Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: high-muh-NEE-uhl, adj/noun Notes: I learned things I didn’t know from the origin Yesterday’s word The word reify means “to regard (something abstract) as a material or concrete thing; to give definite content and form to (something abstract) First usage This word showed up in English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments The origin ofContinue reading “hymeneal”

Pronounced: RAY-uh-fie, verb Notes: Short word of which I did not know the meaning Yesterday’s word The word copper-bottomed means “reliable; genuine; trustworthy” First usage The word came into English in the late 1700s Background / Comments Ships hulls used to be covered in copper to protect them from damage from salt water or seaContinue reading “reify”

Pronounced: cop-uhr-BOT-uhmd, adj Notes: So, I thought this word just meant copper on the bottom of something, such as a pan, but no Yesterday’s word The word bombinate means “to buzz; to drone”z one can speak of an air conditioning system “bombinating”. First usage The word came into English in the late 1800s Background /Continue reading “copper-bottomed”

Pronounced: BOMB-buh-nate, verb Notes: A fancy word Yesterday’s word The word floccinaucinihilipilification means “the estimation of something as valueless” First usage This word came into usage in the mid-1700s Background / Comments Aside from the -fication (making) ending, this is just four Latin words strung together; each word refers to trifles or things of littleContinue reading “bombinate”

Pronounced (take a deep breath): FLOCK-si-NAH-si-NIH-HILL-ih-fih-KAY-shun, noun Notes: I happen to know this word, because it was part of an quiz show, but unless someone else happened to hear it, I’d be surprised if anyone else knows it. I found the origin to be interesting. Yesterday’s word The word purlieu means an outlying or adjacentContinue reading “floccinaucinihilipilification”

Pronounced: PERAL-you, noun Notes: I think I’ve run across this word in reading, but I couldn’t define it Yesterday’s word The word infundibuliform means “funnel-shaped” First usage This word showed up in English in the mid-1700s Background / Comments As you may guess, this is a Latin word. It comes from infundibulum (funnel); this wordContinue reading “purlieu”

Pronounced: in-fun-DIB-yuh-luh-form, adj Notes: Quite a mouthful, but it has a simple definition Yesterday’s word The word lade means “to load, to burden, or to ladle” First usage Our word goes back a long way to before the year 1000 Background / Comments I am much more familiar with the past participle of our wordContinue reading “infundibuliform”

Pronounced: LADE, verb Notes: You may know this word; just by looking, I did not Yesterday’s word The word weltanschauung means “world view” First usage This word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments This word is clearly German; Weltanschauung is German for “world view”; it is composed of Welt (world) with AnschauungContinue reading “lade”

Pronounced: VELT-ahn-shoo-oong, noun Notes: I didn’t know this word, but some may be familiar with it Yesterday’s word The word corvée means unpaid labor due from a feudal vassal to his lord labor extracted in lieu of taxes by public authorities especially for highway construction or repair First usage The word goes back to theContinue reading “weltanschauung”

Pronounced: CORE-vay, noun Notes: I didn’t know this word, but guessed at some kind of ship Yesterday’s word The word deasil means “in a clockwise direction”; an opposite word is widdershins First usage Our word goes back to the mid-1700s Background / Comments The word comes from the Scottish Gaelic word deiseil (righthandwise), which cameContinue reading “corvée”