Iwis \ih-WIS\
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Adverb
1. Obsolete. certainly. |
Quotes
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"Ye, iwis," quoth that other wye, "here is
wayth fayrest / That I sey this seven yere in sesoun of wynter."
-- , Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, circa 1375 |
Origin
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Iwis has been around in English since before 900. It finds its roots
in the Old English adjective gewiss meaning
"certain."
Thanks to: www.dictionary.com
|
Bibliophobe \BIB-lee-uh-fohb\
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Noun
1. A person who hates, fears, or distrusts books. |
Quotes
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"But they are slow to make. The printing press can produce many
copies of the same book, you see. With this, anyone who wanted a book could
simply go in a shop and buy it as other things are bought." I frowned,
not convinced at all that this was a good thing. The king laughed. "So
Kate, my bibliophobe, what would you rather be doing than
reading?"
-- Susan Higginbotham, The Stolen Crown, 2010 |
Origin
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Bibliophobe comes from the Greek biblion meaning
"book" and phóbos "fear."
Thanks to: www.dictionary.com
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Ablactate \ab-LAK-teyt\
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Verb
1. To wean. |
Quotes
|
His style, however, has found imitators; especially of late years,
since the rage commenced of disfiguring and debasing our language by
innovation. Such writers, instead of brittle, would say fragile; instead of
fruitfulness, feracity; and humectate, steril, desiderate, ablactate,
indigitate, etc. instead of moisten, barren, desire (or wish for), wean,
point out, etc.
-- James Beattie, The Works of James Beattie, LL.D., Vol. IV, 1809 |
Origin
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Ablactate entered English in the 1700’s and combines
the Latin prefix ab- meaning "from" or
"away," and lac meaning "milk."
Thanks to: www.dictionary.com
|
Higgledy-piggledy \HIG-uhl-dee-PIG-uhl-dee\
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Adverb
1. In a jumbled, confused, or disorderly manner; helter-skelter. Adjective 1. Confused; jumbled. |
Quotes
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Within six hours, Kesselring had ordered all or parts of eleven
divisions to converge around the Colli Laziali in what he would later term a
"higgledy-piggledy jumble."
-- Rick Atkinson, The Day of the Battle, 2007 |
Origin
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Higgledy-piggledy came to English in the late 1500’s and is a
rhyming compound of uncertain origin.
Thanks to: www.dictionary.com
|
Quotha \KWOH-thuh\
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Interjection
1. Archaic. Indeed! (Used ironically or contemptuously in quoting another). |
Quotes
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Lady H. H: A tar barrel, quotha! A thorn tree—quotha!
You that were harping on galaxies and milky ways! You that were swearing I
outshone 'em all!
-- Virginia Woolf, Between the Acts, 1941 |
Origin
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Quotha entered English in the early 1500’s from quoth a meaning
"quoth he." Quoth, an archaic verb meaning
"said," has been used since Middle English was spoken.
Thanks to: www.dictionary.com
|
Pilar \PAHY-ler\
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Adjective
1. Of, pertaining to, or covered with hair. |
Quotes
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Their bodies are remarkably smooth, and devoid of pilar hair…
-- James Cowles Prichard, Researches Into the Physical History of Mankind, 1826 |
Origin
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Pilar came to English in the mid-1800’s from the New Latin pilāris meaning
"of hair."
Thanks to: www.dictionary.com
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Galoot \guh-LOOT\
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Noun
1. Slang. An awkward, eccentric, or foolish person. |
Quotes
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Only
the galoot still looks ready to fight, and
Henry almost hopes they will fight…
-- Stephen King, Dreamcatcher, 2001 |
Origin
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Galoot entered English in the early 1800’s and
is of unknown origin.
Thanks to: www.dictionary.com
|
