RECONDITE

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Dr. Goodword
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RECONDITE

Postby Dr. Goodword » Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:55 pm

• recondite •

Pronunciation: re-kên-dait • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: 1. Concealed, mysterious, not readily seen or apprehended. 2. Abstruse, arcane, incomprehensible to all but experts.

Notes: Although the meaning of this word is rather recondite, the word itself is quite pedestrian: the adverb is expectable reconditely and the noun, reconditeness. It exhibits no other derivations.

In Play: Since the original meaning of the root of today's word was "to put away", "out of sight" was its original meaning: "Intrigued by the recondite inner workings of the curious little machine, Rusty Carr began immediately to take it apart." Today it is used far more widely in the second sense: "R. Cain gets most of his information from recondite sources that are difficult for others to find and check."

Word History: Today's Good Word comes to us from Latin reconditus, the past participle of recondere "to put away", made up of re- "again, back" + condere "to put together, preserve". The base verb here, condere is itself a complex of con- "together (with)" + dere "to put", which derives from the same primitive root as English do. English also borrowed the past participle of condere as condite "preserved; preserves", a word now considered obsolete. However, incondite "put together, built badly", based on the same Latin verb, still lurks in the deeper dictionaries.
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Perry
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Postby Perry » Wed Oct 03, 2007 9:23 am

In play: The directions were so recondite that the end result was incondite.
"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Lately it hasn't been working."
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Bailey
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Postby Bailey » Wed Oct 03, 2007 10:16 pm

so arcane is this word; I was wondering when I opened the email whether this was a someone from a tribe of perverted repair people, a mineral or merely some unknown adjective.

mark that-whooshing-sound-is-the-first-suggestion-going-over-your-head Bailey

Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Make the most of it...
kb









sluggo
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Postby sluggo » Wed Oct 03, 2007 10:35 pm

In play:
Ah recondite bin thar about an haur bah the-in...
Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots! Knife no one, fink!

Bailey
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Postby Bailey » Thu Oct 04, 2007 11:04 pm

encore, en englais, sil vous plait?

mark and-Ah-trod-ta-unnestand Bailey

Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Make the most of it...
kb









sluggo
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Postby sluggo » Fri Oct 05, 2007 9:31 am

encore, en englais, sil vous plait?

mark and-Ah-trod-ta-unnestand Bailey
Just say it out loud... a bit of recondite silliness.
Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots! Knife no one, fink!

skinem
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Postby skinem » Fri Oct 05, 2007 9:36 am

In play:
Ah recondite bin thar about an haur bah the-in...
Translation--"I reckon I'd been there about an hour by then."
(I'm fluent in Southern. English is another matter.)


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