Adjure
uh-JOOR
1: to command solemnly under or
as if under oath or penalty of a curse
2: to urge or advise earnestly
Adjure and its synonyms entreat,
importune, and implore all mean "to ask earnestly." Adjure implies
advising as well as pleading, and is often accompanied by the invocation of something
sacred ("in God's name, I adjure you to cease"). Entreat implies an
effort to persuade or overcome resistance ("he gently entreated her to
stay"). Importune goes further, adding a sense of annoying persistence in
trying to break down resistance to a request ("importuning viewers for
contributions"). Implore, on the other hand, suggests a great urgency or
anguished appeal on the part of the speaker ("she implored the king to
have mercy")
Billet-doux
bill-ee-DOO
A love letter
The first recorded use of the
French word billet doux (literally, "sweet letter") in an English
context occurs in John Dryden's 1673 play Marriage a-la-Mode.
Weltanschauung
VELT-ahn-show-ung ("ow" as in
"cow")
(Often capitalized
Weltanschauung) a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world
especially from a specific standpoint
The German word Weltanschauung
literally means "world view"; it combines Welt ("world")
with Anschauung ("view"), which ultimately derives from the Middle
High German verb schouwen ("to look at" or "to see"). When
we first adopted it from German in the mid-19th century, weltanschauung
referred to a philosophical view or apprehension of the universe, and this sense
is still the most widely used. It can also describe a more general ideology or
philosophy of life.
Ragtag
RAG-tag
1: ragged, unkempt
2: composed of diverse often incongruous
elements: motley
Tag and rag was a relatively
common expression in the 16th and 17th centuries, and it was often used
pejoratively to refer to members of the lower classes of society. By the 18th
century, the phrase had been expanded to ragtag and bobtail. That expression
could mean either "the lower classes" or "the entire lot of
something" (as opposed to just the more desirable parts—the entire unit of
an army, for example, not just its more capable soldiers). Something described
as ragtag and bobtail, then, was usually common and unspectacular. Ragtag and
bobtail was eventually shortened to ragtag, the adjective we know today, which
can describe an odd mixture that is often hastily assembled or second-rate
Struwwelpeter
STROO-uhl-pee-tuhr
A person with long, thick,
disheveled hair.
From Struwwelpeter, the title
character of the 1845 children’s book Der Struwwelpeter (Shockheaded Peter) by
Heinrich Hoffman. Earliest documented use: 1909.
Peradventure
PER-ud-ven-cher
1: doubt
2: the possibility of a
particular outcome in an uncertain situation : chance
When Middle English speakers borrowed par
aventure from Anglo-French (in which language it means, literally, "by
chance"), it was as an adverb meaning "perhaps" or
"possibly." Before long, the word was anglicized to peradventure, and
turned into a noun as well.
Carceral
KAHR-suh-rul
of, relating to, or suggesting a
jail or prison
Our earliest known evidence of
carceral—an adjective borrowed directly from Late Latin—dates to the late 16th
century, with evidence of incarcerate ("to imprison") appearing
shortly thereafter; they're both ultimately from carcer, Latin for
"prison." The English verb cancel is also linked to carcer via Latin
cancelli, a word meaning "lattice" that likely developed from an
alteration of carcer. Carceral is a word that is generally not found outside
the confines of academic or legal contexts.
Bovarism
BO-vuh-riz-em
A romanticized, unrealistic view
of oneself.
From Emma Bovary, the title
character in Gustave Flaubert’s 1857 novel Madame Bovary. Earliest documented
use: 1902.
Nexus
NEK-sus
1: connection, link; also : a
causal link
2: a connected group or series
3: center, focus
The word comes from nectere, a
Latin verb meaning "to bind." A number of other English words are
related to nectere. The most obvious is connect, but annex (meaning "to
attach as an addition," or more specifically "to incorporate into a
political domain") is related as well. When nexus came into English in the
17th century, it meant "connection." Eventually, it took on the
additional meaning "connected series" (as in "a nexus of
relationships"). In the past few decades it has taken a third meaning:
"center" (as in "the trade nexus of the region"), perhaps
from the notion that a point in the center of an arrangement serves to join
together the objects that surround it.
Gnathonic
na-THON-ik
Sycophantic.
From Gnatho, a sycophant in the
comedy Eunuchus (The Eunuch) by the Roman playwright Terence, written in 161
BCE. The name is coined from the Greek word gnathos (jaw). The subject of
Gnatho’s flattery, Thraso, has also given a word to the English language:
thrasonical. Earliest documented use: 1637.
Luculent
LOO-kyuh-lunt
clear in thought or expression
The Latin noun lux, meaning
"light." The English word first appeared in the 15th century with the
meaning "brilliant" or "shining," as in "a luculent
flame." By the mid-16th century, the "clear in thought or expression"
sense had begun to shine, and by that century's end another sense was
flickering with the meaning "illustrious" or "resplendent,"
as in Ben Jonson's 1599 description of a "most debonair and luculent
lady." Both the "illustrious" and the "emitting light"
senses have fallen out of use, and even the "clear" sense is now
rare. Today's writers seem to prefer another lux descendant with a similar
meaning: lucid.