Perambulate is a verb that means to travel around in a leisurely way.

The Latin word ambulare (ohm boo LAR ay) means walk, while the prefix P-E-R means ‘all over.’ When we perambulate through an area, we stroll through all of it at a leisurely pace.

Our trip to Paris was fun, but it was a little too rushed. We didn’t have time to perambulate through the city.

Glottal is an adjective that means producing a sound from the glottis.

The Greek word glottis refers to ‘the tongue.’ After being imported into English, it’s meaning shifted to refer to the larynx, a part of the vocal cords that effect voice modulation. To make a glottal sound is to make a sound that involves this part of the body. This often can refer to a clicking sound.

After my throat surgery, I struggled to make any glottal sounds. It seemed my glottis had simply been irreversibly damaged.

Osculate is a verb that means to kiss.

The Latin word osculum (OH skew loom) means ‘little mouth’ or ‘kiss.’ Although it has a more formal, separate meaning in mathematics, it is also used informally to refer to a kiss. Here’s an example:

After studying medicine for years, I found myself drowning in Latin. Things got particularly weird when I came home and asked my wife to osculate me on the mouth.

Bumptious is an adjective that means self-assertive to annoying degree.

It’s no coincidence that the first four letters in our word of the day come to the word ‘bump.’ Its origin is that it combines the word ‘bump’ with the word ‘fractious’ to means someone whose self-assertive personality can rub — or bump — people the wrong way. Here’s an example:

We all like James, but can he can be a little bumptious at times. In fact, his snugness is so great that we were all hoping he didn’t perform well at the bowling tournament — and he was on our team!

Selenography is a noun that refers to the mapping of the moon.

In Greek mythology Selene is the goddess of the moon. In recent years her name has been adopted for for words that refer to the moon. For selenography, the suffix G-R-A-P-H-Y has been added to created a word specifically related to geography of the moon. Here’s an example of selenography in use:

Patti decided to pursue a career in selenography because of her love of the moon. But she soon discovered that the job consisted a lot more of memorizing geographic details.

Banausic is an adjective that means serving utilitarian purposes only.

Our word of the day comes from a Greek word banausikos (bah NO see kose) which means ‘of or for artisans.’ It must be remembered that artisans of the ancient world mostly created art for utilitarian purposes, things like vases and furniture. In time, banausic came to mean anything that existed solely for utilitarian reasons.

We got our dog Sparky mostly for banausic reasons. We needed a guard dog. But as time has gone by, our love for him has less and less to do with the utilitarian purposes he serves.

Pyrite is a noun that refers to a ‘fools’ gold’ or something that appears valuable but is worthless.

The Greek word pur (PU er) means fire. In addition to being the origin of such words as pyromania, it is also the basis of our word of the day. Pyrite usually refers to a shiny yellow mineral that was often mistaken for gold in the 19th century. But it can also be used metaphorically to refer to something that fools you into thinking it has value.

Tommy grew up believing he had the golden voice, but in truth the gold was pyrite. After pursuing a career as a singer, it became clear that his voice had no real value to anybody but Tommy.

Scattergram is a noun that refers to a diagram used to compare two variables.

Coming from two common English words, scattergram is a synonym of a scatter diagram, that may be preferable because it rolls off the tongue faster and easier. Here’s an example of it in use:

I used a scattergram to compare the different factors that has caused our team to struggle. Showing a diagram of those factors line up against each other really does illustrate our truly awful our team is.

Guttle is a verb that means to eat or drink greedily or noisily.

The word gut is of Old English descent and refers to the bowels or digestive tract. When we Guttle we put stuff into our gut quickly and loudly. Here’s an example:

It was fun to watch my family Guttle down the food I spent hours creating. But to honest, their loud and greedy eating likely had less to do with how good it was than with how long I kept them waiting.

Deliquesce is a verb that means to melt away or become liquid.

The Latin word liquere (luh KWARE ay) refers to liquid. By adding the prefix D-E for ‘down,’ we get a word that means ‘to be’ or ‘to become’ liquid.

After a winter that lasted way too long, it was great to see the ice deliquesce in a matter of hours. Watching ice melt has never been more fun.