styptic

Pronounced: STIP-tik, adj

Notes: I have run across this word, but wasn’t sure of the definition

Yesterday’s word

The word inveigle means “to get something or to persuade someone to do something by deception or flattery”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1500s

Background / Comments

As I noted yesterday, I thought that our word meant to persuade someone to do something, but I didn’t know that inveigle meant that the persuasion was by deception or flattery. Our word came from the Old French word aveugle (blind), which came from the Latin words ab- (away from) and oculus (eye) — thus, “out of sight”.

inveigle

Pronounced: in-VAY-gull (alt: in-VEE-gull), verb

Notes: I knew part of the meaning, but not the entire meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word pogonip is “a dense winter fog containing frozen particles that is formed in deep mountain valleys of the western US”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

This may be a first for these blog entries: our word traces back to the Shoshone language; it came from the word payinappigh (cloud) from that language. In extremely cold weather in the western United States, the fog condenses into tiny, biting ice particles. I’ve not heard of our word, but I haven’t lived in the western US where this word originated.

pogonip

Pronounced: PAH-guh-nip, noun

Notes: I don’t know this word, but people with certain experiences may

Yesterday’s word

The word pettifogger is

  • a petty, unscrupulous lawyer
  • one who quibbles over trivial matters
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

I ran across our word in some English author – probably Dorothy Sayers or Agatha Christie. I knew that it referred to a kind of lawyer, and was not complimentary. I think I imagined it to be a combination of the two definitions – a lawyer who delayed things by quibbling over trivial matters. Our word is a combination of petty (small) and fogger, which is thought to be a reference to the Fuggers, who were a Bavarian family of merchants in the 1400s and 1500s.

pettifogger

Pronounced: PET-ee-fog-uhr, noun

Notes: I have run across this word, but I could not define it

Yesterday’s word

The word fey means

  • fated to die (chiefly used in Scotland)
  • marked by a foreboding of death or calamity
  • excessively refined; precious
  • quaintly unconventional; campy
First usage

Our word came into English before 900

Background / Comments

When I read the definitions above, I was surprised because I thought that it meant the state of being in unnaturally high spirits, and (as you can read above) this was not one of the definitions. However, in checking the background, I found another meaning online that is exactly that meaning, so I don’t feel quite as wrong as I did previously. In Old English and Middle English our word meant “feeble” or “sickly”. It was in the late 1900s that the meaning of our word changed to include the “precious” and “campy” meanings.

fey

Pronounced: FAY, adj

Notes: I thought I knew the word and had a shock when I read the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word rounceval means, as an adjective, “big; strong”. As a noun, it means “someone or something that is large”.

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the town of Roncesvalles, which is at the foot of the Pyrenees. In 778, there was a battle (the “Battle of Rouncevaux Pass”): Roland, a commander of Charlemagne’s army was defeated by the Basques. Over time, the story of the battle became a legend; when giant bones of some prehistoric animals were discovered, the story was that the bones were actually those of heroes slain at the battle.

rounceval

Pronounced: ROUN-sih-vuhl, adj/noun

Notes: Also spelled rouncival; I don’t think I’ve run across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word cumshaw is a “present; gratuity – also bribe; payoff”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

It is thought that our word was first picked up by British sailors in Chinese ports — specifically the port of Xiamen in southeast China. In the dialect of that city, the phrase kam siā (grateful thanks) was used by beggars in the port town, and the sailors mistook the word as the word for a handout. As the word spread, US sailors used it for something obtained through unofficial means. Again, as the word spread outside of naval circles, the meaning changed again and can now range in meaning from a harmless gratuity to outright bribery.

cumshaw

Pronounced: KUHM-shaw, noun

Notes: Not a word that I recognize

Yesterday’s word

The word damson is

  • a variety of small plum or its fruit
  • a dark purple color
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1300s

Background / Comments

I have run across this in either the writing of Agatha Christie or Dorothy Sayers, and I think the latter one, in the phrase “damson wine”. I knew from the context it referred to a homemade wine, but I was thinking it was some kind of a flower, as in “dandelion wine”. Our word came from the Latin word Prunum Damascenum (plum of Damascus); it is not clear if the plum was first cultivated in Damascus, or just introduced into Europe from Syria. Another word that came from Damascus is “damask”.

damson

Pronounced: DAM-zuhn (alt: DAM-suhn), noun

Notes: I have run across this word in stories, but I actually didn’t know what it meant

Yesterday’s word

The word terreplein is “the level space behind a parapet of a rampart where guns are mounted”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late-1500s

Background / Comments

As I noted, the word sounds familiar, but I cannot place it. It came from Middle French, and to there from the Old Italian word terrapieno, which came from the Medieval Latin phrase terra plenus (filled with earth).

terreplein

Pronounced: TER-uh-plane, noun

Notes: I think I’ve heard this word, but I cannot recall where or when

Yesterday’s word

The word factitious means

  • artificial
  • sham
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

For all that our word looks like it should be related to “fact”, it doesn’t – it came from the Latin word facticius (artificial), which is the past participle of facere (to do).

factitious

Pronounced: fak-TISH-us, adj

Notes: I thought that this word may be somehow about facts (but no)

Yesterday’s word

The word vaticination means

  • prediction
  • the act of prophesying
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s or early 1600s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Latin word vates (prophet). Our word may not be well known, but it is still a valid word. There are related words that are now obsolete: for example – “vaticinar” (a prophet) and “vaticiny” (prophesy).