Kakistocracy
Government by the least qualified or worst persons.
Ducat
1. A gold coin of varying value, formerly in use in most European countries; said to be worth about 9s. 4d.
2. A money of account in the Venetian republic.
3. (loosely) A piece of money.
The etymological origin of the name is from Medieval Latin ducatus, 12th century Italian ducato, initially meaning “duke’s coin” or a “duchy’s coin”. According to the OED, the first recorded use in English was around 1384 by Chaucer.
Sarcophagus
1. A kind of stone which the Greeks supposed had the property of consuming the flesh of dead bodies deposited in it, and which was consequently used for coffins.
2. A stone coffin, especially one embellished with sculptures or bearing inscriptions, etc.
3. A wine-cooler.
The word comes into English, via Latin, from the Greek σαρκοϕάγος (sarkophagos) = σαρκο- (sarko-), σάρξ (sarx) flesh + -ϕάγος (-phagos) eating.
The OED records the first use with meaning 1 in 1601 and with meaning 2 in 1705. Perhaps the most famous Sarcophagus is that of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, although the highly decorated coffin we think of is actually the second of a layer of three which were then placed in the stone sarcophagus.
Yoni
According to the OED the word first appears in English in 1799 and is derived from the Sanskrit yonih, womb, abode, source.
Lingam
Again, the word is from the Sanskrit liṅga, liṅgam, mark, penis. It is first recorded in English in 1719.
Zanzibar
Zanzibar is now a semi-autonomous region of the East African country of Tanzania. Situated off the coast of the mainland just north of Dar es Salaam, it is an archipelago consisting of two large islands, Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba, and many smaller ones. Long ruled by Arabs (mostly from Oman) it was a Portuguese colony and latterly a British Protectorate, before merging with the then country of Tanganyika (now Tanzania) in the 1960s. Zanzibar’s main industries are spices (especially cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and black pepper), raffia and tourism.
In keeping with the randomness of this series, this month’s Ten Things is words.
10 Words I Like:
- Cuneiform
- Halberd
- Petrichor
- Psittacosis
- Varmint
- Verisimilitude
- Vermifuge
- Vespiary
- Yoni
- Zanzibar
Interesting that I seem not to have written a word post about the last two. This will have to be rectified.
Pelage
1. The coat of a mammal, consisting of hair, fur, or wool, as distinct from bare skin.
2. Something that resembles the coat of a mammal
Pelage is the mammalian equivalent of “plumage” for birds.
Apricate
1. To sunbathe or bask in the sun
2. To expose to sunlight
ApricateThe word is derived from the Latin aprīcāt- (participial stem of aprīcāri) “to bask in the sun”.
According to the OED the first use was probably in 1691, and John Aubrey is recorded as the second user in 1697. The word has however remained rare.
What is perhaps surprising is that the fruit apricot is not derived from this root but (the OED says) from Greek via Spanish Arabic.
Flocculate
1. (v) To cause individual particles suspended in a liquid to aggregate into small clumps or cloudy masses which often remain for some time suspended in the liquid rather than falling quickly to the bottom. (See diagram below.)
2. (n) The masses resulting from such flocculation.
Spandrel
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The triangular space between the outer curve of an arch and the rectangle formed by the mouldings enclosing it, frequently filled in with ornamental work.
Any similar space between an arch and a straight-sided figure bounding it.
The space included between the shoulders of two contiguous arches and the moulding or string-course above them.
And hence by association:
The support of a set of steps; the material with which the space between a stair and the floor is filled in.
On oriental patterned rugs or carpets: one of the spaces between the central field and the border, or between an arch motif and its frame.
By extension spandrel is sometimes used to refer to any ornamental bracket.
Additionally in evolutionary biology, a spandrel is a characteristic that is a by-product of the evolution of some other characteristic, rather than a direct product of adaptive selection. In other words, an evolutionary bracket or ornament.
The OED records the earliest use as being in 1477-8 and the word is thought to derive from a diminutive of the Ancient French spaundre, which is itself of doubtful origin.