Victoria Sheinkin
Definition: continual dropping (as of rain water of a roof)
Pronunciation: stil-li-SIDE
Origin
This beautifully specific word stems from the Latin stillicidium, a compound word made of stilla– a drop, and cidium– to fall.
Why this word?
This word was suggested by Anna Magill-Dohan, thank you for this great word Anna!
The other reason though, is that it is a really good one. Not only that it can be used in so many ways (examples below) but as it is a completely forgotten word. The funny thing is that this word has a more familiar sibling, from the realm of law vocab- stillicidium. You may laugh, but this actually has to do with the right to collect these water drops, from your neighbor’s roof, if dropping on your property… Think about it!
How to use the word stillicide?
Stillicide is a noun representing continual dropping; you can simply use it as such. “The sound of stillicide coming from the roof is driving me crazy! We have to fix it ASAP!”
However, you can also be creative and use it metaphorically. “He is so reserved; he shares his thoughts like stillicide, constantly dropping bits of information for me to collect and make sense of; I wish he would be more open”.
