Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
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
The word alar means
Our word came into English in the late 1700s
Our word comes from the Latin word ala (wing). I was confused by thinking of “agar”.
Pronounced: AY-luhr, adj
Notes: I confused this word with “agar”, probably because I didn’t know this word
The word jitney means
Our word came into English in the 1900s (meaning 1900-1910)
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.
Pronounced: JIT-nee, noun
Notes: This word seems distantly familiar, but I cannot recall any details
The word personalty is “personal property; movable property, as contrasted with real estate”
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
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).
Pronounced: PURR-suh-null-tee, noun
Notes: I’ve run across this word in reading, and it’s NOT “personality” misspelled.
The word limn means
Our word came into English in the early to mid-1400s
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).
Pronounced: lihm, verb
Notes: I think I’ve run across this word, but the memory is so faint that I cannot recall any details
The word truchman is “an interpreter”
Our word came into English in the late 1400s
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.
Pronounced: TRUCH-muhn, noun
Notes: This word is new to me, and it has an interesting etymology
The word Babbit refers to “a person and especially a business or professional man who conforms unthinkingly to prevailing middle-class standards”
Our word came into English in the 1920s
As you might guess from the word being capitalized, this word came from a person’s name: George F Babbitt, a character in the 1922 novel Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis. Mr. Babbitt was a prosperous real-estate broker, a pillar of his Midwestern community, and a believer in success for its own sake. His name was further popularized by the Gershwin brothers song “The Babbitt and the Bromide” (featured in the musical “Funny Face” (1927) and the movie “Ziegfield Follies” (1945). The name of the character became used to refer to anyone who follows a conformist, materialistic, unimaginative lifestyle.
Pronounced: BAH-bit, noun
Notes: I’ve not run across this word
The word valence means
Our word came into English in the early 1400s
I remember from school discussions of “valence electrons”, and they are closely related to the first definition above. The second definition is new to me. Our word comes from the Latin word valentia (power; worth; or strength), which came from valere (to be well or strong).
Pronounced: VAY-luhns, noun
Notes: I was somewhat familiar with this word as an adjective, but was uncertain of what it meant as a noun
The word trenchant means
Our word came into English in the late 1200s or early 1300s
I have run across the word “trencherman” in my reading; I thought that perhaps it had something of the first definition above. It looks like that word may trace back to the same root. In any event, our word comes from the Anglo-French verb trencher (to cut). It is thought that the word came from the Vulgar Latin word trinicare (to cut in three). One can describe a sword as “trenchant”, meaning that is cuts deeply; a “trenchant” remark is one that cuts deeply. The word “trench” (a long ditch cut into the ground) and “retrench” (to cut down; to pare away) come from the same source as our word.
Pronounced: TREN-chunt, adj
Notes: I was in the area of the correct meaning with our word
The word demotic, as an adjective, means “relating to common people; popular”. As a noun, it means “Modern Greek”.
Our word came into English in the late 1700s
Our word comes from the Greek word demos (people). Thus, the word “democracy” means “rule by the people”. As I noted yesterday, I had a vague idea of the adjectival meaning, but I had no idea that our word could mean Modern Greek.
Pronounced: dih-MOT-ik, adj/noun
Notes: I had an idea of the meaning of the adjective, but not of the noun
The word recondite means
Our word came into English in the early 1600s
I had an idea of the first and third definitions, but not the second one. Our word has at its root the Latin word condere (to put or bring together; to put up or store; to conceal). Interestingly enough, if one removes re- from our word, we are left with the obsolete verb “condite”, meaning “to pickle or preserve” or “to embalm”. Another word with the same root, “incondite” means “badly put together”.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day