Category Archives: word

Pronounced: BLOW-down, noun Notes: I haven’t heard the word, but I probably should have known this word Yesterday’s word The word holophrasm means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments Our word comes from two Greek words: holos (whole) and phrasis (speech).

Pronounced: HOL-uh-fraz-um, noun Notes: An interesting word (new to me) Yesterday’s word The word junket means First usage Our word came into English in the mid- to late 1300s Background / Comments Our word has had an interesting journey. It was originally used to refer to various types of food, but then expanded to meanContinue reading “holophrasm”

Pronounced: JUNG-kuht, noun Notes: I knew one meaning, but not the other Yesterday’s word The word pochismo means First usage Our word came into English in the 1940s Background / Comments Our word comes from the Spanish word pocho (discolored; faded).

Pronounced: poe-CHEESE-moh, noun Notes: I have not run across this word Yesterday’s phrase The phrase dead hand means First usage Our phrase came into English in the 1300s Background / Comments Our phrase came from the Middle English phrase dede hond, which is a translation of the Old French word mortemain. In fact, a synonymContinue reading “pochismo”

Pronounced: [as it looks], noun Notes: Not the meaning I thought Yesterday’s word The word kenning is “a figurative, usually compound, expression used to describe something. As an example, the use of “whale road” to mean an ocean. First usage Our word came into English in the early 1300s Background / Comments Our word comesContinue reading “dead hand”

Pronounced: KEN-ing, noun Notes: This word is not what I thought it was Yesterday’s word The word withy means First usage Our word came into English before the year 1000 Background / Comments In read the definition of our word, I learned a new word – that word is “osier”, and it refers to aContinue reading “kenning”

Pronounced: WIH-thee, noun Notes: Another word I’ve never run across Yesterday’s word The capriole means First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments Our word came either from the Middle French word capriole (caper) or the Italian word capriola (leap). They came from the Latin word capreolus (goat), whichContinue reading “withy”

Pronounced: CAP-ree-ol, noun Notes: I did not know this word Yesterday’s word The word contumely is “harsh language or treatment arising from haughtiness and contempt” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1300s Background / Comments If you know Shakespeare well, you may have known our word. It occurs in the famousContinue reading “capriole”

Pronounced: kahn-TOO-muh-lee, noun Notes: I have run across this word (or a close relative), but I couldn’t properly define it Yesterday’s word The word winkle means, as a noun, “a periwinkle, any of various mollusks with a spiral shell”. As a verb, it means “to extract with difficulty”. First usage Our word came into EnglishContinue reading “contumely”

Pronounced: WING-kuhl, noun/verb Notes: I knew the verb meaning, but not the noun Yesterday’s word The word presage means First usage Our word came into English in the mid- to late 1300s Background / Comments Our word – the verb presage – was predated by a noun presage (omen). Our word comes from the LatinContinue reading “winkle”