Author Archives: Richard

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 a great fuss or disturbance about something very insignificant an excessive amount of decoration or ornamentation, as on a piece of clothing, or on a building First usage Our word came intoContinue 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 strong, clear, rich (as in voice or speech) pompous, bombastic 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), madeContinue 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 a shield or shieldlike surface on which a coat of arms is depicted an ornamental or protective plate around a keyhole, door handle, light switch, etc (nautical) a panel on the stern of a vessel bearing its name andContinue 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”

Pronounced: kuh-MORE-uh, noun Notes: I have run across this word, but I didn’t know the proper definition Yesterday’s word The word accidence means “the rudiments or essentials of a subject” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1500s Background / Comments I would have guessed that this word was close to accident,Continue reading “camorra”