maire1
/mɛː/noun
The chief municipal officer of a French town or city; (also) the chief municipal officer of one of the arrondissements or districts of Paris.
Origin
Late 18th century; earliest use found in Horace Walpole (1717–1797), author, politician, and patron of the arts. From French maire.
maire2
/ˈmʌɪri/ /ˈmɑːɪreɪ/noun
Any of several New Zealand trees with heavy close-grained wood; especially (a) either of two forest trees of the genus Nestegis (formerly Olea), of the family Oleaceae, N. cunninghamii (more fully black maire), a tall tree with dark wood, and N. lanceolata (more fully white maire); (b) Mida salicifolia, of the family Santalaceae, a forest tree with leathery leaves; (c) Syzygium (formerly Eugenia) maire, of the family Myrtaceae, a tree of swampy ground with edible red berries.
Origin
Mid 19th century; earliest use found in The London Medical Gazette. From Maori maire, the name for Olea cunninghamii and other species of Olea, and also occurring as the first element in the names of other trees and shrubs.
- Don Quixote
- donship
- don't
- don't ask me!
- don't call us, we'll call you
- don't-care
- don't-careish
- don't-careishness
- don't-carish
- don't-carishness
- dontcha
- don'tcha
- don't change horses in midstream
- don't count your chickens before they're hatched
- don't give it another thought
- don't give up the (or your) day job
- don't hold your breath
- don't I know it!
- don't-know
- don't knowist
- don't look a gift horse in the mouth
- don't mention it
- don't (or I wouldn't) bet on it
- don't put all your eggs in one basket
- don't spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar