Well, I'm not sure exactly if this proves or disproves anything, but I did take this opportunity to contact a friend of mine who just finished her junior year at the high school I graduated from six years ago and ask if she was familiar with the word. To my surprise, she told me it had appeared in her vocabulary book, and she did know what it meant. And keep in mind that my high school is in Mississippi, a state that doesn't exactly have a sparkling reputation when it comes to public education (ie. if we're not bottom in the nation, we're pretty damned close).

So make of that what you will.