slug: words
translates: words
lang: en
title: Mx Tynehorne’s Compendium of Curious Words
description: "From adoxography to zenzizenzizenzic, the finest words the English language has to offer"
thumbnail: "words/boeken.jpg"
thumbnailAlt: "Shelves piled with old, dusty, and musty books"
pageCreated: "2020-06-24"
pageUpdated: "2026-03-04"
extends ../../views/layout.pug
append presets
- linkIcons = false
mixin pronunciation(respell)
.pronunciation !{respell.replace(/-/g, "·").replace(/@/g, "ə").replace(/([A-Z]+)/g, "<em>$1</em>").toLowerCase()}
mixin n
abbr.grammar(title="noun") n.
mixin v
abbr.grammar(title="verb") v.
mixin pn
abbr.grammar(title="proper noun") pn.
mixin a
abbr.grammar(title="adjective") a.
mixin adv
abbr.grammar(title="adverb") adv.
mixin ang(orig, name)
if name
| #[abbr(title="Old English") O.Eng.] #[i(lang="ang") #{orig}]
else
| #[i(lang="ang") #{orig}]
mixin ar(orig, translit, name)
if name
| Arabic #[bdi(lang="ar") #{orig}] (#[i(lang="ar-Latn") #{translit}])
else
| #[bdi(lang="ar") #{orig}] (#[i(lang="ar-Latn") #{translit}])
mixin de(orig, name)
if name
| #[abbr(title="German") Ger.] #[i(lang="de") #{orig}]
else
i(lang="de")= orig
mixin el(orig, translit, name)
if name
| Greek #[span(lang="el") #{orig}] (#[i(lang="el-Latn") #{translit}])
else
| #[span(lang="el") #{orig}] (#[i(lang="el-Latn") #{translit}])
mixin en(orig, name)
if name
| #[abbr(title="English") Eng.] #[i #{orig}]
else
i= orig
mixin enm(orig, name)
if name
| #[abbr(title="Middle English") M.Eng.] #[i #{orig}]
else
i= orig
mixin fr(orig, name)
if name
| #[abbr(title="French") Fr.] #[i(lang="fr") #{orig}]
else
i(lang="fr")= orig
mixin gd(orig, name)
if name
| Scots Gaelic #[i(lang="gd") #{orig}]
else
i(lang="gd")= orig
mixin gem(orig, name)
if name
| #[abbr(title="Proto-Germanic") P.Ger.] #[i(lang="gem-x-proto") #{orig}]
else
i(lang="gem-x-proto")= orig
mixin gml(orig, name)
if name
| Middle Saxon #[i(lang="gml") #{orig}]
else
i(lang="gml")= orig
mixin grc(orig, translit, name)
if name
| #[abbr(title="Ancient Greek") A.Grk.] #[span(lang="grc") #{orig}] (#[i(lang="grc-Latn") #{translit}])
else
| #[span(lang="grc") #{orig}] (#[i(lang="grc-Latn") #{translit}])
mixin he(orig, translit, name)
if name
| Hebrew #[bdi(lang="he") #{orig}] (#[i(lang="he-Latn") #{translit}])
else
| #[bdi(lang="he") #{orig}] (#[i(lang="he-Latn") #{translit}])
mixin hi(orig, translit, name)
if name
| Hindi #[span(lang="hi") #{orig}] (#[i(lang="hi-Latn") #{translit}])
else
| #[span(lang="hi") #{orig}] (#[i(lang="hi-Latn") #{translit}])
mixin ine(orig, name)
if name
| #[abbr(title="Proto-Indoeuropean").all-sc PIE] #[i(lang='ine-x-proto') #{orig}]
else
i(lang='ine-x-proto')= orig
mixin is(orig, name)
if name
| Icelandic #[i(lang="is") #{orig}]
else
i(lang="is")= orig
mixin it(orig, name)
if name
| #[abbr(title="Italian") It.] #[i(lang='it') #{orig}]
else
i(lang='it')= orig
mixin ja(orig, translit, name)
if name
| Japanese #[span(lang="ja") #{orig}] (#[i(lang="ja-Latn") #{translit}])
else
| #[span(lang="ja") #{orig}] (#[i(lang="ja-Latn") #{translit}])
mixin la(orig, name)
if name
| Latin #[i(lang="la") #{orig}]
else
i(lang="la")= orig
mixin nl(orig, name)
if name
| Dutch #[i(lang="nl") #{orig}]
else
i(lang="nl")= orig
mixin non(orig, name)
if name
| Old Norse #[i(lang="non") #{orig}]
else
i(lang="non")= orig
mixin ofr(orig, name)
if name
| #[abbr(title="Old French") O.Fr.] #[i(lang="ofr") #{orig}]
else
i(lang="ofr")= orig
mixin ota(orig, translit, name)
if name
| Ottoman Turkish #[bdi(lang="ota-Arab") #{orig}] (#[i(lang="ota-Latn") #{translit}])
else
| #[bdi(lang="ota-Arab") #{orig}] (#[i(lang="ota-Latn") #{translit}])
mixin sa(orig, translit, name)
if name
| Sanskrit #[span(lang="sa") #{orig}] (#[i(lang="sa-Latn") #{translit}])
else
| #[span(lang="sa") #{orig}] (#[i(lang="sa-Latn") #{translit}])
mixin sco(orig, name)
if name
| Scots #[i(lang="sco") #{orig}]
else
i(lang="sco")= orig
append cosmetics
link(href="/words/words.css", rel="stylesheet")
block header
h1
small Xanthe Tynehorne, Esq.’s
br
strong Compendium
small of
br
| Curious Words
block content
h2.letter-header#section-a #[span A]#[i a]
section#adoxography
.grid-word
a.word(href="#adoxography") adoxography
+pronunciation('ay-dock-SOG-r@-fee')
.etymon #[+grc('ἄδοξος', 'ádoxos', 1)] “obscure, ignoble” + #[+grc('γραφία', 'graphía')] “writing”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] Brilliant writing on a trivial subject.
section#alkin
.grid-word
a.word(href="#alkin") alkin
+pronunciation('AWL-kin')
.etymon #[+ang('ealle cynn', 1)] “of all kinds”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Of all kinds; intermingled and various.
.citation: blockquote
p I saw a plain of peerless pulchritude#[br]
| wherein aboundit #[mark alkin] things good#[br]
| Spice, wine, corn, oil, tree, fruit, flower, herbis green#[br]
| All fowls, beastis, birdis, and #[mark alkin] food
footer Gavin Douglas, “The Palice of Honour” (1501 / φξθʹ.δʹ)
section#anasyrma
.grid-word
a.word(href="#anasyrma") anasyrma
.plural #[abbr(title="plural") pl.] #[b anasyrmata]
+pronunciation('a-n@-SUR-m@')
.etymon #[+grc("ἁνάσυρμα", "anásyrma", 1)] “dragging up”
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("anasyrma.jpg") alt="A statue of Hermaphroditos lifting up Their skirt to reveal a set of male genitalia.")
figcaption Anasyrma is particularly common in ancient depictions of #[a.theonym(href="/shrines/hermaphroditos") Hermaphroditos].
.definition #[+n] The lifting up of a skirt or kilt to reveal one’s erogenous areas.
hr
.footnotes
p I assume that’s how it’s pronounced, at least. The word is rare in print and rarer still on video.
section#armigerous
.grid-word
a.word(href="#armigerous") armigerous
+pronunciation('ar-MIH-j@-r@ss')
.etymon #[+la('armiger', 1) “weapon-bearing”]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Bearing or entitled to bear a #[a(href="/heraldry") coat of arms].
h2.letter-header#section-b #[span B]#[i b]
section.tangent#beautiful-Dutch-words
.grid-word
small.aside an aside on
a.word(href="#beautiful-Dutch-words") beautiful Dutch words
.grid-definition
p Dutch, like its hillier cousin German, has something of a reputation as a harsh, guttural, and most of all #[em ugly] language. English may indeed roll nicer off the tongue (don’t tell my papa i said that), but its closest neighbour is still a beautiful tongue in its own right. To go along with all the Anglo-Saxon on this page, here are some of my favourite words in Dutch:
+table
thead
tr
th A word
th which means
th literally
tbody
tr
td
b(lang="nl") desalniettemin
td Nevertheless…
td
i(lang="nl") des al
| “of all this” +
i(lang="nl") niettemin
| “nevertheless, not too little”
tr
td
b(lang="nl") gezellig
td Cozy, comfortable, in that particular way that comes when, say, sitting around the sofa, drinking tea with a friend who loves and cares for you, or at a party with your best mates.
td from the same root as “silly”
tr
td
b(lang="nl") januskop
td A two-faced person, or something with two seemingly contradictory aspects.
td “#[span.theonym Janus] head”
tr
td
b(lang="nl") jeremiëren
td To loudly lament and wail in complaint.
td compare “jeremiad”
tr
td
b(lang="nl") koeienletters
td Big, massive, unmissable type — see “second coming type” further down the list.
td “cow letters”
tr
td
b(lang="nl") de oerknal
td The Big Bang.
td “the ur-bang”
tr
td
b(lang="nl") uitwaaien
td To clear one’s mind by going out for a walk in windy weather.
td “to blow out”
tr
td
b(lang="nl") ijsberen
td To pace back and forth around a room, like a polar bear in a zoo.
td “to polar-bear”
section#bescumber
.grid-word
a.word(href="#bescumber") bescumber
+pronunciation("b@-SKUM-b@r")
.etymon #[+ofr('escumbrier', 1)] “to disencumber”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+v] To discharge one’s dung upon.
section#bibulously
.grid-word
a.word(href="#bibulously") bibulously
+pronunciation("BIB-yuu-l@s-lee")
.etymon #[+la('bibulus', 1)] “fond of drinking” ← #[+la('bibó')] “i drink”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+adv] Drunkenly, as if intoxicated or tired and emotional.
section#bioluminescence
.grid-word
a.word(href="#bioluminescence") bioluminescence
+pronunciation("BY-oh-loo-mih-NESS-@nss")
.etymon #[+grc("βίος", "bíos", 1)] “life” + #[+la('lúmen', 1)] “light” + #[+la('-escens')] “becoming, resembling”
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("bioluminescence.jpg") alt="A sea lit up by glowing algæ.")
figcaption
a(href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meeresleuchten_auf_Norderney_02.jpg") Original image
| by Wikimedia user Stephan Sprinz.
.definition #[+n] Light given off by a living being.
h2.letter-header#section-c #[span C]#[i c]
section#callipygean
.grid-word
a.word(href="#callipygean") callipygean
+pronunciation('ka-lih-PIJ-ee-@n')
.etymon #[+grc("καλλίπυγος", "callípygos", 1)] ← #[+grc("κάλλος", "cállos")] “beauty” + #[+grc("πυγή", "pygḗ")] “buttocks”
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("callipygean.jpg") alt="A well-endowed statue of Aphrodite.")
figcaption This callipygean statue of #[span.theonym Aphrodite] is also engaged in #[a(href="#anasyrma") anasyrma].
.definition #[+a] Having beautiful, shapely buttocks.
.citation
blockquote
p Her gown (perhaps as a result of the scorching winds coming off the ambas) clung damply to her body, clearly revealing her #[mark callipygian] curves and the entire shapely length of her legs.
footer Umberto Eco (as translated by Geoffrey Block), #[i The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana] (2005 / χϟεʹ.δʹ), p. 246
hr
.footnotes
p Also spelt with an #[+sc("I")], as in the quote above.
section#carry-coals-to-Newcastle
.grid-word
a.word(href="#carry-coals-to-Newcastle") carry coals to Newcastle
.etymon Newcastle-upon-Tyne was once a major coal-producing and -exporting city; carrying yet more coal to there would be pointless.
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("newcastle.jpg") alt="Coal miners standing in a lift shaft.")
.definition #[+v] To do something utterly redundant, as if giving a gift the recipient has more than enough of.
.citation
blockquote
p However curious it may seem for an oil-ship to be borrowing oil on the whale-ground, and however much it may invertedly contradict the old proverb about #[mark carrying coals to Newcastle], yet sometimes such a thing really happens; and in the present case Captain Derick De Deer did indubitably conduct a lamp-feeder as Flask did declare.
footer Herman Melville, #[i Moby-Dick] (1851 / χνζʹ.γʹ), ch. 81
section#cephalophore
.grid-word
a.word(href="#cephalophore") cephalophore
+pronunciation("SEF-@-loh-for")
.etymon #[+fr('céphalophore', 1)] ← #[+grc("κεφαλή", "cephalē", 1)] “head” + #[+grc("φέρω", "phérō")] “i carry”
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("cephalophore.jpg") alt="An engraving of St. Aphrodisius carrying his own severed head.")
.definition #[+n] A Christian saint depicted in artworks as carrying their own severed head.
section#chthonic
.grid-word
a.word(href="#chthonic") chthonic
+pronunciation("KTHON-ick")
.etymon #[+grc("χθών", "chthṓn", 1)] “ground, earth”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Dwelling within the ground or the underworld.
section#communique
.grid-word
a.word(href="#communique") communiqué
+pronunciation("k@-MEW-nih-KAY")
.etymon #[+fr("communiqué", 1)] “something communicated”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] An official report or communication from on high.
section#confelicity
.grid-word
a.word(href="#confelicity") confelicity
+pronunciation("kon-f@-LISS-it-ee")
.etymon #[+la('con-', 1)] “with” + #[+la('félícitás')] “happiness”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] Joy taken in another’s happiness: the opposite of schadenfreude.
section#crepuscular
.grid-word
a.word(href="#crepuscular") crepuscular
+pronunciation("kr@-PUSS-kew-l@r")
.etymon #[+la('crepusculum', 1)] “twilight, evening, darkness” ← #[+la('creper')] “dark, dusky, obscure”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Of, reminiscent of, or coming out at the twilight hours of the day.
section#crybully
.grid-word
a.word(href="#crybully") crybully
+pronunciation("KRY-buu-lee")
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] One who intimidates and harangues others but will feign victimhood if ever critiqued.
h2.letter-header#section-d #[span D]#[i d]
section#defenestration
.grid-word
a.word(href="#defenestration") defenestration
+pronunciation("dee-fen-@-STRAY-sh@n")
.etymon #[+la('dé fenestrá', 1)] “out the window”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] The act of throwing someone, particularly a high-profile official, out of a window; the act of uninstalling Windows from a computer.
.citation
blockquote
p The Third #[mark Defenestration] of Prague occurred on 10 March 1948. During the closing stages of the communist takeover in Czechoslovakia, Jan Masaryk, the popular foreign minister and son of Tomáš Masaryk, fell – or more likely was pushed – out of a window.
footer
| Adrian G. V. Hyde-Price, #[i The International Politics of East Central Europe] (1996 / χϟγʹ.δʹ),
a(href="https://books.google.com/books?id=OUS8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA40") pg. 40
.citation
blockquote
p #[mark Defenestration] might be an option too. May I recommend Linux?
footer.normal
| Dorian Bliss,
a(href="https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.humor.oracle.d/FoRYXc7juzc/YRNpgnRQvjkJ") Usenet post on #[i.monospace rec.humor.oracle.d]
| (χϟδʹ.βʹ)
section#defrock
.grid-word
a.word(href="#defrock") defrock
+pronunciation("dee-FROCK")
.etymon #[+fr("défroquer", 1)] ← #[+fr("froc")] “frock”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+v] To formally remove a member of the clergy from his profession.
section#dingle
.grid-word
a.word(href="#dingle") dingle
+pronunciation("DING-g@l")
.etymon Diminutive of #[+ang('ding', 1)] “dungeon, pit”
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("dingle.jpg") alt="A forested valley.")
figcaption
a(href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dell_male_karpaty.jpg") Original image
| by Wikimedia user Stanislav Doronenko.
.definition #[+n] A narrow or enclosed forested valley.
section#the-doldrums
.grid-word
a.word(href="#the-doldrums") the doldrums
+pronunciation("DOL-dr@mz")
.etymon #[+en('doldrum', 1)] “dullard” ← #[+en('dull')]
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("doldrums.jpg") alt="A calm sea.")
.definition #[+n] That part of the ocean of calms and only the slightest winds, where a ship cannot make progress; a state of apathy and ennui where one feels much the same.
.citation
blockquote
p [H]e would sit over the fire with a book in his hand, staring over it into the red glow with his brows knit, and a dogged, almost sullen look about his mouth. [...] Mrs. Gray, who was a woman of determination, and who had a horror of what she called ‘#[mark the doldrums],’ made up her mind that she had had enough of this kind of thing[...]
footer
| E. S. Maine, #[i Angus Gray] (1878 / χξδʹ.βʹ),
a(href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Qt8BAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA114") pgs. 114–115
h2.letter-header#section-e #[span E]#[i e]
section#eggcorn
.grid-word
a.word(href="#eggcorn") eggcorn
+pronunciation("EG-korn")
.etymon From an anecdote told by Mark Liberman, a linguist, of a woman who had long believed the word #[i acorn] to be #[i *eggcorn].
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] A reanalysis of a word or phrase for another that sounds similar and could be taken to have a similar meaning.
hr
.footnotes
| Examples:
ul
li #[i deep-seated] → #[i *deep-seeded]
li #[i for all intents and purposes] → #[i *for all intensive purposes]
li #[i Alzheimer’s disease] → #[i *old-timer’s disease]
section#eldritch
.grid-word
a.word(href="#eldritch") eldritch
+pronunciation("ELD-ritch")
.etymon Perhaps #[+ang('elles', 1)] “other” + #[+ang('rīċe')] “kingdom, dominion”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Unearthly, supernatural, of something that does not belong in this world.
.citation
blockquote
p Pearl, in utter scorn of her mother’s attempt to quiet her, gave an #[mark eldritch] scream, and then became silent.
footer
| Nathaniel Hawthorne, #[i The Scarlet Letter] (1850 / χνϝʹ.αʹ),
a(href="https://archive.org/details/scarletletterrom01hawt/page/126/mode/2up") pg. 126
section#elf-locks
.grid-word
a.word(href="#elf-locks") elf-locks
.etymon From the folkloric idea of elves and faeries tangling and knotting the hair of sleeping children.
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] Hair wound up in tangled, tatty locks.
section#endling
.grid-word
a.word(href="#endling") endling
+pronunciation("END-ling")
.etymon #[+en('end', 1)] + #[+en('-ling')]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] The last member of an animal species before its extinction.
hr
.footnotes
p You can
a(href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDRY0CmcYNU") hear the song
| of a
a(href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaua%CA%BBi_%CA%BB%C5%8D%CA%BB%C5%8D") Kauaʻi ʻōʻō
| endling online.
section#eustasy
.grid-word
a.word(href="#eustasy") eustasy
+pronunciation("YOO-st@-see")
.etymon #[+grc("εὐ-", "eu-", 1)] “good, well” + #[+grc("στάσις", "stásis")] “standing, state, position”
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("eustasy.jpg") alt="A car driving through a flooded street.")
figcaption Floods like this one in Miami are caused by ongoing human-caused eustasy.
.definition #[+n] A global change in sea level, especially that caused by the melting of glaciers.
section#exophonic
.grid-word
a.word(href="#exophonic") exophonic
+pronunciation("ek-soh-FON-ik")
.etymon #[+grc("ἔξω", "éxō", 1)] “outer” + #[+grc("φωνή", "phōnē")] “sound, voice”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Writing in a language one has not known from birth, as Conrad and Nabokov did.
h2.letter-header#section-f #[span F]#[i f]
section#fane
.grid-word
a.word(href="#fane") fane
+pronunciation("FAYN")
.etymon #[+la('fánum', 1)]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] A shrine, temple, or other sacred place.
section#farraginous
.grid-word
a.word(href="#farraginous") farraginous
+pronunciation("f@-RAY-jin-@ss, -RAJ-")
.etymon #[+la('farrágó', 1)] “mixed fodder”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Indiscriminately mixed, miscellaneous, and random.
.citation
blockquote
p By then, moreover, English had amassed the most varied, magnificently #[mark farraginous] hoard of words in any European tongue, full of Teutonic thunder and purling Latinity, but also enriched with every other verbal plunder it could seize from abroad. No other language could achieve so deep a range of organ-tones, or boast so enormous a collection of pipes and stops, or command so huge an acoustic space.
footer David Bentley Hart, #[a(href="https://thelampmagazine.com/blog/how-to-write-english-prose") “How to Write English Prose”], #[i The Lamp], 2023 January 12 / #{grimm.date.attic(lang, new Date("2023-01-12"))}
section#faxlore
.grid-word
a.word(href="#faxlore") faxlore
+pronunciation("FACKS-lor")
.etymon Portmanteau of #[+en('fax', 1)] + #[+en('folklore')]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] A kind of folklore comprising memes and urban legends shared between people by fax machine.
h2.letter-header#section-g #[span G]#[i g]
section#gastrodiplomacy
.grid-word
a.word(href="#gastrodiplomacy") gastrodiplomacy
+pronunciation("GASS-troh-dip-LOH-m@-see")
.etymon #[+grc("γαστήρ", "gastēr", 1)] “stomach” + #[+en('diplomacy', 1)]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] The attempted improvement of a country’s diplomatic relations by means of promoting its national cuisine.
.citation
blockquote
p The phenomenon of modern #[mark gastrodiplomacy] got its start in Thailand. Thai cooking and restaurants had been on the rise around the world since the 1980s. But in 2002, the Government of Thailand decided to use these kitchens and restaurants as new cultural outposts to promote brand Thailand and encourage tourism and business investment.
footer
| David South, #[i Southern Innovator] #3 (2012 / χϟζʹ.γʹ),
a(href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-Y6Gnqx9PIcC&pg=PA11&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false") pg. 11
section#grandiloquy
.grid-word
a.word(href="#grandiloquy") grandiloquy
+pronunciation("gran-DIL-@-kwee")
.etymon #[+la("grandiloquus", 1)] ← #[+la("grandis")] “great”, #[+la("loquor")] “i speak”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] Pompous or bombastic speech and rhetoric.
hr
.footnotes #[i Grandiloquence] is more common — but i can’t get enough of that #[i -quy] ending.
section#graupel
.grid-word
a.word(href="#graupel") graupel
+pronunciation("GROUWP-@l")
.etymon #[+de('Graupel', 1)], diminutive of #[+de('Graup')] “hulled grain of wheat”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] A half-melted covering of snow or hail, with a consistency somewhere in between the two.
hr
.footnotes: p Also called #[i soft hail] or #[i popcorn snow].
section#grisaille
.grid-word
a.word(href="#defrock") grisaille
+pronunciation("griz-EYE, -AYL")
.etymon #[+fr("grisaille", 1)] ← #[+fr("gris")] “grey”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] A painting done in monochrome grey, resembling a stone carving.
h2.letter-header#section-H #[span H]#[i h]
section#halcyon
.grid-word
a.word(href="#halcyon") halcyon
+pronunciation("HAL-see-@n")
.etymon #[+grc("ἀλκυών", "alcyōn", 1)] “kingfisher”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] A bird of classical mythology said to calm the seas in order to nest its eggs; more generally, any kingfisher of the eponymous genus. #[+a] Peaceful, calm, serene; often said with a longing for days gone by.
.citation
blockquote
p And, by the way, during those #[mark halcyon] days (the #[mark halcyon] was there, too, chattering above every creek, as he is all over the world) we fought another battle.
footer
| Ambrose Bierce,
a(href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Collected_Works_of_Ambrose_Bierce/Volume_1/On_a_Mountain") “On a Mountain”
| (c. 1880 / χξγ–δʹ)
section#hesternal
.grid-word
a.word(href="#hesternal") hesternal
+pronunciation("hess-TUR-n@l")
.etymon #[+la('hesternus', 1)] “yesterday”; cognate with the #[i yester-] in #[+en('yesterday', 1)]
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("hesternal.jpg") alt="A sunset over mountains and a lake.")
figcaption Sunset often marks the end of one day and the start of another.
.definition #[+a] Of or pertaining to yesterday.
.citation
blockquote
p I rose by candle-light, and consumed, in the intensest application, the hours which every other individual of our party wasted in enervating slumbers, from the #[mark hesternal] dissipation or debauch.
footer
| Edward Bulwer-Lytton, #[i Pelham] (1828 / χναʹ.δʹ),
a(href="https://archive.org/details/pelhamoradventur00lyttiala/page/n221") pg. 216
hr
.footnotes
p See also #[i crastinal]: of or pertaining to tomorrow.
section#hippotigrine
.grid-word
a.word(href="#hippotigrine") hippotigrine
+pronunciation("HIP-@-TY-gryne")
.etymon #[+grc('ἵππος', "híppos", 1)] "horse" + #[+grc("τίγρις", "tígris")] “tiger”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Of or like the zebra.
section#hyaline
.grid-word
a.word(href="#hyaline") hyaline
+pronunciation("HY-@-lin")
.etymon #[+grc('ὑάλινος', "hyálinos", 1)] "of crystal or glass”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Glassy in nature, letting the light shine and shimmer through.
h2.letter-header#section-i #[span I]#[i i]
section#illeism
.grid-word
a.word(href="#illeism") illeism
+pronunciation("IL-ee-iz-@m")
.etymon #[+la('ille', 1)] (third person pronoun) + #[+en('-ism', 1)]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] The act of excessively referring to oneself in the third person.
section#immane
.grid-word
a.word(href="#immane") immane
+pronunciation("im-AYN")
.etymon #[+la('immánis', 1)] ← #[+la('in')] + Old Latin #[+la('mánis')] “good”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Vast, huge; also, inhuman or inhumane of character.
.citation
blockquote
p There is only one holistic system of systems, one vast and #[mark immane], interwoven, interacting, multivariate, multinational dominion of dollars: petro-dollars, electro-dollars, multi-dollars, reichmarks, rins, roubles, pounds, and shekels.
footer
| Paddy Chayefsky, #[i Network] (1976 / χπηʹ.δʹ)
section#importuous
.grid-word
a.word(href="#importuous") importuous
+pronunciation("im-POR-tew-@s")
.etymon #[+la('importuósus', 1)] ← #[+la('portuósus')] “many-harboured” ← #[+la('portus')] “port”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Lacking a port or harbour.
section#incarnadine
.grid-word
a.word(href="#incarnadine") incarnadine
+pronunciation("in-KAR-n@-deen")
.etymon #[+it("incarnatino", 1)] “flesh-coloured, carnation” ← #[+it("incarnato")] “incarnate”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n]/#[+a] A vivid red colour; originally of the pale pink of white flesh, now most often of the deep crimson of spilt blood; #[+v] to render something said colour.
.citation
blockquote
p Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood#[br] clean from my hand? No: this my hand will rather#[br] the multitudinous seas #[mark incarnardine],#[br] making the green one red.
footer William Shakespeare, #[i Macbeth] (c. 1606 / φϟϝʹ), act #[+sc("II")], scene #[+sc("II")]
section#ineffable
.grid-word
a.word(href="#ineffable") ineffable
+pronunciation("in-EFF-@-b@l")
.etymon #[+fr('ineffable')] ← #[+la('ineffábilis', 1)] ← #[+la('in-')] “not” + #[+la('effor')] “speak, utter” + #[+la('-bilis')] “-able”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Beyond expression in mere human language; indescribable, inexpressible.
.citation
blockquote
p God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an #[mark ineffable] game of his own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players, to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a dealer who won’t tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.
footer Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, #[i Good Omens] (1990 / χϟβʹ.αʹ), pg. 23
section#iridescent
.grid-word
a.word(href="#iridescent") iridescent
+pronunciation("ih-rih-DESS-@nt")
.etymon #[+la('íris', 1)] ← #[+grc("ἶρις", "îris", 1)] “rainbow, halo” + #[+la('-escens', 1)] “becoming, resembling”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Gleaming with all the colours of the rainbow, like a sliver of light caught in a prism.
hr
.footnotes
p I find this to be the single most beautiful word in all the English language.
section#ithyphallic
.grid-word
a.word(href="#ithyphallic") ithyphallic
+pronunciation("ith-ee-FAL-ik")
.etymon #[+grc("ἰθύφαλλος", "ithýphallos", 1)] ← #[+grc("ἰθύς", "ithýs")] “straight” + #[+grc("φαλλός", "phallós")] “penis”
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("ithyphallic.jpg") alt="A mediæval bronze figurine clutching its comically large, erect phallus.")
.definition #[+a] Pertaining to the erect phallus carried in #[span.theonym Bacchic] processions, or of an artistic depiction of an erect penis; by extension, lavicious, or in the same metre as an ode sung thereto.
h2.letter-header#section-j #[span J]#[i j]
section#janissary
.grid-word
a.word(href="#janissary") janissary
+pronunciation("JAN-iz-@-ree")
.etymon #[+ota("یكیچری", "yeniçeri", 1)] ← #[+ota("یڭی", "yeni")] “new” + #[+ota("چری", "çeri")] “soldier”
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("janissary.jpg") alt="Two janissaries in Ottoman dress.")
.definition #[+n] A European infantry soldier, forcibly converted to Islam, recruited to the Ottoman sultan’s guard.
section#jeremiad
.grid-word
a.word(href="#jeremiad") jeremiad
+pronunciation("jeh-r@-MY-ad")
.etymon From the biblical prophet Jeremiah, author of the Book of Lamentations.
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] A long and bitter lament of all society’s woes, often forecasting its downfall.
h2.letter-header#section-k #[span K]#[i k]
section#kakistocracy
.grid-word
a.word(href="#kakistocracy") kakistocracy
+pronunciation("kack-iss-TOCK-r@-see")
.etymon #[+grc("κάκιστος", "cácistos", 1)] “worst” + #[+en('-cracy', 1)]
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("kakistocracy.jpg") alt="President Donald J. Trump.")
figcaption: em: +sc('oh no how did this picture get here')
.definition #[+n] Rule by the worst and least qualified people.
section#kalends
.grid-word
a.word(href="#kalends") kalends
+pronunciation("KAL-@ndz")
.etymon #[+la('kalendæ', 1)], whence #[+en('calendar', 1)]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] The first day of the month, especially in the context of Ancient Rome.
hr
.footnotes: p See also #[i Noumenia], the first day of the month in the Greek lunisolar calendar, and the phrase #[i Greek kalends], a metaphorical date which means something will never happen.
section#kiboze
.grid-word
a.word(href="#kiboze") kiboze
+pronunciation("KY-bohz")
.etymon
| From the online handle of Usenetter
a(href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Parry") James “Kibo” Parry
| , who had a habit of kibozing and replying to any message that mentioned him
.grid-definition
.definition #[+v] To search an online service for mentions of your own name or online handle, usually with the intent of posting a response.
.citation
blockquote
p > That's a trifle patronising Se th!
p
| Only a trifle? I’ll have to try harder. (#[+sc("BTW")], the idiot apparently adds spaces to people’s names to prevent
mark kibozing
| . It doesn’t help when you're replying to me in a newsgroup I read; I’ll find that article just fine. Besides, I don’t
mark kiboze
| .)
footer.normal
| Seth Breidbart,
a(href="https://groups.google.com/g/misc.fitness.weights/c/N-ARTuz2jf4/m/tXsghbckLkUJ") Usenet post on #[i.monospace misc.fitness.weights]
| (2004 / χϟεʹ.δʹ)
hr
.footnotes Now more popularly known as #[i namesearching], but i like this (somewhat old-fashioned in internet years) term better.
section#kludge
.grid-word
a.word(href="#kludge") kludge
+pronunciation("KLUJ")
.etymon Uncertain; perhaps to do with #[+sco('kludgie', 1)] “toilet”, #[+de('klug', 1)] “clever”, #[+nl('kluitje', 1)] “lump, clod”, or invented out of whole cloth by analogy with #[+en('bodge', 1)] and #[+en('fudge')]
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("kludge.jpg") alt="A ramp over a broken bridge.")
.definition #[+n] An improvised technique to (hopefully temporarily) fix a problem; something that by all accounts should not work, but does anyway #[del because bees don’t care what humans think is impossible].
section#kvetch
.grid-word
a.word(href="#kvetch") kvetch
+pronunciation("KVETCH")
.etymon Yiddish #[span(lang="yi") קוועטשן] #[i(lang="yi-Latn") kvetschn] “squeeze, pinch” ← #[abbr(title="Middle High German") M.H.Ger.] #[i(lang="gmh") quetschen]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+v] To complain incessantly and without point.
h2.letter-header#section-l #[span L]#[i l]
section#latrinalia
.grid-word
a.word(href="#latrinalia") latrinalia
+pronunciation("lay-trih-NAY-lee-@, lat-rih")
.etymon From #[+en('latrine', 1)], by analogy with #[+en('marginalia')]. Coined in 1966 #[+sc('CE')] (Ol. χηϝʹ.αʹ) by Alan Dundes, a U.S.-American folklorist.
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("latrinalia.jpg") alt="A public toilet covered in graffiti from floor to ceiling.")
.definition #[+n] The writings one finds scribbled and scrawled over the walls of public toilets.
section#longaevous
.grid-word
a.word(href="#longaevous") longævous
+pronunciation("lon-JEE-v@ss")
.etymon #[+la('longævus', 1)] ← #[+la("longus")] “long” + #[+la("ævum")] “age, generation”
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("longaevous.jpg") alt="A Greenland shark.")
figcaption Greenland sharks are exceptionally longævous.
.definition #[+n] Long-lived.
.citation
blockquote
p Centuries-long lifespans are found in some mammals, too. Bowhead whales dwarf the Greenland shark, at about 70 tons. They too are cold ocean-dwelling predators with a slow metabolism. We did not know they were so #[mark longevous] until 2007 when, off the coast of Alaska, hunters discovered the whale they had just killed already had a Victorian-era harpoon embedded in its neck, meaning it must have been at least 120 years old.
footer
| Aria Shrecker, #[a(href="https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-perks-of-being-a-mole-rat/") “The perks of being a mole rat”], #[i Works in Progress] #22 (2026 / ψαʹ.αʹ)
h2.letter-header#section-m #[span M]#[i m]
section#maladroit
.grid-word
a.word(href="#maladroit") maladroit
+pronunciation("mal-@-DROYT")
.etymon #[+fr("maladroit", 1)] ← #[+fr("mal-")] + #[+fr("adroit")] “skilled”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Awkward, clumsy, and cringingly inept; #[+n] Someone who is all of the preceding.
section#malarkey
.grid-word
a.word(href="#malarkey") malarkey
+pronunciation("m@-LAR-kee")
.etymon #[+el('μαλακία', 'malakía', 1)] “masturbation; nonsense, bullshit”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] Nonsense and rubbish.
section#malefit
.grid-word
a.word(href="#malefit") malefit
+pronunciation("MAL-@-fit")
.etymon #[+la('malus', 1)] “bad, unpleasant, evil”, by analogy with #[+en('benefit', 1)]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] The opposite of a benefit; a negative and harmful consequence.
section#meatspace
.grid-word
a.word(href="#meatspace") meatspace
+pronunciation("MEET-spayss")
.etymon #[+en('meat', 1)] + #[+en('space')], by analogy with #[+en('cyberspace')]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] The real, physical world, as opposed to the world of online interactions (cyberspace).
section#mithridatism
.grid-word
a.word(href="#mithridatism") mithridatism
+pronunciation("mith-rih-DAYT-iz-@m")
.etymon
| From King
a(href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridates_VI_of_Pontus") Mithridates #[+sc('VI')]
| of Pontus, who so feared being poisoned that he aimed to develop immunity by regularly consuming small doses of poison.
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] The building up of a tolerance to a harmful substance by gradually administering oneself non-lethal amounts.
section#mumpsimus
.grid-word
a.word(href="#mumpsimus") mumpsimus
.plural #[abbr(title="plural") pl.] #[b mumpsimuses]
+pronunciation("MUMP-sim-@ss")
.etymon
| From an anecdote told by Erasmus of an old monk who, instead of reciting the correct Latin #[i quod in óre sumpsimus] “which we have taken into the mouth” during mass, insisted on saying #[i(lang="la") quod in óre #[u mumpsimus]] even when told of its inaccuracy.
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] One who stubbornly adheres to old ways in spite of clear evidence of their falsehood*, an ignorant and bigoted opponent of reform; an error repeated in such a manner.
.citation
blockquote
p I see and hear daily, that you of the clergy preach one against another, teach, one contrary to another, inveigh one against another, without charity or discretion. Some be too stiff in their old #[mark mumpsimus], other be too busy and curious in their new sumpsimus. Thus, all men almost be in variety and discord, and few or none do preach, truly and sincerely, the word of God, according as they ought to do.
footer King Henry #[+sc("VIII")] of England at the state opening of parliament (1545 / φηαʹ.αʹ)
hr
.footnotes: p * #[i Sumpsimus] is sometimes used to mean the opposite: one who insists on using the technically correct term instead of a vastly more common and intelligible, if slightly inaccurate, form. (#[i “Erm, ackshually, it’s called] #[+sc("GNU")]/Linux#[i …”])
section#mun
.grid-word
a.word(href="#mun") mun
+pronunciation("mun")
.etymon Clipping of #[+en('mundane', 1)]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] In the context of a role-playing game (offline or online), the person who roleplays a given character.
.citation
blockquote
p Wait a sec.... You mean.. this is a #[+sc("GAME")]??
p And here I thought that nine tae five job my #[mark mun] goes to everyday was a game and Norrath was my home..
footer
| “Milelarau”,
a(href="https://groups.google.com/g/alt.games.everquest/c/A-MBAq34lDk/m/9vHZJjJDiTkJ?hl=en-GB") Usenet post on #[i.monospace alt.games.everquest]
| (1999 / χϟδʹ.γʹ)
blockquote
p Any suggestions on how to successfully turn this into a good #[+sc("SL")], which will bring the characters back into the range of normalcy, without leaving the #[mark muns] feeling deprived of everything their characters earned?
footer
| James Stein,
a(href="https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.frp.dnd/c/Uj-j47060fw/m/tAeOfQVGnGwJ?hl=en-GB") Usenet post on #[i.monospace rec.games.frb.dnd]
| (2001 / χϟεʹ.αʹ)
section#mystacial
.grid-word
a.word(href="#mystacial") mystacial
+pronunciation("miss-TAY-sh@l")
.etymon #[+grc("μύσταξ", "mýstax", 1)] “moustache, upper lip”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Pertaining to the moustache, or the sensitive whiskers of cats and other animals.
section#mythopoeia
.grid-word
a.word(href="#mythopoeia") mythopœia
+pronunciation('mith-oh-PEE-@')
.etymon #[+grc("μυθοποιΐα", "mythopœía", 1)] ← #[+grc("μῦθος", "mŷthos")] “myth” + #[+grc("ποιέω", "pœéō")] “i make”
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("mythopoeia.jpg") alt="Urizen, the Creator.")
figcaption William Blake was an early mythopœist.
.definition #[+n] The creation of an artificial mythology from whole cloth.
hr
.footnotes
p Popularised by J. R. R. Tolkien, perhaps its most successful practitioner, in the title of a poem.
h2.letter-header#section-n #[span N]#[i n]
section#nychthemeron
.grid-word
a.word(href="#nychthemeron") nychthemeron
.plural #[abbr(title="plural") pl.] #[b nychthemera]
+pronunciation("nick-THEH-m@-ron")
.etymon #[+grc("νῠχθήμερον", "nychthḗmeron", 1)] ← #[+grc("νύξ", "nýx")] “night” + #[+grc("ἡμέρα", "hēméra")] “day”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] A period of twenty-four hours, a day and a night.
h2.letter-header#section-o #[span O]#[i o]
section#overmorrow
.grid-word
a.word(href="#overmorrow") overmorrow
+pronunciation("oh-v@r-MORR-oh")
.etymon #[+ang('ofer-', 1)] “after” + #[+ang('morgen')] “tomorrow”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n]/#[+adv] The day after tomorrow.
.citation
blockquote
p New students in Greenbank and Carnatic Halls start moving in #[mark overmorrow].
footer
| Liverpool Guild of Students,
a(href="https://twitter.com/LiverpoolGuild/status/246337116735410177") post on Twitter
| (2012 / χϟζʹ.δʹ)
hr
.footnotes: p See also #[i ereyesterday]: the day before yesterday.
h2.letter-header#section-p #[span P]#[i p]
section#paracosm
.grid-word
a.word(href="#paracosm") paracosm
+pronunciation('PA-r@-koz-@m')
.etymon #[abbr(title="English") Eng.] #[i para-] + #[i cosmos]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] A richly imagined alternate world, filled with otherwise extraneous detail; most often begun in childhood, but sometimes at a later age.
section#peregrine
.grid-word
a.word(href="#peregrine") peregrine
+pronunciation("PERR-@-grin")
.etymon #[+la('peregrínus', 1)] “foreign; traveller, pilgrim, wanderer”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Wandering or migratory; foreign, be it to some place or some thing.
.citation
blockquote
p As soon as she had smiled her face altered again, and the petulant expression #[mark peregrine] to her features took control.
footer Mervyn Peake, #[i Titus Groan] (1946 / χπαʹ.αʹ)
section#playersexual
.grid-word
a.word(href="#playersexual") playersexual
+pronunciation("play-@r-SEK-shoo-@l")
.etymon #[+en('player', 1)] + #[+en('sexual')]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Of a video-game #[+sc("NPC")]: attracted to the player character regardless of gender.
section#praeternatural
.grid-word
a.word(href="#praeternatural") præternatural
+pronunciation("pree-t@r-NATCH-(@)-r@l")
.etymon #[+la('præternátúrális', 1)] ← #[+la('præter')] “beyond” + #[+la('nátúra')] “nature”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Beyond what is possible in the regular course of things, be it due to extraordinary talent or paranormal influence.
section#psychopomp
.grid-word
a.word(href="#psychopomp") psychopomp
+pronunciation("SY-koh-pomp")
.etymon #[+grc("ψυχοπομπός", "psychopompós", 1)] ← #[+grc("ψυχή", "psychē")] “soul” + #[+grc("πομπός", "pompós")] “conductor”
.grid-definition
figure
a(href="/shrines/hermes")
img(src=qua("psychopomp.jpg") alt="A painting of Hermes Psychopompos, ferrying the dead to the underworld.")
figcaption Praise #[span.theonym Hermes Psychopompos]!
.definition #[+n] One who guides the souls of the dead to the next life.
section#purl
.grid-word
a.word(href="#purl") purl
+pronunciation("PERL")
.etymon #[+non("purla", 1)] “babble”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+v] To babble as a brook in swirls, eddies, and ripples; #[+n] a ripple or murmur made thereby.
section#Pythoness
.grid-word
a.word(href="#Pythoness") Pythoness
+pronunciation("PY-th@n-ess")
.etymon #[+la('pýthónissa', 1)] ← #[+grc('Πυθία', 'Pythía', 1)]
.grid-definition
.definition
| #[+n] The priestess of the Delphic oracle of
span.theonym Apollon
| ; a female soothsayer.
.citation
blockquote
p Less becomingly Origen states that when the #[mark Pythoness] sat down at the mouth of the cave, “the prophetic spirit of Apollo entered her private parts”; […]
footer Elsie Clews Parsons, #[i Religious Chastity: an Ethnological Study] (1913 / χοβʹ.δʹ)
h2.letter-header#section-q #[span Q]#[i q]
section#quaff
.grid-word
a.word(href="#quaff") quaff
+pronunciation("KWOFF")
.etymon #[i Etymonline] suggests #[abbr(title="Middle Low German") M.L.Ger.] #[i(lang="gml") quassen] “overindulge, gorge oneself”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+v] To drink something joyfully in large, vigorous gulps.
section#qualtagh
.grid-word
a.word(href="#qualtagh") qualtagh
+pronunciation("KWAHL-t@kh")
.etymon Manx #[i(lang="gv") qualtagh] ← #[i(lang="gv") quaail] “meeting”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] On the Isle of Man, the first person one meets after stepping out of one’s home on New Year’s Day.
section#quidnunc
.grid-word
a.word(href="#quidnunc") quidnunc
+pronunciation("KWID-nunk")
.etymon #[+la('quid nunc?', 1)] “what now?”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] Someone eager to learn of the latest news and scandal.
section#quisling
.grid-word
a.word(href="#quisling") quisling
+pronunciation("KWIZ-ling")
.etymon
| From
a(href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling" lang="no") Vidkun Quisling
| , who ruled Nazi-occupied Norway during the second world war.
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] A traitor who collaborates with the enemy.
h2.letter-header#section-r #[span R]#[i r]
section#ree
.grid-word
a.word(href="#ree") ree
+pronunciation("REE")
.etymon #[+ang('hreōh', 1)] “fierce, wild, angry, disturbed”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] In a state of wild, outrageous, mænadic frenzy; tipsy and befuddled by liquor.
section#respair
.grid-word
a.word(href="#respair") respair
+pronunciation("r@-SPAIR")
.etymon By analogy with #[+en('despair', 1)]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] The return of lost hope.
h2.letter-header#section-s #[span S]#[i s]
section#saccade
.grid-word
a.word(href="#saccade") saccade
+pronunciation("s@-KAHD")
.etymon #[+fr('saccade', 1)] “jerk”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] A rapid jerk of the eye from one place to another, so quick that the brain hides it from one’s vision; a quick check of a horse; the sounding of two violin strings with a sudden pressure of the bow.
section#scofflaw
.grid-word
a.word(href="#scofflaw") scofflaw
+pronunciation("SKOFF-law")
.etymon Entered by a Henry Dale and a Kate Butler into a nationwide competition to coin a term for “the lawless drinker”, sponsored by an enthusiastic prohibitionist banker. The $200 prize — about $3,400 today — was split between the two.
.grid-definition
.definition
| #[+n] One who habitually commits minor offences; say, a jaywalker, ignorer of parking tickets, or, in the days of prohibition, a partaker in that ancient
span.theonym Dionysian
| pass-time.
hr
.footnotes
p
| You can now visit a cocktail bar called
a(href="https://www.scofflawchicago.com/") Scofflaw
| in Chicago, or buy beer from Atlanta’s
a(href="https://scofflawbeer.com/") Scofflaw Brewery
| . So much for prohibition.
section#second-coming-type
.grid-word
a.word(href="#second-coming-type") second-coming type
.etymon
| In reference to the Christian eschatological
a(href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Coming") second coming of Christ
| , which would most likely be an occasion worthy of such type treatment.
sup: i [citation needed]
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("secondcoming.jpg") alt="The New York Times’ front page on the day of the moon landing, reading, in gigantic capital letters, ‘Men walk on moon’.")
.definition #[+n] The gigantic typeface used in newspaper headlines for truly momentous events.
.citation
blockquote
p Thursday morning, walking to breakfast at the Red Flame Coffee House on West 44
sup th
| Street, I noted a reinforced police presence outside Grand Central Station. The cover of Thursday’s New York Post used
mark Second Coming type
| to blare the #[+sc("W")]-word — not weasel but #[+sc("war")].
footer “New York Notes”, the #[i Pittsburgh Post-Gazette], 2003 March 22 / #{grimm.date.attic(lang, new Date("2003-03-22"))}
section#sfumato
.grid-word
a.word(href="#sfumato") sfumato
+pronunciation("sfoo-MAH-toh")
.etymon #[+it('sfumato', 1)] “hazy, faded, disappeared” ← #[+it('sfumare')] “to soften, to fade, to blur, to lighten” ← #[+it('fumo')] “smoke”
.grid-definition
figure
img(src=qua("sfumato.jpg") alt="The “Mona Lisa’s” skin has hardly any visible transition between colours.")
figcaption The #[i Mona Lisa], particularly in the shading around the eyes and face, makes heavy use of sfumato.
.definition #[+n] A technique of painting practised by Leonardo da Vinci and other Italian Renaissance painters, involving the application of thin, translucent layers of paint in such a way that there is no visible transition between areas of colour.
section#shibboleth
.grid-word
a.word(href="#shibboleth") shibboleth
+pronunciation("SHIB-@-leth, -lith")
.etymon #[+he('שיבולת', 'shibbolet', 1)] “ear of wheat; stream, torrent”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] A word used as a test to distinguish the in-group and out-group.
hr
.footnotes
| Examples include:
ul
li
b Hebrew
| #[bdi(lang='he') שיבולת] (#[i(lang='he-Latn') shibbolet]) “ear of wheat; stream, torrent”, used to distinguish Gileadites from Ephraimites trying to return home according to the Hebrew Bible
li
b Dutch
| #[i(lang='nl') Scheveningen], used to distinguish Dutch from occupying Germans during the second world war
li
b English
| #[i lollapalooza], used to distinguish U.S.-American soldiers from the Japanese during the second world war
li
b English
| #[i (h)aitch], used to distinguish between Catholics and Protestants during the Troubles
section#singerie
.grid-word
a.word(href="#singerie") singerie
+pronunciation("sahnzh-REE")
.etymon #[+fr("singerie", 1)] ← #[+fr("singe")] “monkey, ape” ← #[+la("símius", 1)], whence #[+en("simian", 1)]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] A genre of humorous art depicting monkeys imitating human behaviour.
section#skolion
.grid-word
a.word(href="#skolion") skolion
.plural #[abbr(title="plural") pl.] #[b skolia]
+pronunciation("SKOL-ee-onn, SKOH-lee-@n")
.etymon #[+grc("σκόλιον", "scólion", 1)] ← #[+grc("σκολιός", "scoliós")] “curved, bent, winding, crooked”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] A song sung in honour of Gods and heroes by invited guests at an ancient Greek banquet, the lyre being passed around from person to person and lyrics being improvised or based upon the previous singer’s contribution.
section#skyclad
.grid-word
a.word(href="#skyclad") skyclad
+pronunciation("SKY-klad")
.etymon Calqued from #[+sa('दिगम्बर', 'digambara', 1)], referring to a school of Jainism which eschewed (alongside oh so many other things) clothing in the monastery. (The dharmic faiths were quite #[i en vogue] in Gardner’s time.)
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Prancing around in the buff, especially in the context of a Wiccan or Pagan rite.
.citation
blockquote
p When we are #[mark skyclad], we are sharing ourselves as we truly are with the coven. There are no defences, no masks, no personas and nothing psychologically or physically to hide behind. This is the essence of sacred sexuality and the flow of feeling about that magic circle.
footer
| Dave Bracey,
a(href="https://wiccanrede.org/2022/01/some-thoughts-on-skyclad/") “Some Thoughts on Skyclad…”
| , #[i Wiccan Rede], 2022 January 30 / #{grimm.date.attic(lang, new Date("2022-01-30"))}
section#spey
.grid-word
a.word(href="#spey") spey
+pronunciation("SPAY")
.etymon #[+non('spá', 1)] “prophesy”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+v] To prophesy, foretell, foresee, or divine an event. #[+n] A prophecy.
hr
.footnotes: p See also #[i speyman] and #[i speywife], for male and female fortune-tellers.
section#sybaritic
.grid-word
a.word(href="#sybaritic") sybaritic
+pronunciation("sib-@-RIT-ick")
.etymon Ultimately from #[+grc('Σύβαρις', "Sýbaris", 1)], a Calabrian port city renowned for its wealth and luxury.
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Hedonistically devoted to the indulgence of luxury, comfort, and pleasure.
.citation
blockquote
p #[+sc("Riker:")] The place is called Risa, and believe me, captain, it is a #[em paradise]: warm, tropical breezes; exotic foods; nothing to do except enjoy the quiet, and then…
p #[+sc("Both:")] The women.
p #[+sc("Picard:")] Of course…
p #[+sc("Riker:")] I’m sure you would find their #[mark sybaritic] outlook on life very appealing.
footer Ira Steven Behr, “Captain’s Holiday”, #[i Star Trek: The Next Generation] #[+sc("S")]3#[+sc("E")]19 (1990 / χϟβʹ.αʹ)
h2.letter-header#section-t #[span T]#[i t]
section#tachygraphy
.grid-word
a.word(href="#tachygraphy") tachygraphy
+pronunciation("tack-IG-r@-fee")
.etymon #[+grc("ταχύς", "tachýs", 1)] “swift” + #[+grc("γραφία", "graphía")] “writing”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] Writing at a very swift speed indeed; steganography and shorthand.
section#teledildonics
.grid-word
a.word(href="#teledildonics") teledildonics
+pronunciation("TEL-@-dil-DON-iks")
.etymon #[abbr(title="English") Eng.] #[i tele-] + #[i dildo] + #[i electronics]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] The science of remotely controlling electronic sex toys over the internet.
.citation
blockquote
p Many in the industry are excited about the prospects of #[mark teledildonics], the virtual-reality technology that may one day allow people wearing special bodysuits, headgear and gloves to engage in tactile sexual relations from separate, remote locations via computers connected to phone lines.
footer David Rothschild, “High-tech Sex”, the #[i Chicago Tribune], 1993 September 28 / #{grimm.date.attic(lang, new Date("1993-09-28"))}
section#terraqueous
.grid-word
a.word(href="#terraqueous") terraqueous
+pronunciation("te-RAY-kwee-@ss")
.etymon #[+la("terra", 1)] “earth” + #[+la("aqua")] “water”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Involving or comprising both land and water.
.citation
blockquote
p The #[mark terraqueous] state is well exhibited by our own earth at the moment, where lands and oceans share the surface between them. The terrestrial is exemplified by both the Moon and Mars, on whose surfaces no bodies of water at present exist. That the one state passes by process of development into the other I shall now give my reasons for believing.
footer Percival Lowell, #[i Mars and its Canals] (1906 / φπεʹ.αʹ)
section#thanatocoenose
.grid-word
a.word(href="#thanatocoenose") thanatocœnose
+pronunciation("tha-n@-toh-SEE-nohss")
.etymon #[+grc("θάνατος", "thánatos", 1)] “death” + #[+grc("κοινός", "cœnós")] “common”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] An assemblage of fossils and other deceased life forms found together at one site, having once been separate parts of an ecosystem but being brought together post mortem by such factors as flowing water or deposition by a predator.
section#thing
.grid-word
a.word(href="#thing") thing
+pronunciation("THING")
.etymon #[+ang('þing', 1)] ← #[+gem('*þingą', 1)], whence #[+is('þing', 1)] “assembly, council, parliament”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] A public assembly, a judicial council; particularly in the context of the Germanic countries.
hr
.footnotes: p This is the original meaning of the word. The meaning of “object, matter” evolved from the use of the word to describe what was being discussed at things, and then to any object or matter of importance.
section#toyetic
.grid-word
a.word(href="#toyetic") toyetic
+pronunciation("toy-ET-ik")
.etymon #[abbr(title="English") Eng.] #[i toy] + #[i -etic]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Of a fictional character: having a design which lends itself to becoming a marketable toy.
section#tsundoku
.grid-word
a.word(href="#tsundoku") tsundoku
+pronunciation("sun-DOH-koo")
.etymon #[+ja('積ん読', 'tsundoku', 1)] ← #[+ja('積む', 'tsumu')] “to pile up” + #[+ja('読', 'doku')] “to read”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] The act of leaving a book which one has bought unread, likely piled up with other books in a similar situation.
h2.letter-header#section-u #[span U]#[i u]
section#ultracrepidarian
.grid-word
a.word(href="#ultracrepidarian") ultracrepidarian
+pronunciation("UL-tr@-crep-ih-DAIR-ee-y@n")
.etymon Latin proverb #[i(lang='la') sútor, né ultrá crepidam] “shoemaker, not beyond the shoe!”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n]/#[+a] One who speaks and criticises on matters beyond their knowledge.
section#ululate
.grid-word
a.word(href="#ululate") ululate
+pronunciation("UUL-yoo-layt, YOOL-")
.etymon Onomatopœic #[+la('ululo', 1)] “i howl”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+v] To let out one’s emotions by releasing a prolonged, wavering howl.
section#umwelt
.grid-word
a.word(href="#umwelt") umwelt
.plural #[abbr(title="plural") pl.] #[b umwelten]
+pronunciation("UUM-velt")
.etymon #[+de("Umwelt", 1)] “environment”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] The particular way in which an organism perceives and conceives of the world around it.
.citation
blockquote
p There is a double moral purpose to his book, which Yong outlines in a long conclusion. Trapped within our own #[mark: i Umwelt], humans are slow to grasp how our behaviours increasingly fragment the perceptual worlds of our fellow citizens.
footer Mark Cocker, #[a(href="https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2022/07/an-immense-world-review") “How animal senses reveal hidden worlds”], the #[i New Statesman], 6 July 2022 / #{grimm.date.attic(lang, new Date("2022-07-06"))}
section#urheimat
.grid-word
a.word(href="#urheimat") urheimat
+pronunciation("UUR-hy-maht")
.etymon #[+de("Urheimat", 1)] ← #[+de("ur-")] + #[+de("Heimat")] “homeland”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] The original homeland of an ethnic group, particularly one which shares a language family; #[i e.g.] the Scythian steppe for the Indo-Europeans, or the island of Taiwan for the Austronesians.
h2.letter-header#section-v #[span V]#[i v]
section#voraginous
.grid-word
a.word(href="#voraginous") voraginous
+pronunciation("vor-AJ-in-@ss")
.etymon #[+la("voráginósus", 1)] ← #[+la("vorágó")] “abyss, chasm, whirlpool”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Plentiful in whirlpools and abysses, or devouring like one; voracious.
.citation
blockquote
p In #[i Bacchides], Lydus express a similar fear that the two Bacchises are voracious and #[mark voraginous] courtesans: In a pun at #[i Bacch.] 372 he calls them #[i(lang="la") sorores quæ hominum sorbent sanguinem] ‘sisters who suck the blood of men,’ and in a riddle joke at v. 471, he calls the #[i(lang="la") meretrix] Bacchis #[i(lang="la") æstuosa] #[mark ‘voraginous’] because “whenever she gets hold of a man, she sucks him down” (#[i(lang="la") apsorbet ubi quemque attigit]).
footer Michael Fontaine, #[i Funny Words in Plautine Comedy] (2009 / χϟζʹ.αʹ)
h2.letter-header#section-w #[span W]#[i w]
section#Weimarisation
.grid-word
a.word(href="#Weimarisation") Weimarisation
+pronunciation("VY-mah-ry-ZAY-sh@n")
.etymon
| In reference to Germany’s tumultuous
a(href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_Republic") Weimar Republic
| , which suffered from economic hyper­inflation and general chaos which would lead to the eventual installation of Adolf Hitler as dictator.
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] A state of economic crisis leading to political upheaval and extremism.
section#weird
.grid-word
a.word(href="#weird") weird
+pronunciation("WEERD")
.etymon #[+sco('weerd', 1)] ← #[+ang('ƿyrd', 1)] “fate, chance, event”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] Fate, destiny, luck; a prediction; that which comes to pass. #[+a] Connected with or able to influence fate; supernatural, unearthly, pertaining to witchcraft or the occult; strange or bizarre.
hr
.footnotes: p The sense of “supernatural, uncanny” comes from the usage of the term “weird sisters” in reference to the three Fates in Germanic myth. Shakespeare’s #[i Macbeth] repopularised the term and heavily influenced it to almost always just mean “strange”; most other senses are now obsolete, though the noun form hangs on in the learnèd borrowing #[i wyrd].
section#widdershins
.grid-word
a.word(href="#widdershins") widdershins
+pronunciation("WID-@r-shinz")
.etymon #[+gml('weddersinnes', 1)] “going the other way” ← #[+gml('wider')] “against” + #[+gml('sinnen')] “travel, go”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+adv] Counterclockwise, especially in the context of Wicca or Witchcraft.
hr
.footnotes: p See also #[i deaseal, deasil, deosil]: clockwise. The latter spelling is, if i recall, the dominant one among Witches, but the former two are perhaps truer to the etymology from #[+gd('deiseil', 1)].
section#woebegone
.grid-word
a.word(href="#woebegone") woebegone
+pronunciation("WOH-b@-gon")
.etymon #[+ang("ƿabegan", 1)]
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] In a miserable state of woe, often of one’s face.
h2.letter-header#section-x #[span X]#[i x]
section#xenia
.grid-word
a.word(href="#xenia") xenia
+pronunciation("ZEE-nee-y@, -ny@")
.etymon #[+grc("ξενία", "xenía", 1)] “xenia, hospitality, guest room” ← #[+grc("ξένος", "xénos")] “foreigner, guest, stranger”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] Hospitality to strangers, generosity and courtesy bestowed upon those who have otherwise no relation to the bestower; the principle of being a good guest and a good host.
h2.letter-header#section-y #[span Y]#[i y]
section#yclept
.grid-word
a.word(href="#yclept") yclept
+pronunciation("ih-KLEPT, -KLEEPT")
.etymon #[+ang("geclipod", 1)] ← #[+ang("clipian")] “call out, cry”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+a] Known by a certain name, so-called.
.citation
blockquote
p And there came against the place as they stood a young learning knight #[mark yclept] Dixon.
footer James Joyce, #[i Ulysses] (1922 / χοεʹ.αʹ), episode 14
section#ylem
.grid-word
a.word(href="#ylem") ylem
+pronunciation("EE-lem")
.etymon #[+enm('ylem', 1)] “primordial substance from which all is formed” ← #[+la('hýlé', 1)] “matter, as opposed to form” ← #[+grc("ὕλη", "hýlē", 1)] “wood, substance, matter”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] The hot, dense plasma which made up the material Universe in the early stages of its expansion and cooling; the source of the cosmic microwave background.
h2.letter-header#section-z #[span Z]#[i z]
section#zenith
.grid-word
a.word(href="#zenith") zenith
+pronunciation("ZEN-ith, ZEEN-")
.etymon #[+ofr('cenith', 1)] ← #[+la('cenit', 1)] ← Bungled transliteration of #[+ar("سمت الرأس", "samt ar-raʼs", 1)] “direction of the head”
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] The point of the celestial sphere directly above the observer; the highest point reached by an object in the sky; the highest peak of something or someone’s achievements.
hr
.footnotes: p See also #[i nadir]: the point in the sky directly beneath the observer; the time of something’s lowest depression.
section#zenzizenzizenzic
.grid-word
a.word(href="#zenzizenzizenzic") zenzizenzizenzic
+pronunciation("ZEN-zih-zen-zih-ZEN-zick")
.etymon #[+en('zenzic', 1)] “squared” ← #[+de('zenzus', 1)] ← #[+it('censo', 1)] “property, squared” ← calque of #[+ar('مَال', 'māl', 1)] “possessions, property”; from analogy of a square number with a depiction of an area
.grid-definition
.definition #[+n] The eighth power of a number.
hr
.footnotes
p Part of a whole system of esoteric exponential terms used before the advent of superscript notation, such as:
ul
li #[i zenzicubic]: the square of a cube, or a number raised to the fifth power
li #[i sursolid]: a prime-numbered exponent — the fifth power is the first sursolid, the seventh power is the second sursolid, the eleventh power is the third sursolid, &c.