To proselytize (PRAH-suh-lih-tize) – from the Greek for “convert” – is to try to persuade someone to change their religious or political beliefs or way of life to your own. As I used it today: “If you can add to the promise of showing [your prospect] the person or thing that is responsible for his weight… then you have not just a potential customer [for your diet product], but a potential proselytizer for your brand.”
Mira mundi is Latin for “wonderful world.” As I used it today: “I’m a busy person. I don’t want to spend a vast percentage of the hours I’ve got left in this mira mundi on this kind of ever-less-stimulating stuff. So, I’ve made a promise to myself to desist from watching these attenuated, episodic shows. I’m going to watch movies instead.”
The provenance (PRAH-vuh-nuntz) of a work of art – from the French for “to come from” – is a record of its ownership. It is used to confirm the piece’s authenticity and value. As I used it today: “Suzanne bought this [Morales painting] for a good price from a distressed buyer. It has excellent provenance and is a good size at 40 x 32 inches.”
Gnathonic (na-THON-ik) means sycophantic; fawning. It was derived from Gnatho, the name of a parasite in TheEunuch, a comedy written by the 2nd century BC Roman playwright Terence.
Counterespionage refers to covert actions taken by a country to prevent another country from discovering its military, industrial, or political secrets. In other words, it’s spies spying on spies.
Something that’s ineluctable (ih-nih-LUHK-tuh-bl) is impossible to avoid or escape. As I used it today: “The stress is ineluctable. And unless you are able to handle it, you will spend much of your time angry and unhappy. What’s worse, you will likely fail to reach your goals.”
Dissilient (dih-SIL-ee-unt) – a derivative of the Latin for “to leap, jump, spurt” – refers to something that is bursting apart or open. Primarily a botanical term, this is how Joan Houlihan used it in her poem “You Would Be Warm”: “Dissilient as milkweed, deprived of cohesion, I am a blown surface.”
Enervate sounds like it means something like “energize.” It’s actually the opposite. Derived from the Latin for “to weaken,” it means to debilitate; to deprive of strength or force. As I used it today: “Americans – old and young, healthy or not, Trump lovers and Trump haters – have traded in their enervating views on the virus and returned to the habits of the pre-COVID days.”
Zoomorphic (zoh-uh-MOR-fik) means “having the shape, form, or likeness of an animal.” Example from Canyons of the Colorado by J.W. Powell: “In the mind of the savage, the world is populated by a host of mythic beings, anthropomorphic [with human characteristics] and zoomorphic.”
Obsequious means fawning, deferential – i.e., attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery. As quoted in my book review, above: “The Victorians also liked their obsequious anagrams. Lewis Carroll famously created this one out of Florence Nightingale: Flit on, cheering angel.”