Larry's Pretty Good Word of the Day

cnidocyst (NAY-duh-sist) - n., the stinging cells of sea anemones, jellyfish, and other cnidarians containing a barbed, threadlike tube that delivers a paralyzing sting when triggered by physical contact.


So, yeah, that's a silent C-, much as with knife -- and in the Ancient Greek root it is indeed a kappa. The spicy part of a cnidocyte a.k.a. cnidoblast, which gives the cnidaria their name. Most dictionaries call this a nematocyst, with cnidocyst as a redirected synonym, but encyclopedias and biology texts prefer cnidocyst. Said Ancient Greek root is knídē, nettle, paired with Ancient Greek kústis, anatomical sac.

---L.

antechinus (ant-eh-KEE-nuhs) - n., any of several very small marsupials (genus Antechinus) resembling mice with the bristly fur of shrews.


Sometimes called pouched mice or marsupial mice, and there are currently 15 recognized species, almost all from the eastern coast of Australia. This cutie is a brown antechinus (A. stuartii):


Thanks, WikiMedia!

I'm having difficulty finding a solid etymology: the only one I've found claims it's from Latin roots anti- + echinus, hedgehog, but the only sense of anti- that makes sense to me there is the rival/counterpart to, so 🤷🏻‍♂️

---L.

bettong (buh-TAWNG, buh-TONG) - n., any of four species of short-nosed rat-kangaroos (genus Bettongia).



Thanks, WikiMedia!

All four are endangered, and three other species have gone extinct since colonization. They all have short rounded ears, long hind feet, and a naked muzzle tip, and as you can tell are way cuter than a "rat-kangaroo" has any right to be. Srsly, they belong in r/illegallysmolanimals. Heck, one of them (Bettongia lesueur) is called a boodie, which is probably an illegally cute name -- check local statutes. The bettongs' name comes from Dharug (an Australian Aboriginal language from around Sydney) badang.

---L.

hamadryad (ham-uh-DRAI-ad) - n., (Greek & Roman myth.) a nymph living with and bound to a particular tree.


Unlike most dryads, who like other types of nymphs are immortal minor-deities-slash-nature-spirits, a hamadryad was life-bound to her home: when her tree dies, she does too. The word is also an outdated name for the king cobra, as well as a baboon native to Ancient Egypt. From Ancient Greek hamadruás, from hama, together + druás, dryad (from drûs, tree, originally oak).


Thanks, WikiMedia!

---L.

nuciform (NOO-suh-fawrm, NYOO-suh-fawrm) - adj., shaped like a nut.


Coined in the 1850s from Latin roots nuci-, the combining stem of nux, nut + -form, shape. And that's all I got.

---L.

quassia (KWOSH-uh, KWOSH-ee-uh) - n., any of several tropical trees (genus Quassia) having scarlet flowers; the wood of this plant; a bitter substance extracted from the bark or heartwood of this plant, used to treat fever and intestinal worms and as a food additive.



Thanks, WikiMedia!

The extract is reputed to be among the most bitter substance known. The number of species in the genus is disputed, with authorities claiming anywhere from 1 to 40 -- a bigger range than usual. The genus name, given by Linnaeus, is the Latinized form of the surname of Gramman (or Graman, lit. "Great Man") Kwasi, an 18th-century Guinean who, after being enslaved and transported to Suriname, became renowned as a healer, especially by prescribing quassia for fever, and whose success eventually allowed him to purchase his freedom. The surname Kwasi is probably from an Ashanti dialect, meaning "boy born on Sunday."

---L.

epistemophilia (eh-pis-te-moh-FIL-ee-uh) - n., a excessive love of or striving for knowledge.


Technically just "love of," but for this -philia in particular the connotation of excessive is so strong, it has become denotation. Not that anyone here is likely to have this. Coined in Late Latin from Ancient Greek roots epistḗmē, knowledge + phília, love-of.

---L.

contraremonstrance (kon-tra-re-mon-STRANS) - n., a remonstrance to a remonstrance.


This dates to the mid-17th century, and has mostly been used in religious disputes. Interestingly, the form contraremonstrancer, which is even rarer, dates to 1618. I'd like to suggest it be used in everyday spats, but honestly it just doesn't roll off the tongue snappily enough for that. So, leave it on the shelf?

---L.

pilgarlic (pil-GAR-lik) - (arch.) n., a bald person; a man looked upon with humorous contempt or mock pity.


The first was the original sense, but the second seems to have survived longer in the ossified phrase "poor pilgarlic." The term dates to the 1520s, original form pyllyd garleke, literally peeled garlic, comparing a bald head to a skinless garlic clove. Which, ouch.


And that wraps up this week of P-words -- back next week not with the usual random assortment but another theme week, one I've been waiting to run for a while. :rubs hands:

---L.

pitaya (pi-TAY-uh) or pitahaya (pit-uh-HAY-uh) - n., any of several cacti of the genera Stenocereus and Selenicereus, indigenous the southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America, bearing edible round or oval fruit usually having bumpy skin and juicy pulp filled with seeds; the fruit of these cacti, also called dragon fruit.



Thanks, WikiMedia!

In Spanish, there's a distinction between pitaya as being Stenocereus, which are more sour, and pitahaya as Selenicereus, which are sweeter -- but this distinction is largely ignored in English. Most the fruit cultivated in many tropical regions and sold as dragon fruit are three species of Selenicereus, distinguished by whether the flesh is white, red, or yellow. All three are delicious. Pitaya is a short form of pitahaya, which English got from Latin American Spanish in the 1750s, from a Taíno language. The name dragon fruit is a calque (literal piece-by-piece translation) from a Southeast Asian language -- compare Chinese 火龙果, huǒlóngguǒ, lit. fiery-dragon-fruit). (We first met it in China -- it was The Kid's favorite food aside from steamed buns.)

---L.