windrow

Pronounced: WIND-roh, noun/verb

Notes: Looks like “window” misspelled

Yesterday’s word

The word cacography means

  • poor penmanship; bad handwriting
  • incorrect spelling
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid- to late 1500s

Background / Comments

I recognized recognized the parts of our word caco- (bad), which comes from the Greek word kakos (bad) and graphy (writing), which comes from the Greek word graphia. So, our word means literally “bad writing”, so I knew it meant bad handwriting, or thus penmanship. However, I was not aware that it also included bad spelling.

cacography

Pronounced: kuh-KOG-ruh-fee, noun

Notes: You might be able to figure out this word

Yesterday’s word

The word unwonted means “unusual or unaccustomed”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

I’ve run across this word in reading, and I had a sense of the meaning from the context. However, I was pronouncing it like it was “unwanted”. Our word comes from un- (negation) and the Middle English word woned, wont (accustomed), which is the past principle of wonen (to be used to, to well).

unwonted

Pronounced: un-WON-tid, adj

Notes: This word is a bit of a cheat; I do happen to know the word, but I don’t think it is well known. However, I did not know if well enough to pronounce it properly.

Yesterday’s word

The word lambent means

  • dealing lightly and gracefully with a subject; brilliantly playful
  • running or moving lightly over a surface
  • softly bright or radiant
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Latin word lambent-, a stem of lambēns (lapping), which is the present participle of lambere (to lick; to wash — used of fire or water).

lambent

Pronounced: LAM-bunt, adj

Notes: A word I don’t know

Yesterday’s word

The word gapeseed means

  • one who stares especially with an open mouth
  • something that is an object of staring; anything unusual
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

Our word is a combination of gape, which comes from the Old Norse word gapa (to open the mouth; stare) and seed, which comes from the Old English word saed (seed). The idiom that the word comes from is “to sow gapeseed”, which means to stare at something (for example, a fair) instead of doing one’s word (such as sowing seed).

gapeseed

Pronounced: GAPE-seed, noun

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

Yesterday’s word

The word rallentando means “slackening; becoming slower or winding down”; it is used as a musical direction.

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

I know the abbreviation used on sheet music (rall.), but I didn’t know the word that the abbreviation stood for — thus, this was a word that I knew, but didn’t know that I knew. Our word is an Italian word; a gerund of rallentare (to slow down).

rallentando

Pronounced: rah-luhn-TAHN-doe, adj/adv

Notes: This is a word that I knew, but didn’t know that I knew

Yesterday’s word

The word veracious means “truthful; honest; accurate”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1600s

Background / Comments

As I noted, our word is pretty close in pronunciation to voracious; we tend to be a bit lazy in our pronunciation in that we often don’t speak or hear the difference between ‘vor’ and ‘ver’. Our word came from the Latin word verus (true).

veracious

Pronounced: vuh-RAY-shuss, adj

Notes: No, this is not voracious misspelled!

Yesterday’s word

The word louche means “shifty; disreputable; shady; sketchy”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

My theory (by which I mean that I reasoned this out without reading about this elsewhere; it may be that many others have reached the same or a similar conclusion before I did) is that because our word is not well known, when a person (who doesn’t know our word) heard another person (using our word) to describe a third disreputable person as “living louchely”, the first person heard “loosely”; thus giving us “loose living” or “loose morals” which should have really been “louche living” or “louche morals”. It’s a thought. The origin of our word is interesting: it comes from the French word louche (cross-eyed), which came from the Old French word losche, the feminine form of lois, which comes from the Latin word luscus (blind in one eye).

louche

Pronounced: loosh, adj

Notes: I have a theory about this word (which I didn’t know)

Yesterday’s word

The word irresolute means “uncertain or indecisive”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Latin word in- (not) combined with resoltus, a past participle of resolvere (to resolve). I felt a little stupid when I saw the definition because I knew the word ‘resolute’ and I also know that ir- is a negation prefix. Somehow, I missed it.

irresolute

Pronounced: ih-REZ-uh-look, adj

Notes: I could not properly define this, but you may know the word

Yesterday’s word

The word rufescent means “slightly reddish; tinged with red; rufous”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

No, I didn’t know the meaning of ‘rufous’ in the definition – it is nearly the same as our word, with only a slight variation of meaning: ‘rufous’ means “reddish”; our word means “slightly reddish”. Our word came from the Latin word rūfescent, when is a stem of rūfescēns, the present participle of the verb rūfescere (to redden), which is derived from the root word rūfus (red). The word ‘rufous’ came straight from this Latin root.

rufescent

Pronounced: roo-FESS-unt, adj

Notes: Not a word that I can remember seeing

Yesterday’s word

The word frabjous means “wonderful; delightful”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

This is another word created by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking Glass, published in 1871. Note that Through the Looking Glass is the popularly-used title, but the correct title is Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There. This was a sequel to Alice in Wonderland (another popular shortening of the actual title: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland). Our word is considered to be a blend of fabulous, fair, and joyous.