homunculus

Pronounced: huh-MUNG-kyuh-luhs (alt: HO-mung-kyuh-luhs), noun

Notes: I’ve heard the word, but it didn’t help

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Yesterday’s word

The word shivaree is “a nosy mock serenade to a newly married couple”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

In the 1800s, a newly married couple would have a mock serenade with pots, pans, or homemade instruments. The reference material for our word says that such a “serenade” was more common for second marriages or other “incongruous” marriages (such as a significant age discrepancy). I wonder if the idea of celebrating a marriage with noise descends from this tradition – we have probably seen (on television or in movies) cars labeled “Just Married” with tin cans tied behind it. In some places, there is a tradition of driving around and honking cars to the new couple. In the eastern United States, this practice was called a “serenade”; it was in the central US and Canada that our word was used; it came from the French word charivari (the same custom in France). The origin of the French word is not known for sure.