Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: CHUHN-tuhr, verb Notes: I think I’ve run across this word, but I didn’t know the meaning Yesterday’s word The word gapeseed is mostly used in Britain and means First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments I don’t think I’ve ever seen this word, but mostly being aContinue reading “chunter”

Pronounced: GAPE-seed (alt: GAP-seed), noun Notes: It looks like “grapeseed”, but it is not related to it Yesterday’s word The word susurrate means “to make a whispering or rustling sound” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments I think this is a neat word. I ran across thisContinue reading “gapeseed”

Pronounced: SOO-suh-rate, verb Notes: I don’t think this word is well known, but I have run across it Yesterday’s word The word nonesuch means “a person or thing without equal; paragon” First usage Our word came into usage in the late 1500s Background / Comments Our word is a combination of none and such. AsContinue reading “susurrate”

Pronounced: NUN-such, noun Notes: I thought this word was an adjective, not a noun Yesterday’s word The word gnar means “to snarl or growl” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1400s. Background / Comments It is thought to be of imitative origin (that gnar sounds like a snarl or growl).

Pronounced: nar Notes: Also spelled gnarr. Another word I’ve no run across Yesterday’s word The word subrogate means First usage The second definition above was the first meaning in the first half of the 1400s; the first meaning comes from the mid-1500s. Background / Comments I think I confused our word with subjugate (to bringContinue reading “gnar”

Pronounced: SUB-ruh-gate, verb Notes: This word has a much more common synonym Yesterday’s word The word puissant means “potent” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1400s Background / Comments Our word sounds a lot more run to use that ‘potent’. If you think it looks French, you are correct: it came intoContinue reading “subrogate”

Pronounced: PWIS-uhnt (alt: PYOO-uh-suhnt), adj Notes: Not what I thought Yesterday’s word The word cicerone means “a person who conducts sightseers; a guide” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1700s Background / Comments This is an Italian word. Because it has Italian background, the proper plural is ciceroni (just like the properContinue reading “puissant”

Pronounced: sis-uh-ROE-nee (alt: chich-uh-ROE-nee), noun Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word anywhere Yesterday’s word The word inhere means “to belong to something by its very nature; to be an inseparable part of something” First usage This word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments I didn’t know that this verbContinue reading “cicerone”

Pronounced: in-HERE, verb Notes: You might be able to guess this one, even if you don’t know it Yesterday’s word The word viridescent means “slightly green; greenish” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments If you take off the ‘v’, you get iridescent, which means something that shows varied,Continue reading “inhere”

Pronounced: vir-ih-DESS-uhnt, adj Notes: Another strike for the poor quality control on this entry; it was clearly an adjective from the definition, but was listed as a noun. Yesterday’s word The word spavined means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1400s Background / Comments This is one of the word in whichContinue reading “viridescent”