A Reader's Companion II

This book is a continuation of my first book on words, A Reader’s Companion: 3,500 Words and Phrases Avid Readers Should Know, hence its title: A Reader’s Companion II: 3,500 Words and Phrases Avid Readers Should Know. These two books contain the definitions of 7,000 uncommon but frequently encountered words and phrases. They are handy reference guides and a simple alternative to searching through a dictionary, encyclopedia or Google. As I wrote in the introduction to my first book on words, there was a time I would either ignore the meanings of words that I did not understand or, often mistakenly, impute a meaning from context. The result was that I remained unaware of commonly encountered words’ meanings, and I occasionally had the wrong meaning for a word I thought I knew. For example, I thought that belie meant “to expose unwittingly” from context, but it really means “to oppose.” This caused me unsettling confusion and occasional embarrassment, so I decided many years ago to look up the definition of every word I read or heard—these books are the result. A few words in this second book are also in my first book because I wanted to contrast some new words in this book, like “parse,” with words from my first book, like “peruse.” Also, like in my first book on words, there are some well known words defined in this book, such as “increment,” which means a gradual or regular increase. These are included principally because I wanted to include their opposites, which in this example is “decrement,” or a gradual or regular decrease. Like in the first book of this series, I have also included some commonly used Latin phrases often found in literature. Following is a sample excerpt from the book; Etiology—in philosophy, the study of causes and origins; the study of causes of a disease Etymon—the literal meaning of a word according to its origin Eu partten—to act well; to prosper Eucharist—the central Christian rite in which bread and wine are consecrated and distributed as the body and blood of Jesus or as symbols of them Euchre—to cheat or trick Eudaemonism—the belief in happiness and well being attained through reason Eugenics—the belief that human beings, or other animals, can best be improved through controlling reproduction; cf. euthenics Eulogy (also eulogium)—tribute, acclaim, praise; cf. dyslogy Eunomia—the state of being governed by good laws Eunomy—civil order under good laws Euonym—a name that one considers especially appropriate for a person, place or thing Eupeptic—conducive to good digestion; cheerful and happy Euphemism—a mild word or phrase chosen so as not to shock or offend someone; cf. dysphemism Euphony—a pleasant sound, especially in speech or pronunciation Eurythermal—of a creature that can exist in a wide range of temperatures; cf. stenothermal, stenecious Euthenics—the belief that human improvement must come basically from betterment of environment; cf. eugenics Euxinc Sea—some eighteenth century writers’ reference to the Black Sea