Thursday, September 28, 2006

The Phrontistery

Have you ever been writing and you wanted to use a word but you didn't know what it was? Did you ever, after hours of searching and using dictionaries and thesaurae, come to find out that the word you had in mind did not exist?

Perhaps you were looking for a word that your writer's genetic memory knew -but that you did not.

Folks, I've got the answer: The Phrontistery



The Phrontistery is a registery of old and forgotten English words that you can find in no modern (or even semi-ancient) dictionary.

Some of my favorites that I've discovered lately are:

Welmish –of a pale, sickly color
Empyreal -of, like or pertaining to heaven; sublime; skyward
Inocciduous –of a star, never setting
Nubivagant –moving through the clouds

And, for you classical poets out there:
Rhodologist –one who studies or classifies roses

(Remind me to rant about roses at a later date)



Anyway, I encourage the checking-outage of the website. If you want to go straight to the glossary, and are having a hard time finding it, here is the direct link:

The Phrontistery's Glossary by Letter

2 comments:

SkippyMom said...

Your blog is fascinating - I am so glad you commented and I found you!
On this post I love the word "welmish" - I can't wait to use it and thanks so much for the link.

P.S. Yep - the Tweedles are lesbians - at least since Dee divorced her husband a few months back b/c she decided yes, she was, in fact a lesbian. We have know Dee for years and her family and friends are so wonderful and understanding - we still can't figure out what took her so long to come out of the closet - it wasn't as if anyone would have thought less of her...it isn't an issue with us - except when there relationship overwhelms their work [ethic] - I would have the same problem if one of my hetro employees pulled the stuff they do.

Thanks again for stopping by - I promise to clean up my language [just for you!]

Hugs!

SkippyMom said...

*their* not there - oops!