I warned you.
anagnorisis noun (plural anagnorises): the point in a play, novel, etc., in which a principal character recognizes or discovers another character's true identity or the true nature of their own circumstances: we see the tormented figure of Oedipus come to recognize the truth in a classical moment of anagnorisis. ORIGIN late 18th century: Greek, literally ‘recognition’, from ana- ‘back’ + gnorisis ‘making known’.
I don’t know why I didn’t know this one. It’s a lovely dramatic trick.
trope noun: a figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression: he used the two-Americas trope to explain how a nation free and democratic at home could act wantonly abroad. • a significant or recurrent theme; a motif: she uses the Eucharist as a pictorial trope. verb [no object] create a trope. ORIGIN mid 16th century: via Latin from Greek tropos ‘turn, way, trope’, from trepein ‘to turn’.
You see this a lot these days. I’m not sure people are using it correctly.
su·per·er·o·ga·tion| noun: the performance of more work than duty requires: to maximize profits is for management not an optional exercise or a work of supererogation. PHRASES works of supererogation (in the Roman Catholic Church) actions believed to form a reserve fund of merit that can be drawn on by prayer in favor of sinners. DERIVATIVES supererogatory | ˌso͞op(ə)rəˈräɡəˌtôrē | adjective ORIGIN early 16th century: from late Latin supererogatio(n-), from supererogare ‘pay in addition’, from super- ‘over’ + erogare ‘pay out’.
I have looked this up several times in the past but it never seems to stick.
con·ur·ba·tion| noun: an extended urban area, typically consisting of several towns merging with the suburbs of one or more cities: the major conurbations of London and Birmingham. ORIGIN early 20th century: from con- ‘together’ + Latin urbs, urb- ‘city’ + -ation.
And look what happens to the infrastructure.
ci·bo·ri·um noun (plural ciboria: ˈ1 a receptacle shaped like a shrine or a cup with an arched cover, used in the Christian Church for the reservation of the Eucharist. 2 a canopy over an altar in a church, standing on four pillars. ORIGIN mid 16th century: via medieval Latin from Greek kibōrion ‘seed vessel of the water lily or a cup made from it’. ciborium (sense 1) is probably influenced by Latin cibus ‘food’
Now you know it. Can you use it?
sfu·ma·to noun: Art the technique of allowing tones and colors to shade gradually into one another, producing softened outlines or hazy forms. ORIGIN mid 19th century: Italian, literally ‘shaded off’, past participle of sfumare.
Or this?
re·vanch·ism noun: a policy of seeking to retaliate, especially to recover lost territory: a recipe for deep future resentment, revanchism and renewed conflict. DERIVATIVES revanchis| adjective & noun. ORIGIN 1950s: from French revanche, ‘revenge’+ -ism.
I like this one. If I ever have need…
as·pho·del noun: 1 a Eurasian plant of the lily family, typically having long slender leaves and flowers borne on a spike. Genera Asphodelus and Asphodeline, family Liliaceae. See also bog asphodel.2 literary an immortal flower said to grow in the Elysian fields. ORIGIN late Middle English: via Latin from Greek asphodelos; compare with daffodil.
Very poetic.
cor·us·cat·ing| adjective: 1 flashing; sparkling: a coruscating kaleidoscope of colors. • brilliant or striking in content or style: the play's coruscating wit. 2 severely critical; scathing: his coruscating attack on the Prime Minister | a coruscating denunciation of political opportunism. cor·us·cate| ˈkôrəˌskāt, ˈkärəˌskāt | verb [no object] literary (of light) flash or sparkle: the light was coruscating from the walls. DERIVATIVES coruscation | kôrəˈskāSH(ə)n | noun ORIGIN early 18th century: from Latin coruscat- ‘glittered’, from the verb coruscare.
I have looked this up before and had some vague memory of the second definition.
cor·vée noun: historical a day's unpaid labor owed by a vassal to his feudal lord. • forced labor exacted in lieu of taxes, in particular that on public roads: they still force the peasants to do corvée. ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French, based on Latin corrogare ‘ask for, collect’. Rare in English before the late 18th century.
I’m the forced labour; I’m also the feudal lord. I can’t fire me
im·pli·ca·ture noun: the action of implying a meaning beyond the literal sense of what is explicitly stated, e.g., saying the frame is nice and implying I don't like the picture in it. • a meaning so implied.
I love this one.
And I like words, but that’s enough for now.