avrelia

Cantabank – second-rate singer of ballads
Dammarel – an effeminate man who spends all his time entertaining or courting women, and who is disinclined to the company of his own sex
Demivierge –a woman who is sexually promiscuous but retains her virginity
Dongon – a person who is smart but appears stupid
Dunderwhelp – a detestable numbskull

I have found a new word "vilipend". Now, I know that my English vocabulary isn't perfect and comprehensive (and Russian, too, I guess), but I rarely now encounter words that I have never ever seen before. Usually there is a feeling of slight familiarity – like I've seen the word in the text, but haven't bothered to look it in a dictionary, or forgot its meaning already.
Now, this word – I am pretty sure I have never seen it. And I read a lot. Moreover, my husband also has never seen it – he reads a lot, too, in a different area. It wouldn't puzzled me as much were it a special term, but it means "to value lightly; to depreciate; to slight; to despise" - nothing extraordinary, in my opinion.
I looked in GOOGLE, I got 438 hits. Not much for a word. So, what kind of word is it? Does anybody anyhow use it? Or it just resides in depths of dictionaries, jumping on unsuspected reader once in decade?

Continuing the literary theme: I tried to answer monanotlisa's meme about piece of fiction that stayed with me. Sadly, I cannot say that I remember any piece of fiction in English, beside random BtVS quotes. I remember images, feelings, my thoughts and impressions, but not actual words. My head full of Russian poems though.