GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Algot Runeman]

stealth

/stɛlθ/
noun
1 mass noun Cautious and surreptitious action or movement.
2 as modifier (chiefly of aircraft) designed in accordance with technology which makes detection by radar or sonar difficult.

Origin
Middle English (in the sense ‘theft’): probably representing an Old English word related to steal, + -th.

==========

Sid watched his cat demonstrate stealth as she took one last, cautious step before the final dash.

[Algot Runeman]

butty

(also buttie)
/ˈbʌti/
noun butties
informal Northern English
A filled or open sandwich.

Origin
Mid 19th century from butter+ -y.

==========

Benjamin enjoyed his bountiful butty before returning to work through the afternoon.



[Lingua obscura? Regional dialects may not have much chance to spread, though today's presentation of buttery, breaded bounty might begin to change that!]

[Algot Runeman]

witter

/ˈwɪtə/
verb
[no object]informal British
Speak at length about trivial matters.

Origin
Early 19th century (originally Scots and dialect): probably imitative.

==========

Walt regularly and willingly wittered. His fondest friends frequently fled.

[Algot Runeman]

magnolious

/maɡˈnəʊlɪəs/
adjective
informal, dated
Very good; magnificent.

Origin
Mid 19th century formed humorously from magnolia + -ous, influenced by magnificent.

==========

Martin made a magnolious mound of meaty mussels for dinner.

[voralfred]

magnolious

/maɡˈnəʊlɪəs/
adjective
informal, dated
Very good; magnificent.

Origin
Mid 19th century formed humorously from magnolia + -ous, influenced by magnificent.

==========

Martin made a magnolious mound of meaty mussels for dinner.

For me, it makes total sense to create this adjective from the noun of the most magnificent flower song of all: Magnolias for ever, by the great Claude François, the singer who first sang "Comme d'habitude" which later became Sinatra's "My Way" (with totally different lyrics)

Anyway, I cannot choose among these magnolious images

[Algot Runeman]

antechamber

/ˈantɪtʃeɪmbə/
noun
A small room leading to a main one.

Origin
Mid 17th century (as antichamber): from French antichambre, from Italian anticamera, from anti- ‘preceding’ + camera (see chamber).

==========

All the uncles had to wait in the antechamber while their nieces had their audience with the king.

[Algot Runeman]

delate

/dɪˈleɪt/
verb
[with object]
1 archaic Report (an offence or crime)
1.1 Inform against or denounce (someone)

Origin
Late 15th century from Latin delat- ‘referred, carried away’, from the verb deferre (see defer).

==========

Barry was quick to delate all his accomplices in order to get a reduced sentence...

...but you should know, this is not that reduced sentence.

[Algot Runeman]

stentorious

/stɛnˈtɔːrɪəs/
adjective
(of a person's voice) loud and powerful.

Origin
Early 17th century from Greek Stentōr, the name of a herald in the Trojan War.

==========

Sid sought senatorial office. He developed a stentorious delivery for his campaign speech-making. People at the back of the crowd appreciated it. Those at the front wished he had simply used a microphone and speakers.

[Algot Runeman]

xeric

/ˈzɪərɪk/ /ˈzɛrɪk/
adjective
Ecology
(of an environment or habitat) containing little moisture; very dry.
‘xeric conditions’
Compare with hydric and mesic

Origin
1920s from xero-‘dry’ + -ic.

==========

In no way should the duplication of xeric humor be attempted except with an actual Xerox™ machine.

[Algot Runeman]

herbary

/ˈhəːbəri/
noun herbaries
archaic
A herb garden.

=====-=====

I suspect that the main reason that "herbary" has become an archaic word is that those little jars in the cupboard are so much easier to deal with.

[Algot Runeman]

grebo

/ˈɡriːbəʊ/
noun grebos
informal British
A youth favouring heavy metal or punk rock music, and having long hair.

Origin
1980s perhaps from greaser, on the pattern of words such as dumbo.

==========

Greg grumbled grievously when called a grebo. He just liked his hair long.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

grebo
...
A youth favouring heavy metal or punk rock music, and having long hair.
...

Call them grebo, grubby or grimy, their music still isn't my cup of tea.

(Of course I'm no youth any more either.)

[Algot Runeman]

preternatural

(also praeternatural)
/ˌpriːtəˈnatʃ(ə)r(ə)l/
adjective
Beyond what is normal or natural.

Origin
Preternatural derives from the Latin praeter naturam, which means "beyond nature."

==========

The goal of this forum topic is to create, in others, the preternatural ability to flawlessly use English.

[Algot Runeman]

vinyl

/ˈvʌɪn(ə)l/
noun
1 mass noun Synthetic resin or plastic consisting of polyvinyl chloride or a related polymer, used for wallpapers and other covering materials and for gramophone records.
1.1 Vinyl used as the standard material for records.
1.2 count noun A vinyl record.
2 Chemistry
as modifier Of or denoting the unsaturated hydrocarbon radical —CH=CH₂, derived from ethylene by removal of a hydrogen atom.

Origin
Mid 19th century from Latin vinum ‘wine’ + -yl.

==========

Calvin calmly sipped his well-aged wine while listening to his treasured vinyl, spinning at exactly 33⅓ revolutions per minute on his precise turntable. He actually had no clue there was an etymological link between his recorded music and expensive wine.

[voralfred]

My wife often complains of my preternaturally stentorious voice.
I wonder if trying to record it on a vinyl would deteriorate this outmoded thing.

I wonder when the definition 1.2 will be considered as "archaic" as, say, herbary, delate, shrive, frore, wright or reave, to limit myself to this current month's WOTDs.

I've been unsucessfully trying to find an archaic form for the too generic word "thing". Can anyone help me?

[Algot Runeman]

I've been unsucessfully trying to find an archaic form for the too generic word "thing". Can anyone help me?

Perhaps "thing" is one of those indo-european core words carried forward effectively unchanged from its origins like "lox" for salmon.

[Algot Runeman]

spaghettification

/spəɡɛtifɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/
noun
mass noun Physics
The process by which (in some theories) an object would be stretched and ripped apart by gravitational forces on falling into a black hole.
‘The extreme tidal forces would stretch the observer head to foot; this effect is called spaghettification.’

==========

According to advertising legend, spaghettification may have begun on Wednesdays in Boston, Massachusetts.

[Algot Runeman]

fraught

/frɔːt/
adjective
1 fraught with (of a situation or course of action) filled with or likely to result in (something undesirable)
2 Causing or affected by anxiety or stress.

Origin
Late Middle English, ‘laden, equipped’, past participle of obsolete fraught ‘load with cargo’, from Middle Dutch vrachten, from vracht ‘ship's cargo’. Compare with freight.

==========

Marvin mostly managed life's baggage, and diligently tried tried to hide it in times fraught with stress. Unfortunately, recent events were rife with those times.



[We are rife with focus words today. Slipping in a four-letter almost-synonym. You might say we are loaded, or, at least, I might.]

[Algot Runeman]

E.P.S,

I was checking the word rebuff to see if we might have used it. We had. I was very glad I checked. I loved your irreverent story.

I hope you will remember it well and not rebuff my compliment.

[Algot Runeman]

guddle

/ˈɡʌd(ə)l/
verb
[no object] Scottish
1 Fish with the hands by groping under the stones or banks of a stream.
1.1 with object Catch (a fish) by guddling.

Origin
Mid 17th century of unknown origin.

==========

I suspect guddling at the stream's bank is typically less successful than using a dry fly.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

guddle
...
I suspect guddling at the stream's bank is typically less successful than using a dry fly.
...

I think you can coax piranhas to nibble your fingers.
You can then easily guddle them, just before they bite.
But you do need two hands, one to coax and the other to guddle.
Or have a Marsupilami catch them for you.

Spoiler: show

[Algot Runeman]

xiphoid

/ˈzɪfɔɪd/
adjective
technical
Sword-shaped.

Origin
Mid 18th century from Greek xiphoeidēs, from xiphos ‘sword’.

==========

Using a process known only to himself, after becoming a knight, Sir Rodney named his sword "Xyphoid".

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

xiphoid
...
Using a process known only to himself, after becoming a knight, Sir Rodney named his sword "Xyphoid".
...

He must have been psychoid and drunk on Xeres.

[Algot Runeman]

gîte

/ʒiːt/ /ʒit/
noun
A furnished holiday house in France, typically in a rural district.

Origin
French, from Old French giste; related to gésir ‘to lie’.

==========

It may be unfair to cheat,
But I still think that it's neat
To accomplish this tricky feat
With a new word like gîte.

With letters just four
No search (which needs more)
Can be had; that's for sure.
As a result, we skip that chore.

Straight on to the sample
Even though weak example
Never had cash that was ample
So through France could not trample.

[Algot Runeman]

love apple

noun
archaic
A tomato.
‘The tomato used to be called the love apple and this is nothing to do with its passionate color or suggestive shape.’

==========

One hopes some local love apple plants survived the deluge of hurricane Isaias.