New Game: What's the Word?

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: RECONDITE

pronunciation: [rə-KAHN-diyt]

 

Part of speech: adjective

Origin: Latin, mid 17th century

 

Meaning: 

1. Little known; obscure, (specifically regarding knowledge).

 

Example:

"The academic textbook contained a lot of recondite information that was hard for the students to understand."

"We were very pleased that we could follow the recondite directions to the lake."

 

About Recondite

Recondite comes from the Latin word “reconditus,” which means hidden or put away. It can also be used as an adverb, “reconditely,” or as a noun, “reconditeness.”

 

Did You Know?

If you remove the prefix “re,” you are left with the verb “condite,” which means to pickle or preserve — “condite” is possibly a more recondite word than “recondite.”

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: CICERONIAN

pronunciation: [sis-ə-ROH-nee-ən]

 

Part of speech: adjective

Origin: Latin, mid 17th century

 

Meaning: 

1. Characteristic of the work and thought of Cicero. When relating to writing or speech, that which is in a manner similar to that of Cicero; logical and elegant.

 

Example:

"She delivered a lecture in a Ciceronian manner — clear, logical, and riveting to listen to."

"There was a Ciceronian elegance to the letter, which made logical arguments for the board to consider."

 

About Ciceronian

Ciceronian is derived from the name of the great Roman statesman, orator, and writer Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE). He had an incredible influence on Latin prose style, which in turn directly influenced much European prose.

 

Did You Know?

Cicero, for whom the word “Ciceronian” was coined, had a style of oratory and prose that relied heavily on subordinate clauses while also being logically balanced. For example, “a room without books is like a body without a soul” is credited to Cicero.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: CANALIZE

pronunciation: [CAN-əl-iyz]

 

Part of speech: verb

Origin: French, 19th century

 

Meaning: 

1. Convert (a river) into a navigable canal.

2. Convey (something) through a duct or channel.

 

Example:

"Part of leading a nonprofit is to canalize donations where they’re most necessary."

"The civil engineers agreed to canalize the river in a new direction."

 

About Canalize

This word comes from the French “canal,” or “chanel,” meaning "water channel, tube, pipe or gutter." It originates from the Latin “canalis,” meaning "water pipe, groove, channel." It is combined with “-ize,” a word-forming element used to make verbs.

 

Did You Know?

The process of canalizing can occur in a few ways in the human body, and repetition is key. In neuroscience, it is when the hypothetical process of a neural pathway’s repeated use leads to greater ease of transmission of impulses — essentially what happens in the brain when people form habits. Over time, this process becomes permanent. In psychology, canalization is when a person channels their needs into fixed patterns of gratification, such as food or recreational preferences.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: FRABJOUS

pronunciation: [FRAB-jəs]

 

Part of speech: adjective

Origin: Author Lewis Carroll, 1871

 

Meaning: 

1. Delightful; joyous.

 

Example:

"The group was excited to attend the frabjous wedding."

"Everyone expects senior prom to be a frabjous occasion."

 

About Frabjous

This is a word Lewis Carroll coined in his 1871 book, “Through the Looking-Glass.” It is a blend of either “fabulous” and “joyous,” or “fair” and “joyous.”

 

Did You Know?

Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll made a habit of inventing new words, often portmanteaus, within his stories. Besides “frabjous,” there’s “mimsy,” a blend of “miserable” and “flimsy” that eventually came to mean "prim; careful; feeble" in British English; “galumph,” meaning "to move heavily and clumsily" that blends “gallop” and “triumph”; and “chortle,” which combines “chuckle” and “snort” and means "to exclaim exultingly, with a noisy chuckle."

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: UNBOSOM

pronunciation: [ən-BUHZ-əm]

 

Part of speech: verb

Origin: Old English, late 16th century

 

Meaning: 

1. Disclose (one's thoughts or secrets).

 

Example:

"Caroline unbosomed her concerns to her best friend."

"Counselors are used to clients who unbosom their secrets."

 

About Unbosum

This word comes from the Old English suffix “un,” a prefix of negation, plus the Old English “bosm,” meaning “breast, womb, surface,” which stems from the West Germanic “bōsmaz.”

 

Did You Know?

“Unbosom” is part of a collection of words that incorporates its root, “bosom,” which means “breast, womb, surface, or ship’s hold” in its Old English form. “Embosom” means “to shelter closely.” “Imbosom” is an archaic version of “embosom.” And “disbosom” means to disclose a secret, just like “unbosom.”

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: ILLATION

pronunciation: [ə-LAY-shən]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Latin, mid-16th century

 

Meaning: 

1. The action of inferring or drawing a conclusion; an inference.

 

Example:

"The game Clue depends on players drawing illations."

"We came to the illation that Tim didn’t want to join us."

 

About Illation

This word comes from the Latin “illatio(n-),” from “illat-,” meaning “brought in.” It originates from the verb “inferre,” meaning to “bring in, bring about”; in medieval Latin, it means “deduce.”

 

Did You Know?

“Illation” can be confused with “elation” and “alation” because they sound similar, even though they mean very different things. Elation is a noun that means “great happiness,” while “alation” is a noun and biological term that means “the state of having wings.”

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: ENVOI

pronunciation: [EN-voi]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: French, mid 17th century

 

Meaning: 

1. A short stanza concluding a ballade (a poem) or a short, lyrical piece of music, especially one for piano.

2. (Literary) an author’s concluding words.

 

Example:

"The envoi made for a fitting end to the novel."

"Ted composed a haunting envoi for his original music

 

About Envoi

This word comes from the Old French “envoi,” from “envoyer” meaning “send.” It comes from “en voie,” meaning “on the way,” based on the Latin “via,” meaning “way.”

 

Did You Know?

Envois were traditionally explanatory or advice-like remarks at the end of a poem, book, or essay. In poetry, they could also be used to emphasize the moral of the work and often addressed whomever the poem was written about. Although envois are usually linked to French poetic forms, many English poets have employed them, including Geoffrey Chaucer and Robert Southey.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: VERIEGATE

pronunciation: [VER-ee-ə-gait]

 

Part of speech: verb

Origin: Late Latin, mid 17th century

 

Meaning: 

1. Alter in appearance, especially by adding different colors.

2. Make more diverse or varied.

 

Example:

"Rebecca wanted to variegate her painting to draw more eyes to it during exhibition."

"The President plans to variegate her cabinet to include more perspectives."

 

About Variegate

This word stems from the Late Latin “variegatus,” meaning "made of various sorts or colors." It came from the past participle of “variegare,” meaning "diversify with different colors," from “varius,” meaning "spotted, changing, varying."

 

Did You Know?

You’d be surprised how many plants have the word “variegated” in their names. There’s variegated liriope, also known as monkey grass; variegated shell ginger; variegated flax lily; variegated pittosporum; variegated string of hearts; variegated fiddle leaf figs, and more. All of these plants have differently colored zones in their leaves and sometimes their stems. This usually occurs because of a cell mutation within the plant from the lack of the green pigment found in chlorophyll.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: SUSS

pronunciation: [səs]

 

Part of speech: verb

Origin: French, mid 20th century

 

Meaning: 

1. Realize or grasp (something).

2. Discover the true character or nature of.

 

Example:

"The detective could suss a new acquaintance in record time."

"Sandra quickly sussed the key to the riddle."

 

About Suss

This word is a shortened version of “suspect,” from the French “suspecter” or directly from the Latin “suspectare,” meaning "to mistrust."

 

Did You Know?

“Suss” is special because it can be a noun, verb, or adjective. The noun version means “knowledge or awareness of a specified kind.” The adjective form, which has picked up popularity among the younger crowd when talking about someone or something that doesn’t sit quite right, means “shrewd and wary.”

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: RAMIFY
pronunciation: [RAM-ə-fi]

 

Part of speech: verb

Origin: Old French, early 15th century

 

Meaning: 

1. Form branches or offshoots.

2. Spread or branch out; grow and develop in complexity or range.

 

Example:

"The family had ramified into a clan that spread out across the country. "

"The therapist decided she wanted to ramify her practice to attract more patients."

 

About Ramify

This word comes from Old French “ramifier,” which stems from medieval Latin “ramificare,” originally from Latin “ramus,” meaning “branch.”

 

Did You Know?

“Ramify” stems from “ramus,” the Latin word for "branch." The word was originally a scientific term, referencing branching parts of trees and plants. Later, it was applied to how nerves and veins branch out. It was only in more recent times that “ramify” was used in non-scientific and figurative contexts.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: TITIVATE

pronunciation: [TIH-də-veyt]

 

Part of speech: verb

Origin: Origin unknown, early 19th century

 

Meaning: 

1. Make small enhancing alterations to (something).

2. Make oneself look attractive.

 

Example:

"The seamstress was able to titivate the gown."

"Betty wanted to titivate herself before the reception."

 

About Titivate

This word may have come from the English words “tidy” and “renovate.”

 

Did You Know?

“Titivate” sounds similar to a more commonly used word, “titillate.” Even though they’re both verbs, if you mix them up, there will definitely be some confusion. Titillate means to “stimulate or excite.”

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: WONTED

pronunciation: [WAHN-təd]

 

Part of speech: adjective

Origin: Middle English, early 15th century

 

Meaning: 

1. Habitual; usual.

 

Example:

"When Clara got home, she slipped back into her wonted, quiet life."

"Stan knew his husband had a wonted morning routine."

 

About Wonted

This word is an adjectival formation of “wont,” the Middle English contraction of Old English “wunod,” meaning "to dwell, inhabit, exist; be accustomed, be used to.” This stems from the German “wohnen,” meaning "to dwell."

 

Did You Know?

“Wont” and “wonted” can cause some confusion. Verbally, “wonted” sounds nearly identical to “wanted,” so they can be easily confused. “Wont” also sounds somewhat similar to the contraction “won’t,” meaning “will not.” However, the context these words are being used in should be enough to clue you in on which one is being used.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: METAPHRASE

pronunciation: [MEH-də-frayz]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Greek, early 17th century

 

Meaning: 

1. A literal, word-for-word translation, as opposed to a paraphrase.

 

Example:

"The metaphrase of “Anna Karenina” was quite impressive."

"A metaphrase isn’t always the best way to communicate to an audience."

 

About Metaphrase

This word, denoting a metrical translation, originates from the Greek “metaphrazein,” which means “word differently.”

 

Did You Know?

“Metaphrase” has a few different uses. It can be a verb, meaning “alter the phrasing or language of.” And according to the “Manual of English Rhetoric” by Andrew Dousa Hepburn, metaphrase is also the translation of poetry into prose.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: BOLIDE

pronunciation: [BOH-lahyd]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: French, early 19th century

 

Meaning: 

1. A large meteor which explodes in the atmosphere.

 

Example:

"NASA is tracking a bolide that will be visible to stargazers."

"Stacey saw the footage of the bolide exploding in the sky."

 

About Bolide

This word comes from French, although it’s originally from the Latin “bolis,” and from the Greek “bolis,” meaning “missile.”

 

Did You Know?

Some scientific publications focus on the brightness of bolides in order to classify them. One describes a bolide as a fireball that reaches a minimum apparent magnitude of -14, which is twice as bright as a full moon. There are also superbolides, which reach an apparent magnitude of -17 or brighter. That’s about 100 times brighter than the full moon.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: MATUTINAL

pronunciation: [mə-TYOOT-ə-nl]

 

Part of speech: adjective

Origin: Latin, mid 16th century

 

Meaning: 

1. (formal) of or occurring in the morning.

 

Example:

"Fred started his day with a matutinal jog in the park."

"The regular matutinal Monday meeting set the tone for the week."

 

About Matutinal

“Matutinal” comes from the late Latin “matutinalis,” which comes from the Latin word “matutinus,” meaning early.

 

Did You Know?

The adjective “matutinal” can be traced back to Mātūta, the Roman goddess of dawn. The Christian “matins” are typically performed during a dawn prayer service, especially in the Anglican Church. Outside of the church, “matutinal” can be used to describe any morning routine, such as early workouts, a meditation practice, a cup of coffee, or a regular breakfast dish.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: TRIALOGUE

pronunciation: [TRI-ə-lahg]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: English, mid 16th century

 

Meaning: 

1. A dialogue between three people.

 

Example:

"John, Sarah, and Zoe entered into a trialogue to agree on which candidate to hire."

"Representatives from California, New York, and Washington arranged a trialogue to discuss the proposed legislation."

 

About Trialogue

“Trialogue” is a composite word derived from “tri,” meaning three, and “dialogue,” meaning conversation. The “dia” in “dialogue” doen’t refer to a conversation between two people; it comes from the Greek word “dialegesthal,” which simply means “to converse with.”

 

Did You Know?

A conversation between three people is considered a “trialogue.” Some famous examples of trialogues would be Harry, Hermione, and Ron (from Harry Potter); Huey, Dewey, and Louie (from Disney’s DuckTales); Luke, Leia, and Han (from Star Wars); and Aramis, Athos, and Porthos of “The Three Musketeers” by Alexandre Dumas.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: HOLOGRAPH

pronunciation: [HA-lə-graf]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: French or late Latin, early 17th century

 

Meaning: 

1. A manuscript handwritten by the person named as its author.

 

Example:

"Some authors prefer to write holographs rather than typing."

"The holograph was merely a first draft of her novel."

 

About Holograph

This word stems from the French “holographe,” or via late Latin from the Greek “holographos.” This comes from “holos,” meaning “whole” and “-graphos,” meaning “written, writing.”

 

Did You Know?

Many authors prefer producing a holograph of their work before typing and sending the draft off to a publisher. They include Joyce Carol Oates, Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Margaret Atwood, among others. Hemingway once said, “I write description in longhand because that’s hardest for me and you’re closer to the paper when you work by hand, but I use the typewriter for dialogue because people speak like a typewriter works.”

 

Edited December 16, 2021 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: STASIS

pronunciation: [STAY-sis]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Latin, mid 18th century

 

Meaning: 

1. A period or state of inactivity or equilibrium.

2. Civil strife.

 

Example:

"Matilda slipped into a state of stasis after work."

"The American Civil War is a prime example of stasis."

 

About Stasis

This word comes from medical Latin by way of Greek, meaning “standing, stoppage.”

 

Did You Know?

You might have seen “stasis” as part of a larger word, like “homeostasis” (the state of steady internal, physical, and chemical conditions maintained by living systems) or “metastasis” (the transfer of cancerous cells to a secondary site in the body).

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: FOURSQUARE

pronunciation: [for-SKWER]

 

Part of speech: adjective

Origin: Location unknown, 14th century

 

Meaning: 

1. (Of a building or structure) having a square shape and solid appearance.

2. (Of a person or quality) firm and resolute.

 

Example:

"The house was a sturdy, foursquare figure."

"Once Clint made his mind up, he remained foursquare."

 

About Foursquare

This word’s origin is unknown, although its first known use was during the 1300s.

 

Did You Know?

The playground game called Foursquare played with four players on a square court divided into quadrants. The objective is to eliminate other players to achieve the highest rank by bouncing the ball among the quadrants.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: GLUTINOUS

pronunciation: [GLOO-tih-nəs]

 

Part of speech: adjective

Origin: Middle English, 15th century

 

Meaning: 

1. Like glue in texture; sticky.

 

Example:

"Mitch was asked to stir the glutinous filling continually."

"The rice became glutinous as it stood untouched in the pot."

 

About Glutinous

This word comes from late Middle English by way of either the Old French “glutineux” or the Latin “glutinosus.” It originates from “gluten,” meaning “glue.”

 

Did You Know?

Glutinous rice is a type of rice that’s grown mainly in East Asia and northeastern India. Its grains are opaque and contain a very low content of amylose, a primary component of starch. This is what makes Chinese sticky rice, which is often a key ingredient in dishes like dim sum.