Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: in-turh-LAH-kyuh-tuhr, noun
Notes: Not what I thought
The word constellate means “to gather or form a cluster”
Our word came into English in the early 1600s
I thought this had to do with stars because I recognized the origins: Our word came from the Latin words con- (together) and stella (star). I thought it would have to do with stars; possibly because of the word “constellation”, which is a group of stars.
Pronounced: CON-stuh-late, verb
Notes: I was correct in the origins of the word, but not the meaning
The word palimpsest is
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
Yesterday, I thought I remembered the word from a mystery story; Sherlock Holmes (by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) was on my mind, but I also thought it might be Lord Peter Wimsey (by Dorothy Sayers), as he dealt with old books. I went with the first thought and found I was correct: our word occurs in the story The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez – at the beginning of the story, it says that Holmes is “deciphering the remains of the original inscription upon a palimpsest“. When writing surfaces were rare, they were often re-used. Our word describes a document that was erased to make room for the new document. Such erasing did not entirely eradicate the old writing, so the original writing could still be worked out under the new writing. As Sherlock Holmes remarked, “It is trying work for the eyes.” Our word came from the Latin word palimpsēstus, which came from the Greek word palímpsēstos (rubbed again), which was comprised of pálin (again) and psēstós (scraped; rubbed).
Pronounced: PA-lum(p)-sest, noun
Notes: I have recollection of running across this word in a mystery story
The word tellurian, as an adjective, refers to “relating to or inhabiting Earth”. As a noun, it means “an inhabitant of Earth”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
I’ve heard or read enough science fiction that I should have recognized our word. It came from the Latin word tellus (earth). Tellus (also called Terra) was the goddess of the earth in Roman mythology.
Pronounced: teh-LOOR-ee-uhn, adj/noun
Notes: When I first saw this word, I didn’t know it
The word whipsaw means “to beset with two or more adverse conditions or situations at once”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
I thought our word meant something like “to pull in two directions at once”. A whipsaw is a two-man tool (one man stands on or above the log being sawed, and the other below it) that dates back to the 1400s; but in the mid- to late 1800s, it started to be used in a figurative sense to refer to someone or something that is doubly hurt (“cut”). These days, the word is usually used to refer to financial crises or losses.
Pronounced: WHIP-saw, verb
Notes: This doesn’t mean what I thought it meant
The word venery means
The first definition came into English in the late 1400s; the second definition is earlier, coming into English in the mid-1300s
As I noted yesterday, each definition has a different source: the first definition comes from the Latin word veneria, which came from venus (love/desire). As you probably know, Venus was the Roman goddess of love and beauty. It is after her that the planet is named. The second definition comes from the Old French word venerie (to hunt).
Pronounced: VEN-uh-ree, noun
Notes: Two definitions from two different sources
The word girandole means
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
Originally, our word refered to a kind of firework with a radiating pattern (or even something that has a radiating pattern like a firework). Our word came from French and Italian, which came from the Latin word gyrus (gyre; a circular or spiral motion of form). In the 1700s, our word was used to refer to the candlestick, and then (even later – in the 1800s), it began to refer to earrings.
Pronounced: JIR-uhn-dole, noun
Notes: Another new word for me
The word saturnalia is “a time of unrestrained revelry”
Our word came into English in the late 1500s
As I noted yesterday, I think I’ve run across this word somewhere, but I don’t remember where. Our word came from the Latin word Saturnalia (relating to Saturn). In ancient Rome, Saturnalia was a festival organized in honor of the Roman god Saturn. The planet Saturn is named after this same Roman god.
Pronounced: sat-uhr-NAY-lee-uh, noun
Notes: I think I’ve seen our word somewhere
The word eclogue refers to “a poem in which shepherds converse”
Our word came into English in the late 1500s
As I noted, our word is a highly specific one. Our word traces way back to the Idylls of the Greek poet Theocritus. However, we got the word from the Roman poet Virgil in his ten Eclogues (also called Bucolics). In the Renaissance and through the 1600s, eclogues were popular (albeit not very formal). Eclogues fell out of favor with the Romantic poets. As we have becomes a more urban society, we tend to understand less of rural conversation. These days, our word can refer to poems involving people other than shepherds, and may be laced with irony.
Pronounced: EK-log, noun
Notes: A highly specific word, but I didn’t know it
The word fribble, as a verb, means “to act in a wasteful or frivolous manner” or “to fritter away”. As a noun, it means “a wasteful or frivolous person or thing”
Our word came into English in the early 1600s
The origin of our word is not known for certain. It it thought to be related to frivol (to behave frivolously), which came from the Latin word frivolus (worthless). I think that our word is somebody’s misspelling of “frivol”.
Pronounced: FRIB-uhl, verb/noun
Notes: Not a word I can remember running across
The word tucket is “a fanfare on a trumpet”
Our word came into English in the late 1500s
Our word is rarely seen these days, as most people use “fanfare” instead. However, “fanfare” is a later word (the mid-1700s), so our word is found in the stage directions of several Shakespeare plays. Our word is thought to derive from the obsolete English verb tuk (to beat a drum; to sound a trumpet).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day