Showing posts tagged as: Logolepsy
A Logolept’s Diet of Obscure, Obsolete, Curious and Downright Odd ”E” Words
The fifth letter and second vowel in the modern English alphabet, “E” can trace its ancestry to the ancient Greek letter epsilon, which in turn has its source in the Semitic letter hê. Words beginning with “E” can be positive and affirmative—energetic, empathetic, etc—but they can also exclude, excise and excommunicate. Here’s some fairly unorthodox, non-mainstream “E” words you possibly have not encountered before.
Eccendentesiast: an insincere person who fakes a smile [L. ecce (“I present to you’) + –dentes (“teeth”) + –iast (“performer”)]
Ecdysiast: a striptease artist; erotic dancer [Gk. ekdysis (“a stripping or casting off”). Coined 1940 by HL Mencken]
Ectomorph: a person with a lean and delicate build of body; also can refer to someone with an introverted, thoughtful personality [Gk. ecto (“outside”, “external”) + –derm (“skin”) + –morphē (“form”; “shape”). Coined 1940 by WH Sheldon]
Eleemosynary: relating to or depending on charity; charitable [Gk. eleos (“mercy”; “pity”; “compassion”; (pertaining to alms)]
Encomium: a speech or piece of writing which praise someone or something highly (cf. eulogy) [Gk. en (“within”) + –komos (“revel”)]
Endomorph: a person with a heavy, rounded (big-boned) build of body [Gk. endon (“in”; “within”) + –morphē (WH Sheldon 1940)]
Endonym: (also known as Autonym) the native name for a national group, an individual, geographical place, language or dialect; used inside a particular group or linguistic community for self-identification [Gk. endon (“within) + –ónoma (“name”)]
Ennad: any group of nine; orig. a group of 9 deities in Egyptian mythology [Gk. ennea (the number 9)]
Epeolatry: the worship of words [Gk. epos (“word”) + -latry (“worship”)]
Epicrisis: something that follows a crisis, specifically a secondary crisis; a critical or analytical study, evaluation or summing up, esp of medical case [Gk. epíkrisis, (“determination”, “judgment”, “award”)]
Epigamic: attractive to the opposite sex, esp in zoological context [Gk. epi (“upon”; “on”; “near”) + –gamus (“wedding”; “marriage”)]
Epistolographer: a writer of epistles (elegant, formal didactic letters); a letter writer [Gk. epistellein (“send news”) + –graphe (“write”)] ✍️📝
Ergatocracy: rule by the workers [Gk. ergátēs (“workman”) + –crazy]
Eschatological: theological considerations relating to death, judgement and the finality of the soul and humankind [Gk. éskhatos (“last”) + -logy]
Excoriate: to denounce or berate severely; verbally flay; to strip or remove the skin (Gk. ex (“out”) + –coríum (“skin”; “hide”)
Excursus: a diversion or digression in a book from the main subject which involves a detailed side-discussion [L. excurrere (“run out”)]
Exonym: (also known as Xenonym) the non-native name for a national group, an individual, geographical place, language or dialect [Gk. exo (“outside) + –ónoma (“name”)]; eg, the exonym for Deutschland (Germany) in Spanish is Alemania
Expiscate: to find out thru scrupulous examination or detailed investigation; fish out (something) (usage Scot.) [L. expicatus from Gk. ex (“out”) + –piscari (“to fish”)] 🎣 🐠
❘༻༺༻༺❘༻༺༻༺❘༻༺༻༺❘༻༺༻༺❘༻༺༻༺❘༻༺༻
A Logolept’s Diet of Obscure, Obsolete, Curious and Downright Odd “C” Words
Continuing the A–Z series of out-of-the-norm, non-mainstream quirky words…this time exploring lexical items starting with the ostentatiously curvy letter “C“, the third letter and second consonant of the modern English alphabet. “C” comes from the same letter as “G”. The Semites named it gimel. The sign is possibly adapted from an Egyptian hieroglyph for a staff sling, which may have been the meaning of the name gimel. Another possibility, contested by some classical scholars, is that it depicted a camel, the Semitic name for which was gamal. The utility of “C” extends to the Romans’ numeral system where it represents the number for “100”, “C” for century!
Word | Meaning | Derivation |
Cacodoxy | bad doctrine or wrong opinion | Gk caco ("bad") + -doxia ("opinion") |
Cacogen | an anti-social person | Gk caco ("bad") + -genēs ("offspring") |
Cacophemism | a perjorative expression used instead of a mild one | Gk caco ("bad") + -logía ("speech") |
Cagamosis | an unhappy marriage | origin unknown |
Calcographer | one who draws with crayons and pastels✍️ | L calco ("thread", "trample on") + graphe ("write") |
Callpygous | having beautiful buttocks | Gk kallos ("beautiful") + -pūgē ("buttocks") |
Camelot | newspaper vendor ️ | F origin unknown |
Carpophagous | fruit-eating | Gk karpós ("fruit") + -phágous ("eating") |
Catapedamania | an impulse to jump from high places | Gk cata ("downward") + -ped ("ground") ⛰️ |
Catchpole | sheriff's deputy, esp one who makes an arrest for failure to pay a debt | OE cace ("catch") + Med L pullus (a chick") |
Celerity | swiftness of movement | L celer ("speedy"; "swift") |
Celsitude | loftiness, esp in rel. to position or standing | L celsus ("high"; "lofty") |
Cenobite | monk; member of religious order | Gk koinos ("common") + -bios ("life") |
Cereologist | someone who studies crop circles, esp one who believes they are not man-made or formed by other terrestrial processes ⭕️ | L Ceres (Roman goddess of agriculture ") + -logy ("study") |
Chaetophorous | having bristles | Gk khaítē ("hair") + -phoros ("bearing") |
Chasmaphilous | fond of nooks & crannies | Gk chasma ("abyss"; "cleft") + phil |
Chiliad | divide into parts of 1,000; Millennium | Gk khilioi ("thousand") |
Chorizent | someone who challenges the authorship of a major work, esp one who believes that the Iliad & the Odyssey were not penned by Homer ✍️ | origin unknown |
Chryosophist | a lover of gold ⚱️ | Gk chrys ("gold") + -philos ("phile") |
Cicisbeo | male companion of a married woman | origin unknown |
Cicerone | a guide for tourism information ℹ️ | L from Cicero, agnomen of Roman orator, (2th BCE |
Clerisy | class of the intelligentsia; group of learned & literary people | Gk klēros ("heritage") |
Concision | tenseness & brevity of speech & writing; saying much in a few words | L concīsus ("cut short") |
Consign | deserved & appropriate, esp a fair & fitting punishment | L con ("altogether") + -dignus ("worthy"; "appropriate" |
Copacetic | completely satisfactory; in good order | origin unknown |
Coruscating | sparkling; glittering | L coruscatus ("to vibrate", "glitter") |
Cosmocracy | rulership of the world; global government ️ | Gk cosmo ("universe") + -krátos ("rule"; "power") |
Coterminous | having the same boundaries | Eng, (18th. |
Crepuscular | resembling or rel to twilight | L crepusculum ("twilight") |
Cruciverbalist | one who is skilled at or enjoys solving crosswords 里 | L cruci ("cross" + -verbum ("word"). Neologism, 1977) |
Cryptarcy | secret government or rulership | Gk kryptos ("hidden"; "secret") |
Cryptogenic | (disease) of unknown origin | Gk kryptos ("hidden"; "secret") + genēs ("offspring") |
Cryptonym | a code or secret name | Gk kryptos ("hidden"; "secret") + -nym ("name") |
Cumbent | "lying down"; "reclining" | L incumbere ("lie or lean on") |
Curiosa | pornographic books | L curiosus ("curious") |
Curlicue | calligraphic twist or curl in the design object; decorative | Eng, (18th. "Curly" + "cue" ("pigtail") |
Cursoril | limbs adapted to running (zool.) | Med L cursorius ("of running") |
Cyesolagnia | attracted to pregnant women | Gk cyeso(?) + -lagnia ("lust") |
Cynoid | dog-like; canine | Gk kyn ("dog") + oid ("resembling") |
Cynosure | anything that attracts attention; object of interest | Gk kunosoura (lit. "dog's tail") an association der. from the shape of the constellation Ursa Minor |
Cereologist: pondering the enigma of the crop circle ⭕️
Chorizent: Not Homer!
The Cruciverbalist’s playground
Cynosure: all eyes on Ursa Minor, aka “the Little Dipper”
A Logolept’s Diet of Obscure, Obsolete, Curious and Downright Odd “B” Words
The letter “B” has quite a backstory on route to its destination in the English alphabet. Its equivalent second letter in Phoenician, beth, was part of that ancient language’s alphabet more than 3000 years ago. It looked a little different, but it made the same sound as “B”/”b”. The shape of the letter resembled the floor plan of a house, and the word beth meant “house.” In Hebrew, the letter was called beth, bet or bayt which also means “house.” (‘The Letter B Once Had A Much Longer Name’, (2014), www.dictionary.com). Here’s a far from definitive selection of unusual, obscure and archaic words beginning with “B” – useful additions to the vocabulary of any budding lexiphile, logophile or verbivore out there.
Word | Meaning | Derivation |
Babeldom | a confused sound of noise | ME babble + OE -dōm ('state') |
Bacchanal | drunkard; reveller | L bacchanalis (from the god Bacchus) |
Bahadur | self-important official | Persian bahādur ('brave', 'valiant') |
Balatron | joker; clown | L balatrō ('jester'; 'buffoon') 嵐 |
Barmecide | an insincere benefactor (someone who promises but doesn't deliver) | Per Barmeki ('The Arabian Nights', family name) |
Barratry | inciting riot or violence | OF Barraterie (der from 'deceive') |
Bathykolpian | deep-bosomed | Gk bathys ('deep') + kolpos ('breast') |
Bedswerver | an unfaithful spouse | Eng (17th, Shakespeare |
Benedict | benign; a newly-married after being a long-time bachelor | L bene ('good') + -dicte ('speak') |
Bersatrix | babysitter | Fr berseaux ('cradle') + trix (fem. suffix) |
Bibliognost | well-read individual: person with a wide knowledge of books | Gk biblio ('book') + -gnōstēs ('one who knows'j |
Bodacious | remarkable; unmistakable; sexy; voluptuous | Eng 'bold' + 'audacious' |
Boursocrat | Stock exchange official | origin unknown |
Brio | enthusiastic vigour | It 'mettle'; 'fire'; 'life' |
Bromaphile | lover of food; a "foodie" | Gk brôma ('food') + -phile ('lover') |
Bromopnea | bad breath | Gk brômos ('stink') + nea |
Brumal | wintry; of, like or pertaining to winter 略 | L brūmalīs ('relating to the winter solstice') |
Burrole | an eavesdropper | origin unknown |
Bywoner | agricultural labourer | Afrikaans from Mid Dutch bi + ('dweller') |
ADDENDUM | ||
Barbigerous | bearded; bearing a beard 倫♂️ | L barbiger ("beard"; + -gero ('bearing') |
Bavian | baboon; insignificant or unskilled poet | D baviaan |
Belliferous | bringing war | L bellum ('war') + ferō ('to bear') |
Bloviate | talk at length in empty, pompous, inflated fashion | Eng (19th. 'blow' (as in boasting, orig. to describe politicians) |
Brobdingnagian | immense in size; gigantic | Eng (18th. novel by Jonathan Swift ✍️ |
