VALKYRIE

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 31 October 2011

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VALKYRIE  (n. pl. -S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a maiden in Norse mythology, especially one of the maidens of Odin who hover over battlefields, choosing which fallen warriors should be conducted to Valhalla
2. (n.) any powerful witch, or any woman in charge of someone’s fate (rare)
3. (n.) a woman who is in charge of filling cups and everything pertaining to the table (rare)

Useful information for game players:

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

Epilogue:
Sometimes called “swan maidens” or “battle maidens,” the Valkyries of ancient Norse mythology are often depicted as beautiful young women riding flying horses, such as in Richard Wagner’s famous “Ride of the Valkyries” piece (from the opera Die Walkure).  Valkyries (from an Old Norse word meaning “choosers of the slain”) have been variously described as ferocious demons who feasted on the dead, to faithful messengers who chose who would die in battle, to benevolent protectors who waited upon fallen warriors in Valhalla (Odin’s hall of honor), where they served food and filled the heroes’ cups with mead.

The multiple connotations of the Valkyries is appropriate to consider on Halloween, a holiday that is itself a complicated farrago of ancient and modern practices and legends.  Depending on your viewpoint, Halloween can be a time associated with spirits and monsters, a lighthearted occasion to dress up and play make-believe, a celebration of the harvest and the changing of the seasons, a night of sexual freedom and debauchery, or anything in between.  The word itself derives from the phrase Allhallow-even, or “eve of all saints,” because November 1st was called All Hallows Day, or All Saints Day, on the Christian calendar.  Most current Halloween customs, however, derive either from ancient pagan rites and festivals or from modern books and films.


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

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"As if his soul in that one word he did outpour..."

Quote of the Week: 

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—
Till I scarcely more than muttered "Other friends have flown before—
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."
Then the bird said, "Nevermore."
~ Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), from "The Raven"

FEY

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 28 October 2011

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FEY  (adj. -ER, -EST)

Definition(s):

1. (adj.) having or displaying an otherworldly, strange, or magical aspect or quality
2. (adj.) appearing crazy or touched, as if under a spell
3. (adj.) fated to die; doomed; full of a sense of impending death
4. (adj.) having visionary power; clairvoyant
5. (adj.) quaintly unconventional; campy

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: (none)
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: feyER, feyLY, wiFEY, feyEST, feyNESS, feyNESSES, HOUSEWIfey
• Wraparounds: WIfeyS
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
This is a powerful little word with a range of meanings mostly related to a sense of the otherworldly, deathly, or magical.  It derives from a weighty Old English word fæge, which meant “fated to die” and was used, for example, several times in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf (written c. 7th century).  The “doomed to die” meaning of FEY continued to be common for several hundred years, as in an old Scottish ballad that includes the line “there'll nae man die but him that's fey.”  In modern writing, the word is often employed in more ironic or whimsical senses, such as in Dorothy Burnham’s Through Dooms of Love (1969): “your wife would be perfect for the part; she's got that fey look as though she's had breakfast with a leprechaun.”


Recapping this week’s words: ELDRITCH, THANATOS, SABBAT, and FEY

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SABBAT

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 27 October 2011

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SABBAT  (n. pl. -S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) an assembly of witches, devils, or sorcerers
2. (n.) any of eight neo-pagan festivals commemorating phases of the changing seasons

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -H, -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: sabbatHS, sabbatIC, sabbatICS, sabbatICAL, sabbatICALS
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
It is no coincidence that SABBAT (a gathering of witches or pagans) looks a lot like SABBATH (a day of religious observance).  Both words derive from the same source, a Hebrew word meaning “to cease work” or “to rest,” and a SABBAT can also be called a “witches’ sabbath.”  The connection stems from the once-prevalent practice of demonizing those who celebrated the sabbath on Saturday.

A related word is COVEN: it can be used to mean “an assembly of witches” or more generally “an assembly of individuals with similar interests or activities.”  It derives from the Latin convenire (“to agree”), as do words such as CONVENE, CONVENIENT, CONVENT, and COVENANT.

This week’s theme: Spooky words

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THANATOS

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 26 October 2011

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THANATOS  (n. pl. -ES)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) an instinctual desire for death or self-destruction
2. (n.) death as a philosophical notion or construct

Useful information for game players:

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

Epilogue:
In ancient Greek mythology, Thanatos was the personification of death.  He was said to be the son of Nyx (night) and Erebos (darkness), and his twin brother was Hypnos (sleep).  That must have been a fun household to grow up in, eh?

The modern term THANATOS, also known as “death instinct” or “death wish,” is often contrasted in Freudian theory with eros, meaning “love” — but more broadly in psychological theory: “an instinctual desire for self-preservation and sexual pleasure.”

The Greek thanatos (“death”) also lurks behind words such as:

• THANATOLOGY: the scientific study of death and dying; and the related forms THANATOLOGIST and THANATOLOGICAL
  
• EUTHANASIA: bringing about an easy and gentle death; and the related forms EUTHANASIC, EUTHANIZE (v.), and EUTHANATIZE (v.)
  
• ATHANASY: immortality; deathlessness

This week’s theme: Spooky words

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ELDRITCH

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 24 October 2011

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ELDRITCH  (adj.)

Definition(s):

1. (adj.) strange or unnatural; ghostly; eerie; supernatural

Useful information for game players:

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

Epilogue:
The origins of this word are, appropriately, a little misty and strange.  It is likely from either the Old English ælfrice, meaning “elf realm” or “elfish,” or from the Old English el-rice, meaning “strange realm” or “other world.”  Regardless, it’s been describing the strange or supernatural in English since at least the early 1500s.

This week, leading up to the Halloween holiday, we’ll uncover some strange and spooky words, some dark and devilish words, some fey and fiendish words.  Bwahahahaha!

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"Memory is like a spiderweb..."

Quote of the Week: 

The more you know, the easier it is to know more. Memory is like a spiderweb that catches new information. The more it catches, the bigger it grows. And the bigger it grows, the more it catches.
~ Joshua Foer, Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything

Brief Hiatus and Future Plans

TileHead will be taking a break this week. Use the time to journey through the archives or to spend some time with your favorite wordbook — yesterday was Dictionary Day, after all!

The weekday word of the day feature will return next week — though, truth be told, there might be a few more breaks in the future and it is likely that some weeks will feature fewer than five words.  I hope that you will still find the entries interesting and useful when they do appear, whatever the frequency or interval.  Thanks for your continued support and readership.

Happy Dictionary Day

Logophiles rejoice: October 16th is Dictionary Day!  The date commemorates the birthday of Noah Webster (1758-1843), a pioneer of American lexicography whose linguistic achievements include his famous Compendious Dictionary of the English Language as well as his American Spelling Book, which taught generations of Americans how to read and spell.

On a broader scale, the day celebrates the work of lexicographers, the power of dictionaries, and the beauty of words, wonderful words.

I am sometimes asked to name my favorite word, an almost impossible task, given the inexhaustible scope of the English language — and so the answer might be said to be whichever word I have most recently learned.  However, I can more easily name a few of my favorite dictionaries, works that have been constant companions through the years:

• American Heritage College Dictionary 
• Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
• Century Dictionary
• Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
• Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (OSPD)
• Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
• Webster's Third New International Dictionary (W3)

I've spent innumerable hours with all of these wordbooks and with dozens of others.  You might say that, for me, every day is Dictionary Day, a delightful alphabetic journey through the lexicon of life.  And as any dictionary lover knows, there's always another word, another meaning, another journey of discovery, waiting on the next page....

"the grandest triumph of the human intellect"

Quote of the Week:

Language... is not an abstract construction of the learned, or of dictionary makers, but is something arising out of the work, needs, ties, joys, affections, tastes, of long generations of humanity... It permeates all, the Past as well as the present, and is the grandest triumph of the human intellect.
~ Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

UXORIAL

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 14 October 2011

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UXORIAL  (adj.)

Definition(s):

1. (adj.) pertaining to or characteristic of a wife

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: uxorialLY
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: UXORIOUS (adj.), UXORIOUSLY (adv.), UXORIOUSNESS (n.), UXORICIDE (n.)

Epilogue:
The Latin maritus (“husband”) is a part of many familiar words, such as MARRY, MARITAL, and MARRIAGE.  Less well known is uxor (Latin for “wife”), which is a part of UXORIAL as well as UXORICIDE, which means “the killing of one’s wife,” and UXORIOUS, which has developed the fascinatingly-specific meaning of “displaying great or excessive fondness for one’s wife.”  The logical counterparts, mariticide and maritorious, failed to catch on as common English words.  Equal opportunity has never been a strong suit of the English language — nor has consistency.


Recapping this week’s words: ULTIMO, USUFRUCT, UNTOWARD, ULEMA, and UXORIAL

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ULEMA

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 13 October 2011

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ULEMA  (n. pl. -S)

Definition(s):

1. (pl. n.) the body of Muslim scholars trained in Islam and Islamic law
2. (n.) a Muslim scholar or leader

Useful information for game players:

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

Epilogue:
Passing through Turkish and Persian forms, and deriving ultimately from Arabic ulama (“wise men” or “men of knowledge”), ULEMA (or ULAMA) was originally regarded as a plural construction referring to a body of Muslim scholars, such as those who interpret and judge SHARIA law (the religious law of Islam).  Over time, it also came to refer to a single Muslim scholar or leader, leading to occasional references to ULEMAS or ULAMAS.  (Similar changes have occurred with words such as AGENDA and MEDIA: they have gradually gained singular meanings, leading to the strange looking and etymologically confusing variants AGENDAS and MEDIAS.)

MULLAH (also spelled MULLA and MOLLAH), which tends to be used more frequently in the mainstream media, is another word for “a Muslim leader or teacher.”  It also derives ultimately from an Arabic word, mawla, meaning “master” or “protector.”

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

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UNTOWARD

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 12 October 2011

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UNTOWARD  (adj.)

Definition(s):

1. (adj.) unruly; difficult to manage or work with
2. (adj.) marked by misfortune or unhappiness
3. (adj.) improper; unseemly
4. (adj.) awkward; clumsy

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: (none)
• Anagrams: OUTDRAWN
• Longer extensions: untowardLY, untowardNESS, untowardNESSES
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: TOWARD (adj.), TOWARDLY (adj.), TOWARDLINESS (n.)

Epilogue:
This word has nothing to do with the familiar meaning of TOWARD as “in the direction of.”  TOWARD was once used and can still be used to mean “compliant” or “favorable” (which is why TOWARDLY and TOWARDLINESS are valid words too).  Nowadays the negative form UNTOWARD (usually meaning “difficult, unfavorable, or improper”) is far more common.  COUTH, FLAPPABLE, GAINLY, KEMPT, REQUITED, and WIELDY are a few other words that are rarely seen without their -un prefixes — except, perhaps, on the Scrabble board where the shorter forms are more likely to make an appearance.

This week’s theme: A ruly series of words starting with the letter U

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USUFRUCT

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 11 October 2011

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USUFRUCT  (n. pl. -S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) the legal right to use and enjoy the fruits or profits of property belonging to another so long as it is not damaged
2. (n.) the right to use, enjoy, or profit from something belonging to another

Useful information for game players:

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

Epilogue:
Deriving from the Latin phrase usus et fructus (“use and enjoyment” or “use and fruit”), USUFRUCT is a legal principle with ancient roots that still applies to some modern day situations.  For example, a power company may be given the right to use water from a river to generate electricity, or a landowner may allow a neighbor to grow and harvest crops on part of his property.  The person or entity who enjoys the benefit is called a USUFRUCTUARY.

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

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ULTIMO

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 10 October 2011

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ULTIMO  (adj.)

Definition(s):

1. (adj.) of or occurring in the previous month

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: (none)
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: ultimoGENITURE, ultimoGENITURES
• Wraparounds: MultimoDE, MultimoDAL, MultimoLECULAR
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
For several centuries and up until a hundred years or so ago, nearly every educated English speaker would have been familiar with the use and meaning of the terms ULTIMO, PROXIMO, and INSTANT, as they were widely employed in letters, court proceedings, and other official correspondence:

• ULTIMO means “in the preceding month,” as when George Washington wrote “I was very glad to receive your letter of the 31st ultimo...” (1792)
  
• PROXIMO means “in the next month,” as when Benjamin R. Cowen wrote in a letter to Ulysses S. Grant “I have the honor to tender my resignation of the position of Ass’t Sec’y of the Interior, to take effect on the 14th proximo...” (1876)
  
• INSTANT means “in the current month,” as when George Tichenor wrote in a letter “The Department is in receipt of a letter from Hon. J.R. Hawley, U.S. Senate, dated the 9th instant...” (1890)

These terms are short for ultimo mense, proximo mense, and instant mense, respectively — mense being Latin for “month” — but the second word was usually dropped and the entire phrase often abbreviated: the 16th ult., the 30th prox., the 3rd inst., etc.

The ULTIMATE parent of ULTIMO is the Latin ultimus (“last”), which makes an appearance in many other English words, including ULTIMOGENITURE: “a system of succession in which the right to inheritance rests with the youngest (lastborn) of a family.”  (The contrasting term is PRIMOGENITURE, in which inheritance is the right of the firstborn, or eldest, child.)

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

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"I love smooth words..."

Quote of the Week:

I love smooth words, like gold-enameled fish
Which circle slowly with a silken swish
~ Elinor Hoyt Wylie (1885-1928), "Pretty Words"

TITIVATE

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 7 October 2011

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TITIVATE  (v. -VATED, -VATING, -VATES)

Definition(s):

1. (v.) to spruce up; to make neat (as one’s appearance)
2. (v.) to touch up; to put the finishing touches on

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -D, -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: (none)
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: TITTIVATE (v.)
• Related Forms: TITIVATION (n.)

Epilogue:
When this word first appeared in written English in the early 1800s, it was often spelled tidivate or tiddivate, suggesting that it was probably formed as a combination of TIDY and the Latin -ate ending found in words such as RENOVATE or CULTIVATE.  Take care not to confuse it with TITILLATE, “to excite or stimulate agreeably,” an older word (derived from the Latin titillare “to tickle”) with a very different meaning.

Recapping this week’s words: TREPAN, TUPIK, TMESIS, TEOCALLI, and TITIVATE

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TEOCALLI

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 6 October 2011

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TEOCALLI  (n. pl. -S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) an ancient temple of Mexico or Central America, usually built on a pyramid or pyramidal mound

Useful information for game players:

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

Epilogue:
Pyramidal structures have been built in many times and places around the world, such as the pyramids of Egypt, the ZIGGURATS of the Middle East, and the TEOCALLIS of Mesoamerica.  The Aztec TEOCALLI was usually built in the shape of a squat, truncated pyramid and was often part of a larger complex called a TEOPAN: a walled enclosure containing a teocalli and other religious buildings.

Nahuatl was the language of the Aztecs, in which teotl means “god.”  This lofty root is a part of both TEOCALLI (“god house”) and TEOPAN (“god place”), as well as TEOSINTE (“god dried maize”): a tall annual grass of Mexico and Central America that is closely related to corn.  For more about Nahuatl contributions to English, see the HUIPIL entry.

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter T

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TMESIS

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 5 October 2011

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TMESIS  (n. pl. TMESES)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) the separation of parts of a word or phrase by an intervening word or words

Useful information for game players:

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

Epilogue:
The rhetorical device known as TMESIS was used in some forms of ancient poetry, and it still sees occasional use in modern speech and writing, usually for special emphasis or humorous effect.  Some common examples include:

• a whole nother (for another)
• abso-bloody-lutely, un-fuckin’-believable, la-dee-freakin’-da, and other expletives
• Ned Flanders, a character on the TV show The Simpsons, is a master of what might be termed tme-diddly-esis, as in phrases such as “Hi-diddly-ho,“ “am I that pre-diddly-ictable?”, and “I’m a mur-diddly-urderer!”

The term comes intact from the Greek tmesis (“act of cutting”), a modified form of temnein (“to cut”).  The modern English word TOME actually derives from the same root.  While TOME now typically means “a large book,” it originally meant “a single volume of a multi-volume work, or a large section of a volume” — that is a part cut off, or separated, from the whole work.

This week’s theme: Words guaran-damn-teed to start with T

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TUPIK

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 4 October 2011

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TUPIK  (n. pl. -S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a hut or tent of animal skins, traditionally used by some native peoples of Arctic regions as a temporary summer dwelling

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 TUPIK is roughly the summer equivalent of the IGLOO (or IGLU), being a temporary summer residence usually fashioned from seal or other animal skins.  Both words come from the Eskimo-Aleut family of languages, where tupiq roughly meant “tent” and iglu meant “house.”  The latter word can and has been used for dwellings of many different kinds, not just the domed snow houses of popular conception.

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter T

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TREPAN

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 3 October 2011

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TREPAN  (v. -PANNED, -PANNING, -PANS)

Definition(s):

1. (v.) to use a trephine or other instrument to bore a hole into bone, as into a person’s skull to perform a medical procedure
2. (v.) to bore a shaft of any kind
3. (v.) to remove a disk or cylindrical core (as from metal)
4. (n.) an instrument or tool used for boring holes

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -G, -S
• Anagrams: ARPENT, ENRAPT, ENTRAP, PARENT
• Longer extensions: -GS, -NED, -NER, -NERS, -NING, -ATION, - ATIONS
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: TRAPAN (v.)
• Related Forms: TREPANNER (n.), TREPANATION (n.), TREPHINE (v.), TREPHINATION (n.)

Epilogue:
This one should cause you to wake up and take notice on a Monday morning!  TREPANATION (or TREPHINATION) is the practice of boring a hole in the skull, usually for the purpose of relieving pressure or for operating on the dura matter that surrounds the brain.  Archaeological evidence suggests that the practice was used in several ancient cultures, and legitimate modern forms of trepanation are still practiced by neurosurgeons today.

The word TREPAN (or TRAPAN) arose in Middle English circa 1400, deriving from the Medieval Latin trepanum and ultimately from the Greek trypanon, “something that bores or perforates; a borer.”  The word TREPHINE is often used synonymously, though technically speaking a trephine is a more modern form of the trepan.  TREPHINE entered English in the seventeenth century, cleverly patterned by its inventor after both the earlier word and the Latin tres fines (“three ends”).

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter T

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"Language exerts hidden power..."

Quote of the Week:

Language exerts hidden power, like the moon on the tides.
~ Rita Mae Brown (1944- )