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Seldom-Used Words

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Good one, Tio. The sight of lace at the bottom of a hemline does have a remarkable effect on both men and women, from what I am gathering here. I agree that it is very alluring and sometimes use that fashion myself.

princekin - noun a small prince

princelet - noun a petty prince
 
AllardChardon said:
Good one, Tio. The sight of lace at the bottom of a hemline does have a remarkable effect on both men and women, from what I am gathering here. I agree that it is very alluring and sometimes use that fashion myself.

princekin - noun a small prince

princelet - noun a petty prince
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I always thought the word was "Princeling"
 
Handley, it seems to be all three. What the differentiation is, I have no clue.

In that section, there were also,

prince's feather - noun a plant from the amaranth family

Prince of Wales

princely

princeliness

prince consort also prince's consort

prince charming

Prince Albert - noun a long double-breasted frock coat
 
Prince's Feather
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Amaranthus+hypochondriacus

Prince of Wales
Prince Charles. He will succeed his mother, the Queen, God bless her.

princely ("Sold for the princely sum of"; often used in opposite, ie., it was cheap)
princeliness A loose description of something expensive.


Prince Charming (a guess - Disney ?)


Prince Albert
Queen Victoria's beloved husband was tall and, by the standards of the day, considered Handsome. He was also a bit of a trend-setter in matters of the sartorial. He started wearing the coat that bears his name.
It is also known, more widely, as a 'Frock Coat'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frock_coat
 
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A Prince Albert is a painful procedure. It takes it name from a Prince Albert watch chain's buttonhole end.

Prince Albert, Prince Consort was instrumental in generating the finance for providing many of the cultural establishments in Kensington (Royal Albert Hall, Victoria and Albert Museum, Science Museum, etc.) with the proceeds of the Great Exhibition of 1851.

The Albert Memorial was considered to be a garish folly. It is now restored and appreciated (although some still think it in bad taste).
 
Most interesting reading, gentlemen. The word princess does not have nearly the same attention paid to it, for some reason, we already know, meaning succession to the Throne.

primus inter pares - noun first among equals
 
Patrick, Prince Charming never found me in all these years and I was keeping an eye out for him, believe me. LOL

primrose path - noun 1. a path of ease or pleasure and especially sensual pleasure 2. a path of least resistance
 
Good day, everyone. I listed this one for my own edification;

primogeniture - noun 1. the state of being firstborn of the children of the same parents 2. exclusive right of inheritance belonging to the eldest son
 
AllardChardon said:
Good day, everyone. I listed this one for my own edification;

primogeniture - noun 1. the state of being firstborn of the children of the same parents 2. exclusive right of inheritance belonging to the eldest son
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Primogeniture in inheritance refers to inheritance by the first born, regardless of sex. In ancient Egypt, inheritance was through primogeniture, but ownership was by males. Hence, if the firstborn were a female, she would marry her younger brother so as to keep wealth and status in the family. Such was also practiced by the nobility in the Andean Highlands and partsof Polynesia.

Ireland, on the other hand, had a farm inheritance system based on ultimogeniture - inheritance by the last born. This way a man would retain possession of his farm and ensure that there would be someone there for his (and his wife's) old age.
 
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That is very interesting, Tio. I wonder which one I will use, when leaving my estate to my children. I am kidding. I already have a will. Everyone shares equally, all four offspring, and they cannot sell the property without all four consenting.

primipara - noun 1. an idividual bearing a first offspring 2. an individual that has borne only one offspring
 
AllardChardon said:
That is very interesting, Tio. I wonder which one I will use, when leaving my estate to my children. I am kidding. I already have a will. Everyone shares equally, all four offspring, and they cannot sell the property without all four consenting.

primipara - noun 1. an individual bearing a first offspring 2. an individual that has borne only one offspring
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prima gravida (usually 'elderly prima gravida') Woman pregnant for the first time. 'elderly' = over 30 years of age! From gravid pregnant; carrying eggs or young. Figurative sense: full of meaning or a specified quality. Origin late C16 from Latin gravidus 'laden, pregnant' itself from Latin gravis 'heavy'.
 
In Kent, inheritance was not by primogeniture but by Gavelkind.

In theory this should have led to smaller and smaller estates, as it did in Wales, until the estate was too small to support even a single family. In practice, Kent landowners used the ability to dispose of their land by will to keep estates together with the most effective farmer of several sons inheriting, subject to providing for his siblings.

Gavelkind was one of the "ancient customs" of Kent that William the Conqueror allowed to continue after the Battle of Hastings rather than fight his way through the assembled Kentish Army and Fyrd on his way to London. Kent's motto ever since has been "Invicta" = unconquered because they came to terms with William on the battlefield and did not surrender.
 
Og, Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, would have been an extreme version of prima gravida. Laden and heavy are both accurate words for the condition, which I went through four times. My last son was born perfectly healthy when I was 39, so this word would have described me, as well.

primero - noun an old card game in which each player holds three or four cards
 
Og, gravelkind is an interesting word on its own and I love the motto of Kent, Invicta. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with us. Inheritance has always been a touchy subject among siblings and seemingly always will be.

prima facie(1) - adv at first view: on the first appearance
 
AllardChardon said:
Og, gravelkind is an interesting word on its own and I love the motto of Kent, Invicta. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with us. Inheritance has always been a touchy subject among siblings and seemingly always will be.

...
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Gavelkind was historically responsible for the wealth of lawyers in Kent. Because the law of gavelkind encouraged making a will instead of remaining intestate, there was a constant demand for lawyers to write wills for Kentish landowners.

My family solicitors (who wrote our wills) have been in the same building on a prime site for nearly 500 years.

Note that gavelkind in Wales gave rights to illegitimate sons. That forms part of the plot of one of Ellis Peters' Cadfael novels Monkshood.
 
Og, I looked up the etymology for gravelkind and did not find much, other than the place of origin and the definition you supplied. It was not listed in my dictionary, either. I did notice the Welsh allow illegitimate sons the right to inherit and that must have caused more problems.

prig(1) - noun THIEF
 


agley • adv., (chiefly Scots) awry, wrong
But Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
— Robert Burns​
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The word was used by Monckton of Brenchley responding to a comment at http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/03/10/moncktons-schenectady-showdown/#comment-920072

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/03/10/moncktons-schenectady-showdown/




 
That explains it all perfectly, Og. I love learning new things, especially about the British Isles.

prig(2) - noun 1. archaic: FELLOW, PERSON 2. archaic: FOP 3. one who offends or irritates by observance of proprieties in a pointed manner or to an obnoxious degree
 
Trysail, what would the translation be for "gang aft agley"?

priggism - noun stilted adherence to convention: PRIGGISHNESS
 
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Yes, Trysail, I am familiar with that saying, but how would you translate that section? Maybe, going off wrongly, badly or just going awry? What is aft, is not a nautical term? I will look it up;

aft(3) - Scot var of OFT

I guess I answered my own question. But thanks so much for the original version. So much more interesting than its current usage.

How about the "thou art no thy lane" part?
 
AllardChardon said:
...

How about the "thou art no thy lane" part?
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You are not alone (or on your own).

So the whole thing could read:

But Mouse, you are are not alone,
In proving [that] foresight might be useless:
The best prepared plans of mice and men
Often go wrong,
And leave us nothing by grief and pain,
For [Instead of] promised joy.

In other words: Murphy's Law applies.
 
Uncommonly used word

Erubescent (and erubescence): blushing. I liked the word so much that I included it in two of my published novels (apologies for the plug):
The Devil's Daughters
Resistance Horizontale
Available widely and very cheap. Just like me.


'Lil
 
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