Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: brab-ding-NAH-gee-uhn, adj
Notes: People who know this word are better read than I am
The word starets is “a religious teacher or adviser”
Our word came into English in the 1920s
People familiar with the Eastern Orthodox Church (also known as Greek Orthodox) may know this word. In that church a starets is a spiritual adviser who is not necessarily a priest. Our word comes from the Russian word starets (elder).
Pronounced: STAR-its (alt: STAR-yits), noun
Notes: The plural is interesting (“startsy”). Another word I’ve not run across (I don’t think I read the right kind of books to run across the word)
The word denegation means “denial”
Our word came into English in the late 1400s
If you saw “negation” in our word, it would get you close to the meaning. Our word traces back to the Latin verb negare (to say no, to deny). This same Latin root also gives us abnegation (self-denial), negate, and renegate, which originally referred to someone who denies (leaves) a religious faith.
Pronounced: deh-nih-GAY-shun, noun
Notes: A simpler definition that I thought
The word paries is “a wall of a body part or cavity”
Our word came into English in the late 1600s
I cannot recall ever running across this word; however, it is related to the word “parietal”, which I have heard in some mystery stories (I think “parietal lobe”). Anyway, our word comes from the Latin word paries (wall).
Pronounced: PAR-ee-eez, noun
Notes: This word has an odd plural (parietes)
The word palisade means
Our word came into English in the late 1500s
I happen to know the first definition because of a strategy game called “Age of Empires II” – one of the types of early defense that can be built is a palisade wall. There is a line of cliffs along the western bank of the Hudson River in southeastern New York and northern New Jersey, presumably because the cliffs resemble rows of stakes or trees. Although who first created the name is unknown, the meaning has generally spread to the third definition above, whether or not they look like a stakes or not. Our word came into English from the French word palissade, which came from the Latin word palus (stake).
Pronounced: pah-luh-SADE, noun
Notes: I knew one of the definitions
The word quale means “a quality or property as perceived by a person; a subjective experience”
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
Our word came from the Latin word qualis (or what kind).
Pronounced: KWA-lee (alt: KWA-lay), noun
Notes: Interesting plural form (qualia); not a word I knew
The word mithridate is “an antidote against poison; especially a confection held to be effective against poison”
Our word came into English in the 1500s
It wasn’t until I read the etymology that our word sounded familiar. Around three months ago, we have a similar word, with the same background – mithridatism and, almost a year ago, we had mithridatize. And yet the meaning of our word is slightly different. Since I’ve given the story twice, I won’t repeat it again; you can read about Mithridates the Great in those links.
Pronounced: MITH-ruh-date, noun
Notes: This word made me think of “mithril”, the fictional metal invented by J. R. R. Tolkien
The word bema is
Our word came into English in the late 1600s
Our word comes from the Greek word bema (step; platform), which comes from bainein (to go). I had a vague idea of the meaning from listening to Bible teaching: it says, concerning believers, that they “must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ”. The word “judgment seat” is our our word bema; in context, it refers to the Greek athletic contests (the Isthmian games) in which judges carefully watched the contestants to ensure that they obeyed all the rules of the contest. The lawful winner was led by a judge to a platform called bema, where he received a laurel wreath. In completeness, bema is also used in the gospels and Acts to refer to the platform where a Roman ruler sat to make decisions or pass judgment.
Pronounced: BEE-muh, noun
Notes: I had a vague notion of the meaning
The word algid means “cold”
Our word came into English in the early 1600s
Our word is the only English word that comes from the Latin word algēre (to feel cold). Our word is also used to describe a severe form of malaria, marked by prostration, cold and clammy skin, and low blood pressure.
Pronounced: AL-juhd, adj
Notes: Another in a long list of words I don’t know
The word pangram is “a sentence that uses all of the letters of the alphabet”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Probably the most famous pangram (at least for those that took typing class) is “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” Another one I rather like (but I had to look it up) is “My girl wove six dozen plaid jackets before she quit.” Our word comes from two Greek words: pan- (all) combined with -gram (something written).
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
The word taradiddle means
Our word came into English in the late 1700s
Our word is used informally. I knew the first definition; it was used in the Lord Peter Wimsey story Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers. I was not aware of the second definition. The origin of our word is uncertain.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day