ancient Greek colony in Libya; the name is of unknown origin. Cyrenaic (1640s) typically refers to the philosophy ("practical hedonism") of Aristippus of Cyrene (c. 435-c. 356 B.C.E.); as a noun, "a Cyrenaic philosopher," from 1580s.

According to Aristippus, pleasure is the only rational aim, and the relative values of different pleasures are to be determined by their relative intensities and durations. He maintained also that cognition is limited to sensation. [Century Dictionary]

by 1912 in reference to the inertial force that acts on objects that are in motion relative to a rotating reference frame, from the name of French scientist Gaspard Gustave de Coriolis (1792-1843) who described it c. 1835.

1871, in reference to Christian Doppler (1803-1853), Austrian scientist, who in 1842 explained the effect of relative motion on waves (originally to explain color changes in binary stars); proved by musicians performing on a moving train. Doppler shift (1955) is the change of frequency resulting from the Doppler effect (1894). The surname is literally "Gambler."

U.S. territory organized 1854, admitted as a state 1867, from a native Siouan name for the Platte River, either Omaha ni braska or Oto ni brathge, both literally "water flat." The modern river name is from French rivière platte, which means "flat river." Related: Nebraskan.

Bug eaters, a term applied derisively to the inhabitants of Nebraska by travellers on account of the poverty-stricken appearance of many parts of the State. If one living there were to refuse to eat bugs, he would, like Polonius, soon be "not where he eats but where he is eaten." [Walsh, 1892]