truncate - Word of the Day - 08/10/16

truncate

verb

Pronunciation

TRUNG-kayt
 

Definition

: to shorten by or as if by cutting off

Examples

"Apparently, a federal law … requires printed credit card receipts truncate not only the credit card number, but also the expiration date." — Jack Greiner, The Cincinnati Enquirer, 28 Aug. 2016

"Google's own URL shortener service … instantly truncates the URL you're visiting and copies the new address to the clipboard for use anywhere." — Eric Griffith, PCMag.com, 23 Aug. 2016

Did You Know?

Truncate descends from the Latin verb truncare, meaning "to shorten," which in turn can be traced back to the Latin word for the trunk of a tree, which is truncus. Incidentally, if you've guessed that truncus is also the ancestor of the English word trunk, you are correct. Truncus also gave us truncheon, which is the name for a police officer's billy club, and the obscure word obtruncate, meaning "to cut the head or top from."

Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of truncate: IURLTAC.
Merriam-Webster

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macadam - Word of the Day -07/10/16

macadam

noun

Pronunciation

muh-KAD-um
 

Definition

: a roadway or pavement of small closely packed broken stone

Examples

The sloping, curved street saw light traffic and had a smooth macadam surface that made it popular with skateboarders.

"Littered on the beach are nearly a dozen big slabs of macadam and even larger chunks of concrete that have slid down the cliff." — Chris Burrell, The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, Massachusetts), 20 Aug. 2016

Did You Know?

In 1783, inventor John Loudon McAdam returned to his native Scotland after amassing a fortune in New York City. He became the road trustee for his district and quickly set his inventiveness to remedying the terrible condition of local roads. After numerous experiments, he created a new road surfacing material made of bits of stone that became compressed into a solid mass as traffic passed over them. His invention revolutionised road construction and transportation, and engineers and the public alike honored him by using his name (respelled macadam) as a generic term for the material or pavement made from it. He is further immortalized in the verb macadamise, which names the process of installing macadam on a road.

Test Your Memory

What is the meaning of myrmidon, our September 11th Word of the Day?

Merriam-Webster

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vulnerary - Word of the Day - 06/10/16

vulnerary

adjective

Pronunciation

VUL-nuh-rair-ee

Definition

: used for or useful in healing wounds

Examples

"Rebecca examined the wound, and having applied to it such vulnerary remedies as her art prescribed, informed her father that if fever could be averted … there was nothing to fear for his guest's life, and that he might with safety travel to York with them on the ensuing day." — Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe, 1820

"St. John’s wort can also help those with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) due to lower sunlight exposure in the winter months. Its anti-inflammatory, vulnerary, astringent, and antimicrobial actions make it a powerful healer for wounds, bruises, burns, sprains, and muscle pain." — Jane Metzger, Mother Earth News, 13 July 2015

Did You Know?

In Latin, vulnus means "wound." You might think, then, that the English adjective vulnerary would mean "wounding" or "causing a wound"—and, indeed, vulnerary has been used that way, along with two obsolete adjectives, vulnerative and vulnific. But for the lasting and current use of vulnerary, we took our cue from the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder. In his Natural History, he used the Latin adjective vulnerarius to describe a plaster, or dressing, for healing wounds. And that's fine—the suffix -ary merely indicates that there is a connection, which, in this case, is to wounds. (As you may have already suspected, vulnerable is related; it comes from the Latin verb vulnerare, which means "to wound.")

Test Your Vocabulary

Unscramble the letters to create an adjective that means "having the power to cure or heal": VNAEITSA.

Merriam-Webster

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

invective - Word of the Day - 05/10/16

invective

noun

Pronunciation

in-VEK-tiv

Definition

1 : an abusive expression or speech

2 : insulting or abusive language : vituperation

Examples

"The ongoing collapse of responsible broadcast and cable journalism and the explosive role that social media has assumed in this campaign have made for a nasty brew of invective, slurs and accusations…." — Susan J. Douglas, In These Times, July 2016

"At a moment when American political discourse has descended to almost unimaginable levels of … invective, we need our teachers to model a better way to discuss our differences." — Jonathan Zimmerman, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 14 Aug. 2016

Did You Know?

Invective originated in the 15th century as an adjective meaning "of, relating to, or characterized by insult or abuse." In the early 16th century, it appeared in print as a noun meaning "an example of abusive speech." Eventually, the noun developed a second sense applying to abusive language as a whole. Invective comes to us from the Middle French word invectif, which in turn derives from Latin invectivus, meaning "reproachful, abusive." (Invectivus comes from Latin invectus, past participle of the verb invehere, one form of which means "to assail with words.") Invective is similar to abuse, but it tends to suggest not only anger and vehemence but verbal and rhetorical skill. It sometimes implies public denunciation, as in "blistering political invective."

Test Your Vocabulary

What 2-word term can refer to a writer specializing in invective or to a person hired to ruin another's reputation? [Hint: the first word refers to a type of cutting tool]

Merriam-Webster

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banausic - Word of the Day - 04 /10/16

banausic

adjective

Pronunciation

buh-NAW-sik

Definition

: relating to or concerned with earning a living — used pejoratively; also : utilitarian, practical

Examples

"At the far end was a wooden board on which were hung saws, chisels, knives and other banausic instruments of the trade." — Sebastian Faulk, Human Traces, 2005

"That story is followed by a brilliant allegory of reality TV and the cult of personality, Rumours About Me, in which a simple company man sees his banausic daily life … broadcast by the media until he is transformed into 'a nobody who was known by everybody.'" — Christine Thomas, The Miami Herald, 2 Nov. 2008

Did You Know?

The ancient Greeks held intellectual pursuits in the highest esteem, and they considered ideal a leisurely life of contemplation. A large population of slaves enabled many Greek citizens to adopt that preferred lifestyle. Those who had others to do the heavy lifting for them tended to regard professional labor with contempt. Their prejudice against the need to toil to earn a living is reflected in the Greek adjective banausikos (the root of banausic), which not only means "of an artisan" (from the word for "artisan," banausos) but "nonintellectual" as well.

Test Your Memory

What former Word of the Day can mean "to attack with false charges" or "to sprinkle"?

Merriam-Webster

http://writingforchildrenstage.blogspot.com.au/

guerdon - Word of the Day - 03/10/16

guerdon

noun

Pronunciation

GUR-dun

Definition

: reward, recompense

Examples

"The big hurdle … was early promotion to captain. … This early promotion, this small dry irrevocable statistic in the record, was his guerdon for a quarter of a century of getting things done." — Herman Wouk, The Winds of War, 1971

"The guerdon in attending a repertory company's concert is being able to savor the variety of work on display." — Juan Michael Porter II, Broadway World, 7 June 2016

Did You Know?

Guerdon dates back to the 14th century, when Geoffrey Chaucer used it in The Romaunt of the Rose (ca. 1366): "He quitte him wel his guerdon there." It derives from Anglo-French and is thought to be related to the Old High German widarlōn, meaning "reward." Shakespeare used guerdon a couple of times in his plays. In Love's Labour's Lost, for example, Berowne, attendant to King Ferdinand, sends the clown Costard to deliver a letter to Rosaline, attendant to the princess of France, handing him a shilling with the line, "There's thy guerdon; go." Guerdon is a rare word today, but contemporary writers do use it on occasion for poetic effect.

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to create a synonym of guerdon: r _ _ ui _ al.

Merriam-Webster

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

deliquesce - Word of the Day - 03/10/16

deliquesce

verb

Pronunciation

del-ih-KWESS

Definition

1 : to dissolve or melt away
2 : to become soft or liquid with age or maturity—used of some fungal structures (as the gills of a mushroom)

Examples

"'Number Nine,' a 16-minute bonbon of a ballet …, keeps its yellow-clad ensemble and four principal couples wheeling through kaleidoscopic patterns that surprise as they smoothly crystallize and deliquesce, sometimes matching the musical rhythms, sometimes working against them." — Roslyn Sulcas, The New York Times, 26 Sept. 2012

"But wait. If you have the brisket, will there be room for the beef rib? There'd better be, because it is a triumph. The salt-and-pepper-coated smoked meat and fat deliquesce into a sort of beef confit." — Mark Vamos, The Dallas Morning News, 25 Dec. 2015

Did You Know?

Deliquesce derives from the prefix de- ("from, down, away") and a form of the Latin verb liquēre, meaning "to be fluid." Things that deliquesce, it could be said, turn to mush in more ways than one. In scientific contexts, a substance that deliquesces absorbs moisture from the atmosphere until it dissolves in the absorbed water and forms a solution. When plants and fungi deliquesce, they lose rigidity as they age. When deliquesce is used in non-scientific contexts, it is often in a figurative or humorous way to suggest the act of "melting away" under exhaustion, heat, or idleness, as in "teenagers deliquescing in 90-degree temperatures."

Quiz

Fill in the blanks to create an adjective derived from Latin liquēre that is synonymous with wordy: p _ _ li _.

Merriam-Webster

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