deasil

Pronounced: DEE-zuhl, adv

Notes: A homonym of diesel, but not related at all, as far as I can tell

Yesterday’s word

The word scapegrace is “an incorrigible rascal”

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

I think the most common word beginning “scape-” is “scapegoat”, which is someone who takes the blame for another’s misdeed. The “scape-” which they have in common refers to “escape” — in our word, it refers to someone who has “escaped” the grace of God and is, therefore, a rascal. A couple of related words are obsolete: scape-thrift (spendthrift) and want-grace (a synonym of our word). In addition to the above, there is a certain red-throated loon called a scapegrace, but I haven’t mentioned it (well, until now) <grin>.

scapegrace

Pronounced: SKAPE-grace, noun

Notes: I think I’ve run across this word in reading, but the origin was interesting enough to be included

Yesterday’s word

The word tantivy means, as an adverb “at full gallop; at full speed”. As a noun, it means “a fast gallop; rush”. As an adjective, it means “swift”. Finally, as an interjection, it is “a cry by a hunter riding a horse at full speed”.

First usage

An old word, going back to the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

The origin is not known, but it though to resemble the sound of a galloping horse’s hooves.

tantivy

Pronounced: tan-TIHV-ee, adv/noun/adj/interjection

Notes: Wow! A lot of parts of speech, and I didn’t know any of them

Yesterday’s word

The word ahimsa is “the Hindu and Buddhist doctrine of refraining from harming any living being”

First usage

This word came into English in the late 1800s (but see below, too)

Background / Comments

Although the word goes back to the late 1800s, it didn’t become popular until Mahatma Ghandi popularized it in the first half of the 1900s as part of his teachings. Our word comes from a Sanskrit word meaning “noninjury”. While the philosophy sounds noble, I think that it is not fully practical… if you see “A” steal from “B” and inform the police and have “A” arrested, that has ‘harmed’ him… but if you do nothing, “B” is harmed by the loss. One can decide to avoid physically harming another, but are there not other kinds of harm?

ahimsa

Pronounced: uh-HIM-sah, noun

Notes: Like so many words here, this is another word that I didn’t know (and I couldn’t even guess at what it might mean)

Yesterday’s word

The word hyperborean, as a noun, means “an inhabitant of the extreme north”. As an adjective, it means “relating to the extreme north” or “very cold”. So, I guess one could say that Santa Claus is a hyperborean.

First usage

This word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

I had thought that our word may have to do with trees, thinking of arboreal, I guess. But the word comes from Greek mythology, which is a little strange, since, as a youth, I was interested in that subject. Anyway, the Hyperboreans were people who lived in perpetual sunshine beyond the reaches of the north wind. The word is comprised of hyper- (beyond) and Boreas (the god of the north wind).

hyperborean

Pronounced: high-purr-BORE-ee-uhn, noun/adj

Notes: Trees; I was thinking something related to trees (but I was wrong)

Yesterday’s word

The word festinate means “hasty”

First usage

As far as we can tell (see below), this goes back to the late 1500s or early 1600s

Background / Comments

This word first appeared in Shakespeare’s King Lear. The first known performance was in 1606. The word comes from the Latin word festinatus (make haste).

festinate

Pronounced: FESS-tuh-nate, adj

Notes: Another interesting word that I didn’t know

Yesterday’s word

The word gerent means “a ruler or manager”

First usage

The word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Latin word gerent, which is the present participle of gerere (to manage). As I noted yesterday, I’m not sure why this word for ‘manager’ isn’t more widely used.

gerent

Pronounced: JIR-ent, noun

Notes: A good word to know; I’m not sure why it’s not used more (I didn’t know it)

Yesterday’s word

The word propinquity means

  • nearness of blood; kinship
  • nearness in place of time; proximity
First usage

Our word goes back to the 1300s

Background / Comments

An interesting background: the Latin root of our word is prope (near). From this root, two similar words came into being propinquus (near, akin) — the ancestor of our word — and proximus (nearest) — the source of the English word “proximity”. In an odd reversal of meaning, “propinquity” gives a stronger sense of closeness that “proximity”. The word proximity also carries with it the idea of being in the vicinity of something. However, these subtle distinctions in English are often overlooked, and the words are commonly used interchangeably. Our word is the older word; the word proximity is roughly a hundred years younger.

propinquity

Pronounced: pruh-PING-kwuh-tee, noun

Notes: This word always throws me off, because I incorrectly see the word “iniquity” and think that this word has to do with wickedness

Yesterday’s word

The word benthos is “organisms that live at the bottom of a body of water”

First usage

This word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

This word has a straightforward origin: it is from the Greek word benthos (depth of the sea).

benthos

Pronounced: BEN-thoss, noun

Notes: Not a word I know, or could even guess at

Yesterday’s word

The word moue is “a little grimace; pout”

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Anglo-French word mouwe and has a distant relationship to a Middle Dutch word for a protruding lip. (It is not related to the word mouth, which comes from the Old English word mūth.) However, there is another word for pout (mow, pronounced to rhyme with “no” or “now”) that comes from the same source as our word. The word mow is much older, going back to the 1300s.

moue

Pronounced: moo, noun

Notes: As is common here, this is another word I don’t know

Yesterday’s word

The word molochize means “to sacrifice”

First usage

This word goes back to the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Bible knowledge has lessened in recent decades; congratulations if you recognized the Canaanite god “Moloch” from the Bible. In order to be successful, parents would sacrifice a child to Moloch. The usual sacrifice was a male child, but some parents, hoping or thinking that Moloch couldn’t tell the difference, would sacrifice a female child. Thus, the name “Moloch” was turned into a verb by adding “-ize”, and the meaning was broadened to merely mean “sacrifice”.