Category Archives: word

Pronounced: ESS-seh, noun Notes: I didn’t know this word Yesterday’s word The word yeasayer is a person with a confident and positive outlook a person who agrees uncritically; a yes-man First usage This word came into usage in the 1930s Background / Comments I’ve not run across this word; it is patterned after naysayer, whichContinue reading “esse”

Pronounced: YAY-say-uhr, noun Notes: You probably can guess this word; I found it interesting Yesterday’s word The word lam means “to beat, slam, strike, or thrash” First usage This word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments I think I’ve run across this word in the “hard-boiled” type of detective fiction, butContinue reading “yeasayer”

Pronounced: (like it sounds: lam), verb Notes: I was pretty close on the meaning of this word. More people probably know it as a noun Yesterday’s word The word allision is “a moving object striking against a stationary object” First usage This word showed up in the early 1600s Background / Comments I love ourContinue reading “lam”

Pronounced: UH-LIZH-uhn, noun Notes: I did not know that this was a word! Yesterday’s word The word hyperhidrosis means “a condition of excessive sweating” First usage This word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments You probably recognized (as I did) the prefix hyper- (above; beyond). I didn’t know the rest of it,Continue reading “allision”

Pronounced: high-per-hih-DROH-sis, noun Notes: I didn’t know that a word for this existed Yesterday’s word The word unitasking means “doing one thing at a time” First usage This word showed up in the 1980s Background / Comments You may have guessed this word due to the similarity to “multitasking”; our word was patterned after “multitaking”,Continue reading “hyperhidrosis”

Pronounced: YOO-nih-tas-king, noun Notes: You can probably guess the definition; I’m adding it because I didn’t know this word existed. Yesterday’s word The word impolitic means “not politic [sigh-RL], judicious, expedient, or well-planned” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s. Background / Comments The definition makes me sigh; I recognized theContinue reading “unitasking”

Pronounced: ihm-PAHL-ih-tic, adj Notes: I’ve run across this word several times, but didn’t have a good grasp of the meaning Yesterday’s word The word niveous means “snowy or resembling snow” First usage The word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments Our word comes from the Latin word niveus, from nix (snow).Continue reading “impolitic”

Pronounced: NIV-ee-uhs, adj Notes: You may know this one Yesterday’s word The word od means “a theoretical force believed to act throughout nature in magnetism, mesmerism, and chemical interaction” First usage This word came into usage in the mid-1800s Background / Comments Our word was coined by a German scientist: Karl van Reichenbach.

Pronounced: odd, noun Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word (how, uh, “odd” – heh) Yesterday’s word The word empyrean means relating to the highest heaven believed to contain pure light or fire relating to the sky; celestial sublime, elevated First usage This word came into English in the early 1500s Background /Continue reading “od”

Pronounced: em-PIR-ee-uhn (alt: em-pie-REE-uhn), adj Notes: I think I’ve run across this word, but was uncertain about the meaning Yesterday’s word The word quincunx is “five objects arranged like the five dots on a dice” – most often used of shrubs or sculptures in a yard. First usage This word came into English in theContinue reading “empyrean”