effluvium

Pronounced: ih-FLOO-vee-uhm, noun

Notes: You may know this word; it is a “borderline” word

Yesterday’s word

The word grimalkin means

  • an old female cat
  • an ill-tempered older woman
First usage

This word came into English around 1600 (the late 1500s to the early 1600s)

Background / Comments

I think I’ve run across our word in one of its meanings, but I cannot recall the details. It is thought our word comes from a corruption of gray combined with malkin, which is a diminutive of the proper name Maud. It is not clear to me how Maud came to refer to a woman. It is clear that gri (gray) refers to being older, as in “gray-headed”.

grimalkin

Pronounced: grih-MAL-kin (alt: grih-MAWL-kin), noun

Notes: I’m not sure if I’ve run across this in reading or not

Yesterday’s word

The word quotidian means

  • commonplace; ordinary
  • occurring every day
First usage

This word come into English in the late 1300s

Background / Comments

I think of our word as similar to “mundane” (at least, the first definition). Our word is another fun/useful word to know and use. The word comes from the Old French word cotidian, which came from Latin quotidianus/cotidianus, which came from quotidie (each day), which came partly from quot (how many).

quotidian

Pronounced: kwo-TID-ee-uhn, adj

Notes: A nice vocabulary word

Yesterday’s word

The word spumescent means “foamy or frothy”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

As I noted, our word looked vaguely familiar to me; I think I’ve used it as a vocabulary entry, but not in this blog (I checked). However, before I started this blog, I did vocabulary entries on Facebook for a year… and before Facebook, I posted vocabulary words on my work’s chat status. Our word is composed of spume and -escent. The -escent ending is from Latin and is used on adjectives to specify the beginning of an action or process. The word spume came from Middle English, which came from the Latin word spūma (foam; froth).

spumescent

Pronounced: spyoo-MES-uhnt, adj

Notes: This word looked familiar to me (more on that tomorrow).

Yesterday’s word

The word superbity means “pride; arrogance”

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

I don’t think I’ve ever run across our word in any reading. Sounds like a fun addition to one’s vocabulary. It comes from the Middle French word superbité, which came from superbe (superb).

superbity

Pronounced: soo-PURR-buh-tee, noun

Notes: I don’t remember running across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word effloresce means “to burst into bloom; to blossom, or become covered in flowers”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Latin word efflōrēscere (to blossom out), which is made of of ef- (out [a variant of ex-]) with flōrēscere (to being to bloom), which has the stem flōr- (flower).

effloresce

Pronounced: ef-luh-RESS, verb

Notes: Another word you may be able to guess

Yesterday’s word

The word analphabetic, as a noun, means “an illiterate person”. As an adjective, it can mean “illiterate” or “not alphabetical”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Not a hard word to get, if you are able to properly parse the word; it comes from the Greek word analphabetos (not knowing the alphabet); it was created from an- (not) and alphabetos (alphabet). You may know alphabet comes from alpha and beta, the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. Anyway, if one don’t know the alphabet, one is illiterate. Apparently, the other adjective’s meaning probably came about later from the literal meaning of “not alphabetic”.

analphabetic

Pronounced: an-al-fuh-BET-ick, adj/noun

Notes: You may be able to figure this one out

Yesterday’s word

The word caprine means “of, or pertaining to, goats”

First usage

Our word comes from the late 1300s or early 1400s

Background / Comments

Our word came from late Middle English, which came from the Latin word caprinous, which comes from caper (male goat).

caprine

Pronounced: KAP-rine (alt: KAP-rin), adj

Notes: You may know this word, but I didn’t

Yesterday’s word

The word uliginous means “swampy; slimy; slippery”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

I don’t think I’ve every run across this word, but it does look (at a quick glance) as though it is related to “ugly”. Our word comes from the Latin word uligo (moisture).

uliginous

Pronounced: you-LIJ-uh-nuss, adj

Notes: This word looks like it is related to “ugly” (but it does not)

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase ad hominem means “that which appeals to one’s prejudices or emotions rather than to one’s intellect or reason”

First usage

The definition above came into English in the late 1500s (see comments below).

Background / Comments

The data I took our phrase from only gives one definition, and it wasn’t the one I thought. I thought the word meant to make a personal attack instead of addressing the issue at hand. It turns out that this definition is also correct, but is later (came into usage in the late 1700s). So I wasn’t really mistaken; I just wasn’t aware of the original definition. Our phrase comes from Latin and literally means “to the man” or “to the person”; that is, to the passions or prejudices or interests of the person.

ad hominem

Pronounced: ad HOM-uh-nuhm (alt: ahd HOM-uh-nuhm), adj

Notes: I’ve run across this phrase, but I have misunderstood us

Yesterday’s word

The word lodestar means “someone or something that serves as a guiding principle, model, inspiration, ambition, etc.”

First usage

This word came into English in the later 1300s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Old English word lad (way) combined with star. A lodestar was first used because it was used in navigation — thus, showing the way. The other shades of meaning all came from the original meaning.