abligurition

English

WOTD – 16 October 2023

Etymology

PIE word
*h₂epó

Learned borrowing from Late Latin abligurrītiō (“act of devouring; act of spending in feasting”), from abligurriō (“to lick away; (figuratively) to spend or waste indulgently, squander”) + -tiō (suffix forming abstract nouns from verbs); from ab- (prefix meaning ‘away; away from; from’) + ligurriō, liguriō (“to lick up; to feast or feed upon; to be dainty or fond of luxuries”) (from lingō (“to lick (up)”) + probably -uriō (suffix meaning ‘to desire or wish’)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˌblɪɡjʊˈɹɪʃən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˌblɪɡ(j)ʊˈɹɪʃən/
• Rhymes: -ɪʃən
• Hyphenation: ab‧lig‧u‧rit‧ion

Noun

abligurition (uncountable)

1. (chiefly archaic, rare) Prodigal expenditure on food.
   • 1906, J. E. L. Seneker, “Letter V”, in Thomas Stone, editor, Frontier Experience: Or Epistolary Sesquipedalian Lexiphanicism from the Occident, 102nd anniversary edition, published 2008, →ISBN, page 68:

     So soon as a rogation for a benison by the concionator, transpired, fourchettes, and all implements for the transportation of prog from the table to oral apertures, were movent and sonorific. Such abligurition; such lycanthropic edacity, lurcation, ingurgitation and gulosity; such omnivorousness and pantophagy; and such a mutation and avolation of comestibles, had never fallen under my vision in any antecedent part of my sublunary entity. Truly, anamnestic of [Lord] Byron’s “dura illia messorum!”

     A deliberate use of bombastic language.

   • 1999, Bonnie Johnson, Wordworks: Exploring Language Play, Golden, Colo.: Fulcrum Resources, →ISBN, page 103:

     Deipnosophy, not abligurition, makes the aristologist.

     A deliberate use of bombastic language.

   • 2006, John Green, An Abundance of Katherines, London: Penguin Books, published 2012, →ISBN, page 46:

     “Your dad says it’s because I remember things better than other people on account of how I pay very close attention and care very much.” / “Why?” / “Because it is important to know things. For an example, I just recently learned that Roman Emperor Vitellius once ate one thousand oysters in one day, which is a very impressive act of abligurition,” he said, using a word he felt sure Katherine wouldn’t know.

   • 2007, Barbara Ann Kipfer, “abligurition”, in Word Nerd: More Than 17,000 Fascinating Facts about Words, Naperville, Ill.: Sourcebooks, →ISBN, page 3, column 1:

     [W]hen you squander your money on treats and comfort foods, you are engaging in abligurition (excessive spending on food and drink)

Translations

prodigal expenditure on food

• Finnish: ylenmääräinen ruoan tuhlaaminen
• Galician: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: преку́мерно тро́шење хра́на n (prekúmerno tróšenje hrána)