Pronounced: TOUCH-stone, noun
Notes: I had an idea of the meaning, but I was a little off
Yesterday’s word
The word viperine means “of or relating to a viper; venomous; malicious”
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
Background / Comments
I thought that our word mean “snake-like”, but a viper is more specific: most snakes lay eggs, but most vipers give birth to live young. Thus, our word came from the Latin word vipera (snake), which came from a mispronunciation and/or contraction of vivipera which came from vivus (alive) combined with parere (to give birth).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 