Words of the Week

Dentiloquist
n. One who speaks through the teeth, that is, with the teeth closed.

Precibal
adjective: occurring before meals

Inspissate
To thicken, as by evaporation; make or become dense.

portiere

noun

a heavy curtain hung across a doorway

Underfong
1. To undertake; to take in hand; to receive.
2. To insnare; to circumvent.
3. To sustain; to support; to guard.

Words of the Week #5

Abderian Ab*de"ri*an\,
a. Given to laughter; inclined to foolish or incessant merriment.

From Abdera, a town in Thrace, of which place Democritus, the Laughing Philosopher, was a native.

Borborygmus
A rumbling noise produced by the movement of gas through the intestines.

New Latin, from Greek borborugmos, of imitative origin.

Callipygian

"of, pertaining to, or having beautiful buttocks,"

1800, from Gk. kallipygos, name of a statue of Aphrodite, from kalli-, combining form of kallos "beauty" + pyge "rump, buttocks." Sir Thomas Browne (1646) refers to "Callipygæ and women largely composed behinde."

Dehisce
1. Botany To open at definite places, discharging seeds, pollen, or other contents, as the ripe
capsules or pods of some plants.
2. Medicine To rupture or break open, as a surgical wound.

From Latin dehīscere : dē-, de- + hīscere, to split, inchoative of hiāre, to be open.

Estrapade Es`tra*pade"
The action of a horse, when, to get rid of his rider, he rears, plunges, and kicks furiously.

Words of the Week #4

Bellwether \BEL-weth-uhr\, noun:
A leader of a movement or activity; also, a leading indicator of future trends.

Bellwether is a compound of bell and wether, "a male sheep, usually castrated"; from the practice of hanging a bell from the neck of the leader of the flock.

Diablerie \dee-OB-luh-ree; -AB-\, noun:
1. Sorcery; black magic; witchcraft.
2. Representation of devils or demons in words or pictures.
3. Mischievous conduct; deviltry.

Diablerie comes from the French, from diable, devil, from Latin diabolus, from Greek diabolos, "slanderer," from diaballein, "to slander," literally "to throw across," from dia-, "across" + ballein, "to throw."

Triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\, noun:
A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th.

Triskaidekaphobia is from Greek treiskaideka, triskaideka, thirteen (treis, three + kai, and + deka, ten) + phobos, fear.

In Christian countries the number 13 was considered unlucky because there were 13 persons at the Last Supper of Christ. Fridays are also unlucky, because the Crucifixion was on a Friday. Hence a Friday falling on the thirteenth day is regarded as especially unlucky.

Gustatory \GUS-tuh-tor-ee\, adjective:
Of or pertaining to the sense of taste.

Gustatory derives from Latin gustatus, "taste," from gustare, "to taste, to take a little of." Other words that have the same root include disgust and gusto ("vigorous and enthusiastic enjoyment").

Hardscrabble \HARD-skrab-uhl\, adjective:
1. Yielding a bare or meager living with great labor or difficulty.
2. Marked by poverty.

Hardscrabble is formed from hard (from Old English heard) + scrabble (from Dutch schrabbelen, "to scratch").

Words of the Week #3

Thank you all for your kind comments yesterday, they are very much appreciated . Hopefully I will get my head back in one piece at some point!

Anyway, this week's "Words of the Week" are:

Chthonic \THONE-ik\
adjective:
Dwelling in or under the earth; also, pertaining to the underworld

Chthonic comes from khthón, the Greek word for earth

Inkhorn \INK-horn\
adjective:
1. Affectedly or ostentatiously learned; pedantic.
noun:
1. A small bottle of horn or other material formerly used for holding ink.

Inkhorn derives from the name for the container formerly used (beginning in the 14th century) for holding ink, originally made from a real horn. Hence it came to refer to words that were being used by learned writers and scholars but which were unknown or rare in ordinary speech.

Peregrination \pehr-uh-gruh-NAY-shun
noun:
A travelling from place to place; a wandering.

Peregrination comes from Latin peregrinatio, from peregrinari, "to stay or travel in foreign countries," from peregre, "in a foreign country, abroad," from per, "through" + ager, "land."

Crapulous \KRAP-yuh-lus\
adjective:
1. Suffering the effects of, or derived from, or suggestive of gross intemperance, especially in drinking; as, a crapulous stomach.
2. Marked by gross intemperance, especially in drinking;

Crapulous is from Late Latin crapulosus, from Latin crapula, from Greek kraipale, drunkenness and its consequences, nausea, sickness, and headache.

Tintinnabulation \tin-tih-nab-yuh-LAY-shuhn\
noun:
A tinkling sound, as of a bell or bells.

Tintinnabulation derives from Latin tintinnabulum "a bell," from tintinnare from tinnire, "to jingle."

Words of the Week #2

Gimcrack \JIM-krak\, noun:
1. A showy but useless or worthless object; a gewgaw
adjective:
1. Tastelessly showy; cheap; gaudy

The origin of gimcrack is uncertain. It is perhaps an alteration of Middle English gibecrake, "a slight or flimsy ornament."


Hortatory \HOR-tuh-tor-ee\, adjective:
Marked by strong urging; serving to encourage or incite; as, "a hortatory speech".

Hortatory is from Latin hortatorius, from hortari, "to exhort, to incite, to encourage."


Imbroglio \im-BROHL-yoh\, noun:
1. A complicated and embarrassing state of things.
2. A confused or complicated disagreement or misunderstanding.
3. An intricate, complicated plot, as of a drama or work of fiction.
4. A confused mass; a tangle.

Oh yeah....welcome to my imbroglioed world.

Imbroglio derives from Italian, from Old Italian imbrogliare, "to tangle, to confuse," from in-, "in" + brogliare, "to mix, to stir." It is related to embroil, "to entangle in conflict or argument."


Pulchritude \PUL-kruh-tood; -tyood\, noun:
That quality of appearance which pleases the eye; beauty; comeliness; grace; loveliness.
Pulchritude comes from Latin pulchritudo, from pulcher, "beautiful." The adjective form is pulchritudinous.

What an ugly word for such a pulchritudinous meaning!