LABRETIFERY/ˌleɪbrɪˈtɪfərɪ/

The practice of wearing labrets.

This rare word might be on the point of a renewed burst of usage because of the current craze for body piercing. A labret, from the Latin for “lip”, is an ornament worn through the upper or lower lip, originally used in reference to several South American, African and other peoples who wore such ornaments (often of stone, gold, or rock crystal). Labretifery combines labret with the Latin fer–, “carry; bring; bear” plus the abstract noun suffix “–y”; it seems to be the only word in the language with the “–ifery” ending formed in this way (it is rare in any case and the only common word, midwifery, has an obviously different origin).

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

World Wide Words is copyright © Michael Quinion, 1996–2008. All rights reserved. Contact the author if you want to reproduce this piece, but first see our advice page, which also has notes about linking. Your comments and corrections are welcome.