pishogue

Pronounced: pih-SHOHG, noun

Notes: I have not run across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word chilblain is “an inflammatory swelling or sore caused by exposure (such as feed or hands) to cold”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

As you might expect, the first part of our word came from “chill”, which came from the Old English word ciele (frost; chill), which is related to the Old English word ceald, an ancestor of “cold”. The second part of the word is a word by itself, meaning “an inflammatory swelling or sore”)” — it came from the Old English word blegen. When our word first appeared, it was spelled “chyll blayne”.

picaro

Pronounced: PEE-kuh-roh, noun

Notes: I’ve not run across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word snickersnee is “a large knife or sword”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1600s

Background / Comments

Our word used to be a phrase “snick or snee” (before it was compressed into our word). This phrase was originally “steake or snye”, a term used in pirate times to describe someone engaged in a sword and/or dagger fight. This phrase came from a Dutch term meaning “to thrust or cut”. In addition to the noun, our word is also a verb meaning to engage in such fights.

snickersnee

Pronounced: SNIH-kuhr-snee, noun

Notes: This word made me think of Lewis Carroll’s poem “Jabberwocky”

Yesterday’s word

The word pogonip is “a dense winter fog having ice particles”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Shoshone word payinappih (cloud).

pogonip

Pronounced: POG-uh-nip, noun

Notes: I’ve run across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word festoon is

  • a decorative chain or strip hanging between two points
  • a carved, molded, or painted ornament representing a decorative chain
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1600s

Background / Comments

I am familiar with the verb “festoon” (decorate), but not with our word. The verb is actually newer; the noun was older. Our word came from French and Italian, which came from the Latin word festa, which is the plural of festum (festival). As a side note, we get our word “feast” from the same Latin root.

festoon

Pronounced: feh-STOON, noun

Notes: I know the verb, but I didn’t know the noun meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word zarf is “a sleeve or holder designed to hold a hot cup”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

As I noted yesterday, I didn’t know that there was a word for this. Our word came from the Arabic word zarf (container; sheath).

zarf

Pronounced: zarf, noun

Notes: I didn’t know that there was a word for this!

Yesterday’s word

The word esoteric means

  • designed for or understood only by a select group or those with special knowledge
  • limited to a small circle; private; confidential
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

I have used the word, but I thought that it meant “difficult” or possibly “highly unusual”: thus, when I used “an esoteric comment”, I was thinking of a highly unusual comment; not quite “only understood if one has specialized knowledge”. As can be seen from the definition above, my usage wasn’t quite correct. Our word came from the Late Latin word esotericus, which came from the Greek word esōterikos, which is based on a comparitive form of esō (within). The opposite of esoteric is “exoteric” (suitable to be imparted to the public).

esoteric

Pronounced: eh-suh-TER-ik, adj

Notes: I have used this word, but incorrectly, it appears. Do you know the meaning?

Yesterday’s word

The word coquelicot means, as an adjective, “of orangish-red or reddish-orange color”. As a noun, it refers to such a color.

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1700s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the French word coquelicot (red poppy), which came from its resemblance to the crest of a rooster — coq means “rooter”.

coquelicot

Pronounced: KAHK-lee-koh (alt: KOHK-lee-koh), adj/noun

Notes: I had no idea of the meaning of this word

Yesterday’s word

The word deterge means “to wash off; to cleanse”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

The far more common “detergent” is the noun form of our word. Our word came from the Latin verb detergēre, which is made up of de- and tergēre (to wipe).

deterge

Pronounced: dih-TERJ, verb

Notes: I didn’t know this was a word, but you probably can guess the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word homeoteluton is “a repetition of the same or similar endings in a sequence of words”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Greek words homoio (similiar) and teletos, which came from teleute (end). Our word can also refer to scribal error when a copyist’s eye skips to a word with the same ending on a subsequent line.