Category Archives: word

Pronounced: SOO-tuhr-kin, noun Notes: I’ve not heard this word Yesterday’s word The word univocal means First usage Our word came into English in the very late 1500s Background / Comments Our word and “equivocal” are related: they are antonyms, both coming into English at the same time. We tend to use “unequivocal” today instead ofContinue reading “sooterkin”

Pronounced: you-NIH-vuh-kuhl, adj Notes: Our word reminds me of “equivocal”, but is this a coincidence? Yesterday’s word The word outro is “the concluding part of a piece of music, program, etc” First usage Our word came into English in the 1960s Background / Comments Musical pieces have an introduction (also called an “intro”). Someone apparentlyContinue reading “univocal”

Pronounced: OW-troh, noun Notes: I’ve never run across this word Yesterday’s word The word vespertine means First usage Our word came into English in the very late 1400s or very early 1500s Background / Comments After reading the definition (especially the first one), I realized that I should have known the word, as I amContinue reading “outro”

Pronounced: VESS-per-tine, adj Notes: I should have known this word, but I just saw in it a relative of “serpentine” Yesterday’s word The word quodlibetal means “relating to a question or topic for debate or discussion” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments As I noted yesterday, IContinue reading “vespertine”

Pronounced: kwod-LIB-uh-tuhl, adj Notes: My guess of the meaning was off, because I have run across another form of this word Yesterday’s word The word propitious means First usage Our word came into English in the early to middle 1400s Background / Comments I am familiar with the third definition, and is how I useContinue reading “quodlibetal”

Pronounced: pruh-PIH-shuhs, adj Notes: I am familiar with one of the definitions Yesterday’s word The word adventious means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments As you can see, nothing to do with the word “adventure”. Our word is a variant spelling of adventitious, which comes from the LatinContinue reading “propitious”

Pronounced: ad-VEN-shuhs, adj Notes: I (incorrectly) see “adventure” when I look at this word Yesterday’s word The word caesura is “a pause or break in a melody or line of verse” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments Our word claims to be a break in a melody, butContinue reading “adventious”

Pronounced: si-ZYOOR-uh, noun Notes: I haven’t run across this word, and I’m a bit surprised Yesterday’s word The word intrapreneur means “an employee who works as an entrepreneur within an established company, having the freedom to take risks and act independently” First usage Our word came into English in the 1970s Background / Comments OurContinue reading “caesura”

Pronounced: in-truh-pruh-NUHR (alt-1: in-truh-pruh-NOOR; alt-2: in-truh-pruh-NYOOR), noun Notes: I know “entrepreneur”, but not this word Yesterday’s word The word rhadamanthine means “rigorously strict or just” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments Our word comes from Greek mythology: in the underworld (Hades), there were three judges: Minos, Aeacus, andContinue reading “intraprenuer”

Pronounced: rah-duh-MAN-thuhn (alt: rah-duh-MANT-thuhn), adj Notes: This long word is often capitalized Yesterday’s word The word camelious means “relating to the camel or its hump” First usage Our word came into English in the first decade of the 1900s Background / Comments I think I was thinking of chamomile or chameleon and missed the moreContinue reading “rhadamanthine”