PhantasmalPoison

torrefy or torrify (TAWR-uh-fai, TOR-uh-fai) - v., to dry or roast with fire, parch, scortch; in particular: a) (pharm.) to dry or parch (drugs) on a heated plate; b) (mining) to roast (ores) to evaporate volatiles.


The Latin root (taken on around 1600) is torrefacere, to make dry or hot, equivalent to torre-, stem form of torrēre, to dry up/parch/scorch + facere, to make/cause. Given the sense of intense heat that I'm getting from this, despite the pharmacological use probably being not all that hot, I don't think the kitchen toaster quite counts as a torrefier (or even a torrefrier).

---L.

birl (BURL) - (UK) v., to rapidly spin or make spin; (northern NA) to cause (a floating log) to rotate rapidly by treading on it.


That last is lumberjack jargon, and honestly given the UK connection I'd expect it to be used in Canada as well as the US, but I'm not seeing mention of it -- if anyone can confirm a Canuck sighting, I'd appreciate it. (ETA: confirmed, see comments) I first met the term as an event in lumberjack competitions (I was channel surfing), in which two people stand at the ends of a floating log and try to get the other to fall off by birling it. The spin sense dates to around 1720, and is speculated to be a blend of birr, the onomatopoeia for a whirling sound, and whirl.

---L.

polyamory (pol-ee-AM-er-ee) - n., the state or practice of having romantic or sexual relationships with multiple partners with the knowledge and consent of all involved.


Okay, so poly- means many rather than specifically large, but that's because operates on discrete rather than continuous sets. It comes from Ancient Greek polús, many, from a PIE root that meant both many and much, so agnostic on the discrete/continuum divide. As for the word, it was formed in 1992* as a derivative of polyamorous, which was coined in 1990 pairing it with Latin amor, love. Other words with poly- include polygamy ("many marriages"), which was used as a pattern for coining polyamory, and polyglot ("[speaking] many languages").

* Interestingly, the first recorded use is the proposal to create the Usenet group alt.polyamory.


Bonus prefix: I wanted to also use super- but it has many meanings other than just large, most related to being either over or above in literal or metaphoric ways. So it's a bonus.


And that wraps up a week of 'large' prefixes. While it's tempting to go onto a week of prefixes that are actually large/long, time to return to the regular mix next week.

---L.