Wordsmith – Test your wordpower
How many of these 18th- and 19th-century words, still in use today, do you know? Improve and test your wordpower by matching each of the words below to one of the multiple possible definitions.
| Vocabulary Ratings | ||
| 14-15 correct | ………………….. | excellent |
| 12-13 correct | ………………….. | good |
| 9-11 correct | ………………….. | fair |
(1) serendipity n A: a state of comatosed bliss. B: making happy discoveries by accident. C: extreme necessityB: making happy discoveries by accident. Coined by Horace Walpole in 1754.
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(2) chin-chin A: violent argument. B: polite kiss. C: cheers!C: cheers. “Chin-chin! Down the hatch.” An 18th-century pronunciation of the Mandarin ts’ing ts’ing.
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(3) cicisbeo {chee-chis-bey-oh} n A: married woman's male companion. B: luxurious dressing gown. C: dice game.A: married woman’s male companion. “I need a cicisbeo to take me to the
theatre tonight.” Italian.
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(4) Malthusian {mal-thew-sian} adj A: using moral restraint to keep the population down. B: outrageously greedy. C: over-excited about an unexciting thing.A: using moral restraint to keep the population down. “He used Malthusian logic to justify remaining a bachelor.” From Thomas Malthus (1766-1834).
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(5) protege {prot-erh-jay} n A: violent political protest. B: someone promoted by a patron. C: steep roof.B: someone promoted by a patron. French, meaning “protected” (past participle of proteger).
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(6) disportive adj A: keen on games. B: lazy. C: teasing in an annoying way.A: keen on games. “George Best was disportive as long as he wasn’t in the pub.”
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(7) aspidistra n A: venomous snake. B: library stairs. C: bulbous lily.C: bulbous lily. “The aspidistra in the hall was wilting.” Latin aspis (shield).
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(8) trihedron n A: three-headed monster. B: three-sided object, plus base or ends. C: irregular triangle.B: a three-sided object, plus base or ends, “The pyramid is a trihedron shape.”
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(9) herbarium n A: collection of dried plants. B: kitchen cabinet. C: perfumed bag.A: collection of dried plants. “His herbarium was packed with bay leaves.” Latin herba (grass).
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(10) flacon {fla-kon} n A: small bottle. B: poisoned arrow. C: self-criticism.A: small bottle. “She kept perfume in a flacon.” French flacon (flask).
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(11) pentadactyl {pen-terh-dak-til} n A: five-fingered or five-toed creature. B: prehistoric bird. C: wing with five feathers.A: five-fingered or five-toed creature. “Humans are pentadactyls.” Greek penta (five) and daktulos (finger).
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(12) freelance adjB: self-employed. Used by Walter Scott (1771-1832) in Ivanhoe to describe a
“mercenary warrior”.
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(13) undine {un-dean} n A: tiny wave. B: female water spirit. C: defrocked vicarB: female water spirit. Latin unda (wave).
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(14) testa {tester} n A: skull. B: witness in court. C: seed's outer covering.C: seed’s outer covering. ‘The testa protected the seed from harm.’
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(15) kowtow v A: defer to someone. B: ritually slaughter. C: sail upstream.A: defer to someone. Chinese ke (knock) and tou (head).
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