whirligig - Word of the Day - 31/05/17

whirligig

noun

Pronunciation

WER-lih-gig

Definition

1 : a child's toy having a whirling motion
2 a : one that continuously whirls or changes
   b : a whirling or circling course (as of events)

Examples

"As 2016 draws mercifully to a close, just what, exactly, are we to make of this bewildering whirligig of a year?" — Brian Chasnoff, The San Antonio News-Express, 30 Dec. 2016

"The whirligig, an object that spins or whirls, may have started as a farmer's weathervane, but it evolved into a recognized piece of American folk art." — Michelle Galler, RappNews.com (Rappahannock County, VA), 8 Dec. 2016

Did You Know?

English speakers, and particularly children, began spinning whirligigs as early as the 15th century. Since then, whirligig has acquired several meanings beyond its initial toy sense. It even has a place in the common name of the whirligig beetle, a member of the family Gyrinidae that swiftly swims in circles on the surface of still water. The word whirligig comes to us from Middle English whirlegigg ("whirling top"), which is itself from whirlen, meaning "to whirl," and gigg, meaning "(toy) top."

Word  Quiz

What 5-letter relative of whirligig can refer to a pattern that is made by a series of circles that turn around a center point, as in "the _____ of a fingerprint"?

Merriam-Webster

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abdicate - Word of the Day - 30/05/17

abdicate

verb

Pronunciation

AB-dih-kayt

Definition

1 : to renounce a throne, high office, dignity, or function
2 : to relinquish (something, such as sovereign power) formally
3 : to cast off : discard

Examples

"[The Duke of Windsor] abdicated the throne of the British Empire but remained king of men's style all his life. One of his great tricks was to elevate humble or casual trends and fabrics." — Nicholas Foulkes, Newsweek, 2 Sept. 2016

"… while dining at the restaurant Daniel in New York City, I asked Raj Vaidya, the head sommelier, to pick a red wine for my main course…. I don't abdicate this sacramental responsibility lightly, but Vaidya knows my taste, and he almost invariably comes up with something special." — Jay McInerney, Town & Country, 1 June 2015

Did You Know?

Give it up. English includes many words for the process of throwing in the towel, especially for relinquishing a job or elected office. Abdicate, a derivative of the prefix ab- (meaning "from," "away," or "off") and the Latin verb dicare (meaning to "proclaim"), has been used primarily for those who give up sovereign power or who evade a very serious responsibility (such as parental responsibility). Renounce is often used as a synonym of abdicate, but it adds to that term the suggestion that an individual is giving up something as a sacrifice to achieve a far greater end. Resign is another option when you are describing a more matter-of-fact departure from a job, office, or trust.

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of abdicate: a _ n _ _ a _ e.

Merriam-Webster

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skosh - Word of the Day - 29/05/17

skosh

Definition

: a small amount : bit, smidgen

Examples

The barista sprinkled a skosh of fresh ginger onto the milky surface of the latte.

"… I learned that the Turbo S is livable as an everyday car, with a ride quality a skosh firmer than a standard 911." — Tom Voelk, The New York Times, 16 Sept. 2016

Did You Know?

The word skosh comes from the Japanese word sukoshi, which is pronounced "skoh shee" and means "a tiny bit" or "a small amount." The Japanese word was shortened by U.S. servicemen stationed in Japan after World War II. Later, in the Korean War, a small soldier was often nicknamed Skosh. In civilian-speak, skosh can be used by itself as a noun (as in our first example sentence) or in the adverbial phrase "a skosh" (as in our second example).

Name That Synonym

What word is a synonym of skosh that can also refer to a small boy?

Merriam-Webster

http://creatingcharactersforfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/

unabashed - Word of the Day - 28/05/17

unabashed

adjective

Pronunciation

 un-uh-BASHT

Definition

: not embarrassed or ashamed by something that has happened or been done or said : undisguised, unapologetic

Examples

Franklin is an unabashed defender of cyclists' rights, and he isn't afraid to confront drivers in traffic who don't adhere to the rules of the road.

"But, there is one San Antonian who is unabashed about his preference for In-N-Out over Whataburger, and some people have labeled him a 'traitor' because of it." — Madalyn Mendoza, The San Antonio News-Express, 16 Apr. 2017

Did You Know?

To abash is to shake up someone's self-confidence or self-possession, as illustrated by Charlotte Brontë in her 1849 novel Shirley: "He had never blushed in his life; no humiliation could abash him." When you are unabashed you make no apologies for your behavior, but when you are abashed your confidence has been shaken and you may feel rather inferior or ashamed of yourself. English speakers have been using abashed to describe feelings of embarrassment since the 14th century, but they have only used unabashed (brazenly or otherwise) since the late 1500s. Both words can be traced back to the Anglo-French word abair, meaning "to astonish."

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of unabashed: u _ b _ _ n _ h _ d.


Merriam-Webster

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concatenate - Word of the Day - 27/0517

concatenate

verb

Pronunciation

 kahn-KAT-uh-nayt

Definition

: to link together in a series or chain

Examples

"While the stories are separate, they're concatenated in that characters recur from story to story, so while one might be a major player in one tale, he might be only alluded to in a subsequent narrative." — Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2013

"To test cockatoos' planning and mechanical capacities, Auersperg designed a box housing a visible cashew nut blocked by five interlocking devices. The locks were concatenated so that the bird would have to solve the lock puzzle farthest from the reward before gaining access to the next, and so on." — Jenny Jennings Foerst, American Scientist, November 2013

Did You Know?

Concatenate comes directly from Latin concatenare, which in turn is formed from con-, meaning "with" or "together," and catena, meaning "chain." (The word chain itself also evolved from catena.) Concatenate has a somewhat longer history as an adjective, meaning "linked together," than as a verb. The adjective first appeared in English in the 15th century and the verb wasn't in use until more than a century later. Catenate, a verb in its own right meaning "to link in a series," had also arrived on the scene by the early 17th century.

Test Your Vocabulary

What verb can mean "to join together" or "to give the various inflectional forms of a word"?

Merriam-Webster

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torpedo - Word of the Day 26/05/17

torpedo

noun

Pronunciation

tor-PEE-doh

Definition

1 : electric ray
2 : a weapon (such as a thin cylindrical self-propelled underwater projectile) for destroying ships by rupturing their hulls below the waterline
3 : a large sandwich on a long split roll with any of a variety of fillings : submarine

Examples

Among the undersea wreckage, the divers found an unexploded torpedo.

"An interactive exhibit also takes 'sailors' aboard the USS Tang, a submarine simulation, where you can relive the boat's final, heroic patrol before it sank—torpedo launches, sirens, and chaos ensue." — Meaghan O'Neill, The Boston Globe, 19 Mar. 2017

Did You Know?

Like the adjective torpid, torpedo can be traced back to the Latin verb torpēre, meaning "to be sluggish or numb." In Latin torpedo literally meant "stiffness" or "numbness." Torpedo was also the name given in Latin to the fish known as the electric ray, and it was as a name for the fish that torpedo first entered English. During the Napoleonic Wars, the American inventor Robert Fulton experimented with an explosive charge for use against warships which he called a "torpedo" (and which we would now refer to as a mine) after the electric ray's ability to incapacitate creatures with an electrical discharge. Fulton was also the inventor of the Nautilus, an early hand-powered submarine which was one of the precursors of the vessels that would deliver the more familiar cigar-shaped torpedoes with such devastating effects during the 20th century's two World Wars.

Name That Synonym

What word is a synonym of torpedo in its "sandwich" sense and can also refer to a molar or an athlete who succeeds through hard work and determination?

Merriam-Webster

http://grammarandpunctuationmodule4.blogspot.com.au/

inanition - Word of the Day - 25/05/17

inanition

noun

Pronunciation

in-uh-NISH-un

Definition

1 : the exhausted condition that results from lack of food and water
2 : the absence or loss of social, moral, or intellectual vitality or vigor

Examples

"My friend had no breakfast himself, for it was one of his peculiarities that in his more intense moments he would permit himself no food, and I have known him presume upon his iron strength until he has fainted from pure inanition." — Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder," 1903

"Although she remains largely in the background, Mama is the character apparently most energized by the revolution of 2011, the person who has found purpose and focus, eschewing nostalgia even as the men who surround her have lapsed into rueful inanition." — Claire Messud, The New York Review of Books, 18 Aug. 2016

Did You Know?

Inanition describes a state of suffering from either a literal emptiness (of sustenance) or a metaphorical emptiness (of interest or energy), so it should come as no surprise that the word ultimately derives from the same idea in Latin. Inanition, which first appeared in Middle English in the 14th century as in-anisioun, can be traced back to the Latin verb inanire, meaning "to make empty," which in turn comes from inanis (meaning "empty"). Another far more common descendant of inanis is inane. The family resemblance is clear: inane is used describe things lacking significance or substance.

Test Your Vocabulary

Unscramble the letters to create a verb that can mean "to become reduced to inanition": IHESLRV.

Merriam-Webster

http://writingthestorypruthpunton.blogspot.com.au/

malleable - Word of the Day - 24/05/17

malleable

adjective

Pronunciation

MAL-ee-uh-bul

Definition

1 : capable of being extended or shaped by beating with a hammer or by the pressure of rollers
2 a : capable of being altered or controlled by outside forces or influences
   b : having a capacity for adaptive change

Examples

"Lead is insidiously useful. It's hard but malleable, is relatively common, melts at a low enough temperature to be workable, and doesn't rust." — Ben Paynter, Wired, June 2016

"[T]he role of First Lady is … a role that is surprisingly malleable, shaped by the personality, style, and interests (or lack thereof) of the person occupying it." — Jonathan Van Meter, Vogue, 11 Nov. 2016

Did You Know?

There is a hint about the origins of malleable in its first definition. The earliest uses of the word, which first appeared in English in the 14th century, referred primarily to metals that could be reshaped by beating with a hammer. The Middle English word malliable comes to us from Medieval Latin malleabilis, which in turn derives from the Latin verb malleare, meaning "to hammer." Malleare itself was created from the Latin word for "hammer": malleus. If you have guessed that maul and mallet, other English words for specific types of hammers, can also be traced back to malleus, you have hit the nail on the head.

Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of malleable: SLTIPCA.

Merriam-Webster

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nudnik - Word of the Day 23/05/17

nudnik

noun

Pronunciation

NOOD-nik (the "OO" is as in "good")

Definition

: a person who is a bore or nuisance

Examples

James worried that he would never finish his work if the office nudnik didn't quit hanging around his cubicle.

"Others may enjoy its gentle comedy, its plentiful caricatures and easy jokes, its lightweight tone. However, I found most of its characters to be obnoxious, insufferable nudniks who never shut up or mind their own business or resemble real human beings." — John Serba, The Flint (Michigan) Journal, 27 Mar. 2017

Did You Know?

The suffix -nik came to English through Yiddish (and ultimately from Polish and Ukrainian). It means "one connected with or characterized by being." You might be familiar with beatnik, peacenik, or neatnik, but what about no-goodnik or allrightnik? The suffix -nik is frequently used in English to create nonce words that are often jocular or slightly derogatory. Some theorize that the popularity of the suffix was enhanced by Russian Sputnik, as well as Al Capp's frequent use of -nik words in his L'il Abner cartoons. The nud- of the Yiddish borrowing nudnik ultimately comes from the Polish nuda, meaning "boredom."


Merriam-Webster

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acerbic - Word of the Day - 22/05/17

acerbic

adjective

Pronunciation

 uh-SER-bik

Definition

: acid in temper, mood, or tone

Examples

"It was [Dave Chappelle's] first comedy special in 17 years, and even though the specials were filmed in 2015 and 2016, they confirmed that Dave still had his … acerbic wit and impeccable comedic timing…." — Michael Harriot, The Root, 29 Mar. 2017

"It's tempting to view Tourist in This Town as a clean break from Crutchfield's previous music—a breakup record about a former bandmate that's reflected in a stark sonic departure from that band. But Crutchfield is still the same acerbic and fearless observer, her lyrics unflinchingly honest in their feminist perspective." — Nathan Tucker, The Portland (Oregon) Mercury, 22 Mar. 2017

Did You Know?

English speakers created acerbic in the 19th century by adding -ic to the adjective acerb. Acerb had been around since the 17th century, but for most of that time it had been used only to describe foods with a sour taste. (Acerb is still around today, but now it's simply a less common synonym of acerbic.) Acerbic and acerb ultimately come from the Latin adjective acerbus, which can mean "harsh" or "unpleasant." Another English word that comes from acerbus is exacerbate, which means "to make more violent or severe."

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of acerbic: s _ _ ky.

Merriam-Webster


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philately - Word of the Day - 21/05/17

philately

noun

Pronunciation

fuh-LAT-uh-lee

Definition

: the collection and study of postage and imprinted stamps : stamp collecting

Examples

"With philately, it's not just the stamp that makes it valuable, but often the cancellation mark. Also, errors are considered good things." — Nancy Kennedy, The Citrus County (Florida) Chronicle, 5 June 2015

"Evidently, however, there is still enough interest in philately that local, national and international stamp shows are still regularly happening. San Diego has a Philatelic Council and an annual San Diego-based Sandical stamp show." — Karen Pearlman, The San Diego Union Tribune, 26 May 2016

Did You Know?

Who wouldn't love something tax free? George Herpin did. He was a French stamp fancier back in the 1860s, when stamps were a fairly new invention. Before stamps, the recipient of a letter—not the sender—had to pay the postage. Stamps forced the sender to foot the bill, and created a lot of stamp lovers among folks on the receiving end of the mail—and a mania for stamp collecting. Timbromania was toyed with as a term to affix to this new hobby—from the French word for stamp, timbre. But when Herpin suggested philatélie (anglicized to philately), combining the Greek root phil-, meaning "loving," with Greek ateleia, meaning "tax-exemption," stamp lovers everywhere took a fancy to it and the name stuck.

Test Your Vocabulary

What does a numismatist collect?

Merriam-Webster

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baroque - Word of the Day - 20/05/17

baroque

adjective

Pronunciation

buh-ROHK

Definition

1 : of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a style of artistic expression prevalent especially in the 17th century that is marked generally by use of complex forms, bold ornamentation, and the juxtaposition of contrasting elements often conveying a sense of drama, movement, and tension
2 : characterized by grotesqueness, extravagance, complexity, or flamboyance

Examples

Though I was interested in the book's subject matter, I was put off by the baroque descriptions the author seemed to favour.

"The Rev. Canon Patrick Malloy, the priest who oversees arts-related projects at the cathedral …, said the idea was to recreate a Baroque chapel and show the tapestries differently from when they hung over the transepts." — James Barron, The New York Times, 21 Mar. 2017

Did You Know?

Baroque came to English from the French word barroque, meaning "irregularly shaped." At first, the word in French was used mostly to refer to pearls. Eventually, it came to describe an extravagant style of art characterized by curving lines, gilt, and gold. This type of art, which was prevalent especially in the 17th century, was sometimes considered to be excessively decorated and overly complicated. It makes sense, therefore, that the meaning of the word baroque has broadened to include anything that seems excessively ornate or elaborate.

Test Your Vocabulary

What adjective begins with "r" and describes an artistic style prevalent in the 18th century that is marked by fanciful curved asymmetrical forms and elaborate ornamentation?

Merriam-Webster

http://grammarandpunctuationmodule4.blogspot.com.au/

rebus - Word of the Day - 19/0517

rebus

noun

Pronunciation

 REE-bus

Definition

: a representation of syllables or words by means of pictures or symbols; also : a riddle made up of such pictures or symbols

Examples

The answer to yesterday's rebus, which showed a man on an ark, a spider web, and a spoon stirring coffee, was "Noah Webster."

"The books are rebuses: They combine normally written words with emojis that substitute for words or parts of words." — Jessica Roy, The Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec. 2016

Did You Know?

A rebus communicates its message by means of pictures or symbols whose names sound like various parts of a word, phrase, or sentence. For example, a picture of a can of tomatoes followed by the letters UC and a picture of a well means "Can you see well?" In Latin, the word rebus means "by things"; rebus is a form of the Latin word res, which means "thing." English speakers started using the word rebus for picture writing in the early 1600s.

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete a word for a letter, symbol, or sign used to represent an entire word, such as $ for dollar: lo _ _ g _ a _.

Merriam-Webster

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luscious Word of the Day - 18/05/17

luscious

adjective

Pronunciation

LUSH-us

Definition

1 : having a delicious sweet taste or smell
2 : sexually attractive
3 a : richly luxurious or appealing to the senses
   b : excessively ornate

Examples

"Stockman's abstract paintings … are simple yet luscious, with thick, sensuous, curved shapes in intense, vibrating hues." — Steffie Nelson, W, February 2017

"His exhortations of umami—that luscious, satisfying flavor, not exactly savory or sweet or sour or bitter, that the Japanese were the first to identify—whetted my curiosity. One night at dinner, a chef prepared a special batch of dashi—the umami-drenched base stock of Japanese soups—before my eyes, so I could observe and taste its alchemy as it brewed." — Liesl Schillinger, Vogue, March 2017

Did You Know?

Have you ever heard a young child say something is "licius" when he or she really means it's "delicious"? Back in the Middle Ages, the word licius was sometimes used as a shortened form of delicious by adults and kids alike. Linguists believe that luscious developed when licius was further altered to lucius by 15th-century speakers. Both words ultimately derive from the Latin verb delicere, meaning "to entice by charm or attraction." The adjective lush, which can sometimes mean "delicious" as well, is not a shortened form of luscious; it derived on its own from the Middle English lusch, meaning "soft or tender."

Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of luscious, meaning "sweet to the taste": CTUEDL.

Merriam-Webster

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castigate - Word of the Day - 17/05/17

castigate

verb

Pronunciation

 KASS-tuh-gayt

Definition

: to subject to severe punishment, reproof, or criticism

Examples

Before sentencing, the judge angrily castigated the two young defendants for their malicious act of vandalism.

"You know, if [dandelions] weren't castigated as the No. 1 lawn weed, we all probably would love them. With their sunny little faces looking upward toward the sky and the strong, pointed green foliage, they really are beautiful plants." — Mary Stickley-Godinez, The Daily Progress (Charlottesville, VA), 24 Apr. 2017

Did You Know?

Castigate has a synonym in chastise. Both verbs mean to punish or to censure someone. Fittingly, both words derive from the same root: the Latin castigare, formed from the words for "pure" (castus) and "to drive" (agere). (Castus also gave us the noun caste, meaning "social class or rank.") Another verb derived from castigare is chasten, which can also mean "to discipline by punishment" but more commonly means "to subdue or make humble" (as in "chastened by his foolish error"). Castigate is the youngest of the three verbs in English, dating from the early 17th century, while chasten dates to the early 16th century and chastise has been found in use as far back as the 14th.

Word  Quiz

Fill in the blanks to complete an adjective derived from Latin agere that can mean "having power to compel" or "convincing": c_ g _ _ t.

Merriam-Webster

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hoodlum - Word of the Day - 16/05/17

hoodlum

noun

Pronunciation

HOOD-lum

Definition

1 : thug; especially : a violent criminal
2 : a young ruffian

Examples

The shaken couple tried to give the police an accurate physical description of the hoodlums who assailed them in the parking lot.

"The iconic opening shot of director Danny Boyle's 1996 'Trainspotting' was of junkie hoodlum Mark Renton's feet pounding the pavement while he and his mates bolted down an Edinburgh street pursued by police." — Sean Burns, WBUR.org, 23 Mar. 2017

Did You Know?

A hoodlum can be anyone from a dangerous thug to a young person who's just up to no good. The exact origins of the word are not known, but one theory is that the word derives from hudelum, an adjective that means "disorderly" in dialects of German spoken in and around the region of Swabia. A similar-looking word for a young troublemaker is hooligan, but that word is not related to hoodlum; rather, it most likely derives from the name of Patrick Hooligan, an Irish youth purported to have wreaked havoc in the streets of Southwark, England, in the late 19th century.

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a British synonym of hoodlum: y _ _ bo.

Merriam-Webster

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peregrinate- Word of the Day - 15/05/17

peregrinate

verb

Pronunciation

PAIR-uh-gruh-nayt

Definition

1 : to travel especially on foot : walk
2 : to walk or travel over : traverse

Examples

"All my traveling life, 40 years of peregrinating Africa, Asia, South America and Oceania, I have thought constantly of home…." — Paul Theroux, The Smithsonian Magazine, September 2009

"Hundreds of passenger trains traversed millions of miles laden with travelers increasingly accustomed to peregrinating in style and comfort." — Dave Flessner, The Chattanooga (Tennessee) Times Free Press, 27 May 2015

Did You Know?

We begin our narrative of the linguistic travels of peregrinate with the Latin word peregrinatus, the past participle of peregrinari, which means "to travel in foreign lands." The verb is derived from the Latin word for "foreigner," peregrinus, which was earlier used as an adjective meaning "foreign."That term also gave us the words pilgrim and peregrine, the latter of which once meant "alien" but is now used as an adjective meaning "tending to wander" and as a noun naming a kind of falcon. (The peregrine falcon is so named because it was traditionally captured during its first flight—or pilgrimage—from the nest.)

Test Your Vocabulary

Unscramble the letters to create a verb that means "to travel about without an apparent plan": IRETSAP.

Merriam-Webster

indurate - Word of the Day - 14/05/17

indurate

adjective

Pronunciation

IN-duh-rut

Definition

: physically or morally hardened

Examples

"Anne-James Chaton, his indurate mien impassive and poker-faced, stands as still and stiff as a motorway signpost…." — Robert Barry, The Quietus, 24 July 2013

"In 1940, wildcat drillers bored about 900 feet into the indurate basalt in search of natural gas; they found a little, but not enough to warrant their trouble." — The Yakima (Washington) Herald-Republic, 18 Sep. 2013

Did You Know?

Indurate is a hard word—in more than one way. Not only is it fairly uncommon in modern usage, but it also can be traced back to Latin durare, meaning "to harden." Durare can mean "to endure" as well, and appropriately indurate is a word that has lasted many years—it has been a part of the English language since the 14th century. Durare is also the root of other durable English words, including during, endure, duration, durance, and even durable itself. In addition, indurate can be a verb meaning "to make or grow hard," "to make unfeeling, stubborn, or obdurate," and "to establish firmly."

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of indurate: c _ _ lo _ _ .

Merriam-Webster

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microcosm - Word of the Day - 13/05/17

microcosm

noun

Pronunciation

 MY-kruh-kah-zum

Definition

1 : a little world; especially : the human race or human nature seen as an epitome of the world or the universe
2 : a community or other unity that is an epitome of a larger unity

Examples

"The Mekong River Basin is a microcosm of the Earth's freshwater resources—it includes almost all of the natural forms freshwater takes on Earth: groundwater, lakes, ponds, streams, and wetlands." — Eleanor J. Sterling et al., Natural History, November 2007

"When walking through the district today, you see a microcosm of a city—a businessman walking next to a student, walking next to an artist, walking next to a parishioner—a true urban environment stitched together throughout 19 blocks and 68 acres. You see people of all ages, races, genders, shapes, and sizes living and breathing in the same space, creating a rich identity in and of itself." — Kim Butler, D Magazine, 7 Mar. 2017

Did You Know?

A microcosm is a "little world"—mikros kosmos in Greek. The Greek term was modified to microcosmus in Medieval Latin. When early medieval scholars referred to humans as miniature embodiments of the natural universe, they either employed the Latin word microcosmus or they used the English translation, "less world." "Man is callyd the lasse worlde, for he shewyth in hymselfe lyknesse of all the worlde," wrote John Trevisa when he translated the Latin text of Bartholomaeus Anglicus' encyclopedia in the 14th century. But by the 15th century scholars had adopted an anglicized version of the Latin word, the word we use today—microcosm.

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete a word for a nation that is extremely small in area and population: m _ _ r _ _ _ a _ e.

Merriam-Webster

http://grammarandpunctuationmodule4.blogspot.com.au/

grok - Word of the Day - 12/05/17

grok

verb

Pronunciation

 GRAHK

Definition

: to understand profoundly and intuitively

Examples

"Understanding your character is as important as the lines. If you don't believe you are someone different, how will anyone else believe you? You must grok the role—or at least try." — Joseph Garcia, quoted in The Orange County (California) Register, 1 June 2014

"The Chronicle asked several insurance experts to read through the policy, which is written in impenetrable insurance-ese that makes it pretty hard for civilians to grok." — Carolyn Said, The San Francisco Chronicle, 27 Mar. 2014

Did You Know?

Grok may be the only English word that derives from Martian. Yes, we do mean the language of the planet Mars. No, we're not getting spacey; we've just ventured into the realm of science fiction. Grok was introduced in Robert A. Heinlein's 1961 science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land. The book's main character, Valentine Michael Smith, is a Martian-raised human who comes to earth as an adult, bringing with him words from his native tongue and a unique perspective on the strange ways of earthlings. Grok was quickly adopted by the youth culture of America and has since peppered the vernacular of those who grok it.

Test Your Vocabulary

What is the name for the flat dark areas on the surface of the moon or Mars?

Merriam-Webster

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supposititious - Word of the Day - 11/05/17

supposititious

adjective

Pronunciation

suh-pah-zuh-TISH-us

Definition

1 a : fraudulently substituted : spurious
   b : (of a child) falsely presented as a genuine heir : illegitimate
2 a : imaginary
   b : of the nature of or based on a supposition : hypothetical

Examples

"… James II's queen, Mary of Modena, gave birth to a son and heir, the future Old Pretender, whom William's supporters tried to discredit as a supposititious child, smuggled in via a warming-pan." — Keith Thomas, The Guardian, 5 Apr. 2008

"I sat looking at Peggotty for some time, in a reverie on this supposititious case: whether, if she were employed to lose me like the boy in the fairy tale, I should be able to track my way home again by the buttons she would shed." — Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, 1850

Did You Know?

The Latin verb supponere, meaning "substitute," has several legitimate heirs in English, including supposititious (which dates from the early 17th century) and supposition (a 15th-century addition). The "fraudulent" and "illegitimate" meanings of supposititious trace back to supponere in a fairly direct route, whereas the "imaginary" and "hypothetical" meanings were influenced by the meanings of supposition. In legal contexts, supposititious is primarily used in its earlier senses, as in "a supposititious (fraudulent) will" or "the child was supposititious (illegitimate)." When something hypothetical is being considered, the synonymous adjective suppositious is often preferred over supposititious.

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete a noun that can refer to a supposition or to a conclusion drawn by guesswork: _ _ n _ e_ t _ re.

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erstwhile - Word of the Day - 10/05/17

erstwhile

adverb

Pronunciation

ERST-wile

Definition

: in the past : formerly

Examples

What had erstwhile been acres of wetland was eventually developed into a thriving residential neighborhood.

"The participants proceeded with civility and purpose. Meetings that erstwhile had taken entire days were concluded with agreement in an hour or two." — Greg Behrman, The Most Noble Adventure, 2007

Did You Know?

The adverb erstwhile has been part of English since at least the 16th century, but it is formed from two words that are much older. It comes from the Old English words aer, meaning "early," and hwil, which has the same meaning as the modern word while. (The English word ere, meaning "before," is also a descendant of aer.) These days erstwhile is more likely to be encountered as an adjective, as in "erstwhile enemies." That adjective use is a much more recent development, having joined the language about three centuries after the adverb.

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of erstwhile: h _ _ to _ i _ a _ ly.

Merriam-Webster

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lanuginous - Word of the Day - 09/05/17

lanuginous

adjective

Pronunciation

luh-NOO-juh-nus

Definition

: covered with down or fine soft hair

Examples

At the base of the mullein's tall spire is a cluster of large lanuginous leaves.

The scent [of erica, South African heather] is subtle, woody, coniferous—it smells of hot origins. And it's ridiculously tactile: I have to keep prodding the lanuginous bobbles. — Helen Brown, The Independent (UK), 23 Nov. 2006

Did You Know?

You're likely to come across lanuginous in only a few contexts, botany and spelling bees being the best candidates. In other contexts, the more common term is downy. Lanuginous has an unsurprising pedigree. It's from the Latin word lanuginosus, which is in turn from lanugo, the Latin word for "down." (Lanugo is also an English word used especially to refer to the soft woolly hair that covers the fetus of some mammals.) Lanugo itself is from lana, meaning "wool," a root also at work in lanolin, the term for wool grease that's refined for use in ointments and cosmetics.

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of lanuginous: pl _ _ y.


Merriam-Webster

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panacea - Word of the Day - 08/05/17

panacea

noun

Pronunciation

pan-uh-SEE-uh

Definition

: a remedy for all ills or difficulties : cure-all

Examples

Georgette said, "I don't know if hybrid cars are a panacea for the world's environmental issues, but they seem to be a step in the right direction."

"… while an uptick in subscriptions is certainly a good thing, it is unlikely to be a panacea for what ails newspapers." — Leonard Pitts, The Miami Herald, 3 Mar. 2017

Did You Know?

Panacea is from Latin, and the Latin word, in turn, is from Greek panakeia. In Greek, panakēs means "all-healing," combining pan- ("all") and akos, which means "remedy." The Latin designation Panacea or Panaces has been awarded to more than one plant at one time or other, among them the herb today known as Prunella vulgaris, whose common name is self-heal. More often than not, panacea is used when decrying a claim made for a remedy that seems too good to be true. Most likely that's what the author is doing in a 1625 anatomical treatise, describing "a certaine medicine made of saffron, quick silver, vermilion, antimonie, and certaine sea shels made up in fashion of triangular lozenges," and calling it a panacea.

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of panacea: c _ t _ _ l _ c _ n.

Merriam-Webster

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tetchy - Word of the Day - 07/05/17

tetchy

adjective

Pronunciation

TETCH-ee

Definition

: irritably or peevishly sensitive : touchy

Examples

"What's the use of being cross with this old man? … Seems to me you're getting awful tetchy! Don't you like your old friends any more?" — Booth Tarkington, Alice Adams, 1921

"A million years ago, when written communication between people was limited to emails, I had a policy of always engaging. It took effort to compose an email, and I found even the tetchy ones gratifying. As long as the sender wasn't too obviously insane, I would reply…." — Emma Brockes, The Guardian, 5 Apr. 2017

Did You Know?

One of the first cited uses of tetchy occurs in William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (1596). Etymologists are not certain how the word came about, but some have suggested that it derives from tetch, an obsolete noun meaning "habit." The similarity both in meaning and pronunciation to touchy might lead you to conclude that tetchy is related to that word, but there is no conclusive evidence to suggest such a connection. The adjectives teched and tetched, meaning "mentally unbalanced," are variations of touched, and are probably also unrelated to tetchy.

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of tetchy: h _ _ fy.

Merriam-Webster

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demean - Word of the Day - 06/05/17

demean

verb

Pronunciation

dih-MEEN

Definition

: to conduct or behave (oneself) usually in a proper manner

Examples

Theresa was proud of how well her boys demeaned themselves during the ceremony.

"He knew that he had been lackadaisical, and was ashamed of himself; and at once resolved that he would henceforth demean himself as though no calamity had happened to him." — Anthony Trollope, The Small House at Allington, 1864

Did You Know?

There are two words spelled demean in English. The more familiar demean—"to lower in character, status, or reputation"—comes straight from mean, the adjective that means "spiteful." Today's featured word, on the other hand, comes from the Anglo-French verb demener ("to conduct"), which in turn comes from Latin minare, meaning "to drive." This verb has been with us since the 14th century and is generally used in contexts (especially formal ones) specifying a type of behavior: "he demeaned himself in a most unfriendly manner"; "she demeaned herself as befitting her station in life"; "they knew not how to demean themselves in the king's presence." As you may have already guessed, the noun demeanor, meaning "behavior," comes from this demean.

Word Quiz

Fill in the blanks to complete an adjective derived from Latin minare that means "willing to agree or to accept something": a _ _ na _ _ e.

Merriam-Webster


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acronym - Word of the Day - 05/05/17

acronym

noun

Pronunciation

 AK-ruh-nim

Definition

: a word (such as NATO, radar, or laser) formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term; also : an abbreviation (such as FBI) formed from initial letters : initialism

Examples

The new committee spent a fair amount of time choosing a name that would lend itself to an appealing acronym.

"For now, the Regional Acceleration and Mentoring Program—which goes by the acronym RAMP—looks like an average office space on the third floor of the old Gill Memorial Hospital Building in downtown Roanoke, complete with separate rooms for five companies, shared meeting areas and a kitchen." — Jacob Demmitt, The Roanoke (Virginia) Times, 17 Mar. 2017

Did You Know?

Acronym was created by combining acr- ("beginning" or "top") with -onym ("name" or "word"). You may recognize -onym in other familiar English words, such as pseudonym and synonym. English speakers borrowed -onym from the Greek onyma ("name") and acr- from the Greek akros (meaning "topmost, extreme"). When acronym first entered English, some usage commentators decreed that it should refer to combinations of initial letters that were pronounced as if they were whole words (such as radar and scuba), differentiated from an initialism, which is spoken by pronouncing the component letters (as in FBI and CEO). These days, however, that distinction is largely lost, and acronym is a common label for both types of abbreviation.

That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of acronym: ac _ o _ _ ic.

Merriam-Webster

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visceral - Word of the Day - 04/05/17

visceral

adjective

Pronunciation

VISS-uh-rul

Definition

1 : felt in or as if in the internal organs of the body : deep
2 : not intellectual : instinctive, unreasoning
3 : dealing with crude or elemental emotions : earthy
4 : of, relating to, or located on or among the internal organs of the body : splanchnic

Examples

"My mom is the only one who still writes me letters. And there's something visceral about opening a letter—I see her on the page. I see her in her handwriting." — Steve Carell, quoted in The Boston Globe Magazine, 24 July 2011

"After months of drama, the gravity of the coming week is hard to grasp and, totally untested, feels strangely abstract. What is tangible, however, is the spitting acrimony and visceral anger that still animate both sides of the Brexit debate." — Louis McEvoy, Cherwell (Oxford University), 25 Feb. 2017

Did You Know?

The viscera are the internal organs of the body—especially those located in the large cavity of the trunk (e.g., the heart, liver, and intestines). The word viscera comes from Latin, in which it has essentially the same meaning. Something visceral has to do with the viscera, and in a more figurative sense, something visceral is felt "deep down." Even in the early years of its use, visceral often referred to things emotional rather than physiological. For example, in 1640 an English bishop named Edward Reynolds wrote, "Love is of all other the inmost and most visceral affection." This figurative use is the most common use of visceral, but the word continues to be used in medical contexts as well.

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete the word that precedes jar in this name for the jar in which the ancient Egyptians preserved the viscera of a deceased person: c _ n _ pi _  (jar).

Merriam-Webster

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refurbish - Word of the Day - 03/05/17

refurbish

verb

Pronunciation

 rih-FER-bish

Definition

: to brighten or freshen up : renovate

Examples

"Ann Eliza noticed that Evelina now took the precaution of putting on her crimson bow every evening before supper, and that she had refurbished with a bit of carefully washed lace the black silk which they still called new because it had been bought a year after Ann Eliza's." — Edith Wharton, Bunner Sisters, 1916

"The company doesn't make jet engines, but it does build and refurbish critical components that protect them and enable them to power aircraft through the skies." — Lawrence Specker, The Mobile (Alabama) Register, 19 Mar. 2017

Did You Know?

If you're wondering if refurbish implies the existence of an earlier furbish, you are on the right track. Furbish was borrowed into English in the 14th century from Anglo-French furbiss-, a distant relative of Old High German furben, meaning "to polish." In its earliest uses furbish also meant "to polish," but it developed an extended sense of "renovate" shortly before English speakers created refurbish with the same meaning in the 17th century. These days refurbish is the more common of the two words, although furbish does continue to be used.

Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of refurbish: APRVME.

 Merriam-Webster

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majordomo - Word of the Day 02/05/17

majordomo

noun

Pronunciation

may-jer-DOH-moh

Definition

1 : a head steward of a large household (such as a palace)
2 : butler, steward
3 : a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another; broadly : the person who runs an enterprise

Examples

"Arriving at the Palace, he was informed that His Highness had gone out shortly after breakfast, and had not returned. The majordomo gave the information with a tinkle of disapproval in his voice." — P. G. Wodehouse, The Prince and Betty, 1912

"When Hinton died, his will transferred half of his interest in the property to Robert Kelly, an Army buddy who was working as Hinton's majordomo at the ranch." — John Cannon, The San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 May 2015

Did You Know?

Majordomo has relatives in Spanish (mayordomo) and Italian (the now obsolete maiordomo), and English speakers borrowed the term from one of these languages. All three words—majordomo, mayordomo, and maiordomo—ultimately come from the Medieval Latin major domus, meaning "chief of the house." In its earliest uses, majordomo referred to the head steward of a royal household. The position was a high one with some relatively weighty responsibilities. Later, in the U.S., the word was used for the steward or overseer of a ranch. Since then, the word's meaning has extended even further; today, majordomo can designate any person who takes charge of another's affairs, be they business or personal.

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete a word for a steward of a college or monastery: m _ _ci _ le.

Merriam-Webster

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