Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: so-DALL-ih-tee (alt: suh-DALL-ih-tee), noun
Notes: It looks like it should have something to do with soda
The word refect means “to refresh with food or drink”
Our word came into English in the late 1400s
Another useful word to drop into conversation. It comes from the Latin word reficere (to renew or restore), from re- (back) and facere (to make).
Pronounced: rih-FEKT, verb
Notes: This just looks like a misspelling of “reflect” to me
The word mackle, as a noun, means “a blured mark in printing as from a double stroke or impression”. As a verb, it means “to make or print a blurred mark (as from a double impression in printing)”
Our word came into English in the late 1500s
I’ve certainly run across a mackle in printed material; I expect you have as well. Our word had earlier variants: macle and makle, which came from the even earlier word macule, but these have all meant the same thing. The original word macule came from the Latin word macula (spot; blemish).
Pronounced: MACK-uhl, verb/noun
Notes: I think many of us have experience with this word, but we may not know that there was a word for this action/thing
The word angor means “extreme anguish or mental distress”
Our word is relatively old; it came into English in the mid-1400s
The idea is that one is in so much anguish (or so angry) that one felt chocked… that’s the idea behind the root of our word. It comes from the Latin noun angor (strangling; suffocation), which comes from the verb angere (to squeeze).
The verb burke was a very close choice. I knew the word from the Lord Peter Wimsey story Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers, in which it is used in the phrase burke a fact. It is clear from the context that is means “to suppress”. The actual definitions are “to suppress quietly or indirectly” or “bypass; avoid”, which was close enough to decide I knew the word. However, I did not know that this origin of burke comes from the infamous William Burke (of Burke and Hare fame). In short, Burke & Hare lived in the 1820s, and killed people, selling the bodies for anatomical research, since the laws at the time limited what bodies could be so used, causing a shortage. Burke was executed by hanging, as the crowd shouted “Burke him!”, and the word entered the language; first referred to death by strangulation or suffocation, and later for any cover-up.
Pronounced: ANG-guhr, noun
Notes: No, this is not ‘anger’ misspelled
The word mysophobia means “an excessive fear of dirt or filth”
Our word came into English in the late 1800s
Everyone probably recognizes the -phobia (fear) suffix. The first part comes from the Greek word mýsos (pollution; defilement).
I decided not to use niveous (snowy; resembling snow). I remember from long-ago Spanish class the word nieve (snow), so I had this definition right.
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).
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