furciferous
Mar. 10th, 2011 07:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordfurciferous (fur-SIF-r-uhs) - adj., rascally, scandalous, villainous.
A bit of an inkhorn word, but I've found some uses in the wild -- mostly in writing being self-consciously erudite. Borrowed from Latin, from furcifer, yoke bearer, scoundrel, from furca yoke (fork-shaped instrument of punishment) + ferre, to bear. The rough American equivalent would be the pillory, only that's an immobilizer also.
---L.
A bit of an inkhorn word, but I've found some uses in the wild -- mostly in writing being self-consciously erudite. Borrowed from Latin, from furcifer, yoke bearer, scoundrel, from furca yoke (fork-shaped instrument of punishment) + ferre, to bear. The rough American equivalent would be the pillory, only that's an immobilizer also.
---L.
