Seldom-Used Words

[Great_Brit]

Never heard that one

Macron-The Horizontal line above a vowel to show a long sound.

Just found that one...I love it when there are names for things like that...

For a long list of these see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/98999

 

[GrimsPet]

Recalcitrant. I've actually used this one in regular speech and thoroughly confused the daylights out of coworkers.!

From Dictionary.com:

–adjective
1.
resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant; refractory.
2.
hard to deal with, manage, or operate.
–noun
3.
a recalcitrant person.

 

[Handley_Page]

Murdrum

A fine imposed on a community when the dead person could not be shown conclusively to be English. It was a way of punishing a community when the body was thought to be that of a Norman. (C 14th)
It is also the root of the word Murder.

 

[AllardChardon]

Thanks Ultimate and Great Brit for those great links. Yes, Harold, I was used to the derogatory noun, twit, rather than the verb form. Welcome Bonniebrea, seniyajw and GrimsPet. Great contributions, ALL!

riant - adj MIRTHFUL, GAY

 

[UltimateSwitch]

Ok it's not rare, but it is infrequently used...

Ellipsis...Also called points of suspension; consists of three
periods set close together. Often used to indicate an
interruption or pause. Used mainly in French and
Spanish.

 

[AllardChardon]

Ultimate, I was a chronic overuser of ellispses until I broke myself of the habit. Sometimes, I still yearn for them...

Here is one I have always found interesting;

riata - Spanish noun with the article, la reata, English translation; LARIAT

 

[D_Lynn]

moist

My family have been, most consistently, members of the Scriveners and ...

Og

I use Scrivener software on my Macbook to write novels and short stories. Love it.

On a completely different note, I read once that the word MOIST is in the top 5 list of most hated and offensive words among women. I don't remember what the other 4 words on the list were, but I can guess.

Explains why this common word doesn't appear very often in (even erotic) stories.

 

[Handley_Page]

Lurdan
A Laggard, sluggerd or dim-wit.

 

[AllardChardon]

Welcome D Lynn and thanks for the tip. Moist is not a word I use often, but it is good to know it is so offensive to women, along with the C word.

rialto - noun 1. EXCHANGE, MARKETPLACE 2. a theater district

 

[oggbashan]

Welcome D Lynn and thanks for the tip. Moist is not a word I use often, but it is good to know it is so offensive to women, along with the C word.

rialto - noun 1. EXCHANGE, MARKETPLACE 2. a theater district

The original Rialto is a district of Venice. All other Rialtos are derived from it.

Og

 

[AllardChardon]

Thank you, Og, for the info on Rialto. I immediately thought of the Merchant of Venice.

rhymester - noun an inferior poet: a maker of poor verse

 

[AllardChardon]

Here is one I have never encountered;

rhino - noun MONEY, CASH

 

[Tio_Narratore]

gules Red, when used as a tincture in heraldry. From Latin, gula, gullet, via medieval French.

And hello, Allard!

 

[oggbashan]

Here is one I have never encountered;

rhino - noun MONEY, CASH

Why the restaurant would be called the Rhinoceros is probably unknown, but the term "rhino" was Cockney slang for a thing of value perhaps derived from the Celtic roinn, a share, a division, and was used by thieves to signify the part of spoil, booty, or plunder, to which they considered themselves entitled, and then, by an extension of meaning, money generally. See McKay's 1887 Glossary of Obscure Words.

Unfortunately, rhino for money has been replaced in modern Cockney and could lead to embarrassment now, because in current Cockney Rhyming slang 'rhino horn' = porn. An example: "He sells rhino DVDs from under the counter." He would not be selling National Geographic publications, but extremely pornographic DVDs that are illegal in the UK. Since the UK's licensed sex shops can sell pornographic DVDs that would cause outrage in the US, the rhino ones are likely to show acts that would breach Literotica's guidelines.

 

[AllardChardon]

I will always maintain that you are a wonderful educator of the origin of obscure words. Thank you so much for that clarification, both in days past and currently.

Here is another one:

rhadamanthine - adj rigorously strict or just

 

[oggbashan]

I will always maintain that you are a wonderful educator of the origin of obscure words. Thank you so much for that clarification, both in days past and currently.

Here is another one:

rhadamanthine - adj rigorously strict or just

This adjective is from Greek Mythology - Rhadamanthus who gave laws to the Spartans and ended up as a judge of the dead.

 

[AllardChardon]

Yes, indeed, Og, that last entry was an interesting one. If I have posted this one before, please excuse me;

rhabdomancy - noun divination by rods or wands

 

[AllardChardon]

I knew this word, but not its definition;

reverie or revery- 1. DAYDREAM 2. the condition of being lost in thought

 

[ishtat]

Avast: a nautical Stop! from the Dutch haud vast, which as you may notice is similar to the English hold fast.

 

[oggbashan]

Avast: a nautical Stop! from the Dutch haud vast, which as you may notice is similar to the English hold fast.

Many nautical terms start with an a:

Aback; Abeam; Adrift; Aft; Ashore; Awash; Away (lifeboat!); Astern; Ahead; Ahoy; Alee; Aye Aye etc.

Is it because the initial a attracts attention in a noisy environment?

 

[AllardChardon]

How true, Og, and I never paid that fact much attention, until you mentioned it, of course, thanks.

Here is a new one for me;

revenant - noun one that returns after death or a long absence

 

[trysail]

Many nautical terms start with an a:

Aback; Abeam; Adrift; Aft; Ashore; Awash; Away (lifeboat!); Astern; Ahead; Ahoy; Alee; Aye Aye etc.

Is it because the initial a attracts attention in a noisy environment?

Anchor's aweigh.

http://bluejacket.com/other/images/anchor.gif

​

 

[trysail]

bryology • n., the study of mosses and liverworts.

 

[AllardChardon]

Don't you just love circular definitions?

revelry - noun an act or instance of reveling

 

[trysail]

How true, Og, and I never paid that fact much attention, until you mentioned it, of course, thanks.

Here is a new one for me;

revenant - noun one that returns after death or a long absence

This word popped up in connection with the recent grizzly attacks in Yellowstone and Alaska. I'd never heard of Hugh Glass before. What a story:

...Hugh Glass will be portrayed by Christian Bale in the movie The Revenant, based on the novel The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge by Michael Punke. The movie will be written by Mark L. Smith and directed by John Hillcoat...


"The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge," Michael Punke (2002) ISBN 0-7867-1027-6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Glass