# What Is The Rarest English Verb? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 28, 2013, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376 "2013-12-28T23:20:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/41 "2013-12-30T03:58:11Z")
Best candidate I can summon quickly to mind is [obnubilate](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/obnubilate). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/42 "2013-12-30T04:13:53Z")
rarify (rarefy) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/43 "2013-12-30T04:23:27Z")
I believe the winner must be _[crissate](http://books.google.com/books?id=QXZ1AQAAQBAJ&lpg=PT1290&dq=%22crissate%22&pg=PT1290#v=onepage&q=%22crissate%22&f=false)_, which means (of a woman) ‘to move her buttocks in sexual intercourse’ or ‘to ripple the haunches’. The only example of its usage that I’ve ever seen was in Sir Richard Francis Burton’s translations of medieval [Arabic erotica](http://www.arabicerotica.com/). A cognate can be found in some English dictionaries, the noun \*crissum \*‘the feathers under the tail of a bird’, derived from Latin _[crissare](http://www.latin-dictionary.net/definition/14806/crisso-crissare-crissavi-crissatus)_ (of a woman) ‘to move the haunches in copulation’. ---
**Author:** ![j\_sum1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@j\_sum1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_sum1)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/44 "2013-12-30T04:46:12Z")
So what you are saying is that twerking can lead to crissation. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/45 "2013-12-30T04:50:32Z")
a common word that is quite rare would be ‘defenestrate’. you would think with all the windows and highrise that it would be used more often, but no. as for checking the rarity, why not just use google? ‘crissate’ has 2000 results, compared to ‘twiddle’ with 391 000 and ‘catillate’ at 1410. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/46 "2013-12-30T05:43:14Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > a common word that is quite rare would be ‘defenestrate’. you would think with all the windows and highrise that it would be used more often, but no. I think Defenestrate is probably the most commonly known but rarely used word. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/47 "2013-12-30T15:03:05Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I believe the winner must be _[crissate](http://books.google.com/books?id=QXZ1AQAAQBAJ&lpg=PT1290&dq=%22crissate%22&pg=PT1290#v=onepage&q=%22crissate%22&f=false)_, which means (of a woman) ‘to move her buttocks in sexual intercourse’ or ‘to ripple the haunches’. The only example of its usage that I’ve ever seen was in Sir Richard Francis Burton’s translations of medieval [Arabic erotica](http://www.arabicerotica.com/). A cognate can be found in some English dictionaries, the noun \*crissum \*‘the feathers under the tail of a bird’, derived from Latin _[crissare](http://www.latin-dictionary.net/definition/14806/crisso-crissare-crissavi-crissatus)_ (of a woman) ‘to move the haunches in copulation’. I like this word-make sure to use "Crissate"at least once in 2014! ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/48 "2013-12-30T16:33:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And presumably also outside of my signature. Still, though, that could just be a typo that’s not caught by autocorrect since it’s a (different) valid word. > > And **Skald the Rhymer** has been known to use “yclept” on this board, but then, that’s **Skald**. Also “hight.” Don’t forget “hight.” > [@RobDog](#): > > The phrase “twiddling his/her/their thumbs” is in common use though. “Twiddling” is what pedantic jackasses like me refer to as a fossil word. It virtually never appears outside the context of the aforementioned phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/49 "2013-12-30T16:41:58Z")
Since there’s probably no objective answer to this, and people are mostly giving examples of obscure words, let’s move this over to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderators ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/50 "2013-12-30T17:18:31Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Also “hight.” Don’t forget “hight.” > > “Twiddling” is what pedantic jackasses like me refer to as a fossil word. It virtually never appears outside the context of the aforementioned phrase. And even more pedantic jackasses such as me might point out that fossilization does not equate to rarity. Hie with me to Lyme Regis beach, and we shall toddle together amongst the teeming ammonites. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/51 "2013-12-30T17:21:46Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > And even more pedantic jackasses such as me might point out that fossilization does not equate to rarity. > > Hie with me to Lyme Regis beach, and we shall toddle together amongst the teeming ammonites. > > 🙂 “Hie,” “toddle,” and “teeming” don’t count as fossil words. They’re both used as independent verbs and are not confined to specific phrases, and they’re used in literal (read: concrete) senses, not merely figurative (read: idiomatic) ones. Shall we have a nerdy slapfight? I’ll be cheating, of course. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/52 "2013-12-30T17:24:17Z")
Sir, I have met my nerdy match, and I gracefully withdraw. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/53 "2013-12-30T17:26:46Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Sir, I have met my nerdy match, and I gracefully withdraw. :: regretfully removes cesti :: ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/54 "2013-12-30T21:32:35Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > I think Defenestrate is probably the most commonly known but rarely used word. That’s what I came in to say. Several years ago, an improv comedy group I used to watch had to act out three words provided by the audience in a courtroom-framed charades game. One of the words they chose was “defenestrate.” When that word came up, one of the “actors” yelled “I call Pete!” So the two “guessers,” Pete and another guy, came out. The first two words passed uneventfully; then came “defenestrate.” Pete’s actor did a fine pantomime of opening a window and throwing himself out, and Pete came up with the word almost immediately. To this day, that was the longest standing ovation I have ever been part of. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/55 "2013-12-30T23:57:53Z")
“Twiddle” is actually in current use in a narrow niche: In discussion of the card game Magic: the Gathering, to twiddle a card is to repeatedly cause it to become tapped or untapped (turned sideways, generally representing some sort of use of the card, or exhaustion of potential for use). This was originally used of the card Basalt Monolith, which could (among other uses) be tapped for the purpose of untapping itself, an effort which generally has zero effect and is thus equivalent to twiddling one’s thumbs, but it’s also been applied to a wide variety of other cards, often in contexts where it’s quite useful indeed. And incidentally, I found at least two instances of “yclept” being used (as opposed to just mentioned, as it was in this thread) by people other than **Skald** on this message board, and there are probably more: [**Akatsukami**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=11409) and [**choie**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=573636). ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/56 "2013-12-31T01:13:24Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > [This list](https://sites.google.com/site/fuzzyanalysislearninglanguages/about-me) claims to be the least common English words. > (alphabetical order) I use alot of those words. I had to explain ‘anachronistic’ to my coworkers bt giving the example of antimacassar , which led to truncheon, which led to trepanation. . And they look at me funny when I didn’t know Ozzie Osborne was the lead singer to Black Sabbath. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/57 "2013-12-31T10:12:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > “Twiddle” is actually in current use in a narrow niche: In discussion of the card game Magic: the Gathering, to twiddle a card is to repeatedly cause it to become tapped or untapped… Oh, and knobs. I regularly can be found knob twiddling, so to speak. Get back here Skald 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/58 "2013-12-31T10:23:22Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > alot Sorry, but that’s not a verb and is unfortunately used quite frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/59 "2013-12-31T13:20:27Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > “Twiddling” is what pedantic jackasses like me refer to as a fossil word. It virtually never appears outside the context of the aforementioned phrase. I’ve used the word “Twiddling” in other contexts, notably “twiddling with [some piece of technology]” and “twiddling the controls/dials”. It has a marvellous Edwardian air of jiggery-pokery and earnest boffinism to it, I find. Then again, my colleagues have also asked on more than one occasion if I have access to a dictionary that wasn’t written at the same time as the Jeeves & Wooster stories, so I’m probably not a representative sample for the purposes of the OP, I’m afraid. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376/60 "2013-12-31T14:32:11Z")
Does anyone still use the verb “betrothe”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-english-verb/677376.md?page=4)