Category Archives: word

Pronounced: kuh-KOO-ning, noun Notes: I’m assuming the meaning of this word is a recent one Yesterday’s word The word Croesus is “a very rich person” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1300s Background / Comments As I noted yesterday, our word breaks my usual rules: I do know the meaning ofContinue reading “cocooning”

Pronounced: KREE-suhs, noun Notes: This word is an exception to my usual rules (see tomorrow’s comments) Yesterday’s word The word olio is “a miscellaneous collection of things” (for example, a variety show) First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments Our word comes from the Spanish word olla (pot; stew),Continue reading “Croesus”

Pronounced: OH-lee-oh, noun Notes: I have no memory of this word Yesterday’s word The word enclave is “a distinct territorial, cultural, or social unit enclosed within or as if within foreign territory”. First usage Our word came into English in the middle 1800s Background / Comments The day after I wrote the entry for ourContinue reading “olio”

Pronounced: EHN-klave, noun Notes: Our word has a specialized meaning that I did not know Yesterday’s word The word uberous means “abundant; fruitful” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments These days, we tend to use “uber-” as a prefix meaning ‘super’ or ‘superb’; because of this, IContinue reading “enclave”

Pronounced: YOO-burr-us, adj Notes: Not what I thought Yesterday’s word The word Apollonian means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s (but see the comments below) Background / Comments The first definition is the obvious one. I thought that the second definition seemed strange, especially as Apollo was not necessarily known forContinue reading “uberous”

Pronounced: a-puh-LOH-nee-uhn, adj Notes: You probably know one meaning, but there is a second one that you may not know (I didn’t) Yesterday’s word The word resumptive means (as you might guess) “tending to resume, repeat, or summarize” First usage Our word goes back a long way; it came into English in the late 1300sContinue reading “Apollonian”

Pronounced: rih-ZUMP-tihv, adj Notes: You may know this word Yesterday’s word The word oligopsony is “a market situation in which a few independent buyers exert a disproportionate influence on the market” First usage Our word came into English in the 1940s Background / Comments Many people are familiar with ‘monopoly’; our word is similar. InContinue reading “resumptive”

Pronounced: ah-luh-GAHP-suh-nee, noun Notes: Certain people may know this word (I didn’t) Yesterday’s word The word peculate means “to steal of misuse money or property entrusted to one’s care; embezzle” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1700s Background / Comments Our word came from the Latin word pecu (cattle; money). IContinue reading “oligopsony”

Pronounced: PECK-yuh-late, verb Notes: I know a related word; do you know this one? Yesterday’s word The word potboiler is “a usually inferior work (as of art or literature) produced chiefly for profit First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments The reason I had a debate with myself overContinue reading “peculate”

Pronounced: POT-boy-ler, noun Notes: I had a debate about posting this word (more tomorrow) Yesterday’s word The word ambit means “scope; range; limit; or boundary” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1300s Background / Comments I’ve never run across our word, but it is a nice, useful word. It comes fromContinue reading “potboiler”