Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: IH-shoo-uh-buhl, adj Notes: I knew one of the definitions Yesterday’s word The word edacity means “greediness; good appetite” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments Our word came from the Latin word edere (to eat). I was trying to see “city” or “edict” in the world, but thatContinue reading “issuable”

Pronounced: ih-DAS-ih-tee, noun Notes: I could not break down this word so as to guess the meaning Yesterday’s word The word cabbage means “to take or appropriate without right; steal; filch” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments It turns out that our word, although spelled the sameContinue reading “edacity”

Pronounced: KA-bihj, verb Notes: So, I know what this is as a noun, but I don’t know what this means as a verb Yesterday’s word The word euchre, as a noun, is “a card game for two to four players played with 32 cards”. As a verb, it means “to cheat; trick; outwit”. First usageContinue reading “cabbage”

Pronounced: YOU-kuhr, verb/noun Notes: I suspect many know the meaning of the noun, but I did not know the meaning of the verb Yesterday’s word The word oracular means “of, relating to, or suggesting an oracle” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments I confused our word with “ocular”,Continue reading “euchre”

Pronounced: ah-RA-kyuh-uhr, adj Notes: I confused this word with another one Yesterday’s word The word sciolism is “pretentious display of superficial knowledge” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1800s Background / Comments I have known several people who thought they knew something, but were wrong. However, I’ve only run across oneContinue reading “oracular”

Pronounced: SY-uh-liz-uhm, noun Notes: I ran across this unknown word is two different reference areas, only days apart Yesterday’s word The word anodyne means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments Although the word came into English as noted above, the second definition came about in the 1930s. OurContinue reading “sciolism”

Pronounced: A-nuh-dine, noun (initial syllable is “a” as in map) Notes: I could not remember the definition of this word, but I think I used to know it Yesterday’s word The word desuetude means “a state of disuse” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments Our word isContinue reading “anodyne”

Pronounced: DES-wih-tood (alt: DES-wih-tyood), noun Notes: My guess at the meaning was just… wrong Yesterday’s word The word squib is First usage Our word came into English in the early 1500s Background / Comments I think most of the reading in which I’ve run across this word has been English, and it usually seems toContinue reading “desuetude”

Pronounced: skwib, noun Notes: I knew one definition (the reference has three) Yesterday’s word The word acuity means “sharpness; keenness” First usage Our word came into English around 1400 Background / Comments I have read the phrase “visual acuity” somewhere, and thought it meant “excellent”, so I was close. Our word came from French, whichContinue reading “squib”

Pronounced: uh-KYOO-ih-tee, noun Notes: I was close to the meaning Yesterday’s word The word distrait means “apprehensively divided or withdrawn in attention; distracted” First usage Our word came into English twice; first in the 1400s and again in the mid-1700s (see the comments below) Background / Comments Our word came from the Anglo-French word distrait,Continue reading “acuity”