Category: Bookish Thoughts (Page 6 of 43)

Dictum – an authoritative assertion; a saying; in law, a statement of opinion expressed by the judge on some point not vital to the principal issue of the case

“Everyone who contributes to the Dictionary will leave a trace of themselves, no matter how uniform Father, or Mr Dankworth, would like it to be. Try to take Mr Dankworth’s comments as suggestion, not dictum.”

Elsie to Esme, The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams

Codswallop – nonsense (Merriam-Webster online dictionary)

“I know it sounds like codswallop but there are [different ways of writing and spelling], and the smallest thing can cause the biggest arguments.”

Esme to Lizzy, The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams

Loquaciousness – loquacity (talkativeness; the habit or practice of talking continually or excessively)

“Mr Pope and Mr Cushing rose from their chairs every time Elsie, Rosfrith or I entered, and competed to help or pay the nicest compliments. Their loquaciousness was an irritation to almost everyone except Da, who rewarded their attentions to me with small smiles and nods. Dr Murray was not so encouraging.

“Gentlemen, the more words you employ to flatter the ladies the fewer you define. Your constant use of the English language is, in fact, doing it a disservice.” They quickly turned to their work.”

The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams

Catarrh – an inflammation of a mucous membrane, more particularly of the throat and nose, accompanied by an increased secretion of mucus

“You need to eat more fruit, Mabel,” I said. “Keep the catarrh out of your chest.”

Esme to Mabel, The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams

Prevaricate – to quibble; to shift or turn aside from or evade the truth; to equivocate or speak evasively

“[Da] opened the door of the Scriptorium. Instead of going in, he turned and looked up at me. I knew this look and waited for him to invoke Lily’s greater wisdom. She would know what to do, he would say, without offering his own encouragement or warning… But this time he did not prevaricate.”

Esme of her father, The Dictionary of Lost Words, pip Williams

I also defined Prevaricate here.

Fascicle – a small bundle; one of the installments of a book published in parts

“As we stood on the threshold, I felt all the responsibility of introducing Ditte to the pigeon-holes full of words and quotations, to all the old dictionaries and reference books, and to the fascicles, where the words were first published before there were enough for a whole volume.”

Pip Williams, The Dictionary of Lost Words

Provenance – derivation; origin

“You might be surprised to learn that some words take their provenance from nothing more substantial than a technical manual or a pamphlet. I know of at least one word that was found on the label of a medicine bottle.”

Aunt Ditte to Esme, The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams

Nonce – the present occasion; the time being

“I thought about the words in the trunk. Some I hadn’t heard or read until I saw them on a slip. Most were commonplace, but something about the slip or handwriting had endeared them to me. There were clumsy words with poorly transcribed quotations that would never end up in the Dictionary, and there were words that existed for one sentence and no other: fledgelings, nonce words that never made it. I loved them all.”

Esme, The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams

Bodleian – pertaining to Sir Thomas Bodley, or to the library founded by him at Oxford, England, in the sixteenth century

“He turned and looked at me above his spectacles. “Not even the Queen is permitted to borrow from the Bodleian.”

“You would be doing me a service if you could visit the Bodleian and check the date for this quotation for flounder.”

Dr Murray to Esme, The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams

The Bodleian Library was founded in sixteenth century Oxford England by Sir Thomas Bodley. It is the oldest library in Europe. It has an extensive collection of books and manuscripts, many of which have been in continuous use since the Middle Ages. If you wish to learn more about the history of the Bodleian Library, or to see pictures, please visit this link:

https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/plan-your-visit/history-bodleian