Gongorism

Pronounced: GONG-uh-riz-uhm, noun

Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word gest means

  • a tale of adventures (especially a romance in verse)
  • adventure; exploit
First usage

Our word came into English early: in the mid 1200s

Background / Comments

I knew of “jest”, but our word is unknown to me. It comes from the Old French word geste (action; exploit) which came from the Latin word gesta (exploits), which is the neuter plural past participle of gerere (to carry on; to perform). Our word tends to be used with medieval times – knights and heroes. The word is used in Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra.

gest

Pronounced: jest, noun

Notes: This is a different word than “jest”, even though they are pronounced the same

Yesterday’s word

The word guy, as a noun, means

  • a man (when used in plural, a group of people of either sex)
  • a rope to steady, guide, or secure something

As a verb, it means

  • to make fun of; ridicule
  • to steady, guide, or secure something with a rope
First usage

The first definitions above came into English in the mid-1800s. The second definitions are older and came into English in the late 1300s

Background / Comments

Let’s start with the second definitions first: I have heard the term “guy wire”, but I was unaware of the verb meaning. The second definitions comes from the Old French word guie (guide), which comes from guier (to guide). As for the first definitions, I don’t think I’ve every run across the verb meaning (to make fun of; ridicule). I have long thought that the word came from the Hebrew / Yiddish word “goy” (stranger; non-Jew; Gentile), with the vowel sound “oi” changing to a long “i’). But according to the vocabulary reference, it comes from Guy Fawkes, who tried to blow up the English Parliament in 1605.

guy

Pronounced: guy (well, duh!), noun/verb

Notes: There is more depth to the word than you might think, and I confess to a disappointment

Yesterday’s word

The word genial means

  • favorable to growth or comfort; mild
  • marked by or diffusing sympathy or friendliness
  • displaying or marked by genius
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

I am most familiar with the second meaning describing someone as friendly. But I also have read it used in the first sense as in “genial surroundings”. The third meaning is completely new to me. Our word has an interesting history; it came from the Latin adjective genialis (connected with marriage), and when our word first appeared in English it meant “of or relating to marriage” (now obsolete). The Latin adjective genialis comes from the Latin noun genius (a person’s disposition or inclination) and the suffix -alis (of, relating to, or characterized by). Our word “genius” comes from the Latin noun, and it is thought that this kinship gave rise to the third definition above… possibly also influenced by the German language; in German genial means “genius”.

genial

Pronounced: GEE-nyuhl, adj

Notes: I tend to mispronounced this word with three syllables. I know two of the three definitions

Yesterday’s word

The word Maecenas is “a generous patron, especially of art, music, or literature”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

As you may have guessed by the capitalized word, our word came from a person; in this case, Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, who was a patron of Horace and Virgil.

Maecenas

Pronounced: mee-SEE-nuss (alt: mih-SEE-nuss), noun

Notes: I’ve not heard of this word

Yesterday’s word

The word gibbous means

  • (referring to the moon or a plant) when more than half is visible, but not completely full
  • having a hump; humpbacked
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1300s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Late Latin adjective gibbosus (humpbacked), which came from the Latin noun gibbus (hump). The most common usage these days is referring to phases of the moon. A “crescent” moon is the state between a new moon and a half-moon while gibbous refers to the state between a half moon and a full moon. This astronomical meaning is the one that I knew; I was unaware of the “humpbacked” meaning.

gibbous

Pronounced: JIH-bus, adj

Notes: This word has two meanings; one is a specialized meaning, and I know this one; I did not know the common meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word alar means

  • relating to wings; wing-shaped
  • relating to the armpit
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1700s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Latin word ala (wing). I was confused by thinking of “agar”.

alar

Pronounced: AY-luhr, adj

Notes: I confused this word with “agar”, probably because I didn’t know this word

Yesterday’s word

The word jitney means

  • a small bus that carries passengers over a regular route on a flexible schedule
  • an unlicensed taxicab
First usage

Our word came into English in the 1900s (meaning 1900-1910)

Background / Comments

At the turn of the 20th century, jitney was slang for “nickel” (the 5-cent piece). It costs a nickel to ride a new method of public transportation: an automobile that carried passengers over a set route. These came to be called a jitney (after the cost). Over time, the term became used more specifically to refer to small buses. In or around the 1950s, jitney was combined with jeep to create the word “jeepney”, which referred to a Philippine jitney bus converted from a jeep. The origin of our word is obscure.

jitney

Pronounced: JIT-nee, noun

Notes: This word seems distantly familiar, but I cannot recall any details

Yesterday’s word

The word personalty is “personal property; movable property, as contrasted with real estate”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

Our word comes to us through multiple stops: from the Anglo-French word personalté, which came from the Latin word personalitas, which came from persona (mask, person), which came from the Etruscan word phersu, which came from the Greek word prosopa (face; mask).

personalty

Pronounced: PURR-suh-null-tee, noun

Notes: I’ve run across this word in reading, and it’s NOT “personality” misspelled.

Yesterday’s word

The word limn means

  • to draw of paint on a surface
  • to outline in clear, sharp detail : delineate
  • describe
First usage

Our word came into English in the early to mid-1400s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Middle English word lymne, which is a variant of the word luminen (to illuminate manuscripts), which came from Middle French enluminer, which came from the Latin word ilūmināre (to embellish; literally to light up).

limn

Pronounced: lihm, verb

Notes: I think I’ve run across this word, but the memory is so faint that I cannot recall any details

Yesterday’s word

The word truchman is “an interpreter”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1400s

Background / Comments

Our word has an interesting journey: it came from the Latin word turchemannus, which came from the Arabic word tarjuman, which came from the Aramaic word turgemana, which came from the Akkadian targumanu (interpreter). The Akkadian word is also the source of the Targum; it originally referred to a verbal translation of the Hebrew Bible into a language of the listeners, when they were unable to read or understand Hebrew. The Targum now refers to an Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible.