Showing posts by: demonymonic
“J” and “K” Words from Left Field II – Redux: A Supplement to the Logolept’s Diet
<word meaning & root formation>
Jackanapes: “a silly impertinent monkey of a fellow” (Bowler); an impudent or conceited person; a tame monkey [nickname of William de la Pole, (Duke of Suffolk, d. 1450), MidEng. Jack Napis]
Jagannath: juggernaut [Sanskrit. Jagannath (“lord of the universe”) from jagat (“universe”) + -nātha (“master” or “lord”) ]
Janiceps: monster twins with two heads which look in opposite direction [from L. Iānus (“two-headed god”) + -ceps (“headed”)] (cf. Janiform: two-headed god of Greek mythology )
Jannock: pleasant; outspoken; honest; generous (somewhat the antithesis of a “Jackanapes”) (OU)
Jargogle: to befuddle, jumble or mess up (OU)
Jeofail: (Law.) an oversight in pleading, or the acknowledgment of a mistake or oversight [From OldFrench. j’ai failli [(“I have failed”)]
Key: OU = origin unknown
<word meaning & root formation>
Kedogenous: brought about by worry or anxiety [? + –genous (“producing”) OU]
Khamsin: (also Khamaseen) dust storm; oppressively hot, dry wind in Egypt that blows from the Sahara [from Egy Arabic. khamsīn (“fifties”)]
Khoja(h): title of respect for teacher or wise man [Khoja, from Khwāja (New Persian Khājé), a Persian honorific title of pious individuals]
Kickshaw: a fancy but insubstantial cooked dish, esp of foreign origin; an elegant but insubstantial trinket (Nth. Amer.) [Fr. quelque chose (“something”)]
Kinetosis: a fancy name for travel sickness; (Medic.) any disorder due to unaccustomed motion, aka motion sickness, seasickness, carsickness, etc [Gk. kinet(o)- (“movable” or “moving”) + -osis (“denoting actions, conditions or states)]
Kippage: commotion; confusion [Scot. usage, from modification of Fr. équipage (as in être en piteux équipage (“to be in a sorry plight”)]
Key: OU = origin unknown
“H” and “I” Words from Left Field II – Redux: A Supplement to the Logolept’s Diet
Haptodysphoria: a shiveringly unpleasant feeling experienced from touching certain surfaces, such as peaches or wool [Gk. háptō (“touch”; “hasten”) + -dus (“bad”) + –phérō (“I bear”; “carry”)]
Harpocratic: relating to silence (OU)?
Hartal: a general strike of labour, including a total shutdown of workplaces, businesses, courts, etc, as a political protest [Hindi haṛtāl, from hāṭ (“shop”) + -tālā (“lock”)]
Hebesphalmology: study of juvenile delinquency [OU; from Hebe (“goddess of youth and spring”(?)) + ? + -logy]
Henotic: promoting harmony or peace; unifying [Gk. henōtikós, (“serving to unite”)] ☮️
Hesternopotia: a pathological yearning for the good old days (OU)
Heteronym: a word with the same spelling but a different pronunciation and meaning [Gk. héteros (“other”; “another”) + -nym]
Heterotopia: strange or ambivalent places (places that defy the normal logic of ordering) [word popularised by philosopher Michel Foucault, Fr. hétérotopie, Gk. héteros + -topia from “utopia”, (“place”)]
Horrisonant: having an ugly, harsh sound; unpleasant to the ear [L. horrēre, sonānt-em (“to dread”; “shudder”) + -ant]
Humicubation: the act or practice of lying on the ground, esp in penitence or self-abasement [L. humus (“the ground”) + –cubare (“to lie down”)]
Hygeiolatry: fanaticism about health; the worship of health and/or hygiene [ Gk. hygie (“healthy”) + –latry (“worship”)]
Hygrophanous: seeming transparent when wet, and opaque when dry [Gk. hygr- (“wet”) + –phan, -phen (“to show”; “visible”)(?) + -ous]
Hyperhedonia: (Medic.) a condition where abnormally heightened pleasure is derived from participation in any act or happening (no matter how mundane) [Gk. hyper- + G. hēdonē, (“pleasure”)]
Hypertrichosis: excessive hairiness [Gk. hyper-, (“excess”) + -trikhos, (“hair”) and –osis]
Hypobulia: (the procrastinator’s curse!) (Psych.) a lack of willpower or decisiveness [Gk. hypo (“beneath“ or “below,”) + -aboulía (“irresolution”)]
Hypogeal: pertaining to the earth’s interior; subterranean; growing or existing underground [Gk. hupógeios (“underground”)] (cf. Hypogeum: underground temple, tomb or cavern)
Hypothimia: profound melancholy or mental prostration; depressive state of mind; diminished emotional response [Gk. hypo- + Greek -thymos (“spirit”)]
Key: OU = origin unknown
Idioglossia: secret speech or language, especially invented by children [Gk. idio- (“own”; “peculiarity”) + -glōssa, (“tongue”; “speech”)]
Idolum: insubstantial image; a spectre or phantom; a fallacy [Gk. eídōlon, (“image; “idol”), from eîdos, (“form”)]
Illuminati: those who claim to have exceptional intellectual or spiritual awareness (orig. a Bavarian secret society founded in 1776) [L. illuminatus (“enlightened”)]
Indocible: unteachable [in- + LateLat. -docibilis (“docible” (“teachable”)]
Ineluctable: unable to be resisted or avoided; inescapable [L. in- + –ēlūctor (“struggle out”) + -bilis]
Interciliary: between the eyebrows [L. inter- (“between“; “amid”) + –cilium (“eyelid”)]
Inexpugnable: that which cannot be taken by assault or storm; unconquerable; impregnable [L. in + -expugnābilis]
Innascible: not subject to birth; without a beginning; self-existent [L. innāscibilitās (“state of being unable to be born”)]
Invultuation: the use of or the act of making images of people, animals, etc, for witchcraft; sticking pins in a wax doll representing someone you wish to inflict pain on [MedLat. invultuāre (“to make a likeness”) from in- + vultus (“likeness”)]
Irrefragable: not able to be refuted or disproved; irrefutable; indisputable; unbreakable [LateLat. irrefragabilis, from L. refragari (“to oppose or resist”)]
Isographer: someone who imitates another person’s hand-writing [Gk. iso- (“same”) + –graphe (“write”)]
“F” & “G” Words from Left Field II: Redux. A Supplement to the Logolept’s Diet
<word meaning and root formation>
Facinorous: exceedingly wicked [L. facinorōsus, from facinus (“deed”; “bad deed”), from facio (“to make”; “to do”)]
Facundity: eloquence [L. facunditas, from facundus + -itas (“-ity”)
Fascia: band of colour; a name-board over a shop entrance; a dashboard [L. fascia (“band”; “door frame”)]
Fatidic: foretelling the future; prophetic [L. fātidicus, from fātum (“fate”) + dico (“I speak”)]
Fideism: relying on faith alone; epistemological view that faith is independent of reason [ L. fidēs (“trust”; “belief”; “faith”) + -ism]
Flagitious: grossly criminal; utterly disgraceful; shamefully wicked [L. flagitium (“shameful thing”)]
Forisfamiliate: (Scot. law) to disinherit; to shed parental authority [Medieval Latin. forisfamiliatus, forisfamiliare, from L. foris (“outside”) + -familia (“family”)]
Fungible: (Legal.) replaceable by or acceptable as a replacement for a similar item [L. fungi (“to perform”)]
Fustian: ridiculously pompous, bombastic or inflated language [Anglo-Fr. fustian (“a kind of fabric”), prob. from L. fustis (“tree trunk” or “club”; “staff”)]
Fustigate: to criticise severely; to cudgel, ie, to beat with a stick [L. fustis + –igare ]
Fylfot: “Saxon” swastika; a type of swastika associated with medieval Anglo-Saxon culture (cf. Gammadion)
<word meaning and root formation>
Gabion: a cage, cylinder or box filled with rocks, concrete, or sometimes sand and soil used as a retaining wall in civil engineering, road building, military applications and landscaping [from It. gabbione (“big cage”) from It. gabbia from L. cavea (“cage”)]
Galactophagous: milk-drinking [galaktophágos, (“milk-fed”) from gálaktos (“milk”) + –phagos (“eating”)] 🥛
Galliardise: great merriment; gaiety [from Fr. galliard + -ise, from Transalpine Gaulish gal- (“strength”) + -ard, from Proto-Celtic galā (“ability”; “might”)]
Gambrinous: full of beer; an icon of beer [named after Gambrinus, a mythical Germanic or Flemish king who is supposed to have invented beer]
Gelogenic: provoking laughter; laughable [Gk. gélōs, (“laughter”)]
Genarch: (also sp. Genearch) head of family; a chief of a family or tribe [Gk. géniteur (“genitor”) + -arch ]
Genial:¹ diffusing warmth and friendliness; cordial [L. geniālis (“relating to birth or marriage”; from genius (“tutelary”; “deity”)]
Glycolimia: (also sp. Glycaemia) a craving for sweets; presence or level of sugar (glucose) in the blood [from NewLat. glyco- (“sugar”) + -emia (“condition of the blood.”)]
Gormandise: eat greedily or voraciously [from MidEng. gourmaunt, gormond, gromonde, from OldFr. gormant (“a glutton”) + -ise]
Gracile: slender [L. gracilis (“slender”)]
Gramercy: used to thank someone; an exclamation of surprise [Fr. from grand merci (“a special thank you”)]
Graminivorous: grass-eating [L. gramin-, gramen (“grass”) + -vorus + -ous (“eating”)]
Grammatolatry: the worship of letters or words Gk. grammato, from grammat-, gramma) + -latry (Grammatolatry could be the motto for this whole project!)
Grampus: a blowing, spouting, whale-like sea creature; a cetacean of the dolphin family [grampoys, from graundepose (“great fish”)]
Grandgousier: someone who will eat anything and everything [Fr. grand gosier, (“Big throat”) a fictional character in the story of Gargantua by François Rabelais]
Graphospasm: writer’s cramp [Gk. grapho (“writing”) + –pasmós”; “spasm”; “convulsion”)] ✍️
Grassation: the act of attacking violently; living in wait to attack [L. grassatio, from grassatus, grassarito (“go about”; “attack”; “rage against”) + -ion]
Graveolent: having a rank smell; fetid; stinking [L. graveolent-, graveolens, from gravis (“heavy”) + -olent-, -olens ]
Gravid: pregnant (-a: pregnant woman); full of meaning [L. gravidus (“laden”; “pregnant”), from gravis (“heavy”)] (cf. Gravific: that which makes heavy)
Groak: to watch people silently while they’re eating, hoping they will ask you to join them (OU)
Grobianism: rudeness; boorishness [from Middle High Ger. grob or grop (“coarse or vulgar”). 1. a Grobian is an imaginary personage known for boorish behaviour, appearing in works of 15-16th century writers 📑 2. a fictional patron saint of the vulgar and coarse, St Grobian
Gyrovagues: wandering or itinerant monks devoid of leadership. Having no fixed address they were reliant on charity and the hospitality of others [Late Latin. gyrovagus from L. gȳrus (“circle”) + –vagus (“wandering”)]
¹ genial’s a word that gets bandied round a lot in casual conversation and on the net, however there seems some haziness about the term’s meaning…perhaps a homophonic issue through some confusion with “genius?”)
Key: OU = origin unknown
“E” Words from Left Field II – Redux: A Supplement to the Logolept’s Diet
<word definition and root formation>
Ebriose: drunk; intoxicated [L. from ēbriōsum] (cf. Ebrious: slightly drunk) 🥃 🍸
Ecclesiarch: church ruler (-y: government ruled by clerics) [L. ecclesiarcha, from Gk.]
Ecmnesia: a form of amnesia in which the patient retains memories of older events but not of recent ones [Gk. ek (“out”) + -mnesis (“memory”)] 🤔
Ectorhinal: pertaining to the exterior of the nose; organ associated with sense of smell [Gk. from ektós (“outside”) + –rhin, -rhinós (“outside”) + -al]
Eldritch: weird, sinister or hideous; ghostly, otherworldly; uncanny [originally from Scot. perhaps rel. to “elf”]
Embonpoint: plumpness [Fr. en bon point (“in good shape”)]
Emolument: “salary”; “profit” [from L. emolumentum (“advantage”) from emolere, (“to produce by grinding”) (prob. originally a payment to a miller for grinded corn) 🌽 💰
Empressment: extreme politeness [from L. imperatrix (“emperor”) + MidEng. -ment]
Encephalalgia: headache [Gk. enkephalos, (“brain”) + -algos, (“pain”)]
Enchiridion: handbook; a book containing essential information on a subject [Gk. enkheirídion, from en, (“in”) + –kheír, (“hand”) — from ‘The Enchiridion of Epictetus’ by Arrian (2nd cent. AD]
Endophasia: inaudible speech; inner speech [Gk. éndon, (“inner”; “internal”) + –phēmí, (“I say”)] (cf. Exophasia: audible speech)
Engastrimyth: ventriloquist [MidFr. engastrimythe, from Gk. engastrimythos, from en (“in”) + -gastr- + -mythos (“speech”)]
Entopic: (Anat.) in the normal position (opposite of Ectopic) [Gk. en, (“within”), + –topos, (“place”)]
Ephebic: of a youth just entering manhood, esp in ancient Greek in the context of males aged 18-20 in military training [Gk. éphēbos (“adolescent”), from epí, (“early”) + –hḗbē, (“manhood”)]
Epicene: effeminate; unmanly; exhibiting the characteristics of both sexes, or of neither (sexless); lacking gender distinction [Gk. epíkoinos, (“common to many people”) (cf. génos epíkoinon, (“common gender”) from epi-, (“on, upon; on top of; all over”)+ -koinós (“common”; “general”; “public”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ḱóm (“beside, by, near, with”) + -yós]
Epigone: disciple; follower; imitator (esp one in a later generation) [Gk. epígonos, (“offspring”; “descendant”), from epigígnomai, (“I come after”), from epí, (“upon”), from gígnomai, (“I become”)]
Epilegomenon: an added remark [(?) epi (“upon”) + -leg (“say”) + -menon (?)]
Epistaxis: a nosebleed [Gk. epi (“out”) + –staxis (“dripping”; “oozing”; “flowing”)] 👃🏽 🩸
Epistemolophile: someone with an abnormal preoccupation with knowledge [Gk. epistēmē, (“knowledge”; “understanding”; “skill”; “scientific knowledge”) + –philos]
Epithymetic: pertaining to appetite, sexual and otherwise [uncertain (?) Gk. epi upon + -thym (“mood”) + -etic]
Eremic: pertaining to sandy deserts or regions [Greek erēm-, erēmo-, from erēmos (“lonely”; “solitary”) + -erēmia (“desert”), from erēmos + -ia -y]
Ereption: the act of snatching away (OU)
Erinaceous: pertaining to the hedgehog [L. ērināceus (“hedgehog”)]
Esculent: fit to be eaten ; edible [L. ēsculentus (“fit for eating”; “edible”; “delicious”; “nourishing”; “full of food”) + -ent]
Eumorphous: well-formed [Gk. eu (“good”) + -morphē (“shape”; “form] (cf. Eumoirous: lucky or happy as a result of being good)
Euneirophrenia: peace of mind after a pleasant dream [from Gk. óneiros (“dream”) + –phrēn (“diaphragm”; “mind”)]
Eunomy: state of orderliness and good rule [Gk. eû (“well”; “good”) + -nómos (“law”; “custom”)]
Eutrapelia: the quality of being skilled in conversation; with; urbanity [Gk. eutrapelia “wittiness“)]
Evanescent: fleeting; vanishing; impermanent [L. from ē-, ex- (“away”; “out’) + vānēscō (“to vanish”) (from vānus (“empty”; “vacant”; “void”), from Proto-Indo-European h₁weh₂- (“to abandon”; “leave”) + -ēscō]
Exallotriote: foreign (OU)
Excursus: lengthy discussion, esp appended to a book; digression [L. excursus (“excursion”)]
Exophagy: (also Exophagous) cannibalism outside the family [from Gk. éxō (“out”; “outer”; “external”) + –phagia (“to eat”)]
Exoptable: extremely desirable [L. exoptō (“to long for”) + Proto-Italic –bilis]
Expergefaction: an awakening [L. expergēfaciō from expergēfactum (“to wake up”)]
Key: OU = origin unknown
“D” Words from Left Field II: Redux. A Supplement to the Logolept’s Diet
<word definition and root formation>
Dactylonomy: counting on the fingers [Gk. dactylo- (“finger”) + -nomy (“law”; “custom”)]
Dasypyal: having hairy buttocks [Gk. dasús, (“hairy”; “dense”) + –pugḗ, (“buttocks”)]
Delendum: (Pl. -da) thing to be deleted [from dēlinō, (“destroyed”; “annihilated”; “razed”)]
Desipient: silly, trifling or foolish [L. de- (“of”; “from”) + –sapere (“to be wise”)]
Desuetude: state of disuse [L. de +- suescere (“to become accustomed”)]
Deuteropathy: (Medic.) secondary illness [Gk. deúteros, “second” + -pathy -páthos, (“suffering”) + –y]
Diasyrm: rhetorical device of damning by faint praise, a method of ridiculing or disparaging someone [Gk. (?)]
Dicacity: oral playfulness; talkativeness [From L. dicacitas, from dĭcāx (“sarcastic”; “witty”) + -ity]
Didapper: one who disappears and then bobs up again [from a merging of “dive” and “dapper”]
Dilogy: ambiguous or equivocal speech or discourse; repetition of a word or phrase [Gk. dilogía (“repetition”), from dís, (“twice”) + -logia]
Dippoldism: (Psych.) the paraphilia of deriving pleasure from the implementation of any form of corporal punishment whether it be in the form of beating, whipping, or spanking of another; sexuoerotic arousal derived fron spanking or whipping school children [From Andreas Dippold, German schoolteacher convicted of inflicting abuse on children including manslaughter]
Dismissory: sending away; permit to depart [from L. dimittere (“send away”) (dismiss) + -ory]
Discalceate: barefooted [dis + from L. calceus (“a shoe”)] 👣
Diversivolent: desiring different things [L. diversi (“diverse”) + –volent-, volens, velle (“to will”; “wish”)]
Dolorifuge: that which drives away sadness, mitigates or removes grief [from L. dolere (“to grieve”) + –fugere (“flee”). Coinage modelled on centrifuge, febrifuge, vermifuge, etc.]
Drapetomaniac: a person with an impulse or intense desire to run away from home [Gk. drapetēs, “a runaway [slave]”) + -mania, “madness”; “frenzy”). Coinage: Dr. Samuel Adolphus Cartwright invented the term “Drapetomania” in 1851 to describe what he believed was the “psychological disorder”(sic) that caused a phenomenon of enslaved Blacks to run away from bondage before the American Civil War (masshist.org)
Dyslogy: censure; dispraise; uncomplimentary remarks [modelled on eulogy, Gk. dys (“badly”) + -logy]
“C” Words from Left Field II: Redux. A Supplement to the Logolept’s Diet
<word meaning and root formation>
Cabotin: ham actor; theatrical; poser (perjorative) [from Fr. cabotin (“histrionic”]
Cacedoxical: heretical (cf. Cacodoxy: heterodoxy) [from Gk. kákos (“bad”) + –doxa, (“opinion” or “glory”]
Cacestogenous: caused by unfavourable home environment (OU)
Calepin: a notebook; a dictionary, esp a polyglot dictionary [It. calepino, named after Ambrogio Calepino ((15th-16th cent. author of a Latin dictionary]
Callisteia: beauty prizes; originally a festival held by the women of the island of Lesbos, with a prize for the fairest beauty [name of the festival , named in honour of the Greek goddess of Callisto]
Callithumpian: a noisy band parade or demonstration [alteration of gallithumpian)
Cambist: one skilled in the science of financial exchange; a banker [from L. cambire (“to exchange”)]
Campestral: pertaining to or thriving in open countryside [L. from campester from campus (“field”; “plain”) + -al]
Canard: a fabricated anecdote; an unfounded sensational report; a phoney yarn; a hoax — or to put it in immediately-recognisable contemporary currency…fake news [Fr. canard (“duck”), in the sense of being a hoax] 🦆
Cancrine: reads the same backwards as forwards; palindromic [From Latin cancer (“crab”) + -īnus]
Canatory: pertaining to a singer or singing [from It. cantata from L. cantare (“to sing”) + -ory] (cf. Cantatrice: female singer) 🎤
Caprine: pertaining to a goat; goat-like [L. caprīnus, from caper (“goat”)] 🐐
Carriwitchet: absurd, riddling question; a condundrum; a kind of hoax; pun [uncertain, possibly a humorous alteration of catechism]
Castrophenia: the belief that one’s thoughts are being stolen by one’s enemies (OU, castro- kastron-(?))
Catholicon: a universal remedy or fix; panacea [Gk. katholikós, (“universal”), from katá, “(according to”) + –hólos, “(whole”)]
Charientism: a figure of speech wherein an insult is disguised as or softened by a jest [from Gk. kharientismós]
Chimera: (also spelt Chimaera) imaginary monster; fanciful; impossible idea; a body; an unjustified fear [from Greek mythology: a fire-breathing she-monster having a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail]
Circumforaneous: wandering from house to house, from place to place, from market to market [L. circumforāneus (“itinerant”), from circum- (“around”) + –forum (“marketplace”) + -aneus (“-aneous”)]
Claudicant: (Medic.) limping (L. claudicans from claudio (“to limp”) from claudus (“crippled”)]
Claviger: club-bearer; key-keeper or caretaker [L. from clavi- (“clavi”) – + -ger (“bearing, bearer”)] 🔑
Comiconomenclaturist: a connoisseur of humorous names; a specialist in the creation of funny names [from L. comicus (“of comedy”) from Gk. komikos (“of or pertaining to comedy”) + L. nōmenclātūra nomenclature (“naming”) + -ist]
Key: OU ➨ origin unknown