gemutlich

Pronounced: guh-MOOT-lick (alt: guh-MUTT-likh), adj

Notes: Even if you don’t know the meaning, you can guess at the language this came from

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Yesterday’s word

The word provenience means “origin; source”

First usage

This word came into usage in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word has been quite a roller-coaster of emotions for me. I thought I didn’t know the word, but then I looked at the definition and I was sure that I have seen it. Then I looked a the pronunciation and felt dumb, because I always thought it was pronounced PROV-uh-nuhns, not pru-VEE-nyuhn(t)s. Then, as I looked at the origin of the word, I didn’t feel as bad because there are two words with the same meaning: our word (provenience) and provenance (the actual word I knew). They mean the same thing because they come from the same source, but provenance is the older of the two by about 100 years. Our word came from the Latin word proveniens, a participle of provenire (to come forth; originate), which comes from pro- (forth) and venire (come).