Author Archives: Richard

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”

Pronounced: DEE-zuhl, adv Notes: A homonym of diesel, but not related at all, as far as I can tell Yesterday’s word The word scapegrace is “an incorrigible rascal” First usage This word came into English in the mid-1700s Background / Comments I think the most common word beginning “scape-” is “scapegoat”, which is someone whoContinue reading “deasil”

Pronounced: SKAPE-grace, noun Notes: I think I’ve run across this word in reading, but the origin was interesting enough to be included Yesterday’s word The word tantivy means, as an adverb “at full gallop; at full speed”. As a noun, it means “a fast gallop; rush”. As an adjective, it means “swift”. Finally, as anContinue reading “scapegrace”

Pronounced: tan-TIHV-ee, adv/noun/adj/interjection Notes: Wow! A lot of parts of speech, and I didn’t know any of them Yesterday’s word The word ahimsa is “the Hindu and Buddhist doctrine of refraining from harming any living being” First usage This word came into English in the late 1800s (but see below, too) Background / Comments AlthoughContinue reading “tantivy”

Pronounced: uh-HIM-sah, noun Notes: Like so many words here, this is another word that I didn’t know (and I couldn’t even guess at what it might mean) Yesterday’s word The word hyperborean, as a noun, means “an inhabitant of the extreme north”. As an adjective, it means “relating to the extreme north” or “very cold”.Continue reading “ahimsa”

Pronounced: high-purr-BORE-ee-uhn, noun/adj Notes: Trees; I was thinking something related to trees (but I was wrong) Yesterday’s word The word festinate means “hasty” First usage As far as we can tell (see below), this goes back to the late 1500s or early 1600s Background / Comments This word first appeared in Shakespeare’s King Lear. TheContinue reading “hyperborean”