fem. proper name, often a diminutive of Clara and its relatives. Also, "a nun of the order of St. Clare" (1790s); the Franciscan order also known as the Poor Clares (c. 1600).
female barbershop singing group member, 1947, from the name of a popular close harmony song by Richard Armstrong & Harry Gerard, "You're the Flower of my Heart, Sweet Adeline" (1903).
order of meat-eating mammals, 1830, from Latin (animalia) carnivora "flesh-eating (animals)," neuter plural of carnivorus "flesh-eating" (see carnivorous). Applied as the scientific name of a large order of flesh-eating mammals by French naturalist Georges Léopole Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert, Baron Cuvier (1769-1832). Related: Carnivoral.
"Black friar, one of an order of mendicant preaching friars," 1630s, from Latin form of the name of Domingo de Guzman (Santo Domingo), who founded the order in Languedoc. They were confirmed by the pope in 1216. His name, like Italian form Dominic (q.v.), is from Latin dominicus,which in Christian use meant "devoted to the Lord."
fem. proper name, from Latin Ursula, diminutive of ursa "she-bear" (see ursine). The Ursuline order of Catholic women was founded as Brescia in 1537 and named for Saint Ursula.
masc. proper name, Old Testament name of the last in order of the Twelve Prophets, from Hebrew Mal'akhi, literally "my messenger," from mal'akh "messenger," from Semitic base l-'-k (compare Arabic la'aka "he sent").
city in California, U.S., named in Spanish for St. Francis of Assisi; the name first recorded in reference to this region 1590s, reinforced by long association of the area with the Franciscan order.
masc. proper name, from Latin, from Octavius, from octavus "eighth," from octo (see eight).
But although we find so marked differences in the use of the numerals as names, it is impossible to believe that this use did not arise in the same way for all; that is, that they were at first used to distinguish children by the order of birth. But when we find them as praenomina in historical times it is evident that they no longer referred to order of birth. [George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina," in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 1897]
extremist Shiite group active in Lebanon, founded c. 1982, from Persian hezbollah, Arabic hizbullah, literally "Party of God," from hezb/hizb "party" + allah "God." An adherent is a Hezbollahi. The name of various Islamic groups in modern times, the name itself is attested in English by 1960 in reference to an Indonesian guerrilla battalion of 1945 that "grew out of a similarly named organization formed by the Japanese to give training in military drill to young Moslems."
In Modjokuto (like Masjumi itself, Hizbullah was Indonesia-wide but, also like Masjumi, it had little effective central organization) this group was led by the present head of Muhammadijah — the same man who a year or so before was going to Djakarta for propaganda training and studying to be a kamikaze. [Clifford Geertz, "The Religion of Java," Chicago, 1960]
