Lexemes from Left Field: A Selection of Uncommon, Obscure and Archaic “C” Words

Word	Meaning	Derivation
Cacodoxy	bad doctrine or wrong opinion	Gk caco (“bad”) + doxia (“opinion”)
Cacogen	an anti-social person	Gk caco (“bad”) + genēs (“offspring”)
Cacophemism	a perjorative expression used in place of a mild one	Gk caco (“bad”) + logía (“speech”)
Cagamosis	an unhappy marriage	origin unknown
Calcographer  ✍️	One who draws with crayons and pastels	L calco (“tread”, “trample on”) + graphe (“write”)
🔤🔠🔤🔠🔤🔠🔤🔠	🔡🔡🔡🔡🔡🔡🔡🔡🔡🔡🔡🔡

Callipygous	having beautiful buttocks	Gk kallos (“beauty”) + pūgē (“buttocks”)
Carpophagous	fruit-eating	Gk karpós (“fruit”) + phágous (“eating”)
Catapedamania	an impulse to jump from high places	Gk cata (“downward”) + ped (“ground”)
Camelot	newspaper vendor 🗞️	F, origin uncertain
Catchpole	a sheriff’s deputy, esp one who makes an arrest for failure to pay a debt	OE cace (“catch”) + Med L pullus (“a chick”)
Celerity	swiftness of movement	L celer (“speedy”; “swift”)
Celsitude	loftiness, esp in relation to standing or position	L celsus (“high”; “lofty”)
Cenobite	monk; member of religious order	Gk koinos (“common”) + bios (“life”)
Cereologist	someone who studies crop circles, esp one who believes they are not man-made or formed by other terrestrial processes	L Ceres (“Roman goddess of agriculture” + -logy (“study”) The enigmatic crop circle
Chaetophorous	having bristles	Gk khaítē (“hair”) + -phoros (“bearing”)
Chasmaphilous	fond of nooks and crannies	Gk chasma (“abyss”; “cleft”). + phile
Chiliad	divide into parts of 1,000; Millennium	Gk khilioi (“thousand”)
Chorizent	someone who challenges the authorship of a major work, esp one who believes that the Iliad and the Odyssey were not penned by Homer	origin unknown Not Homer?
Chrysophilist	a lover of gold	Gk chrys (“gold”) + philos (“phile”)
Cicisbeo	male companion of a married woman	origin unknown
Cicerone	a guide for tourism information	L from Cicero, agnomen of Roman orator, 1st Cent BCE
Clerisy	class or group of the intelligentsia of learned and literary people	Gk klēros (“heritage”)
Concision	terseness and brevity of speech and writing; saying much in a few words	L concīsus (“cut short”)
Condign	deserved and appropriate,, esp a fair and fitting punishment	L con (“altogether”) + dignus (“worthy”; “appropriate”)
Copacetic	Completely satisfactory; in good order	origin unknown
Coruscating	sparkling; glittering	L coruscatus (“to vibrate”, “glitter”)
Cosmocracy	rulership of the world; global government	Gk kósmo (“universe”) +           -krátos (“rule”, “power”)
Coterminous	having the same boundaries	Eng, 18th Cent
Crepuscular	resembling or relating to twilight	L crepusculum (“twilight”)
Cruciverbalist	one who is skilled at or enjoys solving crosswords	L cruci (“cross”) + -verbum (“word”) [neologism, 1977]
Cryptarcy	secret government or  rulership	Gk kryptos (“hidden”, “secret”) + -arkhia (“rule”)
Cryptogenic	(disease) of unknown origin	Gk kryptos (“hidden”, “secret”) + -genēs (“offspring”)
Cryptonym	a code (secret) name	Gk kryptos (“hidden”, “secret”) + nym (“name”)
Cumbent	lying down; reclining	L incumbere (“lie or lean on”)
Curiosa	pornographic books	L from curiosus (“curious”)
Curlicue	decorative; calligraphic twist or curl in the design object	Eng 18th cent. “curly” + “cue” (pigtail)
Cursorial	limbs adapted for running (zool)	Med L cursorius  (“of running”)
Cyesolagnia	attracted to pregnant women	Gk cyeso(?) + -lagnia (“lust”)
Cynoid	dog-like; canine	Gk kyn (“dog”) + -oid (“resembling”)
Cynosure	anything that attracts attention; object of interest Ursa Minor (“the Little Dipper”)	Gk kunosoura (“dog’s tail”): association deriving from the shape of the constellation Ursa Minor