The English word stilliform means “drop-shaped,” from Latin stilla, meaning “drop.” The same drippy root turns up in distill, “to drip down,” and instill, “to put in drop by drop,” and the spelling stilliform even has a row of tall, narrow letters...
Robert in Tucson, Arizona, asks how reptile enthusiasts should pronounce in situ, the Latin phrase meaning “in place,” used for finding a snake, lizard, or turtle exactly where it was, not posed for the camera. Because in situ still feels partly...
A monk at St. Gregory’s Abbey in Three Rivers, Michigan, a Benedictine monastery in the Episcopal Church, shares some of the terms used there on a daily basis. The monks gather seven times a day to pray as a group, a practice called corporate...
Birds inhabit many English words and phrases. The flower called larkspur is named for the way its blossom resembles the spur on the toe of a lark. Columbine derives from Latin columba, “dove,” a reference to the way this flower resembles...
Inkhorn terms are showy Latin- and Greek-based words stuffed into English, a label that looks back to the animal-horn ink bottles used by 14th-century scribes. Henry Cockeram’s 1623 The English Dictionarie (Amazon) includes catillate, meaning “to...
Is there a term for the need to sneeze when you step out into the sun? There are several, including the photic sneeze reflex, solar sneeze reflex, the Peroutka sneeze, and Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst Syndrome, also known...
