Category Archives: word

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”

Pronounced: by-oh-FIH-lee-uh, noun Notes: This word is new to me Yesterday’s word The word lissom (or lissome) means “agile; graceful” First usage Our word came into English around 1800 Background / Comments Our word is simply an altered spelling of “lithesome”, which came from the Old English word lithe (flexible; mild) combined with -some (havingContinue reading “biophilia”

Pronounced: LISS-uhm, adj Notes: Also spelled “lissome” – kind of knew this word, but chose to include it Yesterday’s word The word samara is “a dry indehiscent usually one-seeded winged fruit” (such as the fruit of a maple, ash, or elm tree). First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s Background /Continue reading “lissom”

Pronounced: sah-MAH-ruh, noun Notes: Not only did I not know our word, I didn’t know a word in the definition Yesterday’s word The word os is First usage The first definition came into English in the mid-1800s; the second definition came into English in the early 1400s Background / Comments The first definition came fromContinue reading “samara”

Pronounced: aws Notes: An interesting word, but I didn’t know it Yesterday’s word The word swivet is “a state of extreme agitation” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1800s Background / Comments I have not run across our word, but I have (and probably you have, too) heard other words thatContinue reading “os”