Lucus a non Lucendo
.An etymological contradiction. The Latin word lucus means a “dark grove,” but is said to be derived from the verb lucĕo, to shine. Similarly our word black (the Anglo-Saxon blæc) is derived from the verb blæc-an, to bleach or whiten.
Bellum [war] quia minʹime bellum. (Priscian.) Bellum, a beautiful thing.
Curtaʹna (the instrument that shortens by cutting off the head; French court, Italian corto) is the blunt sword, emblematical of mercy, borne before our sovereigns at their coronation.
Devoted (attached to) is the Latin devotus (cursed).
Eumenĭdēs (the well-disposed); the Furies.
Kalo-Johannes, son of Alexius Comnēnēs. Called Kalos (handsome) because he was exceedingly ugly and undersized. He was, however, an active and heroic prince, and his son Manual (contemporary with Richard Cœur de Lion) was even more heroic still.
Lambs were ruffians formerly employed at elections to use “physical force” to deter electors from voting for the opposition.
Solomon, George III., so called by Dr. Wolcott, because he was no Solomon.