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sesquipedalian: sesquipedalian: [17] Sesquipedalian means etymologically ‘a foot and a half long’. Its use in English was inspired by the Roman poet Horace’s phrase sesquipedalia verba, literally ‘words a foot and a half long’, hence ‘preposterously long words that sound pompous’ – of which sesquipedalian itself is an appropriately good example. It is a compound word formed from the Latin prefix sesqui- ‘half as much again’ (a derivative of sēmi- ‘half’) and pēs ‘foot’.
=> foot, pedal
bipedalism (n.): 1897; see bipedal + -ism.
daliance (n.): mid-14c., "confab, chat," from dally + -ance. Probably formed in Anglo-French, but not attested there. Meaning "amorous play, flirtation" is from late 14c.; that of "idle or frivolous activity" is from 1540s.
feudalism (n.): a coinage of historians, attested from 1773; see feudal + -ism. Feudal system attested from 1736.
medalist (n.): 1680s, "one skilled in medals," from medal (n.) + -ist. Meaning "medal-maker" is from 1756; that of "recipient of a medal" is from 1797.
modality (n.): 1610s, from Old French modalité or directly from Medieval Latin modalitatem (nominative modalitas) "a being modal," from modalis (see modal). Related: Modalities.
odalisque (n.): "female slave in a harem," 1680s, from French odalisque (1660s), from Turkish odaliq "maidservant," from odah "room in a harem," literally "chamber, hall," + -liq, suffix expressing function. In French, the suffix was confused with Greek -isk(os) "of the nature of, belonging to."
scandalise (v.): chiefly British English spelling of scandalize. For suffix, see -ize. Related: Scandalised; scandalising.
scandalize (v.): late 15c., from Middle French scandaliser (12c.), from Church Latin scandalizare, from late Greek skandalizein "to make to stumble; tempt; give offense to (someone)," from skandalon (see scandal). Originally "make a public scandal of;" sense of "shock by doing something improper" first recorded 1640s. Dryden and Shakespeare use simple scandal as a verb. Related: Scandalized; scandalizing; scandalization.
sesquipedalian (n.): 1610s, "person or thing a foot and a half long," from Latin sesquipedalia "a foot-and-a-half long," from sesqui- "half as much again" (see sesqui-) + stem of pes "foot," from PIE root *ped- (1) "a foot" (see foot (n.)). As an adjective 1650s. Meaning "sesquipedalian word" (1830) is from Latin sesquipedalia verba "words a foot-and-a-half long," in Horace's "Ars Poetica" (97), nicely illustrating the thing he is criticizing.
sodality (n.): "companionship, fellowship, association with others," c. 1600, from Middle French sodalité or directly from Latin sodalitatem (nominative sodalitas) "companionship, a brotherhood, association, fellowship," from sodalis "companion," perhaps literally "one's own, relative," related to suescere "to accustom," from PIE *swedh-, extended form of root *s(w)e-, pronoun of the third person and reflexive (see idiom). Especially of religious guilds in the Catholic Church.
vandalism (n.): 1794, from French vandalisme, first used by Henri Grégoire, Bishop of Blois, in a report decrying the pillage and destruction of art in the course of the French Revolution; see vandal + -ism.
vandalize (v.): by 1797, from vandal + -ize. Related: Vandalized; vandalizing. A past participle vandald is recorded from 1640s..
Dalit: "(In the traditional Indian caste system) a member of the lowest caste", Via Hindi from Sanskrit dalita 'oppressed'.
amygdalin: "A bitter crystalline compound found in bitter almonds and the stones of peaches, apricots, and other fruit", Mid 19th century: from Latin amygdala 'almond' + -in¹.
pedality: "The structural characteristics of a soil as represented by the features of its constituent peds; especially the degree to which a soil is composed of discrete peds", 1960s. From ped + -ality.