There have been a few words I have learned from books, but the main word I remember learning and that has stuck with me is Ostentatious, learned from the first Twilight book.
Words You've Learned from Reading and Writing
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I thought someone would of mentioned this before, I always thought defenestration was throwing someone out the window and I have often threatened to defenestrate the kids ( joking?) I am hoping it wasn't a solecism.
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Y'all might want to look into studying etymology, and particularly, Greek and Latin roots, but French wouldn't hurt.
These words generally announce their meanings via their etymology. Copse derives from the French verb couper, or "to cut" or "to strike." It's cognate with Modern English cope.
Tesselate has as it root the word tessella; a small square, derived from tessera, square. The word for tile in Latin in tessella. Tesselate more accurately means "to tile." It can refer to floors or walls, or it can refer to anything derived of small squares. Like a game involving bright colored falling rectangles called Tetris, derived from the same root.
These words generally announce their meanings via their etymology. Copse derives from the French verb couper, or "to cut" or "to strike." It's cognate with Modern English cope.
Tesselate has as it root the word tessella; a small square, derived from tessera, square. The word for tile in Latin in tessella. Tesselate more accurately means "to tile." It can refer to floors or walls, or it can refer to anything derived of small squares. Like a game involving bright colored falling rectangles called Tetris, derived from the same root.
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Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)
Studying the roots of words is fun. But I wouldn't have messed up defenestration if I hadn't stuck to the exact meaning of the root words.
Blessings,
Siri Kirpal
Studying the roots of words is fun. But I wouldn't have messed up defenestration if I hadn't stuck to the exact meaning of the root words.
Blessings,
Siri Kirpal
Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)
Studying the roots of words is fun. But I wouldn't have messed up defenestration if I hadn't stuck to the exact meaning of the root words.
Blessings,
Siri Kirpal
The exact meaning of de- is tricky.
Probably not useful as it's a geological phrase, but I like "mafic dyke swarm". As far as I know, they occur when rocks crack and get filled with other molten rock.
Ahh, but now I want to write something fictional with that phrase.
Ahh, but now I want to write something fictional with that phrase.
My use of solecism comes back to haunt meSorry, can't help myself - that contraction mis-use is a personal pet peeve!
My mother used to have a lot of laughs listening to me repeat words that I'd only ever read in books when I was younger - like assuage. My sister hilariously mispronounced "meringue" while trying to order pie at a restaurant as well.
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Pharisee – (far’i sē) n. [ME pharise <OE fariseus & OFr pharisé, both < LL (Ec) Pharisaeus < Gr (Ec) pharasaios < Aram perishaiya, pl. of perish < Heb parush, orig. adj., separated < root prš, cleave, separate] 1 a member of an ancient Jewish party or fellowship that carefully observed the written law but also accepted the oral, or traditional, law, advocated democratization of religious practices, etc.: opposed to SADDUCEE. 2 [p-] a pharisaic person – Pharisaism.
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Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)
My mother got a big kick out of the way I mispronounced Melancholy (accent should be on first syllable, but I put it on the second) and Monastery (ditto). Yes, I learned them from books. I don't think either of those needs to be defined. But for anyone who doesn't know: Melancholy = depression or sadness, Monastery = a community of monks or the place where monks live.
Palimpsest: A manuscript (eg. parchment) that's been written over more than once. By extension, it's also anything that shows the layers of its history.
Blessings,
Siri Kirpal
My mother got a big kick out of the way I mispronounced Melancholy (accent should be on first syllable, but I put it on the second) and Monastery (ditto). Yes, I learned them from books. I don't think either of those needs to be defined. But for anyone who doesn't know: Melancholy = depression or sadness, Monastery = a community of monks or the place where monks live.
Palimpsest: A manuscript (eg. parchment) that's been written over more than once. By extension, it's also anything that shows the layers of its history.
Blessings,
Siri Kirpal
Yes saw a good use of palimpset when describing the layers of fear and sadness built in a face over time can't remmeber where though its a nice word.
New words added:
mafic dyke swarm - a large geological structure consisting of a major group of parallel, linear, or radially oriented dikes intruded within continental crust. They consist of several to hundreds of dikes emplaced more or less contemporaneously during a single intrusive event, and are magmatic and stratigraphic
askance - with disapproval, suspicion, or distrust
assuage - To make (something burdensome or painful) less intense or severe
meringue - A mixture of egg whites and sugar beaten until stiff and baked until slightly brown, often used as a topping on pies
Pharisee - A member of an ancient Jewish sect that emphasized strict interpretation and observance of the Mosaic law in both its oral and written form
palimpsest - A manuscript, typically of papyrus or parchment, that has been written on more than once, with the earlier writing incompletely scraped off or erased and often legible
mafic dyke swarm - a large geological structure consisting of a major group of parallel, linear, or radially oriented dikes intruded within continental crust. They consist of several to hundreds of dikes emplaced more or less contemporaneously during a single intrusive event, and are magmatic and stratigraphic
askance - with disapproval, suspicion, or distrust
assuage - To make (something burdensome or painful) less intense or severe
meringue - A mixture of egg whites and sugar beaten until stiff and baked until slightly brown, often used as a topping on pies
Pharisee - A member of an ancient Jewish sect that emphasized strict interpretation and observance of the Mosaic law in both its oral and written form
palimpsest - A manuscript, typically of papyrus or parchment, that has been written on more than once, with the earlier writing incompletely scraped off or erased and often legible
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I was weeding the garden this morning and thought of something: some sort of monster made of lava stuck in the mafic dyke swarms, and then torn apart by plate tectonics.
You might see it in SYW one day
Thought i should keep the flow , used
Luddite today A word That some may not know means feeling like taking a baseball bat to every computer you see.
In that vain the OhNOsecond should probably be added alongside, that instant when you realize you have done something incredibly stupid
Luddite today A word That some may not know means feeling like taking a baseball bat to every computer you see.
In that vain the OhNOsecond should probably be added alongside, that instant when you realize you have done something incredibly stupid
I've got one: Sesquipedalian - characterized by long words, or long-winded.
There's also polysyllabic. It technically only means a word with more than one syllable, but it implies that the word is quite long.
There's also polysyllabic. It technically only means a word with more than one syllable, but it implies that the word is quite long.
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This is going to sound odd but. for the first, I'd say, twenty years of my life, I read the word 'epitome' as 'epi-toe-m'. I knew the word to hear it, I know the actual word, 'epitome' but it never occurred to me that this world I kept reading in fiction, 'Epi-toe-m' was one and the same word that I knew all along. It just suddenly struck me one day, "Oh my gosh! That's how it's spelled! I've known this world all along!"
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(I like the summarized lists, BTW.)
Let's do some F-words:
ferrule, a metal band or ring that connects two parts, like the eraser and pencil, reinforces and prevents from splintering, like the brass tip on a walking stick, or binds, like the metal band on a paint brush.
fleuron, a flower-shaped ornamentation on buildings, coins, pastries, or in books as indications of a section break
fungible, being of such nature or kind as to be freely exchangeable or replaceable, in whole or in part, for another of like nature or kind. Pennies, cans of Campbell's tomato soup, and safety pins are fungible.
finial, the decorative topper at the apex or end of an object such as a lamp, curtain rod, or on a building or structure's pinnacle, peak of its roof, etc.
Maryn, who has many more
Let's do some F-words:
ferrule, a metal band or ring that connects two parts, like the eraser and pencil, reinforces and prevents from splintering, like the brass tip on a walking stick, or binds, like the metal band on a paint brush.
fleuron, a flower-shaped ornamentation on buildings, coins, pastries, or in books as indications of a section break
fungible, being of such nature or kind as to be freely exchangeable or replaceable, in whole or in part, for another of like nature or kind. Pennies, cans of Campbell's tomato soup, and safety pins are fungible.
finial, the decorative topper at the apex or end of an object such as a lamp, curtain rod, or on a building or structure's pinnacle, peak of its roof, etc.
Maryn, who has many more
Symbols!
triskelion, a symbol made up of three arms (often literally three human legs joined together, this is the traditional emblem of the Manx people, amongst others).
trefoil, another word for any symbol with three arms or lobes, in the 20th century this came to mean the iconic three-bladed radiation symbol.
caduceus, the greek symbol of commerce, thieves and tricksters: a winged staff with two intertwined snakes. Often confused with the rod of Asclepius, the symbol of medicine, which is a single snake coiled around a staff (the caduceus is often used instead of the rod of Asclepius to represent medicine in America, but this is considered incorrect elsewhere).
triskelion, a symbol made up of three arms (often literally three human legs joined together, this is the traditional emblem of the Manx people, amongst others).
trefoil, another word for any symbol with three arms or lobes, in the 20th century this came to mean the iconic three-bladed radiation symbol.
caduceus, the greek symbol of commerce, thieves and tricksters: a winged staff with two intertwined snakes. Often confused with the rod of Asclepius, the symbol of medicine, which is a single snake coiled around a staff (the caduceus is often used instead of the rod of Asclepius to represent medicine in America, but this is considered incorrect elsewhere).