Have you suspired recently? Many of us have, possibly without knowing it, for ‘suspire’ is a beautiful, all-but-forgotten word from the 15th century that means ‘to utter a deep sigh’.
Whether that sigh is of stoicism, sadness, or relief, is up to you, but at a time when the world seems to be confronting the ‘pessimum’: the worst of all possible circumstances, it seems timely to offer ten words that will hopefully bring forth a sigh of contentment or appreciation.
Spindrift
Some words seem to magically conjure up an entire scene in the mind, and this is one of them for me. Spindrift describes the salty tang of the ocean that is whipped up from the waves by the wind. The word can also apply to finely grained snow that is sloughed by the wind from a mountain face. Either way, there is true beauty in its sound.
Sequoia
The ancient, towering redwood tree of California has one of the most soothing names in the business. It is said to come from the name of a North American polymath linguist, Sequoyah, who created an important syllabary for his native language of Cherokee.
Read More: Meet General Sherman, the largest tree in the world
Liminal
There is something otherworldly about a boundary that separates two states. In Latin, a limen was a threshold, and it’s from here that we get the beautiful adjective ‘liminal’, which means ‘transitional’. Twilight is a liminal state between day and night – an indeterminate space that hovers between one world and another.
Dimpsy
Speaking of light, the Devonian word ‘dimpsy’ must be one of the most beautiful words in our dialect lexicon. It means, quite simply, ‘dusky’ or ‘twilit’.
Cellar door
In a lecture in 1955, the writer and former Professor of Anglo-Saxon J.R.R. Tolkien offered ‘cellar door’ as a combination of words that is perfect in itself, irrespective of its meaning. ‘More beautiful’, he told his audience, ‘than, say, sky, and far more beautiful than beautiful’. In fact, Tolkien wasn’t the first – writers before him had pointed out the mellifluousness of the two words.
Read More: Susie Dent’s Top Tens: 10 ‘Americanisms’ that aren’t actually American
Bumblebee
Grumbledory, Foggie, Bummer, and Dumbledore: the humble bumblebee has inspired multiple names over the centuries. But surely none so lovely as the bumblebee itself, in which ‘bumble’ is simply a 17th century word for ‘buzz’.
Gigil
Have you ever found someone so adorable that you feel like squeezing them to death? In the language of Tagalog, from the Philippines, this emotion is known as ‘gigil’, a word that is itself pleasing to the ear (though beware the potential pain of the squeeze). The biggest satisfaction, however, probably comes from the knowledge that such a word exists at all.
Nicknackatory
For me, some of the biggest sighs come (of course) from reading the dictionary, especially when I land on a word that, frankly, shouldn’t exist, but which makes me very glad it does. A nicknackatory, born in the 18th century, is an alternative name for a toyshop or, more pleasingly, the proper place to keep your knick-knacks.
Pootle
While we’re on bouncy, pleasing sounds, ‘pootling’ is surely right up there. It belongs to one of the best word collections in the dictionary that describes aimless meandering, alongside quiddling, tootling, soodling, mooching, slounging, and lolpooping.
Zephyr
The very best of words keep us connected with nature, and so it’s no surprise to find zephyr on my list. This gentle wind or breeze, named after the god of the west wind, always feels like a promise of halcyon days ahead in the languorous warmth of summer.
