Vocabulary and Etymology / Week5

• be-

1.    having; covered with

beloved (adj.)

✓dearly loved

-        example: He returns home to find out that his beloved daughter wants to go to boarding school.

bejeweled (adj.)

✓adorned with jewels

-        example: They always gives the Best Actress nominees bejeweled accessories.

2.     transitive action

befriend (adj.)

✓act as or become a friend to (someone), especially when they are in need of help or support

-        example: He befriends this young boy, who hopes to remain friends following their hospital stay.

3.    all over; all round

bespatter (v.)

✓splash drops of a liquid substance all over (an object).

-        example: His elegant shoes and trousers were bespattered with mud.

• -ant

1.    denoting attribution of an action or state

arrogant (adj.)

✓having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or abilities

-        example: He's arrogant and opinionated.

pendant (n.)

✓a light designed to hang from the ceiling

-        example: Decorative pendants may need a special ceiling fitting.

pendant (adj.)

✓hanging downwards; pendent

-        example: Pendant flowers on frail stems.

2.    denoting an agent

deodorant (n.)

✓a substance which removes or conceals unpleasant smells, especially bodily odours.

-        example: Ask your guests to refrain from putting on heavy duty perfume or  deodorants.

propellant (n.)

✓a substance that propels something

-        example: He explained that deodorants and other aerosols contain propellants, like  butane, to dry the particles.

propellant (adj.)

✓capable of propelling something

-        example: A wider gap allows more of the propellant gases to escape out to the side.

Devil's advocate

The Advocatus Diaboli (Latin for Devil's Advocate) was formerly an official position within the Catholic Church: one who "argued against the canonization (sainthood) of a candidate in order to uncover any character flaws or misrepresentation of the evidence favoring canonization."

In common parlance, the term a devil's advocate describes someone who, given a certain point of view, takes a position he or she does not necessarily agree with (or simply an alternative position from the accepted norm), for the sake of debate or to explore the thought further.

Icarus

In Greek mythology, Icarus is the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth. Often depicted in art, Icarus and his father attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that his father constructed from feathers and wax. Icarus' father warns him first of complacency and then of hubris, asking that he fly neither too low nor too high, so the sea's dampness would not clog his wings or the sun's heat melt them. Icarus ignored his father's instructions not to fly too close to the sun, when the wax in his wings melted and he fell into the sea. This tragic theme of failure at the hands of hubris contains similarities to that of Phaëthon.

• para-

1.     Beside; adjacent to

parathyroid (n.)

✓a gland next to the thyroid which secretes a hormone (parathyroid hormone) that regulates calcium levels in a person's body

-        example: The larynx, thyroid, and parathyroid glands were also encased by the sclerotic, yellow  tissue.

• pro-

1.     Denoting motion forwards, out, or away

proceed (v.)

✓do something after something else

-        example: Opposite the front door was a staircase which I proceeded to climb.

✓originate from

-        example: His claim that all power proceeded from God.

• candid v.s. sincere

candid (adj.)

✓Impartial and free from prejudice.

-        example: He knew not where to look for faithful advice, efficient aid, or candid judgement.'

✓Straightforward, open and sincere.

-        example: My candid opinion was that it was all rubbish!

✓Not posed or rehearsed

-        example: will the introduction of supplementary flash or flood intrude on a candid picture situation or ruin the mood? 

sincere (adj.)

✓genuine; meaning what one says or does; heartfelt.

-        example: I believe he is sincere in his offer to help.

✓meant truly or earnestly.

-        example: She gave it a sincere, if misguided effort.

▪ "Candid" implies a freedom and boldness in telling what you feel or think and suggests expression that is marked by sincerity and honesty, especially when offering unwelcome criticism or an unpleasant opinion.

▪ "Sincere" simply means genuine in feeling, but it further stresses the absence of hypocrisy, pretense, superficiality, or any falsifying embellishment or exaggeration.

Hubris

Hubris describes a personality quality of extreme or foolish pride or dangerous over-confidence. In its ancient Greek context, it typically describes behavior that defies the norms of behavior or challenges the gods, and which in turn brings about the downfall, or nemesis, of the perpetrator of hubris.

The adjectival form of the noun hubris is "hubristic". Hubris is usually perceived as a characteristic of an individual rather than a group, although the group the offender belongs to may unintentionally suffer consequences from the wrongful act. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence, accomplishments or capabilities. Contrary to common expectations, hubris is not necessarily associated with high self-esteem but with highly fluctuating or variable self-esteem, and a gap between inflated self perception and a more modest reality.

Hubris is generally considered a sin in world religions. C. S. Lewis writes, in Mere Christianity, that pride is the "anti-God" state, the position in which the ego and the self are directly opposed to God: "Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind."

vocabulary(w10~12)

peruse (v.) 

late 15c., "use up, wear out, go through," from Middle English per- "completely" (see per) + use (v.). Meaning "read carefully" is first recorded 1530s, but this could be a separate formation. Meaning "read casually" is from 19c. Related: Perused; perusing.

premonition (n.) 

mid-15c., from Anglo-French premunition, Middle French premonicion, from Late Latin praemonitionem (nominative praemonitio) "a forewarning," noun of action from past participle stem of Latin praemonere "forewarn," from prae "before" (see pre-) + monere "to warn" (see monitor (n.)).

desist (v.) 

mid-15c., from Middle French désister (mid-14c.), from Latin desistere "to stand aside, leave off, cease," from de- "off" (see de-) + sistere "stop, come to a stand" (see assist). Related: Desisted; desisting.

recoil (v.) 

early 13c. (transitive) "force back, drive back," from Old French reculer "to go back, give way, recede, retreat" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *reculare, from Latin re- "back" (see re-) + culus "backside, bottom, fundament." Meaning "shrink back, retreat" is first recorded c. 1300; and that of "spring back" (as a gun) in 1520s. Related: Recoiled; recoiling.

inclement (adj.) 

1660s, from French inclément (16c.) and directly from Latin inclementem (nominative inclemens) "harsh, unmerciful," from in- "not, opposite of, without" (see in- (1)) + clementem "mild, placid." "Limitation to weather is curious" [Weekley].

obsessed (adj.) 

mid-15c., "tormented, obsessed," past participle adjective from obsess. Originally especially "possessed" by a devil, etc.

mastiff (n.) 

large, powerful breed of dog, early 14c., from Old French mastin "great cur, mastiff" (Modern French mâtin) or Provençal mastis, both from Vulgar Latin *mansuetinus "domesticated, tame," from Latin mansuetus "tame, gentle" (see mansuetude). Probably originally meaning a dog that stays in the house, thus a guard-dog or watchdog. Form in English perhaps influenced by Old French mestif "mongrel."

doleful (adj.) 

late 13c., with -ful, from Middle English dole "grief" (early 13c.), from Old French doel (Modern French deuil), from Late Latin dolus "grief," from Latin dolere "suffer, grieve," which is of uncertain origin. De Vaan reports that it can be derived from a PIE root *delh- "to chop" "under the assumption that 'pain' was expressed by the feeling of 'being torn apart'. A causative *dolh-eie- 'to make somebody (feel) split' could have become 'to cause pain'. The experiencer must originally have been expressed in the dative." Related: Dolefully.

pertinent (adj.) 

late 14c., from Anglo-French purtinaunt (late 13c.), Old French partenant (mid-13c.) and directly from Latin pertinentem (nominative pertinens) "pertaining," present participle of pertinere "to relate, concern" (see pertain). Related: Pertinently.

wan (adj.) 

Old English wann "dark, dusky, lacking luster," later "leaden, pale, gray," of uncertain origin, and not found in other Germanic languages. The connecting notion is colorlessness. Perhaps related to wane. Related: Wanly; wanness.

frustrated (adj.) 

"disappointed," 1640s, past participle adjective from frustrate.

1712, jocular formation from fluster (v.) + frustrated. Related: Flustration.

interject (v.) 

1570s, back-formation from interjection or else from Latin interiectus, past participle of intericere "to throw between, insert, interject." Related: Interjected; interjecting.

histrionics (n.) 

"theatrics, pretense," 1820, from histrionic; also see -ics.

elusive (adj.)

1719, from Latin elus-, past participle stem of eludere "elude, frustrate" (see elude) + -ive. Related: Elusiveness.

symptomatic (adj.) 

1690s, from French symptomatique or directly from Late Latin symptomaticus, from symptomat-, stem of symptoma (see symptom). General sense of "indicative (of)" is from 1751. Related: Symptomatical (1580s).

imminent (adj.) 

1520s, from Middle French imminent (14c.) and directly from Latin imminentem (nominative imminens) "overhanging; impending," present participle of imminere "to overhang, lean towards," hence "be near to," also "threaten, menace, impend, be at hand, be about to happen," from assimilated form of in- "into, in, on, upon" (see in- (2)) + -minere "jut out," which is related to mons "hill" (see mount (n.1)). Related: Imminently.

squeamish (adj.) 

late 14c., variant (with -ish) of squoymous "disdainful, fastidious" (early 14c.), from Anglo-French escoymous, which is of unknown origin. Related: Squeamishly; squeamishness.

He was somdel squaymous
Of fartyng, and of speche daungerous
[Chaucer, "Miller's Tale," c. 1386]

engross (v.) 

c. 1400, "to buy up the whole stock of" (in Anglo-French from c. 1300), from Old French en gros "in bulk, in a large quantity, at wholesale," as opposed to en detail. See gross.
Figurative sense of "absorb the whole attention" is first attested 1709. A parallel engross, meaning "to write (something) in large letters," is from Anglo-French engrosser, from Old French en gros "in large (letters)." Related: Engrossed; engrossing.

salient (adj.) 

1560s, "leaping," a heraldic term, from Latin salientem (nominative saliens), present participle of salire "to leap," from PIE root *sel- (4) "to jump" (source also of Greek hallesthai "to leap," Middle Irish saltraim "I trample," and probably Sanskrit ucchalati "rises quickly").
It was used in Middle English as an adjective meaning "leaping, skipping." The meaning "pointing outward" (preserved in military usage) is from 1680s; that of "prominent, striking" first recorded 1840, from salient point (1670s), which refers to the heart of an embryo, which seems to leap, and translates Latin punctum saliens, going back to Aristotle's writings. Hence, the "starting point" of anything.

inert (adj.) 

1640s, "without inherent force, having no power to act or respond," from French inerte (16c.) or directly from Latin inertem (nominative iners) "unskilled, incompetent; inactive, helpless, weak, sluggish; worthless," used of stagnant fluids, uncultivated pastures, expressionless eyes. It is a compound of in- "without, not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + ars (genitive artis) "skill" (see art (n.)). In chemistry, "having no active properties, neutral" (1800), specifically from 1885 of certain chemically inactive, colorless, odorless gases. Of persons or creatures, "indisposed or unable to move or act," from 1774.

poignant (adj.) 

late 14c., "painful to physical or mental feeling" (of sauce, spice, wine as well as things that affect the feelings), from Old French poignant "sharp, pointed" (13c.), present participle of poindre "to prick, sting," from Latin pungere "to prick, pierce, sting," figuratively, "to vex, grieve, trouble, afflict," related to pugnus "a fist" (see pugnacious). Related: Poignantly.
The word disguises a linguistics trick-play, a double reverse. Latin pungere is from the same root as Latin pugnus "fist," and represents a metathesis of -n- and -g- that later was reversed in French.

garbled (adj.) 

by 1620s of spices; by 1774 of language; past-participle adjective from garble (v.).

fruitless (adj.) 

mid-14c., "unprofitable," from fruit + -less. Meaning "barren, sterile" is from 1510s. Related: Fruitlessly; fruitlessness.

inundate (v.) 

1620s, back-formation from inundation, or else from Latin inundatus, past participle of inundare "to overflow, run over" (source also of Spanish inundar, French inonder). Related: Inundated; inundating.

sanguine (adj.) 

"blood-red," late 14c. (late 12c. as a surname), from Old French sanguin (fem. sanguine), from Latin sanguineus "of blood," also "bloody, bloodthirsty," from sanguis (genitive sanguinis) "blood" (see sanguinary). Meaning "cheerful, hopeful, confident" first attested c. 1500, because these qualities were thought in medieval physiology to spring from an excess of blood as one of the four humors. Also in Middle English as a noun, "type of red cloth" (early 14c.).

phlegmatic (adj.) 

"cool, calm, self-possessed," and in a more pejorative sense, "cold, dull, apathetic," 1570s, from literal sense "abounding in phlegm (as a bodily humor)" (mid-14c., fleumatik), from Old French fleumatique (13c., Modern French flegmatique), from Late Latin phlegmaticus, from Greek phlegmatikos "abounding in phlegm" (see phlegm).

A verry flewmatike man is in the body lustles, heuy and slow. [John of Trevisa, translation of Bartholomew de Glanville's "De proprietatibus rerum," 1398]

zealous (adj.) 

"full of zeal" (in the service of a person or cause), 1520s, from Medieval Latin zelosus "full of zeal" (source of Italian zeloso, Spanish celoso), from zelus (see zeal). The sense "fervent, inspired" was earlier in English in jealous (late 14c.), which is the same word but come up through French. Related: Zealously, zealousness.

comprehensive (adj.) 

"containing much," 1610s, from French comprehénsif, from Late Latin comprehensivus, from comprehens-, past participle stem of Latin comprehendere (see comprehend). Related: Comprehensively (mid-15c.); comprehensiveness.

coerce (v.) 

mid-15c., cohercen, from Middle French cohercer, from Latin coercere "to control, restrain, shut up together," from com- "together" (see co-) + arcere "to enclose, confine, contain, ward off," from PIE *ark- "to hold, contain, guard" (see arcane). Related: Coerced; coercing. No record of the word between late 15c. and mid-17c.; its reappearance 1650s is perhaps a back-formation from coercion.

corroborate (v.) 

1530s, "to give (legal) confirmation to," from Latin corroboratus, past participle of corroborare "to strengthen, invigorate," from assimilated form of com "with, together," here perhaps as "thoroughly" (see com-) + roborare "to make strong," from robur, robus "strength," (see robust).
Meaning "to strengthen by evidence, to confirm" is from 1706. Sometimes in early use the word also has its literal Latin sense, especially of medicines. Related: Corroborated; corroborating; corroborative.

elapse (v.) 

1640s, from Middle French elapser, from Latin elapsus, past participle of elabi "slip or glide away, escape," from ex "out, out of, away" (see ex-) + labi "to slip, glide" (see lapse (n.)). The noun now corresponding to elapse is lapse, but elapse (n.) was in recent use. Related: Elapsed; elapsing.

sporadic (adj.) 

1680s, from Medieval Latin sporadicus "scattered," from Greek sporadikos "scattered," from sporas (genitive sporados) "scattered, dispersed," from spora "a sowing" (see spore). Originally a medical term, "occurring in scattered instances;" the meaning "happening at intervals" is first recorded 1847. Related: Sporadical (1650s); sporadically.

domicile (n.) 

mid-15c., from Middle French domicile (14c.), from Latin domicilium, perhaps from domus "house" (see domestic) + colere "to dwell" (see colony). As a verb, it is first attested 1809. Related: Domiciled; domiciliary.

lax (adj.) 

c. 1400, "loose" (in reference to bowels), from Latin laxus "wide, spacious, roomy," figuratively "loose, free, wide" (also used of indulgent rule and low prices), from PIE *lag-so-, suffixed form of root *(s)lēg- "to be slack, be languid" (source also of Greek legein "to leave off, stop," lagos "hare," literally "with drooping ears," lagnos "lustful, lascivious," lagaros "slack, hollow, shrunken;" Latin languere "to be faint, weary," languidis "faint, weak, dull, sluggish, languid").
In English, of rules, discipline, etc., from mid-15c. Related: Laxly; laxness. A transposed Vulgar Latin form yielded Old French lasche, French lâche. The laxists, though they formed no avowed school, were nonetheless condemned by Innocent XI in 1679.

meticulous (adj.) 

1530s, "fearful, timid," from Latin meticulosus "fearful, timid," literally "full of fear," from metus "fear, dread, apprehension, anxiety," of unknown origin. Sense of "fussy about details" is first recorded in English 1827, from French méticuleux "timorously fussy" [Fowler attributes this use in English to "literary critics"], from the Latin word. Related: Meticulosity.

conjecture (v.) 

early 15c., from conjecture (n.). In Middle English also with a parallel conjecte (n.), conjecten (v.). Related: Conjectured; conjecturing.

lurid (adj.) 

1650s, "pale, wan," from Latin luridus "pale yellow, ghastly, the color of bruises," a word of uncertain origin and etymology, perhaps cognate with Greek khloros "pale green, greenish-yellow" (see Chloe), or connected to Latin lividus (see livid).
It has more to do with the interplay of light and darkness than it does with color. It suggests a combination of light and gloom; "Said, e.g. of the sickly pallor of the skin in disease, or of the aspect of things when the sky is overcast" [OED]; "having the character of a light which does not show the colors of objects" [Century Dictionary]. Meaning "glowing in the darkness" is from 1727 ("of the color or appearance of dull smoky flames" - Century Dictionary]. In scientific use (1767) "of a dingy brown or yellowish-brown color" [OED]. The figurative sense of "sensational" is first attested 1850, via the notion of "ominous" (if from the flames sense) or "ghastly" (if from the older sense). Related: Luridly.

rash (n.) 

"eruption of small red spots on skin," 1709, perhaps from French rache "a sore" (Old French rasche "rash, scurf"), from Vulgar Latin *rasicare "to scrape" (also source of Old Provençal rascar, Spanish rascar "to scrape, scratch," Italian raschina "itch"), from Latin rasus "scraped," past participle of radere "to scrape" (see raze). The connecting notion would be of itching. Figurative sense of "any sudden outbreak or proliferation" first recorded 1820.

obviate (v.) 

1590s, "to meet and do away with," from Late Latin obviatus, past participle of obviare "act contrary to, go against," from Latin obvius "that is in the way, that moves against" (see obvious). Related: Obviated; obviating.

quip (v.) 

"make a quip," 1570s, from quip (n.). Related: Quipped; quipping.

    (n.) 

1530s, variant of quippy in same sense (1510s), perhaps from Latin quippe "indeed, of course, as you see, naturally, obviously" (used sarcastically), from quid "what" (neuter of pronoun quis "who;" see who), and compare quibble (n.)) + emphatic particle -pe.

diatribe (n.) 

1640s (in Latin form in English from 1580s), "discourse, critical dissertation," from French diatribe (15c.), from Latin diatriba "learned discussion," from Greek diatribe "employment, study," in Plato, "discourse," literally "a wearing away (of time)," from dia- "away" (see dia-) + tribein "to wear, rub," from PIE root *tere- (1) "to rub, turn, twist" (see throw (v.)). Sense of "invective" is 1804, apparently from French.

ilk (adj.) 

Old English ilca "the same" (pron.), from Proto-Germanic *ij-lik (compare German eilen), in which the first element is from the PIE demonstrative particle *i- (see yon) and the second is that in Old English -lic "form" (see like (adj.)). Of similar formation are each, which and such, but this word disappeared except in Scottish and thus did not undergo the usual southern sound changes. Phrase of that ilk implies coincidence of name and estate, as in Lundie of Lundie; it was applied usually to families, so that by c. 1790 ilk began to be used with the meaning "family," then broadening to "type, sort."

incoherent (adj.) 

1620s, "without coherence" (of immaterial or abstract things, especially thought or language), from in- (1) "not, opposite of" + coherent. As "without physical coherence" from 1690s. Related: Incoherently.

fortuitous (adj.) 

1650s, from Latin fortuitus "happening by chance, casual, accidental," from forte "by chance," ablative of fors "chance" (related to fortuna; see fortune). It means "accidental, undesigned" not "fortunate." Earlier in this sense was fortuit (late 14c.), from French. Related: Fortuitously; fortuitousness.

inhibition (n.) 

late 14c., "formal prohibition; interdiction of legal proceedings by authority;" also, the document setting forth such a prohibition, from Old French inibicion and directly from Latin inhibitionem (nominative inhibitio) "a restraining," from past participle stem of inhibere "to hold in, hold back, keep back," from in- "in, on" (see in- (2)) + habere "to hold" (see habit (n.)). Psychological sense of "involuntary check on an expression of an impulse" is from 1876.

placard (n.) 

late 15c., "formal document authenticated by an affixed seal," from Middle French placquard "official document with a large, flat seal," also "plate of armor," from Old French plaquier "to lay on, cover up, plaster over," from Middle Dutch placken "to patch (a garment), to plaster," related to Middle High German placke "patch, stain," German Placken "spot, patch." Meaning "poster" first recorded 1550s in English; this sense is in Middle French from 15c.

prestigious (adj.) 

1540s, "practicing illusion or magic, deceptive," from Latin praestigious "full of tricks," from praestigiae "juggler's tricks," probably altered by dissimilation from praestrigiae, from praestringere "to blind, blindfold, dazzle," from prae "before" (see pre-) + stringere "to tie or bind" (see strain (v.)). Derogatory until 19c.; meaning "having dazzling influence" is attested from 1913 (see prestige). Related: Prestigiously; prestigiousness.

remuneration (n.) 

c. 1400, from Middle French remuneration and directly from Latin remunerationem (nominative remuneratio) "a repaying, recompense," noun of action from past participle stem of remunerari "to pay, reward," from re- "back" (see re-) + munerari "to give," from munus (genitive muneris) "gift, office, duty" (see municipal).

nominal (adj.) 

early 15c., "pertaining to nouns," from Latin nominalis "pertaining to a name or names," from nomen (genitive nominis) "name," cognate with Old English nama (see name (n.)). Meaning "of the nature of names" (in distinction to things) is from 1610s. Meaning "being so in name only" first recorded 1620s.

integral (adj.) 

late 15c., "of or pertaining to a whole; intrinsic, belonging as a part to a whole," from Middle French intégral (14c.), from Medieval Latin integralis "forming a whole," from Latin integer "whole" (see integer). Related: Integrally. As a noun, 1610s, from the adjective.

utopia (n.) 

1551, from Modern Latin Utopia, literally "nowhere," coined by Thomas More (and used as title of his book, 1516, about an imaginary island enjoying the utmost perfection in legal, social, and political systems), from Greek ou "not" + topos "place" (see topos). Extended to any perfect place by 1610s. Commonly, but incorrectly, taken as from Greek eu- "good" (see eu-) an error reinforced by the introduction of dystopia.

schism (n.) 

late 14c., scisme, "dissention within the church," from Old French scisme, cisme "a cleft, split" (12c.), from Church Latin schisma, from Greek skhisma (genitive skhismatos) "division, cleft," in New Testament applied metaphorically to divisions in the Church (I Corinthians xii.25), from stem of skhizein "to split" (see shed (v.)). Spelling restored 16c., but pronunciation unchanged. Often in reference to the Great Schism (1378-1417) in the Western Church.

anathema (n.) 

1520s, "an accursed thing," from Latin anathema "an excommunicated person; the curse of excommunication," from Ecclesiastical Greek anathema "a thing accursed," a slight variation of classical Greek anathāma, which meant merely "a thing devoted," literally "a thing set up (to the gods)," such as a votive offering in a temple, from ana "up" (see ana-) + tithenai "to put, place" (see theme).
By the time it reached Late Latin the meaning of the Greek word had progressed through "thing devoted to evil," to "thing accursed or damned." Later it was applied to persons and the Divine Curse. Meaning "act or formula of excommunicating and consigning to damnation by ecclesiastical authority" is from 1610s.
Anathema maranatha, taken as an intensified form, is held to be a misreading of I Corinthians xvi.22 where anathema is followed by Aramaic maran atha "Our Lord hath come" (see Maranatha), apparently a solemn formula of confirmation, like amen; but possibly it is a false transliteration of Hebrew mohoram atta "you are put under the ban," which would make more sense in the context. [Klein]

flamboyant (adj.) 

1832, originally in reference to a 15c.-16c. architectural style with wavy, flame-like curves, from French flamboyant "flaming, wavy," present participle of flamboyer "to flame," from Old French flamboiier "to flame, flare, blaze, glow, shine" (12c.), from flambe "a flame, flame of love," from flamble, variant of flamme, from Latin flammula "little flame" (see flame (n.)). Extended sense of "showy, ornate" is from 1879. Related: Flamboyantly.

expunge (v.) 

c. 1600, from Latin expungere "prick out, blot out, mark (a name on a list) for deletion" by pricking dots above or below it, literally "prick out," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + pungere "to prick, pierce," related to pugnus "a fist" (see pugnacious). According to OED, taken by early lexicographers in English to "denote actual obliteration by pricking;" it adds that the sense probably was influenced by sponge (v.). Related: Expunged; expunging; expungible.

truncated (adj.) 

late 15c., past participle adjective from truncate. Originally in heraldry; modern senses are post-1700.

jaunty (adj.) 

also janty, jantee, etc., 1660s, "elegant, stylish," an imperfect or jocular attempt to render into English the contemporary pronunciation of French gentil "nice, pleasing," in Old French "noble" (see gentle). Meaning "easy and sprightly in manner" first attested 1670s. The same French word otherwise was Englished as genteel. Related: Jauntily; jauntiness.

ostentatious (adj.) 

1701, from ostentation + -ous. Earlier in a similar sense were ostentative (c. 1600); ostentive (1590s). Related: Ostentatiously; ostentatiousness (1650s).

timorous (adj.) 

early 15c., from Middle French timoureus (14c.), from Medieval Latin timorosus "fearful," from Latin timor "fear, dread, apprehension, anxiety; religious awe, reverence," from timere "to fear, be afraid, dread," of unknown origin. Some early senses in English seem to show confusion with Middle English temerous "rash" (see temerity). Related: Timorously; timorousness.

fractious (adj.) 

"apt to quarrel," 1725, from fraction in an obsolete sense of "a brawling, discord" (c. 1500) + -ous; probably on model of captious. Related: Fractiously; fractiousness.