gelid

Pronounced: JEH-luhd, adj

Notes: Not quite what I thought it meant…

Yesterday’s word

A Cerberus is “a powerful, hostile guard”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1300s

Background / Comments

As I recently noted, when I was young, I had an interest in Greek and Roman mythology. I knew about Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to Hades. I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I misread our word when young, and thus mis-pronounced it (I thought it was spelled “Cerebrus” [switching the “b” and “e”] and thus I pronounced it as “suh-REE-bruss”). I thought this was the correct spelling/pronunciation into my adult years. It wasn’t until I ran across someone who pronounced it correctly that I realized I my error from long ago. Even with that background, I only knew of the mythological background; I didn’t realize it was a word in its own right. Our word came from Latin; it came into Latin from the Greek word Kerberos. There is an expression “to give a sop to Cerberus”, which means to give a bribe to keep a troublesome person quiet. It came from the Greek and Roman practice of putting a slice of cake in the hands of the dead to help pacify Cerberus. Our word can also be spelled “Kerberos”, which computer-related people may recognize as an authentication protocol. Finally, one of the Spanish terms for a goalkeeper (in soccer) is “Cancerbero”.

Cerberus

Pronounced: SIR-burr-us, noun

Notes: Another word for which I know the etymology, but didn’t know the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word vagary is “an erratic, unpredictable, or extravagant manifestation, action, or notion”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

I am used to coming across our word in the plural, and, from the context, thought it meant “unpredictability”, which turns out to be the commonly-used form and meaning of our word. When our word first showed up, to “make a vagary” meant that you took a wandering journey, or – in a figurative sense – you wandered from the correct path by committing some offense (usually minor). If one spoke or wrote vagaries, one was wandering from the main subject. It is thought that our word came from the Latin word vagari (to wander).

vagary

Pronounced: VAY-guh-ree, noun

Notes: This is another word I have a vague idea of

Yesterday’s word

The word hydra means “a persistent or multifaceted problem that presents a new obstacle when a part of it is solved”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1300s

Background / Comments

When I was in grade school and high school, I was interested in Greek and Roman mythology, so I knew about the monster called Hydra. It was a multi-headed monster that Hercules fought; when he cut off one head, two more grew. However, I did not know that it had come to have the meaning it does. It reminds me of lots of areas of working with software. In the area of compiling code, I remember fixing one compiler error, and then another one (or several others) showed up. In the same way, fixing a bug in the software (a problem in the software) will often cause a problem to show up in another place. There was one co-worker who was (in)famous for turning over fixes that caused new problems; this person was a hydra creation genius! I’m sure there are other professions that can attest to hydras peculiar to their work. Our word comes from the Latin word Hydra, which came from the Greek word Hudra (water snake).

hydra

Pronounced: HI-druh, noun

Notes: I didn’t know the meaning, but I did know the etymology

Yesterday’s word

The word raconteur is “a person who excels in telling anecdotes”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

As I noted, I’ve run across our word in reading; for some reason, instead of meaning a good storyteller, I had the impression that it referred to a person who made a living by unconventional methods (not necessarily illegal, but sometimes borderline, perhaps). So I learned that there is nothing disreputable at all about our word. It came into English from French, and it came to French from the Old French word raconter (to tell). This word came from another Old French word aconter [alt: acompter] (to tell; to count), which came from the Latin word computare (to count). We get “computer”, “account”, and “count” from this Latin word.

raconteur

Pronounced: ra-kahn-TUHR, noun

Notes: I’ve run across this word, but I didn’t know the exact meaning

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase inter alia means “among other things”

First usage

Our phrase came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

I know I’ve spoken the phrase “in other words…”, so (if I can remember), our phrase would be pretty useful. It came from the Latin words inter (among) combined with alius (other).

inter alia

Pronounced: IN-tuhr AT-leeuh (alt: IN-tuhr AH-lee-uh), adv

Notes: I didn’t know this phrase, but it is useful

Yesterday’s word

The word tendentious means “marked by a tendency in favor of a particular point of view; biased”

First usage

Our word came into English around 1900

Background / Comment

After seeing the definition, it then looked obvious; basically, it’s “tendency” turned into an adjective. I like our word; it’s nice to have an alternative to “biased”. Other such words are “predisposed” and “partisan”. Our word came from the Medieval Latin word tendentia (tendency), with the adjective-making English suffix -ious added.

tendentious

Pronounced: ten-DEN(t)-shuhs, adj

Notes: I didn’t know the word when I saw it

Yesterday’s word

The word athwart, as an adverb, means “from side to side; crosswise”. As a preposition, it means “from side to side of; across”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

Our word is a combination of a- (on; into; toward) plus thwart, which came from the Old Norse word thvert, a neuter form of thverr (transverse).

athwart

Pronounced: uh-thwart, adv/prep

Notes: Not a word I’ve heard of; it may be useful

Yesterday’s word

The word prolegomenon means “prefatory remarks; specifically a formal essay or critical discussion serving to introduce and interpret an extended work

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

Our word is a scholarly one; usually used to refer to the introduction to a word of scholarly analysis. Our word is singular; the correct plural is prolegomena. A more common word is the word “prologue”. Our word came from the Greek verb prolegein (to say beforehand).

prolegomenon

Pronounced: pro-lih-GAH-muh-nahn, noun

Notes: A word I don’t know

Yesterday’s word

The word wherewith means, as an adverb, “with which”. As a pronoun, it means “the thing(s) with which”. As a conjunction, it means “by means of which”

First usage

Our word came into English in the very early 1200s

Background / Comments

As I noted, I know the word ‘wherewithal’, but I didn’t think I knew our word. However, I have heard/read the sentence “My parents gave me the funds wherewitch I purchased my first car.” Our word is a combination of where- and with.

wherewith

Pronounced: where-WITH, adv/pronoun/conjunction

Notes: I am familiar with “wherewithal”, but not our word

Yesterday’s word

The word interlocutor is “one who takes part in dialogue or conversation”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1500s

Background / Comments

I have heard our word in old-time Jack Benny radio shows, and also in the film White Christmas (1954). In these usages, it comes from the minstrel show tradition, and refers to the man in the middle of a line of performers who banters with the end men. I was unaware of the more general definition of the word. Our word came from the Latin word interloqui (to speak between; to issue an interlocutory decree). [An interlocutory decree is a court judgment that comes in the middle of a case and is not decisive.] The Latin word is made up of inter- (between) and loqui (to speak).