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adret (a-DRAY) - n., the sun-facing side of a mountain.

So in the northern hemisphere, the southern slope. In Chinese, this is the yang (in the sense of sunny/bright) slope, as opposed to the yin (shaded/dim) slope, and it's also applied to river-banks -- yes, as in yin-and-yang. Adret comes to us from French, from Provençal adreit, from Old Provençal adreg/adret, from a(d)-, on + dreit, good/suitable (from Latin dīrēctus, direct/straight, cognate of adoit), referring originally which side is good for vineyards.

---L.

scabrous (SKAB-ruhs) - adj., covered with scales or scabs; hence, very coarse or rough; hence, disgusting, repellent; hence, dealing with suggestive, indecent, or scandalous themes; difficult, thorny, troublesome.

I don't usually made explicit the chain of shifting meanings, but the line-up was too good to miss here. I didn't link the last sense because I'm not sure where it links. The root sense is, as you might hope, the first: Latin scaber, rough/scabby/scurfy, which we took up around 1580.

---L.

psithurism (SITH-yuh-riz-uhm) - (obs.) the sound of wind rustling the leaves.

Why someone would import this (in 1848 from Ancient Greek psithurisma, from psithurízein, to whisper) when we already had the clearly much better word susurration (from Latin susurrāre, to whisper) is beyond me. What's not beyond me is why it never really caught on, except in lists of obscure words.

---L.

anatine (AN-uh-tain, AN-uh-tin) - adj., pertaining to or resembling a duck.

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's anatine even if it isn't a duck. Anatine also, in a technical use, can mean pertaining to or belonging to the subfamily Anatinae, the dabbling ducks, or the family Anatidae, which includes Anatinae as well as geese and swans. Taken in the 1830s from Latin anatīnus, of ducks, from anas via its stem form anat-, a duck (which ultimately goes back to PIE root *h₂énh₂ts, a duck, because of course the PIE homeland had ducks, as they're worldwide).

Also, >quack!<

Thanks, WikiMedia!

---L.

satrap (SAY-trap, SA-trap) - n., the governor of a Persian province; a subordinate ruler, esp. a despotic one.

Specifically in the Achaemenid and Parthian dynasties of Persia, as well as the intervening Hellenistic Seleucid empire -- the system of satrapies was set up by Cyrus the Great around 530 BCE and lasted till dismantled by the new Sassanid dynasty around 230 CE, though the title was intermittently used by various nearby polities even afterwards. A satrap had considerable autonomy over his satrapy, and was technically a viceroy and thus spoke with the voice of the emperor. We got the word in the 1300s in the Middle English form satrape, from Latin satrapēs, governor, from Ancient Greek satrápēs, from Old Persian khshathrapāvā/xšaçapavan, protector of the province/domain, from khshathra-, realm/province + pāvā, protector.

---L.

copra (KOP-ruh, KOH-pruh) - n., the dried white flesh of the coconut, from which coconut oil is expressed.

And not, as I somehow had the impression, the dried fibrous husk of a coconut -- no idea where I got that. We got the word in the 1580s from Portuguese, which got it from a Tamil language, most likely Malayalam koppara but possibly Tamil kopparai, which is cognate with Sanskrit kūrpasa, coconut (and its modern descendants such as Hindi khopā), but whether it went Dravidian > Sanskrit or Sanskrit > Dravidian, I can't tell from a brief search.

And that's all the words encountered in Chalet School books I currently have on hand -- back next week with words just as random but more randomly sourced.

---L.

spillikins (SPIL-i-kinz) - n., the game of jackstraws or pick-up-sticks.

spillikins piled up for a game of spillikins

Thanks, WikiMedia!

In which a several long, thin sticks are placed in a loose pile on a flat surface and players take turns trying to remove a stick/jackstraw/spillikin without disturbing any others. Often the spillikins are straight and round, but some sets have ones with bends or flat pieces (I think we still have one with slightly wiggly snakes in the game closet). Exact origin of the name is unclear, but we have a reference from 1734 to a game called spilakees, which is suggestive -- suggestions include coined in English from spill, meaning a slender piece of something + diminutive ending -kin, and alteration of either Dutch or Flemish spelleken, small peg, both ultimately from Latin spīna, thorn.

---L.

coadjutor (koh-uh-JOO-ter, koh-AJ-uh-ter) - n., an assistant; esp. an assistant to an bishop or other ecclesiastic; esp. an assistant bishop with the right of succession.

Most often used in the Anglican Church, but also elsewhere. In the Chalet School books, it's used by Joey Maynard nee Bettany to describe the live-in nurse/nanny (a Tyrolean) who helps raise her ridiculously large family. (I suspect the implication of right of succession was not intended here.) Note that there is a (now even rarer) feminine form, coadjutress, that she could have also used. This is an old one: to Middle English form coadjutour, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin coadjutor, from Latin co(n)-, with + adjūtor, helper, from adjūvāre, to help.

---L.

krummholz (KROOM-hohlts) - n., a forest of stunted trees near the timberline.

Thanks, WikiMedia!

Can be at either subalpine or subarctic tree lines, though given the obvious German nature of the word it probably won't surprise you that it was the former originally. The stunting comes from the icy winds of winter, preventing trees from growing tall without shelter. In German, Krummholz is literally "crooked/bent wood."

---L.

This is not exactly a theme week as the five words on tap this week are not notionally grouped, but they are synchronically grouped in that they were all encountered in Chalet School books by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer, specifically post-war volumes set near and above Interlaken, Switzerland. This first one might be a repeat, but if so my google fu can't confirm it:

föhn or foehn (FAYN, FÖN) - n., a warm dry wind blowing down the lee side of mountains.

Originally and often specifically down the north slopes of the Alps. It's caused when moist air on the windward side of the mountains is pushed upward, cooling it and thus causing the moisture to precipitate out, then when it descends on the other side, it undergoes adiabatic warming:

schematic diagram of how foehns form

Thanks, WikiMedia!

In many places, foehn winds have local names, such as Santa Anas in southern California and chinooks in the Rocky Mountains. As you might expect, given the spelling, we got the word from German Föhn, where it also means hair drier (!), but the wind sense was originally from Swiss German and/or Middle High German fœnne, from Old High German phonno/phōno, from (possibly via Romansh favuogn/fuogn) Vulgar Latin *faōnius, from Latin favōnius, west wind, (the Roman counterpart of Greek zephyr) which was traditionally supposed to be a mild weather and harbinger of spring -- and in Switzerland foehn are indeed associated with late winter thaws.

---L.

anthimeria or antimeria - (rhetoric) n., the use of a word from one part of speech as if it were another.

In English, most commonly using a noun as a verb, as in "Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle" -- Shakespeare, Richard II, act II, sc.iii, l.95. Indeed, many of the 1500+ word coinages that Shakespeare is credited for were anthimeria. In linguistics, the more common term is zero derivation, deriving a word from one of another part of speech without modification. Like most terms from rhetoric, this is from Ancient Greek, from antí, opposite + méros, part.

---L.

balefire (BAYL-fai^uhr) - n., a funeral pyre; a beacon fire; a bonfire.

And with fire, we cross the limit of what my pure ASCII pronunciation guide can handle -- only those dictionaries that use IPA can render that bizarre triphthong well. I've given the meanings out of the usual order to match the word's history -- this goes all the way back to Old English bǣlfȳr, where pyre was the primary sense, but even back then it also held those other meanings, as did the element bǣl, which itself meant funeral pyre/blaze, and reaching back its PIE root *bʰel- meaning blaze/burn/glow/shine, giving us cognates fulgent and flame, both via Latin. The sense of balefire meaning an extremely powerful fire or magical attack is a creation of modern fantasy stories and games.

---L.

whimbrel (HWIM-bruhl, WIM-bruhl) - n., either of two curlews (Numenius phaeopus and N. hudsonicus), breeding in northern subarctic regions and having a long, downward-curving bill.

Thanks, WikiMedia!

That one being the Hudsonian whimbrel that breeds in North America, the other being the Eurasian whimbrel, which breeds in, well, Eurasia. The name is attested to the 1530s but its origin is unknown, though the whim- part is speculated to be imitative of its cry (though it's not a close rendering).

---L.

sapid (SAP-id) - (largely N.Am.) adj., perceptible to the sense of taste, having flavor; having a strong pleasant flavor, savory; (arch.) pleasing to the mind, engaging.

That last is an almost forgotten metaphoric extension, instead of the common pattern of the original literal meaning fading into the mists of time. Taken around 1630 from Latin sapidus, tasty, from sapere, to taste, and so a doublet of savory.

---L.

reddleman (RED-l-muhn) or ruddleman (RUHD-l-muhn) or raddleman (RAD-l-muhn) - n., a dealer in red ocher, used for marking sheep, etc.

Or so the dictionaries, but digging a bit, I learn reddlemen also dug up the ocher and processed it. The spelling ruddleman is most common, but outside of farming communities, most people encounter the word (if they do) from Hardy's The Return of the Native with its major character Diggory Venn the Reddleman, using the typical southwest England version. The word first appears in 1622 in a poem by Michael Drayton (and may have been coined by him) with the raddleman spelling (which is the least common dialect spelling), from reddle/ruddle/raddle, the red ocher itself, which goes back to Middle English form rodel, from rud/rude/rode, red/redness, from Old English rudu, redness, which also gave us ruddy.

---L.

quidam (KWEE-dam) - (dated) n., an unknown or unimportant person.

The word of the day blog I got this from calls it the Renaissance version of “some rando.” Taken in the 1570s from Latin quīdam, someone, analyzable as quis, who +‎ -dam, indefinite adverbial suffix, and used a couple centuries before sliding after 1800 into obscurity (except among certain learned writers).

---L.

regnant (REG-nuhnt) - adj., (of a monarch, used postpositively) ruling in one's own right; ruling, holding power, exercising power or influence; widespread, prevalent.

I don't often grouch about altered meanings, but that last sense feels like a dilution that takes away from the word's power. Wu Zetian, Hatshepsut, and Elizabeth I are famous examples of an empress/pharaoh/queen regnant, rulers themselves rather than having a title through being the ruler's wife. Dates to the 1590s, from Middle French regnant/régnant, from Latin Latin rēgnāns (stem form rēgnant-), the present participle of regnāre, to rule (as a monarch), from rēx, king.

---L.

sociopetal (soh-shee-oh-PEE-tl) - adj., (of living spaces) designed to foster social interaction and connection.

Such as park playgrounds and your standard dining room table. Contrast with sociofugal, designed to minimize social interaction and foster privacy, such as library carrels and, somewhat paradoxically, grandstand seating (which focus audience members on the stage/field, not each other). Coined (both of them) in 1957 by English psychiatrist Humphry Osmond from socio-, society (from Latin socius, partner/companion/ally) +‎ -petal, traveling towards (from Latin petere, to seek/aim). (Meanwhile, -fugal means to traveling away from, from Latin fugere, to flee, the root of fugue.)

(A safe and happy Pesach to all who celebrate, especially us firstborn.)

---L.

perdition (per-DISH-uhn) - n., eternal damnation, loss of the soul; the Christian Hell; utter destruction or loss, downfall.

That last might look like a somewhat softened metaphoric extension, but is actually closest to the root meaning: taken in the 1300s from Latin perditiō, destruction (via stem form perditiōn-), from perditus, lost, past participle of perdere, to destroy/lose.

(That this was already slated to run the morning I get laid off by email is pure coincidence, really.)

---L.

zygodactyl (zai-guh-DAK-til, zig-uh-DAK-til) - adj., (of a bird) having two toes facing forward and two facing backward. n., a zygodactyl bird.

For the adjective sense, also zygodactylous, but that's less common. Most zygodactyls are climbing birds, such as parrots, woodpeckers, and cuckoos (including, interestingly, the decidedly non-climbing roadrunners). The most common arrangement for birds is anisodactyly, with three forward and one back, which is good for perching and some climbing. Contrast also with heterodactyl, which is also two forward/two back, but instead of digits 1 and 4 pointing back it's digits 1 and 2. Coined in 1831 from Ancient Greek roots zygo-, paired (from zugón, yoked/yoke) + -dactyl, digits (from dáktulos, finger).

---L.