megalomania \meg-uh-lo-MAY-nee-ah; -nyuh\ (noun) - 1 : A mania for grandiose or extravagant things or actions. 2 : A mental disorder characterized by delusions of grandeur.

"What looked before like 'walking reason' was now 'screeching megalomania'. And the flaw it implied in her was not simply a neurosis but a profound disease." -- Jeff Walker,...Read more

stolid \STOL-id\ (adjective) - Having or revealing little emotion or sensibility; not easily excited.

"The redbrick church, austere and stolid as a winter-shorn oak, sprang from the frozen lawn wreathed by sun-sparkling cars." -- James Isaiah Gabbe, 'Larue's Manuevers'

Stolid derives from Latin stolidus, "unmoving, stupid."

countermand \KOWN-tuhr-mand; kown-tuhr-MAND\ (transitive verb) - 1 : To revoke (a former command); to cancel or rescind by giving an order contrary to one previously given. 2 : To recall or order back by a contrary order.

(noun) - 1 : A contrary order. 2 : Revocation of a former order or command.

"He argued that if the Rising went ahead as ...Read more

toothsome \TOOTH-suhm\ (adjective) - 1 : Pleasing to the taste; delicious; as, "a toothsome pie." 2 : Agreeable; attractive; as, "a toothsome offer." 3 : Sexually attractive.

"Tarzan had not broken fast this day, and it was many miles to where lay the toothsome remains of Horta the boar." -- Edgar Rice Burroughs, 'Tarzan of the Apes'

Toothsome...Read more

alfresco \al-FRES-koh\ (adverb) - In the open air; outdoors.

(adjective) - Taking place or located in the open air; outdoor.

"I thought an alfresco picnic would be fun, and the weather is supposed to be rather nice, later, for March; we can wrap up warm and sit on the beach." -- Tess Stimson, 'The Adultry Club'

Alfresco is from the Italian al...Read more

redivivus \red-uh-VY-vuhs; -VEE-\ (adjective) - Living again; brought back to life; revived; restored.

"'He can't be redivivus if he's never died,' Diotallevi said. 'Sure he's not Ahasuerus, the wandering Jew?'" -- Umberto Eco, 'Foccault's Pendulum'

Redivivus comes from Latin, from the prefix red-, re-, "again" + vivus, "alive."

melange \may-LAHNZH\ (noun) - A mixture; a medley.

"Harley Burton's office was a melange of overcrowded and mismatched furnishings. The desk, huge and oblong, was too large for the room; the chairs too small..." -- Katherine V. Forrest, 'Amateur City'

Melange derives from Old French meslance, from mesler, "to mix," ultimately from Latin ...Read more

tmesis \TMEE-sis\ (noun) - In grammar and rhetoric, the separation of the parts of a compound word, now generally done for humorous effect; for example, "what place soever" instead of "whatsoever place," or "abso-bloody-lutely."

"...He proceeded to expound upon the intricacies of Eratosthenes' prose, with its anaphora, asyndeton, synesis and ...Read more

firmament \FUR-muh-muhnt\ (noun) - 1 : The region of the air; the sky; the heavens. 2 : The field or sphere of an interest or activity.

"Then all at once he reached the gates of the firmament and the cloud opened, so that Moses could step out." -- Howard Schwartz, 'Gabriel's Palace: Jewish Mystical Tales"

Firmament comes from Late Latin ...Read more

benefaction \BEN-uh-fak-shuhn; ben-uh-FAK-shuhn\ (noun) - 1 : The act of conferring a benefit. 2 : A benefit conferred; especially, a charitable donation.

"Benefaction is its own reward, to be sure, but benefaction is not enough. To do good is good; to free up to do good is greater." -- Tim Jorgenson, 'Mrs Keckly Sends Her Regards: The Last ...Read more

xenophobia \ZEN-uh-FOE-bee-uh\ (noun) - Fear or hatred of strangers, people from other countries, or of anything that is strange or foreign.

"Even if Indians had been accepting of mixed alliances, the xenophobia of the British warranted no other response to Anglo-Indian alliances..." -- Indu Sundaresan, 'The Splendor of Silence'

The word ...Read more

quaff \KWOFF; KWAFF\ (transitive verb) - To drink with relish; to drink copiously of; to swallow in large draughts. (intransitive verb) To drink largely or luxuriously. (noun) A drink quaffed.

"Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!' Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore.'" -- Edgar Allen Poe, 'The Raven'

Quaff is of unknown ...Read more

officious \uh-FISH-uhs\ (adjective) - Marked by excessive eagerness in offering services or advice where they are neither requested nor needed; meddlesome.

"Another officious-looking woman, who looked remarkably like the first officious-looking woman, down to the little chain on her reading glasses, had him sit down across from her while she ...Read more

hauteur \haw-TUR; (h)oh-\ (noun) - Haughty manner, spirit, or bearing; haughtiness; arrogance.

"The earl's eyes were momentarily hurt, his expression baffled; then he dismissed the emotions and replaced them with cold disdain, relying on the hauteur Robin knew so well." -- Jennifer Roberson, 'Lady of the Forest'

Hauteur is from the French, ...Read more

deliquesce \del-ih-KWES\ (intransitive verb) - 1 : To melt away or to disappear as if by melting. 2 : (Chemistry) To dissolve gradually and become liquid by attracting and absorbing moisture from the air, as certain salts, acids, and alkalies. 3 : To become fluid or soft with age, as certain fungi. 4 : To form many small divisions or branches --...Read more

modicum \MOD-ih-kum\ (noun) - A small or moderate or token amount.

"She and the last three queens before her had been hard pressed to maintain a modicum of control over the miners and smelters in the Mountains of Mist..." -- Robert Jordan, 'The Fires of Heaven'

Modicum is from Latin modicus, moderate, from modus, measure.

mountebank \MOUN-tuh-bank\ (noun) - 1 : A peddler of quack medicine, who stands on a platform to appeal to the audience. 2 : A charlatan; a boastful pretender to knowledge or a skill.

"I am God's mountebank, doing God's precious business in my own way. But God's precious business cannot be carried on, even by a mountebank, without money..." -- ...Read more

quandary \KWAHN-duh-ree; -dree\ (noun) - A state of difficulty, perplexity, doubt, or uncertainty.

"It was a perfect correlative to my actual financial quandry, the thought of which sent me further into a dismal spiral. What would I do when the bills came..." -- T. Jefferson Parker, 'Summer of Fear'

Quandary is of unknown origin.

scuttlebutt \SKUHT-l-buht\ (noun) - 1 : A drinking fountain on a ship. 2 : A cask on a ship that contains the day's supply of drinking water. 3 : Gossip; rumor.

"I'd never been there, of course, so my information was only scuttlebut." -- Stephen Greenleaf, 'Blood Type'

Scuttlebutt comes from scuttle, "a small opening" + butt, "a large cask" --...Read more

Today, some feedback on recent columns...

In a July offering on early American speech, I blithely wrote that colonial travelers reported a surprising uniformity in American language. Bob Chapman of Newington, Connecticut, wrote to challenge that generalization, citing persuasive evidence from a 1998 biography of lexicographer Noah Webster by ...Read more