Pronounced: sih-NECK-tih-tood (alternate ending -tyood)

Notes: A long word (an “inkhorn” word) for something simple

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Yesterday’s word

The word velar means

• formed with the back of the tongue touching or near the soft palate
• of, forming, or relating to a velum and especially the soft palate

The “g” sound in egg is said to be pronounced with a “voiced velar plosive”

First usage

The word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Notes

Our word comes from the Latin word velar (curtain). It came into English via New Latin as the word for the soft palate (the fold at the back of the hard palate that partially separates the mouth from the pharynx). In phonology, our word refers to the position of the tongue in relation to the soft palate when making certain sounds. Other “places of articulation” are palatal (tongue against the roof of the mouth – a ‘t’ sound when voiceless; a ‘d’ sound when voiced), dental (tongue against the upper teeth – the ‘th’ sound, when voiced, it is the ‘th’ in then; when voiceless, the ‘th’ in thistle), and alveolar (tongue against the inner surface of the gums of the upper front teeth – an ‘l’ sound, as in ‘love’ – this is voiced; I can’t think of a voiceless aveolar).

Pronounced: VEE-luhr, adj

Notes: I couldn’t remember the definition, but I think I’ve seen the word before

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Yesterday’s word

The word fabian means “avoiding direct confrontation; cautious; delaying”

First usage

This word goes back to the late 1500s

Background / Comments

This word is named after a real person, not someone in fiction; in this case, Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus. He used guerilla tactics (at least, that’s what we would call them today) by not engaging the enemy directly. Instead, he disrupted the enemy’s supply lines and other such tactics – what we call a war of attrition.

Pronounced: FAY-bee-uhn, adj

Notes: I was incorrectly thinking of Dickens, but I was incorrect

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Yesterday’s word

The word nepenthe is

• a potion used by the ancients to induce forgetfulness of pain or sorrow
• something capable of causing oblivion of grief or suffering

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1500s

Background / Comments

The term is an alteration of the Latin nepenthes, which comes from Greek nē (not) combined with penthos (grief; sorrow). Our word is popular with poets; the idea of a potion that allows one to forget pain or sorrow has a fascination.

Pronounced: nuh-PEN(t)-thee

Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word before

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Yesterday’s word

The word hymeneal means, as an adjective “relating to a wedding or marriage”. As a noun, it means “a wedding song or poem”.

First usage

This word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

This word derives from the Greek god of marriage, Hymen. Many weddings I have been to have had songs; I don’t remember one that had a poem. However, either could have been called a hymeneal.

Rejected word

I ran across the word timorous, but I could define the word pretty accurately, so I declined to us it. I think I recognized part of the word from language classes.

Pronounced: high-muh-NEE-uhl, adj/noun

Notes: I learned things I didn’t know from the origin

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Yesterday’s word

The word reify means “to regard (something abstract) as a material or concrete thing; to give definite content and form to (something abstract)

First usage

This word showed up in English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

The origin of this word is the Latin word res (thing). I’ve not run across this word, but I have read instances of a writer using a concrete example of an abstract idea… and a writer thus reifies his subject.

Pronounced: RAY-uh-fie, verb

Notes: Short word of which I did not know the meaning

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Yesterday’s word

The word copper-bottomed means “reliable; genuine; trustworthy”

First usage

The word came into English in the late 1700s

Background / Comments

Ships hulls used to be covered in copper to protect them from damage from salt water or sea organisms. Thus, the ships were made trustworthy, and the word passed into English with this concept.

Pronounced: cop-uhr-BOT-uhmd, adj

Notes: So, I thought this word just meant copper on the bottom of something, such as a pan, but no

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Yesterday’s word

The word bombinate means “to buzz; to drone”z one can speak of an air conditioning system “bombinating”.

First usage

The word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Latin word bombus; the source of the Latin word is the Greek word bombos – this word is thought to be named from a deep, hollow sound something like we would call “booming”.

Pronounced: BOMB-buh-nate, verb

Notes: A fancy word

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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!.

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.

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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.