# Ever meet a word whose definition surprises you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 13, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868 "2005-08-13T15:49:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/21 "2005-08-13T21:40:12Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Here’s one: > > Main Entry: pe·ruse > Pronunciation: p&-'rüz > Function: transitive verb > Inflected Form(s): pe·rused; pe·rus·ing > Etymology: Middle English, to use up, deal with in sequence, from Latin per- thoroughly + Middle English usen to use > 1 **a** : to examine or consider with attention and in detail : STUDY > **b** : to look over or through in a casual or cursory manner > > So which is it? a) or b) 😕 I see your **peruse** , and raise you: **cleave** - which means to either 1) separate, or 2) adhere. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/22 "2005-08-14T06:18:20Z")
Manual of **Puissant** Skill at Arms **cuirass** +1 **Enervation** spell You guys need to play more Dungeons and Dragons. ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/23 "2005-08-14T06:42:58Z")
Shibboleth > **[Definition of shibboleth | Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/shibboleth)** > > Definition of shibboleth from Dictionary.com, the world’s leading online source for English definitions, pronunciations, word origins, idioms, Word of the Day, and more. I had no idea - I always thought it meant something like a monolith and I misused it for years. mm ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/24 "2005-08-14T06:58:20Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > **cleave** - which means to either 1) separate, or 2) adhere. > > 😕 Unfortunate, that. The two senses of the word are derived from separate words in Old English which in turn are borrowed from different (but similar-sounding) words from two different germanic dialects. If you want to _force_ it to make sense, you can always think of a “cleft,” which can be thought of as a joining or a separation, depending on which direction you approach it from. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sarah\_Woodruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sarah\_Woodruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarah_Woodruff)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/25 "2005-08-14T07:00:58Z")
For years I thought that the word [livid](http://www.answers.com/livid&r=67) meant someone had a dark red face - liverish coloured, or something. Actually it means the opposite: > [@](#): > > Discolored, as from a bruise; black-and-blue. > Ashen or pallid: a face livid with shock. > Extremely angry; furious. > [Middle English livide, from Old French, from Latin līvidus, from līvēre, to be bluish.] > > li·vid’i·ty or liv’id·ness n. > liv’id·ly adv. All these kings used to die of a “surfeit of lampreys” in the Middle Ages. Doesn’t happen anymore. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/26 "2005-08-14T07:31:16Z")
I thought it meant fishy, but then what do I know. ---
**Author:** ![Sengkelat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Sengkelat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sengkelat)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/27 "2005-08-14T08:55:14Z")
I always thought that **epitome** meant the quintessential instance of something. However my OED says it’s a summary or a representation in miniature. But, my mistake is apparently so common that recent dictionaries have revised their definitions to agree with what I thought it was anyway. **Dearth** sometimes confuses me. It means a shortage; I occasionally think it means the opposite. **Vegetous** confuses some folk. (but not me, because I’m a freaky word geek) It means lively or healthy. (It’s synonymous with vegete) ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/28 "2005-08-14T08:59:58Z")
> [@Sengkelat](#): > > **Vegetous** confuses some folk. (but not me, because I’m a freaky word geek) It means lively or healthy. (It’s synonymous with vegete) Cool, I found a synonymn for **fecund** , thanks to you. I use fecund too often in conversation, people think I’m a weirdo or something. ---
**Author:** ![bitwise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@bitwise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bitwise)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/29 "2005-08-14T09:00:09Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > **Astro** > **enervated** Seems as if it means to be filled with enrgy. > Actually it means to be depleted of energy. I second “enervated”; also, “pulchritude”. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/30 "2005-08-14T09:15:39Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Here’s one: > > Main Entry: pe·ruse > Pronunciation: p&-'rüz > Function: transitive verb > Inflected Form(s): pe·rused; pe·rus·ing > Etymology: Middle English, to use up, deal with in sequence, from Latin per- thoroughly + Middle English usen to use > 1 **a** : to examine or consider with attention and in detail : STUDY > **b** : to look over or through in a casual or cursory manner > > So which is it? a) or b) 😕 It was originally a), but through exactly the sort of misunderstanding we’re discussing in this thread, has come to be used to mean b). So in modern writing it will almost always mean b), but if reading anything written before the 20th century, you would need to consider that it may mean a). > [@bluecanary](#): > > Does any other Britisher see the word “surfeit” and think immediately of lampreys? Aye. ---
**Author:** ![Pixisis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@Pixisis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixisis)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/31 "2005-08-14T10:56:19Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > **Astro** > > **enervated** Seems as if it means to be filled with enrgy. > Actually it means to be depleted of energy. yeah, i alway get it confused with: **in·ner·vate** Pronunciation (-nûrvt, nr-) tr.v. **in·ner·vat·ed** , in·ner·vat·ing, in·ner·vates 1. To supply (an organ or a body part) with nerves. 2. To stimulate (a nerve, muscle, or body part) to action. ---
**Author:** ![rayh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@rayh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayh)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/32 "2005-08-14T11:43:24Z")
I knew the first couple but the rest seem to have eluded me. nice adj. nic·er, nic·est 1. Pleasing and agreeable in nature: had a nice time. 2. Having a pleasant or attractive appearance: a nice dress; a nice face. 3. Exhibiting courtesy and politeness: a nice gesture. 4. Of good character and reputation; respectable. 5. Overdelicate or fastidious; fussy. 6. Showing or requiring great precision or sensitive discernment; subtle: a nice distinction; a nice sense of style. 7. Done with delicacy and skill: a nice bit of craft. 8. Used as an intensive with and: nice and warm. 9. Obsolete. 1. Wanton; profligate: “For when mine hours/Were nice and lucky, men did ransom lives/Of me for jests” (Shakespeare). 2. Affectedly modest; coy: “Ere… /The nice Morn on th’ Indian steep,/From her cabin’d loop-hole peep” (John Milton). ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/33 "2005-08-14T14:25:24Z")
Callipygiate. I read it in a sentence about someone moving across a room, so I thought it meant a really cool way to move across the room. However, the context, now that I read over it again, supports the real definition, which basically is “to ass one’s way from point A to point B”. Context sentence: “The phone rang and Miss Irish Ass of 1919 [the novel is set in the 1930s] callipygiated across the room and answered it.” From William Kennedy’s novel _Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game_. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/34 "2005-08-14T15:26:33Z")
“Bemused.” The related word “amused” suggests it should mean something similar, or a modification of “amused.” Instead it means “deep in thought, esp. when perplexed.” I’d never have expected that. I only figured it out a few months ago. ---
**Author:** ![Ragiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ragiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ragiel)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/35 "2005-08-14T16:25:13Z")
> [@bluecanary](#): > > Does any other Britisher see the word “surfeit” and think immediately of [lampreys](http://cunnan.sca.org.au/wiki/Henry_I)? Not British, but otherwise, yes. Not into SCA, medieval history, royalty worship, or anything similar, either. Anybody need a lamprey? I got one in my head that really doesn’t belong there. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/36 "2005-08-14T16:25:17Z")
> [@Spatial Rift 47](#): > > Callipygiate. I read it in a sentence about someone moving across a room, so I thought it meant a really cool way to move across the room. However, the context, now that I read over it again, supports the real definition, which basically is “to ass one’s way from point A to point B”. > Context sentence: “The phone rang and Miss Irish Ass of 1919 [the novel is set in the 1930s] callipygiated across the room and answered it.” From William Kennedy’s novel _Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game_. **Callipygian** is one of my favorite adjectives for describing the female form. Well, that and\*\* spathic\*\*. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/37 "2005-08-14T17:08:38Z")
[Sanguine](http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=sanguine&x=14&y=15) Bloodthirsty Optimists of the World Unite! It’s often difficult to figure which meaning is intended from context. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/38 "2005-08-14T18:07:14Z")
[Dr. Nick] Inflammable means flammable? What a country! [/Dr. Nick] ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/39 "2005-08-14T20:14:36Z")
As others have mentioned, some words (including their dictionary definitions) have changed their meanings over a long period of time. Originally, **nubile** meant eligible for marriage. Now it used to describe the overall appearance of a young, shapely, lovely lass. A **visionary** originally was someone with unrealisitc, impractical ideas. Now it seems to be associated with genius whereby Newton, Einstein, etc are categorized as visionaries ---
**Author:** ![marque\_elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@marque\_elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marque_elf)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868/40 "2005-08-14T20:38:38Z")
i had it all wrong with the phrase lese majeste. I never bothered to look it up but rather tried to translate from context. I thought it meant rendering service to the king. Instead, it means that you’ve done something treasonous. Boy, was I surprised. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-meet-a-word-whose-definition-surprises-you/316868.md?page=3)