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ratiocinate ra-shee-AW-sen-ayt verb to reason through something methodically; to think methodically 1858Edward Bulwer-LyttonWhat Will He Do With ItThe Cobbler put the forefinger of the right hand on the forefinger of the left; it is the gesture of a man about to ratiocinate or demonstrate, as Quintilian, in his remarks on the oratory of fingers, probably observes; or if he has failed to do so, it is a blot in his essay.1886Hiram CorsonAn Introduction to the Study of Browning's PoetrySome speaker is made to reveal his character, and, sometimes, by reflection, or directly, the character of some one else—to set forth some subtle and complex soul-mood, some supreme, all-determining movement or experience of a life; or, it may be, to ratiocinate subtly on some curious question of theology, morals, philosophy, or art.1925Sinclair LewisMartin ArrowsmithWell, Leory, I suppose you and Martykins here have now ratiocinated all these questions of polo and, uh, Monte Carlo and so on.Labels: Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Hiram Corson, Sinclair Lewis
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eyrie AI-ree noun a bird nest located on a cliff face or at a high elevation; a house or fortress located at a high elevation; a mountain top stronghold 1849Edward Bulwer-Lytton The CaxtonsWe shall mourn and miss you; but who can chain the young eagles to the eyrie? 1954J. R. R. TolkienThe Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers...a dizzy eyrie above the mists of the world.1968Robert E. Howard and Ramsey CampbellThe Children of AsshurKane heard the trumpets blaring upon the wall, and the roll of kettle-drums. Steel clanged in the streets, and the sound of men marching rose to his eyrie.1996Harry TurtledoveUpsetting the Balance...from this airy eyrie, he seemed to be the king of infinite space, with the whole world set out below for his inspection.Labels: Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Harry Turtledove, J. R. R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard and Ramsey Campbell
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clinquant KLIN-kawnt adjective glittering gold or silver 1828Edward Bulwer-Lytton The Disowned For the after century it was reserved to restore what we may be permitted to call the spirit of our national literature; to forsake the clinquant of the French mimickers of classic gold; to exchange a thrice-adulterated Hippocrene for the pure well of Shakspeare and of Nature; to clothe philosophy in the gorgeous and solemn majesty of appropriate music; and to invest passion with a language as burning as its thought and rapid as its impulse.1982Stephen R. DonaldsonThe One TreeThe light of midday gleamed, clinquant and refulgent, on every tree bough and swath of grass.Labels: Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Stephen R. Donaldson
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Barathrum ba-RUH-thruhm noun a bottomless hole; an abyss; a name for hell or the underworld in Greek mythology 1600Ben JonsonEvery Man In His HumourLOR. JU. Opinion, O God, let gross opinion sink and be damn'd As deep as Barathrum,1837Edward Bulwer-LyttonAthens: Its Rise and FallIt had been a saying of Aristides, 'that if the Athenians desired their affairs to prosper, they ought to fling Themistocles and himself into the barathrum.' But fortune was satisfied at this time with a single victim, and reserved the other for a later sacrifice.1876Edward Bulwer-LyttonPausanias, the SpartanInstead of ostracising me, they should have cast both myself and Themistocles into the Barathrum.Labels: Ben Jonson, Edward Bulwer-Lytton
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jejune ji-JOON adjective uninteresting; insipid; dull 1703William DampierA Voyage to New HollandIt has been Objected against me by some that my Accounts and Descriptions of Things are dry and jejune, not filled with variety of pleasant Matter to divert and gratify the Curious Reader. How far this is true, I must leave to the World to judge.1830Edward Bulwer-LyttonPaul CliffordTo the former decent alternative she knew Paul's great and jejune aversion; and she consequently had little fear for his morals or his safety, in thus abandoning him for a while to chance.1842Nikolai Vasilievich GogolDead SoulsInstantly it became plain that he at least was of an age of discretion, and not one of your jejune chatterboxes and harum-scarums; for, although his hair was still thick and black, he had long ago passed his fortieth year.1880Mark TwainA Tramp AbroadContrasted with the inconceivable antiquity of this modest fossil, those other things were flippantly modern—jejune—mere matters of day-before-yesterday.1922Samuel Hopkins AdamsFrom a Bench in Our SquareJust as decidedly she was quaint and piquant and quite new to his jejune but also somewhat bored experience.1980Alan Dean FosterCachalotHow jejune!Labels: Alan Dean Foster, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Mark Twain, Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, Samuel Hopkins Adams, William Dampier
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quotidian kwo-TI-dee-uhn noun, adjective something which occurs everyday; everyday; ordinary; daily 1849Edward Bulwer-LyttonThe CaxtonsWith what an effort we reconcile ourselves to the trite cares and vexed pleasures, 'the quotidian ague of frigid impertinences,' to which we return! How strong and black stands my pencil-mark in this passage of the poet from whom I have just quoted before!—'We are here among the vast and noble scenes of Nature—we are there among the pitiful shifts of policy; we walk here in the light and open ways of the Divine Bounty—we grope there in the dark and confused labyrinth of human malice. 1931Clark Ashton SmithAn Adventure in FuturityWhen Fancy's vivid spark impels the soul | To scorn quotidian scenes, to spurn the bliss | Of vulgar minds, what nostrum shall compose | Its fatal tension?1984Eric Van LustbaderThe MikoIt was as if she had been spun down the awful tunnel of legend, as if quotidian Tokyo with its hordes of rushing people, thick pollution, and bright neon lights had disappeared entirely.Labels: Clark Ashton Smith, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Eric Van Lustbader
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ague AY-gyoo noun aches and chills; fever with shivering and shaking, sometimes including aching bones and joints and persistent tiredness or exhaustion; malaria 1697William DampierA New Voyage Round the WorldHere I was taken sick of Fever and Ague that afterward turned to Dropsy, which I laboured under a long time after, a many of our men died of this Distempter, though our Surgeons used their greatest Skill to preserve their Lives.1849Edward Bulwer-LyttonThe Caxtons...the quotidian ague of frigid impertinences…Labels: Edward Bulwer-Lytton, William Dampier
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encomium en-KO-mee-uhm noun any communication praising something or someone 1873Edward Bulwer-Lytton The Parisians, Book 7 De Mauleon now approached Isaura, who was seated next to Valerie, and after well-merited encomium on Madame S———'s performance, slid into some critical comparisons between that singer and those of a former generation, which interested Isaura, and evinced to her quick perceptions that kind of love for music which has been refined by more knowledge of the art than is common to mere amateurs. 1974Robert M. PirsigZen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance The technique of identifying likenesses, the technique of praise, that of encomium and that of amplification.Labels: Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Robert M. Pirsig
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