Siameseadj.n.
/sʌɪəˈmiːz/ A. adj.
1.
a. Of or relating to Siam (now Thailand) or its inhabitants; (also) in the specific names of animals or birds. Siamese pheasant n. Euplocamus prælatus.Siam was renamed Thailand in 1939. The country's name reverted to Siam in 1945, before returning to Thailand in 1949.
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the world > the earth > named regions of earth > East Indies > [adjective] > Thailand or the former Siam
Siamese1693
Thai1808
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Asia > native or inhabitant of Burma or Thailand > [adjective]
Siamese1728
Thai1808
Burman1814
Burmese1823
1693 A. Pitfield tr. S. de la Loubère New Hist. Relation Kingdom Siam I. 8 The Siamese History is full of Fables.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Aloes The Siamese Embassadors to the Court of France, in 1686,..brought a Present of this Wood from their Emperor.
1797 Encycl. Brit. I. 494/1 From this Shanscrit are derived the sacred characters of Thibet,.. the Singalese, Siamese, Maharatan,..&c.
1827 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom III. 406 The Siamese Pig is small, long bodied, very low on the limbs.
1876 Nature 17 Aug. 343/2 The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens..include..a Siamese Pheasant (Euplocamus prælatus).
1880 Cassell's Nat. Hist. IV. 265 A species..is called the Siamese Muggar, and has a close resemblance to the Marsh Crocodile of India.
b. Siamese cat, a lightly built shorthaired cat belonging to a breed originally found in Thailand, distinguished by buff-coloured fur with points of brown, blue, or other colours, and a narrow head with large ears and slanting blue eyes; so Siamese kitten.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Felidae (feline) > felis domesticus (cat) > [noun] > miscellaneous breeds of > Siamese
Siamese cat1871
Siamese1893
blue point1918
seal point1934
1871 Illustr. London News 22 July 63/2 It [sc. the variety class at the Crystal Palace cat show] contained..a singular Siamese cat, coloured precisely like a black~faced pug-dog.
1889 H. Weir Our Cats 73 Siamese Cat. Among the beautiful varieties of the domestic cat brought into notice by cat shows, none deserve more attention than ‘The Royal Cat of Siam’.
1942 D. Powell Time to be Born (1943) xii. 295 In front of the pet-shop window a man stood watching half a dozen infant Siamese kittens.
1958 Listener 18 Sept. 410/1 There are many legends and stories about the origin of Siamese cats but few facts.
1972 C. Ing & G. Pond Champion Cats of World 109 The Siamese Cat Club was founded in 1901.
c. Siamese fighter, Siamese fighting fish, a brightly coloured, often red, tropical fish, Betta splendens, native to Malaysia and Thailand, and distinguished by enlarged fins and tail.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > [noun] > suborder Anabantoidei > family Anabantidae > member of (Siamese fighter)
labyrinth fish1835
paradise fish1858
gourami1878
Siamese fighting fish1929
kissing gourami1935
fighting fish-
1929 W. T. Innes Goldfish Varieties (ed. 11) 256 (caption) Betta splendens, Cambodia variety, or Veiltail Siamese Albino Fighting Fish.
1968 R. Clapperton No News on Monday i. 9 Fifty bucks' worth of aquarium: two purple Siamese fighters hovering motionless, separated by glass.
1971 Ceylon Observer 19 Sept. (Mag. ed.) 2/6 (advt.) Goldfish..Siamese Fighters.
1977 D. J. Coffey Encycl. Aquarium Fish 67/1 Siamese Fighting-fish are aggressive.
2.
a. Siamese twins n. male twins from Siam, Chang and Eng (1811–1874), who were joined to each other by a tubular band in the region of the waist. Hence gen., any pair of twins physically united by their tissues; singular one of a pair of such twins. Also attributive (in singular) and figurative.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > deformity > [noun] > congenital union > Siamese twins
Siamese twins1829
pygopage1844
xiphopagus1844
xiphodyme1861
pygopagus1866
thoracopagus1894
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > pair > [adjective]
double1393
coupledc1440
conjugate1471
duplicate?a1475
jumellec1475
gemel1497
geminate1589
paired1595
fellowed1654
duplicatory1659
gemellous1697
dyadic1728
duplex1817
Siamese twins1829
parial1849
dyad1869
duadic1879
pairwise1913
duplicitous1985
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > [noun] > twins > Siamese twins
Siamese twins1829
1829 Times 25 Nov. 2/6 The Siamese United Twins.
1829 Times 26 Nov. 2/3 It is announced..in the Paris papers of Monday, that the Sardinian girl with two heads died on the preceding day. The Siamese twins will therefore have a clear field in that capital.
1835 C. Dickens in Evening Chron. 18 June 4 They were three long graces in drapery, with..another..the three fates with another sister—the Siamese twins multiplied by two.
1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Let. 27 Feb. (1954) III. 27 People who have been inseparable and found all their happiness in each other for five years are in a sort of Siamese-twin condition that other people are not likely to regard with tolerance or even with belief.
1879 Mind 4 331 Should the empiricists succeed in their attempt to resolve such Siamese-twin elements into habitual juxtapositions.
1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 765/2 The most intelligible form of double monstrosity, like the Siamese twins.
1883 E. W. Hamilton Diary 18 Dec. (1972) II. 526 Chamberlain also spoke briefly. He passed a high eulogy on Dilke—they are the Siamese twins of politicians.
1899 Daily News 15 Mar. 4/4 The death of M. Erckmann..removes the last of the Siamese twins of French fiction.
1900 H. W. Smyth Greek Melic Poets 278 Kteatos and Eurytos, the Siamese Twins of Greek mythology.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xiv. [Oxen of the Sun] 391 Heated argument..regarding the juridical and theological dilemma in the event of one Siamese twin predeceasing the other.
1926 J. S. Huxley Ess. Pop. Sci. 235 Partial constriction [of a newt embryo] produces partial doubling or ‘Siamese twins’.
1937 H. H. Newman et al. Twins xiii. 355 Conjoined twins (Siamese twins) show marked differences in height, weight, features, and intelligence.
1957 C. W. Mankowitz & R. G. Haggar Conc. Encycl. Eng. Pottery & Porcelain 202/1 The Kentish Siamese twins, Eliza and Mary Chalkhurst (who died in 1734 at the age of 34) were apparently made in redware.
1957 E. H. Shepard Drawn from Memory ix. 172 She was a queer experiment in ship design, a sort of Siamese twin of a ship; two complete hulls joined together in the middle. She had two sets of engines and two funnels.
1961 R. B. Long Sentence & its Parts iv. 106 Here on Thursdays is followed by two complete nucleuses, tied together in Siamese-twin fashion by joint possession of the introductory adjunct.
1965 E. Gowers Fowler's Mod. Eng. Usage (ed. 2) 554/1 Siamese twins. This seems a suitable term for the many words which, linked in pairs by and or or, are used to convey a single meaning.
1965 E. Gowers Fowler's Mod. Eng. Usage (ed. 2) 554/2 Whenever a Siamese twin suggests itself to a writer, he should be on his guard; it may be just the phrase he wants, but it is more likely to be one of those clichés that are always lying in wait to fill a vacuum in the brain.
1970 G. Greer Female Eunuch 245 The bitter animosity..of divorce is unknown where individuals have not become Siamese twins.
1972 B. F. Miller & C. B. Keane Encycl. & Dict. Med. & Nursing 876/1 New techniques in surgery..are making it possible to separate some Siamese twins whose physical links are highly complex.
1981 Birds Spring 63/1 My neighbour found Siamese twin starlings caught on some old wire... They had two legs each, but only three feet. The inner leg of each bird was joined together with one foot between them.
1981 N.Y. Times Mag. 19 July 6/4 The Kennedy prose style was a product of him and his Siamese twin, Theodore Sorensen, writing freely with his free arm.
b. Twin; closely connected or similar. Also, relating to or characteristic of Siamese twins.
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the world > relative properties > relationship > similarity > [adjective]
ylikeeOE
likeOE
anlikeOE
accordanta1325
of a (also one) mouldc1330
kindred1340
lichy1370
likelyc1384
alikea1393
ontinkela1400
evenly?c1400
similable?a1440
semble1449
of a sort1463
seemable1501
uniform1548
resembled1553
self-like1556
like-natured1566
resembling1573
kindlike1579
of the same, that, every, etc. feather1581
resemblant1581
marrow1585
similar1586
like-seeming1590
twin-like1599
connatural1601
similary1610
semblativea1616
otherlike1620
like-shaped1640
connate1641
homogeneous1641
consimilar1645
congenerous1646
resemblancing1652
congeniousa1656
congenerate1657
equaliform1660
congenial1669
similitive1678
symbolizant1685
synonymous1690
of akin1723
consimilary1736
like-sized1742
cogeneric1777
alike as a row of pins1785
congenerica1834
Siamese1833
congener1867
lak1881
sorty1885
homoeomorphic1902
homogenized1958
the world > health and disease > ill health > deformity > [adjective] > Siamese twins
bicephalous1803
Siamese1833
thoracopagous1894
xiphopagous1894
pygopagous1895
xiphopagic190.
1833 T. Hook Parson's Daughter I. xii. 260 We must leave the ladies to themselves for a short time, in order to take another glance at the Siamese willow-wearers at Ullsford.
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick lxxii. 356 So, then, an elongated Siamese ligature [sc. monkey-rope] united us.
1857 H. H. Breen Blemishes Mod. Eng. Lit. 72 They toss the lord and his page in the same blanket, and then they turn them adrift in the Siamese character of ‘milord’.
1904 R. Hichens Woman with Fan vi Miss Schley's said to be like me not only in appearance but in other ways. Are we really so Siamese?
1955 E. Bowen World of Love v. 87 In step, in Siamese closeness, they paced towards it.
1969 N. J. Berrill Person in Womb xiii. 158 Siamese conditions meant death of mother and offspring during the agony of delivery.
c. Siamese coupling, a form of coupling used for fire-hose. Also Siamese connection.
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the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > coldness > extinguishing fire > [noun] > fire-fighting > a substance or apparatus for extinguishing > hose > parts of
Siamese coupling1891
branch1897
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > connecting pipe or tube > fittings of
union1841
reducing piece1864
Siamese1914
Siamese connection1914
1891 Scribner's Mag. Jan. 63/2 The siamese coupling, by which the power of two or more engines may be united on one hose.
1914 J. Kenlon Fires & Firefighting xxii. 322 A length of three-inch hose is attached to the pipe and strapped to the ladder with a siamese connection on the ground.
B. n.
1. A native of Siam (now Thailand).
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the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Asia > native or inhabitant of Burma or Thailand > [noun]
Siamite1601
Siamese1693
Siamer1697
Burman1800
Burmese1824
Thai1841
Thailander1961
1693 A. Pitfield tr. S. de la Loubère New Hist. Relation Kingdom Siam I. 6 The Name of Siam is unknown to the Siamese.
1797 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 449/1 The Siamese prepare the land for tillage as soon as the earth is sufficiently moistened by the floods.
1808 J. Leyden in Asiatick Researches 10 240 The Thay language is that which is used by the Siamese.
1842 J. C. Prichard Nat. Hist. Man 238 The average height of the Siamese is 5 feet 3 inches.
2. The language of Siam.
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the mind > language > languages of the world > Austric > [noun] > Daic > Thai
Siamese1759
Thai1808
1759 Mod. Part Universal Hist. VII. 238 The Siamese resembles the Chinese in several respects: it consists mostly in monosyllables, and has neither declensions nor conjugations.
1808 J. Leyden in Asiatick Researches 10 242 The T'hay language, or Siamese.
1854 R. G. Latham Varieties Human Race in Orr's Circle Sci.: Org. Nature I. 315 The Khamti language..is so like the Siamese of the capital [etc.].
1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 855/1 The foreign ingredients in Siamese are principally Sanskrit.
3. A Siamese cat.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Felidae (feline) > felis domesticus (cat) > [noun] > miscellaneous breeds of > Siamese
Siamese cat1871
Siamese1893
blue point1918
seal point1934
1893 J. Jennings Domest. or Fancy Cats ii. 17 A pure-bred Siamese is a valuable cat.
1939 T. S. Eliot Old Possum's Bk. Pract. Cats 15 It was a Siamese had mauled his missing ear.
1950 W. de la Mare Inward Compan. 70 That crafty cat, a buff-black Siamese, Sniffing through wild wood.
1973 ‘E. McBain’ Let's hear It iii. 37 Janik himself resembled a cross-eyed Siamese, blue eyes magnified behind bifocals..a tuft of black hair behind each ear.
4. A Siamese coupling or connection.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > connecting pipe or tube > fittings of
union1841
reducing piece1864
Siamese1914
Siamese connection1914
1914 J. Kenlon Fires & Firefighting xxii. 322 Run in two lines, connect to the siamese, raise the bed ladder to the desired position and the stream is controlled from the street by guys.
1969 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. lii. 55 Siamese,..a connector joint used for reducing two lines into one line. ‘A Siamese will allow more pressure than a single line.’
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
Siamesev.
/sʌɪəˈmiːz/ transitive. To join, unite, or couple, after the manner of the Siamese twins.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > join (together) [verb (transitive)] > join closely, intimately, or permanently
tiec1000
limea1225
knit1340
sold1388
marryc1450
compact1530
spear?1548
solder1589
cementc1604
ferruminate1623
bewed1674
weld1802
wed1818
Siamese1830
intermarry1863
to pull together1925
mate1959
1830 Fraser's Mag. 1 427 They are..Siamesed by a cord which defies the knife of the most skilful surgeon.
1834 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 35 510 We are Siamesed to France; we cannot cut asunder the link without hazarding blood.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVIII. 405 Three or four lines of 2½ inch hose are united or ‘Siamesed’ into one larger one.
Derivatives
Siaˈmesed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > [adjective] > closely, intimately, or permanently joined
grafted1570
married1599
soldered1601
connubial1807
Siamesed1833
welded1837
wedded1842
cemented1903
1833 T. Hook Parson's Daughter I. xi. 234 The master of the George appeared at the head of his waiters, bearing the Siamesed repast for the two disconsolate lovers.
1914 J. Kenlon Fires & Firefighting 377 For siamesed lines, an allowance was made for the loss in the siamese connection and for 20 feet of 3½-inch lead hose.
1942 Potts & Harriss Fire Pumps & Hydraulics viii. 59 Where series pumping has to be resorted to it is desirable to employ ‘Siamesed’ lines, i.e. to duplicate the deliveries from the pump or pumps in the series up to the final pump.
1970 B. Knox Children of Mist i. 20 The Jaguar..had twin carburetters plus a siamesed exhaust.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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adj.n.1693
v.1830