What I Learned Today

I recently finished reading Perdido Street Station, a book by China Miéville. I struggled with whether to categorize it as sci-fi or fantasy or what, then came across Miéville’s own description, which is just right: “a secondary world fantasy with Victorian era technology.” (“Secondary world” here is intended in Tolkien’s sense of the phrase, I imagine.) The story itself is colorful, vivid, wildly creative, grungy, and fueled by crisis — a lot like the world it portrays. And one of its primary defining characteristics is its use of vocabulary.

Some of the unusual words that appear in this book are made up ones, set as it is in an alternate reality with different species (and physics). But some of them are genuine English words, just not ones I’d encountered or become familiar with. What a delight to be educated and entertained at the same time! Here is my list of new words, thanks to Miéville:

autopoiesis: self-creation

autotelic: an activity or work containing its own purpose (“autotelic processing”)

bathos (not pathos) and bathetic (not pathetic): unintentional anticlimax

bitumen: sticky, black, highly viscous liquid (“bitumened terrace”)

caliginous: misty, dim, obscure, dark (“caliginous halo”)

deracinated: torn up by the roots (“deracinated outsider”)

desquamating: coming off in scales or flakes

eidolon: idealized person or thing

femtoscopic: coinage to indicate even tinier than microscopic

kukris: curved knife that broadens towards its point (“organic kukris”)

oneiric: relating to dreams

phlogistic: inflammatory

pugnacious: eager or quick to argue or fight (“faltering, pugnacious steps”)

pyrotic: caustic (“pyrotic gas”)

quintumvirate: council of five

ratiocination: the process of logical reasoning

scintillas: tiny trace or spark (“scintillas of glass”)

secateurs: one-handed pruning clippers

shambolic: in a shambles (“shambolic housing”)

stele: stone or wooden slab erected for funerals or commemorative purposes

thermotaxic: related to internal temperature regulation (for animals)

viscid: glutinous, sticky (“viscid scum”)

These two I could not find definitions for; possibly made up? Any tips?

hieronomer (“dervishes and hieronomers”)

karcist

The novel itself is full of food for thought, and also fodder for your vocabulary. Enjoy!