Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: LIH-krish (alt LIK-kuh-rish), adj
Notes: Not what I thought
The word monophobia means (as you may have figured out) “fear of being alone”
The word came into being in the late 1800s
The word comes from two pretty well-known Greek words: mono- (one) and -phobia (fear). This sounds like a pretty terrible phobia, as most people are alone at some point in their lives.
Pronounced: mon-uh-FOE-bee-uh, noun
Notes: I almost didn’t use this one; I think it’s guessable
The word quantal means “of, relating to, or having only two experimental alternatives (such as dead or alive, all or none)”. It can also refer to something that relates to a quantum.
This word is relatively recent, coming about in the 1930s
The word comes from Latin, from the word quanti, which is the plural of quantus (how much?). We also get the word “quantity” from the same root.
Pronounced: KWAHN-tuhl, adj (the “uh” is barely pronounced)
Notes: Interesting word
The word segue means (as a verb) “to make a smooth transition from once section or topic to another, in conversation, music, film, etc. As a noun, it refers to such a transition.
This word came into English in the mid-1700s
The word comes from Italian segue (there follows), which is the third-person singular present of seguire (to follow), which came from Latin sequi (to follow).
Pronounced: SEG-way (alternatively, SAY-gway), verb/noun
Notes: This is a word I know in pronunciation (you probably do, too), but I wasn’t aware of the correct spelling
The word sprachgefühl means “an intuitive sense of what is linguistically appropriate”
This word came into English in the late 1800s
As you can probably guess, this word comes from German: spache (language, speech) plus gefühl (feeling). It’s a great capability to have, but the word is relatively rare.
The word allusion (an indirect reference to something – as in literature) was rejected because I knew the meaning. I actually enjoying sprinkling my speech with allusions (some easier to figure out than others).
Pronounced: SPRACK-guh-fuel, noun
Notes: This is a great word to know
The word sophrosyne means “soundness of mind, as expressed in moderation, self-control, and prudence
This word goes back to the late 1800s
The word comes from the Greek word sophrosyne which comes from sophon (of sound mind, prudent). As I noted yesterday, the pronunciation is a bit unusual.
Pronounced: suh-FROZE-uh-nee, noun
Notes: Strange pronunciation for a word I didn’t know
The word palliate means
This word traces back to the 1400s
We go back to Roman times for this word. The Romans had a cloak they called a toga. They called the cloak that the Greeks word a pallium. This word became palliatus in Late Latin and it came from that word into English. However, in English, the word never meant a physical cloak, but was used the figurative sense for “protection”. The early meaning of the word was “to lessen the intensity of a disease”, with the idea that the symptoms would be eased, without curing the underlying disease. As with many words, the meaning became more generalized and now has a meaning similar to gloss or whitewash (disguising something bad).
Pronounced: PAH-lee-ate, verb
Notes: I’ve run across this word in reading
The phrase black dog means “depression”
This word showed up (with this meaning) in the mid-1600s
As you might expect, this word was originally used for a canine of dark complexion. People started using the expression for counterfeit coin — it is thought because a coin made of some base metal other than silver or gold would turn black over time. Eventually, the term came to be applied to depression. Samuel Johnson used in that way in his famous diary. Winston Churchill often used the expression also, and it became popular because of his usage. I thought that the famous preacher, Charles H Spurgeon, also used the term; while it is true that he suffered from depression, I didn’t find easy proof that he used this term.
Pronounced: as it sounds, noun
Notes: Even if you know the word, it has an interesting history
The word antonomasia means “the use of a proper name to designate a member of a class; also: the use of an epithet or title in place of a proper name
This word has been around sine the mid-1500s
It came into English from Latin, but the word traces back to Greek; specifically from antonomazein (to call by a new name), which has as its base onoma (name). In sports, the second part of the definition is pretty common: “The Refrigerator” or “The Great One” are some of them. The first part would be more like calling someone a “Beau Brummell” or something along those lines.
Pronounced: an-tuh-no-MAY-zhuh (alt: an-tun-no-MAY-zhee-uh), noun
Notes: A good word to know; this kind of thing is relatively common
The word gobemouche is “a gullible or credulous person”
This word came into English in the early 1800s
The word comes from French gobe-mouche (flycatcher, sucker), from gober (to suck or swallow) with mouche (fly).
Pronounced: GOB-moosh, noun
Notes: I don’t remember ever running across this word
The word commove means
This word goes back to the 1300s
This is a rare word; Samuel Johnson declared the word “not in use”; that was in the 1700s, but it was still used in through the texts in the 1800s. Sir Walter Scott and George Eliot used the word. It came into Middle English as commeven from Anglo-French (commoveir), and to Anglo-French from Middle French (commovoir), and to Middle French from Latin (commovēre).
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