Introduction to readingthedictionaryztoa

Reading the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary Backwards

readingthedictionaryztoa.blogspot.com
glennlouisfeole@gmail.com

   I was a philosophy major in college but my true love was literature and words.  As a physician, I have always been drawn to the rich history and etymology of words and meanings.  To deepen my knowledge and also, I admit, to have fun, I desired...I wanted...I yearned to read every word in the Webster's Dictionary.  So...the natural, logical and rational place to start was a letter that had, say, 1 1/2 pages of words, i.e. the letter "x," as opposed to 81 pages ("t").  Maybe, just maybe, my brainpan (to quote Don Quixote) could handle that.  As a compromise, I thought that starting with the letter "z" (4 pages) instead of "x" would demonstrate some moral fiber and innate character...courageousness perhaps.  

     This first blog entry will show some miscellaneous aspects of this endeavor and will be updated as time goes by (Favorite Words, Last Words, Eclectic Etymology, Unknown Etymology, New Yorker Vocabulary, Word Journeys, Tautologies, Interesting Word Facts, Interesting Tables in the Dictionary and, lastly, page counts for each letter). 

    I hope people will feel free to make comments and corrections, addendums other ephemera.  Please email me with your views, thoughts and experiences.  I hope you find much to be enjoyed here.  As James Herriot said in one of his beautiful books, "An afficionado is interesting, but a fanatic is irresistible."

    Glenn Feole, M.D.

    glennlouisfeole@gmail.com

Favorite Words for Each Letter

Z: zephyr  

Y: Yidishist

X: Xanadu

W: Wyvern

V: vespertine

U: umlaut

T: tsutsugamushi

S: syzygy and spoondrift

R:

Q:

P:

O:

N:

M:

L:

K:

J:

I:

H:

G:

F:

E:

D:

C:

B:

A: 

The last word in each alphabetical section

z: zymurgy

y: yurt 

x: xylotomy

w:  wyvern 

v:   vying

u: Uzbek (Turkish people of Turkestan)

t: tzitzis (zizith, tassels) 

s: 

r:

q:

p:

o:

n:

m:

l:

k:

j:

i:

h:

g:

f:

e:

d:

c: Czech

b:

a: 

Words of eclectic etymology:

Afrikans

Taal  

Arabic/Persian

salaam 
   sitar

Chinese

tycoon

sampan 

Eskimo

  umiak  

Finnish

sauna

Flemish:

   spatter

French:

   soiree

toile de Jouy

torsade
   suede (Swedish)

German

weltenschauung

weltschmerz

Thursday

umlaut

  Hawaiian:

     ukulele

  Hindu:

seersucker

shakti

sitar

     Veda

     Veranda

Upanishad
     Krishna
     Rama

Icelandic:

    squeeze

Italian:

titian

tondo

Japanese:

tatami

tempura

satori
    tsutsugamushi

Maori:

tiki

Native American:

sagamore
     Ute (Utah)

Norwegian: (Norse)
   Wednesday
   Thursday

Persian: see Arabic, above

Russian:

troika

samovar

czar (tsar) 

Scottish Gaelic:

trousers

 Swedish:

      tungsten

skin
      Svedberg Unit
      suede (French for SwedishH)

Turkish:

turquoise

Ur:

Urdu:

Words of unknown etiology:

     wingding

sedan
     rampike

New Yorker vocabulary

gnomic 

     (“We are left with a gnomic remark remark that he reportedly made in 1860, eight years before his death,” p. 76, Nov 7, 2016, about Rossini, the author of the opera William Tell.)

 titular  

(“The titular hero…” Nov. 7, 2016, p. 76, about the hero of the opera “William Tell” by Rossini.)

Word Journeys (how the definition of the first word leads to successively unknown, interesting words)

1. from quetzal to altricial

(quetzal…trogan…nonpasserine…altricial)

 2. from an African mammal to a Gothic arch

         see definition of pangolin 

(pangolin...imbricated…pantile…ogee…arches)

 3. seven words that start with "cz"

          Czech, czar, czarina, czaritza (wife of the czar)

 4. from wolf saliva to Catholicism (see definition of "W") 

    (W…Tungsten…Wolfram…wolf saliva…George Agricola…metalurgist…philology…a devout Catholic apologist)

 5. from Wednesday to marital bliss  (See definition of Woden)

...Woden, Oden, Wednesday, Wednesday, Oden’s wife Frigga, goddess of home and marital bliss.

 6. from Persian slaves to the U. S. Constitutional Convention  (See definition of venetian blinds)

     ...Persian slaves, Venice, venetian blinds, Paris, painting of The Constitutiona Convention showing Venetian blinds.

7.  from the triangular part of the external ear, goats, Greek tragedies

8. from redivide to Flintstone vitamins.  See definition of "reduviids." 

...reduviid, hemipterous, lac bug, Southeast Asian word for 100,000, shellac, Flintstone vitamins…

    Reduviid’s also have something to do with children’s vitamins…   I was looking at the label of Flintstone vitamins at work and one of the ingredients was shellac.  Unknown to me is the fact that shellac is a product of insects: the lac bug (a reduviid).  This bug sucks the sap from the bark of a tree and excrete a shellac precursor.  The bark is scraped off and heated in canvas tubes over a fire, the liquid shellac dripping out.  It takes about 300,000 bugs to produce 2.2 lbs of shellac.  The Southeastern Asian word for 100,000 is “lac.”  The word shellac derives from French for ‘shell’ and ‘lac,” laque en ecailles (lac in thin pieces).  

     Shellac as been used for over 3,000 years…for example, on valuable pieces of furniture and precious dowry items and as a paint or varnish.  In the 1920’s and 30’s, most records were made of shellac until the invention of vinyl in 1949.  It is used on fine violas and pianos as well.

    Lastly, since shellac is edible, it is used as a glaze on pills (Flintstone Vitamins) and sweets (Jelly Bellys). 

Word derived from Greek and other mythologies

     syrinx
     

Tautologies, definitions

wood nymph: a dryad;  dryad: [Latin dryad  tree]  a wood nymph

uptown: the section of the town located uptown

wettability: the quality of being wettable

Diminutives

   -ka: in Polish, adding -ka, i.e. vodka (the 'little' water of life)
   -ina: vagina,
   -ita or -ito: Spanish, zapattio for zapato (little shoe)
   -us: uterus
   -etti, Italian: spaghetti

interesting Word Facts

1. A word that has the letters "yzy" 

     syzygy

2. Socrate's shrewish wife

     Xanthippe

3. definition of whoops

     Oops

4. "a word with increasing and decreasing pitch"

     Wow

5. How many words start with "cz”?

seven:

czar

czarina

czaritza

czarism

czarevitch

czardas

Czech

6. a synonym for crepescular

     vespertine

7. What does ”fiole" means in Middle English?

     vial

8. Good news for some heirs

     Ultimogeniture  (the youngest child inherits everything)

9. "usus et fructus"

     a legal term: to have the “use and enjoyment “ of

10. heat seeking

     thigmotaxis

11. measuring turbidity

     turbimeter (perhaps of use in analyzing conversations)

    

12. enjoying other’s misfortunes

     Schadenfreude 

13. y'all

     sparchgefuhl

14. how to whet a scythe

     use a trickle

15. a dance, perhaps that Queequeg would do

     a squeg

16. an STD

     a Sacred Theological Doctor

17. 10 trillionth of a second

     a Svedberg Unit

18. Oden's wife

     Frigga, the goddess of marital bliss

19. words derived from Flemish, Swedish and Icelandic languages?

     Flemish: spatter

     Swedish: Tungsten

     Icelandic: squeeze

20. a word with no definition

     selah: a word of uncertain meaning from the Hebrew psalms.  It is untranslatable into English.

21.  A word spelled with two “u’s”  (uu)

     Weltanschauung

22. Two words that begin and end in the letter x?

      Xerox, xanax.  

Interesting Tables in the Dictionary

Language

Alphabet 

flowers, patterns of growth, inflorescence

Page counts for the letters of the alphabet:

The least number of pages: x (1 1/2 pages, 88 words)

The most number of pages:

A close tie: y and z, 4 and 5 pages

z 4

y 5

x 1 1/2 (88 words)

w 43

v 24

u 23

t 81

s

r

q

p