tuffet

Pronounced: TUFF-it, noun

Notes: Most of us have heard the nursery rhyme “Little Miss Muffet/Sat on a tuffet…”, but what is a tuffet? (and is that the only definition?)

Yesterday’s word

The word foible is

  • the part of a sword of foil blade between the middle and point
  • a minor flaw or shortcoming in character or behavior; weakness
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

I was aware of the second definition; I’ve heard the phrase “<something> is one of my foibles”. When our word came into English, the sole use was the first one — it came from the French word foible (the weakest part of the sword or foil [between the middle and the pointed end]); there word was also an obsolete adjective foible (weak), which traces back to the Old French term feble (feeble). Shortly after our word began to be used in English, the meaning spread to flaws in people as well as swords, and this meaning is much more common these days.

foible

Pronounced: FOY-bull, noun

Notes: I knew one of the meanings, but not the other one

Yesterday’s word

The word struldbrug is “someone very old and decrepit”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

Our word is another one that came from the book Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. The Struldbrugs were a small group of immortal people living in Luggnagg — they grew old and decepit, but did not die.

struldbrug

Pronounced: STROOLED-bruhg, noun

Notes: I don’t remember every running across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word conclave means

  • a meeting of Roman Catholic cardinals secluded continuously while choosing a pope
  • a usually private gathering of a group or association
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid- to late 1300s

Background / Comments

I am familiar with our word as used in its Roman Catholic meaning; I was not aware of the second definition above. I did recognize both parts of our word: con- (with) and clave (key)… thus, the Latin word meant “a room with key” and therefore the privacy of seclusion referred to in both definitions.

conclave

Pronounced: KAHN-klave, noun

Notes: Many people probably know one definition of our word

Yesterday’s word

The word shirttail means, as a noun

  • the part of a shirt reaching below he waist, especially in the back
  • a brief item added at the end of a newspaper article
  • something small or unimportant

As an adjective, it means

  • very young or immature
  • very small or trivial
  • distantly related
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

As I noted, I knew the first meaning as a noun, but I didn’t have any idea of any of the adjective meanings. I assume that the first noun definition was the original definition, and that the second and third definitions grew out of the first — as the shirttail is at the end of the shirt (thus #2); and then, #1 and #2 together could create #3. The only related adjective meaning is #2; I have no idea how #1 and #3 came about. Our word came from the Old English words scyrte (shirt) and teogl (tail).

shirttail

Pronounced: SHURT-tale, noun/adj

Notes: Yes, this is the bottom part of the shirt that reaches below the waist, but what then does the adjective mean?

Yesterday’s word

The word gadarene means “without pause or deliberation; headlong; precipitate”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1920s

Background / Comments

I was astonished when I read that the origin of our word came from the Bible: when I saw the word, it did remind me of the Bible story about the “maniac of Gadara”, but I had no idea that it was actually the origin of the word. What happened is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke… Jesus cast demons out of some men who lived in Gadara (a town southeast of the Sea of Galilee) – the demons went into a herd of pigs that dashed down a steep place into the sea and were drowned. Our word came from that headlong dash, and is sometimes capitalized as Gadarene.

gadarene

Pronounced: GA-duh-reen, adj

Notes: I didn’t know the word, but I was amazed at the background

Yesterday’s word

The word balk (baulk), as a verb, means

  • to stop, hesitate, or refuse to proceed
  • to thwart or hinder

As a noun, it means

  • a check or hindrance
  • a defeat or disappointment
  • a beam or rafter
  • a ridge; an unplowed strip of land between furrows
First usage

Our word came into English as a noun in the late 800s; as a verb, it came into English in the late 1300s

Background / Comments

I am used to balk having the idea of heading off or stopping something; to hinder it, which covers most of the meaning. The third and fourth noun definitions above are unknown to me. Our word came from the Old English word balca (ridge; bank).

balk

Pronounced: bawk, noun/verb

Notes: Also spelled “baulk”; there is one definition of this word that I did not know

Yesterday’s word

The word delectation means “delight; enjoyment”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1300s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Middle English word delectacioun, which came from the Latin word delectation (delight). Synonyms of our word are pleasure, delight, and enjoyment, but the words have different shades of meaning: “pleasure” is gratification or satisfaction of the senses; “delight” is a kind of mental enjoyment of pleasure, and may not last as long as the sense from “pleasure”. The word “enjoyment” implies a deep pleasure that can be temporary or a deep-seated happiness. Our word – delectation – is more of a reaction (usually amusement or diversion) to a pleasurable experience.

delectation

Pronounced: dee-lek-TAY-shun, noun

Notes: A nice, useful word to add to one’s vocabulary

Yesterday’s word

The word consanguineous means “related by blood; having a common ancestor”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Latin word consanguineus, which is made up of con- (with) and sanguineus (bloody), which came from sanguis (blood). By the way, this is another word that contains every usual vowel.

consanguineous

Pronounced: kon-sang-GWIN-ee-uhs, adj

Notes: You may be able to figure out the meaning of this word

Yesterday’s word

The word fulminate means “to complain loudly or angrily; to send forth censures or invectives”

First usage

Our word came into English around 1400 (either in the late 1300s or the early 1400s)

Background / Comments

I think I confused our word with “fulsome”. Our word came from the late Middle English word fulminaten, which came from the Latin word fulminatus, which is the past participle of fulminare (to hurl thunderbolts; thunder), which comes from fulmen (thunderbolt; lightning).

fulminate

Pronounced: full-muh-nate, verb

Notes: I think I confused this word with another word

Yesterday’s word

The word yichus means “prestige, social status, or pedigree”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Yiddish word yichus/yikhus (pedigree), which came from the Hebrew word yihus (pedigree). I suspected Yiddish as the source, as you may have.