Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: BOON-dah-gull, noun
Notes: I’ve heard this word used, but I did not know the correct meaning
The word unshirted means
Our word came into English in the 1930s
As noted yesterday, our word does not mean shirtless, which means “poor”. There is another word “shirty” that means “bad-tempered”. Our word is un- (not) combined with shirt, which comes from the Old English word scyrte.
Pronounced: un-SURE-tid, adj
Notes: This word is not the same as “shirtless”
The word indite means
Our word came into English in the mid-1300s
As I noted yesterday, our word is a homophone of “indict” (to charge with a crime). Our word is the older, and, in fact, “indict” was an alteration from our word, and came about 200 years later. Our word came from the Latin word indicere (to make known formally; to proclaim), which is made up of in- and dicere (to talk; speak; say).
Pronounced: in-DITE, verb
Notes: I believe this is a homophone of “indict”, and I got this word confused with that one
The word zounds is an interjection that expresses surprise or indignation.
Our word came into English in the late 1500s
I have only heard this expression on an old radio show; I’ve never heard it in person, nor have I heard anyone say it in my presence. Our word is a contraction of “God’s wounds”.
Pronounced: ZOWNDZ, interjection
Notes: I have heard this word only, but I did not know much about it
The word uxorial means “of, relating to, or characteristic of a wife”
Our word came into English in the late 1700s
Our word came from the Latin root word uxor (wife). I have run across legal documents describing, for example, “Mr Anderson et ux Carol” (literally “Mr Anderson and wife Carol”).
Pronounced: uk-SORE-ee-uhl, adj
Notes: I knew a little of this word
The word alterity is “otherness; the state of quality of being other or different”
Our word came into English in the early 1500s
Our word has bounced around through many languages; it came into English from the French word altérité, which came from the Latin word alteritas (otherness), which came from alter (other), which came from the Greek word heteros (other).
Pronounced: al-TER-uh-tee, noun
Notes: A nice, usable word to add to one’s vocabulary
The word sashay means
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Our word is a corruption of the French word chassé (a gliding step in which one foot is kept in front of the other), which is the past participle of chasser (to chase). People were uncertain of the pronunciation of the French word, and it was changed to the current spelling. As it was used, the definition mutated from the French dance definition to the more generalized uses shown in the definition above.
Pronounced: sa-SHAY, verb
Notes: I knew a bit about this word, but the background was interesting
The word sukey means “a tea-kettle”
Our word came into English in the early 1800s
Our word comes from the nursery rhyme “Polly Put the Kettle On”; this is a nursery rhyme that I did not hear while growing up. However, I have a recollection of having read the title somewhere — but I didn’t know the verses (or maybe I only saw the first verse referenced). Anyway, in the first verse, Polly (nickname for Mary) is told to “put the kettle on” so that “we’ll all have tea”. In the second verse, Suki (a nickname for Susan) was told to “take it off again” because “they’ve all gone away”. Over time, Suki (spelling changed to sukey) began to be referenced as the tea-kettle.
Pronounced: SOO-kee, noun
Notes: I didn’t know this word
The word ombudsman is
Our word came into English in the 1910s
I thought our word had something to do with finances. Our word came from Swedish, where it refers to a legal representative, which is made up of ombud (agent; attorney) and –-man. It is thought that this came from the Old Norse words omboth (commission) and mathr (man). Sweden was the first country to appoint an official known as an ombudsman.
Pronounced: AHM-budz-muhn, noun
Notes: I thought I knew what this meant, but I didn’t
The word tuffet means
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
I mentioned the “Little Miss Muffet” nursery rhyme yesterday; it has multiple variation; the one I learned runs as follows:
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey
Along came a spider
And sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away
With the combination of limited vocabulary and imagination, some children hear the third line as “Eating her courage away”, which I find funny — and it fits the rest of the rhyme. Our word is a diminutive of tuft, which came from the French word touffe (tuft). The nursery rhyme most likely refers to a mound, but the idea of it being a low seat of stool contributed to the word taking on that definition.
Pronounced: TUFF-it, noun
Notes: Most of us have heard the nursery rhyme “Little Miss Muffet/Sat on a tuffet…”, but what is a tuffet? (and is that the only definition?)
The word foible is
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
I was aware of the second definition; I’ve heard the phrase “<something> is one of my foibles”. When our word came into English, the sole use was the first one — it came from the French word foible (the weakest part of the sword or foil [between the middle and the pointed end]); there word was also an obsolete adjective foible (weak), which traces back to the Old French term feble (feeble). Shortly after our word began to be used in English, the meaning spread to flaws in people as well as swords, and this meaning is much more common these days.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day