eisteddfod

Pronounced: aye-STETH-vahd, noun

Notes: The spelling and punctuation give a clue to where the word comes from

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Yesterday’s word

The word emollient, as an adjective, means “soothing or softening”. As a noun, it means “something that soothes or softens”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

I didn’t expect this meaning at all; I seem to recall reading or hearing some similar word related to nobility: I thought it meant something like ‘the advantages that comes with the position’. However, I don’t remember where I ran across it, so I cannot check what the actual word was — but clearly not our word, which comes from the Latin word emollire (to soften), which is composed of ex-, an intensifier prefix and mollire (to soften), which comes from mollis (soft).