trepidation - Word of the Day - 31/08/16

trepidation

noun

Pronunciation

trep-uh-DAY-shun

Definition

: timorous uncertain agitation : apprehension

Examples

Fran's trepidation going into the interview dissipated quickly, and her confidence and poise led her to getting offered the job a week later.

The couple's trepidation isn't about how the state would handle the rare orchids.… They simply are worried that the state would not pay them what their land is worth, if … officials … decide to try and purchase a portion of their land to widen Route 22." — Ronnie Wachter, The Chicago Tribune, 1 Aug. 2016

Did You Know?

If you've ever trembled with fright, you know something of both the sensation and etymology of trepidation. The word comes from the Latin verb trepidare, which means "to tremble." When it first appeared in English in the early 1600s, it meant "tremulous motion" or "tremor." Around the same time, English speakers also started using the "nervous agitation" sense of trepidation that we use today.

Test Your Memory

What is the meaning of glower, our August 2nd Word of the Day?

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collude - Word of the Day - 30/08/16

collude

verb

Pronunciation

kuh-LOOD

Definition

: conspire, plot

Examples

"Two forestry companies colluded for more than a decade to control the prices of toilet paper and other products following a meeting at a golf course to end a price war, according to Chile's competitive practices regulator." — The Observer-Dispatch (Utica, New York), 30 Oct. 2015

"If you collude in business or if you collude in the stock market, they put you in jail." — Donald Trump, speaking on MSNBC, 25 Apr. 2016

Did You Know?

Our English "lude" words (allude, collude, delude, elude, and prelude) are based on the Latin verb ludere, meaning "to play." Collude dates back to 1525 and combines ludere and the prefix col-, meaning "with" or "together." The verb is younger than the related noun collusion, which appeared sometime in the 14th century with the specific meaning "secret agreement or cooperation." Despite their playful history, collude and collusion have always suggested deceit or trickery rather than good-natured fun.

Word Family Quiz

Fill in the blanks to create a noun derived from Latin ludere that can refer to a preliminary trial or introductory discourse: p _ _ l _ _ ion.

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rarefied - Word of the Day - 29/08/16

rarefied

adjective

Pronunciation

RAIR-uh-fyde

Definition

1 : being less dense
2 : of, relating to, or interesting to a select group : esoteric
3 : very high

Examples

Cartography is one of those rarefied fields at which only a select few can actually earn a living.

"He was known for photographing the most rarefied parties and galas but never partaking of even an hors d'oeuvre or sip of champagne." — Robin Givhan, The Washington Post, 27 June 2016

Did You Know?

Rarefied was formed from the verb rarefy, which derives from a combination of the Latin rarus ("thin" or "rare") with facere ("to make") and has meant "to make thin" since the 14th century. In its original uses back in the 1500s, the adjective rarefied was on the lean side too; it meant "made less dense" (as in "the fog lifted and we could breathe more easily in the rarefied air"). By the 17th century, rarefy had gained the sense "to refine or purify," and over time rarefied followed suit.

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to create a word that refers to a rarefied quality or state with respect to density: t _ n _ i _ y.

Merriam-Webster

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embellish - Word of the Day - 28/08/16

embellish

verb

Pronunciation

im-BELL-ish

Definition

1 : to make beautiful with ornamentation : decorate
2 : to heighten the attractiveness of by adding decorative or fanciful details : enhance

Examples

Kevin later admitted that he may have embellished the truth about the size of the dog that chased him out of the yard.

"On Snapchat, where users embellish their selfies with emoji, crayon scribbles, and elaborate 'lenses' that cover their faces with virtual masks, marketers like McDonalds are seizing the opportunity to write their messages across people’s faces." — Amanda Hess, The New York Times, 20 June 2016

Did You Know?

Like its synonyms adorn, ornament, and garnish, embellish means to make something beautiful by the addition of a decorative or fanciful feature. Traditionally, the word is used specifically to stress the addition of superfluous or adventitious ornament, as in "The printer embellished the page with a floral border." Embellish differs from its synonyms, however, in that it is sometimes used in a euphemistic way to refer to the inclusion of details that are not necessarily true to make a story sound more appealing. The word derives via Middle English from the Anglo-French verb embelir, from en- and bel ("beautiful").

Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of embellish: MDOEEBRIR.

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plinth - Word of the Day - 27/08/16

plinth

noun

Pronunciation

PLINTH

Definition

1 : the lowest part of the base of an architectural column
2 : a usually square block serving as a base; broadly : any of various bases or lower parts
3 : a course of stones forming a continuous foundation or base course

Examples

An empty plinth remains where the statue of the toppled dictator once commanded.

"Fabio Mauri (1926-2009) grew up in Mussolini-era Italy and his art consistently examines the ways in which the traumas of war and fascism are assimilated by history. For the most part it's the simpler works that resonate—such as a lone artillery shell on a plinth." — Time Out, 26 Jan. 2016

Did You Know?

"These ivy-clad arcades — / These mouldering plinths ... are they all — / All of the famed, and the colossal left…?" In these lines from "The Coliseum," Edgar Allan Poe alludes to a practical feature of classical architecture. The plinth serves the important purpose of raising the base of the column it supports above the ground, thus protecting it from dampness and mold. The humble plinth is usually a mere thick block. It's humbly named, too, for the Greek word plinthos means simply "tile" or "brick." English writers have used plinth, a shortened version of the Latin form plinthus, since the mid-16th century. The word's meaning was later extended to bases for statues, vases, or busts.

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to create a word for a projecting member at the foot of a wall or beneath the base of a column: s _ c _ e.

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guttural - Word of the Day - 26/08/16

guttural

adjective

Pronunciation

GUTT-uh-rul

Definition

1 : articulated in the throat
2 : velar
3 : being or marked by utterance that is strange, unpleasant, or disagreeable

Examples

The only response we could get from him was an inarticulate guttural grunt.

"The guttural yells echoing off New Jersey's Lake Mercer conveyed the gravity of college rowing's biggest day Sunday: the Intercollegiate Rowing Championship." — Brian Towey, The Seattle Times, 6 June 2016

Did You Know?

Though it is now used to describe many sounds or utterances which strike the listener as harsh or disagreeable, the adjective guttural was originally applied only to sounds and utterances produced in the throat. This is reflected in the word's Latin root—guttur, meaning "throat." Despite the similarity in sound, guttural is not related to the English word gutter, which comes (by way of Anglo-French) from Latin gutta, meaning "drop."

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to create an adjective that describes something having a harsh sound: _ ac _ _ h _ no _ s.

Merriam-Webster

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notch - Word of the Day - 25/08/16

notch

noun

Pronunciation

NAHTCH

Definition

1 a : a V-shaped indentation
b : a slit made to serve as a record
c : a rounded indentation cut into the pages of a book on the edge opposite the spine
2 : a deep close pass : gap
3 : degree, step

Examples

The angle of the futon can be adjusted by inserting the pin into one of three notches.

"You're about to start a race or step onstage, and you want to knock it out of the park. … Revving up … is pretty easy: Do a few jumping jacks, or whatever gets your blood pumping. Need to take things down a notch (or 20)? Inhale deeply. Research shows that it can significantly calm you down." — Jeanine Detz, Self, July/August 2016

Did You Know?

Occasionally, you might hear a child ask for a "napple," as in "I would like a napple," mistaking the phrase "an apple" for "a napple." A similar error is believed to be behind notch, which may have resulted from a misdivision of "an otch." (Otch is a noun that is assumed to have existed in earlier English as a borrowing of Middle French oche, meaning "an incision made to keep a record.") Notch would not be alone in developing from such a mistake. The words newt and nickname were formed, respectively, from misdivisions of "an ewte" and "an ekename." Going in the other direction, umpire first appears in Middle English as oumpere, a mistaken rendering of "a noumpere."

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to create another word resulting from false division: a _ r _ n.

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