Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: sorb, verb Notes: A neat word, and the definition was educative also Yesterday’s word The word kvell means “to be extraordinarily proud” First usage It’s hard to tell for certain; it’s an Americanism, probably created in the mid-1900s; in 1952, a book of Jewish words and expressions was published that contained our word, butContinue reading “sorb”

Pronounced: kvel, verb Notes: A new word to me Yesterday’s word The word connate means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments Our word came from the Latin word connasci (to be born with), which is composed of com- (with) and nasci (to be born). I had confused ourContinue reading “kvell”

Pronounced: CON-ate (alt: koh-NATE), adj Notes: Not the word I was thinking of Yesterday’s word The word prehension means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments I should have been able to get to the meaning through the related word “prehensile”, which I think I knew from the phraseContinue reading “connate”

Pronounced: pree-HEN(t)-shuhn, noun Notes: I should have been able to guess this one Yesterday’s Word The word white-livered means “cowardly” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments I am familiar with the term “lily-livered”, which is alternate word to our word. Our word comes from the belief that aContinue reading “prehension”

Pronounced: pree-HEN(t)-shun, noun Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I do know a related word Yesterday’s word The word white-livered means “cowardly” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments I didn’t plan to have two words in a row that both means “cowardly”; it’s just how the wordsContinue reading “prehension”

Pronounced: white-LIVE-uhrd, adj Notes: You may know this word; I found the origin interesting Yesterday’s word The word pusillanimous means “lacking courage and resolution; marked by contemptible timidity” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments I must have been thinking of ‘pugilism’ when I though of boxing. OurContinue reading “white-livered”

Pronounced: pyou-suh-LAH-nuh-muss, adj Notes: I thought this word had to do with boxing, but I was wrong Yesterday’s word The word plutonian means First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments All of the definitions make sense, but I couldn’t list all of them. Our word came from Latin,Continue reading “pusillanimous”

Pronounced: ploo-TOE-nee-uhn, adj Notes: I didn’t know all of the meanings of this word, but each was logical Yesterday’s word The word mansuetude is “the quality of state of being gentle; meekness; tameness” First usage Our word came into English in the middle to late 1300s Background / Comments Of the definitions above, I findContinue reading “plutonian”

Pronounced: MAN(T)-swih-tood, noun Notes: This word sounds familiar, but I don’t remember running across it Yesterday’s word The word double-dome means “an intellectual” First usage Our word came into English in the 1930s Background / Comments It’s nice to have an alternative word for “intellectual”. Our word was merely a combination of double (two) andContinue reading “mansuetude”