hurly-burly

Pronounced: HURL-ee-BURR-lee, noun/adj

Notes: This is one of those words I see and think I sort of know (and I’m close to the real meaning)

Yesterday’s word

The word kef means “a state of drowsy contentment”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

This is one of the words from the “not quite as well done” vocabulary list. I’m always checking words in this list with Internet sources. So, the definition I have above is what is said, and, on that basis, is quite a wonderful word. “Drowsy contentment” is what we’d all like to experience at the end of a hard day. It seemed like a great word to use… but then I checked online, and while it listed the definition above, it added “especially from marijuana, opium, or another narcotic”. So, I don’t feel as great about using it now. Our word comes from the Arabic word kaif (well-being; pleasure).

kef

Pronounced: kafe (alt: kef), noun

Notes: A great word; I hope all of you have experienced it!

Yesterday’s word

The word probative means “serving to test something or providing a proof”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Latin word probare (to test or prove), which comes from probus (upright, good) — this root word also give us the word “probity”.

probative

Pronounced: PRO-buh-tiv (alt: PRAHB-uh-tiv), adj

Notes: This word might be what you think it is

Yesterday’s word

The word obscurantism means

  • opposition to the increase and spread of knowledge
  • deliberate obscurity or evasion of clarity
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word makes me think of obfuscation (making things hard to understand). There is, or has been an “obfuscated C code contest” in which programmers compete to make the simplest things look obscure and complicated. After writing the previous sentence, I looked it up and it is still an existing contest; it had its beginnings around 1984. More information can be found online. Anyway, our word comes either from the French word obscurantisme or the German word Obscurantismus. These come from the Latin word obscūrant-, which is a stem of obscūrāns, the present participle of obscūrāre (to darken).

obscurantism

Pronounced: uhb-SKYOOR-uhn-tiz-uhm (alt: ob-skyoo-RAN-tiz-uhm), noun

Notes: I was kind of close to the meaning, but not quite right

Yesterday’s word

The word jobbery means “the use of a public office for private gain”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

I knew that “jobber” (from which our word comes) refers to someone who does odd jobs, but I wasn’t aware of the our word, whose origin is unknown.

jobbery

Pronounced: JOB-uh-ree, noun

Notes: I thought it was something about working

Yesterday’s word

The word polimathy means “learning in many fields; encyclopedic knowledge”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

I know the word polymath, which refers to a person who has learning in many fields. Our word was coined after that one, and refers to the learning, rather than the person. It comes from the Greek word polymathía, which comes from poly- (many; much) and mathēs, a derivative of manthánein (to learn).

polymathy

Pronounced: pul-LIM-uh-thee

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I do know a similar word

Yesterday’s word

The word wrick, as a verb, means “to sprain or wrench”. As a noun, it is “a sprain”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1300s

Background / Comments

I have used this word to refer to a slight pain in an ankle or wrist, but I thought it was spelled rick, not wrick. I also was unaware that it meant an actual sprain. Our word comes from the Middle Low German word wricken (to sprain).

wrick

Pronounced: rick, verb/noun

Notes: I’ve used this word without knowing I was using it

Yesterday’s word

The word solipsistic means “of, or characterized by, solipsism (the theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist)”.

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word comes the combination of the noun solipsism and -istic (a suffix used to create adjectives from nouns). The word solipsism is from sol- (alone; only) combined with the Latin word ipse (self).

solipsistic

Pronounced: sol-ip-SIS-tick, adj

Notes: I have a faint idea that I have run across this word, but I didn’t know the word

Yesterday’s word

The word gnar is “a knot on a tree or in wood”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1200s

Background / Comments

I’ve always called these things “knots”; knar is new to me. It comes from the Middle English word knarre.

knar

Pronounced: narr, noun

Notes: I have never heard of this word, but I know a related word

Yesterday’s word

The word cabotage means

  • navigation or trade along the coast
  • legal restrictions on air transport between points within a country
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

When I saw our word, I remembered history classes of long ago and remembered one called Cabot; I thought perhaps the word came from him. Researching Cabot shows two men: John Cabot, an Italian navigator in the service of England (Italian name Giovanni Caboto); he discovered the North American mainland in 1497. His son, Sebastian Cabot, was also a navigator and explorer. It made sense, but it was wrong; our word comes from French – a derivative of the word caboter (to sail coastwise), a verb from the Middle French noun cabo, which comes from the Spanish word cabo (headland). Clearly, the first definition is the original definition; I’m not entirely sure how the second definition (the one used in aviation) came into being.

cabotage

Pronounced: CAB-uh-tij (alt: cab-uh-TAHZH), noun

Notes: This word is so similar to “sabotage” that is stops me from making a good guess

Yesterday’s word

The word sepia, as a noun, means

  • a reddish brown color
  • a brown pigment originally made from the cuttlefish ink
  • a drawing made with this pigment
  • a monochrome photograph in this color

As an adjective, it merely means “of a reddish-brown color”

First usage

Our word goes back to the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

From the second definition above, you might have a good guess at the meaning: sepia is Latin for “cuttlefish”; it came from the Greek word sepia, also “cuttlefish”. I’m most used to our word being referred to the photograph treatment that can make them the photos look aged.