Category Archives: word

Pronounced: so-LOO-nuhr, adj Notes: It’s probably what you think (but I’ve never seen this word before) Yesterday’s word The word miscegenation is “a marriage between different racial groups” (but see comments) First usage This word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments A note on the definition: I’ve run across differences in theContinue reading “solunar”

Pronounced: mih-sej-uh-NAY-shun (alt: miss-ih-juh-NAY-shun), noun Notes: I’ve run across this word in some reading, but I wasn’t sure of it Yesterday’s word The word glocalize means “to make a product or service available widely, but adapted for local markets” First usage As one might expect, this is a relatively recent word – it came intoContinue reading “miscegenation”

Pronounced: GLOW-kuh-lize, verb Notes: You may be able to guess the meaning, but I’ve not run across this word, so it is here Yesterday’s word The word sward is “a grassy patch of land; an area of turf” First usage This is a very old word; going back to before 900. Background / Comments IContinue reading “glocalize”

Pronounced: swawrd, noun Notes: I get this word wrong because it looks to me like a combination of “sword” and “swath” and it’s not related to either. Yesterday’s word The word prodnose means, as a verb, “to pry”. As a noun, it refers to “a prying person”. First usage This word came into English inContinue reading “sward”

Pronounced: PROD-nose, verb/noun Notes: Another word I don’t think I’ve every run across Yesterday’s word The word xanthic means “yellowish in color” First usage This word goes back to the early 1800s Background / Comments Our word comes from the French word xanthique. The root word is xantho- (yellow).

Pronounced: ZAN-thick, adj Notes: Another word that is a stranger to me Yesterday’s word The word satrap is a governor of a province in ancient Persia a subordinate ruler or official First usage The word came into English in the late 1300s Background / Comments This is quite a traveled word: It came from theContinue reading “xanthic”

Pronounced: SAY-trap (alt: SAT-rap), noun Notes: It looks like a trap for a system administrator (an SA, as we call them), but I’m pretty sure that’s not right Yesterday’s word The word mishpocha is “the entire family network; the full extended family” First usage This word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / CommentsContinue reading “satrap”

Pronounced: mish-PAW-khuh (alt: mish-POOKH-uh), noun Notes: This word looks vaguely Indian (from India, not America) Yesterday’s word The word pasha is “a person of high rank or importance” First usage This word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments I should have recognized part of this word. It comes from the Turkish wordContinue reading “mishpocha”

Pronounced: PA-shuh (alt 1: PASH-uh; alt 2: puh-SHAH), noun Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word Yesterday’s word The word falcate means “narrow and curved in shape like a scythe or sickle” First usage This word came into English in the early or mid-1800s Background / Comments A synonym is falciform. Our wordContinue reading “pasha”

Pronounced: FAL-kate, adj Notes: I got this word from a vocabulary calendar, and this entry happened to have an error; they printed the pronunciation of some other word instead of our word Yesterday’s word The word repugn means to oppose, resist, or right First usage This word came into English in the late 1300s BackgroundContinue reading “falcate”