Pronunciation: /ˈvɛl.ɪ.kɔːr/ Part of speech: noun Definition: The strange, wistful melancholy one feels inside a used bookstore, arising from the sense that its shelves are saturated with the passage of time and the traces of vanished lives. Etymology: *Vellichor* is a 21st-century neologism coined by writer John Koenig for his project *The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows*, first gaining wider notice around 2013. It blends *vellum* (from Latin *vellus*, the treated animal skin long used as writing material) with *ichor*, the supernatural fluid said in Greek mythology to flow through the veins of the gods. The construction is modeled on *petrichor* (the scent of rain on dry earth), swapping the Greek root for stone with one evoking ancient parchment. Synonyms: nostalgia, wistfulness, saudade, hiraeth, weltschmerz, reverie In a sentence: She had only meant to pop in for a moment, but the vellichor_ of the cramped little shop on Maple Street held her there for the better part of an afternoon, running her fingers over spines she would probably never open.