Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A fertile or green spot in a desert or wasteland, made so by the presence of water.
- n. A situation or place preserved from surrounding unpleasantness; a refuge: an oasis of serenity amid chaos.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Originally, a fertile spot in the Libyan desert where there is a spring or well and more or loss vegetation; now, any fertile tract in the midst of a waste: often used figuratively.
Wiktionary
- n. A spring of fresh water, surrounded by a fertile region of vegetation, in a desert.
- n. A quiet, peaceful place or situation separated from surrounding noise or bustle.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A fertile or green spot in a waste or desert, esp. in a sandy desert, where the water table approaches the surface.
- n. Any refuge from a prevailing stressful, unpleasant, or annoying situation.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a shelter serving as a place of safety or sanctuary
- n. a fertile tract in a desert (where the water table approaches the surface)
Etymologies
- From Ancient Greek ὄασις (óasis), from Demotic wḥỉ, from Egyptian (Wiktionary)
- From Late Latin Oasis, an oasis in the Libyan desert, from Greek, from Coptic ouahe, from Egyptian wḥ't. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
““This is what you call an oasis,” said Tam Lin, throwing down his pack and taking out food for the picnic.”
“Inside his brick townhouse, where he composes, Glass says he has created what he calls an "oasis of tranquility.”
“For Frankie Rosa, 22, who grew up in East Boston, the possibility of staying at what he describes as my oasis'' at Bridge Over Troubled Waters would be a big improvement over the city shelters where he bunks at night.”
“Plus Key West: still the gay and lesbian oasis is also in her district.”
“But what strikes me about all of this tumult here in our little Hollywood oasis is that for me it was actual life happening, actual community.”
The Huffington Post: Stephen Gyllenhaal: Music of the Spheres
“This green oasis is not typical for the architecture in Brazil, but resembles that which you can find in the Scandinavian countries. - via DagenDesign”
“The oasis is also within Bangkok's best shopping district.”
“From the polished concrete floors and two story vaulted ceiling and window walls in the open concept living area, Carrera marble counters and top of the line stainless appliances in the gourmet kitchen, twin master suites with full baths, no expense has been spared to make this home an aestheitic oasis from the ordinary.”
“I suppose you could say I was a tiny bit sad yesterday when I found out that my little oasis is being ripped up and is going to be replaced by a 103 story, 7000 unit condominium complex.”
“Your beautiful oasis is something I use to learn and to keep me awake regarding the issues you like to write about.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘oasis’.
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Brand Theft Auto
A marque list for cars--models or companies who've used common words as their name.
explorer, navigator, frontier, mustang, quest, cougar, sidekick, legend, legacy, ranger, voyager, civic and 266 more...
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AFET - diplomacy
broker a peace ac..., client state, deadlocked peace ..., embassy, freeze, goodwill ambassador, hinterland, interfere in dome..., intervene personally, maintain technica..., mediation, no business as usual and 670 more...
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Band or Brand?
Band names that are also common words or phrases.
genesis, who, beatles, journey, germs, sublime, doors, cars, nirvana, bangles, tool, pixies and 192 more...
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Nature and Environment
north, east, west, mountain, sea, beach, river, northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, island and 205 more...
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comfort
comfort level, comfort zone, at ease, soothing, consoling, stilling, coziness, harbor, snugness, bien aise, genial, take a powder and 34 more...
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Desert ingredients
dune, sand, wind, cactus, wadi, oasis, gibber, barchan, bilby, arroyo, mirage, heat and 59 more...
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Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
bumwank, calamity, recalcitrant, gayenese, jeeze, nonsense, flabbergasted, juxtapose, procrastinating, ossanity, biffing, loser and 1972 more... -
Just 'cause I like 'em, O
opacity, opaline, olfactory, orthoepy, orthoepy, oleaginous, obloquy, oasitic, obtrude, orthotic, overweening, ostinato and 125 more...
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reginaterra's Words
purl, blow, squish, andean, generality, adaptation, lush, pack, filter, acquiesce, abstraction, sweet and 508 more...
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SoSheShall's list
slurp, coeur, slurple, glop, perp, fluarxx, ropechno, herrherr, burrduhherrherr, sloppy, cheezie balls, eccentric and 634 more...
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the earth
Planetary chaos: terrain, landscape and geology excluding rocks. (See "the geologist" list for the latter.)
butte, karst, caldera, mesa, laccolith, cwm, crater, alp, precipice, sierra, badlands, prairie and 122 more...
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dyy's Words
ambivalence, irony, double-edged sword, paradox, struggle, plunge, buoy, pigeon-hole, ultimately, status quo, fuel, undermine and 230 more...
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Listless
Nowhere else to put these yet.
sibilant, cloying, pithy, apologia, odyssey, amanuensis, pleasantries, ginormous, burnish, sojourn, quonset, over-under and 217 more...
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kmalladi's favorites
edification, penchant, ablution, extricate, frank, triumvirate, trifecta, egregious, hoi polloi, articulate, antediluvian, brusque and 291 more...
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mandarine's Words
antepenultimate, metonymy, synecdoche, pop, kern, inherit, clique, scrumptious, macerate, murmur, kerning, veranda and 1068 more...
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agirregabiria's Words
educación, quizá, tú, razón, sí, universo, verdad, hijos, ilusión, jardín, lluvia, libertad and 134 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for oasis.
fbharjo wt' in Western Semitic means 'save, help, or deliver' though. I wonder if w'th and wt' have a common root. They appear to have a common meaning! Jan 21, 2013
bilby wḥ't on earth is that last bit of etymology? Jan 21, 2013