Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: WIND-roh, noun/verb Notes: Looks like “window” misspelled Yesterday’s word The word cacography means First usage Our word came into English in the mid- to late 1500s Background / Comments I recognized recognized the parts of our word caco- (bad), which comes from the Greek word kakos (bad) and graphy (writing), which comes from theContinue reading “windrow”

Pronounced: kuh-KOG-ruh-fee, noun Notes: You might be able to figure out this word Yesterday’s word The word unwonted means “unusual or unaccustomed” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments I’ve run across this word in reading, and I had a sense of the meaning from the context. However, IContinue reading “cacography”

Pronounced: un-WON-tid, adj Notes: This word is a bit of a cheat; I do happen to know the word, but I don’t think it is well known. However, I did not know if well enough to pronounce it properly. Yesterday’s word The word lambent means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600sContinue reading “unwonted”

Pronounced: LAM-bunt, adj Notes: A word I don’t know Yesterday’s word The word gapeseed means First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments Our word is a combination of gape, which comes from the Old Norse word gapa (to open the mouth; stare) and seed, which comes from theContinue reading “lambent”

Pronounced: GAPE-seed, noun Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word Yesterday’s word The word rallentando means “slackening; becoming slower or winding down”; it is used as a musical direction. First usage Our word came into English in the early 1800s Background / Comments I know the abbreviation used on sheet music (rall.), butContinue reading “gapeseed”

Pronounced: rah-luhn-TAHN-doe, adj/adv Notes: This is a word that I knew, but didn’t know that I knew Yesterday’s word The word veracious means “truthful; honest; accurate” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1600s Background / Comments As I noted, our word is pretty close in pronunciation to voracious; we tend toContinue reading “rallentando”

Pronounced: vuh-RAY-shuss, adj Notes: No, this is not voracious misspelled! Yesterday’s word The word louche means “shifty; disreputable; shady; sketchy” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1800s Background / Comments My theory (by which I mean that I reasoned this out without reading about this elsewhere; it may be that manyContinue reading “veracious”

Pronounced: loosh, adj Notes: I have a theory about this word (which I didn’t know) Yesterday’s word The word irresolute means “uncertain or indecisive” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments Our word comes from the Latin word in- (not) combined with resoltus, a past participle of resolvere (toContinue reading “louche”

Pronounced: ih-REZ-uh-look, adj Notes: I could not properly define this, but you may know the word Yesterday’s word The word rufescent means “slightly reddish; tinged with red; rufous” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1800s Background / Comments No, I didn’t know the meaning of ‘rufous’ in the definition – itContinue reading “irresolute”

Pronounced: roo-FESS-unt, adj Notes: Not a word that I can remember seeing Yesterday’s word The word frabjous means “wonderful; delightful” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments This is another word created by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking Glass, published in 1871. Note that Through the Looking GlassContinue reading “rufescent”