Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: in-tuhr-REG-nuhm, noun
Notes: I ran across this word in reading, but didn’t have the meaning quite right
The word welter means
Our word came into English in the late 1200s
Our word can also be a noun, but that is about 300 years later than the verb. Our word came from Dutch and German words meaning “to roll”.
Pronounced: WELL-tuhr, verb
Notes: I know what a “welt” is, but not our word
The word vole, as a noun, means
As a verb, it means
The first definition came into English in the early 1800s; the other definitions game into English in the late 1600s
The only definition I knew was the first one; I thought a vole was a kind of rodent. This first definition is short for volemouse, which came from the Norwegian word vollmus, which is made up up voll (field) and mus (mouse); thus, “a fieldmouse”. The other definitions came from the French word voler (to fly), which came from the Latin word volare (to fly).
Pronounced: vohl, noun/verb
Notes: There are definitions I didn’t know
The word Barmedical means “providing only the illusion of abundance”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Well, our word does NOT come from Shakespeare (as I thought). It comes from a tale that is part of The Thousand and One Nights (also known as The Arabian Nights). In the tale, there is a family named Barmecide: one prince has fun with (toys with?; torments?) a beggar by inviting him to a huge feast, at which all of the dishes are imaginary. The beggar plays along, pretends to get drunk on imaginary wine, and then knocks down his patronizing host.
Pronounced: bar-muh-SIGH-duhl, adj (the final syllable is the “d” and “l” with just a hint of the vowel)
Notes: I thought this was another Shakespeare character, but it isn’t
The word Prospero is “someone who is capable of influencing others’ behavior or perceptions without their being aware of it”
Our word came into English in the late 1700s
I knew that Prospero was a (another) Shakespeare character and was from The Tempest, but I did not know enough about the story to be able to generalize what kind of a person our word might indicate. In The Tempest, he is the deposed Duke of Milan and also a magician.
Pronounced: PROSS-puh-roh, noun
Notes: I know who this is, but not what the word means
The word declivity means
Our word came into English in the early 1600s
Our word (the main root) came from the Latin word clivus (slope; hill). There are three English words that come from the same root, but having different prefixes. Probably the most common of these words is “proclivity” with the prefix pro- (forward) and thus refers to a personal predisposition or leaning. The other word is acclivity using the prefix ad- (to; toward) and thus is “an upward slope”. Our word has the prefix de- (down; away) and thus the definition.
Pronounced: dih-KLIH-vuh-tee, noun
Notes: I had a vague sense of the meaning of this word
The word Timon is “one who hates or distrusts humankind”
Our word came into English in the late 1500s
This is another word that comes from a Shakespeare play — specifically, Timon of Athen. Timon is the misanthropic hero of the play. This is a Shakespeare play that I don’t know at all.
Pronounced: TIE-muhn, noun
Notes: Another word I don’t know
The word cap-a-pie means “head to foot”
Our word came into English in the early 1500s
Our word goes back to medieval times, when knights were completely encased in armor (from head to foot). They were said to be “armed cap-a-pie”, which came from the Middle French phrase de cap a pe (from head to foot). These days, our word can refer to figurative order. Interestingly (but this is merely speculation), the phrase “apple-pie order” may be derived from a corruption of our word “cap-a-pie order”.
Pronounced: kah-puh-PEE, adv
Notes: You may be able to work out the meaning (I didn’t)
The word Portia is “a female lawyer”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
As I’ve mentioned earlier, I don’t know many Shakespeare plays — our word came from The Merchant of Venice, in which she is the heroine. She is a rich heiress who disguises herself as a lawyer in order to save the live of Antonio. It came to refer to any female lawyer.
Pronounced: POOR-shuh (alt: POOR-she-uh), noun
Notes: I recognized the word, but didn’t know the meaning
The word panoptic means “being or presenting a comprehensive or panoramic view”
Our word came into English in the early 1800s
Our word brings back memories of the British science fiction show Doctor Who – one of the central gathering places on his home planet is called “the Panopticon” (which is a noun form of our word). But getting back to our planet, originally, a panopticon had two meanings: it was a prison layout (designed by Jeremy Bentham) with the cells arranged around a central tower, so that the guards could see the inmates. The other meaning was a device containing pictures of attractions that people viewed through an opening. Our word was adapted from the noun form – it came from Greek: pan (all) and optic (seeing; sight).
Pronounced: pa-NAP-tick, adj
Notes: I knew something of this word, but was somewhat influenced away
The word Dogberry refers to “a pompous, incompetent, self-important official”
Our word came into English in the early 1800s
Our word comes after a character in Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing. Dobsberry was a constable in that play and manifests the attributes noted above. It is words like our word that make me aware of my lack of what I call a “classical” education: While we studied a couple of Shakespeare’s plays, I don’t have a general knowledge of his more well-known plays. Similarly, there are famous operas that have impacted society, and I know little of those. I can recognize the names of many Shakespeare plays (like the one that is the basis for our word), but I know very little about the plot.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day