obnubilate

Pronounced: ahb-NEW-buh-late, verb

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I like it – it’s fun to say and can be used

Yesterday’s word

The word gunsel is

  • a gun-carrying criminal
  • a tramp’s young intimate companion
First usage

Our word came into English in the 1910s

Background / Comments

Every time I hear our word, it brings up memories of the classic film The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart. When I looked up the film, I discovered that it was the director’s first time to direct a film (how about that?!). Bogart’s character, Sam Spade, uses our word to refer to a gun-toting henchmen, and that was the only usage I knew, so the second was quite a surprise. In doing research on the word, it turns out that the film (and the book it was based on) are, in fact, the reason our word has the first meaning. The second meaning above is very delicately put; a synonym is “catamite”, but I won’t define it here (if you are curious, you can look it up). Our word is essentially an altered spelling of the Yiddish word genzel (gosling).

gunsel

Pronounced: GUN-suhl, noun

Notes: You may think you know this word, but… (see tomorrow)

Yesterday’s word

The word insuperable means “incapable of begin surmounted, overcome, passed over, or solved”

First usage

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

Background / Comments

I have heard or read this word, but I think it is misused to merely mean “hard to overcome” instead of the true meaning of “unable to be overcome”. As you might expect, our word came from Latin, where superare means “to go over, surmount, overcome, or excel”: with the addition of the prefix in- (not) and the suffix -abilis (able), we get insuperabilis, which was anglicized as our word.

insuperable

Pronounced: in-SOO-pruh-bull (alt: in-SOO-puh-ruh-bull), adj

Notes: A borderline word

Yesterday’s word

The word shadchan is “a matchmaker or a marriage-broker”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

I laughed… and then I wondered. If you looked at the pronunciation yesterday, our word sounds very much like “shotgun” … the thought of a “shadchan wedding” made me laugh. But then I wondered if the phrase “shotgun wedding” might not have come from hearing our word mispronounced. Our word came from the Yiddish word shadkhan, which came from Hebrew.

shadchan

Pronounced: SHAHT-kuhn, noun

Notes: Not a word I knew, but some people may know it

Yesterday’s word

The word presentiment is “a feeling that something will or is about to happen; premonition”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1700s

Background / Comments

I should have been able to get very close, as the word is a combination of pre- (before) and sentiment (feeling; emotion). Our word actually came from the French word pressentiment, but that came from the Latin word sentire (to feel). Note — the prefix pre- also came from Latin.

presentiment

Pronounced: prih-ZEN-tuh-muhnt, noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but should have guessed better – it’s not that hard to work out

Yesterday’s word

The word futilitarian means, as an adjective

  • devoted to futile pursuits
  • holding the belief that human striving is useless

It has similar meanings as a noun:

  • a person devoted to futile pursuits
  • one who believes that human striving is useless
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word sounded to me like a word created in the 1900s, so I was surprised to see that is came about earlier. It is a combination of futile and utilitarian and was coined by English author Robert Southey.

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.