Rare Words

I received, among other things, a new book for Christmas titled Rare Words and wanted to share a few:
basial (BAY-zee-uhl)
adj. pertaining to kissing

indaba (in-DAH-bah)
n. 1. a conference or discussion. 2. a person's business, problem, or concern (originally a Zulu word for conference).

theophany (thee-AH-fuh-nee)
n. a visible manifestation of God; God in human form (from the Greek theo, "god," + phainein, "to show").

anlage (on-LOG-uh)
n. inherited disposition to certain traits or a particular character development.

This book makes me think of another I've always found interesting--my first masters is in Early American Lit, which features primarily non-fiction/public speeches/religious zealousness/autobiography, as the country was new, etc. The word "several" did not exist/work it's way into circulation until much later. Instead, the word was "divers" i.e. "We gathered divers people for the sermon." I wish I knew who coined "several" or the year it came about. Does any one else happen to know? Or want to share your own favorite rare word, or your favorite word that isn't rare?