Definition: characteristic of the writings of George Orwell, especially with reference to his dystopian account of a future totalitarian state in Nineteen Eighty-Four
Speaking of constructed languages like Newspeak, here’s another modern word you’ve likely heard before. Though I’ve been familiar with today’s Word of the Week for years, it was only after finally reading 1984 last year that I truly began to appreciate how relevant it’s become to modern times. Despite George Orwell’s warnings, it seems we’ve become an “Orwellian” society after all!
In a nutshell, “Orwellian” describes anything characteristic of George Orwell‘s writing. Most dictionary definitions of this word specify the dystopia and totalitarian state depicted in the author’s most famous novel, 1984. In a broader sense, according to Wikipedia, this adjective describes “a situation, idea, or societal condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free and open society.”
Although dictionary definitions generally imply the word is synonymous with “authoritarian” or “totalitarian”, “Orwellian” is a little more complex than that. Instead of launching into a twenty-page essay, though, I’ll simply refer you to the TED-Ed video below; it’ll tell you everything you need to know about this word. Note that because this adjective derives from a name, it should always be capitalized. If you write dystopian stories that challenge the ideals of a free and open society, “Orwellian” is a good word to keep on your list!
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Here’s a new word I picked up from Oxford Dictionaries‘ Word of the Day segment. This one is an interesting case of a modern word created to fit a definition that’s existed for centuries. There are a handful of terms for artificial languages, but today you may know them best by the name “conlang”!
A “conlang” is a language that has been created artificially. The word arose in the 1990s with the creation of the Conlang Mailing List. This noun is short for “constructed language”, defined by Oxford Dictionaries as “a language, such as Esperanto, that has been artificially created rather than having evolved naturally through use”.
“Conlangs” generally fall under one of three subcategories: engelangs (engineered languages) are used to experiment in logic, philosophy, or linguistics; auxlangs (auxiliary languages) are used to facilitate international communication; and artlangs (artistic languages) are “just for fun”, created for aesthetic pleasure or humorous effect. Some well-known examples of “conlangs” include:
Esperanto, an auxlang with over two million speakers worldwide;
Newspeak, the language of the fictional state of Oceania in George Orwell’s 1984;
Klingon, a fictional language from the Star Trek universe; and
Dothraki, a fictional language created for the Game of Thrones TV series based on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire book series.
A notable derivative of the word “conlang” is the noun “conlanger”, meaning “a person who creates an artificial language”. You may not use the word itself in your writing, but if you write fantasy epics or other complex stories, a “conlang” or two may be a good addition to your fiction!
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Here’s a word I’ve had sitting in my vocabulary queue for a while. I first learned today’s Word of the Week about five months ago while watching my boyfriend play No Man’s Sky, where it appeared in a scan description for a planet that turned out to be covered in snow. Though I made a note of it right away, I decided to save the word for a time when it would be more relevant. Think of January and you probably picture snow and ice everywhere (at least if you live in the Northern Hemisphere), right? It’s the most “hiemal” time of year!
“Hiemal” refers to winter or anything characteristic of the season. The word arose in the mid 16th century and comes from the Latin adjective hiemalis, meaning “pertaining to winter”. This adjective derives from the noun hiems, which means “winter”.
It’s worth noting that Oxford Dictionaries characterizes the word “hiemal” as rare; it’s so obscure, in fact, that the spell check on my computer (which uses American English) doesn’t even recognize it as a word! In my opinion, “hiemal” probably works best in poetry about winter, though it likely still works well in prose as a poetic synonym for “wintry”. If you like writing stories or poetry with a winter theme, “hiemal” may be a good word to include in your vocabulary!
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Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day / Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. / I must be gone and live, or stay and die.
– Romeo Montague, Romeo & Juliet (3.5.9–11)
Happy New Year! It’s the first day of 2018, so let’s start the year with one more joyful word! This one is a little more formal—okay, a lot more formal—than the last two I wrote about, but it still works as a synonym for “cheerful”. Even if you don’t normally use formal vocabulary, you may still get some use out of this word; where words like “mirth” and “ebullient” fall short, “jocund” may be a more interesting choice!
Anything or anyone described as “jocund” is lighthearted and cheerful. The word arose in late Middle English and comes from the Latin adjective jocundus, meaning “pleasant”. This adjective, a variant of jucundus, was influenced by the noun jocus “joke” and stems from the verb juvare, which means “to delight”.
In case you’re wondering about the above excerpt from Romeo & Juliet, the word “jocund” is being used to create a literary contrast: although morning is typically a pleasant time of day, it brings tragedy to the star-crossed lovers because it means they have to separate. While it seems limited to formal contexts, I’d say the word works well to capture the lighthearted mood in a historical setting, while you may prefer a similar adjective like “jocular” for more modern writing. If your characters are the cheerful and spirited type (and you’ve overused every other adjective to describe them), “jocund” may be a good word to consider for your stories!
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Merry Christmas! It’s the last Word of the Week of 2017, and since it also happens to be a festive holiday, I figured it would be fun to end this year’s vocabulary segment with a joyful word! There are plenty of synonyms for “cheerful”, but this one recently jumped out at me for how “bubbly” it sounds. I’d definitely save this one for my most energetic characters; there’s “cheery” and “jolly”, and then there’s “ebullient”!
To be “ebullient” is to be cheerful and full of energy. The word arose in the late 16th century in the sense “boiling” and comes from the Latin verb ebullire, meaning “to boil up”. This verb comprises two roots: the preposition ex “out” and the verb bullire “to bubble”.
Before its common definition arose, “ebullient” used to be a more literal term meaning “boiling or agitated as if boiling”, though this sense has since become archaic and literary. Similar to last week’s vocabulary word, “ebullient” falls on the upper end of the “happiness” spectrum in that it implies a highly energetic level of joy. As a synonym for “bubbly” (both figuratively and literally), it’s very similar to “effervescent“, a word I wrote about three years ago, so feel free to use these adjectives interchangeably. If your characters are usually energetic and enthusiastic, you may have fun writing about their “ebullient” personalities!
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J.C. Wolfe is a fiction writer, biologist, and aspiring novelist of science fantasy and romance. A natural-born American and graduate in Marine Ecology from a university in Brazil, J.C. now writes for a living in California while spending free time blogging and penning stories and poetry.
J.C. Wolfe is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
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