Pronounced: tak-uh-fih-LACK-sis, noun
Notes: What a word! Some people might know this
Yesterday’s word
The word crepitate means “to make a crackling sound; crackle”
First usage
A rare dual usage; our word came into English in the early 1600s but with a different (and now obsolete) meaning (see below); the meaning given above is from the mid-1800s.
Background / Comments
Somehow, sitting in front of a “creptitating” fire doesn’t really have the same impact as sitting in front of a “crackling” fire. When our word first came into English in the 1600s, it meant “to fart”. Our word comes from the Latin word crepitātus, which is the past participle of crepitāre (to rattle; rustle; chatter; fart).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 