Author: Lexico

Word of the Day: QUARTER-CLEFT

ETYMOLOGY
from quarter + cleft (n. and adj. split asunder)

EXAMPLE
“…It is the fashion to talk of Lord Ellenborough in contemptuous terms, as a mere nincompoop, or quartercliff, or what else you will, that implies feebleness of intellect and deficiency of talents; but those who so describe him either mistake his character, or wilfully misrepresent it…”

From: Fraser’s Magazine for Town and Country
Vol. IV. August, 1831 to January 1832
Parliamentary Eloquence, No. IV, House of Lords, by Oliver Yorke

Word of the Day: VERSUTIOUS

ETYMOLOGY
from Latin versutus (wily, cunning) + – ious

EXAMPLE
“…And what do I not ow thee for thy versutious Comple­ments to my Lady Lambert, whose beauty and ele­gance bewitched my affections, as thou well knowest; so that I could not forbear toying and tickling her at my son Ireton’s Funeral in Somerset-house, before all the Company!…”

From: A Third Conference Between O. Cromwell and Hugh Peters In Saint James’s Park, 1660

Word of the Day: GUMPLE-FOISTED

ETYMOLOGY
from Scots gumple (to be in a bad mood, to sulk, and as a noun, a fit of the sulks) + feist (found in other formations of similar meaning, e.g. bumple feist (the sulks), amplefeist (a sulky mood)) + -ed

EXAMPLE
“…Aweel, aweel,’ said Peter Peebles, totally unabashed by the repulse, ‘e’en as ye like, a wilful man maun hae his way; but,’ he added, stooping down and endeavouring to gather the spilled snuff from the polished floor, ‘I canna afford to lose my sneeshing for a’ that ye are gumple-foisted wi’ me‘….”

From: Redgauntlet: A Tale of the Eighteenth Century
By Sir Walter Scott, 1824

Word of the Day: PERLEGATE

ETYMOLOGY
from Latin perlegere to read through, from per- + legere (to read) + ‑ate

EXAMPLE
“…I am vouchsafede to perlegate vvith pleasure, & imploye a small of their time in the readinge, of my scriptsons, and vvritinges, I most courtiouslye desire thē, that they vvould more vvith good vvill, then vvith a spirite…”

From: The Frenche Chirurgerye, or all the Manualle Operations of Chirurgerye
By Jacques Guillemeau
Translated by A.M., 1598

Word of the Day: ELENCHIZE

ETYMOLOGY
from elench ,from Latin elenchus, from Greek ἔλεγχος (cross-examination) + -ize

EXAMPLE
“…Lady. So do all Politicks in their Commendations.
   Host. This is a State-bird, and the verier Fly;
Tipto. But  Hear him problematize.   Prudence. Bless us, what’s that?
   Tipto. Or syllogize, elenchize.   Lady. Sure, petard’s,
To blow us up.   Lat. Some inginous strong words!
   Host. He means to erect a Castle i’ the Air,
And make his Fly an Elephant to carry it….”

From: The New Inne, or The Light Heart, a Comedy
By Ben Jonson, 1631