• epicene • Pronunciation: ep-ê-seen • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Having characteristics of the other sex, especially effeminate, dandyish. 2. Androgynous, bisexual, transsexual, suitable for or having characteristics of both sexes, unisex. 3. Having characteristics of neither s...

• despicable • Pronunciation : di- spik -ê-bêl, des -pi-kê-bêl • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: That should be despised, deserving scorn, vile, contemptible, repulsive. Notes: This word wandered so far away from its origin, despise, that some folks are resorting to despisable in its pl...

• billet-doux • Pronunciation: bee-lay- du • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: No, today's word does not refer to nice lodgings for soldiers (but see the Notes). In fact, it is a term meaning "a short love note" or "love letter" used by die-hard romantics. Notes: Today's ro...

• aposiopesis • Pronunciation: æ-pê-sai-ê- pee -sis • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: A sudden breaking off of a thought in mid sentence, as though the speaker were unwilling or unable to continue. Notes: Have you ever begun a sentence and, halfway through, suddenly realize you shouldn't be ...

Here is a comment sent me by e-mail from Michael: Today’s word, velutinous , sounds a lot like the French mother sauce, velouté . I was told in culinary school that velouté means velvety, which is what the sauce’s consistency should be. My response: Of course, you are right. Vulgar (street) Latin wo...

• stripling • Pronunciation: strip -ling • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. Boy, youth, lad, teenager, or young male adult; a youngster. 2. (Horticulture) A seedling stripped of its leaves. Notes: Today's is a rather odd word since it usually refers to a fully clothed youth though it coinc...

• caboose • Pronunciation: kê- bus • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. A ship's galley. 2. The last car on a freight train for the use of the crew. 3. A follower, someone who brings up the rear. 4. The buttocks. https://www.alphadictionary.com/images/caboose.gif Notes: Here is a word referr...

Correct. At some point in the semantic development from Latin to Old French, before the initial E was added, statio(n) meant "where you stand, floor", hence "stage".

• adoxography • Pronunciation: æ-dahk- sahg -rê-fi • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: Fine prose written about a trivial, insignificant or base subject. Notes: This word comes with the complete panoply of all the derivational relatives of all words ending in - graphy : adoxographer , adoxogra...

• baseborn • Pronunciation: bays -born • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Born to poor parents, of lower-class birth. 2. Born to unmarried parents, illegitimate. 3. Mean, ignoble, contemptible. Notes: Like most compounds, today's word is a lexical loner (not loaner). It comes with thr...

• urchin • Pronunciation: êr -chin • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. A brat, a scamp, a guttersnipe, a mischievous youngster. 2. A raggedly dressed child. 3. A sea hedgehog. Notes: Generally speaking, urchin is a lexical orphan, though an appropriately derived adjective urchinly has been ...

• torch • Pronunciation: torch • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. A flame at the end of a stick used for light. 2. [British] A portable electric light, called a flashlight in the US. 3. [Slang] A professional arsonist. 4. A device that produces a very hot flame for welding. Notes: The symb...

• etagere • Pronunciation: e-tah- zher • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: A piece of furniture or tableware with a stack or stacks of open shelves, trays, or plates. Notes: If you like, you may decorate this word like this: étagère. This word was borrowed from French so recently (mid 1800s), ...

• indenture • Pronunciation: in- den -chêr • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. A contract binding one person to another to serve for a specified term, as between an apprentice and a master. 2. An official document executed by two or more individuals with separate identical copies with ident...

Thanks. Fixed.