venery

Pronounced: VEN-uh-ree, noun

Notes: Two definitions from two different sources

Yesterday’s word

The word girandole means

  • an ornamental branched candlestick
  • a pendant earring usually with three ornaments hanging from a central piece
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

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.

girandole

Pronounced: JIR-uhn-dole, noun

Notes: Another new word for me

Yesterday’s word

The word saturnalia is “a time of unrestrained revelry”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

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.

saturnalia

Pronounced: sat-uhr-NAY-lee-uh, noun

Notes: I think I’ve seen our word somewhere

Yesterday’s word

The word eclogue refers to “a poem in which shepherds converse”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

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.

eclogue

Pronounced: EK-log, noun

Notes: A highly specific word, but I didn’t know it

Yesterday’s word

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”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

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”.

fribble

Pronounced: FRIB-uhl, verb/noun

Notes: Not a word I can remember running across

Yesterday’s word

The word tucket is “a fanfare on a trumpet”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

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).

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.