Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: my-suh-FOE-bee-uh
Notes: Okay; it’s a fear of something, but what?
The word succus means “juice; fluid”
Our word came into English in the mid-1700s
As I noted, I didn’t know this word, but I did know (and I suppose most of you know) the word ‘succulent’, which is an adjective of our word, and originally meant “juicy” (it has acquired other meanings). Our word comes from the Latin word succus (juice).
Pronounced: SUCK-uhs, noun
Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I do know a related word
The word clairaudience means “the power to hear sounds said to exist beyond the reach or ordinary experience or capacity (such as hearing the voices of the dead).
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
I suspect that most of us know the word ‘clairvoyance’, which is “seeing things removed in time or space from normal viewing”. Our word is similar, but focuses on hearing instead of seeing. There is also clairsentience. In fact, clairvoyance was first, and then our word came from the combination of clairvoyance with audience (the act of hearing, or attending to, words or sounds). The word clairvoyance is French and literally means “clear seeing” from clair (clear, clearly) and voyance (seeing).
Pronounced: klare-AW-dee-uhns, noun
Notes: You may get partially there, as I did
The word natant means “swimming or floating”
Our word came into English in the mid-1400s
I was so sure that this had to do with birth (thinking of “natal”). It comes from Latin word natare (to swim).
Pronounced: NAYT-nt, adj
Notes: I thought I knew the definition, but when I looked it up, I was wrong
The word pabulum means
Our word came into English in the mid-to-late 1800s
I confused our word with “pablum”, which rather means the opposite of our word: it is the brand name (Pablum) of a soft, bland cereal for infants, and the lower-case word came to mean anything simplistic or naive. I suspect that the brand name was taken from our word, which comes from the Latin word pābulum (food; nourishment), which comes from the verb pāscere (to feed) combined with the noun ending -bulum.
Pronounced: PAB-yuh-luhm, noun
Notes: Not at all what I thought
The word happenchance means, as a noun, “a chance occurrence”. As an adjective, it means “resulting from chance”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
I’ve never run across this word; I do now the word happenstance; our word is an alteration of that word; a blend of happening and circumstance.
Pronounced: (not providing: it’s just “happen + chance”), noun/adj
Notes: You probably know what this means, but I didn’t know it was a word
The word nostomania is “an irresistible compulsion to return home; intense homesickness”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
I don’t really know what is meant by “intense”: so strong that one cannot function? I was pretty homesick when I went off to college on my own; I just don’t know if that qualifies as nostomania or not. Our word comes from the Greek word nóstos (a return home) combined with -mania (an extreme and possible transient enthusiasm).
Pronounced: nos-tuh-MAY-nee-uh (alt: nos-tuh-MAIN-yuh), noun
Notes: Another new word to me, but not what it is
The word tromometer is “an instrument for detecting or measuring faint tremors caused by an earthquake”
Our word came into English in the late 1800s
The first thing I thought when I saw the definition was I thought that’s what a seismograph does. However, a seismograph is actually something that records (thus the “graph” part of it) seismic waves; such a device is called a “seismometer”. Incidentally, seismic waves are vibrations caused by a sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust (not just earthquakes, but explosions can cause seismic waves) that travel within the Earth (also called “body waves”) or along the Earth’s surface (also called “surface waves”). So much for that, but what’s the difference between a seismometer and a tromometer? I’m not sure; there wasn’t much about tromometers, and Wikipedia entry for seismometer did not mention a tromometer. Thus, going by the definition, a tromometer seems dedicated to detecting faint tremors. Our word comes the Greek word tromos (trembling) – but so does the sieismometer, which comes from the Greek word seismós (a shaking or a quake).
Pronounced: troh-MOM-ih-turr, noun
Notes: I was puzzled when I read the definition (more tomorrow)
The word panivorous means “subsisting on bread; bread-eating”
Our word came into English in the early-to-mid 1800s
As I noted yesterday, I was too smart for my own good yesterday: I saw “pan” and remembered “all”, and I thought it referred to someone who would eat anything (or was so hungry he would eat anything); possibly a synonym for ‘omnivorous’. Our word comes from the Latins words pānis (bread) and vorus (devouring). (I think that ‘pan’ means ‘all’ in Greek). I’m glad the Bible uses straightfoward language: could you imagine Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God reading Man shall not be panivorous, but…
Pronounced: pa-NIV-er-uhs, adj
Notes: This is one of those times when too much knowledge threw me off
The word factious means “divisive; seditious; related to or arising from faction”
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
I had been thinking more “argumentative” than “divisive”; thus, my meaning was a bit off. Our word comes from the French word factieux (seditious) and the Latin word factiosus (partisan), which came from facere (to do).
Pronounced: FAK-shus, adj
Notes: I was close to the meaning, but not quite, so I’ve added it. Maybe you know it?
The word exiguous means “scanty; meager; small; slender”
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
For some reason, I thought our word meant “hard; difficult” instead of what is does mean. Our word comes from the Latin word exiguus (scanty in measure or number; small), which comes from exigere (to drive out; measure; exact).
I decided not to use the word viva voce (vie-vuh VOE-see or vie-vuh VOE-chay) because I happened to know the meaning from the book Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day