Word of the Week: Facsimile

by Naomi L. | August 31, 2015 | Blog, Word of the Week | 0 comments

Source: Oxford Dictionaries

Robin: Oh, cute dog!

Arthur: No! Tugboat, my other dog, that was a cute dog. This little disappointment is nothing but a cheap facsimile.

– How I Met Your Mother (Season 6, Episode 23 – Landmarks)

How about another unusual word for your list? This week’s vocabulary word is one that I remember hearing only twice in my whole life: once in the indie sci-fi game Transistor and once in the above scene from How I Met Your Mother. I probably should have been familiar with it long ago, though; as I only just learned, I used to hear the abbreviated form of the word all the time: “fax”! To be honest, I feel a little silly for not realizing “fax” was an abbreviation all along, but at least knowing that now should make the full word easier to remember!

A “facsimile” is an exact or highly similar copy of something, usually a written or printed work. Originally spelled fac simile, the word arose in the late 16th century and referred to the making of an exact copy of a written work. This noun is of modern Latin origin and is comprised of the interjection fac (from the verb facere “to make”) and the adjective simile “like”.

Like the shortened form “fax”, “facsimile” can also function as a verb meaning “make a copy of”. The word generally refers to the copying of written materials such as books and manuscripts, though it really applies to anything that can be duplicated. In some contexts, it refers to the reproduction of items of historical value that are as close as possible to the original. So if your characters make a habit of copying things, take note: you may have quite a few good “facsimiles” in your stories!

What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?

Word of the Week: Paucity

by Naomi L. | August 24, 2015 | Blog, Word of the Week | 0 comments

Source: Oxford Dictionaries

Continuing from last week’s theme of advanced forms of common words, today’s vocabulary post features another word that you’re much less likely to see than its everyday counterpart. After all, when was the last time you heard someone refer to a lacking amount of something as a “paucity” as opposed to a “scarcity”? It’s another word that came up in a presentation at the scientific conference I attended, but I have yet to see it much in fiction!

A “paucity” of something is a small or insufficient amount or quantity of it. The word arose in late Middle English and can be traced back through the Old French noun paucite to the Latin noun paucitas, meaning “a small number”. This noun comes from the adjective paucus, which means “few”.

Coincidentally, “paucity” is a word that I’ve used very few times myself, if ever. I read it occasionally in academic writing (such as in papers that describe a “paucity” of a particular species in a region), but in the right contexts, I believe it works just as well in fiction. If your characters often encounter lacking quantities or amounts of the things they need (and you’ve already overused more common words like “scarcity”), you may want to consider writing about the “paucity” of their necessities in your stories! Good luck!

What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?