Pronounced: JIN-er-kee (alt 1: GIE-ner-kee; alt 2: JIE-ner-kee), noun

Notes: You may be able to get this one

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Yesterday’s word

The word debunk means (as you probably know) “to expose the falseness of a claim, myth, belief, etc”

First usage

This word came into usage in the 1920s

Background / Comments

The background is why our word was made my vocabulary posting. The prefix de- means “removal”, as in “declaw”. The word bunk means “humbug; nonsense”, thus, the root idea is “removing the nonsense”. James Randi was a famous debunker of paranormal and pseudo-scientific claims (although he disliked the term debunker). The word bunk is a shortened form of bunkum (which has the same reading). The word bunkum is also a shortening, or perhaps corruption of Buncombe, a county in North Carolina. In 1820, US Representative Felix Walker made a pointless speech in the US House. When he was urged to stop and get on with voting, he said that he had to make a speech “for Buncombe”, and thus the word came to mean meaningless speech. I find this background interesting.

Pronounced: di-BUNK, verb

Notes: Yes, you know this word. I’m adding it because I enjoyed the etymology of it

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Yesterday’s word

The word internecine means

• mutually destructive
• of, or related to, a struggle or conflict within a group
• deadly; characterized by great slaughter

First usage

Our word came into being in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Latin word internecīnus or internecīvus (murderous), also internecāre (to exterminate; to kill out), which is made up of inter- (together; among) and necāre (to kill).

Pronounced: in-ter-NEE-seen (alt 1: in-ter-NEE-sine; alt 2: in-ter-NESS-een; alt 3: in-ter-NESS-ine), adj

Notes: A lot of different pronunciations; I didn’t know this word

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Yesterday’s word

The word antitussive, as an adjective, means “suppressing of relieving coughing”. As a noun, it refers to “something that suppresses or relieves coughing”

First usage

This word came into English in the first decade of the 1900s

Background / Comments

Our word makes me think of the cough medicine called Robitussin; I’m sure that the ‘tussin’ part of the name comes from the same root as our word. Our word comes from the Latin word anti- (against) and tussis (cough).

Pronounced: an-tee-TUSS-iv (alt: an-tie-TUSS-iv), adj/noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but the background was enlightening.

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Yesterday’s word

The word serotinal means “pertaining to or occurring in late summer”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

It is a bit of a mystery how our word came to refer to summer: our word comes from Latin – the roots are sērō (late) plus tinus (the adjectival form of time) plus -al (having the form or character of). So, we have late and time… but why summer, and not (for example), winter?

Pronounced: sih-ROT-n-l (alt: ser-uh-TINE-l), adj

Notes: Another useful word that I didn’t know

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Yesterday’s word

The word locarnize means “to bring about peace or settle a disagreement by negotiation”

First usage

The word came into English in the 1920s

Background / Comments

Our word is named after Locarno, Switzerland. In Oct 1925 the countries Germany, Belgium, France, Great Britain, and Italy met to settle post-World War One disputes. The Locarno treaties were concluded. This word came into being pretty rapidly after that meeting. I haven’t run across it; I don’t know if it is still in use or not, but I assume it is and I merely haven’t run across it.

Pronounced: LO-kuhr-nize, verb

Notes: A word I’ve not run across

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Yesterday’s word

The word rupestrine means “living or growing among rocks”

First usage

The word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word has Latin roots: rūpēs (steep cliff; crag) combined with the ending -trine which was take from lacustrine (living or growing in lakes).

Pronounced: roo-PESS-trin, adj

Notes: I could not figure out how to parse this word to get the definition

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Yesterday’s word

The word solesize means “to make an error in language, etiquette, etc”

First usage

This word came into usage in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

You may be familiar with the noun form – solecism. The noun form definitely rings a bell in my memory, but I’m not sure I could have come up with the correct definition. Our word comes from an ancient Athenian colony in Cilicia named “Soloi”. Apparently, they had a dialect that the Athenians considered to be substandard.

Pronounced: SOL-uh-size, verb

Notes: Another word I’ve run across, but I only picked up the general meaning

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Yesterday’s word

I had trouble in looking the up meaning of chambray: the place I got this word from says only that it is “a finely woven cloth (of cotton, silk, or linen) with an equal mix of white and colored threads”. With this definition, I was thinking of one white line, one colored line, and then another white line, and then a colored thread, and so on. However, in doing additional research, the additional clarification was that the weave has a colored warp (the part that doesn’t move on the loom; usually vertical), and a white weft – also known as “woof” or “fill” (the part that moves; usually horizontal).

First usage

The word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

The word chambray is an Americanism – a corruption of the word cambric, name for the town of Cambrai in northern France.

Pronounced: SHAM-bray, noun

Notes: This word is one of those that I’ve seen and heard, but really could not properly define

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Yesterday’s word

The word Barbados (the verb) means “to forcibly ship someone to another place to work”

First usage

Our word goes back to the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

Yes, this word comes from the island in the Caribbean. In the 1600s, when it was a British colony, many Irish people were sent there by the British (they were also sent to other British colones in the Caribbean) as indentured servants. The Errol Flynn film Captain Blood has people being Barbadosed (although that word is not used in the film – at least as far as I know). The name Barbados is from the Spanish/Portuguese word barbados (bearded ones). It is not clear if the dense vegetation made the island appear to be bearded (and thus the name), or if the word referred to the bearded men living there.

Pronounced: bar-BAY-doz (alt-1: -dos; alt-2: -duhs), verb

Notes: I know the noun (the island), but I did not know the verb. Also, I tend to use the first alternate pronunciation – ending the word with an ‘s’ sound, not a ‘z’ sound.

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Yesterday’s word

The word anfractuous means “something with winding twists and turns; sinuous; circuitous”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

The definition makes me think of the original Adventure text game with its “you are in a maze of twisting passages, all alike” notes. Our word comes from the French word anfracteuex, which came from the Late Latin word anfractuosus (roundabout), which came from the Latin word anfractus (bend, curve).