5 Words. What they mean, where they come from and relevant popular culture or literary references. Build your vocabulary by reading this all in one post.

1. brindled

adjective. gray or tawny with darker streaks or spots
Pronunciation: [brin-dld]
Related: brindle
Origin:  “marked with streaks, streaked with a dark color,” 1670s, from Middle English brended (early 15c.), from bren “brown color” (13c.), noun made from past participle of brennen “burn”

In “Pied Beauty“, a sonnet by Gerard Manley Hopkins, one will find the following lines:

Glory be to God for dappled things – For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow; For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim; Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;

2. retort

verb. to reply to, usually in a sharp or retaliatory way; reply in kind to
Pronunciation: [ri-tawrt]
Related: retorter, retorting
Origin: 1550s, “make return in kind” (especially of an injury), from Old French retort and directly from Latin retortus, past participle of retorquere “turn back, twist back, throw back”.

A retort is a glassware device used for distillation or dry distillation of substances. It consists of a spherical vessel with a long downward-pointing neck.

3. gist

noun. the point or substance of an argument, speech, etc. (law) the essential point of an action
Pronunciation: [jist]
Origin: 1711, “the real point” (of a law case, etc.), from Anglo-French legalese phrases such as cest action gist “this action lies,” from Old French gist en “it consists in, it lies in”.

Gist is a mountain in Antarctica. If you don’t find mountains interesting and beauty gets you hooked, Carole Gist was the first African American woman to win the Miss USA title when she won it in 1990.

4. miserly

adjective. of, like, or befitting a miser; penurious; stingy; niggardly.
Pronunciation: [mahy-zer-lee]
Related: miserliness, unmiserly
Origin: 1540s, “miserable person, wretch,” from Latin miser (adj.) “unhappy, wretched, pitiable, in distress,” of unknown origin. Original sense now obsolete; main modern meaning of “money-hoarding person” recorded 1560s, from presumed unhappiness of such people.

A scrooge is a miserly person. That reminds us of Ebenezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens who hates Christmas! Bah, humbug!

5. amenity

noun. an agreeable way or manner; courtesy; civility. any feature that provides comfort, convenience, or pleasure.
Pronunciation: [uh-men-i-tee]
Related: amenities
Origin: 14c., “quality of being pleasant or agreeable,” from Old French amenite, from Latin amoenitatem (nominative amoenitas) “delightfulness, pleasantness,” from amoenus “pleasant,” perhaps related to amare “to love”.

Investopedia defines amenity as: benefits of a property whose existence increase the value or desirability of that property. An amenity can be either tangible, such as a swimming pool or gym, or intangible, such as proximity to a local school or supermarket.

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Sources:
Apart from Google search, the data in this series is taken from Dictionary.com, Online Etymology Dictionary and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

5 Words. What they mean, where they come from and relevant popular culture or literary references. Build your vocabulary by reading this all in one post.

1. bicker

verb. argue about petty and trivial matters / flow or fall with a gentle repetitive noise; patter
Pronunciation: [bik-er]
Related: bickers, bickered, bickering
Origin: early 14c., bikere, “to skirmish, fight,” perhaps from Middle Dutch bicken “to slash, stab, attack,” skirmish, battle. In modern use, often to describe the sound of a flight of an arrow or other repeated, loud, rapid sounds, in which sense it is perhaps at least partly echoic.

Bicker is a village in the Borough of Boston, Lincolnshire, England. Also, if you want to join Princeton’s eating clubs, you have to undergo a selection process called “bicker”. Pretty interesting!

2. swatch

noun. a small sample of fabric intended to demonstrate the look of a larger piece.
Pronunciation: [swoch]
Related: swatches, swatched, swatching
Origin: 1510s, “the countercheck of a tally” (Northumberland dialect), later “a tally attached to cloth sent to be dyed” (1610s, in Yorkshire), of unknown origin.

As per textile dictionaries, a small sample of a fabric, is called a swatch, and a larger sample, made as a trial to test production methods, is called a strike off. In a completely different field, a well-known entity exists by the name ‘Swatch‘, making luxury watches and contributing to the world of automobile.

3. melancholy

noun. a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause. having a feeling of melancholy; sad and pensive.
Pronunciation: [mel-uh n-kol-ee]
Related: melancholily, melancholiness, unmelancholy
Origin: c. 1300, “condition characterized by sullenness, gloom, irritability,” from Old French melancolie “black bile, ill disposition, anger, annoyance” (13c.)

One can remember this word through Melancholy, a painting by the Norwegian artist, Edvard Munch; Melancholia, a 2011 Danish art film written and directed by Lars von Trier, the second entry in his unofficially titled “Depression Trilogy”.

4. fetter

noun. a chain or manacle used to restrain a prisoner, typically placed around the ankles.
Pronunciation: [fet-er]
Related: fetterer, fetterless
Origin: Old English fetor “chain or shackle by which a person or animal is bound by the feet,” figuratively “check, restraint”

In Buddhism, a mental fetter, chain or bond shackles a sentient being to saṃsāra, the cycle of lives with dukkha. By cutting through all fetters, one attains nirvāṇa. Fetters are also referenced in the Bible.

He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: Until the time that his word came: the word of the Lord tried him. The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. (Psalm 105:17-20)

5. lechery

noun. excessive or offensive sexual desire; lustfulness
Pronunciation: [lech-uh-ree]
Related: lecher
Origin: c. 1200, from Old French lecherie “impertinence, deceit,” from lecheor.

Speaking of lechery/lust, at the beginning of The Divine Comedy, Dante crosses the selva oscura and comes upon three wild beasts: a leopard (lust), a lion (pride), and a wolf (avarice), in line with the symbolism of medieval bestiaries.

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Sources:
Apart from Google search, the data in this series is taken from Dictionary.com, Online Etymology Dictionary and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

5 Words. What they mean, where they come from and relevant popular culture or literary references. Build your vocabulary by reading this all in one post.

1. instigate

verb. bring about or initiate (an action or event). incite someone to do something, especially something bad
Pronunciation: [in-sti-geyt]
Related: instigates, instigated, instigated, instigating
Origin: 1540s, back-formation from instigation or from Latin instigatus, past participle of instigare “to urge on, incite”

Read The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. A talking raven visits a distraught lover who is lamenting the loss of his love. The raven seems to instigate his distress with its constant repetition of the word “Nevermore”.

2. peccadillo

noun. a relatively minor fault or sin
Pronunciation: [pek-uh-dil-oh]
Related: peccadilloes, peccadillos
Origin: 1590s (peccadilian, 1520s), from Spanish pecadillo, diminutive of pecado “a sin,” from Latin peccatum “a sin, fault, error”.

Listening to Peccadillos by Susan Herndon whose songs have been called “painfully honest, always engaging and frequently surprising” might help remember this word.

3. odium

noun: general or widespread hatred or disgust incurred by someone as a result of their actions
Pronunciation: [oh-dee-uh m]
Related: odious
Origin: 1600, “fact of being hated,” from Latin odium “ill-will, hatred, grudge, animosity; offense, offensive conduct”.

Read John Stuart Mill’s 1859 essay “On Liberty” where he refers scornfully to the odium theologicum (literally meaning “theological hatred”) and says ‘for the odium theologicum, in a sincere bigot, is one of the most unequivocal cases of moral feeling’.

4. gauche

adjective: unsophisticated and socially awkward.
Pronunciation: [gohsh]
Related: gaucherie
Origin: 1751 (Chesterfield), from French gauche “left”, originally “awkward, awry,” from gauchir “turn aside, swerve”.

The southern bank of the river Seine in Paris is referred to as La Rive Gauche (The Left Bank) which is also a part of the list of world heritage sites in Eurpoe. Watching a trailer of Gauche the Cellist, a film adaptation of Japanese author Kenji Miyazawa’s short story about Gauche, a struggling small town cellist who is inspired by his interactions with anthropomorphized animals to gain insight into music, might help remember this word.

5. blithe

adjective. happy or carefree. showing a casual and cheerful indifference considered to be callous or improper.
Pronunciation: [blahyth, blahyth]
Related: blithesome, blithesomely, blithesomeness
Origin: Old English. “joyous, kind, cheerful, pleasant,”

Blithe is a river in Staffordshire, England. Some of you might remember Blithe as a fictional character from DC Comics’ Supergirl series.

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Sources:
Apart from Google search, the data in this series is taken from Dictionary.com, Online Etymology Dictionary and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.