chunter

Pronounced: CHUHN-tuhr, verb

Notes: I think I’ve run across this word, but I didn’t know the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word gapeseed is mostly used in Britain and means

  • a person who gapes or stares in wonder; especially a rustic or unworldly person who is easily awed
  • a daydream or reverie
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this word, but mostly being a British word, I haven’t heard it. Our word is a combination of gape (stare) and seed… I’m not sure what part seed plays in the meaning.

gapeseed

Pronounced: GAPE-seed (alt: GAP-seed), noun

Notes: It looks like “grapeseed”, but it is not related to it

Yesterday’s word

The word susurrate means “to make a whispering or rustling sound”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

I think this is a neat word. I ran across this in some Star Trek novel (I don’t remember which one; perhaps Strangers From the Sky) in which it describes the “susurration of the Vulcan heart”. Our word comes from the Latin word susurrare (to whisper or hum).

susurrate

Pronounced: SOO-suh-rate, verb

Notes: I don’t think this word is well known, but I have run across it

Yesterday’s word

The word nonesuch means “a person or thing without equal; paragon”

First usage

Our word came into usage in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

Our word is a combination of none and such. As I noted yesterday, I thought our word was an adjective meaning “unique” (as in “nonesuch ruler”). I’m not sure where I picked up this misapprehension.

nonesuch

Pronounced: NUN-such, noun

Notes: I thought this word was an adjective, not a noun

Yesterday’s word

The word gnar means “to snarl or growl”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1400s.

Background / Comments

It is thought to be of imitative origin (that gnar sounds like a snarl or growl).

gnar

Pronounced: nar

Notes: Also spelled gnarr. Another word I’ve no run across

Yesterday’s word

The word subrogate means

  • to put into the place of another; substitute for another
  • (in law) to substitute one person for another, with reference to a claim or right
First usage

The second definition above was the first meaning in the first half of the 1400s; the first meaning comes from the mid-1500s.

Background / Comments

I think I confused our word with subjugate (to bring under complete control). Our word came from late Middle English, which came from the Late Latin word subrogātus, a past participle of subrogāre (to nominate [someone] as a substitute), which is composed of sub- (below; under; beneath) and rogāre (to request).

subrogate

Pronounced: SUB-ruh-gate, verb

Notes: This word has a much more common synonym

Yesterday’s word

The word puissant means “potent”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

Our word sounds a lot more run to use that ‘potent’. If you think it looks French, you are correct: it came into English from French. The French word came from the Latin word posse (to be able).

puissant

Pronounced: PWIS-uhnt (alt: PYOO-uh-suhnt), adj

Notes: Not what I thought

Yesterday’s word

The word cicerone means “a person who conducts sightseers; a guide”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

This is an Italian word. Because it has Italian background, the proper plural is ciceroni (just like the proper plural of concerto is concerti). However, just like concertos is often used as the plural of concerto, cicerones is also an acceptable plural of cicerone. Our word comes from the Italian word Cicerōnem, which is the accusative form of the name Cicerō; guides were thought to have the knowledge and eloquence of Cicero.

cicerone

Pronounced: sis-uh-ROE-nee (alt: chich-uh-ROE-nee), noun

Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word anywhere

Yesterday’s word

The word inhere means “to belong to something by its very nature; to be an inseparable part of something”

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

I didn’t know that this verb existed, but I (and, I suspect many people) are aware of the adjective form: inherent. Our word comes from the Latin word inhaerere (to be attached), which comes from in- (in) and haerere (to stick).

inhere

Pronounced: in-HERE, verb

Notes: You might be able to guess this one, even if you don’t know it

Yesterday’s word

The word viridescent means “slightly green; greenish”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

If you take off the ‘v’, you get iridescent, which means something that shows varied, lustrous colors rather like a rainbow. So, that was all I could see. However, I should have been able to guess that this was related to the color green. Our word comes from the Late Latin word viridēscent, from viridēscēns, the present participle of viridēscere (to become green), which has a root of viridis (green).

viridescent

Pronounced: vir-ih-DESS-uhnt, adj

Notes: Another strike for the poor quality control on this entry; it was clearly an adjective from the definition, but was listed as a noun.

Yesterday’s word

The word spavined means

  • suffering from spavin, a disease involving swelling of the hock joints in a horse
  • old; decrepit; broken-down
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

This is one of the word in which it is easy to follow the definition as it changed. Clearly, the first definition above was the original definition. Probably older horses were more common to this condition, and that gave rise to the more general definition listed second above. Our word comes from the Old French word espavain (swelling).