Word 01
Petrichor Noun
/ˈpɛtrɪkɔː/ · PET-ri-kor
Etymology. Coined 1964 by Bear & Thomas, from Greek petra (stone) + ichor (the fluid of the gods).
“The petrichor rose off the pavement within seconds of the storm.”
Department No. II · Room 2 · Floor 2
The lexicon, complete.
All thirty-two admitted words, from first entry to last: pronunciation, definition, etymology, and one example each, set down in plain order.
XXXIIWords admitted
IRejected weekly
0Lent
All thirty-two entries
- Petrichor
- Susurrus
- Apricity
- Psithurism
- Sonder
- Limerence
- Palimpsest
- Serendipity
- Mellifluous
- Ephemera
- Vellichor
- Querencia
- Hiraeth
- Saudade
- Defenestration
- Quixotic
- Halcyon
- Crepuscular
- Tintinnabulation
- Lacuna
- Numinous
- Oneiric
- Syzygy
- Vespertine
- Zephyr
- Ineffable
- Irenic
- Redolent
- Brume
- Lissome
- Aeolian
- Xenial
On coinages
Some entries are modern coinages rather than ancient inheritances; each is flagged in its etymology. Newness is no bar to admission, provided the thing named is old and common.
Word 02
Susurrus Noun
/sʊˈsʌrəs/ · soo-SUR-ruhs
Etymology. Directly from Latin susurrus, a whisper; imitative in origin.
“Nothing but the susurrus of leaves in the reading room draught.”
Word 03
Apricity Noun
/əˈprɪsɪti/ · uh-PRIS-i-tee
Etymology. From Latin apricus, sunlit; recorded in English since 1623 and never common since.
“They stood in the doorway a full minute, enjoying the apricity.”
Word 04
Psithurism Noun
/ˈsɪθjʊərɪzəm/ · SITH-yoor-iz-um
Etymology. From Greek psithuros, whispering, + -ism.
“The psithurism outside made the quiet inside seem deliberate.”
Word 05
Sonder Noun
/ˈsɒndər/ · SON-der
Etymology. Modern coinage, 2012, by John Koenig in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows; now in wide literary use though not in most desk dictionaries.
“A rush-hour platform is a reliable cure for the failure of sonder.”
Word 06
Limerence Noun
/ˈlɪmərəns/ · LIM-er-uhns
Etymology. Coined 1979 by psychologist Dorothy Tennov, deliberately without Latin roots so it would carry no prior associations.
“It was not love yet, only limerence, and it showed.”
Word 07
Palimpsest Noun
/ˈpælɪmpsɛst/ · PAL-imp-sest
Etymology. From Greek palin (again) + psēstos (scraped); via Latin palimpsestus.
“The city is a palimpsest: every street has been three streets before.”
Word 08
Serendipity Noun
/ˌsɛrənˈdɪpɪti/ · ser-un-DIP-i-tee
Etymology. Coined 1754 by Horace Walpole after the Persian tale The Three Princes of Serendip, whose heroes made such discoveries.
“Finding the letter was pure serendipity; she had been looking for a bus ticket.”
Word 09
Mellifluous Adjective
/mɛˈlɪflʊəs/ · mel-IF-loo-uhs
Etymology. From Latin mel (honey) + fluere (to flow).
“The announcements, unusually, were mellifluous rather than merely loud.”
Word 10
Ephemera Noun (plural)
/ɪˈfɛmərə/ · ef-EM-er-uh
Etymology. From Greek ephēmeros, lasting a day; singular ephemeron.
“The department’s own archive began as ephemera nobody thought to file.”
Word 11
Vellichor Noun
/ˈvɛlɪkɔː/ · VEL-i-kor
Etymology. Modern coinage, 2012, by John Koenig in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, a parallel companion to sonder; from Latin vellus (fleece, vellum) + ichor (the fluid of the gods).
“The vellichor of the barrow’s paperbacks kept her browsing an hour past closing.”
Word 12
Querencia Noun
/keˈɾenθja/ · keh-REN-thya
Etymology. From Spanish querencia, fondness or a favourite haunt, from querer (to want, to love); in the bullring, the spot where the bull gathers itself.
“The corner chair by the window was her querencia, and all regulars knew it.”
Word 13
Hiraeth Noun
/hɪˈraɪθ/ · hir-EYETH
Etymology. From Welsh hiraeth, grief or longing for a lost or imagined home; of Celtic origin, with no exact English equivalent.
“The hymn gave him hiraeth for a valley he had never lived in.”
Word 14
Saudade Noun
/saʊˈdɑːdə/ · sow-DAH-duh
Etymology. From Portuguese saudade, of disputed Latin origin, often traced to solitatem (solitude); untranslatable in a single English word.
“Years abroad distilled themselves each autumn into pure saudade.”
Word 15
Defenestration Noun
/ˌdiːfɛnɪˈstreɪʃən/ · dee-fen-i-STRAY-shun
Etymology. From Latin de- (out of) + fenestra (window); immortalised by the Defenestration of Prague, 1618, when two governors and a secretary were thrown from the castle windows.
“The ringing telephone narrowly escaped defenestration, in spirit if not in fact.”
Word 16
Quixotic Adjective
/kwɪkˈsɒtɪk/ · kwik-SOT-ik
Etymology. After Don Quixote, the knight of Cervantes’s Don Quixote (1605), whose high ideals outran all prudence; in English since the eighteenth century.
“The plan to catalogue every teaspoon in the county was entirely quixotic, and entirely approved.”
Word 17
Halcyon Adjective
/ˈhælsɪən/ · HAL-see-uhn
Etymology. From Greek halkyōn (kingfisher) via Latin halcyon; in English since the 14th century, after the myth that the kingfisher nested on a calm sea.
“The launderette at half past three held a halcyon quiet broken only by the dryers.”
Word 18
Crepuscular Adjective
/krɪˈpʌskjʊlə/ · kri-PUSK-yoo-luh
Etymology. From Latin crepusculum (twilight, dusk); in English since the 1660s.
“The bench filled promptly with crepuscular regulars and their evening papers.”
Word 19
Tintinnabulation Noun
/ˌtɪntɪnæbjʊˈleɪʃən/ · tin-tin-ab-yoo-LAY-shun
Etymology. From Latin tintinnabulum (bell) + -ation; in English since the 1770s, popularised by Poe's poem The Bells (1849).
“The tintinnabulation of teaspoons announced tea before the trolley was seen.”
Word 20
Lacuna Noun
/ləˈkjuːnə/ · luh-KYOO-nuh
Etymology. From Latin lacuna (gap, pool, hollow), from lacus (lake); in English since the 1660s.
“There was a lacuna in the queue records between March and May, for which no one apologised.”
Word 21
Numinous Adjective
/ˈnjuːmɪnəs/ · NYOO-mi-nuhs
Etymology. From Latin numen (divine power); coined in 1923 to translate Rudolf Otto's Das Heilige (1917).
“The empty waiting room at midnight had a numinous quality the strip lighting did not dispel.”
Word 22
Oneiric Adjective
/əʊˈnaɪrɪk/ · oh-NY-rik
Etymology. From Greek oneiros (dream) + -ic, via French onirique; in English since the 1840s.
“After an hour in the queue, the noticeboard began to look distinctly oneiric.”
Word 23
Syzygy Noun
/ˈsɪzɪdʒi/ · SIZ-i-jee
Etymology. From Greek syzygia (yoked together); in English since 1656, first in astronomy.
“A rare syzygy of clerk, form, and rubber stamp allowed the bench permit through in a day.”
Word 24
Vespertine Adjective
/ˈvɛspərtaɪn/ · VES-per-tyn
Etymology. From Latin vespertinus (of the evening), from vesper (evening); in English since the 17th century.
“The vespertine crowd took the corner seats and ordered toast with authority.”
Word 25
Zephyr Noun
/ˈzɛfə/ · ZEF-er
Etymology. From Greek zephyros (west wind) via Latin zephyrus; in English since c. 1300.
“A zephyr through the launderette door lifted the lost sock notices.”
Word 26
Ineffable Adjective
/ɪˈnɛfəbəl/ · in-EF-uh-buhl
Etymology. From Latin ineffabilis (unspeakable); in English since c. 1449.
“There was something ineffable about the correct teaspoon drawer, fully stocked.”
Word 27
Irenic Adjective
/aɪˈriːnɪk/ · eye-REE-nik
Etymology. From Greek eirēnikos (peaceful), from eirēnē (peace); in English since 1864.
“An irenic notice about bench-sharing settled the matter for a fortnight.”
Word 28
Redolent Adjective
/ˈrɛdələnt/ · RED-oh-luhnt
Etymology. From Latin redolens (emitting scent); in English since the early 15th century.
“The corridor was redolent of damp coats, floor polish, and committee biscuits.”
Word 29
Brume Noun
/bruːm/ · BROOM
Etymology. From French brume (mist), from Latin bruma (winter); in English since the 1820s.
“The queue formed in thin brume and refused to shorten until noon.”
Word 30
Lissome Adjective
/ˈlɪsəm/ · LISS-uhm
Etymology. A variant of lithesome, from lithe (Old English līthe, gentle) + -some; first recorded in the 1790s.
“The new clerk filed forty forms with lissome efficiency before the kettle boiled.”
Word 31
Aeolian Adjective
/iːˈəʊlɪən/ · ee-OH-lee-uhn
Etymology. After Aeolus, Greek keeper of the winds; in English since the 16th century.
“Aeolian drifts of bus tickets collected beneath the bench by Friday.”
Word 32
Xenial Adjective
/ˈziːnɪəl/ · ZEE-nee-uhl
Etymology. From Greek xenia (hospitality), from xenos (guest, stranger); in English since the late 18th century, long rare.
“The xenial attendant offered the newcomer a chair, a form, and a second biscuit.”
Department rule
A word is admitted only if it names something common that had, until then, no name. Nominations in writing.