longueur [lawng-gur, long-; French lawn-gœ]

noun:
a long and boring passage in a literary work, drama, musical composition, or the like, usually used in plural
a period of boredom or dullness

Examples:

I grew up reading many of the novelists that Walsh meets, so his subject should interest me, but I found myself bored. I am not saying that ( Read more... )

grimoire [greem-wahr]

noun:
a manual of magic or witchcraft used by witches and sorcerers; a magician's manual for invoking demons and the spirits of the dead

Examples:

Necronomicon, or the 'book of dead names' that Montrose refers to isn't actually a real book - unless you count the 2008 collection of Lovecraft's short stories published under ( Read more... )

provocateur [pruh-vok-uh-tur, -toor]

noun:
a person who provokes trouble, causes dissension, or the like; agitator

Examples:

But this well-constructed film effectively highlights the key points of the Southern-born icon's singular, often troubled life and proves a vivid, enjoyable portrait of a one-of-a-kind provocateur. (Gary Goldstein, 'The ( Read more... )

sylvan [sil-vuhn]

adjective:
1 of, relating to, or inhabiting the woods
2 consisting of or abounding in woods or trees; wooded; woody
3 made of trees, branches, boughs, etc

noun:
1 a person dwelling in a woodland region.
2 a mythical deity or spirit of the woods

Examples:

Consider the hectares and hectares of fences and hedges, ( Read more... )

anomie [an-uh-mee]

noun:
social instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values

Examples:

Emile Durkheim, whom I’ve studied since I was an undergraduate trying to understand the social changes of the 1960s, would call this new normal anomie - a destabilized and destabilizing state when rules and rule givers lose legitimacy. ( ( Read more... )

bibliotaph [bib-lee-uh-taf, -tahf]

noun:
a person who caches or hoards books; one who hides away books, as in a tomb

Examples:

Some were eager to see his original edition of the Communist Manifesto with Marx’s own scribbled marginalia; others, his upstairs study where this bibliotaph kept his greatest treasures under lock and key, including ( Read more... )

volte-face [ivolt-fahs, vohlt-; French vawltuh-fas]

noun:
1 a reversal, as in opinion or policy
2 a change of position so as to look, lie, etc, in the opposite direction

Examples:

This eventually culminates in some of its absolute biggest emotional beats relying on a major plot hole, and a volte-face that’s clearly angling for a cheer but is ( Read more... )

Estoc - noun.

The French estoc (also called a tuck in English) is a type of longsword used from the 14-17th centuries. It has a straight, edgeless blade with a sharp point that could pierce mail armor.


( Read more... )

immanent [im-uh-nuhnt]

adjective:
1 remaining within; indwelling; inherent
2 (philosophy) (of a mental act) taking place within the mind of the subject and having no effect outside of it
3 (theology) (of the Deity) indwelling the universe, time, etc

Examples:

What follows is a tour of how various spiritual traditions conceive of nature, ( Read more... )

Mirepoix - noun.

Mirepoix (mir-pwah) is a good word to learn as the weather gets chillier. It refers to a trio of veggies that form an excellent base for many dishes--celery, onion, and carrots in a 1:2:1 ratio.

Allegedly coined in the 18th century after the Duke of Mirepoix, mirepoix becomes pincage when tomato paste is added ( Read more... )