New Game: What's the Word?

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: HEARKEN

pronunciation: [HARK-ən]

 

Part of speech: verb

Origin: Old English, 11th century

 

Meaning: 

1. (archaic) Listen.

2. (Phrasal verb “hearken back”) Mention or remember something from the past; evoke an older style or genre.

 

Example:

"Charlie hearkened to his grandfather’s detailed fishing advice."

"Hearkening to the motel owner, we chose the local seafood restaurant for dinner."

 

About Hearken

“Hearken” predates modern English, with roots in the Old English words “heorcnian” and “hyrcnian.” It is related to the verb “hark,” which emerged in the 12th century, meaning to listen with focused attention.

 

Did You Know?

Modern speakers rarely use “hearken” to evoke its original meaning of “listen.” Rather, the term appears frequently in its phrasal verb form — “hearken back” — as a synonym for “call to mind” or “remember.” For example, the retro-inflected music of Bruno Mars is often said to hearken back to the golden days of soul, funk, and disco.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: POLLEX

pronunciation: [PAH-leks]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Latin, 18th century

 

Meaning: 

1. The innermost digit of a forelimb, especially the thumb in primates.

 

Example:

"Ernie’s polydactyl cat had an additional pollex."

"The shopping bag was light enough I could carry it with my pollex alone."

 

About Pollex

“Pollex” came directly from the same word in Latin, meaning “thumb” or “big toe.”

 

Did You Know?

The English word “pollex” comes directly from Latin, though variations on the word exist in other European languages. In Russian, “palex” means finger, “bol′šoj palec” means “thumb,” and “palec nogi” means “toe.” In both Czech and Bulgarian, “palec” means thumb.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: TRIPLICITY

pronunciation: [trip-LIS-ə-dee]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Latin, 16th century

 

Meaning: 

1. A group of three people or things.

2. (Archaic) The state of being triple.

 

Example:

"Haim is one of the most popular triplicities in modern pop music."

"Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger were an inspiring triplicity for many young readers."

 

About Triplicity

“Triplicity” comes from the old Latin “triplicitāt,” and is related to the more modern Latin term “triplex.” Both root words are formed by combining the prefix “tri-,” meaning “three,” and “plic,” meaning “to fold” (as in “threefold”).

 

Did You Know?

Luke, Leia, and Han. The Three Bears. The Magi bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Pop culture, legend, and history are full of triplicities. Sometimes one character isn’t enough, and two characters seem like they’re missing something. Only a triplicity will do. A triplicity of voices offers variety to the reader, viewer, or listener, making it easier for audiences to relate to the characters in front of them.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: DERRING-DO

pronunciation: [DER-ing-DO]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Middle English, late 16th century

 

Meaning: 

1. (Dated, humorous) Action displaying heroic courage.

 

Example:

"The spy novel was filled with instances of derring-do."

"Elizabeth dreamed of being swept off her feet by a a suitor’s derring-do."

 

About Derring-Do

In the late 14th century, the term was “dorrying don,” literally translated to “daring (to) do, stemming from “durring,” meaning “daring.” This term is the present participle of the Middle English “durren,” meaning “to dare” — a combination of the verb “dare” + “don,” the infinitive of “do.”

 

Did You Know?

“Derring-do” came about through a chain of mistakes and misinterpretations. Its Middle English root, “dorrying don,” means “daring to do.” But it was misprinted as “derrynge do” in 16th-century writings by poet John Lydgate. From there, it was mistaken as a noun by Edmund Spenser, who defined it as "manhood and chevalrie." Author Sir Walter Scott and several Romantic poets used it in their work and brought “derring-do” into (somewhat) modern language.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: EXTEMPORIZE

pronunciation: [ik-STEM-pə-riyz]

 

Part of speech: verb

Origin: Latin, 17th century

 

Meaning: 

1. Compose or perform something such as music or a speech without preparation; improvise.

 

Example:

"Amelia had to extemporize her work at the poetry slam."

"Joining an improv group is a great way to learn how to extemporize."

 

About Extemporize

This word was formed by combining the Latin “ex tempore,” which means “instantaneously,” along with “-ize,” a verb-forming suffix.

 

Did You Know?

“Extemporize” is part of a collection of words stemming from the Latin root “ex tempore,” meaning “on the spur of the moment.” The phrase “ex tempore” was formed by combining the suffix “ex-” with “tempus,” a noun meaning “time.” “Ex tempore” was adopted into the English language as “extemporaneously” and its rarely used synonyms, “extemporary” and “extemporal.”

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: LIMPET

pronunciation: [LIM-pət]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Middle English, pre-12th century

 

Meaning: 

1. A marine mollusk which has a shallow conical shell and a broad muscular foot, found clinging tightly to rocks.

2. Used in comparisons to refer to people and things that cling tightly.

 

Example:

"The limpet’s shell looked like an umbrella from the top view."

"Aaron’s friends called his new puppy a limpet."

 

About Limpet

This word stems from the Middle English “lempet,” an alteration of the Old English “lempedu,” meaning “a lamprey,” an ancient lineage of jawless fish. It originates from the Medieval Latin “lampreda.”

 

Did You Know?

In 2015, engineers in the United Kingdom found that limpets’ teeth are made of the toughest biological material ever tested. The teeth are of a mineral-protein amalgamation used to scrape food off rocks, often ingesting rock particles in the process. The team of engineers found the limpet teeth were stronger than all of the strongest man-made materials. This discovery could help improve man-made composites used to build cars, boats, aircraft, and human dental fillings.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: NEEP

pronunciation: [neep]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Middle English, pre-12th century

 

Meaning: 

1. (Scottish, Northern English) A turnip.

 

Example:

"Joanna made a creamy neep soup."

"Cedric has perfected the art of growing neeps."

 

About Neep

This word stems from the Middle English “nepe,” from the Old English “nǣp.” This comes from the Latin “napus,” meaning “turnip.”

 

Did You Know?

In Scotland a turnip is called a “neep,” but sometimes so is a rutabaga (which is also called a “swede”). “Neeps and tatties” is a traditional Scottish dish made of mashed neeps and mashed potatoes. It’s usually eaten as a side dish to haggis during Burns Night Supper, which marks the anniversary of Scottish poet Robert Burns’ birth on January 25.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: IMPREST

pronunciation: [IM-prest]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Italian, mid-16th century

 

Meaning: 

1. A fund used by a business for small items of expenditure and restored to a fixed amount periodically.

2. A sum of money advanced to a person for a particular purpose.

 

Example:

"The business has a specific imprest fund."

"Charlotte was clear that she was offering her friend an imprest for her bills."

 

About Imprest

This term stems from the earlier phrase “in prest,” meaning “as a loan,” likely influenced by the Italian or medieval Latin “imprestare,” meaning “lend.”

 

Did You Know?

“Imprest” is pronounced exactly like another, more common word in the American lexicon: impressed. But they have two very different meanings — while an “imprest” is related to loans and business funds, “impressed” means either “feeling or showing admiration or respect for someone or something” or “applied to something using pressure,” depending on the context.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: GAINSAY

pronunciation: [gayn-SAY]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Middle English, 14th century

 

Meaning: 

1. (formal) Deny or contradict (a fact or statement)

2. Speak against or oppose (someone)

 

Example:

"It’s hard to gainsay the importance of U.S. blues musicians to 1960s British rock ‘n’ roll."

"The prosecution’s clear evidence gainsays the defendant’s version of the events."

 

About Gainsay

In Old English, the terms “gęgn-“ and “géan” both implied reversal or opposition. Adding “gain-” as a prefix to “say” implied “to say in opposition.” This meaning of “gain” is also recognizable in the word “against.”

 

Did You Know?

The Oxford English Dictionary describes “gainsay” as “now a purely literary word,” but the term appears frequently enough to be familiar. Its most common form is expressed in the negative as a confirmation of unarguable opinion. For example, an argument “cannot be gainsaid,” or “no one may gainsay” a well-supported opinion. In both cases, the inability to gainsay is confirmation of truth.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: SPOOR

pronunciation: [SPOOR]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Dutch, 19th century

 

Meaning: 

1. The track or scent of an animal.

 

Example:

"We caught the spoor of the moose and followed it into the deep woods."

"The only spoor the hunters found was a patch of faint tracks on the hard ground."

 

About Spoor

“Spoor” entered English as a loan-word from the Dutch. In particular, “spoor” was used in Afrikaans (South African Dutch), but variations on the word exist in other European languages such as Old Norse (“spor”), Flemish (“speur”), and Swedish (“spar”).

 

Did You Know?

While “spoor” is mostly used as a noun for animal tracks or scent, the term can sometimes be used as a verb meaning “to track” or “to hunt.” For example, “John heard the call of the ducks landing at the end of the lake, and set off in his boat to spoor them.”

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: NYCTALOPIA

pronunciation: [nik-tə-LOH-pee-ə]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Greek, 17th century,

 

Meaning: 

1. The inability to see in dim light or at night. Also called night blindness

 

Example:

"I wanted to arrive home before dusk since my nyctalopia makes it difficult to drive at night."

"Shari turned the living room lights on in the afternoon in anticipation of her nyctalopia."

 

About Nyctalopia

The Latin term “nyctalopia” (for “night blindness”) is based on the 6th century Byzantine Greek term “νυκταλωπία,” meaning “night blindness.” It was first adopted in French in 1666 as “nyctalopie,” from which it was adopted in English in the late 17th century.

 

Did You Know?

Nyctalopia describes difficulty seeing in low-light conditions, meaning nyctalopia subjects find it hard to navigate outdoors at night or indoors with low lighting. However, many also find it challenging to negotiate shifts between light and dark, such as leaving a well-lit house and adjusting to the darkness of night. While people with healthy eyes can adjust to such shifts quickly, those with nyctalopia take much longer to adapt to darkness.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: ZAFTIG

pronunciation: [ZAHF-tig]

 

Part of speech: adjective

Origin: Yiddish, 1930s

 

Meaning: 

1. Having a full, rounded figure; plump (typically used of a woman)

 

Example:

"The zaftig model twirled in her floral-print dress before the camera."

"Many cultures have traditionally seen a zaftig figure as the apex of beauty."

 

About Zaftig

“Zaftig” is derived from the Yiddish “zaftik,” meaning “juicy.” It is related to the German “saftig,” also meaning “juicy,” which is related to the German “saft,” meaning “juice.”

 

Did You Know?

The original Yiddish term “zaftig” described juicy and delectable food — but also things that could be compared to food, such as a juicy piece of gossip. As members of the European Jewish diaspora adapted Yiddish to their new lives in the United States, the term became applicable to desirable women at a time when plumpness was a signifier of good health and a comfortable income. Accordingly, “zaftig” has often been used to describe round, curvaceous figures.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: DEASIL

pronunciation: [DEH-səl]

 

Part of speech: adverb

Origin: Scottish Gaelic, late 18th century

 

Meaning: 

1. (dated, mainly Scottish) In the direction of the sun's apparent course, considered as lucky; clockwise.

 

Example:

"Following the sun, the druids circled Stonehenge deasil."

"I circled the lot deasil while seeking a parking spot."

 

About Deasil

“Deasil” entered English in the 18th century from the Scots Gaelic “deiseil,” meaning “toward the right.”

 

Did You Know?

To move in a deasil direction means to move clockwise, which Celts believed followed the course of the sun in a lucky manner. For this reason, many Scottish and Celtic religious processions and other ceremonial occasions included participants walking deasil around a church or site of worship.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: EUDAEMONISM

pronunciation: [yoo-DEE-mə-niz-əm]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Greek, early 19th century

 

Meaning: 

1. A system of ethics that bases moral value on the likelihood of actions producing happiness.

 

Example:

"Janick practiced eudaemonism by planning a pleasant and educational event for each weekend."

"The teacher encouraged students to explore eudaemonism by doing at least three pleasurable things every day."

 

About Eudaemonism

“Eudaemonism” entered English in the 19th century from the Greek “εὐδαιμονία,” meaning happiness, with the suffix “-ism” to indicate a system of belief or practice.

 

Did You Know?

“Eudaemonism” is based on the Greek term “eudaemonia,” introduced by Aristotle. Aristotle’s “eudaemonia” described the positive condition of doing and living well. It was not, in fact, a synonym for happiness, but rather it described a greater state of positive existence, which combined wisdom, contemplation, virtue, and other beneficial attributes for personal success.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: WHEEPLE

pronunciation: [WEE-pəl]

 

Part of speech: verb

Origin: Scottish dialect, 10th century.

 

Meaning: 

1. To emit a shrill cry or whistle, sometimes feebly.

 

Example:

"The chicks in the nest outside my window wheepled as they waited for their mother to bring them worms."

"JD wheepled up to Veronica’s window, hoping not to wake her parents."

 

About Wheeple

“Wheeple” is a Scottish dialect term adopted into English in the early 19th century.

 

Did You Know?

The term “wheeple” in Scottish also appeared as “whipple,” “wheeble,” “wheeffle,” and “feeple,” and originally referred particularly to the high-pitched cries of birds such as the plover and curlew. After the mid-19th century, “wheeple” also described people whistling, especially tunelessly.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: MONONYM

pronunciation: [MAH-nə-nim]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Greek, 19th century

 

Meaning: 

1. A person's name consisting of one word, typically a first name without a surname.

 

Example:

"The world of music is full of talented artists with mononyms, from Madonna and Sting to Rihanna, Adele, and Drake."

"John wanted to use his first name as a mononym, but he worried it wasn’t exciting enough."

 

About Mononym

“Mononym” combines the prefix “mono,” from the ancient Greek “μονο” meaning “single,” with the suffix “-onym,” from the ancient Greek “ὄνυμα,” meaning “name.”

 

Did You Know?

A mononym (one-word name) is often a first name, but celebrities are always stretching the limits. First-name-only celebs include Madonna (Louise Ciccone), Beyoncé (Giselle Knowles), and Prince (Rogers Nelson). Some — including magician (Raymond Joseph) Teller and musician (Stephen) Morrissey — use their last names. Other mononymous stars, like Sting, Bono, Pink, Lorde, and Eminem, use nicknames or names they’ve chosen for themselves.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: GRANDISONANT

pronunciation: [gran-DIH-sə-nənt]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: Latin, 17th century

 

Meaning: 

1. Grand-sounding, giving the impression of grandeur; rhetorical; bombastic.

 

Example:

"The mayor gave a grandisonant speech about the contributions of the city’s founders."

"The hotel manager offered a grandisonant description of the room service options."

 

About Grandisonant

“Grandisonant” is derived from the classical Latin “grandisonus,” meaning “pompous” or “loud sounding.” Both the English word and its Latin source are formed by mixing the Latin roots “grandis” (meaning “large”) and “sonus” meaning “sound”).

 

Did You Know?

“Grandisonant” can be both a compliment and an insult, depending on how it is applied. If the speaker on a very serious occasion gives a grandisonant speech, it may well bring a feeling of solemnity to the day. Yet a person speaking in a grandisonant tone about trivial things risks sounding pompous or bombastic.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: OXFORDIAN

pronunciation: [ox-FOR-dee-ən]

 

Part of speech: adjective

Origin: From proper name, 17th century

 

Meaning: 

1. Relating to or denoting the theory that Edward de Vere (1550–1604), Earl of Oxford, wrote the plays attributed to Shakespeare.

 

Example:

"The Oxfordian lecturer proposed that everything we thought about Shakespeare was false."

"Jane hasn’t yet seen evidence that would turn her from a Shakespeare fan into an Oxfordian."

 

About Oxfordian

Named for Edward de Vere’s rank as Earl of Oxford, “Oxfordian” combines the proper name of “Oxford” with the suffix “-ian,” indicating “belonging to.”

 

Did You Know?

Not everyone believes William Shakespeare wrote all – or any – of the famous plays attributed to him. Some believe instead that Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, was the true author. Though nearly all his works have been lost to time, de Vere was considered by many to be one of the best poets of the Court of Elizabeth I. This reputation helped cement the theory that he wrote the work attributed to Shakespeare. However, a majority of Shakespearean scholars have rejected any “alternative authorship” theories.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: APRICATE

pronunciation: [AP-rə-keit]

 

Part of speech: verb

Origin: Latin, 17th century

 

Meaning: 

1. To bask in the sun, or to expose to the sun

 

Example:

"I planned my vacation so that I could apricate on the beach all day."

"My neighbor finds it relaxing to apricate on his porch roof."

 

About Apricate

“Apricate” is drawn directly from the Latin “aprīcāt” meaning “to bask in the sun.”

 

Did You Know?

Cats like to apricate more than nearly any other animal, and with good reason: modern cats’ ancestors lived in the desert and were exposed to ample sun. Another reason cats are happy to apricate in all seasons is that basking in the sun makes it easier for them to sleep. Cats’ body temperatures fluctuate when they’re asleep, but lying in the sun helps keep their temperatures stable.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: PALEOGRAPHY

pronunciation: [pey-lee-AH-graf-ee]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: English, 18th century

 

Meaning: 

1. The study of ancient writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts.

 

Example:

"The professor taught paleography, with an expertise in Egyptian hieroglyphics."

"The archivist took a course in paleography so she could do more work with ancient manuscripts."

 

About Paleography

“Paleography” was formed in English as a combination of two Latin terms: “paleo-,” meaning “ancient,” and “-graphy,” which relates both to writing, and to descriptive sciences like “geography” and “photography.”

 

Did You Know?

Paleography isn’t actually about understanding ancient writing and is not a study of the contents of such writing. Rather, paleography is limited to studying the structures of ancient writing systems and styles, and sometimes involves dating ancient writings.