December 2018 WOTDs

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December 2018 WOTDs

  • 31 December 2018

    begum(1)

    [bee-guh m, bey-]

    noun

    – (in India) a high-ranking Muslim woman, especially a widow.

    Origin of begum(1)

    1625–35; < Urdu begam ≪ Turkic begim, apparently a derivative of beg. See bey

    begum(2)

    [bih-guhm]

    verb (used with object), be·gummed, be·gum·ming.

    to smear, soil, clog, etc., with or as if with gum or a gummy substance.
    Origin of begum2

    be- + gum1

    Dictionary.com

    Examples from the Web for begum

    Historical Examples

    He had no right to try the Begums, nor did he pretend to try them.
    Critical and Historical Essays, Volume III (of 3)
    Thomas Babington Macaulay

    What do you mean by the word rebellion, as applied to the Begums?
    The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. XII. (of XII.)
    Edmund Burke

    Now they could not be sent by the Begums in their own person.
    The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. XII. (of XII.)
    Edmund Burke

    Sheridan pleaded the cause of the Begums in what has been reckoned the finest speech ever heard in modern times.
    Biographical Outlines
    Anonymous

    30 December 2018

    ryot

    [rahy-uh t]

    noun (in India)

    a peasant.
    a person who holds land as a cultivator of the soil.

    Origin of ryot

    1615–25; Hindi raiyat; Persian; Arabic raʿīyah subjects, literally, flock

    Dictionary.com

    Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

    Examples from the Web for ryots

    Historical Examples

    Like the ryots and the agricultural labourers, they do not show the least sign of revolt.
    The New World of Islam
    Lothrop Stoddard

    The farmers in Egypt irrigate in the same way as the ryots of India.
    The Critic in the Orient
    George Hamlin Fitch

    Indian ryots are quite as receptive of new ideas as English farmers.
    Tales of Bengal
    S. B. Banerjea

    Certain deductions have to be made—some ryots may be defaulters.
    Sport and Work on the Nepaul Frontier
    James Inglis

    It is the business of all, from the ryots to the dewan, to conceal and deceive.
    The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. XII. (of XII.)
    Edmund Burke

 

29 December 2018

squirearchy
or squir·ar·chy

[skwahyuh r-ahr-kee]

noun, plural squire·ar·chies.

the collective body of squires or landed gentry of a country.
the social, economic, and political class formed by the landed gentry.

Origin of squirearchy

First recorded in 1795–1805; squire + -archy

Related forms

squire·ar·chal, squire·ar·chi·cal, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for squirearchy

Historical Examples

Not, indeed, that the squirearchy then present were at all disposed to regret Maitland’s absence.
Tony Butler
Charles James Lever

But the baronage or squirearchy of the country were of another mind.
The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 07
Various

But the Baronage or Squirearchy of the country were of another mind.
History Of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. III. (of XXI.)
Thomas Carlyle

This lowly lad fought the forces of “Squirearchy and Hierarchy.”
The War After the War
Isaac Frederick Marcosson

Such was more or less the universal humor in the squirearchy of Brandenburg; not of good omen to Burggraf Friedrich.
The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 07
Various

 

28 December 2018

congeries

[kon-jeer-eez, kon-juh-reez]

noun (used with a singular or plural verb)

a collection of items or parts in one mass; assemblage; aggregation; heap:

From the airplane the town resembled a congeries of tiny boxes.

Origin of congeries

1610–20; < Latin: a heap, equivalent to conger- (stem of congerere to collect, heap up, equivalent to con- con- + gerere to bear, carry) + -iēs noun suffix; cf. rabies, series

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for congeries

Historical Examples

Tim and his congeries hate the clerics, but they fear the flagellum.
Ireland as It Is
Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)

Inside the congeries of glazed houses he was somewhat at sea.
The Market-Place
Harold Frederic

I cannot imagine such a congeries of blunders as a war for the Poles.
Cornelius O’Dowd Upon Men And Women And Other Things In General
Charles Lever

To speak Johnsonically it is a congeries of inexplicable nonsense.
The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor
Stephen Cullen Carpenter

A boarding-house is a congeries of people who have come down.
Marge Askinforit
Barry Pain

27 December 2018

confrère

Noun

A fellow member of a profession.

‘Pooley’s police confrères’

Origin

Mid 18th century: French, from medieval Latin confrater, from con- ‘together with’ + frater ‘brother’.
Pronunciation
confrère/ˈkɒnfrɛː/

Oxford Living Dictionary

26 December 2018

alexithymia

[ey-lek-suh-thahy-mee-uh]

noun Psychiatry.

– difficulty in experiencing, expressing, and describing emotional responses.

Origin of alexithymia

a-6 + Greek léxi(s) speech (see alexia) + -thymia

Dictionary.com

Anagram

a Amity helix
My Haiti axle
Hi Italy exam
Hail yeti max
Hey mail taxi

25 December 2018

dreadnought

noun

a battleship armed with heavy guns of uniform calibre
an overcoat made of heavy cloth

slang a heavyweight boxer
a person who fears nothing

Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dreadnought

Dreadnought

n. “battleship,” literally “fearing nothing,” from dread (v.) + nought (n.). Mentioned as the name of a ship in the Royal Navy c.1596, but modern sense is from the name of the first of a new class of British battleships mainly armed with big guns of one caliber, launched Feb. 18, 1906.

Examples from the Web for dreadnought

Historical Examples

The aero-sub was motionless and submerged just off the port bow of the dreadnought.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science April 1930
Various

No, Sir, do as I bid you; just bring me the dreadnought and a round hat.’
The Uncollected Writings of Thomas de Quincey, Vol. 2
Thomas de Quincey

24 December 2018

scansion

[skan-shuh n]

noun Prosody.

the metrical analysis of verse. The usual marks for scansion are ˘ for a short or unaccented syllable, ¯ or · for a long or accented syllable, ^ for a rest, | for a foot division, and ‖ for a caesura or pause.

Origin of scansion

1645–55; Late Latin scānsiōn- (stem of scānsiō), Latin: a climbing, equivalent to scāns(us) (past participle of scandere to climb) + -iōn- -ion

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for scansion

Contemporary Examples

Words are shoehorned in without much regard for scansion, stress, or tone.
You Too Can Hear U2 Overthink Its New Song
Andrew Romano
November 22, 2013

Historical Examples

It is either hexameter or pentameter, according to the scansion?
Notes and Queries, Number 204, September 24, 1853
Various

I wanted to read it aloud to you and get in my practice on scansion that way.
Beatrice Leigh at College
Julia Augusta Schwartz

Morris inserts ben after rakel, to the ruin of the scansion.
Chaucer’s Works, Volume 2 (of 7)
Geoffrey Chaucer

It makes no difference, either to the sense or the scansion.
Chaucer’s Works, Volume 2 (of 7)
Geoffrey Chaucer

Altered to Sim-e-kin by Tyrwhitt, for the scansion; but cf. ll.
Chaucer’s Works, Volume 5 (of 7) — Notes to the Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer

Anagram

ions cans

23 December 2018

gematria

[guh-mey-tree-uh]

noun

1. a cabbalistic system of interpretation of the Scriptures by substituting for a particular word another word whose letters give the same numerical sum.

Origin of gematria

Greek, Hebrew

1685-1695; < Hebrew gēmaṭriyā < Greek geōmetría geometry

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for gematria

Historical Examples

Yet, by the Kabbalistic rules of gematria and Temurah might they not be exhumed?
The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn, Volume 1
Elizabeth Bisland

The word is a cabalistic cryptogram—an instance of gematria —for Babel.
The Expositor’s Bible: The Book of Daniel
F. W. Farrar

Machlah by gematria equals eighty-three; and all may be avoided by an early breakfast of bread and salt and a bottle of water.
Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala
Various

And let us now assume a point in dispute in order to illustrate how it is solved by gematria.
Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala
Various

You mentioned some works on the numerical Cabbala, the gematria (I think) they call it.
Letters of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Vol. II (of 2)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Word Origin and History for gematria

n.
1680s, from Hebrew gematriya, from Greek geometria (see geometry ). “[E]xplanation of the sense of a word by substituting for it another word, so that the numerical value of the letters constituting either word is identical” [Klein].

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Anagram

agate rim
Get Maria
Tiara gem
image art
at mirage

22 December 2018

durbar

[dur-bahr]

noun (in India)

1. the court of a native ruler.
2. a public audience or levee held by a native prince or by a British governor or viceroy; an official reception.
3. the hall or place of audience.
4. the audience itself.

Origin of durbar

1600–10; alteration of Urdu darbār court < Persian, equivalent to dar door + bār entry

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for durbar

Contemporary Examples

In 1979 the Durbar Square of each city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Nepal Old and New: Kathmandu Valley’s Royal Cities Get a Facelift
Condé Nast Traveler
August 19, 2013

Historical Examples

The durbar was continued day by day until every point had been discussed.
The Philippine Islands
John Foreman

At length the Nabob dismissed us, and we retired from the durbar.
Athelstane Ford
Allen Upward

If I had it I would have a durbar every day, instead of once or twice a year.
Following the Equator, Complete
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

A state elephant at a Durbar gives one a very similar impression.
Reginald
Saki

The Durbar was one of the most striking and picturesque sights I have seen.
At the Court of the Amr
John Alfred Gray

Anagram

rad rub

21 December 2018

friable

[frahy-uh-buh l]

adjective

1. easily crumbled or reduced to powder; crumbly:
friable rock.

Origin of friable

Latin

1555-1565; < Latin friābilis, equivalent to friā(re) to rub, crumble + -ābilis -able

Related forms

friability, friableness, noun
unfriable, adjective
unfriableness, noun

Can be confused

friable, fryable.

Synonyms

fragile, frangible.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for friable

Historical Examples

The same field, well drained, is friable and porous, and uniform in texture.
Farm drainage
Henry Flagg French

The muscles are friable and are covered with ecchymotic spots.
Special Report on Diseases of the Horse
United States Department of Agriculture

As they are now friable and porous, they require to be delicately handled.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines
Andrew Ure

The bright colors are on the surface of the rock only, which is too friable to be preserved.
Wonders of the Yellowstone
James Richardson

The matter left in the pot will be blackish and friable when cold.
Elements of the Theory and Practice of Chymistry, 5th ed.
Pierre Joseph Macquer

Fruit large; flesh soft and friable, but juicy, pleasant and aromatic.
The Pears of New York
U. P. Hedrick

The paste varies from a friable clay to a hard, ringing stone-ware.
The Ceramic Art
Jennie J. Young

The rock through this whole district is of a soft, friable nature.
Letters from Palestine
J. D. Paxton

If clots are found at all, they are large, soft, and friable.
A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I
Various

Mellow, friable soils are not more important to any other crop than to flax.
Soil Culture
J. H. Walden

19 December 2018

snit

[snit]

noun

1. an agitated or irritated state.

Origin of snit

1935-1940 First recorded in 1935-40; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for snit

Contemporary Examples

When I lost, I drove off in a 1937 snit, refusing to concede to Perry.
Kinky for Perry
Kinky Friedman
August 24, 2011

18 December 2018

ad valorem

[ad vuh-lawr-uh m, -lohr-]

adjective, adverb

– in proportion to the value (used especially of duties on imports that are fixed at a percentage of the value as stated on the invoice).

Origin of ad valorem

Latin: literally, according to the worth

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for ad valorem

Historical Examples

This method is sometimes called the rational or ad valorem method.
The Economic Aspect of Geology
C. K. Leith

I trust the tariff of Heaven has an ad valorem scale for them—and all of us.
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table
Oliver Wendell Holmes

There is an ad valorem duty of 8% on imports and of about 1% on exports.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 1
Various

Ad valorem is a Latin phrase, signifying according to the value.
The Government Class Book
Andrew W. Young

Down to the year 1834 the duty was an ad valorem one of 96 per cent.
The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom
P. L. Simmonds

17 December 2018

umami

[oo-mah-mee]

noun

a strong meaty taste imparted by glutamate and certain other amino acids: often considered to be one of the basic taste sensations along with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty.

Origin of umami

1975–80; < Japanese: savory quality, delicious taste

Dictionary.com

Contemporary Examples

This unsmoked, wet-cured ham is the sine qua non of Parisian butcher shops: a light, ephemeral meat, sweet but umami.
Easter’s Top Five Hams
Mark Scarbrough
March 30, 2010

If “umami” was recently accepted into the lexicon…maybe “tomato-ey” isn’t that far behind.
The Only Food That Matters
Katie Workman
August 18, 2009

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