Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: BEH-nuh-dikt, noun
Notes: I didn’t know this word existed
The word gramarye is “occult learning; magic”
Our word is old; coming into English in the early 1300s
I don’t do much reading in that area, so the word was unknown to me. It comes from the Old French word gramaire (grammar; book of magic), which came from the Greek word gramma (letter).
Pronounced: GRAM-uh-ree, noun
Notes: Some people may know this; it has a pretty specific meaning
The word flack means “to provide publicity: engage in press-agentry”
Our word didn’t come into English until the 1960s
After seeing the definition, I recalled hearing or reading the phrase “to flack for <someone>”, which is the meaning of our word. I thought the noun might refer to anti-aircraft gun-fire, but that word is “flak”. The noun version of our word means “publicity agent” and came into usage in the 1930s. Our word derived from the noun form. Officially, the origin of the noun form is said to be unknown; however, one story is that the word originated as a tribute to Gene Flack, a well-known publicist of the 1930s. Another story is the origin is a similar-sounded Yiddish word that refers to someone who talks about someone else’s affairs.
Pronounced: FLAK, verb
Notes: I know the noun, but do you know the verb?
The word bibulous means
Our word came into English in the late 1600s
As I noted, I was close to the definition because the word made me think of the Spanish word “beber” (to drink), which is pretty close to the first definition. In fact, our word comes from the Latin word bibere (to drink).
Pronounced: BIB-yuh-luhs, adj
Notes: I was close to the definition
The word quidnunc is “a person who seeks to know all the latest news or gossip; busybody”
Our word came into English in the early 1700s
While the word “busybody” is very descriptive, our word is a good one to sprinkle into conversation. A busybody or gossip always wants to know “what’s new?”. The Latin equivalent of this question is “quid nunc”; literally, “what now”… and this became our word.
Pronounced: KWID-nunk, noun
Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I like it a lot
The word fastuous means
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
As I noted, I know the word fatuous”, but that’s not related. A word that is related to our word is “fastidious” (they trace back to the same word). Our word comes from the Latin word fastuosus, which comes from fastus (arrogance; pride).
Pronounced: FAS-choo-us, adj
Notes: I know a similar word (fatuous), but not this one
The word benison means “blessing; benediction”
Our word is old; it came into English in the early 1300s
Our word shares the same background as “benediction”: it comes form the Latin word benedicere (to bless), which itself is the combination of bene dicere (to speak well of), which is composed of bene (well) and dicere (to say). Usually words tend to shorten over time; however, our word shows up about 100 years earlier than “benediction”. I like our word and hope I remember to use it in the place of “benediction”.
Pronounced: BEH-nuh-suhn, noun
Notes: I’ve never run across this word, but I hope to remember it and use it on occasion
The word torpid means
Our word came into English in the early 1600s
Once again, I am familiar with the first definition, but the second and third are not ones that I would have been able to come up with. Our word comes from the Latin word torpidus (numb), which comes from torpere (to be stiff or numb).
Pronounced: TORE-pid, adj
Notes: I was somewhat familiar with the word, but not completely
The word visceral means
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
I am most familiar with the first definition; it is used in this sense for something felt “deep down”, and it turns out that this meaning is the most common usage of our word. I could have guessed at the second meaning, but I was unfamiliar with the third meaning. The word viscera refers to the internal organs of the body; especially the heart, liver, and intestines. It comes from the Latin word viscera, where it has the same meaning. Something visceral, therefore, has to do with the “viscera”.
Pronounced: VIH-suh-ruhl, adj
Notes: I’ve certainly run across this word, but found that I could not define it to my satisfaction
The word bathos means “an abrupt descent from lofty or sublime to the commonplace; anticlimax”
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
Our word looks like ‘pathos’, but the meanings are quite different. I cannot recall where I may have seen this word. Our word comes from the Greek word bathos (depth).
Pronounced: BAY-thas (alt: BAY-thos), noun
Notes: I think I’ve heard or read this word, but did not know the meaning
The word subreption is “the act of obtaining something (such as a prize or reward) by concealing pertinent facts”
Our word came into English in the late 1500s
I ran across this word in my reading; specifically, in the Nero Wolfe story Please Pass the Guilt by Rex Stout. In a humorous section, Nero Wolfe is dictating a proposed article to Archie Goodwin: ‘…by fraud. Period’ — No. Instead of ‘fraud’ make it ‘by subreption’. It’s more precise and will add to vocabularies. Paragraph. I had to smile at this because it added to my vocabulary, as I had to look up the word to see how it was more precise than ‘fraud’. Our word comes from the Latin word subreptiōn, which is a stem of subreptiō (a stealing), related to the word subreptus, the past participle of subripere (to steal).
And, in an odd twist of happenstance, just about a week after this entry, one of my vocabulary sources listed subreption as its word-of-the-day.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day