exclosure

Pronounced: ik-SKLO-zuhr, noun

Notes: I should have known this word

Yesterday’s word

The word propinquity means “a similarity or affinity of nature or character; close kinship or relationship”

First usage

The word came into English in the mid to late 1300s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Middle English word propinquite, which in turn came from the Latin word propinquitās (nearness). I seem to have a faint memory of running across a sentence like “she suspected him to be guilty of propinquity” and I may thus have connected it with some kind of sin or iniquity.

propinquity

Pronounced: pro-PING-kwih-tee, noun

Notes: You may know this word; I keep seeing “iniquity” in it, and getting thrown off — perhaps writing it here will help me remember it!

Yesterday’s word

The word cunctative means “delaying; slow”

First usage

This word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

I suppose this word could be used in “cunctative tactics” (instead of the more common ‘delaying tactics’. It’s a nice fancy word to use for delaying. It comes from the Latin word cunctari (to hesitate or delay).

cunctative

Pronounced: KUNGK-tuh-tiv, adj

Notes: A pretty fancy word for something we’ve all experienced

Yesterday’s word

The word foudroyant means “suddenly and powerfully affected; stunned or struck, as if by lightning”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

The definition didn’t use “thunderstruck”, but that’s also a good meaning for our word. As I said, I hope I remember it well enough to use it; it would make a great alternative to “stunned” or “thunderstruck” or “gobsmacked” (more common in the UK). I think I probably use “stunned” or “completely amazed” or “astonished” for this kind of thing. As you probably guessed, this is a French word: it’s the present participle of foudroyer (to strike with lightning), which itself comes from foudre (lightning).

foudroyant

Pronounced: foo-DROI-uhnt, adj

Notes: A nice word to know; I hope I’ll remember it well enough to use it

Yesterday’s word

The word pudency means “modesty; bashfulness”

First usage

This word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

Our word looks a lot like “prudish” to me, and that’s pretty close to the definition. The word “prudish”, however, has a bit of a bad connotation, as it means “excessively proper or modest in speech, dress, behavior”. Oddly enough, our word, though milder, comes from the Latin word pudentia (to make or be ashamed), which is the source of the word “pudibund”, which does mean “prudish”… words…. they is so much fun!

pudency

Pronounced: PYOOD-n-see, noun

Notes: Not quite sure about this word

Yesterday’s word

The word bombinate means “to make a buzzing or humming noise”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Well, I thought that the word was totally unrelated to “bomb”; it turns out that there is a slight and way-back relationship. Our word comes from New Latin bombinātus, the past participle of bombināre, supposedly related to the Latin word bombilāre (to hum or buzz). The Latin word came from a Greek word bombtliázein, a derivative of bómbos (a booming sounds). And here is the tie-in with “bomb”; the word bómbos is part of the history of the word “bomb”.

bombinate

Pronounced: BOM-buh-nate, verb

Notes: Well, I thought this was related to bombs, but no

Yesterday’s word

The word mammothrept means

  • a spoiled child
  • a person of immature judgment
First usage

This word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

The background of our word doesn’t seem to be complete. It comes from the Latin word mammothreptus, which came from ancient Greek mammothreptos (brought up by one’s grandmother). This word is a combination of mamme (grandmother) and trephein (to bring up or nourish). So far so good, but I’m not sure how we got from that origin to the current meaning. I know that there is a common belief that grandparents spoil grandchildren, and I suppose that this idea is behind the meaning. Personally, I don’t think that all grandparents spoil their grandchildren, especially grandparents that have to raise their grandchild or grandchildren (as opposed to grandparents that just have their grandchildren for visits from time to time).

mammothrept

Pronounced: MAM-uh-thrept, noun

Notes: This sounds like word Rex Stout uses in the Nero Wolfe novels, but if it is, I have no recollection of reading it.

Yesterday’s word

The word matutinal means “of, or occurring in, the morning, or of the early day”.

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

This word came from the late Latin word mātūtinālis (of the morning; early), which came from the Latin word mātūtīnus (of the morning). This word in turn came from Mātūta (goddess of dawn).

matutinal

Pronounced: muh-TOOT-en-el (alt: muh-TYOOT-en-el), adj

Notes: I don’t think I’ve heard this word

Yesterday’s word

The word mimsy means “prim; feeble; affected”

First usage

This word was created in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

This word was coined by Lewis Carroll in a poem he published in his periodical Mischmasch. An expanded version of this poem appeared in Through the Looking-Glass as Jabberwocky. I think I’ve read Jabberwocky, but I didn’t recall this word. It is thought that our word is a combination of slimy and lithe.

mimsy

Pronounced: MIM-zee, adj

Notes: I guess I’ve seen this word, but I don’t remember it

Yesterday’s word

The word telluric means “coming out of, or proceeding from, the soil or earth”

First usage

The word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Latin word tellūr, which is the stem of tellūs (earth). In hindsight, I should have recognized the root and deduced the meaning of the word.

telluric

Pronounced: teh-LOOR-ick, adj

Notes: This is another word that I didn’t know, but after seeing the origin, it made sense

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase scare quote refers to “the quotation marks around a word or phrase to indicate said phrase is incorrect, nonstandard, or ironic”.

First usage

This word came into English in the 1950s

Background / Comments

Our phrase was coined by a philosopher: G. E. M. Anscombe. For an example of scare quotes, consider the following: My attention kept wanting to wander as Bob shared ‘interesting’ facts from his life. Scare quotes are used in writing; the equivalent of scare quotes in speaking is “air quotes”.