I was familiar with the word vesper, so I knew what this meant, but the sentence is too good not to share, and it's true that this use of the word is new to me. Vespertine - of, relating to, or occurring in the evening The sentence, still from The Orchard Keeper: "They moved out …
new words – prelate
Still not even halfway through The Orchard Keeper, here is another word I've never seen. Prelate - an ecclesiastic (such as a bishop or abbot) of superior rank And here is the start of a long sentence: "John Shell, looking like nothing so much as an ill-assembled manikin of bones on which clothes were hung …
new words – millrace
I liked this description, encountered yet again in The Orchard Keeper, and wanted to copy it down even before I got to this new word, which thankfully gave me a reason to post it. Millrace - a canal in which water flows to and from a mill wheel "... they went out the kitchen door …
new words – sedulous
I had assumed this might mean something like slow, or lethargic, but I was wrong. Sedulous - involving or accomplished with careful perseverance The end of a long sentence, from The Orchard Keeper: "... the men locking and unlocking the chains sedulously."
new words – pitchblende
Perhaps you can guess a kind of meaning based on the word pitch, but it is a very specific definition that I didn't know. Pitchblende - a brown to black mineral that consists of massive uraninite, has a distinctive luster, contains radium, and is the chief ore-mineral source of uranium The sentence, from The Orchard …
Jonas David 