pippin

Pronounced: PIH-puhn, noun

Notes: There are two meanings that don’t seem to be related – do you know either?

Yesterday’s word

The word abstentious means “self-retraining, especially in eating or drinking”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word looks like “abstinence”, so readers may have been able to correctly guess the meaning. However, did you notice that this word has all five vowels, and in order? In addition, you can add -ly and have the sometime vowel ‘y’ as well. Our word came from the Latin word abstinere (to hold back), which is made up of ab- (away) and tenere (to hold).

abstentious

Pronounced: abs-TEN-shus, adj

Notes: This word was a near thing (whether or not to use it)

Yesterday’s word

The word cachinnate is “to laugh loudly or immoderately”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Latin verb cachinnare (to laugh loudly); it is thought that the word was an imitation of a loud laugh. Similar words are the Old English ceahhetan, the Old High German word kachazzen, and the Greek word kachazein.

cachinnate

Pronounced: KAH-kuh-nate, verb

Notes: Not at all what I thought.

Yesterday’s word

The word colophon is

  • a note at the end of the book giving information about its production: font, paper, binding, printer, etc
  • a publisher’s emblem, usually on the spine or the title page of the book
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

I knew that our word was related to books, but I did not know the exact meaning. It came from the Latin word colophon, which came from the Greek word kolophon (summit; finishing touch).

colophon

Pronounced: KOL-uh-fon (alt: KOL-uh-fun), noun

Notes: I have read the word, but I didn’t know the definition

Yesterday’s word

The word redbrick means

  • built of red brick
  • of, relating to, or being the British universities founded in the 19th or early 20th century
First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1700s

Background / Comments

The first definition is kind of “duh!”; it’s what most people would think it meant. The second meaning is a more informal British phrasing, and is not complimentary. Oxford and Cambridge were build of stone, and the newer schools (and – at least at first – less prestigious than these two) were usually made of brick — thus, our word. The word has also been used to describe the universities that came into being after World War II.

redbrick

Pronounced: RED-brick (as is appears), adj

Notes: This word has two definition; one is more obvious than the other

Yesterday’s word

The word recto is “the front of a leaf; the side that is to be read first”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1700s

Background / Comments

In an English book, the recto is the right-hand page; always with an odd number. Note that in languages written from right to left (as Hebrew), the recto is the left-hand page (but still an odd-numbered page). Our word came from the Latin phrase recto folio (right-hand leaf), which came from rectus (right).

recto

Pronounced: REK-toe, noun

Notes: Not what I thought, and very common

Yesterday’s word

The word desideratum is “something desired as essential”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

Our word is a close cousin of “desire”. Our word came from the Latin word desiderare (to long for), which was created be prepending de- to sider-, related to sidus (star; heavenly body).

desideratum

Pronounced: dih-sih-duh-RAH-tuhm, noun

Notes: You may be able to guess the meaning of this word

Yesterday’s word

The word frangible means “readily broken; breakable”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Latin word frangere (to break). This word tends to refer to something that is easy to break. It is interesting that by removing letters (no rearranging), you can spell both “fragile” and “frail”.

frangible

Pronounced: FRAN-juh-bull, adj

Notes: I didn’t know this word existed

Yesterday’s word

The word manticore is “a legendary animal with the head of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail of a dragon or scorpion”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early to mid-1300s

Background / Comments

I think I’ve played some computer game that had a manticore as a creature to be dispatched, but I’m not sure. Our word came into Middle English from the Latin word mantichōrās, which came from a mis-reading of the Greek word martichṓras (note that the ‘r’ was changed to an ‘n’), which came from the Persian word mardom-khar (man-eating), which is made from martiya (man) and xvar (devour). It is possible that the word originally referred to some kind of man-eating tiger.

manticore

Pronounced: MAN-tih-core, noun

Notes: I knew our word, but didn’t know the proper definition

Yesterday’s word

The word quiescent means “still; inactive; not showing symptoms”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

I was aware of the ‘still’ and ‘inactive’ definitions of our word; it makes me think of “quiet” (note that that’s what you if you remove the letters ‘scen’). Anyway our word came from the Latin word quiescere (to rest), which came from quies (quiet).

quiescent

Pronounced: qwee-ES-uht (alt: kwhy-ES-uhnt), adj

Notes: I knew a couple of the definitions, but not one

Yesterday’s word

The word gormandize means “to eat greedily, gluttonously, or ravenously”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

Our word came from a modification of gourmand, which came from French as a synonym of glutton. By the mid-1700s, gourmand referred to someone who is heartily interested in good food and drink”. A related word with an entirely positive meaning – gourmet – came into English in the early 1800s. Like these words, our word has had the meaning softened over time, but not as much: these days it can imply that a big eater has a discriminating palate as well as a one with a generous appetite.