ADMINICLE.

While looking for something entirely different in the Cassell Concise Dictionary, I ran across the word adminicle, defined as:
1 an aid, support. 2 (Sc. Law) corroborative evidence, esp. of the contents of a missing document.
I particularly like the OED’s last citation:
1872 Daily News 2 Oct. 5 Floriculture and other adminicles of civilisation.
Pure essence of Victorian Latinity! The adjective, of course, is adminicular (‘auxiliary, corroborative’), which I intend to use whenever maximum obfuscation is a desideratum.
Update. Margaret of Transblawg has done some follow-up research on this irresistible word.

Comments

  1. Nice little word. UK tax offices should find it particularly useful to describe “corroborative evidence, esp. of the contents of a missing document” that you sent them ages ago and that they claim never to have seen.

  2. I like to think – that is to say, I shall, henceforth, like to think – that we’re all in the business of providing “admincles of civilisation”…

  3. You think the Victorians used the worse of the inkhorn words? I had a prof. several semesters ago who constantly spoke of the “edacious deglutition of pig”. Impossible!

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