Pronounced: swawrd, noun

Notes: I get this word wrong because it looks to me like a combination of “sword” and “swath” and it’s not related to either.

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Yesterday’s word

The word prodnose means, as a verb, “to pry”. As a noun, it refers to “a prying person”.

First usage

This word came into English in the 1950s

Background / Comments

This word came from a character named “Prodnose” that appeared in columns of J B Morton writing under the pen name “Beachcomber”. These articles appeared in the Daily Express, a tabloid newspaper in the UK. Perhaps the word is more common in the UK than in the US. As I said, I don’t think I’ve ever run across this word.

Pronounced: PROD-nose, verb/noun

Notes: Another word I don’t think I’ve every run across

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Yesterday’s word

The word xanthic means “yellowish in color”

First usage

This word goes back to the early 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the French word xanthique. The root word is xantho- (yellow).

Pronounced: ZAN-thick, adj

Notes: Another word that is a stranger to me

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Yesterday’s word

The word satrap is

• a governor of a province in ancient Persia
• a subordinate ruler or official

First usage

The word came into English in the late 1300s

Background / Comments

This is quite a traveled word: It came from the Latin word satrapes, which came from Greek. It came to Greek from the old Persian word khshathrapavan (protector of the province), which is a combination of khshathra- (province) and pava (protector).

Pronounced: SAY-trap (alt: SAT-rap), noun

Notes: It looks like a trap for a system administrator (an SA, as we call them), but I’m pretty sure that’s not right

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Yesterday’s word

The word mishpocha is “the entire family network; the full extended family”

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

I wrote yesterday that I thought it looked Indian; I was wrong. Our word has Yiddish origins, coming from the word mishpokhe. This is (not surprisingly) taken from the Hebrew word mishpahah (family; clan).

Pronounced: mish-PAW-khuh (alt: mish-POOKH-uh), noun

Notes: This word looks vaguely Indian (from India, not America)

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Yesterday’s word

The word pasha is “a person of high rank or importance”

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

I should have recognized part of this word. It comes from the Turkish word pasa, which came from the Persian word padshah, which is made up of pati (master), and shah (king). It is this latter bit I should have recognized; I knew that shah meant “king” because of chess – the word “checkmate” comes from shah + mate (the king is dead).

Pronounced: PA-shuh (alt 1: PASH-uh; alt 2: puh-SHAH), noun

Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word

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Yesterday’s word

The word falcate means “narrow and curved in shape like a scythe or sickle”

First usage

This word came into English in the early or mid-1800s

Background / Comments

A synonym is falciform. Our word comes from the Latin word falcātus (sickle-shaped), of which falc- is a stem of falx (sickle).

Pronounced: FAL-kate, adj

Notes: I got this word from a vocabulary calendar, and this entry happened to have an error; they printed the pronunciation of some other word instead of our word

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Yesterday’s word

The word repugn means to oppose, resist, or right

First usage

This word came into English in the late 1300s

Background / Comments

To me, the word looked like the verb form of “repugnant” (with the -ant ending left off), so I thought perhaps it meant the act of offending or finding offensive. In reality, the word comes from the Old French word repugner, which comes from the Latin word repugnare. It is split into re- (again) and pugnare (to fight), which came from pugnus (fist). We get the word pugilist from this same source.

Pronounced: rih-PYOON, verb

Notes: I parsed the word incorrectly and thus had the meaning wrong

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Yesterday’s word

The word layette is “garments, clothing, or bedding for a newborn baby”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

I think I have run across this word, and get about 50-75% of the meaning from the context, but that was not enough to define it properly. I don’t even remember where I read this word. It comes from French; specifically, the Middle French word laiete (small coffer), related to laie (chest).

Pronounced: lay-ET, noun

Notes: I’ve run across this word in reading, but couldn’t properly define it, but I’m sure some readers will know it

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Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase pro se means “on one’s own behalf”; it tends to be used in law when referring to someone who represents himself in court

First usage

The phrase came into usage in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

A common legal saying is “an attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client”. Even though I’ve read many Perry Mason stories, I don’t recall our phrase. Our phrase is Latin: pro (for) and se (himself, herself, itself, themselves).

Pronounced: pro say

Notes: I don’t know this phrase, but if I were better at languages, I could probably work it out

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Yesterday’s word

The word boniface is “an innkeeper or landlord, usually of a kind nature”

First usage

The word goes back to the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

Despite the actual year it came into our language, our word seems to me to have an old-world charm and seems to belong to the days of chivalry and knights. In reality, our word comes from a character in a 1707 play: The Beaux’ Strategem by George Farquhar. “Boniface” was the name of a jovial innkeeper in the play. It must have been popular and memorable, because it became a word not too many years later. Interestingly enough, that same play is also the origin of Lady Bountiful; I’ve run across the expression do the Lady Bountiful in my reading, which has the uncomplimentary meaning of “being generous in order to show off one’s wealth in a patronizing way”.