Bursar

bursar \ˈbər-sər\ noun: an officer (as of a monastery or college) in charge of funds; treasurer

Etymology: Anglo-French burser, from Medieval Latin bursarius, from bursa purse

The perspicacious observer will have noted the shared etymology between today’s treasurer and yesterday’s fluid-filled sac. Draw your own conclusions.

Bursa

bursa \ˈbər-sə\ noun: a small, fluid-filled sac that provides a cushion between bones and tendons

Etymology: Latin bursa bag, purse (due to the sac’s resemblance to a purse)

Wikipedia states, “Current medical studies have no specific knowledge of the entire bursae system [in the human body].” Is that really true? I would have thought something like that would have been thoroughly catagorized by now.

Calumny

calumny \ˈka-ləm-nē\ noun: a misrepresentation intended to harm another’s reputation

Etymology: Middle English calumnye, from Middle French calomnie, from Latin calumnia, from calvi to deceive

Calumny would make a pretty name for a girl.

Schlieren

schlieren \ˈshlir-ən\ plural noun: regions of varying refraction in a transparent medium often caused by pressure or temperature differences

Etymology: German Schlieren

The heat waves you see rising from a hot car hood on a summer day are an example of schlieren.

Luciferin

luciferin \lü-ˈsi-f(ə-)rən\ noun: any of various organic substances in luminescent organisms (as fireflies) that upon oxidation produce a virtually heatless light

Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary, from Latin lucifer light-bearing

Lucifer was a name for the morning star or for the devil. It comes from luc- or lux (light) and -fer (producing, bearing). The woman’s name Lucy also stems from the Latin lux, by way of Lucia. Behind the Name states, “Saint Lucia was a 4th-century martyr from Syracuse. She was said to have had her eyes gouged out, and thus is the patron saint of the blind.” It’s worth noting that the patron saint of the blind was named for light.

Donotal

donotal \dō-ˈnät-əl\ adjective: doghnut-shaped

Etymology: English, from doughnut

A word from a dream. Or is it?

Schiller

schiller \ˈshi-lər\ noun: a common name for adularescence

Etymology: German

Many geologic terms stem from German.

Adularescence

adularescence \ə-ˌdü -lə-ˈre-sən(t)s\ noun: an optical phenomenon in certain gems in which a milky luster or glow seems to originate below the surface of the stone and appears to move as the stone is turned, giving the impression of moonlight on water

Etymology: From aldularia, a mineral from the Aldula Mountains of Switzerland

Moonstone, so named for its moonlight-on-water optical property, is composed of aldularia crystal.

Aventurescence

aventurescence \ə-ˌven-chər-ˈe-sən(t)s\ noun: an optical reflectance effect in certain gems in which a metallic glitter arises from minute mineral platelets within the material

Etymology: Italian a ventura by chance (referring to the chance discovery of aventurine glass in the 18th century)

Have you seen Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’avventura, by any chance? It is not about aventurescence.

Gloam

gloam \ˈglōm\ noun: twilight

Etymology: Scots gloam to become twilight, back-formation from gloaming

The Loam King has a head of clay, a heart of silt and guts of sand.

Friable

friable \ˈfrī-ə-bəl\ adjective: easily crumbled or pulverized

Etymology: Middle French, from Latin friabilis, from friare to crumble

Beware the friable eyes of the Loam King!

Loam

loam \ˈlōm\ noun: a soil composed of a friable mixture of roughly equal amounts of clay, silt and sand

Etymology: Middle English lom, from Old English lām clay, mud

Beware the Loam King!

Doyen

doyen \ˈdoi-ən\ noun: 1 a. the senior member of a body or group, b. a person considered to be knowledgeable or uniquely skilled as a result of long experience in some field of endeavor,
2. the oldest example of a category

doyenne \doi-ˈ(y)en\ noun: a woman who is a doyen

Etymology: French, from Old French deien, from Late Latin decanus chief of ten, from Greek dekanos, from deka ten

Am I remembering correctly that these words appear often in art history literture to describe influential collectors or heads of art movements?

Conurbation

conurbation \ˌkä-(ˌ)nər-ˈbā-shən\ noun: an aggregation or continuous network of urban communities

Etymology: com- together + Latin urb- city

Those with a ribald sense of wordplay may note a similarity between today’s entry and another word signifying the subject of The Who’s “Pictures of Lily.”

Glottogony

glottogony \glə-ˈtä-gə-nē\ noun: 1. the genesis of language (i. e. the emergence of a system of verbal communication from proto-linguistic or non-linguistic means of communication), 2. the study of language origins

Etymology: Greek glotto- tongue, language + -gony genesis, origination

A big thanks goes out to my friend Bernadette for introducing me to this word.

Skep

skep \ˈskep\ noun: hive (especially a domed hive made of twisted straw)

Etymology: Middle English skeppe basket, beehive, from Old English sceppe basket, from Old Norse skeppa bushel

Skep, hive, apiary… Can you think of any more synonyms?

Missileer

missileer \ˌmi-sə-ˈlir\ noun: one engaged in designing, building or operating guided missiles; missileman

Etymology: English missil- (from missile) + -eer one that is concerned with professionally

Neil Sheehan’s A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon (2009) follows the U.S. Air Force’s race with the Soviet Union to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles in the 1950s. It’s an engaging page-turner.

Cadge

cadge \ˈkaj\ verb: beg {cadge a free cup of coffee}

Etymology: back-formation from Scots cadger carrier, huckster, from Middle English cadgear

Would you rather beg or cadge?

Roan

roan \ˈrōn, ˈrō-ən\ adjective: having the base color (as red, black or brown) muted and lightened by admixture of white hairs {a roan horse}
noun: 1. an animal (as a horse) with a roan coat (usually used of a red roan when unqualified), 2. the color of a roan horse (used especially when the base color is red)

Etymology: Middle French, from Old Spanish roano

Why do I get the feeling people use the word roan at renaissance fairs?

Olivary

olivary \ˈōl-ə-ˌver-ē\ adjective: 1. Shaped like an olive, 2. pertaining to an olivary body

Etymology: Latin olīvārius belonging to olives

Your olivary bodies are two anatomical prominences composed of nerve tissue, and they reside on either side of the anterior surface of your medulla oblongata.