Category Archives: word

Pronounced: foo-DROI-uhnt, adj Notes: A nice word to know; I hope I’ll remember it well enough to use it Yesterday’s word The word pudency means “modesty; bashfulness” First usage This word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments Our word looks a lot like “prudish” to me, and that’s pretty close toContinue reading “foudroyant”

Pronounced: PYOOD-n-see, noun Notes: Not quite sure about this word Yesterday’s word The word bombinate means “to make a buzzing or humming noise” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1800s Background / Comments Well, I thought that the word was totally unrelated to “bomb”; it turns out that there is aContinue reading “pudency”

Pronounced: BOM-buh-nate, verb Notes: Well, I thought this was related to bombs, but no Yesterday’s word The word mammothrept means a spoiled child a person of immature judgment First usage This word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments The background of our word doesn’t seem to be complete. It comes fromContinue reading “bombinate”

Pronounced: MAM-uh-thrept, noun Notes: This sounds like word Rex Stout uses in the Nero Wolfe novels, but if it is, I have no recollection of reading it. Yesterday’s word The word matutinal means “of, or occurring in, the morning, or of the early day”. First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s BackgroundContinue reading “mammothrept”

Pronounced: muh-TOOT-en-el (alt: muh-TYOOT-en-el), adj Notes: I don’t think I’ve heard this word Yesterday’s word The word mimsy means “prim; feeble; affected” First usage This word was created in the mid-1800s Background / Comments This word was coined by Lewis Carroll in a poem he published in his periodical Mischmasch. An expanded version of thisContinue reading “matutinal”

Pronounced: MIM-zee, adj Notes: I guess I’ve seen this word, but I don’t remember it Yesterday’s word The word telluric means “coming out of, or proceeding from, the soil or earth” First usage The word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments Our word comes from the Latin word tellūr, which is theContinue reading “mimsy”

Pronounced: teh-LOOR-ick, adj Notes: This is another word that I didn’t know, but after seeing the origin, it made sense Yesterday’s phrase The phrase scare quote refers to “the quotation marks around a word or phrase to indicate said phrase is incorrect, nonstandard, or ironic”. First usage This word came into English in the 1950sContinue reading “telluric”

Pronounced: (just like it sounds), noun Notes: I didn’t know this phrase, but it is common Yesterday’s word The word eudemonic means “pertaining to or conducive to happiness; related to theories of happiness” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments The word comes from the Greek word eudaimonikós, whichContinue reading “scare quote”

Pronunciation: you-dih-MON-ick, adj Notes: When I attempted to parse this word, I saw eu- (good) parsed with “demonic”, so this didn’t make any sense Yesterday’s word The word endogenous means “originating from within” First usage This word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments Our word comes from the Greek word endo- (inside;Continue reading “eudemonic”

Pronounced: en-DOJ-uh-nuhs, adj Notes: As is usual here, this is another word I didn’t know Yesterday’s word The word valediction means “the formal act of announcing one’s departure, one’s leave-taking, or bidding farewell” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background Well, the word looks like valedictorian, which we call theContinue reading “endogenous”