Word of the Day - April

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April 1 - dervish - A fun word!  And on a day like today - April Fool's day, we need a fun day.

1. a member of a Muslim religious order noted for devotional exercises 
2. one that whirls or dances with or as if with the abandonment of a dervish.

Word origin: Turkish - dervis, literally, beggar, from Persian darvish

The word was first used in 1585.

April 2 - atwitter 

1. nervously concerned

Word origin: could not find atwitter, but twitter comes from Middle English - twiteren - twitter.

The word was first used in1833.

April 3 - forty winks - Here is another one of those sayings, we wonder who came up with it and when did we first say it.

1. a short sleep

The phrase was first used in 1828.

April 4 - blunder - we do not use this word much anymore, but I know it was used quite often before.  Aren't you curious when we first started using it?

1. to move unsteadily or confusedly (this one doesn't seem to match)
2. to make a mistake through stupidity, ignorance, or carelessness. (this is more like the meaning I understand, how about you?)
3. to utter stupidly, confusedly, or thoughtlessly
4. to make a stupid, careless, or thoughtless mistake

Word origin: Middle English - blundren; Scandanavian - blunda - to shut one's eyes.

The word was first used in the 14th century.

April 5 - aloft - I saw a commercial with the movie "Up" and the word aloft came to mind.

1. at or to a great height
2. in the air; especially in flight
3. at, on, or to the masthead or the higher rigging.

Word origin: Middle English, from Old Norse a lopt, from a - on, in + lopt - air.

The word was first used in the 13th century.

April 6 - drub - I was reading a book taking place during Victorian times and saw this word.

1. to beat severely
2. to berate critically
3. to defeat decisively

Word origin: Arabic - daraba

The word was first used in 1634.

April 7 - boorish - many times our heroes are said to have boorish behavior.

1. resembling or befitting a boor
2. a boor - is a peasant or a rude or insensitive person

Word origin: Dutch boer - or buan, Middle English - to dwell

The word was first used in 1551.

April 8 - taboo - we think of this word has having exotic beginnings and therefore not used in American language until much later in history.

1. forbidden to profane use or contact because of what are held to be dangerous supernatural powers.
2. banned on grounds of morality or taste
3. banned as constituting a risk
4. a prohibition against touching, saying, or doing something for fear of immediate harm from a supernatural force

Word origin: Tongan tabu

The word was first used in 1777.

April 9 - bequeath

1. to give or leave by will - used especially of personal property
2. to hand down

Word origin: Middle English bequethen, from Old English becwethan, from be- + cwethan to say - check  out quoth

The word was first used before the 12th century.

April 10 - viral - so here I thought that the word viral had been around for a long time.  I was so mistaken.  I figured that even though we all refer to the internet with the word, it must have been around before because of viruses.

1. of, relating to, or caused by a virus 
2. quickly and widely spread or popularized especially by person-to-person electronic communication

Word origin: would have to be virus - Latin - venom.  Now the word virus has been around since 1599.

The word was first used in 1937.

April 11 - reconstruct - how to rebuild

1. to construct again
2. to establish or assemble again
3. to subject (an organ or part) to surgery to re-form its structure or correct a defect
4. to build up mentally

Word origin: Latin constructus - past participle of construere, from com + struere to build. (this word was first used in 1663).

The word was first used in 1768.

April 12 - dauntless - while looking for words I wanted to use to create my brand, I started looking up words that fit my stories best.

1. fearless
2. to lessen the courage of (daunt)

Word origin of daunt - Middle English from Anglo-French danter, daunter, from Latin domitare to tame.

The word daunt was first used in the 14th century.

The word dauntless was first used in 1588.

April 13 - intrepid - When you see this word you think of trepidation, so intrepid should be the opposite.

1. characterized by resolute fearlessness, fortitude, and endurance

Word origin: Latin intrepidus, from in- + trepidus - alarmed.

The word was first used in 1680.

April 14 - magazine - I was doing research for one of my other blogs when I looked up this word.  Most of us think of a magazine as a tabloid you find at the supermarket.

1. a place where goods or supplies are stored
2. a room in which powder and other explosives are kept in a fort or a ship
3. the contents of a magazine - like the munitions of war or a stock of provisions or goods
4. a periodical containing miscellaneous pieces
5. a supply chamber  - like  a holder in or on a gun for cartridges to be fed into the gun chamber

Word origin: Middle French, from Old Occitan from Arabic makhazin, plural of makhzan - storehouse

The word was first used in 1583.

April 15 - titanic - Of course will all the hoopla about the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, I thought - hmmm, where did the name come from?

1. having great magnitude, force, or power
2. colossal

Word origin: Greek titanikos - of the titans

The word was first used in 1709.

April 16 - espionage - Having a spy in your story is always fun.  Making the spy your hero and you have a bit of intrigue as well.

1. the practice of spying or using spies to obtain information about the plans and activities especially of a foreign government or a competing company.

Word origin: French espionnage, from Middle French - from espionner to spy, from espion spy.

The word was first used in 1793.

April 17 - chaise - I think of a Cleopatra chair, when I see this word.

1. any of various light horse-drawn vehicles
2. a 2-wheeled carriage for one or two persons with a folding top

Okay, now this did not help me at all.  So I saw a connection - chaise longue

Word origin:  French, chair, chaise, alteration of Old French chaiere - chair

The word was first used in 1701.

April 18 - dilettante - No a dilettante is not like a debutante.

1. an admirer or lover of the arts
2. a person having a superficial interest in an art or a branch of knowledge;
3. a dabbler - this word I understand completely!

Word origin: Italian - form of dilettaire - to delight, from Latin - dilectare

The word was first used in 1748.

April 19 - machinaw - Okay, I figure this must be a Native American word since it's a place in Michigan, but I was curious as to when it came about.

1. a heavy woolen blanket formerly distributed by the United States government to the Indians.
2. a heavy cloth of wool or wool and other fibers often with a plaid design and usually heavily napped and felted
3. a short coat of mackinaw or similar heavy fabric
4. a mackinaw trout

Word origin: Mackinaw or mackinac - a trading post at the site of Mackinaw City, Michigan. (well this did not help much, did it?)

The word was first used in 1833.

April 20 - resplendent - the word has an archaic feel to it.

1. shining brilliantly
2. characterized by a glowing splendor

Word origin: Middle English from Latin resplendent - resplendens = re- + splendere to shine

The word was first used in the 15th century.

April 21 - predilection - I heard it spoken during a movie and wondered if it was accurate.

1. an established preference for something

Word origin: French - predilection - from Medieval Latin - praediligere - to love more, prefer, from Latin - prae + deligere - to love.

The word was first used in 1742.

April 22 - Sarmatia - Since I was watching King Arthur last night, I thought I would look up this word.  They called his knights - Sarmatians.

1. ancient region of Eastern Europe = which is modern Poland and Russia between the Vistula and the Volga Rivers.

There is no word origin or when the word was first used. I did a bit more research and discovered the area is northeast of the Black Sea.  The Sarmatians occupied the area after the 4th century BC.  They fled the area after the Huns attacked and crossed over the Carpathian Mountains.  This was during the Roman Empire (makes sense when you see the movie then since Arthur is a Roman knight).

April 23 - felicitous - brings to mind the word felicity, which of course makes one think of the name - as in the name of the tv show or the American girl doll.

1. a very well suited or expressed
2. pleasant and delightful

Word origin: Middle English felicite, from Anglo-French felicite, from Latin felicitat - from felic- felix - fruitful or happy.

The word was first used in 1789.

April 24 - feisty - we like to think of our heroines as being feisty, so when did the word first come into play?

1. full of nervous energy (this doesn't sound very heroic, does it?)
2. touchy or quarrelsome (again, it doesn't fit our idea of a good heroine)
3. exuberantly frisky (hmmm, what do you think?)
4. having or showing lively agressiveness

Word origin: obsolete fisting hound, from obsolete fist to break wind (and this was first used in 1770)

The word was first used in 1896.

April 25 - salver - many people don't know what this is but if you read historicals, you have seen this word before.

1. a tray especially for serving food or beverages

Word origin: French - salve = from Spanish salva - sampling of food to detect poison, tray, from salvar to save.

The word was first used in 1661. 

April 26 - almshouse - with the Victorian books, I usually see this word because reforms are happening.

1. British - a privately financed home for the poor.

Word origin: Middle English almesse, almes, from Old English.

The word was first used in the 14th century.

April 27 - ebullience - this word just popped into my head and I thought, it seems archaic.

1. the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts or feelings. 
2. ebullient - means boiling or agitated - so this is a bit confusing.

Word origin: Latin - ebullient, ebulliens - to bubble out, from e- + bullire - to bubble, boil.

The word was first used in 1599.

April 28 - quackery - have you ever wondered where the word quack originated? We think about doctors and why we call them quacks.

1. the practice or pretensions of a quack.
2. quack - a pretender to medical skill

Word origin: short for quacksalver (okay, now I have to look this up - quacksalver - the medical imposters) 

The word was first used in 1579 (quacksalver); 1711 (quackery); 1638 (quack).

April 29 - infinite - I was watching this show on the stars and heard them mention this word.  I wondered - hmmm - when did this word coming into being?

1. extending indefinitely
2. immeasurably or inconceivably great or extensive
3. subject to no limitation or external determination
4. extending beyond, lying beyond, or being greater than any preassigned finite value however large
5. characterized by an infinite number of elements or terms

Word origin: Middle English, infinit, from Anglo-French or Latin - infinitus - in- + finitus - finite.

The word was first used in the 14th century.

April 30 - hence - I chose this word because one of best friends likes to use this word a lot when she writes. The word has an archaic tone to it, so I thought - hmm - when was it first used?

1. from this place
2. from this time
3. because of a preceding fact or premise
4. from this source or origin

Word origin: Middle English - hennes, henne from Old English heonan.

The word was first used in the 13th century.  (See, it does have an archaic sound)

What words would you like to learn in May?  Come and see mine!