Category Archives: word

Pronounced: PWIS-uhnt (alt: PYOO-uh-suhnt), adj Notes: Not what I thought Yesterday’s word The word cicerone means “a person who conducts sightseers; a guide” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1700s Background / Comments This is an Italian word. Because it has Italian background, the proper plural is ciceroni (just like the properContinue reading “puissant”

Pronounced: sis-uh-ROE-nee (alt: chich-uh-ROE-nee), noun Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word anywhere Yesterday’s word The word inhere means “to belong to something by its very nature; to be an inseparable part of something” First usage This word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments I didn’t know that this verbContinue reading “cicerone”

Pronounced: in-HERE, verb Notes: You might be able to guess this one, even if you don’t know it Yesterday’s word The word viridescent means “slightly green; greenish” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments If you take off the ‘v’, you get iridescent, which means something that shows varied,Continue reading “inhere”

Pronounced: vir-ih-DESS-uhnt, adj Notes: Another strike for the poor quality control on this entry; it was clearly an adjective from the definition, but was listed as a noun. Yesterday’s word The word spavined means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1400s Background / Comments This is one of the word in whichContinue reading “viridescent”

Pronounced: SPAV-ind, adj Notes: I don’t think I’ve ever run across this word Yesterday’s word The word thalassic means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments Our word comes from the Greek word thálassa (sea), with -ic added to indicate an adjective. I was annoyed with myself for notContinue reading “spavined”

Pronounced: thuh-LASS-ick, adj Notes: Sounds like a pickle (heh). Seriously, I should have known this word Yesterday’s word The word comminute means “to pulverize” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments I would never have guessed the meaning of our word – it looks like ‘commune’ or a shortContinue reading “thalassic”

Pronounced: KOM-uh-noot (alt: KOM-uh-nyoot), verb Notes: Not at all what I thought this word might mean Yesterday’s word The word nosophobia is “an abnormal fear of disease” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1800s Background / Comments You probably recognized -phobia (fear); usually, when describing phobias, we are talking about irrational,Continue reading “comminute”

Pronounced: noss-uh-FOE-bee-uh, noun Notes: Another phobia! Yesterday’s word The word behoof means “advantage; benefit” First usage Our word came into English back in the late 1200s Background / Comments Our word comes from the Old English word behof (profit; need). From the same source, we get the more familiar verb “behoove” (as in it behoovesContinue reading “nosophobia”

Pronounced: bih-HOOF, noun Notes: I thought that this may be riding something with hooves (but no) Yesterday’s word The word serotonin meaning is hard to determine: I seem to be getting conflicting definitions: The original place I retrieved the word from says that our word is “a hormone that, like dopamine, heightens feelings of well-being,Continue reading “behoof”

Pronounced: ser-uh-TOE-nihn (alt: seer-uh-TOE-nihn), noun Notes: I had just an approximate idea of the meaning. Do you know it? Yesterday’s word The word peregrination is “traveling place to place; also a course of travel, especially on foot” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1400s Background / Comments I have run acrossContinue reading “serotonin”