Weird Word Wednesday

duumvir

noun  du·um·vir \du̇-ˈəm-vər also dyu̇-\

Popularity: Bottom 20% of words

Definition of duumvir

1

:  one of two Roman officers or magistrates constituting a board or court

2

:  one of two people jointly holding power

duumvirateplay \-və-rət\ noun

Origin and Etymology of duumvir

Latin, from duum (genitive of duo two) + vir man

First Known Use: 1600

Kelley Heckart

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Weird Word Wednesday

dutasteride

noun  du·tas·te·ride \dü-ˈtas-tə-ˌrīd\

Medical Definition of dutasteride

:  a synthetic drug C27H30F6N2O2 that inhibits 5-alpha-reductase and is used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia ◆Dutasteride is marketed under the trademark Avodart.

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

duff

noun \ˈdəf\

Popularity: Bottom 40% of words

Definition of duff

1

:  a boiled or steamed pudding often containing dried fruit

2

:  the partly decayed organic matter on the forest floor

3

:  fine coal :  slack

Origin and Etymology of duff

English dialect, alteration of dough

First Known Use: 1816

2 duff

noun

Definition of duff

:  buttocks

Origin and Etymology of duff

origin unknown

First Known Use: circa 1837

3 duff

adjective

Definition of duff

British

:  inferior, worthless

Origin and Etymology of duff

duff, noun, something worthless, from 1duff

First Known Use: circa 1889

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

doraphobia

noun  do·ra·pho·bia \ˌdōr-ə-ˈfō-bē-ə, ˌdȯr-\

  

Medical Definition of doraphobia

:  a dread of touching the skin or fur of an animal

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

doodad

noun

  

1

a small article the actual name of which one either does not know or cannot remember

2

a small object displayed for its attractiveness or interest

3

something that decorates or beautifies

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

dodder

verb

to move forward while swaying from side to side

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

Diatessaron

noun  di·a·tes·sa·ron 

a harmony of the four Gospels edited and arranged into a single connected narrative

Greek (Euangelion) dia tessarōn, literally, Gospel out of four, from dia through, out of + tessarōn, genitive of tessares four — more at dia-, four

First Known Use: 1803

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

Diakinesis

noun  dia·ki·ne·sis

:  the final stage of the meiotic prophase marked by contraction of the bivalents

New Latin

First Known Use: circa 1902

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

Diaeresis

noun  di·aer·e·sis

Definition of diaeresis

plural 

diaereses

\-ˌsēz\

1. 1:  a mark ¨ placed over a vowel to indicate that the vowel is pronounced in a separate syllable (as in naïve or Brontë) — compare umlaut
2. 2:  the break in a verse caused by the coincidence of the end of a foot with the end of a word

Late Latin diaeresis, from Greek diairesis,literally, division, from diairein to divide, from dia- + hairein to take

First Known Use: circa 1611

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

Diadelphous

adjective  di·adel·phous 

:  united by filaments into two fascicles —used of stamens

First Known Use: 1807

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

Diachronic

adjective  dia·chron·ic 

:  of, relating to, or dealing with phenomena (as of language or culture) as they occur or change over a period of time

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

Diabesity

noun  di·a·be·si·ty 

Medical Definition of diabesity

1.  :  obesity associated with diabetes 

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

Diablerie

noun 

1.  1:  black magic :  sorcery

2.  2a :  a representation in words or pictures of black magic or of dealings with the devil

3.  b :  demon lore

4.  3:  mischievous conduct or manner

Origin and Etymology of diablerie

French, from Old French, from dïable devil, from Late Latin diabolus — more at devil

First Known Use: 1751

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

Deucalion

noun  Deu·ca·lion \d(y)ü-ˈkāl-yən\

Popularity: Bottom 20% of words

Definition of Deucalion

:  a survivor with his wife Pyrrha of a great flood by which Zeus destroys the rest of the human race

Origin and Etymology of deucalion

Latin, from Greek Deukaliōn

First Known Use: 1565

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

desacralize

verb  de·sa·cral·ize \(ˌ)dē-ˈsā-krə-ˌlīz, -ˈsa-\

Popularity: Bottom 30% of words

Definition of desacralize

Desacralized desacralizing

transitive verb

:  to divest of sacred qualities or status

desacralization play \(ˌ)dē-ˌsā-krə-lī-ˈzā-shən, -ˌsa-\ noun

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

deracinate

verb  de·rac·i·nate \(ˌ)dē-ˈra-sə-ˌnāt\

Popularity: Top 40% of words

Definition of deracinate

Deracinated deracinating

transitive verb

1

:  uproot

2

:  to remove or separate from a native environment or culture; especially :  to remove the racial or ethnic characteristics or influences from

deracination play \(ˌ)dē-ˌra-sə-ˈnā-shən\ noun

Origin and Etymology of deracinate

Middle French desraciner, from des- de- + racine root, from Late Latin radicina, from Latin radic-, radix — more at root

First Known Use: 1599

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

deodar

noun  de·o·dar \ˈdē-ə-ˌdär\

Popularity: Bottom 20% of words

Definition of deodar

:  an East Indian cedar (Cedrus deodara)

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

denarius

noun  de·nar·i·us \di-ˈner-ē-əs\

Popularity: Bottom 30% of words

Definition of denarius

plural denarii play \-ē-ˌī, -ē-ˌē\

1

:  a small silver coin of ancient Rome

2

:  a gold coin of the Roman Empire equivalent to 25 denarii

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

demagogue

noun  dem·a·gogue \ˈde-mə-ˌgäg\

Popularity: Top 1% of lookups

Simple Definition of demagogue

: a political leader who tries to get support by making false claims and promises and using arguments based on emotion rather than reason

When the ancient Greeks used dēmagōgos (from dēmos, meaning "people," and agein, "to lead") they meant someone good-a leader who used outstanding oratorical skills to further the interests of the common people. Mid-17th-century writers such as Thomas Hobbes and John Dryden-and, later, Jonathan Swift-employed the English word that way. But, at the same time, the word took a negative turn, coming to suggest one who uses powers of persuasion to sway and mislead.

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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Weird Word Wednesday

deke

verb \ˈdēk\

Popularity: Bottom 30% of words

Definition of deke

Deked dekeing

transitive verb

:  to fake (an opponent) out of position (as in ice hockey)

intransitive verb

:  to deke an opponent

deke noun

Deke originated as a shortened form of "decoy." Ernest Hemingway used "deke" as a noun referring to hunting decoys in his 1950 novel Across the River and into the Trees ("I offered to put the dekes out with him"). About a decade later, "deke" began appearing in ice-hockey contexts in Canadian print sources as both a verb and a noun ("the act of faking an opponent out of position").

      Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

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