ANOTHER Ten Words That Make Me Stop To Think... Quiz

Answer: unduly

The word comes from the Old English "undewely" in roughly 1350 to 1400, from "un" meaning "not" and "duly", meaning "right and proper". That's rather straightforward, isn't it?

Answer: Veterinarian

The first notation of the word, coming from the Latin "veterinarius", was in the 1640s, meaning coming "of or having to do with beasts of burden". The abbreviated word used is "vet" which was first seen in roughly 1862.

Answer: Wholly

This word comes from the Middle English word "hooly" which itself comes from the word "hool", meaning "whole". It was first used in the 14th century. There is another possible root in "holliche", used between 1250 and 1300, and the Old English "hallice".

Answer: Xanthosis

This comes to English by way of a Modern Latin word, which in turn came from the Greek "xanthos" in addition to the suffix "osis" which expresses the state of or condition of. It was first seen in 1857. It means a yellow discoloration which can be seen in some cancers, but can also be caused by too many yellow or orange leafy vegetables. One of the anti-malarial drugs can cause the condition, too, if it's taken for a long period of time. One can tell the difference between xanthosis and jaundice because the whites of the eyes are not yellow-colored in xanthosis whereas they are with jaundice.

Answer: Yarmulke

This was another new word to be seen, first noticed about 1903 from Yiddish. It can be followed back to the Polish "jarmulka" which meant a skullcap worn by priests. Therefore, it is thought it could be originally from Middle Latin "almutia", meaning "cowl" or "hood".

Another source traces it possibly back to the Turkish "jagmurluk", meaning rain apparel. However, that source also indicates it was not used as "yarmulke" until 1940 to 1945.

Answer: Zephyr

It is thought that the word comes from the Greek "zephyros" meaning the "west wind". It is felt it may be related to "zophos", the "west, dark region, darkness and gloom". It was first used in mid-1300s as the Old English "zefferus" which came from the Latin "zephyrus", which came originally from the Greek as mentioned above. The denoting of a "mild breeze" arrived about 1600.

Answer: Amanuensis

This word with the meaning of "One who takes dictation" was first seen in the 1610s, coming from the Latin, literally "servant of the hand".

Answer: Capricious

This word comes from the French "capricieux" as well as the Italian "capriccioso" and was first seen in English at its present spelling in the 1590s.

Answer: Eidetic

The word comes from the German for "the faculty of projecting images", "eidetisch" which was invented by a German psychologist in 1924 from the Greek "eidetikos" and "eidesis", meaning "pertaining to images" and "knowledge", respectively. Sometimes it's a reliance on mnemonics, rather than a "photographic memory". Children, whose brains are not yet filled with all kinds of things we never use, seem to be more likely to have an "eidetic memory".

Answer: Bezoar

This interesting word originally came from the Arabic "bazahr" meaning roughly "counter poison". At one time the bezoars, which are mainly found in ruminants, but even humans can have them too, were ground up and given as a remedy for poison. The word was first seen around 1570 in English.