popinjay

Pronounced: POP-in-jay, noun

Notes: I think I’ve heard the word, but I couldn’t define it well

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Yesterday’s word

The word Brobdingnagian means “marked by tremendous size”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

I think I read this word in CS Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia — possibly in Book 4 (The Silver Chair) — I think this because one part deals with a city of giants. However, some of the other books also mention giants and may have used this word. It’s also possible that am not remembering correctly. Those who have read more classical stories may know that this word comes from Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift. In school, we read an excerpt from Gulliver’s Travels – his first of four adventures dealing with the people of Lilliput, who are tiny. His second adventure takes place in the land of Brobdingnag, which is inhabited by giants, and is the source for our word. Gulliver’s Travels was a very popular book in its day — so much that our word came into usage just a few years after the book’s publication.