Wondrous Words Wednesday (4)

Wondrous Words Wednesday is hosted by BermudaOnion and is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love.  

I'm highlighting words that are new to me/that I really like/that struck me for some reason..!

This week my words are all taken from The Moon Field by Judith Allnatt, a very moving story set in 1914, which I am two-thirds through reading.

1 revetting (verb) - 'Exhausted by the digging and revetting…'

To retain (an embankment, for example) with a layer of stone, concrete, or other supporting material; provide with a revetment.

2 cyanotic (adjective) - '…their hair and beards rimed white, their faces with a blue, cyanotic pallor.'

A bluish discolouration of the skin and mucous membranes resulting from inadequate oxygenation of the blood.

3 bole (noun) - 'He got behind the bole of one of the larger trees…'

The trunk of a tree.


4 estaminet (noun) - 'When at rest, he went with Haycock and the others to the warm estaminets; he saw their spirits revive with food and drink.'

A small café
(from French, perhaps from Walloon dialect staminet manger)

Definitions from the free dictionary

Wondrous Words Wednesday (3)

Wondrous Words Wednesday is hosted by BermudaOnion and is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love.  

I'm highlighting words that are new to me/that I really like/that struck me for some reason..!

This week my words are all taken from The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison (Headline) which I've just finished reading. I thought this was a really good, absorbing read and hope to review it soon. 

1 concupiscent (adjective) - '...still in the brash, lingering phase of going everywhere together, going out just to be seen in all their concupiscent glory.'

Vigorously passionate.

2 finagled (verb) - 'But she can't dismiss the feeling that he has somehow managed to escape, has finagled things so he gets off scot-free, like always.'

1. To obtain or achieve by indirect, usually deceitful methods.
2. To cheat, swindle, trick (a person).

3 censer (noun) - '...he was smitten from the start with the glamour and mystique of it: the solemn processions, colorful robes, smoking censer, chanting and singing.'

A vessel in which incense is burned, especially during religious services.

Definitions from the free dictionary

Wondrous Words Wednesday (1)

Wondrous Words Wednesday is hosted by BermudaOnion and is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love.  

I think this is a great idea! I decided to start taking part in this and highlighting words that are new to me/that I really like/that struck me for some reason..!

This week my words are all from Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield (Orion)

1 striation (noun) - 'There were indeed abrasion marks that William had taken for striations in the stone.'

One of a number of parallel lines or scratches on the surface of a rock that were inscribed by rock fragments embedded in the base of a glacier as it moved across the rock.

2 prestidigitation (noun) - '...fingertips bouncing off each other in a spellbinding display of prestiditigitation...'

Performance of or skill in performing magic or conjuring tricks with the hands; sleight of hand.

A show of skill or deceitful cleverness.

3 bombazine (noun) - '...looking for bombazine and parramatta and mourning silk and merino...'

A fine twilled fabric of silk and worsted or cotton, often dyed black and used for mourning clothes.

Definitions from the free dictionary

The Horologicon - Mark Forsyth

In The Horologican, meaning ‘book of hours’, author Mark Forsyth presents us with a collection of weird and wonderful words from within the depths of the English language, ordered by the hours in the day, so that we can grasp them at the time of day that we can most appropriately use them.

It’s a really entertaining read for anyone even remotely fascinated by language. Starting at 6am and taking us through until midnight, the author has compiled an amazing collection of words that perfectly fit so many of the situations we encounter everyday.

When you buddle your oxter in the morning, or have to scrouge on the bus, and then fudgel at work, you’ll know exactly the right terminology to employ next time. I think everyone will read and find their favourites amongst these wonderful words.

This is a lovely volume to dip in and out of; indeed, that is what the author advises, to treat it as a work of reference and do not try and read it in one go! I found the author’s style of writing very engaging and informative, and I think this is a book I will return to again and again, both to learn and be informed by it, and for it to raise a smile.

Published by Icon Books

You can find the author on twitter @inkykfool and on his blog here.

Originally reviewed for the amazon vine programme.