reredos noun (pl.same) Christian Church, an ornamental screen covering the wall at the back of an altar. ORIGIN late Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French, from Old French areredos, from arere ‘behind’ + dos ‘back’.

bilirubin noun [ mass noun ] Biochemistry, an orange-yellow pigment formed in the liver by the breakdown of haemoglobin and excreted in bile. ORIGIN late 19th cent.: coined in German from Latin bilis ‘bile’ + ruber ‘red’ + -in1cobalamin noun Biochemistry, any of a group of cobalt-containing substances including cyanocobalamin (vit. B 12). ORIGIN 1950s: blend of cobalt and vitamin.

curtal adjective archaic: shortened, abridged, or curtailed. the curtal frock of sunbright cotton. noun historical: a dulcian or bassoon of the late 16th to early 18th century. ORIGIN late 15th cent. (denoting a short-barrelled cannon): from French courtault, from court ‘short’ + the pejorative suffix -ault. In both English and French the noun denoted various items characterized by something short, especially an animal with a docked tail, which probably gave rise to the adjective sense.

antimony noun [ mass noun ]: the chemical element of atomic number 51, a brittle silvery-white semimetal.(Symbol: Sb) Antimony was known from ancient times; the naturally occurring black sulphide was used as the cosmetic kohl. The element is used in alloys, usually with lead, such as pewter, type metal, and Britannia metal. DERIVATIVES antimonial, adjective, ORIGIN late Middle English (denoting stibnite, the most common ore of the metal): from medieval Latin antimonium, of unknown origin. The current sense dates from the early 19th cent.

Soon I’ll tell you a few of the books I’ve been reading.

It’s been a hard week.