The Word Journal
Twenty (or more) words (not from this course) that you find (or invent) during the semester. Strange and wonderful words will be especially appreciated. Include:
- Meaning (in brief)
- Source (where you found it or, if you invented it, why you needed it)
- Sentence or phrase (a) the context in which you found it and/or (b) a sentence of your own creation in which you use it intelligently
- Etymology
- Related words (if any) using the same word elements (prefixes, bases, suffixes)
This exercise should be fun and NOT stressful.
Example:
sesquipedalian
a foot and a half long, of polysyllabic words
Horace, Ars Poetica verba sesquipedalia
Southey: "The verses of Stephen Hawes are as full of barbarous sesquipedalian Latinisms as the prose of the Rambler." (OED)
- sesqui- < semi + que "one half more"
- ped- "foot"
- -al- suffix "containing"
- -ian "of"
sesquicentennial, sesquitone, sesquiuple (two and a half, false formation)
pedal, pedestrian, impede, expedite, peon, peduncle, millipede
Related to the Greek base pod- > tripod, octopus, antipodes, apodal, trapezoid, pew, parallelepiped
Check here for a sample word journal contributed by a student in Spring 2001.