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 …

new words – killy and crewelwork

I'm putting killy here because it's new to me, and in a sentence that I like, however I'm not sure this is really a word. I can't find a definition for it anywhere that makes sense. All I could find was an alternate spelling of killie, which is a kind of fish, but that doesn't …

new words – gibbet and trichinella

I through trichinella may be related to trichinosis, which is a disease I'd heard of, and I was right, that is a disease caused by the nematode of the family trichinella. Note this is only two pages after the previous post. This book is loaded with interesting words. Gibbet - a gallows. Gibbeted - to …

new words – lintel, arabesque, crowstep, corbel, crocket

If you're an architect or builder, you probably know these words. I'm not, and I didn't. It's a record number of new words in one sentence. Lintel - a horizontal architectural member spanning and usually carrying the load above an opening Arabesque - an ornament or style that employs flower, foliage, or fruit and sometimes …