Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronunciation: kwah-kwah-VUR-sal, adj
Notes: I didn’t have any idea of this word’s meaning
The word crural means “of or relating to the thigh or leg; specifically, femoral.
This word usually shows up in a medical context; a “crural artery” or “crural nerve”. It comes from Latin cruralis, which is a combination of “crur-” or “crus-” (leg) combined with “-alis” (of, relating to, or characterized by).
The word came into English in the early 1600s
Pronounced: KRUR-uhl, adj
Notes: When I look at this word, I see “rural”, but that’s a false clue
The word whigmaleerie means
Not a lot of background; it is known to be a Scots term, but that’s about it.
The word was first used in the mid-1700s.
Pronounced: hwig-muh-LIR-ee, noun
Notes: Also written whigmaleery. This word also looks like something made up.
The word dovecote has the following meanings (as I noted yesterday, I knew of the first one, but the second was new to me)
Shakespeare used dovecote in Cariolanus (early 1600s), but the word is older than that (see below). It came from late Middle English. Shakespeare invented the expression “like an eagle in a dove-cote”
The word goes back to the late 1300s.
Pronounced: DUHV-coat, noun
Notes: This word has one definition that is pretty well known, but I was surprised to see a second definition.
The word metagrobolize means “to puzzle or to mystify”
This word comes from Middle French matagraboliser.
This word was first used in the mid-1600s.
Pronounced: meh-tuh-GRAHB-uh-lize, verb
Notes: This sounds like a made-up word (but it isn’t)
The word transmogrify means “to change of alter greatly and often with grotesque or humorous effect. As I noted yesterday, Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes created a ‘transmogrifier’ – it was a cardboard box on which he put wrote what he wanted to transmogrify himself into.
Well, the background for this word is unclear: the prefix trans- means “across” or “beyond”, but the rest of it is not known.
The word showed up in the mid-1600s. As an interesting side note, one of the earliest users of this word was England’s first female professional writers (Aphra Behn).
Pronounced: trans-MAH-gruh-fie, verb
Notes: I first ran across this word in Calvin and Hobbes, but my understanding from the context was a bit off.
The phrase stormy petrel occurs in the Sherlock Holmes story The Naval Treaty – at least, the one I remember: Sherlock Holmes says to Watson “You are the stormy petrel of crime“. I was surprised to see that it also occurs in the story The Reigate Puzzle. The first meaning below is the usage in the Sherlock Holmes stories, but the second definition was a surprise.
The “storm” or “stormy” part of the name of the bird was given because old-time sailors believed that the bird’s appearance foreshadowed a storm. The “petrel” part is unclear; one theory is that is comes from Peter – the disciple of Jesus that walked on the water in the gospel of Matthew. The petrel’s habit of flying low over the water with legs extended gives the appearance that it is walking on the water. The first meaning above is a generalized extension of the idea that the bird foreshadowed a storm.
The word was used in the mid-1700s
Pronounced: STOR-mee PEH-truhl, noun
Notes: I ran across this phrase in Sherlock Holmes. I knew the meaning from the context, but reading the definition gave me a surprise — there was a second meaning of which I was unaware. Do you know this phrase?
The word pluvial means
In the early 1600s, clerics began wearing long cloaks known as pluvials for protection against the rain during processions. The word came from the Latin word for ‘rain’ — pluvia. By the mid-1600s, pluvial was used as an adjective meaning ‘or or related to rain’. The geological usage came into being in the 1800s; for example, ‘pluvial lakes’ (a lake formed by rain).
The word first showed up in the early 1600s.
Pronounced: PLOO-vee-uhl, adj
Notes: I have a recollection of having run across this word in reading a long time ago, but I just couldn’t quite remember the definition.
The word abnegation means “self-denial”.
It comes from Latin abnegation, made up of ab- (away or off) and negare (to deny).
The word was first used in the late 1300s.
Pronounced: ab-nih-GAY-shun
Notes: I should have known this word; I’ve read it, but my understanding was off a bit.
The word rowel means
If you’ve seen a Western movie, you’ve seen a rowel; the noun is the circular point-covered disk on the end of a spur that is used to urge the horse to greater speed. However, they weren’t invented by cowboys; knights in shining armor had them before 1100. The word came from Anglo-French roele (small wheel). It became a verb in the late 1500s for any process of prodding or goading that was as irritating as being poked in the side with a rowel.
The word goes back to the mid-1300s (as a noun); late 1500s for the verb.
Pronounced: rawl (or raw-uhl), verb
Notes: I didn’t know this word at all, and my guesses were way off
The word amatorculist means “a pretend or insignificant lover”.
The word comes from Latin amatorculus (a little lover), which is a diminutive of amator (lover).
The word was first used in the mid-1700s
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day