Category: Word Trivia

freelance – Comes from the knights whose lances were free for hire and who were not pledged to one master; originally, a freelance was a free companion or a person free of occupational or political party obligation or allegiance. More…

hire – As a noun, it originally meant the payment for the use of something. More…

claque – A group of people hired to applaud an act or performer. More…

dry lease, wet lease – To rent an aircraft without a crew is a dry lease; a wet lease is to hire an aircraft with a crew. More…

cosmology – The study of the world as a totality of all phenomena in space and time. More…

noology – The science of intuition and reason as phenomena of the mind. More…

ontology, phenomenology – Ontology is the branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature or essence of being or existence, the opposite of phenomenology, the science of phenomena. More…

second nature – Originally Latin secundum naturam, “according to nature,” it is from Aristotelian philosophy and contrasts with phenomena that are super naturam (“above nature,” such as God’s grace), extra naturam (“outside nature”), supra naturam (“beyond nature,” such as miracles), or contra naturam (“against nature”). More…

benedick, benedict – A long-time bachelor who is newly married is a benedick or benedict. More…

quadrigamist – Someone who has married four times. More…

connubial – A synonym for “married, wedded.” More…

matrimony – From Latin matrimonium, “state of being married,” from mater, “mother,” and monium, “-mony” (state, condition). More…

dismal – Comes from French dies mali, “evil days,” and first meant the 24 evil or unlucky days of the medieval calendar (two per month). More…

infaust, infausting – Infaust is “unlucky” and infausting is “making unlucky.” More…

left-handed – Had a meaning of “unlucky” or “unseasonable.” More…

widdershins – Means “in a direction opposite of the usual one,” but can also mean “unlucky.” More…

flail – Based on Latin flagellum, “whip.” More…

lash – The flexible part of a whip. More…

scourge – Based on Latin ex-, “thoroughly,” and corriga, “whip.” More…

crack – The “crack” of a whip is the miniature sonic boom that occurs as the tip breaks the sound barrier. More…

dinner, supper – Dinner is the main meal of the day; supper is the last meal of the day and lighter than dinner. More…

short crust – Lighter and crispier than regular pastry crust. More…

spring roll – Smaller than egg rolls, they traditionally have a lighter, more delicate pastry wrap. More…

etiolate – Become whiter or lighter, especially by not getting enough light. More…

compete – Comes from Latin competere, “come together,” but in later Latin, it developed the sense “strive together,” which was the basis for the English term. More…

repugn, repugnant – Repugn means “to strive against” or “be contradictory or inconsistent,” giving us repugnant. More…

strive – Seems to be from Old French estriver, “quarrel, strive.” More…

win – Its Germanic base gave it its first meaning, “to labor, strive, work.” More…

dispense – Ultimately from Latin dispendere, “weigh out.” More…

expend – Comes from ex-, “out,” and pendere, “weigh; pay”; originally, it referred to spending money, with the root sense being “to weigh out money.” More…

preponderate – Once meant “weigh more” and “have greater intellectual weight.” More…

spend – A blend of Latin pendere, “pay, weigh,” and expendere, “pay out.” More…

macrograph – A life-size drawing or representation. More…

simulacrum – In the original sense of the word, it was simply a representation of something, such as an oil painting or marble statue. More…

representational art – Art that seeks to depict the physical appearance of reality; also called objective art and figurative art. More…

logogram, logograph, grammalogue – A logogram or logograph is the same as a grammalogue, a word represented by a single sign, like $. More…

causeway – A raised path, road, or way across a wet place or stretch of water—based on causey, “a mound, embankment, or dam to retain water.” More…

tumulus, barrow – A tumulus is the mound of earth placed over a tomb, synonymous with barrow. More…

hill of beans – Refers to the planting practice of placing the seeds in clumps in a little mound (hill) of soil. More…

moat – From French mote/motte, meaning “mound.” More…