It's a good day for more words:
macrophage noun Physiology a large phagocytic cell found in stationary form in the tissues or as a mobile white blood cell, especially at sites of infection.
irredentist noun [ usu. as modifier ] a person advocating the restoration to their country of any territory formerly belonging to it. • historical (in 19th-century Italian politics) an advocate of the return to Italy of all Italian-speaking districts subject to other countries. DERIVATIVES irredentism noun ORIGIN from Italian irredentista, from (Italia) irredenta ‘unredeemed (Italy)’.
theodicy noun (pl.theodicies) [ mass noun ] the vindication of divine providence in view of the existence of evil. the question of theodicy. [ count noun ] : those seeking a theodicy. DERIVATIVES theodicean |-ˈsiːən| adjective ORIGIN late 18th cent.: from French Théodicée, the title of a work by Leibniz, from Greek theos ‘god’ + dikē ‘justice’.
ME: Does theodicy help to answer the question: “Why do bad things happen good people?”
heuristic adjective enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves. a ‘hands-on’ or interactive heuristic approach to learning. • Computing proceeding to a solution by trial and error or by rules that are only loosely defined. noun a heuristic process or method. • (heuristics) [ usu. treated as sing. ] the study and use of heuristic techniques. DERIVATIVES heuristically adverb ORIGIN early 19th cent.: formed irregularly from Greek heuriskein ‘find’.
ME: Now, what is the difference between heuristic and empirical?
empirical adjective based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic: they provided considerable empirical evidence to support their argument. DERIVATIVES empirically adverb [ sentence adverb ] : empirically, the theory has a number of weaknesses
orogeny noun [ mass noun ] Geology a process in which a section of the earth's crust is folded and deformed by lateral compression to form a mountain range. present rates of denudation and orogeny. [ count noun ] : the Hercynian and Alpine orogenies. DERIVATIVES orogenesis noun orogenic, adjective
kwashiorkor noun [ mass noun ] a form of malnutrition caused by protein deficiency in the diet, typically affecting young children in the tropics. ORIGIN 1930s: a local word in Ghana.
squamous adjective covered with or characterized by scales: a squamous black hide. • Anatomy relating to, consisting of, or denoting a layer of epithelium that consists of very thin flattened cells: squamous cell carcinoma. • [ attrib. ] Anatomy denoting the flat portion of the temporal bone which forms part of the side of the skull. ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin squamosus, from squama ‘scale’.
myopathy noun (pl.myopathies) Medicine a disease of muscle tissue. DERIVATIVES myopathic adjective
vapid adjective offering nothing that is stimulating or challenging; bland: tuneful but vapid musical comedies. DERIVATIVES vapidity, noun, vapidly adverb ORIGIN mid 17th cent. (used originally in description of drinks as ‘lacking in flavour’): from Latin vapidus .
ME: I sort of knew this one but I’ve never used it. I will now. Compare it to this one that I’ve used a lot:
insipid | adjective lacking flavour; weak or tasteless: mugs of insipid coffee. • lacking vigour or interest: many artists continued to churn out insipid, shallow works. DERIVATIVES insipidity |-ˈpɪdɪti| noun, insipidly adverb, insipidness noun ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from French insipide or late Latin insipidus, from in- ‘not’ + sapidus (see sapid) .
umami noun [ mass noun ] a category of taste in food (besides sweet, sour, salt, and bitter), corresponding to the flavour of glutamates, especially monosodium glutamate. ORIGIN Japanese, literally ‘deliciousness’.
ME: I read that one a lot but haven’t used it yet.
immiseration noun [ mass noun ] economic impoverishment. rapid modernization had an impact on the level of urban immiseration. DERIVATIVES immiserate verb ORIGIN 1940s: translating German Verelendung . epistemic | adjective relating to knowledge or to the degree of its validation. DERIVATIVES epistemically adverb ORIGIN 1920s: from Greek epistēmē ‘knowledge’ (see epistemology) + -ic.
ME:That’s a good one. I’ve used epistemology but not epistemic.
Künstlerroman A Künstlerroman (German pronunciation: [ˈkʏnstlɐ.ʁoˌmaːn]; plural -ane), meaning "artist's novel" in English, is a narrative about an artist's growth to maturity. It may be classified as a specific subgenre of Bildungsroman; such a work, usually a novel, tends to depict the conflicts of a sensitive youth against the values of a middle and upper class society of his or her time.
Examples in English:
fetor (also foetor) noun a strong, foul smell: the fetor of decay ORIGIN late 15th cent.: from Latin, from fetere ‘to stink’. Compare with fetid.
casuist noun 1 a person who uses clever but unsound reasoning, especially in relation to moral questions; a sophist. 2 a person who resolves moral problems by the application of theoretical rules. DERIVATIVES casuistic |-ˈɪstɪk| adjective, casuistical |-ˈɪstɪk(ə)l| adjective, casuistically |-ˈɪstɪk(ə)li| adverb ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from French casuiste, from Spanish casuista, from Latin casus (see case1) .
ME: I’ve used casuistry but never casuist.
prolepsis noun, 1 Rhetoric: the anticipation and answering of possible objections in rhetorical speech. 2 the representation of a thing as existing before it actually does or did so, as in he was a dead man when he entered. • literary a figurative device in narrative, in which a future event is prefigured. the destruction of the Vendôme Column and his part in it are foreshadowed in moments of haunting prolepsis. DERIVATIVES proleptic adjective ORIGIN late Middle English (as a term in rhetoric): via late Latin from Greek prolēpsis, from prolambanein ‘anticipate’, from pro ‘before’ + lambanein ‘take’.
ME: Hey – “haunting prolepsis – I had thought it was a medical term but it’s delightfully not.
exordium noun (pl.exordiums or exordia |-dɪə| ) formal the beginning or introductory part, especially of a discourse or treatise. DERIVATIVES exordial adjective ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from Latin, from exordiri ‘begin’, from ex- ‘out, from’ + ordiri ‘begin’.
skeeve out : his is not in the online Dictionary nor in Wikipedia. I have a friend who says “hive out” when she’s digging into food and taking a lot. Maybe skeeve out means the same thing. Any ideas?
And that’s enough for today.