velleity

Pronounced: veh-LEE-uh-tee, noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but it is a word I could use

Yesterday’s word

The word heterophemy is “the use of a word different than the one intended”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Some people have this habit of accidentally using the wrong word; some people consider it a sign of old age and forgetfulness, but I’ve known even young people who confused words. Our word came from the Greek words hetero- (different) and pheme (speaking).

heterophemy

Pronounced: HET-uh-ruh-fee-mee, noun

Notes: I didn’t know that this word existed

Yesterday’s word

The word spindrift is

  • sea spray; especially spray blown from waves during a gale
  • fine wind-borne snow or sand
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

Of the three kinds of spindrift in the definition, I am most familiar with snow; growing up in the Midwest, I remember being outside after a snow fall with drifts of snow all around, and the wind blowing fine bits of snow from the drifts. I have not had experience with either a spindrift of water or of sand. Our word came from the Scottish word speendrift, made up of speen (to drive before a strong wind) and drift. When the word became to be used in England, the spellling changed to spindrift. Its original use was for sea spray; it broadened over time to include sand and snow.

spindrift

Pronounced: SPIN-drift, noun

Notes: I don’t have any memory of running across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word flatfooted means

  • clumsy; unimaginative; uninspired
  • forthright
  • unprepared
  • uncompromising
  • having the arch of the foot flattened so the entire sole touches the ground
First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

I knew three of the definitions – how did you do? I knew the phrase “to be caught flatfooted” (unprepared, #3 above). I knew #5, which is probably the technical meaning. I have also run across the first definition above. But both the second and fourth definitions above were unknown to me. Our word is made up of flat, which came from the Old Norse word flatr, and foot, which came from the Old English word fot.

flatfooted

Pronounced: flat-FOOT-id, adj

Notes: I know some of the definitions; how many do you know?

Yesterday’s word

The word wimple means

  • to cover with or as if with a wimple; to veil
  • to ripple
  • to follow a winding course; meander (mostly used in Scotland)
First usage

Our word came into English early; sometime before 1100.

Background / Comments

As probably most of us know, the noun wimple is a covering worn over the head and around the neck and chin; it was worm by women in medieval times, and (more famously) by nuns. It came from the Old Saxon word wimpal (veil; banner), which came from the Middle Dutch word wimpel (veil; banner). Poets and other writers used our word as a substitute for “ripple” (second definition above) and “meander” (third definition above) – often when writing about streams.

wimple

Pronounced: WIHM-pull, verb

Notes: I knew the meaning of our word as a noun, but not so much as a verb

Yesterday’s word

The word autotelic means “having a purpose, motivation, or meaning in itself — not driven by external factors.

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came from two Greek words: auto- (self) and telos (end).

autotelic

Pronounced: ah-toe-TEH-lick, adj

Notes: A good word to know (but I didn’t know it)

Yesterday’s word

The word wahine is

  • a Polynesian woman
  • a female surfer
First usage

The references I checked are not clear; one says that our word came into English in the late 1700s; another one has the mid-1800s (but also see the Comments below).

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Maori word wahine; it usually referred to a Maori wife. It became used for a woman in Hawaii and in Tahiti (but the Tahitian word is spelled with a “v” instead of with a “w”). Around 1950, as more women began surfing, the second meaning above came into usage.

wahine

Pronounced: wah-HEE-nee, noun

Notes: Another word that I don’t know

Yesterday’s word

The word acedious means “characterized by apathy, boredom, or sloth”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

What a great word to drop into conversation! It came from the Latin word acedia, which came from the Greek word acedia, made up of a- (not) and kedos (care). By the way, our word has the distinction of being one of those unusual words having all five vowels in order.

acedious

Pronounced: uh-SEE-dee-uhs, adj

Notes: A good word to know

Yesterday’s word

The word putsch is “a secretly plotted and suddenly executed attempt to overthrow a government”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1910s

Background / Comments

If you enjoy history, or have studied about World War II, you are probably familiar with the “Beer Hall Putsch”, which was an attempt by Adoph Hitler and others to overthrow the German government in 1923. You may recall that he was found guilty of treason and spent time in prison (where he wrote Mein Kampf). Subsequently, he attempted to gain power by working through the existing system instead of trying to overthrow the government. In the 1920s, putsch attempts were common in Weimar Germany. Our word came from the Swiss German word putsch (knock; thrust). A synonym for our word is “coup d’état” or “coup”.

putsch

Pronounced: puhch, noun

Notes: You may know the meaning, or may get a clue from history

Yesterday’s word

The word polygyny is “the practice of having two or more wives”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1700s

Background / Comments

If, like me, you thought “I thought that was the definition of polygamy”… well, while it is often used for having two or more wives, “polygamy” really is the more general term for having two or more spouses. The term for having two or more husbands (the counterpart to our word) is polyandry. Our word came from the Greek word poly- (many) and -gyny (woman).

polygyny

Pronounced: puh-LIH-juh-nee, noun

Notes: You may know this word

Yesterday’s word

The word deliquesce means

  • to dissolve or melt away
  • to become soft or liquid with age or maturity (used of some fungal structures)
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

Our word came from de- (from; down; away) and the Latin word liquēre (to be fluid). The first definition may be used in a figurative manner (such as “I’m afraid I will deliquesce in this heat”). It’s a nice long word to know and drop into conversations instead of “dissolve” or “melt away”. The second sense is more commonly used in science for something that absorbs moisture from the air until it dissolves in that absorbed water. Plants and fungi can deliquesce, and as they do, they lose rigidity.