Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: an-FRACK-choo-uhs, adj
Notes: Another new word to me, but useful
The word birminghamize means “to render artificial”
This word began to be used in the mid-1800s
Yes, it comes from the UK city of Birmingham… but why the meaning? In the 1600s, counterfeit coins were made there. There is a similar word that I think I have heard that comes from a corruption of Birmingham and that is “brummagem”.
Pronounced: BURR-ming-ham-ize, verb
Notes: I’ve not heard this word, but it’s not hard to guess where it comes from – the trick is figuring out the meaning
The word dissilient means “something bursting apart or open”
This word came into English in the mid-1600s
I enjoy this background; I’ll explain after giving it. It comes from a Latin word dissilient, a stem of the present participle of dissilīre (to leap apart); this is decomposed into dis- (away or apart), a combining for of sali (to leap), and -ent (alt: -ant), often found in nouns and adjectives taken from Latin. The reason I enjoy this background is that “desultory”, a word I enjoy, traces part of its roots back to the same word for “to leap”. If you don’t know the word “desultory”, look it up… it’s a pretty good description of some conversations, and has its own interesting origin.
Pronounced: dih-SIL-ee-uhnt, adj
Notes: A word that is new to me
The word longlist means “a preliminary list of candidates, such as people, places, things, etc for a prize, job, etc from which a shortlist is compiled.
This word came into usage in the 1970s
This word grew out of the word shortlist (which came about in the 1920s).
Pronounced: c’mon – like it looks, noun
Notes: I didn’t know this was a word, but it makes sense
The word fleer means, as a noun, “a sneer or mocking look”. As a verb it means “to grin or laugh coarsely and mockingly”
This came into English the late 1300s
I feel a bit justified – there is a different word fleer (sounds the same, but pronounced differently [FLEE-uhr] and has a separate origin) that means “one who flees”. So, my guess was correct, but that is not the word under consideration. Our word comes from the Middle English flerien, which is thought to comes from the Scandinavian language: the Norwegian flire (a grin).
Pronounced: fleer, noun/verb
Notes: My guess was one who runs away (the person who is pursued), but that isn’t correct
The word deterge means “to wash, wipe, or cleanse”
Our word goes back to the early 1600s
You probably guessed the word if you added an ‘n’ and a ‘t’ and produced “detergent”. It comes from the Latin word detergere (to wipe away), which comes from de- (away) and tergere (to wipe)
Pronounced: dih-TUHRG, verb
Notes: You probably know this word, but I didn’t know it existed
The word pilose means “covered with soft hairs or fur”
This word came into English in the mid-1700s
As I wrote yesterday, our word rings a faint bell, so I think I’ve run across it in reading, but I don’t recall any of the circumstances. Our word comes from the Latin word pilōsus (shaggy).
Pronounced: PIE-lohss, adj
Notes: After reading the meaning, I think I’ve run across this word somewhere, but I wasn’t able to recall the meaning – do you know it?
The word trangam means “a trinket, puzzle, or odd gadget”
This word goes back a long way; it came into English in the mid-1600s
As I noted yesterday, I have a few things that could be described as trangams in my house. The origin of this word is not known.
Pronounced: TRANG-uhm, noun
Notes: I have several of these at home (you may, too), but I didn’t know this word
The word sectile means “capable of being cut smoothly with a knife”
Our word came into English in the early 1700s
As I noted yesterday, this word is useful. Our word comes from the Latin word sectilis (cuttable).
Pronounced: SEK-till, adj
Notes: Another useful word, but I was unaware of it
The word parergon means
Our word goes back a long way to the early 1600s
In the software world, sometimes software engineers, wanting to be helpful, would create useful tools. This is a good example of a parergon. The drawback to this practice is that these hastily-written tools would get added to the official repertoire of software and have to be maintained as well. Our word comes from the Greek words para- (beside) and ergon (work).
Notes: I didn’t know this word, but it is useful
Pronounced: pa-RUHR-gahn, noun
The word boondoggle means
This word came into English in the 1930s
It is known that this is an Americanism, but the exact origin is unclear: something that is a “boon” is a favor that is sought or a benefit.
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