equipollent adjective (archaic): equal or equivalent in power, effect, or significance. DERIVATIVES equipollence noun. ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French equipolent, from Latin aequipollent- ‘of equal value’, from aequi- ‘equally’ + pollere ‘be strong’.

instantiate verb [ with obj. ] represent as or by an instance: a study of two groups who seemed to instantiate productive aspects of this.. • (be instantiated) Philosophy (of a universal or abstract concept) be represented by an actual example. [I could have guessed this meaning but I didn’t know it was a real word, but of course -

cf. substantiate, verb [ with obj. ]provide evidence to support or prove the truth of: they had found nothing to substantiate the allegations. DERIVATIVES substantiation noun. ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from medieval Latin substantiat- ‘given substance’, from the verb substantiare .

corvid noun Ornithology: a bird of the crow family (Corvidae); a crow. ORIGIN mid 20th cent.: from modern Latin Corvidae (plural), from Latin corvus ‘raven’. [I knew that but it’s a nice word, isn’t it?]

echidna noun: a spiny insectivorous egg-laying mammal with a long snout and claws, native to Australia and New Guinea. Also called spiny anteater. ●Family Tachyglossidae, order Monotremata: two genera and species. ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: modern Latin, from Greek ekhidna ‘viper’, also the name of a mythical creature which gave birth to the Hydra; compare with ekhinos ‘sea urchin, hedgehog’. [This word sounds nicer than it is.]

Hesiod ( c.700 bc ), Greek poet. One of the earliest known Greek poets, he wrote the Theogony, a hexametric poem on the genealogies of the gods, and Works and Days, which gave moral and practical advice and was the chief model for later ancient didactic poetry. [I read about him in the TLS. Homer had a better press agent, I guess.]

“crumbly” This is a nickname given by British author Faye Weldon (still alive! - well, so am I, and a few months older than she is) in her latest book, to anyone born in the “pre-computer age”. After the Peace is the final novel in her “Spoils of War” series.

shuckle is a Pokémon that resembles a small turtle. Its body is yellow and appears soft. Until they are in use, Shuckle's limbs appear limp. It is encased in a very hard red shell that has many holes in it. Wikipedia. [I’m too old ever to need this word.]

fungible adjective: Law: of goods contracted for without an individual specimen being specified) replaceable by another identical item; mutually interchangeable. DERIVATIVES fungibility noun. ORIGIN late 17th cent.: from medieval Latin fungibilis, from fungi ‘perform, enjoy’, with the same sense as fungi vice ‘serve in place of’. [I have a sense that I looked this one up before. It’s a Gilbert & Sullivan kind of word.)

There. That was a nice respite from my soap-opera blog.

I have miles to go before i sleep.