Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: ick-STEN-yuh-wait, verb
Notes: You probably know the phrase “extenuating circumstances” (as I do), but do you know the meaning of the verb?
The word noctilucent means “shining at night”
Our word came into English in the late 1600s
After reading the definition, I felt a little foolish for not knowing the meaning. Our word came from the Latin words nocti- (night) and lucent (shining).
Pronounced: nok-tuh-LOO-sunt, adj
Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I should have been able to figure it out
The word doch-an-dorris is “a parting drink”
It is not clear when our word came into English
Our word is more common in Scotland and Ireland. In American English, we tend to use the phrase “stirrup cup”. In Scottish Gaelic, our word is spelled deoch an doruis. In Irish, it is spelled deoch an dorais. Both of these phrases literally mean “a drink at the door”. It is a long-standing practice of sharing a parting drink with the host(s) or guests. In English, a phrase with a similar meaning is “stirrup cup” – this was originally a small drink of wine (or something) before a rider about to leave on horseback. Another phrase that is commonly heard for this practice is “one for the road”.
Pronounced: dak-un-DOOR-us, noun
Notes: Not a word I’ve ever run across
The word caesious means “bluish or grayish green”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Our word came from the Latin word caesius, which is thought to come from caelum (sky). Keen-eyed readers will note that this is another word with the vowels in order.
Pronounced: SEE-zee-uhs, adj
Notes: A word I didn’t know, and probably won’t use
The word plumply means “in a wholehearted manner and without hesitation or circumlocution; forthrightly”
Our word came into English in the mid-1700s
In the 1300s, the word “plump” was used to refer to the sound of something dropping into water (today, we use the word “plop” for this sound). The, in Middle English, this noun “plump” also became a verb meaning “to drop”. The verb gained a noun with the meaning “a sudden drop or fall”, and then an adverb definition was added: “directly, without qualification”. The adverb plump change to the more standard form of plumply. As I was researching the history, I wonder if when the adverb form of “plump” that meant “directly” was misheard and gave rise to the word “plumb” (such as in the statement “plumb empty” or “plumb out of luck”).
Pronounced: PLUM-plee, adv
Notes: This word has nothing to do with being fat
The word airling is “a carefree, thoughtless person”
Our word came into English in the early 1600s
An interesting word to drop into conversation, but I don’t know that I’ve ever heard it. It came from a combination of air (which came from the Latin word aer [air]) in combination with -ling (small; young; inferior).
Pronounced: AIR-ling, noun
Notes: Interesting word that I didn’t know
The word qualm means
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
Like me, you probably are familiar with the second definition; I would summarize it as “misgiving”; however, the first definition was unknown to me. That first meaning is the original one: if you’ve read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, you’ve run across our word in its original definition. It didn’t take long for the meaning to spread to the second idea of a sudden misgiving. The origin of our word is unknown.
Pronounced: kwahm (alt: kwahm), noun
Notes: I added this word because it had a meaning of which I was unaware
The word propugnaculum is “a fortress; defense; protection”
Our word came into English in the mid 1700s
A pretty fancy word for a fortress. It came from the Latin word propugnaculum (bulwark), which came from propugnare (to fight in defense of something), which is made up of pro- (toward) and pugnare (to fight); this latter word came from pugnus (fist).
Pronounced: praw-pug-NAK-yuh-luhm, noun
Notes: I don’t think I’ve ever run across this word
The word eradicate means
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
I always thought this word primarily meant to completely erase something, and it can have that meaning, but it started out to mean to pull something up by the roots. Our word came from the Latin word eradicatus, which is the past participle of the Latin verb eradicare, which traces back to the Latin word radix (root; radish). As noted, the original meaning was to uproot, but not long afterwards, the metaphorical idea of removing things came about.
Pronounced: ih-RA-duh-kate, verb
Notes: You probably know the meaning, but I found the origin interesting
The word auricomous means “relating to golden hair”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
As I noted yesterday, I was not aware that we had a word that means this. It came from the Latin word auricomus, which is made from aurum (gold) and coma (hair).
Pronounced: au-RI-kih-muss, adj
Notes: I didn’t know we had a word for this
The word louche means “not reputable or decent”
Our word came into English in the early 1800s
Our word sounds just like “lush”; I wonder if some people have confused them in the past. It isn’t clear to me if our word and “lush” have any background in common. Our word came from the French word louche (squinting; cross-eyed; shady; devious) – note that the original meaning was the first two; the other (figurative) meanings came later. When we borrowed the word from French, we only used the figurative definitions. The French word came from the Latin word luscus (blind in one eye; having poor sight).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day