Words Light Fires

….words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts. — Patrick Rothfuss

Words. What would we do without them? They give us basic things, necessary things – like communication and understanding. But words can go beyond that, too. They can delve into realms of magic and mystery, places we didn’t know existed. Their cuts can make us bleed, their beauty can make us cry, their depth can make us hope …

Readers love them. Writers live by them.

In honor of the beauty of words, I’ve dug up a few that are not only beautiful, but which have wonderfully unique meanings. I dare you to read them without getting inspired.

selcouth: (adj.) unfamiliar, rare, strange and yet marvelous

hiraeth: (n.) a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home that may have never been; the yearning, nostalgia or grief for the lost places of your past

fika: (v.) drinking coffee along with eating something sweet

sillage: (n.) the scent that lingers in the air, the trail left in water, the impression made in space after something or someone has been and gone

sciamachy: (n.) a battle against imaginary enemies; fighting your shadow

aesthete: (n.) someone with deep sensitivity to the beauty of art or nature

psithurism: (n.) the sound of the wind through trees

feuillemort: (n.) the color of a dying leaf

whelve: (v.) to bury something deep; to hide

nelipot: (n.) one who walks barefoot

murr-ma: (v.) to walk along in the water, searching for something with your feet

cicurate: (v.) to tame or reclaim from wildness or madness

ailurophile: (n.) a cat-lover

elision: (v.) dropping a sound or syllable in a word

inglenook: (n.) a cozy nook by the hearth

moiety: (adj.) one of two equal parts

onomatopoeia: (n.) a word that sounds exactly like its meaning

palimpsest: (n.) a manuscript written over earlier ones

petrichor: (n.) the smell of earth after rain

 

If you could create a unique word, what would it be, and what would be its meaning?