the.com/glossary

the back-of-book translator that exists because the author forgot you weren't there for the lecture.

means An alphabetical list of specialized or difficult terms with their definitions, usually placed at the back of a book.

from From the Greek 'glossa,' meaning 'tongue' or 'language' — and by extension, a word needing explanation. This became the Latin 'glossa,' a note explaining a hard word, which medieval scribes would jot in the margins or between the lines of manuscripts. A collection of such notes became a 'glossarium' in Late Latin, the ancestor of our 'glossary.' The same 'glossa' root also gives us 'gloss' (an explanatory note) and lurks inside 'glossolalia' (speaking in tongues).

origin
From Greek glossa, meaning tongue or language
medieval roots
Scribes scribbled definitions between manuscript lines
jargon graveyard
Where every field hides its secret password list
alphabet rule
Almost always sorted A to Z, ruthlessly
the.com · every word