Aphorism | Demesne

APHORISM

NOUN
A pithy observation which contains a general truth.
A concise statement of a scientific principle, typically by a classical author.

Origin
Early 16th century: from French aphorisme or late Latin aphorismus, from Greek aphorismos ‘definition’, from aphorizein ‘define’.

Oxford Dictionaries

DEMESNE
/dɪˈmeɪn/, /dɪˈmiːn/

NOUN
historical
A piece of land attached to a manor and retained by the owner for their own use.
The lands of an estate.
(archaic) A region or domain.

law
[mass noun] Possession of real property in one's own right.

Origin
Middle English: from Old French demeine (later Anglo-Norman French demesne) ‘belonging to a lord’, from Latin dominicus, from dominus ‘lord, master’. Compare with domain.

Oxford Dictionaries

Two words from Cory Doctorow's latest novel, Walkaway. I have came across 'aphorism' many times before, but its meaning just never stuck with me. 'Demesne', however, was new.

Leitmotif

/ˈlʌɪtməʊˌtiːf/
(also leitmotiv)

NOUN
A recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation.
‘there are two leitmotifs in his score marking the heroine and her Fairy Godmother’

Origin
Late 19th century: from German Leitmotiv, from leit- ‘leading’ (from leiten ‘to lead’) + Motiv ‘motive’.

Oxford Dictionaries

Kakistocracy

When they go on TV, U.S. officials pretend there’s some chance that North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-un will wake up one day and persuade all the people who help him run their bleak kakistocracy that they should commit mass suicide.

Jon Schwarz, We Can Stop North Korea From Attacking Us. All We Have to Do is Not Attack Them, The Intercept, 15 AUG 2017

We are all familiar with democracy, autocracy, theocracy, and of course nowadays, kleptocracy, but kakistocracy is new; to me, at least.

NOUN
[mass noun] Government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a state.
‘every government that has existed since the ancient Greeks has been a prime example of kakistocracy’

[count noun] A state or society governed by its least suitable or competent citizens.
‘the man in the street must share part of the blame for allowing such kakistocracy to entrench itself’

Oxford Dictionaries

The opposite of kakistocracy is aristocracy, which means government of a state by its best citizens.

Ixnay

Disney didn't just kill off a whole bunch of new characters; they ixnayed the possibility of doing lucrative Rogue One-centric sequels.

Tim Grierson, Why 'Rogue One' Is a Model for How to Make a Great Prequel,
Rolling Stone, 19 DEC 2016

This is the first time I come across the word, apparently pig Latin for nix:

EXCLAMATION (ixnay on/to)
US, informal
Used in rejecting something specified:
‘ixnay to corporate control!’

VERB [WITH OBJECT]
US, informal
Cancel or stop:
‘the group has ixnayed the rest of its North American tour’

Oxford Dictionaries

Akrasia

NOUN
Philosophy
[mass noun] The state of mind in which someone acts against their better judgement through weakness of will.

Oxford Dictionaries

NOUN
1. (philosophy) weakness of will; acting in a way contrary to one's sincerely held moral values.

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