Pronounced: vohl, noun/verb
Notes: There are definitions I didn’t know
Yesterday’s word
The word Barmedical means “providing only the illusion of abundance”
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Background / Comments
Well, our word does NOT come from Shakespeare (as I thought). It comes from a tale that is part of The Thousand and One Nights (also known as The Arabian Nights). In the tale, there is a family named Barmecide: one prince has fun with (toys with?; torments?) a beggar by inviting him to a huge feast, at which all of the dishes are imaginary. The beggar plays along, pretends to get drunk on imaginary wine, and then knocks down his patronizing host.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 