Elusive Words

Memory works differently than I expect, and there's a particular category of surprises when it comes to vocabulary.

I've noticed some words that I recognize as existing when I need them, but I repeatedly fail to recall these words without extraordinary measures (like consulting a thesaurus or, in recent times, consulting an AI search). I would expect that the repeated incidence would be "self rectifying" – the familiarity would make the words easier to recall.

But no, many of the words below continue to elude me – perhaps a bit less with the creation and review of this list, but still.

I suspect some semantic irregularities may be at play here – like "provenance" being conceptually proximal to "pedigree" and both starting with "p", or "anecdotal" having unusual or obscure etymology (though I don't know that it does)? Perhaps related, "jaundiced" and "jaded" both start with "j"... There probably are many other possibilities; I really don't have a solid sense of the causes, and I'm curious.

Here's a list of several that I've noticed:

Pathological, pathologize - characterize as abnormal and/or unhealthy

• Pathological as an antonym for benign
• Pathologize might could be seen as an antonym for normalize?

Adage (saying, aphorism, motto, credo, slogan, maxim), trope (meme), tenet, epithet, catch phrase

• trope - concept, idea, meme, notion, abstraction
• credo, slogan, blurb, motto, watchword, byword, catchphrase, maxim, adage, epithet

Provenance - like pedigree, but more specifically about the path from origin

• The chronology of ownership, custody or location of an historical object. (Wikipedia)
• Probably crucial to establishing salience in networked intelligence (eg Spherical)

Anecdotal - counterpoint to empirical.

• There's also "logical" and "theoretical"

Invariant - crucial design organizing principle?

• based on math principle

Sectarian vs secular - "sectarian" is identity based in a sect; "secular" is neutral w.r.t. religion

• Non-sectarian is similar to secular.

Patrimonialism - organized-crime style authoritarian

• (I often mistakenly recall “patriarchical”.)

Ad hominem - fallacious argument based on attacking character of target rather than substance of their propositions

Baruch Spinoza - philosopher who articulated many principles that I also hold

Bespoke - custom tailored, not off-the-shelf

Jaundiced - I often think of "jaded" or "cynical"

Dogmatic - I often get stuck on not-quite-equivalent "didactic" or "pedantic"

• Tendency to be dogmatic can be an obstacle to connection and growth

Setpoint, waypoint, threshold: orientation level setting thresholds

• setpoint - calibration threshold. Part of level setting, maybe a sweet spot.
• threshold - gateway, watermark: accomplishment
• waypoint - landmark, occasion, distinguished location

Durable, resilient, robust, hardy

Premise - basis, purpose, foundational concept.

Criterion: basis for distinction

Prominent - pronounced and distinctive; in the context of reputation, eminent, outstanding

Collateral - corresponding in position, order, time, or significance

• collateral damage - harm by violence not intended as targets of the violence
• collateral property - property pledged to secure a loan or other benefit

Cadence - rhythm, pace