Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: ek-TAHJ-uh-nuhs, adj
Notes: I keep wanting to put the accent on the third syllable instead of the second
A turophile is “a cheese fancier”
The term goes back to the 1930s, but became popular in the 1950s
As you may have guessed from the -phile ending, this word is from Greek. It is a combination of tyros (cheese) plus -philos (loving). This word fits me, as I like cheese.
Pronounced: TUR-uh-file (alternative: TUR-uh-FIE-uhl), noun
Notes: A fancy word for a person
The word saprogenic means “causing or produced by decay”
This word came into English in the late 1800s
The word comes from Greek sapro- (rotten) and -genic (producing)
Pronounced: sap-ruh-JEN-ik, adj
Notes: I didn’t have a clue about what this word may mean
The word palmary means “outstanding; best”
This word goes back to the 1600s
The word comes to us from the Latin palmarious (deserving the palm). The ‘palm’ here is not the palm of the hand, but the palm leaf, which was given to a victor in a sports competition. So, when I thought this was related to hands (palms), I was wrong. However, the ancient Romans thought that the palm tree leaves resembled an outstretched hand, and so used the same word for the tree and the palm of the hand (as we do), so I was slightly right as well.
Pronounced: PAL-muh-ree, adj
Notes: I guessed that this may have something to do with hands (palms), but I was wrong… but also partially right
The word leptodermous means “having a thin skin”
The word goes back to the late 1800s
The word comes from the Greek words lepto- (thin) and -dermous (skin). As far as I can tell, this word is used in the literal sense of actually having a thin skin. When we speak of a person having a thin skin, or being thin-skinned, there is a figurative meaning that they take offense easily, but that figurative meaning doesn’t seem to apply to the word. It’s opposite is pachydermous.
Pronounced: lep-tuh-DUHR-muhs, adj
Notes: I thought this was someone related to butterflies (nope!)
The word hereditament means “heritable property”
The word showed up in the mid-1400s
You can see what looks like a noun form of “heredity” in this word. As you might expect, it comes from Medieval Latin hērēditāmentum, which in turn was derived from the Late Latin hērēditāre. It originally referred to any property capable of being inherited. Today, in legal usage, it tends to be restricted to land and real property, although hereditaments are divided further into “corporeal” (buildings) and “incorporeal” (easements and rents).
Pronounced: her-uh-DIH-tuh-munt, noun
Notes: I didn’t know this word existed
The word railbird means
This word came into English in the late 1700s
I find it interesting to see how a word’s meaning changes over time; the first meaning given above was the original meaning: it referred to someone who watches a horse race or training session from the railing along the track. The word bird is slang for a person with a specific character, or a peculiar person: thus “railbird”. One can imagine how it expanded to refer to any spectator at a contest (the second meaning). Some spectators offer unwanted advice/criticism, and this seems to have come about from the peculiar person part of “bird” (the third meaning).
Pronounced: RALE-bird, noun
Notes: I didn’t know this word, but the definition makes sense
The word decoct means
The reference I looked at is not sure; either the late 1300s or the early 1400s
As I noted yesterday, I have heard of concoct, which means “to prepare by combining raw materials”, but not today’s word. It comes from the Latin word decoquere, made up of de- (down or away) and coquere (to cook or ripen). Concoct also comes from coquere, but the prefix con- means “with”. Precocious also comes from coquere; it makes sense if you consider the ripen part of the definition; something “precocious” has ripened before one would expect it to – thus, showing mature qualities at an early age.
I wasn’t sure how fair it was to use this word, as it turns out to be relatively rare, but if I run across it, it’s fun to add it here.
Pronounced: dih-KAHKT, verb
Notes: I know “concoct”, but not this word
The word mooncalf is
This word was first used in the mid-1500s
In early times, it was believed that a misshapen birth was a result of the effects of the moon, and thus the third definition. Often such people were taken as simpletons, whether or not they were, and thus the definition spread to the second meaning. By extension, the first meaning came about, as a daydreamer or absent-minded person may appear to be a fool.
Pronounced: MOON-kaf, noun
Notes: I hadn’t heard of this word
The word nomenclator means
This word came into English in the mid-1500s
In ancient Rome, a nomenclator (Latin for “name caller” from nomen [name] and calare [to call]) was to call out or whisper the names of people as they approached a candidate during a political rally – whether this was just for information of the candidate, or if it was an effort to make the candidate look good is not really known. Today, it is a job title for one who creates new names for things; usually applied to those who help create a nomenclature (a system of terms for a particular discipline).
Pronounced: NO-muhn-clay-tuhr, noun
Notes: Your guess would probably be close
The word ochlocracy means “government by the mob; mob rule”
This word came into English in the late 1500s
The word came into English from the Middle French word ochlocratie (mob rule), which came from the Greek word ochlokratia (mob rule), which comes from ochlos (mob) and -kratia (rule). I much prefer the Republican form of government; mob rule is no fun if one is the victim of the mob.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day