Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Execrate this one
Execrable \Ex"e*cra*ble\, a. [L. execrabilis, exsecrabilis: cf.
F. ex['e]crable. See {Execrate}.]
Deserving to be execrated; accursed; damnable; detestable;
abominable; as, an execrable wretch. ``Execrable pride.''
--Hooker. -- {Ex"e*cra*ble*ness}, n. -- {Ex"e*cra*bly}, adv.
This one causes discomfort
Discomfit \Dis*com"fit\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Discomfited}; p.
pr. & vb. n. {Discomfiting}.] [OF. desconfit, p. p. of
desconfire, F. d['e]confire; fr. L. dis- + conficere to make
ready, prepare, bring about. See {Comfit}, {Fact}.]
1. To scatter in fight; to put to rout; to defeat.
And his proud foes discomfit in victorious field.
--Spenser.
2. To break up and frustrate the plans of; to balk? to throw
into perplexity and dejection; to disconcert.
Well, go with me and be not so discomfited. --Shak.
Syn: To defeat; overthrow; overpower; vanquish; conquer;
baffle; frustrate; confound; discourage.
I honestly love Asserrate
Asseverate \As*sev"er*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Asseverated};
p. pr. & vb. n. {Asseverating}.] [L. asseveratus, p. p. of
asseverare to assert seriously or earnestly; ad + severus.
See {Severe}.]
To affirm or aver positively, or with solemnity.
Syn: To affirm; aver; protest; declare. See {Affirm}.
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Obstreperous: A Good Word for Children
Obstreperous
/əbˈstrɛp(ə)rəs/
Adjective.
Noisy and difficult to control.
"Mrs. Callahan, as your son's teacher I regret to
inform you that he has proved both obstreperous and anti-social..."
The word is derived from the Latin obstrepere, composed of
ob (against) and strepere (make a noise). It has become one of my absolute favourite words in recent times.
Septentrional: Hope you don't feel boreal-ed to death by this one, mate
Septentrional, meaning
"of the north", is a word rarely used in English, but is commonly used
in Latin and in the Romance languages. The term septentrional usually is found on maps, mostly those made before 1700.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Apotropaic posts will be proof against spambots
adjective
adjective: apotropaic
supposedly having the power to avert evil influences or bad luck.
We are living in a materiel world
noun
noun: materiel
military materials and equipment.
"the shipping of materiel south into the battle zone"
Friday, September 27, 2019
Sophont: an uplifting word
Etymology
From Ancient Greek σοφός (sophós, “wise”) + ὤν (ṓn, “on”), present participle of εἰμί (eimí, “being, existing, essence”). First used in the 1966 works by Poul Anderson, coined by his wife Karen Anderson.Pronunciation
Noun
sophont (plural sophonts)- (chiefly science fiction) An intelligent being; a being with a base reasoning capacity roughly equivalent to or greater than that of a human being. The word does not apply to machines unless they have true artificial intelligence, rather than mere processing capacity. quotations ▼
Synonyms
References
- “sophont” in Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford University Press, 2007, →ISBN, page 194.
- sophont at the OED Science Fiction Citations Project
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Affatas: Like a breath of fresh sweven
Afflatus \Af*fla"tus\, n. [L., fr. afflare. See {Afflation}.]
1. A breath or blast of wind.
2. A divine impartation of knowledge; supernatural impulse;
inspiration.
A poet writing against his genius will be like a
prophet without his afflatus. --Spence.
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Pick a lane, wold
Wold \Wold\, n.
See {Weld}.
Wold \Wold\, n. [OE. wold, wald, AS. weald, wald, a wood,
forest; akin to OFries. & OS. wald, D. woud, G. wald, Icel.
v["o]llr, a field, and probably to Gr. ? a grove, Skr.
v[=a]?a a garden, inclosure. Cf. {Weald}.]
1. A wood; a forest.
2. A plain, or low hill; a country without wood, whether
hilly or not.
And from his further bank [AE]tolia's wolds espied.
--Byron.
The wind that beats the mountain, blows More softly
round the open wold. --Tennyson.
Latten: Brazen choice of a wooden joke.
Latten \Lat"ten\, n. [OE. latoun, laton, OF. laton, F. laiton,
prob. fr. OF. late lath, F. latte; -- because made in thin
plates; cf. It. latta a sheet of tinned iron, tin plate. F.
latte is of German origin. See {Lath} a thin board.]
1. A kind of brass hammered into thin sheets, formerly much
used for making church utensils, as candlesticks, crosses,
etc.; -- called also {latten brass}.
He had a cross of latoun full of stones. --Chaucer.
2. Sheet tin; iron plate, covered with tin; also, any metal in thin sheets; as, gold latten. {Black latten}, brass in milled sheets, composed of copper and zinc, used by braziers, and for drawing into wire. {Roll latten}, latten polished on both sides ready for use. {Shaven latten}, a thinner kind than black latten. {White latten}, a mixture of brass and tin.
2. Sheet tin; iron plate, covered with tin; also, any metal in thin sheets; as, gold latten. {Black latten}, brass in milled sheets, composed of copper and zinc, used by braziers, and for drawing into wire. {Roll latten}, latten polished on both sides ready for use. {Shaven latten}, a thinner kind than black latten. {White latten}, a mixture of brass and tin.
Awash in a manger
/ˈmeɪn(d)ʒə/
noun: manger; plural noun: mangers
a long trough from which horses or cattle feed.
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Fy on you, fiend! Hist!
Fy \Fy\, interj. [See {Fie}, interj.]
A word which expresses blame, dislike, disapprobation,
abhorrence, or contempt. See {Fie}.
hist, interj
Thus ends the first post.
A word which expresses blame, dislike, disapprobation,
abhorrence, or contempt. See {Fie}.
hist, interj
- (dated) An utterance used to discreetly attract someone's attention.
- (dated) An injunction to be silent and/or to pay attention to what is being said or can be heard.
quotations
- 1827, James Fenimore Cooper, The Prairie, Chapter XI,
- "My worthy Nelly! I am greatly rejoiced to find it is no other than thee. Hist! child, hist! Should Ishmael gain a knowledge of our plans, he would not hesitate to cast us both from this rock, upon the plain beneath. Hist! Nelly, hist!"
- 1850, Edgar Allan Poe, Scenes from "Politian", 2009 [1902], Charles F. Richardson (editor), The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Volume 1: Poems, page 87,
- Hist! hist! thou canst not say / Thou hearest not now Baldazzar?,
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Chapter 99,
- There’s a clue somewhere; wait a bit; hist—hark! By Jove, I have it!
- 1827, James Fenimore Cooper, The Prairie, Chapter XI,
Synonyms
- (utterance used to attract someone's attention): psst, hey, yo; see also Thesaurus:hey
- (injunction to be quiet): hush, shh, shush, whist
- (injunction to pay attention): hark
Thus ends the first post.
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