autokinesy

Pronounced: au-toe-KIN-uh-see, noun

Notes: Another word that is new to me

Yesterday’s word

The word sprachgefühl means

  • the character of a language
  • an intuitive sense of what is linguistically appropriate
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word comes (as you might think) from German – the word Sprache (language; speech) and Gefühl (feeling). Because nouns are capitalized in German, our word is sometimes written capitalized. Our word is relatively rare, making infrequent appearances in English.

sprachgefühl

Pronounced: SHRPAHK-guh-fuel, noun

Notes: This word is a new one to me

Yesterday’s word

The word approbation is “approval, praise, commendation, or official sanction”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1300s

Background / Comments

I thought our word meant something like disapproval, but that is clearly wrong: it came from the Latin word approbation, which is made up of ad- (toward) and probatus, which came from probare (to test the goodness of).

approbation

Pronounced: ap-roh-BAY-shuhn, noun

Notes: I thought I knew the definition, but I was wrong

Yesterday’s word

The word demean means “to conduct or behave (oneself) usually in a proper manner”

First usage

Our word came into English in the second half of the 1200s

Background / Comments

I was surprised when I read the definition; I thought demean meant something like “to lower in standing”. It turns out that there are two words spelled demean with different meanings and different origins. Our word came from the Anglo-French verb demener (to conduct), which came from the Latin word minare (to drive). Just for completeness, the other word demean comes from the word mean (spiteful).

demean

Pronounced: dih-MEAN, verb

Notes: I thought I knew this word, but I didn’t (more or less)

Yesterday’s word

The word vulnerary, as a noun, means “something used for the healing of wounds”. As an adjective, it means “useful in healing of wounds”.

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Latin word vulnus (wound) and -ary (relating to).

vulnerary

Pronounced: VUHL-nuh-rer-ee, noun/adj

Notes: Another word that is new to me

Yesterday’s word

The word groundling is

  • a spectator who stood in the pit of an Elizabethan theater
  • a person of unsophisticated taste
First usage

Our word came into English around 1600s

Background / Comments

In Elizabethan times, people who attended plays could (if they could afford it) sit in the upper gallery. The poor people could only afford the penny admission to the pit below, where that had to sit or stand on the bare floor, exposed to the sun or rain. The wealthy patrons in the upper galley would look at the folks in the pit (called the “ground”) with disdain — and thus the term for these people arose: groundling. These days, groundling can refer to the uncouth, but can also refer to any ordinary person; the “average Joe”. Such a usage is usually used in a facetious way).

hypogeusia

Pronounced: high-puh-GOO-zee-uh (alt1: high-puh-GYOO-zee-uh;
alt2: high-puh-GOO-zhee-uh; alt3: high-puh-GYOO-zhee-uh; alt4: high-puh-GOO-zhuh; alt5: high-puh-GYOO-zhuh), noun

Notes: Lots of variant pronunciations, but I didn’t know the word

Yesterday’s word

The word hamartia is “a tragic flaw that brings down a hero”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

I happen to know this word; our word came from the Greek word harmartia (fault; failure; sin), which came from the Greek verb hamartanein (to miss the mark). The Greek noun is found in the New Testament and is usually translated “sin”.

hamartia

Pronounced: hah-mahr-TEE-uh, noun

Notes: This word was interesting to me

Yesterday’s word

The word agathokakological means “made up of both good and evil”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

As I noted yesterday, I didn’t have any idea of the meaning; however, after I read the definition, I looked at the word again, and I could see the background. Our word came from the Greek words agathos (good) and kakos (bad).

agathokakological

Pronounced: ag-uh-thuh-kak-uh-LAHJ-uh-kuhl

Notes: I originally had no idea of the meaning of the word, but afterwards, it made sense to me

Yesterday’s word

The word intercalate means

  • to insert (something) in a calendar
  • to insert between or among existing elements or layers
First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Latin prefix inter- (between; among) and the verb calāre (to proclaim; to announce). Intercalate was originally used to proclaim adding a day (or month) in some calendar. With our current calendar, we only intercalate a day every four years, but some early calendars added months. The early Roman calendars had ten months with a total of 304 days. That’s why “October”, “November”, and “December” start with the number IDs for eight, nine, and ten – in the early calendar, they were the 8th, 9th, and 10th months. It was a later ruler who intercalated January and February. Over time, the usage broadened toward the second definition above.

intercalate

Pronounced: in-TUHR-kuh-late, verb

Notes: Interesting word

Yesterday’s word

The word woodshed, as a noun, is

  • a place for storing firewood
  • a place for administering punishment
  • a place for intensive practice, especially music practice

As a verb, it means

  • to practice diligently, especially on a musical instrument
  • to punish or reprimand
  • to coach a witness before a trial
First usage

Our word came into English first as a noun in the mid-1700s, and then as a verb in the late 1800s.

Background / Comments

Well, how many definitions did you know? I have heard woodshed used in five of the six definitions (all of the noun definitions, and all but the last of the verb definitions). Oddly enough, I associate one of the meetings with the 1954 film White Christmas. In the 2000 video about the film (White Christmas: A Look Back with Rosemary Clooney), Rosemary Clooney said that Bing Crosby used woodshed in the sense of practicing music. Also, our word is a pretty good example of how one can see the progress in the various definitions of a word. Clearly, the place for storing firewood was the original definition. I can imagine a parent wanting to discipline a child would take the child to the woodshed. That same idea of isolation would fit the idea of practicing music. Finally, the idea of practicing music would lead to coaching a witness (which would also tend to be done in an isolated session).