Author Archives: Richard

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”

Pronounced: PAN-gram (alt: PAN-gruhm; PANG-gram), noun Notes: I didn’t know this word when I first came across it, but I know it now Yesterday’s word The word taradiddle means First usage Our word came into English in the late 1700s Background / Comments Our word is used informally. I knew the first definition; it wasContinue reading “pangram”

Pronounced: tar-uh-DID-uhl, noun Notes: I’ve run across this word in reading, and I knew one of the definitions Yesterday’s word The word disseise means “to deprive especially wrongfully of seisin; dispossess” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1200s. Background / Comments Our word is one of those irritating dictionary entries thatContinue reading “taradiddle”

Pronounced: dih-SEEZ (alt: diss-SEEZ), verb Notes: It sounds like “disease”, but isn’t related Yesterday’s word The word bletting means “the ripening of fruit, especially of fruit stored until the desired degree of softness is attained”. First usage Our word is one of the rare ones that I cannot find out when it came into EnglishContinue reading “disseise”

Pronounced: BLET-ing, noun Notes: Another word I’ve never run across Yesterday’s word The word ambigram is “a word or phrase written in a manner that is reads the same (in some cases, a different word or phrase) when oriented in a different way (such as reflected or rotated). First usage Our word came into EnglishContinue reading “bletting”

Pronounced: AM-bih-gram, noun Notes: I didn’t know this word Yesterday’s word The word Ameslan means “American Sign Language” First usage Our word came into usage in the 1970s Background / Comments This word was created in America, and is made up from American Sign Language. I know some people who know sign language, but I’veContinue reading “ambigram”

Pronounced: AM-uh-slan (alt: AM-slan), noun Notes: Kind of a specialized word; some of you may know it (I didn’t) Yesterday’s word The word calligram means “a word, phrase, or piece of text arranged to form a picture of the subject described” First usage Our word came into English in the 1920s Background / Comments ThinkContinue reading “Ameslan”