homophene

Pronounced: HAHM-uh-feen, noun

Notes: I recognized the parts of our word, but I didn’t know what it meant

Yesterday’s word

The word catawampus means “askew; awry; cater-cornered”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

When I was growing up, things that were diagonal from each other were called “kitty-corner” or “kitty-cornered”. This was, no doubt, was changed by people from “catercorner” (also cater-corner), with the “cat” suggesting “kitty”. It is thought that our word came from “catercorner”. In the Middle Ages, the French word for “four” could be spelled “quatre” or “catre” — it came into English as “cater”, and was used to refer to a die with four pips. If one connects the four spots, it makes an “X”, which is probably why “cater” developed the meaning of “diagonally”. Anyway, it appears that “catercorner” is the original word for things being diagonal, and other words (catercornered, catawampus, kitty-corner, kitty-cornered etc) came from that.

catawampus

Pronounced: ka-tuh-WAHM-puhs, adj

Notes: You may know this word, but the background is rather interesting

Yesterday’s word

The word heteroclite, as a noun, means

  • a person who is unconventional; a maverick
  • a word that is irregularly formed

As an adjective, it means

  • deviating from the ordinary rule; eccentric
  • (grammar) irregularly inflected
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

I really like this word – I hope I remember it enough to drop into conversations where it is appropriate. In my opinion, most people are unconventional in some ways. When one has enough areas in which one is unconventional, one becomes a noted eccentric. Our word came from the Latin word heteroclitus, which came from the Greek word heteroklitos, which is made of hetero- (different) and klinein (to learn; inflect).

heteroclite

Pronounced: HET-uhr-uh-klite, noun/adj

Notes: A nice word to start using

Yesterday’s word

The word cliometrics is “the application of methods developed in other fields (such as economics, statistics, and data processing) to the study of history”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1960s

Background / Comments

The American economists Douglass North and Robert Fogel developed cliometrics; in 1993, they won the Nobel Prize in Economics for their work. If you know and remember Greek mythology, Clio is the name of the Greek Muse of history.

cliometrics

Pronounced: klie-uh-MEH-tricks, noun

Notes: I thought that might be related to climate

Yesterday’s word

The word homologate means “to approve officially – especially a car, engine, etc, for sale in a particular market or for its use in racing”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

From the definition, it seems that people familiar with racing cars might know our word. It came from the Latin word homologare (to agree), which came from the Greek word homologein (to agree or allow).

homologate

Pronounced: huh-MOL-uh-gate (alt: hah-MOL-uh-gate), verb

Notes: A kind of specialized word

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase ne plus ultra means

  • the highest point capable of being attained; acme
  • the most profound degree of a quality or state
First usage

Our phrase came into English in the late 1600s

Background / Comments

Our phrase came from the New Latin phrase ne plus ultra ([go] no more beyond). It is said the related phrase non plus ultra was inscribed on the Pillars of Hercules at the Strait of Gibraltar, marking the western end of the classical world: it was a warning: “Let there not be more sailing beyond”.

ne plus ultra

Pronounced: nat-plus-UHL-truh, noun

Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this phrase

Yesterday’s word

The word heterography means

  • a spelling different from the one in current use
  • use of the same letter or letters to convey different sounds
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1700s

Background / Comments

Our word came from two Greek words: hetero- (different) and -graphy (writing). As I noted, I could parse these two words, but it didn’t help this time with the meaning. Regarding the second definition above, one example is the letter “c” that can be “hard” (cake) or “soft” (cease). We also have “th” in “with” and “then”, or more dramatically, the “gh” in “enough” and “ghost”.

heterography

Pronounced: het-uh-ROG-ruh-fee, noun

Notes: I could parse the word, but it didn’t help me with the definitions

Yesterday’s word

The word fanfaronade is “empty boasting; bluster”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

The word seems slightly familiar to me, but I cannot place where I may have heard it before. Now that you know the meaning of this word, you should be able to guess that a “fanfaron” is “a braggart” – but it is pretty uncommon and usually only found in unabridged dictionaries. If you think our word might be related to “fanfare”, you my be correct, but it isn’t clear. It is nice to have a word that does not trace back to Latin or Greek. Our word came from the French word fanfaronnade, which came from the Spanish word fanfarronada, which came from the Spanish word fanfarrón (a boaster).

fanfaronade

Pronounced: fan-fer-uh-NADE, noun

Notes: I wasn’t quite sure of the meaning of this word

Yesterday’s word

The word bokeh is “the blurred effect in a photograph (typically as a soft out-of-focus background) that results in a pleasing effect and helps to draw attention to the subject of the photograph.

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1990s

Background / Comments

As noted, I’ve certainly seen photographs with the background out of focus — I just didn’t know that there was a word for it (but a relatively recent word). Our word came from the Japanese word boke (blur; haze) or boke-aji (blur quality).

bokeh

Pronounced: BOH-kay (alt: BOH-kuh), noun

Notes: I didn’t know that there was a word for this thing that most of us have seen

Yesterday’s word

The word panache means

  • an ornamental tuft (such as feathers) especially on a helmet
  • dash or flamboyance in style and action; verve
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

I knew the second definition; however, the first definition is the original meaning. The second meaning came about because it took a daring, flamboyant person to wear such a showy adornment in public. Our word is a variant of an earlier form – pennache – which came from Middle French, which came from the Italian word pennachio, which came from the Late Latin word pinnaculum. This Latin word is a word in its own standing, meaning “roof gable; peak”; however, it also means “little wing”, being a diminutive of pinna (wing).

panache

Pronounced: puh-NASH, noun

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

Yesterday’s word

The word manducate means “to chew or eat”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

I know the word “masticate” means “to chew”, but I had never heard of or word. Our word came from the Latin word mandere (to chew) – the word “masticate” comes from a different Latin word.