anabasis

Pronounced: uh-NAH-buh-suhs, noun

Notes: Even after attempting to analyze this word, I didn’t have any idea of the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word roland means “someone who is an equal match for another”.

First usage

The word came into English in 1525

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the proper name Roland, who was the legendary hero of an epic poem, Song of Roland, which dates back to the 1000-1100s. The tale was inspired by Charlemagne’s nephew. Roland had a good friend, Oliver, and they were equals – they fought each each other, but neither one. Technically, my encounter with the word was not our word; I encountered the upper case word ‘Roland’. I ran across the word in the writings of Dorothy Sayers; it described a couple of men as ‘Roland and Oliver’.

roland

Pronounced: ROH-lund, noun

Notes: I’ve run across this word in reading, but didn’t know the word

Yesterday’s word

The word embonpoint is “plumpness of a person; stoutness”

First usage

The word goes back to the 1600s

Background / Comments

I ran across this word years ago when I was in high school or early college. Because I was so completely wrong about the meaning, this is a word I have not forgotten. As you can tell by the pronunciation, it is a French word; specifically, it comes from Middle French en bon point (in good condition). Our word is commonly used to describe heavier people, but not unattractive. It has been used by notable writers Jame Fenimore Cooper, George Eliot, and Charlotte Brontë. However, I just ran across it in a mystery short story in a magazine of mystery stories.

embonpoint

Pronounced: ah(n)-bo(n)-PWAH(n), noun

Notes: The parentheses above mean that the ‘n’ sound is very lightly pronounced. I find this a hard word to guess; one either knows it or doesn’t know it. Before I knew the word, it looked like it might be related to embroidery (’emb-‘) or needlepoint (-‘point’).

Yesterday’s word

The word euhemerism is “the idea that gods are based on historical heroes whose stories became exaggerated in retelling”.

First usage

The word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

This word is named after Euhemerus, a Greek writer who lived around 340-260 BC. He proposed the theory that the gods of mythology were based on real heroes whose deeds became exaggerated over time (and the meaning hasn’t changed much from when he proposed it).

euhemerism

Pronounced: you-HEE-muh-riz-um, noun (alternatively, the second syllable could be ‘HEM’)

Notes: When I glance at this word, I keep seeing ‘euphemism’, but this is not that word

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase infra dig means “being beneath one’s dignity; undignified”

First usage

This word showed up in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

I’ve never run across this word, which is a shorted form of the Latin phrase infra dignitatem (beneath dignity). I’m told that it is used in a casual contexts — sometimes also sarcastic.

infra dig

Pronounced: IN-fruh-DIG, adj

Notes: This is a phrase I’ve not run across before

Yesterday’s word

The word adonize means “to make more attractive; to spruce up”

First usage

This came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

I’ve heard of Adonis – a beautiful youth in Greek mythology, and I know that ‘adonis’ is used to describe a very good-looking man, but I didn’t recognize this verb form of the word. After I read about our word, I felt a bit foolish for not recognizing it.

adonize

Pronounced: AD-uh-nize, verb

Notes: This is another word that made me feel foolish; I didn’t know it when I saw it, but when I read the background, I realized that I should have known it.

Yesterday’s word

The word illative means “of, relating to, or expressing an inference or conclusion” (the word “therefore” is an illative word)

First usage

The word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

The parenthesized part of the meaning is pretty much what was in my reading: (…the use of the illative word ‘therefore’ in this location…). The word comes from the Late Latin word illātīvus, from Latin illāt, the suppletive past participle of inferre (to bring in; to bear in).

illative

Pronounced: ILL-uh-tihv (alt ih-LAY-tihv), adj

Notes: I ran across this word in my reading, but didn’t know it

Yesterday’s word

The word bogart means

  • to hog or take more than the fair share of something
  • to bully, act touch, or to be belligerent
First usage

This word came into usage in the 1960s

Background / Comments

As you might have thought, this word was named after well-known actor Humphrey Bogart, who played tough-guy roles. That certainly explains the second meaning; it is not clear as to why or how the first meaning came into being.

bogart

Pronounced: BOH-gart, verb

Notes: I didn’t know this was a word (thus its inclusion), but you may be able to guess the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word pachydermatous means

  • of or relating to the pachyderms
  • thick; thickened
  • callous; insensitive
First usage

This word came into usage in the early 1800s (maybe mid-1800s)

Background / Comments

In the late 1700s, a French zoologist (Georges Cuvier) called elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, and other thick-skinned, hoofed mammal “Pachydermata”. This word has Greek roots and means “thick-skinned” in New Latin – the Latin used in scientific description and classification. In the 1800s, the French word came over into English as pachyderms; around the same time, our word came into being to describe, literally or figuratively, the characteristics and qualities of pachyderms – especially the thick skin. In the mid-1800s, an American poet (James Russell Lowell) used our word in the second and third sense.

pachydermatous

Pronounced: pah-kih-DUHR-muh-tuhs, adj

Notes: You may know one meaning, like I did, but there are other meanings, so I included it

Yesterday’s word

The word jackleg means, as an adjective “unskilled; unscrupulous; incompetent”. As a noun, it refers to an unskilled or unscrupulous worker

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

This word is a combination of jack (man, worker) and blackleg (a swindler; especially in gambling).

jackleg

Pronounced: JACK-leg, adj/noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word

Yesterday’s word

The word compunctious means

  • arising from remorse or regret
  • feeling remorse or regret
First usage

The word came into being in the very late 1500s

Background / Comments

Shakespeare created this word for the play Macbeth. It was created from noun compunction, which came into English from Anglo-French via Late Latin compunctio, which came from the Latin compungere (to prick hard; sting).