Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: steh-guh-NAH-gruh-fee, noun
Notes: I didn’t know that there was a word for this
The word smatchet is “an insignificant contemptible person”
Our word came into English in the late 1500s
Our word came from Scotland.
Pronounced: SMACH-uht, noun
Notes: I’ve not run across this word, but it is a useful word
The word plaudit is
Our word came into English in the early 1600s
As I noted yesterday, I have run across our word, usually in the plural, but I wasn’t exactly sure of the meaning. Our word came from the Latin word plaudere (to applaud).
Pronounced: PLAW-dit, noun
Notes: I’ve run across this word, but wasn’t sure of the meaning
The word canicular means “related to the dog days”
Our word came into English in the late 1300s
Our word came from the Latin word canicularis (relating to the dog star – Sirius), which came from canicula (small dog; Sirius), which came from canis (dog). The “dog days” is the period of time in the late summer when Sirius (the dog star) rises and sets with the sun. The ancient Romans and Greeks considered the dog days to be unhealthy and/or unlucky.
Pronounced: kuh-NICK-yuh-luhr, adj
Notes: I’ve not run across this word
The word bathetic means “characterized by triteness or sentimentalism”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Our word is the noun-to-adjective ending -etic combined with the noun bathos (a ludicrous descent from the exalted to the commonplace; triteness; triviality) , which came from the Greek word bathos (depth).
Pronounced: buh-THEH-tick, adj
Notes: Sounds like, and is spelled like, “pathetic”, but with an initial “b” instead of “p”
The word scrooch means
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
I was surprised when our word turned up; I have memories of it from a Rocky and Bullwinkle show, where it was describing the effects of a Moon Man’s ray gun. Because it was clearly invented for that use, I had no idea that scrooch was a real verb. Our word is a variant of the word scrouge (to squeeze or crowd) — it could be that the word “crouch” influenced the variation.
Pronounced: skrooch, verb
Notes: I didn’t know that this was a real word
The word deracinate means
Our word came into English in the late 1500s
Our word came from middle French word deraciner, made up of de- and raciner (root), which came from the Late Latin word radicina, which came from the Latin word radic, a stem of radix (root). The first meaning above was the original meaning, but the second, more metaphorical, definition came into being.
Pronounced: dee-RA-suh-nate, verb
Notes: An interesting word
The word altricial means “born in an undeveloped and helpless condition and requiring parental care and feeding for some time”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Our word came from the Latin word altrix (foster mother; wet nurse), which came from alere (to nourish).
Pronounced: al-TRISH-uhl, adj
Notes: Another word that is new to me
The word berceuse is
Our word came into English in the late 1800s
Our word came from the French word bercer (to rock), which came from the Old French word bers (cradle). Brahams lullaby is probably the best known berceuse, but Chopin, Liszt, and Ravel also composed berceuses.
Pronounced: ber-SOOZ, noun
Notes: Another potentially useful word that I’ve not run across
The word philargyry is “the love of money; greed”
Our word came into English in the late 1500s
There is a fairly well-known phrase from the Bible: For the love of money is the root of all evil: I didn’t know that there was a word for this. It came from the Greek words phil- (love) and argyros (silver).
Pronounced: fill-ARJ-uh-ree, noun
Notes: A good word that I’ve not heard of
The word tantara is “the blare of a trumpet or horn”
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
I like this word because I have a friend that plays the trumpet… so it’s nice to have an appropriate word to use. Our word came from the Latin word taratantara, supposed to be a word that sounded like the sound of a war trumpet.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day