I figured I should make a list of new words I’m learning. It helps with active recall I think? I also think that these are all rather unusual and interesting.
Abecedarian
- someone learning the basics of something
- someone who studies/teaches the alphabet
- [a property of] being arranged alphabetically
I came across this word1 while reading up on Natalie Diaz for Cabbage Skies. She wrote a poem titled Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation.
Looking up abecedarian is also how I discovered the word tyro, which just means a beginner in learning something.
Heseriarch
- A leader in heresy
- One who originates or propagates heresy
I don’t fully remember where I came across this word2, but it was in the context of reading difficult texts. I think I was doing research for What Elon Musk can learn from Xanadu (2008) (a video essay I’m writing), but whatever article it was mentioned the joy of reading James Joyce’s Ulysses and coming across heresiarch.
Instellation
- A generalization of the process of insolation from stars other than the Sun
- The placing of something amongst the stars I cam across this word while reading up on Teegarden’s Star b for class.
Trivet
- A object placed between a serving dish and a dining table to protect the table from heat damage I was informed of what this was after calling one in our kitchen a cork coaster. Although their name (“tri”) implies three legs, they often have four or five.
Panegyric
- A public speech/message in praise of someone or something
- Elaborate praise (an encomium– warm, glowing praise) Discovered this word3 while reading Do Artifacts Have Politics by Langdon Winner.
Autochthonous
- Native to or produced within a system
- Indigeneous Discovered while reading Foucault’s Archaeology of Knowledge. It literally breaks down to mean “native to the soil” (autochthon + ous)
Marcescence
- When deciduous trees don’t drop their leaves in the winter. The reason is still unknown, but there’s a word for it. This one will be a slightly longer article because it’s an interesting topic!
Senescence
- The state of growing old
Neophyte
- Someone who is new to something Discovered while reading the Body Ritual among the Nacirema by Horace Miner, a satirical anthropological study of American culture.
Bathetic
- Anticlimactic Found in the Foreward to the English edition of Eats, Shoots, Leaves, the #1 runaway British bestseller. What a delightful word! It sounds so wrong in my mouth; it feels like I started saying bad and realized it wasn’t strong enough and pivoted to pathetic halfway through. But the real meaning is rather bathetic in a way.
Shrive
- to decree, decree after judgment, impose a penance upon (the penitent), hear the confession of A word I learned from the Pancake Day Race. A post forthcoming.