kinesics

Pronounced: kuh-NEE-sicks, noun (alternate pronunciations: “ky” instead of “kuh” in the first syllable, and “zicks” instead of “sicks” for the last syllable)

Notes: I was kind of close to the meaning of this word

Yesterday’s word

The word reticulate means

  • resembling a net
  • being or involving evolutionary change dependent on genetic recombination involving diverse interbreeding populations
Background / Comments

The word comes from Latin reticulum (small net). The word tends to be used by scientists to describe a net-like formation of veins, fibers, or lines that crosses something. For example, a leaf with a pattern of veins that resembles a net would be called a “reticulate leaf”.

First usage

The word showed up in the mid-1600s

reticulate

Pronounced: rih-TIH-kyoo-luht, adj

Notes: This word has a general meaning, and pretty scientific one

Yesterday’s word

The word wale means, as a noun

  • a streak mark raised on the skin, as by a whip
  • one of the series of ribs in a fabric such as corduroy
  • a plank along the side of a wooden ship
  • a horizontal band or strip (for example, around a woven basket)

As a verb, it can mean

  • to mark with wales
  • to fasten or secure
Background / Comments

That’s a lot of definitions for a short word! However, it is the short words that tend to have multiple definitions; long words tend to have specific meanings. The word comes from Old English walu (mark of a lash).

First usage

This word goes way back to the early 1000s.

wale

Pronounced: this word is pronounced like “whale”, noun/verb

Notes: A nice, short word that I didn’t know

Yesterday’s word

The word Byzantine, when capitalized means “of, relating to, or typical of ancient Byzantium or the Eastern Roman Empire”. Another meaning, usually not capitalized, means “intricately involved and often devious”.

Background / Comments

It is named after the city that lies on the Bosporus Strait in Turkey. It is today called Istanbul, but was earlier called Constantinople – it received this name when it became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire (also called the Byzantine Empire). Before then, the city itself was called Byzantium. The city was filled with mystics, wars, and political infighting, and thus Byzantine, from Late Latin Byzantinus (native of Byzantium) came to mean anything characteristic of the city or empire, from architecture to intrigue. I kind of knew this word, but was a bit fuzzy on the definition, so I included it.

First usage

The non-capitalized meaning dates back to the 1930s

Byzantine

Pronounced: BIH-zuhn-teen, adj (the vowel in “zuhn” is almost not pronounced)

Notes: This word can also be lowercase (byzantine); I almost didn’t include this word

Yesterday’s word

The word dree means (as a verb) “to endure or suffer”. As an adjective, it means “tedious or dreary”

Background / Comments

The word comes from Old English dreogan. As I noted yesterday, I’ve run across the phrase dree one’s weird in some reading (maybe The 39 Steps, but I’m not sure). This phrase means “to endure one’s fate”.

First usage

This is very old; it goes back to before 1000.

dree

Pronounced: dree, verb/adj

Notes: I have run across this word in the phrase “to dree one’s weird”, but I didn’t know the meaning of the phrase, and thus didn’t know the word

Yesterday’s word

The word dernier cri means “the newest fashion” (given the example, I would have used “fad” or “popular thing” instead of “fashion” in the definition)

Background / Comments

This is a French word; dernier cri literally means “last cry”. It may have started out applying to clothing, but it’s initial English use described jewels (clothing accessories), and can also be applied to anything that is the newest item: There was a time when 8-track tapes were described as the “dernier cri”.

First usage

The word started in the late 1800s.

dernier cri

Pronounced: dern-yay-KREE, noun

Notes: a fancy word for something… do you know it?

Yesterday’s word

The word slue means, as a verb, “to turn, swing, or slide in a particular direction”. As a noun, it means such a turn, swing, or slide.

Background / Comments

It turns out that the origin of this word is unknown. I have seen the word slewed in my reading with this meaning, and it turns out that slew is a variant spelling of slue. So, I have run across this word, even if I didn’t know it.

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1800s

slue

Pronounced: sloo, verb/noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word

Yesterday’s word

The word confabulate means

  • to talk informally; chat
  • to hold a discussion; confer
  • to fill in gaps in memory by fabrication
Background / Comments

My guess at the meaning of the word was pretty close to the first two definitions; however, the third meaning was entirely unknown to me. The root word is the Latin fabula (conversation; story), which is the same root as the word “fabulous” and “fable”. This explained the third meeting.

First usage

This word came into English in the early 1600s

confabulate

Pronounced: kuhn-FAH-byoo-late, verb

Notes: This word has one meaning that I didn’t know; I had an idea of the others

Yesterday’s word

The word phillumenist means “a collector of matchboxes, matchbooks, or their labels”

Background / Comments

I had no idea that there was a word for a matchbook collector. This word has a mixed origin: Greek phil- (loving) and Latin lumen (light).

First usage

This word came into being in the 1940s

phillumenist

Pronounced: fi-LOO-muh-nist, noun

Notes: This is another word that I didn’t know existed

Yesterday’s word

The word interstice means:

  • space that intervenes between things; especially, one between closely space things
  • a short space of time between events
Background / Comments

I had a clue to the meaning of this word from the a classic Dr Who show (The Time Monster from the 3rd Doctor: Jon Pertwee); it refers to “intersticial time” (the idea of tiny spaces between moments of time). Our word comes from Latin interstitium, which comes from inter- (between) and -stes (standing).

First usage

The word arrived into English around 1600.