Dire

I find trying to write my essay is a dire task.

Dire means dreadful, terrible or disastrous.

Etymology:
1560s, from L. dirus "fearful, awful, boding ill," of unknown origin; perhaps from Oscan and Umbrian and perhaps cognate with Gk. deinos, from PIE base *dwei-.

Procrastinate

I am the queen of procrastination!  If I have any work to do, you can be sure I will find at least 5 other things to do first even though they are nowhere near as important...

To procrastinate is to delay or put off til another day.

Etymology:

1540s, from L. procrastinationem "a putting off," noun of action from procrastinare "put off till tomorrow," from pro- "forward" (see pro-) + crastinus "belonging to tomorrow," from cras "tomorrow," of unknown origin.

Opsimathy

I came across this word while looking in the dictionary for another word.  This is one of the reasons why I enjoy reading the dictionary, I get introduced to new words :-)

Opsimathy means the process of acquiring information late in life.

Etymology:
1650s, from Gk. opsimathia "learning late in life," from opse "late" (related to opiso "backward" + opisthen "behind") + manthanein "to learn."

Oleaster

My post tonight was inspired by a text I (almost) sent to my friend... As we were bantering away by SMS my iPhone decided to change my spelling of pleasure to oleaster (pronounced oh-le-AS-ter).  Fortunately, I noticed the autocorrect and changed it back to pleasure.

An oleaster is an ornamental shrub or small tree.

Etymology:
Oleaster is a Latin word derived from the olea meaning olive or olive-tree.

Quacksalver

I know many people who are quacksalvers.  They claim to have all this knowledge and try to convince you that you have all these ailments and should therefore do this that or the other.

Have you worked out the meaning yet?  A quacksalver is someone who falsely pretends to have a knowledge of medicine.

Etymology:

quack (n.) 
"medical charlatan," 1630s, short for quacksalver (1570s), from Du. kwaksalver, lit. "hawker of salve," from M.Du. quacken "to brag, boast," lit. "to croak" (see quack (v.)) + zalf "salve." Cf. Ger. Quacksalber, Dan. kvaksalver, Swed. kvacksalvare.

Gripe

I use this word mostly in the informal mode where it means a nagging complaint or a constant grumble.

The formal meaning of the word is to suffer pain in the bowels or seize and hold firmly.

The word gripe came to my mind this evening as I am trying to work on a research project for uni and I feel like I have a gripe with or about my tutor.

Why do I find writing essays and doing research so difficult. Procrastination is so much easier and more fun :-)

Etymology:
gripe (v.)
O.E. gripan "grasp at, lay hold, attack, take, seek to get hold of," from P.Gmc. *gripanan (cf. O.S. gripan, O.N. gripa, Du. grijpen, Goth. greipan, O.H.G. grifan, Ger. greifen "to seize"), from PIE base *ghreib- "to grip" (cf. Lith. griebiu "to seize"). Figurative sense of "complain, grouse" is first attested 1932, probably from earlier meaning "gripping pain in the bowels" (c.1600; cf. bellyache). Related: Griped; griping. As a noun, late 14c., from the verb. Figurative sense by 1934.
(http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=gripe)

Jipijapa

I was looking for words beginning with J because our J label was looking sparse and this popped up in front of my googling eyes.

Jipijapa is a palmlike plant mainly found in tropical America and it is oft used to make panama hats.

Etymology:
A spanish word coined in 1858.

Compunction

Guilt.

What an excellent word. I have no compunction in using it voraciously.

Etymology:

Com-: Latin prefix usually meaning 'with'

Pungere: Latin meaning to prick.

Presumably the figurative early Church writers who coined this phrase hadn't yet been accused of the heinous crimes which they are today accused of; else there's no way they would have coined this phrase.

Centu

Lithuanian money unit.

Hegumen

The head of the monastery of the Eastern Church.

Very useful Scrabble word!

Brumal

Today is brumal. Is that the correct usage? I'm not entirely sure.

However, I do know that brumal means wintry or freezing and at the moment I am so cold my nose is numb so I thought 'twould be a good word to post :-)

Etymology:
Origin: 1505–15; < L brūmālis of, pertaining to winter. See brume, -al1

Zarf

Google search for interesting words beginning with 'Z' revealed this delight.

It is an ornamental holder for a hot coffee cup. Match this with a cigarette holder, and one has a recipe for coolness.

It is from the Arabic word meaning envelope or container.

Caulking

To seal a gap with a substance;

To make a boat water-tight.

Sometimes I feel as if uni doesn't exactly caulk me, merely highlights places where caulking is needed. Then the caulk is applied, only that application highlights smaller holes. Then, everything explodes and the boat falls apart and the only things left are the substances used to caulk in the first place; and the occasional spattered fragment of what used to be a brain.

Smörgåsbord

Smörgåsbord (pronounced shmawr-guhs-bawrd) meaning an extensive array or variety, often used in reference to food in which case it means a buffet meal of various hot and cold foods.

Etymology:
1893, from Swed. smörgåsbord "open sandwich table," lit. "butter-goose table," from smörgås, which is said to mean "bread and butter," but is compounded from smör "butter" (related to smear) and gås, lit. "goose" (and from the root of English goose), which is said to have a secondary meaning of "a clump (of butter)." The final element is bord "table" (cf. (n.1)). Figurative sense of "medley, miscellany" is recorded from 1948.

Globule

A small spherical body.  

Sometimes shortened to glob, this word came to me when a friend texted me and my response to her was glob as it was an anagram of the word she had sent me.

Etymology:
1660s, from Fr. globule, from L. globulus, dim. of globus “globe”

Chrysanthemum

When I was a kid and would read the Babysitters' Club over and over again, this was in one of the books. The word took around 5 goes to get, but I've been able to spell and say it since. I just love the way the word sounds. Chris an' the mum - it's made for some really good cryptic crossword clues as well.

Etymology

Chrysos: gold

anthos: flower

While looking up the etymology, the word anthos reminded me of anthology. On looking this up, it turns out that anthology means 'flower pressings'.

Apocrypha

esoteric; of questionable authenticity

Oft used in religious circles to describe a book or piece of writing that is considered useful but not the word of god.

I just like the way it sounds :-)

Etymology:
From the Greek meaning hidden away

Asinine

A glorious word meaning extremely/excessively stupid or foolish.

When used in a sentence, "Adam's asinine actions", it sounds so much better than saying, "Adam's extremely stupid actions".

Etymology:
c.1600, "obstinate, stupid," from L. asininus "stupid," lit. "like an ass," from asinus "ass," also "dolt, blockhead" (see ass (1)). The literal sense in English is recorded from 1620s.

Esoteric

Rarely used in normal conversation which is not that strange when you look at the meaning. Esoteric means intended for or understood only by a select few. It can also mean private, secret, confidential.

I have heard it used in the past to describe a person. I would guess that when someone is described as esoteric it means that they are a very private or secretive person.

Etymology:
1650s, from Gk. esoterikos "belonging to an inner circle," from esotero "more within," comparative adv. of eso "within," related to eis "into," en "in" (see en- (2)). In English, originally of Pythagorean doctrines. According to Lucian, the division of teachings into exoteric and esoteric originated with Aristotle.

Non Sequitur

You know the thing that has always fascinated me about words like this is when they, illogically, only have a two word function. I mean, have you ever heard someone talk about a sequitur? I haven't, I've only heard it used with the non in front.

A non sequitur is a statement that does not follow logically from or isn't clearly related to previous content.

This post was a non sequitur from the previous ones about phobias.