eloquent... exotic... esoteric... (please provide definitions)

Some older words, or older definitions, from a cool little 40s dictionary I found t'other day.


plectrum n. - a small rod for plucking the strings of a lyre

pinvial a. - very rainy

pleonasm n. - the use of more words than are needed for the sense


No mention of guitar picks for plectrum, which has become the main definition today. A different world.
:p
 
meretricious alluring by a show of flashy or vulgar attractions, tawdry; based on pretense, deception, or insincerity

picayune a small Spanish coin equivalent to a half real; of little importance or value, paltry; trivial, petty, mean

exiguous scanty, meager; inadequate or insufficient; slender
 
Zingaro - n. a gipsy pl. zingari

Yapp - n. bookbinding with limp leather cover projecting over the edges.

Xyster - n. a surgeons instrument for scraping bones

going back to defenestrate for a moment...I thought it also meant : nervous fumbling with bedclothes.
 
For Moonbat's benefit:

gerrymander transitive verb and noun 1. v.t. Maniplate boundaries (of constituency, etc.) so as to secure disproportionate influence at election for a party (hence gerrymanderer). 2. n. Such manipulation.
 
Not to be confused with jerry-built -- badly constructed with poor materials, which could also apply to the current political situation, thinking about it...

And on the topic of politicians, mugwump -- a person who remains aloof from party politics, an independent. Also used as a derogatory term for a person refusing to take sides, or as an anecdote goes: "sitting on the fence, with his mug on one side and his wump on the other".
 
What about jury-rigged ? Sounds illegal.
or
jury-mast n. a temporary mast replacing a broken one.

disquisition n. a learned or elaborate discourse or treatise.

dissemble v.t. and i. to conceal or disguise ( feelings, opinions ) to talk or act hypocritically.

dissimulate v.t. and i. to pretend not to have, to practice deceit.
dissimulation n.
 
Horse-Trading - To bargain or trade shrewdly

Bull-Riding - The act of riding the male of the bovine species. The sport of rising a bucking bull where the contestant tries to 'hang on' for 8 seconds.
 
catty adj. Sly and spiteful

cowed adj. Dispirited, intimidated

cower v.t. Stand or squat in bent position; crouch (especially from fear)

dogged (doggėd) adj. Obstinate, tenancious, persistent, unyielding

sheepish adj. Bashful, embarrassed through shame (hence sheepishly)
 
gyre a ring or circle; a circular course or motion

puerile childishly foolish, juvenile, immature; trivial
 
atrophy n. Wasting away through under-nourishment or lack of use; emaciation (literally or figuratively).

atrophy v. Cause to undergo atrophy.
 
circumduct v.t. to lead or convey round and about.To carry or move round an axis.

circumduction n. The circular (or, more precisely, conical) movement of a body part, such as a ball-and-socket joint or the eye. It consists of a combination of flexion, extension, adduction, and abduction. "Windmilling" the arms or rotating the hand from the wrist are examples of circumductive movement. (Or, perhaps, wings....)

eldritch a. Wierd, hideous

percolate 1. v.i. filter, ooze, through. 2. v.t. ooze through, permeate; strain through pores, etc.
 
Ursa major said:
circumduct v.t. to lead or convey round and about.To carry or move round an axis.

circumduction n. The circular (or, more precisely, conical) movement of a body part, such as a ball-and-socket joint or the eye. It consists of a combination of flexion, extension, adduction, and abduction. "Windmilling" the arms or rotating the hand from the wrist are examples of circumductive movement. (Or, perhaps, wings....)

eldritch a. Wierd, hideous

percolate 1. v.i. filter, ooze, through. 2. v.t. ooze through, permeate; strain through pores, etc.
Click to expand...

Thank you!

*sneaks back out of thread*
 
Boneman said:
Frith: peace, freedom from molestation, protection, safety. Also a clearing in a forest, or woods. There's some legal term as well, but I can't find it...
Click to expand...
Not a current one, I don't think; certainly not one I've come across.

My dictionary only has it as an alternative spelling of firth (an narrow inlet of the sea), but checking online I see Websters has it as a small field which has been taken out of a common by enclosure rather than a clearing, and also a wooded place/forest (though it's noted as an adjective for some bizarre reason) as well as a weir for catching fish. Wiki has a big bit on it though, which is an interesting read regarding Anglo-Saxon culture, and which refers to its legal connection viz-a-viz the frith-guild, some kind of local (?kangaroo?) court by the sounds of it.

Incidentally, forest was a legal term in the sense of an area with its own laws set aside for hunting and which need not necessarily be wooded eg as in the New Forest (which was new once... in the 11th century...).

And while we're on the subject, boscage (noun) -- a thicket or mass of trees/shrubs and bosky (adjective) -- wooded, covered with trees/shrubs.
 
I've seen used that way "a bosky dell" -- I'm not sure where. But also:

bosky drunk, in liquor, from the Dutch "swelled," that is: tight

It appears in Barrère and Leland's Dictionary of Slang, Jargon, and Cant 1897 but not in Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue 1785 (see also Lexicon Balatronicum: A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit and Pickpocket Eloquence. Compiled originally by Captain Grose. And now considerably altered and enlarged, with The modern changes and improvements, by a member of the Whip Club. Assisted by Hell-Fire Dick, and James Gordon, Esqrs. of Cambridge; and William Soames, Esq. of the Hon. Society of Newman's Hotel. 1811*

and as used above:


buckish dandified, foppish; impetuous, dashing
buck a dashing, impetuous, or spirited man

jargon language used by people who work in a particular area or who have a common interest: lawyers, criminals, etc. often meaningless to outsiders

cant a special vocabulary peculiar to thieves; argot
 
also, slightly off topic, from Handbook of English 1956
Jargon - the obfuscation of intellection through the utilization of polysyllabic diction and periphrastic constructions.
" Jargon darkens meaning thru the use of long words and circumlocution."
( see: wordiness, and fine writing )

Jabot n. a frill on a bodice

Jocose a. waggish, humorous
 
exiguous inadequate, meager, scanty (usually applied to living with small means of support, what the Victorians used to call "reduced circumstances)

fulminate to burst forth in censure or invective; to explode with loud noise particularly to denounce or condemn

invective abusive language, language that casts blame; an insulting word or expression; vituperation, censure

inveigh to give vent to angry disapproval; to protest with violent language; to speak vehemently against

vituperation villification, defamation, castigation

castigate to criticize harshly, to rebuke or chastise; to punish severely

chastise to discipline

rebuke (verb) to reprimand, to express stern disapproval (noun) stern disapproval, a reproof
 
Let me see...

Distressed** gentlewoman has received tax demand?



** in the (admittedly old-fashioned) sense of impoverished, though suffering from extreme anxiety may well be appropriate (but not having simulated marks of wear and age...)
 
I was thinking more along the lines of a distressed gentlewoman living in reduced circumstances and genteel poverty.

genteel (in this case meaning) striving to maintain the appearance of status and respectability

Her circumstances might also be described as:
straitened in difficulty or distress, especially financial hardship
 
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