A Logolept’s Diet of Obscure, Obsolete, Curious and Downright Odd “D” Words

Creative Writing, Literary & Linguistics

“D” day words

The letter “D” corresponds to the Semitic daleth and Greek delta (Δ). “D” is also the Roman numeral for 500. The form (D) is thought to derive from an early pictograph, possibly Egyptian, indicating the folding door of a tent. Later “D” got its more rounded shape, with which we are familiar, from the Chalcidian alphabet, which the Latins may have borrowed for their alphabet (https://www.britannica.com/topic/D-letter). Words beginning with “D”, numero quattro in the English alphabetical order, are an eclectic lot. They can be delightful, decadent or distasteful. Here’s a brief sampler of logophile-friendly “D” words for serious verbivores. 

(word) Dacnomania
(meaning) a compulsive urge to bite 
(derivation) Gk dáknō (“bite”) + -mania 🦷

Dactylogram
fingerprint
Gk Daktylos (“finger”) + –gramma (“that which is written/drawn”)

Daedalist

aviator; pilot
Gk from Didalos, L Daedalus (“skilfully wrought”)

Daedalist (Photo: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum)

Dapifer
one who brings meat to the table (ie, a servant)
origin unknown 🍖

Defenestration
throw someone through a window; remove or dismiss someone from a position of authority
L de “down from” + –fenestra (“window”)

The Defenestration of 1618 (Source: Habsburger.net)

Deimatic
pattern of behaviour of a bluffing character (zool)
Gk deimatóo (“to frighten”)

Deipnosophist
learned amateur
Gk deipnon (“dinner”) + –sophistēs (“knowledgeable in the arts” (from Athenaeus’‘Deipnosophistaí’)

Deltiologist
someone who collects and studies postcards [Gk. deltion (“writing tablet”) + -ist]

Deltiologist (image: emaniuz-collection.blogspot.com)

Depontification
throw someone off a bridge
L de + –pons (“bridge), following pattern of defenestration

Didascalar
Didactic; pertaining to teaching
origin unknown

Diddicoy
scrap dealer; Brit: group of caravan-dwelling travellers who adopt a Gypsy-like lifestyle
origin unknown

Diestrus
a period of sexual inactivity
New L dia + -estrus from Gk Oistros (“gadfly”, “sting”)

Digladiator
swordfighter
origin unknown

Dithyrambic
wildly irregular in form
Gk dithyrambos (unknown, pre-Hellenic?)

Diversiloquent
able to speak on different topics; in different ways
L. diversi (“diversus”) + –loquēns (“to speak”)

Docent
an academic immediately below the professorial rank; a voluntary guide at a museum, zoo or art gallery
L docēns (“to teach”)

Doctiloquent
speaking learnedly
L from doceō (“I teach”) +-loquēns (“to speak”)

Domatologist
professional housekeeper
origin unknown

Dontopedology
science of putting your foot in your mouth
Gk odoús (“tooth”) + –pes (“foot”) + –logos (“word”)

Douanier
customs official
Fr, origin unknown

Doulocracy
rule by slaves
Gk doûlos (“servant”, “slave”) + –kratéō (“rule)

Doulocracy: Spartacus, slave army leader

Dragoman
interpreter, translator or guide
Gk dragumanus from Arab targuman (“interpreter”)

Dulciloquent
speaking in a sweet, pleasant and agreeable way
L. dulcis (“sweet”) + -loquēns (“to speak”)

Durative
describing an action that is continuing, incomplete; transforming
L. durare (“to harden”)

Dysania
Difficult to wake up in the morning
origin unknown

Dyschromatopic
colour-blind
Gk dys (“bad”) + -chroma (“colour”) + -ops (“eye”)

Dysphemism
using an offensive word in the place of an inoffensive one
Gk dys (“bad”) + –pheme “speech”,

Dystelology
doctrine of purposelessness
Gk dys (“bad”) + –télos (“end”, “purpose”, “goal”) + –logos

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A Logolept’s Diet of Obscure, Obsolete, Curious and Downright Odd “A” Words

Adult education, Creative Writing, Literary & Linguistics, Media & Communications, Popular Culture, Society & Culture

The Big A! In the beginning was A.

Words, Words, Words”, mused Shakespeare’s brooding and enigmatic eponymous protagonist in Hamlet [Act II, Scene II]. Indeed, for those wordsmiths, verbivores and aficionados in the grips of logolepsy (fascination or obsession with words), words, lexemes, morphemes, lógos, verba, call it whatever you like, are the very stuff of the world. If you are like me and take a delight in being exposed to new words, always looking to add to the building blocks of your vocabulary, then your interest might be piqued enough to browse the following list of words, a select lexicon with entries which include the obscure, the archaic, the unusual, the peculiar and (sometimes) the downright creepily weird. To begin at the beginning, the letter “A”, primus intra pares among the strictly-ordered glyphs. “A” in the Latin alphabet is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter Alpha, from which it derives.

Word

Meaning

Derivation

Abactor

cattle thief or rustler

L Late Latin abigō ('drive away')  

Achloropsia

[cf. Acyanopsia colour-blind blue]

colour-blind green 

Gk a + clor ('green') + -podia (rel. to 'sight')

Acephalous

lacking a (clearly defined) head

Gk akephalous ('headless')

Acersecomic

one who has never had his or her hair cut

Gk akersekómēs ('young with unshorn hair')

Acrologic

pertaining to initials; using a sign to represent a word denoting its initial letter or sound, assoc with hieroglyphics & acronyms

Fr acrologique  

Adelphogamy

a form of polyandry;  marriage of 2 or more brothers & 1 or more wives (context: Royal marriages in Ancient Egypt, usually between siblings)

Gk adelphi ('brothers') + -gamus ('marriage')  戮 

Adventitious

occurring as a result of an external factor or by chance, rather than by design or inherent nature; coming from outside, not native

L adventicious (coming to us from abroad")

Agelast 

someone who never laughs; a humourless person

Mid Fr agélastos ('not laughing')

Agersia

not growing old in appearance 

Gk a ('not') + geras ('age')

Agnomen

an epithet; an appellation appended to a name (eg, Rufus the Indolent)

Anc Rome a 4th name occasionally bestowed on a citizen in honour of some achievement 

Agnosy

ignorance esp universal ignorance; unenlightened; bereft of spiritual understanding or insight 

Gk agnōsia ('ignorance')

Aleatory

something dependent on the throw of dice or on chance; random; (esp in indurance)

L alea a kind of dice game 

Amanuensis 

Iiterary or artistic assistant, in particular one who takes dictation or copies manuscripts 

L a manu-ensis ('slave at handwriting') + 'belonging to')

Ambivert

someone who a balance of extrovert & introvert features in their personality

L ambi ('on both sides') + vertere ('to turn')

Aneabil

unmarried; single

origin unknown

Anecdotage

someone with a tendency to be garrulous; anecdotes collectively 

Gk anekdota ('unpublished') + -age

Anemocracy

government by the wind or by whim  

Gk anemo ('wind') + -cracy ('rule')

Anhedonia

inability to feel pleasure in normally pleasurable activities

Fr anhédonia+ ('without pleasure')

Animadvert

criticise or censure; speak out against

L animadvert-ere ('to notice or remark on a subject')

Antanaclasis

a literary trope whereby a single word is repeated, but in 2 different senses (for effect, a common form of punning)

Gk antanáklasis ('reflection'; 'bending back')

Antelucan

pre-dawn

L ante ('before') + luc ('light')

Antemundane

existing before the creation of the world  

L ante ('before') + Fr mondain ('of this world')

Antipudic

covering one's private parts

anti +  L pudendum ('genitals'; shame')

Apodysophilia

feverish desire to undress (a form of exhibitionism)

origin unknown

Appurtenance

accessory associated with particular lifestyle, eg, luxury

OFr from L appertinere ("belong to")

Aptronym§

the name of a person which neatly matches or is amusingly appropriate to their occupation or character (eg, possessor of the highest-ever recorded IQ, Marilyn vos Savant; a Russian hurdler by the name of Marina Stepanova)

neologism, purportedly coined by US columnist Franklin P Adams

Archimage

great magician, wizard or enchanter 慄‍♂️ 

New Latin from Late Gk archimagus

Aristarch

a severe critic

after Aristarchus of Samothrace, a Greek grammarian, (2nd BC)

§ the concept  of aptronym  gives legs to the theory of nominative determinism which hypotheses that people tend to gravitate towards jobs that fit their surname, eg, a BBC weather presenter with the name Sara Blizzard ️ 



ABACTOR (Image: American Fine Art)

ADELPHOGAMY

ARISTARCH: Aristarchus of Samos