nosocomial

Pronounced: nah-suh-KOH-me-uhl, adj

Notes: Another word I have not run across

Yesterday’s word

The word Ballardian means “relating to a dystopian world, especially one characterized by social and environmental degradation, assisted by technology”

First usage

I could not find a reference that said when our word came into usage; probably in the late 1900s

Background / Comments

The word was named after the novelist and short story writer JG Ballard – his works depict such post-apocalyptic scenarios.

Ballardian

Pronounced: ba-LAHR-dee-uhn, adj

Notes: A word I’ve not run across

Yesterday’s word

The word foppery means

  • foolish character or action; folly
  • the behavior or dress of a fop
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

These days, a “fop” is a man who is extremely devoted to or vain about his appearance or dress. Originally, it referred to a foolish or silly person. Our word came arrives around 100 years later from “fop”. It came from Middle English, and is somewhat related to a Middle High German word that means “to deceive”.

foppery

Pronounced: FAH-pree (alt: FAH-puh-ree), noun

Notes: This is a borderline word; I was pretty close to the definitions

Yesterday’s word

The word cock-horse means, as an adverb, “mounted with a leg on each side”. As a noun, it is “a hobby horse”.

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

I know our word from a nursery rhyme that begins Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross (full text below). In old days, proper women (generally) rode sidesaddle; the opposite is called “astride”, but that is also the meaning of the adverb form. Our word came from the combination of cock (a rooster) and horse; it may have been from the strutting of a rooster. I really didn’t know about the noun definition, despite the fact that the nursery rhyme clearly uses the noun definition. For those interested, the text of the nursery rhyme is:

Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross,
To see a fine lady upon a white horse;
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
And she shall have music wherever she goes.

cock-horse

Pronounced: KAHK-horse, adv/noun

Notes: I know the word, but not the meaning – especially not the noun meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word volant means

  • having the wings extended as if in flight (used of a heraldic bird)
  • flying or capable of flying
  • quick; nimble
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

I thought that our word might be related to “voluntary”, but that was clearly wrong. Our word came from the middle French word volant, which is the present participle of voler (to fly), which came from the Latin word volāre.

volant

Pronounced: VOH-luhnt, adj

Notes: My guess at the meaning was utterly wrong

Yesterday’s word

The word caballine means

  • giving inspiration
  • relating to horses
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

The two definitions above don’t appear to be related to each other at all – however, the Greeks believed the Muses furnish men with inspiration for songs, poetry, literature, science, and the arts. Supposedly, the spring of the Muses was Hippocrene, which was created by a stroke from the hoof of Pegasus… thus, the tie-in between “horse” and “inspiration”. Our word came from the Middle English word caballin, which came from the Latin word caballinus (of a horse), which came from the Latin word caballus (horse).

caballine

Pronounced: CAB-uh-lihn (alt: CAB-uh-leen), adj

Notes: Also capitalized, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen this word

Yesterday’s word

The word exigent means

  • requiring immediate aid or action
  • requiring or calling for much; demanding
First usage

Our word came into English in the early to mid-1400s

Background / Comments

I think I confused our word with “extant”. Our word came from late Middle English, which came from the same word in Latin, which is the present participle of the verb exigere (to demand).

exigent

Pronounced: EK-suh-juht, adj

Notes: I’ve run across this word in many places, but I didn’t get the meaning right

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase wheel horse is

  • someone responsible and diligent, especially one who bears the biggest share of burden in a group
  • a horse harnessed closest to the front wheel(s) of a carriage
First usage

Our phrase came into English in the early 1700s

Background / Comments

Our phrase comes from the two words “wheel” and “horse”, and thus, the second definition is the original definition. The horse nearest the wheels does most of the pulling work (I didn’t know this; I assumed all of horses had a roughly equal amount of work), so the first definition came about over time.

wheel horse

Pronounced: (as expected), noun

Notes: I have heard of “wheel house”, but not “wheel horse”

Yesterday’s word

The word ecotone is “a transition area between two adjacent ecological communities”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1900s (1900-1910)

Background / Comments

Our word refers to the area in which landscapes overlap, where the species from each area encounter one another and overlap. Our word came from eco- (ecological; environmental) and the Greek word tónos (tension).

ecotone

Pronounced: EE-kuh-tone (alt: EK-uh-tone), noun

Notes: You may be able to make a good guess at this word

Yesterday’s word

The word equipollent means “equal in power, force, effect, etc”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1400s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Old French word equipolent, which came from the Latin word aequipollent (of equal value), which is made up of aequus (equal) and pollent (able), which is the present participle of the verb pollere (to be strong).

equipollent

Pronounced: ee-kwuh-PAH-luhnt, adj

Notes: I’ve never run across this word: it looks like “to equip with pollen”

Yesterday’s word

The word refulgence means “a radiant or resplendent quality of state; brilliance”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

Back in early 2004, the word was effulgence; in the “Comments” section, I noted that a related word was refulgence, which had a similar meaning, but implied reflected light. Our word came from the Latin word refulgēre (to shine brightly), which came from the verb fulgēre (to shine). There is a neat offshoot word related to the Latin root: “fulchronograph”, which is a device for recording lightning strikes.