Pronounced: VOH-tihv, adj

Notes: Not what I thought

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Yesterday’s word

The word conundrum means

• an intricate and difficult problem
• a question or problem having only a conjectural answer
• a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

According to my reference data, our word has been spelled “conimbrum”, “quonundrum”, “conucrum”, and “quadundrum.” I knew the first definition only. The origin of our word is not known for sure, but one theory is that it was a parody of Latin by students at Oxford University.

Pronounced: kuh-NUN-drum, noun

Notes: I know one definition for sure, but the others I didn’t know

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Yesterday’s word

The word toxophily is “the practice of, love of, or addiction to, archery”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came from Greek; it is a combination of toxon (bow) and -phily (love). As I noted yesterday, one part of the word was familiar, and that is the second part (-phily).

Pronounced: tok-SAH-fuh-lee, noun

Notes: Some people may know this word; I didn’t, but recognized part of the word

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Yesterday’s word

The word nidus is

• a nest or breeding place
• a place where something originates or develops

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Latin word nidus (nest). Related words are “nidification” (the process of building a nest) and “nidicolous” (reared in a nest). It is often used to refer to a place where bacteria lodge and breed, and thus our word has a somewhat negative connotation.

Pronounced: NIGH-duhs, noun

Notes: I couldn’t think of the meaning, but when I saw it, it rang a bell in my memory

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Yesterday’s word

The word griselda is “a meek and patient woman”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1300s

Background / Comments

When I see our word, it reminds me of the Agatha Christie book The Murder at the Vicarage, (the first Miss Marple novel) in which Griselda is name of the wife of the vicar. She appears in a kind of cameo (by which I mean a brief, incidental mention) in the book The Body in the Library and – even more briefly – The 4.50 from Paddington. Our word came from the name Griselda, who is a woman in various medieval tales – she appears in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. In the tales, she suffers without complaining as her husband puts her through various tests. The actual name Griselda comes from Germaic roots and means “gray battle-maid”.

Pronounced: grih-ZEL-duh, noun

Notes: I know a character named this in a book, but it didn’t help with the definition

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Yesterday’s word

The word yegg means “safecracker; robber”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

I enjoy mystery stories – especially older ones – so I’m surprised that I’ve not run across our word. The origin of the word is uncertain. There is a related word that developed later – “yeggman”.

Pronounced: yehg, noun

Notes: I’m a little surprised that I have never heard this word

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Yesterday’s word

The word Juno is “a woman of stately bearing and beauty”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

I knew that Juno was a goddess in Roman mythology; she was the wife of Jupiter (and also his sister). I have heard of the adjective form of our word (“junoesque”). Juno was the goddess of women, marriage, and childbirth. Jupiter was rather promiscuous, so Juno is sometimes used to refer to a jealous woman. The name Juno comes from the Latin word Iuno, which came from iuvenis (young).

Pronounced: JOO-noh, noun

Notes: You may know this word

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Yesterday’s word

The word nosocomial means “acquired or occurring in a hospital”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word is generally used of infections. It came from the Late Latin (or New Latin) word nosocomium (hospital); one part of the word came from the Greek word nosos (disease).

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

Notes: Another word I have not run across

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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.

Pronounced: ba-LAHR-dee-uhn, adj

Notes: A word I’ve not run across

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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”.

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

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

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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.