Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: TOE-tum, noun
Notes: I thought I knew the meaning of this word, but I didn’t
The word tegular means “relating to, resembling, or arranged like tiles”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Our word came from the Latin word tegula (tile), which came from tegere (to cover). There isn’t much to say about our word other than what I said yesterday.
Pronounced: TEG-yuh-luhr, adj
Notes: Not what I thought (and NOT a misspelling of “regular”)
The word biannual means
Our word came into English in the late 1800s
Just like “biweekly”, our word can have different meanings. Some people teach that “semiannual” should be used for things that occur twice a year, and our word for things occurring every two years; however, this practice is not followed by everyone. A clear word for something that occurs every two years is “biennial”. Our word came from Latin – the second part came from annu (yearly). The first part is bi- (twice; two) and this is the source of the confusion: it could mean “twice yearly” or “two years”.
Pronounced: by-AN-yuhl (alt: by-AN-yuh-wuhl), adj
Notes: I was not aware of both pronunciations; I use the second one
The word cordate means “heart-shaped”
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
After reading the definition, I realized that I could have guessed the meaning. Our word came from the Latin word cor (heart).
Pronounced: cordate
Notes: I didn’t correctly guess the meaning, but you may be able to
The word aggress means “to make an attack; to act aggressively”
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
The words “aggressive” and “aggression” are much more familiar (I didn’t know that there was a verb form). Our word came from the Latin verb aggredī (to approach; to attack; to undertake). When our word first entered English, it could also mean “to approach”, but this usage is now obsolete.
Pronounced: uh-GRESS, verb
Notes: I didn’t know this word existed, but you can probably guess the meaning
The word amaneunsis is “a person employed to take dictation or to copy manuscripts”
Our word came into English in the early 1600s
I happen to know the word from some reading, but I don’t know how well known it is. Our word came from the Latin phrase servus a manu (slave at handwriting).
Pronounced: uh-man-yoo-EN-sis, noun
Notes: I don’t think this word is well known, but I happen to know it
The word organoleptic means
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Our word came from the French word organoleptique — our spelling is an Anglicization of it — and it came from the words organ and the Greek word lēptikos (disposed to take or accept).
Pronounced: or-guh-no-LEP-tick, adj
Notes: Well, my guess was quite incorrect (it has nothing to do with playing organs)
The word Malthusian means “relating to the view that population increases faster than its means of subsistence resulting in disaster, unless population is checked by natural calamities or by people deciding to have fewer children”
Our word came into English in the early 1800s
I saw “mal” at the beginning of the word and thought that might be a prefix meaning “bad”, but that is not the case: our word came from the name of the economist and clergyman who was a proponent of this idea – Thomas Robert Malthus.
Pronounced: mal-THOO-zhuhn (alt: mal-THOO-zee-uhn), adj
Notes: I didn’t know this word, and could not guess at a meaning
The word corrigendum is “an error in a printed work discovered after printing and shown with its correction on a separate sheet”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
I have books and instruction manuals in which errors were caught after printing and an “errata” page has been inserted in the printed work. These would be corrigenda (the plural of our word) – but I didn’t know that there was a word for it; I just called in “a page of errors” or “errata”. If you thought that our word may be related to “correct” (I didn’t), you are correct: our word came from the Latin verb corrigere (to correct).
Pronounced: core-uh-JEN-duhm, noun
Notes: Not a word knew, but I have run across one (you may have, too)
The word tontine is “a form of investment in which participants pool their money into a common fund and receive an annuity. Each person’s share increases as members die until the last survivor takes the whole.
Our word came into English in the mid-1700s
As I noted yesterday, I didn’t recognize the word at first, but after reading the definition, I’m pretty sure that I’ve read the word used in a mystery story (I think it was a story by Agatha Chrisite). Tontines were eventually made illegal, as there would be a temptation to speed the death of the other owners. Our word came from the French word tontine, which came from the name of the person (Lorenzo Tonti, a banker from Naples) who started the scheme in France.
Pronounced: TON-teen (alt: ton-TEEN), noun
Notes: I didn’t recognize the word, but after reading the definition, I have seen it in a book
The word derogate means
Our word came into English around 1400
Our word is the verb form of the more common adjective “derogatory”; however, our word came into English before “derogatory”, even though it is no longer well known. Our word came from the Late Latin word derogatus, the past participle of the verb derogare (to detract; to annul).
Have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
