Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: GRACH-uh-late, verb
Notes: This word may look nearly familiar
The word mélange is “a mixture often of incongruous elements”
Our word came into English in the 1600s
Our word comes from the Middle French word mesler (to mix).
Pronounced: may-LAHNZH, noun
Notes: I think I’ve seen this word in writing, but I didn’t know the meaning
The word suage means “to make something unpleasant less severe; to assuage”
Our word came into English in the very early 1400s
Our word comes from the Latin word suavis (sweet). I am familiar with “assuage”, and it turns that that “assuage” is the older word by 100-150 years.
Pronounced: swaz, verb
Notes: I just see the word “usage” scrambled a bit, but that’s not helpful
The word farrier is “a person who shoes horses”
Our word came into English around 1400 (late 1300s to the early 1400s)
When I think of shoeing horses, I think of a blacksmith – however, a farrier is a specific type of blacksmith and a bit more: not only does a farrier make the horseshoes and put them on the horse, he also cleans, trims, and shapes a horse’s hooves. Our word is slightly more common in the UK than in America. When our word first appeared, it not only referred to someone who shoed horses, but also provided general veterinary care. Our word first appeared as ferrour, which came from the Anglo-French noun ferrour (a blacksmith who shoes horses), which came from the verb ferrer (to shoe horses), which ultimately came from the Latin word ferrum (iron).
Pronounced: FAIR-ee-uhr, noun
Notes: Many people may know this word; I’ve run across it, but was not certain
The word plaint means “complaint” or “protest” or “lamentation”.
Our word came into English in the early 1200s (quite an old word!)
Like you, I am familiar with the synonym “complaint”, but not our word; it comes from the Old French word plainte (complaint; cry), which came from the Latin noun planctus (lamentation), which comes from the verb plangere (to beat one’s breast).
Pronounced: plaint, noun
Notes: I know some other forms of this word, but not this word
The word feckless means
Our word came into English in the very late 1500s
My memory was correct; I associated our word with the first Doctor Who show with Colin Baker in the title row. I thought I remembered the phrase “feckless charm”… after doing some research, that memory is correct; he does indeed use that phrase. The phrase was not used in a complimentary way, but I did not look up the definition. Of course, one could provide a useless or unhelpful definition for our word as: “lacking in feck”. The word feck is Scottish and is an alteration of the Middle English word “effect”. Thus, something “lacking in feck” is “lacking in effect” or “ineffective”. There was also a word feckful (efficient; sturdy; powerful), but it is not used much anymore.
Pronounced: FEK-luss, adj
Notes: I have read or heard this word, but I wasn’t sure of the definition and (alas!) I didn’t look it up
The word cognize means “to perceive; to understand; to know”
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
We are far more familiar with “recognize” (which I used purposefully in yesterdays “Notes:” – thus, the “heh” comment). The word “recognize” is merely re- (again) and our word. Our word is a back-formation from cognizance, which came from French, and into French from the Latin word cognoscere (to learn).
Pronounced: KOG-nize, verb
Notes: I could recognize (heh) the root of this word, but could not properly define it
The word scission means
Our word came into English in the mid-1400s
As I noted yesterday, I am familiar with the word ‘schism’ (from the first definition), but I was unfamiliar with our word. It came into English from Middle French, which came from the Late Latin word scissiōn, which is a stem of scissiō (a cutting), which traces to the verb scindere (to cut; to split). Our word may look like it is related to scissors, but it is not. The Middle English word for scissors was cisours (alt: sisoures), which came from the Middle French word cisoires, which comes from the Latin word caedere (to cut). In the 1500s, the “sc” spelling of “scissors” arose; it is thought because people thought the source of the word came from scindere (the source of our word).
Pronounced: SIH-zhuhn, noun
Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I did know a synonym
The word gaudeamus is “a convivial gathering or merry-making of students at a college or university”
Our word came into English in the early 1800s
Our word came from a student’s song called De Brevitate Vitae (On the Shortness of Life); the first word on the song is gaudeamus (let us rejoice).
Pronounced: gau-dih-AHM-us, noun
Notes: Another word I’ve not run across, but one that could be useful
The word broadside means
Our word came into English in the 1500s
It is the first meaning above that I did not know. Some of the old Errol Flynn naval films deal with broadside attacks, and I’ve heard or read of the word in the third meaning also. The printed broadsides were printed on one side because they were usually decrees or some kind of public notice that would be affixed to walls, so only one side needed to be printed on.
Pronounced: BRAWD-side, noun
Notes: There was one meaning I did not know
The word debenture is “a certificate acknowledging a debt”
Our word came into English in the mid-1400s
As I noted yesterday, I had two errors regarding this word: first, I thought it was pronounced DEB-en-churr, and second, I thought the word meant a debt itself instead of the certificate of the debt. I imagine we could call a debenture an “IOU”. In any event, our word came from the Latin word debentur (they are due/owing). This word was typically the first word in early certificates of indebtedness. It comes from the Latin word debere (to owe).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day