Category: Word Trivia

technical

spod – A studious person who is quite socially inept or dull or a person who pursues an unfashionable, technical, or esoteric interest with obsessive dedication. More…

masterpiece – Originally, it was used in a technical or academic sense to apply to a work that was presented to a medieval guild for qualification as a “master.” More…

technical, technic – Technical is based on technic, an adjective meaning “pertaining to art,” from Greek tekhne, “art.” More…

technicize – To make technical. More…

healing

balsam – First referred to an aromatic resinous substance with healing or soothing properties. More…

healing, curing – Healing is a process in which an organism’s health is restored; curing is a method that promotes healing. More…

psychiatry – From Greek psykhe, “mind,” and iatreia, “healing.” More…

salve – The main semantic element is “healing,” but the etymological meaning is “oily substance.” More…

ignore

flout, flaunt – Flout means “defy, ignore” and flaunt means “show off.” More…

ignore, disregard – Ignore is properly used of things that are present in one’s surroundings; for things like rules, conventions, stipulations, and contracts, the right word is disregard. More…

stet – Latin for “let it stand,” a notation to ignore a correction made to a text. More…

pretermit – To pass over or ignore something. More…

purposes

all intents and purposes – A redundant phrase, created for emphasis. More…

blamestorming – An intense discussion for the purposes of placing blame or assigning responsibility for a misdeed or failure. More…

celebrant, celebrator, reveler – Celebrants take part in religious ceremonies; celebrators or revelers gather for purposes of revelry. More…

teleology – The study of design in nature; the word’s basic meaning is “the study of ends or purposes”—attempts to understand the purpose of a natural occurrence by looking at its results. More…

surrounded

involve – First meant “enfold, surround, wrap.” More…

enclave, exclave – An enclave is a group or area different from the surroundings, a secured area within another secured area, from Latin clavis, “key”; an exclave is the same thing, but usually describes a portion of a country separated from the main part and surrounded by politically alien territory. More…

woebegone – Begone in woebegone means “beset” or “surrounded,” so the word means “beset by woe.” More…

glade – Originally referred to a part of water not frozen over, but surrounded by ice, drawing an analogy to the same word for an opening in the woods. More…

scent

breath – From an Old English word meaning “scent, smell.” More…

flair – Comes from Latin fragrare, “smell sweet,” and was first the ability to detect the “essence” or “scent” of something and know how to act accordingly. More…

red herring – Something intended to be misleading or distracting, so named from the practice of using the scent of red herring in training hounds. More…

relish – First meant “odor, scent,” then “taste, flavor.” More…

presence

hoodoo – A person who practices voodoo; the word also describes a person or thing whose presence is supposed to bring bad luck. More…

al fresco – Implies the presence of some nearby structure (one does not hike al fresco). More…

pyrosis – Heartburn is actually pyrosis, caused by the presence of gastric secretions, called reflux, in the lower esophagus. More…

evince – To indicate, to reveal the presence of a quality or feeling. More…

turkey

poult – A young domestic fowl (like a turkey) being raised for food. More…

meleagrine – The adjective form of turkey. More…

wattle – The fleshy part hanging from the neck of a turkey or other bird. More…

turkey – Originally the name for African guinea fowl, it eventually became the name for the Western hemisphere fowl with which the earlier fowl was confused; it is short for turkeycock or turkeyhen. More…