newt
UK /ˈnjuːt/ · US /ˈn(j)ut/ noun, verb
Forms newts newting newted
- noun A small lizard-like amphibian in the subfamily Pleurodelinae that lives in the water as an adult.
- verb (transitive) To turn (someone) into a newt, especially by magic.
- verb (by extension, informal, transitive) To (usually temporarily) expel a user from a MUD or similar system
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English newte, newete, from rebracketing of Middle English an ewte as a newte (for similar misdivisions compare adder, nickname, apron, umpire, etc.). Middle English evete, eute, euete, ewte (“newt”), derives from Old English efete (“lizard; newt”). Doublet of eft.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any one of several species of small aquatic salamanders. The common British species are the crested newt (Triton cristatus) and the smooth newt (Lophinus punctatus). In America, Diemictylus viridescens is one of the most abundant species.
- noun Any form of belief in mental healing other than (1) Christian Science and (2) hypnotism or psychotherapy. Its central principle is affirmative thought, or suggestion, employed with the conviction that man produces changes in his health, his finances, and his life by the adoption of a favorable mental attitude. AS a therapeutic doctrine it stands for silent and absent mental treatment, and the theory that all diseases are mental in origin. As a cult it has its unifying idea the inculcation of workable optimism in contrast with the "old thought" of sin, evil, predestination, and pessimistic resi
Etymology [OE. ewt, evete, AS. efete, with n prefixed, an ewt being understood as a newt. Cf. Eft.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “newt”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details