Wondrous Words Wednesday

   This week I have been reading The House of The Seven Gables and I am racking up quite a list of new words! Here’s five:

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1. Vicissitude
(n.)
Definition — a change or variation.
Usage — “The aspect of this mansion has always affected me like a human countenance, bearing the traces… and accompanying vicissitudes that have passed within.”
~The House of the Seven Gables 


2. Duodecimo 
(n.)
Definition — a book composed of pages 5 by 7 ³/₄ inches.
Usage — “But the story would include a chain of events extending over... a longer series of duodecimos than could prudently be appropriate...”
~The House of the Seven Gables 


3. Apoplexy 
(n.)
Definition — sudden impairment of neurological function, a stroke.
Usage — “If we have rightly understood his terms of art, he was killed by a case of apoplexy.”
~The House of the Seven Gables 


4. Sagacious
(adj.)
Definition — Having or showing keen discernment, sound judgment, and farsightedness.
Usage — “…Colonel Pyncheon, provident and sagacious as he was, had allowed it to go at loose ends.”
~The House of the Seven Gables


5. Anathema
(n.)
Definition — a curse.
Usage — “I doubt that whether an old wizard Maule’s anathema, of which you told me once, would have had much weight with providence against them.” 
~The House of the Seven Gables

Have you learned any new words this week? Check out more on Kathy’s blog!