Happy Birthday Noah Webster, aka Father of the American Dictionary. Dictionaries are crazy things, there are so many words in that huge book that I can’t pronounce, can’t define, or can’t even tell if it’s English or not. However, as a writer, something I should always be doing is expanding my vocabulary. It’s only fitting that I do this on National Dictionary Day.

Here are 10 words I didn’t know the meaning to but now do. I also chose words I can most likely remember to use here and add to my everyday vernacular. Let’s do this.

1. Lavation– (lay-VAY-shun) | noun *October 16th Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day*
   1. Definition: the act or an instance of washing or cleansing
      
   2. Examples: “In Maycomb County, it was easy to tell when someone bathed regularly, as opposed to yearly lavations….”
2. Odious (o-dee-us) | adjective
   1. Definition: arousing or deserving hatred or repugnance : hateful
   2. Example: Volunteers gathered on Saturday morning to scrub away the odious graffiti spray-painted on the school.
3. Guerdon (gur-dun) |  noun
   1. Definition: reward, recompense
   2. Example: “The big hurdle … was early promotion to captain. … This early promotion, this small dry irrevocable statistic in the record, was his guerdon for a quarter of a century of getting things done.
4. Macadam (muh-KAD-um) | noun *only chose this word because my backyard has a macadam*
   1. Definition: a roadway or pavement of small closely packed broken stone
   2. Example:The sloping, curved street saw light traffic and had a smooth macadam surface that made it popular with skateboarders.
5. Impavid (im-pavdid) | adjective
   1. Definition: Fearless
   2. Example: Giant by thine own nature, Thou art beautiful, thou art strong, an impavid colossus,And thy future mirrors that greatness.
6. Belgard (bell-guard) | noun
   1. Definition: A loving look
   2. Example: She left me a belgard from across the room.
7.  Druthers (druhth-erz) | noun
   1. Definition: one’s own way
   2. Example: If I had my druthers, I’d sleep all day.
8. Invective (in-VEK-tiv) | noun
   1. Definition: abusive language
   2. Example: … the explosive role that social media has assumed in this campaign have made for a nasty brew of invective, slurs and accusations….
9.  Haimish (hey-mish) | adjective
   1. Definition: (slang) cozy and unpretentious
   2. Example: … you would like the candle-lit dining room (below), formerly a watchmaker’s shop, where there are perhaps a dozen tables, a fish tank, and murky paintings–all of which contribute to an ambiance best described as Transylvanian haimish.
10. Bon Mot (bon moh) | noun
    1. Definition: a witty remark or comment; clever saying
    2. Example: He was an extrovert and a character, again like his mother, with a knack for tossing off the perfect bon mot. Once at a dinner party, he told his seat mate, “We are all worms. But I do believe that I am a glow-worm.”

 

I hope you all learned something from these, because I definitely did. Keep an eye out and see if you see me use these in a post in the future 😉

Alicia