Dating back to the 17th century (if not earlier), it’s probably related to an earlier Scandinavian word, glene, for a clear patch of sky. GleenĪ gleen is a sudden burst of warm sunshine. If, on the other hand, the weather is gleamy then it’s intermittently sunny, or as one 19th-century glossary put it, “fitful and uncertain.” 10. FoxyĪccording to the Oxford English Dictionary, if the weather is foxy then it’s “misleadingly bright”-or, in other words, sunny and clear, but freezing cold. If the weather flenches, then it looks like it might improve later on, but never actually does. Probably related to an identical Scots word for an insatiable thirst (or for an insatiable drinker), drouth was borrowed into American English in the 19th century, where it eventually became another name for a drought. This is an old Irish-English word for the perfect weather conditions in which to dry clothes. An old Scots dialect word, cairies derives from cairy (a Scots pronunciation of “carry”), a local name for a burden or a load to be conveyed. CairiesĬairies are swiftly moving clouds. Rainbows were nicknamed “bows of promise” in Victorian English, in allusion to the story in the Book of Genesis. To blenky means “to snow very lightly.” It’s probably derived from blenks, an earlier 18th-century word for ashes or cinders. This word, pronounced “Benji,” is an old southeast English dialect word meaning “overcast” or “threatening rain.” According to one theory, it might derive from an earlier word, benge, meaning “to drink to excess.” 3. Presumably derived from an even older French dialect word, armogan is a 19th-century naval slang name for fine weather-in particular, the perfect weather for traveling or starting a journey. But even if you’re currently enjoying a bout of sunshine, or enduring a sudden downpour of rain, the most obscure corners of the English language have precisely the right word for you. See how many derivatives you can pick out in the following Latin word list! (If you need a quick refresher on telling adverbs from adjectives, our examples of parts of speech are standing by.A yowe-tremmle-literally an “ewe-tremble”-is an old Scottish dialect word for a week of unusually cold or rainy weather beginning in the final few days in June that is literally cold enough to make the season’s freshly-sheared sheep “tremmle,” or shiver.ĭepending on what the weather is like where you are, this could be the perfect word to add to your vocabulary.

By various estimates, anywhere between 20 and 60 percent of English vocabulary comes straight from Latin. As you browse our list of Latin adjectives, you may have a bit of a familiar feeling.

Latin word for freezing to death