Pelf, n.; money or gain that is acquired in a dishonest way or is viewed with contempt. From Old French pelfre meaning “booty, stolen goods”, related to the word pilfer. [via, see, et]
Category: Dictionary
Adventitious
Adventitious, adj. meaning “happening by chance”, “associated by chance”, “coming from another source”; or, in biology, “appearing sporadically or in an abnormal or unusual place”; from the Latin adventicius, meaning foreign. [see, et, et]
To an intellectual person the whole business of love-making is ridiculous, and without dignity. Dreams and fancies are invoked to give it an adventitious interest, and so a sort of mesmerism is exercised, and blissful dreams of eternal happiness come into existence, depending for their duration very much upon the sympathy between the imaginations of the lovers, which sometimes is powerful enough to build up a reality from a vision. However this may be, when love comes in at the door intellect flies out of the window or sleeps the sleep of the disgusted. When it returns to its habitation it delivers stern judgment on the follies that have been committed in its absence.
— Florence Farr, The Dancing Faun [via]
Caducity
Appetence
Adianoeta
Adianoeta, n. From the Greek for ‘unintelligible’, an expression with both an obvious and another subtle, or even esoteric, meaning; like an allegory or double entendre [via, also, et]. Presumably a – dia – noeta might be translated as, something like, “not through things known” [see].
Amusingly and awesomely, therefore, the word adianoeta is itself an adianoeta, since it implies both that a thing has a secondary esoteric meaning, but also, more subtly, that a thing is unintelligible.
Stigmergy
Stigmergy, n. the spontaneous, indirect organization that emerges out of the seeming chaos of individuals doing their work, a principle of systems which perhaps suggests that individual agents doing their work create non-coördinated self-organization which makes it possible for others to more efficiently do their own work. [ht, see, et, et]
Aperçu
Conforaneus
Malapert
Inconcinnity
Inconcinnity, n. Lack of harmony or suitability. From the Latin, inconcinnus meaning absurd, awkward, clumsy, I presume.
Desuetude
Desuetude, n. A state of disuse, from the Latin desuetudo meaning outdated, no longer custom. Also, “a doctrine that causes statutes, similar legislation or legal principles to lapse and become unenforceable by a long habit of non-enforcement or lapse of time” [see].
Sciolist
Sciolist, n. An archaic word for a person who pretends to be learned, knowledgable, or well-informed, from Latin sciolus which is a diminutive of scius meaning knowing. il Dottore, though he doesn’t know he doesn’t know it, is an expert sciolist.
Sedulous
Sedulous, adj. being dedicated and diligent, from the Latin sedulus meaning zealous.
Anent
Anent, prep. An archaic word which means “concerning” used much as some usage of “about” currently.
Irredentism
Irredentism, n. From the Italian for “unredeemed” this is the belief and advocacy for a restoration of territory. [via]
Anagnorisis
Taciturn
Taciturn, adj. silent, uncommunicative, withdrawn, tight-lipped.
I recently used a word in a conversation that I can’t find in any dictionary. The word I’ve used, and have heard before, is “Tacturn” … but, the only evidence of this word I’m finding is “Taciturn” which doesn’t sound anything like “Tacturn” unless you say your Latin with hard C’s, which, you know, I tend to prefer anyway.
Is this like “Wheelbarrow”? You see, for the longest time, I thought the word was “Wheelbarrel” as a kid, and eventually found out that I was using a word that didn’t exist in the dictionary.
It’s kind of a trip to find out that a word I thought I knew and was familiar with is, in fact, not a real word, but is rather just a common misspelling.
Feri
Feral:
“ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from Latin fera ‘wild animal’ (from ferus ‘wild’ ) + -al.”
So, feri, pl. n. wild animals of male or mixed sex?
Akathisia
Akathisia, or Acathisia, n. A sensation of inner restlessness; the inability to remain still.