Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: CAN-ban, noun
Notes: Not a word I’ve run across
The word letimotif is “a recurrent theme in a piece of music or literature, situation, etc”
Our word came into English in the 1930s
A humorist defined leitmotif (or leitmotiv) as “a signature tune”. Our word came from the Germain word Lietmotiv (lead motif), which comes from leit- (leading) and Motiv (motive).
Pronounced: LIGHT-moh-teef, noun
Notes: Also spelled “leitmotiv”
The word verdure means
Our word came into English in the mid- to late 1200s
I recognized the root of our word as “green”; however, I was unaware of the second meaning above. Our word came from the Latin word virere (to be green).
Pronounced: VUHR-juhr, noun
Notes: Another word you might be able to guess one of the definitions
The word sitzkrieg is “a period of war marked by little or no active hostilities”
Our word came into English in the 1940s
If you thought that the word was related to “blitzkrieg” — you are correct. The German word sitzen (to sit) combined with Krieg (war). If you remember World War II history, you’ll remember that Germany invaded Poland in Sep 1939. France and Britain declared war, but didn’t do much until May of 1940. This period was called the sitting war, or sitzkrieg. It was also called the Phoney War, the Twilight War, and the Bore War (a pun on “Boer Wars”).
Pronounced: SITS-kreeg, noun
Notes: Your guess at the meaning may be correct
The word parietal means
Our word came into English in the late 1500s
The second definition above is the one that was utterly unknown to me. As for the first definition, my understanding of the word was that it referred to certain bones of the skull (probably from reading Sherlock Holmes; possibly Agatha Christie or some other mystery writer). It turns out that when the word first came into being, it referred to these bones, but was then used for structures found in the same general area. In the mid-1800s, Harvward College establish a Parietal Committee which was in charge of “all offences against good order and decorum with in the walls”. Our word traces back o the Latin word paries (wall of a cavity or hollow organ).
Pronounced: puh-RYE-uh-t(uh)l, adj
Notes: I was our of date on one definition, and didn’t know the other
The word optics means
The first meaning came about in the mid-1500s; the second meaning in from the 1970s (quite a spread!)
The first meaning I suspect most people know, but I’ve not run across the word using the second meaning. Perhaps it came about from the way the public “sees” a thing.
Pronounced: OP-ticks, noun
Notes: This word has a meaning of which I was unaware
The word anthophilous means “feeding upon or living among flowers”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Our word is certainly an interesting one and may be worth dropping into a conversation. It came from the Greek word anthos (flower) and -philos (loving). I did recognize the second part of the word, but I was thinking of “anthro” for the first part and thus was wrong on my guess at the meaning. Other from the same area: “ornithophilous” flowers are those pollinated by birds (from the Greek word ornis [bird]), while “melittophilous” flowers are pollinated by bees (from the Greek word melitta [bee]).
Pronounced: an-THAH-fuh-luhss, adj
Notes: I didn’t know there was such a word; it’s good to learn it
The word zymology is “the science of fermentation”
Our word came into English in the mid-1700s
People who work in certain industries (such as making yeast, making wine, or brewing beer) probably know our word, as would anyone who has dabbled with brewing as a hobby. After reading the definition, I’m certain that I’ve run across this word or a closely related one in Isaac Asimov’s book The Caves of Steel. Our word came from the Greek word zym- (ferment) combined with -logy (study; science).
Pronounced: zy-MOLL-uh-jee, noun
Notes: People in certain professions or with certain hobbies will know this word (I didn’t)
The word conurbation is “an aggregation or continuous network of urban communities”
Our word came into English in the 1910s
When I saw the definition, I thought it was a fancy word for what used to be called “urban sprawl”, but they have sufficiently different meanings that they don’t appear to be synonyms of each other. The phrase “urban sprawl” indicates unplanned growth of a city, whereas our word means cities that have grown together and yet retain their identity (such as Scottsdale, Tempe, and Pheonix). Our word was coined by Sir Patrick Geddes in his book Cities in Evolution. Our word was constructed from the Latin prefix con- (together) with the Latin noun urbs (city) and the English noun suffix -ation.
Pronounced: kah-nuhr-BAY-shuhn, noun
Notes: Another word that is new to me
The word scandent means “climbing; ascending”
Our word came into English in the late 1600s
Our word is a good one for general use. It came from the Latin word scandere (to climb). The same Latin word is also the root of “ascend” and “descend”.
Pronounced: SKAN-duhnt, adj
Notes: A new word to me, but a useful one
The word ludic means “of, relating to, or characterized by play; playful”
Our word came into English in the 1930s
Psychologists wanted a word do describe what children do — apparently, the word “playing” didn’t sound good enough for them — and came up with the phrase ludic activity, and then the word ludic caught on. These days it can refer to playful architecture, or narrative that is humorous, or even light literature. Our word came from the Latin noun ludus (stage shows; games; shorts; jokes). Our word ludicrous comes from the same Latin source.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day