Lexicon
By request: a compilation of the words I use.Archive for Noun
Umbrage
Umbrage
Noun: take offence or annoyance; (archaic) shade or shadow, especially as cast by a tree.
Umbrage usually occurs as in the phrase ‘take umbrage.’ Let’s say you’re hurt, or piqued or disgruntled or annoyed, in all these situations you might be taking umbrage for something. The term is usually paired with the offending act or object. For example, ‘the politician took umbrage with the editorial’s portrayal of his conduct.’ Use umbrage when you have a complaint, but don’t want to sound base.
Superlative
Superlative
Adjective: of the highest degree or quality; in grammar (of an adjective or an adverb) expressing the highest or a very high degree of quality.
Noun: grammar, a superlative adjective or adverb, (the superlative) the highest degree of comparison; (usually superlatives) an exaggerated or hyperbolical expression of praise; something or someone embodying excellence.
Here in Minnesota this was a superlative summer weekend, with warm clear skies and a Saturday evening shower to keep things interesting. In grammar a superlative refers to a word that shows the greatest degree of something, i.e. ‘he isn’t just funny or funnier, he’s the funniest’ or ‘she isn’t just pretty or prettier, she is the prettiest.’ When not used to describe the function of another word it describes something that is the best example of something. For example Joe Mauer is a superlative catcher. Use superlative as an adjective to refer to, or as a noun to identify something that is excellent.
Itinerant
Itinerant
Adjective: traveling from place to place.
Noun: a person who travels from place to place.
Itinerant is a good word for anyone or anything that is on the move. Itinerant is similar to roaming or wandering or vagrant or vagabond, but perhaps without the negative connotations of the last two. I like it because it can be used both as a noun and as an adjective. Itinerant comes from the Latin iter, “journey, road.”
Mirth
Mirth
Noun: amusement, especially as expressed with laughter.
The words merry and happy and joy are on peoples lips this time of year. To this group I offer mirth. The term conger images of happy revelers sharing a moment, or a young child laughing at her own joke. Or mirth is the Ghost of Christmas Present in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol sprinkling good cheer on great and small alike. So, have a Happy Christmas, and may you halls be decked with mirth.
Festoon
Festoon
Noun: a chain or garland of flowers, leaves or ribbons, hung in a curve as a decoration; a curved or molded ornament representing such a garland.
Verb: (transitive, often be festooned with) adorn a place with chains, garlands or other decorations.
It is the darkest time of year in the northern hemisphere as the winter solstice is just a couple of days away. Yet in this darkness we festoon the world with decorations as Christians celebrate the coming of the light into the world. I like the word festoon because it is both a noun and a verb. As a noun it refers to the things used as decorations, what we in the United States might usually think of as a garland. As a verb, the usage I am more familiar with, festoon refers to the act of decorating. I particularly like how we festoon our homes inside and out with what the British call fairy lights. So, even though it is dark and the nights are long, festoon your homes with festoons of your pleasing and join the celebration.
Praxis
Praxis
Noun (formal): practice, as distinguished from theory; accepted practice or custom.
Praxis is another word not often used in everyday conversation. There are times when you might want to use a formal term distinguish between a theory and the actual actions someone or a group takes. For example: as a rule I try to avoid using the more obscure words of my vocabulary, but in praxis I sometimes find them hard to resist.
Surfeit
Surfeit
Noun (usually singular): an excessive amount of something, (archaic) an illness caused or regarded as being caused by excessive eating or drinking.
Verb (transitive): cause (someone) to desire no more of something as a result of having consumed or done it to excess; (intransitive, archaic) consume too much of something.
Surfeit is just excess in another guise. For example, many home gardeners suffer from a surfeit of zucchini late in the summer. I like surfeit because it can also be used as a verb. Say, for example, you just finished an eighteen hour road trip, you might say that you are surfeited with driving.
Proclivity
Proclivity
Noun: a tendency to choose or do something regularly; an inclination or predisposition toward a particular thing.
Sometimes someone is inclined to do something, or maybe they have a penchant for doing that thing, or perhaps they have a bent, a bias, a weakness, a liking, a fondness or a predilection for that same thing. Proclivity would stand in for any of these words in a pinch. Apparently the English language has many ways to say one has a liking for something.
Alacrity
Alacrity
Noun: brisk and cheerful readiness.
Alacrity seems to have slipped out of contemporary use, but read a work of literature from the 19th century and this word pops up left and right. I like this word’s connotation of sunny willingness to jump into an activity at the drop of a hat. Think of those people who seem pleased to help with any project, who are eager to show up at any event at a moments notice; they probably have alacrity.
Panache
Panache
Noun: flamboyant confidence of style or manner; (historical) a tuft or plume of feathers, especially as a headdress or a helmet.
Sometimes you can’t help but watch someone perform a task. Perhaps it is a dancer leaping across the stage, or a pianist’s fingers floating across the keys or a cook at a pizzeria tossing a pizza crust in the air. When you can’t help but watch someone do something, they just might have panache.
