For this week of lovey-dovey-ness and emotions running high, I thought I’d save a word that has to do with the sea. In several different schools of thought (not all, but definitely Western ones) water and emotions are connected. Even the words for sea and love in Latin — mare and amare — are similar. 

bimarian

 

adj. 1731

pertaining to two seas

Sentence: My travels have been mainly bimarian, but I would like to see more than just the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Phrontistery says this word was in usage for just one year, but it’s such a great word I’m sure we can bring it back.

This weeks word is “amandation”! It probably doesn’t mean what you think it means. Keep on reading to learn more!

amandation

n. 1656 – 1755

act of sending away, dispelling, dismissing

Sample sentence:  Tony’s curt amandation of his guests earned him a reputation for being a nasty jerk. 

fem. proper name, lit. “worthy to be loved,” fem. of L. amandus, ger. of amare ”to love” (see Amy).

Huh? How can you adopt a word?

Well, you may not realize this, but dictionaries are only receptacles of words that are in common usage. The less we use those words, the less likely it is they will be included — and thus are dropped from the dictionary and our vocabularies.

There are some great words out there. Just check out Save the Words if you don’t believe me.

I’ve adopted a word today, and I’m going to blog about it. I’ll do this again, when I adopt a new word. And then I’ll use these words in my everyday communication. Hopefully I’ll help to save them.

vanmost

adv., 1865

in the front; foremost

Sample sentence: Her health was vanmost on her list of priorities. 

According to The Phrontistery vanmost was only in use for one year — 1865. I wasn’t able to find vanmost on the Online Etymology Dictionary, but I did find vanguard:

c.1450, vaunt garde, from M.Fr. avant-garde, from avant ”in front” + garde ”guard.” Communist revolutionary sense is recorded from 1928.

And I’m quite sure the two words are related through “van”. 

Well, that’s it for today. Be sure to tune in next week for another word to bring back to common usage! 

Good luck, and good night. 

-Katje van Loon