diminution - Word of the Day - 01/08/17

diminution

noun

Pronunciation

 dim-uh-NOO-shun

Definition

: the act, process, or an instance of becoming gradually less (as in size or importance) : the act, process, or an instance of diminishing : decrease

Examples

After seeing a diminution in his restaurant's profits for the third quarter in a row, George reluctantly set about revising his business model.

"Of course, the overall diminution of the newspaper in size and circulation has led to savings in paper consumption." — David W. Dunlap, The New York Times, 2 June 2017

Did You Know?

We find written evidence for diminution going back to the 14th century, including use in Geoffrey Chaucer's Middle English poetical work Troilus and Criseyde. Chaucer used "maken dyminucion" ("make diminution") in contrast to the verb "encrece" ("increase"). Diminution came to English by way of Anglo-French from Latin. Its Latin ancestor deminuere ("to diminish") is also an ancestor of the English verb diminish, which entered the language in the 15th century, and the related diminishment, a synonym of diminution that English speakers have been using since the 16th century.

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete an adjective that means "becoming less by gradual diminution" or "waning": d _ _ r _ s _ _ nt.

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plausible - Word of the Day - 31/07/17

plausible

adjective

Pronunciation

PLAW-zuh-bul

Definition

1 : seemingly fair, reasonable, or valuable but often not so
2 : superficially pleasing or persuasive
3 : appearing worthy of belief

Examples

One problem with the horror movie is that the plot is barely plausible—there was no good reason for the kids to enter the abandoned mansion to begin with.

"Legends of giant squid attacking vessels on the open ocean are great nightmare fuel, even if they never truly occurred. But the sight of a real-life giant squid wrapping its tentacles around a man’s paddleboard, as seen in a recent video ..., makes those old myths certainly seem plausible." — Eric Grundhauser, Atlas Obscura, 20 June 2017

Did You Know?

Today the word plausible usually means "reasonable" or "believable," but it once held the meanings "worthy of being applauded" and "approving." It comes to us from the Latin adjective plausibilis ("worthy of applause"), which in turn derives from the verb plaudere, meaning "to applaud or clap." Other plaudere descendants in English include applaud, plaudit (the earliest meaning of which was "a round of applause"), and explode (from Latin explodere, meaning "to drive off the stage by clapping").

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of plausible: _ s _ e _ si _ _ e.

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bona fides - Word of the Day - 30/07/17

bona fides

noun

Pronunciation

boh-nuh-FYE-deez

Definition

1 : good faith : sincerity
2 : the fact of being genuine
3 : evidence of one's good faith or genuineness
4 : evidence of one's qualifications or achievements

Examples

"While there are a myriad of other entrepreneurial self-help and motivational books, [William] Pickard said 'Millionaire Moves' is different in that he has the bona fides and balance sheet." — Mary M. Chapman, The Detroit News, 12 June 2017

"My grandfather Archie was a coal miner and a hard man when he needed to be. ... But I have no true working-class bona fides. My father attended West Virginia University law school and did well. My siblings and I had tennis lessons and orthodontia." — Dwight Garner, Esquire, 10 Jan. 2017

Did You Know?

Bona fides looks like a plural word in English, but in Latin, it's a singular noun that literally means "good faith." When bona fides entered English, it at first stayed very close to its Latin use—it was found mostly in legal contexts and it meant "honesty or lawfulness of purpose," just as it did in Latin. It also retained its singular construction. Using this original sense one might speak of "a claimant whose bona fides is unquestionable." But in the 20th century, use of bona fides began to widen, and it began to appear with a plural verb in certain contexts. For example, a sentence such as "the informant's bona fides were ascertained" is now possible.

Test Your Vocabulary

What word can mean "credentials" and is only used in that sense in a phrase beginning with "letters of"?

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melee - Word of the Day - 29/07/1

melee

noun

Pronunciation

 MAY-lay

Definition

: a confused struggle; especially : a hand-to-hand fight among several people

Examples

"In a notorious episode in 2000, a fan snatched Dodgers catcher Chad Kreuter's hat as he sat on the bullpen bench, setting off a melee in which Dodgers players and coaches climbed into the stands." — Billy Witz, The New York Times, 8 May 2017

"Police said they are working with the State Department and Secret Service to identify Erdogan guards who they believe instigated the melee." — Tracy Wilkinson, The Baltimore Sun, 18 May 2017

Did You Know?

Fray, donnybrook, brawl, fracas: there are many English words for confused and noisy fights, and in the 17th century melee was thrown into the mix. It comes from the French mêlée, which in turn comes from the Old French meslee, meaning "mixture." Meslee comes from the Old French verb mesler, or medler, which means "to mix." This verb is also the source of medley ("a mixture or hodgepodge") and meddle ("to mix oneself in others' affairs" or "to interfere").

Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of melee: COUINRT.

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inhere - Word of the Day - 28/07/17

inhere

verb

Pronunciation

 in-HEER

Definition

: to be inherent : to be a fixed element or attribute

Examples

"Americans have never shied from a good political fight, disagreement inhering in self-government." — Charles R. Kesler, National Review Online, 7 Dec. 2016

"Rights are not gifts; they do not need to be earned. Rather, they inhere in the human condition."  — The Richmond (Virginia) Times Dispatch, 15 Mar. 2017

Did You Know?

You're probably familiar with inherent, the adjective meaning "part of the constitution or natural character of something," but were you aware of its less common relative inhere? This verb looks like it could be a back-formation of inherent (a back-formation is a word created by removing a prefix or suffix from an existing word), but usage evidence of the two words makes it difficult to tell for sure. Both inhere and inherent date to the late 16th century and are derived from the Latin verb inhaerēre ("to inhere"), which was itself formed by combining in- with haerēre, a verb meaning "to adhere."

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete an adjective that means "inherent": i _ m _ n _ _ t.

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fester - Word of the Day - 27/07/17

fester

verb

Pronunciation

FESS-ter

Definition

1 : to generate pus
2 : putrefy, rot
3 a : to cause increasing poisoning, irritation, or bitterness : rankle
   b : to undergo or exist in a state of progressive deterioration

Examples

"For more than a generation, instead of forging a path to reconciliation, we have allowed the wounds the war inflicted on our nation, our politics and our families to fester." — Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, The New York Times, 29 May 2017

"Tunisians have made tremendous progress. Yet their experiment is teetering on the brink. The economy is stuck in the doldrums. Poverty and corruption fester." — Christian Caryl, The Washington Post, 26 May 2017

Did You Know?

Fester entered English in the 14th century. It was used as we now use the word fistula for an abnormal passage leading from an abscess or hollow organ and permitting passage of fluids or secretions. It was also applied as a word for a sore that discharges pus. The connection between fester and fistula is no accident—both descend from Latin fistula, which has the same meaning as the English word but can also mean "pipe" or "tube" or "a kind of ulcer." Fester made the trip from Latin to English by way of Anglo-French. The word's use as a verb meaning "to generate pus" has also developed extended senses implying a worsening state.

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of fester meaning "to form pus": s _ _ p _ r _ te.

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akimbo - Word of the Day - 26/07/17

akimbo

adjective or adverb

Pronunciation

 uh-KIM-boh

Definition

1 : having the hand on the hip and the elbow turned outward
2 : set in a bent position

Examples

The model, arms akimbo, struck a pose at the end of the runway.
"Off the kitchen, the metal skeleton of what is supposed to be a human-size dinosaur puppet sits akimbo." — Kayla Epstein, The Washington Post, 30 Apr. 2017

Did You Know?

It's akimbo nowadays, but in Middle English, the adverbial phrase in kenebowe was used for the bent, hand-on-hip arm (or later, for any bent position). Originally, the term was fairly neutral, but now saying that a person is standing with "arms akimbo" implies a posture that communicates defiance, confidence, aggressiveness, or arrogance. In her novel Little Women, Louisa May Alcott took the word one step further, extending it into the figurative realm when she explained that tomboyish Jo had not been invited to participate in an elegant event with the other young ladies of the neighborhood because "her elbows were decidedly akimbo at this period of her life."

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete an adjective that describes knees that are turned outward: _ p _ a _.

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wreak - Word of the Day - 25/0717

wreak

verb

Pronunciation

REEK

Definition

1 : to cause the infliction of (vengeance or punishment)
2 : to give free play or course to (malevolent feeling)
3 : bring about, cause

Examples

"A cheeky peacock has wreaked havoc inside a California liquor store, smashing over $500 worth of expensive wine and champagne." — Heat Street, 7 June 2017

"Don't be fooled by Mike Brown's big smile and happy-go-lucky demeanor. The Golden State Warriors' acting head coach is probably salivating over his chance to wreak brutal vengeance against the Cleveland Cavaliers—the team that fired him twice." — Chuck Barney, The Mercury News (San Jose, California), 7 June 2017

Did You Know?

Wreak is a venerable word that first appeared in Old English as wrecan, meaning "to drive, drive out, punish, or avenge." Wrecan is related to a number of similar words in the Germanic languages, including Middle Dutch wreken ("to punish, avenge"), Old High German rehhan ("to avenge"), Old Norse reka ("to drive, push, or avenge"), and Gothic wrikan ("to persecute"). It may also be related to Latin urgēre ("to drive on, urge"), the source of the English verb urge. In modern English, vengeance is a common object of the verb wreak, reflecting one of its earlier uses in the sense "to take vengeance for"—as when Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus proclaims "We will solicit heaven, and move the gods / To send down Justice for to wreak our wrongs."

Name That Synonym

What word is a synonym of wreak that is also often followed by havoc?

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haphazard - Word of the Day - 24/07/17

haphazard

adjective

Pronunciation

hap-HAZZ-erd

Definition

: marked by lack of plan, order, or direction

Examples

"… his intense work ethic has made such a feat of releasing back-to-back projects appear effortless, conscious and polished, as opposed to what could have been … a haphazard effort scrapping together 34 assorted tracks from his never-ending archive." — Billboard.com, 24 Feb. 2017

"Once the taxidermy is set up and artists escorted out, the doors to the exhibit hall are closed.… The hall is large and chilly, the scene is otherworldly, a haphazard zoo suspended in time, bald eagles perched beside African lions reclining beside wild turkeys standing beside trunkfish swimming alongside cape buffalo and snow leopards." — Christopher Borrelli, The Chicago Tribune, 28 May 2017

Did You Know?

The hap in haphazard comes from an English word that means "happening," as well as "chance or fortune," and that derives from the Old Norse word happ, meaning "good luck." Perhaps it's no accident that hazard also has its own connotations of luck: while it now refers commonly to something that presents danger, at one time it referred to a dice game similar to craps. (The name ultimately derives from the Arabic al-zahr, meaning "the die.") Haphazard first entered English as a noun (again meaning "chance") in the 16th century, and soon afterward was being used as an adjective to describe things with no apparent logic or order.

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of haphazard: s _ a _ d _ s _.

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advise - Word of the Day - 23/07/17

advise

verb

Pronunciation

ud-VYZE

Definition

1 a : to give a recommendation about what should be done : to give ad
   b : caution, warn
   c : recommend
2 : to give information or notice to : inform
3 : to talk with someone in order to decide what should be done : consult

Examples

Betty's doctor advised her to exercise more carefully if she hoped to avoid re-injuring her sprained ankle.

"Many travelers underestimate the costs of meals, snacks and tips, says guidebook author James Kaiser. He advises bringing your own food or buying it at a store when you arrive at your destination to save money." — Devon Delfino, The Cherokee County (Kansas) News-Advocate, 23 May 2017

Did You Know?

Today's word was borrowed into Middle English in the 14th century as avise (spelling variants with the d found in the Modern English advise began showing up in the 15th century). The word is derived from the Anglo-French aviser, itself from avis, meaning "opinion." That avis is not to be confused with the Latin word avis, meaning "bird" (an ancestor of such English words as avian and aviation). Instead, it results from the Old French phrase ce m'est a vis ("that appears to me"), a partial translation of Latin mihi visum est, "it seemed so to me" or "I decided." We advise you to remember that the verb advise is spelled with an s, whereas the related noun advice includes a stealthy c.

Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of advise meaning "to give notice to": SPERAIP.

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tare - Word of the Day - 22/07/17

tare

noun

Pronunciation

TAIR

Definition

1 : a deduction from the gross weight of a substance and its container made in allowance for the weight of the container; also : the weight of the container
2 : counterweight

Examples

Factoring in a tare of 10,000 pounds for the trailer, the transportation officer determined that the truck's cargo load still exceeded the legal limit.

"I hooked my scale to the net, grabbing a tare weight that required me to double-check: '12 lb 3 oz' read the digital display. Subtracting the '1 lb 15 oz' reading of my net by itself, my eyes widened at the realization that this 10.25-pound fish was my heaviest to-date." — Luke Ovgard, The Herald & News (Klamath Falls, Oregon), 19 May 2017

Did You Know?

Tare came to English by way of Middle French from the Old Italian term tara, which is itself from the Arabic word ṭarḥa, meaning "that which is removed." One of the first known written records of the word tare in English is found in the naval inventories of Britain's King Henry VII. The record shows two barrels of gunpowder weighing, "besides the tare," 500 pounds. When used of vehicles, tare weight refers to a vehicle's weight exclusive of any load. The term tare is closely tied to net weight, which is defined as "weight excluding all tare."

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of tare meaning "counterweight": ma _ e _ e _ g _ t.

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gauche - Word of the Day - 21/07/17

gauche

adjective

Pronunciation

GOHSH

Definition

1 : lacking social experience or grace; also : not tactful : crude
2 : crudely made or done

Examples

"We were described by our parents as classless and free, but instructed that chewing gum was gauche." — Kira von Eichel-Butler, Vogue, October 2016

"The second thing I did was request soy sauce, which wasn't on the table. The waiter managed to remain calm and respectful while dryly informing me that all necessary condiments are already infused into the dishes in the appropriate combinations. My request had apparently been quite gauche…." — Gene Weingarten, The Key West (Florida) Citizen, 21 May 2017

Did You Know?

Gauche is one of several words that come from old suspicions or negative associations surrounding the left side and use of the left hand. In French, gauche literally means "left," and it has the extended meanings "awkward" and "clumsy." These meanings may have come about because left-handed people could appear awkward trying to manage in a right-handed world, or perhaps they came about because right-handed people appear awkward when they try to use their left hand. In fact, awkward comes from the Middle English awke, meaning "turned the wrong way" or "left-handed." On the other hand, adroit and dexterity have their roots in words meaning "right" or "on the right side."

Test Your Vocabulary

Unscramble the letters to create an adjective that means "left-handed": RNLASITIS.

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crucible - Word of the Day - 20/07/17

crucible

noun

Pronunciation

KROO-suh-bul

Definition

1 : a vessel in which metals or other substances are heated to a very high temperature or melted
2 : a severe test
3 : a place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence change or development

Examples

Living in the crucible that was Paris in the spring of 1968, Remi got to witness firsthand the angry confrontations between workers, students, and government.

"They each also possess, in their own way, a startling self-awareness and self-possession forged by the crucibles they and their families endured." — John Nagy, The Pilot (Southern Pines, North Carolina), 6 May 2017

Did You Know?

Crucible looks like it should be closely related to the Latin combining form cruc- ("cross"), but it isn't. It was forged from the Medieval Latin crucibulum, a noun for an earthen pot used to melt metals, and in English it first referred to a vessel made of a very heat-resistant material (such as porcelain) used for melting a substance that requires a high degree of heat. But the resemblance between cruc- and crucible probably encouraged people to start using crucible to mean "a severe trial." That sense is synonymous with one meaning of cross, a word that is related to cruc-. The newest sense of crucible ("a situation in which great changes take place"—as in "forged in the crucible of war") recalls the fire and heat that would be encountered in the original heat-resistant pot.

Word  Quiz

What adjective is derived from Latin cruc- and means "causing great pain" or "very intense"?

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edacious - Word of the Day - 19/07/17

edacious

adjective

Pronunciation

 ih-DAY-shus

Definition

1 : having a huge appetite : ravenous
2 : excessively eager : insatiable

Examples

Living with three edacious teenagers, Marilyn and Roger were dismayed by how much they had to spend on groceries week after week.

"... Stone's narrative prowess had been such as to infect me ... with his Weltschmerz. In fairness, Stone alone was not to blame. For too many years my edacious reading habits had been leading me into one unappealing corner after another...." — Tom Robbins, Harper's, September 2004

Did You Know?

Tempus edax rerum. That wise Latin line by the Roman poet Ovid translates as "Time, the devourer of all things." Ovid's correlation between rapaciousness and time is appropriate to a discussion of edacious. That English word is a descendant of Latin edax, which is a derivative of the verb edere, meaning "to eat." In its earliest known English uses, edacious meant "of or relating to eating." It later came to be used generally as a synonym of voracious, and it has often been used specifically in contexts referring to time. That's how Scottish essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle used it when he referred to events "swallowed in the depths of edacious Time."

Word Quiz

What is the meaning of esurient, an adjective that can be traced back to Latin edere, meaning "to eat"?

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vindicate - Word of the Day - 18/07/17

vindicate

verb

Pronunciation

VIN-duh-kayt

Definition

1 : avenge
2 a : to free from allegation or blame
   b : confirm, substantiate
   c : to provide justification or defense for : justify
   d : to protect from attack or encroachment : defend
3 : to maintain a right to

Examples

The defendant's lawyer feels his client will be completely vindicated by the witness' testimonies.

"For us comic book fans back in that dark age of aesthetic awareness, the 'Batman' show meant significantly more. Its unexpected popularity briefly vindicated our obsession with what was considered inappropriate reading for anybody over the age of 9 (I was 11 when it hit the air)." — Bob Strauss, The Daily News of Los Angeles, 11 June 2017

Did You Know?

It's not surprising that the two earliest senses of vindicate are "to set free" (a sense that is now obsolete) and "to avenge." Vindicate, which has been used in English since at least the mid-16th century, derives from Latin vindicatus, the past participle of the verb vindicare, meaning "to set free, avenge, or lay claim to." Vindicare, in turn, derives from vindex, a noun meaning "claimant" or "avenger." Other descendants of vindicare in English include such vengeful words as avenge itself, revenge, vengeance, vendetta, and vindictive. Closer cousins of vindicate are vindicable ("capable of being vindicated") and the archaic word vindicative ("punitive").

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of vindicate meaning "to free from blame": e _ _ n _ r _ _ e.

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steadfast - Word of the Day - 17/07/17

steadfast

adjective

Pronunciation

STED-fast

Definition

1 a : firmly fixed in place : immovable
   b : not subject to change
2 : firm in belief, determination, or adherence : loyal

Examples

Maureen knew she could count on the steadfast support of her best friend even in the hardest of times.

"He advised the graduating class to approach each day with steadfast determination and grit and to remember to be humble and appreciative." — Austin Ramsey, The Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, Kentucky), 20 May 2017

Did You Know?

Steadfast has held its ground in English for many centuries. Its Old English predecessor, stedefæst, combined stede (meaning "place" or "stead") and fæst (meaning "firmly fixed"). An Old English text of the late 10th century, called The Battle of Maldon, contains our earliest record of the word, which was first used in battle contexts to describe warriors who stood their ground. Soon, it was also being used with the broad meaning "immovable," and as early as the 13th century it was applied to those unswerving in loyalty, faith, or friendship. Centuries later, all of these meanings endure.

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of steadfast: u _ _ l _ nc _ in _.


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bosky - Word of the Day - 09/07/17

bosky

adjective

Pronunciation

 BAH-skee

Definition

1 : having abundant trees or shrubs
2 : of or relating to a woods

Examples

The deer sensed our presence and fled to the bosky areas surrounding the meadow.

"A national park since 1993, it's a tranquil region patched with pine forest, where beavers swim in lazy streams and mushrooms proliferate along bosky walking trails." — Henry Wismayer, The New York Times, 20 Nov. 2016

Did You Know?

Bosk, busk, bush—in Middle English these were all variant spellings of a word meaning "shrub." Although bush and busk survived into modern English (busk only barely; its use is limited to occurrences in some dialects of northern Britain), bosk disappeared from the written language for a while. It wasn't gone entirely, though: in the early 17th century it provided the root for the woodsy adjective bosky. Since its formation, bosky has been firmly rooted in our language, and its widespread popularity seems to have resurrected its parental form. By the early 19th century, bosk (also spelled bosque) had reappeared in writing, but this time with the meaning "a small wooded area."

Test Your Vocabulary

What is the meaning of arboriculture?

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turpitude - Word of the Day - 08/07/17

turpitude

noun

Pronunciation

TER-puh-tude

Definition

: inherent baseness : depravity; also : a base act

Examples

Many consumers have raised objections to the company's latest ad campaign, in which various forms of moral turpitude are depicted as fashion statements.

"As a lawyer, a conviction for this type of conduct is likely to be considered a crime of 'moral turpitude' because it involves a significant breach of the duty of a lawyer to maintain the confidentiality of a client's information." — Peter J. Henning, The New York Times, 14 Feb. 2017

Did You Know?

Turpitude came to English from Latin turpitudo by way of Middle French. Turpitudo comes from turpis, which means "vile" or "base." Turpitude is often found in the phrase "moral turpitude," an expression used in law to designate an act or behavior that gravely violates the moral sentiment or accepted moral standards of the community. A criminal offense that involves moral turpitude is one that is considered wrong or evil by moral standards, in addition to being the violation of a statute.

Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of turpitude meaning "depravity": NILIYAVL.

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ludic - Word of the Day - 07/07/17

ludic

adjective

Pronunciation

LOO-dik

Definition

: of, relating to, or characterized by play : playful

Examples

"[Mo] Willems's humor is often ludic…. The classic shaggy-dog structure of 'I Broke My Trunk!' centers on Gerald [an elephant] telling a long heroic story that involves him balancing on his trunk first just Hippo … and then also Rhino … and then also Hippo's big sister, playing a grand piano." — Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 6 Feb. 2017

"Born of her childhood, Ono's art has remained essentially ludic. Her works usually invite participation. She describes her pieces as 'unfinished' until the audience interacts with them…." — Jack Feerick, Kirkus Reviews, 17 Dec. 2012

Did You Know?

Here's a serious word, just for fun. That is to say, it means "fun," but it was created in all seriousness around 1940 by psychologists. They wanted a term to describe what children do, and they came up with "ludic activity." That may seem ludicrous—why not just call it "playing"?—but the word ludic caught on, and it's not all child's play anymore. It can refer to architecture that is playful, narrative that is humorous and even satirical, and literature that is light. Ludic is ultimately from the Latin noun ludus, which refers to a whole range of fun things—stage shows, games, sports, even jokes. The more familiar word ludicrous also traces back to the same source.

Word  Quiz

What word derived from Latin ludus refers to a period of time between events or activities?

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poltroon - Word of the Day - 06/07/17

poltroon

noun

Pronunciation

pahl-TROON

Definition

: a spiritless coward : craven

Examples

"I am a poltroon on certain points; I feel it. There is a base alloy of moral cowardice in my composition." — Charlotte Brontë, Shirley, 1849

"There's a theory that even though voters insist they hate the negative commercials portraying a candidate's opponent as a sleazy, bribe-taking, bootlicking poltroon, the ads persist because they work." — Daniel Ruth, The Tampa Bay Times, 31 Aug. 2014

Did You Know?

When you get down to synonyms, a poltroon is just a chicken. Barnyard chickens are fowl that have long been noted for timidity, and the name chicken has been applied to human cowards since the 17th century. Poltroon has been used for wimps and cravens for even longer, since the early 16th century at least. And if you remember that chickens are dubbed poultry, you may guess that the birds and the cowards are linked by etymology as well as synonymy. English picked up poltroon from Middle French, which in turn got it from Old Italian poltrone, meaning "coward." The Italian term has been traced to the Latin pullus, a root that is also an ancestor of pullet ("a young hen") and poultry.

Word Quiz

What is the meaning of catchpole (a word derived from an Anglo-French word meaning "chicken chaser")?

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flat-hat - Word of the Day - 05/07/17

flat-hat

verb

Pronunciation

FLAT-hat

Definition

: to fly low in an airplane in a reckless manner : hedgehop

Examples

Unable to resist the temptation to show off, the young pilot decreased altitude and flat-hatted over the county fairground."A tactical jet flying on an approved and appropriately scheduled Military Training Route is not flat-hatting. On the contrary, the crew is exercising facets of real-world, combat skill sets and should not be automatically assumed to be in violation of regulations." — Lt. Matthew Bogue, Navy Times, 4 July 2005

Did You Know?

Legend has it that the term flat-hat originated with an incident back in the days of barnstormers in which a pedestrian's hat was crushed by a low-flying airplane. According to one version of the tale, the reckless pilot was subsequently required to purchase a new hat for the hapless pedestrian. It seems unlikely that such an event actually took place, but we can well imagine how fear of having one's hat smashed flat by a passing airplane might have given rise to such a vivid verb. Flat-hat is first known to have appeared in English in 1940. Another word for flying low to the ground, the verb hedgehop, debuted at least 14 years earlier (and its related gerund hedgehopping is known to be a bit older still).

Test Your Memory

What is the meaning of volplane, our June 24th Word of the Day?

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inalienable - Word of the Day - 04/07/17

inalienable

adjective

Pronunciation

 in-AY-lee-uh-nuh-bul

Definition

: incapable of being alienated, surrendered, or transferred

Examples

The American ethos is built on the belief that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are inalienable rights.

"'Downward Dog' … goes a particularly funny step further by reflecting another truism: People are dogs, too. We also have complicated emotional lives, further complicated by our professional ones. We also seek food. We also seek love. We obsess.… [T]his terrific series works—because it abides by these simple, inalienable truths." — Verne Gay, Newsday, 13 May 2017

Did You Know?

Alien, alienable, inalienable—it's easy enough to see the Latin word alius, meaning "other," at the root of these three words. Alien joined our language in the 14th century, and one of its earliest meanings was "belonging to another." By the early 1600s that sense of alien had led to alienable, an adjective describing something you can give away or transfer to another owner. The word unalienable came about as its opposite, but so did inalienable, a word most likely borrowed into English on its own from French. Inalienable is the more common form today, and although we often see both forms used to modify "rights," it was unalienable that was used in the Declaration of Independence to describe life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Test Your Vocabulary

What word beginning with "b" is the name for decorations in the colors of the national flag?

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construe - Word of the Day - 03/07/17

construe

verb

Pronunciation

 kun-STROO

Definition

1 : to analyze the arrangement and connection of words in (a sentence or sentence part)
2 : to understand or explain the sense or intention of usually in a particular way or with respect to a given set of circumstances

Examples

"A tall, slim girl, 'half-past sixteen,' with serious gray eyes and hair which her friends called auburn, had sat down …, firmly resolved to construe so many lines of Virgil." — Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea, 1909

"He liked barge-size American automobiles, and regularly wore a Stetson. Such habits were not to be construed as affectation. Melville was immune to the idle whim." — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 1 May 2017

Did You Know?

In the 14th century, English speakers acquired the closely linked words construe and construction. You may think of construction as a word having to do with building houses or highways, but it has long had other meanings, including "the arrangement of words in a sentence" and "interpretation." Similarly, construe can mean "to analyze the arrangement and connection of words in a sentence" or "to interpret or explain." Both construe and construction come from the Latin verb construere ("to construct or construe"). In the 15th century, English speakers added mis- to construe to create misconstrue, a word meaning "to put a wrong construction (that is, a wrong interpretation) on."

Test Your Vocabulary

What 5-letter verb means "to divide (a sentence) into grammatical parts and identify the parts and their relations to each other"?

Merriam-Webster

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dithyramb - Word of the Day - 02/07//17

dithyramb

noun

Pronunciation

 DITH-ih-ram

Definition

1 : a usually short poem in an inspired wild irregular strain
2 : a statement or writing in an exalted or enthusiastic vein

Examples

She is working on a scholarly analysis of early Greek dithyrambs.

"His books are immensely entertaining …, but they also are serious examinations of the underside of American society, a large, dangerous and important world that goes entirely unnoticed in the frail dithyrambs emitted by the university creative-writing departments." — Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post, 4 Dec. 2005

Did You Know?

In ancient Greece, the wine god Dionysus (or Bacchus) was feted several times throughout the year. Processions, feasts, dances, and dramatic performances, accompanied by poems recited or sung in the god's honor, were all part of the revelry. Not too surprisingly, the poems tended to be wild, irregular, and dissonant. We know that the Greeks used dithyrambos as the word for a poem in honor of Dionysus, but beyond that the origin of the word is unknown. The ancient Greeks also had an adjective, dithyrambikos, which gave us our adjective dithyrambic, meaning "pertaining to or resembling a dithyramb."

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete a word that refers to an expression of enthusiastic praise: e _ co _ i _ _.

Merriam-Webster

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sericeous - Word of the Day - 01/07/17

sericeous

adjective

Pronunciation

suh-RISH-us

Definition

: covered with fine silky hair

Examples

The plant was small and delicate, with narrow sericeous leaves.

The major characters distinguishing this taxon from other members of the genus within its range are the combination of a short habit, sericeous leaves, and relatively large involucres.... — Field Guide to Washington's Rare Plants, 1999

Did You Know?

In the writings of the ancient Greeks, there is mention of the Sēres, an eastern Asian people who made what the Greeks called sērikos fabrics. Historians now believe that the Sēres were the Chinese, from whom the ancient Greeks first obtained silk. The ancient Romans wove the Sēres' name into their language, creating sericum, the Latin word for silk. The English word silk is also assumed to be spun—with some significant alterations from Old English to Middle English—from the same Greek fiber. Both silk and silken have been in the English language for many, many centuries, but scientists wanted a new term to describe the silky hairs on some leaves and bodies, and so they adapted the Late Latin word sericeus ("silken") to create sericeous, a word that appears almost exclusively in technical contexts.

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete an adjective that means "covered with down or fine soft hair": la _ _ gi _ o _ s.

Merriam-Webster
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