Category Archives: word

Pronounced: FRUN-tih-spees, noun Notes: I think I’ve seen this word, or a word close to it Yesterday’s phrase The phrase banyan day is “a day on which no meat is served to the crew of a ship” First usage I haven’t been able to find out when our phrase came into English Background / CommentsContinue reading “frontispiece”

Pronounced: BAN-yuhn day, noun Notes: I’ve seen banyan trees, but I don’t know this word Yesterday’s word The word messuage means “a residential building with outbuildings and the attached land” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1400s Background / Comments I like the origin story of our word. The word cameContinue reading “banyan day”

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”,Continue reading “messuage”

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 wordContinue reading “parlous”

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 wordContinue reading “complot”

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 thinkContinue reading “casbah”

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) BackgroundContinue reading “rebus”

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 /Continue reading “divers”

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,Continue reading “ludic”

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 BackgroundContinue reading “bogart”