Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: SWIH-vuht, noun
Notes: A new word to me
The word intractable means “not easily handled, managed, or controlled”
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
I thought that this word meant something like “stubborn”. Our word came from the Latin word tractare (to handle), which came from trahere (draw).
Pronounced: in-TRAK-tuh-bull, adj
Notes: I’ve read this word enough that I recognize it, but my understanding was off a bit
The word winkle means
Our word came into English in the late 1910s or early 1920s
I have run across our word in the Peter Wimsey stories by Dorothy Sayers (but I cannot recall the exact story or stories). From the context, I was pretty close to the second definition above. Our word is a shortening of periwinkle, which is a marine or freshwater snail (and it is a not a simple task to exact one from its shell). The word periwinkle came from the Latin word pina (the name of a mussel) and the Old English word wincle (a snail shell). During World War I, the Allies found that removing enemies from the trenches was as hard as extracting a well-entrenched snail. They began to use our word to describe their efforts – later, it expanded in a figurative sense, such as “winkling information out of someone”.
Pronounced: WING-kuhl, verb
Notes: This word is more common in the UK; it was a borderline case for me
The word opisthograph is “a text written on both front and back” (can refer to paper, stone, parchment, etc).
Our word came into English in the early 1600s
The Word-of-the-Day calendars (one of my reference material) is an opisthograph, with one side having the word, its pronunciation, and meaning, and the other side having interesting information about the word or its background. Cartoon calendars tend to NOT be opisthographs because they are blank on one side (and thus they make nice scratch paper for me). As you probably did, I recognized the word “graph” in our word and suspected that it had something to do with writing. In fact, our word came from the Greek words opistho- (back) and -graph (writing).
Pronounced: o-PISS-thuh-graf, noun
Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I really like it and hope I get to use it soon!
The word raffish means
Our word came into English in either the very late 1700s or very early 1800s
Originally, the reference material for our word included the synonym “rakish” for the second definition, but after doing additional research, I believe that to have been a mistake – possible a printing error; it would fit with the first definition, but not the second. I guessed that our word came from “rakish”; possibly from someone who could not pronounce the ‘k’ sound very well. My guess was wrong: our word came from the word raff, which is a shortening of riffraff (a group of people regarded as disreputable or worthless), which came from the Middle English rif and raf (every particle; things of small value), which came from the Old French expression rif et raf, which came from rifler (to spoil).
Pronounced: RAH-fish, adj
Notes: I think I’ve run across this word in reading
The word codex is “a manuscript volume (as opposed to a scroll), especially of an anicent text”
Our word came into English in the late 1500s
As noted, I get our word confused with another word – coda (a closing passage at the end of a musical composition). Our word came from the Latin word codex (tree trunk; wood block; book).
Pronounced: KOH-decks, noun
Notes: I keep getting this word and another one confused
The word jawboning is “the use of public appeals to influence the actions especially of business and labor leaders” – such an appeal is often made by a political leader such as a president.
Our word came into English in the 1960s
One of my thoughts upon seeing our word was that it meant something like “idle chatter”. The other was caused by thinking about Samson of Biblical fame, who killed a lot of men with a jawbone, so if our word didn’t mean “chatter”, I thought it may have something to do with a figurative slaughter — perhaps “talking an idea to death”… so much for my guesses. Back in the late 1800s, the word “jawbone” meant “credit”… possibly because one had to talk people into lending money on credit. By the mid-1960s, as a verb, “jawbone” meant “to talk about to gain some end”, and our word was born a few years later.
Pronounced: JAW-boh-ning
Notes: I had two different thoughts about the meaning; neither were correct
The word bibligony is “the art of producing or publishing books”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
An alternative word to our word is “bibliogenesis” (of which I would have been able to guess the meaning). Our word came from the Greek words biblio- (book) and -gony (origin).
Pronounced: bib-lee-OG-uh-nee, noun
Notes: I saw “biblio-” at the start of the word and thought that I would know it, but I didn’t
The word pleonasm is “the use of more words than those necessary to denote mere sense; redundancy”
Our word came into English in the late 1500s.
A great word! We’ve probably all run across redundant words, and this is a nice word (even if it is a bit fancy) to describe such writing. It came from the Late Latin word pleonasmus, which came from the Greek verb pleonazein (to be or have more than enough), which ultimately came from the Greek word pleōn (more). I was guilty of a pleonasm in college: while writing a paper, I had shorted some writing, but left myself with the phrase While this fact is true…, which the teacher caught, circled in red, and noted “facts are always true”. Generally, a pleonasm is considered poor style, but there are times when it can be used for emphasis — for example, the phrase I saw it with my own eyes!, while strictly speaking, is a pleonasm (who else’s eyes would you see it with?), it has a nice rhythm and emphasis.
Pronounced: PLEE-uh-nah-zuhm, noun
Notes: A great word to know and use – it was unknown to me
The word hauteur means “haughtiness”
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
Our word kind of looks like “haughty” (if you take a quick glance). It came from the French word hauteur (haughtiness; height), which came from the Latin word altus (high).
Pronounced: hoe-TURR, noun
Notes: You may know, or be able to guess, the meaning
The word inanition is
Our word came into English in the second half of 1300s
Our word describes a state of suffering due to emptiness — either literally due to lack of nourishment or metaphorical due to no interest or energy. Our word was originally in-anisioun, and came from the Latin verb inanire (to make empty), which came from the Latin noun inanis (empty). A much more well-known word also came from this Latin noun – inane (and in case you don’t know the definition, it is something lacking substance or significance).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day