Pronounced: FRAN-juh-bull, adj
Notes: I didn’t know this word when I first ran across it
Yesterday’s word
The word Ruritanian means “relating to an imaginary place characterized by romance, adventure, and intrigue”.
First usage
This word began to be used in the late 1800s
Background / Comments
The book The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope was published in 1894. Ruritania was the fictional central European kingdom in which the action of the book takes place. It was (and remains) a popular story, and our word came about shortly after publication. I’ve not read the book, but I have watched one of the six film adaptations. There were three stage plays from this story, and numerous homages, including a classic Doctor Who serial and a couple of episodes of Get Smart.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 