TriphthongTrif-thongNouna phonological unit consisting of three successive vocalic sounds in one syllable; three vowel sounds pronounced as oneTechnically, the word hour contains a triphthong.First used in English in 1559, but no one recalls (or cares) why.
Word of the Week
My Word! March 11
by Betsey Ellis •
Scotoma Sco-to-ma Noun A spot in the visual field where vision is absent or impaired The presence of a scotoma may be a symptom of glaucoma. This one was first found in English in 1822, but of course came from Latin, and they stole it from the Greek verb skotoun, meaning to darken.
Word of the Week
My Word! March 4
by Betsey Ellis •
Raad Ra-ad Noun An electric catfish Ralph was shocked when it turned out he had caught a raad. I am not quite sure where raad are found, but the name comes from the Arabic word ra”ad, meaning threatener or striker, which still strikes me as an odd term for a fish.
Word of the Week
My Word! February 26
by Betsey Ellis •
Quoll Kwal Noun A small spotted marsupial found in Australia and New Guinea It is amazing that this species survives since the northern male quoll dies after mating a single time. This dates back to 1770 and comes from the Australian aboriginal language Guugu Yimidhirr word je-quoll for the little critters.
Word of the Week
My Word! February 19
by Betsey Ellis •
Pretermit pre·ter·mit A transitive verb To leave undone or neglect; To let pass without notice or to omit; To suspend indefinitely Shirley would never pretermit cleaning the litter boxes. This one goes back to the 15th Century!
Word of the Week
My Word! February 12
by Betsey Ellis •
Orthographer Or-thog-ra-fer Noun A person that is skilled in orthography; an expert speller Barbara once again proved she was an orthographer when she won the Spelling Bee for the third year in a row. It comes from late Latin, of course.
States Well Stated
WELCOME TO THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT
by Betsey Ellis •
Word of the Week
My Word! February 5
by Betsey Ellis •
Napoo Na-poo Adjective A British slang term meaning finished, done, dead, over, terminated (you get the idea). Teresa May’s political career is napoo at this point. Oddly enough our cousins across the Atlantic somehow got this one from the French phrase il n’y en a plus , meaning it is done or over.
Word of the Week
My Word! January 29
by Betsey Ellis •
Murine Mu-rine Adjective Of, like, or pertaining to mice and/or rats The scientist was constantly constructing new and more elaborate mazes for the rats to run in the course of his studies of murine intelligence. Yes it’s ultimately from Latin and goes back to 1607 in English. I suspect London.
Word of the Week
My Word! January 22
by Betsey Ellis •
Lochetic Lo-chet-ic Adjective Lying in wait for prey or waiting in ambush There are many insects that display a lochetic attitude while hunting. We cobbled this one from late Greek word lochētikos, which came from lochan, meaning to lie in wait.