Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: LEK-shuhn, noun
Notes: I didn’t know the definition (but I did pronounced it correctly)
The word coriaceous means “of, or like, leather; rough skinned”
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
Our word comes from the Latin word coriāceus (leathern – made of or resembling leather). Apparently, it came pretty much straight from Latin, as there isn’t much of a spelling difference.
Pronounced: core-ee-AY-shuhs, adj (the accented syllable is a long ‘a’ sound)
Notes: I don’t think I’ve ever run across this word
The word uberty means “abundance; fruitfulness”
The word goes way back to the early 1400s
Pretty straightforward; our word comes the Latin word uber (rich; fruitful; abundant). Uber is a word we heard a lot these days; in slang usage, it appears to mean something more like “super”: an uber-geek is a kind of ultimate or super geek.
Pronounced: YOO-bur-tee, noun
Notes: This is another word that looks like an initial letter is missing, but it is really its own word
The word recondite means “dealing with, or related to, difficult, dense, or complex topics”
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
I tend to use the alternate pronunciation. Also, I’m not sure where I’ve read this word, but perhaps in Rex Stout’s books about Nero Wolfe. Anyway, our word comes the Latin word reconditus (hidden).
Pronounced: REK-uhn-dite (alt: rih-KON-dite), adj
Notes: The word is familiar to me (meaning I’ve read it more than once), but I couldn’t define it
The word ovine means “of, relating to, or resembling, sheep”
This word came into English in the late 1600s
This word is ‘bovine’ with the ‘b’ missing. Bovine has to do with cattle instead of our word, which is has to do with sheep. This word comes from the Latin word ovis (sheep).
Pronounced: OH-vine, adj
Notes: Looks like “bovine” misspelled, but it isn’t
The word logophile is “a lover of words”
Oddly enough, this word only seems to go back to the 1920s.
I do love words (and learning), and that’s why I do this blog, even if it never has a large following. I do this for my enjoyment as much as anything else. The word comes from the Greek words logos (word; speech; saying) and philos (good friend). If I had slowed down a bit, I would have seen “logo” instead of “log” and probably had the definition correct.
Pronounced: LAW-guh-file (alt: LOG-uh-file), noun
Notes: I originally looked at this word hastily and thought that it may be a lover of sawmills or logging… I should have paid closer attention; perhaps you know it?
The word mythomania means “an abnormal tendency to exaggerate or lie”
This word came into English in the early 1900s
I was right as to origin, but wrong about the meaning. It does comes from the Greek word mythos (myth) combined with mania (excessive enthusiasm or craze). I suppose that someone who loves myths would be tempted to make up their own myths.
Pronounced: mith-uh-MAY-nee-uh, noun
Notes: Parsing this word, I thought it was an obsession with myths, but that’s not it.
The word saporific means “that which produces flavor or taste”
The word is relatively old – coming into English in the late 1600s
Our word is only one letter different from “soporific” (something that causes sleep), but they have different sources. Our word comes from the New Latin word sapōrificus, which comes from the Latin word sapōr (savor).
Pronounced: sap-uh-RIFF-ick, adj
Notes: It is very close in spelling to soporific, which is a different word
The word kayfabe means “portrayal of staged events as real, especially in professional wrestling”
This word is a relatively recent word and came into English in the 1980s
The origin of this word is uncertain; however, some people think it is Pig Latin for “fake” or “be fake” (but shouldn’t that be “akefay” or “ebay akefay”). I remember watching professional wrestling when I was a child, but I haven’t seen it for years (and I don’t miss it).
Pronounced: KAY-fayb, noun
Notes: I don’t think I’ve every run across this word
The word hortatory means “urging some course of positive action; encouraging”
The word came into English in the late 1500s
I confess that I’ve frequently mispronounced this word; I thought it was HOAR-uh-tore-ee, and I thought it was spelled “horatory”. I’ve heard the word before “preaching” to imply preaching that is encouraging. Our word comes from the Late Latin word hortātōrius (encouraging).
Pronounced: HAWR-tuh-tawr-ee (alt: HAWR-tuh-tore-ee), adj
Notes: I’ve been mis-pronouncing this word, and possible also misspelling it… I think I’ve been influenced by hearing others mis-pronounce it (see tomorrow’s comments)
The word whataboutery is “the practice of responding to an accusation by making a counter-accusation, real or imaginary, relevant or irrelevant”
This word came into being in the 1970s
This seems like such a ridiculous word to exist; I thought “really!?!?” when I saw the definition and whence it came. Speaking of which, it comes from the response of “what about…” It is also called whataboutism. It is a popular way to deflect criticism.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day