Category Archives: word

Pronounced: dih-sih-duh-RAH-tuhm, noun Notes: You may be able to guess the meaning of this word Yesterday’s word The word frangible means “readily broken; breakable” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1400s Background / Comments Our word came from the Latin word frangere (to break). This word tends to refer to something thatContinue reading “desideratum”

Pronounced: FRAN-juh-bull, adj Notes: I didn’t know this word existed Yesterday’s word The word manticore is “a legendary animal with the head of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail of a dragon or scorpion” First usage Our word came into English in the early to mid-1300s Background / Comments I thinkContinue reading “frangible”

Pronounced: MAN-tih-core, noun Notes: I knew our word, but didn’t know the proper definition Yesterday’s word The word quiescent means “still; inactive; not showing symptoms” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments I was aware of the ‘still’ and ‘inactive’ definitions of our word; it makes me thinkContinue reading “manticore”

Pronounced: qwee-ES-uht (alt: kwhy-ES-uhnt), adj Notes: I knew a couple of the definitions, but not one Yesterday’s word The word gormandize means “to eat greedily, gluttonously, or ravenously” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments Our word came from a modification of gourmand, which came from French as aContinue reading “quiescent”

Pronounced: GORE-muhn-dize, verb Notes: This word is new to me Yesterday’s word The word saturnine means “sluggish” or “gloomy” or “cold” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1400s Background / Comments I was a bit off with our word – I thought it meant “dark” or “Satan-like”. Our word came from theContinue reading “gormandize”

Pronounced: SAT-uhr-nine, adj Notes: I’ve run across this word several times, but I didn’t have the correct definition Yesterday’s word The word gravid means First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments Our word came from the Latin word gravis (heavy). It can refer to an actual pregnancy; itContinue reading “saturnine”

Pronounced: GRAH-vuhd, adj Notes: Not a word I’ve heard of Yesterday’s word The word festinate, as a verb, means “to hurry; to hasten”. As an adjective, it means “hurried; hasty” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments I thought our word was somehow related to “fester”, but itContinue reading “gravid”

Pronounced: FESS-tuh-nate, verb/adj (alt – for adj only: FESS-tuh-nit) Notes: Not a word I recognized Yesterday’s word The word jactitation is “a tossing to and fro or jerking and twitching of the body” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments Originally, our word had a legal meaning – itContinue reading “festinate”

Pronounced: jack-tuh-TAY-shun, noun Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word Yesterday’s word The word leechdom is “a remedy or medicine” First usage Our word came into English around 900 Background / Comments Our word has nothing to do with leeches – the origin of that word is different. Our word came from theContinue reading “jactitation”

Pronounced: LEECH-duhm, noun Notes: Not at all what I thought it was Yesterday’s word The word biophilia is “a hypothetical human tendency to interact or be closely associated with other forms of life in nature” First usage Our word came into English in the 1960s (but see comments below) Background / Comments Our word wasContinue reading “leechdom”