Weird Word Wednesday

entasis

NOUN

Architecture

A slight convex curve in the shaft of a column, introduced to correct the visual illusion of concavity produced by a straight shaft.

Example sentences

‘Not only does this polysemy make it an enigmatic signifier, but the computer-perfected entasis makes it a good example of propositional beauty - the central planned skyscraper with elegant double curves shooting to the sky.’

‘The entasis of this skyscraper, like that of a Doric column, leads to a new kind of propositional beauty, one worked out digitally.’

Origin

Mid 17th century: modern Latin, from Greek, from enteinein ‘to stretch or strain’.

Pronunciation

entasis/ˈɛntəsɪs/

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Weird Word Wednesday

entamoeba

(US entameba)

NOUN

An amoeba that typically lives harmlessly in the gut, though one kind can cause amoebic dysentery.

Example sentences

Origin

Modern Latin, from Greek entos ‘within’ + amoeba.

Pronunciation

entamoeba/ˌɛntəˈmiːbə/

Kelley Heckart

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Weird Word Wednesday

ensheath

VERB

[WITH OBJECT]

Biology

Enclose (an organism, tissue, structure, etc.) in a sheath.

‘the axons are ensheathed by Schwann cells’

More example sentences

Pronunciation

ensheath/ɪnˈʃiːθ/

Kelley Heckart

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Weird Word Wednesday

enosis

Pronunciation /ɪˈnəʊsɪs//ˈɛnəsɪs/

NOUN

mass noun

The political union of Cyprus and Greece, as an aim or ideal of certain Greeks and Cypriots.

Example sentences

‘The Turks invaded, in 1974, just as the island was edging towards reunion or enosis with Greece.’

Origin

1920s: from modern Greek henōsis, from hena ‘one’.

Pronunciation

enosis/ɪˈnəʊsɪs//ˈɛnəsɪs/

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

ennead

NOUN

rare

A group or set of nine.

Example sentences

‘I think that it goes back even further, to the Ennead, the pantheon of nine gods and goddesses in ancient Egypt.’

‘Ennead refers to a grouping of typically 9 gods.’

Origin

Mid 16th century: from Greek enneas, ennead-, from ennea ‘nine’.

Pronunciation

ennead/ˈɛnɪad/

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

enlace

VERB

literary

Entwine or entangle.

‘a web of green enlaced the thorn trees’

More example sentences

Origin

Middle English: from Old French enlacier, based on Latin laqueus ‘noose’.

Pronunciation

enlace/ɪnˈleɪs//ɛnˈleɪs/

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

enkindle

VERB

literary

1Set on fire.

‘the glare from its enkindled roof illumined its innermost recesses’

2Arouse or inspire (an emotion)

‘fresh remembrance of vexation must still enkindle rage’

Pronunciation

enkindle/ɛnˈkɪnd(ə)l//ɪnˈkɪnd(ə)l/

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

enkephalin

(also encephalin)

NOUN

Biochemistry

Either of two peptide compounds occurring naturally in the brain, related to the endorphins and having similar physiological effects.

Example sentences

Origin

1970s: from Greek enkephalos ‘brain’ (from en- ‘in’ + kephalē ‘head’) + -in.

Pronunciation

enkephalin/ɛnˈkɛf(ə)lɪn/

Kelley Heckart

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Weird Word Wednesday

enjambed

ADJECTIVE

(of a line, couplet, or stanza of verse) ending part-way through a sentence or clause which continues in the next.

Example sentences

‘In the last four lines, all of them enjambed, Ryan begins to break against the units of grammatical and syntactical sense that give the first nine lines their air of balanced authority and control.’

‘Another aural effect created by it in highly enjambed poems is a counterpoint of the pauses expected at the end of lines with the pauses that occur mid-line as they frame a completed thought or grammatical unit.’

Origin

Late 19th century: from French enjamber ‘stride over’ + -ed.

Pronunciation

enjambed/ɛnˈdʒam//ɪnˈdʒam/

Kelley Heckart

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Weird Word Wednesday

enisle

VERB

literary

Isolate on or as if on an island.

‘in the sea of life enisled, we mortal millions live alone’

Pronunciation

enisle/ɪnˈʌɪl//ɛnˈʌɪl/

Kelley Heckart

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Weird Word Wednesday

enharmonic

ADJECTIVE

Music

1Relating to or denoting notes which are the same in pitch (in modern tuning) though bearing different names (e.g. F sharp and G flat or B and C flat)

‘double flats and double sharps are replaced by their enharmonic equivalents in harp music’

More example sentences

1.1 Of or having intervals smaller than a semitone (e.g. between notes such as F sharp and G flat, in systems of tuning which distinguish them).

Example sentences

Origin

Early 17th century (designating ancient Greek music based on a tetrachord divided into two quarter-tones and a major third): via late Latin from Greek enarmonikos, from en- ‘in’ + harmonia ‘harmony’.

Pronunciation

enharmonic/ˌɛnhɑːˈmɒnɪk/

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

enfilade

NOUN

1A volley of gunfire directed along a line from end to end.

‘they were mown down by an enfilade of artillery’

2A suite of rooms with doorways in line with each other.

Example sentences

VERB

Direct a volley of gunfire along the length of (a target)

‘a sweeping crossfire enfiladed our riflemen’

Origin

Early 18th century (denoting the position of a military post commanding the length of a line): from French, from enfiler ‘thread on a string, pierce from end to end’, from en- ‘in, on’ + fil ‘thread’.

Pronunciation

enfilade/ˌɛnfɪˈleɪd/

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

enfeoff

VERB

(under the feudal system) give (someone) freehold property or land in exchange for their pledged service.

‘he enfeoffed trustees with the lands’

‘the enfeoffed knights and overlords’

More example sentences

Origin

Late Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French enfeoffer, from Old French en- ‘in’ + fief ‘fief’. Compare with feoffment.

Pronunciation

enfeoff/ɪnˈfiːf//ɪnˈfɛf//ɛnˈfiːf//ɛnˈfɛf/

Kelley Heckart

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Weird Word Wednesday

endarterectomy

NOUN

mass noun

Surgical removal of part of the inner lining of an artery, together with any obstructive deposits, most often carried out on the carotid artery or on vessels supplying the legs.

‘endarterectomy has proved successful’

count noun ‘many carotid endarterectomies were unnecessary’

More example sentences

Pronunciation

endarterectomy/ˌɛndɑːtəˈrɛktəmi/

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

encapsidate

VERB

Biochemistry

Enclose (a gene or virus particle) in a protein shell.

‘each piece of dsRNA is encapsidated separately’

More example sentences

Origin

1980s: from en- + capsid + -ate.

Pronunciation

encapsidate/ɪnˈkapsɪdeɪt//ɛnˈkapsɪdeɪt/

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

emu-bob

VERB

Australian

Carry out a detailed search of an area.

‘the men form a line and emu-bob through the waist-high scrub’

with object ‘after emu-bobbing the surroundings for potential clues, they return along the track’

More example sentences

Origin

Early 20th century: with allusion to the movements of an emu bending its neck towards the ground in search of food.

Kelley Heckart

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Weird Word Wednesday

empaestic

(also empaeistic, empaistic)

ADJECTIVE

Art Architecture

rare

Of or relating to embossing or embossed ornamentation; (of ornamentation) embossed, stamped.

Origin

Mid 19th century. From Hellenistic Greek ἐμπαιστικός of or relating to embossing (in ἐμπαιστική τέχνη the art of embossing) from Byzantine Greek ἐμπαιστός embossed (although this is apparently first attested later; from Hellenistic Greek ἐμπαίειν to beat in, emboss, already in ancient Greek in intransitive, figurative use + -τός, suffix forming verbal adjectives) + -ικός.

Pronunciation

empaestic/ɛmˈpiːstɪk//ɛmˈpʌɪstɪk//ɪmˈpiːstɪk/

Kelley Heckart

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Weird Word Wednesday

emmenagogue

NOUN

Medicine

A substance that stimulates or increases menstrual flow.

Example sentences

Origin

Early 18th century: from Greek emmēna ‘menses’ + agōgos ‘eliciting’.

Pronunciation

emmenagogue/ɛˈmiːnəɡɒɡ//ɪˈmiːnəɡɒɡ/

Kelley Heckart

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Weird Word Wednesday

elflock

noun  elf·lock \ˈelf-ˌläk\

Popularity: Bottom 20% of words

 Definition of elflock

:hair matted as if by elves —usually used in plural

First Known Use: 1592

Kelley Heckart

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Weird Word Wednesday

elenchus

noun  elen·chus \i-ˈleŋ-kəs\

Popularity: Bottom 20% of words

Definition of elenchus

plural elenchiplay \i-ˈleŋ-ˌkī, -(ˌ)kē\

:  refutation; especially :  one in syllogistic form

First Known Use: 1663

Origin and Etymology of elenchus

Latin, from Greek elenchus

Kelley Heckart

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