.

Disorder

Turmoil; ferment; (agitation); to-do, trouble, pudder, pother, row, rumble, disturbance, hubbub, convulsion, tumult, uproar, revolution, riot, rumpus, stour, scramble, brawl, fracas, rhubarb, fight, free-for-all, row, ruction, rumpus, embroilment, melee, spill and pelt, rough and tumble; whirlwind; bear garden, Babel, Saturnalia, donnybrook, Donnybrook Fair, confusion worse confounded, most admired disorder, concordia discors; Bedlam, all hell broke loose; bull in a china shop; all the fat in the fire, diable a' quatre, Devil to pay; pretty kettle of fish; pretty piece of work, pretty piece of business.

Violence

Turmoil; (disorder); ferment; (agitation); storm, tempest, rough weather; squall; (wind); earthquake, volcano, thunderstorm.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Turmoil

English words defined with "turmoil": be afterdistractionIn the suds, indecision, indecisivenesspeaceful, plan, PudderStramashTurmoiled, Turmoilinguntroubled. (references)
Specialty definitions using "turmoil": Interim of AugsburgWife. (references)

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Modern Usage: Turmoil

DomainUsage

Lyrics

Or tumbling in turmoil I say ("Graceland"; performing artist: Paul Simon)

Movie/TV Titles

Age of Turmoil (1953)

Television Turmoil (1947)

The Turmoil (1916)

Techno Turmoil (2002)

Teenage Turmoil Vol. 6 (2001)

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

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Commercial Usage: Turmoil

DomainTitle

Books

  • Bird of Life, Bird of Death: A Naturalist's Journey Through a Land of Political Turmoil (reference)

  • Brave New Church: From Turmoil to Trust (reference)

  • Dogs Tags of Courage: The Turmoil of War and the Rewards of Companionship (reference)

  • Immigration and Identity: Turmoil, Treatment, and Transormation (reference)

  • Out of Control: Global Turmoil on the Eve of the Twenty-First Century (reference)

    (more book examples)

  

Theater & Movies

  

Music

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

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Photo Album: Turmoil

ThumbnailDescription & Credit

The Streets of our country are in turmoil : the universities are filled with students rebelling ... Credit: Library of Congress.

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

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Non-Fiction Usage: Turmoil

SubjectTopicQuote

Business

Given labor's disdain for both, turmoil between labor and government is bound to persist. (references)

With the collapse of the USSR, followed by economic turmoil and recession, unsubsidized transportation costs made western Russia's domestic market inaccessible for the RFE timber producers, and harvest volumes fell significantly starting in the late 1980's. 1990-1998 was the most painful time for the RFE's forestry sector, when a loss of domestic markets was followed by shrinkage in Pacific Rim markets due to the Asian economic crisis. (references)

Civil Liberties

Laos

In Luang Prabang Province, three prisoners are serving 2- to 3-year terms for peaceful religious activities deemed to be "creating social turmoil." In Oudomxay one person is serving a 12-year sentence and another a 15-year sentence for religious proselytizing, purportedly in coordination with foreigners. (references)

Economic History

Kenya

Kenya serves as the major host for refugees from turmoil in Somalia. (references)

Bolivia

His call for elections in 1978 plunged Bolivia into turmoil once again. (references)

Human Rights

Haiti

Based on recent turmoil, the ICRC has decided to postpone plans to reduce its operations and to delay the departure of some expatriate employees. (references)

Minorities

Turkmenistan

The country has not experienced ethnic turmoil since independence. (references)

Political Economy

ROMANIA

The spreads on Romanian debt have remained stable despite emerging market turmoil dues to Argentina's debt problems. (references)

Travel

Chad

The City of N'Djamena: Formerly called Fort-Lamy, this hundred-year old former French colonial town has grown rapidly since independence in 1960 and its population is now estimated at over 750,000. The city was seriously damaged during the civil war and political turmoil in the 1980's, but it is gradually being rebuilt. (references)

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

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Speeches: Turmoil

SpeakerTermPhrase(s)

Woodrow Wilson

1913-1921The tragic events of the thirty months of vital turmoil through which we have just passed have made us citizens of the world.

Richard Nixon

1969-1974This honor now beckons America--the chance to help lead the world at last out of the valley of turmoil, and onto that high ground of peace that man has dreamed of since the dawn of civilization.

Jimmy Carter

1977-1981Turmoil within the region adjacent to the Persian Gulf poses risks for the security and prosperity of every oil importing nation and thus for the entire global economy.

Bill Clinton

1993-2001While the turmoil is not over, we are working with other nations to contain it.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Usage Frequency: Turmoil

"Turmoil" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 98.40% of the time. "Turmoil" is used about 500 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)98.4%49212,185
Lexical Verb (base form)1.2%6143,867
Noun (proper)0.4%2245,945
                    Total100.00%500N/A

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

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Expression: Turmoil

Expressions using "turmoil": be in a turmoil in a turmoil throw into a turmoil. Additional references.

Hypenated Usage

Ending with "turmoil": currency-turmoil.

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

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Turmoil

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

turmoil

12

triplane turmoil

4

again again this turmoil upsetting very

4

turmoil in the toy box

3
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: Turmoil

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

Albanian

  

trazirë (bewilderment, commotion, convulsion, disorder, dustup, fuss, hustle, outbreak, pother, qualm, queasiness, queasy, riot, ruction, shindy, turbulence, upheaval), shqetësim (affliction, agitation, anxiety, bother, care, concern, discomfort, discomposure, displeasure, disquiet, disquietude, distemper, distress, disturbance, fash, fear, feeling, fidget, flurry, fret, Fry, harassment, inconvenience, inquietude, moil, perturbation, plague, preoccupation, qualm, restlessness, solicitude, trepidation, trouble, tumult, uneasiness, unrest, vexation, worry), çrregullim (bewilderment, clutter, confusion, derangement, disarrangement, disarray, dislocation, disorder, disorganization, distemper, disturbance, excess, foul up, hugger mugger, mess, misrule, mix, muddle, muss, upset). (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏فوضى (anarchy, chaos, clatter, clutter, commotion, confusion, disarray, disorder, hugger mugger, jumble, lawlessness, litter, mess, misrule, mix up, muddle, muss, rumpus, shambles, topsy turvy, welter), ‏لغط (clamor, clamour, din, shouting, tumult, uproar), ‏إهتياج عظيم, ‏إضطراب (coil, disorder, distraction, disturbance, dust, flurry, flutter, ill, nervousness, perturbation, ramp, rout, ruction, ruffle, topsy turvy, topsy-turvydom, trouble, tumult, turbulence, uneasiness, unrest, uproar). (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

смут (alarms and excursions, disturbance, perturbation, pother, unrest), размирица (convulsion, perturbation, riot, trouble, tumult, unrest), шум (ado, ballyhoo, bobbery, boom, buzz, clam, coil, discord, murmur, noise, noisiness, pandemonium, pother, rattle, reclame, row, sound, stir, to-do, tumult, uproar), вълнение (agitation, commotion, dither, emotion, excitement, ferment, flurry, gurgitation, heartbeat, lather, nervousness, perturbation, pother, pulse, roughness, snit, stir, surge, tear, throb, to-do, trouble, tumult, unrest, upset). (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

變亂 (social upheaval), 动乱, 動蕩 (unrest, upheaval), 動亂 (upheaval). (various references)

   

Czech

  

zmatek (anarchy, bewilderment, chaos, circus, clutter, confusion, disarray, disorder, disturbance, embroilment, fluster, hash, hodge-podge, jumble, maze, mess up, mix up, moil, muddle, Mull, nonplus, non-plus, pandemonium, perplexity, perturbation, puzzlement, shambles, stew, tangle, tempest, tumble, tumult, turbulence, turnup, upset, welter), vřava (hubbub, hullabaloo, hurdy gurdy, hurly burly, roar, tumult, turnup, uproar), nepokoj (commotion, disquiet, turbulence, unrest). (various references)

   

Dutch

  

onrust (agitation, alarm, balance, commotion, disturbance, excitement, flutter, fly), gisting (agitation, commotion, disturbance, excitement, flutter), beroering (abetment, agitation, commotion, disturbance, excitement, flutter), agitatie (abetment, agitation, commotion, disturbance, excitement, flutter). (various references)

   

Esperanto

  

agito (agitation, commotion, disturbance, excitement, flutter). (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

پریشانی (Baffle, Bother, Depression, Distress, Dolor, Nonplus, Ramble, Remorse, Woe), ناراحتی (Ailment, Inconvenience, Irritation), غوغا (Affray, Clamor, Din, Fray, Hubbub, Jangle, Melee, Mob, Pandemonium, Peal, Rave, Riot, Rumpus, Scrimmage, Scuffle, Tumult, Uproar), اشفتگی (Chaos, Consternation, Disorder, Nonplus, Rummage, Tumble, Unrest), بهم خوردگی (Collission, Muss, Revolt). (various references)

   

Finnish

  

temmellys (tumult), melske (clamour, uproar). (various references)

   

French

  

trouble (turbid), tourmente, désarroi, agitation. (various references)

   

German

  

getümmel (agitation, hurly burly, riot, tumult). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

αναβρασμόσ (ebullition, effervescence), αναταραχή (agitation, commotion, flurry, unrest), ταραχή (agitation, apprehension, bustle, coil, commotion, consternation, disturbance, flurry, fluster, flutter, frenzy, fuss, outbreak, perturbation, pother, restlessness, riot, row, ruction, ruffle, rumpus, scrimmage, stir, trepidation, trouble, turbulence, uproar, welter), οχλαγωγία (commotion, hubbub, riot, rout, row, scrimmage, tumult, uproar). (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

מ"ומ" (ado, bedlam, din, disturbance, fracas, mess, muss, pandemonium, riot, rout, ruction, stir, trouble, tumble), מבוכ" (bewilderment, embarrassment, fix, malaise, maze, mazeiness, perplexity, puzzlement, quandary, tizzy, tumult), קלחת (commotion, kettle, turbulence, uproar), אי ס"ר (chaos, disarray, disorder, litter, mess, untidiness), א "רלמוסי" (chaos, confusion, disorder, pandemonium, pestilence, plaque, tumult, upheaval). (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

kavarodás (hassle, hurly-burly, mix-up, ruckus, ruction, rumpus, scrimmage, scrum, stir, tangled skein), felfordulás (cataclysm, clutter, combustion, commotion, confusion, convulsions, earthquake, hoo-ha, hoopla, huddle, hurly burly, hurly-burly, hurry-skurry, mess, mix, mix-up, muddle, muss, subversion, tangled skein, tumult, turbulence, upheaval, upset, upsetting, whoop-de-doo). (various references)

   

Italian

  

tumulto (commotion, disorder, distemper, disturbance, hubbub, riot, tumult, uproar, welter), trambusto (bustle, commotion, confusion, fuss, hustle, racket, stir), parapiglia (confusion), baccano (din, racket, row, rowdyness), agitazione (abetment, agitation, anxiety, bother, commotion, disturbance, excitement, flap, flurry, fluster, flutter, fret, fussiness, restlessness, state, stir, twitter, uneasiness, unrest, upheaval). (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

(Hungary), どう致しまして (beat, confusion, copiously, don't mention it, feeling a shock, feeling shocked or startled, gushingly, in a steady stream, profusely, startling, suddenly disappears somewhere, suddenlyout of nowhere, throb, Who on earth?, you are welcome). (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

きょう (all, and, as well as, assist, bad harvest, bad luck, both, Buddhist scriptures, coerce, co-operation, correct, disaster, entertainment, evil, exposing, Hungary, including, interest, lance, long ages, neither, offer, pleasure, plural ending, present, save, serve, submit, supply, sutra, temporary home, this day, threat, threaten, today, together with, wickedness, with), どさくさ (confusion). (various references)

   

Korean 

  

소란 (fuss, turbulence). (various references)

   

Manx

  

corvaal (chaos, confusion, mix up, muddle, shambles). (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

urmoiltay

   

Portuguese

  

turbilhão (eddy, maelstrom, vortex, whirl, whirlpool), tumulto (affray, agitation, bluster, broil, bruit, clamor, clamour, clutter, colorwash, colourwash, combustion, commotion, confusion, disorder, distemper, donnybrook, faction, gale, hubbub, outcry, pandemonium, rampage, riot, rout, ruction, rumpus, scuffle, shindy, stir, tempest, tumult, turbulence, uproar), perturbação (blankness, confusion, derangement, disarrangement, discomposure, disquiet, embarrassment, flurry, fret, fuddle, gall, interference, ruffle, trepidation, turbidity, turbulence, unrest, upheaval), desordem (affray, clutter, confusion, disarrangement, disarray, discomposure, donnybrook, fray, huddle, hugger-mugger, hurry-scurry, jumble, litter, mess, misrule, muddle, mush, muss, pandemonium, pell-mell, perturbation, riot, rough-and-tumble, rout, ruction, ruffle, rumpus, scuffle, stir, topsy-turvy, tumble, tumult, turbulence, untidiness, uproar, upset), confusão (baffle, bedlam, bother, bungle, clutter, confusion, daze, disarray, discomfiture, discomposure, disturbance, donnybrook, embroilment, entanglement, fog, foul-up, fuddle, intricacy, involution, involvement, jumble, kettle of fish, labyrinth, macaroni, maze, medley, mess, mind-breaker, mingle-mangle, mishmash, misrule, mix, mix-up, moil, muddle, mull, muss, olio, pandemonium, pell-mell, perplexity, perturbation, pother, puddle, puzzle, ravel, rough-and-tumble, rout, shuffle, skein, to-do, tumble, turbidity), barafunda (confusion, mess, muddle, topsy-turvy), agitação (agitation, commotion, disturbance, emotion, excitation, excitement, ferment, fermentation, fidget, flurry, fluster, flutter, freak-out, fret, furor, furore, fuss, inquietude, perturbation, popple, racket, rattle, riot, ruffle, rush, shake, state, tempest, to-do, tremor, trepidation, tumult, turbulence, unrest, upheaval). (various references)

   

Romanian

  

tumult (noise, riotousness, rout, tumult), zarvã (ado, affray, altercation, bobbery, brawling, bustle, clutter, din, dispute, dust, fuss, hubbub, kerfuffle, noise, pother, racket, riot, row, rumpus, scandal, to-do, tumult, uproar), vacarm (din, hubbub, hurly burly, noise, racket, splatter-dash, splutter, uproar), harababurã (confusion, fuss, glory-hole, hubbub, jumble, mess, mix up, motley, muddle, pease meal, pell mell, welter), învãlmãşealã (bustle, confusion, crowd, hubbub, scrimmage, scuffle, scurry, squash, stampede, stir, struggle, throng). (various references)

   

Russian 

  

суматоха (bustle, clutter, fuss, helter-skelter, hurry-scurry, jumble, kerfuffle, muss, razzle, razzle-dazzle, ruffle, rumpus, splutter, to-do, tumult, tumults), беспорядок (bewilderment, box-up, chaos, clutter, confusion, disarray, disorder, disorganization, huddle, hugger mugger, litter, mess, messroom, misrule, mix, muss, pell mell, tangle, tumble, turbulence, untidiness, upset). (various references)

   

Scottish

  

c blaid. (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

nemir (alarm, disturbance, inquietude, restlessness, riot, turbulence, unrest), metež (helter-skelter, hubbub, pell mell, pother, scuffle, trouble, tumult, uproar, upset), gungula (commotion, fracas, hubbub, huddle, ruction). (various references)

   

Spanish

  

tumulto (commotion, disorder, disturbance, hullabaloo, noise, tempest, tumult, uproar), trastorno (dislocation, disorder, disruption, disturbance, trouble, upset), estruendo (blare, bluster, clamor, clamour, clang, clangor, clangour, clash, clatter, confusion, crash, din, noise, ostentation, peal, pomp, racket, roar, smash, thunder, uproar), disturbio (commotion, disorder, disturbance, riot, trouble, wash), desorden (chaos, clutter, confusion, defile, disarray, disorder, lawlessness, litter, muddle, muss, turbulence, unrest, untidiness), confusión (abashment, baffle, clutter, commotion, confusion, disarray, dislocation, disorganization, distraction, fluster, fog, haziness, huddle, hugger mugger, jumble, knockabout, litter, maze, mess, mix up, mix-up, muddle, mystification, perplexity, pother, puzzlement, shambles, tangle, welter), barahúnda (hubbub, pell mell, pellmell, racket), baraúnda, alboroto (ballyhoo, brawl, commotion, disturbance, fracas, hubbub, hurly burly, mayhem, noise, rampage, riot, rowdiness). (various references)

   

Swedish

  

villervalla (babel), vild oordning, kaos (chaos, pandemonium, shambles, snafu, tangle, welter), batalj (action, battle, fight, scuffle, struggle, tussle). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

telaş (ado, alarm, bustle, commotion, directness, discomposure, disturbance, excitement, ferment, fever, flap, flurry, flutter, fume, fuss, fussiness, haste, hastiness, helter-skelter, hurry, panic, precipitance, precipitancy, precipitateness, precipitation, pucker, racket, ruffle, rush, stir, storm, taking, tingle, tizzy, to-do, whirl), hengâme (ballup, jungle, rat race, rout, ruckus, ruction, shambles, tailspin, tumult, uproar), gürültü (ado, bang, Charivari, clamor, clamour, clatter, coil, crash, din, discord, dustup, fracas, hoi polloi, hubble bubble, hubbub, hullabaloo, kick up, loudness, noise, noisiness, pandemonium, peal, pong, pother, racket, rag, razzle-dazzle, roar, roaring, roughhouse, row, ruckus, ruction, rumble, rumpus, shindy, sound, to-do, tumult, turbulence, uproar, welter). (various references)

   

Ukrainian

  

метушня (ado, alarm, bustle, buzz, clutter, flurry, fuss, helter-skelter, hurly burly, muss, razzle, razzle-dazzle, romps, rough and tumble, splutter, stir, stirabout, to-do, whirl). (various references)

   

Vietnamese 

  

sự rối loạn (confusion, convulsion, disorder, disorderliness, misrule, muss, rout, turn-up, welter), sự náo động (excitement, ferment, fermentation, flurry, fluster, riot, tumultuousness). (various references)

   

Welsh

  

trabludd (trouble, tumult). (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Ancestral Language Translations: Turmoil

LanguagePeriodTranslations
Greek700 BCE-300 CE

tyrbe. (various references)

Latin500 BCE-Modern

trimodia, turba, turbae, turbam, turbarum, turbas, turbis. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Turmoil

Derivations

Words beginning with "turmoil": turmoiled, turmoiling, turmoils. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Turmoil" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Burmola, termiol, termoil, tormoil, Tortoal, tourmoil, trumeau, tumoil, turmil, turmiol, turmoid, turmoils, turmol, turnmoil. (additional references)

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

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Anagrams: Turmoil

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "i-l-m-o-r-t-u"

-1 letter: ultimo.

-2 letters: lirot, moult, triol, tumor.

-3 letters: limo, litu, loti, lour, lout, milo, milt, moil, molt, mort, omit, riot, roil, roti, rotl, rout, tirl, tiro, toil, tolu, tori, tour, trim, trio.

-4 letters: lit, lot, lum, mil, mir, mol, mor, mot, mut, oil, ort, our, out, rim, rom, rot, rum, rut, til, tom, tor, tui.

 Words containing the letters "i-l-m-o-r-t-u"
 

+1 letter: turmoils.

 

+2 letters: multiform, multiroom, mutilator, simulator, trifolium, tumorlike, turmoiled.

 

+3 letters: modularity, morulation, multicolor, multigroup, multipolar, multipower, multisport, multistory, mutilators, sclerotium, simulators, stimulator, timorously, tourmaline, trifoliums, turmoiling, ultramicro, unmorality, ureotelism, volumetric.

 

+4 letters: antitumoral, calumniator, clostridium, coulometric, customarily, fluorimeter, fluorimetry, formulating, formulation, illuminator, importunely, manipulator, microtubule, morulations, multiauthor, multicarbon, multicolors, multicourse, multifactor, multiparous, multiplexor, multisource, prothallium, rambouillet, stimulators, stimulatory, tetrazolium, tourmalines, ureotelisms, uricotelism, voluntarism.

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: Photo Album
7. Quotations: Non-fiction
8. Quotations: Speeches
9. Usage Frequency
10. Expressions
11. Expressions: Internet
12. Translations: Modern
13. Translations: Ancient
14. Derivations
15. Anagrams
16. Bibliography


  

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