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Today's word is brought to you by

prettygoodword
~~~

logodaedalus (log-uh-DEE-duh-luhs) - n., a wordsmith, someone who is skilled at using or coining words.

Not a common word, though see also logodaedaly, the "arbitrary or capricious coinage of words," to which I say coining words is a perfectly cromulent thing to do. Coined in this case from Greek roots logos, word + either daidalos, skillful or Daedalus the Greek mythological figure whose name means skillful.

---L

Today's word is brought to you by

prettygoodword
~~

gamut (GAM-uht) - n., the entire scale or range (of something); including specifically, a) the whole series of recognized musical notes, b) all the colors that can be presented by a device such as a monitor or printer.

Originally, a single note -- and this story will take a while. In medieval Western Europe, the names of the notes of the scale were ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, after the first syllables of successive lines of a hymn to John the Baptist*, which walked up the scale. (Later, ut became do, for reasons I haven't tracked down, and si became ti.) The 11th century music theorist Guido d’Arezzo used Greek letters to name the lines on the staff, with gamma being the lowest line of the bass staff -- which gave the lowest possible note over all scales the name gamma ut, which in Middle English was shortened to gam(m)ut. At some point, still medieval times, the gamut came to mean not the lowest note of the scale, but the whole scale, and by further extension, any sort of complete range. The color gamut is a specific usage, which is both technical and seems to be largely British English usage.

* In full:
Ut queant laxis
resonare fibris
Mira gestorum
famuli tuorum,
Solve polluti
labii reatum,
Sancte Iohannes

---L.

Today's word is brought to you by

prettygoodword , who posted this back on March 6th:

rhombicosidodecahedron - n., an Archimedean solid with 62 regular faces (20 triangles, 30 squares, and 12 pentagons).

rhombicosidodecahedron

Thanks, WikiMedia!

Okay, so it's probably just as much cheating to pull brobdingnagian words from solid geometry as it is from chemistry, but I just love this one -- so fun to say, and so fun to look at. Technically, there are two solids called a rhombicosidodecahedron, of which this is the small rhombicosidodecahedron -- the great rhombicosidodecahedron also has 62 faces, but with 30 squares, 20 hexagons, and 12 decagons. I'm not going to parse out the elements -- er, um, I mean, doing so is left as an exercise for the reader. But I will mention that the name was coined in Latin by Johannes Kepler (in The Harmony of the World, 1619).

---L.
~~~

This made me recall Marianne Moore's poem "The Icosasphere", which you can find, along with mathematical commentary, at the Poetry and Mathematics blog here

And you can read more about the icosahedron, the dodecahedron, and their various sub-categories and stellations, if you wish :)

aprosexia (ay-pruh-SEK-see-uh) - n., the abnormal inability to sustain attention.

No sex involved, and its presence in the word is entirely coincidental: it was coined from Ancient Greek roots a-, not + prosechein, turn one's attention to something, where that -ch- is a χ.

---L.

Brought to you by

prettygoodword

Today's word is brought to you by

prettygoodword :)
~~

pipiwharauroa (PEE-pee-fay-ray-oo-roh-ah) - n., a migratory cuckoo of Australasia and Melanesia with metallic green-gold plumage.

This is specifically the New Zealand name (from the Maori name) for what elsewhere in its range (Australia, New Guinea, and islands around these) is known as the shining cuckoo or the bronze shining-cuckoo. It's the smallest of the cuckoos, and like most of them, it doesn't nest but rather lays its eggs in the nest of a slightly smaller bird for another mother to raise. Rather pretty birb, too:

He can't pronounce pipiwharauroa either

Thanks, WikiMedia!

---L.

forfend (fawr-FEND) - v., to defend, ward, protect; avert, prevent; (arch.) forbid.

In current use, this is confined to set expressions such as "heaven forfend." The forbid meaning is the original, back when the word was Middle English forfenden, with the -fend part being also the root of to fend off (which goes back via Anglo-Norman to Latin fendō, to thrust) and defend (which goes back also via Anglo-Norman to Latin dēfendō, to ward off). The for- part is typically away/off, but serving here as an intensifier.

---L.

Crossposts: https://prettygoodword.dreamwidth.org/862535.html
You can comment here or there.

Today's word is brought to you by

prettygoodword--many thanks!

hendiadys

Nov. 19th, 2021 | 08:07 am

hendiadys (hen-DAY-uh-dis) - n., (rhet.) an expression using two independent words connected by and instead of a more usual combination of modifier plus independent word.

So "nice and warm" instead of "nicely warm," or "sound and fury" (Macbeth V.5) instead of "furious sound." In English, it's often two nouns, but it can be verbs, as in "come and get it" for "come get it." The result is generally considered more emphatic and vivid, thus Shakespeare's addiction to the figure. Like almost all terms of rhetoric, this is from Ancient Greek via Latin, in this case the phrase hèn dià duoîn, one (idea) through two. (And yes, there's such a thing as hendiatris, as in "sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll.")

And that wraps up a theme week of language terms. Next week will be short because of the US holiday, so no theme aside from the usual one of "words that are at the front of my to-post list."

---L. Crossposts: https://prettygoodword.dreamwidth.org/863755.html

calzephyr77.livejournal.com

Just wanted to a give a shoutout to former 1word1day wordsmith

prettygoodword who has returned with his word of the day on LJ and Dreamwidth. You can never have too many words of the day--so many great ones are waiting to be discovered!

https://prettygoodword.livejournal.com/
https://prettygoodword.dreamwidth.org

marcescent (mahr-SES-uhnt) - adj., (bot.) withered but still attached.

As in brown leaves that stay on the tree. Taken in the 1720s from Latin, the stem of marcēscēns, present participle of marcēscere, wither/shrivel.

---L.

Crossposts: https://prettygoodword.dreamwidth.org/804037.html
You can comment here or there.

brought to you by

prettygoodword--many thanks!

redact (ri-DAKT) - v., to revise, edit, or combine into a form suitable for publication; to hide or remove parts of a text before publication.

Two slightly divergent senses. Been around since the 1300s, from Latin redāctus, past participle of redigere, to lead back.

Crossposts: https://prettygoodword.dreamwidth.org/804401.html
You can comment here or there.

brought to you by

prettygoodword :)

toadstone

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Sep. 4th, 2019 | 07:57 am

toadstone (TOHD-stohn) n., a mythical stone supposedly formed in the head (or sometimes belly) of a toad, worn as jewelry or amulets as an antidote for poison.

Medieval European mythology, that is, though the idea goes back to at least Pliny the Elder -- the idea is that, since toads are as everyone knows hella poisonous, they must have the antidote to their own poison, otherwise they'd kill themselves. The actual stones so set were button-like fossilized teeth of Lepidotes, a ray-finned fish from the Jurassic and Cretaceous:

Toadstones or teeth? Yes!

Thanks, WikiMedia!

Can't tell from this picture, but from others it's clear they're about an inch across.

---L.

asterism

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Sep. 3rd, 2019 | 07:46 am

asterism (AS-tuh-riz-uhm) - n., (astronomy) a group of stars that is not one of the traditionally established constellations; (mineralogy) a six-rayed star-shaped figure exhibited by some crystals in reflected or transmitted light; (typography) three asterisks in a triangular formation (⁂) used to call attention to a passage.

The first sense is the one I know best. The group can be part of a standard constellation (such as the Big Dipper, which is one part of Canis Major) or parts of several constellation (such as the Summer Triangle, which is the brightest stars of Lyra, Cygnus, and Aquila). The second is the star of a star sapphire:

Asterism in sapphire

Thanks, WikiMedia!

The third is now rarely used. First appears in the 1590s, from Greek asterismós, constellation, from astēr, star.

---L.

Today's word is kindly brought to you by

prettygoodword
~~~

zibeline (ZIB-uh-lain, ZIB-uh-leen, ZIB-uh-lin) - n., a thick woolen cloth with a flattened hairy nap; of, relating to, or made from the fur of a sable.

By which you might guess that the fabric was originally made from sable fur, and you'd be right -- nowadays it's more likely mohair, alpaca, or camel hair. Dates to around 1580, from French zibeline, sable, from Middle French, from Italian zibellino, from Old Italian, ultimately of Slavic origin (so akin to Russian sobol'). A sable:

Zibeline curiosity

Zibeline curiosity

Thanks, WikiMedia!

---L.

Today's word is brought to you by

prettygoodword
~~

spadassinicide (spad-uh-SI-ni-said) - n., the act of goading someone with weaker swordsmanship into initiating a duel and then killing them; someone who does this.

A way of committing, in places and times where duels are permitted, a legal murder. I'd accuse the internet of making this up, but there are citations to Rafael Sabatini. The root of the coinage is Italian spadaccino, swordsman.

Thanks, WikiMedia!

---L.

Crossposts: https://prettygoodword.dreamwidth.org/749605.html
You can comment here or there.

Today's word is kindly brought to you by

prettygoodword; many thanks!
~~~
shrievalty (SHREE-vuhl-tee) - n., the office, term, or jurisdiction of a sheriff.

In England and Wales, anyway, as in Scotland they use sheriffdom instead. The term is not much used in the United States, despite sheriff being an important office -- specifically, the main local law enforcement outside of incorporated cities is the county's sheriff and their deputies (exceptions: Alaska and Connecticut). The word form looks a little odd unless you know that sheriff is a contraction of shire reeve, and then shrieve more easily reads as an alternate contraction, to which -alty was added on the model of mayoralty.

Sheriff's badge

Sheriff's badge

Thanks, WikiMedia!

---L.

Crossposts: https://prettygoodword.dreamwidth.org/749110.html

Today's word is kindly brought to you by

prettygoodword :)
~~~

metagrobolize (meh-tuh-GROB-uh-laiz) - v., to puzzle, mystify, baffle.

Not common, but definitely available for humorous use. Coined 1534 in French by Rabelais, and imported into English in an 1693 translation of same, by attaching Greek root mátaios, vain/frivolous + grabeler, to sift (which arrived via Italian, via Arabic, from Latin cribulum, a sieve). Metagrobology is sometimes used for the study (and construction) of puzzles.

---L.

Crossposts: https://prettygoodword.dreamwidth.org/748080.html
You can comment here or there.

This word is brought to you by prettygoodword:
Oct. 11th, 2018 | 07:55 am

~~

banyan (BAN-yuhn) - n., an Indian trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer; a tropical Indian fig tree (Ficus benghalensis) with many aerial roots that descend from the branches and develop into additional trunks.

The tree, which is named after the traders (from Gujarati, from Sanskrit vānija, merchant), who were supposed to often set up shop in the spreading shade, starts life as an epiphyte -- its seeds sprout in the branches of other trees, then send down roots which eventually grow to strangle and kill its host. It then keeps growing and sending down more trunks until it is a grove unto itself.

Thanks, WikiMedia!

Crossposts: https://prettygoodword.dreamwidth.org/736916.html
You can comment here or there.

~~

cheville (shuh-VEE) - n., a word or phrase whose only function is to fill a metrical gap or make a sentence balanced.

Generally, either with little to no meaning or just repeating what's already been said. These are common in oral traditions (a lot of Homeric epithets can be considered chevilles) but by no means restricted to them. Adopted in the 19th century from French, where it's literally a peg or plug, with the latter sense being operative; that in turn is from Latin clāvīcula, key/pivot/peg, from a Proto-Indoeuropean root.

---L.

Crossposts: https://prettygoodword.dreamwidth.org/734643.html
You can comment here or there.

Examples:

"When writing poems, if your meter's not tight,
Just add a cheville, and it all adds up right."

Or a less ad hoc example, from Shakespeare's sonnet 38:

"How can my Muse want subject to invent,
While thou dost breathe, that pour'st into my verse"

A lot of do/doth/dost auxiliaries in verse are not needed even for the emphasis they give the verb, and are for the meter.
~~

This entry is brought to you by

prettygoodword

This word was kindly supplied by prettygoodword--many thanks, as always!
~~

fardel

Aug. 10th, 2018 | 08:49 am

fardel (FAHR-dl) - n., a pack or bundle, a burden; a fourth part of something.

The two parts are actually different words with different derivations. The former is what's meant when Hamlet talks about those "who would fardels bear, / To grunt and sweat under a weary life" in the to-be-or-not-to-be speech. It came into English around 1300 from Old French fardel, diminutive of farde, parcel/package/small pack, which is sometimes traced to Arabic fardah, single pack or half a camel load. The latter comes from Old English, from the same root as fourth and farthing, one quarter of a penny, and mainly survived in this sense as a unit of land.

Girl with fardle

Thanks, WikiMedia!

---L.

Crossposts: https://prettygoodword.dreamwidth.org/726034.html
You can comment here or there.

This word was kindly provided by prettygoodword
~~
omnifarious (om-nuh-FAIR-ee-uhs) - adj., of all forms, varieties, or kinds; exceedingly varied.

As in the omnifarious interests of a polymath, or the omnifarious colors of a mixed-up chameleon:

Chameleon with too many colors

Chameleon with too many colors

Thanks, !

First used in 1653, adopted from Latin omnifārius, derivative of omnifāriam, on all sides, from omni-, all + -fāriam, adverbian suffix.

---L.

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