Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: aw-TAHK-thuh-nuhs, adj
Notes: I’ve run into this word someplace, but I couldn’t define it
The word Hobbesian means
This word came into usage in the late 1700s
This word was named after English philosopher and author Thomas Hobbes; in his book Leviathan, he displayed a grim, dog-eat-dog view of human nature.
Pronounced: HOB-zee-uhn, adj
Notes: I associated this word with the Hobbes of Calvin and Hobbes and couldn’t come up with a definition (that’s because I was wrong)
The word chiropteran means “bat (any of an order of night-flying mammals with forelimbs modified to form wings)”
This word came into English in the mid-1800s
After reading the definition, I remembered chiroptera is the order for bats, and thus I should have known this word. Did you know that bats are the only mammal capable of true flight? (I didn’t). The word comes from the Greek words cheir (hand) and pteron (wing). The Greek word cheir is also part of the word “surgery”; the full Greek source is cheirourgos (doing by hand). The Greek word pteron, besides being used in the names of many flying insects, is the one of the ancestors of “helicopter” – from heliko (spiral) and pteron (wing). Now you can explain how “bat” is, etymologically speaking, related to both “helicopter” and “surgery”.
Pronounced: kigh-ROP-tuh-ruhn, noun
Notes: I should have known this word
The word marivaudage means
The first usage comes goes back to the mid-1700s
This word was named after a French novelist – Pierre de Marivau. He was known for the verbal preciousness of his romantic comedies.
Pronounced: mar-uh-VOH-dazh, noun
Notes: I didn’t know this word, but it isn’t one I think I used much
The word deracinate means
This word came into English in the late 1500s
Our word came from Middle French, and to there from the Latin word radix (root). The word originally referred to literal plant roots, but it quickly took on the metaphorical meaning or removing someone or something from its culture (or roots).
Pronounced: dee-RA-suh-nate, adj
Notes: Fancy word for something more common
The word ectogenous means “able to survive outside a host (as some bacteria and other parasites do)”
This word come into English in the late 1800s
Another Greek word, from ecto- (outside) and -genous (producing)
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).
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