Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: DITH-uh-ram (alt: DITH-uh-ramb), noun
Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word in reading
The word samfie means “a swindler or a con man”
Our word came into English in the 1920s
It’s not entirely certain where this word hails from; it is thought to be from a language in West Africa (possibly).
Pronounced: SAM-fee (alt: SAM-fie), noun
Notes: Another word I have no recollection of ever seeing before
The word kakistocracy means “a government made of the worst possible people in power”
Our word came into English in the early 1800s
At any particular time, nearly half of the US population probably think their county is a kakistocracy. Our word hails from Greek; you probably recognized -cracy (rule of). The other part is kákistos (the worst), which is a superlative of kakós (bad).
Pronounced: kak-uh-STOCK-ruh-see, noun
Notes: You may be able to work out the meaning of this word; I couldn’t quite get there when I first ran across this word, but I can do it now
The word otic means “relating to the ear”
This word came into English in the mid-1600s
This is another word from Greek; this time, it is the word ous (ear).
Pronounced: OH-tik (alt: AHT-ik), adj
Notes: A simple word, but I didn’t know it
The word taphephobia means “the fear of being buried alive in a grave”
This word came into English in the late 1800s
As with most of the “phobia” words, the origin is Greek. The Greek word taphḗ (grave) is combined with the well-known -phobia (fear).
Pronounced: taf-uh-FOE-bee-uh, noun
Notes: Clearly “a fear of” something — but what?
The word rill means
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve only run across this word in song. It is in the words to “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” (I love thy rocks and rills…). It is also in the Christian chorus “God Owns the Cattle on a Thousand Hills” (He owns the rivers and the rocks and rills). I was not aware of the second meaning, but now that I know it, I can say that I see a lot of rills after a rainstorm. The word comes the the Dutch word ril or possibly the Low German word Rille (groove).
Pronounced: rihl, noun
Notes: I’ve only heard this word in songs; teachers in school encouraged students to look up words they do not know, so I’ve tried to develop the habit. However, it turns out that this word has a meaning of which I was unaware.
The phrase ignus fatuus means
This phrase came into English in the mid-1500s
Our phrase is Latin and means “foolish fire” or “giddy fire”. Presumably, using the Latin phrase sounds smarter than using one of the other many names for the same phenomenon. The word will-o’-the-wisp is “Will of the wisp” — a “wisp” being a bundle of sticks held together and used as a torch. Similarly, another word for this same thing is jack-o’-lantern (Jack of the lantern) — note that the carved pumpkin was called this because the flickering candle was reminiscent of a will-o’-the-wisp. Other words are friar’s lantern, hobby lantern, Spooklight, Marfa light, and several others. In the old times when flashlights did not exist and most travel was on foot, travelers would see the lights and think that they were being guided, but there was no one there, and the lights would often move away from them. This led to them getting a bad name and associated with evil. Because these lights would mislead travelers, the second definition came about.
Pronounced: IG-nis FACH-oo-uhs, noun
Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I have heard other words that have the same thing
The word lection means
The word came into English in the early 1300s
The second definition has a synonym pericope (but that’s another word I don’t know). Our word comes from the Latin word lection (reading). This word came from lectus, which is the past participle of legere (to read; choose; collect).
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).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day