What is your favorite uncommon word beginning with “R”?
Post your answer in the LEAVE A COMMENT section below. I’m not the boss of you, though. Don’t write anything for all I care! It’s just not right to not write.
. . .here are my thoughts.
What is your favorite uncommon word beginning with “R”?
reify: (v) to make (something abstract) more real or concrete
You’d be forgiven for thinking “reify” means the exact opposite of what it actually does. If you try to break the word into component parts, you have “re-” meaning something along the lines of “again.” Which leaves you with the verb-forming suffix “-ify” meaning “to make or cause to become.” This basically gives us the definition of “reify” as something like “to make again.” But “reify” isn’t making something again, it’s making it for the first time. It turns out “re-” is not a prefix in this case, but instead comes from Latin “res” meaning “thing.” Thus, “reify” essentially means “to make a thing.” I started off saying “You’d be forgiven for thinking …,” but that turns out to be as wrong as the belief that “reify” implies making something for a second time. Anyone bright enough to break a word down into its component parts understands you can’t have a prefix and suffix without having a fix—that is, a root word. As with so many uncommon words, I’m again iffy (re-iffy?!) about how to use it in actual conversation.