Uncommon words Trivia Quiz

Answer: A dog

Cynanthropy is a form of delusion in which the sufferer imagines that he/she is a dog and may behave accordingly. The word is derived from the Greek words kynos (meaning dog) and anthropos (mankind).

It is one manifestation of the more general illness known as zoanthropy, whose prefix is derived from the Greek word zoion (an animal). Another example of this type of delusion is hippanthropy, or imagining one is a horse, from the Greek word hippo (horse).

Answer: An antidote to poison

King Mithridates VI reigned over Pontus, a small realm by the Black Sea in what is now Turkey, from 120 to 63 BC. He supposedly desensitised himself to poison by taking progressively larger doses of it. The word mithridate came to mean a general antidote to poisons, although its actual ingredients could vary.

Mithridates VI was a successful military commander and fought several wars against the numerically superior forces of the Roman Empire until his death (by the sword, not by poison) after he was finally beaten by Pompey's forces.

Answer: Playing a log-throwing game

A logget or loggat was a small log or thick piece of wood and the game of loggets/loggats consisted in throwing these logs at a wooden stake or post, with the winner being the person whose log landed nearest to the target.

The derivation of the word is not known for certain but it is likely to have been either an alternative form or a diminutive of the word log.

Answer: A stringed musical instrument

Similar to a lute or mandolin, a cittern (also known as a cithern, gittern or cither) was an early stringed instrument. Made of wood with metal strings, it often had a highly ornate carved head.

The instrument could be played with the fingers, a quill or a plectrum. As did the later, larger guitar's name, its name is derived from the Greek kithara, meaning a musical instrument. A Tyrolese version of the instrument eventually developed into the zither.

Answer: Pease pudding

The term dogsbody (or dog's body/dog's-body) was originally nautical slang for pease pudding, which consisted of dried peas mixed into flour and seasoned with salt and pepper then boiled in a cloth. Similarly, suet pudding containing raisins and spices and boiled in a long bag was sometimes referred to as boiled baby by sailors.

Possibly later, the word dogsbody was also used for sea-biscuit soaked in water containing sugar. The word's origin is obscure, as is the connection between the old and modern meanings.

Answer: A cloth of silk and gold

The word samite came from the Greek word hexamiton, formed from the words hexa (six) and mitos (threads), via the Latin word examitum and the old French word samit.

It was a heavy, very expensive silk fabric interwoven with gold, or sometimes silver, threads. The material was used mainly used for clothing but also occasionally for cushion covers.

Answer: A strong beer or ale

Huffcap, or huff-cap, was a general term for a very strong ale or beer. The word's origin is not known for certain but it probably refers jokingly to the drink being so strong that it could raise the drinker's cap from his/her head.

A similar, slightly later term used for this strong ale or beer was humcap, which was likely to have been a variant of, or derived from, the word huffcap.

Answer: Peaked hats

The word bycoket was used for both a military helmet and for civilian, fairly ornamental caps or headdresses. The headwear usually had a peak at both the back and the front, and the word was a variant of the old French word bicoquet, itself a combination of bi (double) and coque ( a shell).

According to the "Oxford English Dictionary", the word was misprinted as 'abcocket' in Edward Hall's "Chronicle of Edward IV" in 1584. Successive compilers of reference works gradually altered this until it ended up as 'abacot'. This last word now has its own entry in the "Oxford English Dictionary" where it is described as a 'spurious word'.

Answer: A public weighing machine

A tron was a pair of scales, a balance or other type of public weighing-machine set up in a town's market-place for weighing produce. Its post could also be used as a pillory for punishing law-breakers. By extension, the word was also sometimes used for the place where the machine was set up.

The word tron was derived from the Greek word(s) trutane/trytans (a balance/scales) via firstly the Latin word trutina and then the old French word trone.

Answer: Rounding up stray animals

Employed as an official of a manor, a pinder (or pinner) was responsible for collecting straying cattle and other animals from common land and fields then impounding them in the local pound (or pinfold).

The words pinder and pinner, as well as pinfold and pound, are all believed to be derived ultimately from the Old English word pyndan, meaning to shut up or enclose an animal.