titivil · /TIT-i-vil/ · /ˈtɪtɪvɪl/. noun. A demon said to record peoples’ sins to be used against them on Judgment Day, specifically collecting a sack of syllables dropped, skipped or mumbled during divine services and the idle gossip and chatter of churchgoers during services. Later, more generally, a gossip, a scoundrel, or a tattletale. AKA Tutivillus, Titivillus. Origin unknown. See also: knave, rogue, swindler, scallywag, busybody.
[Read more…]Persons, places, things...you know the drill.
apricot
apricot · /AY-pri-kot/ · /ˈeɪprɪˌkɒt/. noun. Formerly apricock or abrecock. The stone fruit of the Himalayan tree Prunus armeniaca, of the rose family. The tree itself. The color of the fruit. ¶ From Catalan abercoc and Portuguese albricoque, from Arabic al-birquq, through Byzantine Greek berikokkia, from Latin praecoquum (early-ripening fruit) … from which we also get the word precocious. ¶ The original Proto-Indo-European root pekw- is the source many other words including: kitchen, pumpkin, biscuit, charcuterie, ricotta, kiln and (dys)peptic.
[Read more…]insurrection
cathexis
cathexis · /kuh-THEK-sis/ · /kəˈθɛksɪs/. noun. The concentration or charge of energy invested into an idea, person or object. From Greek kathexis (retention, holding), from katechein (to hold fast, occupy), from echein (to have, to hold), from PIE root segh- (to hold). First recorded by Sigmund Freud. See also: hypercathexis, an excessive concentration of mental energy.
[Read more…]fizgig
fizgig · /FIZZ-gig/ · /ˈfɪzgɪg/. noun and adjective. A frivolous or flirtatious girl. A silly notion. A firework that fizzes. A spinning top. A harpoon or spear (also fishgig). In Australian slang, an informer. Perhaps from fizz (a hissing sound or disturbance), from obsolete fise (to break wind) + gig (multiple meanings, including frivolous person and whipping top), origin unknown but possibly onomatopoeic.
[Read more…]parergon
parergon · /pə-RƏR-gawn/ · /pəˈrə:gɒn/. noun. An ornamental accesssory; a byproduct; a piece of writing that is subsidiary to another work; work in addition to one’s primary employment. From Greek para (beside, beyond) + ergon (work). See also: opuscule.
[Read more…]chrestomathy
chrestomathy · /kreh-STAHM-ə-thee/ · /krɛsˈtɒməθɪ/. noun. A collection of choice literary passages, most often by a single author, and moste often to assist in learning a foreign language. From Greek khrēstos (useful) + mathein (to learn); from PIE root mendh- (to learn). See also: chrestomathic.
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