fascicle

Pronounced: FASS-ih-kuhl, noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word

Yesterday’s word

The word constative, as a noun, means “a statement that can be judged as true or false”. As an adjective, it means “capable of being true or false”.

First usage

Our word came into English in the first decade of the 1900s

Background / Comments

Subjective statements (opinions, for example) are not fascicle: “I enjoyed the movie” cannot be judged true or false. Objective statements can: “The sky is blue” is a constative. Our word comes from the Latin word constare (to stand firm).

constative

Pronounced: kuhn-STAY-tiv (alt: KON-stuh-tiv), noun/adj

Notes: Not a word I know

Yesterday’s word

The word operose means

  • done with, or involving, much labor
  • busy or industrious, as a person
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

After seeing the definition, I was reminded of “opus” (work). In fact, our word comes from the Latin word operōsus (busy, active), from oper-, a stem of opus (work).

operose

Pronounced: OP-uh-rose, adj

Notes: This is another word that I didn’t know, but after seeing the definition, I could see it

Yesterday’s word

The word punalua is “a group of brothers marrying a group of sisters”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

This word is a Hawaiian one.

punalua

Pronounced: poo-nuh-LOO-uh, noun

Notes: This word looks a bit like luau, but it isn’t

Yesterday’s word

The word procrustean means “tending to produce conformity by violent or arbitrary means”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

Our word means “like Procrustes”; Procrustes was a robber who invited people to rest in his bed, but then he either stretched their limbs or amputated them in order to make them fit the bed. Thus, we get the meaning of our word.

procrustean

Pronounced: pro-KRUS-tee-uhn, adj

Notes: This word can be upper case as well

Yesterday’s word

The word apricity means “warmth of the sun; basking in the sun”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

A neat little word. It comes from the Latin word apricari (to bask in the sun).

apricity

Pronounced: a-PRISS-ih-tee, noun

Notes: This word has nothing to do with apricots (in case you were wondering)

Yesterday’s word

The word effulgent means “shining forth brilliantly; radiant”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Latin word effulgent, which traces back to ef- (out; thoroughly) combined with fulgēre (to shine).

effulgent

Pronounced: ih-FUHL-juhnt (alt: ih-FOOL-juhnt), adj

Notes: Another unknown word to me

Yesterday’s word

The word galumph means “to move clumsily or heavily”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word is another one coined by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass (as I have previously noted, the correct title is Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, published in 1871). It is from the poem “Jabberwocky” found in the book and is supposedly a combination of gallop and triumph. I’m not quite sure how this comes to mean clumsily or heavily.

galumph

Pronounced: guh-LUMF, verb

Notes: I kind of knew this word, but could not properly define it, so I add it here

Yesterday’s word

The word sternutation means “the act of sneezing”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Latin word sternūtātiōn, related to sternūtātus, which is the past participle of sternūtāre, which is a word designating repeated action; in this case, of sternuere (to sneeze).

sternutation

Pronounced: stur-nyuh-TAY-shun, noun

Notes: I think this is a word I keep learning and forgetting; I seem to remember running across it previously. Perhaps posting it here will help me remember it in future.

Yesterday’s word

The word clarigation is “a demand for restitution for some wrong, as a precursor to declaring war”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Latin word clarigare (to make clear), which came from clarus (clear). Apparently, in ancient Roman times, a clarigation was a solemn and ceremonial (“clear”) recital of injuries or grievances at another peoples’ hands. It was usually accompanied by a demand for satisfaction — without which, they would go to war. This may be similar to the English phrase “sabre-rattling”.

Rejected word

The word cacophony came up; I’m a little proud that I correctly parsed this word; I remembered the Greek words kakos (bad) and phōnē (sound) – thus, literally, “bad sound” : a harsh, discordant sound.

clarigation

Pronounced: klar-ih-GAY-shun, noun

Notes: Not a word I’ve run across

Yesterday’s word

The word comminate means

  • to threaten with divine punishment or vengeance
  • to curse
First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

I thought of ‘commune’ or ‘communicate’, but those are clearly not close to the meaning at all. Our word is a back formation (that means that another form of the word existed and the word was created) from the noun commination, which came from Late Middle English, which came from Anglo-French, which came from the Latin word comminātiōn, which is related to comminātus, the past participle of comminārī (to threaten).