Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: duhr-mat-uh-GLIF-icks (alt: duhr-muh-tuh-GLIF-icks), noun Notes: There is something very unusual about this word – can you spot it? Yesterday’s word The word euthenics is “a science concerned with bettering human living conditions through the improvement of their environment” First usage Our word came into English in the 1900s Background / Comments I recognized eu-Continue reading “dermatoglyphics”

Pronounced: you-THEN-icks, noun Notes: This is another word that is new to me Yesterday’s word The word dubiety means “doubtfulness or uncertainty” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1700s Background / Comments When one is in doubt (dubiety), one is of two minds, and that is a clue to the origin; ourContinue reading “euthenics”

Pronounced: doo-BY-ih-tee (alt: dyoo-BY-ih-tee), noun Notes: You might be able to guess the meaning of this word Yesterday’s word The word foofaraw means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments Our word sounded a bit familiar. Our word came about on the western frontier of the United States. However,Continue reading “dubiety”

Pronounced: FOO-fuh-raw, noun Notes: I’ve run across this word, but only had a vague understanding of its meaning Yesterday’s word The word suberous means “like cork in appearance or texture” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments The background of our word is pretty straightforward: it comes from theContinue reading “foofaraw”

Pronounced: SUE-burr-us, adj Notes: A good word, but I didn’t know it Yesterday’s word The word noosphere is used in ecology and is “the biosphere including and modified by such human activities as agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, urbanization, and industrialization” First usage Our word came into English in the 1940s Background / Comments Our wordContinue reading “suberous”

Pronounced: NO-uh-sfear, noun Notes: Another word I don’t know Yesterday’s word The word orotund means First usage Our word came into English in the late 1700s Background / Comments Our word is a contraction of the Latin phrase ore rotundo (with a round moth), made up of ore, which comes from os (mouth) combined withContinue reading “noosphere”

Pronounced: OR-uh-tund, adj Notes: I just see “rotund” in this word, and that’s not the meaning Yesterday’s word The word tantivy means, as an adverb, “at full gallop”. As an adjective it means “swift or rapid”. As a noun, it means “a gallop or rush” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600sContinue reading “orotund”

Pronounced: tan-TIV-ee, adv/adj/noun Notes: A certain group of people probably know this word Yesterday’s word The word bobbery means “squabble; commotion; confusion” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1800s Background / Comments Our word has a Hindi background: it is a corruption of the phrase bap re, from bap (father) andContinue reading “tantivy”

Pronounced: BOB-uh-ree, noun Notes: I’ve not run across this word Yesterday’s word The word escutcheon is First usage Our word came into English in the late 1400s Background / Comments Our word came from the Old North French word escuchon, which came from the Latin word scūtum (shield). I mentioned yesterday that this word wasContinue reading “bobbery”

Pronounced: ih-SKOOCH-uhn, noun Notes: This word is vaguely familiar to me, but I could not define it Yesterday’s word The word camorra means “a secret group united for unscrupulous purposes” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments The only place I remember running across this word is in theContinue reading “escutcheon”