Category Archives: word

Pronounced: kap-uh-TAH-no Notes: I guessed some kind of Spanish-English (“Spanglish”) word for “captain” (but that’s not right) Yesterday’s word The word recusant means “refusing to submit to authority” Background / Comments This word goes back to Henry VIII — he separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the mid-1500s and created the Church of England,Continue reading “capitano”

Pronounced: reh-KYUH-zuhnt, adj Notes: There is another word that we use far more often than this word Yesterday’s word The word columbine, as an adjective, means “of or relating to a dove, in innocence, gentleness, color, etc”. As a noun, it can mean: a servant girl a saucy sweetheart a plant of the genus AquilegiaContinue reading “recusant”

Pronounced: KOL-um-bine, noun/adj Notes: This is another multiple-source words. I know one meaning, but there are three different meanings for the noun and one for the adjective. I know one of the noun meanings. Which ones do you know? Yesterday’s word As I mentioned yesterday, I knew that spinous meant “having spines”, but I didContinue reading “columbine”

Pronounced: SPY-nuhs, adj Notes: I knew that this word meant “having spines (or prickles or thorns)”, but there is another meaning that I did not know, so it’s been listed Yesterday’s word The word eiron means “a person characterized by self-deprecation and awareness of irony” Background / Comments The word comes from the same sourceContinue reading “spinous”

Pronounced: AYE-ron, noun Notes: This word is related to yesterday’s word Yesterday’s word The word alazon means “a person characterized by arrogance, braggadocio, lack of self awareness, etc” Background / Comments The word comes from Greek; Alazon was a stock character in ancient Greek comedy. First usage This word came into English in the earlyContinue reading “eiron”

Pronounced: AL-uh-zon, noun Notes: I definitely did not know this word or its source Yesterday’s word The word legerity means “alert facile quickness of mind or body” Background / Comments The word has the idea of being quick or light on one’s feet. It comes from words in Middle French, Old French, and Latin thatContinue reading “alazon”

Pronounced: luh-JER-uh-tee, noun Notes: I know many people that this word describes Yesterday’s word The word punchinello means “a grotesque or absurd person” Background / Comments As you might have guessed, this comes from the Italian (specifically, the Naples dialect) word polecenella (a short, fat buffoon, a principal character in Italian puppet shows). This wordContinue reading “legerity”

Pronounced: pun-chuh-NELL-oh, noun Notes: People with what I call a “classical education” (arts/opera) may know this word; I never learned much about either of these things. Yesterday’s word The word plastron means the ventral part of the shell of a tortoise of turtle a trimming like a bib for a woman’s dress a man’s separateContinue reading “punchinello”

Pronounced: PLAS-truhn, noun Notes: This word has multiple meanings; I haven’t looked at the origin yet, but I suspect that the original meaning evolved into the later definitions (it’s one of those words). Yesterday’s word The word scooby means “clue” Background / Comments To many people, seeing scooby reminds them of Scooby-Doo; I remember watchingContinue reading “plastron”

Pronounced: SKOO-bee, noun Notes: This is another rhyming slang word… you may be able to guess this one Yesterday’s word The word transpicuous means “clearly seen through or understood” Background / Comments The word comes from Latin transpicere (to look through); that word is a combination of trans- (through) and specere (to look or see).Continue reading “scooby”