Word of the Day: PENNY-FATHER


ETYMOLOGY
from penny + father


EXAMPLE
“…This skapethrifte, throweth his good{is} against the walles. That pennie father, skrapeth it togethers, bothe by God, and by the diuell…”

From: The Praise of Folie
Moriæ encomium a booke made in Latine by that great clerke Erasmus Roterodame,
Translated by Thomas Chaloner Knight, 1549

Word of the Day: DEROGATORIOUS


ETYMOLOGY
from Latin derogatorius derogatory + -ous


EXAMPLE
“…if the said archbishop intermeddled after the said provocation, his doings were derogatorious not only to the dignity of the patriarche but to the supremacy of the Pope and to the authority also of the general Counsell…”

From: A Treatise on The Pretended Divorce Between Henry VIII and Catharine of Aragon
By Nicholas Harpsfield, a1575
Modernized Text By Nicholas Pocock, 1878

Word of the Day: KIME


ETYMOLOGY
of uncertain origin


EXAMPLE
“…The Emperour yaf the Pope somtyme
So hyghe lordshyp hym aboute,
That at the laste the sely kyme
The proude Pope putte hym out!
So of thys realme is in doute,
But lordes be ware and them defende;
For nowe these folke be wonder stoute:
The kynge and lordes nowe thys amende!
…”

From: The Ploughman’s Tale, c1535

Word of the Day: GORREL


ETYMOLOGY
from Old French gorelgorreau (a pig, hog);
related to Old French gore (sow): of unknown origin.


EXAMPLE (for n. 1.)
“…Crampe that comyth of replycyon fallyth ofte to fatte men and flesshly and well fedde and gorrelles…”

From: Bartholomew de Glanville’s De Proprietatibus Rerum,
Translated by John Trevisa, 1495

Word of the Day: MEACOCK


ETYMOLOGY
of obscure origin: perhaps originally a name of some bird  
(From Murray’s N.E.D.: “the suggestion that it is from meek (adj.) is untenable”)


EXAMPLE
“…He shuld be no cowarde, no maycocke, ne fearfull persone that dare no thyng enterprise….”

From: Here Begynneth a Deuout Treatyse in Englysshe, called the Pylgrimage of Perfection,
By William Bonde, 1526

Word of the Day: MORIGERATE


ETYMOLOGY
from Latin morigeratus, past participial stem of morigerari (to to be obedient or compliant), from morigerus


EXAMPLE
“…Certaynely in the auncient tyme, whan thou were peopled with ryght and trewe Romayns, and not as thou arte nowe with bastarde chylderne, than the armies, that wente froo Rome, were as well disciplyned and morigerate, as the schooles of the philosophies, that were in Grece…”

From: The Golden Boke of Marcus Aurelius,
By Antonio de Guevara, 1546

Word of the Day: COLLACHRYMATE


ETYMOLOGY
adj.: from Latin collacrimatus, pa. pple. of collacrimare;
vb. : from Latin collacrimat- ppl. stem of collacrimare, from col- (together) + lacrimāre (to shed tears, weep), from lacrima (tear)


EXAMPLE
“…A tormentor would collachrymate my case, and rather choose to have been tortured himself than torment me with ingratitude as thou dost…”

From: Christs teares ouer Ierusalem,
By Thomas Nashe, 1593

Word of the Day: PLUME-PLUCKED


ETYMOLOGY
from plume (mark of honour or distinction) + plucked


EXAMPLE
“…Yorke. Great Duke of Lancaster, I come to thee
From plume-pluckt Richard, who with willing Soule
Adopts thee Heire, and his high Scepter yeelds
To the possession of thy Royall Hand…”

From: The Tragedie of King Richard the Second
By William Shakespeare, 1597