Friday, December 31, 2010

Hogmanay

Hogmanay \hog-muh-NEY\ , noun;
1. A gift given on New Year's Eve
proper noun;
1. New Year's Eve in Scotland

This word has so many variations that it's hard to nail down exactly where it came from. It is attested in English in 1443 as hagnonayse so technically it entered Middle English from Middle French. The Middle French forms include auguilanleu, haguirenleu, haguimenlo, aguilanleu, aguiloneu, aguillenneu, aguillanneuf, and more. The aguillanneuf form survived into Modern French, but its current usage is as Cris de Paris, or an expression used by hawkers at auction times to get the attention of potential customers. As a Cris de Paris the word takes a variety of forms, mostly because it is hollered rather than written down.

Here's to a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2011 to all you linguaphiles out there:
Happy New Years! 新年快乐! Bonne Année!  أجمل التهاني بمناسبة الميلاد و حلول السنة الجديدة Gutes Neues Jahr! Ĝojan Kristnaskon kaj feliĉan novan jaron! Bliain úr faoi shéan is faoi mhaise duit! 新年おめでとうございます! QISmaS botIvjaj 'ej DIS chu' botIvjaj! С Рождеством Христовым! ༄༅།།ལོ་གསར་ལ་བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས་ཞུ།! Ngikufisela uKhisimusi oMuhle noNyaka oMusha oNempumelelo!

* English, Mandarin Chinese, French, Arabic, German, Esperanto, Irish, Japanese, Klingon, Russian, Tibetan, Zulu - feel free to correct me if any of these are wrong!

Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Friday, December 31
Etymologies come from the Oxford English Dictionary and/or Etymonline.com

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Dithyrambic

Dithyrambic \dith-uh-RAM-bik\ , adjective;
1. Wildly enthusiastic
2. Wildly irregular in form
3. Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a dithyramb

Dithyramb dates to the 1600's and comes from Latin dithyrambus which is derived from Greek dithyrambos, which is of unknown origin. In Greek it was 'a wild choric hymn, originally in honor of Dionysus or Bacchus' that was 'wild in character; a Baccanalian song.'

It sort of makes sense that a song sung to Dionysus, god of wine and fertility, would be a bit rambunctious!

Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Thursday, December 30
Etymologies come from the Oxford English Dictionary and/or Etymonline.com

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Engram

Engram \EN-gram\ , noun;
1. The supposed physical basis of an individual memory in the brain
2. The presumed encoding in neural tissue that provides a physical basis for the persistence of memory; a memory trace

This word dates from 1904 and comes from German engramm which is derived from Greek ἐν (en- prefix) + γράμμα ("letter").

I always find affixes to be pretty interesting because they are often multi-purpose, so their definitions can be tricky to nail down. I also like them because the ability to skillfully manipulate affixes - particularly old ones - is a true testament to language fluency.
The affix we're dealing with today is en- which is very similar in form and function to in- (and identical to em-, which is different for phonological reasons). However, en- and in- are not cut from the same cloth. English en-/em- words generally come from French, although it is a Latin prefix, so any romance language can contribute a word with this form. En- and em- turn nouns and adjectives into verbs or alter other verbs to convey a sense of putting something into something else or becomes entrenched with something. For example: tangle (noun, "twisted together, caught") → entangle (verb, "cause to become twisted together with or caught in")
In- is a native English prefix so there are a lot of archaic usages that can be applied, but generally speaking it conveys a sense of "in, within, internal." So if you are heading inland, you are moving toward the internal part of the land in relation to the sea.
Of course, it is trickier than this in actual usage because linguistic biases have made French-sounding words more and less fashionable at different points in time. As a result many in- words have been written as en-/em- words at different times, and vice versa.

Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Wednesday, December 29
Etymologies come from the Oxford English Dictionary and/or Etymonline.com

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Gambrinus

Gambrinus \gam-BRAHY-nuhs\ , noun;
1. A mythical Flemish king, the reputed inventor of beer

This is a tough one because it's a name, so there's no real etymology for it. Also, I'm having a really hard time nailing down information about this king. There is a Wikipedia article here, but it isn't well cited so you can take from it what you will. I tried to look it up the old fashioned way, in an encyclopedia, but I don't have a physical version here at the in-laws' house and the online Encyclopedia Britannica does not have an entry for him. Oh well.

Cheers!

Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Tuesday, December 28

Monday, December 27, 2010

Eschatological

Eschatological \es-kuh-tl-OJ-i-kuhl\ , adjective;
1. Regarding last, or final, matters, often of a theological nature
2. Regarding any system of doctrines concerning theological endings, such as death, the Judgment, the future state, etc.

Eschatology dates to 1844 and comes from Greek eskhatos ("last, furthest, uttermost, extreme, most remote") + -ology ("discourse").

Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Monday, December 27
Etymologies come from the Oxford English Dictionary and/or Etymonline.com

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Powwow

Powwow \POU-wou\ , verb;
1. To confer
noun;
1. A ceremony, especially one accompanied by magic, feasting, and dancing, performed for the cure of disease, success in a hunt, etc.
2. A council or conference of or with Native Americans

This word dates to the 1620's and came from Narragansett powwaw or pauwau meaning "shaman, medicine man, Native American priest." It is derived from a verb meaning "to use divination, to dream" which ultimately comes from Proto-Algonquian *pawe:wa ("he dreams, one who dreams"). The meaning "magical ceremony among North American Indians is recorded from the 1660's and the sense of "council, conference, meeting" is first recorded in 1812. The verb definition "to confer" is attested from 1780.

Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Sunday, December 26
Etymologies come from the Oxford English Dictionary and/or Etymonline.com 

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Eleemosynary

Eleemosynary \el-uh-MOS-uh-ner-ee\ , adjective;
1. Of or for charity; charitable; as, "an eleemosynary institution"
2. Given in charity; having the nature of alms; as, "eleemosynary assistance"
3. Supported by or dependent on charity; as, "the eleemosynary poor"

This word dates to the 1610's from Medieval Latin eleemosynarius ("pertaining to alms"). The Medieval Latin word derives from Late Latin eleemosyna ("alms") which comes from Greek eleemosyne ("pity"). Eleemosyne comes from eleos ("pity, mercy") which is of unknown origin.

The English word alms also comes from Greek eleemosyne like this:
eleemosyne > eleemosyna > *alemosyna > *alemosna > ælmesse
(Greek > Church Latin > Vulgar Latin > Proto-Germanic > Old English)

Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Saturday, December 25
Etymologies come from the Oxford English Dictionary and/or Etymonline.com 

Friday, December 24, 2010

Chaffer

Chaffer \CHAF-er\ , verb;
1. To bargain; haggle
2. To bandy words; chatter
noun;
1. Bargaining; haggling

Dating to the early 13th century, cheffare meant "buying and selling" and probably came from an Old English compound ceap ("bargain, sale") + faru ("faring, going"). Later the word took on its "haggling" meaning and usage as a verb is recorded from the mid-14th century.

There is another chaffer (alternatively chafer) that refers to a type of beetle. That word has a different etymology, however, so the identical spelling is an accident of natural language change. It derives from Old English cefer ("beetle") and likely ultimately comes from Old Germanic *kafroz/*kafruz.

The second noun version also seems to have a different etymology than the other definitions listed. It comes from the verb chaff which is obviously related to the noun chaff, both of which have uncertain origins. It is not even clear which came first, the noun or the verb, so which derived from which is open to interpretation.

Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Friday, December 24
Etymologies come from the Oxford English Dictionary and/or Etymonline.com 

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Zenith

Zenith \ZEE-nith\ , noun;
1. A highest point or state; culmination
2. The point on the celestial sphere vertically above a given position or observer. Opposite of nadir.

This word dates to the late 14th century and comes from Old French cenith (Modern French zénith). It's origin is rooted in Middle Latin cenit (also senit), which is a bungled scribal transliteration of Arabic samt ("road, path"). Samt is an abbreviation of samt ar-ras, which is literally "the way over the head." The bungling is probably partially influenced by the classical Latin semita ("sidetrack, side path" - notion of "thing going off to the side"). Semita is a compound of se- ("apart") +  *mi-ta (suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European base *mei meaning "to change").

Nadir also dates to the late 14th century and comes from Middle Latin. The Arabic word from which it derives is nazir, which means "opposite to." The association between nadir and zenith is actually a bit of a mistake. In Arabic, "zenith" was as-samt and "opposite of zenith" was nazir as-samt, so when this word was adopted into Middle Latin it was abbreviated erroneously and became nadir.

Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Thursday, December 23
Etymologies come from the Oxford English Dictionary and/or Etymonline.com 

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Lagniappe

Lagniappe \LAN-yap\ , noun;
1. A small gift given with a purchase to a customer, for good measure
2. A gratuity or tip
3. An unexpected or indirect benefit

This word, with the meaning "dividend, something extra," dates to 1849 and comes from New Orleans Creole. Originally it was a bit of something New Orleans shopkeepers would give to customers. It's origin in Creole is speculative; it's probably from American Spanish la ñapa ("the gift"), possibly with influence from Quechua yapa ("something added, gift").

Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Wednesday, December 22
Etymologies come from the Oxford English Dictionary and/or Etymonline.com 

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Caliginous

Caliginous \kuh-LIJ-uh-nuhs\ , adjective;
1. Misty; dim; dark

According to Etymonline.com:
This word dates to the 1540's and comes from Latin caliginosus ("misty") which derives from caliginem (nominative caligo), meaning "mistiness, darkness, fog, gloom."

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Tuesday, December 21

Monday, December 20, 2010

Ferret

Ferret \FER-it\ , verb;
1. To search out, discover, or bring to light
2. To drive out by using or as if using a ferret
3. To harry, worry, or torment
noun;
1. Domesticated, usually red-eyed, and albinic variety of the polecat
2. A narrow tape or ribbon, as of silk or cotton, used for binding, trimming, etc.

According to Etymonline.com:
This noun dates to the late 14th century and comes from Old French furet, which is a diminutive version of fuiron ("weasel, ferrit" literally "thief"). The Old French word probably comes from Late Latin furionem (related to furonem, "cat" or "robber") from Latin fur (genitive is furis and it means "thief"). In the early 15th century this word was used to refer to half-tamed ferrets used to kill rats and flush rabbits from burrows, which extended the sense of the word to "search out, discover" in the 1570's. The sense of "worry" is related to the hunting definition because if you are "hunting after" something you "worry" about it.

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Monday, December 20

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Nth

Nth \ENTH\ , adjective;
1. Being the last in a series of infinitely decreasing or increasing values, amounts, etc.
2. (Of an item in a series of occurrences, planned events, things used, etc., that is thought of as being infinitely large) being the latest, or most recent

According to Etymonline.com:
Dating to 1852, the phrase to the nth is a figurative application of a mathematical term indicating an indefinite number. N is an abbreviation for number.

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Sunday, December 19

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Replevy

Replevy \ri-PLEV-ee\ , verb;
1. To recover goods or chattels wrongfully taken or detained

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Law school is following me! Make it stop!
As a law school student's wife I am learning a fair share about the law. Probably more than I would really wish to know, but you have to support your spouse! Anyway, for the last two days I have been blissfully freed from all the law chatter, but here it is, a law-related word. They're following me...

The etymology of replevy is kind of boring, so I'm going to focus instead on chattel. According to Etymonline.com:
Chattel dates to the early 13th century in the form of chatel meaning "property, goods." The word comes directly from Old French chatel ("chattels, goods, wealth, possessions, property; profit; cattle") which derives from Late Latin capitale ("property"). Capitale is the neuter case of the Latin adjective capitalis ("principal, chief"), which comes from caput (genitive capitis, "head"). The word cattle has the same lineage, but it entered English from Anglo-French catel ("property"), which came directly from Old French chatel. Both cattle and chattel had approximately the same meaning in English, except cattle tended to refer to livestock where as chattel was other moveable property. By the mid-1500's cattle was almost exclusively used to refer to bovines.

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Saturday, December 18

Friday, December 17, 2010

Horripilate

Horripilate \haw-RIP-uh-leyt\ , verb;
1. To produce a bristling of the hair on the skin from cold, fear, etc.; goose flesh

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, horripilation comes from Late Latin horripilātio, which is a noun of action deriving from horripilāre. The Latin words are compounds from horrēre ("to bristle") + pilus ("hair"). Horripilate is a derivation of horripilation, as is horripilant ("causing horripilation").

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Friday, December 17

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Liminal

Liminal \LIM-uh-nl\ , adjective;
1. Relating to the point beyond which a sensation becomes too faint to be experienced

According to Etymonline.com:
Dating to 1884, this rare word comes from Latin limen, which means "threshold".

It's always interesting to find out about a word like this. I bet that most of us have at least heard of the word subliminal, and any native speaker knows that sub- is a prefix, so it makes perfect sense that liminal is a word. However, that line of thinking doesn't always apply (oh, the complexity of language) so you don't necessarily think about the viability the root word. Except, of course, in the epic 90's classic** "Clueless" where it was asked, "You can be overwhelmed and you can be underwhelmed, but can you just be whelmed?"

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Thursday, December 16
** Sarcasm

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Boondocks

Boondocks \BOON-doks\ , noun;
1. A remote rural area (usually preceded by "the")
2. An uninhabited area with thick natural vegetation, as a backwoods or marsh

According to Etymonline.com:
This word is a recent entry to the English language, only dating to the 1910's. It comes from Tagalog bundok, which means "mountain." It was adopted by occupying GI's in the Philippines for "remote and wild place." The word was readopted, or possibly just reinforced, during World War II. Other adaptations are boondockers ("shoes suited for rough terrain," 1953) and boonies, which is a colloquial shortening by U.S. troops in the Vietnam war used to reference the rural areas of that country.

This is not an uncommon way for languages to adopt foreign words, in fact some Philippinos still call westerners jurs, from soldiers because of the amount of time foreigners have spent occupying that country.

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Wednesday, December 15

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Brazen

Brazen \BREY-zuhn\ , adjective;
1. Shameless or impudent
2. Made of brass

According to Etymonline.com:
This is an Old English word bræsen meaning "of brass" from bræs "brass" + -en. The figurative sense of "hardened in effrontery" is from the 1570's as brazen face, which possibly suggested a face that could not show shame. To brazen it out "face impudently" is from the 1550's.

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Tuesday, December 14

Monday, December 13, 2010

Prosopography

Prosopography \pros-uh-POG-ruh-fee\ , noun;
1. A description of a person's appearance, career, personality, etc.
2. A study of a collection of persons or characters, especially their appearances, careers, personalities, etc., within a historical, literary, or social context

According to the Oxford English Dictionary this word came from the post-classical Latin prosopographia and was a "personification" (1564), then a description of a person's appearance (1577), then of an individuals life (1610). Ultimately this word derives from prosopoeia which is the "face created" in Greek.

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Monday, December 13

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Gallivant

Gallivant \GAL-uh-vant\ , verb;
1. To wander about, seeking pleasure or diversion; gad
2. To go about with members of the opposite sex

According to Etymonline.com:
This word is probably a 'humorous perversion' of gallant and it is attested from 1809.
Gallant dates to the early 15th century but at that time it meant "showy, finely dressed." It came from Old French galant which meant "courteous," but in the 14th century it meant "amusing, entertaining; lively bold." Galant is the present participle of galer ("make merry") and probably came from Frankish *wala- ("good, well") which came from Proto-Germanic *wal- which derived from Proto-Indo-European *wel- ("to wish, will"). The sense of gallant as being "politely attentive to women" was adopted in the 17th century, mimicking the French adoption of a similar definition. The noun gallant meaning "man of fashion and pleasure" dates to the mid-15th century, although it entered the language in the late 14th century with a meaning of "dissolute man, rake."

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Sunday, December 12

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Philter

Philter \FIL-ter\ , noun;
1. A magic potion for any purpose
2. A potion, charm, or drug supposed to cause the person taking it to fall in love, usually with some specific person

According to Etymonline.com:
Philter (alternatively philtre) meaning "love potion" dates to the 1580's and comes from Middle French philtre. French philtre dates to the 1560's and derives from Latin philtrum which comes from Greek philtron. Philtron is a combination of philein ("to love" from philos "loving") + -tron (instrumental suffix) so its literal meaning is "to make oneself beloved" but it was actually used to mean "love charm"

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Saturday, December 11

Friday, December 10, 2010

Fletcherize

Fletcherize \FLECH-uh-rahyz\ , verb;
1. To chew (food) slowly and thoroughly

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this word is one of a handful of variations on fletcherism, so named for Horace Fletcher who was a Victorian-era American health-food faddist who advocated chewing your food 32 times (about 100 times per minute) in order to stay healthy and lose weight. In addition to fletcherism ("the practice of thorough mastication advocated by Fletcher") the OED references fletcherite ("follower of Fletcher").

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Friday, December 10

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Farouche

Farouche \fa-ROOSH\ , adjective;
1. Sullenly unsociable or shy
2. Fierce

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, farouche is French, but of unknown origin. There have been claims that it is linked to Latin ferōcem, but the OED doesn't see that as being very credible. Ferōcem is the accusative masculine (and feminine) singular of ferōx, which means "wild, bold, gallant; warlike; defiant, arrogant."

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this word is that it's two definitions are practically antonymic of each other. The French definitions are less polarized, meaning "savage, animal like; brutish; anti-social". The OED only lists one definition for this word, "Sullen, shy and repellent in manner" so it could be that the second definition is a sort-of 'leftover' from the French word and the sense of shyness is how it evolved in English. This theory, however, is problematic because a web search suggests that people like naming things Farouche when they want to convey a sense of "fierceness" in terms of beauty and fashion - unless, for some reason, these salons and modeling agencies want to attract only sullen clients.

What do you think? Have you heard this word before? If so, in what context? 

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Thursday, December 9

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Bespoke

Bespoke \bih-SPOHK\ , adjective;
1. Made to individual order; custom made
2. Of the making or selling of such clothes
3. Archaic: Engaged to be married; spoken for

According to Etymonline.com:
This word, meaning "custom or custom-made, made to order" of goods as opposed to ready-made, dates to 1755 and is a variation on bespoken, which dates to the 1600's. Bespoken is the past participle of bespeak ("to speak for, to arrange beforehand") which dates to the 1580's.
The Oxford English Dictionary's etymology for bespeak is sort of confusing, but basically it has Germanic origins and its relatives in Old English, Old Saxon, Modern Dutch, Old High German, and  Middle High and Modern German are bi/besprecan, bisprecan, bespreken, bisprehhan, and besprechen respectively. Sprecan (later specan) is the predecessor of speak in Modern English.

For non-grammophiles out there, lets talk about past participles. These often come up in etymologies for various reasons, and they are confusing. Basically a participle is a word that can behave as a verb or an adjective (and sometimes an adverb). There are all kinds of different participles in various languages, but in English we have two: present and past.
Present participles are also called active, imperfect, or progressive participles and are identical in form to the gerund*.
Past participles are also called passive or perfect participles and are usually identical in form to the past tense (irregular verbs are, well, irregular).

I believe the best way to learn grammar rules is with examples, so take the verb eat:
  • I eat eggs daily. (present tense)
  • I ate eggs this morning. (simple past tense)
  • I have eaten eggs before. (past participle - verb form)
  • I gave my half eaten eggs to my dog. (past participle - adjective form)
  • My dog was eating eggs when I left for work. (present participle - verb form)
  • An eating dog might bite. (present participle - adjective form)
It gets more complicated when you look at whether the participles convey an active sense (e.g. our fallen comrades) or passive sense (e.g. the attached files) and they can modify nouns or sentences (e.g. Seen from a plane, our cars appear tiny). However, the basics of participles are relatively straightforward.

*A gerund is a verb that becomes a noun by adding -ing, as in "Reading is fun."

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Wednesday, December 8

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Estivate

Estivate \ES-tuh-veyt\ , verb;
1. To spend the summer, as at a specific place or in a certain activity
2. In zoology, to spend a hot, dry season in an inactive, dormant state, as certain reptiles, snails, insects and small mammals

According to Etymonline.com:
This word dates to the mid-17th century and comes from Latin aestivare ("to spend the summer") which derives from aestus ("heat") and aestas ("summer," literally "the hot season"). Aestus and aestas come from Proto-Indo-European *aidh- meaning "to burn."

Estivate certainly conjurs up memories of camps and pool passes for many of us, so tell me: what is your fondest estivating memory?

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Tuesday, December 7

Monday, December 6, 2010

Pogonip

Pogonip \POG-uh-nip\ , noun;
1. An ice fog that forms in the mountain valleys of the western U.S.

Great word today because.....IT'S SNOWING!!!!
Yes, yes, it snowed in the Midwest days ago, but it has finally come to the Big Apple!

I can't find this word in the online Oxford English Dictionary, but according to Wikipedia (not the best source, I know, but the only one I have at the moment):
Pogonip is an English adaptation of the Shoshone word payinppih ("cloud"). It's a phenomenon that only occurs under specific conditions where humidity is nearly 100% and the air temperature is well below 0°.

This makes me think of that myth that the Inuit language has a hundred words for snow. That idea arose out of a misunderstanding by the first wave of Europeans who encountered the Inuit people. In reality their language is like German in the sense that they have long compound words with complex meanings, so something like "drifting snow" in English would probably be compounded in Inuit and look like one word, but it isn't really. There was also a tendency to romanticize this idea of a ridiculous amount of snow words, so the equivalent of something like "water = melted snow" or "rain = unfrozen falling snow" may have been included in these word lists even though they are a bit silly.

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Monday, December 6

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Rehearsal

Rehearsal \ri-HUR-suhl\ , noun;
1. A session of exercise, drill, or practice, usually private, in preparation for a public performance, ceremony, etc.
2. The act of rehearsing
3. A repeating or relating

I recently received an invitation to a rehearsal dinner for an upcoming wedding and it reminded me of how strangely this word is spelled and made me curious as to its etymology.

So, according to Etymonline.com:
Rehearsal dates to the late 14th century and meant "restatement." It is a combination of rehearse and the suffix -al, which conveys a sense of relation. Our current idea of rehearsal as a preparation for a theatrical or musical performance dates to the 1570's and a wedding rehearsal dinner is attested by 1953.

Rehearse dates to the 1300's meaning "to give an account of." It comes from Anglo-French rehearser which is derived from Old French rehercier ("to go over again, repeat" or literally "to rake over again"). Rehercier is a combination of re- ("again") + hercier ("to rake, harrow").

Hercier is also a forebear to hearse, which dates to the late 13th century in Anglo-Latin meaning "flat framework for candles, hung over a coffin." If hercier means "to rake, harrow", then herce means "a long rake, harrow," which comes from Middle Latin hercia. Hercia comes from Latin hirpicem (nominative is hirpex) meaning "harrow," which derives from Oscan hirpus ("wolf"). The transformation from "wolf" to "harrow" is supposedly an allusion to the animal's teeth. Hirpus may also be related to Latin hirsutus ("shaggy, bristly"). So how does this all relate back to hearse? I has to do with using a rake to break up the soil, which you have to do to bury someone, and then extended to temporary frameworks built over the deceased, then to "vehicle for carrying a body," which dates to the 1640's.

You might also like: Inky Fool: Re-Hearsing

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Scurf

Scurf \SKURF\ , noun;
1. The scales or small shreds of epidermis that are continually exfoliated from the skin
2. Any scaly matter or incrustation on the surface

According to Etymonline.com:
This word first appears in late Old English as sceorf from Proto-Germanic *skurf-, which is probably from the same root as Old English sceorfan ("to gnaw") or scearfian ("to cut into shreds").

At first glance the definition of this word is kind of gross, but considering we lose tons of skin cells everyday it's really pretty benign. This, however, has not always been the case. The Oxford English Dictionary lists a number of obsolete and rare definitions:
~ A morbid condition of the skin, especially the head, characterized by the separation of branny scales, without inflammation
~ A similar condition as above, but in animals
~ A scab
~ The 'scum' of the population (rare, but not completely obsolete)
~ A contemptable person, especially a miser or a skinflint (slang)
~ An employer who pays less than the usual rate of wages (slang)
~ A laborer who accepts less than the usual rate (slang)

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Saturday, December 4

Friday, December 3, 2010

Divagate

Divagate \DAHY-vuh-geyt\ , verb;
1. To wander; stray
2. To digress in speech

According to Etymonline.com:
Divagate dates to the 1590's and comes from Latin divagatus, which is the past participle of divagari ("to wander about"). It comes from a combination of di(s)- + vagari ("apart" + "to wander, ramble"). Vagari is also a predecessor of vague.

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Friday, December 3

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Tristful

Tristful \TRIST-fuhl\ , adjective;
1. Full of sadness; sorrowful

According to the Oxford English Dictionary this word is a combination of trist + -ful, which is obvious. Trist is an archaic word for "sad" that comes directly from French triste ("sad") which derives from Latin tristis ("sad, sorrowful, gloomy"). Provençal trist(e), Spanish triste, Portuguese triste, and Italian tristo all come from this Latin root as well and mean approximately the same thing.

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Thursday, December 2

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Palingenesis

Palingenesis \pal-in-JEN-uh-sis\ , noun;
1. Rebirth; regeneration
2. In biology, embryonic development that reproduces the ancestral features of the species
3. Baptism in the Christian faith
4. The doctrine of transmigration of souls

According to the Oxford English Dictionary this word is probably an alteration of palingenesia, which comes from the Ancient Greek word genesis.

And no, Sarah Palin has nothing to do with it.

*Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Wednesday, December 1