Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: MUH-rau-ski, noun Notes: I’ve not run across this word, but you probably know its synonym Yesterday’s word The word abrade means “to scrape off or to wear off or down by scraping or rubbing” First usage Our word came into English in the mid- to late 1600s Background / Comments I think I’ve runContinue reading “marrowsky”

Pronounced: uh-BRADE, verb Notes: This word sounds like one I should know Yesterday’s word The word nullifidian means, as a noun, “an atheist; a person who has no religious faith or belief in God (or any gods)” As an adjective, it means “having no faith or belief” First usage Our word goes way back toContinue reading “abrade”

Pronounced: null-uh-FID-ee-uhn, noun/adj Notes: You might be able to work this one out Yesterday’s word The word procellous means “stormy, as on the sea” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments Our word comes to us from Latin; specifically, the word procellōsus (stormy), which came from procella (a storm)Continue reading “nullifidian”

Pronounced: pro-SELL-us, adj Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word Yesterday’s word The word mithridatism means “the developing of immunity to a poison by gradually increasing the dose” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments Our word is named after King Mithridates VI (king of Pontus, anContinue reading “procellous”

Pronounced: MITH-rih-day-tiz-um, noun Notes: I ran across this word while researching a recent word, and thought the background was interesting (and it gave me a laugh) Yesterday’s word The word boscage is “a mass of trees or shrubs” First usage Our word came into English in the second half of the 1300s Background / CommentsContinue reading “mithridatism”

Pronounced: BAHS-kij, noun Notes: Not a cage for your boss… Yesterday’s word The word tachyphylaxis means “successively decreased response to a drug or a toxin over time” First usage Our word came into English in the 1910s Background / Comments As an avid reader of detective/crime/mystery stories, one of the good plots involves tachyphylaxis –Continue reading “boscage”

Pronounced: tak-uh-fih-LACK-sis, noun Notes: What a word! Some people might know this Yesterday’s word The word crepitate means “to make a crackling sound; crackle” First usage A rare dual usage; our word came into English in the early 1600s but with a different (and now obsolete) meaning (see below); the meaning given above is fromContinue reading “tachyphylaxis”

Pronounced: KREP-ih-tate, verb Notes: Not at all what I thought Yesterday’s word The word nephalism means “teetotalism; abstinence from alcohol” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments One who practices nephalism is a ‘nephalist’. I am a nephalist; given all of the problems caused by drinking and drunkenness, IContinue reading “crepitate”

Pronounced: NEE-fuh-liz-uhm, noun Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I like it; it would be good to drop into conversation Yesterday’s word The word opuscule means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments Our word comes from the Latin word opusculum, which is made up of opus (work)Continue reading “nephalism”

Notes: My mind thought of several possible meanings; none of them correct. Pronounced: oh-PUHS-kyool, noun Yesterday’s word The word hurly-burly, as a noun, means “disorder; confusion; commotion; uproar”. As an adjective, it means “characterized by disorder, confusion, commotion, uproar”. First usage Our word came into English way back in the mid-1400s Background / Comments IContinue reading “opuscule”