Wondrous Words Wednesday
There does seem to be some interest in a Wondrous Words Wednesday meme, so I’m going to give it a shot. Feel free to join in whenever you have new words to share. Here are some new (to me) words I discovered last week:
1. emanuensis – This was used in Drood, by Dan Simmons, like this: “By the weekend, Caroline had hired a male emanuensis to sit in a nearby chair and take my dictation. ”
Emanuensis refers to persons performing a function by hand, either writing down the words of another or performing manual labor.
2. moppeen – I found this word used in Very Valentine, by Adriana Trigiani, like this “Gram twists a striped moppeen around her hand and rests it in her lap.”
I haven’t been able to find a definition for this word, but from the context, I think it means dishrag. Does anyone know for sure?
3. caparisoned – This is another word I found in Drood. “Then, follow white elephants caparisoned in countless colors. . .”
Caparisoned means to be dressed in richly ornamented finery.
4. minims – Dan Simmons used this in Drood like this: “How many minims did you use?”
A minim is a unit of volume in both the imperial and US customary systems of measurements.
What new words have you discovered lately?
Bermudaonion's Weblog 
Okay, this meme, I’m going to do. Starting next week. I always skip over words I don’t know and try to guess from context, it will be much more fun if I write them down and post them.
I’m not sure if my minims are the same as in Drood, that looks like a musical reference, but in palaeography (reading old handwriting) minims are the stems of letters such a “m”, “n” and “u”. M has 3, n and u have 2 (and often look the same) and then there is i, which is only one minim. It gets confusing when you have 4 or 5 and have no idea what the word is!
My Italian immigrant grandmother always referred to her dishtowel as a moppeen….you guessed right!
Thanks JoAnn, I couldn’t find a definition for the word either.
Moppeen is a dishtowel – my mother-in-law used that term all the time.
I assumed the same as you with moppeen. I look forward to joining in Wondrous Words Wednesday in the future!
Yay! I was really looking forward to starting this meme. My words are here.
Sounds like I’m going to need a dictionary for DROOD! I promise to start writing down words!
Great words…I have no idea what a moppeen is
I want to do this meme too, although I haven’t come across any new words this week (that I’ve noticed). These are all great ones! I had heard of emanuensis before, but I couldn’t have defined it. All the others are totally new to me.
I noticed that Drood was full of words I didn’t know! I have a pretty decent vocab from so much reading, but “caparisoned”? What?! 🙂 This is a great idea. Once I get my blogging back on track, I’ll join in.
I’m going to have to start writing down the words I look up so I can post them – what a great idea! And I agree with Julie – Drood seems to require keeping a dictionary handy.
Wonderful meme, which I heard about through Minds Alive on the Shelves. I did a quickie today, and kind of cheated, but I’m going to do it properly next week. Great idea, and I’m glad you started this!
Here’s mine.
Since I am reading Drood now, I appreciate these definitions even more!
This is a wonderful meme, Kathy! I don’t have anything ready for today, but I’m going to compile my list for each week!
I may start referring to the dish-cleaning things (Sctoch-Brite sponge, kitchen towel) as “moppeens” … my kids can add another mom-eccentricity to the list 🙂
I’ve come across a couple of new words this week also. Mine are here
Thanks Kathy for this new fun meme.
I always pay attention to this every week, although I haven’t run across any words to share. I think my problem is that, even though I’m reading Drood as well, I read so many Victorian novels in college, that I soaked up all the unusual words and my reading eye thinks of them as being normal. I’ll keep an eye out for new ones. Promise!
Boy, I will need a dictionary if I read Drood…but it does sound like a good book. I posted my word here:
http://jo-jolovestoread.blogspot.com/2009/02/wondrous-words-wednesday-feb-11.html
I always look up the words I don’t know then move on. It will be fun to make a weekly list and then share them. Although I will have to start next week, I would like to share one word that I came across yesterday…it is so strange and wonderful…
incunabula – 15th century books
(from Old Books, Rare Friends by Rostenberg and Stein)
I look forward to playing next week.
I started doing this on my own, just today I put up my first official post: Words from my reading
My post is up. I’m hoping this helps me actually look up the words instead of just guessing from the context.
http://carolsnotebook.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/wondrous-words-wednesday/
This is so fun! I’ll have to make a note and participate next week.
I love this meme!! 🙂
Cool! Maybe I’ll do this someday.
I knew emanuensis, but your other three words are new to me. I have 2 new words here. This is a great idea!
Cute picture!
I can honestly say that I have never heard of ANY of those words.
So I have decided that they are all fake! 🙂
Can you come back to Savvy Verse & Wit and tell me which book you prefer from the giveaway! I forgot to mention it in the rules (which are amended now)….oopsie…thanks.
I love caparison! and it works well with my current read: Mauve by Simon Garfield. The chapter I’m on now discusses the Victorian fashion trends.
I knew the word “emanuensis” from Cloud Atlas, but the rest were new to me. Very cool!
How fun! I admit I haven’t heard of any of the words you list in this post.
Cool! Like I said last week, if I find any new words I’ll be sure to join in.
Thanks for the definitions Kathy – I’m about 1/2 way through Drood – so they are definitely coming in handy!
I love these every week! I wish I could say I am adding them to my vocabulary, but that would be a lie.
This meme is so fun! I’m reaching for (or typing into, rather) the dictionary far more often. I used to just gloss over words didn’t know, with my best guess. Here the words I found this week:
https://bermudaonion.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/wondrous-words-wednesday/
The word moppeen is used several times in Adriana Trigiani’s new book, the Shoemaker’s Wife. Thankfully I found the meaning of it, dish cloth of sorts, on this site. By the way The Shoemaker’s Wife is a wonderful book.
Ms Trigiani also uses the word, moppeen, in The Shoemaker’s Wife: “…placed a clean moppeen over his shirt…”. This indicates it would be a cloth or dish towel.
Moppeen is a sort of dishtowel to tuck into the waist to clean up minor spills when working in kitchen . It is called moppeen in Italian immigrants .other cultures use it too but just have named it.