The 14th letter in the alphabet is “N” (pronounced en). It is the sixth” most-common letter in the English alphabet. The written form of “N” (“n”) traces its genesis to Egyptian hieroglyphics and the symbol for snake 𓆓 . N’s etymological ancestors are the Semitic letter Nun and the Greek letter Nu. N-words are especially germane to the compilation of the topic of this blog series – including as they do, nomen (meaning “name”), nomenclature (the devising or choosing of names for things) and nomenclator (lexicon; word-list; one who assigns names).
Nacket: meaning>(hist.) a ball-boy at tennis (16th. ; a pert or smart child; snack; light lunch derivation>[Obsolete Scots nacket(t) “caddie at tennis”, from MidFr naquet “valet”)] 🎾 👦🏽
Naiant: (of a fish or marine creature) swimming horizontally [L. natare (“to swim”)] fish 𓇼 ⋆｡˚ 𓆝⋆｡˚ 𓇼
Nanoid: dwarf-like [Gk. nanos (“dwarf”) + -oid]
Napoo: to destroy; something finished, ruined, inoperative or dead [from Fr. “there is no more”; “it’s over”]
Narcoleptic: a sudden, involuntary deep sleep; pathological drowsiness [Gk. nárkē (“numbness”) + -, –lēpsia, (“seizure”)]
Naskin: prison [origin unknown] ⛓️⛓️
Nassologist: taxidermist [origin unknown]
Nassologist (image: classroomclipart.com)
Nasute: keen-scented; critically discerning; having a big nose [L. nasus (“nose”)] 👃🏽
Natation: the act or art of swimming [L. natare (“to swim”)] (cf. Natatorium: swimming-pool) 🏊♀️
Nates: the buttocks [L. natis (“buttocks”)]
Naucify: to despise; to hold in low esteem [L. naucum (“a trifling thing”)]
Naufrageous: in a state of danger or ruin; threatened [L. naufragium (“a shipwreck”) from navis (“ship”)] (cf. Naufrague: shipwrecked person)
Newspaperacious: of a form or style usual in newspapers [coined 1843; first appeared in Fraser’s Magazine]
Newspaperacious
Nexility: compactness of speech [L. nexus (nectō) (“bind”) + -ity]
Nimrod: a skilful hunter [Hebrew. Nimrōḏ (from hunter-warrior biblical personage in Book of Genesis]
Nimród
Nippaitaty or Nippitatum: particularly good and strong liquor, esp good good ale [origin unknown] 🍺
Niveous: snowy; white [L. niv, nix (“snow”)] ⛄️
Noctambulist: someone who walks late at night [L. nox, noct (“night”) + –ambulare (“to walk”) + -ist] (cf. Noctivagant: wandering in the night; a night-walker)
Noctidiurnal: comprising one day and one night [L. nocti (“night”) + -dies (“day”) + –urnus (denoting time)]
Nomiatrist: a lawyer who specialises in medical cases [Gk. nomos (“law”; “arrangement”) + –iatris (“physician”; “heal or cure”; “treat”; “medical healing”)] ⚖ 🚑 ☤
Nomographer: a writer of laws 📝 [Gk. nomos (“law”) + –graphos (“write”; “scribe”)]
Nonage: legal infancy; legal minority; time of immaturity [L. non + -age]
Nonparous: a woman without children; not having given birth [L. non (“not”) + –parus (“bearing”)]
Novenary: based on the number 9 [L. novenus (“nine”) + –arius (“ary”)]
Nosism: use of the Royal “We”; assumption of role of group mouthpiece [L. nos (“we”)]
Nosocomium: (hist. an ancient hospital; hospital (cf. Nosocomial: of, like or pertaining to a hospital) [Gk. nósos (“disease”; “suffering”) + –koméō (“to tend”)] 🏩
Nostrum: medicine of secret composition recommended by its preparer but usually without scientific proof of its effectiveness; a quack medicine or dubious remedy [L. noster (“our” or “ours”)]
Novercaphobia: an irrational fear of one’s step-mother [from L. novus(“new”) + -phobia] (cf. Novercal)
Nudiustertian: relating to the day before yesterday [L. nū̆diū̆stertiānus (“taking place the day before yesterday”) coined by Nathaniel Ward (1647)]
Nullibicity: the state of being nowhere [LateL. nullibi (“nowhere”) (from L. nullus (“null”) + -ibi (“here”; “there”) + -icity] (cf. Nullibiquitous: existing nowhere)
Nullifidian: having no faith or religion; one who is faithless [L. nullus (“null”) + -fides (“faith”) + -an)
Nulliverse: universe devoid or any plan or organising principle [L. nullus + (adapted from) universe. Coined by William James, American philosopher)]
Numinous: arousing spiritual or religious feelings; emotional; mysterious or awe-inspiring [L. numen (“nod of the head”; “divine will”) + -ous]
Numismatist: a person who collects and studies coins and paper currency [L. numisma (“coin”) + -ist] 🪙 💴
Numismatist (corporate finance institute.com)
Numquid: an inquisitive person [ L. num (“whether”; “if”) + –quid (“something”)]
People tend to associate the sport of chariot racing with the ancient Romans, thanks in part to Hollywood and movies like Ben-Hur…chariot racing was a fundamental part of ludi circenses (circus entertainment) for the Roman public, together with gladiatorial combats, mock hunts and wild animals pitted against each other. Chariot racing however wasn’t an activity that originated with the Romans, the ancient Greeks and the Etruscans were right into the sport long before them𝔸. It emerged in the Hellenic world at least as early as 700BC with contests taking place in stadia known as hippodromes (“horse course”). The sport features in the Iliad and by 684BC it was so popular it debuted as an event in the proto-Olympic games. In Greek chariot races the competitors were the owners of the rigs and horses, and with Spartan women entitled to own property, this allowed some women to participate in the popular sporting spectacle. Success in the four-horse races was well remunerated, with prizes for the winner such as 140 ceramic pots of olive oil (‘Ben-Hur: The Chariot Race’, A Historian Goes to the Movies, 16-Sep-2016, http://aelarsen.wordpress.com).
Spartan woman winning a chariot race (vase decoration)
The premier venue for Roman chariot racing, the epicentre of the sport in antiquity, was the massively-proportioned Circus Maximus, a specially-constructed race course located between the Aventine and Palantine hills in Rome. The course was an extended oblong shape along a 2,037-foot-long sand track (spatium) with sharp 180° turns at each end (a race comprised seven laps with the top speeds nudging 40 mph) (Encyclopedia Romana, Upd. 21-Nov-2023, www.penelope.uchicago.edu). The rage for currus circenses (chariot racing) as a spectator sport was such that the Roman went from having 10-12 races a day on 17 days of the year only in Emperor Augustus’ time to 100 races per day during the reign of Domitian. The standard “horse power” for racing chariots was four horses—called a quadriga or quardigae𝔹—piloted by older, more experienced horsemen called agitatos, whereasnovice drivers (auriga) were usually assigned a bigae (two-horse vehicles). Less common but not unheard of were six, eight and ten-horse chariots. The best horses for currus circenses were sourced from the Roman provinces of Lusitania and Hispania and from North Africa (‘Chariot Racing: Rome’s Most Popular, Most Dangerous Sport’, Patrick J Kiger, History, Upd. 17-July-2022, www.history.com).
All that remains today of Circus Maximus
To the Roman masses, the chariot drivers were above all entertainers, just like actors or musicians of the day, but there was a duality to how they were viewed by society. The elite drivers were lauded and lionised by the public (just like elite sportsmen today), but at the same time they were cursed as witches or magicians (this conclusion was drawn because how else could you explain their repeated victories?)(Kiger). Not all social elites in Rome were as gung-ho about the sport as the populus Romanus, although the egregious and unstable emperors Caligula and Nero were both big fans.
To the victor, laurels…and “big bucks”
Charioteers faced a high danger of injury or death from their profession, but the lure was the prospect of fabulous wealth…for the best race drivers. The prize money for a single victory ranged from 15-30 thousand sesterces up to 60,000 sesterces. If you were successful on the track and survived, you could earn a fortune and set yourself up for life…one such ace driver was Portuguese-born Gaius Appeuleius Diocles whose 24-year career netted him upward of 36,000,000 secterces from 1,462 victories. Diocles’ race winnings, valued today as equivalent to US$17 bn, would place him far above the superstar earnings of the Michael Jordans and Novak Djokovics of the modern era in sport (Kiger).
Diocles, champion of the Red team (source: earlychurchhistory.org)
Charioteers competed in teams under the aegis of factiones (factions) which like Formula One racing today, were under the control of team bosses/owners – these were different associations of contractors. The four principal factions, each one associated with a particular season and god, were known as the Reds, Blues, Greens and Whitesℂ. Each faction team had its own talent scouts whose job it was to find the most promising charioteers and horses, and each team had its own passionate tribal supporters base, much as we see today in professional football𝔻 (‘Chariot Races’, The Roman Empire in the First Century, www.pbs.org).
The four “colour” factions
The faction bosses bankrolled the whole operation of their teams, including the engagement of medical and veterinary staff, in return they took a cut of the drivers’ winnings. With customarily 12 charioteers in a race (three drivers from each team), teams pursued a stratagem of using their two lesser drivers to try to manoeuvre and block their opponents to maximise the chances of success of their team’s star driver (Formula One and contemporary professional cycling adopt similar team tactics in races) (‘Chariot Racing’, Travels Through Greco-Roman Antiquity, http://exhibits.library.villanova.edu).
A Roman mosaic of two famous race horses (source: earlychurchhistory.org)
Chariot racing revolved around money, not just for the drivers and factiones, betting on the outcome by the race-going “punters” was big business too. The Circus Maximus didn’t have on-course bookies or the TAB or Ladbrokes but betting was widespread on an individual basis. Prior to a race spectators in the seated areas or in the refreshment arcades would make private wagers with each other on the upcoming race.
Footnote: Hollywood does currus circenses ⟴⟴⟴ Most movie-watchers would have seen the 1959 biblical era blockbuster Ben-Hur, the Charlton Heston version immortalised for its epic 20-plus minutes chariot race. The race is a thrilling climax to the movie, accurately capturing the danger and drama of a real chariot contest in Ancient Rome, however much of what is shown veers away from historical verisimilitude…there are nine bronze dolphin lap counters, not seven, though the chariots are comparatively light as they needed to be. In Roman charioteering the race drivers were formed into teams (as outlined above), whereas in the film this is completely ignored with each competitor singularly representing different ethnicities (Jew, Roman, Arab, etc). Roman chariot races had staggered starts and starting gates (carceres) to negate the advantage to drivers nearest the inner wall or barrier (the spina), the movie is again historically out-of-kilter. First, the contestants line up one abreast, backing on to the the spina which seems to be borrowed from the way Formula One car races used to start in the 1950s, then they wheel round and start in a straight line across the sand-strewn track. Having Ben-Hur’s antagonist the elite Roman soldier Messala as a charioteer, is also all wrong…chariot drivers were recruited from the lower orders, slaves, freedmen, foreigners, they were infamis, the disreputable in society, men with a black mark against them. Lastly, Ben-Hur and Messala and the other drivers all hold the reins of their horses during the race, unlike what the Romans actually did, which was to tie the reins around the charioteer’s waist during the race (‘A Historian”).
‘Ben-Hur’, the iconic chariot race scene
𝔸 and the Byzantines continued the sport after the fall of Rome
𝔹 the quadriga races were the main event of the ludi circenses race day
ℂ the Blues and the Greens, the two largest factions, engaged in a fierce rivalry
𝔻 there were also occasionally spectator riots, as in football
We arrive at “M”, lucky letter number 13, the midway or median point in the Latin alphabet. “M” is also the Roman numeral for 1,000. The “most powerful letter in the world”, according to those renowned linguistic authorities, BMW car manufacturers! “M”’s etymological antecedents are the Semitic mem and the Ancient Greek mu (M). M-words don’t tend to go in for half-measures, there’s a million of them and they are inclined to span the full gamut of dimensions…from “mini” or “micro” up the scale to “macro” or “maxi”.
Mandament: a command or order [L. mandare (“to command”)] (cf. Mandative: of, like or pertaining to commands and government and Mandarism: government with a large bureaucracy)
Mandriarch: founder or leader of a monastic order [Gk. mandare(?) + –arch (“rule”)]
Manducate: to chew or eat [L. mandūcarē (“to chew”, “eat”)]
Manège: the art of horsemanship [It. maneggiare (“to control (a horse”;)]
Manochlous: (also Monoculus) one-eyed person [origin unknown]
Manqué: having had unfulfilled ambitions; failing to achieve expectation [L. manco (“having a crippled hand”; “lacking”; “left-handed” Manicism(?))]
Manuduction: careful guidance; leading by hand [L. manus + –ductio (“action of leading”)]
Mappemond: medieval map of the world [L. mappa (“map”) + -mundi (“world”)]
Mappemond
Maricolous: living in the sea [L. mar (mare) (“sea”; “ocean”) + -cola (“inhabitor”) + -ous] (cf. Marigenous: produced by the sea) 🌊
Maritodespotism: ruthless domination of one spouse by another within a marriage (usually by the husband) [L. marītus (“husband”) + –despótēs (“lord”; “master”; “owner”) +-ism]
Martymachlia: sexual arousal resulting from having others watch a sexual act being performed (a form of paraphilia) [origin unknown]
Mascaron: grotesque, frightening (usually human, sometimes chimeric) face on a door-knocker, originally to supposedly ward off evil spirits [LateLat. mascara (“mask”) + -on]
Maskirovka: (hist.) Soviet use of deception or camouflage as military stratagem [Rus. mácka (“disguise”; “mask”)]
Mattoid: (Psych.) a person displaying eccentric behaviour and mental characteristics that approach the psychotic; someone bordering between sanity and insanity [It. matto (“insane”) + -oid (“likeness or resemblance”)]
Matutinal: of, occurring in or relating to morning [LateLat. matutinalis (Roman goddess of morning — see following entry)]
Matutolagnia: antemeridian (am) sexual desire [L. Mātūta, (Roman goddess of morning or dawn) + Gk. –lagneía (“sexual predilection”)]
Matutolypea: getting up on the wrong side of bed; the state of being in a bad mood and easily annoyed, esp in the morning [L. Mātūta, from Gk. lúpē (“sadness, suffering, affliction”) ]
Mechanolatry: worship of machines [Gk. mēkhanikós (“pertaining to machines or contrivance, mechanic”; “ingenious”; “inventive”) + –latreía (“service”; “worship”)]
Medianic: of, like or pertaining to spiritualists, mediums and prophets (origin unknown)
Megathermic: surviving only in tropical climates [Gk. mégas (“great”; “large”; “mighty”) + –thermal (“to heat”; “warm”)]
Mehari: a type of fast-running dromedary camel, used for racing or transportation [Arab. mahara, (“to be deft or skillful”)] 🐪
Meliorism: the belief that human progress is a real concept, improvement in the world can be made by human intervention and effort [L. melior (“better”) + -ism]
Melliloquent: speaking harmoniously or sweetly [L. mel, mellis (“honey”) + –loqui (“to speak”)] cf. Mellisonant: pleasing to the ear; sweet-sounding[L. –sonare (“to sound”)]; cf. Mellivorous: honey-eating) 🍯
Melomania: abnormal fondness for music [Gk. mélos (“musical phrase”; “melody”; “song”) + -mania] 🎵 🎶
Mensal: of, like or pertaining to the dinner-table; monthly, occurring once a month [L. mensis. (“month”)]
Mercedary: a hirer, one who hires staff; pertaining to the giving or receiving of wages [L. mercēdārius (?)]
Meretricious: apparently attractive, esp in a flashy or vulgar way, but having no real value; characteristic of a prostitute [L. meretrīx (“harlot, prostitute”) from mereō (“earn, deserve, merit”) + -trīx (“female agent”)]
Mésalliance: unsuitable marriage; marriage with a socially-inferior partner [Fr. mésallier (“to misally”)]
Mesomorph: person with a compact, muscular build [Gk. mesos (“middle” ) + -morphē (“form”; “shape”)]
Metagnostic: incomprehensible; beyond understanding [Gk. meta (“beyond”) + –gnōstós (“known”)]
Metempirical: beyond the scope of knowledge [Gk. meta (“after” or “beyond”) + –empeirikós “based on observation (of medical treatment”; “experienced”) + -al]
Metonym: (descriptive) name used instead of the (proper) name, as a substitute because it is close associated with it (eg, the White House for the US Presidential (POTUS) Residence/Office of the Executive [Gk. meta (“among”; “with”; “after”) + –onyma (“name”)]
Metoposcopy: foreign-telling or judgement of character divined by the lines of the forehead [Gk. meto (“measure”) + –scopéō (“examine”; “inspect”)]
Metronym: system of kinship and naming that follows the female line [Gk. mėtēr (“mother”) + -name]
Micropolis: small city [Gk. mikros (“small”) + –polis (“city”)]
Microsomatous: having a small body; small-framed [Gk. mikros + sōma (“body”)] (cf. Macrosomatous) (cf. Mignon: small and dainty)
Mien: air or look; manner; bearing [ME. demean (“ to conduct or behave (oneself) usually in a proper manner”)]
Militaster: soldier without skill or ability; pretender to possess military expertise but lacks actual experience or knowledge. [L. militaris (“of soldiers”; “warlike”) + –aster)]
Milquetoast: very timid; very unassertive person [from character Caspar Milquetoast of the comic strip The Timid Soul (1920s on)…fictional name derived from US dish “milk toast”]
Meek as Milquetoast
Minatory: threatening; having a menacing quality [L. minari (“to threaten”)]
Mimetic: imitative; of, like or pertaining to mimicry [Gk. mimos (“mime”)]
Minutious: (or Minutiose) paying undue attention to minutiae [L. Latin minutia (“thorough”; “detailed”) + -ous]
Miothermic: of, like or pertaining to temperature condition on earth at the present time [Gk. mi + -therm (“heat”) +-ic] 🔥
Misocainea: hatred of new ideas [Gk. miso (“hatred”; “hater”) + –kainos (“new”; “recent”)]
Misocapnic: an aversion to smoking, tobacco and its smoke [miso- + capno- (kapnós (“smoke”)] 🚭 (cf. Acapnotic: someone who doesn’t smoke; a non-smoker)
Mnemonist: one from whose memory nothing is erased; someone who can memorise long lists of data [ Gk. mnēmē (“memory”; “a remembrance”; “record”) + -ist]
Mofussil: provincial; rural; non-urban regions [Bengalimophośśol (“to divide”; “classify”]
Moiety: each of two parts into which a thing can be divided; a part or portion (esp lesser) [L. medius (“middle”; “half”)]
Mollescent: softening; tending to soften [L. mollis (“soft”) + -cent]
Momus: satirist; critic [Gk. Momus (Greek myth. personification of satire and mockery)]
Momus
Mongery: the trading or trafficking of some commodity of a specific type (eg, “ironmongery”; “fishmongery”); a person who tries to stir up or spread something usually of a petty or discreditable nature (eg, “scandal-mongery”) [Gk. mánganon (“contrivance”; “means of enchantment”)]
Mononym: a person’s name consisting of the one, single word, typically a first name sans a surname [Gk. monós (“alone”; “only”; “sole”) + -name]
Monopolylogue: dramatic work in which one actor plays many roles [neologism coined from “monologue” Gk. monólogos (“speaking alone”) + –poly (“many”)]
Mouchard: a police spy, esp in a Francophone country; an undercover investigator [Fr. mouche (“a fly”) + -ard] 🪰
Motherlode: (alt. Mother lode) a rich source of something; (geol.) a principal vein of an ore or mineral [L. māter + MidEng –lode (“a burden” (orig. “a way”; “a course”)
Mournival: a set of four things; (arch.) a hand of four (aces, kings, queens, knaves) in card game Gleek [MidFr mornifle (?)]
A Mournival hand of cards
Mugwump: (hist.) dissident Republicans (1884); one who politically-neutral, aloof or independent of party politics [from Amerindian (Massachusett) “war leader”]
Mulctuary: punishable by a fine [L. mulcta (“fine”)]
Multanimous: having a many-sided mind [L. multus (“many”) + –animus (“mind”)] (cf. Multeity: manifoldness; very great numerousness)
Multifarious: having great diversity; manifold [L. multi + -farius (“diverse”)]
Multiloquence: talkative; garrulous; using many words [L. multi– + –loquēns(“speaking, talking”)]
Multiparous: (of a woman) having given birth to multiple offspring [L. multi + -parere (“to give birth to”; “bring into being”)]
Multipotent: having the power to do many things [L. multi + -potis, pote (“able”)] (cf. Multivious: offering many different pathways; leading in many directions; and Multivocal: having many meanings]
Mumpsimus: adherence to or persistence in an erroneous use of language out of habit or obstinacy; a person who persists in a mistaken expression or practice [coined erroneously by an illiterate mass-priest in place of the correct Latin term sumpsimus…despite being corrected he stubbornly refused to change his choice of words]
Munificence: magnificent liberality in giving; bestowing great generosity [L. munus (“gift”; “duty”; “service”) + -cence]
Myrmecoid: ant-like, resembling an ant [Gk. -myrmēk (“ants”) + -oeidēs (“oid”) / Myrmex, Gk goddess of ants] 🐜
Myrmidon: a follower or subordinate of a powerful person; one who carries out orders unquestioningly (typically unscrupulous) [Gk. Myrmidon (from Greek myth.) eponymous ancestor of the Myrmidons]
Myrmidon
Mysophobic: someone with a pathological fear of contamination and germs; a germophobe; a compulsive hand-washer [Gk. mýsos (“pollution”; “defilement”)] + -phobia] 🦠
Mysteriosophy: system of knowledge concerning secrets and mysteries [L. mustḗrion, (“mystery”) + -sophy (“knowledge or wisdom”)]
Mythogenesis: origin of myths [Gk. mûthos (“myth”) + –génesis (“origin”; “source”; “beginning”)] (cf. Mythoclast: destroyer of myths; Mythopoeic: giving rise to myths)
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Malaxophobia: a morbid fear of seduction, love play or love games (esp in women)[Gk. malax– (?) (cf. Sarmassophobia)
Matronolagnia: an attraction to older women, esp women who have children [L. māter (“mother”) + –lagneía (“lust”)]
Microlipet: someone who gets upset about trivial stuff [micro (“small”) + ME -lippē(?) (“a little bit”(?)]
Misopolemiac: a hater of war and strife [miso (“hatred”) + pólemos (“war”)]
Sign of a Misopolemiac
Misoxene: one who hates strangers [miso (“hatred”) + xénos (“stranger”)] (cf. Xenophobe)
Monomath: someone who knows all about a single subject and nothing else [Gk. monós + –máthēma (“that which is learnt”)]
“L” is the twelfth letter of the alphabet while doubling as the Roman numeral for 50. The letter “L”’s ancestors can be traced to the Semiticlamedh, which may have derived from an earlier symbol representing an ox goad, and the Greeklambda (λ), itself adopted from the Phoenician letter lamed. In English “L”/“l” represents a voiced alveolar lateral continuant. “L” is for “logomaniacs”, “logolepts”, “logophiles”, “logonik”, call them by whatever label you prefer, the following are some worthy additions to the vocabulary of word aficionados from the unorthodox “L” word department.
Labeorphilist: <meaning> a collector of beer bottles, but also of their accoutrements – brand labels, can openers, books on the topic <derives from>[Gk. origin unknown] (cf. Tegestologist who collects beer mats)
Labiomancy: lip-reading; a form of divination by reading lips [MedLat. labiālis (“pertaining to the lips”) + -manteíā (“divination”)] (cf. Labrose: having large or thick lips)
Laconicum: sauna, specifically a dry sweat room; a room in an ancientRoman baths used for hot-air or a steam bath [L. laconicus from Gk. lakōn (“laconic”)]
Lairwite: (also Legruita) (hist.) fine paid to the lord of the manor by his villein in instances where the serf’s daughter committed adultery or fornication (in medieval times it was a punishment for sexual misconduct while maintaining the lord’s authority over his female villeins) [origin unknown]
Lambent: flickering; softly radiant; marked by brilliance of expression [L. from lambere (“to lick up”)] (cf. Lucent: glowing; giving off light)
Laodicean: being lax or lukewarm in one’s religious beliefs; indifferent to religion or politics [L. from Laodicea (“a city in Asia Minor”) + -an]
Laodicean: the ancient city of Laodicea
Lapidate: to stone someone to death [L. lapidātus (“to throw stones at”)] 🪨
Lapidicolous: living under a rock (or stone) [L. lapis (“stone”) + -colere (“to inhabit”)]
Latrocination: the act of robbing or pillaging from someone; overcharging people [L. Latrocinium (“highway robbery”)]
Lavacultophilia: the desire to stare at someone in a bathing suit [L. lavere (“to bathe”) + –culto (uncertain) + -philia] 🩱
Lecanoscopy: to hypnotise yourself by staring into a pool of water, eg, in a basin [Gk. lekane “dish-pan” + –scopein (“examine;” “look at”)]
Lector: a lecturer or (academic) reader at university (UK); a reader of lessons in a church service [L. legere (“reader”)] (cf. Letrice: a female reader in church)
Leguleian: like a lawyer; underhand and legalistic; a petty and argumentative lawyer [L. lēguleius (“pettifogger”) from lēx, lēgis (“law”)]
Lethologica: inability to recall a precise word or name for something or someone [Gk. lḗthē (“forgetfulness”) + -lógos “word”]
Levirate: marriage of a widowed woman to her deceased husband’s brother (practiced in particular cultures) [L. levir (“brother-in-law”)]
Lexiphanicism: showing off by using pretentious words or language (in fact what this blog post may be accused of doing!) [Gk. Lexiphanes (a character in the works of Lucian) + -ic]
Libidinist: a lewd or lustful person; oversexed lecher [L. libidinor (“I indulge”) {🔜 “libido”} + -ist] (cf. Donjuanism: (esp of a man) exhibiting compulsive sexual behaviour)
Litterateur: professional writer; a person interested in and knowledgeable about literature [L. littera (“letter”; “writing”)] ✍️🪶
Logicaster: a person who is pedantic in argument; a petty logician [Gk. lógos (“speech”; “reason”) + -aster (“little”; “petty”; “partial”; “incomplete”)]
Logodaedalus: artificer in words; one manipulates words with skill or cunning; skilled in coining words [Gk. logos (“word”) + –daidalous (“cunning worker; “skilful”)]
Logomachy: a battle about words; a verbal war [Gk. logos (“word”) + –machesthai (“to fight”)]
Lotologist: someone who collects lottery tickets as a hobby [origin unknown]
Lubberland: a mythical paradise reserved for the lazy [poss. from Swed. lubber (“fat lazy fellow” + -land] (cf. Cockaigne: an imaginary land of plenty, supposedly a medieval paradise of extreme luxury, comforts and easy life)
Lucubrator: a person who studies during the night [L. lūcubrō (“work by candlelight”) + -or] 🌃
Lupanarian: pertaining to a brothel [ L. lupanar (“brothel”), from lupa (“prostitute”; literally “she-wolf”), from lupus (“wolf”)](cf. Lupine: pertaining to wolves) 🐺
Lustrum: period of five years; (hist.) a ceremonial purification of the people of Rome undertaken every five years [L. lūstrum (“a purificatory sacrifice”)]
Lychnobite: a person who works at night and sleeps during the day [Gk. lúkhnos (“lamp”) and bíos (“life”)🏮
Lygerastia: a condition of someone who is amorous only when the lights are turned out [Gk. lyge (“twilight”) + –erastes (“lover”)] (cf. Amaurophilia: a preference for having sex blind-folded or in total darkness)
Lysistrataphobia: (path.) a fear that women will subvert men and take over the world [Gk. fromLysistrátē, (“Army Disbander”), 5th cent. BC play by Aristophanes about a woman (Lysistrataphobia) who hatches a plan to have Athenian and Spartan women withhold sexual privileges from their men-folk until the men bring the Peloponnesian War to an end]
