Solivagant means rambling alone. When you go for a walk, wandering by yourself, with no planned route, you are a solivagant. This is derived from the Latin word solivagus which means wandering alone, from soli (alone) plus vagus (wandering). He was too much of a solivagant to stick with the group on field trips. When it comes to golfing, I am not a solivagant player, I enjoy company and following the numbered holes.
The sense of solivagant leads me to think of shunpiking. Back in the 1960s, a southwestern Ontario Sunday drive, with no fixed destination, was labelled shunpiking. Originally, shunpikes were known in the United States in the mid-1700s. Samuel Rice built a road over the Hoosac Range Massachusetts. A few years later a road for stagecoaches was built through the range. However, it charged a toll for usage, subject to control of the Turnpike Association (1797). Those desiring to avoid the turnpike fees took the Rice Road, which became labelled a shunpike. Over time, shunpiking came to mean an avoidance of major highways, regardless of tolls, in favour of lightly traveled country roads. That is how my father liked to drive.
Filipendulous signifies something suspended by or strung upon a thread or thin cord. You might envision a car tire suspended by a rope, hung on a tree limb, as a makeshift swing. It comes from the Latin words filum (thread) and pendulus (hanging). Filipendulous began in the field of botany, to describe structures in plants that are suspended or hang on fine threads or stalks, in the 1860s. Later the word was used for anything dangling overhead. Lisa Liebman wrote in Artforum International (December 1977), “The building looks grand, and the collection (particularly the nineteenth-century stuff) is fun, but two gargantuan, colored-glass chandeliers in the main lobby are outrageous, filipendulous affairs that extend some twenty feet across, nearly touching our heads, and whose bumpily pregnant forms evoke cornucopias, pinatas, and Santa's bag of presents.”
Deipnosophist is a person skilled in table talk, in others words, a great dinner party guest. The word comes from the Greek word deipnosophistes, meaning one learned in the mysteries of the kitchen. The Greek root words are deipnon (dinner, chief meal) and sophistes (wise man, master of a craft). Athenaeus (Greek Egyptian writer of the 2nd century AD) entitled a book depicting a banquet where long discussion took place, Deipnosophists. “His Table you might well call a repast for the ears as well as for the belly, not unlike those Attick Nights, or the Banquets of the Deipnosophists, at which men might feast their mindes and intellects no less than their bodies,” penned William Winstanley in England’s Worthies (1660).
Scripturient means having a strong urge to write. This word comes from the Latin scripturiens, the present particle of scripturire, meaning to desire to write, based on scribere (to write). I guess you might say that I am a scripturient, as I feel compelled to script this weekly column as something to write regularly in my retirement.
Sialoquent originated in the heads of 17th century lexicographers to suggest a person that spits much in his speech. It was listed by Thomas Blount in his book Glossographia (1656). The word comes from a combination of Greek and Latin roots. The Greek word síalon means spittle or saliva. The Latin loqui means to speak. Sialoquent translates to speaking with spittle or chattering with saliva. A sialoquent describes someone who speaks in a way that involves excessive spitting. As they say, sit in the front row of a theatre production at your own risk.
Opsimath is a person who begins to learn late in life. It is derived from the Greek words mathes (from manthanein meaning to learn) and opse (late or later). In August 2024 Jasmine King of Edmonton learned to skydive at 100 years old. Chrissie Miller from Glasgow, Scotland flew a hot air balloon after turning 100. I have attempted to learn the play the piano after my retirement but I’m not much of an opsimath, I guess.
Recogitate means to think over again. This is something most of us could benefit from regularly. It comes from the Latin cogitare meaning to ponder or meditate on intently. I will recogitate my decision and get back to you tomorrow.
About 1,000 new words are added to the English language each year. These can be words that are newly created and words that gain new meanings. Adding new words to an existing language, or dropping old ones is something people have always done. Longevity often depends upon frequency of usage.
John would like to know if anyone has a sincere interest in a relevant word that he could possibly research for an upcoming column. If so, please send your requests to [email protected]. Words will be selected according to relevance and research criteria. We cannot confirm that all words will be used.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
