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’aifailli [(“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”)]
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”)]
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”)]
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”)]
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”)]
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”)]
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]
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”)]
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]
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]
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”)]