maunder

Pronounced: MON-duhr, verb

Notes: I had an interesting experience when I saw this word

Yesterday’s word

The word anneal means

  • to make (something, like glass or steel) less brittle by heating and then cooling
  • strengthen; toughen
First usage

An old word; it came into usage in English before 1000

Background / Comments

Our word has an interesting history; it was associated with the an early discovery — fire. It came from the Old English word onœlan, which came from the root āl (fire). Originally, the word simply meant “to set on fire”. That meaning is obsolete. These days, our word is often found in DNA research.

anneal

Pronounced: uh-NEEL, verb

Notes: I confused this word with another word

Yesterday’s word

The word fardel is

  • a bundle
  • a burden
First usage

Our word came into English around 1300

Background / Comments

I don’t remember hearing our word, but if I can remember it, maybe I’ll use it to refer to a bundle. Our word came from the Old French word fardel, which is a diminutive of farde (package; burden), which came from from the Arabic word farda (piece; pack).

fardel

Pronounced: FAR-dl, noun

Notes: An interesting word to know – it’s new to me

Yesterday’s word

The word hummock is

  • a rounded knoll or hillock
  • a ridge of ice
  • a fertile area in the southern United States (especially Florida)
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

As you can see, the definition has nothing to do with a hammock, so how is one “right” who thinks of “hammock”? It turns out that “hammock” is an alternate form of our word, but it not related at all to the swinging bed made of canvas that we call a “hammock” (that comes from the Spanish word hamaca, which came from Taino (a language spoken by the original inhabitants of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas). Getting back to our word, the exact etymology is unclear, but it is related to the Middle Low German word hummel (small height).

hummock

Pronounced: HUH-muck, noun

Notes: If you think this is just a misspelled “hammock”, you are right and wrong

Yesterday’s word

The word sorb means

  • to take up and hold by absorption
  • to take up and hold by adsorption
First usage

Our word came into English in the first decade of the 1900s

Background / Comments

If you think like me, when you saw the definition, you thought “what is adsorption?”. Most of us presumably know “absorption” – it’s what happens when you put a drop of water on a sponge. When we turn the ‘b’ around, we get “adsorption”, which is when a substance is merely deposited on the surface of another (think of a drop of water on a glass slide). Our word was created from absorb, which came from the Latin word absorbere, which is composed of ab- (away) and sorbere (to suck).

sorb

Pronounced: sorb, verb

Notes: A neat word, and the definition was educative also

Yesterday’s word

The word kvell means “to be extraordinarily proud”

First usage

It’s hard to tell for certain; it’s an Americanism, probably created in the mid-1900s; in 1952, a book of Jewish words and expressions was published that contained our word, but proof of earlier usage has been elusive.

Background / Comments

When I saw the “kv” in our word, I immediately thought that our word had a Yiddish origin, and that turns out to be correct. Our word came from the Yiddish word kveln (to be delighted), which came from the Middle High German word quellen (to well, gush, or swell).

kvell

Pronounced: kvel, verb

Notes: A new word to me

Yesterday’s word

The word connate means

  • congenial
  • congenital
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Latin word connasci (to be born with), which is composed of com- (with) and nasci (to be born). I had confused our word with “cognate”.

connate

Pronounced: CON-ate (alt: koh-NATE), adj

Notes: Not the word I was thinking of

Yesterday’s word

The word prehension means

  • the act of taking hold, seizing, or grasping
  • mental understanding; comprehension
  • apprehension by the senses
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

I should have been able to get to the meaning through the related word “prehensile”, which I think I knew from the phrase “prehensile tail”, but it didn’t occur to me. Our word came from the Latin word prehendere (to seize; to grasp). Other words from this root are “comprehend”, “apprehend”, and “prison”.

prehension

Pronounced: pree-HEN(t)-shuhn, noun

Notes: I should have been able to guess this one

Yesterday’s Word

The word white-livered means “cowardly”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

I am familiar with the term “lily-livered”, which is alternate word to our word. Our word comes from the belief that a lack of courage (or vigor) was caused by a deficiency of bile; this caused the liver to show as light-colored. So, a white liver would be the most cowardly; a lily-colored liver would also be quite pale in color.

prehension

Pronounced: pree-HEN(t)-shun, noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I do know a related word

Yesterday’s word

The word white-livered means “cowardly”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

I didn’t plan to have two words in a row that both means “cowardly”; it’s just how the words happened to show up. Our word is also known as “lily-livered” and I do know that form of the word, even though I have not run across our word. It comes from the idea that a lack of courage was caused by a deficiency of bile which showed in a light-colored liver.

white-livered

Pronounced: white-LIVE-uhrd, adj

Notes: You may know this word; I found the origin interesting

Yesterday’s word

The word pusillanimous means “lacking courage and resolution; marked by contemptible timidity”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

I must have been thinking of ‘pugilism’ when I though of boxing. Our word came from the Latin word pusillus (very small) and animus (spirit). The combination thus means “a very small spirit”, which is a very accurate description of someone who is cowardly. In the 1970s, Spiro Agnew, when he was the Vice President of the United States used our word in the phrase “pusillanimous pussyfooting”.