messuage

Pronounced: MESS-wij, noun

Notes: I like the origin story for this word (it’s not pronounced as I would think)

Yesterday’s word

The word parlous means “full of danger or risk; hazardous”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1300s

Background / Comments

If you think “the definition seems like the definition for perilous”, you are correct. In Middle English, it was an altered form of ‘perilous’. In the 1600s, our word fell out of favor, but in the 1900s, it started to be used again. As noted, our word was an altered form of ‘perilous’ which comes from the Anglo-French word perilleus, which traces back to the Latin word periculum (danger).

parlous

Pronounced: PAR-luss, adj

Notes: I don’t think I’ve seen this word, either

Yesterday’s word

The word complot means, as a noun, “a plot or conspiracy”. As a verb, it means “to plot or conspire”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the French word complot (crowd, plot).

complot

Pronounced: KOM-plot, noun; kuhm-PLOT, verb

Notes: You might be able to guess this word, but I’ve not heard of it

Yesterday’s word

The word casbah means

  • a North African castle or fortress
  • the native section of a North African city
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

Our word can be capitalized (Casbah) and may also be spelled kasbah/Kasbah. I know of a phrase: Come with me to the Casbah, but I don’t know anything about it — I’ve just heard it somewhere… and associated with comedy in my mind. In doing research on our word, it is thought that the phrase comes from the movie Algiers, which came out in 1938 and starred Charles Boyer. Although he did not say it in the film, I learned that his character in the film was the inspiration for the Looney Tunes character Pepé Le Pew, and and that character did use the phrase Come with me to the Casbah, so that is where I remembered it from. Our word comes from an Arabic dialect word qasbah (fortress).

casbah

Pronounced: KAZZ-bah, noun

Notes: This word is sometimes capitalized

Yesterday’s word

A rebus is “a representative of a word or phrase using pictures, symbols, letters, etc”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

I enjoy rebus puzzles, but when seeing rebus with the word “puzzle”, I couldn’t think what it meant, but it came back when I saw the definition. Our word comes from the Latin word rebus (by things), which came from res (thing).

rebus

Pronounced: REE-bus, noun

Notes: After seeing the definition, I knew this word, but I didn’t know the meaning when seeing it

Yesterday’s word

The word divers means “made up of an indefinite number greater than one; various”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early to mid-1200s (but see the comments below)

Background / Comments

Our word looks like the plural of “diver” or a misspelling of “diverse”. Both “diverse” and our word come from the same source, and for around 500 years they were more or less interchangeable… and even pronounced the same (either DIE-verse or die-VERSE). However, after 1700, “diverse” began to be pronounced “die-VERSE” and implies dissimilar options. Our word took on the pronunciation of DIE-verse and just mean multiple options. Our word comes the Latin word diversus (turning in opposite directions).

divers

Pronounced: DIE-verz, adj

Notes: This word is used in the Authorized Version of the Bible; I know it, but I don’t know how well known it is; I also found the background interesting

Yesterday’s word

The word ludic means “relating to play; playful”

First usage

Out word came into English in the 1940s

Background / Comments

Not so much the appearance, but the pronunciation of our word reminded me of ‘ludicrous’ — and rightly so, since ‘ludicrous’ and ludic come from the same root. Our word came from the French word ludique, which came from the Latin word ludere (to play), which came from ludus (play). I kind of like ludic over playful; this is another word which I hope to be able to drop into appropriate conversation.

ludic

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

Pronounced: LOO-dick, adj

Yesterday’s word

The word bogart means

  • to bully or intimidate
  • to use or consume without sharing (to “hog”)
First usage

Our word came into English in the 1960s

Background / Comments

As I noted, our word does comes from the actor Humphrey Bogart, who is known for playing “tough guys”, and thus we have the first meaning. The second meaning comes from a combination of the drug culture and the method Mr Bogart used in his pictures: he would let the butt dangle from his mouth and did not remove it until it was almost fully consumed. The was a phrase assumed to come from this habit: “Don’t bogart that joint” (referring to a marijuana cigarette). It was common to share joints, and if one person used it up, it would be as Mr Bogart did with his cigarettes. There was a song in the film Easy Rider [I’ve not seen nor even heard of this film] that used this phrase. Over time, the meaning has broadened so that it can now mean to “hog” something.

bogart

Pronounced: BOH-gart, verb

Notes: Yes, this is after the actor Humphrey Bogart, but do you know the meaning?

Yesterday’s word

The word derogate means

  • to disparage or belittle
  • to detract from (authority, value, etc)
  • to deviate from (as from a standard, for example)
First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1500s

Background / Comments

I am familiar with the adjective ‘derogatory’, but not the verb form (our word). It comes from the Latin word derogare (to repeal), which is made up of de- (from) and rogare (to ask; to propose a law).

derogate

Pronounced: DER-uh-gate, verb

Notes: You may have an idea of the meaning of this word

Yesterday’s word

The word funicular is “a cable railway ascending a mountain”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1900s

Background / Comments

Our word started as an adjective meaning “relating to a cord under tension” and has been around since the mid-1600s. The word came from the French word funiculaire (a type of railway that is dependent upon cables — cord under tension). The word traces back to the Latin noun funiculus (small rope).

funicular

Pronounced: fyoo-NIH-kyuh-luhr, noun

Notes: I have heard this word, but I couldn’t define it on seeing it

Yesterday’s word

The word chicane means, as a verb, “to trick or deceive”. As a noun, it means

  • deception
  • an artificial narrowing or a turn added to a road to slow traffic down
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the French word chicaner (to quibble). I do know the word ‘chicanery’ (trickery/deception by quibbling or sophistry), which is a form of this word.