Category: Word Trivia

collective fruit – That which is formed from a mass of flowers, as the mulberry, pineapple, etc. More…

Hawaiian pizza – A pizza topped with pineapple and ham or prosciutto. More…

pineapple – Originally, pineapple was the word for pinecone, since the cone is the fruit of the pine and apple had the former general meaning “fruit”; pineapple is neither “pine” nor “apple,” but is a very big berry and is also called “king pine” or “excellent fruit.” More…

multiple fruit, fruitlet – The pineapple is termed a multiple fruit because it forms from the individual ovaries of several flowers; each raised button on its surface is called a fruitlet. More…

Amazonian epoch – The Amazonian epoch is the most recent of the Martian geologic epochs, from 1,800 years ago to the present. More…

grey, gray – The distinction in spelling between British grey and American gray is recent, popping up in the 20th century. More…

Pleistocene, Pliocene, Miocene, Oligocene – Epochs indicating periods in the Earth’s geology; Pleistocene means “most recent,” Pliocene means “more recent,” Miocene means “moderately recent,” and Oligocence means “but a little recent.” More…

neoteric – Used to describe a person, especially an author, it means one belongs to modern/recent times—but it might also refer to a person having a modern outlook or new ideas; when used of things, it indicates that they are modern, new, or recent. More…

evagation – Means mental wandering or digression, also a digression in speech or writing. More…

mundivagant – Means “wandering around the world.” More…

vagation – The action of wandering, straying, or departing from the proper or regular course. More…

wanderjahr – Literally German for “wander year,” it refers to a year of wandering or travel. More…

beheadment – The removal of an initial letter of a word to form a new word (e.g. blather becomes lather). More…

curtailment – The removal of the last letter of a word to leave another word (e.g. goon becomes goo). More…

detail – Comes from French de-, “removal,” and tailler, “cut in pieces,” and means “to relate or describe minutely.” More…

water softening – The removal of calcium and magnesium ions from water, or their replacement with sodium, either by chemical reaction or by ion exchange. More…

brevet – An official or authoritative message in writing. More…

provost – Etymologically, an official “placed before” or “put in charge” of others, from Latin praepositus, “superintendent.” More…

bailiwick – Comes from bailie, “custody,” and -wick, “function of an official” or “place of jurisdiction.” More…

probate – The official proving of a will, from Latin probatum, “thing proved.” More…

fatstock – Livestock fattened for slaughter. More…

massacre – Comes from Latin mazacrium/masacrium, “slaughter.” More…

slaughter – From Old Norse, meaning “butcher’s meat.” More…

homicide, murder, manslaughter – The general term for the killing of a person by another is homicide; murder is either the intentional killing or the malicious killing of another, while manslaughter is the unintentional, accidental killing of another through carelessness. More…

ear to the ground – It was early Native Americans who taught us to, literally, keep an ear to the ground to listen for horses’ hooves as riders approached. More…

scout – From the Latin ausculture, “to listen,” it became Old French escoute, “a spy.” More…

hearken – To pay attention or listen; it can also mean “to return to a previous topic.” More…

listen, hear – To listen is to try to hear; to hear is simply to perceive with the ear. More…

narratage – The technique of having one character in the role of storyteller or the act of inserting bits of explanation into a narrative. More…

narrative – First an adjective meaning “telling the facts of a story,” from Latin narrare, which is also the base of narrate. More…

saga – Old Norse for “narrative.” More…

diegesis – The narrative or plot. More…

anointing of the sick – The Catholic sacrament in which a priest anoints a dying person with oil and prays for salvation. More…

decumbiture – The act of going to bed when sick. More…

ill – Originally meant not “sick” but “bad,” and was borrowed from Old Norse illr; the sense of “sick” arrived in the 15th century. More…

nauseous, nauseated – Nauseous (“sickening”) is an adjective describing something that causes nausea; the adjective for the feeling (“made sick”) is nauseated. More…

funeral – Once was a torchlight procession, from Latin funis, “torch”—because funerals of the Romans took place at night by torchlight. More…

kindle – The verb is related to Old Norse kyndill, “candle, torch.” More…

Drummond light – A torch that burns calcium oxide (lime) and gives off intense white light, it was named for Scottish engineer Capt. Thomas Drummond, R.E. (1797-1840), who invented it around 1825. More…

torch – From Latin torquere, it first referred to tarred twists of frayed rope. More…