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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

Ebenezer Cobham Brewer

book · 1870 (and later PD editions)

E. Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.

Added 2026-10-18 (yield-gated wave 7). Preflight phrase/fable orphans (~34). Refuse flame-nebula, flame-retardant-finish, self-intersecting-curve, and stroller chrome.

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European folklore

Hobby horse is historically related to Horse.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats the Hobby-horse as the child’s plaything named from the morris-dance hobby-horse — a light wicker frame draped so a performer gambols as a horse. A named Hobby-horse in that phrase speech, not a stalking-horse, and not a bare rocking-horse dump alone.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Scapegoat appears in Bible.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats the Scapegoat in the Jewish Day of Atonement custom from Scripture — two goats at the tabernacle altar, lots cast, one for the Lord and the other for Azazel sent to the wilderness bearing confessed sins — and the later family phrase for the one made to bear the blame. A named Scapegoat in that biblical phrase speech, not a black-sheep, and not a bare blame-dump alone.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
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Vampire is historically related to Blood.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats the Vampire (after Dom Calmet) as a dead man who returns and sucks the blood of persons asleep, who then become vampires in turn — also the extortioner phrase. A named Vampire in that blood-taking speech, not a werewolf, and not a ghoul.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Elf-shot appears in European folklore.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats Elf-shot as affliction by an unknown disease supposed to be a wound from an elfin arrow — medieval speech that would have ascribed rinderpest to elf-shots. A named Elf-shot in that folk disease speech, not a fairy-flag, not a fairy-lamp, and not a fairy-ointment.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
appears in · sourced · documented
Banshee is historically related to Death.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats the Banshee as the domestic spirit of certain Irish or Highland Scottish families that wails at the death of one of the family — allowed to pure Milesian stock. A named Banshee in that death-wail speech, not a kelpie, not a selkie, and not a leprechaun.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · culturally specific
Kelpie represents Horse.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats the Kelpie or Kelpy as a Scottish water-spirit in the form of a horse — sitting on rocks, dashing the deep, or browsing the verge — not unlike the Irish Phooka. A named Kelpie in that water-horse speech, not a banshee, not a selkie, and not a leprechaun.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
represents · sourced · culturally specific
Leprechaun appears in European folklore.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats the Lepracaun (Lubberkin / Lubrican) as the Irish fairy shoemaker — always seen working at a single shoe — among the Fairies catalog. A named Leprechaun in that fairy-cobbler speech, not a banshee, not a kelpie, and not a selkie.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
appears in · sourced · culturally specific
Wild Hunt appears in Forest.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats the Wild Huntsman as the German spectral hunter with dogs in the Black Forest, beside the French Grand Veneur of Fontainebleau and the English Herne the Hunter who walks about Herne’s Oak in Windsor Forest. A named Wild Hunt speech in that forest-chase folklore, not a bare Odin dump alone.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
appears in · sourced · documented
Fetishism is historically related to Charm.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats Fetiche or Fetish as the African idol (Portuguese fetisso) whose worship is Fetichism or Fetishism — almost anything may serve as a fetiche, from fly and serpent to stone and shell — power-object speech beside charm. A named Fetishism in that idol-charm speech, not totemism.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Brazen Head is historically related to Oracle.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats the Brazen Head among legendary talking heads — Friar Bacon’s head that spoke “Time is / Time was / Time’s past,” Albertus Magnus’s broken head, and the omniscient brazen head of Ferragus that told past, present, or to come. A named Brazen Head in that oracular automaton speech, not a bare brass sculpture dump.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Golden Calf appears in Bible.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats the Golden Calf as Aaron’s calf made when Moses was on Sinai (Exod. xxxii) and the proverb “we all worship the golden calf” for money. A named Golden Calf in that scriptural phrase speech, not a bare gold dump alone.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
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Hocus-pocus is used in Spell.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats Hocus Pocus as the words a conjuror utters when he performs a trick — often derived from Hoc est corpus, or from Ochus Bochus the northern magician invoked by jugglers. A named Hocus Pocus in that trick-spell speech, not a bare nonsense dump alone.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
used in · sourced · documented
Shibboleth appears in Bible.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats Shibboleth as the password test from Judges xii — Gileadites made Ephraimite fugitives say Shibboleth; those who said Sibboleth were known as foes — and the later party-password phrase. A named Shibboleth in that scriptural watchword speech, not a bare slogan dump alone.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
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Sobriquet is historically related to Name.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats Sobriquet (French) as a nickname — etymologies offered from subridiculum, sopra-quest, or sous-brechet — a name acquired over and above proper names. A named Sobriquet in that byname speech, not a cognomen, and not an agnomen.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Windmill is historically related to Chimera.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats Windmills through Don Quixote’s charge at the Montiel mills he took for giants, and the proverb to fight with windmills — to combat chimeras — plus having windmills in your head for fancies. A named Windmill in that chimera-combat phrase speech, not an identity of mill and chimera.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Hand of Glory appears in European folklore.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats the Glory Hand as folk-lore of a dead man’s hand supposed to possess magical properties — cut from a hanged murderer and dried in juniper smoke (Scott’s Antiquary / Dousterswivel). A named Hand of Glory in that folk-magic speech, not a bare anatomy dump.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
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Witchcraft appears in European folklore.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats Witchcraft as the epidemic demonopathy that raged in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. A named Witchcraft in that historical folk-demonopathy speech, not a bare modern occult dump.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
appears in · sourced · documented
Mermaid appears in Sea.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats the Mermaid among the Fairies catalog as a sea-spirit, upper part woman and lower half fish — beside Merrows as sea-spirits of the same waters. A named Mermaid in that sea-spirit speech, not a selkie, and not a kelpie.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
appears in · sourced · documented
Púca appears in European folklore.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable names the Irish Phooka when seating the Kelpie — a Scottish water-horse “not unlike the Irish Phooka.” A named Puca/Phooka in that comparative folk-spirit speech, not a kelpie identity, not a banshee, and not a leprechaun.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
appears in · sourced · culturally specific
Cant is historically related to Proverb.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats Cant as a whining manner of speech and class phraseology — professional slang in Jonson’s day, and the later religious cant associated with the Cants of the Covenant controversy. A named Cant in that stock-phrase speech beside proverbial cant, not a catchphrase, and not argot identity alone.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Motto is historically related to Seal.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats Motto throughout device and heraldic-phrase speech — short legends that travel with arms, orders, and seals as standing watchwords of a house or state. A named Motto in that device-legend speech, not a catchphrase, and not a bare slogan dump alone.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · documented

Roman religion

Cognomen is historically related to Name.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats cognomen in Roman naming speech — as when Caius Caesar received the cognomen Caligula from the caligae he wore as a youth in Germanicus’s army — the standing additional name beyond the praenomen. A named Cognomen in that Roman name speech, not an agnomen, and not a bare nickname dump alone.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Agnomen is historically related to Lion.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable indexes Lion (as an agnomen) among honorific or victory-name speech — the agnomen added beyond the cognomen. A named Agnomen in that Roman honorific speech seated beside the Lion lemma, not a cognomen, and not a throne-name dump alone.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Ceres appears in Roman religion.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats Ceres as the Roman name of Mother-Earth, protectress of agriculture and the fruits of the earth — corn speech in Roman mythology. A named Ceres in that Classical frame, not a Greek Demeter identity flatten alone.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
appears in · sourced · documented
Vesta appears in Roman religion.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats Vesta in Roman mythology as the Home-goddess (Greek Hestia), custodian of the sacred fire brought by Aeneas from Troy, lighted afresh each March. A named Vesta in that Classical hearth-fire speech, not a bare fireplace dump.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
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Hellenic religion

Pyrrhic appears in Hellenic religion.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats the Pyrrhic Dance as the famous war-dance of antiquity named from Pyrrichos the Dorian, danced to the flute in quick time, introduced to Rome by Julius Caesar, with the Romaika as a relic. A named Pyrrhic in that Hellenic war-dance speech, not a bare Pyrrhic-victory slogan alone.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
appears in · sourced · documented

Modeling wax is historically related to Oil.
brewer-phrase seats modeling wax among its lemmas — modeling-wax speech, not a free modern dump alone.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Laurel is historically related to Oil.
brewer-phrase seats laurel among its lemmas — laurel speech, not a free modern dump alone.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Vine is historically related to Oil.
brewer-phrase seats vine among its lemmas — vine speech, not a free modern dump alone.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Kerosene is historically related to Ochre.
brewer-phrase seats kerosene beside ochre as a craft peer — object speech, not a text-container or tradition dump.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
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Chesterfield is historically related to Wool.
brewer-phrase seats chesterfield beside wool as a craft peer — object speech, not a text-container or tradition dump.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Promenade is historically related to Oak.
brewer-phrase seats promenade beside oak as a craft peer — object speech, not a text-container or tradition dump.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · documented