ANSWERS: 1
  • "A hapax legomenon (pl. hapax legomena, though sometimes called hapaxes for short) is a word which occurs only once in the written record of a language, in the works of an author, or in a single text. If a word is used twice it is a dis legomenon, thrice, a tris legomenon...Some examples of hapax legomena in a given language or body of work are: Honorificabilitudinitatibus is a hapax legomenon of Shakespeare's works. Nortelrye, a word for "education", occurs exactly once in Chaucer. slæpwerigne occurs exactly once in the Old English corpus, in the Exeter Book. There is debate over whether it means "weary with sleep" or "weary for sleep." Autoguos (αυτογυος), an ancient Greek word for a sort of plough, is found once (and exclusively) in Hesiod, the precise meaning remaining obscure. Panaorios (παναωριος), ancient Greek for "very untimely", is one of many hapax legomena of the Iliad. Flother, a synonym for snowflake, is a hapax legomenon of written English pre-1900, found in a manuscript from around 1275. Gvina (גבינה-cheese) is a hapax legomenon of Biblical Hebrew, found in Job 10:10. The word has been extremely common in Hebrew since its appearance in the Bible. There are more examples, like the word Hashmal (חשמל - electricity or lightning) that appears only in Ezekiel 1:4. Today it is the only word used to refer to electricity (never lightning). Wimble, a word appearing in James Joyce's Ulysses (U 7.1071). Joyce told Stuart Gilbert that it was a hapax legomenon. The Oxford English Dictionary lists a Yorkshire-Lancashire dialect usage of wimble as "active, nimble", but the sense that Joyce seems to intend is "giddy, confused"." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapax_legomenon

Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC

Answerbag | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy