Pronunciation: /ˈvɛl.ɪ.kɔːr/ Part of speech: noun Definition: The strange, melancholy wistfulness one feels inside a used bookstore, where thousands of old books seem to hold the weight of abandoned eras and unread lives. Etymology: *Vellichor* is a 21st-century coinage by writer John Koenig, first published on his creative lexicon project The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows and popularized online around 2013. It blends *vellum* (the Latin-rooted word for the fine parchment historically used for manuscripts) with *ichor*, the Greek mythological term for the ethereal fluid running through the veins of the gods. The construction is more poetic than strictly classical, designed to make the word feel ancient even though it is a thoroughly modern invention. Synonyms: nostalgia, wistfulness, saudade, hiraeth, tristesse, melancholy In a sentence: She lingered in the dusty aisle long after she meant to leave, helpless against the vellichor_ of floor-to-ceiling shelves packed with novels no one had opened in decades.