Connoisseur

Connoisseur: A person well versed in any subject; a skillful or knowing person; a critical judge or master of any art, particularly of painting and sculpture. From French connaisseur.  The French word derives from the verb connoître (acquainted, to know).  Father of...

Cognizance

Cognizance: having knowledge of something.  When you possess cognizance, you possess knowledge.  As G. I. Joe says, “Cognizance is half the battle.”  Or, something like that. Cognizance can also mean perception, awareness, the ability to notice things.  Cognizance...

Anatidaephobia

I’ve been silent for a few days. Have not posted the word of the day. There is a reason. It’s a good one. I’ve been hiding out. I was nervous. My anatidaephobia had flared up again. Anatidaephobia derives from the Latin word for duck, anas and the...

Prognosis

Prognosis: In medicine, the art of foretelling a disease; knowing beforehand the cause of a disease. We can also use the word prognosis to forecast. When it comes to the weather, for example, it is difficult to make an accurate prognosis. Prognosis is “pre-knowledge.”...

Acquaint

Acquaint: to make known; to make familiar Isaiah, prophesying the coming Christ, called him a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Acquaint comes from the Latin preposition ad (to, toward) and the verb cognosco (I know).