Vocab 41-50

41. Cuisine

  • From Latin coquina (kitchen) through French into English

  • Is pronounced kwē zēn

  • Other forms of the word: cuisinier - a cook, a chef; Cuisiniere - a female cook or chef

  • For many teenagers, the preferred cuisine consists of hamburgers, French fries, and colas. 

42. Debonair

  • From French de bon aire (from good air, of good nature or of good family); French bon (good) is from Latin bonus (good)

  • Is also spelled debonair

  • Originally meant gentle or courteous

  • Alex looked remarkably debonair in the tuxedo he rented for his high school prom.


43. Decanter

  • From Greek kanthosi (corner of the eye) through Latin canthus (lip or side) into English

  • Verb form - decant (to pour from one container to another)

  • Is related to canteen (a cloth-covered bottle for carrying liquids)

  • Wine is poured from its original bottle into a decanter, leaving the sediment behind.


44. Deciduous

  • From Latin de (from) plus cadere (to fall)

  • Usually refers to trees and shrubs that shed leaves in the fall, but may also refer to other things (deciduous teeth, deciduous hair of animals)

  • Is related to the word chance, which also comes from cadere

  • The kids liked to play in the leaves that had fallen from the deciduous trees.


45. Demagogue

  • From Greek demos (people) and agogos (leader)

  • Can be spelled demagog

  • Several noun forms - demagoguery, demagogism, and demagogy

  • At the political rally, people were taken in by the dynamic demagogue.






46. Dexterous

  • From Greek dexios (situated on the right) through Latin into English

  • Is also spelled dextrous

  • Noun form - dexterity (skillfulness)

  • May refer to both physical and mental skills; may also refer to objects (a dexterous machine - one that performs sophisticated operations)

  • The crowd laughed and cheered as the juggler showed how dexterous he was at his craft.


47. Disheveled

  • From Latin capillus (hair) through French des plus cheveu (hair) into English

  • Is also spelled dishevelled

  • Verb form - dishevel (to throw into disorder)

  • When Mr. Smith answered the doorbell, the newspaper boy could tell by his disheveled appearance that he had just gotten out of bed.


48. Distaff

  • From Old English dise (flax) and staef (staff)

  • Since spinning was strictly a woman’s work, the term distaff came to refer to all woman’s work (cooking, sewing) and eventually to the female sex

  • Slang term - distaffer (a woman)

  • She took the distaff in her hand and began to draw out the thread.


49. Doggerel

  • From Middle English dogerel (poor, worthless)

  • Refers to semi-humorous versus put together poorly and often with an irregular beat

  • Is also spelled doggrel

  • The court jester built his reputation by reciting doggerel.


50. Dormant

  • From Sanskrit drāti (he sleeps) to Latin dormire (to sleep) to French and then Middle English

  • Implies a temporary state of suspended activity; can be used to refer to plant parts before they develop (such as bulbs during the winter)

  • Was used in heraldry to refer to an animal lying down with its head on its forepaws, while an animal that was reared up on its hind legs was described as rampant 

  • Noun form - dormancy

  • Is related to dormitory and dormouse

  • Mount Saint Helens had been a dormant volcano for thousands of years, but then it erupted with killing force.