Pronounced: meed, noun
Notes: Such a short word, yet I did not know it
Yesterday’s word
The word longhair is
- an intellectual
- one having a deep interest in the arts, especially in classical music
- a male with long hair; especially a hippie
- a cat having long hair
First usage
Our word came into English in the late 1800s
Background / Comments
The second definition is the only one I really knew; I have heard classical music referred to as “longhair” music, but I never really understood why until I saw the list above. Presumably, it grew out of the idea that classical music is attractive to intellectuals (our word’s first definition). Since it was music they liked, our word came to refer to those who liked classical music. The third and fourth definition are a bit of a cheat to my way of thinking. I’ve heard hippies described as having “long hair”, but I’ve never heard our word used instead of “hippie”. Likewise, I’ve heard people talk about longhair cats (where our word is an adjective), but not as a noun to refer to them.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 