Rouan, you probably got it from a Heyer novel. :) Check the link below! I first learned bosky from the Maida books: Maida names a dell at the Little House "the Bosky Dingle" and explains it as a woody hollow.

My retention for new words these days is the pits! I look a word up, and immediately forget it. Very annoying. I've begun writing definitions in the margin of my books.

Here is a link that might be useful: Georgette Heyer glossary

Donnamira, yes! That's where I got that from. Thank you, now I know I'm not bosky myself. LOL

The best part about reading on a Kindle is its built in dictionary. Place the cursor before a word and the definition (if availabe) is displayed immediately.

Nancy

Hi Nancy - I didn't know that was an option. Clearly need to dig a bit more into the one I have (although it's ancient). Have they always this option available?

More words:

⢠Belshazzar breakfast - the last King of Babylon - depicted in paintings by Rembrandt and others.
⢠Juggernaut - something perceived to be an overwhelming advancing force that seems to crush everything in its path. (Sanskrit origin; UK meaning: big lorries who come thundering through.)
⢠Rodomontade - boastful, pretentious, self-indulgent
⢠Sapphia - somehow related to Sappho, Greek poet
⢠Ananias - common Jewish name; bible reference?
⢠Cry peccavi - to confess oneâÂÂs guilt
⢠Foam caps - waves in sea with foam at top
⢠Catsâ Paws - one of names for capillary waves (i.e. almost imperceptible waves on surface of water)
⢠Grumous - thick and lumpy similar to clotting blood
⢠Catsâ paws (re: intelligence) -- ? Any ideas?
⢠Asphodel - member of the lily family

(Taken from E. F. BensonâÂÂs Mapp and Lucia mostly.)

One Ananias was one of the members of the church at Jerusalem, who conspired with his wife Sapphira to deceive the Christian brothers and who fell down and immediately died after he had uttered the falsehood that he had given all the proceeds from selling his house to the church.

Ananias was also the name of the high priest before whom Paul was brought.

The way I have heard cat's paw used is a person used by another as a dupe or tool.

"Cry "peccavi" " : "Peccavi" is Latin for "I have sinned".

lemonhead101, occasional visitor here.
Peccavi reminds me of a 'Latin Master' of many years ago. He related this story about a British spy stationed in Pakistan who wrote the single word "peccavimus" in one of his dispatches. Nobody, counterspies, couriers, not even the Home Office could make any sense of the dispatch.
But... the office boy (who was learning Latin) overheard them and declared that it was Latin for 'we have sinned'. Even this explanation perplexed the group; but as the phrase was repeated aloud, one (probably "Q") suddenly exclaimed, "We have captured Sindh!"
The moral of course was, 'learn Latin". You never know when it will come in handy.
And while I am here, this is another gem from long ago and far away.
When you want to promulgate your platitudinous ponderosities, esoteric cogitations and superficial sentiments, you must beware of using rodomontade or Thespian bombast,

ronalawn, interesting about sinned/Sindh. I have heard the version of the story that General Sir Charles Napier sent the message peccavi after he had captured the province of Sindh (in what is now Pakistan).
Critics say it is untrue, but it is a good tale. ;-)
Had to look up rodomontade . . . boastful/bragging words!

veer, your version is likely to be more accurate.
The teachers during my time at school recognized that they had to get through to us one way or another; and this was the era when "Capt. W.E. Johns" had the boys and girls of my generation hooked on the exploits of Biggles and Joan Worrals; when 'Nancy Drew' and the 'Hardy Boys' were the equivalent of Reality TV to us.

So many interesting words! I particularly like peccavi and grumous.

The Janissaries were a very interesting institution. They were all boys taken from Christian families in Greece and the Balkans. Usually they were around 10 when they were taken from their families and placed in Turkish families to learn Turkish and be converted to Islam. The Janissaries became one of the most powerful institutions in the Ottoman empire.

"villein" . This was mentioned in Michael Wood's series on an English village. It is a term similar to "serf", denoting working folk who labored for the lord/ seigneur's estates. The villein was not allowed to relocate without his master's permission. The term is related to the present-day "villain", which, of course, has a negative connotation.

⢠Cee-springs - description of something shaped like the alphabetical letter C
⢠Bohereen - narrow country lane (Irish origin)
⢠Horse-coping - horse dealer (as in buying and selling)
⢠Infantine - infantile, childish
⢠Benison - blessing, benediction
⢠Sodality morning (re: church) - friendship or association or society linked with RC church
⢠Matitudinal - linked with happening in the morning
⢠A round heel girl - promiscuous - meant to suggest that girl/guy in question is ready to lie on his/her back for further relations (!), presumably rounding his/her heels in the processâ¦.
⢠Cabochons (stained glass) - a round gem, highly polished
⢠Carocoling - a half-turn to the right or left by both rider and horse
⢠Hammercloth (re: carriage/horse) - the cloth which covers a coach box
⢠Quidnunc - a gossip or nosy person
⢠Victoria (type of carriage) - type of French carriage first recorded in UK in 1869, very elegant.
⢠Crows cawing sounding as if âÂÂthe scallops had fallenâ - ? couldnâÂÂt find this.

Taken from Brian MooreâÂÂs ...Judith Hearne, Somerville/MartinâÂÂs Some Experiences of the Irish RM, and elsewhere.

My favorite in this list is quidnunc. Just very fun to say.

"Gauleiter". This refers to a regional leader of the Nazi Party in Germany. (I came across it while reading Bernard Schlenk's novel recently).

More words that were new to me:

* The Pythian Oracle - Pythia was another name for Delphi (as in the Oracle of Delphi) who was widely known for her prophecies
* Fandango - a lively Spanish or Spanish-American dance for two people
* Triturated - a finely powdered substance
* Poltroon - a wretched coward (according to Merriam-Webster!)
* Bibelots - another name for trinket (or as I like to call them, dust collectors)
* Lucullian lunches - named after a Lucius Licinius Lucullus, a Roman general known for his decadent banquets
* Haulm - the stems of peas, beans, grasses
* Jesuitical - in this case, referring to being crafty or sly
* Spruit - small stream (South African word)
* Atomy - a skeleton
* Not as bad as the MonkeyâÂÂs Paw - reference to 1902 English horror short story

(From a mix of Gerard Woodward's August and E. F. Benson's Trouble for Lucia.)

Here is a link that might be useful: The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs

Here's a good one: eleemosynary.

I was sort of able to guess from the context what it meant, but found it a very strange word. According to the Collins Dictionary it means "of, concerned with, or dependent on charity" or "given as an act of charity".

I was pretty certain that the origins had to be in ancient Greek and according to the Online Etymology Dictionary the chain of origin is as follows: "from Medieval Latin eleemosynarius "pertaining to alms," from Late Latin eleemosyna "alms," from Greek eleemosyne "pity"".

woebegone - dismal looking

I can not believe that I have been using this word incorrectly for years. I thought it had a happier meaning, literally "woe begone". Nope.

That's funny, timallen!

Broomstick skirt, I had to get a pix of this garment, mentioned in books by Yasmine Galenorn. A kind of filmy multi-tiered skirt. I eschew these as the seams usually hit my knees!

hebetude - state of being dull or lethargic

plus fours - baggy pants gathered and fastened just below the knee, worn mainly for sports or hunting. So called because they are four inches longer in the leg than standard knickerbockers.

I found it amusing that a garment would be known by such a name. I came across the word in Winter Solstice, the book I am currently reading for our Century of Books project. An elderly Scotsman is described as wearing plus fours.

Kathy, I suddenly remember that my father used to wear plus fours, in pepper-and-salt tweed. The word is borrowed from the English into Swedish. He wore them with golf checked stockings and a cable knit slipover, all in very dull colours. Obviously I am very old.

Had to look up acedia used in the Game CCXX. More commonly spelt 'accidie' it means spiritual sloth, indifference or apathy.
I am amazed I could be bothered to check it out.

Mariannese, my father too wore plus fours for golf probably in the 1930's. His socks/stockings were thick wool with a coloured band at the top where they were turned down. We, as children used them to hang up on Christmas Eve for 'Father Christmas' . . . as did my children; they still have plenty of life in them. ;-)

Espial - the act of sighting or discovering something
Chaunted - past tense word of verb âÂÂto chauntâ which means âÂÂto talkâÂÂ
Colloquist - a conversational exchange or dialogue
âÂÂPanting like a robinâ - donâÂÂt know this oneâ¦
Moiety - one of two parts (not necessarily equal)
Staggerer - to walk unsteadily; to astound; to hesitate
âÂÂMen of the stampâ - not sure about this oneâ¦
Stone staddles - large stones put under buildings etc to lift it above the ground (e.g. with granaries to prevent water damage and vermin). (See pic below.)
Ashtoreth - mood goddess of the Phoenecians; related to fertility
Iridurating - donâÂÂt know
Supererogatory - beyond the call of duty; superfluous
Tergivisation - evasion of straightforward action; equivocation; deserting of cause
Punctilios - observance/strict adherence of point of etiquette
IxionâÂÂs punishment - Ixion was a king who was punished by Zeus for his love for Hera. Ision was bound to an eternally revolving wheel in Tartaras
Syllogism (should know this one by now!) - deductive reasoning
Froward - habitually disposed to disobedience
Elymas the Sorcerer - Elymas was struck blind in biblical stories

(These are all taken from Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd.)

LOL'd at Veer's sly wit on the comment above. God one, my friend. Good one.

Hmm. I just found the "Edit Post" link, but it's not working. :-( I meant "good one" above. Fingers type faster than my brain sometimes.

I just read Colson Whitehead's Zone One, and it sent me off to the dictionary several times:

louche: disreputable, of questionable taste, sordid
zeitgeist: general intellectual, moral and cultural climate of an era
pullulate: to germinate or breed freely, to swarm
mephitic: foul-smelling, noxious
nabe: neighborhood
brisant: shattering effect of a sudden release of energy in an explosion
pixilated: mentally unbalanced (slang: drunk)
etiolated: pale and sickly due to lack of sunlight
prelapsarian: before the fall of Adam & Eve

Lemon, could "iridurating" be a form of "triturating" meaning "to grind"? Would that be the context used in the book?

ann, I was wondering if it was a typo too - for indurating, which is a hardening. :) The only other option I can think of is something to do with iridescence. Lemon, what was the context?

Here's the definition of "knickerbocker" from the urban dictionary..... ( who knew !?):

Someone who acts and looks dorky, but is incredibly sexy.
His personality is a little bit too weird for me, but I can't get over his body... he's a complete knickerbocker!

Lemonhead, "men of the stamp" means "men of the character [of]" , "stamp" being used in the context of a mould for forming hard, patterned objects such as coins.

Thanks for your help with the challenging words, guys.

The word is really iridurating and with some more time, it seems that it is an old nineteenth century medical term - something to do with syphilitic ulcers. It's also a term linked with geology...

Reading about Queen Victoria et al., I came across the term morganatic which refers to a marriage between the member of the royal family and a person of inferior rank in which the lower rank remains unchanged and the children of such marriage do not succeed to titles etc. of the parent of higher rank.

I imagine that it was wives for the most part who had the morganatic part of those marriages!...

I understand that there was some thought about Wallis Simpson being morganatically married to Edward V111 but that wasn't acceptable in some places so the idea was dropped.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Camilla, wife of Prince Charles if/ when he becomes King.

Recently, I heard the word "shambolic" used twice. Once, it was in "Larkrise to Candleford." When I looked it up, I discovered its usage is mostly British. The definition of "disorder" attributed the origin perhaps to "shambles."

* Naussica -- a character in HomerâÂÂs Odyssey and daughter of King Alcinous
* Panoplied - a wide-ranging and impressive display
* Pightle -- a small enclosure of land
* A clitter of stones -- a mass of loose stones
* Coppisors -- âÂÂCoppicingâ is type of woodland management when one cuts a tree down to encourage repeated growth on stump. (See pic.)
* Pleach -- to plait or to interlace branches or vines (e.g. in making an arbor etc.)
* Cosimo -- reference to one of the Popes (or equivalent)
* Architrave -- referring to the molding around a doorway (at the top)
* Raillery -- good natured ridicule

(Taken from both Roger Deakinsâ Notes from Walnut Tree Farm and TarkingtonâÂÂs The Magnificent Ambersonsâ¦)

⢠Damaraland - name given to north-central part of what has now become Namibia
⢠âÂÂGlen of a brawling streamâ (brawling) - to flow noisily (as in water)
⢠Plashing (re: water) - a gentle splash OR a pool or a puddle
⢠Runnels (of a bog) - a small stream or a brook with narrow channels; a rivulet
⢠Haugh (re: a river) - (Scottish) a low-lying meadow by the side of a river
⢠Slewed (along a road) - to turn something on its axis to change direction (i.e. turn car around)
⢠Leather ulster - heavy overcoat (see image)
⢠Boss (âÂÂon the central boss of a huge country) - a protuberant part of land (higher than surroundings)
⢠Suckle (âÂÂa back like a suckleâÂÂ) - donâÂÂt know. Any ideas? It refers to a humanâÂÂs back.
⢠Tonneau - rear seating in back of older cars, quite smaller than the front.
⢠Burn (landscape/Scotland) - a watercourse (ranging in size from small to large river)
⢠Monkey-faced pistol tricks - umm. Not sure. Any ideas?
⢠Press (Scottish word linked with cupboards?) - a cupboard that is attached to the wall and stores thing (British)
⢠Lentonite - a type of explosive (another name linked with dynamite perhaps?)
⢠Mill-lade - type of water mill (or part of a water mill?)
⢠Gloaming - time after sunset and before the dark. (I knew this deep down inside.)
⢠Lee (âÂÂthe lee of a stone dykeâÂÂ) - the side that is sheltered from the wind
⢠Lasher (re: a mill) - the slack water that is collected about a weir in a river
⢠Trunk call (re: telephone) - a long-distance telephone call (first seen in 1905 British)
⢠âÂÂCanting philosophy of a grapeless foxâ - ??? (From Sister Carrie.)

(Taken from Sister Carrie (Dreiser) and Thirty Nine Steps (Buchan).)

Lemonhead, sounds like that last phrase is another way of saying 'sour grapes', referring to the old Fox & the Grapes fable. I looked up canting, and the definition i found is 'hypocritically pious' or 'insincere'. I like the phrase - more memorable and pointed than 'sour grapes'!

A couple of guesses:
Suckle. A curved back? Like a suckling (baby) pig? Would that fit?
The fox said that the grapes he couldn't reach would have been sour anyway. From an Aesop's Fable.

Liz, you're showing your age (or lack of it) if you don't remember trunk calls! You used to have to 'go through the operator' to be connected to other areas.
OT but was reminded of an episode of Upstairs Downstairs (the more recent series). One of the women has followed her lover to Berlin and kristallnacht(1936 when the Nazis burnt synagogues, Jewish businesses etc) is in full-flow outside. She runs out into the street, finds a flaming phone box and rings her sister in London . . . gets straight through, no operator, no money in the box . . . ;-)
The word 'press' is still used in Scotland/Ireland for a storage place/piece of furniture. What I (and maybe you Liz) think of as airing/linen cupboard is always called a hot-press in those countries.
Not familiar with a 'tonneau'. It was usually called a dicky seat over here.
Nor sure about a 'suckle'. Could be Annpan's idea or wonder if it is from Buchan, it could be 'Scottish' for a sickle ie the short bladed curved cutting implement used in gardening.

Thanks for your suggestions. I wasn't familiar with the Aesop's Fable about the grapeless fox, but it does fit with the context, so that must be it. (Note to self: Read up on Aesop.)

Yes, Vee, I was born too recently to deal with trunk calls, but do remember airing cupboards as my mum still had one, and we had airing cupboards growing up as we children would climb into them and have endless "Secret Club meetings" there. (Warmest place in the house!)

And so "suckle" remains... Perhaps Annpan is closest with that one referring to a human back (compared with a pig's back), perhaps?... I'll continue to dig around and see what can be found.

Thanks again!

Liz, re 'back like a suckle'. Looked it up and see it is from The Thirty Nine Steps when our hero meets an old very drunk, 'much bent' road-mender who tells him in strong dialect "Confound the day I ever left the herdin' . . . . . tethered to the roadside wi'sair een and a back like a suckle." I still think it is how a Scot would pronounce the word sickle.
Re airing cupboards. You are in august company as Jessica Mitford describes how the younger Mitford children used to hold their 'Hons and Rebels' meetings in the family 'walk-in' airing/linen cupboard as it was the warmest room in the house.

You know, Vee, you might be on to something there about the suckle being pronounced with a Scottish accent and really being "sickle" which would tie in with the tool's shape...

Good stalking too! Have you been chatting with my DH? You could both give each other hints, I would think.

I suspect the tonneau seat was the back one if it was outside the main cabin of the car and therefore roofless. Here in Oz the waterproof cover you get to fix over the open cargo area of a ute/pickup truck is called a "tonneau cover".

Well, I should have known this, but I will fess up and admit I had to look up 'mendacious.' It means false, untruthful.

* The mantle of Mrs. Grundy - a figurative name for an extremely conventional person who worries about being different
* The Grand Guignol - a Parisian theater that opened in 1897
* The "qui vive" of expectation - Que vive? Is a question: Who goes there? To be on the alert, suspicious.
* Carlyle on the Dutch (who was who and who did what?) - Carlyle was Scottish writer/philosopher in nineteenth century who wrote social/political criticism. Not sure about the Dutch reference. Any ideas?
* Cassandra could have looked more gloomily prophetic - Cassandra was the royal daughter at the time of the Trojan War. She rejected ApolloâÂÂs advances and in retaliation, he made it so no one would believe what she said. (Perhaps âÂÂgloomily prophecticâ due to this?)
* A veritable colossus of negation - âÂÂcolossusâ was a huge ancient statue on the Greek island of Rhodes, so perhaps this refers to how immovable negativity is when people espouse it strongly
* Fox (re: pity?) - not sure about this one.
* Bib and tucker (clothing) - refers to oneâÂÂs best clothes; first used in 18th century. âÂÂBibsâ were similar to current day baby bibs, except these were worn by adults over their clothes (mostly women). Made of lace and fitted over the bodice; sometimes called âÂÂpinnersâ or âÂÂmodesty piecesâÂÂ. âÂÂTuckerâ were bibs that were tucked in. (Pinners/Bibs were pinned and tuckers were tucked.) Linked with âÂÂpinaforeâÂÂ, âÂÂpin-a-foreâÂÂ: a pin/bib thatâÂÂs pinned on the front of clothing.

(Taken from Patricia Brent, Spinster - Herbert Jenkins.)

Liz, I have always heard of the term 'best bib and tucker' for dressing smartly. Is it not used in the US? Thanks for the detail about it.
Can't help you with Carlyle. I don't think he is 'read' any more.
re 'fox' it usually refers to someone who is sly, cunning, crafty or out to deceive. I don't know if that would fit your text.

⢠Carcel lamp - lamp designed in 1800âÂÂs by French watchmaker Bernard Guillarme Carcel
⢠Exanimate - spiritless; lacking animation or life
⢠Peristyle (re: church architecture) - an open colonnade in a building surrounding a court that may contain an internal garden
⢠Cloud-flocks - not 100% sure, but might be a ref to a book chapter by John Ruskin (artist and author, 1819-1900)
⢠Turnip-watch - a large pocket watch (re: size of turnip)
⢠Chudder (material) - large shawl or veil worn by Muslim or Hindu women that covers them from head to foot
⢠Godlings - a minor god (This was said in reference to how powerful the children were in that particular familyâ¦)
⢠Kerseymore (cloth? From sheep) - Kersey is a type of woolen cloth that was an important component of the textile trade in Medieval England. (Orig: town of Kersey, Suffolk.)
⢠HarveyâÂÂs sauce - (Victorian). A disgusting sounding sauce made up of six anchovies in vinegar, soy sauce, mushroom ketchup, garlic and cayenne.
⢠Blades of pounded mace - a spice similar to nutmeg
⢠Spaddle (re: making ice cream) - a little spade
⢠Cellaret (re: making ice cream) - a wooden piece of cabinet-work (similar to a sideboard) except oval in shape, bound with broad bands of brass and lined with zinc partitions to hold ice for cooling wine etc.

(From Ethan Frome/Wharton and The Campaign for Domestic Happiness/Beeton).

apostrophe, apostrophize (verb)

noun is from Latin. "A turning away. A feigned turning from one's audience to address directly a person or thing, or an abstract idea or imaginary object."

I recently came across this usage in two different books, both written around the turn of the last century: Edith Wharton and Margaret Fontaine both used it.

Re...Harvey's Sauce.
The Victorians loved anchovy sauces and pastes. Gentleman's Relish was popular too. I found it a bit salty although I got more used to it after eating the Australian favourite spread, Vegemite!
Both are excellent on buttered toast.

⢠Barograph - instrument that record barometric pressure over time.
⢠A neap tide - a tide just the first or third quarters of the moon when there is the least different between high and low water.
⢠Charybdis - a whirlpool off the coast of Sicily personified in Greek mythology as a female monster.
⢠Genoa sail - a large triangular jib sail with the foot usually parallel and very close to the deck to maximize the sail area.
⢠âÂÂOn the beamâ - not sure. Perhaps the breadth of a ship at the widest point?
⢠Mephitic - foul smelling or noxious. (Note to self: WeâÂÂve had this word before, sunshine. Would also be a useful word with regard to dog sometimes.)
⢠Cuckoo wrasse - type of fish native to the eastern Atlantic.
⢠Spoor - track or scent of an animal or person.
⢠Anfractious - sinuous or circuitous.
⢠Quizling - a traitor who collaborates with an enemy occupying force. (From Norwegian war-time leader Vidkun Quisling who headed a domestic Nazi collaborationist regime during WWII. Thank you, Wiki.)
⢠Straithes (harbor?) - an old UK word for a wharf used to unload coal.
⢠Soutane - type of cassock worn by Roman Catholic priests.
⢠Biretta - a square cap with three flat projections on top and worn by Roman Catholic clergymen
⢠Cope (Church clothing) - a long enveloping ecclesiastical vestment.
⢠Chasubles (church clothing) - a sleeveless outer vestment worn by a Roman Catholic priest, typically ornate and having a simple hole for the head.

(From Coasting by Jonathan Raban.)