theurgy

Pronounced: THEE-uh-jee, noun

Notes: I had this word confused with another one

Yesterday’s word

The word sadiron is “a heavy flatiron pointed at both ends and having a detachable handle”

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

This is a word whose etymology is more interesting to me than the word itself. Our word is simply a combination of sad and iron. However, what I didn’t know (did you?) is that sad has an obsolete sense of “heavy, solid” – and it is this meaning that is used in our word. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sadiron.

sadiron

Pronounced: SAD-eye-urn, noun

Notes: It both is and isn’t what you may think

Yesterday’s word

The word genethliac means “of, or related to, birthdays and the position of the stars at the time of one’s birth”

First usage

This word goes back to the late 1500s.

Background / Comments

This word is one of those concerned with astrology, which I have no interest in, so it is unlikely that I’d find a use for our word. It comes from the Late Latin word genethliacus (pertaining to one’s hour of birth or one’s birthday; an astrologer who calculates such an hour or day), which came from the Latin word genethliacus (one who casts horoscopes). This Latin word came from Green genethliakós, which came from genéthlios (pertaining to one’s birth), which derives from genéthlē (birth)

genethliac

Pronounced: juh-NETH-lee-ack, adj

Notes: I didn’t know this word, and probably won’t use it

Yesterday’s word

The word runnel is “a small stream or channel”

First usage

This word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Old English word rinnan (to run). We have had two words in a row that describe streams, and that isn’t a coincidence. When our word turned up, that reminded me that I’ve been meaning to add riffle from my reading, so I did so. So, as I said, not really a coincidence.

runnel

Pronounced: RUN-l, noun

Notes: This entry is not entirely a coincidence; that’s all I’m going to say until tomorrow

Yesterday’s word

The word riffle has a lot of meanings; as a verb, the primary meaning is a method of shuffling cards (dividing the deck in half, and flicking the adjacent corners together). However, as a noun, it refers to a rapid place in a steam or a rocky shoal that causes a rapid. It can also refer to something used at the bottom of a sluice that has transverse grooves to trap gold particles.

First usage

The word goes back to the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

It is thought that this word is a combination of ripple and ruffle. I ran across this word in a Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe) novella Immune to Murder – from the context, it seemed to refer to a stream, but I’ve never heard the word before. I think I’ve mentioned Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe stories before: Nearly every one has some good vocabulary word.

riffle

Pronounced: RIH-full, noun

Notes: I ran across this word in reading

Yesterday’s word

The word skeuomorph means “a design on an object that has been copied as an imitation of an older design”

First usage

This word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Greek word skeûos (vessel, implement) combined with -morphos (shape, form structure). Apparently, the original meaning had to do with marks made on modern pottery in an imitation of marks on ancient pottery.

skeuomorph

Pronounced: SKYOO-uh-morf, noun

Notes: This is probably a good word to learn – if for no other reason that words that contain “e-u-o” are probably pretty rare.

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase au courant means

  • up-to-date; fully informed
  • fashionable
First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

I knew the “up-to-date” meaning; I know I’ve come across the word in reading, but I’m not sure if it was in a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes) story, or a Hercule Poirot (Agatha Christie) story – it may have even been some other story. However, the fashionable meaning was new to me; thus it has been included. The word, as you might guess, is from the French phrase au courant (literally “in the current”, meaning “knowledgeable” or “up-to-date”). Presumably, the “fashionable” definition was an outgrowth of the ‘up-to-date’ meaning.

au courant

Pronounced: oh koo-RAN, adj

Notes: Although I could not pronounce this correctly, I was pretty close on the definition

Yesterday’s word

The word mordacious means “sharp, caustic, or biting in style and tone”

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

Well, I (incorrectly) saw the ‘mord’ beginning of our word and thought that is was related to ‘morte’ (death), but that’s not so. It has a more straightforward meaning; the word comes from the Latin word mordāci, which is a stem of mordāx (given to biting).

mordacious

Pronounced: more-DAY-shus, adj

Notes: I couldn’t define this word, but I think I recognize some of the sub-parts of it

Yesterday’s word

The word pierian means “relating to learning or poetry”

First usage

This word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

A nice, simple, straightforward definition. I could find uses in the learning part of the meaning. It comes from a region in Greece called Pieria. In Greek mythology, Pieria had a spring that would inspire anyone who drank from it (the spring was sacred to the Muses). There is a oft-misquoted line from Alexander Pope: a little knowledge is a dangerous thing; in fact, the correct quote is: a little learning is a dang’rous thing. What does that have to do with our word? The next line is “Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring” — apparently, his advice was to either avoid a subject or learn it well (deeply). It is an interesting idea, but I’m not sure I entirely agree.

pierian

Pronounced: pie-EER-ee-uhn, adj

Notes: Another word I may find useful, but I didn’t know

Yesterday’s word

The word isolato means “a person spiritually or mentally isolated and out of step with their times or community”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Well! I thought about the plural of this word and thought that it looked Italian, which means that the plural should be isolati (just as the proper plural of concerto is concerti, not concertos). Thinking about concerto/concerti; that is, Italian plurals, reminds of a music course I own in which the teacher points out that graffiti is the plural form; a singular one is a graffito. Anyway, our word is Italian, but at least one dictionary entry says that the plural is isolatoes, but I like isolati better, and there probably is some dictionary that will give this as the plural. As I said, the word does come to us from Italian, but came into there from the Latin word insulātus (which has the root meaning of ‘island’). It happens to be one word I remember from a high-school Latin book; I was fascinated by our word insulation, in which a wire is surrounded by the material, much in the same way water surrounds an island.

isolato

Pronounced: ete-suh-LAY-toe, noun

Notes: Although I’d not run across this word, you may be able to get close to the meaning (as I did)

Yesterday’s word

The word dalmatic refers to “a loose, wide-sleeved outer garment worn by some monarchs at their coronations and by deacons, bishops, etc in some churches”

First usage

This word came into English in the early 1400s

Background / Comments

I thought the word might be related to color-blindness or possibly dogs, but both were far from the mark. The word came from the Old French word dalmatique, which came from the Latin phrase dalmatica vestis (Dalmatian garment). It was called this because these garments were originally made of Dalmatian wool. You may or may not know that Dalmatia was the name of an ancient region along the Adriatic coast (now Croatia). The dogs known as Dalmatians come from this location, so my dog guess, while wrong, wasn’t quite as terribly wrong.