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Seldom-used words - M to A

Hello everyone.

I am amazed how old this word is:

louver or louvre - noun (14c.) 1. a roof lantern or turret often with slatted apertures for escape of smoke or admission of light in a medieval building 2.a. an opening provided with one or more slanted fixed or movable fins to allow flow of air but to exclude rain or sun or to provide privacy b. a finned or vaned device for controlling a flow of air or the radiation of light c. a fin or shutter of a louver
 
AllardChardon said:
Hello everyone.

I am amazed how old this word is:

louver or louvre - noun (14c.) 1. a roof lantern or turret often with slatted apertures for escape of smoke or admission of light in a medieval building 2.a. an opening provided with one or more slanted fixed or movable fins to allow flow of air but to exclude rain or sun or to provide privacy b. a finned or vaned device for controlling a flow of air or the radiation of light c. a fin or shutter of a louver
Click to expand...

You shouldn't be amazed. Houses (and castles) didn't have window glass. Glass windows were only a feature of prestige Roman buildings. From Roman times until more than 1000 years later glass was too difficult and labour-intensive for use in anything except very up-market table ware. Large pieces were almost impossible - hence leaded windows when glass was eventually used.

Until the 16th Century in England at least, glass for windows was too expensive. Stained or painted glass was used in important churches but not elsewhere. Louvres (and louvred shutters) were the only way to let light and air in while keeping the weather out.

English monarchs used to take their glass windows with them when travelling around the country. The Royal chambers would be fitted with the glass windows while the monarch was in residence, and taken down when the monarch left. The Royal carpenters would have to adapt the window frame to fit the opening left by the removal of the normal louvres.
 
Og, it makes sense that louvers are that old, of course. California does not have many examples of the ancient kind. Venetian blinds seem to be all that is left of louvers here.

lout(1) - vi (bef. 12c.) 1. to bow in respect 2. SUBMIT, YIELD

lout(2) - noun (1542) an awkward brutish person

lout(3) - vt (ca. 1530) to treat as a lout: SCORN

loutish - adj (1542) resembling or befitting a lout

From bowing in respect to an awkward brute?
 
AllardChardon said:
...

lout(1) - vi (bef. 12c.) 1. to bow in respect 2. SUBMIT, YIELD

lout(2) - noun (1542) an awkward brutish person

lout(3) - vt (ca. 1530) to treat as a lout: SCORN

loutish - adj (1542) resembling or befitting a lout

From bowing in respect to an awkward brute?
Click to expand...

An easy transition. Anyone who louted (bowed) to you was of lower status so could be disregarded. Equals nodded to each other. In European courts there was a particular way of bowing to a superior and a slightly different one for equals. Both were elaborate and stately procedures, a formal dance.

Anyone who merely louted to you, was a lout.

Edited to add: The dates are significant. 'To lout' was an early use, a simple gesture. As courts became more elaborate in their ritual, a simple lout was what was expected from peasantry. Nobles were more punctilious and formally precise in their greetings.
 
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oggbashan said:
An easy transition. Anyone who louted (bowed) to you was of lower status so could be disregarded. Equals nodded to each other. In European courts there was a particular way of bowing to a superior and a slightly different one for equals. Both were elaborate and stately procedures, a formal dance.

Anyone who merely louted to you, was a lout.
Click to expand...

I believe that the Courtly rank in ancient Japan had a similar procedure/ postures.
 
Handley_Page said:
I believe that the Courtly rank in ancient Japan had a similar procedure/ postures.
Click to expand...

Japanese formal greeting rituals are still elaborate by US and UK standards. It is very easy to offend a Japanese person by being too casual when formally introduced. Because they are a polite people, they will usually overlook your mistake, but will be pleased if you behave 'correctly' by their customs.

As with all contact with people in other countries, knowing what they expect polite behaviour to be, and at least trying to observe it will be appreciated.
 
That makes perfect sense, gentlemen, thanks so much for your posts.

How could I pass up this one?

loup-garou - noun WEREWOLF
 
Hello, everyone. I was very busy for the last couple of days.

lounge lizard - noun (1917) 1. LADIES MAN 2. FOP 3. a social parasite
 
AllardChardon said:
Hello, everyone. I was very busy for the last couple of days.

lounge lizard - noun (1917) 1. LADIES MAN 2. FOP 3. a social parasite
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By the 90s, though, lounge lizard referred to a tacky or seedy man hanging out at bars in vain hope of picking up a woman.
 
Tio, haha, yes, and that man was dressed in a tacky leisure suit to boot.

loud-hailer - noun (1941) chiefly Brit: BULLHORN
 
Very funny, gentlemen, thanks for the chuckles.

This word makes sense and sounds good, but I cannot ever remember seeing it before;

louden - vi (ca.1848) to become loud ~ vt: to make loud
 
Tio, I immediately thought of Louden Wainwright, when I saw the entry in the dictionary, but I have never seen louden as a word that is not a name. Thanks for posting Dead Skunk. My friends, New Riders of the Purple Sage, play that tune occasionally and everyone sings along.

I learned the word louche from reading about absinthe. It describes the clouding effect of the substance, when mixed with cold water.

But my dictionary only has this definition, which is new to me;

louche - adj [F. lit., cross-eyed, squint-eyed, fr. L. luscus blind in one eye] (1819): not reputable or decent
 
AllardChardon said:
I learned the word louche from reading about absinthe. It describes the clouding effect of the substance, when mixed with cold water.

But my dictionary only has this definition, which is new to me;

louche - adj [F. lit., cross-eyed, squint-eyed, fr. L. luscus blind in one eye] (1819): not reputable or decent
Click to expand...

It's a word that has appeared here a time or two; mostly in disapproving tones, describing the very unladylike (disreputable) behaviour of some (usually drunken) young women.
 
Good to know, Handley, I must have missed those conversations.

I have heard of lotus-eaters and found that the blue water-lily of the Nile was used as a soporific, but this word is new to me;

lotusland - noun (1842) 1. a place inducing contentment esp. through offering an idyllic living situation 2. a state or an ideal marked by contentment often achieved through self-indulgence

lotus-eater - noun (1832) 1. any of a people in Homer's Odyssey subsisting on the lotus and living in the dreamy indolence it induces 2. an indolent person
 
Manfulness, virtue, or the fulness of manhood; the exact synonym of the Latin and French virtus and vertu.

Source: Lost Beauties of the English Language, Charles Mackay, LL.D.

Note: it is worth remarking, that the current English meaning of virtue, behavior showing high moral standards, is different from what Mackay means here by the word. Virtue derives from the Latin word vir, man—which is also the root of our word virile. As Mackay has used virtue here it has its archaic meaning of manly strength, courage, ability.
 
Carlus, thanks for the excellent post.

A happy Sunday greeting to you all.

This word belongs here:

lothario - noun often cap [Lothario, seducer in the play The Fair Penitent (1703) by Nicholas Rowe] (1756): a man whose chief interest is seducing women
 
AllardChardon said:
Carlus, thanks for the excellent post.

A happy Sunday greeting to you all.

This word belongs here:

lothario - noun often cap [Lothario, seducer in the play The Fair Penitent (1703) by Nicholas Rowe] (1756): a man whose chief interest is seducing women
Click to expand...

Like Cassanova ?
 
AllardChardon said:
Good to know, Handley, I must have missed those conversations.

I have heard of lotus-eaters and found that the blue water-lily of the Nile was used as a soporific, but this word is new to me;

lotusland - noun (1842) 1. a place inducing contentment esp. through offering an idyllic living situation 2. a state or an ideal marked by contentment often achieved through self-indulgence

lotus-eater - noun (1832) 1. any of a people in Homer's Odyssey subsisting on the lotus and living in the dreamy indolence it induces 2. an indolent person
Click to expand...

Shangri-La was supposed to be a lotusland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shangri-La

As a piece of US WW2 misinformation, Shangri-La (instead of the USS Hornet) was given as the place from which the 1942 Doolittle bombing raid on Japan had taken off from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doolittle_Raid
 
Og, it makes sense that Shangri-La was a lotusland from the descriptions.

Carlus, since the book, Lost Horizon, by James Hilton was published in 1933, the year FDR took office, it must have been very popular. As a child, the first time I watched the Ronald Coleman version, directed by Frank Capra, I was completely hooked. I still want to go there.

Yes, Handley, Casanova could be considered a lothario.

lost wax - noun (1909) a process used in metal casting that consists of making a wax model, coating it with a refractory to form a mold, heating until the wax melts and runs out of the mold, and then pouring metal into the vacant mold
 
Good day.

loss leader - noun (1917) something (as merchandise) sold at a loss in order to draw customers
 
AllardChardon said:
Og, it makes sense that Shangri-La was a lotusland from the descriptions.

Carlus, since the book, Lost Horizon, by James Hilton was published in 1933, the year FDR took office, it must have been very popular. As a child, the first time I watched the Ronald Coleman version, directed by Frank Capra, I was completely hooked. I still want to go there.

Yes, Handley, Casanova could be considered a lothario.

lost wax - noun (1909) a process used in metal casting that consists of making a wax model, coating it with a refractory to form a mold, heating until the wax melts and runs out of the mold, and then pouring metal into the vacant mold
Click to expand...

It is a very old procedure:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost-wax_casting

This is a video on how to do it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFbmtJyBthg
 
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