Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: NIV-ee-uhs, adj
Notes: You may know this one
The word od means “a theoretical force believed to act throughout nature in magnetism, mesmerism, and chemical interaction”
This word came into usage in the mid-1800s
Our word was coined by a German scientist: Karl van Reichenbach.
Pronounced: odd, noun
Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word (how, uh, “odd” – heh)
The word empyrean means
This word came into English in the early 1500s
The word comes from the Latin word empyreus, which came from the Greek word empyrios (fiery), which itself developed from pur (fire).
Pronounced: em-PIR-ee-uhn (alt: em-pie-REE-uhn), adj
Notes: I think I’ve run across this word, but was uncertain about the meaning
The word quincunx is “five objects arranged like the five dots on a dice” – most often used of shrubs or sculptures in a yard.
This word came into English in the mid-1600s
If you couldn’t guess, the word comes from Latin; specifically, a word meaning five twelfths: quinc- (five) combined with -uncia (twelfth). Originally, the word described a Roman coin that was worth five twelfths of the Roman standard bronze coin (called an “as”). It was marked with five spots (rather like the five dots on a die). The word now can refer to anything in that kind of a pattern.
Pronounced: KWING-kuhngks (alt: KWIN-kuhngks), noun
Notes: A neat word for something… it would be neat to find uses for this word
The word lateritious means “resembling, made of, or the color of bricks”
This word came into English in the mid-1600s
As I noted yesterday, I had no idea that there was a word for brick-colored. Our word comes from the Latin word later (brick).
Pronounced: lat-uh-RISH-uhs, adj
Notes: I didn’t know that there was a word for this
The word gynarchy means “government by women”
The word came into English in the late 1500s
Our word is a combination of the Greek word gynḗ (woman; female) and the suffix -archy (rule; government). The suffix -archy comes from Middle English and then Latin and then Greek.
Pronounced: JIN-er-kee (alt 1: GIE-ner-kee; alt 2: JIE-ner-kee), noun
Notes: You may be able to get this one
The word debunk means (as you probably know) “to expose the falseness of a claim, myth, belief, etc”
This word came into usage in the 1920s
The background is why our word was made my vocabulary posting. The prefix de- means “removal”, as in “declaw”. The word bunk means “humbug; nonsense”, thus, the root idea is “removing the nonsense”. James Randi was a famous debunker of paranormal and pseudo-scientific claims (although he disliked the term debunker). The word bunk is a shortened form of bunkum (which has the same reading). The word bunkum is also a shortening, or perhaps corruption of Buncombe, a county in North Carolina. In 1820, US Representative Felix Walker made a pointless speech in the US House. When he was urged to stop and get on with voting, he said that he had to make a speech “for Buncombe”, and thus the word came to mean meaningless speech. I find this background interesting.
Pronounced: di-BUNK, verb
Notes: Yes, you know this word. I’m adding it because I enjoyed the etymology of it
The word internecine means
Our word came into being in the mid-1600s
Our word comes from the Latin word internecīnus or internecīvus (murderous), also internecāre (to exterminate; to kill out), which is made up of inter- (together; among) and necāre (to kill).
Pronounced: in-ter-NEE-seen (alt 1: in-ter-NEE-sine; alt 2: in-ter-NESS-een; alt 3: in-ter-NESS-ine), adj
Notes: A lot of different pronunciations; I didn’t know this word
The word antitussive, as an adjective, means “suppressing of relieving coughing”. As a noun, it refers to “something that suppresses or relieves coughing”
This word came into English in the first decade of the 1900s
Our word makes me think of the cough medicine called Robitussin; I’m sure that the ‘tussin’ part of the name comes from the same root as our word. Our word comes from the Latin word anti- (against) and tussis (cough).
Pronounced: an-tee-TUSS-iv (alt: an-tie-TUSS-iv), adj/noun
Notes: I didn’t know this word, but the background was enlightening.
The word serotinal means “pertaining to or occurring in late summer”
Our word came into English in the late 1800s
It is a bit of a mystery how our word came to refer to summer: our word comes from Latin – the roots are sērō (late) plus tinus (the adjectival form of time) plus -al (having the form or character of). So, we have late and time… but why summer, and not (for example), winter?
Pronounced: sih-ROT-n-l (alt: ser-uh-TINE-l), adj
Notes: Another useful word that I didn’t know
The word locarnize means “to bring about peace or settle a disagreement by negotiation”
The word came into English in the 1920s
Our word is named after Locarno, Switzerland. In Oct 1925 the countries Germany, Belgium, France, Great Britain, and Italy met to settle post-World War One disputes. The Locarno treaties were concluded. This word came into being pretty rapidly after that meeting. I haven’t run across it; I don’t know if it is still in use or not, but I assume it is and I merely haven’t run across it.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day