feckless

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

Yesterday’s word

The word cognize means “to perceive; to understand; to know”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

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).

cognize

Pronounced: KOG-nize, verb

Notes: I could recognize (heh) the root of this word, but could not properly define it

Yesterday’s word

The word scission means

  • a division or split in a group of union; schism
  • an action or process of cutting, dividing, or splitting; the state of being cut, divided or split
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

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).

scission

Pronounced: SIH-zhuhn, noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I did know a synonym

Yesterday’s word

The word gaudeamus is “a convivial gathering or merry-making of students at a college or university”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

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).

gaudeamus

Pronounced: gau-dih-AHM-us, noun

Notes: Another word I’ve not run across, but one that could be useful

Yesterday’s word

The word broadside means

  • a sheet of paper printed usually on one side
  • the guns on one side of a ship
  • a strongly worded attack
First usage

Our word came into English in the 1500s

Background / Comments

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.

broadside

Pronounced: BRAWD-side, noun

Notes: There was one meaning I did not know

Yesterday’s word

The word debenture is “a certificate acknowledging a debt”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

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).

debenture

Pronounced: dih-BEN-chur, noun

Notes: I’ve run across the word before; it turns out that I have been mispronouncing it… and not only that, I wasn’t quite right in the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word magniloquent means “speaking in or characterized by a high-flown (often bombastic) style or manner”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1600s

Background / Comments

I correctly noted the “loquent” as referring to speech, but I thought the prefix meant “bad” (as in ‘malevolent’). In reality, our word is composed of the Latin word magnus (great) and loqui (to speak). Our word is a synonym of grandiloquent, which is the older word.

magniloquent

Pronounced: mah-NIH-luh-kwuhnt, adj

Notes: My guess at this word’s meaning was wrong

Yesterday’s word

The word mittimus is “an official order to commit someone to prison”

First usage

Our word is an old one, coming into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

I think we tend to call a mittimus “an arrest warrant”. Our word comes from the Latin word mittimus (we send), which is the first word of such an order. It comes from the word mittere (to send).

mittimus

Pronounced: MIT-uh-muss, noun

Notes: This is a new word to me

Yesterday’s word

The word atavism means

  • recurrence of an ancestral trail, or reversion to a past style or manner
  • one that reminds of a past time
First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

For some reason, our word makes me think of the original Star Trek series; possibly from the episode “All Our Yesterdays”. I may have run across our word in a Nero Wolfe story, but not particular one comes to mind. Our word came from French, and into French from the Latin word atavus (ancestor). In Latin, the word avus means “grandfather”. It is thought that the “at” in our word is related to atta (daddy) – recall, too, the Aramaic word “abba” that means the same thing, and is used in the Bible in the book of Galatians. Its original meaning had the idea of “a throwback”. The more figurative sense is more common, and came be used to describe, for example, a modern building that looks like it was from an earlier era.

atavism

Pronounced: AH-tuh-vih-zuhm, noun

Notes: I’ve run across this word in reading, but I could not properly define it

Yesterday’s word

The word jayhawker is

  • a robber
  • a native or resident of Kansas
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

I should have known the second definition, and would have, if I paid closer attention to college football. I believe a Kansas college team is called the “Jayhawks”. I was unaware of the first meaning. Originally, a Jayhawker was a member of antislavery guerrillas in Kansas or Missouri during the US Civil War (why they were called this is not known). Presumably, because of the actions of the original Jayhawkers, the first disreputable meaning came to be.

jayhawker

Pronounced: JAY-haw-kuhr, noun

Notes: I almost had the definition correct

Yesterday’s word

The word cineast is “a devotee of motion pictures; moviemaker”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1920s

Background / Comments

After seeing the definition, I should have recognized cine- from ‘cinema’ and been able to guess the meaning. Our word comes from French, and some of the alternate spellings reflect that origin – it is also spelled cineaste and cinéaste. It comes from the French word ciné (another word for cinema) combined with -aste (one who is or works in), and originally meant “a filmmaker or movie director”. People began to use the word to refer to film buffs, and that is the most common usage these days.