Well attestedNamed from the place
Waterloo
noun · first attested 19th century
A crushing loss is named for a ridge south of Brussels.
A decisive, often final, defeat.
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 19th century
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Waterloo
- Step 2
Battle of Waterloo
- In English
Waterloo
Napoleon’s defeat near Waterloo in 1815 made the village name a byword for a final fall. English then used meet one’s Waterloo for any decisive undoing.
Also pinned to Waterloo
1 more from the same place
Belgium
All 12 entries 10 more words from Belgium
spaEvery spa is named for one Belgian town.SpaduffelThe bag is named for a Flemish town.DuffelMechlinThe lace carries the English name for Mechelen.MechelenBrussels sproutThe vegetable is named for a city that cultivated it.Brusselscafé liégeoisA Viennese dessert renamed for the Belgian city that slowed the German advance.Liègeduffel bagThe bag is named for a Flemish town that sold the cloth, not the bag.Duffelduffel coatNamed for a Belgian town that made the cloth, not the coat.DuffelLimburger cheeseThe smell comes from a bacterium that also lives on human skin.Limburg