hebetude . \HEH-buh-tood ("oo"
as in "food")\ . (noun)
: lethargy, dullness
Example sentence:
As the professor droned on and on in the overheated lecture hall, Kim was
overcome with such hebetude that she had to fight to keep her eyes open.
Did you know?
The dullness of "hebetude" tends to lean toward mental dullness, often
marked by laziness or torpor. As such, it was a good word for one
Queenslander correspondent, who wrote in a letter to the editor of the
Weekend Australian of "an epidemic of hebetude among young people who . . .
are placing too great a reliance on electronic devices to do their thinking
and remembering." "Hebetude" comes from Late Latin "hebetudo,"
which means
pretty much the same thing as our word. It is also closely related to the
Latin word for "dull"-"hebes," which has extended meanings such as
"obtuse,"
"doltish," and "stupid." Other "hebe-" words in English
include
"hebetudinous" ("marked by hebetude") and "hebetate"
("to make dull").
jurisprudence . \joor-us-PROO-dunss\ . (noun)
*1 a : a system or body of law b : the course of court decisions
2 : the science or philosophy of law
3 : a department of law
Example sentence:
A basic premise of American jurisprudence is that a person is presumed
innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Did you know?
"For a farewell to our jurisprudent, I wish unto him the gladsome light of
jurisprudence. . . ." With this valedictory to English jurist Sir Thomas
Littleton, another jurist, Sir Edward Coke, welcomed two new words into
English. In 1628, his "jurisprudence" meant "knowledge of or skill in
law,"
a now archaic sense that reflects the literal meaning of the word.
"Jurisprudence" goes back to Latin "prudentia juris" (literally
"skill in
law"), from which was derived the Late Latin formation "jurisprudentia,"
and
subsequently our word. The noun "jurisprudent" means "one skilled in
law"-in
other words, "a jurist." There's also "jurisprude," a 20th-century
back-formation from "jurisprudence." It can mean "jurist" or (under
the
influence of "prude") "one who makes ostentatious show of jurisprudential
learning."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
peregrine . \PEH-ruh-grun or PEH-ruh-green\ . (adjective)
: having a tendency to wander
Example sentence:
"We've rented a charming house, owned by a peregrine widower who prefers to
migrate between the homes of his six children," wrote Carrie in her letter.
Did you know?
The current meaning of "peregrine" has wandered a bit from earlier meanings.
It originally meant "foreign," as did its Latin predecessor
"peregrinus."
But even before "peregrine" appeared on its own in English, it was part of
the name of that well-known bird of prey, the peregrine falcon. The bird's
appellation derives from "Falco peregrinus," the Medieval Latin designation
given it by the scientist Albertus Magnus in the 13th century. "Falco
peregrinus" came to be thought of as meaning "pilgrim falcon" (rather than
"foreign falcon"), perhaps because medieval falconers captured peregrines
during their first flight-or pilgrimage-from the nest. That in turn led to a
new sense of "peregrine" ("engaged in or traveling on a pilgrimage"),
which
was later broadened to "wandering."
recrudescence * \ree-kroo-DEH-sunss\ * (noun)
: a new outbreak after a period of abatement or inactivity : renewal
Example sentence:
The president's advisors stressed that the government needed
sufficient resources to cope with a recrudescence of aggression from
hostile nations.
Did you know?
"Recrudescence" derives from the Latin verb "recrudescere," meaning
"to become raw again (as of wounds)." Ultimately, it can be traced
back to the Latin word for "raw," which is "crudus." (If you suspect
that "crude" is also derived from "crudus," you are correct; another
well-known descendant is "cruel.") In its literal sense,
"recrudescence" is a medical word denoting a renewed outbreak of a
disease. In extended use, it most often describes the return of
undesirable conditions, such as a war or a plague, or the return of
an undesirable idea.
conventicle * \kun-VEN-tih-kul\ * (noun)
1 : assembly, meeting
2 : an assembly of an irregular or unlawful character
*3 : an assembly for religious worship; especially : a secret meeting
for worship not sanctioned by law
Example sentence:
Religious dissidents in 17th-century England could be arrested for
attending conventicles.
Did you know?
"Conventicle" comes to us from the Latin "conventiculum," the
diminutive of "conventus," meaning "assembly." "Conventus"
(which
also gave English the word "convent") is itself derived from the
Latin word "convenire," meaning "to come together." The Latin
"conventiculum" meant "place of assembly" (it was applied in
particular to Roman Christian meetinghouses) or simply "assembly."
The English "conventicle" originally had the simple "assembly"
meaning. It then developed an application to illegal meetings, which
in turn led to the arrival of a sense describing secret meetings for
worship in a religion proscribed by law. And finally, "conventicle"
developed a fourth sense of "meetinghouse," echoing the earlier use
of "conventiculum."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
|
>>>