Pronounced: TOO-KWOH-kwee, noun

Notes: I didn’t know this phrase, but many of us have experienced what it means

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Yesterday’s word

The word dispositive means “relating to or bringing about the settlement of a case”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1400s

Background / Comments

I thought that our word might mean “not positive”, with dis- meaning “not”, but that is clearly incorrect. Our word came from dispose, which came from the Old French word disposer, which came from the Latin word disponere (to arrange), which is composed of dis- (apart) and ponere (to put).

Pronounced: dis-POZ-ih-tihv, adj

Notes: This word didn’t mean what I thought it meant

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Yesterday’s word

The word prepend means (also see the Comments below)

• to reflect on carefully; ponder
• to be attentive

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1500s

Background / Comments

There is a word spelled the same way, but meaning “a brick or stone reaching through a wall”, and it has a different origin. Our word came from the Latin word perpendere (to weigh carefully; ponder), which came from pendere (to weigh). I think the word looked familiar to me because of words like “append”, “suspend”, and “perplex”.

Pronounced: purr-PEND, verb

Notes: This word looks familiar; I think it is parts that look familiar

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Yesterday’s word

The word formicate means

• to crawl like ants
• to swarm with ants

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Latin word formicare (to crawl like ants), which came from formica (ant). It’s interesting the Formica is a trademarked for a brand of thermosetting plastic.

Pronounced: FOR-mih-kate, verb

Notes: I didn’t know the meaning of the word, but after I saw the definition, it was obvious

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Yesterday’s word

The word luftmensch is “an impractical contemplative person having no definite business or income”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1900s (meaning 1900-1910)

Background / Comments

If you thought that our word looks Yiddish, you are correct. Our word is an adaptation of the Yiddish word luftmentsh, which is composed of luft (air) and mentsh (human being). It has the idea of someone who always seems to have his head in the clouds. Note that we get the words “loft” and “lofty” from luft.

Pronounced: LUFT-men(t)sh, noun

Notes: The word looks slightly familiar, but I cannot recall where I may have read it (and I don’t know the meaning)

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Yesterday’s word

The word assonance is “the use of words with the same or similar vowel sounds but with different end consonants”. An example of assonance is the “o” sounds in the phrase A host of golden daffodils.

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

As I noted yesterday, I definitely remember coming across our word – in the C. S. Lewis book The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader” – book #3 of the “Chronicles of Narnia”. It has the wonderful opening line: There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. I didn’t look up the word, but from the context, I assumed it had to do with a poetic technique. Our word came from French, which came from the the Latin words ad- (to) and the verb sonare (to sound), which came from the noun sonus (sound).

Pronounced: AS-uh-nuhns, noun

Notes: I have run across this word, but I didn’t know the meaning of it

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Yesterday’s word

The word borborgymus is “intestinal rumbling caused by moving gas”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1700s

Background / Comments

A more common expression used instead of our word is “stomach rumbling”. Our word came from New Latin, which came from the Greek verb borboryzein (to rumble). It is thought that the Greeks created this word to imitate the digestive noises made by a stomach.

Pronounced: bawr-buh-RIG-muss, noun

Notes: Really? There’s a word for that?

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Yesterday’s word

The word hortatory means “strongly urging”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

As I noted, I’ve run across our word. I’ve read or heard the phrases “hortatory preaching” and “hortatory exhortation” (the latter being an intensification of words with similar meanings). I as thinking of loud speech or intense speech, so I was pretty close in the meaning. However, I don’t think the term is well known, so I included it here. It came from the Latin word hortari (to urge).

Pronounced: HORE-tuh-tore-ee, adj

Notes: I pretty much knew this word, but I don’t think it is generally known

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Yesterday’s word

The word bandersnatch is “a wildly grotesque or bizarre individual”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

As I noted, I recognized the word as coming from the poem Jabberwocky in the book Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). The word came to refer to any strange or suspicious character.

Pronounced: BAN-duh-snatch, noun

Notes: The word was familiar to me (and may be to you), but not the definition

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Yesterday’s word

The word magnifico is “a person of high rank or position”

First usage

Our word appeared in English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

As I noted, our word looks related to “magnificent”… and there’s a reason for that: Our word came from the Italian word magnifico (magnificent) which came from the Latin word magnus (great). Our word was originally an honorary title applied to Venetian nobleman. The word looked familiar to me because it is the name of a character in the Isaac Asimov novel Foundation and Empire (the second book in the “Foundation” series).

Pronounced: mag-NIF-ih-koh, noun

Notes: You may be able to guess the meaning

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Yesterday’s word

The word apparatchik is “a blindly devoted official, follower, or member of an organization (such as a corporation or political party)”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1940s

Background / Comments

As I noted yesterday, if you think that our word looks Russian… you are right – in that language, an apparatchik is a member of an apparat (party machine) — and thus a cog in the system of the Communist Party. The term is not considered a flattering one. In current usage, the Communist aspect has been dropped, and the word is used as a criticism of someone who mindlessly follows orders in an organization or bureaucracy.