village near Brussels; the great battle there took place June 18, 1815; extended sense of "a final, crushing defeat" is attested by Dec. 5, 1816 in letter of Lord Byron. The name is roughly "watery clearing;" the second element is from Flemish loo "forest clearing, sacred wood" (see lea (n.)).

"thing of little value," 1815, earlier "inferior or worn-out horse" (1778, though OED regards this earlier appearance as "prob. accidental"), a word of uncertain origin, perhaps altered from slang rep "man of loose character; vicious, reckless and worthless person" (1747), which itself is of obscure origin, perhaps short for reprobate (n.). But also compare demi-rep "woman of dubious virtue" (1749, the second element said to be short for reputation).

1815, "small pellets made of lime or soft plaster, used in Italy during carnival by the revelers for pelting one another in the streets," from Italian plural of confetto "sweetmeat," via Old French, from Latin confectum, confectus (see confection).

The little balls (which left white marks) were substitutes for the small sugar-plum candies that traditionally were thrown during Italian carnivals; the custom was adopted in England by early 19c. for weddings and other occasions, with symbolic tossing of little bits of paper (which are called confetti by 1846).

The chief amusement of the Carnival consists in throwing the confetti—a very ancient practice, and which, with a little research, may be traced up through the Italian Chronicles to the time of the Romans. The confetti were originally of sugar, and the nobility still pique themselves on adhering to so costly a material. The people have degraded them to small balls of lime, which allows more sport, and takes in a much greater number of combatants. [Dr. Abraham Eldon, "The Continental Traveller's Oracle; or, Maxims for Foreign Locomotion," London, 1828]

[The Roman ladies] are generally provided with a small basket of confetti, and as their acquaintance and admirers pass in review, they must be prepared to receive a volley of them. It is thought quite the supreme bon ton for a Roman beau, to mark how many distinguished beauties he is in favour with, by having both his coat and hat covered as white as a miller with the flour of these confetti. [John Bramsen, "Letters of a Prussian Traveller," 1818]

1815, "free from local, provincial, or national prejudices and attachments," from cosmopolite "citizen of the world" (q.v.) on model of metropolitan. From 1833 as "belonging to all parts of the world, limited to no place or society." Meaning "composed of people of all nations, multi-ethnic" is from 1840. The U.S. women's magazine of the same name was first published in 1886.

As a noun, "one who is at home all over the world, a cosmopolite," 1640s. As the name of a vodka-based cocktail popular in 1990s (due to "Sex and the City" TV program) from late 1980s (the drink itself seems to date to the 1970s).

Cosmopolitanism in reference to an ideology that considers all humans as a single community is recorded by 1828. It took on a negative tinge in mid-20c., suggesting an undermining of indigenous and national societies and often tied to the supposed influence of the Jews.

also Indochina, "Farther India, the region between India and China," 1815, from Indo- "India" + China. The name was said to have been proposed by Scottish poet and orientalist John Leyden, who lived and worked in India from 1803 till his death at 35 in 1811. French Indo-Chine is attested from 1813, but the source credits it to Leyden. The inappropriateness of the name was noticed from the start. Related: Indo-Chinese (1814).

"to enlarge a hole," especially "to widen or enlarge by the use of a rotary cutter," 1815, a word of "somewhat doubtful origin" [OED], but it is probably a southwest England dialectal survival from obsolete Middle English reme "to make room, open up, extend by stretching."

This is from Old English ryman "widen, extend, enlarge," from Proto-Germanic *rumijan (source also of Old Saxon rumian, Old Norse ryma, Old Frisian rema, Old High German rumen, German räumen "to make room, widen"), from *rumaz "spacious" (see room (n.)). Related: Reamed; reaming; reamer.

Especially with out (adv.). The slang meaning "to cheat, swindle" is recorded by 1914; the sexual sense is attested by 1942. To ream (someone) out in the sense of "to scold, reprimand" is recorded from 1950; earlier it was used of gun barrels, machinery, etc., "to remove (a jam or defect) by reaming" (1861).

mechanical musical time-keeper, 1815, coined in English from Greek metron "measure" (from PIE root *me- (2) "to measure") + nomos "regulating," verbal adjective of nemein "to regulate" (from PIE root *nem- "assign, allot; take"). The device was patented in England in 1815 by Johann Maelzel (1772-1838), German-born civil engineer and showman, who gave it its modern name, but he incorporated the ideas of a device invented in Amsterdam in 1814 by Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel (1777-1826). Related: Metronomic.

"the theory that the mental powers of the individual consist of independent faculties, each of which has its seat in a different brain region, whose size is commensurate with the power of the faculty," 1815, literally "mental science," from phreno- "mind" (q.v.) + -logy "study of." Applied to the theory of mental faculties originated by Gall and Spurzheim that led to the 1840s mania for reading personality clues in the shape of a subject's skull and the "bumps" of the head. It was most popular from about 1810 to 1840. Related: Phrenological; phrenologist.

This theory, which originated at the close of the eighteenth century, assumes, moreover, as an essential part, the plasticity of the cranial envelop, by which the skull conforms externally, in the normal subject, to the shape and configuration of the brain within, so that its form and faculties may be determined, with sufficient exactness, from the skull itself, whether in the skeleton or in the living person. [Century Dictionary]

"instinctive knowledge of the right course of action in any circumstance, faculty of knowing just what to do and how to do it," 1815 (Scott), a French phrase in English, literally "to know (how) to do," from savoir "to know" (from Latin sapere; see sapient) + faire (from Latin facere "to make, do;" from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). French also has savoir-vivre "knowledge of and ability in the usages of polite society; knowledge of customs in the world," which turns up in English writers, occasionally, in italics.

"genuine, pure, authentic, true," 1815, colloquial, from the true Simon Pure "the genuine person or thing" (1795), from the name of a Quaker character who is impersonated by another character (Colonel Feignwell) as part of the comedy "A Bold Stroke for a Wife" (1717) by English dramatist and actress Susannah Centlivre. In the play, the real Simon Pure is treated as an impostor and is believed only after he has proven his identity.