Lynn Regis. See “[King’s Lynn].”
Lyon King at Arms. The principal at Heralds’ College in Scotland, so called from the lion rampant on the armorial bearings of the Scottish kings.
Lyre Bird. So called from the resemblance of the sixteen feathers of its tail when spread erect to a lyre.
M
Ma’am. An Americanism for mother. See “[Madam].”
Ma’am School. The American term for a young ladies’ seminary, or an infants’ school kept by a woman.
Macadamised Road. This system of road-making by means of broken stones pressed down by a heavy roller was introduced by John Loudon Macadam, a Scotsman, appointed Surveyor of Public Roads in 1827.
Macaroni. From the Italian macare, to crush, to bruise, through Macarone, a mixture, a medley. This confection originally consisted of cheese and bread paste squeezed into balls.
Macaronies. Fashionable dandies first heard of in London after the accession of George III. Their leaders hailed from France and Italy, where Macaroni Clubs abounded. These clubs arose out of Dilettante Societies, formed for the cultivation of what was styled Macaronic Verse, after a poetical rhapsody entitled “Liber Macaronicorum,” a jumble of Latin and other languages published by a monk of Mantua in 1520. Subsequently everything in dress or taste received the name of Macaroni.
Macaroon. A biscuit the name of which has the same etymology as “Macaroni.”