word of the day: knurl

The word of the day is knurl:

Etymology:  apparently a derivative (? dim.) of knur n.; but compare also knarl n., gnarl n.¹

1. A small projection, protuberance, or excrescence; a knot, knob, boss, nodule, etc.; a small bead or ridge, esp. one of a series worked upon a metal surface for ornamentation or other purpose. 

2. A thick-set, stumpy person; a deformed dwarf. dial. 

3. A knurling-tool. (OED)

"José had drawn the watch with remarkable fidelity, putting in every feature (at least every essential feature - he did not put in 'Westclox, shock resistant, made in USA), not just 'the time' (though this was faithfully registered as 11:31), but every second as well, and the inset seconds dial, and, not least, the knurled winder and trapezoid clip of the watch, used to attach it to a chain."

 - Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

word of the day: abeyance

The word of the day is abeyance:

Etymology:  < Anglo-Norman abeiaunce, abeyaunce (in en abeiaunce ) (of a legal right or title) the state of waiting for a claimant or owner (late 14th cent.; compare Old French abeance aspiration, desire, longing (late 13th cent.)) < Anglo-Norman abayer , abeier , abaier , Anglo-Norman and Old French abaer to gape (c1200 in Anglo-Norman), to open (the mouth) wide (c1220 in Anglo-Norman), to expect, to wait for (late 13th cent.), to wait impatiently (c1300) < a- a- prefix⁵ + Old French beer, baer (Middle French baer, Middle French, French béer, French bayer) to open (the mouth) wide (1121–35), (of a person) to gape (1173), to long for, desire (something) (c1190; compare Old Occitan badar, Catalan badar (14th cent.), Italian badare (1294)) < post-classical Latin badare to open the mouth wide, gape, of uncertain origin; perhaps ultimately imitative.
1. Law. Of a right or title: the position of waiting for or temporarily being without a claimant or owner. Also: a period of being without a claimant or owner.  

2. Temporary inactivity or disuse; suspension; latent condition. (OED)

"We surmise that our patient (like everybody) is stacked with an almost infinite number of 'dormant' memory-traces, some of which can be reactivated under special conditions, especially conditions of overwhelming excitement.  Such traces, we conceive - like the subcortical imprints of remote events far below the horizon of mental life - are indelibly etched in the nervous system, and may persist indefinitely in a state of abeyance, due either to a lack of excitation or to positive inhibition."

 - Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

word of the day: supererogatory

The word of the day is supererogatory:

Etymology:  < post-classical Latin supererogatorius (14th cent. in British sources) < supererogat- , past participial stem of supererogare supererogate v. + classical Latin -ōrius -ory suffix².

 

A. adj.  Characterized by, or having the nature of, supererogation; going beyond what is commanded or required; (more generally) superfluous.  (OED)

"We can usually tell a man's story, relate passages and scenes from his life, without bringing in any physiological or neurological considerations: such considerations would seem, at the least, supererogatory, if not frankly absurd or insulting."

 - Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales

word of the day: pith

The word of the day is pith:

Etymology:  < pith n. 

1. intr. To supply a person with strength or courage. Obs. rare^—1. 

2. trans. To pierce, sever, or destroy the upper spinal cord or brainstem of (an animal), so as to cause death or insensibility. 

3. trans. To remove or extract the pith from. Also fig.  (OED)

"It's like something's been scooped right out of me, right at the centre...that's what they do with frogs, isn't it?  They scoop out the centre, the spinal cord, they pith them...  That's what I am, pithed, like a frog...  Step up, come and see Chris, the first pithed human being.  She's no proprioception, no sense of herself - disembodied Chris, the pithed girl!"

 - Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales