Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: kuh-DOO-suh-tee, noun
Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word
The word aciniform means “shaped like a cluster of grapes”
This word came into English in the late 1700s
Pretty straightforward… this word came from the Latin word acinus (grape, berry, seed).
Pronounced: uh-SIN-uh-form
Notes: I would never have guessed this meaning (but you might if you know Latin)
The word putative means
This word has been around since the 1400s
Our word comes from the Latin word putatus, the past participle of the verb putare (to consider; to think). The writeup I have says that our word is often used in legal contexts.
Pronounced: PYOO-tuh-tihv, adj
Notes: I confused this word with punitive
The word crackjaw means, as an adjective, “hard to pronounce”. As a noun, it refers to “a word or phrase that is hard to pronounce”
This word has been around since the mid-1800s
There are many ways to indicate a long word or a rare word. There are inkhorn words; difficult words; stately language; a sesquipedalian; and here we have crackjaw… The idea being that to pronounce such difficult or long words, one would crack one’s jaw. Our word comes from (as you might expect) “crack” together with “jaw”.
Pronounced: KRACK-jaw, adj/noun
Notes: You might guess this word, and it has many synonyms
The word egregious means “extraordinary in a bad way; conspicuously bad; flagrant”
This word came into English in the mid-1500s
As I noted yesterday, I ran across this word in a comedy show (Yes, Minister) – a cabinet member was reading an article that referred to him as “egregious”. He asked another man what “egregious” meant, and the other man, in a wonderful, memorable, and evasive answer, said that it meant “outstanding in a certain way”. Oddly enough, when it first came into English, it was a compliment – it referred to someone who had a good quality that place him above others. This was no doubt due to its origin: it came from the Latin word egregius (eminent, distinguished). Over time, our word has shifted from a compliment to an insult – probably due to sarcastic or ironic use.
Pronounced: ih-GREE-jus, adj
Notes: I first ran across this in a comedy (see the Background / Comments in the next post)
The word voluntourism is “tourism in which travelers do volunteer work”
This word is pretty recent; in came into English in the 1990s
As you probably have guessed, our word is a blend of volunteer and tourism. I haven’t run across one, but they are becoming more common (apparently).
Pronounced: vah-luhn-TOOR-ih-zuhm, noun
Notes: I didn’t know this word, but you might be able to guess the definition
The word epigone means “a follower; a disciple – also an inferior imitator”
This word came into English in the 1800s
Well, I was distantly correct as to Greek origins. The word came into English from German. The Germans got the word from the Latin word epigonus (successor). The Latin word came from the (here it is!) Greek word epigonus, usually used in the plural form to designate the sons of seven legendary Greek leaders who were defeated at Thebes. This Greek word came from the Greek word epigignesthai (to be born after), from epi- (after) and gignesthai (to be born).
Pronounced: EH-puh-goan, noun
Notes: This looked Greek to me, but I couldn’t figure out the meaning
The word hokum means
This word is just over 100 years old, coming into English in the 1910s
I thought that this word meant “nonsense” (the first definition above), but was unaware of the second meaning. I thought that the word “hoke” was the second meaning, but apparently, they are interchangeable. I ran across “hoke” (but maybe “hokum”) near the end of the film Holiday Inn. Our word was created by combining hocus-pocus with bunkum.
Pronounced: HOE-kum, noun
Notes: I wasn’t sure about this word; there are two meanings.
The word claque is
This word came into English in the mid-1800s
Our word comes from French; the verb for “to clap” is claquer (the noun form is claque). When the word came into English, it was common in French theater culture to infiltrate the audience with hired members. These claque were given money and free tickets to laugh, cry, clap, etc at the right moment, hopefully encouraging the rest of the audience
Pronounced: klak, noun
Notes: I thought this may be related somehow to clique.
The word squirl means “a flourish or curve, especially in handwriting”
This word came into English in the mid-1800s
It is thought that this word is a blend of squiggle and twirl (maybe whirl). I think my signature has a couple of squirls.
Pronounced: skwuhrl, noun
Notes: This is not a misspelling of squirrel, but it does sound similar
The word desuetude means “discontinuance from use or exercise; disuse”
This word goes back to the mid-1400s
Though similar in meaning to “disuse”, the origin of desuetude is quite different. It comes from the Latin verb suecerre (to accustom). Our word is not as common as ‘disuse’.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day