SUPERNACULA

SUPERNACULUM

Su`per*nac"u*lum, adv. & n. Etym: [NL., from L. super over + G. nagel, a nail, as of the finger, or a corruption of L. super and ungulam claw.]

1. A kind of mock Latin term intended to mean, upon the nail; -- used formerly by topers. Nares. Drinking super nagulum [supernaculum], a device of drinking, new come out of France, which is, after a man hath turned up the bottom of the cup, to drop it on his nail and make a pearl with that is left; which if it slide, and he can not make it stand on by reason there is too much, he must drink again for his penance. Nash.

2. Good liquor, of which not enough is left to wet one's nail. Grose.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

19 June 2025

ROOTS

(noun) the condition of belonging to a particular place or group by virtue of social or ethnic or cultural lineage; “his roots in Texas go back a long way”; “he went back to Sweden to search for his roots”; “his music has African roots”


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Coffee Trivia

The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.

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