Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: rih-FUL-jen(t)s, adj
Notes: Long time readers with excellent memory (I’m not sure I have any of these) have seen this earlier
The word settlor is “one who makes a settlement of property”
Our word came into English in the early 1800s
Our word is more common in wills or in legal documents. However, our word is an alteration of “settler”, which came from the Old English word setlan (to seat or place).
Pronounced: SET-luhr (alt: SET-lore), noun
Notes: Not a misspelling
The word tub-thumper is “a vociferous supporter”
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
I was sure that this came from politicians beating on an upturned tub to make their point; however, the earliest tub-thumpers were preachers who pounded on the pulpit (possibly to wake up attendees). At the time our word came into English, “tub” could be used as a synonym for “pulpit”. Our word spread to public speakers pounding on their lecterns. These days, the pounding aspect has died away, leaving our current meaning of someone who loudly supports something.
Pronounced: TUB-thuhm-puhr, noun
Notes: I thought I knew the origin of this word, but I was incorrect
The word ordonnance is “the systematic arrangement of parts in art, literature, architecture, etc”
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
Our word came from French, being changed from the Old French word ordenance (order), which came from the Latin word ordinantia, which came from ordinare (to put in order), which came from ordo (order). There are three similar words (they call come from the same French source): ordnance, ordinance, and ordonnance – the first is military supplies; the second in an order, decree, law, etc; the last is our word.
Pronounced: OR-dn-uhns (alt: or-duh-NAHNS), noun
Notes: This word could be confused with two other similarly spelled words
The word florescence is “a state or period of flourishing”
Our word came into English in the late 1700s
I confused our word with “fluorescence”, which refers to light that substances emit under certain circumstances. Our word came from the New Latin word florescentia (blossoming), which is related to the Latin verb florēre (to blossom or flourish), which traces back to flos (flower).
Pronounced: flaw-REH-s(uh)nts, (alt-1: floh-REH-s[uh]nts; alt-2: fluh-REH-s[uh]nts), noun
Notes: I had totally confused this word with another one
The word cliticize means “to attach or become attached”
Our word came into English in the 1970s
Our word is a verb that was created from the noun clitic, which came into English in the 1940s. The root word is klinein (to lean), which came from klitos (slope). Although these words look like Greek words (Greek nouns often end in –os), my reference information did not identify the language. Our word is primarily used in linguistics. In British English, the word ends in –ise instead of –ize (which is one of the common differences between American and British English).
Pronounced: CLIT-uh-size, verb
Notes: This is NOT “criticize” misspelled
The word eupeptic means
Our word came into English around 1700 (maybe slightly earlier)
As I noted yesterday, I recognized the eu- part of this word, but not the second part. In fact, our word is composed of the Greek words eu- (good; well; easily) and -pepsia (digestion) — thereby, we have the first definition above. The second definition came from the idea that if a person has a good digestive system, he is likely to be cheerful. On the flip side, if one has a poor digestion, it may cause one to be cranky: the word for this is “dyspeptic”, which can suggest ill humor as well. I’ve definitely run across this word in novels by either Agatha Christie or Dorothy Sayers (or both).
Pronounced: you-PEP-tick, adj
Notes: I recognize one part of the word, but it doesn’t help me to the meaning
The word fomites are “inanimate objects, such as surfaces, that can transmit germs from one person to another”
Our word came into English in the early 1800s
As noted, our word is a plural noun. It is the plural of fomes; however, because the usual convention is to add an ‘s’ to make a plural, people assumed that the singular form is fomite. This assumption was so widespread that fomite is now considered a legitimate singular form. Our word came from the Latin word fomites, which is the plural of fomes (touchwood; tinder), which came from fovere (to warm).
Pronounced: FOAM-uh-teez (alt: FOH-mites)
Notes: Our word is a plural noun, but the singular form is NOT fomite
The word chatelaine is
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
As I noted, I had the idea that our word referred to someone like a hostess; that is pretty close to the first two meanings. However, I was completely unaware of the third meaning. It is, however, a logical progression: our word (which came from the French word châtelaine) originally had the first definition, and broadened to the second definition. However, a woman in charge of castle (or household) must, of necessity, have a complete set of keys, and our word was used for a decorative hook or clasp from which keys could be suspended. From there, other things were hung (a watch, a purse, etc), but the word remained.
Pronounced: SHA-tuh-land, noun
Notes: I have heard this word and had a vague idea of the meaning, but there was a meaning I didn’t know
The word zoonosis is “any disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans”
Our word came into English in the late mid-1800s
I am pretty sure I’ve heard this word when discussing diseases, but I didn’t recall it. Our word came from the Greeks words zoo- (animal) and nosos (disease).
Pronounced: zoh-AHN-uh-sis (alt: zoh-uh-NOH-sis)
Notes: I’ve probably heard this word; I just don’t remember hearing it
The word syllepsis means “the use of a word in the same grammatical relation to two different adjacent words in the context with one literal and the other metaphorical in sense”
Our word came into English in the late 1500s
Here is an example of a syllepsis taken from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens: he wrote that one of his characters “went straight home, in a flood of tears and a sedan chair”. When I read that, it sounded a lot like a recent entry. It does seem to me to be similar to zeugma, which I did last month. However, the search revealed that I also used zeugma as my word eight months earlier (oops; my apologies, gentle reader). From my research, a syllepsis can refer to such cases in which there is a problem with verb/subject agreement. In the syllepsis “She exercises to keep healthy and I to lose weight.”, the word “exercises” agrees with “she” but does not agree with “I”. Our word came from the Greek word syllēpsis, which came from syllambanien (to gather together).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day