January 2016 – WOTDs

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31 January 2016

sans-culotte

[sanz-kyoo-lot, -koo-; French sahn-ky-lawt]

noun, plural sans-culottes [sanz-kyoo-lots, -koo-; French sahn-ky-lawt]

1. (in the French Revolution) a revolutionary of the poorer class: originally a term of contempt applied by the aristocrats but later adopted as a popular name by the revolutionaries.
2. any extreme republican or revolutionary.

Origin of sans-culotte

1780-1790; < French: literally, without knee breeches

Related forms

sans-culottic [sanz-kyoo-lot-ik, -koo-], adjective
sans-culottish, adjective
sans-culottism, noun
sans-culottist, noun

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for sans-culotte

Historical Examples

Fancy living in a room with David’s sans-culotte Leonidas staring perpetually in your face!
The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh
William Makepeace Thackeray

Dr. Mivers was as much scouted as if he had been a sans-culotte.
Lucretia, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton

But Boivin was a soldier, and a soldier is not a sans-culotte.
The Historical Nights’ Entertainment
Rafael Sabatini

Anagram

stout lance
ousts lancet
cleat snouts

30 January 2016

kibosh

[kahy-bosh, ki-bosh]

noun, Informal.

1. nonsense.

Idioms

2. put the kibosh on, to put an end to; squelch; check:
Another such injury may put the kibosh on her athletic career.

Origin of kibosh

1830-1840; of obscure origin

Dictionary.com

Contemporary Examples

But in April, a few months after she turned 40, she seemingly put the kibosh on any talk of plastic surgery.
Portia de Rossi’s New Look Spooks ‘Arrested Development’ Fans
Nina Strochlic
May 28, 2013

The sum total of these moves seem aimed at putting the kibosh on diplomacy.
How Not To Negotiate With Iran
Ali Gharib
May 28, 2013

Jaczko had largely put the kibosh on both, most significantly by ending research at Yucca Mountain.
Nuclear Commission Gregory Jaczko Calls It Quits
Daniel Stone
May 20, 2012

It was Plant who kiboshed the proposed Led Zep reunion tour in 2007.
Songfacts – Led Zeppelin’s Ramble On

29 January 2016

proprioception

[proh-pree-uh-sep-shuh n]

noun, Physiology.

1. perception governed by proprioceptors, as awareness of the position of one’s body. (Note that a proprioceptor is a receptor located in subcutaneous tissues, as muscles, tendons, and joints, that responds to stimuli produced within the body).

Origin of proprioception

1905-1910; proprio- + (re)ception

Dictionary.com

Word Origin and History for proprioception

n. 1906, from proprioceptor, from Latin proprius “own” (see proper) + reception. Coined by English neurophysiologist C.S. Sherrington (1857-1952). Related: Proprioceptive; proprioceptor.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

proprioception in Medicine

proprioception pro·pri·o·cep·tion (prō’prē-ō-sěp’shən)

n. The unconscious perception of movement and spatial orientation arising from stimuli within the body itself.

proprioception in Science

The unconscious perception of movement and spatial orientation arising from stimuli within the body itself. In humans, these stimuli are detected by nerves within the body itself, as well as by the semicircular canals of the inner ear.

28 January 2016

trenchant

[tren-chuh nt]

adjective

1. incisive or keen, as language or a person; caustic; cutting:
trenchant wit.
2. vigorous; effective; energetic:
a trenchant policy of political reform.
3. clearly or sharply defined; clear-cut; distinct.

Origin of trenchant

Middle English, Anglo-French, Old French
1275-1325; Middle English tranchaunt < Anglo-French; Old French trenchant, present participle of trenchier to cut. See trench, -ant

Related forms

trenchancy, noun
trenchantly, adverb

Synonyms

1. sharp, biting, acute.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for trenchant

Contemporary Examples

He first hit a nerve in 1996 with his trenchant bestseller The Death of Common Sense.
Are Lawyers Killing America?
The Daily Beast
February 16, 2009

Typically, the Internet exploded with trenchant commentary about the leather jacket Palin wore.
McCain-Palin: The Sequel
Meghan McCain
March 27, 2010

Much looking forward to going on with what is apparently also a trenchant and enlightening book.
Book Bag: What Nick Harkaway Is Reading
Nick Harkaway
November 5, 2012

Anagram

tent ranch

27 January 2016

poteen

[puh-teen, -cheen, -theen, poh-]

noun

1. the first distillation of a fermented mash in the making of whiskey.
2. illicitly distilled whiskey.

Also, potheen.

Origin of poteen

Irish
1805-1815; < Irish poitín literally, small pot, diminutive of pota pot1

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for poteen

Historical Examples

Whatever Brady’s usual habits of christening his poteen might have been, that which he now placed before them was good.
The Hedge School; The Midnight Mass; The Donagh
William Carleton

Send me that poteen you spoke of, and ignore the Bills against these M’Caffreys.
Valentine M’Clutchy, The Irish Agent
William Carleton

Mutton always—fish and game when there’s the season for them—and poteen to wash them down.
Luttrell Of Arran
Charles James Lever

Anagram

pet eon

25 January 2016

spado

[spey-doh]

noun, plural spadones [spey-doh-neyz, spuh-]

1. Civil Law. an impotent person; someone unable to procreate.
2. a castrated man or animal.

Origin of spado

late Middle English Latin Greek
1400-1450; late Middle English < Latin spadō < Greek spádōn eunuch; akin to spân to tear off

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for spado

Historical Examples

I missed spado at the muster this morning—did he quit the cave with you?
The Castle of Andalusia
John O’Keeffe

Anagram

do spa

24 January 2016

unanimity

[yoo-nuh-nim-i-tee]

noun

1. the state or quality of being unanimous; a consensus or undivided opinion:
The unanimity of the delegates was obvious on the first ballot.

Origin of unanimity
late Middle English Middle French, Latin
1400-1450; late Middle English unanimite < Middle French < Latin ūnanimitās, equivalent to ūnanim (us) unanimous + -itās -ity

Synonyms
harmony, unity, unison, concert.

Antonyms
disagreement.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for unanimity

Contemporary Examples

Except the unanimity Abrams relies on simply does not exist.
Elliott Abrams’s Truth Problem
Ali Gharib
January 8, 2013

Perhaps some of this unanimity arises out of practical concerns.
Even Conservative Evangelical Support Couldn’t Save Immigration Reform
Jacob Lupfer
July 5, 2014

The lion has lain down with the lamb, in other words, and the unanimity seems so surreal that I might as well keep dreaming.
The Supremes Get It Right, Naturally.
Sam Kean
June 13, 2013

Historical Examples

Now the penalty inflicted as an expiation is only a manifestation of the public anger, the material proof of its unanimity.
The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life
Emile Durkheim

We note the unanimity with which your Majesty and the cardinal write.
Lucretia Borgia
Ferdinand Gregorovius

We are of one mind, I perceive, in council; let our unanimity extend to our drink.
The Lily and the Totem
William Gilmore Simms

Anagram

may I unit

23 January 2016

quoz

[kwaz)]

noun

– An odd person or thing.

Origin

Of uncertain origin. Perhaps it’s a variant of the word quiz which has a similar meaning. Or maybe the word quiz is a variant of quoz. It’s all very quizzical. Or quozzical. Earliest documented use: 1780.

USAGE:
“That juggling trick of yours is growing older than a floorboard split under the weight of countless eager feet, and rendering you a quoz to the ears.”
Neil Baker; G Day: Please God, Get Me Off the Hook; AuthorHouse; 2010.

“While everything that exists is a potential quoz for somebody, one must embrace the mystery for it to open itself.”
William Least Heat-Moon; Blue Highways: A Journey into America; Little, Brown and Company; 2012.

(Wordsmith.org)

22 January 2016

adz or adze

[adz]

noun

1. an axlike tool, for dressing timbers roughly, with a curved, chisellike steel head mounted at a right angle to the wooden handle.
verb (used with object)
2. to dress or shape (wood) with an adz.

Origin of adz

Middle English, Old English, Germanic

900, before 900; Middle English ad (e) se, Old English adesa; *ad-es-, of obscure origin, appears to be formed like ax, and might by association with the latter have lost *w-; if so, < Germanic *wad-, cognate with Lithuanian vedegà adz

Can be confused
adds, ads, adz.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for adz

Historical Examples

At such times he made what was in the nature of a spring for the door, explaining later that he had been to sharpen his adz.
Dwellers in Arcady
Albert Bigelow Paine

21 January 2016

zamindar or zemindar

[zuh-meen-dahr]

noun

1. (in British India) a landlord required to pay a land tax to the government.
2. (in Mogul India) a collector of farm revenue, who paid a fixed sum on the district assigned to him.

Origin of zamindar

Hindi, Persian

1675-1685; Hindi < Persian zamīndār landholder, equivalent to zamīn earth, land + -dār holding, holder

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for zamindar

Historical Examples

Clearly he had not told him what Ahmed had said of the capture of the English girl by a zamindar.
Barclay of the Guides
Herbert Strang

The zamindar was conspicuous and useful; the village community and the cultivating ryot did not force themselves into notice.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 4
Various

Anagram

ram in adz

20 January 2016

aphasia

[uh-fey-zhuh]

noun, Pathology.

1. the loss of a previously held ability to speak or understand spoken or written language, due to disease or injury of the brain.

Origin of aphasia

1865-1870; Greek: speechlessness, equivalent to a- a-6+ phat (ós) spoken (derivative of phánai to speak) + -ia -ia

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for aphasia

Contemporary Examples

Still, she suffered from aphasia, finding it difficult to speak, read and write.
A Stroke That Hits Young Women
Nicole LaPorte
July 27, 2010

Historical Examples

aphasia, periods of excitement and mental confusion occur in some.
Arteriosclerosis and Hypertension:
Louis Marshall Warfield

You are suffering from an attack of aphasia, which has caused you to forget your identity.
Strictly Business
O. Henry

Anagram

Asia hap

19 January 2016

mulatto

[muh-lat-oh, -lah-toh, myoo-]

noun, plural mulattoes, mulattos.

1. Anthropology. (not in technical use) the offspring of one white parent and one black parent.
2. Older Use: Often Offensive. a person who has both black and white ancestors.
adjective
3. of a light-brown color.

Origin of mulatto Expand

Spanish
1585-1595; Spanish mulato ‘young mule’, equivalent to mul (o) mule1+ -ato of unclear origin

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for mulatto

Historical Examples

In North America a mulatto, a quadroon, even an octoroon who is only one-eighth black, counts as a negro.
South America Observations and Impressions
James Bryce

The colour is between olive, brown, and bronze,—somewhat like that of the mulatto.
The Western World
W.H.G. Kingston

Ranaway, the mulatto wench Mary—has a cut on the left arm, a scar on the shoulder, and two upper teeth missing.
The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 3 of 4
American Anti-Slavery Society

Anagram

malt out

18 January 2016

skerrick

[sker-ik]

noun, Australian.

1. a small piece or quantity; a bit:

Not even a skerrick of cake was left.

Origin of skerrick

1930-1935; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com

Anagram

Kicks err

17 January 2016

copacetic (or copasetic, copesetic)

[koh-puh-set-ik, -see-tik]

adjective, Slang.

1. fine; completely satisfactory; OK. ‘Things are copacetic in my life‘.

Origin of copacetic

1915-1920, Americanism; of obscure origin; popular attributions of the word to Louisiana French, Italian, Hebrew, etc., lack supporting evidence

Dictionary.com

Anagram

ice cop act

16 January 2016

Recrudescence

[ree-kroo-des-uh ns]

noun

A renewed activity after a period of dormancy.

Origin of recrudescence

Latin

1715-1725; < Latin recrūdēsc (ere) to recrudesce + -ence

Related forms

recrudescent, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for recrudescence

Historical Examples

They must have experienced a recrudescence of panic at thought of the dynamite they believed hidden.
The Jacket (The Star-Rover)
Jack London

Here we have a recrudescence of the idea that great penalties are deterrent.
Folkways
William Graham Sumner

Of late, of course, I have thought of little else but what this recrudescence of my youth means to you and to myself.
Black Oxen
Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

Anagram

credence cures

15 January 2016

sanative

[san-uh-tiv]

adjective

1. having the power to heal; curative.

Origin of sanative

late Middle English Middle French, Medieval Latin
1400-1450; < Medieval Latin sānātīvus (see sanatory, -ive ); replacing late Middle English sanatif < Middle French < Medieval Latin, as above

Related forms

nonsanative, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for sanative

Historical Examples

Then there was the charm of the magician, so sanative, so blessed, felt directly any volume of that glorious number was opened.
The Revolution in Tanner’s Lane
Mark Rutherford

Simply because I know a person who possesses the sanative power I speak of.
The Evil Eye; Or, The Black Spector
William Carleton

And you don’t think two years’ prison, two years’ slavery, was sanative enough without the denial of his just compensation?
Imaginary Interviews
W. D. Howells

Sleep, in short, if not a “matchless” sanative, is at least a universal one.
Forty Years in the Wilderness of Pills and Powders
William A. Alcott

The mind thus becomes “a silent, transforming, sanative energy” of great potency and power.
The Higher Powers of Mind and Spirit
Ralph Waldo Trine

Anagram

Asia vent
neat visa

14 January 2016

vulnerary

[vuhl-nuh-rer-ee]

adjective

1. used to promote the healing of wounds, as herbs or other remedies.
noun, plural vulneraries.
2. a remedy for wounds.

Origin of vulnerary

Latin

1590-1600; < Latin vulnerārius, equivalent to vulner- (stem of vulnus) wound + -ārius -ary

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for vulnerary

Historical Examples

It was once used to form a celebrated traumatic or vulnerary ointment and is still highly esteemed among rustic herbalists.
Cooley’s Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades…, Sixth Edition, Volume I
Arnold Cooley

This preparation is stimulant and vulnerary, and is in great repute on the Continent as a cosmetic and cordial.
Cooley’s Practical Receipts, Volume II
Arnold Cooley

It is regarded as vulnerary, and is highly esteemed by some in sprains and bruises.
Cooley’s Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades…, Sixth Edition, Volume I
Arnold Cooley

Anagram

rural envy
Navy ruler
very lunar

13 January 2016

gossypiboma

[gos-sip-uh-boh-muh]

noun

– foreign material, such as a surgical sponge, accidentally left inside a patient’s body.

Origin

From Latin gossypium, “cotton”, and Swahili boma, “concealment”.

Example

Detection of gossypiboma is more difficult than it seems.

Anagram

a smog biopsy

12 January 2016

telegenic

[tel-i-jen-ik]

adjective

1. having physical qualities or characteristics that televise well; videogenic.

Origin of telegenic

1935-1940; tele(vision) + -genic

Related forms

telegenically, adverb

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for telegenic

Contemporary Examples

If Mike Huckabee runs for president in 2016, he could deliver the Republican nomination to a telegenic, rotund governor.
Huckabee 2016 Would Give Iowa to Christie
Ben Jacobs
December 18, 2013

He was also a charismatic, telegenic speaker with a face improved by plastic surgery several years earlier.
The Louisiana Racists Who Courted Steve Scalise
Jason Berry
January 2, 2015

Chelsea had been smitten with the man’s telegenic good looks, but Patti wasn’t quite buying it.
The Cattiest Matchmaker
Emily Gould
February 21, 2010

He was quite a sight— young, telegenic, vibrant, even if he was an unapologetic wonk.
Rating the 2012 Veep Candidates: How Biden, Ryan Did
Paul Alexander
November 7, 2012

Let me be clear, as the president would say: Obama is telegenic and charming.
From POTUS to SCOTUS: Obama’s Big Move?
Keli Goff
November 16, 2014

Historical Examples

They grow up accepting the politics of telegenic competition, a poor substitute for competence and commitment.
The Civilization of Illiteracy
Mihai Nadin

telegenic or not, a president or a TV star has little, if any, impact on our fulfillment in the interconnected world of our time.
The Civilization of Illiteracy
Mihai Nadin

Anagram

entice gel
gentle ice

11 January 2016

forfend

[fawr-fend]

verb (used with object)

1. to defend, secure, or protect.
2. to fend off, avert, or prevent.
3. Archaic. forbid.

Also, forefend.

Origin of forfend
Middle English
1350-1400; Middle English forfenden. See for-, fend

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for forfend

Historical Examples

Of all travelling companionship, forfend us from that of a married man!
Early Western Travels, 1748-1846 (Volume XXVI)
Various

Is it not rather the blind brute instinct of self-protection, forfend what may?
Canada: the Empire of the North
Agnes C. Laut

forfend me from a man who weighs every expression with Scotch prudence.
The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume I (of II)
Charles Darwin

Anagram

nerd off

10 January 2016

agitprop

[aj-it-prop]

noun

1. agitation and propaganda, especially for the cause of communism.
2. (often initial capital letter) an agency or department, as of a government, that directs and coordinates agitation and propaganda.
3. Also, agitpropist. a person who is trained or takes part in such activities.
adjective
4. of or relating to agitprop.

Origin of agitprop

1930-1935; < Russian Agitpróp, orig. for Agitatsiónno-propagandístskiĭ otdél Agitation Propaganda Section (of the Central Committee, or a local committee, of the Communist Party); subsequently the head of such a section, or in compound names of political education organs, as agitpropbrigáda, etc.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for agitprop

Historical Examples

Agitprop, in turn, is responsible for the transmission of guidelines down to the lowest levels of party organization.
Area Handbook for Bulgaria
Eugene K. Keefe, Violeta D. Baluyut, William Giloane, Anne K. Long, James M. Moore, and Neda A. Walpole

9 January 2016

quomodocunquize

[kwo-moh-duh-kun-kwuz]

verb

– to make money by any means possible.

Only recorded usage in Oxford English Dictionary:

“Those quomodocunquizing clusterfists and rapacious varlets.”
– Thomas Urquhart (1652)

8 January 2016

sabrage

[seh-bra-zh]

noun

– the act of opening a champagne bottle with a sabre. Usually reserved for ceremonial occasions.

Example

Instead of popping corks for their wedding, the couple celebrated their union with a spectacular sabrage.

Anagram

sag bare

7 January 2016

vigesimation
(alternative form of vicesimation)

[vy-jes-uh-mey-shun]

noun

1. the act of killing every twentieth person or destroying one-twentieth of something.

2. based on the number 20.

Origin

Probably formed by the suffixation of the Latin vīcēsimus (“twentieth”) with the English -ation on the pattern of decimation, but compare the Latin vīcēsimātiō (“a killing of every twentieth man”); the spelling vigesimation is an alteration of vicesimation under the influence of vigesimal.

Example

Any number system which passes the limit 10 is reasonably sure to have either a quinary, a decimal, or a vigesimal structure.
– The Number Concept
by Levi Leonard Conant

5 January 2016

cloche

[klohsh, klawsh]

noun

1. a woman’s close-fitting hat with a deep, bell-shaped crown and often a narrow, turned-down brim.
2. a bell-shaped glass cover placed over a plant to protect it from frost and to force its growth.
3. a bell-shaped metal or glass cover placed over a plate to keep food warm or fresh.

Origin of cloche

Medieval Latin

1905-1910; < French: bell, bell-jar < Medieval Latin clocca. See cloak

Dictionary.com

Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2016.

Examples from the Web for cloche

Contemporary Examples

But am I wrong to assume that this movie was 90 minutes of Jolie looking worried in a cloche hat?
If I Ran the Oscars
Jessi Klein
January 22, 2009

Historical Examples

He forgot that; kept the cloche moving; fought the wind with his will as with his body.
The Trail of the Hawk
Sinclair Lewis

I followed down a narrow but well-beaten trail, and so at the end of a half-mile came to the meadow and the post of cloche.
The Forest
Stewart Edward White

By this time ” cloche ” has been spelled, so that the next question is, “Was it the bell?”
What Shall We Do Now?: Five Hundred Games and Pastimes
Dorothy Canfield Fisher

4 January 2016

concilliabule

[kohn-sil-lee-uh-byul]

noun

– a secret meeting or secret plans of people who are hatching a plot.

Example

Cabinet’s concilliabule to overthrow the Prime Minister was enacted after the most recent opinion poll.

Anagram

lineal bucolic
albino ice cull

3 January 2016

cancatervate

[kan-kat-uh-veyt]

verb

– to heap into a pile

Origin

unknown

Example

His job was to cancatervate the dirt removed from the building site.

Anagram

even cataract
cave reactant
vacate nectar

2 January 2016

cagamosis

[kag-uh-moh-sis]

noun

– an unhappy marriage

Example

Their cagamosis became apparent through each other’s constant nitpicking.

Anagram

mosaic gas
magic as so

1 January 2016

bombilate

[bom-bee-leyt]

verb

– to hum or buzz

derivatives

noun – bombilation
third-person singular simple present bombilates, present participle bombilating, simple past and past participle bombilated

Origin

Late 19th century: from medieval Latin bombilare ‘to buzz’, from Latin bombus ‘humming’ (see bomb).

Anagram

albeit mob
beat limbo

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