The Death of Fissiparous and Other Words: A Dictionary of Words & Phrases on the Verge of Extinction

anchorite

an-KE-rait

noun

a hermit; a hermit like person

1812Lord George Gordon ByronChilde Harold's PilgrimageThe laughing dames in whom he did delight, | Whose large blue eyes, fair locks, and snowy hands, | Might shake the saintship of an anchorite1855Maturin MurrayThe Sea WitchThere is true poetry in such a scene as this, beauty fit to move the heart of an anchorite.1919W. Somerset MaughamThe Moon and SixpenceYour appearance doesn't suggest the anchorite.

Labels: Lord George Gordon Byron, Maturin Murray, W. Somerset Maugham

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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mendacious

men-DAY-shuhs

adjective

false statement; lying

1841Thomas CarlyleOn Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in HistoryLet us try if, leaving out both the quack theory and the allegory one, and listening with affectionate attention to that far-off confused rumor of the Pagan ages, we cannot ascertain so much as this at least, That there was a kind of fact at the heart of them; that they too were not mendacious and distracted, but in their own poor way true and sane!1897Richard Henry SavageA Fascinating TraitorIt was the crowning lie of Hawke's splendidly mendacious career when he carelessly said, 'Nothing. I supposed, of course, that you had grave need of me here.'1915W. Somerset MaughamOf Human BondageMildred had become great friends with her and had given her an elaborate but mendacious account of the circumstances which had brought her to the pass she was in.

Labels: Richard Henry Savage, Thomas Carlyle, W. Somerset Maugham

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monomania

MAW-no-MAY-nee-a

noun

incredible focus or obsession with a single thing

1888Rudyard KiplingOn the Strength of a LikenessHannasyde's particular monomania was his old love, Alice Chisane.1915W. Somerset MaughamOf Human BondageHe thought of it constantly, so that it became a monomania.1917H. P. LovecraftThe TombThe physician with the iron-grey beard who comes each day to my room, once told a visitor that this decision marked the beginning of a pitiful monomania; but I will leave final judgment to my readers when they shall have learnt all.

Labels: H. P. Lovecraft, Rudyard Kipling, W. Somerset Maugham

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Dionysus

DAI-uhn-ai-suhs

noun

related to the ancient Greek god (or the god's cult of worshipers) of wine, revelry, fertility, and the theatre; known in Roman times as Bacchus

1906Cassius DioDio's Rome...in Pergamum a kind of noise of drums and cymbals rose from the temple of Dionysus and spread throughout the city…1915W. Somerset MaughamOf Human BondageHe showed him the theatre of Dionysus and explained in what order the people sat, and how beyond they could see the blue Aegean.1970Alvin TofflerFuture ShockCults form around the search for Dionysian experience…

Labels: Alvin Toffler, Cassius Dio, W. Somerset Maugham

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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