If you were to pick up and read a 19th century novel, or better yet, a 17th century novel, you would likely find yourself unfamiliar with words that appear to have been familiar at the time of first publishing. As we add new words to describe the world around us, we lose others along the way. Sometimes the change feels too utilitarian, with narrowly defined adjectives vanishing to be replaced by a growing amount of technical jargon and indecipherable slang. English seems to be losing its poetry.
Assuming you care and are bothered by any of this, what can we do? We are not powerless. Perhaps you can use technology to better advantage. Request that your AI use an older English form of the language when it answers your queries. I suspect if it cannot do that now, it will develop the talent in short order. It would probably be fun to have ChatGPT or Claude answer your questions in the language style of Charles Dickens or Mark Twain – and perhaps you’d keep old words alive in this way. If you do not want to rely on machines, though, there is another way. You can do the leg work of seeking out words and using them. That’s what I’m doing here.
Let’s learn some old, dusty words together.
(via dictionary.com)
pandiculation
American
[pan-dik-yuh–ley-shuhn]/ pænˌdɪk jəˈleɪ ʃən /
noun
- the act of stretching oneself, especially on waking.
noun
- the act of stretching and yawning, esp on waking
- a yawn
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Etymology
Origin of pandiculation
First recorded in 1641–20; from Latin pandiculāt(us), past participle of pandiculārī “to stretch oneself,” derivative of pandere “to stretch” ( see -ate 1) + -ion
Example Sentence
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The pleasure we receive from a melodious succession of notes referable to the gamut is derived from another source, viz. to the pandiculation or counteraction of antagonist fibres.
From Zoonomia, Vol. I Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Erasmus Darwin