Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: rih-DOWT, noun
Notes: You may know this word (it does NOT mean “to doubt again”!)
The word toenadering means “establishing or re-establishing of cordial relations, especially between nations”
Our word came into English in the 1920s
Our word is a Dutch word; it comes from toenadering (advance; approach), which is made up of toe (to) and nader (closer).
Pronounced: TOO-nah-duhr-ing, noun
Notes: My (incorrect) guess what that it had something to do with toes
The word cocooning is “the practice of spending leisure time at home in preference to going out”
Our word came into English in the 1980s from America
I find it interesting that a person who enjoys an active life in other people’s company is called “a social butterfly”, which makes our word quite appropriate. Perhaps someone who enjoys cocooning will eventually emerge as a social butterfly? The word cocoon has been around for hundreds of years; over time, it has mutated into (first) the idea of wrapping oneself as if in a cocoon, and second, the idea of being trapped (cocooned in restrictions) or being in a safe, protected place. Our word was just another extension of the meaning.
Pronounced: kuh-KOO-ning, noun
Notes: I’m assuming the meaning of this word is a recent one
The word Croesus is “a very rich person”
Our word came into English in the late 1300s
As I noted yesterday, our word breaks my usual rules: I do know the meaning of our word, having across it as the phrase “as rich as Croesus” (“filthy rich” is more common these days). But I posted our word anyway because I wanted to relate a story about this word that I enjoy. You probably know that when people hear a word or words they don’t know, they often put in a word that they do know. Children frequently do this practice, but so do adult. For example, in the song Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, some children think the line is “… he’s makin’ a list, chicken and rice…”. Likewise, in the song Winter Wonderland, some thing that the line is “…In the meadow we can build a snowman/And pretend that he is sparse and brown…”. In the book Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers, there is a conversation with servants. One of them, describing a wealthy relative mangles the phrase “as rich as Croesus” to “as rich as sneezes” (well, it made me laugh). I’m always reminded of this malapropism. As you may expect, our word is capitalized because it is the name of a real person: Croesus was the king of Lydia (now part of the country of Turkey). He ruled in the 500s BC; conquered the surrounding regions, and became very wealthy, and so his name entered our language.
Pronounced: KREE-suhs, noun
Notes: This word is an exception to my usual rules (see tomorrow’s comments)
The word olio is “a miscellaneous collection of things” (for example, a variety show)
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
Our word comes from the Spanish word olla (pot; stew), which comes from the Latin word olla (pot).
Pronounced: OH-lee-oh, noun
Notes: I have no memory of this word
The word enclave is “a distinct territorial, cultural, or social unit enclosed within or as if within foreign territory”.
Our word came into English in the middle 1800s
The day after I wrote the entry for our word, I ran across it in the news of the day. It comes from the French noun enclave, which comes from the Middle French verb enclaver (enclose), which comes from the Latin prefix in- and the Latin noun clavis (key).
Pronounced: EHN-klave, noun
Notes: Our word has a specialized meaning that I did not know
The word uberous means “abundant; fruitful”
Our word came into English in the early 1600s
These days, we tend to use “uber-” as a prefix meaning ‘super’ or ‘superb’; because of this, I was incorrect in my guess at the meaning of our word. Our word just comes from the Latin word uber (rich; fruitful; abundant).
Pronounced: YOO-burr-us, adj
Notes: Not what I thought
The word Apollonian means
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s (but see the comments below)
The first definition is the obvious one. I thought that the second definition seemed strange, especially as Apollo was not necessarily known for his balance of character. The ancient Greeks regarded Apollo as the perfection of youthful manhood, and thus, the first meaning came into being. The second meaning came about from the word of Nietzsche and other German scholars in the 1800s used Apollonian in contrast with Dionysian to contrast the forces of calm rationality to the forces that were frenzied, uninhibited, and instinctive.
Pronounced: a-puh-LOH-nee-uhn, adj
Notes: You probably know one meaning, but there is a second one that you may not know (I didn’t)
The word resumptive means (as you might guess) “tending to resume, repeat, or summarize”
Our word goes back a long way; it came into English in the late 1300s
I didn’t know that our word existed, which is why I posted it — but it is pretty easy to guess the meaning. Our word comes from the Latin word resumere (to resume), which comes from re- (again) and sumere (to take).
Pronounced: rih-ZUMP-tihv, adj
Notes: You may know this word
The word oligopsony is “a market situation in which a few independent buyers exert a disproportionate influence on the market”
Our word came into English in the 1940s
Many people are familiar with ‘monopoly’; our word is similar. In addition, both words trace back to the Greek language, although ‘monopoly’ came to use via Latin, and our word came straight from Greek. It is made of olig- (few) combined with opsōnia (the purchase of victuals). This latter word is composed of opson (food) and ōneisthai (to buy).
Pronounced: ah-luh-GAHP-suh-nee, noun
Notes: Certain people may know this word (I didn’t)
The word peculate means “to steal of misuse money or property entrusted to one’s care; embezzle”
Our word came into English in the early 1700s
Our word came from the Latin word pecu (cattle; money). I know the noun ‘peculations’, but I wasn’t aware that a verb form followed.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day