futilitarian

Pronounced: fyoo-til-ih-TARE-ee-uhn, adj/noun

Notes: I haven’t seen this word, but you may be able to guess the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word xenial means “of, relating to, or constituting hospitality or relations between host and guest”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1700s

Background / Comments

Our word looked to me like a combination of “genial” and “xenos”, the Greek word for a stranger (from which we get xenophobic [fear of stranger]). While that isn’t right, it does give a pretty good idea of the meaning of the word. Our word merely came from the Greek word xenios, which came from xenos (guest; stranger).

xenial

Pronounced: ZEE-nee-uhl, adj

Notes: I had a few guesses, but none of them were quite right

Yesterday’s word

The word peformative means “relating to a statement that functions as an action by the fact of its being uttered”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1920s

Background / Comments

If the definition above is not clear, think of the phrase “I apologize” – the very fact of saying it means that you are apologizing. “I resign” is another performative utterance. Our word came from the Old French word parfournir, which is composed from par (through) and fournir (to furnish).

performative

Pronounced: purr-FOR-muh-tiv, adj

Notes: This is a new word to me

Yesterday’s word

The word langue means “language viewed abstractly as a system of forms and conventions used for communication”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1900s, as far as I can tell

Background / Comments

Originally, our word came into Middle English (1100s to 1400s) from the French word langue (language), and that’s all it meant in English, but the word fell into disuse. From 1907-1913, a Swiss linguist (Fredinand de Saussure) contrasted “langue” (our word) with “parole” — langue meaning as above — and “parole” meaning the language as actually used by a person. In any event, I don’t recall every running across our word before.

langue

Pronounced: lah(n)g, noun

Notes: I didn’t know the word, but it looked (relatively) modern

Yesterday’s word

The word stridulate means “to make a shrill creaking noise by rubbing body parts together”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Crickets stridulate, as do many insects. When I saw the word, I thought it was related to “strident”, which I’ve run across in reading as describing certain women’s voices, so I thought our word might mean “screaming” or “yelling”. In fact, our word came from the Latin word stridere (to make a harsh sound), which is also the root of ‘strident’: therefore, I think I’m fair in saying that I was “close(-ish)” in meaning.

stridulate

Pronounced: STRIJ-uh-late, verb

Notes: I was close(-ish) to the correct meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word natant means “swimming or floating in the water”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid- to late 1400s

Background / Comment

When I saw our word, I thought of “natale”, which means “birth” – thus ‘neo-natal’ and ‘nativity’, and so forth. Thus, I was surprised to see the definition our word. It turns out that “swimming” (which most of us use) came from German, and our word came from the Latin word natare (to swim). A swimming pool can also be a “natatorium”; likewise, the act of swimming is “natation”. Scientists seem to prefer Latin backgrounds, so our word may more frequently show up in scientific writing – or whenever someone is leaning toward Latin.

natant

Pronounced: NAY-t(uh)nt, adj

Notes: Another word that I guessed incorrectly (very much so!)

Yesterday’s word

The word pathography is “a biography that focuses on the negative”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

I tried to be smart when trying to figure out what our word meant: I know that “pathology” is the study of diseases, so I figured that our word was a book about diseases. I was right about the origins of our word; it came from the Greek word patho- (suffering; disease) combined with -graphy (writing). It turns out that originally, the word referred to a description of a disease. Over time it changed to mean the study of an individual or a community as relating to the influence of a disease. With more time and change, it has (mostly) assumed our present meaning.

pathography

Pronounced: puh-THOG-ruh-fee, noun

Notes: Not what I thought it was

Yesterday’s word

The word usufruct is

  • the legal right of using and enjoying the fruits or profits of something belonging to another
  • the right to use or enjoy something
First usage

Our word came into English in the early to mid-1600s

Background / Comments

I wrote yesterday that we have “kind of” seen this word before because the word of the day for 18 Oct 2023 was fructuous (fruitful); in the comments, I happened to mention our word and its meaning. As these writings continue, it will become harder to remember if I have used a word before — especially since I get words from multiple sources. More than once, I caught one source repeating a word that I used from a different source. However, I cannot be sure that I have caught all such occurrences, or that I will catch them in the future. (Thus, one of these days, I’ll add a disclaimer to the “About” page). I ran across our word in the Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe story The Rubber Band. I confess that this is another case in which I gleaned an idea of the meaning from the context and did not actually look up the word. Our word came originally from the Latin phrase usus et fructus (use and enjoyment), which was condensed to ususfructus, and from thence to English.

usufruct

Pronounced: YOU-zuh-frukt, noun

Notes: We’ve seen this before (kind of)

Yesterday’s word

The word sinecure is “a position in which one is paid for little or no work”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

When I was in high school (a long time ago), I subscribed to Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (EQMM). Like most collections, there were stories I enjoyed very much, and others I didn’t; I always read every story, but there are some I never went back to. It is still running today, but is now known as Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. It is the longest-running mystery fiction magazine in existence. I bring this up because it was in a story in EQMM that I first ran across our word. As is common with some words, I had an idea of the meaning from the context, but I didn’t bother to look it up. Knowing the correct definition, there are many jobs, both in government areas and in businesses that could be described with our word. It came from the Latin phrase beneficium sine cura – a church position that did not involve caring for the souls of the parishoners: the phrase uses the words sine (without) and cura (care).

sinecure

Pronounced: SIGH-ni-kyoor (alt: SIN-ih-kyoor), noun

Notes: I’ve read this word, and got a general idea from context. Do you know it?

Yesterday’s word

The word effulgence means “radiant splendor; brilliance”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1600s

Background / Comments

When I first glanced at our word, I swapped the “u” and the “l” and thought it was “efflugence”, which I thought was related to “effluence” (an outflow; I’ve heard it used in a euphemistic sense for the outflow of toilets). But all that was error; Our word came from the Latin word fulgēre (to shine). It does have a related word – “refulgence” – which has a similar meaning, but implies reflection.

effulgence

Pronounced: ih-FULL-gen(t)s, noun

Notes: I transposed a couple of letters and had the totally wrong meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word laissez-aller means “unrestrained freedom”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

I believe that unrestrained freedom is a very bad thing; we need some kind of check on our bad (evil) impulses. With no restraints at all, we would merely became self-centered and self-indulgent. Our word came from the French word laisser-aller (to allow to go).