Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: bell-es-PREE, noun
Notes: Another word I don’t know (but a good one)
The word ecdysis is “the shedding of an outer layer; molting”
This word came into English in the mid-1800s
Our word came from the Greek word ekdysis, which is from ekdyein (to take off), which is made of ek- (out; off) and dyein (to put on).
Pronounced: EK-duh-sis, noun
Notes: I’m pretty sure I have run across this word, but I could not recall the definition
The word meliorism means “the belief that the world can be made better and improved by concentrated effort and diligent work”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Our word came from the Latin word melior (better) with the ending -ism. The definition I quoted above is a more “friendly” definition; I have also seen “the doctrine that the world becomes better (or may be made better) by human effort”. One would probably write quite an essay on this topic. It is certainly true that we have amazing technology these days. Our mobile phones have more power than the computers they used to get to the moon. Ordering something is speedy; many things are delivered within a day or two. At the same time, people’s behavior seems to be worse, and there is much less freedom: listen to an older person describe the things they did; it almost sounds like another word. This is not a good place
Pronounced: MEAL-yuh-riz-uhm (alt: MEE-lee-uh-riz-uhm), noun
Notes: Nice word, but I didn’t know it
The word earwig means, as a noun, “any of various insects of the order Dermaptera, having a pair of pincers at the rear of the abdomen”.
As a verb, it means
This word may be one of the earliest words; it goes back to before the year 1000
Our word comes from the Old English word earwicga, which is composed of ear and wicga (insect). It was an old belief that this insect crawled into people’s ears to reach their brains. I assume that the noun form was the original, and the idea of an insect in one’s brain (and thus influencing one) became a verb something like influenced as if by an earwig… the insect part was dropped, and the idea of influence was kept. The other verb meaning no doubt comes from the idea that listening to a secret conversation causes influence.
Pronounced: EAR-wig, noun/verb
Notes: I had a faint idea of the meaning of the noun form, but no clue concerning the verb form
The word xyst means “a garden walkway planted and bordered with trees”
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
Our word comes from the Latin word xystus (garden terrace; shaded walk), which came from the Greek word xystós (a covered colonnade)
Pronounced: zist, noun
Notes: This looks like a pretty good scrabble word!
The word miscible means “capable of being mixed together”
This word came into English in the mid-1500s
Our word comes from the Latin word miscere (to mix). As I noted yesterday, this word is one I’ve actually learned from the various vocabulary sources I use.
Pronounced: MIS-uh-bull, adj
Notes: This is a word I learned from my vocabulary sources. I didn’t know it when I first encountered it, but I’ve learned it. It was marginal as to whether or not to post it, but since I didn’t originally know it, I decided to go ahead and post it.
The word gnomist means “a writer of aphorisms and clever sayings”
Our word came into English in the latter part of the mid-1800s
I only knew of the folklore definition of gnome (little people that live in the earth). It turns out that there is a second dictionary entry for gnome that means “a short, pithy expression of a general truth; aphorism”. Whereas the first entry came from French, which came from Late Latin, which came from Greek, our word comes directly from the Greek word gnṓmē (judgment; opinion; purpose). This Greek word is actually the same one that traveled to Late Latin, to French, and then into English as the first dictionary entry. Curious as to how they word have the same origin, but different meanings.
Pronounced: NO-mist, noun
Notes: Nothing to do with gnomes, at least by the definition
The word bromidic means “commonplace; trite”
Our word came into English in the early 1900s
Another great word to sprinkle (or “sparge” [heh, see yesterday’s comments]) into my conversation. Our word comes from the use of bromide in various compounds used as sedatives. Bromine came from the Greek word bromos (stench) because of its strong smell. But I like this word as an alternative to “commonplace”.
Pronounced: broh-MID-ick, adj
Notes: Another useful word to learn
The word sparge means, as a verb, “to scatter or sprinkle”. As a noun, it means “a sprinkling”
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
Our word is a nice alternative to sprinkle; I hope I remember to use it. It comes from the Latin word spargere (to sprinkle; to scatter).
Pronounced: spahrj, verb/noun
Notes: I may have heard this word, but I don’t have a recollection of it
The word appetence means “a strong desire or inclination”
This word came into English in the early 1600s
Our word is a good one to know; there is an old word “lust” that meant something similar – however, the modern meaning has changed, so our word is a good one to mean this one. Our word comes from the French word appétence (desire), which comes from the Latin word appetentia, which comes from appetere (to seek after), which is made of ad- (to) and petere (to seek).
Pronounced: AP-ih-tuhns, noun
Notes: I don’t know this word, but it is a good word to know
The word crapulous means “characterized by excess eating or drinking”
This word came into English in the mid-1500s
The word comes from the Late Latin word crāpulōsos (inclined to drunkenness). Who would have thought it?
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day