Bryson's Dictionary For Writers And Editors (v5.0) Read Online Free PDF

Kuznetsov.
    babushka. A Russian grandmother; also a kind of scarf.
    Bacardi. A brand of rum.
    baccalaureate.
    baccarat. A casino game. In French,
baccara
.
    Bacchae, The. Play by Euripides.
    Bacchus. Roman god of wine; the Greek equivalent was Dionysus. Words derived from
Bacchus
are usually not capitalized but do retain
-cc-
spelling:
bacchanalian, bacchic, bacchantic.
    Bach, Johann Sebastian. (1685-1750) German composer and father of four others: Wilhelm Friedemann (1710-1784), Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714–1788), Johann Christoph Friedrich (1732-1795), and Johann Christian (1735-1782).
    bacillus, pl.
bacilli.
    bacteria is plural. The singular is
bacterium
. Bacteria should not be confused with viruses, which are much smaller and cause different diseases.
    Baden-Württemberg. German state; capital Stuttgart.
    Baedeker. Famous series of travel guidebooks first published in Germany by Karl Baedeker (1801-1859).
    Baekeland, Leo Hendrik. (1863-1944) Belgian-born American chemist who invented Bakelite.
    bagatelle. A trifle.
    bahadur. A title of respect in India.
    Bahai. A religion; the cognate forms are Bahaist and Bahaism.
    Bahamian. Of or from the Bahamas.
    Bahnhof. (Ger.) Railroad station.
    Bahrain. Island state in the Persian Gulf; capital Manama.
    bail, bale.
Bail
is a prisoner’s bond, the pieces that rest atop the stumps in cricket, and the act of scooping water. A
bale
is a bundle, as of cotton or hay. You bail out a boat, but bale out of an aircraft. A malicious person wears a baleful expression.
    Baile Atha Cliath. Gaelic for Dublin.
    baited breath is wrong; breath is bated.
    Bakelite. (Cap.) Type of plastic.
    Bakunin, Mikhail (Aleksandrovich). (1814-1876) Russian revolutionary.
    balalaika. Stringed instrument.
    Balanchine, George. (1904-1983) Russian-born American choreographer.
    baldechin/baldaquin. A canopy over a throne or altar; pronounced
bald-a-kin.
In Italian, baldacchino.
    Baldrige, Malcolm. (1922-1987) Not
-ridge
. American statesman.
    bale, bail. A
bale
is a bundle, as of cotton or hay.
Bail
is a prisoner’s bond, the pieces that rest atop the stumps in cricket, and the act of scooping water. You bail out a boat, but bale out of an aircraft. A malicious person wears a baleful expression.
    Balearic Islands. Cluster of Spanish islands in the Mediterranean; in Spanish, Islas Baleares.
    Balladur, Édouard. (1929–) Prime minister of France (1993-1995).
    Ballesteros, Severiano. (1957–) Spanish golfer; nickname “Sevvy.”
    Balliol College, Oxford University.
    Baluchistan. Region in Pakistan bordered by Iran and Afghanistan.
    Band-Aid (hyphen) is a trademark.
    bandanna. Note
-anna
, not
-ana.
    bandicoot. Type of marsupial.
    banister. Handrail on a staircase.
    banjos.
    Banjul. Capital of Gambia; formerly called Bathurst.
    BankAmerica Corporation is now Bank of America.
    Bankers Trust. (No apos.)
    Bankhead, Tallulah. (1903-1968) American actress.
    Ban Ki-moon. (1944–) South Korean diplomat; secretary-general of United Nations (2007–); on second reference, Mr. Ban.
    Bannister, Sir Roger (Gilbert). (1929–) First person to run a mile in less than four minutes (3 minutes, 59.4 seconds; 1954).
    banns. Notice in church of intended marriage.
    banshee. Evil spirit; in Gaelic,
bean sídhe
.
    Bantustan. South African black homeland.
    banzai, bonsai. The first is a Japanese war cry; the second is a type of Japanese gardening centered on miniature trees.
    baptistery.
    Barabbas. In the New Testament, the condemned thief released instead of Jesus by Pilate.
    Barbadian. Of or from Barbados. The slang term
Bajan
is also sometimes used.
    barbaric, barbarous.
Barbaric
, properly used, emphasizes crudity and a lack of civilizing influence. A sharpened stick might be considered a barbaric implement of war.
Barbarous
stresses cruelty and harshness and usually contains at least a hint of moral condemnation, as in “barbarous ignorance” or “barbarous