Ecsis

a hand holding a fossil

Ecsis

n.
the haunting sense of mystery infused into certain random details that beckons you to wonder how it ended up here at this point in time—marveling at a patch of white on a dog’s chest, a bubble trapped in an old window, a glimpse of Saturn’s rings shivering in a telescope lens—knowing that behind the thing itself is a long chain of causes and effects that veers off into the shadows of prehistory, anchored somewhere near the dawn of time, even though the end result is somehow right there in front of you, shimmering in place.

Indonesian eksis, to exist, to be. Pronounced “ek-sis.”

O’Erpine

a person looking at a grave

Present-Tense

a close-up of a stopwatch

Latigo

aerial view of a city at night

Ne’er-Be-Gone

Cover image for the Ne’er-Be-Gone word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Kenaway

Cover image for the Kenaway word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Typifice

Cover image for the Typifice word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows