spavined

Pronounced: SPAV-ind, adj

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

Yesterday’s word

The word thalassic means

  • of, or pertaining to, seas and oceans
  • of, or pertaining to, smaller bodies of water, as seas and gulfs
  • growing, living, or found in the sea; marine
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Greek word thálassa (sea), with -ic added to indicate an adjective. I was annoyed with myself for not getting this word… I’ve dabbled a bit in Greek, and knew the word thálassa (sea). I also knew the word thanatos (death), but I got the words confused, and was therefore annoyed at myself.

thalassic

Pronounced: thuh-LASS-ick, adj

Notes: Sounds like a pickle (heh). Seriously, I should have known this word

Yesterday’s word

The word comminute means “to pulverize”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

I would never have guessed the meaning of our word – it looks like ‘commune’ or a short form of ‘communicate’. Our word comes from the Latin word comminuere, which is made up of com- (an intensifier) and minuere (to lessen).

comminute

Pronounced: KOM-uh-noot (alt: KOM-uh-nyoot), verb

Notes: Not at all what I thought this word might mean

Yesterday’s word

The word nosophobia is “an abnormal fear of disease”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

You probably recognized -phobia (fear); usually, when describing phobias, we are talking about irrational, exaggerated, or abnormal fear of <whatever>. One of the reasons for hygiene is a fear of catching or spreading disease, but this is not the irrational kind of fear meant by -phobia. The other part of the word comes from the Greek word nósos (disease).

nosophobia

Pronounced: noss-uh-FOE-bee-uh, noun

Notes: Another phobia!

Yesterday’s word

The word behoof means “advantage; benefit”

First usage

Our word came into English back in the late 1200s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Old English word behof (profit; need). From the same source, we get the more familiar verb “behoove” (as in it behooves us to be good citizens). I always thought that the expression “it behooves me/us to…” meant that it was something we were supposed to do; something proper or ethical; that is one definition, and it matches the “need” meaning of the source. In addition, it can use the “profit” part of the definition and mean that it is something to our advantage.

behoof

Pronounced: bih-HOOF, noun

Notes: I thought that this may be riding something with hooves (but no)

Yesterday’s word

The word serotonin meaning is hard to determine: I seem to be getting conflicting definitions: The original place I retrieved the word from says that our word is “a hormone that, like dopamine, heightens feelings of well-being, happiness, and euphoria”. However, dictionary.com says that it is a neurotransmitter “involved in sleep, depression, and memory” (and other things).

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1940s

Background / Comments

A complex definition… Our word comes from sero- (serum) and tone (a sound) and -in (suffix used to make nouns in chemistry). I’m not sure how “tone” fits into this definition; it was hard to get a good information about this word.

serotonin

Pronounced: ser-uh-TOE-nihn (alt: seer-uh-TOE-nihn), noun

Notes: I had just an approximate idea of the meaning. Do you know it?

Yesterday’s word

The word peregrination is “traveling place to place; also a course of travel, especially on foot”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1400s

Background / Comments

I have run across our word in reading, but I don’t remember anything about where it may have been. Rex Stout (the author of the Nero Wolfe books) often uses big words, but I don’t think it was one of those books. Our word came from the Latin word peregrinari (to travel abroad), which comes from peregrinus (foreign), which came from peregre (abroad), which is made up of per- (through) and ager (field; country).

peregrination

Pronounced: pear-ih-gruh-NAY-shun, noun

Notes: I think I’ve run across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word chancel means “the space about the altar of a church, usually enclosed, for the clergy and other officials”

First usage

Our word came into English around 1300

Background / Comments

As I noted, I’ve heard of a “chancel choir”; even with the definition of chancel, I’m not sure what that phrase means. Some churches seem to call their churches “chancel choirs”, but it doesn’t seem to have any particular meaning. Our word came from Middle English, which came from Middle French, which came from Late Latin cancellus (lattice, railing, or screen before the altar of a church).

chancel

Pronounced: CHAN-suhl (alt: CHAHN-suhl), noun

Notes: I’ve heard about a “chancel choir”, but that didn’t help my understanding

Yesterday’s word

The word brahmin is “a member of the upper class, having wealth, social status, and political power”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1400s

Background / Comments

Our word has roots in Hinduism… it came to us from the Sanskrit word brahmin (a member of the priestly class; the highest of the four classes), which came from Brahma, the creator of the universe in Hinduism.

brahmin

Pronounced: BRAH-min, noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word

Yesterday’s word

The word mistral is “a cold, dry, northerly wind common in southern France and neighboring regions”

First usage

Our word came into English around 1600

Background / Comments

The word came from Middle French, which came from Provençal, which came from Old Provençal word maistral, which came from the Latin word magistrālis. Years ago, I subscribed to Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (EQMM) and one of the stories took place in the 1800s in trapping county and was about a mistral wind, but I thought it took place in Canada and not France (per the definition).

mistral

Pronounced: MISS-truhl (alt: mih-STRAHL), noun

Notes: I remember reading a short story that used this word, but the definition doesn’t exactly line up with the definition

Yesterday’s word

The word pundit means

  • a learned person
  • a person who offers commentary or judgments as an expert on a certain topic
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

The alternate spelling pandit was unknown to me. I have heard the “talk circuit” referred to (sarcastically, I thought) as “the pundit circuit”. So, I thought the word referred to a person who seemed to be an expert, or pretended to be one. This idea is pretty close to the second definition; the first one was unknown to me. Our word comes from the Hindi word pandit, which came from the Sanskrit word pandita (learned).