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Appendices • Abbreviations • Thesaurus • Rhymes • Frequency lists • Phrasebooks Welcome to the English-language Wiktionary, a collaborative project to produce a free-content multilingual dictionary. Designed as the lexical companion to Wikipedia, the encyclopaedia project, Wiktionary has grown beyond a standard dictionary and now includes a thesaurus, a rhyme guide, phrase books, language statistics and extensive appendices. We aim to include not only the definition of a word, but also enough information to really understand it. Thus etymologies, pronunciations, sample quotations, synonyms, antonyms and translations are included. Wiktionary is a wiki, which means that you can edit it, and all the content is dual-licensed under both the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License as well as the GNU Free Documentation License. Before you contribute, you may wish to read through some of our Help pages, and bear in mind that we do things quite differently from other wikis. In particular, we have strict layout conventions and inclusion criteria. Learn how to start a page, how to edit entries, experiment in the sandbox and visit our Community Portal to see how you can participate in the development of Wiktionary. , Word of the day for January 24 at loggerheads adj

1. (figuratively) Unable to agree; opposing.

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Aesop (also spelled Æsop or Esop, from the Greek Αἴσωπος—Aisōpos) (ca. 620-564 BC), known for the genre of fables ascribed to him, was by tradition born a slave (δούλος) and was a contemporary of Croesus and Solon in the mid-sixth century BC in ancient Greece.

Fables

Fables are stories which impart a moral or practical lesson and which usually feature animals. The most famous creator of fables was Aesop. Various collections that go under the rubric Aesop's Fables are currently available in book form (especially books for children) and the stories are often dramatized as plays and cartoons.

Some of the earliest known Aesopic fables concern the Greek gods, but those which are best-known today feature animals which speak and have human characteristics, such as the Tortoise and the Hare or the Ant and the Grasshopper.

Aesop or Æsop (from the Greek Aisopos) (c. 620BC – c. 560BC), was an ancient Greek fabulist of possibly African descent (his Greek name means Ethiopian or black man in today's parlance), by tradition a slave who credited the African goddess Isis for his gift. Aesop's Fables are still taught as moral lessons and used as subjects for various entertainments, especially children's plays and cartoons.

Sourced

• A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.
  • The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

• Any excuse will serve a tyrant.
  • The Wolf and the Lamb

• Appearances often are deceiving.
  • The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

• Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything.
  • Juno and the Peacock

• Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.
  • The Dog and the Shadow

• Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing.
  • The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

• Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.
  • The Milkmaid and Her Pail

• Don't cry over spilt milk.
  • The Milkmaid and Her Pail

• Familiarity breeds contempt or Acquaintance softens prejudices.
  • The Fox and the Lion

• I am sure the grapes are sour.
  • The Fox and the Grapes

• I will have nought to do with a man who can blow hot and cold with the same breath.
  • The Man and the Satyr

• In critical moments even the very powerful have need of the weakest.
  • The Lion and the Mouse

• It is thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow.
  • The Ant and the Grasshopper

• It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.
  • The Jay and the Peacock

• Never trust the advice of a man in difficulties.
  • The Fox and the Goat

From Wikiquote under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Mon Mar 1 13:57:50 2010