Parure

   
A parure is a matched set or suite of three or more pieces of jewelry such as necklace, bracelet and earrings. "She entered the room wearing a fine parure of diamonds that outshone all else there."

Euphuism

   
When I first came across the wrod wuphuism I thought it was probably just another form of the word euphemism (an inoffensive or indirect expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive or too harsh), especially as it fitted the context. In fact the two are not related at all.

Euphuism means an affected bombastic style of language; high-flown diction; a flowery, affected type of writing. It is so called from "Euphues,or the Anatomy of Wit," (1578) and "Euphues and his England," works of Sir John Lyly's written in that style.

This affected style of conversation and writing was fashionable for some time in the court of Queen Elizabeth and the main character in Lyly's works is a fashionable young man named Euphues. The style in which the book is written is full of convoluted sentences, rhetorical questions, alliteration, and references to classical literature with which educated people were assumed to be familiar.

Traditonary

   
Like yesterday's word this one is a Victorian spelling of something very similar nowadays - traditonary was simply another way of saying traditional.

Stanch

   
Stanch is an old spelling of staunch;meaning firm; steadfast; loyal.

Compunctious

   
Most of my fiction reading is from the mid Nineteenth century at the moment so I'm coming across lots of lovely sounding words which have fallen out of use. Compunctious, for example, has appeared a couple of times. Isn't it a great sounding word! It means pertaining to compunctions, scruples, feelings of guilt or remorse. So, for example, "He ignored her compunctious blush."

Recondite

   
Recondite means abstruse; difficult to penetrate; incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge.

Perron

   
A perron is an out-of-door flight of steps, for example in a garden, leading to a terrace or to an upper story. The term is usually applied to mediaeval or later structures of some architectural pretensions.

Chintz

   
Chintz is calico cloth printed with flowers and other devices in different colors; a brightly printed and glazed cotton fabric. The word Calico is derived from the name of the Indian city Calicut (Kozhikkode in native Malayalam) to which it had a manufacturing association.

In recent times the term chintzy has come to mean embarassingly stingy; tastelessly showy; cheap and tacky; or gaudy. I gather chintz has come down in the world since the days when to have your furniture covered in French chintz was the height of fashion!

Moil

   
Moil is another old-fashioned word - it means to labour; to work hard; to churn; or be agitated. So I guess if you were turning your butter churn vigorously you could be moiling at moiling the butter!

Propinquity

   
Propinquity is another way of saying proximity, the quality of nearness; the property of being close together.