Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: ek-TAHJ-uh-nuhs, adj Notes: I keep wanting to put the accent on the third syllable instead of the second Yesterday’s word A turophile is “a cheese fancier” First usage The term goes back to the 1930s, but became popular in the 1950s Background / Comments As you may have guessed from the -phile ending, thisContinue reading “ectogenous”

Pronounced: TUR-uh-file (alternative: TUR-uh-FIE-uhl), noun Notes: A fancy word for a person Yesterday’s word The word saprogenic means “causing or produced by decay” First usage This word came into English in the late 1800s Background / Comments The word comes from Greek sapro- (rotten) and -genic (producing)

Pronounced: sap-ruh-JEN-ik, adj Notes: I didn’t have a clue about what this word may mean Yesterday’s word The word palmary means “outstanding; best” First usage This word goes back to the 1600s Background / Comments The word comes to us from the Latin palmarious (deserving the palm). The ‘palm’ here is not the palm ofContinue reading “saprogenic”

Pronounced: PAL-muh-ree, adj Notes: I guessed that this may have something to do with hands (palms), but I was wrong… but also partially right Yesterday’s word The word leptodermous means “having a thin skin” First usage The word goes back to the late 1800s Background / Comments The word comes from the Greek words lepto-Continue reading “palmary”

Pronounced: lep-tuh-DUHR-muhs, adj Notes: I thought this was someone related to butterflies (nope!) Yesterday’s word The word hereditament means “heritable property” First usage The word showed up in the mid-1400s Background / Comments You can see what looks like a noun form of “heredity” in this word. As you might expect, it comes from MedievalContinue reading “leptodermous”

Pronounced: her-uh-DIH-tuh-munt, noun Notes: I didn’t know this word existed Yesterday’s word The word railbird means a horse-racing enthusiast a spectator at a contest an observer who offers uninvited advice or criticism First usage This word came into English in the late 1700s Background / Comments I find it interesting to see how a word’sContinue reading “hereditament”

Pronounced: RALE-bird, noun Notes: I didn’t know this word, but the definition makes sense Yesterday’s word The word decoct means to extract the flavor of by boiling boil down, concentrate First usage The reference I looked at is not sure; either the late 1300s or the early 1400s Background / Comments As I noted yesterday,Continue reading “railbird”

Pronounced: dih-KAHKT, verb Notes: I know “concoct”, but not this word Yesterday’s word The word mooncalf is a daydreamer or absent-minded person a fool or simpleton a congenitally deformed person First usage This word was first used in the mid-1500s Background / Comments In early times, it was believed that a misshapen birth was aContinue reading “decoct”

Pronounced: MOON-kaf, noun Notes: I hadn’t heard of this word Yesterday’s word The word nomenclator means a book containing collections or lists of words one who gives names to or invents names for things First usage This word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments In ancient Rome, a nomenclator (Latin for “nameContinue reading “mooncalf”

Pronounced: NO-muhn-clay-tuhr, noun Notes: Your guess would probably be close Yesterday’s word The word ochlocracy means “government by the mob; mob rule” First usage This word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments The word came into English from the Middle French word ochlocratie (mob rule), which came from the Greek wordContinue reading “nomenclator”