Thursday Thirteen 014: Words.
Sep. 9th, 2011 12:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
misslj_authorThirteen Words of Awesomenes.
1. dendroid
adjective: Resembling, branching like, or shaped like a tree.
From Greek dendron (tree). Earliest documented use: 1846.
2. gasconade
noun: Boastful talk.
verb intr.: To boast extravagantly.
From French gasconnade, from gasconner (to boast), after Gascon, a native of the Gascony region in France. First recorded use: 1709.
3. contradistinguish
verb tr.: To distinguish (one thing from another) by contrasting qualities.
From Latin contra- (against) + distinguish, from Middle/Old French distinguer, from Latin distinguere (to pick or separate). Ultimately from the Indo-European root steig- (to stick; pointed), which is also the source of ticket, etiquette, instinct, stigma, thistle, tiger, and steak. Earliest documented use: 1622.
4. usufruct
noun: The right to use and enjoy another's property without destroying it.
From Latin ususfructus, from usus et fructus (use and enjoyment). Earliest documented use: 1646.
5. panjandrum
noun: An important or self-important person.
The word is said to have been coined by dramatist and actor Samuel Foote (1720-1777) as part of a nonsensical passage to test the memory of his fellow actor Charles Macklin who claimed to be able to repeat anything after hearing it once. Earliest documented use: 1825, in the novel "Harry and Lucy Concluded" in which the author Maria Edgeworth attributes the word to Foote.
6. tintinnabulation
noun: The ringing of or the sound of bells.
From Latin tintinnabulum (bell), from tintinnare (to ring, jingle), reduplication of tinnire (to ring), of imitative origin. Earliest documented use: 1831, in Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Bells.
7. interstitial
adjective: Concerning or located between things, especially those closely spaced.
From Latin interstitium, from intersistere (to stand in between, to pause), from inter- (between) + sistere (to stand). Earliest documented use: 1646.
8. locum
noun: A person filling in for another, especially for a doctor or clergyman.
From Latin locum tenens (holding the place), from locus (place) + tenere (to hold). The full form locum tenens is also used in English.
9. asseverate
verb tr.: To affirm solemnly.
From Latin asseverare (to declare in earnest), from severus (serious). Ultimately from the Indo-European root segh- (to hold), which is also the source of words such as hectic, scheme, scholar, and cathect.
10. gallimaufry
noun: A hodgepodge; a jumble.
From Middle French galimafree (stew), probably from galer (to make merry) + mafrer (to gorge oneself).
11. desideratum
noun: Something considered necessary or desirable.
From Latin desideratum (something desired), from desiderare (to desire).
12. tabby
noun:
1. A domestic cat with a striped or brindled coat.
2. A domestic cat, especially a female one.
3. A spinster.
4. A spiteful or gossipy woman.
5. A fabric of plain weave.
6. A watered silk fabric.
7. A building material made of lime, oyster shells, and gravel.
For 1-6: From French tabis, from Medieval Latin attabi, from Arabic attabi, from al-Attabiya, a suburb of Baghdad, Iraq, where silk was made, from the name of Prince Attab. Cats got the name tabby after similarity of their coats to the cloth; the derivations of words for females are probably from shortening of the name Tabitha.
For 7: From Gullah tabi, ultimately from Spanish tapia (wall).
13. cockaigne
noun: An imaginary land of luxury and idleness.
From Middle French pais de cocaigne (land of plenty), from Middle Low German kokenje, diminutive of koke (cake). Cockaigne was a fabled place of ease and luxury, a land overflowing with milk and honey where food fell into your mouth by itself. It was an imaginary place a medieval peasant could aspire to, a place away from the harsh reality of life.
1. dendroid
adjective: Resembling, branching like, or shaped like a tree.
From Greek dendron (tree). Earliest documented use: 1846.
2. gasconade
noun: Boastful talk.
verb intr.: To boast extravagantly.
From French gasconnade, from gasconner (to boast), after Gascon, a native of the Gascony region in France. First recorded use: 1709.
3. contradistinguish
verb tr.: To distinguish (one thing from another) by contrasting qualities.
From Latin contra- (against) + distinguish, from Middle/Old French distinguer, from Latin distinguere (to pick or separate). Ultimately from the Indo-European root steig- (to stick; pointed), which is also the source of ticket, etiquette, instinct, stigma, thistle, tiger, and steak. Earliest documented use: 1622.
4. usufruct
noun: The right to use and enjoy another's property without destroying it.
From Latin ususfructus, from usus et fructus (use and enjoyment). Earliest documented use: 1646.
5. panjandrum
noun: An important or self-important person.
The word is said to have been coined by dramatist and actor Samuel Foote (1720-1777) as part of a nonsensical passage to test the memory of his fellow actor Charles Macklin who claimed to be able to repeat anything after hearing it once. Earliest documented use: 1825, in the novel "Harry and Lucy Concluded" in which the author Maria Edgeworth attributes the word to Foote.
6. tintinnabulation
noun: The ringing of or the sound of bells.
From Latin tintinnabulum (bell), from tintinnare (to ring, jingle), reduplication of tinnire (to ring), of imitative origin. Earliest documented use: 1831, in Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Bells.
7. interstitial
adjective: Concerning or located between things, especially those closely spaced.
From Latin interstitium, from intersistere (to stand in between, to pause), from inter- (between) + sistere (to stand). Earliest documented use: 1646.
8. locum
noun: A person filling in for another, especially for a doctor or clergyman.
From Latin locum tenens (holding the place), from locus (place) + tenere (to hold). The full form locum tenens is also used in English.
9. asseverate
verb tr.: To affirm solemnly.
From Latin asseverare (to declare in earnest), from severus (serious). Ultimately from the Indo-European root segh- (to hold), which is also the source of words such as hectic, scheme, scholar, and cathect.
10. gallimaufry
noun: A hodgepodge; a jumble.
From Middle French galimafree (stew), probably from galer (to make merry) + mafrer (to gorge oneself).
11. desideratum
noun: Something considered necessary or desirable.
From Latin desideratum (something desired), from desiderare (to desire).
12. tabby
noun:
1. A domestic cat with a striped or brindled coat.
2. A domestic cat, especially a female one.
3. A spinster.
4. A spiteful or gossipy woman.
5. A fabric of plain weave.
6. A watered silk fabric.
7. A building material made of lime, oyster shells, and gravel.
For 1-6: From French tabis, from Medieval Latin attabi, from Arabic attabi, from al-Attabiya, a suburb of Baghdad, Iraq, where silk was made, from the name of Prince Attab. Cats got the name tabby after similarity of their coats to the cloth; the derivations of words for females are probably from shortening of the name Tabitha.
For 7: From Gullah tabi, ultimately from Spanish tapia (wall).
13. cockaigne
noun: An imaginary land of luxury and idleness.
From Middle French pais de cocaigne (land of plenty), from Middle Low German kokenje, diminutive of koke (cake). Cockaigne was a fabled place of ease and luxury, a land overflowing with milk and honey where food fell into your mouth by itself. It was an imaginary place a medieval peasant could aspire to, a place away from the harsh reality of life.
