Pronunciation: /ˈvɛl.ɪ.kər/ Part of speech: noun Definition: The strange, bittersweet wistfulness that washes over you inside a used bookstore, born of being surrounded by thousands of old books you will never have time to read. Etymology: *Vellichor* is a 21st-century neologism coined by writer John Koenig for his project *The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows*, first circulated widely online around 2013. The word blends *vellum* (the fine parchment long used for manuscripts, from Latin *vitulinum*, relating to calf-skin) with *ichor*, the ethereal fluid said to flow through the veins of the gods in Greek mythology. The pairing evokes both the material of old books and a kind of otherworldly, divine essence seeping from their pages. Synonyms: nostalgia, wistfulness, saudade, hiraeth, desiderium, yearning In a sentence: The moment she stepped through the creaking door, a deep vellichor_ settled over her, each cracked spine on the shelves whispering of lives she would never quite have time to live.