Comments by pavonine

  • evenomate, v. rare—1.

    (iːˈvɛnəmeɪt)

    f. e- out + venom n. + -ate3.

    trans. To take out the poison from (food, etc.).

       a 1834 Coleridge Lit. Rem. (1836) III. 122 Purified from the poison of the practical Romish doctrine of works as the Mandioc is evenomated by fire.

    May 12, 2010

  • A spokesman for the plutocrats; one who justifies or advocates

    the interests of the wealthy. Hence'plutogogy',the rule of plutogogues. OED

    February 15, 2010

  • A female gnome. OED Used by Nabokov in Lolita-kiddoid gnomide

    August 31, 2009

  • Epicaricacy is the English word for Schadenfreude. I first found this word in Novobatzky and Shea's "Depraved and Insulting English." Ammon Shea then came to our discussion board (Wordcraft) to explain his citation: "To the best of my knowledge the word first appeared in Nathaniel Bailey's Universal Etymological English Dictionary. I think that the first edition was published in 1727 and it went through 20 or 22 subsequent editions. He spells the word differently and defines it thusly: Epicharikaky - A joy at the misfortunes of others. The etymology is from the Greek epi (upon) + chara (joy) + kakon (evil). I have seen it in a number of other books with what appears to be the modernized spelling. I can't remember all of these sources off the top of my head but aside of Mrs. Byrnes it also appears in a book of obscure words by Paul Dickson. I think Joseph Shipley may have it in his Dictionary of Early English.

    August 2, 2009

  • mesopygion

    fr. Gk meso-, middle + pyge, the rump rare the cleavage of the buttocks

    July 29, 2009

  • Log`o`daed´a`ly

    n. 1. Verbal legerdemain; a playing with words.

    Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, published 1913 by C. & G. Merriam Co.

    logodaedaly

    Rare. a cunning with words; verbal legerdemain. Also logodaedalus.

    July 29, 2009

  • This word was not coined by Vladimir Nabokov in Pale Fire, his book of 1962.

    Versipel is listed in Webster's New International Dictionary,1932 edition. The definition is: A creature capable of changing from one form to another,as a werewolf.

    July 29, 2009

  • (adj): the more elegant and economical form of the term mirifical meaning "working wonders", "wonderful".

    This word may be one of the uncommon monovocalic trisyllables in the English language.

    about 1 year ago mollusque said:

    A mirific word! I have fond memories of playing it in a game of Scrabble. My opponent didn't challenge but the word was not in OSPD1, the then current dictionary of record. It is in MW3 and OED2.

    about 1 year ago Verbophile said: edit

    Working wonders;wonderful

    July 17, 2009

  • a buffoon,an unintentional clown

    Theroux, Darconville's Cat

    July 17, 2009

  • a homosexual

    Nabokov,Lolita p. 18

    July 17, 2009

  • a man sexually aroused by water,esp urine

    Nabokov,Lolita p.252

    July 17, 2009

  • bad breath

    July 17, 2009

  • pertaining to appetite, sexual and otherwise

    July 12, 2009

  • waning sexual desire due to age

    July 12, 2009

  • having thick ankles

    July 12, 2009

  • 1. A strong offensive odor via perspiration of the armpits.

    2. Bromidrosis or the fetid or foul smelling of perspiration of the axillae (armpits).

    July 12, 2009

  • happy because innocent and good.

    July 12, 2009

  • a great-great-grandfather

    July 12, 2009

  • Having the same essence; being identically of the same nature.

    July 12, 2009

  • caused by unfavorable home environment

    July 12, 2009

  • relating to silence

    July 12, 2009

  • adj. & n. - left-handed or awkward; or a left-handed or awkward person

    July 12, 2009

  • one who fasts

    July 12, 2009

  • addicted to love-making

    July 12, 2009

  • a prostitute pretending to be a wife.

    July 12, 2009

  • Also,adiaphorous. neutral; neither right nor wrong; neither deleterious

    nor salubrious

    July 12, 2009

  • Equal to a twelfth part.

    July 12, 2009

  • rejuvenation of an old man by a young woman

    July 12, 2009

  • n. pl. 1. (Rom. Antiq.) Sacrifices offered to the souls of deceased heroes or friends.

    July 12, 2009

  • sister in a convent in charge of checking on conduct of other nuns

    July 12, 2009

  • A sensation of constriction as if a cord were being drawn around the body. Also called girdle sensation.

    July 12, 2009

  • clumsy, accident prone

    July 12, 2009

  • To turn to stone or rock

    July 12, 2009

  • mean, nasty and contemptible

    July 12, 2009

  • all alone and friendless

    July 12, 2009

  • healthiness resulting from having all one's wishes granted

    July 12, 2009

  • mistake-prone

    July 12, 2009

  • A craving for sweets.

    July 12, 2009

  • A rarely used term for an abnormal indifference toward or dislike of persons or things.

    July 12, 2009

  • A subjective impression of memory of events that have not occurred;false memory

    July 12, 2009

  • a feeling or sensation of coldness.

    July 12, 2009

  • Extremely alert wakefulness.

    July 12, 2009

  • The state of being in peril

    July 12, 2009

  • Rare or obsolete term for marital infidelity.

    July 12, 2009

  • Rare or obsolete term for the fear of being unloved.

    July 12, 2009

  • 1. To make ready to fight; to array

    2. To fight out; to contest; to decide by combat.

    July 12, 2009

  • forgiveness;a forgiving nature(Obs,rare)

    July 12, 2009

  • Obsolete

    A. a. Evil,wicked,bad

    b. Hostile,inimical to(rare)

    B a. A bad or wicked person

    b. spec. The evil one,the devil

    July 12, 2009

  • 1. A person who speaks dishonestly or unclearly.

    2. Bawdy, foul, or vulgar speech.

    July 12, 2009

  • Psychol. A type of hysteria thought to be amenable to and curable by suggestion. OED

    July 12, 2009

  • rough and bold(In Luciferous Logolepsy)

    July 12, 2009

  • the act of climbing on the outside of buildings and other artificial structures.

    From weekly email from www.worldwidewords.org 6/14/08

    July 12, 2009

  • The scientific study of lighthouses and signal lights.

    "Pharology" is first recorded in 1847 in the Transactions of the

    Royal Society of Arts of London. The author of the paper noted that

    it had been "first introduced by the late Mr Purdy". This otherwise

    unsung gentleman must have had in mind the famous lighthouse, one

    of the seven wonders of the ancient world, that was erected around

    280BC on the island of Pharos, off the coast of Alexandria

    July 12, 2009

  • The pacification of an adversary by use of mild speech or promises

    July 12, 2009

  • dull, unfunny, deadly serious, humorless

    July 12, 2009

  • a tendency to exaggerate.

    July 12, 2009

  • beat black and blue; slander.

    July 12, 2009

  • the wrinkling of one's face

    July 12, 2009

  • preoccupation with trying to recall forgotten words

    July 12, 2009

  • fascination,enchantment. The belief that some persons had the power of injuring others by their looks among the Greeks and Romans,as it is in modern times.(The evil eye)

    The fascinum was an amulet in the form of a phallus which was hung around the necks of children. The evil eye was supposed to injure children particularly.

    William Smith,D.C.L.,LLD, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities John Murray,London, 1875

    Not in OED

    Nabokov,Lolita p 21

    July 12, 2009

  • prudishness

    Nabokov,Pale Fire p.114

    July 12, 2009

  • polluted,contaminated

    Burgess,Earthly Powers

    July 12, 2009

  • idleness,sloth

    Theroux,Darconville's Cat

    July 12, 2009

  • obstinately maintaining one's opinion

    Spackman,An Armful of Warm Girl

    July 12, 2009

  • anoesia mental deficiency;idiocy

    July 12, 2009

  • a youth entering manhood or just enrolled as a citizen

    July 12, 2009

  • This word was not coined by Vladimir Nabokov in Pale Fire, his book of 1962.

    Versipel is listed in Webster's New International Dictionary,1932 edition. The definition is: A creature capable of changing from one form to another,as a werewolf.

    July 12, 2009

  • lagnosis. satyriasis. New Standard Dictionary Of The English Language. Funk & Wagnalls 1943

    July 12, 2009

  • The pacification of an adversary by use of mild speech or promises

    March 4, 2009

  • Also: blotting paper

    September 8, 2008

  • a practical joke, playful deception, raillery, etc.

    August 18, 2008

  • Fawning or obsequious behavior; servility.

    August 18, 2008

  • to feast in a noisy and riotous manner

    August 18, 2008

  • The act of burning, or the state of being burned.

    August 18, 2008

  • An idiot, a jerk, and a moron.

    August 18, 2008

  • adj.

    Licentious; obscene.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Latin Fescennnus, of Fescennia, a town of ancient Etruria known for its licentious poetry.

    August 16, 2008

  • The scientific study of lighthouses and signal lights.

    "Pharology" is first recorded in 1847 in the Transactions of the

    Royal Society of Arts of London. The author of the paper noted that

    it had been "first introduced by the late Mr Purdy". This otherwise

    unsung gentleman must have had in mind the famous lighthouse, one

    of the seven wonders of the ancient world, that was erected around

    280BC on the island of Pharos, off the coast of Alexandria

    July 26, 2008

  • A pedantic critic of minor errors; a nit-picker.

    We owe this word to Sir Harold Nicolson, who introduced it to the

    world in the Spectator magazine in August 1952. In an issue of the

    same magazine later the same year, he described a doryphore as a

    "questing prig, who derives intense satisfaction from pointing out

    the errors of others"

    Sir Harold took it from French, in which it's the usual name for

    the Colorado beetle, hence a pest.

    From: The weekly email of www.worldwidewords.org

    July 13, 2008

  • Crying or sobbing.

    June 29, 2008

  • the act of climbing on the outside of buildings and other artificial structures.

    From weekly email from www.worldwidewords.org 6/14/08

    June 15, 2008

  • having a protuberant belly:corpulent (Obs) OED

    See ventripotent

    June 15, 2008

  • Of or pertaining to the gallows, or to execution

    From WORLD WIDE WORDS ISSUE 590 Saturday 7 June 2008

    Editor: Michael Quinion, Thornbury, Bristol, UK

    http://www.worldwidewords.org

    June 10, 2008

  • Also,Pretentious, pompous, inflated.

    June 9, 2008

  • To shake; to agitate. Obs.

    June 9, 2008

  • a small piece or pellet. OED

    June 9, 2008

  • clean,dirt-free. Funk & Wagnall Unabridged(1943)

    June 9, 2008

  • Unwonted,unusual,out of use,obsolete

    Rare. OED

    June 9, 2008

  • Wanting in muscle; without flesh or strength

    June 8, 2008

  • rough and bold(In Luciferous Logolepsy)

    June 8, 2008

  • Of or pertaining to Temple, a valley in Thessaly, celebrated by Greek poets on account of its beautiful scenery; resembling Temple; hence, beautiful; delightful; charming

    Similar definition in OED

    June 8, 2008

  • half-eaten. OED

    June 8, 2008

  • Psychol. A type of hysteria thought to be amenable to and curable by suggestion. OED

    June 8, 2008

  • 1. A person who speaks dishonestly or unclearly.

    2. Bawdy, foul, or vulgar speech.

    June 8, 2008

  • Obsolete

    A. a. Evil,wicked,bad

    b. Hostile,inimical to(rare)

    B a. A bad or wicked person

    b. spec. The evil one,the devil

    June 8, 2008

  • oblique; distorted.

    June 8, 2008

  • Sumptuous.

    June 8, 2008

  • Profitable; advantageous; useful.

    June 8, 2008

  • forgiveness;a forgiving nature(Obs,rare)

    June 8, 2008

  • birthmark; naevus

    June 8, 2008

  • Spontaneous; voluntary.

    June 8, 2008

  • To insnare; to entrap; to entangle; to catch

    June 8, 2008

  • v. t. & i. 1. To scatter; to disparkle (Obs.)

    June 8, 2008

  • containing much within a small space;compact

    June 8, 2008

  • learning, mental discipline, especially in mathematics

    June 8, 2008

  • 1. To make ready to fight; to array

    2. To fight out; to contest; to decide by combat.

    June 8, 2008

  • Rare or obsolete term for the fear of being unloved.

    June 8, 2008

  • Rare or obsolete term for marital infidelity.

    June 8, 2008

  • 1. Trial; experiment.

    2. The state of being in peril.

    June 8, 2008

  • Extremely alert wakefulness.

    June 8, 2008

  • Prosperity.

    June 8, 2008

  • a feeling or sensation of coldness.

    June 8, 2008

  • letting off steam by swearing

    June 8, 2008

  • dogmatic person; person fond of opinions, especially their own.

    June 8, 2008

  • Fitted for trial or test; experimental; tentative; treating of attempts.

    June 8, 2008

  • A subjective impression of memory of events that have not occurred;false memory

    June 8, 2008

  • To grant recognition to a degree from a foreign university

    June 8, 2008

  • The use of inappropriate or incorrect gestures in speaking.

    June 8, 2008

  • A rarely used term for an abnormal indifference toward or dislike of persons or things.

    June 8, 2008

  • Fictitious or imaginary; unreal

    June 8, 2008

  • An aversion to the company of men; a love of solitude

    June 8, 2008

  • A craving for sweets.

    June 8, 2008

  • slang : odds and ends of food : LEFTOVERS

    June 8, 2008

  • pertaining to vertigo or dizziness

    June 8, 2008

  • mistake-prone

    June 8, 2008

  • healthiness resulting from having all one's wishes granted

    June 8, 2008

  • Proceeding step by step; advancing cautiously

    June 8, 2008

  • Stout; sullen; obstinate. Obs.

    June 8, 2008

  • all alone and friendless

    June 8, 2008

  • Incapable of being divided by cutting; indivisible.

    June 8, 2008

  • mean, nasty and contemptible

    June 8, 2008

  • To have the effect of a Gorgon upon; to turn into stone; to

    petrify. R.

    June 7, 2008

  • To turn to stone or rock

    June 7, 2008

  • A person who has implicit faith

    March 2, 2008

  • The suppression of a day in the calendar to prevent the date

    of the new moon being set a day too late, or the suppression

    of the bissextile day once in 134 years. The opposite to this

    is the proemptosis, or the addition of a day every 330 years,

    and another every 2,400 years.

    February 29, 2008

  • Yes. I am a poor speller and a two finger typist.

    February 13, 2008

  • One who labors at night and sleeps in the day.

    February 9, 2008

  • clumsy, accident prone

    February 7, 2008

  • rare swollen or pretentious inanity; turgidity of language, bombast

    December 30, 2007

  • A sensation of constriction as if a cord were being drawn around the body. Also called girdle sensation.

    December 28, 2007

  • sister in a convent in charge of checking on conduct of other nuns

    December 28, 2007

  • 1. Cutting the beard or shaving one's facial hair.

    2. What the Greeks used to call the gentile art of self-shaving

    December 28, 2007

  • n. pl. 1. (Rom. Antiq.) Sacrifices offered to the souls of deceased heroes or friends.

    December 28, 2007

  • rejuvenation of an old man by a young woman

    December 28, 2007

  • A stammering or stuttering.

    December 21, 2007

  • Archaic

    An impostor; a deceiver

    December 17, 2007

  • Law, offence of attempting to influence a jury or juror

    December 17, 2007

  • Archaic.

    Lack of wisdom.

    December 17, 2007

  • humorous nonce-word : composed of tar and feathers

    (alluding to the practice of tarring and feathering

    an obnoxious person)

    December 17, 2007

  • inkhorn term abstruse, obscure: recondite

    December 17, 2007

  • having or marked by a refined and especially sprightly or witty nature

    December 17, 2007

  • Absolute dominion or jurisdiction; sovereignty.

    December 17, 2007

  • Equal to a twelfth part.

    December 17, 2007

  • 1. reading the same backwards as forwards: a cancrine line. Cf. palindrome.

    2.rare) Of, or pertaining to crabs

    December 17, 2007

  • Writer's cramp.

    December 17, 2007

  • The cry of a newborn.

    December 17, 2007

  • Boldness or freedom of speech.

    December 17, 2007

  • A rapid decline, deterioration, or collapse (of a situation).

    December 16, 2007

  • A dispute or contest; a slight contest; a skirmish

    December 16, 2007

  • 1. One who aspires to wittiness.

    2. One who has little wit.

    December 16, 2007

  • n. Archaic

    1. A coarse or scolding woman.

    2. A man who busies himself with domestic matters traditionally regarded as suitable only for women.

    December 16, 2007

  • Also,adiaphorous. neutral; neither right nor wrong; neither deleterious

    nor salubrious

    December 16, 2007

  • The period of maximum severity or intensity of a disease or fever

    December 16, 2007

  • Sly; crafty; cunning; artful.

    December 16, 2007

  • Of or related to acting.

    December 16, 2007

  • n. pl. hy·po·ge·a (-j)

    1. A subterranean chamber of an ancient building.

    2. An ancient subterranean burial chamber, such as a catacomb

    December 16, 2007

  • Pertaining to, or resembling, pearl; pearly.

    December 16, 2007

  • A person of doubtful reputation or respectability

    December 16, 2007

  • Of or relating to agriculture or farming.

    December 16, 2007

  • adv. From head to foot; at all points.

    December 16, 2007

  • Also:Boeotian (a.) Of or pertaining to Boeotia; hence, stupid; dull; obtuse.

    Boeotian (n.) A native of Boeotia; also, one who is dull and ignorant.

    December 16, 2007

  • Lying on the ground, especially as a sign of penitence or humiliation.

    December 11, 2007

  • Being as sharp as a razor

    December 11, 2007

  • a. 1. Stiff; stretched; strained.

    2. Lustful, or pertaining to lust.

    December 11, 2007

  • a prostitute pretending to be a wife.

    December 11, 2007

  • excessive attention to material wealth

    December 11, 2007

  • a widower or widow who remarries. Also,one who marries a second time.

    December 11, 2007

  • pertaining to kissing. basiate, v. kiss. basiation, n.

    December 11, 2007

  • left-handedness.

    December 10, 2007

  • addicted to love-making

    December 10, 2007

  • one who fasts

    December 10, 2007

  • The state or quality of being unaccustomed; absence of use or habit.

    December 10, 2007

  • The act of making blind, or the state of being blind.

    December 10, 2007

  • adj. & n. - left-handed or awkward; or a left-handed or awkward person

    December 10, 2007

  • the state of finding it hard to get out of bed

    December 9, 2007

  • Feathered; having feathers.

    December 9, 2007

  • relating to silence

    December 9, 2007

  • a. accepted as fact but unproved

    December 9, 2007

  • caused by unfavorable home environment

    December 9, 2007

  • Having the same essence; being identically of the same nature.

    December 9, 2007

  • a great-great-grandfather

    December 9, 2007

  • Given to lewdness.

    December 8, 2007

  • Also-n.pl. The spirits of the dead, regarded as minor supernatural powers in ancient Roman religion

    December 8, 2007

  • late in occuring,forming or flowering. Usually,said of flowers but can be used figuratively

    December 8, 2007

  • happy because innocent and good.

    December 8, 2007

  • Acting by poison; used in poisoning or in sorcery.

    December 8, 2007

  • 1. A strong offensive odor via perspiration of the armpits.

    2. Bromidrosis or the fetid or foul smelling of perspiration of the axillae (armpits).

    November 28, 2007

  • having thick ankles

    November 28, 2007

  • waning sexual desire due to age

    November 28, 2007

  • the tendency to forget names

    November 28, 2007

  • looking younger than one's years.

    November 28, 2007

  • painting or description of mean or sordid things; still-life or genre painting.

    November 28, 2007

  • pertaining to appetite, sexual and otherwise

    November 28, 2007

  • Bad or dysfunctional thinking

    November 25, 2007

  • fat;fatty

    November 25, 2007

  • stained or charred as if scorched

    November 25, 2007

  • something that eases or makes up for suffering or loss

    November 25, 2007

  • the science of caring for the elderly

    November 25, 2007

  • modesty;prudishness

    November 25, 2007

  • One who utters falsehoods; a liar.

    November 25, 2007

  • Peevishness; petulance.

    November 25, 2007

  • paired or connected

    November 25, 2007

  • the science or study of ignorance, which determines its quality and conditions.

    November 25, 2007

  • Going about or abroad; walking or wandering from house to

    house.

    November 25, 2007

  • The act of yielding; surrender.

    November 25, 2007

  • the act of assuming another's debt

    November 25, 2007

  • dull, unfunny, deadly serious, humorless

    November 25, 2007

  • To come under, as a support or stay; to happen.

    November 24, 2007

  • Also, to touch with the lips

    November 23, 2007

  • a tendency to exaggerate.

    November 23, 2007

  • beat black and blue; slander.

    November 23, 2007

  • Given to theft; thievish

    November 23, 2007

  • Consider Charles Kinbote in Pale Fire

    November 23, 2007

  • bad breath

    November 23, 2007

  • the wrinkling of one's face

    November 23, 2007

  • Total abstinence from spirituous liquor.

    November 23, 2007

  • the act of beating or flogging

    November 23, 2007

  • a deserter;an apostate

    November 23, 2007

  • obtained by trickery or by concealing the truth

    November 23, 2007

  • preoccupation with trying to recall forgotten words

    November 23, 2007

  • Want of appetite; loathing of food.

    November 23, 2007

  • n. diminution in ability to act or decide

    November 23, 2007

  • unclean;filthy Rare.

    November 23, 2007

  • infallibility Obs.

    November 23, 2007

  • the point of development at which one becomes attracted to persons of the opposite sex

    November 23, 2007

  • a voyage or trip around something

    November 20, 2007

  • To kick.

    November 20, 2007

  • To emasculate; to dispossess of manhood.

    November 20, 2007

  • Acuteness of discernment; cunningness; shrewdness

    November 20, 2007

  • a man sexually aroused by water,esp urine

    Nabokov,Lolita p.252

    November 12, 2007

  • fascination,enchantment. The belief that some persons had the power of injuring others by their looks among the Greeks and Romans,as it is in modern times.(The evil eye)

    The fascinum was an amulet in the form of a phallus which was hung around the necks of children. The evil eye was supposed to injure children particularly.

    William Smith,D.C.L.,LLD, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities John Murray,London, 1875

    Not in OED

    Nabokov,Lolita p 21

    November 12, 2007

  • a homosexual

    Nabokov,Lolita p. 18

    November 12, 2007

  • Also a noun:necromancer;a magician-Webster's New International Dictionary (1913)

    Used by Nabokov as an adjective on page 183 of Pale Fire

    November 10, 2007

  • archaic:given to deep thought:having the appearance of being in deep meditation:pensive

    November 10, 2007

  • prudishness

    Nabokov,Pale Fire p.114

    November 10, 2007

  • polluted,contaminated

    Burgess,Earthly Powers

    November 9, 2007

  • skeptical,unconvinced,dubious

    Beckett,The Unnamable

    November 9, 2007

  • idleness,sloth

    Theroux,Darconville's Cat

    November 9, 2007

  • greedy for food,gluttonous

    Burgess,Tremor Of Intent

    November 9, 2007

  • not adult,prepubescent

    Nabokov,Transparent Things

    November 9, 2007

  • spotted,dappled,variegated

    Nabokov,Ada

    November 9, 2007

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