This week’s theme
There’s a word for it

This week’s words
thinko
besaiel
apophenia
anacoluthon
delphinestrian

---

A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(bi-SAY-uhl)

MEANING:

noun: A grandfather’s father: great-grandfather.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Old French besayel/besaiol, from Latin bis (twice) + avolus, diminutive of avus (grandfather). Earliest documented use: 1480.

NOTES:

A grandfather is an aiel, a great-grandfather a besaiel, a great-great-grandfather a tresaiel. Now that you know the pattern, feel free to coin words beyond your grandfather’s grandfather. Also, now that you know what to call them, who’s your besaiel?

USAGE:

“She is met by Rickhill for the defendant alleging an older fine made in the thirteenth year of Edward II, great-grandfather (besaiel) of King Richard now reigning.”
Michigan Law Review; University of Michigan (Ann Arbor); 1915.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: