dermatoglyphics

Pronounced: duhr-mat-uh-GLIF-icks (alt: duhr-muh-tuh-GLIF-icks), noun

Notes: There is something very unusual about this word – can you spot it?

Yesterday’s word

The word euthenics is “a science concerned with bettering human living conditions through the improvement of their environment”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1900s

Background / Comments

I recognized eu- as meaning “good” in Greek, and, sure enough, our word comes from the Greek word euthēneîn (to be well off; prosper), combined with -ics (a suffix denoting a body of facts, knowledge, or principles)

euthenics

Pronounced: you-THEN-icks, noun

Notes: This is another word that is new to me

Yesterday’s word

The word dubiety means “doubtfulness or uncertainty”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

When one is in doubt (dubiety), one is of two minds, and that is a clue to the origin; our word comes from the Latin word dubius (wavering), which comes from duo (two). From the same root, we get the word diploma (which is literally ‘folded in two’) and the word didymous (occurring in pairs; twin). One of the original twelve apostles, Thomas was called Didymus, per the book of John.

dubiety

Pronounced: doo-BY-ih-tee (alt: dyoo-BY-ih-tee), noun

Notes: You might be able to guess the meaning of this word

Yesterday’s word

The word foofaraw means

  • a great fuss or disturbance about something very insignificant
  • an excessive amount of decoration or ornamentation, as on a piece of clothing, or on a building
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word sounded a bit familiar. Our word came about on the western frontier of the United States. However, further background is not known. One theory is that it comes from the Spanish word fanfarrón (braggart; boaster), which may have come from the Arabic word farfār (talkative). Another theory is that our word comes from the French word fanfaron, which has the same meaning as the Spanish word. Perhaps both words combined to create our word on the western frontier.

foofaraw

Pronounced: FOO-fuh-raw, noun

Notes: I’ve run across this word, but only had a vague understanding of its meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word suberous means “like cork in appearance or texture”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

The background of our word is pretty straightforward: it comes from the Latin word suber (cork oak). I saw the “sub” and thought of the prefix sub- (which means “below”) and thought maybe our word meant something like “underhanded”… but nothing so shady.

suberous

Pronounced: SUE-burr-us, adj

Notes: A good word, but I didn’t know it

Yesterday’s word

The word noosphere is used in ecology and is “the biosphere including and modified by such human activities as agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, urbanization, and industrialization”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1940s

Background / Comments

Our word came to us from the French word noösphere, which is made up of the Greek word nóos (mind) and the French word sphère (globe).

noosphere

Pronounced: NO-uh-sfear, noun

Notes: Another word I don’t know

Yesterday’s word

The word orotund means

  • strong, clear, rich (as in voice or speech)
  • pompous, bombastic
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1700s

Background / Comments

Our word is a contraction of the Latin phrase ore rotundo (with a round moth), made up of ore, which comes from os (mouth) combined with rotundo, which comes from rotundus (round).

orotund

Pronounced: OR-uh-tund, adj

Notes: I just see “rotund” in this word, and that’s not the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word tantivy means, as an adverb, “at full gallop”. As an adjective it means “swift or rapid”. As a noun, it means “a gallop or rush”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

People who own, enjoy, or work with horses may know this word. The origin of our word is not know, but some think that horses galloping sound like our word (making it an onomatopoeia). I, too, thought our word might be onomatopoeic.

tantivy

Pronounced: tan-TIV-ee, adv/adj/noun

Notes: A certain group of people probably know this word

Yesterday’s word

The word bobbery means “squabble; commotion; confusion”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word has a Hindi background: it is a corruption of the phrase bap re, from bap (father) and re (oh), so literally “oh, father!”. However it it used as an expression of surprise, grief, etc.

bobbery

Pronounced: BOB-uh-ree, noun

Notes: I’ve not run across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word escutcheon is

  • a shield or shieldlike surface on which a coat of arms is depicted
  • an ornamental or protective plate around a keyhole, door handle, light switch, etc
  • (nautical) a panel on the stern of a vessel bearing its name and port of registry
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1400s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Old North French word escuchon, which came from the Latin word scūtum (shield). I mentioned yesterday that this word was slightly familiar; while I was researching information about our word, I found a phrase “blot one’s escutcheon” (a stain on one’s reputation; disgrace), which I’m pretty sure I’ve read somewhere, which is probably why the word was familiar.

escutcheon

Pronounced: ih-SKOOCH-uhn, noun

Notes: This word is vaguely familiar to me, but I could not define it

Yesterday’s word

The word camorra means “a secret group united for unscrupulous purposes”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

The only place I remember running across this word is in the Lord Peter Wimsey short story The Unsolved Puzzle of the Man with No Face by Dorothy Sayers. In a railway car, a group of people from various walks of life discuss a news item about a man found dead on a beach with his face badly cut about. One man suggests a “Gamorrah” may have been behind it, which is our word misunderstood. Our word comes from Camorra, which was a secret organization in Naples, Italy, engaged in criminal activities. The word might have come into Italian from the Spanish word camorra (fight).