tucket

Pronounced: TUH-kuht, noun

Notes: A new word for me

Yesterday’s word

The word descry means

  • to catch sight of
  • to discover or detect
First usage

Our word came into English before 1400

Background / Comments

Our word seems a little familiar to me, but I cannot recall anywhere I’ve run across it. Our word came from the Old French word descrier (to cry out), which came from crier (to cry), which came from Latin critare, which came from quiritare (to cry out). The word “scry” comes from a shortening of our word.

descry

Pronounced: dih-SCRY, verb

Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word flyblown means

  • not pure; tainted
  • not bright and new; seedy
  • trite; hackneyed
  • infested with eggs or young larvae of a blowfly
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

Apparently, in the 1600s, the word “blow” had the meaning “to deposit eggs or larvae on”. The insect called the blowfly lays its eggs on meat or wounds. Thus, our word has the original meaning of infesting with eggs/larvae. By extension, things that are flyblown are tainted, and not bright and new.

flyblown

Pronounced: FLY-blone, adj

Notes: I think I’ve read this word somewhere, but I didn’t know the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word Lovelace is “a seducer; a licentious man”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

As I noted yesterday, I’ve run across our word as a name of someone in stories; I’ve never heard it used as a word in and of itself. Our word was named after a character (Robert Lovelace) in the novel Clarissa by Samuel Richardson and published in 1748.

Lovelace

Pronounced: LOVE-lace, noun

Notes: I didn’t know this was a word; I’ve just heard it as a name in fiction

Yesterday’s word

The word litany is

  • a prayer consisting of a series of supplications and responses said alternately by the leader and the congregation
  • a lengthy recitation
First usage

Our word came into English before 900

Background / Comments

Originally, our word meant the first definition. It came from Anglo-French, which came from Late Latin, which came from the Greek word litaneia (entreaty). Over time, other definitions came about: the chant-like quality of an actual litany led to a repetitive chant sense, which led to the idea of a lengthy recitation, which led to an idea of a sizeable series or set of something — such as excuses and I noted yesterday.

litany

Pronounced: LIH-tuh-nee, noun

Notes: I’ve heard this word in an expression, but I wasn’t sure what it meant

Yesterday’s word

The word chauvinism means “the belief in the superiority of one’s country, group, gender, etc”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

When growing up, the phrase “male chauvinism” or “male chauvinist pig” was thrown around. However, I did not know about our word’s origin: our word was named after Nicolas Chauvin, a legendary French soldier in Napolean’s army – he was noted for his fanatical patriotism. His name was popularized in the 1831 play La Cocarde Tricolore by the Cogniard brothers.

chauvinism

Pronounced: SHOW-vuh-niz-uhm, noun

Notes: I was familiar with the word, but the background was interesting

Yesterday’s word

The word jocund means “marked by or suggestive of high spirits and lively mirthfulness”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1300s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Middle English jocound, which came from the Late Latin word jocundus (agreeable; delightful), which came from the verb juvāre (to help). The word jocundus looks similar to jocus (joke), which is the origin of our word “joke”.

jocund

Pronounced: JAH-kuhnd, adj

Notes: This was a borderline case; I was a little familiar with the word

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase Paul Pry is “an excessively inquisitive person”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

I have a recollection of running across our word somewhere. For some reason, I think our word is more common in the UK; I am used to “nosy parker” in the US. Our word comes from the comedy play Paul Pry by John Poole.

Paul Pry

Pronounced: (like it looks)

Notes: I think I’ve run across the word somewhere

Yesterday’s word

The word controvertible means “capable of being disputed or opposed by reason”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

I find it interesting that the more common opposite word – incontrovertible – is the newer word. There are many words that are opposites, but one is far more common that another word; for example, “disgruntled” is better known than its opposite “gruntled”. Our word came from the English word controvert (to dispute or oppose by reasoning), which came from Anglo-French, which came from the Latin word controversus (disputable), which is made up of contro- (against) and versus, the past participle of vertere (to turn).

controvertible

Pronounced: KAHN-truh-ver-tuh-buhl, adj

Notes: I should have known the definition

Yesterday’s word

The word Lorelei is “a dangerously seductive woman”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

I happen to know a teenager named Lorelei; she most certainly is nothing like her name definition. Our word came from German legends; Lorelei was a nymph who sat on a rock (also called Lorelei) on the Rhine river and lured sailors with her songs to their destruction on the rock.

Lorelei

Pronounced: LORE-uh-lie, noun

Notes: Not a word I know, but I do know a person with this name

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase big data is “an accumulation of data that is too large and complex for processing by traditional database management tools”

First usage

Our phrase came into English around 1980

Background / Comments

Our phrase is used in the computer industry to refer to very large sets of data that need special processing because they don’t fit into traditional databases. Our phrase is just the two words “big” and “data” put together.