Showing posts tagged as: Lexicons
“N” & “O” Words from Left Field II: Redux. A Supplement to the Logolept’s Diet
<word meaning and root formation>
Nanocephalous: having an abnormally small head [Gk. nânos (“small”) + -cephal (“head”) + -ous]
Nasute: having an acute or sensitive sense of smell; having a long snout [from L. nāsus (“nose”) + -ūtus]
Naupathia: sea-sickness [Gk. naus (“ship”) + -pathos (“suffering”)]
Necromorphous: feigning death to deter an aggressor [from Gk. necro (“death”) + –morphe (“form”)]
Nefandous: unspeakable; unutterable [from L. ne- (“not”) + –fandus, ➨ –fārī (“to speak”)]
Neoteny: an indefinite prolongation of the period of immaturity, with the retention of infantile or juvenile qualities, into adulthood [from Gk. néos “young” + -o--O- + -teínein (“to stretch”; “extend”) + -y]
Nepheligenous: producing clouds of smoke [from Gk. nephélē, (“cloud”) + -genous (“producing). Coined by OW Holmes]
Neopotation: prodigality; extravagance; squandering one’s money on riotous living (OU)
Nidifugous: leaving the nest while still young [L. nīdus (“nest”) + –fugiō (“I flee”; “escape”) + -ous]
Nikhedonia: the pleasure and satisfaction derived from the anticipation of success [nik(?) poss. from Nike, Greek god of victory + Gk. –hedonikos (“pleasure”)]
Nimiety: excess; extravagance; surfeit [from L. nimius (“excessive”)]
Nocent: harmful [from L. nocens (“to harm”)]
Noctivagant: wandering by night [from L. nocti- (“night”) + –vagari (“to wander”)] 🌃
Noisome: noxious; smelly; nasty [from MidEng. noy (“annoyance”) + -some, (“characterised by a specified thing,”)]
Nonfeasance: failure to perform some action which ought to have been performed [L. non- + Eng. -feasance (“doing”; “execution”)]
Nostrificate: to accept as one’s own; to grant recognition to a degree (or other formal qualification) from a foreign university (or other registered educational institution) [from L. noster (“our”) + -cate]
Noyade: mass execution by drowning (esp in revolutionary France in Nantes, 1793-94) [from L. necare (“kill without using a weapon”) (nonce word)]
Nugacity: triviality; futility; drollery (cf. nugatory: of no value; trifling; pointless) [from L. nugacitas (“trifling”)]
Nullibiety: the state of being nowhere [from L. nūllus (“none”; “no”; “not any”) + –ibī (“there”) + -ety] (cf. Nullibist: one who denies that the soul exists in physical space)
Numen: pertaining to numina; awe-inspiring; supernatural) [L. nuō + –men (“a nodding with the head”; “command”; “will”)]
Nummamorous: money-loving (cf. Nummary: pertaining to coin) (OU) 💴 🪙
Numinous: divine; spiritual” [from L. nūmen]
Nuncheon: a noon drink [from MidEng. nonshench, noneschench, nonechenche (“slight refreshment, usually taken in the afternoon”) from L. nōnus] 🍷
Nutation: the act of nodding the head, esp habitually or constantly; a periodic variation in the inclination of the axis of a rotating object [from L. nūtātiō (“nodding”), from nūtō (“I nod”)]
Nycterent: someone who hunts by night [from Gk. nyct (“night”) + -ent] (cf. Nyctitropic: turning in a certain direction at night) (cf. Nyctalopia: night-blindness)
Nympholepsy: a passionate longing for something unattainable [from Gk mythology: nymphóleptos (“possessed by nymphs”)]
Key: OU = origin unknown
<word meaning and root formation>
Obsidional or Obsidionary: pertaining to a siege [from L. obsidiō (“siege”; “blockade”)]
Obsolagnium: waning sexual desire due to age [from L. ob- (“against”) + lagnium (“desire”)]
Obtund: to blunt, dull or deaden [from L. obtundere (“to dull”, “deaden”, “deafen”)]
Oculogyric: eye-rolling; rotation of the eyes [from L. oculo- (“eye”) + –gyric, from Gk. -gurus (“circle”)]
Oligophagos: eating only a few particular kinds of food [from Gk. olig (“few”) + –phagos (“eating”)]
Ollapod: pharmacist; (Orig. a country apothecary [name of a character in George Colman the Younger‘s comedy The Poor Gentleman (1801)]
Ombrophilous: capable of withstanding heavy and continuous rain [from Gk. ómbros (“rain”) + –philous (“love”)]
Omniety: the state or condition of being all [from L. omnis (“all”) + -iety]
Oneirataxia: inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality [Gk. oneiros (“dream” + –taxis (“arrangement”)]
Onomasticon: an ordered list of names (Orig. a gazetteer of historical and contemporary 4th-century place names in Palestine and Transjordan compiled by Eusebius) [Gk. onomastikós, (“belonging to names”), from onomázō, (“I name”)]
Onychophagia: nail-biting [from Gk. onych (“claw”) + -phagos].
Ophelimity: the ability to please another; economic satisfaction [from Gk. ōphélimos, (“helpful”)]
Opisthenar: back of the hand [from Gk. opistho- (“behind”; “back”) + –thenar (“palm of the hand”)] 🤚
Opsablepria: inability to look someone in the eye (OU) 👁️
Orarian: dweller by the seaside; relating to the seaside [from L. ōrārius (“coasting”; “along the coast”) + -an]
Orthostatic: relating to standing upright; straight posture [Gk. orth (“right angle”; “perpendicular”) + –statikós (“to make stand”)] (cf. Orthobiosis: a hygienic and moral lifestyle)
Osophagist: a fastidious eater [Gk. (?) + –phagos]
Otiose: serving no useful purpose; leisurely (cf. Otiant: idle or resting [from L. otium (“leisure”)]
Ozostomia: evil-smelling breath [from Gk ozóstom(os) (“having bad breath”)]
Key: OU = origin unknown
“M” Words from Left Field II: Redux. A Supplement to the Logolept’s Diet
<word meaning and root formation>
Macrologist: a person who engages in long and tiresome talk; ie, a bore [Gk. makrós, (“long”) + –logo (“word”) + -ist]
Macromastic: pertaining to large breasts; (Med.) (also called gigantomastic breasts) breasts which are usually heavy and pendulous with nipples and areolas facing down [Gk. macrós- (“long”) + -mastia (“abnormality of the breast”)]
Macrophallic: having an unusually large phallus [Gk. macrós- (“long”) + -phallós (“penis”)]
Marcid: exhausted; withered; wasted away; decayed [from L. marceō (“wither”) + -idus]
Megapod: having large feet [from Gk. mégas (“great”) + -poús “foot”)] 👣
Menseful: considerate; neat and clean [from mensk, from MidEng. menske (“courtesy”; “honour”)]
Mentulate: Referring to or characterised by a large penis; well-hung [from mentula (“cock”; “dick”; “penis”) + -ātus (“-ed”)]
Merkin: a pubic wig for women (Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: “counterfeit hair for women’s privy parts”) [Origin uncertain but prob. from malkin, a derogatory term for a lower-class young woman]
Metoposcopy: using the physical appearance of the face (esp the pattern-lines on the forehead) to judge someone’s character [from Gk. métōpon, “forehead”) + -scopy]
Minimifidianism: having virtually no or almost no faith or belief [from L. minimus (“small”; “little”) + –fidian (?) + -ism]
Monandrous: having only one male sexual partner over a period of time [monós (“one”; “single”; “only”) + –androus (“man”; “husband”)]
Mummer: an actor in a traditional masked mime (a mummer’s play) [OldFr. momeur from mommer (“act in a mime”)]
Murcid: slothful; shirking work or duty (OU)
Mystagogue: one who instructs in mystical or arcane lore or doctrines [Gk. mystagōgos, from mystēs (“initiate”) + –agein (“to lead”)]
Key: OU = origin unknown
“L” Words from Left Field II: Redux. A Supplement to the Logolept’s Diet
Labefaction: shaking, weakening and/or downfall; impairment, especially of moral principles or civil order [L. labefactus, labefacere (“to cause to totter”; “shake”) from labare (“to totter”) + -facere (“to make”) + -ion]
Labile: unstable; liable to change [from L. labi, (“to slip or fall”)]
Labrose: thick-lipped [L. labrosus, from labrum (“lip”)] 👄
Laevorotatory or Levorotatory: counter- or anti-clockwise (opp. Dextrorotatory) [L. levo from laevus (“left”) + rotatiō] 🕰️
Lampadedromy: foot race with lighted torches, esp a relay race passing the torch from runner to runner (Anc. Greece: a race in honor of Prometheus in which the contestants ran bearing lit torches, the winner being the first to finish with his torch still lit) [Gk. lampein (“to shine”) + –dromos (“a running”)]
Lamprophony: speaking in a clear loud voice [Gk. lampróphónos (“clear-voiced”) from lamprós (“clear”; “distinct”) + -phone (“sound”) + -y]
Languescent: becoming tired or languid [from L. languescere (“to become faint”)]
Lapidate: stone to death [L. lapidare (“to stone”), from lapid-, lapis (“stone”) + -ate]
Latebricole: living in holes (OU) 🕳️
Latibulise: to hibernate (OU)
Latifundian: rich in real estate [ L. latus, (“spacious”) + -fundus, (“farm”, (“estate”)] (Latifundium was a large agricultural estate in Ancient Rome)
Leman: paramour; lover; inamorata [from OldEng. lēofmann (“lover”); (“sweetheart”); equiv. to lief + –man (“beloved person”)]
Lenitic or Lentic: living in quiet or still waters [L. lenitas (“mildness”) + -ic] (cf. Lotic: living in actively moving waters)
Lepid: charming; elegant; amiable [from Gk. lepid-, lepis (“scale”?), from lepein]
Lestobiosis: living by furtive stealing; the act of pilfering food, especially of ants 🐜 [Gr. lestes, (“robber”) +–biosis, (“manner of life”)]
Loganamnosis: a mania for trying to recall a forgotten word or words [Gk. log (“word”) + -amnosis (?) perhaps from –amnesia (“memory”)]
Lucifugous: avoiding daylight or light altogether [ from L. lucifugus, from luci- + -fugus (from fugere (“to flee”) + -al +-ous]
Lucripetous: money-hungry (OU) 💰
Luctiferous: sad and sorry [L. luctifer (“mournful”) from luctus (“sorrow”) + -fer (-ferous) + –ous]
Ludification: derision; mockery [from L. ludificatio, from ludificare (“to make sport of”), from ludus (“sport”) + -ficare (“to make”, in comparative)]
Lurdane: stupid, dull and lazy; a sluggard [MidFr. lourdin (“dullard”), from lourd (“heavy”)]
Lypophrenia: a vague feeling of sadness, seemingly without cause [OU. ? + Gk. –phrenia (“mind”)]
Key: OU = origin unknown
“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