Category Archives: word

Pronounced: IN-duh-ruht, adj Notes: This word is vaguely familiar to me (but I could not properly define it) Yesterday’s word The word Bigfoot means, as a noun, “a prominent person in a commanding position – especially a journalist”. As a verb, it means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background /Continue reading “indurate”

Pronounced: BIG-foot, noun/verb Notes: Not the legendary creature Yesterday’s word The word catachresis means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments A handy word to know for using the wrong word for the context. Grammarians enjoy employing this word. Our word came from Latin, which came from the GreekContinue reading “Bigfoot”

Pronounced: ka-tuh-KREE-suhs, noun Notes: A neat word that could be used in some situations Yesterday’s word The word bunyip means, as a noun, “an impostor”. As an adjective, it means “counterfeit; phony” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments Our word came from Australia; specifically, an Aboriginal legend: theContinue reading “catachresis”

Pronounced: BUN-yip, noun/adj Notes: Another word that is a complete stranger to me Yesterday’s word The word volplane means “to glide in or as if in an airplane” First usage Our word came into English in the 1900s (1900-1909) Background / Comments Our word came from French; in the 1800s, they used the term volContinue reading “bunyip”

Pronounced: VOL-plane, verb Notes: I didn’t quite know this word Yesterday’s word The word scamander means “to take a winding course” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments A useful word to drop in where appropriate – it is named after the Scamander river in Turkey, which was namedContinue reading “volplane”

Pronounced: skuh-MAN-durh, verb Notes: A fun word to say, and a useful one to know! Yesterday’s word The word nudnik is “a person who is a bore; a nuisance; a pest” First usage Our word came into English in the 1940s Background / Comments Or word came from Yiddish and is a combination of nud-Continue reading “scamander”

Pronounced: NUD-nik, noun Notes: A useful word to know Yesterday’s word The word palouser is First usage Our word came into English in the 1900s (1900-1909) Background / Comments Frustratingly, there is little information about how the three apparently unrelated definitions came about. It is known that our word comes from the Palouse region inContinue reading “nudnik”

Pronounced: puh-LOO-zuhr, noun Notes: Interesting word Yesterday’s word The word poikilotherm is “an organism with a variable body temperature usually slightly higher than that of its environment”. First usage Our word came into English in the 1920s Background / Comments You may know the word “ectotherm” (it is vaguely familiar to me), which came aboutContinue reading “palouser”

Pronounced: poy-KEE-luh-thuhrm, noun Notes: I didn’t know this word at all, but it is a fancy term for a word I do know. Looking at the word, “kilo” and “therm” look familiar, but that doesn’t help me to the meaning. Yesterday’s word The word Derwenter is “an ex-convict” First usage Our word came into EnglishContinue reading “poikilotherm”

Pronounced: DUHR-wuhnt-uhr, noun Notes: Not a word that I remember running across Yesterday’s word The word frieze means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments Well… the first definition above didn’t help me at all; I had to look up “entablature”, “architrave”, and “cornice”. An entablature is usually composedContinue reading “Derwenter”