spindrift

Pronounced: SPIN-drift, noun

Notes: I don’t have any memory of running across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word flatfooted means

  • clumsy; unimaginative; uninspired
  • forthright
  • unprepared
  • uncompromising
  • having the arch of the foot flattened so the entire sole touches the ground
First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

I knew three of the definitions – how did you do? I knew the phrase “to be caught flatfooted” (unprepared, #3 above). I knew #5, which is probably the technical meaning. I have also run across the first definition above. But both the second and fourth definitions above were unknown to me. Our word is made up of flat, which came from the Old Norse word flatr, and foot, which came from the Old English word fot.

flatfooted

Pronounced: flat-FOOT-id, adj

Notes: I know some of the definitions; how many do you know?

Yesterday’s word

The word wimple means

  • to cover with or as if with a wimple; to veil
  • to ripple
  • to follow a winding course; meander (mostly used in Scotland)
First usage

Our word came into English early; sometime before 1100.

Background / Comments

As probably most of us know, the noun wimple is a covering worn over the head and around the neck and chin; it was worm by women in medieval times, and (more famously) by nuns. It came from the Old Saxon word wimpal (veil; banner), which came from the Middle Dutch word wimpel (veil; banner). Poets and other writers used our word as a substitute for “ripple” (second definition above) and “meander” (third definition above) – often when writing about streams.

wimple

Pronounced: WIHM-pull, verb

Notes: I knew the meaning of our word as a noun, but not so much as a verb

Yesterday’s word

The word autotelic means “having a purpose, motivation, or meaning in itself — not driven by external factors.

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came from two Greek words: auto- (self) and telos (end).

autotelic

Pronounced: ah-toe-TEH-lick, adj

Notes: A good word to know (but I didn’t know it)

Yesterday’s word

The word wahine is

  • a Polynesian woman
  • a female surfer
First usage

The references I checked are not clear; one says that our word came into English in the late 1700s; another one has the mid-1800s (but also see the Comments below).

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Maori word wahine; it usually referred to a Maori wife. It became used for a woman in Hawaii and in Tahiti (but the Tahitian word is spelled with a “v” instead of with a “w”). Around 1950, as more women began surfing, the second meaning above came into usage.

wahine

Pronounced: wah-HEE-nee, noun

Notes: Another word that I don’t know

Yesterday’s word

The word acedious means “characterized by apathy, boredom, or sloth”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

What a great word to drop into conversation! It came from the Latin word acedia, which came from the Greek word acedia, made up of a- (not) and kedos (care). By the way, our word has the distinction of being one of those unusual words having all five vowels in order.

acedious

Pronounced: uh-SEE-dee-uhs, adj

Notes: A good word to know

Yesterday’s word

The word putsch is “a secretly plotted and suddenly executed attempt to overthrow a government”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1910s

Background / Comments

If you enjoy history, or have studied about World War II, you are probably familiar with the “Beer Hall Putsch”, which was an attempt by Adoph Hitler and others to overthrow the German government in 1923. You may recall that he was found guilty of treason and spent time in prison (where he wrote Mein Kampf). Subsequently, he attempted to gain power by working through the existing system instead of trying to overthrow the government. In the 1920s, putsch attempts were common in Weimar Germany. Our word came from the Swiss German word putsch (knock; thrust). A synonym for our word is “coup d’état” or “coup”.

putsch

Pronounced: puhch, noun

Notes: You may know the meaning, or may get a clue from history

Yesterday’s word

The word polygyny is “the practice of having two or more wives”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1700s

Background / Comments

If, like me, you thought “I thought that was the definition of polygamy”… well, while it is often used for having two or more wives, “polygamy” really is the more general term for having two or more spouses. The term for having two or more husbands (the counterpart to our word) is polyandry. Our word came from the Greek word poly- (many) and -gyny (woman).

polygyny

Pronounced: puh-LIH-juh-nee, noun

Notes: You may know this word

Yesterday’s word

The word deliquesce means

  • to dissolve or melt away
  • to become soft or liquid with age or maturity (used of some fungal structures)
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

Our word came from de- (from; down; away) and the Latin word liquēre (to be fluid). The first definition may be used in a figurative manner (such as “I’m afraid I will deliquesce in this heat”). It’s a nice long word to know and drop into conversations instead of “dissolve” or “melt away”. The second sense is more commonly used in science for something that absorbs moisture from the air until it dissolves in that absorbed water. Plants and fungi can deliquesce, and as they do, they lose rigidity.

deliquesce

Pronounced: deh-lih-KWES, verb

Notes: A new word to me

Yesterday’s word

The word yeanling means, as a noun, “the young of an animal (especially of a sheep or a goat)”. As an adjective, it means “new-born; infant”.

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

I know the word “yearling”, but our word was new to me. It came from yean (to give birth to a young), which came from the Old English geeanian, which came from eanian (to bear young), combined with -ling (small; young; inferior).

yeanling

Pronounced: YEEN-ling, noun/adj

Notes: I didn’t know this was a word; you may be able to guess the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word pleiad is “a group of (usually seven) illustrious or brilliant persons or things”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

I am familiar with the “Pleiades” from Greek mythology, but our word was knew to me. The Pleiades were seven sisters who were changed into a cluster of seven starts in the constellation Taurus. During the Renaissance, the French used Pléiade (the singular form of “Pleiades”) for the name of an eminent group of seven tragic poets of ancient Alexandria. It was then used to describe a group of French poets in the 1500s. From there, it worked its way into English.