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A Logolept’s Diet of Obscure, Obsolete, Curious and Downright Odd “S” Words
“S” is the 19th letter of the Latin alphabet. Pronounced [ess] the letter is a veritable wellspring of onomatopoeic worddom – (alliterative indulgence follows for effect) sizzling, screeching, slithering, swaying snakes alive! As with other entries in the sequence, the symbol corresponds to the Semitic sin (“tooth”). The cool shape of the Latin “S” came about from the Greek Σ (sigma) by dropping one out of the four strokes of that letter. The (angular) S-shape composed of three strokes existed as a variant of the four-stroke letter Σ already in the epigraphy in Western Greek alphabets, and the three and four strokes variants existed alongside one another in the classical Etruscan alphabet. Trust the ‘truscans to always bob up in the linguistic story somewhere! In other Italic alphabets (Venetic, Lepontic), the letter could be represented as a zig-zagging line of any number between three and six strokes. The lower-case “s” used to be rendered as ∫¹ (sometimes called a medial S or a “long-s”) and looking more like a fancy f sans the cross stroke) but this went of vogue in English sometime in the 18th century and was eventually phased out like pounds, shillings and pence. Neato!
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¹ sometimes written with a slight cursive tilt to the left
<word> <meaning> <derivation>
Sabulous: sandy; gritty; growing in sandy places [L. sabulosus, from sabulum (“sand”)]
Saccadic: a rapid movement of the eye between fixation points; jerky; twitching [OldFr. saquer (“to pull”)]
Sadogue: fat; easy-going person (origin unknown))
Salsipotent: ruling the salt seas; having the power of/over the sea (ref. to Neptune, Roman god of the sea [L. salsipotentem (as if from salsum (“salt”), (a false reading for salipotentem, from salum (“salt water”) + -potentem (“potent”)]
Saltant: leaping; dancing [L. salire (“to jump”; “leap”)]
Saltus: breach of continuity; jump to a conclusion [L. saltus (“a leap”)]
Sanable: able to be healed (cf. Sanatory: producing health) [L. sanare (“to cure”) + -abilis (“-able”)]
Sanctiloquent: speaking on heavenly or holy matters; prone to speaking in a sanctimonious manner; preachy [L. sanctus (“holy”) + loquens]
Sapid: having a perceptible or decided taste; savoury; agreeable [L. from sapere (“to taste”)]
Sapience: discernment; judgement [L. sapientia (“good taste”; “good sense”; “discernment”; “intelligence”; “wisdom”; from sapiens “sensible”; “shrewd”; “knowing”; “discrete”] (cf. Sapiential: providing wisdom)
Sapor (-ine🙂 property of substance of taste; flavour; pertaining to taste [L. sapor (“taste”; “flavour”) + -ine]
Sarcoline: flesh-coloured [Gk. sárx, sarkós (“flesh”) + -line (?))]
Sargasso: a mass of floating vegetation, especially sargassums (seaweed); gulfweed [from Port. sargaço (flowering plant related to the rockrose)] originally from L. salicastrum (“kind of wild vine found in willow-thickets”) ➾ Sargasso Sea (tract of still water with masses of thick seaweed in Nth Atlantic) ➾ which is prob. the source of Sargasso’s second meaning: a confused, tangled mess or situation]
Sarmassant: pertaining to sexual caressing or any such form of love-making (origin unknown) (cf. Sarmassate: to make love by handling, fondling or squeezing organs and tissues of a female)
Sartorial²: of or relating to a tailor or tailored clothes; (broadly) of or relating to clothes [L. sartor (“tailor”) + -ial]
Sarwan: a person who drives and guides a camel [Pers. sārwān, from sār (“camel”) + -wān (“keeping”; “guarding”)] 🐫
Satisfice: to aim for or achieve that which will suffice; (Heuristics) a decision-making strategy that aims for a satisfactory or adequate result, rather than the optimal solution [blend of satisfy and suffice]
Sative: cultivated; sown [L. sativus, from satus, serere (“to sow”) + -ivus (“ -ive”)]
Satrapess: A female satrap; an official who acts like a petty tyrant [from satrap Gk. satrápes, from OldPers. khshathapavan (literally “protector of the province”) + -ess]
Saturnalian: riotously merry or orgiastic; behaviour like the Saturnalia: an ancient Roman holiday/festival honouring Saturn, the god of seed-sowing, a time of jovial merrymaking with many social norms were relaxed and inverted; riotous merry-making [L. Saturn (Roman god of agriculture among other things)]
Saturnine❇note the nuance of meaning contrasted with the preceding entry :— of a gloomy or surly disposition; sardonic [L. Saturn + -ine]
Satyromaniac: a man with an abnormally great, uncontrollable testosterone sexual drive; satyriasis [Gk. sáturos (“satyr”)+ -mania]
Saxifragous: breaking stone; (Biol.) rock-splitting plant [L. saxifragus (“rock-breaking”)]
Scamander: to take a winding course; to meander [Gk.from Skamandros (also called Xanthos), a river god in Greek mythology. Origin uncertain ➠ poss. from skázō (“to limp”; “to stumble (over an obstacle)”) or from skaiós (“left(-handed”; “awkward”)]
Scanderoon: homing pigeon (origin unknown)
Scansorial: relating to, capable of, or adapted for climbing [L. scansus + -orius -ory) + –al]
Scapegrace: an incorrigible rascal; a mischievous or wayward person, esp a child [Eng. scape (Literally) one who escaped the grace of god]
Scaphism: form of execution (alleged relating to ancient Persia) by covering someone in honey and abandoning him in the sun or leaving him tethered between two boats [Gk. skaph (“boat”) + -ism]
Scazon: : a classical verse with a limping or halting movement; limping verse [Gk. skázō (“I limp”)]
Scepsis: (Philos.) philosophic doubt; skepticism; a skeptical approach or belief” [Gk. sképsis, “examination”); “observation”; “consideration”)]
Schesis: deriding an opponent’s argument by referring to his or her way of thought; mocking the habitude of an adversary [Gk. skhésis, (“state”; “condition”; “attitude”)]
Schoenobatist: a tight-rope walker [origin unknown(?) poss. from MidDutch. schoe, (“shoe”; “footwear”)]
Sciapodous: having large feet [Gk. Skiapodes, from skia (“shadow”) + -pod-, -pous (“-foot”) + -ous] (cf. Sciapods: (aka Monopods) (Greek mythology) a tribe of one-legged, giant-footed Libyan (some references say Ethiopian or Indian) men whose foot was so big they could raise it in the air to provide shade against the hot southern sun)
Scholarch: head of a school; (Hist.) the leader of an Athenian school of philosophy [Late Gk. scholarchēs (“scholar”)] school 🏫
Scible: that which is knowable (origin unknown)
Scientaster: a petty or inferior scientist [L. sciēns (“knowing”), from sciō (“know”) + -aster] 👨🔬
Scintillant: sparkling [L. scintillāns, scintillāre (“to send out sparks”; “flash”)] (cf. Scintillescent twinkling)
Sclerotic: grown rigid or unresponsive especially with age; unable or reluctant to adapt or compromise; hardening (eg, of emotions) [Gk. sklērōtos, from sklēroun (“to harden”)]
Scoliotropism: a diminished desire to attend school [origin uncertain(?), Gk. skoliós (“crooked”) + –tropḗ, (“turn”); “solstice”; “trope”) + -ism] ✎ᝰ.📖
Scolist: (someone) who pretends to have more knowledge than they really do; a superficial show of learning [LateLat. sciolus (“smatterer”; “pretender to knowledge” from L. scius “possessing knowledge”; “expert”) derivative of scīre (“to know”) —perhaps as back-formation from nescius (“ignorant”)— + –ist]
Scopophile: a person whose sexual pleasure is derived from watching others in a state of nudity, undressing, or engaging in sexual activity; (Psych.) one with a sexual dependency on openly observing genitalia and sexual acts (distinguished from a voyeur who watches in secret) [Gk. skopós, “watcher”) + -phile] 👁️👁
Scortation: fornication; lewdness [L. scorṯarī (“to consort with or like a harlot”)]
Scriniary: archives-keeper; archivist [from L. scriniarius “keeper of the scrinium” (“chest or box for keeping books, papers, letters”, etc)]
Scriptory: by, in or pertaining to writing [L. scriptorius, from scriptus, scribere (“to write”) + -orius (“-ory”)] (cf. Scripturient: having a violent desire to write) 📝 ✍️
Scurrier (also sp. Scurriour): a scout (origin unknown, possibly French)
Sebastomania: religious insanity [Gk. sebastos, “reverenced”; “mania”; madness”) + -mania]
Sectiuncle: a little or petty sect [nebulous etymology: L. secare (“cut”)(?) + –uncle (“small”; “little”)]
Secundogeniture: custom where second-oldest child inherits property; a dependent territory given to a younger son of a princely house and his descendants [L. secundus (“following”; “second”) + –genitus (“born”)] (cf. Tertiogeniture: third-oldest child is a beneficiary (rarely applied))
Sederunt: sitting of an ecclesiastical court (in Scotland); gathering; long discussion (cf. Sedent: seated or inactive) [L. from sedēre (“to sit”)]
Sedulous: accomplished with careful perseverance (craftsmanship); diligent in application or pursuit [L. sedēre (“meaning”; “to sit”) + -ous]
Selcouth: rare; strange; unusual; marvellous [from OldEng. seldcūth, from seldan (“seldom”) + -cūth (“known”)]
Selenic: of, like or pertaining to the Moon [Gk. selḗnē, (“moon”)] 🌒
Semelincident: (of a disease or ailment) occurring only once in the same individual [[L. semel, (“once”), + -incido, (“to happen”), from cado, (“to fall”)] (cf. Semelparous: reproducing only once in its lifetime)
Sempervirent: evergreen; always fresh [L. semper (“always”) + –virent, -virēre (“to be green”)]
Sempiternal: of never-ending duration; eternal [L. from semper + –æternus (“eternal”)]
Sempster: (also Seamster) a man who sews; tailor [OldEng. seamestre “sewer”; “tailor”; ”person whose work is sewing”)]
Senectitude: old age [L. senectus (“aged”; “old age”), senex (“old”)] (cf. Senectuous: very old)
Senient: conscious; perceiving; able to perceive or feel things [L. sentient-, sentiens, (“to perceive”; “feel”)]
Septentrional: to the north; northern [L. From septem (“seven”) + –triō (“plow”; “ox”)]
Septimanal: weekly [L. septi- + -manal(?)]
Sequacious: ready to follow a leader or authority; (pliant) compliant; tractable [L. sequac-, sequax– (“inclined to follow”) from sequi, (“to follow”) + -ous]
Seraglio: harem [It. serraglio, modification of Turkish saray (“palace”)]
Seraphic: serene; blissful; angelic [MedLat. seraphicus, from LateLat. seraphim (“an angel”) + -icus]
Sermuncle: a little sermon [L. sermo, sermonis—serĕre, (“to join”) + –uncle]
Sesquipedalian: (of a word) polysyllabic, long [L. sesquipedalia verba (“words a foot and a half long”) from sesqui- (“one and a half times”)]
Sexdigitated: (Med.) six-fingered or -toed [L. sex, six, + -digitus, finger or toe]
Sexotropic: obsessed with sex [L. sexus + –tropḗ]
Shenango: a casually employed dock worker [probably from the Chenango river and canal in south-central New York state]
Shunamitism: (Med./Psych.)) the rejuvenation of an old man by sleeping with a young woman, although not necessarily having sex with her [from Hebrew. Shunem (small village mentioned in the Pentateuch) + -ite]
Sialoquent: spitting or emitting saliva excessively while speaking [blend of sialic + –eloquent, from Gk. (“síalon”; “spittle”; “saliva”)]
Sibylline: characteristic of a sibyl (a pagan female oracle); prophetic; oracular; mysterious [Gk. Síbulla + -ine]
Sicarian: murderer; assassin (origin unknown)
Siffleur: whistler, esp an animal (such as the whistling marmot) that makes a whistling noise [Fr. siffler (“to whistle”) + -eur -or] (cf. Siffilate: to talk in a whisper)
Signate: distinct; distinguished; designated; identified; having markings like letters [L signatus, signare (“to mark”; “seal”; designate”)]
Significs: (Semiotics.) science of meaning [L. from significare (“to indicate”; “signify”) from signum (“sign”)]
Sillograph: one who writes satires; a satirist [Gk. from Sílloi (satirical poem) of Timon of Phlius, (circa 280BC) + -graph; etymology uncertain, poss. relating to “silhouette”]
Simous: having a flat; upturned nose [L. simus (“snub-nosed”)]
Sinistromanual: left-handed [L. sinistro (“left”) + -manus (“hand”)] ✋
Siriasis: sunstroke [Gk. seiríāsis, equiv. seiri(ân) (“to be hot”; “scorching”) + -asis] ☀️
Skoptsy: self-castration [from Rus. skopets (“castrate”) (the Skoptsy were a Christian Spiritualist sect during the Russian Empire who practised male castration and female mastectomy in accordance with their beliefs]
Smellfungus: a person who finds faults with everything; a grumbler; a complainer [after Smelfungus, a hypercritical traveler in Laurence Sterne’s 1768 novel A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy]
Sociogenesis: origin of human societies [NewLat. from socio- + L. genesis]
Soldatesque: soldierlike; soldierly [from It. soldatesco]
Somnambulist: a person who walks about in their sleep; a sleepwalker [from L. somnus (“sleep”) + –ambulō (“to walk”)] (cf. Somniloquent: someone who talks in their sleep) (cf. Somnophile: someone who’s sexually aroused by the sight of sleeping or unconscious people) (cf. Somnifacient: sleep-inducing ⟺ Somnorific: causing sleep; soporific)
Soubrette: coquettish and intriguing maid; a female theatrical role in opera and drama [from L. superare (“be above”)]
Sovenance: remembrance; memory [MidFr. sovenance, souvenance, from (se) sovenir, (se) souvenir (“to remember”) + -ance]
Spadassin: swordsman; fighter [from It. spadaccino (“swordsman”)]
Specious: superficially plausible but actually wrong; having deceptive attraction or allure [L. speciosus, (“beautiful”); “plausible,”)]
Sphairist: (cf. Sphairistikè: game that evolved into “tennis”) tennis-player [Gk. sphairistike techne, (“the skill of playing with a ball” (coined by Maj. Walter Wingfield (1874) inventor of a form of modern tennis incorporating aspects of earlier ball and racket games Badminton and Rackets)
Splenetic: bad-tempered; malevolent; spiteful [L. splen, (“bodily organ responsible for storing and filtering blood”)]
Stagiary: a resident canon; a law student [MedLatin. stagium, estagium (“term of residence”) + –arius (“ary”)]
Stallenger: (Hist.) keeper of a markets stall (Scotland (18th.) [OldScots. stallangear, from O.Fr. estalagier, (“one who pays stallage, a stall-tax at a fair”)]
Stasiarch: ringleader in sedition [Gk. stásis, (“part”; “band”; “sedition”) + –árkhēs, (“ruler”)/(-arkhós (“leader”)]
Steatopygous: having excessively fat buttocks and thighs [Gk. steato (“fat”) + –pȳgḗ (“buttocks”)]
Stegophilist: one who climbs the outside of buildings as a sporting activity [Gk. stego (“roof”) + -phil]
Stentorian: extremely loud (cf. Stentor: loud-voiced person) [Gk. Greek herald Stentor (character in the Iliad), distinctive for his loud, booming voice]
Stercorate: to shit [L. stercorare (“to dung”)]
Stasiology: study of political parties [Gk. stasis (“faction”; “discord”) + -ology]
Sthenolagnia: sexual arousal from displays of strength or muscles [Gk. sthénos (“moral or emotional strength”; “might”; “power”)+ -lagnia (“lust”)]
Stochastic: of, like or pertaining to a sequence of random events; having a random probability distribution [Gk. stochastikos (“skillful in aiming”) from stochazesthai (“to aim at”; “guess at”) from stochos (“target”; “aim”; “guess”)] 🎲
Stomachous: resentful; haughty; spirited; brave [Gk. stómakhos (“throat”; “gullet”; “oesophagus”) + -ous]
Stomatiferous: having an orifice or mouth [Gk. stóma (“mouth”) + –ferous (“bearing”)]
Storiograph: writer of folk tales [LateLat. storia from L. historia (“history”; “account”; “tale”; “story” (+ Gk. –graphia (“writing”)]
Stratocrat: a military ruler; despot [Gk. stratos (“an army”)] (cf. Stratonic: of or relating to an army)
Struthious: of, relating to, or resembling the ostrich or related ratite birds [from Gk. strouthos (“ostrich”)] 𓅦
Suggilate: to beat until bruised [L. suggillo (“to beat until bruised”)]
Supernaculum: drink to the last drop; wine or alcohol so good you want to drink to the last drop; (Hist.) a drinking game [from L. super (“over”; “on”) + NewLat. nagulum, naculum (“nail”) from German nagel (“fingernail”)]🍷🗿
Sybarite: person devoted to pleasure and luxury; hedonist [Gk. Subarī́tēs, (“inhabitant of Sybaris (city in Magna Graecia (ancient Italy); (adj.) (“decadent”; “self-indulgent”)]
Symmachy: an alliance of disparate parties fighting jointly against a common enemy [Gk. sym (“with”) + –machy (“fight”)]
Symposiarch: (Hist.) master of a feast (Ancient Greece); a master of ceremonies [Gk. from symposium ➠ sumpósion, (“drinking party”) + -arch] (cf. Symposiast: someone engaged in banqueting and merrymaking with others; a fellow-drinker)
Syndasmia: open marriage (origin unknown)
Synonymicon: thesaurus [from Gk. sunōnumía, (“synonym”)]
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² “Sartorial”, specifically the phrase “sartorial elegance” became such a cliche in the 1970s that it almost doesn’t qualify to be a compendium of obscure and unusual words – except for the fact that its usage as a stock phrase has greatly diminished now
Djibouti, the West’s Geostrategic Base in the Horn of Africa and the Gulf: Whither goes?
Djibouti is a moderately populated mini-state in the turbulent Horn of Africa region§, it’s contiguous neighbours, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia (including Somaliland), are all countries which tend to experience ongoing conflict and instability, as is Yemen, less than 30km away by sea across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Tiny Djibouti, comparatively, is open for business, and an oasis of stability, or so it seems to many interested foreign onlookers.
Position A, geopolitically speaking: Djibouti’s attraction to the US and other Western powers and more recently, to China, is location. The tiny African republic’s prized geo-strategic location intersects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, plumb in the middle of the vital shipping lane between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, which caters for the transit of 20,000 ships annually and accounts for 30% of world trade [Bereketeab, Redie. “Djibouti: Strategic Location, an Asset or a Curse?” Journal of African Foreign Affairs 3, no. 1/2 (2016): 5–18. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26661713.]🇦
Watching the “bad guys”, protecting the West’s interests: Since the 1991 Gulf War and especially since the 9/11 Twin Towers terrorist attack, Djibouti’s importance to the military and security objectives of the US and other world powers has grown exponentially. The imperatives of the “War on Terror” and the upsurge in Somalia-based piracy turned Western eyes to Djibouti, situated ideally at the choke-point on the Suez to Indian waterway as the optimal spot to monitor activity in the Middle East and “the Horn” [‘Port in the Desert: Djibouti as International Lessor’, Jessica Borowicz, Aether: Journal of Strategic Airpower and Spacepower, Vol. 1, No. 3, Fall 2022, www.airuniversity.af.edu]. Today, foreign navies utilise Djibouti’s ports as part of the EU’s anti-piracy operations in the region, the US has a semipermanent base at Camp Lemonnier, with around 4,000 military personnel. France, Germany, Italian, Spain and Japan also maintain bases on Djibouti soil under Djibouti’s “rent-a-space program”. China opened its first base in the country in 2017.
The rentier state – the Guelleh regime as “big bickies” landlord: Acting as lessor of foreign bases has proved a particularly lucrative earner for the Djibouti government, dominated by authoritarian president Ismaïl Omar Guelleh and his PRP🇧regime. Rents of the bases yield Djibouti an estimated US$119–128m per annum. As noted, “for a country that produces nothing, the income from the military bases has been a lifeline” (Bereketeab), turning round the dire economic prognosis facing the country in the early 1990s.
Ethiopian trade, mutual interest and port leases: An added windfall for the government is the revenues it collects from port leases (Djibouti has seven major ports and terminals). Landlocked Ethiopia is one of its customers, having lost its coastal territory after Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993. Ethiopia then became further dependent on Djibouti cooperation following the Eritrea-Ethiopia War (1998-2000). Ethiopia since this time has been required to lease port facilities from Djibouti, with 90% of total Ethiopian trade channelled through this route. With a shared major railroad and a shared water pipeline Djibouti’s relations with Ethiopia have generally been good (cf. those with Eritrea which have been less harmonious).
Djibouti’s prized non-tangible resources: A third source of revenue for Djibouti is the development aid it receives from donor countries, especially the US, France, other European countries and China. All of this cash inflow (rents + aid + loans) amounts to Djibouti having the largest per capita income in the Horn of Africa region (according to the IMF’s reckonings)🇨and a healthy 6.5% annual economic growth rate (Bereketeab).
Djibouti, a stamping ground for the US, France…and the PRC: US military analysts by and large see Djibouti as the best current option in the region for staging military bases, an “anchor of stability in a volatile region” (Borowicz), with some observers even viewing Djibouti as a “front-line state” of America (Bereketeab), so its clearly happy to pay the high tenancy fees. France, with its “small but mighty force” on-site [‘Inside France’s Small But Mighty Force in Djibouti’, Frédéric Lert, Key.Aero, 01-Aug-2022, www.key.aero] and an involvement with the East African microstate that stretches back over 130 years, no doubt agrees.🇩 And the Guelleh regime is certainly happy with its cut of the deal…with China entering the scene, suggesting a potential new theatre for US v PRC rivalry, Guelleh can play one patron off against another for increasingly higher stakes, he has “agency” in the game, which J-P Cabestan defines simply as “the ability of any country to make independent decisions and strengthen its bargaining power” [CABESTAN, JEAN-PIERRE. “African Agency and Chinese Power: The Case of Djibouti.” South African Institute of International Affairs, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep29586.]
Djibouti a haven of stability?: But is Djibouti really as stable a state as many in the Pentagon seems to believe? President Guelleh for now keeps a tight rein on things internally in Djibouti, effective opposition to the PRP has been neutralised,🇪but what of the future? Below the surface there are a raft of variables that might threaten the status quo. The great mass of Djiboutians have gained virtually nothing from the massive injection of money into Djibouti’s treasury which remains firmly in the hands of Guelleh and his fellow Somali subclan cronies in the political elite. Ordinary citizens wallow in various stages of poverty with unemployment conservatively estimated at 60% but really higher. Disenfranchised, predominantly illiterate, facing the ever-likely possibility of food shortages and drought, for the young Djiboutians a future with little prospects, the further erosion of basic rights and freedom of expression by an authoritarian regime, a combination of these factors might propel the unprivileged masses to demand a real improvement in their lot and failing that, ultimately regime change [EELCO KESSELS, TRACEY DURNER, and MATTHEW SCHWARTZ. “Front Matter.” Violent Extremism and Instability in the Greater Horn of Africa: An Examination of Drivers and Responses. Global Center on Cooperative Security, 2016. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep20264.1.]
Potential external destabilisers, a war-prone region and radical Islam: External factors could equally impact Djibouti’s stability, prompting a rethink by the lessees of the bases as a long-term option. Conflicts and civil wars emerging in Somalia, Eritrea or Ethiopia could spillover into Djibouti, eg, emanating from a sudden surge in refugee numbers.🇫 The affinity of Djibouti’s Issa Somalis and the Afars with their ethnic brothers and sisters respectively in Somalia and Eritrea could worsen this occurrence (Kessels et al).🇫It should also be remembered that Djibouti’s track record in avoiding conflict and violence is not a clean slate…in its relatively short existence the country has experienced civil war (1991-94) and a brief border conflict with Eritrea (2008), and the cause of the 1990s civil war—uneven power sharing by the Issa powerbrokers with the Afars—is an unresolved issue that continues to fester. A further threat of instability to Djibouti lies in the terrorist agenda of Al-Shabaab,🇬a jihadist fundamentalist organisation based in southern Somalia, which perpetrated a suicide bomber attack in Djibouti City in 2014 and has called on jihadists to target French and U.S. interests in Djibouti [Ahram Online (Egypt), 27-March-2021].
A “Trojan Horse” for both sides? Maintaining full sovereignty amongst the mega-powers?: With both the US and China now heavily invested in Djibouti and each using it as a conduit to spread its geo-strategic influence, will an escalation of neo-Cold War rivalry played out here upset the balance in Djibouti? While foreign military forces being based indefinitely on Djibouti territory might provide reassurance to the country, there is a downside to Djibouti being completely dependent on big power external support and large foreign forces within its borders for it’s security and survival: Djibouti’s sovereign status as a free and independent nation is questionable…with a host of foreign patrons holding a significant share of the firmament the regime risks becoming compromised and losing support (Bereketeab). Most worrying (in US eyes) is the danger of Djibouti falling prey to “debt-trap diplomacy” due to it becoming over-dependent on China. Beijing is bankrolling many of Djibouti’s major infrastructure projects (water and gas pipelines, railroads, port upgrades, etc) big time! As a result, China has rapidly become the tiny African country’s major creditor (holding 91% of its external debt)(Borowicz; Cabestan). The upshot in the longer term is that the Guelleh PRP regime may end up being viewed by its own citizens as lacking legitimacy, a further pathway to internal turbulence and instability and enforced change.
§ “Djibouti” in the native Afar language means “boiling pot”, an apt name for the country’s hot and arid, sub-tropical desert climate
🇦 around 6.2 million barrels of crude oil per day passed thru the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in 2018 (Borowicz)
🇧People’s Rally for Progress, which has provided both presidents of Djibouti since independence from France in 1977 – Guelleh, preceded by his elderly uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon
🇨in an impoverished “Horn” that is of itself not saying a lot
🇩to the tune of a hefty US$720m injection annually
🇪although opposition parties are now legal, all the political cards are stacked in PRP’s favour, opponents has been ruthlessly suppressed, driven into exile or co-opted into the ruling camp
🇪unfortunately it’s always on the cards that Yemen given its perpetual state of civil war could see upsurges in refugee numbers fleeing across the strait
🇫a revival of the earlier Somali “ethno-nationalism”—an attempt to unite all ethnic Somalis from the different East African countries into one Pan-Somali state—could also have a destabilising outcome
🇬Arabic: “The Youth”
A Logolept’s Diet of Obscure, Obsolete, Curious and Downright Odd “R” Words
“R” is the 18th letter of the modern Latin Alphabet. It corresponds to the ancient Semitic resh and is perhaps derived from an earlier hieroglyph representing a human head. From the Egyptian symbol the letter evolved into a triangular flag shape and then to a rounded “P” under Greek influence, before the descending, angled stroke of “R” was added in the 3rd century BC, giving the letter the form we recognise today. The standard English pronunciation is ar. R-words can be fun and surprising – “r” is the letter of the dictionary we turn to when we decide to open the dictionary at random! Or they can be positive and uplifting – why else would we describe a day that signifies a special significance or opportunity to us as a “red-letter day”?
<Word> <Meaning> <Derivation>
Rabelaisian: coarsely humorous; bawdy; ribald [after Francois Rabelais, (16th cent. French writer and satirist]
Rabulous: vile; scurrilous [L. origin unknown]
Rackrent: excessive rent [from “the rack” – medieval torture device (Irish/Brit.)]
Ragabash: an idle, ragged person [origin unknown]
Raisonneur: a personage in a play or book embodying an author’s viewpoint [Fr. raison (“reason”) + –eur]
Ragmatical: turbulent; riotous [origin unknown]
Rampallion: scoundrel; ruffian; villain [of unknown origin, appears in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 2 uttered by Falstaff]
Rampasture: a room in which several unmarried men live, usually in a boarding house or inn [conjunction of “ram” + “pasture”, early (20th.]
Ranarium: a place where frogs are kept, usually for breeding 🐸 [L. rāna (“frog”) + –arium, -arias] (cf. Raniform: frog-like)
Rancescent: becoming rancid [L. rancescens (“turning rancid or sour”)]
Rand: border; edge; margin; a long rocky ridge [OldEng. rand (“a place at the border or edge”)]
Rantipole: wild; disorderly [Eng. “rant”, from Dutch ranten, randen (“to talk nonsense, rave”) + -y + -L. pālus (“stake, pale, prop, stay”)]
Rarissima: extremely rare books, manuscripts or prints [from L. rārissima]
Ras: headland; cape [from Amharic. rās (lit. “head”)]
Ratheripe: early ripe [MidEng. rathe “quick”, from OldEng. hræth]
Ratten: to practice sabotage against [MidEng. ratoun (“rat”) + -en]
Razzmatazz : meaningless talk; hype; nonsense [origin unknown, 1890s slang, perhaps a varied rhyming reduplication of “jazz”] 🎵
Rebarbative: causing annoyance; irritation; repellant [L. barba (“beard”) + -ive]
Rebus: picture puzzle representing a word (a combination of a picture and an individual letter prompts a particular word) [from L. res (“thing”)]
Reciprocornous: (Zool.) having horns that turn backward and then forward (like a ram’s) [L. poss. from re- (“back”), prō(“forwards”) and -que (“and”)╰┈➤ (“back and forth”) + -ous]
Recondite: out of the way; little known or obscure; difficult or impossible for one of ordinary understanding or knowledge to comprehend [L. from recondere, [“to conceal”)]
Recreant: craven; cowardly; false; apostate [L. re- + credere (“to believe”)]
Rectigrade: moving or proceeding in a straight line or course [L. rectus (“straight”) + -gradus (“step”)]
Rectopathic: one who is easily hurt emotionally [L. rectus + –pathic (“suffering”)]
Recumbent: lying down; representing a person (or effigy) lying down [L. re– (“back”; “again”) + -cumbere, “to lie down”]
Recumbentibus: a knockout blow, either verbal or physical [L. recumbent-, recumbens + -ibus (?)] 🥊
Resipiscent: (Literary) acknowledgment that one has been mistaken; to learn from experience and have one’s sanity restored; a change of mind or heart (often prompting a return to a sane, sound, or correct view or position) [LateLat. resipiscere (“to recover one’s senses”; from L. “sapere (“to know”)]
Redact: edit for publication, esp censoring or obscuring part of a text for legal or national security reasons [L. redigō (“to lead back, collect, prepare, reduce to a certain state”)] (cf. Redactophobe: someone who has a fear of editing or editors)
Remontado: a person who lives in the forest or mountains and avoids civilisation [Spanish. remontado (“to flee or go back to the mountains”)]
Rend: tear or rent apart; rip into pieces (cf. Riven: split or tear apart violently [From Middle English. renden, from Old English. rendan (“to rend”; “tear”; “cut”; “lacerate”; “cut down”), from Proto-West Germanic (h)randijan (“to tear”), of uncertain origin]
Rhinophonia: extreme nasal sound in one’s voice [L. rhino- + Gk. rhis, rhin (“nose”) + –lalia, (“talking”)]
Rittmaster: captain of a troop of horse (cavalry) [part. transltn. of German rittmeister, from ritt (“troop of horsemen”) from reiten (“to ride”), from Old High German rītan + -meister (“master”)]
Rixatrix: a scolding or quarrelsome woman; a common scold [L. rixārī (“to quarrel”) + –trix (Latinate fem. agent noun)]
Rupicoline: rock-dwelling [rupi, rupes- (“a rock”) + Eng. -colous, -coline] (cf. Rupellary: rocky) 🪨
Rurigenous: one who has been born in the country [L. rus, ruris (“the country”) + –genere, –gignere (“to bring forth”; “to be born”)]
Rusticate: go, live in the country for a time; live a rustic life [L. rūsticor (“live in the countryside”)] (cf. Rusticity: rustic manner; simplicity; rudeness)
Ruth: (also Ruthful) a feeling of pity, distress or grief [Hebrew. Ruth (“friend” or “companion”) Biblical figure (Old Testament)]
A Logolept’s Diet of Obscure, Obsolete, Curious and Downright Odd “Q” Words
“Q”, (pronounced cue), is the 17th letter of the alphabet. The letter is from the Phoenician equivalent of Hebrew koph, qoph, which was used for the deeper and more guttural of the two “k” sounds in Semitic. The letter existed in early Greek (where there was no such distinction), and called koppa, but it was little used and not alphabetized; it mainly served as a sign of number (90). Correspondingly, the root base of English Q-words is uniformly Latin and characterised by the total absence of Greek prefixes and suffixes, which is in sharp contrast to other letters. The form of the letter “Q” could have been based on the eye of a needle, a knot, or even a monkey with its tail hanging down… /q/ is a sound common to Semitic languages, but not found in many European languages. One view is that the form of the letter “Q” is even more ancient: it could have originated from Egyptian hieroglyphics. And “Q”, like “M” before it, is of course a character in the never-ending James Bond franchise.
<Word> <Meaning> <Derivation>
Qua: in the capacity of [Latin. qua “which way”; “as”. From qui (“who”)]
Quab: something unfinished or immature (origin unknown)
Quacksalver: one who falsely pretends to knowledge of medicine
Quadragenarian: someone aged between 40 and [L. quadrāgēnī (“40 in each”) + -ārius (“-ary”), from quadrāgintā (“four tens, forty”)]
Quadratary: relating to a square [L. quadrātus from quadrō (quadrat),(“make square”) + -ary] (cf. Quadrate: to make square; to make to agree)
Quadrigamist: someone who has been married four times or is married to four people simultaneously (polygamy?) [L. from quattuor (“four”) + -gam (“married”) + -ist]
Quadriliteral: relating to a word with four letters; a 4-letter word [L. quadri + –littera, –litera (“a letter”)] (cf. Quadrilateral: a four-sided figure)
Quaestuary: seeking money or trying to make money; concerned with profit 💰[L. quaestus , quaerere (“to seek”; “gain”; “ask”) + -arius (“ary”)] (cf. Quomodocunquize: to make money by any means possible)
Quaestor: (Hist.) magistrate; a medieval pardoner (in ancient Rome an official in charge of public revenue and expenditure) [L. quaestor (“investigator”); quaesit (“submit”)]
Qualtagh: first person you meet after leaving the house; first person you meet on New Year’s Day [from Manx. quaaltagh, cognate with Old Irish. com (“co”) + -dál (“meeting”)] 🏠
Qualtrayle: one’s great, great, great grandfather (origin unknown)
Quantophrenia: obsessive reliance on statistics and mathematical results [LateLat. quantitātīvus (“quantity”) + –phrḗn (“mind”) + -ia]
Quantulum: a very small quantity [L. quantus (“how much”) + -lum]
Quaquaversal: facing or bending all ways [L. quaqua versus (“turned wheresoever”)]
Quassation: act of shaking or being shaken [L. quassō (“shake repeatedly or violently”) + -tiō]
Quatch: a word, a sound; squat, plump (Shakespeare) (origin unknown) (cf. Sasquatch: (in Canadian folklore) a hairy beast or manlike monster said to leave huge footprints)
Quarternity: fourness; any set of four things [L. quattuor (“four”) + -ity]
Quean: a lewd woman; hussy; an impudent or badly behaved female of ill-repute [Old English. cwene (from “queen”)]
Querulant: (Psych. & Legal) a person who obsessively feels they have been wronged, particularly about minor cases of action [L. querulus (“complaining”)] (NB: a Querimony is a complaint) (cf. Querent: one who asks a question)
Questmonger: one whose occupation is to conduct inquests [L. quaesta (“tribute”; “tax”; “inquiry”; “search”) + –mangō (“dealer”; “trader”)]
Quickhatch: a woverine [from East Cree (Algonquian language) kwi˙hkwaha˙če˙w]
Quicquidlibet: whatever one pleases; anything whatsoever [L. quic (quis) + -quid (“anything”) + –libet (”it pleases”)]
Quidditch: fictional sport for broomstick-riding mavens in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter fantasy book series [NB: the etymology of “quidditch” long predates Harry Potter, poss. derives from Anglo-Saxon cwæō-dīc (“mud-ditch”)]
Quiddity: (also Quidditative) eccentric; quirky; unique essence; (a sort of “x-factor” — whatever makes something the type that it is) [MedLat. quidditat-, -quidditas (“essence”) from L. quid (“what”) neuter of quis (“who”) + -ity]
Quidfather: father-in-law (origin unknown)
Quidnunc: an inquisitive and gossipy person; a person who always wants to know what’s going on (the latest news and gossip) [L. quid nunc (“what now?”)]
Quincaillerie: hardware store [Fr. clincaille, akin to clinquer (“clink”)]
Quindecad: set of fifteen things [L. quīnque (“five”) + –decem (“ten”)]
Quinquagesimal: consisting of 50 days; a 50-day period [MedLat. quinquagesima + -al]
Quisling: a traitor who collaborates with an enemy force occupying his country; a “puppet” leader propped up by an invading foreign power [after Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian military officer, Nazi Germany’s puppet ruler of Norway during their WWII occupation]
Quisquous: difficult to deal with or settle; perplexing; (of a person) of dubious character (origin unknown)
Quixotic: extravagantly and romantically chivalrous; enunciator of wildly impractical, lofty ideals to the point of being ludicrously out of touch with reality [after Don Quixote, eponymous protagonist of Cervantes’ The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha (publ. 1605)]
Quizzacious: satirical; mocking [Eng. quiz (“to mock”), poss. from L. qui es? (“who are you?” + -acious]
Quodlibertarian: a person who is happy to discuss any subject at pleasure [L. quod libet (lit. “that which is pleasing”) + -arian]
Quoniam: female genitalia; the vulva [from L. quoniam (“since”), prob. educated respelling/euphemism of Old French conin (“coney, rabbit”)]
Quotidian: occurring every day (or every 24 hours); daily; ordinary or mundane [L. quotidie (“every day”); from quot + -dies (“day”)]
Quoz: absurd person or thing [prob. alteration of quiz]
A Logolept’s Diet of Obscure, Obsolete, Curious and Downright Odd “P” Words
A myriad of P’s in this pod
“P” is numerus XVI in the English alphabet letter of sequence. The letter has a special place in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)…the symbol ⟨p⟩ represents a type of consonantal sound used in most spoken languages, the voiceless bilabial plosive or stop (sometimes called the unvoiced labial stop). “P” corresponds to the Semitic pe, perhaps deriving from an earlier sign for “mouth.” The early Greeks renamed this form pi(Π). The rounded shape of the “P”(“p”) is thought to be a Latin borrowing from the ancient Etruscan language. Another feature of the letter p is its use in combination with h in words of Greek origin to denote the unvoiced labiodental spirant expressed in other words by the letter f—e.g., philosophy, phonetics, and graphic (www.britannica.com)
{word} | {definition} | {derivation}
Padrone: (in Italy) an innkeeper; employer, esp one who exploits immigrant workers [It. (“protector”; “owner”) from L. patronus (“patron”)]
Pagophagia: the eating of ice [Gk. pagos (“frost”) + phagō (“to eat”)] 🧊
Palzogony: foreplay; love-play (origin unknown, It. ?)
Pancratic: accomplished all-rounder, good at many sports or games; having a mastery over numerous subjects) [Gk. pankratḗs, “all-powerful”) + -ic]
Pangloss: one who is optimistic regardless of the circumstances [Gk. pan (“all”) + –glossa (“tongue”) from the character “Pangloss”, optimistic tutor in Voltaire’s Candide (1759)] (cf. Panglossian: excessively optimistic; marked by the view that all is for the best in this best of possible worlds)
Pannapictagraphist: collector of comic books (origin unknown)
Panoply: a collection or assortment of things; an impressive or extensive array [Gk. panoplia (“full suit of armour worn by hoplite warriors in Ancient Greece”) ]
history.co.uk)
Pantagamy: married to everybody: practice of intra-communal marriage of all members to each other in some proto-communistic societies such as in certain Amerindian tribes [Gk. pan + -gam + -ic]
Paraethesia: a prickly feeling one gets when your limbs fall asleep; a sensation of “pins and needles” [L. para- (“alongside”, “irregular”; ie, “disordered”) + -aisthēsis (“perception”; “feeling”)] 📍 🪡
Paralian: a person who lives near the sea [Gk. parálios, (“coastal”; “maritime”)] 🌊
Paralipsis: (also called Apophasis) a rhetorical device whereby the speaker emphasises the point they are trying to make by (calculated) denial…example: “I’m not saying that…“ (assertion). By merely suggesting it, they are inferring that it is in fact the case; the ploy involves drawing attention to some issue by denying that you talking about it [Gk. pará, (“by”; “near”) + -leípō, (“I leave”)]
Paramnesia: (psych.) a disorder prompting someone to recall events that never happened [Gk. par, para (“beside”; “next to”) + -mnesia (“memory”)]
Paranymph: the best man or bridesmaid at a wedding; a ceremonial assistant or coach to the best man/bridesmaid at a wedding [Gk. para- + -nymphē. (“bride”)]
Parapraxis: a memory lapse, a slip of the tongue, usually revealing a hidden thought (“Freudian slip”) 👅 [Gk. para– + –praxís (“doing”)]
Parateresiomaniac: a compulsive voyeur 👁️ 👁️ [Gk. para + -teresio(?) + -maniac]
Parergon: a piece of work that is supplementary to or a by-product of a larger work [Gk. párergos, (“beside the main subject”; “subordinate”; “incidental”)]
Parthenolagnia: the desire to copulate with virgins [ Gk. parthenos (“maiden”; “virgin”) + –lagneía (“sexual intercourse, -lasciviousness”)]
Partialism: (psych.) a sexual fetish with an exclusive focus on a specific part of the body other than genitals [L. pars (“part”) + -ism] (cf. Paraphilia: a form of sexual arousal caused by objects, situations, or targets that are considered atypical or not of the norm)
Pauciloquent: using a few words as possible when speaking [L. paucus (“little”; “few”) + –loqui, loquor (“to speak”)]
Patavinity: the use of local slang expressions or dialects when writing [L. patavinitas, from Patavium (Padua), Italy (birthplace of Livy) + -itas -ity]
Pecunious: possessing buckets of money [L. pecūnia (“money”) + -ious] 💰 💵
Pedotrophy: the art of raising children properly [Gk. paîs, (“child”) –tréphō, (“I congeal”; “thicken”)] 👧 👦🏽
Pentapopemptic: a person who has been divorced five times [Gk. pent, penta + -apo (“off”; “away”) + –pempē (“to send”) + -ic]
Peristerophilist: one who collects pigeons (origin unknown) (-phily: the art of training pigeons)
Pernoctation: someone who stays up all night to work or to party [L. pernoctātus (“having spent the night”) + -iōn (cf. Pernoctator: someone who stays up all night to study) 🎆🌃
Pervulgate: to publish something [L. pervulgo (“to publish”; “to make public”)]
Phagomania: insatiable hunger [Gk. phagós (“eating”) + -mania]
Phanerolagniast: a psychologist who studies human lust [Gk. phaneros (“visible”; “evident”) from phainein (“bring to light”; “cause to appear”; “show”) + –lagnia]
Phillumenist: collector of matchboxes and their labels [Gk. phil- + L. -lumen (“light “) + -ist]
Philodox: one who loves his or her own opinions [Gk. phílo– (“beloved”) + –dóxa (“glory; “opinion”)] (cf. Philoxenist: a person who loves to entertain strangers)
Phosphene: the phenomenon of seeing light without light entering the eye; what occurs when you see ”stars and dots” after rubbing your eyes [Gk. phōs- (“light”) + -phainein (“to show”)] 💡
Phrontifugic: helping to escape from one’s thoughts [Gk. phrēn, (“diaphragm, mind”) + It. -fuga, from Latin, “a running away”; “flight”]
Phrontistery: a place for thinking or study [Gk. phrontis (“thought”; “care”; attention”) + -ery]
Picayune: of little value or significance; petty; a small coin in (18–(19 th. Louisiana with a low monetary value [Occitan. picaioun (“small coin”) from pica (“to jingle”)] 🪙
Pictophile: one who gets sexual gratification from pictorial porn or erotic art [ + -phile]
Pilosism: (also -ity) excessive hairiness [L. pilo- (“hair”) + -ism]
Plangonolist: [origin uncertain, one suggestion: Gk. plangon from plaggon (wax dolls in ancient Greek theatre substituting for female roles(?)) + -ist]
Planiloquent: talking plainly about some subject or other [L. planus (“flat”) + –loqui]
Platypygous: having a broad bottom [Gk. platys” (flat or broad) + -pygous, -pugē (“buttocks”)] (cf. Pygephanous: displaying one’s buttocks)
Pleniloquent: excessive talking; fullness of speech [L. plēnos (“full”) + –loqui]
Pleonasm: using more words than necessary; redundancy of words [Gk. pleōn (“more”) + -asm]
Pogontrophy: the practice of grooming a beard or moustache [Gk. pogon (“beard”) + –trophy (“nourishment”; “growth”)(cf. Pogontomy: cutting or trimming a beard)
Polemologist: student of war [Gk. pólemos (“war; battle”) + -logy]
Politicaster: 2nd-rate or inferior or petty, contemptible politician [polī́tēs (“citizen”; “freeman”) + -aster§] (cf. Poetaster: an inferior poet)
Polyoquent: garrulous; loquacious; discourse on many topics [Gk. poly + -loqui (“speak”)]
Polyphage: someone who eats many kinds of food [Gk. poly + –phage]
Polyphasic: consisting of two or more phases [Gk. poly + -phase + -ic]
Pomiculturalist: fruit-grower [L. pōmum (“fruit tree”; “fruit” + –culture] 🍇 🍈 🍉
Preantepenultimate: fourth from last [L. prae (“before”) + –ante (“preposition and prefix”) + –paene (“almost”) + –ultimus (“last”)]
Pre-meridian: before noon [L. pre + -meridies (“noon”)] 🕚
Presbycusis: loss of hearing due to old age [Gk. presbys, (“old man”), + akousis, (“hearing”) (cf. Presbyopia: loss of sight due to old age)
Preterpluperfect: better than perfect [L. praeter (“past”; “beyond”) + –plūs (“more”) + –quam (“than”) + –perfectus (“achieved”; “finished”; “perfected”) (literally, “more than finished”)]
Pridian: yesterday; previous day [L. prior + -dies (“day”) + -anus (“-an”)]
Proctor: disciplinary officer (university); particular class of senior lawyer [MidEng. procutour (“procurator”; “proctor”)]
Progenitor: ancestor or parent [L. pro- (“forth”) + –gignere (“to beget”)]
Propinquity: physical proximity or similarity between things (like attracts like); close kinship [L. prope (“near”) + -quity]
Prosopolethy: inability to remember a face [Gk. prosōpon (“person”; “face” + -lēpsis (“act of taking hold or receiving”; “acceptance”) + -ia -y]
Protean: ever-changing: versatile; mutable; able to change frequently or easily [Gk. from Proteus, in Greek mythology a sea-god with a tendency to shape-shift)]
Pseudandry: use of a masculine pseudonym by a woman [Gk. pseudēs (“false”) + –andrós (“male”)] (cf. Pseudogyny: use of a feminine pseudonym by a man)
Puellaphilist: (Psych.) one who loves girls (and perhaps sexually desires them) [L. puella (“young girl”) + –phil]
Pulchritudinous: comely; beautiful; dazzling; ideal; a looker [L. pulcher (“beautiful”) + -tūdō (“-ness”)]
Pusillanimous: lacking courage or resolution; timidly cowardly [Latin pusillus (“very small”) (diminutive of pusus (“boy”) + -animus “spirit”)]
Pyknic: being of stocky physique and a rounded body and head; thickset [Gk. puknos (“thick“) + -ic]
Pysmatic: always asking questions and inquiring (origin unknown)
Pythogenic: coming from garbage [Gk. pytho– from pythein (“to cause to rot”) + -genic]
Standout P-word in the ALDOOCDO catalogue of lexical merit: Pernickety: fussy, particular; extensive attention to esp trivial or minor detail (an OCD candidate?) [Scots. pernickety, persnickety, of uncertain origin; (resembles in form per- (“intensifying prefix”) + –nick, but might be derived from particular + -finicky)]
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§ the suffix –aster, whenever it pops up tacked on to the end of some base word is invariably pejorative, meaning something that is inferior, small or shallow
A Logolept’s Diet of Obscure, Obsolete, Curious and Downright Odd”O” Words
ALDOOCDOW reaches one of the key letters in lexicon entries, “O”, the great connector of syllables. The story of “O”, the 15th letter and fourth vowel in the alphabet, is an interesting one. Circular in shape like the number zero, the letter “O” surfaces for the first time in writing systems in the Semitic languages some time around 1,000BC as a consonant (the cognate Arabic letter ayin which possibly evolved earlier from a hieroglyphic sign representing an eye). When it reached the archaic Greeks “O” morphed into the vowel we recognise in English today.
Obeliscolychny: a lighthouse [Gk. obelískos (“obelisk”) + –lukhníon (“lamp-stand”)]
Obelise: to condemn as spurious, doubtful or corrupt [Gk. obelós, (“obelus” – a sharpened stick, spit, or pointed pillar)]
Obequitate: to ride about; to ride aimlessly on a horse 🐎 [L. ob + equito (“to ride”)]
Obganiate: to irritate someone by constantly repeating oneself [It. ostinato (“obstinate”; ”persistent”)]
Oblectation: enjoyment; pleasure; satisfaction [L. oblectare (“to delight”)]
Oblivescence: forgetfulness; forgetting [L. oblīv(īscī) (“to forget”) + (–influenced by -escenc)]
Oblocutor: one who denies or disputes [L. obloqui (“to speak against”) + -or]
Obrogate: to alter the law by passing a new law [L. ob- (“toward; “against”) + rogare (“to ask”, “propose”, “propose a law”)]
Obsidional: of, like or pertaining to a siege [L. obsidēre (“beset”; “besiege”; “hem in”)]
Obsolagnium: waning sexual desire due to age [L. ob- (“in the way”) + –sol (?) + Gk. -lagneía (“sexual predilection”) ]
Obtenebrate: to cast a shadow over; to darken as if by shadowing [L. ob-(“to”; “toward”; “over”) + -tenebrae (“darkness”)] (cf. Obumbrate: to overshadow)
Obvert: to turn; to alter; to change the appearance or seeming of [L. ob- + vertere (“to turn”)]
Occlusion: closing or blocking off of an opening, passage or cavity [L. -ob (“in the way”) + -claudere (“to close or shut”)]
Ochlarchy: mob rule [Gk. ochlo (“mob”) + -archy (“rule”)]
Octamerous: having parts in eights [Gk. okta, okt (“eight”) + -meros (“part”)] (cf. Octan: recurring every eight days)
Octothorp: hash sign/tag (also called number sign or pound sign) #️⃣ [Gk. octō- (“eight”) + (?) –thorpe (“field”; “hamlet”; “small village”)] (Word apparently coined by staff at Bells Telephone Labs, late 1960s)
Odalisque: female slave or concubine in a harem (esp of the Ottoman sultan’s) Fr. from Turk. odalık, (orig.) oda (“room”)]
Odontalgia: toothache 🦷 [Gk. odóus (“tooth”) + –álgos (“pain”)]
Oecist: founder of a colony [Gk. from oîkos house + -istēs (“-ist”). The oíkistēs was the citizen chosen by an ancient Greek polis as the leader of any new colonisation quest
Oecodomic: of, like or pertaining to architecture [(?) Gk. oec (“house”) + L. –dom (“house”) + -ic(?)]
Oenologist: a person who studies wines and winemaking [Gk. oînos (“wine”) + -logia (“study of”)] 🍷
Ogee: a double curve, resembling the letter S (or serpentine shape or sigmoid shape); S-shaped [MidEng ogeus (?)]
Oikofugic: a desire to leave home; an urge to wander or travel [Gk. oîkos (“household”) + L. fugere (“to flee”); coined by psychologist G Stanley Hall, 1904 (cf. Obambulate: (“to wander about”) 🧳 (cf. Oikotropic: the desire to stay put at home)
Oikology: the science of houses and homes, especially in respect of their sanitary conditions [Gk. oîkos + -logy] 🏠
Oikonisus: desire to start a family [Gk. oîkos + -nīsus (“planting one’s feet firmly on the ground”)]
Oleaginous: oily; resembling oil: marked by an offensively ingratiating manner or quality [Gk. elaia (“olive”) + -ous]
Olecranon: a bony prominence at the elbow, on the upper end of the ulna; the tip of the elbow; the funny bone [Gk. ōlenē (“elbow”) + -kranion (“skull”)]
Olent: having a scent; fragrant [L. olere (“to smell”)]
Oligophrenia: feeble–mindedness [Gk. olígos (“few”; “scanty”) + -phrēn, (“diaphragm”; “mind”; “heart”)]
Olio: miscellany; potpourri [L. olla (“cooking pot”)]
Ollamh: (or Ollam) (hist) in ancient Ireland, a man of science or learning, considered equivalent to a university professor [Old Irish ollam (“doctor”)]
Ololygmancy: fortune-telling by the howling of dogs 🐕 [Gk. ololuzō (“howl”) + -manteia (“prophecy”)]
Ombiblous: a person who drinks everything, alcohol/non-alcohol 🍸 [Gk. om (?) + –bibere (“to drink”) coined by HL Mencken]
Ombrophilous: tolerant of large amounts of rainfall [ómbros (“rain”) + -philos (“love”)] 🌧️
Omneity: state of being all; allness [Gk. ómnis (“all”) + -ity]
Omnify: to make large or universal [Gk. ómnis + –fy]
Omniloquent: speaking on all subjects [Gk. ómnis + loqui (“to speak”)]
Omnivert: a personality trait that alternates between introvert and extrovert polarities [L. omnis (“all”) + –versus, -vertere (“invert”)] (cf. Ambivert: similar, but more of a balance between the two extremes)
Omphaloskepia: navel-gazing; the contemplation of one’s navel as an aid to meditation [Gk. omphalós, (“navel”) + sképsis, (“perception”; “reflection”)] (cf. Omphaloslopsychite) 👁️
Omphalos: the navel; a boss; the centre or hub of something [Gk. omphalós (“navel”)]
Onanism: masturbation; gratify oneself through sexual self-stimulation NewLat. onanismus, from Onan, son of Judah (Book of Genesis)]
Oniomania: uncontrollable urge to shop; a retail therapy preoccupation and compulsion [Gk. ṓnios, (“for sale”) + -mania]
Oneirodynia: nightmare; unpleasant or painful dream [Gk. oneiros (“dream”) + -odynē (“pain”)] (cf. Oneirology: the scientific study of dreams)
Onomasiology: study of nomenclature [Gk. onomázō (“I name”) + -logy]
Onomatous: bearing the author’s name [Gk. onomat, onoma (“name”) + -ous]
Ontocyclic: returning to an infantile state or character in old age [Gk. ont + -kuklós (“circular”)]
Ontological: based upon being or existence [Gk. ontós (“existing”; “being”) + –logia (“study”) + -al] (cf. Ontology: (metaphysics) science of pure being; the nature of things)
Onychophagia: practice/habit of biting one’s fingernails [Gk. ónux (“nail”) + –phagos (“eater”)] 💅
Onymous: having a name [back-formed from “anonymous”]
Ophelimity: economic satisfaction; the ability to please another [Gk. ōphelimos “useful”; “helpful”. Coined by Italian polymath Prof Vilfredo Pareto]
Opiniaster: (someone) obstinately attached to their opinion; (obsol.) an opinionated person [MidFr. opinionastre, opiniatre, from L. opinio (“opinion”; “conjecture”) + -aster]
Opisthosomal: of, like or pertaining to the posterior region of the body [New Latin, from opistho– (“back”; “rear”; “behind”) + –soma (“body”)]
Oppidan: an urbanite, a resident of a town, townsman; (formerly) an inhabitant of a university town not a member of the university or a university student residing in the town but not in the college [L. oppidum (“chiefly walled or fortified town”)]
Opsigamy: one who marries late in life [Gk. opsi (“late”) + –gámos (“marriage”)]
Opsimathy: learning or education that occurs late in life [Gk. opsi + –manthanein (“to learn”)]
Opsiproligery: the ability to still have children late in life [Gk. opsi + (?) -proligery(?)]
Opsomaniac: a person with an extreme enthusiasm for a particular food, esp a delicacy [Gk. opson (“rich food”; “delicacy” + -mania] (cf. Opsophagy: the eating of delicacies)
Orarian: coastal; a coast-dweller [L. ōrārius (“ora”, “of or belonging to the coast”)]
Orgulous: proud; haughty [Anglo-Fr. orguillus, from orguil “pride” of Germanic origin]
Ornithoscelidamania: an obsession with dinosaurs 🦖 [Gk. ornís (“bird”) + –celida(?) + -mania]
Orthographer: a person who is skilled in orthography (the conventions of the spelling system of a language); an expert speller [L. orthós (“straight”) + LateLat. -graphus (“grapher”) + -er]
Oryzovorous: rice-eating 🍚 [Gk. óruza (“rice”) + -vorare, -vorax (“devour”)]
Oscular: of, like or pertaining to the mouth or to kissing [L. ōscul(um) kiss”; “mouth”) + -ar]
Ostiary: doorkeeper; doorman; porter 🚪 [L. from ostium (“door”; “mouth of a river”) + -arius (-ary)]
Otiose: lacking use or effect; producing no useful result; idle, reluctant to work or exert oneself [L. ōtiōsus (“idle”), from ōtium (“ease”)]
Outlier: (orig.) a person whose residence and place of business are at a distance; something (someone) that lies outside the main body or entity; person or thing that is atypical within a particular group, class, or category [Eng. (17th. out + -lier (“to lie”)]
Ovine: sheep-like 🐑 [L. ovis (“sheep”) + -ine]
Ovivorous: egg-eating 🥚 [L. ōvum (“egg”) + –vorare (“to devour”)]
Oxyacaesthesia: extreme sharpness of senses [Gk. oxús “sharp”; “pointed”) + -aisthēsis (“sensation”)] (cf. Oxyblepsia: extremely keen sight/ Oxygeusia: extremely keen sense of taste/ Oxyphonia: sharpness or shrillness of voice)/Oxyesthesia: being extremely sensitive to touch)
Ozostomia: bad breath [Gk. ózein (“smell”) + –stóma (“mouth”)]