Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
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.
Pronounced: DOG-ber-ee (alt DOG-buh-ree), noun
Notes: I didn’t know this word – I blame it on a gap in my education
The word touchstone is
Our word came into English in the late 1400s
I was more familiar with the second definition; the first meaning was new to me: nevertheless, I feel satisfied because the second meaning is closer to the original meaning. Originally a touchstone was a method of testing the purity of a sample of gold: one rubs the sample on a piece of dark quartz or jasper (the touchstone). The mark it made was compared to known rubbings from gold of known purity on the touchstone. Even today, jewelers still use touchstones.
Pronounced: TOUCH-stone, noun
Notes: I had an idea of the meaning, but I was a little off
The word viperine means “of or relating to a viper; venomous; malicious”
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
I thought that our word mean “snake-like”, but a viper is more specific: most snakes lay eggs, but most vipers give birth to live young. Thus, our word came from the Latin word vipera (snake), which came from a mispronunciation and/or contraction of vivipera which came from vivus (alive) combined with parere (to give birth).
Pronounced: VIE-purr-in (alt: VIE-puh-rin), adj
Notes: This may mean what you think
The word ergogenic means “enhancing physical performance”
Our word came into English in the 1900s (meaning 1900-1910)
Our word came from the Greek word ergon (work) combined with -genic (producing; causing).
Pronounced: uhr-guh-JEH-nick, adj
Notes: You may be able to guess the definition, if you recognize the root parts of the word
The word lazaretto is
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
Our word came from the Italian word lazzaretto, which is a blend of lazzaro and Nazareto. Lazzaro is the Italian version of “Lazarus”, the name of a beggar in the Bible (the New Testament) who was covered in sores. Nazareto was the nickname of a hospital located in Venice and run by the church called “Santa Maria di Nazareth”.
Pronounced: laz-uh-RET-oh, noun
Notes: Not a word I’ve ever run across
The word hypocorism is
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Before I started this blog, I did a year of vocabulary entries on Facebook, but I found a blog like this to be better. Before I started vocabulary words on Facebook, I posted vocabulary words at work on the instant messaging system. I said all of this to note that I’m pretty certain that I’ve used our word before. I checked this blog, and I’ve not used it here, so it was either a FB post, or one from work. Since those don’t count, I’m posting it here. Our word came into English from Late Latin word hypocorisma (a pet name), which came from the Greek word hypokorisma (a pet name), which came from the Greek verb hypokorizesthai (to call by pet names), which came from korizesthai (to caress). There was a brief time when our word referred to adult baby talk – the speech adults use when (supposedly) imitating babies.
Pronounced: hi-PAH-kuh-rih-zuhm, noun
Notes: See tomorrow’s comments about this word
The word Methuselah means
Our word came into English in the late 1300s
Methuselah is a biblical figure from the Old Testament – he is the longest lived individual, having lived 969 years. Adam, by contrast, lived to be 930 years. Most of the pre-flood individuals lived very long lives; Bible scholars believe that there are two primary reasons: first, since sin entered with Adam, it hadn’t done the damage that it did later (as time passed). Secondly, it is thought that the pre-flood earth was surrounded by a kind of watery canopy, which kept the temperature very moderate and screened out harmful rays. After the flood, the length of people’s lives decreased dramatically. I have no idea why a certain size wine bottle is called by this name.
Pronounced: meh-THOO-zuh-luh, noun
Notes: There are a couple of meanings; I knew one, and was a bit fuzzy about the other
The word bumptious means “presumptuously, obtusely, and often noisily self-assertive; obtrusive”
Our word came into English around 1800
My idea about our word was that it mean clumsy, thinking of someone bumping into other people. That is kind of the right idea, but not because of clumsiness — think of a self-important person not bothering to look where he is going. It is thought that the word was created from the noun bump plus the adjectival ending -tious. When our word first entered English, it meant “conceited”.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day