manducate

Pronounced: MAN-joo-kate, verb

Notes: It looked to me like it was related to “matriculate” or “educate”, but it is not

Yesterday’s word

The word amphibology is “a sentence or phrase that can be interpreted in more than one way”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1300s

Background / Comments

Example 1 (this one is from Groucho Marx): “One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas.” Example 2 (a bit barbed): “Nothing is too good for you” Example 3 (a college friend used this one): “That’s incredible”. I’m happy to know that there is a word for these sayings. Our word came from Latin Latin, which came from Greek amphibolos, composed of amphi- (both) and ballein (to throw), thus “hitting at both ends”. Our word can also refer to unintentional confusion: “Bob told me he had a call from Uncle Steve; he might call him back the next day”.

amphibology

Pronounced: am-fuh-BAH-luh-jee (alt: amp-fuh-BAH-luh-jee), noun

Notes: I didn’t know the word, but I’ve heard and used amphibologies

Yesterday’s word

The word polyphiloprogenitive means “extremely prolific”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1910s (in a poem by T. S. Eliot)

Background / Comments

Our word came from a combination of three Latin words: poly- (many) plus philo- (loving) plus progenitive (producing offspring). It can be used of couples who have a lot of children, but the word can refer to anything that is very prolific (such as weeds).

polyphiloprogenitive

Pronounced: pol-ee-fi-luh-pro-JEN-uh-tiv, adj

Notes: My mind boggled at the word length, but you may be able to work out the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word sibyl means

  • prophetess
  • fortune-teller
First usage

Our word came into English in the middle to late 1200s

Background / Comments

Many ancient cultures have various women through whom the gods spoke. If you think that this sounds similar to a meaning of “oracle”, you are right, but there are some differences. A sibyl is female, whereas an “oracle” can be male or female. In addition, one finds an “oracle” at a shrine of a temple, but a sibyl may be anywhere. A famous sibyl was the Sibyl of Cumae in Italy, a withered crone who lived in a cave. There were twelve volumes of her prophecies – during the times of the Romans, three of these volumes remained and were consulted by the Romans during national emergencies. This famous sibyl is one of five depicted by Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (and I didn’t know that the Sistine Chapel contained any sibyls). Our word came from the Middle English word Sibil, which came from the Latin word Sibilla, which came from the Greek word Síbylla, who is a person from Greek mythology: an Asian maiden, a lover of Apollo, from whom she received the gifts of prophecy and a long life.

sibyl

Pronounced: SIH-bull, noun

Notes: Sounds like a woman’s name, but I didn’t know the meanings

Yesterday’s word

The word scrutate means “to investigate”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

As much as I enjoy mystery/detective stories, I’m surprised that I have not run across our word. It came from the Latin word scrutari (to examine).

scrutate

Pronounced: SCREW-tate, verb

Notes: Not a word I know

Yesterday’s word

The word mare is “any of several mostly flat dark areas of considerable extent on the surface of the moon or Mars”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

The idea that the dark areas of the moon might be seas is an ancient idea; in more “modern” times (here meaning the mid-1500s to the mid-1600s), the idea was brought up again by Galileo. Other writers in the 1600s used our word to describe these “seas”. Our word has two possible plurals: “maria” (MAR-ee-uh) is preferred, but “mares” (MAR-aze) is also possible. Our word came from the Latin word mare (sea).

mare

Pronounced: MAHR-ay, noun

Notes: When I saw the word, I thought that of course I knew it was an adult, female horse, but then I saw the pronunciation, and I didn’t know that this word means

Yesterday’s word

The word palmer is

  • a pilgrim
  • an itinerant monk
  • one who conceals a card or another object in a magic trick or in cheating in a game
First usage

Our word came into English around 1300

Background / Comments

I have heard of “palming” cards (or other objects), so the third definition I could have guessed at. In medieval Europe, pilgrims brought back a palm branch as a token of their pilgrimage. I’m not really sure how our word came to mean the second definition. Our word came from the Latin word palma (palm tree; palm of the hand). Note that the palm tree is named because of the resemblance of the “leaves” to the palm of a hand.

palmer

Pronounced: PAH-murr, noun

Notes: You may be able to guess one of the meanings

Yesterday’s word

The word numen is “a spiritual force or influence often identified with a natural object, phenomenon, or place”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

Our word made an interesting journey; it came from the Latin word numen (nod of the head). Ancient Romans saw divine force and power working in the inanimate objects and nonhuman phenomena around them. The idea is that a god would nod to cause or to allow an event to happen. In time, the Latin word described the divine force of any object, place, or phenomenon.

numen

Pronounced: NOO-muhn, noun

Notes: An odd word, I think

Yesterday’s word

The word handsel means, as a noun

  • a gift for good luck given at the beginning of the new year or a new venture
  • a first payment or installment

As a verb, it means

  • to give a handsel to
  • to inaugurate or to do something for the first time
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

Because our word makes me think of the fairy tale, I keep thinking that it would be fun to refer to “Gretel’s handsel”. Our word came from the Old English word handselen (giving into the hand), which is made up of hand and selen (the action of giving; gift).

handsel

Pronounced: HAN-sel, noun/verb

Notes: Also “hansel”; sounded like a character in a fairy tale to me

Yesterday’s word

The word provender is

  • dry food for domestic animals; feed
  • food; victuals
First usage

Our word came into English around 1300

Background / Comments

I think I’ve run across both meanings of the word; as I noted yesterday, I included this word because I found the meaning interesting: when it first came into English, it referred to a stipend that a clergyman received from his cathedral or collegiate church (also called prebend), but it didn’t take long for the word to acquire the current meaning. Our word usually shows up in articles by food and travel writers. Our word came from the Middle English word provendre, which came from the Old French word, which was a variant of provende (prebend; provender); which came from the Medieval Latin word prōbenda, which is an alteration of praebenda (prebend), which (probably) came from the Latin word prōvidēre (provide; to look out for).

provender

Pronounced: PRAH-vuhn-duhr, noun

Notes: I kind of knew this word, but the origin was interesting enough to include it

Yesterday’s word

The word manumit means “to free from slavery”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

As I noted yesterday, I did not know that there was a word for this action. Words are fun! Our word came from the Latin words manus (hand) combined with mittere (to let go).