I’ve just about never been able to spell this word correctly, I always want to put ana in place of the finale. The word comes from the Middle English forms simeterie,cymytory, and cimitere, which began to be spelled with cem- around the 15th century. The words came through French from the Latin coemeterium, which originated the meaning of “burial ground for the dead.” 

The Greek κοιμητήριον koimētḗrion, was more or less free of the sense of mortality and meant simply “sleeping chamber” or “dorm.” Interestingly, it derived from two verbs, κοιμάω koimáōand κεῖμαι keîmai. The first meant “to put to sleep,” while the second meant “to lie.” The morbid connotation seems to have been stronger in this second verb κεῖμαι, which had a variety of interpretations including, “to lie asleep, idle,” “to lie sick or wounded,” “to lie dead, “ and “to lie neglected or unburied.” 

Before this particular linguistic thread arrived in English, though, the Old English word for burial ground was licburg, a construction using the noun lic, which meant “corpse, dead body.” They may have also used lictun, which comprised of lic “corpse” + tun “enclosure, yard.” 

cordial

An adjective meaning “characterized by pleasantness, friendliness, sincerity, or comfort, reviving.” The original, but now obsolete definition was “something relating to the heart;” this has since been transferred onto the word cardiac, leavingcordial with the specifically figurative and whimsical sentiments. 

Both the English cordial, and its identical French cognate come from the Latincordialis, which is itself from the Latincor, meaning “heart or soul/spirit.” The possible Proto-Indo-European root is *kerd, “heart,” from which we get many modern words like French cœur and Spanish corazón.

Another English definition forcordial is the less common noun version referring to “a liqueur or sweet tasting medicine.” This is from the 1600s, which I think makes some sense relating to its adjective form as something that revives, invigorates or comforts. 

ineffable

Perhaps at the moment best associated with Good Omens,ineffable is an adjective first used in the 14th century meaning “unspeakable, incapable of being expressed with words.” It comes from the Latinineffabilis, which comprises the morphemesin “not” + effort “to utter, say” + bilis “able to be or do.” The Latin was a little less grandiose in meaning, and described things which were “unutterable or unpronounceable.” 

Interestingly, the Latin verbeffort which appears inineffabilis is actually a compound of the prefixex meaning “out, away, through or up,” andfor which is the word for “to say, talk, speak.” 

kiss

Though Middle English had the meaning of a reciprocal kiss, the Old English wordcyssanwas defined as a “touch of the lips, in reverence or respect.” The English likely comes from the Proto-Germanic *kussijanaor*kussjan, a word compiled of*kussaz, meaning “kiss,” and the suffix *jana. Cognates include the Swedishkyssa, the German küssen and the Gothickukjan. 

Although beyond this there is not an agreed upon root for Indo-European languages, there is typically a supposedly onomatopoeic *ku sound, which exists in Greek and Sanskrit as well. This is not always the case though, as in the instance of Latin suāviārī (meaning “to kiss,” but related to suāvis meaning “sweet, pleasant, delicious,”) and bāsium, (ancestor of Spanishbesar, and meaning “kiss, particularly of the hand”). 

Wretch derives from the Old English nounwræcca, meaning “stranger, exile,” not unrelated to the verbwreccan, “to drive out, punish.” The Germanic root whence it came,*wrakjan, “someone pursued, exile,” is interestingly also related to the Old Saxonwrekkio and to the Old High Germanreccho, “person banished, adventurer.” From this branch, we get the modern GermanRecke, which has the much more powerful and positive connotation of “warrior.” 

Also related to (but not directly derived from) the Old English wreccan is the modern Englishwreak, as in, to wreak havoc. Oddly enough, the two wordswreakandwretch semantically make some sense together: their respective Proto-Germanic roots mean “to drive out or pursue” (*wrekanan)  and “one pursued” (*wrakjan). 

An aside: I had the idea to research this word after I recently reread Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, where it occurs 66 times. I suppose that’s not overmuch, but it definitely wormed its way into my brain. 

adjective

awesome, great, fantastic, amazing.

La noche siempre es cojonuda cuando estoy contigo. 
The night is always awesome when I’m with you. 

noun(feminine) 

1. a word or phrase said often and out of habit, a catchphrase
2. a cane or walking stick.

Ella habla en muletillas, y en fin no dice nada. 
She speaks in catchphrases, and in the end says nothing. 

interjection

originating from the Arabic for  “and may God will it” the word “ojalá” translates as hopefully, let’s hope, I hope, or “God willing.” 

Ojalá que no haya una cola en McDonald’s, podría comerme una vaca.
Hopefully there’s no queue at McDonald’s, I could eat a cow.  

verb

to yearn for, long for, or remember with sorrow the absence, deprivation or loss of someone or something. 

Te añoro cada vez más.
I long for you more and more. 

noun(feminine)

1. something soft, thick and sticky (e.g. dough)
2. something crushed, a flattened mass
3.(colloquial) a mess or botch, something made haphazardly without rhyme or reason 
4.(colloquial)excrement
5.(colloquial) someone who’s excessively annoying.

Katie Hopkins es una plasta total, pero no deberíamos matarla. 
Katie Hopkins is terribly annoying, but we shouldn’t kill her. 

noun(feminine) 

zip or zipper.

No puedo quitarte los pantalones – ¡la cremallera está rota! 
I can’t take your trousers off – the zip is broken! 

verb

to set sail.

La flota zarpó del puerto, dejando a las esposas de los marineros al llorar en el muelle. 
The fleet set sail, leaving the wives of the sailors in tears on the dock. 

noun(masculine or feminine)

1. light sleep that one who is dozing finds themselves in
2. half-sleep, fitful sleep that is frequently interrupted.

Pasé la noche en duermevela, soñando con gente sin cara en una ciudad brumosa. 
I spent the night in fitful sleep, dreaming of faceless people in a hazy city. 

adjective

1. multicoloured, colourful
2. varied, diverse or miscellaneous.

Vivieron en un mundo variopinto en lo cual los colores blanco y negro no existían, o al menos parecían haber evaporado y escapado con el viento. 
They lived in a multicoloured world in which the colours black and white did not exist, or at least appeared to have evaporated and escaped with the wind. 

verb

1. to look down on, treat like dirt, or not give the time of day to
2. to brush aside, give the cold shoulder, or ignore.

El director despreciaba a todas las mujeres con sobrepeso. Cada vez que ninguneaba a alguna, tenía que esconder una pequeña sonrisa.  
The director despised all overweight women. Each time he treated one like dirt, he had to hide a little smile. 

noun(masculine)

a teacher’s pet, swot or nerd.

Definitivamente soy la empollona de mi clase, entre mi blog de la palabra del día y las manzanas que le traigo a mi profesora cada día. 
I’m definitely the teacher’s pet of my class, what with my word of the day blog and the apples I bring my teacher every day. 

noun(masculine)

a fat cat, bigwig, wealthy or powerful person. 

Los peces gordos sólo miran por sus propios intereses. 
Fat cats only look after their own interests. 

noun(masculine) (slang)

literally translating as “the candle holder” and conjuring an image of someone silently holding a candle to light a couple’s romantic dinner, “un aguantavelas” is a third wheel or spare part (romantically speaking).

Qué pobre este tío, siempre es el aguantavelas. 
That poor guy, he’s always the third wheel. 

verb

To brag or boast.

Ese tío es múy desagradable, siempre está fanfarroneando.
That guy is really obnoxious, he’s always boasting.