recondite

rec•on•dite (REK-uhn-dahyt)  adj

Definition:
1. hidden from sight, concealed
2. difficult or impossible for one of ordinary understanding or knowledge to comprehend, deep
3. of, relating to, or dealing with something little known or obscure

reconditeness noun;  reconditely adverb

Related:
Synonyms: abstruse, arcane, deep, esoteric, hermetic, mysterious, secret
Related Words: scoundrel, condiment, abscond

Sentence Examples:
• There were over thirty dishes on the emblazoned menu, and of course I had wanted something that was not on it: a peculiar rusk, a rusk recondite and unheard of by my fellow-diners. The man had hopefully said that he "would see." And here lay the rusk, magically obtained. I felicitated him, as an equal. -Your United States, Arnold Bennett 1912

• Alan Merrick drew back with a vague gesture of distaste. "Oh, thank you," he replied; "but, do you know, I don't think I like deans, Mrs. Dewsbury." Mrs. Dewsbury's smile was recondite and diplomatic. "Then you'll exactly suit one another," she answered with gay wisdom. "For, to tell you the truth, I don't think SHE does either."  -The Woman Who Did, Grant Allen, 1895

• To the recognition of the apocalyptic fact that a workman can only be known by his work, and that without examination of his method and material that work can hardly be studied to much purpose, they have yet to add the knowledge of a further truth no less recondite and abstruse than this; that as the technical work of a painter appeals to the eye, so the technical work of a poet appeals to the ear. -A Study of Shakespeare, Algernon Charles Swinburne, 1918

The Storyline
"Hello, Mother," Anna answered the phone recognizing the caller ID.
"Hello, Angel," Anna's mother replied, her tone both sincere and recondite in its intentions at the same time.

Origin:
1649; from L. reconditus, pp. of recondere "store away," from re- "away, back" + condere "to store, hide, put together," from con- "together" + -dere "to put, place," comb. form of dare "to give". Meaning "removed from ordinary understanding, profound" is from 1650s; of writers or sources, "obscure," it is recorded from 1817

Sources: Merriam-Webster, Online Etymology

Why This Word:
Recondite means hidden. It's three meanings might be understood as hidden from sight, hidden from understanding and hidden by time or unfamiliarity. But we probably would not say that a child playing hide-and-seek is recondite. Recondite doesn't seem to carry the sense of hidden by act of deliberate physical removal and concealment by someone, but rather a more metaphorical hiding - hidden by the nature of the thing, a thought hidden by being kept inside.
The root condere "to store, hide" gives recondite some interesting relatives: scoundrel (to hide oneself), abscond (to hide away) and condiment (from condire "to preserve, pickle, season," variant of condere "to put away, store".)


Word-E: A Word-A-Day

marplot

mar•plot (MAHR-plot)  n

Definition:
an officious meddler whose interference compromises the success of an undertaking

Sentence Examples:
• No rheumatic old hero-invalid, battered in long wars with the doctors,—no droll marplot of a boy, could appear within range, but I could see in the changeful expression of my companion the admeasurement and quiet adjustment of the appeal which either made upon his sympathy or his humor. -Dream Life, Donald Mitchell, 1876

• Her husband had regarded her as a drag upon him, and did not consider her removal an occasion for the display of hypocritical grief. Rather was it to be regarded as an act of timely intervention on the part of Death, who for once had not acted as marplot in human affairs. -The Moon Rock, Arthur J. Rees, 1922

• The prophet who is stoned is not a brawler or a marplot. He is simply a rejected lover. He suffers from an unrequited attachment to things in general. -The Defendant, GK Chesteron, 1901

The Storyline
Anna found her way to her favorite chair to regroup and reconsider and once again adumbrate a plan for her life. But she had a premonition that even her plan to plan to would be foiled by some marplot. And, right on cue, the phone rang.

Origin:
1764: after Marplot, a character in The Busy Body, a play by Susannah Centlivre (1669-1723)

Sources: Free Dictionary

Why This Word:

In 1709, [Susanna Centlivre] had one of her greatest successes with The Busybody. The play ran for thirteen nights, which was a remarkable run for the time, and was revived the following season. In it, the character Marplot brings utter confusion to a series of couples who are attempting to woo. His well-intentioned efforts nearly derail all the romance. The play had over 450 performances by 1800, and went through 40 editions by 1884, and George I and George II both commanded performances be done.

The eponymous marplot is also something of a pun. Marplot mars the plots of the other characters of the play. Haven't we all met a marplot or two in our lives?

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

idoneous

i•do•ne•ous (ahy-DOH-nee-uhs)  adj

Definition:
fit, proper, suitable, convenient, adequate

idoneity noun; idoneously adverb

Related:
Synonyms: fit, proper, suitable, adequate


Sentence Examples:
• 'But tell me, is Martin an idoneous person?'
'Idoneous for what?'
'Oh, just idoneous. Two of the livings, if you can call them livings, are vacant; and this letter says I am required to present an idoneous person.'
'As far as benefices are concerned no one could be more idoneous, fitting or suitable than Martin, since he is an Anglican clergyman.'
'That makes him idoneous, does it? I was not aware.'
-The Truelove, Patrick O'Brien, 1993

• I have often and heartily wished that I might not be distracted by, nor engaged into, polemic writings, of which the world is too full already, and from which many more learned and idoneous have abstained ; and I did accordingly resolve that in this controversial age I should be slow to write, swift to read and learn. -Chamber's Cyclopædia of English Literature, Robert Chambers, 1902

• That which I have argued against, is not that any idoneous person may be admitted to propound, advise, and debate in a synod, for we deny them not deliberative voices; nay, in extraordinary synods such as this is, they that are no church officers may vote decisively : but in a settled church, that ordinarily any idoneous person may be sent as well as church officers, with the power of decisive voices, though others grant this, yet I dispute against it. -Assembly of divines, George Gillespie, David Meek,1846

The Storyline
The moment passed and she could only rationalize that such a momentary evasion was clearly idoneous under the circumstances.

Origin:
1605–15;  < L ido-neus, "fit, proper"

Sources: Webster's Unabridged (print)

Why This Word:
While idoneous may seem to have plenty of more common synonyms, none of them capture the joint meaning of both suitable and proper. Idoneity is necessary and sufficient to the task or need and conveys a sense of appropriateness and propriety as well. It carries a sense of both adequacy and sanction, and so holds a meaning no other word quite does.

Word-E: A Word-A-Day