Vertical Vocabulary Thread

[hotheat]

Oblation


Pronunciation: /əʊˈbleɪʃən/, /ɒˈbleɪʃən/ , /oʊˈbleɪʃən/, /ɑːˈbleɪʃən/

Function: Noun

1. The offering of worship, thanks etc. to a deity.
2. A deed or gift offered charitably.

Etymology: From Old French oblacion < Latin oblātiō (“offering”), from offerō (“I offer, present”).

[hotheat]

Susurrus


Pronunciation: /ˈsuː.sə.ɹəs/ , /ˈsu.sə.ɹəs/, /səˈsəɹ.əs/

Function: Noun

1. (literary) A whispering or rustling sound; a murmur

Etymology: Onomatopoeic; from Latin susurrus (“a humming, whispering”); likely from an older echoic word.

[hotheat]

Flaneur


Function: Noun

1. One who wanders aimlessly, who roams, who travels at a lounging pace.

Etymology: From French flâneur.

[hotheat]

Cacuminous


Pronunciation: kəkyo͞oʹmĭnəs, /kəˈkjuːmɪnəs/, /k@"kju:mIn@s/

Function: Adjective

1. (rare) Having a pyramidal top.

Etymology: cacūmin- (the stem of the Latin cacūmen: “tree-top”) + -ous

[hotheat]

Annosity


Pronunciation: ənōʹsĭtĭ, /əˈnəʊsɪtɪ/,/@"n@UsItI/

Function: Noun

1. (rare) Fullness of years; great length of life; agedness; lengthiness of life span.

Etymology: From the Latin annōsitās (“fullness of years”).

[AYHJA]

Futilitarian

Pronunciation: \fyoo-til-i-TAIR-ee-uhn\

Function: Adjective

1. Believing that human hopes are vain and unjustified.

Etymology: Futilitarian is a satirical coinage from the 1820s combining "futility" and "utilitarian."

[AYHJA]

Chrestomathy

Pronunciation: /kres-tom-uh-thee/

Function: noun, plural chres·tom·a·thies.

1. A collection of selected literary passages, often by one author and especially from a foreign language.
2. A selection of passages used to help learn a language
3. A volume of selected passages or stories of an author

Etymology: New Latin chrestomathia, from Greek chrēstomatheia, from chrēstos useful + manthanein to learn

[AYHJA]

Tawpie

Pronunciation: \TAW-pee\

Function: noun

1. A foolish or thoughtless young person.

Etymology: Tawpie comes from the Swedish word tåbe meaning "a simpleton."

[AYHJA]

Acephalous

Pronunciation: \ey-SEF-uh-luhs\

Function: Adjective

1. Without a leader or ruler.
2. Also, acephalic Zoology. headless; lacking a distinct head.

Etymology: Acephalous stems from the Greek combining form -cephalous meaning "having a head or heads" and the prefix a- meaning "not, without."

[hotheat]

Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia

Pronunciation: /ˌhɪ.pə.pɒ.təˈmɒn.strəˌsɛ.skwɪ.pɪˈdeɪ.lɪəˌfoʊ.bɪə/

Function: Noun

1. The fear of long words

Etymology: From hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian, an extension of sesquipedalian with monstrum (“monster”) and a truncated, misspelled form of hippopotamus, intended to exaggerate the length of the word itself and the idea of the size of the words being feared; combined with phobia.