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

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

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.

Merriam-Webster

http://plotsandtension.blogspot.com.au/

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

http://plotsandtension.blogspot.com.au/

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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