Lexico

Word of the Day: VILIPENDIOUS

ETYMOLOGY
from vilipend (vb.) + -ious;
from French vilipender, or from Latin vilipendere, from vilis (vile, worthless) + pendere (to consider, esteem)

EXAMPLE
“… And thou ignoble horse-rubbing peasant, that by the borrowed title of a Lord (being but a vilipendious mechanicall Hostler, hast laid this insulting insupportable command on me: the time shall come, when thou shalt cast thy anticke authority, as a snake casts her skin; and then thou for an example to future posterities shalt make an vnsauory period of thy maleuolent dayes in litter and horse-dongue …”

From: All the vvorkes of Iohn Taylor the water-poet Beeing sixty and three in number
By John Taylor, 1630

Word of the Day: BIRD’S-NIE

ETYMOLOGY
from the genitive of bird + nye for eye, as in my nye = myn eye;
possibly an alteration of pigsney (a sweetheart, a term of endearment)

EXAMPLE
“… Oh Mistris May, come to bed Sweet-heart come, my Duck, my Birds-nye; Zblood, I must goe to Salisbury to morrow, bring me my Boots quickly; Zounds, will not the Rogues bring me more Money; Zblood, that Cock’s worth a Kings Ransome, a runs, a runs, a thousand pound to a Hobby-horse; Rub, Rub, Rub, a pox Rub a whole hundred Rubs; …”

From: The last vvill and testament of Philip Herbert, burgesse for Bark-shire, 1650

Word of the Day: SWONG

ETYMOLOGY
from Old Norse svangr, related to svangi (swange, groin), from swaŋgw-, perhaps identical with swaŋgw-, grade-variant of swiŋgw- (to swing – to scourge, whip, flog, beat)

EXAMPLE
“… Þe hungri in god he made stronge,
And þe riche he lette al swonge.
Þe folk of Israel haþ vndurfonge
Þe child þat heo abide longe; …”

From: The minor poems of the Vernon MS
Published for the Early English Text Society, 1892-1901
La estorie del Euangelie, a1300

Word of the Day: ONERARIOUS

ETYMOLOGY
from Latin onerarius (suitable for carrying a burden or cargo) + -ous

EXAMPLE
“… For that he emongest all gouernors, chiefly did remembre that a kyng ought to bee a ruler with wit, grauitie, circumspeccion, diligence and constancie, and for that cause to haue a rule to hym comitted, not for an honor, but for an onorarious charge and daily burden, and not to looke so muche on other mennes liuynges, as to consider and remembre his owne doynges and propre actes. …”

From: The vnion of the two noble and illustrate famelies of Lancastre [and] Yorke
By: Edward Hall, 1548

Word of the Day: POLYMATH

ETYMOLOGY
from Greek πολυµαθής (having learnt much), from πολυ- (poly-, much) + μάθη (learning) from the base of µανθάνειν (to learn)

EXAMPLE (for n.)
“… To be counted writers, scriptores ut Salutentur, to be thought and held Polumathes and Polyhistors, apud imperitum vulgus ob ventosæ nomem artis, to get a paper-kingdom: nulla spe quæstus sed ampla famæ, in this precipitate, ambitious age, nunc ut est sæculum, inter immaturam eruditionem, ambitiosum et præceps (’tis Scaliger’s censure); and they that are scarce auditors, vix auditores, must be masters and teachers, before they be capable and fit hearers. …”

From: The Anatomy of Melancholy
By Robert Burton, 1624

Word of the Day: SCOPTIC

ETYMOLOGY
from Greek σκωπτικός, from σκώπτειν (to mock, jeer)

EXAMPLE
“… Againft these Books, the ‘Learned employed their Learning, and the Witty employed their Wit. Celsus, Porpbyrius, Jamblichus, Hierocles, and other Philosophers, endeavoured to dispute them out of the world, Symmachus and Libanius, and other Rhetors to declaim them away. Julian and Lucian and other Scoptick wits, endeavoured to jeer and droll away the credit of them. …”

From: Sermon Against the Anti-scripturists
By Seth Ward, 1670

Word of the Day: HICKSCORNER

ETYMOLOGY
see definition above

EXAMPLE
“… but Plato moe tymes than one auised hym, with sacrifice to purchace the fauour of the Graces, that is, so to applye hymself, yt his saiynges and dooynges might haue more grace and bee better accepted & taken of the worlde. zeno beeyng outright alltogether a Stoique vsed to call Socrates the scoffer, or the Hicke scorner of the citee of Athenes: because of his merie conceiptes and tauntyng, that he neuer ceassed to vse: but yet is there no manne, but he will saie that Socrates was a more godly feloe then either of those twoo whiche I named last afore. …”

From: Apophthegmes that is to saie, prompte, quicke, wittie and sentencious saiynges, of certain emperours, kynges, capitaines, philosophiers and oratours,
By Desiderius Erasmus
Translated by Nicholas Udall. 1542

Word of the Day: OBLIGATORIOUS

ETYMOLOGY
from Latin obligatorius (imposing obligation) + -ous

EXAMPLE
“… quharethrow he culd nocht contract, trespas, or do ony sic deid as were obligatorious, quherbj he mycht be oblist to pvnisment of his persoune, likeas he mycht nocht oblise him in his gudis …”

From: Ancient Criminal Trials in Scotland
Compiled from the original records and manuscripts
By Robert Pitcairn, 1833
Slaughter committed by an alleged Madman or Furious person – A.D. 1554

Word of the Day: SLAWSY-GAWSY

ETYMOLOGY
of uncertain origin;
possibly from slaw, Scots variant of slow

EXAMPLE
“… Quod scho, “My clype, my unspaynit gyane,
With moderis mylk yit in your mychane,
My belly huddrun, my swete hurle bawsy,
My huny gukkis, my slawsy gawsy,
Your musing waild perse and harte of stane,
Tak gud confort, my grit heidit slawsy,
Fow leis me that graceless gane. …”

From: The Poems of William Dunbar
Edited by Priscilla Bawcutt, 1998 (Association for Scottish Literary Studies nos. 27 and 28)
Composed a1513

Word of the Day: MOLIMINOUS

ETYMOLOGY
from Latin molimin- molimen (effort); (from moliri (to make an effort, undertake, attempt)) + -ous

EXAMPLE (for adj. 1.)
“… In all great distresses the body of the people was ever constrained to rise, and by the force of a Major party to put an end to all intestine strifes, and make a redresse of all publique grievances, but many times calamities grew to a strange height, before so combersome a body could be raised; and when it was raised, the motions of it were so distracted and irregular, that after much spoile and effution of bloud, sometimes onely one Tyranny was exchanged for another: till some way was invented to regulate the motions of the peoples moliminous body, I think arbitrary rule was most safe for the world, but now since most Countries have found out an Art and peaceable Order for Publique Assemblies, whereby the people may assume its owne power to do itselfe right without disturbance to it selfe, or injury to Princes, he is very unjust that will oppose this Art and order. …”

From: Observations upon some of His Majesties late answers and expresses
By Henry Parker, 1642

PRONUNCIATION
moh-LIM-uh-nuhss