quodlibetal

Pronounced: kwod-LIB-uh-tuhl, adj

Notes: My guess of the meaning was off, because I have run across another form of this word

Yesterday’s word

The word propitious means

  • favorably disposed; benevolent
  • being of good omen; auspicious
  • tending to favor; advantageous
First usage

Our word came into English in the early to middle 1400s

Background / Comments

I am familiar with the third definition, and is how I use the word. The second definition is close in meaning, but the first one I have not heard. Our word has synonyms of ‘favorable’ and ‘auspicious’; all of which have the general idea of “pointing toward a happy outcome”, but (as is common with synonyms) each has slightly different idea: favorable has the connotation that persons or circumstances are helpful; auspicious indicates that there is a good omen or sign before or at the start of some event; propitious indicates continuing good or helpful conditions. Our word comes from the Middle English word propicius from the Latin word propitius (favorably inclined).

propitious

Pronounced: pruh-PIH-shuhs, adj

Notes: I am familiar with one of the definitions

Yesterday’s word

The word adventious means

  • coming from outside: not inherent or native
  • happening by chance
  • appearing in an unusual or abnormal place
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

As you can see, nothing to do with the word “adventure”. Our word is a variant spelling of adventitious, which comes from the Latin word adventicius (coming from without), which comes from advenire (to arrive), which is made up of ad- (toward) and venire (to come). By the way, this is another word of recent entries that have all of the common vowels in order.

adventious

Pronounced: ad-VEN-shuhs, adj

Notes: I (incorrectly) see “adventure” when I look at this word

Yesterday’s word

The word caesura is “a pause or break in a melody or line of verse”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

Our word claims to be a break in a melody, but most of the amplification comments discuss the slight pauses we naturally do when speaking verse. I somewhat familiar with music arranged for choirs, but have not run across our word, even though some arrangements have deliberate pauses, which would seem to fit the definition above. Our word comes from the Latin word caesus (cut), which is the past participle of caedere (cut).

caesura

Pronounced: si-ZYOOR-uh, noun

Notes: I haven’t run across this word, and I’m a bit surprised

Yesterday’s word

The word intrapreneur means “an employee who works as an entrepreneur within an established company, having the freedom to take risks and act independently”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1970s

Background / Comments

Our word is a combination of intra- (within) and entrepreneur, which comes from the French word entreprendre (to undertake), which comes from the Latin word inter- (between) and prendere (to take). The best example I can think of is a man named Art Fry, who worked for 3M – another worker had developed a weak kind of adhesive. Art Fry, looking for a use for this adhesive, created Post-It notes.

intraprenuer

Pronounced: in-truh-pruh-NUHR (alt-1: in-truh-pruh-NOOR; alt-2: in-truh-pruh-NYOOR), noun

Notes: I know “entrepreneur”, but not this word

Yesterday’s word

The word rhadamanthine means “rigorously strict or just”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from Greek mythology: in the underworld (Hades), there were three judges: Minos, Aeacus, and Rhadamanthus. Minos had been the king of Crete; Aeacus had been king of Aegina; and Rhadamanthus had been king of the Cyclades Islands. Rhadamanthus was known for being inflexible in his judgment, and thus our word came into being from his name. Because our word came from someone’s name, it is often seen capitalized.

rhadamanthine

Pronounced: rah-duh-MAN-thuhn (alt: rah-duh-MANT-thuhn), adj

Notes: This long word is often capitalized

Yesterday’s word

The word camelious means “relating to the camel or its hump”

First usage

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

Background / Comments

I think I was thinking of chamomile or chameleon and missed the more obvious ‘camel’ in our word. Our word is, in fact, derived from camel, which comes from the Latin word camelus (camel), which comes from the Greek word kamelos (camel). The Hebrew word for camel is gamal; the Arabic word jamal. Incidentally, this is another word with all the standard vowels in order.

camelious

Pronounced: kuh-MEE-lee-uhs, adj

Notes: My thoughts flew (incorrectly) to a flower

Yesterday’s word

The word solstitial means

  • of, relating to, or characteristic of a solstice
  • happening or appearing at or associated with a solstice
First usage

The reference material I consulted do not agree; one says that the word arrived in English in the 1300s; another says the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

As I noted yesterday, after I read the definition, it seemed so obvious, but I didn’t know the definition when I first saw the word. Our word came into English from Anglo-French, which came from the Latin word solstitium (solstice), which is composed of sol- (sun) and -stit or -stes (standing). The much more well-known word “solstice” comes from the same source.

solstitial

Pronounced: sahl-STIH-shuhl, adj

Notes: I didn’t know the meaning when looking at the word; after seeing the definition, it seems obvious – do you know it?

Yesterday’s word

The word solipsism means

  • the view or theory that the self is all that exists or can be known to exist
  • self-absorption or self-centeredness
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

I don’t subscribe to the theory in the first definition; moreover, it seems to me that if such a theory is followed, it would tend to lead to the second definition. Our word comes from the Latin words solus (alone) combined with ipse (self).

solipsism

Pronounced: SOL-ip-siz-uhm, noun

Notes: I confused this word with another word dealing with logic

Yesterday’s word

The word carpaccio means “thinly sliced raw meat or fish served with a sauce”; note that the word is usually used postpositively (after the name of the dish, as in ‘salmon carpaccio’)

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1960s (possibly the 1950s)

Background / Comments

Our word was created by a man named Guiseppe Cipriani, who ran a restaurant in Venice, Italy. He created the dish for the Countess Amalia Nani Mocenigo; he had heard that she was under doctor’s orders to eat raw meat (or, at least, avoid cooked meat). According to the restaurateur, he decided to call his invention “carpaccio” because the red in the beef matched the colors used in paintings by the Renaissance painter Vittore Carpaccio. I prefer the alternate pronunciation (the one with four syllables instead of three).

carpaccio

Pronounced: car-PAH-choh (alt: car-PAH-chee-oh), noun

Notes: I guessed at this word, and was way off

Yesterday’s word

The word affectious means “affectionate or cordial”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

Did you notice that our word contains all of the standard vowels in order? If you guessed at the meaning, you probably guessed the look-alike word ‘affectionate’. Our word came from the French language, which came from the Latin word afficere (to affect or influence).