quincentenary

Pronounced: kwin-sen-TEN-uh-ree, noun/adj

Notes: I probably should have figured this one out, but I didn’t, so it’s here

Yesterday’s word

The word roorback means “a defamatory falsehood published for political effect”

Background / Comments

Dirty politics are nothing new in the United States; incidents go back to the very early days of the republic. Our word today comes from the 1844 presidential election between James Polk and Henry Clay: a letter was published in a New York newspaper claiming that a certain ‘Baron von Roorback’ had, while traveling in Tennessee, comes across many slaves owned by James Polk and branded with his initials. The letter caused an uproar that threatened Mr Polk’s campaign… until it was discovered that the entire thing was a hoax perpetrated by the opposing party (there was no such person as Baron von Roorback). Polk gained the White House, and our language gained a new word.

First usage

This word showed up in the mid-1800s (see the background)

roorback

Pronounced: RULL-back, noun

Notes: I did not know this word, but some may

Yesterday’s word

The word palilogy is “a repetition of words, especially for emphasis”

Background / Comments

The word comes from Greek palin (again) and -logy (words). The first half of the word is the source of the word palindrome.

First usage

This word came into our language in the early 1700s

palilogy

Pronounced: pul-LIL-uh-jee, noun

Notes: I didn’t know the word, but I’ve heard quite a bit of what it means (as I suspect many have)

Yesterday’s word

The word microburst has a pretty specific meaning: “a violent short-lived localized downdraft that creates extreme wind shears at low altitudes”

Background

Credit for this word is usually given to tornado expert Tetsuya Theodore Fujita.

I thought that the word had a more general meaning: that any intense, but short-lived thing could be a microburst. Regardless of my false understanding, microbursts are extremely dangerous for aircraft, and in the years since Mr Fujita described them, many airports have installed Doppler radar systems to help detect microbursts.

First usage

The word was used in 1974

microburst

Pronounced: MY-kroh-burst, noun

Notes: This word is much more specific than I thought it was.

Yesterday’s word

The word eucatastrophe means, as you may have guessed, “a happy ending” – especially one in which, instead of an impending disaster, a sudden turn leads to a favorable resolution of the story.

Background

I figured that most readers would recognize that this is just the word catastrophe with eu- (good) prepended. It’s all from Greek roots; in addition to eu-, it is also made up of kata (down), and strophe (turning). Thus, literally, “a good down-turning”. Nevertheless, I added this word because it was coined by the well-known author J. R. R. Tolkien.

First usage

This word was first used in 1944

eucatastrophe

Pronounced: you-kuh-TAS-truh-fee, noun

Notes: I’m guessing that readers will be able to guess this meaning, but I found the origin interesting.

Yesterday’s word

The word pullulate means

  • to germinate or sprout; to breed or produce freely
  • to swarm or teem
Background

When I thought this might be related to chickens, you can see above that the meaning(s) don’t mention chickens, so I was wrong. However, I was also right because the Latin noun from which this verb comes is pullus, which not only means “sprout”, but also “young of an animal” and specifically, a chick. This Latin root is the source of poult, pullet, and poultry. Our word originally referred to sprouting, budding, and breeding around the farm; the “swarm” meaning came later.

First usage

This word showed up in the early 1600s

pullulate

Pronounced: PUHL-yuh-late, verb

Notes: I thought this had to do with chickens, and I was both right and wrong

Yesterday’s word

The word ochophobia means “a fear or dislike of crowds”

Background

Probably everyone knows that -phobia means “fear” — it comes from Greek, as does the ochlos part, which means “mob”.

First usage

This word showed up in the late 1800s

ochlophobia

Pronounced: ahk-luh-FOE-bee-uh, noun

Notes: My guess was fear of the number eight (that’s not right)

Yesterday’s word

The word sastruga means “a wavelike ridge of hard snow formed by the wind — usually used in the plural (sastrugi).

Background

This word came into English from German, but it is not of German origin. The word comes from zastruga (groove, small ridge, furrow); it comes from a dialect of Russian. It is an unusual word, and it’s even more rare to be able to use it in the Dallas area of Texas. If it snow, it usually melts the next day. But in mid February 2021, a severe cold snap kept snow on the ground for days, and the wind sculpted sastrugi.

First usage

This word began to be used in English in the mid-1800s

sastruga

Pronounced: SAS-truh-guh, noun

Notes: This word is usually used in the plural (sastrugi), and is more-or-less timely for last month’s weather. Even though I grew up in northern Illinois, I did not know this word, and I’d be surprised if any native Texan knows it.

Yesterday’s word

The word ocellus means

  • a small simple eye common to invertebrates
  • an eyelike colored spot on an animal (peacock feathers, butterfly wings, fish, etc) or on a leaf of a plant
Background

The word comes from Latin ocellus (little eye), which is a diminutive of oculus (eye).

First usage

This word showed up in the early 1800s

ocellus

Pronounced: oh-SELL-us, noun

Notes: Yet another word I simply didn’t know

Yesterday’s word

The word gymkhana means “a meet featuring sporting contests or athletic skills such as competitive games on horseback or a timed contest for automobiles”.

Background

The word originates in India; it is considered to be an alteration of the Hindi gẽdkhāna, which is a ball-playing area similar to a racquetball court. In addition, the first syllable was influenced by our word gymnasium. The first gymkhanas were displays of athletics and equestrian skill. While these are still common, the 1900s introduced a new kind of gymkhana that shows off car handling (instead of horse handling). Modern auto gymkhanas are often held in parking lots, where contestants race over tight, twisting courses marked with cones or pylons.

First usage

The word began to be used in the 1800s.

gymkhana

Pronounced: jim-KAH-nuh, noun

Notes: I have run across this in a British television show, but I didn’t know the word

Yesterday’s word

The word trompe l’oeil means

  • a style of painting in which objects are rendered in extremely realistic detail, giving an illusion of reality
  • a painting, mural, etc made in this style
Background

The word comes from French (duh!) and literally means “fools the eye” with the following root words: tromper (to deceive), le (the), oeil (eye).

First usage

This word came into English in the late 1800s

Rejected word

The candidate word roseate was rejected because I properly figured out the meaning.