This is another word that I found in Richard Dawkins' new book, The God Delusion. I am nearly finished with this book, so I will probably have a new word from a new book for you tomorrow.
fillip (FIL-uhp) [Origin: 1425-75; late ME philippe to make a signal or sound with thumb and right forefinger; expressive word of uncertain origin]
verb (used with object)
- to strike with the nail of a finger snapped from the end of the thumb.
- to tap or strike smartly.
- to drive by or as by a fillip: Anticipation filliped his passion.
verb (used without object)
- to make a fillip with the fingers.
noun
- an act or instance of filliping; a smart tap or stroke.
- anything that tends to rouse, excite, or revive; a stimulus: Praise is an excellent fillip for waning ambition.
Usage: He has no truck with them: they don't contribute even a minor fillip to his numerical estimate of God's likelihood.
.
- Log in to post comments
More like this
Last night, I found this small word with many big meanings in Richard Dawkins' new book, The God Delusion.
sop (sop) [Italian, from sopra, above, from Latin supra.]
n.
a piece of solid food, as bread, for dipping in liquid food.
anything thoroughly soaked.
something given to pacify or…
This is another fine word that I found in Richard Dawkins' new book, The God Delusion. I am still nearly finished with this book and will be reading a new one tomorrow.
Abrogation (ab-RUH-gey-shun) [from Latin abrogÄtus repealed]
noun.
to abolish by formal or official means; annul by an…
I just started reading Richard Dawkins' new book, The God Delusion, and already discovered an interesting new word.
Bowdlerize (bohd-luh-rahyz, boud-) [Origin: 1830-40; after Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825), the English editor who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare in 1818.]
tr.v.
To…
This is another fine word that I found in Richard Dawkins' new book, The God Delusion. I am still reading this book, but because it inspires so many flights of fancy on my part, I have not yet finished it, as I expected.
Aggrandizing (a-grndz) [French agrandir, agrandiss-, from Old French: a- to (…
Are you okay? Your Nov 6th, 2006 entry on your old blog doesn't look good.
http://girlscientist.blogspot.com/
I'm debating whether it would be helpful to raise this on more popular blogs - like PZ's.