Pronounced: NEE-fuh-liz-uhm, noun
Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I like it; it would be good to drop into conversation
Yesterday’s word
The word opuscule means
- a small or minor word
- a literary or musical work of small size
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
Background / Comments
Our word comes from the Latin word opusculum, which is made up of opus (work) and -culum (a suffix denoting smallness). I have heard of opus, but with the emphasis on the first syllable (OH-puhs). Our word, with the emphasis on “puhs” just confused me and I didn’t see “opus” in the word. One of the things I thought was that it was some horrid medical condition.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 