thersitical

ther•sit•i•cal (ther-SIT-i-kuhl)  adj

Definition:
scurrilous; foulmouthed; grossly abusive

Origin:
1640–50; after Thersites, in the Iliad, an ugly, loud, abusive Greek soldier in the Trojan War, L < Gr Thersite-s < dial. (Lesbian) thersos, boldness

Related:
Synonyms: scurrilous, foul-mouthed, caustic, abusive


Sentence Examples:
• "Richard Taruskin, the meticulous scholar I first met eight years ago and through correspondence came to know and like, has lately turned into a sloppy, thersitical journalist, more judgemental than Dr. Johnson." -The danger of music: and other anti-utopian essays, Richard Taruskin, 2009

• And first, it may be said, there is a pelting kind of thersitical satire, as black as the very ink ’tis wrote with——(and by the bye, whoever says so, is indebted to the muster-master general of the Grecian army, for suffering the name of so ugly and foul-mouth’d a man as Thersites to continue upon his roll——for it has furnish’d him with an epithet)——in these productions he will urge, all the personal washings and scrubbings upon earth do a sinking genius no sort of good——but just the contrary, inasmuch as the dirtier the fellow is, the better generally he succeeds in it. -The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Laurence Sterne

• It seemed to bear a thersitical message of malevolence and intent to harm. Why this self-appointed friend, mere acquaintance to him, should resort to such disquieting shenanigans, manifested by ominous mimicry and threatening contortions, Fuchs could not imagine. -Twelve O'Clock Sharp, Michael Eisele, 2006

The Storyline
... which was pierced by a theristical tirade, from the man Anna had just helped, regarding the insufficiency of the assistance.

Why This Word:

Here was the situation in the Iliad. Agamemnon, the lord of men, tried to test the mettle of the Greek troops by urging them to retreat home. After Agamemnon's speech, Thersites arose and railed at the leader. He is described as a bandy-legged, homely hunchback with one club foot and clumps of scraggly hair. He does not conceal his absolute scorn for the leader whom he accuses of taking all the best spoils of war from men (i.e., Achilles) who are superior to him. Odysseus then arises and beats Thersites into silence.

It always seemed strange to me that Thersites/thersitical dropped out of the language, though the OED has attests its use once in the 20th century. After all, reference to Stentor's magnificent voice, mentioned in Book V of the Iliad, bequeathed the adjective "stentorian" to us, so that one often hears reference to the stentorian voice of House doorkeeper who intones, "Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States." Thersites appears in Book II of the Iliad, arguably before one can get too bored to lay down the book. And, to top it off, his abuse of Agamemnon before the assembled troops makes him a much more memorable creature than Stentor. Nevertheless, he has been lexically short-shrifted.

Sources: Dictionary.com, Dr Bill Long

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

quodlibet

quod•li•bet (KWOD-luh-bet)  n

Definition:
1. a whimsical combination of familiar melodies or texts
2. a philosophical or theological point proposed for disputation; also : a disputation on such a point

Origin:
1350–1400;  Middle English, from Medieval Latin quodlibetum, from Latin quodlibet, neuter of quilibet any whatever, from qui who, what + libet it pleases, from libe-re to please

Sentence Examples:
• As you may know, Marcy Weckler has made several fine contributions in the WLP choral catalogue. Here, she has created an interesting quodlibet making clever use of the treasured hymns "Were You There" and "Amazing Grace."
• The most rousing quodlibet was one whose three simultaneous lines began: "Blue moon. You saw me standing alone." "Fish gotta swim and birds gotta fly." "Sh-boom, sh-boom. Ya-da-da-da da-da-da da-da-da."
• Yet all of this gives us at least a contextual basis for assuming that when Tinctoris quoted in his quodlibet a famous work that was then ascribed to Dunstable, along with 'L'Homme arme' as tenor, he may in effect have been using or have invented an illustration of he quodlibet principle that would reflect in microcosm the affinity between the earlier.

The Storyline
As she rummaged in her purse for some change, the music from her earphones, from a passing car and the sounds of the city formed an odd quodlibet in her ear.

Why This Word:

What a shift of meaning this humble if slightly exotic term has undergone. Though the first sense has fallen out of day-to-day use, it is usually given in dictionaries because philosophers at times have cause to refer to some medieval quodlibet.

These disputations, often on subtle points of logic or religious doctrine, were frequently exercises or improvised oral examinations for students, in the same spirit as moots (mock court cases) are for the legal fraternity. This may be why this Latin word was given to them, as it derives from quod, what, plus libet, it pleases, so roughly “what pleases you” or “as you like”. It seems to have had much the same idea behind it as the modern hand-waving whatever — argue away, the word seems to be saying, the result is of little consequence.

How it got from philosophy to music is intriguing, not least because it didn’t happen in English. In the late Middle Ages in Germany, quodlibet started to be applied to type of humour that featured daft lists of items loosely combined under an absurd theme — one example was objects forgotten by women fleeing from a harem. Something similar happened in France, where a quodlibet became a witty riddle — even today, avoir de quolibet means to produce clever repartee on demand.

The German idea of the humorous conglomeration was first applied to a musical composition by Wolfgang Schmeltzl in 1544 and the name later became the usual term in that language for facetious combinations of tunes haphazardly combined. Famous examples exist in works by Bach and Mozart in the eighteenth century. In this connection it certainly lives up to the idea behind the Latin word, since the aim is to produce a humorous amalgam of tunes to please the audience.

While the disputational sense is recorded in English from the twelfth century, the musical one only appears in 1845 and was clearly borrowed from German.

Sources: Merriam-Webster, World Wide Words

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

edentulous

e•den•tu•lous (ee-DEN-chuh-luhs)  adj

Definition:
having no teeth; toothless

edentulism noun

Origin:
1775–85; from Latin dentulus : -, ex- +  dent-, tooth

Related:
Synonyms: toothless
Related Words: dentist, denture, indent

Sentence Examples:
• Atkinson exhibited in Philadelphia a man of forty who never had any distinct growth of hair since birth, was edentulous, and destitute of the sense of smell and almost of that of taste. He had no apparent perspiration, and when working actively he was obliged to wet his clothes in order to moderate the heat of his body. -Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine, George M. Gould

• The condition may only affect a few teeth, or it may spread to them all, in which case the patient may in the course of some years become edentulous. -Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities--Head--Neck, Alexander Miles

The Storyline
And then, when at last she was out the door of her apartment building, she breathed in the fresh air, only to catch a whiff of the sickly and edentulous homeless man that sometimes sits near the entrance, hoping for some spare change from passing strangers.

Why This Word:
This is the medical establishment's word for toothless, meaning and used in the same way.

Sources: Free Dictionary

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

celerity

ce•ler•i•ty (suh-LER-i-tee)  adj

Definition:
swiftness of action or motion; speed

Origin:
1480–90; from M.Fr. célérité (14c.), from L. celeritatem (nom. celeritas) "swiftness," from celer "swift," from possible PIE base *kel- "to drive, set in swift motion"

Related:
Synonyms: alacrity, briskness, dispatch, expedition, expeditiousness, fleetness, haste, hurry, hustle, legerity, promptness, quickness, rapidity, speed, speediness, swiftness, velocity
Related Words: acceleration

Sentence Examples:
• Many thanks for the promptness with which you have answered that you will execute the order. Much--perhaps all--depends upon the celerity with which you can execute it. Put the utmost speed into it. Do not lose a minute. -Telegram to General JC Fremont, Abraham Lincoln, 1862

• At last Roy saw the reason for her fright. On the edge of the shed roof, lashing his tail in ludicrous ferocity, crouched a half-grown cat, and under his claws lay a tiny young white rabbit. Roy looked hurriedly about for a stick, but nothing of the description lay at hand. Meanwhile the red-haired girl taunted him to action, interspersing wails of despair with pleas for help and sprinkling the whole with uncomplimentary reflections on his courage and celerity.
"Aren't you going to do anything?" she wailed. "Are you going to stand there all night? Oh, please, please rescue him!"
The reflection on Roy's celerity weren't at all merited, for scarcely a quarter of a minute had passed since his advent. But if "the baby" was to be rescued there was no time to lose. -The Crimson Sweater, Ralph Henry Barbour

• For he was a large man, even among Cornish fishermen, and his feet were in his heavy fishing-boots, and his nature was slow and irresolute until his mind was fully made up. Then nothing could move him or turn him, and he acted with that irresistible celerity which springs from an invincible determination. -A Singer from the Sea, Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr

The Storyline
And once so roused, she accomplished her daily ablutions with all due celerity.

Why This Word:
Well, it is a beautiful word. Even though celerity means swiftness of action, it seems to have a connotation of aptitude, making it more appropriate to use when talking about accomplishing a task, then running a race, although I see no reason why it wouldn't be used in the later sense. Celerity also seems to imply not being too fast, hurried or rushed - quick, but effective.

Sources: Free Dictionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

oscitant

os•ci•tant (OS-i-tuhnt)  adj

Definition:
1. being inattentive or absentminded; dull, lazy, or negligent
2. yawning; gaping
3. being drowsy or dozy

oscitancy, oscitance noun; oscitantly adverb

Origin:
1615–25; from L. oscitans, prp. of oscitare "to gape, yawn," from os citare "to move the mouth"

Related:
Synonyms:  drowsy, dull, insensible, languorous,  lethargic, nodding, sluggish,  hebetudinous;
(nouns) lentor, statuvolence, pandiculation, segnitude, segnity, somnolence, stupor, torpescence, torpidity, torpor

Related Words: citation (from O.Fr. citation, from L. citationem (nom. citatio) "a command," noun of action from pp. stem of citare "to summon, to put in motion, to call forward")
incite (from M.Fr. enciter (14c.), from L. incitare "to put into rapid motion, urge, encourage, stimulate," from in- "on" + citare "move, excite")
recite (from L. recitare "read aloud, repeat from memory," from re- "back, again"  + citare "to summon")


Sentence Examples:
• If men so uncultivated possessed any vestiges of christianity, being totally unfit for the genuine wisdom and goodness of that divine system, they must have received it with the grossest corruptions which it had acquired from interested imposture, oscitant negligence, or torpid stupidity. -The history of England, David Hume,1810

• The sanguine genius of Commerce differed with Rome, whose course,when unobservant of military armor and martial scenes, became oscitant and drowsy. -Hunt's merchants' magazine and commercial review, 1852

• Let not our minds waver and hover, in reference hereunto, as if this were a doubtful matter, as if possibly, it might he otherwise, as if either he were ignorant or oscitant, and unconcerned about the affairs of his creature, as if any thing might possibly fall out without his advertency. -The posthumous works of John Howe, ed. by J. Hunt, 1832

The Storyline
Finally off the phone and finding a second of quietude, Anna slumped into her chair and let out a wide yawn, staring oscitantly into space before rousing herself and heading off to get dressed for the day.

Why This Word:
Sated by turkey and tryptophan, stuffing and sugar, we can be excused if today we are bit oscitant.

Sources: Websters Online, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

Abderian

ab•der•i•an (AB-dir-ee-uhn)  adj

Definition:
given to excessive or incessant laughter

Origin:
Answers.com:
After Abdera, in ancient Thrace (present day Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece), the birth place of Democritus, the Laughing Philosopher.t's not certain why Democritus was nicknamed the Laughing Philosopher. It may be owing to his stress on the value of cheerfulness. It's also said that he often appeared in public laughing while expressing his contempt of human follies. Paintings frequently show him laughing.
Online Etymology:
From Abdera, in Thrace, whose citizens were proverbial as rustic simpletons who would laugh at anything or anyone they didn't understand.

Related:
Synonyms: risible, hypergelastic
Antonyms: agelastic



Sentence Examples:
• Indeed, the Japanese have recourse to risibility whenever the frailties of human nature are put to severest test. I think we possess a better reason than Democritus himself for our Abderian tendency; for laughter with us oftenest veils an effort to regain balance of temper, when disturbed by any untoward circumstance. It is a counterpoise of sorrow or rage. -Bushido, the Soul of Japan, Inazo Nitobé

• But when, an hour later, Company K's whole street was aroused by peal on peal of Abderian laughter, Jack and Nick were found helpless in their bunks, and Barney was engaged in presenting a potion to settle their collapsed nerves! -The Iron Game, Henry Francis Keenan

• And though he never takes off more than his jacket, his sly grin, twinkling eye and enthusiastic reprogramming of Great Ritual Moments from Minsky often reduce other partygoers to spasmodic Abderian jocundity. -LIFE - Mar 26, 1971

The Storyline
... the biggest challenge being fighting her Abderian nature and resisting the urge to laugh at her mother's unintentional humor.

Why This Word:
Have an Abderian Thanksgiving!
Here's a delightful toponym that hasn't quite separated enough from the place it references to lose the capitalization, even as sources disagree as to why Abdera is associated with laughter.

Sources: Answers.com

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

katabasis

ka•tab•a•sis (kuh-TAB-uh-sis)  n

Definition:
1. a descent of some type, esp. a military retreat (in allusion to that of the ten thousand Greeks under Xenophon, related by him in his Anabasis)
2. a trip from the interior of a country down to the coast
3. the sinking of the winds or sun
4. a trip to the underworld
5. gradual descending of emphasis on a theme within a sentence or paragraph (poetry and rhetoric)

katabaseis plural


Origin:
1830–40;  < Gk katábasis  a going down, descent, equiv. to kataba-  (s. of katabaínein  to go down) + -sis

Related:
Antonyms: anabasis


Sentence Examples:
• The story of this anabasis has been told in hundreds and thousands of fragments--the anabasis that has had no katabasis--the literal going up of a people, as we shall see, from primitive husbandry and handicraft and a neighborly individualism, to another level, of machine labor, of more comfortable living, and of socialized aspiration. -The French in the Heart of America, John Finley
• Like Western civilization itself, as his friend and chief critical promoter Harold Rosenberg sardonically remarked, De Kooning was always in decline. This katabasis is supposed to have begun in the early '50s, with the Women series. -1994

The Storyline
So Anna began to wind down the phone call with her mother, knowing that it would take her katabasis on all fronts to pull herself out, but also knowing that, this time at least, she was aware of this tactical move.

Why This Word:
More than a descent, a katabasis is a journey down toward (or away from) something and a transformational process. Derived from the Greek meaning descent, it has several meanings, some contextually specific, but each entails some sort of journey and change. The katabasis into the underworld in stories like The Iliad or The Divine Comedy involve the hero going down to acquire some knowledge, to be altered by the experience.
While we generally associate progress or positive transformation with ascent or advance, it's instructive to remember what can be gained in retreat and descent.

Sources: Wikipedia, Dictionary.com

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

vilipend

vil•i•pend (VIL-uh-pend)  v

Definition:
1. to view or treat with contempt, despise
2. to speak ill of, disparage

vilipended past participle; vilipended past tense; vilipending present participle; vilipends 3rd person singular present; vilipender noun; vilipenditory adjective

Origin:
1425–75;  late ME < LL vilipendere,  equiv. to L vili ( s ) cheap + pendere  to consider

Related:
Synonyms: belittle, derogate, diminish, discredit, disesteem, depreciate, traduce, calumniate
Related Words: from vilis: vilify, vile, revile; from pendere: pendulous, pendant, impend, stipend, pending

Sentence Examples:
• I am the object of her detestation. ... She will seize her opportunity to vilipend me, and I shall be condemned by the kind of court-martial which hurries over the forms of a brial to sign the execution-warrant that makes it feel like justice. You will see. -The Tragic Comedians, George Meredith

• The States could hardly be blamed for their opposition to the Earl's administration, for he had thrown himself completely into the arms of a faction, whose object was to vilipend and traduce them, and it was now difficult for him to recover the functions of which the Queen had deprived him. -History of the United Netherlands, John Lothrop Motley

• "You are not to vilipend my counsel," said he one day to a foreign envoy. "I am neither a camel nor an ass to take up all this work on my shoulders. Where would you find another king as willing to do it as I am?" -The Life of John of Barneveld, John Lothrop Motley

The Storyline
...which should not understood to vilipend her profession in any way, but managing a book store was no cakewalk.

Why This Word:

Etymologically speaking, to define vilipend using vilify is to commit a tautology, since both derive from Latin vilis, vile or worthless, which is also obviously enough the source of English vile. Vilipend also includes the verb pendere, to weigh or estimate. To vilipend is to weigh somebody in the balance and find them not worth considering. It appeared in English in the fifteenth century and was a popular term right down into the nineteenth, though it has since dropped out of sight.

Sources: Free Dictionary, Dictionary.com

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

sinecure

sin•e•cure (SIN-i-kyoor)  n

Definition:
1. a position or office that requires little or no work but provides a salary
2. an ecclesiastical benefice not attached to the spiritual duties of a parish (archaic)
sinecureship, sinecurism. sinecurist noun

Origin:
1662, from M.L. beneficium sine cura "benefice without care" (of souls), from L. sine "without" + cura, ablative sing. of cura "care"

Related:
Related Words: secure from *se cura, from se "free from" (see secret) + cura "care"; curate from L. curatus, pp. of curare "to take care of"

Sentence Examples:
• The great clock has seven faces—one in each of the seven sides of the steeple—so that it can be readily seen from all quarters. Its faces are large and white, and its hands heavy and black. There is a belfry-man whose sole duty is to attend to it; but this duty is the most perfect of sinecures—for the clock of Vondervotteimittis was never yet known to have anything the matter with it. -The Devil in the Belfry, Edgar Allan Poe

• In 1864 he was given the secretaryship of the California mint, a virtual sinecure, and he was enabled do a great deal of writing. -Selected Stories of Bret Harte, Donald Lainson

• But Trustee Wardall had no sinecure. It was his job not only to run the shock-rocked company, and to plan a new capital structure, but also to recover any assets he could. -Time,1941

The Storyline
Despite it all, she was, however, out of time for self-pity. It was getting late and her job was no sinecure.

Why This Word:
Originating as an ecclesiastical term for a benefice without spiritual duties, sinecure is arises from these benefices. However, the history of the origin of benefices is obscure.

Deans and other officers in cathedrals, and in some places even parish priests, procured the privilege of appointing a vicar to perform the spiritual duties of the church, while its revenues were appropriated to themselves and their successors. Hence it happens that in some places a rector and vicar are instituted to the same church; in which case the rector is excused from duty, and the rectory is called a sinecure benefice, as being sine curd animarum. In order to effectuate an appropriation it was necessary that the patron should obtain the consent of the king and the bishop, as each of these had an interest in the patronage of the church in case of lapse, which, as a corporation never dies, could net take place after the appropriation; and upon the making an appropriation, an annual pension was reserved to the bishop and bis successors, called an indemnity, and payable by the body to whom the appropriation was made. In an antient deed of appropriation preserved in the registry of the archbishop of Canterbury, the ground of the reservation is expressed to be for a recompense of the profits which the bishop would otherwise have received during the vacancy of the benefice.

Today, sinecure has lost its ecclesiastical connection and is applied to cushy and figurehead jobs.

Sources: Free Dictionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

ullage

ull•age (UHL-ij)  n

Definition:
1. the amount by which the contents fall short of filling a container, as a cask or bottle
2. the quantity of wine, liquor, or the like, remaining in a container that has lost part of its contents by evaporation, leakage, or use
3. the volume of a loaded tank of liquid propellant in excess of the volume of the propellant; the space provided for thermal expansion of the propellant and the accumulation of gases evolved from it

ullaged adjective

Origin:

The word comes ultimately from the Latin oculus, “eye”, which was used in a figurative sense by the Romans for the bung hole of a barrel. This was taken into French in the medieval period as oeil, from which a verb ouiller was created, to fill a barrel up to the bung hole. In turn, a noun ouillage was created, which was the immediate source of our word, first recorded in Norman English about 1300, at first in the sense of the amount of liquid needed to fill a barrel up to the bung hole.
By an obvious extension, ullage came to refer to any amount by which a barrel is unfilled, perhaps because some of the contents have been used. And it is also applied to the unfilled air space at the top of a bottle of wine, which in this case is essential to allow for expansion of the contents as the temperature changes.

Related:
Related Words: oeillade “an oogling stare, an amorous gaze”

Sentence Examples:
• In the lowest cellars reserved wine in cask is stored, as it best retains its natural freshness and purity in a very cool place. All air is carefully excluded from the casks, any ullage is immediately checked, and as evaporation is continually going on the casks are examined every fortnight, when any deficiency is at once replenished.

• "At all events, I'm not ashamed to look mine enemy in the face—so hand us out the bottle."
Moonshine put the bottle on the table.
"Now, Bob," said Cockle, "what d'ye say to a seven bell-er? Why, hallo! what's become of all the grog?"
"All drank last night, Massa Cockle," replied Moonshine.
"Now, you ebony thief, I'll swear that there was half a bottle left when I took my last glass; for I held the bottle up to the candle to ascertain the ullage."
-Olla Podrida, Frederick Marryat

The Storyline
This was definitely shaping up to be one of those days that is more ullage than wine.

Why This Word:
We may not think much about the empty space in a bottle or container for liquids, but judging from my search results, engineers sure do.
I like this word for two reasons. Firstly, it's an interesting example of language change. Ullage went from the hole, the "eye", in cask, to the amount of wine it took to fill the cask to the hole, to the amount of space left in the cask above the hole, to the amount generally of empty space in a closed vessel for liquids. Thus the word for the empty space in a wine bottle is related to the words monocle and binocular. See?
Secondly, like kerf, another word for what isn't there, and limen, a word for the space in between, it's a word ripe with untapped metaphorical meaning. Ullage is empty space, but it's purposeful empty space.

Sources: Dictionary.com, Wikipedia

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

opuscule

op•us•cule (oh-PUHS-kyool)  n

Definition:
1. a small or minor work
2. a literary or musical work of small size

opuscular adjective

Origin:
1650–60;  < F < L opusculum,  equiv. to opus  work + -culum -cule

Related:
Related Words: opus, opera

Sentence Examples:
• In 1822 he published a Plan of the Scientific Works necessary to Reorganise Society. In this opuscule he points out that modern society is passing through a great crisis, due to the conflict of two opposing movements,—the first, a disorganising movement owing to the break-up of old institutions and beliefs; the second, a movement towards a definite social state, in which all means of human prosperity will receive their most complete development and most direct application.

• It has been customary, of late years, for the purveyors of amusing literature—the popular authors of the day—to put forth certain opuscules, denominated 'Christmas Books,' with the ostensible intention of swelling the tide of exhilaration, or other expansive emotions, incident upon the exodus of the old and the inauguration of the new year. -The Christmas Books, William Makepeace Thackeray

• Yet neither he nor any one else on his side has ever effectively shaken the solid argument which Diderot fancifully illustrated in the following passage from his reply to Voltaire's letter of thanks for the opuscule: "This marvellous order and these wondrous adaptations, what am I to think of them? -Diderot, John Morley

The Storyline
And so on it went with a series of oft-reiterated lines and anecdotes that Anna knew well enough to be able to compose an opuscule from them.

Why This Word:
I could write a minor opus on this word. There's a formality in the feel of opuscule that conjures up a short formal treatise. And yet ours is the age of the opuscule, short works for the short-attention-span generation. I'd say more perhaps, but I've already exceeded 140 characters and I've probably lost some peoples' attention.

Sources: Dictionary.com

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

ratiocination

ra•ti•o•ci•na•tion (rash-ee-oh-suh-NEY-shuhn)  n

Definition:
1. reasoning, conscious deliberate inference; the activity or process of reasoning
2. thought or reasoning that is exact, valid and rational
3. a proposition arrived at by such thought

ratiocinate verb; ratiocinative, ratiocinatory adjective

Origin:
1520s, from L. ratiocinationem (nom. ratiocinatio) "a reasoning," from ratiocinatus, pp. of ratiocinare "to calculate, deliberate," from ratio + -cinari, which probably is related to conari "to try"

Related:
Synonyms: argumentation, deduction, dialectic, induction, inference, logic, rationality, reason
Related Words: ratio, rational, ration, reason, reasonable

Sentence Examples:
• Let it be said that Poe invented or perfected--more exactly, perfected his own invention of--the modern short story; that is his general and supreme achievement. He also stands superlative for the quality of three varieties of short stories, those of terror, beauty and ratiocination.

• Of course, no intelligent person to-day supposes that, outside of Sir Conan Doyle's interesting novels, detectives seek the baffling criminal by means of analyzing cigar butts, magnifying thumb marks or specializing in the various perfumes in favor among the fair sex, or by any of those complicated, brain fatiguing processes of ratiocination indulged in by our old friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

• One speaks of the great masses of simple men, and it is of them, of course, that the ensuing treatise chiefly has to say. The higher and more delicately organized tribes and sects of men are susceptible to no such ready anatomizing, for the body of beliefs upon which their ratiocination grounds itself is not fixed but changing, and not artless and crystal-clear but excessively complex and obscure. -The American Credo, George Jean Nathan, H. L. Mencken, 1920

The Storyline
...her ratiocination, on the other hand, was less solid. "Remember that time when you were ten and you didn't get the magic set you wanted for your birthday, you were such a child about it."

Why This Word:
More than a fancy word for reasoning, ratiocination is more specific than its synonyms.  Most synonyms refer to an expression or quality of rational thought, but not specifically to the process of thinking rationally. Reasoning  refers to both a use and instance of rational thought, as does ratiocination. But whereas reasoning, in common use, can be specious, flawed, even irrational, ratiocination is specifically rational thought and reasoning. It begs the question of how we can expect people to learn to ratiocinate, if they don't know the word for it.

Sources: Wiktionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

sedulous

sed•u•lous (SEJ-uh-luhs)  adj

Definition:
diligent in application or in the pursuit of an object; constant, steady, and persevering; steadily industrious; assiduous


sedulousness, sedulity noun; sedulously adverb

Origin:
1530s, from L. sedulus "attentive, painstaking," probably from sedulo (adv.) "sincerely, diligently," from sedolo "without deception or guile," from se- "without, apart" + dolo, ablative of dolus "deception, guile," cognate with Gk. dolos

Related:
Synonyms: assiduous, constant, untiring, tireless


Sentence Examples:
• Leading the life I did, of the sedulous, strained nurse, I had to do something to keep myself fit. -The Good Soldier, Ford Madox Ford

• Our author’s distinguished genius for, and sedulous attention to the interests of his profession, procured him an acquisition of farther honours, as well as recommended him to the patronage of the most eminent of the faculty. -Medica Sacra, Richard Mead

• "Yes, sir," he said severely, "it is her name. But she has another name, sweeter to those who love her, those who worship her, those who have watched her with the eye of sedulous affection through the three years she has spent beneath this roof, though that name," said Mr. Faucitt, lowering the tone of his address and descending to what might almost be termed personalities, "may not be familiar to a couple of dud acrobats who have only been in the place a week-end, thank heaven, and are off to-morrow to infest some other city. That name," said Mr. Faucitt, soaring once more to a loftier plane, "is Sally." -The Adventures of Sally. P. G. Wodehouse

The Storyline
And she was nothing if not sedulous when she felt there was an object lesson to press...

Why This Word:
Here's a word with a very close synonyms. Definitionally, it's hard to see any light between assiduous and sedulous. And in usage, they seem pretty interchangeable. So I'm taking my cue from etymology. Assiduous comes from assiduus "busy, incessant, continual, constant," from assidere "to sit down to," thus "constantly occupied" at one's work. This connotes patience, constancy. Apparently, somewhere along the way, there was also the hint of servility attached. Whereas sedulous derives from sedulus "attentive, painstaking," and ultimately (probably) from se- "without, apart" + dolo, ablative of dolus "deception, guile" - connoting sincerity and attention to detail.
I realize this is a stretch to find some raison d'etre for this word. But you have to concede my sedulity in my task.

Sources: Wordnik, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

disquisition

dis•qui•si•tion (dis-kwuh-ZISH-uhn)  n

Definition:
a lengthy, formal discourse that analyses or explains some topic; a dissertation or treatise

disquisitive, disquisitory adjective 

Origin:

c.1600, from L. disquisitionem (nom. disquisitio) "an inquiry, investigation," noun of action from pp. stem of disquirere "inquire," from dis- "apart" + quaerere "seek, ask". Sense of "long speech" first recorded 1640s.

Related:
Synonyms: discourse, commentary, dissertation, exposition, treatise
Related Words: query quaere "ask," imperative of quaerere
require re- "repeatedly" + quaerere "ask, seek"
conquer com-, intensive prefix, + quaerere "to seek, acquire"
question quæstionem "a seeking, inquiry," from root of quaerere
acquisition ad- "extra" + quaerere "to seek to obtain"
exquisite ex- "out" + quaerere "to seek"
inquire in- "into" + quærere "ask, seek"

Sentence Examples:
• New England ports, the Houstons of their era, and fortunes were built with whale oil money. At one point, the United States exported a million gallons a year to Europe, according to Philip Hoare, author of “The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea,” an obsessive disquisition on all matters cetacean, published in March. -2010

• I consider the English alphabet only as it is English; and even in this narrow disquisition I follow the example of former grammarians, perhaps with more reverence than judgment, because by writing in English I suppose my reader already acquainted with the English language, and consequently able to pronounce the letters of which I teach the pronunciation; and because of sounds in general it may be observed, that words are unable to describe them. -A Grammar of the English Tongue, Samuel Johnson

• I remember once reading a very comical disquisition in one of Buffon's works on the question as to whether or not a crocodile was to be classified as an insect; and the instructive feature in the disquisition was this, that although a crocodile differs from an insect as regards every conceivable particular of its internal anatomy, no allusion at all is made to this fact, while the whole discussion is made to turn on the hardness of the external casing of a crocodile resembling the hardness of the external casing of a beetle; and when at last Buffon decides that, on the whole, a crocodile had better not be classified as an insect, the only reason given is, that as a crocodile is so very large an animal, it would make “altogether too terrible an insect.” -The Scientific Evidences of Organic Evolution, George John Romanes

The Storyline
This, in turn, elicited a lengthy disquisition from her mother on the topic of "taking life more seriously."

Why This Word:
Disquisition is just a good, solid word every person with an inquisitive mind ought to have in their vocabulary.

Sources: Wiktionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

vellicate

vell•i•cate (VEL-i-keyt) v

Definition:
1. to twitch, cause to twitch convulsively
2. to irritate as if by a nip, pinch, or tear
3. to touch (a body part) lightly so as to excite the surface nerves and cause uneasiness, laughter, or spasmodic movements
4. to carp or detract

vellicated past participle; vellicated past tense; vellicating present participle; vellicates 3rd person singular present, vellication noun; vellicative adjective; vellicatively adverb

Origin:
1595–1605; L vellicatus,  ptp. of vellicare,  freq. of vellere  to pull, twitch

Related:
Synonyms: pluck, twitch, agitate, tickle
Related Words: revulsion re- "away" + vellere "to tear, pull"
convulsion com- "together"  + vellere "to pluck, pull violently"
svelte pp. of svellere "to pluck or root out," from V.L. exvellere, from L. ex- "out" + vellere "to pluck, stretch"

Sentence Examples:
• The axilla-hair is plucked because if shaved the growing pile causes itching and the depilatories are held deleterious. At first vellication is painful but the skin becomes used to it. -A Thousand and One Nights, trans. Richard F. Burton

• So when children expect to be tickled in play, by a feather lightly passed over the lips, or by gently vellicating the soles of their feet, laughter is most vehemently excited; though they can stimulate these parts with their own fingers unmoved. Here the pleasureable idea of playfulness coincides with the vellication; and there is no voluntary exertion used to diminish the sensation, as there would be, if a child should endeavour to tickle himself. -Zoonomia, Erasmus Darwin

• Is it not daily seen how schoolmasters, teachers, tutors, and instructors of children shake the heads of their disciples, as one would do a pot in holding it by the lugs, that by this erection, vellication, stretching, and pulling their ears, which, according to the doctrine of the sage Egyptians, is a member consecrated to the memory, they may stir them up to recollect their scattered thoughts, bring home those fancies of theirs which perhaps have been extravagantly roaming abroad upon strange and uncouth objects, and totally range their judgments, which possibly by disordinate affections have been made wild, to the rule and pattern of a wise, discreet, virtuous, and philosophical discipline. -Gargantua and Pantagruel, Rabelais

The Storyline
Just at this moment, Anna let out a spasm of involuntary laughter when the tail of Max, her cat perched on the back of the chair, vellicated the nape of her neck.


Sources: Wordnik, Online Etymology

Why This Word:
Vellicate is both oddly specific and broad. The action it describes, a pinch or brush on the skin causing a twitch or spasm is a rather circumscribed experience. And yet vellicate comprises a range of stimulants from a tickle to a tear and reactions from a laugh to a convulsion, with at least one dictionary throwing in a verbal pinch as well. Yet as opposed to most of its synonyms, vellicate is firmly focused on the physical.

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

menticide

men•ti•cide (MEN-tuh-syd)  n

Definition:
the systematic effort to undermine and destroy a person's values and beliefs, as by the use of prolonged interrogation, drugs, torture, etc., and to induce radically different ideas

Related:
Synonyms: brainwashing

Sentence Examples:
• The core of the strategy of menticide is the taking away of all hope, all anticipation, all belief in a future. It destroys the very elements which keep the mind alive. The victim is utterly alone.
• One critic in particular speaks of what amounts to menticide when he says: “Iago works for the substitution of Othello's view of himself by a narrative drawn from racist discourse.”
•The controllers of this society have made use of psychological warfare to erode and destroy the will and mind of Black people. This is menticide pure and simple.
• To preserve their sanity and to prevent menticide—the death of the mind—those that chose to live became combatants once more. Their Yankee humor and ingenuity proved powerful weapons.

The Storyline
The mention of Andy in this context brought back for Anna the scandal over his departure from the seminary - the assumption that it was about her, and the reality that Andy was fleeing what felt to him an organized menticide in reaction to his unorthodox positions.

Origin:
In 1951, psychiatrist Joost Meerloo coined the term "menticide" to describe the kind of systematic psychological violence that the Chinese inflicted upon American POWs during the Korean War. "Menticide" is a word derived from "mens", the mind, and "caedere", to kill.

Sources: Dictionary.com

Why This Word:
Menticide is a word with an agenda. It steps up the seriousness of brainwashing and equates it with other forms of killing - homicide, genocide, etc - by inference if not overtly through it's use of the root -cide. Not surprisingly then this word is attractive to people with an agenda.
In usage, though, there is a useful distinction between menticide and brainwashing. In contrast to brainwashing and the word's origin, out in the wild menticide seems to be applied to instances of mass destruction of culture as well as to more general instances of mental reprogramming by means other than torture or deprivation. That it, in use, it seems to have a broader sense than brainwashing.

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

henotheism

hen•o•the•ism (HEN-uh-thee-iz-uhm)  n

Definition:
the worshipping of a single god while not precluding the existence of others

henotheist noun; henotheistic adjective; henotheisticly adverb

Related:
Related Words: atheism, the lack of a belief in a god; monotheism, the belief in only one god; kathenotheism, the belief in one god at a time; transtheism, a religious philosophy which is neither theistic nor atheistic - and many others of this type

Sentence Examples:
• On the whole it seems wise to distinguish some things which are here confused, the henotheism (as it is called) of the earlier period of Jewish history which regarded Jehovah only as one among many Gods, the one who fought on the side of the Israelites, and who ought to be worshipped by them; and, contrasted with it, the later and truly monotheistic ideal of the prophets, which emphasised the solity of Jehovah. -Nature, Sir Norman Lockyer, 1906

• In conformity with the law governing the development of paganism, the Semitic gods tended to become pantheistic because they comprehended all nature and were identified with it. The various deities were nothing but different aspects under which the supreme and infinite being manifested itself. Although Syria remained deeply and even coarsely idolatrous in practice, in theory it approached monotheism or, better perhaps, henotheism. -The Oriental Religions in Roman paganism, Franz Valéry Marie Cumont, Grant Showerman, 1911

The Storyline
She had met Andy, now an expert on early Christian henotheistic sects, through her brother when both men were at seminary.

Origin:
Greek heno-,  comb. form of hén  one (neut. of heîs ) + theism 
The term was first coined by Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling (1775–1854) and was later brought into common usage by linguist Max Müller (1823–1900).

Sources: Wikipedia, Dictionary.com

Why This Word:
To understand the concept of henotheism, we need to contrast it both with monotheism and monolatrism - the recognition of the existence of many gods, but with the consistent worship of only one deity.  The monotheist worships one god and precludes the possibility of any other. The monolatrist allows that there may be many gods, but worships only one. And the henotheist worships the one, but neither allows nor precludes the existence of others.

To be sure, these are academic distinctions not likely to be discussed outside of seminaries. However, what's interesting to me is that this term coined to describe a stage of the early transition from polytheism to monotheism is becoming relevant again today. In an age of spiritual searching, I've heard people describe to me their pantheism, process theism, universalism, syncretism and an ecumenicism bordering on henotheism or monolatrism. People are trying to reconcile discrete and exclusive beliefs with knowledge of and respect for other beliefs in an increasingly interconnected world.

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

benison

ben•i•son (BEN-uh-suhn)  n

Definition:
a blessing, beatitude, benediction

Related:
Synonyms: blessing, beatitude, benediction
Antonyms: malison
Related Words: benediction, benefit, benefactor

Sentence Examples:
• It is my greatest and best book. It is the one that will live for weeks after other books have passed away. Even to those who cannot read, it will come like a benison when there is no benison in the house. To the ignorant, the pictures will be pleasing. The wise will revel in its wisdom, and the housekeeper will find that with it she may easily emphasize a statement or kill a cockroach. -Remarks, Bill Nye

• "At any rate, my dear," she said that evening, as she paused, candle in hand, by her bedroom door, "at any rate I hope you'll do nothing that is unbecoming to a gentlewoman." Such was her benison. -Septimus, William J. Locke

• On these roads the lark in summer is continually heard; nests are plentiful in the hedges and dry ditches; and on the grassy banks, and at the feet of the bowed dikes, the blue-eyed speedwell smiles its benison on the passing wayfarer. -Dreamthorp, Alexander Smith

The Storyline
"You should find another boy like that. You will, just you see," was both her mother's benison and instruction.

Origin:
 c.1300, from O.Fr. beneiçon "blessing, benediction," from L. benedictionem (nom. benedictio), noun of action from pp. stem of benedicere "to speak well of, bless," from bene "well"

Sources: Wiktionary, Online Etymology

Why This Word:
Molto bene! Benison comes to us from the Latin for benediction, by way of French, and means much the same. Despite its ecclesiastical origin and connotations, however, in usage it seems to have a more secularized meaning. While it seem odd to think of a benediction outside a religious context, you may offer your benison in any context, like a blessing. Unlike blessing, it is not also freighted with the sense of sanction.

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

multeity

mul•te•i•ty (MUL-tee-i-tee)  n

Definition:
multiplicity, state of being many, manifoldness

Related:
Related Words: multitude, multiple

Sentence Examples:
• In order to derive pleasure from the occupation of the mind, the principle of unity must always be present, so that in the midst of the multeity the centripetal force be never suspended, nor the sense be fatigued by the predominance of the centrifugal force. This unity in multeity I have elsewhere stated as the principle of beauty. It is equally the source of pleasure in variety, and in fact a higher term including both. -On Poesy or Art, Samuel Taylor Coleridge

• If we could have been in Paradise, and seen God take a clod of red earth, and make that wretched clod of contemptible earth such a body as should be fit to receive his breath, &c. A sort of pun on the Hebrew word 'Adam' or red earth, common in Donne's age, but unworthy of Donne, who was worthy to have seen deeper into the Scriptural sense of the 'ground,' the Hades, the multeity, the many 'absque numero el infra numerum', that which is below, as God is that which transcends, intellect. -The Literary Remains Of Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The Storyline
Her relationship with Andy had always been a multeity of emotions, meanings and states. And now some of those long neglected conflicts were brought again to the fore.

Origin:
from Latin multus  many

Sources: WordSmith, Dictionary of Difficult Words

Why This Word:
Samuel Taylor Coleridge appears to coined and championed this word. So let him explain why.

Much against my will I repeat this scholastic term, multeity, but I have sought in vain for an unequivocal word of a less repulsive character, that would convey the notion in a positive and not comparative sense in kind, as opposed to the unum et simplex, not in degree, as contracted with the few.

It meant to convey multiplicity in itself, not as opposed to unity or singularity, but as a quality in its own right. A multiplicity is contained in something. A multeity is a thing in itself. Nonetheless, the idea of unity in multeity (as quoted above) provides its most enduring use. Coleridge is right, it is an academic distinction, but one still well worthwhile.

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

whilom

whi•lom (HWAHY-luhm, WAHY-)

Definition:
–adjective
1. former, erstwhile
–adverb
2. at one time, formerly

Related:
Synonyms: erstwhile, late, old, once, onetime, other, past, quondam, sometime, former
Related Words: while

Sentence Examples:
• I could eat no more, so I turned to my whilom informant to learn as much as I could and sought to draw him out with far-fetched gossip. -The Satyricon, Petronius Arbiter

• The fact that I could not have known my departed relation did not prevent two of my cousins, elderly maiden ladies who had had that privilege, from writing to me in great indignation at my having ventured to travesty my old aunt. They had found me out (I am always being found out), and the vials of their wrath were poured out over me. In my whilom ignorance, in my lamblike innocence of the darker side of human nature, I actually thought that a disclaimer would settle the matter. -The Lowest Rung, Mary Cholmondeley

The Storyline
"And I ran into Andy, the other day," her mother continued. "He's looking well. He's getting married next June." Anna snapped back to the conversation at the mention of her whilom beau.

Origin:
before 900;  ME; OE hwilum  at times, dative plural of hwil while

The word dates to Old English, at a time when the language was heavily inflected — adjectives, nouns, and verbs taking different endings depending on the job they were doing. Whilom — then spelt hwilom — was the dative plural of hwil, the same word as our modern while. As English progressively lost its inflections, the word became a fossil, with its ending stuck to it permanently; at the same time the meaning shifted to mean something of a former time, a change that was complete by the fifteenth century.

Sources: Dictionary.com
Why This Word:
While whilom has close synonyms and has largely become itself - former, erstwhile - it has a poetry about it. Not just any noun is suited to taking whilom as a modifier. Like the more common erstwhile, whilom carries, by dint of its archaism, a certain nostalgia for the former thing being described.

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

ambitendency

am•bi•ten•den•cy (am-bi-TEN-duhn-see)  n

Definition:
a tendency to contradictory behavior arising from conflicting impulses

ambitendent, adjective

Related:
Related Words: ambivalent, ambidextrous

Sentence Examples:
• The law of psychic ambivalence and ambitendency, as so nicely developed by Bleuler, here shows itself in marked degree. There is both the positive and the negative tendency toward the performance and execution of these activities and reactions which are necessary for the living of a life of a high or low degree of efficiency, so that the ticquer is obsessed by the problem of "to do or not to do." -The Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1998

• This normal ambitendency, however, never leads to an inhibition or prevention of the intended act, but is the indispensable preliminary requirement for its perfection and coordination. -Psychology of the Unconscious

• Thus, Rank sees man as characterized by a basic ambitendency: driven by life fear to union with others, to relationships of symbiosis and dependence, to losing oneself and one's identity in the collectivity — and, on the other hand, driven by death fear to an assertion of oneself and one's individuality, to a separation of oneself from others, to independence and uniqueness. -The Creativity Question, Albert Rothenberg, Carl R. Hausman, 1976

The Storyline
...by Anna's own ambitendency when it came to asserting herself with her mother.

Origin:
ambi-
    combining form meaning "both, on both sides," from L. ambi- "around, round about," from PIE *ambhi- "around". The PIE root is probably an ablative plural of *ant-bhi "from both sides," from *ant- "front, forehead"
tendency
    from M.L. tendentia "inclination, leaning," from L. tendens, prp. of tendere "to stretch, aim"

Sources: Dictionary.com

Why This Word:
While ambivalence is a tendency towards contradictory feeling, ambitendency is a tendency towards contradictory behaviors. And yet as equally useful as each word is, one is in common usage and the other almost entirely the province of psychology. I'd submit that often when people express being ambivalent, they really mean they are ambitendent - and ambitendency that has presented them with a bivious choice of how to proceed.

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

nugatory

nu•ga•tor•y (NOO-guh-tohr-ee)  adj

Definition:
1. of no real value; trifling; worthless
2. of no force or effect; ineffective; futile; vain
3. not valid
(often following "render")

Related:
Synonyms: inoperative, invalid, nonbinding, nonvalid, null, void, trivial, insignificant, frivolous, useless
Related Words: nugacity, nugacious, nugae

Sentence Examples:
• "The Statesman who, knowing his instrument to be ready, and seeing War inevitable, hesitates to strike first is guilty of a crime against his country."
It is because this sequence of cause and effect is absolutely unknown to our Members of Parliament, elected by popular representation, that all our efforts to ensure a lasting peace by securing efficiency with economy in our National Defences have been rendered nugatory. -On War, Carl von Clausewitz, 1874

• All entirely bad works of art may be divided into those which, professing to be imaginative, bear no stamp of imagination, and are therefore false, and those which, professing to be representative of matter, miss of the representation and are therefore nugatory. -Modern Painters, John Ruskin

• In it form is not used as an object of emotion, but as a means of suggesting emotions. This alone suffices to make it nugatory; it is worse than nugatory because the emotion it suggests is false. -Art, Clive Bell

The Storyline
And any attempt to interject would be rendered nugatory...

Origin:
1603; from L. nugatorius "worthless, futile," from nugator (gen. nugatoris) "jester, trifler," from nugatus, pp. of nugari "to trifle," from nugæ (gen. nugarum) "jokes, jests, trifles," of unknown origin

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Why This Word:
Closely related nugacious means nearly the same as nugatory: trivial, unimportant or insignificant. But it doesn't carry the sense of being rendered invalid, moving from potential force to ineffectiveness. Nugatory has a meaning in a legal context: a statute which is unconstitutional is a nugatory law.

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

tantivy

tan•tiv•y (tan-TIV-ee)

Definition:
–adverb
1. at full gallop
–adjective
2. swift, rapid
–noun
3. a gallop, rush
4. the blare of a trumpet or horn
–interjection
5. used as a hunting cry when the chase is at full speed

Related:
Synonyms: swift, rapid, rushed, rush

Sentence Examples:
• Then Jack placed the horn to his mouth, and blew with all his might such a loud tantivy, that the Giant awoke and rushed towards Jack, exclaiming: “You saucy villain, why are you come here to disturb my rest? you shall pay dearly for this. I will take you home, and broil you whole for my breakfast.”  -The Story of Jack and the Giants

• He was of a nature to ride tantivy into anything that promised excitement or adventure. -Australia Felix, Henry Handel Richardson

• Friar John began to paw, neigh, and whinny at the snout's end, as one ready to leap, or at least to play the ass, and get up and ride tantivy to the devil like a beggar on horseback.  -Gargantua And His Son Pantagruel, Francis Rabelais

The Storyline
Not that she had much choice as her mother was rambling on tantivy about her brother's trip.

Origin:
1635–45; origin uncertain, perhaps imitative of galloping hooves

Sources: Dictionary.com

Why This Word:

Although its precise origin isn't known, one theory has it that "tantivy" represents the sound of a galloping horse's hooves. The noun does double duty as a word meaning "the blare of a trumpet or horn." The second use probably evolved from confusion with "tantara," a word for the sound of a trumpet that came about as an imitation of that sound. Both "tantivy" and "tantara" were used during foxhunts; in the heat of the chase people may have jumbled the two.

It's interesting that both uses of the word possibly are instances of onomonopia. I'm going to hazard another guess though. It starts with the trumpet sound which was imitated with tantara and/or perhaps even tantivy. That became a hunting call - calling for the trumpet to sound. And then that became synonymous or associated with being at full gallop. Tantivy was some regional variation of that somewhere in the process. This, of course, is pure speculation on my part. But it does seem at least plausible to me that it started with the horn blowing in the hunt and that these words came from that and then became associated with going at full gallop.

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

Laputan

La•pu•tan (luh-PYOO-tuhn)  adj

Definition:
1. an inhabitant of a flying island in Swift's Gulliver's Travels characterized by a neglect of useful occupations and a devotion to visionary projects
2. absurdly impractical or visionary, especially to the neglect of more useful activity

Related:
Synonyms: visionary, windy, airy, impractical, utopian


Sentence Examples:
• His friends wished that so ingenious and agreeable a fellow might have more prosperity than they ventured to hope for him, their chief regret on his account being that he did not concentrate his talent and leave off forming opinions on at least half-a-dozen of the subjects over which he scattered his attention, especially now that he had married a "nice little woman" (the generic name for acquaintances' wives when they are not markedly disagreeable). He could not, they observed, want all his various knowledge and Laputan ideas for his periodical writing which brought him most of his bread, and he would do well to use his talents in getting a speciality that would fit him for a post. -Impressions of Theophrastus Such, George Eliot, 1879

• It is a guess, even a wild Laputan conjecture But we are here concerned with Laputan themes and speculations; like Mr. Darwin, we are making " fools' experiments." -Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, Society for Psychical Research, 1901

•He is, however, just as wide of the mark as the Laputan architect, who contrived a new method for building houses by beginning at the roof and continuing the walls down to the ground. -Centennial Magazine, 1890

The Storyline
But trying to argue the point was about as Laputan an effort as her childhood attempt to teach her goldfish to read lips, so Anna remained silent.

Origin:
1726, After the flying island of Laputa in Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, where absurd projects are pursued and useful pursuits neglected.

Sources: Merriam-Webster, Free Dictionary

Why This Word:
That Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels became an argosy of toponyms and eponyms is a testament to how well Swift captured the variety of human archetypes. In addition to Laputan, there's Brobdingnagian, yahoo and Lilliputian. Of these, only yahoo has become a word in its own right sufficiently that we no longer need to capitalize it. When we call some a yahoo it isn't through reference to the group of people in Gulliver's Travels. When we refer to someone or something as Lilliputian or Brobdingnagian, it is.

As "la puta" means "the whore", some Spanish editions of "Gulliver's Travels" use "Lapuntu" and "Lupata" as euphemisms. It is likely, given Swift's way of satire, that he was aware of the Spanish meaning (Gulliver himself claimed Spanish among the many languages in which he was fluent).

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

toponym

top•o•nym (TOP-uh-nim)  n

Definition:
1. a name of a place
2. a name that indicates origin, natural locale, etc
3. a name derived from a place or region

toponymic adjective

Related:
Related Words: from topos, "place": toponymy, the study of place-names, toponymist, one who studies place-names; topography, topology, isotope, utopia, topiary
from onym, "name": anonymous, antonym, synonym, metonym - and many others

Sentence Examples:
• The absence of the toponym "Samaritan, Samaritans" is conspicuous also in later biblical writings, eg, in the post-Exilic books, including the Aramaean portions. -The Creation of sacred literature, Richard Elliott Friedman, 1981

• The toponym allows the “individualization of a place that is extracted, through the language, from a space that is globally undifferentiated." ... A toponym generates discontinuity and punctuates space. It introduces a network of differences into the continuity of the landscape and topography. -The sovereign map: theoretical approaches in cartography throughout history,Christian Jacob, Edward H. Dahl, 2006

• Many other interpretations of this toponym, however, have been offered. In my earlier study of this toponym, I agreed with several earlier scholars who suggested that this name derived from either a genuine Semitic expression or a Semetic popular etymology of an Egyptian toponym meaning "the mouth of the canal." -Ancient Israel in Sinai, James Karl Hoffmeier, 2005

The Storyline
"He's been going there so often," she continued, "do you think he's becoming Israelified?" And Anna had to grit her teeth at both the xenophobia and her mother's propensity to make up toponyms.

Origin:
1939, from comb. form of Gk. topos "place" + -onym "name"; back-formation from toponymy, 1876

Sources: Online Etymology, Your Dictionary

Why This Word:
It's a word about words in blog about words. What's not to love? It's a word about place-names and words derived from place-names. Although it should be noted that the Oxford Companion to the English Language makes clear that words like champagne, meaning the wine, are not properly referred to as toponyms, while Champagne, the region in France is.

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

ossuary

os•su•ar•y (OS-oo-er-ee)  n

Definition:
a place where the bones of the dead are deposited; a charnel house

Related:
Synonyms: casket, coffin, charnel house
Related Words: osseous, ossify

Sentence Examples:
• In the middle, an open ossuary contains skeletons that have been exhumed in order to make room for other corpses. Who has said: "Life is a hostelry, and the grave is our home?" But these corpses do not remain in their graves, for they are only tenants and are ejected at the expiration of the lease. -Over Strand and Field, Gustave Flaubert, 1904

• Here and there amid this enormous game of knucklebones there could be traced the imaginary ruins of medieval cities with forts and dungeons, pepper-box turrets, and machicolated towers. And in truth these Bad Lands are an immense ossuary where lie bleaching in the sun myriads of fragments of pachyderms, chelonians, and even, some would have us believe, fossil men, overwhelmed by unknown cataclysms ages and ages ago. -Robur the Conqueror, Jules Verne, 1886

• While the old hut-man was lamenting and adding another chapter to the horrors of the mountain, hoping for fresh ossuary relics for his charnel glass-case, the Swedish youth and his guides, who had returned from their expedition, set off in search of the hapless Tartarin with ropes, ladders, in short a whole life-saving outfit, alas! unavailing... -Tartarin On The Alps, Alphonse Daudet, 1887

The Ossuary of James

The Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic

The Storyline
"Your brother just got back from Israel. He and his research assistant where there to examine the Ossuary of James," she started without so much as a how-are-you.

Origin:
1658, "an urn for the bones of the dead," from L.L. ossuarium "charnel house," from L. os "bone"

Sources: Webster's 1913 Dictionary, Online Etymology

Why This Word:

To get down to the bone of the matter, as opposed to a casket or coffin, an ossuary is a building, room or receptacle for the storage of bones not bodies - perhaps in mass or perhaps after putting the body out to decay naturally on a stone "table" and then collecting the remaining bones.

They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary.

The use of an ossuary would just seem bizarre to us today in the West, a relic of more "primitive" times. We prefer a more sanitized approach. We lay out our dead all decked out and made-up to seem alive, in satin-lined and very expensive boxes. Our answer to the shortage of space for individual burials is cremation. But an ossuary in some form or another would make perfect sense over much of the span of human history.

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

invious

in•vi•ous (IN-vi-uhs)  adj

Definition:
untrodden, impassable, inaccessible, without paths or roads

inviousness noun

Related:
Synonyms: untrodden, impassable, inaccessible
Related Words: bivious, obvious, impervious, devious, deviate, previous

Sentence Examples:
• Of the very early history of Hastings we know practically nothing, save that it seems to have been for many years a place apart.  Shut off from the west by the invious flats of Pevensey, then one vast network of lagoons: from the east by the greater marsh of Romney; secluded on the north by the grey mystery of Andredesweald, which in those days came as far south as the top of Fairlight Hill, the people experienced a
certain splendid isolation. -Hastings and Neighbourhood, Walter Higgins, 1920
• If nothing can oppugn love
And virtue invious ways can prove,
What may he not confide to do
That brings both love and virtue too?
-Hudibras, Samuel Butler, 1662

The Storyline
Anna knew her mother's invious mind well and so knew better than to try to ferret out her true purpose in calling.

Origin:
Latin in- "not" + via "way, road" from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *wegh-, which also gave Sanskrit vah-âmi "bring, lead," German Weg "way" and Wagen "wagon," and English "way" and "wagon."

Sources: Your Dictionary

Why This Word:
The road less traveled? No way! More the road not traveled. Invious can carry the sense both of untraveled or untravelable in a physical sense as well as inaccessible in more metaphorical sense. It should not be confused with envious, which isn't related etymologically. However, a brief scan of search results for invious found more uses as misspellings of envious than as the word itself.
And it's a shame. We need a word for the road not traveled.

Word-E: A Word-A-Day