gormandize

Pronounced: GORE-muhn-dize, verb

Notes: This word is new to me

Yesterday’s word

The word saturnine means “sluggish” or “gloomy” or “cold”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

I was a bit off with our word – I thought it meant “dark” or “Satan-like”. Our word came from the Latin word Saturninus (of Saturn). People who believe in astrology believe that those born under the planet Saturn’s influence had its characteristics. Saturn was (in ancient times) the farthest known planet, and believed to be the coldest and slowest, and thus the meaning of our word.

saturnine

Pronounced: SAT-uhr-nine, adj

Notes: I’ve run across this word several times, but I didn’t have the correct definition

Yesterday’s word

The word gravid means

  • pregnant
  • distended with or full of eggs
  • full of meaning
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Latin word gravis (heavy). It can refer to an actual pregnancy; it can also refer to the figurative meaning of “pregnant”; that is, “full; teeming” or “meaningful”. Therefore, a writer can be gravid with ideas; clouds may be gravid with rain, or a speaker may make a gravid pause.

gravid

Pronounced: GRAH-vuhd, adj

Notes: Not a word I’ve heard of

Yesterday’s word

The word festinate, as a verb, means “to hurry; to hasten”. As an adjective, it means “hurried; hasty”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

I thought our word was somehow related to “fester”, but it isn’t. It came from the Latin word festinare (to hasten).

festinate

Pronounced: FESS-tuh-nate, verb/adj (alt – for adj only: FESS-tuh-nit)

Notes: Not a word I recognized

Yesterday’s word

The word jactitation is “a tossing to and fro or jerking and twitching of the body”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

Originally, our word had a legal meaning – it meant “a false claim or assertion being publicly thrown about to the detriment of another person”. The word jumped to the medical profession, where is has the meaning above (it is also spelled “jactation”). Our word came from the Latin word jactare (to throw).

jactitation

Pronounced: jack-tuh-TAY-shun, noun

Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word leechdom is “a remedy or medicine”

First usage

Our word came into English around 900

Background / Comments

Our word has nothing to do with leeches – the origin of that word is different. Our word came from the Old English word laecedom (medicine; healing) which came from laece (physician).

leechdom

Pronounced: LEECH-duhm, noun

Notes: Not at all what I thought it was

Yesterday’s word

The word biophilia is “a hypothetical human tendency to interact or be closely associated with other forms of life in nature”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1960s (but see comments below)

Background / Comments

Our word was coined by Erich Fromm who has a psychoanalyst; it came from the New Latin words bio- (life) and -philia (a friendly feeling toward). He used it to mean the biological drive toward self-preservation. It was in the 1970s that Edward O Wilson, an American biologist, modified the meaning of our word to “the rich, natural pleasure that comes from being surrounded by living organisms”.

biophilia

Pronounced: by-oh-FIH-lee-uh, noun

Notes: This word is new to me

Yesterday’s word

The word lissom (or lissome) means “agile; graceful”

First usage

Our word came into English around 1800

Background / Comments

Our word is simply an altered spelling of “lithesome”, which came from the Old English word lithe (flexible; mild) combined with -some (having the quality of). I was in the neighborhood of the meaning — I thought it implied youth as well… but perhaps only youth are considered capable of being agile.

lissom

Pronounced: LISS-uhm, adj

Notes: Also spelled “lissome” – kind of knew this word, but chose to include it

Yesterday’s word

The word samara is “a dry indehiscent usually one-seeded winged fruit” (such as the fruit of a maple, ash, or elm tree).

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comment

When I saw the definition, I thought “What does indehiscent mean?” Although I was tempted to give this word its own entry, I didn’t. So, when I looked it up, the entry said “not dehiscent” — not very helpful. A little more research found that it refers to a fruit that does not open at maturity. I think we called the fruit of the maple tree “helicopter seeds”, after the helicopter-like rotation as they fall from the tree. Some say that a samara looks like a key, so they are also called “keys”. Other terms are “whirlybird” (I think I’ve heard this one), “whirligig” (not sure about this), and “spinning jenny” (I’ve not heard this word for a samara). Our word came from Latin, where it means “seed of the elm”.

samara

Pronounced: sah-MAH-ruh, noun

Notes: Not only did I not know our word, I didn’t know a word in the definition

Yesterday’s word

The word os is

  • a mount or an orifice (the plural is ora)
  • a bone (the plural is ossa)
First usage

The first definition came into English in the mid-1800s; the second definition came into English in the early 1400s

Background / Comments

The first definition came from the Latin word os (mouth). The second definition came from the Latin word ōs (bone).

os

Pronounced: aws

Notes: An interesting word, but I didn’t know it

Yesterday’s word

The word swivet is “a state of extreme agitation”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

I have not run across our word, but I have (and probably you have, too) heard other words that fit the phrase “he got into a swivet about X” – I can think of “sweat”, “lather”, “tether”, and “tizzy”, and I’m sure there are other. The origin of our word is unknown.