saɪn sine: Originally, the length of a straight line drawn from one end of a circular arc parallel to the tangent at the other end, and terminated by the radius; in modern use, the ratio of this line to the radius ˈsiːkənt secant: Originally, the length of a straight line drawn from the centre of … Continue reading Names Of Trigonometric Functions
-aɪz -ize: a suffix used to form verbs from adjectives and nouns Ubiquitization: This is a strategy adopted by service firms in order to physically distribute their products and services ‘everywhere’. Jones & Robinson, Operations Management (2012) A variety of specific E2 carrier protein and E3 enzyme pairs impart another important level of selectivity through … Continue reading -ize
zɛnəˈfəʊbɪə xenophobia: a deep antipathy to foreigners Recent political events in the the USA, Europe and elsewhere have meant that this word keeps popping into my head. It comes from two Greek words: xenos, “stranger”, and phobos “fear”. In Greek myth, Phobos was the god of terror; a son of Mars, the god of war. … Continue reading Xenophobia
ˈɡræmpɪən If the enemy be rich, they are rapacious; if he be poor, they lust for dominion; neither the east nor the west has been able to satisfy them. Alone among men they covet with equal eagerness poverty and riches. To robbery, slaughter, plunder, they give the lying name of empire; they make a solitude … Continue reading Grampian
ləˈɡɒməkɪ Logomachy: An argument about words Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word.* I do not think it means what you think it means. William Goldman, The Princess Bride Once people start to argue about the words they’ve been using in their argument, they’re having a logomachy. Nothing much useful happens after that, unless they’re … Continue reading Logomachy
iːˈɡɒfənɪ ægophony: a characteristic “bleating” quality heard in conducted voice-sounds when listening to the chest over an area of consolidated lung When I was a medical student, we spent a lot of time listening to patient’s chests with our stethoscopes. Two things we were told to listen for were bleating ægophony and whispering pectoriloquy, which … Continue reading Aegophony
ˈneɪkriːəs nacreous: pertaining to or resembling mother-of-pearl Nacreous clouds are in the UK news at present, with multiple sightings in Scotland. There was an interesting divide in the BBC news coverage of the phenomenon this evening, with national newsreader George Alagiah intoning some twaddle about “forming at sunset” and “caused by refraction” in a sing-song … Continue reading Nacreous
ædˈvɛspəreɪt advesperate: to draw towards night Writing about crepuscular rays recently reminded me that there are two kinds of crepuscule (twilight): matutine, from the Latin matutinus, “morning”, and vespertine from vespertinus, “evening”. Vespertinus is of course the origin of vespers, the evening prayer in some versions of Christianity. And it gives us my headword for … Continue reading Advesperate
ˌflɒksɪˌnɔːsɪˌnɪhɪlɪˌpɪlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən Floccinaucinihilipilification: The act of estimating as worthless Flocci, nauci, nihili, pili, assis, hujus, teruncii, his verbis, aestimo, pendo, facio, peculiariter adduntur. Eton Latin Grammar (1758) What the sentence above was telling generations of Etonians is that the verbs aestimo (“to value”), pendo (“to weigh or consider”) and facio (“to make”) take certain objects irregularly in … Continue reading Floccinaucinihilipilification
fɔəˈɡəʊ forgo: To abstain from, go without, deny oneself If that word looks a little odd to you, it’s perhaps because you’ve seen it written “forego” more often than “forgo”. But forego is a different word, meaning “to go before, or in advance of”. At a Burns Supper, a few may be tempted to forgo … Continue reading Forgo