verb
to be indecisive or evasive to gain time or delay acting.
The current, somewhat negative, meaning of temporize, “to be indecisive or evasive to gain time or delay acting,” is a relatively modern development of Middle French temporiser “to pass the time, await one’s time,” from Medieval Latin ٱǰ “to delay,” equivalent to Medieval Latin ٱǰ “to delay, put off the time.” All of the medieval words are derivatives of Latin tempor-, the inflectional stem of tempus “time,” which has no certain etymology. Temporize entered English in the 16th century.
I’ll temporise till we are all dead and buried.
He is as likely as any man I know to temporize—to calculate what will be likely to promote his own reputation and advantage …
Eyewinker is a very rare noun, originally Scottish and now mostly an American regionalism. Eye needs no explanation; winker has several meanings: “eyelash, eyelid, eye, something that gets in the eye and makes one blink.” Eyewinker entered English in the early 19th century.
“Last night—at dinner”—Mrs. Appel eyed him accusingly—“I found—an eyewinker—in the hard sauce.”
Not even an eyewinker was left to her.
The Latin noun ŧīԲ “queen” is obviously related to the Latin noun ŧ (inflectional stem ŧ-) “king,” but how ŧīԲ is derived from ŧ is tricky. There is also a deceptive resemblance between ŧ and ŧīԲ and Sanskrit ́Ჹ– “rajah, king” and ́ñī– “queen, ranee” (ŧīԲ and ́ñī– are not directly related). There is a definite connection, however, between Latin ŧ (ŧ-), ŧīԲ and the Celtic words for king, e.g., Old Irish í (from ī), and its stem íg (from ī–os). í, the Old Irish word for queen, is cognate with ŧīԲ. Regina dates from Old English times.
He represented the rule of law, and in Miromara the law bowed to no one, not even the regina herself.
“Mother of heaven, regina of the clouds … .”