depredate

Pronounced: DEH-pruh-date, verb

Notes: I get this word confused with a similar one

Yesterday’s word

The word tumulus is

  • a mound of earth placed over prehistoric tombs; a barrow
  • a dome-shaped swelling formed in cooling lava
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1600s

Background / Comments

I have heard “barrow” for many years, but I’ve never heard our word used. It came from the Latin word tumere (to swell). Note that our word only has the vowel ‘u’ (and I think it would make a great Scrabble word).

tumulus

Pronounced: TOO-myuh-luhs (alt: TYOO-myuh-luhs), noun

Notes: I’ve never heard this word, but I do know a synonym

Yesterday’s word

The word phatic means “of, relating to, or being speech used for social or emotive purposes rather than for communicating information”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1920s

Background / Comments

If you saw “emphatic” in our word, well-spotted, but incorrect. The word “emphatic”, while it looks and even seems to be related, isn’t related at all. Even after reading the definition, I didn’t correctly understand our word — I thought is meant using emotionally-laden words, as in rabble-rousing speech, but it refers to things like “How are you?”, which is just a social greeting, and not a request for information. Our word came from the Greek word phatos, which is a form of the verb phanai (to speak).

phatic

Pronounced: FAH-tick, adj

Notes: Not what I thought, and not related to the word I thought it was

Yesterday’s word

The word poltroon is “an utter coward”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

I keep thinking I first heard this word during an after-school cartoon (maybe Bugs Bunny? Daffy Duck?). But while I was somewhat familiar to me, I couldn’t define it. Our word came from the French word poltron (coward), which came from the Italian word poltrone (lazy person), which came from the Latin word pullus (young animal). One can imagine the association of ideas — young animals don’t work for their food; they are fed by their parents (thus the ‘lazy’ definition in Italian); also, young animals tend to run away when frightened, and thus the ‘coward’ definition in French. One other note: our word has ‘o’ as the only vowel.

poltroon

Pronounced: pol-TROON

Notes: I’ve heard this word, but wasn’t sure of the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word trenchant means

  • keen; sharp
  • vigorously effective and articulate; caustic
  • sharply perceptive; penetrating
  • clear-cut; distinct
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1200s or the early 1300s

Background / Comments

I thought that our word meant “dedicated”; I think I confused our word with “trencherman”. Our word came from the Anglo-French verb trencher (to cut), and it thought to have come from the Vulgar Latin word trinicare (to cut in three). A trenchant sword has a keen edge; a trenchant remark cuts deep; a trenchant observation cuts to the heart of the matter.

trenchant

Pronounced: TREN-chuhnt, adj

Notes: Not quite what I thought (but at least I pronounced it correctly)

Yesterday’s word

The word imprimis means “in the first place”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comment

For some reason, I thought that our word had to do with books. It is a contraction of the Latin phrase in primis (among the first), which is composed of in (among) and primus (first). Originally, the word introduced the first item in a list. As an oddity, note that this word only contains the vowel ‘i’.

imprimis

Pronounced: im-PRY-miss (alt: im-PREE-miss), adv

Notes: This word wasn’t quite what I thought

Yesterday’s word

The word insouciance is “lighthearted unconcern; nonchalance”

First usage

Our word came into English around 1800

Background / Comments

Our word came from French, where is it a combination of in- (negative) and soucier (to trouble or disturb). The word soucier came from Latin word sollicitus (anxious).

insouciance

Pronounced: in-SOO-see-uhns (alt: in-SOO-see-uhnts), noun

Notes: I have certainly seen this word, but I didn’t know the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word seism means “earthquake”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

As I noted, once I saw the definition, I felt foolish because I immediately saw “seismologist” and “seismograph” in our word. Our word came from the Greek word seismos, which came from seiein (to shake).

seism

Pronounced: SIGH-zuhm, noun

Notes: I didn’t have any idea of the definition, but after I saw it, I felt rather dumb

Yesterday’s word

The word glabrous means “smooth; especially having a surface without hairs or projections”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

Our word has been used by poets to refer to a bald man’s head, but it is more often found in scientific descriptions and refers to skin that never had hair (such as the palms). It came from the Latin word glaber (smooth; hairless).

glabrous

Pronounced: GLAY-bruhs, adj

Notes: This word is new to me

Yesterday’s word

The word duoliteral means “having two letters”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid 1800s

Background / Comments

After seeing the definition, I thought “of course!”. It is quite a long long to describe something with two letters. I keep thinking of our word as a noun, with the idea of “a word with two letters”, but that’s not correct. Per the definition, anything that uses two letters — thus, the abbreviation for “Bachelor of Arts” (BA) is duoliteral. Finally, we have here a word with all of the vowels in reverse order.

duoliteral

Pronounced: do-uh-LIT-uhr-uhl, adj

Notes: I keep thinking this should be a noun, not an adjective

Yesterday’s word

The word valetudinarian is “a person of a weak of sickly constitution; especially one whose chief concern is his ill health”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1700s

Background / Comments

Oddly enough, our word came from the Latin word valēre (be be strong; to be well). That Latin word gave rise to valetudo, which refers to one’s state of health — whether good or bad. When it came into English, it had the meaning above. I’m pretty sure that I have run across this word is reading, but I thought that it meant something else.