Excellent Word of the Day: enchiridion

I was going over the first pass of The Valley of the Wolves last week, which Rachel had already reviewed, and she queried the use of the word "manual" to describe one of Dana's books of magic -- "Perhaps a bit technical?" she wrote. This seemed like a good point, so I went to Thesaurus.com and searched for "manual," and one of the words it offered me was this:

en·chi·rid·i·on
Pronunciation: "en-"kI-'ri-dE-&n,
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural en·chi·rid·ia /-dE-&/
Etymology: Late Latin, from Greek encheiridion, from en in + cheir hand -- more at IN, CHIR-: HANDBOOK, MANUAL (definition from Merriam-Webster online)

Such an inspiring, flavorful word! I decided in the end not to bestow an enchiridion upon Dana -- it was just a bit too flavorful for this particular story/voice -- but here are some other suggested uses for it:

• "Honey, the blender's broken. Do you know where I can find the enchiridion?"
• Ancient Greek for Dummies: An Enchiridion for the Rest of Us
• "Yes, Officer, the registration is in the glove compartment, right next to the enchiridion."

Enjoy!