Without any introductory foofaraw, ballyhoo or rigmarole, here’s another set of oddball terms for this week’s “Weird Words”:
Asafetida (ass-uh-FET-i-duh, noun) – A brown resin from the roots of a plant in the parsley family, asafetida has “a bitter, acrid taste and an obnoxious odor” (Dictionary.com). That’s why it’s related to fetid — which means stinky.
Like many readers, I first encountered this word in To Kill a Mockingbird (with the older spelling asafoetida). In Chapter 12, narrator Scout notes its aroma when visiting Calpurnia’s church — where some of the congregants had apparently observed then-current medical practice by applying this smelly substance as an ointment; it supposedly treated various muscle maladies.
I might point out as well that the uh-sound in this word’s second, fourth and last syllable is our language’s common “unstressed vowel.” In pronunciation guides, it is represented by a schwa — an upside-down and backwards “e” that is, sadly, not reproducible in newspaper fonts. (Editors’ Note: I found a way to do it — ə, ~Steph) Our most pervasive sound in English, it can be made by all five vowels: for instance, senAte, itEm, denIm, bottOm, focUs; and it sometimes occurs where there is no vowel at all — like between the B and the L in able.
I mention this not only out of interest, but also because it’s unusual to find a word of modest length where the schwa occurs three different times.
Gadroon (guh-DROON, noun) – Architectural term for an elaborately carved or indented convex molding; relatedly, it can also refer to similar carvings in the work of a silversmith (Random House).
Hierophant (HIE-ur-uh-fant or HIE-ruh-fant, noun) – Ancient Greek priest; or any expositor of sacred mysteries.
I began wondering about this word after hearing Steve Hackett’s instrumental song “Shadow of the Hierophant,” on his first solo album. It’s a lesser-known song by a lesser-known artist (he played guitar for Genesis during their prog-rock heyday in the 1970s); but if you ever hear Hackett’s band perform it live, you won’t soon forget.
Nullifidian (null-uh-FID-ee-in, noun) – A person with no religious faith; skeptic, unbeliever (Merriam-Webster).
From two Latin bases: null, meaning “nothing” (as in nullify and the math-term null set); and fid, meaning “faith.” The latter has given us many words: infidelity; confident; affidavit; plus the foreign phrases bona fide; Adeste Fidelis (Latin title for “O Come, All Ye Faithful”); and of course semper fi (“ever faithful,” motto of the U.S. Marine Corps). Fid is likely also the basis for the classic dog-name Fido — because of that species’ inveterate loyalty.
Obeah (oh-BEE-uh, noun) – “A form of religious belief, probably of African origin, involving witchcraft and sorcery.” Also, an object used in this practice (American Heritage).
Pungle (PUNG-gull, verb) – “To make a payment”; often used with “up.” It is not listed in a lot of dictionaries; but both Collins and Merriam-Webster have it at their sites — which is a good thing, since the word occurs in another of America’s most beloved novels: the inimitable Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain. There, it is used in this sense by Huck’s Pap: “I’ll make him pungle, too” (Chapter Five).
Wadi (WAH-dee, noun) – A watercourse that is dry except in the rainy season (Collins). Originally an Arabic word, it can be found in some translations of the Old Testament (such as Numbers 21:12-15 and Job 6:15).
For the record, I hadn’t intended to include so many religious terms in this particular piece. When I start work on these weekly lists, I simply pore through my massive, 2500-word roster of oddball vocab (which is not in alphabetical order, btw) — and choose a handful without generally remembering what they actually mean.
Now I know — and so do you.
