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.
Posted by languagehat at August 9, 2004 04:30 PMNice 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.
Posted by: Eliza at August 10, 2004 02:10 AMI 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"...
Posted by: dave at August 10, 2004 04:54 PMYou 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!
Posted by: Kenny at August 11, 2004 04:40 PM