Lucullan

Pronounced: loo-KUH-luhn, adj

Notes: A new word to me

Yesterday’s word

The word Polonian means

  • abounding in aphoristic expressions
  • a native or inhabitant of Poland
First usage

The first meaning came into English in the mid-1800s; the second meaning came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

The first definition came from the character of Polonius, a character in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. He was known for moralistic aphorisms – some of the well-known ones are “Brevity is the soul of wit”, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”, and “This above all: to thine own self be true”. The second definition comes from the Latin word for Poland – Polonia.

Polonian

Pronounced: po-LO-nee-uhn, adj

Notes: I should have guessed both of the meanings, but I didn’t get either one

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase annus mirabilis means “a remarkable or notable year”

First usage

Our phrase came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

I recognized annus as meaning “year”, but I wasn’t quite sure of the meaning of mirabilis – it looks like “miraculous”, but it actually means “wonderful”. Our phrase came from New Latin. One of the earliest uses of our phrase was by the British poet John Dryden, who used for phrase for the year 1666. Do you have an annus mirabilis – if you have to pick one, which year would you pick?

annus mirabilis

Pronounced: A-nuhs muh-RAH-buh-luhs, noun

Notes: You may be able to guess the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word picaroon, as a verb, means “to act as a pirate”. As a noun, it means

  • a rogue; thief; or pirate
  • a pirate ship
First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Spanish word picarón (scoundrel), which came from picaro (rogue).

picaroon

Pronounced: pick-uh-ROON noun/verb

Notes: Not a word I’ve run across

Yesterday’s word

The word bibelot is “a small household ornament or decorative object; trinket”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came from French, where it is composed of bibel (bauble) plus the -ot suffix, which makes it a noun.

bibelot

Pronounced: BEE-buh-low, noun

Notes: My guesses were of the meaning were wide of the mark

Yesterday’s word

An arroyo is “a narrow, steep-sided watercourse, usually dry except after rain”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Spanish word arroyo, which came from the Latin word arrugia (mine shaft). I don’t know for sure, but I think I remember reading this word in a Three Investigators mystery story.

arroyo

Pronounced: uh-ROY-oh, noun

Notes: I’ve run across this word in some reading, but I was not sure of the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word esplanade is “a level open stretch of paved or grassy ground — especially one designed for walking or driving along a shore”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Middle French word esplanade, which came from the Italian word spianata (a level stretch of ground), which came from the verb spinianare (to make level), which came from the Latin word explanare (to make level). [Incidentally, this Latin word is the source for “explain”.] Our word these days refers to a place of enjoyment, but in the 1600s, our word was associated with war.

esplanade

Pronounced: ES-pluh-nod, noun

Notes: I wasn’t sure of the meaning, and I didn’t know how to pronounce this word

Yesterday’s word

The word pungle means “to make a payment; to shell out”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came from non-Spanish people pronouncing the Spanish word póngale (put it down): The proper pronunciation is PONE-gah-lay, but if one didn’t know that, one could assume that the word is pronounced PUHN-gull. Then another English-speaking person heard the wrong pronunciation and wrote it down as our word. The word póngale came from the Spanish word ponere (to put), which came from the Latin word ponere (to put).

pungle

Pronounced: PUNG-uhl

Notes: Another word I have no recollection of running across

Yesterday’s word

The word chatoyant means “having a changeable luster or color with an undulating narrow band of white light”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1700s

Background / Comments

You may recognize the first four letters of our word (“chat”) – that is the French word for “cat”. Our word in French is the present participle of chatoyer (to shine like a cat’s eyes). It is the name of the effect in what is commonly called a “cat’s eye gem”.

chatoyant

Pronounced: shuh-TOI-unt, adj

Notes: Interesting word; you may recognize part of it

Yesterday’s word

The word camarilla is “a group of confidential scheming advisors”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

If you didn’t guess, our word came from the Spanish; it is a diminutive of cámara (chamber), which came from the Latin word camera (room), which came from the Greek word kamara (an object with an arched cover).

camarilla

Pronounced: kam-uh-RIL-uh (alt: kah-mah-REE-yah), noun

Notes: This word rings absolutely no bells in my memory

Yesterday’s word

The word bemuse means

  • to make confused; puzzle; bewilder
  • to occupy the attention of; distract; absorb
  • to cause to have feelings of wry or tolerant amusement
First usage

Our word came into English around 1700

Background / Comments

I like the third definition above — especially the phrase “wry or tolerant amusement”.The first definition above is also interesting: it stems from a misunderstanding about something written by by Alexander Pope. He wrote Poets… irrecoverably Bemus’d and also used the phrase a parson much bemus’d in beer. In both cases, he meant to be inspired by or devoted to one of the Muses (the Greek sister goddesses of art, music, and literature). He likewise meant that the parson was inspired by beer, but authors of dictionaries thought he meant confused by beer, and thus the first definition came about.