1000 Words to Expand Your Vocabulary

Z

Introduction

When I was young, really young, my parents were worried there was something wrong with me because I didn’t speak very much. When I did speak I was afflicted with an overt stammer. The words I wanted to say just couldn’t be spoken quickly enough, the thoughts that I had couldn’t be expressed exactly, or nearly exactly, how I wanted them to be. In short, I didn’t have the words to say what I wanted to say. Hence, I fell silent, withdrew into an internal world, until I learned to read and discovered more words and ways to hide my stutter.

I’ve been involved in the meaning of language (and the language of meaning) for well over half my life. In order for a language to function it needs two components: a vocabulary and a grammatical structure. Grammar is sexy in my opinion, a puzzle and a trick, smoke and mirrors maybe? Vocabulary is far more mundane, possibly? After all, it is only words? Right? Wrong!

The beautiful thing about the English language is that it is the most expressive and descriptive language in the world. English absorbs words, like a giant sponge; words from all different cultures that it chews up, swallows and spews out again in different forms; it’s a Leviathan, the Kraken, a ravenous Hydra – basically it’s a monster, but a beguilingly beautiful beast.

So how do you choose a thousand words from this linguistic maelstrom? Well, I hold my hands up and confess my decisions were partly based on words I like, partly on words I had no idea what they meant and partly on words I thought sounded cool and interesting. There are thousands more out there swimming around in the whirlpool waiting to be hooked out, so please don’t take this as an exhaustive list by any means.

It has been an interesting journey. There are lots of words in this book which I have been using erroneously, ‘mordant’ being one of many. Equally fascinating are the peculiarities of common speech: ‘I locked myself out of my house last week but happily my neighbour has a spare key.’ Actually, my neighbour did not appreciate being woken up at 3 a.m. to give me the spare key at all and so didn’t happily let me get into my house. Haply (fortuitously/luckily) my neighbour has a spare key to my house, but who would notice the difference? But there is a difference in meaning and that is important. Ambiguity is the enemy of truth and meaning and therefore, rather worryingly, general understanding.

It’s a slight point, maybe, but worth considering nonetheless. Increasingly, we live in a world of ‘fake news’ and ‘the post-truth epoch’, and thus the necessity to express what we really want to say is of paramount importance; to speak, write and communicate as clearly, concisely and correctly as we can. And for that we need the right words. It is to be hoped this little book may help in some small way.

Joseph Piercy

A

Aberrant: If something is aberrant it is deviating in some fashion or manner from the norm. Aberrant is a direct borrow from the Latin word aberrāns, meaning to go astray. A secondary meaning relates to behaviour, specifically bad behaviour or behaviour considered out of character or abnormal.

Such aberrant behaviour will not be tolerated.

Abet: To encourage or assist another in the fulfilment of an action or (often illegal) activity.

She was charged by the police with aiding and abetting a bank robbery.

Abeyance: In English the word abeyance can be used in technical legal language and in a more generalized manner. Disputes over the contents of a will, for example, may cause a property or title to be placed in abeyance, meaning waiting to be claimed by a rightful heir or owner. Future plans can also be in abeyance if they are dependent upon the outcome of a change in future circumstances.

We had to put our plans for a camping trip in abeyance due to a sudden change in the weather forecast.

Abjure: To abjure is to reject, renounce or forswear a belief, practice or opinion. The word shares the same Latin root jurare, meaning to swear an oath, as perjury and jury and hence has its groundings in law. It is possible of course to casually abjure any formerly held belief or opinion, but in the Middle Ages if the Spanish Inquisition demanded someone abjure from ungodly practices or beliefs it usually meant being tortured or burned at the stake. Not to be confused with adjure (see below).

He abjured his devotion to soccer when it became so expensive to attend matches.

Abnegate: A verb that shares its Latin roots with several other words, all of them in denial. Negare means to deny or refute and the word abnegation began to appear in English as early as the fourteenth century. It was, however, several hundred years before abnegate appeared as a verb. This is an example of retroactive word formation, as it is natural to assume that the act of denying occurred before anyone was accused of being in denial. Abnegate can also be used in a formal sense to refer to the relinquishing of power or responsibility.

President Obama rushed several bills through Congress before protocol decreed he abnegate his presidential powers.

Abrogate: A potential malapropism with the previous entry, as in some senses abnegate and abrogate are very similar. To abrogate is to take authoritative action to abolish or annul something, whereas to abnegate is to give away authoritative power. Where it all gets a bit murky is when it comes to abnegating or abrogating moral responsibility for actions, but that is a matter for subjective judgement.

The incursions by rebel forces had forced the government to abrogate the fragile peace treaty.

Abscond: A borrowing from the Latin word abscondere, meaning to conceal or hide. People usually abscond in a hurry; typically to avoid detection of or an arrest for an unlawful action such as theft.

They absconded with the weekly bar takings and fled to Spain.

Abstemious: The words abstemious and abstain are often thought to be synonymous but in fact they derive from different Latin roots. To be abstemious is to deny oneself the joys of intoxicating drinks as the Latin root noun temetum means, basically, booze. The Middle English/Anglo-French word abstinēre, however, means to hold back from or refrain. One can abstain from anything but only an abstemious person refuses a drink.

Many people like to play at being abstemious, especially in January after weeks of self-indulgence.

Acarpous: An Anglicization of the Greek word karpós, meaning fruit. Karpós is steeped in Greek mythology. In English, the addition of the prefix a as a negation gives us a word meaning simply, without fruit or barren. The word can also be used as a synonym for sterile or unfruitful in a figurative sense.

After four hours the board meeting was becoming distinctly acarpous as not a single decision could be agreed upon.

Accoutrement: Often used in plural form, accoutrements are extra or additional items used for some purpose (not always strictly necessary). Derived from Old French, the word originally referred to personal items soldiers carried with them. In modern parlance, accoutrements are often regarded as fashionable items – accessories such as hats, gloves, handbags and jewellery. Quite where the connection between the military and high fashion was formed is anybody’s guess, except perhaps for the fact that French soldiers were generally well dressed and conscious of their appearance.

The major wore all the accoutrements of his rank: sash, medals, ceremonial sword and, frankly, a quite silly hat.

Accumbent: To be in an accumbent position is to be lying backwards and reclining. The word derives from the Latin accumbere, meaning to lie down or lean back. Historically the term is the name given to the habit of eating while lying horizontally, as depicted in classical art and sculpture. It is questionable if the habit of the ancients adopting the posture while feasting was due to some misplaced medical ideas about digestion or was merely (and more probably) just an affectation of wealth and decadence.

The frieze depicts the Emperor Nero, in accumbent posture, being tended to by a gaggle of concubines.

Acedia: Derived from the Greek word kēdos, meaning care or grief, with the negative prefix a it translates as lack of caring. The word acedia in English was originally closely related to the sin of sloth and, as such, became synonymous with laziness. Over time, however, the meaning has become more associated with apathy or boredom.

By Sunday he’d succumbed to acedia and stayed in bed until lunchtime staring at the ceiling.

Aciform: A botanical term used to describe certain plants, aciform derives from the Latin noun acus, meaning needle. The word can be employed to describe anything that is shaped like or resembles a needle, such as the spines on a porcupine, or figuratively for anything that is sharp and spikey.

Her aciform personality made her work colleagues wary of her.

Acquiesce: To acquiesce first arrived in English in the seventeenth century via the French word acquiescer, meaning to remain at rest or to rest satisfied. However, its more modern meaning of to accept something without protest or to accede to the will of others comes from one of its earliest recorded uses in the writings of the philosopher Thomas Hobbes. In his famous work Leviathan (1651), Hobbes argues that strong government can only be achieved if the people ‘acquiesce’ to the rule of the sovereign and the guidance of the Church – that is, accept without question decisions made on their behalf. A more subtle variation of usage is people being forced to acquiesce reluctantly because they have no viable alternative.

‘Our Beleefe … is in the Church; whose word we take, and acquiesce therein.’

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651)

Acuity: A complex word and one which needs to be used carefully. Acuity relates to the human senses and mental perception and in this context can be used as a synonym for the more common word sensitivity. To have strong aural acuity is to have very sharp and accurate hearing. To have mental acuity is to be perceptive and insightful.

Serious head injuries can often have serious side-effects on the acuity of the senses.

Acumen: Acumen in modern usage means to have a depth of perception or keen grasp and insight into a subject or area of knowledge. The word is closely related to acute as both stem from the Latin word for needle, acus. In the fifteenth century acumen related mostly to having quickness of mind and sharp wits and gave rise to the phrase ‘as sharp as a needle’.

Due to his mathematical acumen, and skill with numbers, he could solve in minutes complex problems that took other students several hours to understand.

Adjure: A curious verb and its infrequent usage says much perhaps about the modern world. Although closely linked to other words such as importune and implore, adjure is much more earnest in nature and heralds from a time when people listened to each other more. To adjure is to solemnly advise somebody on a course of action. People who importune tend to be quite pushy and people who implore quite needy. People who adjure are more balanced, cautious and wise.

My liege, I adjure thee to reconsider this course of action.

Adumbrate: Adumbrate is a word much beloved of academics, particularly historians and literary critics. Derived from umbra, Latin for shadow, an action can often adumbrate or foreshadow another future action or consequence. In literary narratives, for example, one action adumbrates a further development in the plot. Adumbrate is also sometimes used in the sense of overshadow.

The prophecies of the three witches adumbrate the fate of Macbeth.

Aestivate: The antonym of hibernate, aestivate is the practice of spending long periods in a sleep-like state of torpor during summer or hot dry seasons. Certain species of fish, amphibians and insects in the world aestivate when water supplies diminish.

As a point of pedantry, creatures don’t hibernate in summer, they aestivate.

Affiche: A rare word that arrived in English via French. An affiche is a printed, often illustrated notice displayed in a public place, often promoting an event such as a concert or art exhibition. In French there are all sorts of elegant-sounding variations, such as affiche de cinema (film poster) and affiche lumineuse (neon sign), and to be top of the bill or the headline act is to be tête d’affiche.

The original 1960s affiche de cinema are highly collectable.

Affluence versus Opulence: Affluence describes a person who has become wealthy, either by accident or design. Opulence is a more general term for an abundance of wealth and resources. Therefore the oil-rich states in the Middle East are opulent societies where affluent people reside.

It wasn’t until I moved to Dubai that I really experienced affluence, as I had never lived anywhere so opulent.

Agglutinate: To agglutinate is to form by joining together as if by glue. The word is fairly recent, with its first recorded usage being at the turn of the twentieth century. Originally used in biological terminology when describing the grouping of blood cells, the process of agglutination is also a linguistic term for forming compound words by, literally, sticking them together.

Karl Landsteiner identified different blood types after observing how certain cells agglutinated with others.

Agiotage: A polite term for a rather grubby business, agiotage is the practice of exchanging different currencies in order to make a profit. From the French verb agioter, meaning to speculate, the word first appeared in English in the early eighteenth century and was often applied to Jewish moneylenders/bankers, so has vaguely anti-Semitic undercurrents.

On the streets of Moscow the practice of agiotage was rife during the financial upheavals of the early 1990s.

Agog: Agog derives from the Middle French words en gogues, meaning to be in good humour. It also has links to the verb to goggle, meaning to stare with intense interest and excitement. When we are agog we are viewing something with wide-eyed interest.

The boys were all agog with the presents they received for Christmas.

Alacrity: Derived from the Latin word alacer, meaning lively and enthusiastic, to display alacrity in action is to show cheerful readiness and willingness. Alacrity shares similar roots to the musical term allegro, which denotes a jaunty tempo. Jane Austen and Shakespeare were fond of the word, with the latter’s Richard III, on the eve of the Battle of Bosworth, bemoaning his lack of energy and verve.

‘I have not that alacrity of spirit,

Nor cheer of mind, that I was wont to have.’

William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act 5, Scene 3

Albescent: To describe something as albescent isn’t quite the same as describing the colour white. Derived from the Latin albēscere, meaning to turn white, it refers to the process or appearance of something whitening or shading into whiteness.

Her face took on an albescent hue when she heard the terrible news.

Aleatory: Alea is the Latin word for dice or playing games with dice as in the famous phrase attributed to Julius Caesar, Alea iacta est, or ‘the die is cast’. A situation is aleatory if it is at the mercy of random factors and chance, like the roll of a dice. The word is often used to describe unfortunate happenings or unpredictable results.

The picnic was ruined due to the aleatory nature of the weather.

Aliment: Aliments are vital, we couldn’t survive without them. In Latin, alimentum means food and nourishment and other elements needed to sustain life; in English, aliments are anything that we need for healthy survival. The word is the stem for alimony in divorce law, which are the payments needed for the support of a spouse (and family) following the dissolution of a marriage.

He went in search of the aliments needed to survive in such a barren environment.

Altruism: The practice of altruism is doing charitable acts for the benefit and welfare of others. The word is an Anglicization of the French word altruisme, which has the same meaning and developed from autrui, meaning other people.

Mother Teresa was canonized for her life of devoted altruism.

Amaranthine: A beautiful adjective steeped in poetic suggestion, amaranthine has its roots in the odes of Ancient Greece. Amarantos in Greek means immortal or undying and this gave rise to the mythical flower the amaranth, a flower which never wilted or faded. The adjective amaranthine, then, refers to anything that is immortal and timeless.

The amaranthine beauty of the sun setting over the sea.

Ambages: An archaic word that is seldom used and yet has survived in English since the fourteenth century. An ambage is a winding or indirect pathway or route. Ambages are inconsistencies or lack of