bombinate

Pronounced: BOMB-buh-nate, verb

Notes: A fancy word

Yesterday’s word

The word floccinaucinihilipilification means “the estimation of something as valueless”

First usage

This word came into usage in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

Aside from the -fication (making) ending, this is just four Latin words strung together; each word refers to trifles or things of little value: flocci (comes from floccus – a tuft of wool); nauci (from naucum – a trifling thing); nihili (from nihil – nothing); and pili (from pilus – a hair or a trifle). I find the origin oddly appealing. Our word shows up in lists of long English words, but other than that, it is rare to find it used. I heard this word on the English show My Word!.

floccinaucinihilipilification

Pronounced (take a deep breath): FLOCK-si-NAH-si-NIH-HILL-ih-fih-KAY-shun, noun

Notes: I happen to know this word, because it was part of an quiz show, but unless someone else happened to hear it, I’d be surprised if anyone else knows it. I found the origin to be interesting.

Yesterday’s word

The word purlieu means

  • an outlying or adjacent district
  • a frequently visited place; haunt

When used in the plural, it means

  • environs; neighborhood
  • confines; bounds
First usage

This word came into English in the late 1400s

Background / Notes

In medieval England, there was a ceremony called a perambulation, in which one would walk around, recording one’s property borders in the presence of witnesses. If your land bordered a royal forest, there might be confusion about where the royal forest ended and your land started. By doing this perambulation, one may gain some amount of ownership over disputed forest areas. This regained property was originally called a purlewe, which was later spelled purlieu – it comes from the Anglo-French word purale, which means a perambulation.

purlieu

Pronounced: PERAL-you, noun

Notes: I think I’ve run across this word in reading, but I couldn’t define it

Yesterday’s word

The word infundibuliform means “funnel-shaped”

First usage

This word showed up in English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

As you may guess, this is a Latin word. It comes from infundibulum (funnel); this word comes from infundere (to pour in); and this word comes from fundere (to pour).

infundibuliform

Pronounced: in-fun-DIB-yuh-luh-form, adj

Notes: Quite a mouthful, but it has a simple definition

Yesterday’s word

The word lade means “to load, to burden, or to ladle”

First usage

Our word goes back a long way to before the year 1000

Background / Comments

I am much more familiar with the past participle of our word (laden, in phrases such as “heavy laden” in the words of Jesus as recorded in Matthew’s gospel: Come unto me, all ye that labor and are are heavy laden, and I will give you rest). Our word used to also be a noun meaning “load or cargo”, but that usage dropped away in the 1500s. Instead, “lading” was used for this meaning, and is still in use today, in phrases such as “a bill of lading”. It came from the Middle English word laden, which comes from Old English hladan (to load; to draw up).

lade

Pronounced: LADE, verb

Notes: You may know this word; just by looking, I did not

Yesterday’s word

The word weltanschauung means “world view”

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

This word is clearly German; Weltanschauung is German for “world view”; it is composed of Welt (world) with Anschauung (perception).

weltanschauung

Pronounced: VELT-ahn-shoo-oong, noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but some may be familiar with it

Yesterday’s word

The word corvée means

  • unpaid labor due from a feudal vassal to his lord
  • labor extracted in lieu of taxes by public authorities especially for highway construction or repair
First usage

The word goes back to the early 1300s

Background / Comments

The word comes from French; in the early 1700s, it gained the roadwork sense

corvée

Pronounced: CORE-vay, noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but guessed at some kind of ship

Yesterday’s word

The word deasil means “in a clockwise direction”; an opposite word is widdershins

First usage

Our word goes back to the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

The word comes from the Scottish Gaelic word deiseil (righthandwise), which came from Middle Irish dessel, which is presumable a combination of the Old Irish words dess (right, south) and sel (turn).

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?