JALOUSIE

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 30 June 2011

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JALOUSIE  (n. pl. -S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a window, door, or shutter with adjustable slats for admitting some air and light while excluding direct sun and rain

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -D, -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: JALOUSIED (adj.)

Epilogue:
From the French for “jealousy,” it is not clear whether this type of window took its name from the idea of being able to look through blinds without being seen, or from the people on the other side who were unable to see inside.  In any case, the more familiar word JEALOUS derives from the Greek zelos (“enthusiasm”), the same root behind ZEALOUS.  The meanings and spellings of these words diverged as they passed through other languages on the way to English.

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter J

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JEBEL

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 29 June 2011

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JEBEL  (n. pl. -S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a mountain or hill, often used in place names

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: D-
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: DjebelS
• Other Spellings: DJEBEL (n. pl. -S)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
You rock if you knew that Gibraltar, situated on a peninsula just south of Spain, owes its name to this word of Arabic origin.  Originally known as Calpe in the ancient world, the territory was renamed Jebel Tariq (“mountain of Tariq”) following its capture by the Moorish conqueror Tariq ibn-Ziyad c. 710 A.D.  The modern English name Gibraltar is simply an altered version of this honorific title.

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter J

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JASPER

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 28 June 2011

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JASPER  (n. pl. -S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a variety of quartz, often used as a gemstone or as a decorative material

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S, -Y
• Anagrams: JAPERS
• Longer extensions: -WARE, -WARES
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: JASPERWARE (n. pl. -S) and JASPILITE (n. pl. -S)

Epilogue:
JASPER comes in a variety of colors, but a type known as BLOODSTONE — usually green with flecks of vivid red spots — is one of the traditional birthstones for March and was once variously believed to render the wearer invisible or to stanch the flow of blood.  English took the word from the Old French jaspre, but it can be traced back to ancient Hebrew and Persian forms.

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter J

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JONGLEUR

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 27 June 2011

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JONGLEUR  (n. pl. -S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a traveling minstrel or public performer, especially one in medieval France

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
This word transports us back to the streets and marketplaces of medieval Europe, where public entertainment often consisted of a melange of music, poetry, drama, and physical acts of spectacle and comedy.  JONGLEURS, for example, variously sang, danced, told stories, performed acrobatics and juggling, and recited verses such as FABLIAUX (short narratives with comic or bawdy elements).  The word is etymologically related to JUGGLER, which derives from the Latin joculator, “joker or jester.”

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter J

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"What helps luck..."

Quote of the Week:

What helps luck is a habit of watching for opportunities, of having a patient but restless mind.
~ Victor Cherbuliez (1829-1899), L'idée de Jean Téterol (1878)

IPECAC

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 24 June 2011

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IPECAC  (n. pl. - S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a low-lying South American plant, the dried roots and stalks of which can be used to induce vomiting or perspiration

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: ICECAP
• Longer extensions: -UANHA, -UANHAS
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: IPECACUANHA

Epilogue:
IPECAC was used in various cough and cold medicines in the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries, and until fairly recently doctors recommended keeping “ipecac syrup” in the house in case of accidental ingestion of poison.  Needless to say, none of these uses is recommended today.  The word is a shortened form of the full name of the plant, IPECACUANHA.  English borrowed this unusual word from Portuguese, but it derives from Tupi-Guarani, a family of languages spoken in South America, where it fittingly meant “low plant causing vomit.”

Recapping this week's words: IKEBANA, ISOGRIV, IATRIC, INFAUNA, and IPECAC

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INFAUNA

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 23 June 2011

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INFAUNA  (n. pl. -E or -S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) animal organisms living in or just underneath the soft sea floor

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -E, -L, -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: INFAUNAL (adj.)

Epilogue:
Organisms classified as INFAUNA live within or just underneath the muddy, sandy matter on the sea floor, whereas EPIFAUNA live on top of this sedimentary surface.  The word FAUNA itself, by the way, was first used to refer to the animal life of a particular region by the botanist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), who took the word from the name of a Roman goddess of fertility and woodland life.  His two books Flora Suica (1745) and Fauna Suica (1746) also helped popularize the phrase “flora and fauna.”

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter i

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IATRIC

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 22 June 2011

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IATRIC  (adj.)

Definition(s):

1. (adj.) pertaining to medicine or medical treatment; pertaining to a physician or healer
2. (adj.) medicinal; healing; curative

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: (none)
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: BAR-, GER-, NONPSYCH-, PAED-, PED-, POD-, PSYCH-, and -AL
• Wraparounds: AViatricE/S, GERiatricS, GERiatricIAN/S, MEDiatricS, PAEDiatricIAN/S, PAEDiatricS, PEDiatricIAN/S, PEDiatricS, and PSYCHiatricALLY
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: IATRICAL (adj.)

Epilogue:
You may have noticed that -iatric or -iatry shows up in a lot of medical terms, such as GERIATRIC and PODIATRY.  This combining form stems from the Greek iatros (“healer, physician”).  Similarly, the related word IATROGENIC is used to refer to illness or death caused by medical treatment (“brought forth by a physician”), including anything from ordinary drug reactions to unnecessary surgeries.

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter i

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ISOGRIV

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 21 June 2011

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ISOGRIV  (n. pl. - S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a line on a map or chart connecting points of equal grid variation

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
The unusual second (-griv) part of this word is simply a shortened form of “grid variation.”  The iso- part, on the other hand, is a very common prefix (stemming from the Greek isos, “equal”) that shows up in a lot of words, especially in many biological, cartographical, and chemical terms.  Among my favorites in this category is ISOHEL, “a line on a map or chart connecting points receiving equal sunshine.”

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter i

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IKEBANA

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 20 June 2011

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IKEBANA  (n. pl. - S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) the Japanese art of flower arranging

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
Literally “giving life to flowers,” IKEBANA is one of many traditional Japanese arts associated with balance and tranquility.  A couple others to ruminate on are CHANOYU (a Japanese tea ceremony) and HAIKU (or HOKKU) (a form of Japanese poetry).


This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter i

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"A glorious fever"

Quote of the Week:

It is a glorious fever, that desire to know.
~ Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873)

HORDEOLA

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 17 June 2011

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HORDEOLA  (the plural form of HORDEOLUM, n.)

Definition(s) for HORDEOLUM:

1. (n.) an inflamed swelling of a sebaceous gland at the margin of an eyelid; a sty

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: (none)
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
Because a sty in the eye resembles a grain of barley (also known as a BARLEYCORN), this word derives from the Latin hordeum, “barley.”  Pretty clever, eh?  A related word, as celiacs know, is HORDEIN, a protein found in barley and some other cereal grains.


Recapping this week’s words: HEBDOMAD, HOLM, HUIPIL, HECATOMB, and HORDEOLA

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HECATOMB

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 16 June 2011

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HECATOMB  (n. pl. - S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a sacrifice to the gods, especially the sacrifice of one hundred oxen in ancient Greece
2. (n.) any great slaughter or sacrifice

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
Animal sacrifice played an important role in many ancient cultures, where hunting was an essential element of life and community was strengthened through various folkloric celebrations and religious rites.  The Greek hekaton (“hundred”) and bous (“ox”) combine in HECATOMB to suggest a (literal or figurative) sacrifice of one hundred oxen.  Many modern writers have employed it in a metaphorical sense, referring to the “hecatombs of broken hearts” or “a hecatomb of [political] office-holders.”


This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter H

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HUIPIL

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 15 June 2011

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HUIPIL  (n. pl. - S or -ES)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a decorative blouse or dress worn by women, chiefly in Mexico and Central America

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: -ES
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
English has borrowed a few dozen words from the Aztecs’ Nahuatl language, usually via Spanish, including today’s word.  Other common ones include AVOCADO, CHOCOLATE, COYOTE, GUACAMOLE, MESQUITE, OCELOT, TAMALE, and TOMATO.  Among the more interesting and obscure borrowings from Nahuatl are:

• ATLATL a device for throwing a dart or spear
• AXOLOTL a salamander
• HOATZIN (or HOACTZIN) a large tropical bird
• QUETZAL (or QUEZAL) a tropical bird

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter H

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HOLM

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 14 June 2011

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HOLM  (n. pl. - S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a small island in a river or lake, usually near the mainland
2. (n.) low flat land near a river

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: -IC, -IUM, -IUMS
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
This word derives from the Old Norse holmr (“small island”).  It is rarely encountered on its own, but it is used in a lot of European place names, most famously in Stockholm in Sweden, as well as in many places in Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom.  The element HOLMIUM (symbol Ho, atomic number 67) also deserves mention here, since it was so called in honor of the latinized name of Stockholm (Holmia), the home town of one of its discoverers.


This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter H

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HEBDOMAD

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 13 June 2011

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HEBDOMAD  (n. pl. - S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a group of seven
2. (n.) a period of seven days; a week

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: -AL, -ALLY
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
A good one to start the week on, this word derives from the Greek hepta-, “seven."  (For the etymologically curious, it was specifically formed from the ordinal form hebdomos, meaning “seventh,” which is why it is spelled hebd-, while almost all other words from this root are spelled hept-.)  Seven other words utilizing this root are:

• HEPTAD (a group of seven) 
• HEPTAGON (a seven-sided polygon)
• HEPTARCH (a group of seven rulers)
• HEPTAMETER (verse of seven feet or measures) 
• And three organic compounds: HEPTANE, HEPTACHLOR, and CYPROHEPTADINE

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter H

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"Language tethers us to the world"

Quote of the Week:

Language tethers us to the world; without it we spin like atoms.
~ Penelope Lively (1933- ), Moon Tiger (1987)

GIBBET

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 10 June 2011

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GIBBET  (v. -BETED, -BETING, -BETS or -BETTED, -BETTING, -BETS)

Definition(s):

1. (v.) to execute by hanging
2. (v.) to expose to public infamy or scorn
3. (n.) a gallows
4. (n.) an upright post from which the bodies of criminals were hung in chains after execution
5. (n.) the projecting arm of a crane

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions:  FLIBBERTI-, -ED, -ING, -TED, -TING
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
GIBBET comes from an Old French word meaning “gallows.”  More interesting, though you’re unlikely to ever see it on a Scrabble board, is the sesquipedalian FLIBBERTIGIBBET, a delightful old word meaning “a flighty, light-minded, or overly talkative person.”  Imitative of mindless chatter, the word appeared in print at least as early as the mid-16th century.

Recapping this week’s words:
GRACIOSO, GALYAK, GREMMIE, GYRUS, and GIBBET

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GYRUS

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 9 June 2011

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GYRUS  (n. pl. GYRI)

Definitions:

1. (n.) a ridge between grooves, especially a ridge of gray matter in the cerebral cortex of the brain

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: (none)
• Anagrams: SURGY
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
As a BRAINIAC could probably tell you, many words relating to the human brain are composed of classical Latin and Greek roots: GYRUS, for example, derives from the Greek gyros, “rounded or curved.”  As such, the plurals can be tricky to remember.  A few others that come to mind in this category include:

• PONS (pl. PONTES) a band of nerve fibers in the brain 
• MENINX (pl. MENINGES) any of the membranes enclosing the brain and spinal cord 
• VERMIS (pl. VERMES) a part of the brain
• STRIATUM (pl. STRIATA) a mass of nervous tissues within the brain
• THALAMUS (pl. THALAMI) a part of the brain

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter G

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GREMMIE

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 8 June 2011

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GREMMIE  (n. pl. - S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) an inexperienced surfer, especially one whose behavior is objectionable

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: GEMMIER, IMMERGE
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: GREMMY (-MIES)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
This ‘60s-era slang word for a novice surfer is a variation on the word GREMLIN.  Presumably even more objectionable to the more experienced surfers is the HODAD (or HODADDY), “a non-surfer who frequents surfing beaches and pretends to be a surfer.”  Weird things happened at the beach in the '60s.

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter G

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GALYAK

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 7 June 2011

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GALYAK  (n. pl. - S)

Definition(s):

1. 1. (n.) a short-haired, flat, glossy fur, usually made from the pelt of a stillborn lamb or goat

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: GALYAC (-S)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
A nice front extension for YAK, the creepy GALYAK derives from a native name in Uzbekistan. Fur what it’s worth, here are a few other surprisingly specific kinds of fur:

• KRIMMER (or CRIMMER) a gray fur made from the pelts of young lambs of the Crimean peninsula 
• MINIVER a whitish fur, usually from the ermine or rabbit, used to trim ceremonial robes 
• TANUKI the fur of a Japanese raccoon dog

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter G

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GRACIOSO

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 6 June 2011

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GRACIOSO   (n. pl. - S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a clown or buffoon in Spanish comedies

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
Hey hey, kids!  From the Spanish, meaning “agreeable, amusing,” GRACIOSO is just one of several interesting words in the Scrabble lexicon pertaining to types of clowns.  Put your hands together for a few of the others: BECLOWN (v.), BUFFO (an operatic clown), BUFFOON, BUFFOONERY, CLOWNERY, and PIERROT (a clown in French pantomime).

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter G

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New Direction for TileHead

The AADGMNOR entry will be the last full, regularly scheduled "Word of the Week" entry.  Starting tomorrow, I will instead be posting a Word of the Day (WOTD) each weekday.  The WOTD will be shorter and more straightforward.  I believe that most people will enjoy the new WOTD posts more, and I'll be able to cover a lot more words this way (albeit in less depth).

I still may do a longer, Word of the Week entry once in a while, when an interesting subject catches my eye.  But I'll be devoting most of my time and energy in the future to the new daily format.  Hope you like it!  Let me know what you think.

AADGMNOR

Word of the Week

A feature wherein TileHead highlights a word that is is especially interesting or unusual (and, incidentally, useful in Scrabble play):

AADGMNOR

(unscramble the letters to form this week's word...)

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(answer below, after a little more spoiler space....)

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This week's word is...

DRAGOMAN (n. pl. DRAGOMANS or DRAGOMEN)

• Definition(s):
  
  1. (n.) an interpreter and guide, especially one who serves as an interpreter of Arabic, Turkish, or Persian employed in the Near East or Middle East

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

TileHead says:

This is a truly ancient word, deriving from Akkadian (targumannu, "interpreter"), an extinct language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia.  From the earliest Akkadian and Aramaic forms, the word journeyed through Arabic, Greek, medieval Latin, Old Italian, and Old French before arriving in Middle English in the 1300-1400s.  The second part of the word thus has no relation to the familiar English word MAN, though the alternate plural form DRAGOMEN probably developed from this erroneous association.

He was also a merchant of some prominence; but he kept on at his old business as dragoman from a veritable love of it. He enjoyed being on the desert, or up the Nile, or in the Holy Land.
   ~ Henry Clay Trumbull, Kadesh-Barnea:
      Its Importance and Probable Site, with 
     the Story of a Hunt for It (1884)

These dragomans mainly were recruited from the Ottoman Greek community, which possessed considerable multilingual skills because substantial Greek trading communities did business in the Mediterranean, Black Sea, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean worlds.
   ~ Donald Quataert, The Ottoman Empire,
      1700-1922 (2005)

He had not served as a dragoman before, but was highly thought of in Beirut, exceedingly anxious to oblige them, and a natural polyglot, speaking English, French, German, Italian, and some Greek — all learned by ear.
   ~ Janet Soskice, The Sisters of Sinai: How
     Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the
     Hidden Gospels (2009)

A small number of other words have successfully taken the long lexical journey from Akkadian to modern English.  For example, ZIGGURAT (also spelled ZIKURAT or ZIKKURAT), deriving from the Akkadian ziqqurratu ("pinnacle"), is the proper term for a pyramidal temple with successive terraced steps, such as were constructed in the ancient lands of modern-day Iran and Iraq.  These temples featured a religious shrine at the top of the structure, as well as courtyards, living quarters, and other rooms in the lower portions.  The ZIGGURAT is a kind of "step pyramid," types of which were also built independently (and with varying purposes, significance, and techniques) in ancient cultures in Africa, the Americas, and Europe.

The temple at the foot of a ziggurat was the main temple of the city, upon which were centred all the chief festivals of the city, and in the case of Babylon of the state also.
   ~ H.W.F. Saggs, Civilization Before
      Greece and Rome (1989)

Perhaps the most famous example of an ancient step pyramid is the "Tower of Babel," mentioned in a Biblical story intended to explain the origin of different languages among the various peoples of the world.  Thus, BABEL (from Akkadian bab-ilu, "gate of god") also survives today to mean "a confusion of sounds or voices" or "any scene of confusion."

This disagreement has been rendered even more confusing by a babel of voices from the ranks of sociologists.
   ~ Margaret Sanger, Woman and the New
      Race (1920)

As these examples illustrate, the stories and beliefs of the ancients still influence English, a flexible language that has always incorporated vestiges of many peoples and cultures.

Speaking of English language traditions, congratulations to Sukanya Roy of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, winner of the 2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee (http://www.spellingbee.com). 

"Guide your luck"

Quote of the Week:

It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck, even while waiting for it.
  ~ Baltasar Gracián (1601-1658)