Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: FRAB-juss, adj
Notes: I recognized the word, but I didn’t know the definition
The word rimple means “to wrinkle; crumple; crease”
Our word came into English in the early to mid-1400s
The word came from late Middle English; it is related to “rumple”, and came from Middle Dutch and/or Middle Low German rimpel.
Pronounced: RIM-pull, verb
Notes: I don’t think I’ve ever run across this word
The word seisin means “possession of either land or chattel” (see comments below for more)
Our word came into English in the late 1200s
I ran across this word in the dictionary, and thus the humbling (or aggravating) part of learning this word; it was used in the definition of another word; it is aggravating when dictionaries use a unknown word in a definition. At the same time, it is humbling because it should have been known. By the way that “other word” that I look up up will one show up in this list one day (hopefully). Concerning our word, it mostly shows up in law. If (like me), you weren’t sure what ‘chattel’ means, it refers to personal property that you can move from place to place; for example, cars, clothing, dishes, furniture — something that isn’t land or buildings or improvements on land. From that early definition, it can now also mean “the right to possession characteristic of estates of freehold”
Pronounced: SEE-zin, noun
Notes: Learning this word was an aggravating or humiliating experience
The word shoat is
This is an old word; going back to the late 1300s to early 1400s
I am pretty sure that I have run across this word used in the first definition above; I had no idea of the second definition. Our word came from Middle English shote, which is cognate with the Dutch word schote.
Pronounced: shote, noun (also spelled “shote”)
Notes: I think I’ve run across this word
The word demirep refers to “a woman of doubtful reputation or respectability”
Our word came into English in the mid-1700s
I an across this word in a Nero Wolfe story Die Like a Dog by Rex Stout. I’ve read somewhere that Rex Stout was very bright (an IQ of 185). Anyway, he frequently uses interesting words in the stories (usually spoken by Nero Wolfe). One dictionary noted that our word was “archaic” (I usually associate ‘archaic’ with words that were used before 1700). The novella Die Like a Dog was published in 1956, so I wasn’t sure about calling it ‘archaic’. I checked other dictionaries, and haven’t found it tagged ‘archaic’. Our word is a combination of demi- (half) and reputation.
Pronounced: DEM-ee-rep, noun
Notes: I ran across this word in a book
The word bandersnatch is
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Our word was created by Lewis Carroll to refer to a fictional creature in Through the Looking-Glass, which was published in 1871.
I was considering the word inveigh (to protest or complain bitterly or vehemently; to rail), but I knew the definition and decided to skip it. The origin was also pretty standard. The most interesting thing is that the word ‘invective’ comes from the same root as our word.
Pronounced: BAN-dur-snach, noun
Notes: A familiar word, but I didn’t know the meaning
The word pansophy means “universal wisdom or knowledge”
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
Our word is a combination of pan-, from the Greek pâs (all, every) [the neuter form is pân (everything)] and -sophy, from the Greek word -sophia, a combining form of sophía (skill, wisdom). As I noted, I should have been able to figure out the meaning, since I was familiar with both Greek words pân and sophía.
Pronounced: PAN-suh-fee, noun
Notes: I didn’t know the word, but I should have been able to work it out
The word effable means “capable of being expressed”
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
The more common is ineffable; I was aware of that word, but not its meaning, so I couldn’t guess at our word’s meaning. Our word comes from the Latin word fari (to speak).
Pronounced: EF-uh-bull, adj
Notes: This is a word you may know, but I didn’t
The word prehensible means “able to be seized or grasped”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
I confused our word with ‘prehensile’, and they have similar meanings: ‘prehensile’ means “adapted for seizing or grasping or taking hold of something” – see the meaning of our word above. Our word came from the Latin word prehēnsus, the past participle of prehendere (to seize), made of pre- (before) and hendere (to grasp) . By contrast, ‘prehensile’ came to us from French, and into French from the same Latin word as our word.
Pronounced: prih-HEN-suh-bull, adj
Notes: I got this word unnecessarily confused with another word
The word scrutable means “capable of being understood”
Our word came into English in the early 1600s
We are all more familiar with ‘inscrutable’; I was not aware that scrutable was a word. It comes from the Latin word scrutari (to examine), which – oddly – comes from scruta (trash).
Pronounced: SCREW-tuh-bull, adj
Notes: Another word that you can probably figure of the meaning of
The word zoanthropy refers to “a mental disorder in which one believes oneself to be an animal”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
As noted, many jokes begin with “Doctor, doctor! My wife/husband/brother thinks he’s a (animal)”. Such a condition is described by our word. Our word starts with zo-, but it is really zoo- (living being; animal), but when combining with a word starting with a vowel, the second ‘o’ is dropped. It comes from the Greek word zôion (animal). It is combined with -anthropy, which comes from the New Latin word anthrōpia, which comes from the Greek word ánthrōpos (man, in the class sense, referring to a human being).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day