birminghamize

Pronounced: BURR-ming-ham-ize, verb

Notes: I’ve not heard this word, but it’s not hard to guess where it comes from – the trick is figuring out the meaning

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Yesterday’s word

The word dissilient means “something bursting apart or open”

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

I enjoy this background; I’ll explain after giving it. It comes from a Latin word dissilient, a stem of the present participle of dissilīre (to leap apart); this is decomposed into dis- (away or apart), a combining for of sali (to leap), and -ent (alt: -ant), often found in nouns and adjectives taken from Latin. The reason I enjoy this background is that “desultory”, a word I enjoy, traces part of its roots back to the same word for “to leap”. If you don’t know the word “desultory”, look it up… it’s a pretty good description of some conversations, and has its own interesting origin.