Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: ESS-seh, noun
Notes: I didn’t know this word
The word yeasayer is
This word came into usage in the 1930s
I’ve not run across this word; it is patterned after naysayer, which is a much older word (mid-1600s). I like this word better than merely yes-man.
Pronounced: YAY-say-uhr, noun
Notes: You probably can guess this word; I found it interesting
The word lam means “to beat, slam, strike, or thrash”
This word came into English in the late 1500s
I think I’ve run across this word in the “hard-boiled” type of detective fiction, but usually in past tense (“lammed”). Our word comes from an Old Norse word – lamdi, which is the past tense of lemja (to beat).
Pronounced: (like it sounds: lam), verb
Notes: I was pretty close on the meaning of this word. More people probably know it as a noun
The word allision is “a moving object striking against a stationary object”
This word showed up in the early 1600s
I love our word! Technically, a “collision” is between two moving objects, and “allision” is when a moving one strikes a stationary one, such as a car striking against a bridge or hits stop sign or lamp post. This distinction is most often observed on the water. Sadly (for me), it is common just to use “collision” and not make a distinction. Personally, I’d love to see this word come into usage again. Note that collision and allision came into usage about the same time, so neither was earlier than the other. Our word comes from the Latin word allidere (to strike against); it is itself made up of ad- (toward) and laedere (to harm).
Pronounced: UH-LIZH-uhn, noun
Notes: I did not know that this was a word!
The word hyperhidrosis means “a condition of excessive sweating”
This word came into English in the mid-1800s
You probably recognized (as I did) the prefix hyper- (above; beyond). I didn’t know the rest of it, but is comes from the Greek word hydrōsis (sweating). Incidentally, hydrosis is also an English word meaning “an excessive production of sweat”.
Pronounced: high-per-hih-DROH-sis, noun
Notes: I didn’t know that a word for this existed
The word unitasking means “doing one thing at a time”
This word showed up in the 1980s
You may have guessed this word due to the similarity to “multitasking”; our word was patterned after “multitaking”, which is the older word (came into usage in the 1960s), with “multi” (many) replace with “uni” (one).
Pronounced: YOO-nih-tas-king, noun
Notes: You can probably guess the definition; I’m adding it because I didn’t know this word existed.
The word impolitic means “not politic [sigh-RL], judicious, expedient, or well-planned”
Our word came into English in the late 1500s.
The definition makes me sigh; I recognized the ‘im-‘ (not); it is a variation of ‘in-‘, which is also a negation (that is, “not”), but before certain consonants (such as ‘p’), the “in” becomes “im”. So, I knew it was “not politic”, but that didn’t help because I didn’t know what politic meant. The word politic means “shrewd or prudent in practical matters; diplomatic; tactful”. Alternatively, it can mean “contrived in a shrewd or practical way; expedient”. This helps, because my understanding of the word was “not diplomatic”, which is right, but a little incomplete.
Pronounced: ihm-PAHL-ih-tic, adj
Notes: I’ve run across this word several times, but didn’t have a good grasp of the meaning
The word niveous means “snowy or resembling snow”
The word came into English in the early 1600s
Our word comes from the Latin word niveus, from nix (snow). I can see the root of the Spanish word for snow (nieve).
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.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day