Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: POP-in-jay, noun Notes: I think I’ve heard the word, but I couldn’t define it well Yesterday’s word The word Brobdingnagian means “marked by tremendous size” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1700s Background / Comments I think I read this word in CS Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia — possibly inContinue reading “popinjay”

Pronounced: brab-ding-NAH-gee-uhn, adj Notes: People who know this word are better read than I am Yesterday’s word The word starets is “a religious teacher or adviser” First usage Our word came into English in the 1920s Background / Comments People familiar with the Eastern Orthodox Church (also known as Greek Orthodox) may know this word.Continue reading “Brobdingnagian”

Pronounced: STAR-its (alt: STAR-yits), noun Notes: The plural is interesting (“startsy”). Another word I’ve not run across (I don’t think I read the right kind of books to run across the word) Yesterday’s word The word denegation means “denial” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1400s Background / Comments If youContinue reading “starets”

Pronounced: deh-nih-GAY-shun, noun Notes: A simpler definition that I thought Yesterday’s word The word paries is “a wall of a body part or cavity” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1600s Background / Comments I cannot recall ever running across this word; however, it is related to the word “parietal”, whichContinue reading “denegation”

Pronounced: PAR-ee-eez, noun Notes: This word has an odd plural (parietes) Yesterday’s word The word palisade means First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments I happen to know the first definition because of a strategy game called “Age of Empires II” – one of the types of earlyContinue reading “paries”

Pronounced: pah-luh-SADE, noun Notes: I knew one of the definitions Yesterday’s word The word quale means “a quality or property as perceived by a person; a subjective experience” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments Our word came from the Latin word qualis (or what kind).

Pronounced: KWA-lee (alt: KWA-lay), noun Notes: Interesting plural form (qualia); not a word I knew Yesterday’s word The word mithridate is “an antidote against poison; especially a confection held to be effective against poison” First usage Our word came into English in the 1500s Background / Comments It wasn’t until I read the etymology thatContinue reading “quale”

Pronounced: MITH-ruh-date, noun Notes: This word made me think of “mithril”, the fictional metal invented by J. R. R. Tolkien Yesterday’s word The word bema is First usage Our word came into English in the late 1600s Background / Comments Our word comes from the Greek word bema (step; platform), which comes from bainein (toContinue reading “mithridate”

Pronounced: BEE-muh, noun Notes: I had a vague notion of the meaning Yesterday’s word The word algid means “cold” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments Our word is the only English word that comes from the Latin word algēre (to feel cold). Our word is also usedContinue reading “bema”

Pronounced: AL-juhd, adj Notes: Another in a long list of words I don’t know Yesterday’s word The word pangram is “a sentence that uses all of the letters of the alphabet” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments Probably the most famous pangram (at least for those that tookContinue reading “algid”