Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: WAHN-tid Notes: Not a misspelling of “wanted” Yesterday’s word The word interdigitate means “to become interlocked like the fingers of folded hands” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments I thought our word meant to lace the fingers; it means other things that are look like it (asContinue reading “wonted”

Pronounced: in-tuhr-DIH-juh-tate, verb Notes: The word doesn’t mean what I thought it might mean Yesterday’s word The word frustraneous means “useless; unprofitable” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments A fun word to drop into conversations. Our word came from the Latin word frustra (in vain).

Pronounced: fruhs-TRAY-nee-uhs, adj Notes: A nice word to be able to use Yesterday’s word The word futurity means First usage Our word came into English around 1600 Background / Comments Our word would appear to be coined by Shakespeare in the play Othello. It was also used by Benjamin Franklin and Sir Walter Scott. ItContinue reading “frustraneous”

Pronounced: fyoo-TUR-eh-tee, noun Notes: Although you may be able to guess the definition, I didn’t know that this word existed Yesterday’s word The word refection is First usage Our word came into English in the late 1300s Background / Comments Our word came from French — and into French from the Latin word reficere (toContinue reading “futurity”

Pronounced: rih-FECK-shun, noun Notes: This is not a misspelling of “reflection”, but a different word entirely Yesterday’s word The word totem is First usage Our word came into English in Background / Comments I thought our word was just short for a “totem pole”, but clearly that isn’t the case. After reading the definition, itContinue reading “refection”

Pronounced: TOE-tum, noun Notes: I thought I knew the meaning of this word, but I didn’t Yesterday’s word The word tegular means “relating to, resembling, or arranged like tiles” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments Our word came from the Latin word tegula (tile), which came from tegereContinue reading “totem”

Pronounced: TEG-yuh-luhr, adj Notes: Not what I thought (and NOT a misspelling of “regular”) Yesterday’s word The word biannual means First usage Our word came into English in the late 1800s Background / Comments Just like “biweekly”, our word can have different meanings. Some people teach that “semiannual” should be used for things that occurContinue reading “tegular”

Pronounced: by-AN-yuhl (alt: by-AN-yuh-wuhl), adj Notes: I was not aware of both pronunciations; I use the second one Yesterday’s word The word cordate means “heart-shaped” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments After reading the definition, I realized that I could have guessed the meaning. Our word came fromContinue reading “biannual”

Pronounced: cordate Notes: I didn’t correctly guess the meaning, but you may be able to Yesterday’s word The word aggress means “to make an attack; to act aggressively” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments The words “aggressive” and “aggression” are much more familiar (I didn’t know that thereContinue reading “cordate”

Pronounced: uh-GRESS, verb Notes: I didn’t know this word existed, but you can probably guess the meaning Yesterday’s word The word amaneunsis is “a person employed to take dictation or to copy manuscripts” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments I happen to know the word from someContinue reading “aggress”