Words I looked up while reading Embassytown by China Mieville

[flexagon]

eigne -- (adjective) firstborn.

compradore -- agent of a foreign power.

eisteddfod -- a gathering for competitions of literature, music, dance etc.

nous -- mind, common sense, intelligence

plebiscite -- law enacted by plebians; direct vote -- or just public expression of common desires

bathos -- depth, lowest point, descent to anticlimax, comedown

teleology -- belief that things can be explained in terms of purpose or intention

misprision -- a misunderstanding, or a wrongful act of omission / interpretation

metropole -- the parent state of a colony, or just a chief city

seme -- a sign, a unit of meaning.


I'd encountered at least three of these before, but definitely not eisteddfodd or eigne. :-) I also tested myself today at http://www.testyourvocab.com, which may or may not be the most accurate test but whose second page will almost certainly provide dictionary fodder for anyone. What can I say... as an opsimath, I like looking up words.

Comments

[miyyu.livejournal.com]

He's amazing when it comes to vocabulary. I would almost peg it as pretentious, but the more I'm exposed to his work the more I think he's more about nuance and precision. I have Embassytown and Kraken still waiting on my shelves to be read.

[flexagon]

Yes, I agree -- except in The Scar where he used "puissant" way too many times, I find that his $50 words are usually worth looking up to get exactly that nuance. He's at least using them correctly.

(Let me know if Kraken is good... I feel bored to tears by the premise, which is not to say he can't pull it off.)