Daniel’s Words of the Week

My first word to share is “Charientism” It’s odd--I’ve only ever read the word, and it was so long ago that I have no idea what I read it from, but the definition stuck with me because it was so interesting.  From Wiktionary: A figure of speech wherein a taunting expression is softened by a jest; an insult veiled in grace. Its etymology is Latin/Greek, and French has a similar word “charientisme.” This is definitely one of those once in a blue moon words.

A couple months ago, another class of mine was discussing consonant blends at the beginning of words. I couldn’t help but notice that nobody mentioned the “skl” blend. I immediately thought of the word “sclera,” but couldn’t think of any others. To the internet!! It turns out most “skl” words are some derivation of sclera, like sclerotic, sclerosis, and scleroderma. Anywho, I decided sclera would be one of my words for this week! The sclera (from Greek skleros, meaning hard) is also known as the white of the eye, and is the opaque, fibrous, protective, outer layer of the eye. It may be an anatomical word, but an important one at that. The online etymology dictionary says it is medical Latin originating in 1886, but its Greek root is much older.

My last word is “apse.” Today I bought a book by Ken Follett, who also wrote The Pillars of the Earth (which I love and recommend to everyone). I was thinking back to TPotE and what I remember of it, and I realized I learned a bunch of architectural words having to do with churches. I’m Jewish so I didn’t really know anything about churches before then. I remembered one of those words often mentioned was “apse.” An apse (from Latin apsis) is a semi-circular or polygonal recess, arched or dome-roofed, in a building, esp. at the end of the choir, aisles, or nave of a church (OED). The Latin form was used in 1706, and the English form first used 1846. They are often elaborately painted/decorated and are very beautiful!

~Daniel Reilly