Obscure words in vocabulary

I am currently writing an brief university essay and have come across a question that I'd like some input for.
Anyone who has sufficiently studied the english language will know that it is full of seemingly useless and obscure words that seem to serve no purpose other than to add yet more words to the overall vocabulary of the language.

I have my own views on why these words seem to exist, why there are so many of them and their overall signifigance, but I'd like to hear what your views on the existence of these words.

Sounds somewhat stupid, I realise, but it will actually contribute to my essay.

(PS: I'm purposely not revealing the details of said essay so as to get plain, unspecified opinions)

Welcome, Lsnewton. :hi:

Here's a site that's more along the lines of your research:
http://www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/hum...ure_words.html

Here's a word-list that posters (here) might find useful:
Grandiloquent Dictionary: http://www.islandnet.com/~egbird/dict/dict.htm

Well, er... most languages have several different dialects, and these often have different words for the same thing... then some words just fall out of fashion and are replaced by new ones... and then there are words that are very useful in a very narrow context but useless otherwise (i.e. jargon)... and then there are words that were originally slightly different in meaning and/or connotation but those differences have been lost or are no longer relevant... There could be dozens of reasons why obscure words exist.