Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as isabel.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • A brownish yellow color.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A brownish-yellow colour.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the queen of Castile whose marriage to Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469 marked the beginning of the modern state of Spain; they instituted the Spanish Inquisition in 1478 and sponsored the voyages of Christopher Columbus in 1492 (1451-1504)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Said to be named from the Spanish princess Isabella, daughter of King Philip II, in allusion to the color assumed by her shift, which she wore without change from 1601 to 1604, in consequence of a vow.

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Examples

Comments

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  • A curious explanation for the name given by Linnaeus (1758) to the cowrie, Cypraea isabella, according to the section "Interesting honorifics" in Doug Yanega's Personal Page (http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html):

    Cypraea isabella Linnaeus (snail, "Isabella's cowrie"; Linnaeus named this parchment colored, brown-streaked, cowrie after the color 'Isabella' which in turn was named for the soiled calico of Archduchess Isabella of Austria, who vowed not to change her underwear until her father, Philip II, won the siege of Ostend. The siege lasted 3 years!)

    October 9, 2011

  • "Bianco isabella" (Isabella white), in Italian, refers to a "dirty" white for the same reason.

    October 10, 2011

  • One hesitates to ask if there is a "bianco silvio".

    October 10, 2011

  • Isabella of Castile also commissioned Elio Antonio de Nebrija on August 18,1492 to publish Gramatica Castellana, the first grammar in any modern European language. This grammar standardized vernacular Spanish and gave much advantage to the Spanish in exploring the new world. La lengua suelta y fuera de regla

    October 10, 2011

  • Great visuals.

    October 10, 2011

  • There are also some nice apocryphal definitions amoung the “reverse dictionary” words. (My favorite is sloooowwwww.)

    October 10, 2011