New (to me) words…

So, I have been making a list of new-to-me words, mostly from Edith Wharton but other random sources as well:

• Herdic (re: transportation) – type of horse-drawn carriage (late 1880’s US)
• Vicegerent – official administrative duty of a rule or head of state
• Enfiladed – gunfire directed along the whole length of a target (e.g. down a straight trench from end to end etc.)
• Fatuities – self-satisfied unintelligence combined with complacency
• Vaticanations – the art of prophesying (Link with the Vatican/Catholic church somehow?)
• Aigrettes – tuft or plume of feathers used in head dress
• Sacerdotal – related to priests or priesthood
• Encaustic – related to art using wax
• Philippic – a fiery damning speech delivered to condemn political person
• Miry (re: weather) –  swampy damp ground
• Sneck (re: gate) – door latch (in Northern UK and Scotland 13^th century)
• Plethoric – overfull, turgid. (Related to “plethora” as in “a lot”)
• Adumbrations – to give a sketchy outline or foreshadow
• Surcharged ceiling? – Was there a ceiling tax at some point? (Similar to the old window tax in UK?)
• Lemtta – ??
• Gnomic – resembling or containing proverbs or other aphorisms

So many words, so little time… 🙂