Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 3 of 101 1 2 3 4 5 100 101
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2

HETEROCHROMATIC

PRONUNCIATION: (het-uhr-oh-kroh-MAT-ik)

MEANING: adjective: Having many different colors.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek hetero- (different) + chrom- (color). Earliest documented use: 1895.
____________________________________

HETAEROCHROMATIC - the color of an elegant Greek courtesan

HEPTEROCHROMATIC - seven-colored, like a rainbow

HE TERACHROMATIC - he's a chameleon, with a trillion colors

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2

HOMOPHENE

PRONUNCIATION: (HOM-uh-feen)

MEANING: noun: A word or phrase that, when spoken, appears to be the same as a different word or phrase on a person’s lips, for example my and pie.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek homo- (same) + phainein (to show). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bha- (to shine), which is also the source of beacon, banner, phantom, photo, phosphorus, phenomenon, fantasy, epiphany, sycophant, and apophenia. Earliest documented use: 1883.

NOTES: Here are some more examples of words/phrases that appear the same to someone lip reading:
mark, park, and bark
“elephant juice” and “I love you”
bargain and market
__________________________

HEMOPHENE - benzene-based compounds, found in trace amounts in the blood

HO! MORPHENE! - look at that stash I just found!

HOLOPHENE - one who has terrible things happen to him in a drunken stupor (according to the Book of Judith)

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2

HETEROCLITE

PRONUNCIATION: (HET-uhr-uh-klyt)

MEANING: noun: 1. A person who is unconventional; a maverick.
2. A word that is irregularly formed.
adjective: 1. Deviating from the ordinary rule; eccentric.
2. (In grammar) Irregularly inflected.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin heteroclitus, from Greek heteroklitos, from hetero- (different) + klinein (to lean, inflect). Ultimately from the Indo-European root klei- (to lean), which also gave us decline, incline, recline, lean, client, climax, and ladder. Earliest documented use: 1580.
___________________________________

HETEROCLIME - Like New England weather - if you don't like it, just wait 15 minutes

HETHEROCLITE - a kind of iron ore found in Scotland mixed in among wildflowers

HETEROCULITE - having a different prescription to correct the vision in each eye

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2

HOMOLOGATE

PRONUNCIATION: (huh-MOL-uh-gayt, ho-)

MEANING: verb tr.: To approve officially, especially a car, engine, etc., for sale in a particular market or for its use in racing.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin homologare (to agree), from Greek homologein (to agree or allow). Earliest documented use: 1644.

NOTES: Some auto racing competitions require participating vehicles to be available for sale to the general public, and not be custom made for racing. In other words, the vehicle must be a production model, not a prototype. The process of homologation verifies this. The initials GTO listed after some auto names (Ferrari, Pontiac, etc.) stand for “Gran Turismo Omologato”, Italian for “Grand Touring, Homologated”.
__________________________

NOMOLOGATE - to make suitable for baseballer Garciaparra

HOMOLOCATE - to find a missing person by using the GPS chip in his smartphone

HOMOLEGATE - lawyer for all mankind

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2

HETEROGRAPHY

PRONUNCIATION: (het-uh-ROG-ruh-fee)

MEANING: noun:
1. A spelling different from the one in current use.
2. Use of the same letter(s) to convey different sounds, for example, gh in rough and ghost.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek hetero- (different) + -graphy (writing). Earliest documented use: 1783.

NOTES: The idea of heterography is a recent phenomenon, relatively speaking. Earlier, when English was mainly a spoken language, it was a free-for-all, spelling-wise. Any spelling was fine as long as you could make yourself understood. Each writer spelled words in their own way, trying to spell them phonetically. Shakespeare spelled his own name in various ways (Shaxspear, Shakespear, and so on) ...

With the advent of printing in the 15th century, spelling began to become standardized. By the 19th century, most words had a single “official” spelling, as a consensus, not by the diktat of a committee.

Today if you write “definately” and someone points out that you’ve misspelled the word, just tell them you’re a practitioner of heterography.
___________________________

HESTEROGRAPHY - a handwritten manuscript of The Scarlet Letter
....."handwritten manuscript" - now there's a redundant phrase for you!

HEXEROGRAPHY - 1. pictures of witches; 2. man's dry reproduction process

HERTEROGRAPHY - the collected writings of Eisenhower's Secretary of State

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2

BOKEH

PRONUNCIATION: (BOH-kay/kuh)

MEANING: noun: The blurred effect in a photograph, typically as a soft out-of-focus background, that results in a pleasing effect and helps to draw attention to the subject of the photograph.

ETYMOLOGY: From Japanese boke (blur, haze) or boke-aji (blur quality). Earliest documented use: 1997.
___________________________

BOKEN - with "HO!," a greeting uttered upon arrival at a city in New Jersey

BOKETH - past tense of the old third-person-singular form of the verb meaning "to ride on a two-wheeled vehicle"

BOKEN - how a two-year-old just learning to speak describes something that doesn't work right any more

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2

SENSEI

PRONUNCIATION: (SEN-say, sen-SAY)

MEANING: noun: A teacher, mentor, or a master in a field.

ETYMOLOGY: From Japanese sensei (teacher, master), from sen (earlier) + sei (birth), meaning a teacher was born earlier and knows more and has more experience. Earliest documented use: 1874.
________________________________

SEN-SEN - the Curiously Strong Mint of the 1950s (give or take 15 years)

SENSEKI - a dramatic move in Go that had better not be made

SENASE I - the first enzyme that catalyzes activity in the Upper House of Congress

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2

SAYONARA

PRONUNCIATION: (sy-uh-NAHR-uh)

MEANING: interjection: Goodbye.

ETYMOLOGY: From Japanese sayonara (goodbye), short for sayo naraba (if it is to be that way), from sayo (thus) + naraba (if it be), ultimately from Chinese. Earliest documented use: 1863.
________________________________________

MAYONARA - adj, describing an Italian dish prepared with mayonnaise and a brine marinade

SAYONARMA - Okay, I'm Norma, now what?

SAY ON A RAG - critic's review of the first performance of The Entertainer

RAYON ARA - a synthetic cloth constellation

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2

ORIGAMI

PRONUNCIATION: (or-i-GAH-mee)

MEANING: noun:
1. The art of folding paper into various shapes.
2. An object made by folding paper.

ETYMOLOGY: From Japanese origami, from ori (fold) + kami (paper). Earliest documented use: 1948.
__________________________________

OBIGAMI - an Irishman with two wives

ORINAMI - the mouth of a tidal wave

PRIG, AM I? - You accuse me of being prudish?

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,717
Likes: 2

SEPPUKU

PRONUNCIATION: (se-POO-koo, SE-puh-koo)

MEANING: noun:
1. Ritual suicide by disembowelment.
2. Ruining one’s own interests.

ETYMOLOGY: From Japanese setsu fuku, from setsu (to cut) + fuku (abdomen), ultimately from Chinese. Earliest documented use: 1871.

NOTES: ...also known as harakiri
______________________________________________

SEE-PUKU - what the Tokyo hockey goalie has to do well...

SEP-PUPU - platter of small amounts of several different foods, to order at an Asian restaurant

SEMP-UKU - gallant action by the Imperial Marines

Page 3 of 101 1 2 3 4 5 100 101

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,587
Members9,187
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
Karin, JeffMackwood, artguitar, Jim_W, Rdbuffalo
9,187 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
1 members (A C Bowden), 222 guests, and 1 robot.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
wofahulicodoc 10,717
tsuwm 10,542
LukeJavan8 9,931
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5