niddering

Pronounced: NID-uhr-ing, noun

Notes: It looks like it might be a verb, but it isn’t

Yesterday’s word

The word gregarious means

  • tending to associate with others of one’s kind; social
  • marked by or indicating a liking for companionship; sociable
  • (plants) living or growing in a cluster or a colony
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

The word I was confusing our word with was “garrulous”. Our word came from the Latin word gregarius (belonging to a flock), which came from grex (crowd; flock; herd). Originally, in English, it was used primarily for animals, but over the next hundred years or so, it spread to sociable people.

gregarious

Pronounced: grih-GER-ee-uhs, adj

Notes: I keep thinking this word means “talkative”, but that’s not right

Yesterday’s word

The word tammany means “relating to political corruption”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Originally, Tammany (also Tamanend) was a wise and peaceful Delaware Indian chief; he became known as the patron saint of America. Many clubs and societies were named after him, including Tammany Hall in New York. Tammany Hall became the home of the New York County Democratic Party, and became infamous for political corruption, and thus gave us our word.

tammany

Pronounced: TAM-uh-nee, adj

Notes: The word was slightly familiar to me, but I did not know the definition

Yesterday’s word

The word sclaff means “to scrape the ground instead of hitting the ball cleanly on a golf stroke”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Those of you who play golf may know this word; I don’t play golf, so it was unknown to me. There are several words in golf for poor shots: dub, slice, hook, top, pull, push, sky, shank, and sclaff. Our word came from the Scots word sclaff (a slap with palm of the hand). It is theorized that the similarity of the sound may have started the use of the word for hitting the ground instead of the ball. Our word can also be a noun referring to such a stroke.

sclaff

Pronounced: sklaf, verb

Notes: Many people may know this word; I didn’t — do you?

Yesterday’s word

The word extrality is “exemption from local laws: the privilege of living in a foreign country, but subject only to the home country’s jurisdiction”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1920s

Background / Comments

Our word is a contraction of the word extraterritoriality, which came from the Latin word extra- (outside) and territorium (land around a town).

extrality

Pronounced: ek-STRAL-ih-tee, noun

Notes: Not a word I know

Yesterday’s word

The word palinode means

  • an ode or song recanting or retracting something in an earlier poem
  • a formal retraction
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Greek word palinōidia, which is made up of palin (back; again) and aeidein (to sing). The story (according to Plato) is that Stesichrous, a Greek poet in the sixth century BC, wrong a poem insulting Helen of Troy. Stesichorus was struck blind because of this, but his sight was restored when he wrong a palinode.

palinode

Pronounced: PAH-luh-node, noun

Notes: Our word makes me think of “paladin”, but it is not related

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase Mother Hubbard is “a loose shapeless dress for a woman”

First usage

Our phrase came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Our phrase came from the nursery rhyme “Old Mother Hubbard”. The rhyme does not mention how she is dressed, but in illustrations, she is depicted as wearing a loose-fitting unbelted gown. After reading the definition, a memory stirred — I think I have run across this word somewhere as referring to clothing of some sort.

Mother Hubbard

Pronunciation: MUHTH-uhr HUHB-urhd, noun

Notes: I didn’t know that this was a word

Yesterday’s word

The word millefleur means “having an allover pattern of small flowers and plants”

First usage

This is odd; there seem to be two different ideas: some reference material said that our word came into English in the 1900s (1900-1910); other references say that it entered English in the 1600s.

Background / Comments

Our word is also spelled millefleurs. Probably much as you did, I saw “mille” (which I assumed meant one thousand) and “fleur” (which I assumed meant “flower”), and thus literally “a thousand flowers”. Our word came from the French word millefleur, which does indeed come from mille fleurs (a thousand flowers). By association with the literal meaning, our word was applied to backgrounds with lots of tiny flowers.

millefleur

Pronounced: meel-FLUHR, adj

Notes: I didn’t know this was a word, but you may be able to guess the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word eidolon means

  • an idealized form
  • a phantom
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Greek word eidos (form; idea).

eidolon

Pronounced: eye-DOH-luhn, noun

Notes: Another new word for me

Yesterday’s word

The word titivate means “to make or become smart or spruce”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1700s to early 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came (it is thought) from a combination of tidy and elevate — thus, “to tidy up”. Our word is a synonym of “spruce [up]”, “smarten”, and “spiff”, but here are the fine distinctions: titivate usually refers to making small additions or alterations in attire; “spruce up” refers to cosmetic changes (or renovations) that give the appearance of newness; “smarten up” and “spiff up” mean to improve in appearance often by making more neat or stylish. As a final note, there is another word titivate (a homograph of our word) that became incorrectly associated with “titillate” in the 1910s.

titivate

Pronounced: TIH-tuh-vate, verb

Notes: I don’t think I’ve every run across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word verigreen is “a simple or gullible person”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1950s

Background / Comments

Our word came from very, which came from the Old French word verai (true), which came from the Latin word verus (true) and the word green (immature; naive; etc). So, yesterday, I was right and wrong when I thought our word meant “very green” – it DOES mean that, but I was thinking of the color green, not the idea of “green” as in “greenhorn”.