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universe (YOO-nuh-vurs) - n., all of spacetime and all it contains; a hypothetical spacetime-and-contents that supposed to exist simultaneously with but different from this universe; whole world in the sense of perspective or social setting, a sphere of interest, activity, or understanding.

And other extended meanings, including a set of stories/films/etc. that share a continuity. Dates to a little before 1400 (insert Chaucer citation), Middle English form identical to Modern English, from either Old French univers or Italian universo, from Latin ūniversum, all things/as a whole/the universe, noun use of the neuter of ūniversus, all together/whole, literally "turned into one," from uni-, combining form of unus, one + versus turned (perfect passive participle of vertō, to turn). Other words with uni- include uniform ("having one form/shape") and unibrow ("having one [eye]brow").

And that wraps up a week of all prefixes -- er, 'all' prefixes.

---L.

holocaust (HOL-uh-kawst, HOH-luh-kawst) - n., a sacrifice that is completely burned to ashes, burnt offering; complete destruction by fire, the thing so destroyed; (usually as the Holocaust) the mass slaughter of European civilians and especially Jews by the Nazis during World War II; any mass slaughter or reckless destruction of life esp. by human agency.

A lot to unpack here. :deep breath: The burnt offering sense dates to the 1300s, used to translate Hebrew ‘ōlâ, "that which goes up [in smoke]," in Biblical contexts, from Late Latin holocaustum, from Ancient Greek holókauston, neuter of holókaustos, wholly burnt, used of sacrifices burnt to ashes rather than shared with the celebrants, from holo-, whole/entire + kaustós, burnt. The first extended sense developed in the 1600s, and was broadened in the 1900s to encompass other types of catastrophes, a usage now deprecated. It was first applied to what the Nazis did in 1942, but the proper noun doesn't appear until the late 1950s and wasn't widespread until around 1970. Because of that specialized use, the application to other destruction has become mostly restricted to human agency. :exhales: Other words with holo- include hologram ("whole stroke/line [i.e. drawing]") and holistic ("pertaining to the whole").

---L.

pandemic (pan-DEM-ik) - adj., (of a disease) epidemic over a large area, prevalent throughout an entire country, continent, or the world; (in general) widespread, general. n., a disease prevalent throughout an entire country, continent, or the world.

This prefix, pan-, is from Ancient Greek, where it was also a prefix meaning all/every -- the stem here is also from Ancient Greek, dêmos, the common people/the population, and put together pándēmos meant "of or belonging to all the people." Its application to diseases in English dates to the 1650s (the noun use is from the 1830s). Closely related is epidemic, meaning prevalent throughout a community, so more localized than a pandemic, and endemic, meaning constantly present at a baseline level, so occurring at lower levels than a epidemic/pandemic. Other words with pan- include pandemonium ("all the demons") and panacea ("all-healing").

---L.

omniscient (om-NISH-uhnt) - adj., having total or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding.

Our next all prefix comes from Latin omnis, meaning all. Also a noun, one who is all-knowing. This word was originally coined in Medieval Latin as omnisciēns, from omni(s) + sciēns, knowing (from scīre, to know) -- English as usual took on the stem form omniscient-. The original context was theological. Other words with omni- include omnivore ("eating all [the things]") and omnibus ("for all").

---L.

Theme week: all prefixes. Or maybe that would be better written as 'all' prefixes -- words with a prefix that means "all," starting with "all" as a prefix:

always (AWL-wayz, AWL-weez) - adv., at all times, invariably; all the time, continuously; for all time, forever; at any time, in any event.

This form (spelled more like alwei/alwaye) appeared in the 14th century as a contraction of Old English ealne weg, where ealne is the accusative (indicating space or distance) of eall, all, and weg is way -- so literally "all the way." The genitive -s, acting as an adverbial suffix, was added around 1400 (even though it was already an adverb) but alway was retained as an archaism. Other words with al- include almighty ("entirely mighty") and altogether ("completely together").

---L.

barmy (BAHR-mee) - adj., containing or covered with barm, the foam that forms on malt liquors while fermenting; bubbling with activity or excitement; (chiefly UK) crazy, odd, strange, foolish.

The first senses are easy to deal with: it goes back to Old English beorma, both the head/forth on a beer and the yeast that ferments it, from a Germanic root, exact PIE source unclear. That last, though, is much debated -- most authorities hold that it's either a non-rhotic-speaker's respelling of balmy in its sense of crazy/odd/foolish or a respelling influenced by barmy in the frothy sense, but some that it's an alteration of St. Bartholomew, one ward of the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem, which last word also gave us bedlam (and Green's Dictionary of Slang notes that there was an asylum in Barming, Kent). So, like, 🤷🏼

---L.

performant (per-FOR-muhnt) - (jargon) adj., performing at an acceptable or excellent level.

So far this recent coinage is pretty much only used in computing contexts, and I can only hope it at least stays there until it withers away. Such passages as "... eliminating such failures helps ensure that software is more predictable, maintainable, performant, and trustworthy" (to quote a Microsoft KB article) do not strike me as performant prose. Derivative of perform, obvs, with the agentive adjectival suffix -ant (as in informant).

---L.

binnacle (BIN-uh-kuhl) - n., a case that supports and protects a ship's compass.

Also, by extension, the cluster of instruments and switches mounted in a circular casing on or near the steering column of a car, though honestly I've never heard that usage. The binnacle is traditionally a small stand placed by the helm so the steersman can consult it, and made of wood or a non-magnetic metal to avoid interfering with the magnetic needle. Often it included a lamp so bearings can be read at night, and later refinements included iron masses to adjust the needle to point closer to true north. Attested from around 1620, alteration of earlier earlier bittacle, from either French habitacle, obsolete Spanish bitácula (modern spelling bitácora), or Portuguese bitácula, all three from Late Latin habitāculum, little dwelling place.

---L.

fetching (FECH-ing) - adj., charming, attractive, appealing.

That's a fetching top you're wearing, my dear. Used as an adjective since 1880, present participle of fetch in the sense of bringing/pulling one's attention.

---L.

demesne (dih-MAYN, dih-MEEN) - n., manorial land retained by the feudal lord and not rented out to tenants; (law) possession of land as one's own; land belonging to and adjoining a manor house, estate; a realm, a domain.

This is a synonym of many senses of of domain, and indeed is a doublet of it -- both are from Old French demeine/demaine/demeigne/domaine, main sense being power, domain was taken directly from that into Middle English, while demesne, originally spelled demayne, passed through Anglo-Norman first. As to why this word switched from using -y- to -s- to indicate the vowel before it is long, that's a tricky bit, but there seems to have been influence from mesne (pronounced MEEN) meaning intermediate in a feudal context. As for that Old French domaine, it's a noun use of an adjective descended from Latin dominicus, belonging to a lord or master, from dominus, master/proprietor/owner, from domus, home/house, from PIE *dṓm, house/home, from the root *dem-, to build.

---L.

auberge (oh-BAIRZH; French oh-BERZH) - n., an inn or hostel.

Or sometimes a restaurant, because some inns also serve food, but more strictly it's a place to sleep for the night. Dictionaries wildly disagree on when this was taken on from French, ranging from the 15th to 18th centuries, which highlights that dictionary compilers have very different databases. The French word is taken from Provençal, with alberga/alberja attested from the eleventh century, which okay would technically be in Old Provençal, at which point it also meant an encampment/hut as well as inn, from a Germanic root (compare Old Saxon heriberga, army shelter, and Old High German heriberga, army headquarters) that also gave us harbor.

---L.

pongee (pon-JEE, PON-jee) - n., a light slub-woven fabric, usually raw silk but sometimes cotton or rayon.

Slub-woven fabrics use yarns of varying thickness, made by varying the strength of the twist -- sometimes the thicker parts are large enough to be noticeable, producing slubs. The word's been used in English since around 1710 and, given it was known from being a Chinese export, it's clearly taken from some Chinese dialect -- and given the era, I'd expect it to be Cantonese-or-related because Western merchants traded in southern China, but most dictionaries instead claim it's from Mandarin 本机, běnjī, glossed as meaning "one's own loom." Even aside from the question of what Westerners were hearing any Mandarin (which was the Beijing dialect), 本机 isn't actually a word in Mandarin. I mean, it can be understood as one's own machine, but 机 in itself doesn't mean loom, but any kind of machine -- loom is 织布机, zhībùjī. One dictionary hedges their bet with a perhaps and puts an asterisk of unattestation in front of běnjī, but still. OED claims it's from Mandarin, either běnjī, home-loom, or běnzhī, home-woven (presumably 本织), and that last is the only one that remotely makes sense.

---L.

grice (GRAIS) - n., (chiefly Scot.) a young pig, the meat of a young pig; a breed of pig, now extinct, of the Highlands and Scottish Islands.

Plus a few other meanings, such as an alternate spelling of grece, an English dialect word meaning a flight of stairs, and as a slang verb, to trainspot. I honestly don't remember which sense was being used when I came across this and jotted it down, but it was probably the main entry above -- a sense that goes back to Middle English in the form gris, itself from Old Norse gríss, piglet.

---L.

cwtch or cwtsh or cootch (KUCH, KOOCH) - n., a hiding place, such as a cupboard or a cubbyhole; a hug, a cuddle. v., (often followed by up) to hug, cuddle, embrace, or comfort.

Yes, w can indeed be a vowel, if the word was taken from Welsh -- and given that origin, you won't be surprised to hear that this is SE UK dialect. The extra fun part is that, this entered English (around 1890) from Welsh cwtsh, the Welsh word was taken from Middle English couche, now spelled couch.

---L.

opodeldoc (op-uh-DEL-dok) - n., a medicinal plaster invented or promoted by Paracelsus; a liniment made as a solution of soap in alcohol with the addition of camphor and essential oils.

We're not sure whether Paracelsus invented the plaster, used to seal wounds while they heal, or only invented the name, but either way it had a good reputation in the 1600s among surgeons. Some time in the early 1700s, the name was repurposed for the liniment, used externally, apparently because it shared either ingredients or aroma. There are many recipes for the liniment, which continued to be used through the 19th century and as of the late 20th century could sometimes be found in compounding pharmacies in New England. As for how Paracelsus coined the name, there's suggestions of compounds or components of various Ancient Greek words for possible ingredients, but really we don't have a clue.

And that wraps up a week of words invented (or repurposed) by Paracelsus. Usual mix next week.

---L.

salamander (SAL-uh-man-der, sal-uh-MAN-der) - n., any lizard-shaped amphibian of the order Caudata, having a soft, moist, scaleless skin, found chiefly in northern temperate regions; a legendary lizard-like creature that is resistant to and lives in fire; in Paracelsian occult philosophy, the elemental being of fire; an object, such as a poker, used in fire or capable of withstanding heat; any of various portable stoves, burners, or heaters, esp. ones that heat from above; a mass of unfused material, such as metallic iron or partially reduced ore, in the hearth of a blast furnace.

Unlike gnome, where the folkloric process took Paracelsus's elemental and ran with it, here he took an existing folkloric being and identified it with an elemental. The oldest traces of the legendary being are discussions (multiple) by Aristotle, but they are widespread, including mentions in the Talmud. Given this pedigree, it shouldn't be surprising that the ultimate origin of the name is Ancient Greek, in the form salamándra, origin uncertain -- Persian samandar is one possibility, though etymologists debate whether instead the Persian name came from the Ancient Greek.

We've run out of elements, but not yet of words that Paracelsus coined -- we've got one more tomorrow.

---L.

gnome (NOHM) - n., in Paracelsian occult philosophy, the elemental being of earth; in folklore, one of a fabled race of short, human-like creatures who live underground, often depicted as guarding treasures or mines; (derog.) a banker, especially a secretive international one.

Through the folkloric process, that second sense has morphed into those red-capped fellows most often seen on lawns. The Official Management Term for that last sense is "the gnomes of Zurich." There's also some other derivative senses, such as a species of pygmy owl and (slang) a short person. And speaking of pygmies, Paracelsus used (in New Latin) both gnomus and pygmaeus as his name for an earth elemental, but only the former caught on. As for how he coined gnomus, we don't really know -- the best speculation is a compound of Ancient Greek gê, earth + nomós, dwelling. (It's sometimes claimed it's from Ancient Greek gnṓmē, knowledge/wisdom, but that's a confusion from the other word spelled gnome, meaning aphorism.)

---L.

sylph (SILF) - n., in Paracelsian occult philosophy, the elemental being of air; a slender, graceful woman or girl; any of several dark-green-and-blue hummingbirds (genus Aglaiocercus), the male of which has a long forked tail.

If you are sensing a pattern here, yes, Paracelsus did indeed coin or repurpose words for the elementals of the other two elements. I'd put in a pic of a hummer, but that'd distract from the main theme here. Coined (in the same posthumous work as undine) in Medieval Latin in the plural form sylphēs, apparently (he didn't explain) as a blend of Latin sylvestris, of the woods, and nympha, nymph (from Ancient Greek nýmphē).

---L.

Theme week: words coined (or repurposed) by the Renaissance physician, alchemist, and esoteric philosopher Paracelsus.

undine (uhn-DEEN, UHN-deen) - n., in Paracelsian occult philosophy, the elemental being of water; a female water-sprite or nymph.

Despite being better known today for his alchemy and related occult theories, the contemporary reputation of Paracelsus (full name: Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim) was as a physician and pioneer in modern medical science, especially for emphasizing the value of observation in combination with received wisdom -- he's particularly known for advancing knowledge of toxicology (he first propounded the principle that any substance can be harmful if applied in high enough concentrations, and that harmful substances can be harmless in sufficiently low doses). His theory of elementals, which he gave original names, wasn't published until 25 years after his death in 1566, in a theological tract attempting to reconcile classical elemental theory with Christian cosmology, but was immediately and widely influential for the next century. He coined the name undine (in Latin as undīna) from Latin unda, wave.

---L.

pluripotent (ploor-uh-POHT-nt) - adj., capable of developing in many or unlimited ways; (biol.) capable of developing into any type of cell or tissue except those that form a placenta or embryo; (med.) capable of having more than one effect.

Often used of stem cells. Coined in the 1910s from Latin prefix plūri-, combining form of plūs, more (from PIE root meaning many) + English potent, which contains the concepts of both potential and potency.

---L.